Friday, January 8, 2010

2010 CES Thursday Recap

2010 CES Thursday Recap:

Went to the State of the CE Industry and Opening Keynote address this morning. Good insight into innovation, and interesting information from the Ford In Car Experience and the SYNC system user interface demonstrations.

Attended two of today's Tech Policy Summit sessions including "Making Nationwide Deployment and Adoption of Broadband a Reality" and "The Spectrum Grab and Innovation". The first session was more of a pleasant discussion, while the second session had some interesting conflict between broadcast and commercial interests, and debate as to whether a true spectrum crisis is indeed looming.

Spent some time on the conference floor--this space is huge. Was able to briefly swing by the GRE America booth, sent a picture via TwitPic. Have since posted some more information on Radio Reference regarding the newly released GRECOM branded models the PSR-700 "EZ Scan-SD" and the PSR-110 Race Scanner.

Was at the Intel keynote. Interesting comments from Paul Otellini regarding computing power. The first Intel 4004 micro-processor from 40 years ago with 2000 transistors was compared to the processors released today with billions of transitions that are running 5000 times faster and costing 100,000 times less. He mentioned if automobile companies innovated like Intel, cars would drive at 470,000 mph using 100,000 mpg and cost 3 cents.

Some additional general comments. 3D is all the hype, but still not that exciting looking for me, everything I've seen still looks like a bunch of 2D layers at fixed distances and doesn't approximate the reality of actual depth perception all that well. Proprietary app stores are on the rise and popping up everywhere (Ford, Intel, etc), but there is some promise of interaction and multi and cross platform support (i.e. interact with an Apple iPhone app via your Ford/Microsoft SYNC system). And personal and mobile computing will take a more prevalent place in the world, be ever more aware, and more available when at home and on the go, especially with all the new netbooks, tablets, smart phones and smart home technologies.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

2010 CES Thursday Agenda

2010 CES Thursday Agenda

First full day of the show. Will try to make it to the two keynotes today, plus I have a few sessions on my calendar. Will also explore some other general interest areas and exhibitors.

Be sure to follow me on twitter @jpryor223 for updates through out the day.

2010 CES Wednesday Recap

2010 CES Wednesday Recap:

Took a stroll down the strip and tossed $10 in the slot machines of 20 different casinos. Was able to hold my ground on the first half and first 10 casinos, but no luck on the second half. The best pull was at ARIA, with last $1 left, I hit the 3rd highest progressive for a $78 payout.

Got my CES badge holder and went to the pre keynote address at the Hilton Center featuring Microsoft's Steve Ballmer. Very interesting topics and technology demos, all with a distinct Microsoft slant though.

Hotel WIFI/Internet coverage is spotty at best, so most of my blogging activities will be limited to basic recaps and upcoming agendas for now.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES)

I will be attending the 2010 CES later this week in Las Vegas. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to cover the show from both a professional perspective as well as check out things from a hobbyist, enthusiast and personal perspective. While not being occupied by topics related to my day job, I plan to check out a variety of exhibitors and other interesting sessions. I'll also be sure to slide by the GRE booth, I suspect that there won't be much more for display than what they had at the Dayton Hamvention. But maybe they'll have an future iScan digital prototype or other GRE branded models.

The following are my primary objectives during my CES/Las Vegas trip:

1) Digital Health Summit (ces info) (website) - Cover the Digital Health Summit, in relation to my day job as a Business Analyst in a health care information company. We are simplifying the business of health care and connecting and empowering consumers to manage their health in a ever more consumer-based health care space. Looking for disruptive technologies and tracking the emerging markets of the rapidly evolving digital health care industry.
2) Tech Policy Summit (ces info) - Attend the Tech Policy Summit with interesting sessions like "Making Nationwide Deployment and Adoption of Broadband a Reality", "The Spectrum Grab and Innovation", and "Inside the FCC's Communications Agenda". These sessions will likely offer interesting discussions regarding our ever growing and connected wireless communications world and may have ramifications for Amateur Radio and other spectrum uses.
3) GRE America (ces booth) (website) - Represent the Radio Reference community, answer questions and provide general coverage related to the GRE scanner product line.
4) General Interest - Explore other exhibitors and sessions of general consumer electronics interest.
5) "#20casinos" Challenge - Travel the Las Vegas strip, hitting a total of 20 of the largest Casinos in the world in 10 Hours (or less) and gambling a total of $200 bucks at said casinos. Part of my Wednesday free day and a special project that will likely have heavy Twitter and TwitPic coverage. Look here and on Twitter this Wednesday for more information.

I've primarily be covering objectives number 2 through 5 both here and via Twitter.

Stay tuned to this blog for a preview of my daily CES agenda and nightly summary and recap information. Follow me on Twitter @jpryor223 for real time updates and TwitPic images through out each day. And keep track of my position on APRS.fi via my KC8NNO-12 APRS-enabled location tracking Smart Phone.

Jeff KC8NNO

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Toledo Police Christmas Broadcast 2009

I have posted an Audio Log file from one of Toledo Police's Christmas Eve 2009 Broadcasts. There is a link to the file in the Selected Activity Library (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/audiologs.html) on the Audio Logs page.

The following broadcast is a Toledo Police tradition:

[Alert Tones:] "Attention all cars and listeners. Be on the lookout for a short jolly individual dressed in red and trimmed in white, who is constantly saying 'Ho! Ho! Ho!'. Subject was last seen operating a sleigh being pulled by eight reindeer, southbound from the North Pole. This subject's method of operation is that he spreads joy and cheer everywhere. If this subject is observed, all units are advised to assist this subject as much as possible. If found, this subject will bring you happiness all year long. All the members of the Toledo Police Division, the operators of the Communications Section, and this officer would like to wish all our listeners a very Merry Christmas. WNCE682 and KTS670. It's Christmas Eve 2009."

[Followed by a radio response in reply to Officer James Ogle's broadcast:] "It's good to hear your voice Jimmy."

Direct Link: 12/24/2009 - Toledo Police - Christmas Eve 2009 Broadcast (1.7 MB)

See the following articles from the Toledo Blade "Just like Santa Claus, TPD dispatcher delivers" (http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091225/NEWS02/912250365/-1/NEWS) and WUPW "Christmas Eve police tradition" (http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/news/local/Christmas-Eve-police-tradition) for more information.

Audio Log from Oregon FD House Fire

I have posted an Audio Log file from Christmas Eve's house fire in Oregon Ohio. There is a link to the file in the Selected Activity Library (http://nwohio-liveservices.dyndns.org/audiologs.html) on the Audio Logs page.

This file contains 20 minutes of fire ground audio from the Oregon Fire Department operations starting at 11:30 AM and through 1:00 PM during the day of Thursday, December 24th, 2009. Firefighters from Oregon FD Station 1, Station 2 and Station 3 responded to the historic 170-year old Johlin house at the 3900 block of Corduroy Road in the City of Oregon.

Direct Link: 12/24/2009 - Ohio, Lucas County, Oregon FD - House Fire (9.0 MB)

See the following article from WNWO "Johlin Winery family home spared after fire" (http://www.toledoonthemove.com/news/story.aspx?id=394151) for more information.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Radio Shack holiday Scanner sales

While this year's Radio Shack holiday Scanner sales don't include any of their digital scanners, and these sales have not been as exciting as last season, they still have some decent discounts. Radio Shack is offering $50 off three handheld analog scanner models and you may find some discount codes for additional savings.

PRO-137 Racing Scanner: $79.99
PRO-164 1000-Channel Handheld Scanner: $149.99
PRO-107 Handheld iScan Trunking Scanner: $179.99

"Sale valid until 01/02/10"

The most interesting model is the new GRE built PRO-107 Handheld iScan Trunking Scanner. This model is analog only and won't cover the Toledo/Lucas digital system, but this scanner still could be a good choice for those in other areas. It provides a fresh and revolutionary design that offers ease of use and flexibility, as well as simplicity of operation. The included memory storage card holds programming information for all analog frequencies and trunking systems in the entire US based on information from the Radio Reference database. It will be exciting to see some of these features incorporated into possible future models. Hopefully a Digital iScan is on the horizon.

Jeff KC8NNO