Ethan Went Swimming (17 Weeks)
May 22, 2006
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We went to Andrea and Lee’s for the day on Saturday to go swimming for Ethan’s first time. Lots of fun, food and laughs.
Categories: Steve Levitt's Blog
Archive
Archive for May, 2006
Mother’s Day (Ethan at 16 weeks)
May 16, 2006
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We spent the day at home in the morning then off to the beach for Ethan’s first trip to the ocean. He slept most of the time, so did I of course. We then had dinner with the whole family.
Robin’s First Mothers day was great, I got the three pictures below mounted and framed for her. Im sure they will look great in the house.
Here are a couple of more shots from the day at home and at the beach.
Categories: Steve Levitt's Blog
Harmony 880 Universal Remote by Logitech Review
May 7, 2006
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Logitech’s Harmony 880 Universal Remote Review
What this is: This is a universal remote that enables you to define all the functions of your various remotes for Receiver, TV, Tivo, VCR, DVD, MediaPC etc into one easy to use and understandable unit.
How it works: Its pretty engenious and frankly, the best implimentation of a universal remote ive ever seen. An overview of the install process is:
- Install the Software onto your computer
- Connect the remote to the computer via supplied cable.
- Connect to the harmony website and answer a few questions.
- Unplug and test the remote, then use it.
I was a bit concerened about the web related connectivity at first, I thought it odd to get the remote codes from a website until i saw the vast library of devices they have.
When you go to pick it up, it automatically turns on a light for the integrated screen. Very cool, it knows how dark it is in the room and will turn on a light to see the buttons and LCD that you make selections on.
The unit easily changes channels, controls a tivo and adjusts volume on my receiver. In the past we had a universal remote but still used our TiVo remote because we liked the look and feel. No more with this thing, we have found one remote to rule them all.
Some Background on how remotes work: Every remote control has unique Infra Red codes that it sends out and the device (TV,VCR etc) looks for. when it receives this code it takes the appropriate action. The challenge with universal remotes is that they need to “learn” all the codes for your specific device. There are new devices released every day and often overlaps between codes that makes it difficult to correctly send a macro or sequence of codes (ie; turn on the tv and set my vcr to channel 3). Usually people try to spend much time getting the universal remote to understand the right code for the right button. also the older universal remotes did not take TiVo into consideration so mapping things like the TiVo button or the list of progams was not easy to do.
When i went to configure my remote ALL and I mean ALL of my components were listed. if you think about it, a web based repository of IR commands is the right way to solve this problem. It’s centralized, easily update-able and accessable to hardware makers and users alike. Logitech really got this part right. It’s a critical part too because they use the vast database to understand what functions your component uses and Automatically setup Activities for that type of device. All you need to know is the model numbers of your TV, VCR, Receiver etc and the online configuration wizard will do the rest.
Once its setup, you just select one of the options like “Watch TV” or “Listen to Radio” or “Watch DVD” and the remote sets up your system to do just what you asked it to. In the event it did not get something right, there is a built in Help System.
The Help System: One of the best things this remote has for novice users is a “Help System” it will go through and ask you quesitons about the state of your devices in plain english “Is the TV ON?”, “Can you hear any sound?”, “Is the DVD turned on?” thus allowing you and the remote to trouble shoot the state of your system. This alleviates a lot of aggrivation and cries for help in the house.
Whats included?: The unit comes with a cool looking charging station,
AC adapter, USB Cable, and install CD.
I really like the shape of this thing, its very similar to the “peanut” remote that TiVo uses and we have become accustomed to in this house.
Improvements:
Better button feel - id like to see more “feel” to the buttons. Id like to be able to know which button i have my finger on without looking down at it. sometimes while watching tv, i want to be able to fast forward or rewind without looking away (yes im that lazy).
Other Graphics – Since im more of an advance user, id like the option to customize the graphics it displays for the various activities and put background graphics on some of the screens. Personalization is king for me.
Rating: A 5 out of 5 for me on this one. we use it every day and it always works.
Cool Factor: 4 out of 5: id like to see the buttons more thought out.
What it costs: It retails for $249.99 but are available on eBay for around $130.
Categories: Technology
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Review
May 7, 2006
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Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Review – Please note i plagarized much of this review from http://www.everythingusb.com (I stole scott’s pictures and stuff)
Between the posting of pictures and time spent at home I ve found that I really didnt like my current Microsoft keyboard. There were some buttons on the side and top that were not in a good position and I never used. So i was wondering around BestBuy and saw this thing.
The Logitech G15 is really setup as a gaming keyboard with 18 programmable keys on the left side for various game profiles. There are really 3 “profiles” across the 18 keys so a total of 54. Microsoft had this in their keyboard but only 24 functions across keys F1-F12 and they never worked the way I wanted. Anyway the keys can be re-programmed to do anythign you want including:
- Launch programs like emai, browser, calculator, InstantMessanger, Skype etc.
- Open certain files or folders
- record and run macros (keystroke combinations)
- cut, copy and paste
Then I put my hands on the keyboard and found that the keys are very smooth and easy to use. They are not only quiet but feel perfect and are big enough for huge meat hooks like my fingers. I type pretty fast and the keys feel crisp and responsive but not hard or sharp. the keybaord has this interesting coating on the keys. not realliy rubber like the included wrist rest but a texture plastic actually. It works well, gives my fingertips a secure sense of contact witht the keys even at high typing rates. I also noticed the keyboard lights up from the letters and around each key. very cool for late nite work.
This thing is big (It’s a full 21.5″ long and 10.5″ tall with the wrist rest attached), it takes up a bunch of space but its more wide than deep since the keys are on the left side of the keyboard, but thats good since they are in a location thats eaisier to reach.
All Lit Up
The G15′s keys are beautifully backlit, a solid blue shining through the laser-engraved letters of each key with a mild underglow surrounding each key. Each key is as lit as the next, with no dim or bright spots anywhere on the keyboard. As soon as the computer is turned on and Windows loads, the backlight will automatically turn on, although there are three manual settings to choose from: Off, Low, and High, though there’s not much of a difference between Low and High.
Since this is a gaming keyboard it has a mode switch on it to disable keys like the Windows Start button and other that would interrupt a gamer. while i dont really use this feature and the only game i play is Flight Simulator, I see how this could be useful for some folks.
The G15 has two USB 1.1 ports for plugging in headsets and wireless receivers or USB Memory cards or MP3 Players like i recently reviewed,. Anything plugged into the two ports can also take advantage of the G15′s cable management, as there are grooves lining the underside of the keyboard for cable runs. While great in concept, it doesn’t work that well. The camera cord, headset cord, and mouse cords we tried were either too thick to fit, or too thin to stay in place. Logitech would benefit from widening the grooves and making cable clips to address this issue.
The interface shown is how you program the 18 keys across the “Modes” M1-3. the other picture is of the keys and how they are laid out. Its quite easy to program and I completely finished my setup in under 2 minutes. the only challenge i had here was that it was a bit hard to set a shortcut to a Folder on my computer like “My Documents”.
There is also an included Macro Manager software whereby you can record macro’s on the fly or through the software. I could see this coming in handy if/when there is a keystroke that needs to be repeated over an over. you can quickly hit the “MR” button on the keyboard, hit the Gkey you want to save it to, type your kestrokes, press “MR” again and viiola you are done. pretty cool really.
Here’s Lookin at You, Kid
The neatest but most underused feature to me is the 160×43 LCD display located on the top center of the keyboard right above the multimedia controls. The display can be used to monitor several things:- Current Date and Time (remove it from your taskbar)
- How much strain is on your computer (CPU&RAM)
- How many new emails you have
- MP3 Song information and controls
I could see this feature becoming very powerful in the future. I’d love to see a stock ticker, even Instant messenger chats, things that really arent all that important to take up precious screen space with.
Rating: 5 out of 5 - Great keyboard laid out just the way i like it.
Cool factor 3 out of 5 – its really cool if you are a hardcore gamer but there are much cooler looking keyboards out there.
Cost of purchase – I got it for $65
Categories: Technology
Lisa, Judy and Ethan
May 3, 2006
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The aunts came over for dinner the other night check out the pictures
Categories: Steve Levitt's Blog
More pictures of Abe
May 1, 2006
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We were with Ethan’s cousin Abe last night at Todd and Dal’s place, they sent over a few pictures of him here they all are…
Categories: Steve Levitt's Blog
