Review: Composite/S-Video to VGA converter.

If you're into retro video gaming, you probably know that these games look better on a CRT screen vs your modern LCD TV screen.  That's because all retro games render their images using 2D sprites.  Modern LCD TV display everything in pixels and displaying 2D sprites in pixels simply makes it look like a mess.  I was looking for a good CRT TV but wasn't able to find one.  I do have an old PC CRT that I have lying around.  So I thought what would it take to display my SNES video to that CRT?  

PC CRT's are different from regular TV CRT's in being that they have much higher resolution and their input is via either VGA or DVI.   The CRT I have is a 17" SONY 200ES.  I remember picking this up at CompUSA for $400 when it was new.  It was a higher end model at that time when the standard was a 15" screen.  It has a top resolution of 1280 x 1024 and a low resolution of 640 x 480.  Even at 640 x 480, its resolution much higher than what the SNES puts out which is about 256×224.  Other consoles like the Dreamcast might be easier as it has native VGA adapter.  That's obstacle number one.  The second obstacle is how to plug it into the CRT's VGA port to a Composite/S-Video connector that my SNES had.  The solution I found is this little Video to VGA converter box I purchased on EBay for $15. 

Composite video to VGA adapter

Without knowing how the box internally works, I'm assuming it converts or upscales Composite/S-Video signal to VGA.  The end result is that it works great for me. The VGA port is a 15pin D-Sub connector with a Red, Green and Blue signal coming out of its individual pins.  Whether this little device separates the Composite/S-Video signal to its individual colors to VGA, I'm not sure.  But probably not.  That's all thats need to make it display on the CRT.  Another down side to using this method of connecting a PC CRT monitor over a regular TV CRT is that most if not all of them don't have built in speakers.  You will need an individual external speakers if you want sound.  Overall, I'm happy with the result and I didn't have to of scour for an old TV CRT from a yard sale or flea market.

Sony 200ES display SNES video

Review: Audio-Technica AT-LPW30TK

Audio-Technica AT-LPW30TK

Got my hands on the Audio-Technica AT-LPW30TK turntable today.  It's a basic fully manual turntable with the standard functions any turntable would have.  I like the wood grain finish that gives it a more traditional vintage look.  This is to replace the TEAC TN-280BT that came DOA as I didn't feel good taking another try at it.  I got this for $249 which i believe is the MSRP.  It had free shipping and no tax so I saved a bit there.  The unit work perfectly out of the box.  Setting it up was easy.  If you've set up a turntable before, you should have no issues.  One thing I liked was the adjustable feet of the turntable.  The desk I placed the turntable on was a tad uneven so adjusting the feet to level it out was perfect.  Other than that, there isn't much to say about this bad boy.  It looks great in my living room.

 


Audio-Technica AT-LPW30TK Features

• Fully manual, belt-drive at 33/45 RPM
• Adjustable dynamic anti-skate control
• AT-VM95C Dual Moving Magnet phono cartridge compatible with any VM95 Series replacement stylus.
• Straight tonearm with hydraulically damped lift control and lockable rest
• Anti-resonance MDF (medium density fiberboard) plinth with teak simulated wood veneer
• Built-in switchable phono pre-amplifier for phono or line-level output
• Includes dual RCA (male) to dual RCA (male) stereo cable, 45 RPM adapter, rubber mat and removable hinged dust cover
• Adjustable feet for uneven surfaces.

Review: TACKLife Air Compressor.

So I've been dealing with tire pressure issue on my car the past year.  Took it to 3 different places to check for leaks and they found none.  I can tell there's a leak somewhere as I lose 10 psi every couple of weeks.  Maybe the leak doesn't happen all the time and only under certain conditions that it does not experience at the auto dealer service center.  The tire is still good with a lot of treads so I don't want to replace it.  So instead of making trips to the gas station and paying $1.50 each time to use their air compressor machine, I opted to buy an air compressor.  The one I got is the TackLife ACP1B tire inflator.  It's got pretty good reviews on Amazon so I though I'd give it a try.  It takes power from the car's 12v cigarette light adapter.  Operating the device is pretty simple.  You just plug it into your tire valve, then the TackLife into the cigarette light adapter and then start your car.  It will then display the current PSI your tire has.  use the + and - button to the desired PSI and hit the power button.  Once the device inflates to the PSI you set to, it will shut off automatically.  The tire on my car was down to 17psi.  To get the TackLife to inflate it to 35PSI, it took around 2.5 minutes.  Not bad.  The unit didn't get hot at all except for the air cable which felt a bit warm to the touch.

          

Pros:

• Small and lightweight.  Good for taking with you on long road trips.
• Comes with carrying case.
• Uses your car's 12v cigarette light socket as power.
• Has a spotlight feature on the side.
• Can inflate up to 150 PSI
• LCD display unit.
• Comes with a backup fuse.
• Fast to inflate.

Cons:

• A bit noisy during operation.

Nintendo Switch Lite!

Nintendo Switch Lite - Pink

Just got my hands on a Nintendo Switch Lite.  It's the pink version.  My first impressions is that its considerably lighter than the original, so I guess the name Switch Lite is apropos.  If you have small hands, it will feel good holding it for an extended period of time.  One thing I wish Nintendo would have done is made the sides rounded much like the PS Vita.  The traditional square'ish sides like all previous Nintendo handhelds makes holding it more difficult and uncomfortable for some.  After playing it for a while, I do notice the battery life is longer than the original and that's one of the selling points of the Lite.  Plus your hand doesn't get tired holding the device since the weight is reduced over the original.

Nintendo Switch Lite - Pink (bottom view)

The Lite comes with the console itself and the charging cable.  That's all.  In terms of the construction, its very solidly built much like the original.  I do like the fact they have the D-pad instead of the four buttons on the left side.  All the other buttons remains the same over the original.  A lot of people complained about the original not having a D-pad but I get it.  It's made so that you can just the joycon for a second controller.  So if you turn each joycons to the side, you would have an identical button and analog stick layout.  But since the Lite doesn't have detachable joycons, there's no problem to put the traditional D-pad on there.  Overall, its a nice handheld to have if you want portability/battery life over screen size/joycons.  That's what it comes down to.

Nintendo Switch Lite - Pink (rear view)

Nintendo Switch Lite - Pink ( top view)

Nintendo Switch Lite vs Original

Pro's

• Lighter, smaller size.
• Easier portability
• Cheaper price at MSRP of $199.
• Longer battery life.
• D-pad controller.

Con's

• Cannot play on TV due to lack of a dock.
• No detachable joycons.
• Smaller screen
• Will need to buy seperate joycons and charger for games that require joycons.

Review: TEAC TN-280BT turntable

The TEAC TN-280BT is a low/mid tier level turntable.  They are known for their audio equipment around the world.  For me, I was introduced to the TEAC brand back in the 90's with their 3.5" floppy drives.  As far as floppy drives goes back then, it was TEAC first, then all other brands.  The TN-280BT retails for $350 upon release but newer models have came out and the price has come down since its been discontinued.  I was able to find a good deal and got this one on a closeout price at $179.  The build quality of this is much better than the newly released turntables that cost $99 with the same features thus the higher cost.

TEAC TN-280BT Box

Purchase here

The TN-280BT is an all manual belt driven turntable.  It also has built in Bluetooth so that you can stream the audio to your headphones wirelessly.  I probably wouldn't use it because bluetooth audio sucks. It's also got a phono pre-amp so you don't have to buy a seperate pre-amp if you have a newer AV receiver that doesn't have the phono connection.  The dark walnut color is good but I would have preferred a lighter wood grain.  There is also a black version as well for the contemporary look.  It's sturdy weight at 10lbs gives the sense of high quality and stability when your record is playing.


Unfortunately, after unpacking the device and plugging it in, this device failed to spin.  I can see the motor pulley try to spin as I can see it twitch every 4-5 seconds but no dice.  I will have to return this unit.  Bummer.  I would have been nice to see this player in action.

TEAC TN-280BT Unpacked

TEAC TN-280BT Contents

Pros:

• Cost.  As of now, you can get it at the closeout price of $179.
• Sturdy weight.
• Built-in phono pre-amp.
• 33.3 and 45 rpm.
• Cue lever
• Anti-skate control

Cons:

• Wow and flutter is advertised at 0.20%.  Others at this prices has it under .20%.
• Power cable and audio cable supplies are a bit short.

How to check what VM are components in your VxRail cluster.

Run the query command below from the command line in the VxRail Manager to see what VM's are a VxRail component that it manages.

psql -U postgres marvin -c "select * from virtual_machine"

It will output a list of VM.  Probably should note that not to make any changes on these VM's without going through VxRail Manager.


Note:  This command was tested on VxRail 4.5.x and 4.7.x

Create folders from a text file in Powershell with modified date.

$folders = import-csv C:\mycsvfile.csv
cd myfolder

foreach ($f in $folders)
{
     mkdir $f.name
     $path = "C:\myfolder\"+$f.name
     $temp = Get-Item $path
     $temp.LastWriteTime = $f.configvalue
}

Note:  the csv file has to have a column called 'name' to powershell to identify the column.

New Pearl Jam album arrives in the mail!

  

Vinyl and CD

Just got it in the mail today.  I had this pre-ordered a month in advance and it came after a week after the release.  The album packaging and artwork has always been carefully thought out on every Pearl Jam album.  Gigaton is no different.  The vinyl is a gatefold design with a booklet of pictures and liner notes.  The CD has the same content just a smaller design.  On both of them, the font of the name and the EKG design on the cover is embossed.  The vinyl is a 2 LP version and music on 3 sides.   The 4th side is left empty with some word etching that say "In The Midst Of The 6th".  After doing some research, there are several different types of etching so yours might be different.



More of my comments on the album itself here.
Pearl Jam's new album: Gigaton!

Inside Vinyl Gatefold

Outside Vinyl Cover Art Unfolded

COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic

Lining up to get into Trader Joe's

As we enter week 3 of a statewide lockdown of California to control the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus, infections and death numbers continue to rise.  We're all asked to stay indoors unless for the essentials like grocery shopping or a trip to the bank or gas station.  All stores are closed and restaurants are open for take out or drive through only.  If we do have to go out, we're asked to keep a 'social distance' of 6ft apart of one another.  I don't ever remember a time that is quite like this being in the U.S. for over 35 years.  People are asked to work from home, and others are out without a job if their jobs require personal interaction with people.  I feel bad for them.   Luckily, in my line of work, telecommuting is an easy option.  Others are not so lucky.  As the economy plummets and a 900 point drop in the stock market in a day is starting to be a common sight these last couple of weeks, one has to wonder when is this all going to get back to normal. Tokyo 2020 summer olympics have been postponed, all sporting events have their season postponed, grocery stores have isles of empty shelves where they once stocked sanitizers, masks and toilet papers as the fear of the virus become immense as the news coverage on the number of cases infected and deaths continue to rise daily.  This whole ordeal started in early January in China and it's since spread worldwide to other countries.  Most flights shutdown for the foreseable future and definitely no incoming international flights to the U.S., these are drastic measures taken to prevent the spread.  We're not a the peak of this pandemic as declared by the WHO, and I am guessing this will last through spring and into the summer months.  Has China learned anything from this?  Probably not.  Maybe it has to happen a few more times for them to enforce laws and regulations?   Am I pissed off at China?  Of course.  It's unprecedented.

Pearl Jam's new album: Gigaton!

Pearl Jam will release their 11th studio album titled Gigaton on March 27, 2020.  Gigaton is a word for a unit of measurement.  It can mean a different variety of measurement but in Pearl Jam's case, with their political and environmental stance, it is likely that it means the measurement for the amount of Earth's ice that's melting due to climate change.

---

gigaton

[ gig-uh-tuhn, jig- ]

noun

a measurement of weight or capacity.  equivalent to one billion tons. Abbreviation: GT

---

It's been 7 years since Pearl Jam released Lightning Bolt and there were high anticipation from me and other fans on when the new album is going to come out and how its going to sound.   Pearl Jam fans knew there was an album in the works so we were all anxiously waiting.  In February, the band started dropping hints on Twitter on the name of the new album.  It wasn't long until fans learned of the new album is going to be named Gigaton.  Another twist to the band is the sound of the first single, Dance of the Clairvoyants.  There's some cool electronic sounds to it.  If you only recognize Pearl Jam by their early stuff, there's no way you'd think that this is a Pearl Jam song.   I think it's the bands intent not to be categorized in having a distinctive sound by having an ever changing feel of each album.  I went ahead and pre ordered both the vinyl and the cd version to add to my Pearl Jam collection.  Take my money now!  Can't wait to listen to the rest of the album.

Pearl Jam - Gigaton

Track listing:

     1.  Who Ever Said
     2.  Superblood Wolfmoon
     3.  Dance of the Clairvoyants
     4.  Quick Escape
     5.  Alright
     6.  Seven O’Clock
     7.  Never Destination
     8.  Take The Long Way
     9.  Buckle Up
    10. Come Then Goes
    11. Retrograde
    12. River Cross


Quick thoughts on the first two singles:

Dance of the Clairvoyants: 
The first single of the album.  This is a great choice as the first single.  It begins with some awesome catchy bass and electronic sound followed by the chorus, "Expecting perfection leaves a lot to ignore. When the past is the present and the future's no more. When every tomorrow is the same as before."  Sweet!  Stone Gossard plays lead bass on this and Mike McCready's guitar sounds is amazing.  Can't stop listening to it.

Superblood Wolfmoon:
The second single of the album.  This is a catchy, fast paced rock song.  I liked this song a lot.  One the first listen, I was hooked whereas the first single, Dance of the Clarivoyants, needed me a few listens for me to get its beauty.