Alpha Know it All

It has been quite a while since you have seen an update over here on Alphageek's Thoughts.  That is because my other projects have been taking up some time recently.   You can go over to my other web site venture, where I review restaurants, and see what is going on.  Because you are likely not the geek that I am, I have to tell you to CLICK HERE!  It is okay, I do the thinking around here, and you do the, well, whatever it is you do.

One day, Mrs. Alphageek asked me if I was always a big geek.  When was that moment when I realized I was going to have to go with being a geek, rather than trying to hide away from it?  I said I was not sure, but I knew with cold certainty, when I was a pretty big dummy.  I told her the story, and she said it was pretty funny, so now I am going to write this for you to enjoy.

Modern web sites, like Facebook, will make the reaction, or lack of reaction, an interesting study.  The people who going to read this story fall into three categories.  1) You knew me before this happened.  2) You were actually there when it happened.  Okay, maybe not there, but you went to Europe with me.  Yes, there are two friends on Facebook who met me there.  What are the chances? 3) You have no clue I ever went to Europe, or at least you met me after I went to high school.  For all of you, I recommend you sit back, read and contemplate.  Maybe even have a bourbon, on me.

Let's set up who we are dealing with.  This guy, let's call him Alpha Know it All or AKNA for short.  AKNA set the goal of going to Virginia Tech in the sixth grade.  He was accepted (early decision) of his senior year of high school.  He spent the rest of the time telling everyone about it.  AKNA knew everything about getting into college.  He got an invite to travel Europe for the weeks, playing a musical instrument.  He was really good, if you had asked AKNA back then.  He was in New York city, at rehearsals, for the band that was going to tour Europe for three weeks.

A friend loaned him a Sony Walkman.  What a concept, you could listen a whole 45 minutes before turning the tape over!  This friend had suggested that he might want to get some headphones.  AKNA had been looking around New York City for a great pair of headphones, and found plenty of them.  There was only one problem: AKNA was a cheapskate.  AKNA simply was not willing to pay the prices that folks were asking for cool headphones. 

AKNA had been wandering around, looking at these interesting electronics stores that are all over NYC.  They have really cool looking stereos, Walkmans and headphones in the windows. There is only one problem:  they had brands like Cony and Pinehere in the windows. 

Right before the band was to leave NYC, a group ran out to one of these great electronics stores to get some tapes.  AKNA went along, and started looking at headphones.  Undeterred by the strange brand names, because he knew it all.

As he looked at the headphones, a kind sales guy began to bargain with AKNA.  AKNA said the headphones were too expensive.  Besides, AKNA had to leave, and AKNA's associates were busy paying up.  The salesman said he was getting ready to put all the headphones on sale.  He reached down, and said, "how about this pair for half off"?  AKNA knew that was a great price for a great brand, so he paid up and walked out the store, smug in knowing that AKNA got a great deal.

AKNA got on the plane, and headed to France.  You fly forever to get to Europe, at least that is how it seemed to AKNA.  During the trip, AKNA decided to get out his new headphones, and listen away.  He eagerly plugged them in, and put in something great to pass the time.

The headphones did not work.

While you probably saw this coming, AKNA felt like he had been kicked in the balls.  "How could I be so stupid?  He saw me coming a mile away!"  AKNA was not happy.  To add insult to injury, the return paperwork was still in the headphone packaging that had been carefully stitched back together.  AKNA obviously had some things left to learn. 

Feeling terribly disgruntled, AKNA had to put the headphones in the trash, the next time the flight attendant came around. 

This was an important turning point for AKNA.  It probably kept him from losing money playing some sort of gambling game somewhere in Europe, or losing his money in even more embarrassing ways in Amsterdam.  Sometimes in life, you have to pay the stupid tax, and this was AKNA's turn.  This began the unusally slow climb to Alphageek, but it would take many years, but the pre-Alphageek would never again be quite that gullible. 

Happy Accidents

Recently, I took up painting.  Well, I painted once, and it came out really well.  You can read those exploits by clicking here.  I then did a follow up painting with some friends that you can read about by clicking here.  People were very complimentary, but I did not understand why.

I decided the other day to paint something by picking it out of a Bob Ross book.  I thought "I have one under my belt, what can go wrong"?  The short version of the story is simple.  A lot can go wrong.  The painting started bad, and got worse pretty quickly.  I decided to at least try to practice, but even that did not work. 

Frustrated, I decided to go outside and make a nice fire in the new fire pit/tower/whatever.  I tossed the painting on top.  It made me feel better.

I now understand why everyone was so complimentary.  Let me take this moment to say thanks.

Netflix Restarted

I recently decided to re-activate my Netflix account. I was interested in trying out the movie streaming function that Netflix has been touting in the world's most subtle marketing campaign. I had a sip or two of bourbon and decided to try out the service that they have.

I put people who watch television at home into three categories. The first category is the kind of person who thinks they need a new television for the “digital thing” when they have cable. This is the kind of person that thinks they are watching high-definition because they purchased on of those flat televisions. They don't really understand what high-definition is, which is okay because they still don't understand what the fuss is about with dvd either. They think vhs is “good enough” and don't understand that they wasted a bunch of money when the purchased that new flat panel. They think any additional money for a high-definition signal is a waste of money. They could never use digital video recorder because they don't see what the point is when they have hundreds of video tapes laying around. These are the kind of people that need to get down to the local Goodwill store and purchase all of the used vhs machines they have. If you are one of these people, please leave this blog at once and come back another time. You really won't get this article anyway. You are certainly not capable of hooking anything up to the internet and your television any way. Seriously, leave now.

Now that those bozos are gone, the second category are the people who want to get the most out of their system, since they spent the money for it. They actually use and hdmi cable, and got rid of their vhs tapes years ago. They probably have invested in some sort of surround sound system to enjoy the superior sound that high-definition offers. They certainly have not spent large amounts of money on the fanciest equipment, but they get to watch a pretty good signal because they took the time to get the basics right. They want to maximize the video and sound quality of their investment. This is the category for the Alphageek.

The last category is the spare no expense sort of person. We can just imagine how much they have spent on their systems, but it does not matter because any problem they have has already been solved by spending more money.

I have hooked up my Sony PS3 to my home network, via hard wire, to maximize the bandwidth available to the PS3. The PS3 is hooked up to the television and surround sound system via the best inputs possible. The fine folks at Netflix sent me a dvd that I insert into the PS3. I then activate the dvd on my account, and I can stream movies from the Netflix servers right on to my television very conveniently. They offer a wide, ever expanding variety of entertainment to watch. Update: You don't even need the dvd now, you just download an application onto the PS3.

I have watched a few things now, and have noticed mixed results. While the streaming works better than I thought, I notice that there are differences in the source material. Some television shows are not very good quality, along the line of an old vhs tape. However, some are some what better than a dvd, but not quite true high-definition, but are still pretty good. The only true disappointment is that the sound is only stereo. There is nothing approaching any sort of surround sound that I could find. You certainly cannot beat the convenience. The service also knocks the socks off of pay per view, but only if you can compromise on the sound.

If you have something hooked up to your television that can stream Netflix, you certainly should give the movie streaming a try. I think it is something we will use for a while. Why not leave some feedback, and try to convince me that I have more than two readers.