Lawrence "The Dreamer" Chen's Blog

Well, it is that day of the year where I need to remember what all gadgets I have...so I can check that the clock has automatically moved back an hour, or move the clock back an hour. And, some its a matter of remembering what button or switch to move to make the correction.

I'm sure I've missed a few devices, in fact I've intentionally skipped two....gadgets that exist for other reasons, and the time display on it doesn't matter nor will it bother me (since I don't look at these gadgets much)

I can't remember what I set the outdoor min-max thermometer to....but I think I can live with the min/max reset time being an hour off one way or the other.

The only annoyance so far, is my atomic clock (in the bedroom) didn't adjust itself. In previous time transitions it had worked fine, but this time around it didn't.

This is also the time of year that I check the lamp timer on my TV. 1040 hours It has been about 11 months since I replaced it. So, I suppose that means I'll have another 3-4 years of life before it is time to replace the bulb. Though I don't know if I'll hold out that long before I get a new TV. I suspect I will, since there are all kinds of other things to upgrade/replace first. But, LED engine and 50" is kind of something I'd like to have. And, more digital inputs is another.

Finally, I went around replacing batteries in and testing the four smoke detectors in my condo. Wonder if I'll hear anybody else testing their smoke detectors

I had been thinking that over the Xmas holidays, and then on New Year's....that I would replace the bulb in my Samsung HLN4365W1. It had been getting darker and darker for some time, and was beginning to annoy me...especially which watching TV shows and movies that tend to be dark themselves.

But, I keep forgetting to do it before turning the TV on for the day. Being that I need to do it with the set cool.

Today I got an email from a person looking for a replacement bulb for her Samsung HLN4365W1....which made me think that I should try to remember replacing mine. She told me that looking at Sears Parts online, it would set her back like $250. And, wanted to know if I knew of somewhere cheaper. I went over to Samsungparts.com, where I had ordered my replacement bulb from...and found that they give a price of $149.99. Darn, I paid $199.99 for mine...of course, I bought it over 1.5 years ago....in preparation of a move for just in case.

The bulb replacement was pretty straight forward, except that it was on the side that required contortions and later pulling the TV out to get at.

Once the set turned on...I went into the service menu to clear the lamp timer. Making note that the timer was at 6118 hours.

Interesting to note that the new bulb is a 120W, whereas the original bulb was only a 100W...where I had read somewhere that the 'Dynamic' picture mode ran the bulb at 120W. Guess the part change addresses this fact. Though I guess I've been fortunate to not experience total bulb failure.

Meanwhile, while checking out the new bulb...I noticed that Fox HD is now available on Cox.

Wonder how long before DNNA get's the lineup fixed so that I can record it using my ReplayTV? Maybe I'll have to dig out my fax machine and send them the full line up, so they can get it right.

Well, nothing significant to having to update clocks for the time change this year. Didn't see any issues last week, except at work were a few forgotten machines that hadn't gotten retired on schedule switched off of DST early

I'm sure I missed a few clocks somewhere, but that's normal.

But, once again it is time to check the lamp timer on my Samsung HLN4365W1....gotta write down somewhere that the sequence is POWER-MUTE-1-8-2-POWER and that I need to be on an active input before I do this....to get to the service menu.

Anyways...the timer reports that 5937 hours.

For a few months, it has seemed that the screen isn't as bright as it used to be (also seems to take some time to reach its full brightness)...so I've been debating whether I should replace the lamp. Perhaps I'll do it some day, but not this weekend.

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Link: http://www.hdtvsupply.com/zedv5in1oudv1.html

Oh yeah...during the blog move, I picked this item up from the UPS Store.

I got a black one.

I unpacked and placed it under my TV, though I don't have much in the way of cables to put it into service. And, I don't yet have much need for it....the TV can handle everything that I currently have plugged in to it.

But, if I do get that Mac Mini and/or add a PC to my setup....or decide on Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD (or get a universal)...then I'm going to have need more inputs.

I was originally planning to get a remote controlled Digital Audio switch, because I there is one device where its audio output is not connected to anything at the moment....the OTA tuner. Though its usefulness might have reached an end due to neighboring construction (too late to move to a higher place...)

But, I anticipate a need for some kind of switch...and I had been looking at a component video / digital audio switcher for some time. Though some of the things that I switch by component now, could also be switched using DVI...and the price/feature point was in the ballpark of what I would pay/get. So, I went for it.

Link: http://www.topbulb.com/

There are hardly any of them in use in my condo now....the only ones I can think of are the ones are appliance ones....range hood, microwave, oven and fridge. Don't know how to classify the DLP bulb....but someday I'm thinking of getting DLP with an LED light engine

This process started a few years ago....I had a problem with keeping my previous apartment cool in the summer, and noting that there was a measurable temperature rise in my bedroom due to the 300W halogen torchiere lamp that was lighting the space. I replaced it with a fluorescent torchiere lamp of equivalent brightness. It helped and I liked the light better.

Later I sought to replace the other halogen torchiere's around my apartment with fluorescent ones. Later I finally got ones of those SAD lights, to see if it would help with my winter blahs....it might, except I never remember to use it. But, it occurred me why wasn't using the full-spectrum fluorescents? We had gotten these at my first job....though later I know other people had the small light boxes in their offices....

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Today I came home from "Every Other Friday" at the So Long Saloon...and found a big box sitting by my door. It was the Suncast Outdoor Extended Deck Box/Seat I had ordered on the weekend. I was kind of hoping the delivery would coincide with the dishwasher service call. But, fortunately FedEx ground was kind enough to leave it on my doorstep. It is pretty big and heavy, so it wasn't going to blow away....and I trust my neighbors.

I ordered it from this site, instead of an iGive merchant....because they offered free shipping. Not the lowest price. Though a lower delivered price. The other place I was looking had it for like $40 less, but then it would be $80 for delivery.

Its late, I'll look at that tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I'm gonna order that new dishwasher that I had been looking at yesterday. It has been 24 hours, and I think its the one to go with. The budget for the replacement was $350 or less. Not including delivery, installation and maybe the in-home warranty.

I'm usually mixed on whether to get the extended warranty....though I usually end up getting it. I got it for my HLN4365W1, but never used it. (the renewal managed to find me, even though I didn't give them my new address....the cost of extending it further would be more than it would cost to buy a new one....which is what I would do if it failed....maybe getting a 50" 1080p with the LED light engine...the bezels are thin enough now that it should just squeeze into the opening.). The last time I bought a dishwasher, I had gotten the extended warranty on it...but never had any trouble with it. But, the dishwasher here is just over a year old...

Anyways....I opted to go with a white front....keeping with the color of the other appliances in my kitchen (do plan to upgrade some of them eventually, but not in the near future...which could potentially mean never...) Plus I'm not sure how stainless would look against the cabinets/flooring/counter tops.....

Plus didn't really feel the $50 difference in price was justified, especially at this low end. My parents paid like $1400 for their new dishwasher...though at that end, I suspect stainless steel is the only non-custom front option (or at least I would expect it). Looking at just white units under $350, opened the range where I could get more choice on what kind of features I wanted in my dishwasher. I narrowed to two choices....a Kenmore and a Maytag.

The broken dishwasher is GE, so it was out immediately. The dishwasher I had purchased for my first home was a Maytag. And, Kenmore has been good to me so far...and its what my parents recommended too

There were a couple other brands...but narrowing on features that were desirable for how I use a dishwashwer and the extras that were nice to have. It came down to these two (actually three, but it was 2 Kenmores and a Maytag. I think the other Kenmore was the old model, it had a lower model number...and when I went to order, it didn't appear....). And the leaning was for the Kenmore. And, then I saw that it was on sale until tomorrow for $50 less. Didn't see any other Kenmore models appear that would drop into the range. Though they have a mail-in rebate promotion for 25% off on [any] dishwashers over $399, so that's probably probably why it was an online mark down for models there. But, I don't trust mail-in rebates....wouldn't expect Sears to let me down, but my rule is the now price has to be what I'm willing to pay now...the rebate is something that might come later.

The model number is 16252 (02216252000) in case you want to see what I ordered....their links don't work for sending, including their "send to a friend" option. I tried that, and it said it was no longer valid....implying that I had bookmarked the link. But the "send to a friend" option specifically said was going to send them a link that could be viewed directly.

Wonder when they'll be able to delivery/install it? Guess I might have to resort to doing a few dishes....

Well, I didn't want to wake up this morning...I was sore, my throat hurt, there was a productive cough, and it is kind of gloomy out. But, I wanted to check clocks at home and at work to see what changed and didn't change.

The first computer that should've updated, but didn't was my SuSE 9.3 Linux box. I had updated the zoneinfo files for DST....however, I didn't notice that the link between /etc/localtime and /usr/share/zoneinfo/US/Central had gotten severed. So the machine was still running using the old zoneinfo definition. But, zdump -v US/Central wasn't gonna tell me this.

I then check the other main computers at home and moved on to other devices. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my radio controlled clock, which I try to set all my other clocks against, was showing the correct time. I had been holding off on looking at another one of these clocks, guess it is safe to get one.

Then I check the VoIP phones....the Uniden has a local clock, so I had up date it. I drew a blank on what my Vonage number was...guess it has been a long time since I had to call it or give it out. It read an hour ahead, I guess it is still stuck on sending Eastern Time. Guess the still go by the timezone for the areacode of the number associated with it, rather than the timezone in my account profile. That's annoying.

Broadvoice doesn't seem to have updated for DST

I then updated the important clock...the clock on my coffee maker and put on coffee, and then back off to updating other clocks around home. It was also good to see that my Palm Tungsten T had updated....though hotsync'ng is a problem. DST change always seems to reset everything in my calendar...and this time was worse than usual. I blame Microsoft Outlook. Though I did run the timezone tool, though it was a bit weird...since Outlook is not my default mail client...its my calendar and contact tool. I suppose I should do something about this setup....especially since I have too many different calendars now. Plus, I haven't figured out where I'm at in my PDA replacement project. The Palm Tungsten T is pretty much only calendaring for me now....anyhoo.... The DST change also causes the backupbuddy to backup everything fresh again...which makes the first sync really long and painful.

The Blackberry sync seemed to have issues...but it was problem me trying to do it while the Palm sync was still going on. It worked fine later.

But, it was off to check my ReplayTVs and other HT devices if they had the correct time. All the ReplayTVs had the correct time, I was surprised to see that my Momitsu V880N was also right....and it was good that the Cox HD DVR was also right, because when I looked at it last night...the guide was wrong. But, the lack of new programming for the first few days might seem intentional

As usual, since I was here...I checked the lamp timer on my Samsung HLN4365W1....5255 hours. Had noticed that it seems to be having more trouble turning on that usual, but it is still working. Hopefully the spare bulb I have works, when that time comes. OTOH, I see that 50" units are now thin enough that they should fit into my stand....and 1080p might be nice. Though I'll probably wait until the spare bulb is spent....by then they should perfect LED based RPTVs Plus I might be willing to update my furniture to allow an even bigger screen

I'm sure I've missed other clocks (at home)....but I think I'm done.

Wonder if I want to wander out and see if the outside world is right....namely it has been over a week since I've done groceries....

Hmmm, the server time for this blog is off my an hour....guess I'll have to do it manually?

Look at all the empty spots....what will I fill them with....

That's because next year it'll start sooner and end later....

Well, I think I got all the things at home that need updating.....the only thing left is to change the batteries in all the smoke detectors....

But, first I took my semi-annual peek at my DLP's service menu...and lamp life is at 4753 hours.

That's about 100 hours less than the same period last year. I guess I really am watching a lot less TV than I used to

Though since they rate the bulb at 5000-8000 hours, I could be getting close to the end. Worse because according to a FAQ I found on Samsung's site...using Dynamic Picture mode shaves 2000 hours off the estimate, since it runs the 100W bulb at 120W.... Though I'm sure the screen not looking as bright as it used to is more a reflection on living room orientation and layout....and that stores try to make their TVs look their best. But, probably time I looked for the box with the extra bulb.....

Not sure which to attribute this discovery to....but the other day (Saturday night) I was doing one of the rare times of watching live TV.

I was watching my Calgary Flames on TV.....

I decided to use the SA8300HD DVR to do the live TV viewing of this, rather than task the ReplayTV that was already recording it or one of the other boxes....largely because I was already switched to the DVR for other HD viewing I had been doing at the time, and then decided to switch to viewing the game in progress.

I thought that the normal output of grey pillars was what I'll have to live with, even though there's no fear of burn in on the display and it is distracting against the black border of the screen.

But, I decided to hit change the aspect of the display on both the HLN4365W1 and the SA8300HD so get the black pillars. I'm sure I'll remember to switch it back....

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