At the very core of GoogleTV is an internet-connected device that interfaces with my set-top box and can overlay information on my TV.  They clearly do not understand what a fantastic idea they have and the potential for greatness!  The internet connected device can automatically get any information AND make intelligent judgements. The interfacing with my set-top box means it can ACT on the information and intelligent judgements.  The ability to overlay information means it can display information the information without having to change an input or obscure the TV.

Given these three core facts, GoogleTV should be a full GUIDE REPLACEMENT.  As good as my current guide is (I do like it), it’s just a LIST.  It does not know me, it does not recommend anything for me.  This is where GoogleTV should fit in.

GoogleTV SHOULD:

• allow me to rate shows
• know my favorite/hated shows
• change my guide based on my favorite/hated shows
• display a “what’s on” considering my favorite/hated shows
• display a schedule of just my favorite shows or hide hated shows
• notify me when a new episode of my favorite show is on
• allow me to search channels for the next showing a show (new or syndication)

Do you see where I’m going with this one?  This device has the ability to know my guide, has the ability to know what I want to watch, and has the ability to help me watch what I want to watch; yet does NONE of it.

There’s a third-party app called TV Show Favs which helps, but it’s a weakly developed app which was designed for the phone.  With the app, I can mark my favorite shows, but the phone-only widget (not designed for Google TV so it looks non-proportioned) only shows the next new episode on the main channel, nothing about syndication.

In fact, there was one function I loved in Google TV 2.1 that they REMOVED for 3.x; the ability to search for a show.  Open up the search bar, type in “Family Guy” and it would tell you when the next showing is.  Now with the updated “TV & Movies” app, they are more interested in selling you an Amazon Instant Download subscription.

The only favoring allowed in Google TV is for channels. I could not give less of a shit which channel something is on as long as I have it.  Does it matter that Seinfeld is on TBS or my local affiliate?  NO!   I want to watch the show, so tune to it.  Other than your teenage daughter watching MTV all day, is anyone loyal to a channel?  Does anyone wonder “Hey, what’s on my favorite channel?” or do they wonder “Hey, what channel has something I like on?”

Currently, Google TV feels like a touchscreen-less and plan-less phone with a new remote that my girlfriend has to learn.  I see no benefit to the common user.  I spent fifteen minutes showing my girlfriend how to use the device, when I realize all I was teaching her was how to do the same thing she normally does, with a bigger remote.  Where was the benefit?  Where was the enhancement?

Google, you are in a tough position.  You need to be able to make a device my parents can use while at the same time allowing me the freedom to change and modify it as I see fit.  Good luck.

The main problem is other companies. Do I fault Google?  Yes, a little. However, additional faults lie with Logitech, Motorola and the content distributers.

I figured with the recent price drop of the Logitech Revue to $99, how bad could it be?  Boy, was I wrong.

1. DRM Issues, of COURSE!

Motorola has an HDCP issue where they only allow one (1) device to be between the set-top box and the TV.  This means I can’t put my receiver in the chain with the Google TV.  DRM: Protecting you from watching your content.

Needless to say, this made me want to wish cancer on every decision maker at Motorola because now I have to rewire my entire system, the “20 min setup” just turned into a “60 min setup”.

2. Reinventing the Guide – Great Idea, Poor Implementation

Once I got into the operating system, I tried the “big get”, using the search function for finding a TV show.  A search of “Family Guy“ gives me a list of search results and lets me know that Family Guy is coming up in the next hour.  There’s no additional functionality.  I assumed the whole point of putting this system in my chain of devices would help me.  So far, it just added another remote (a keyboard sized one, no less), and made me rewire my cables.  In my test, my only options were “Tune Now” (there was no way I was watching 5 mins of Kevin James syndicated rerun) or “Guide”.  Why don’t I have an option to “Tune Later”, where whatever I’m watching now won’t be interrupted, and the channel will change at the top of the hour?

3. The Guide’s Missing Features

The reason that you see all 1000 of your channels on your set-top box’s guide is so you are constantly tempted to purchase the additional channel lineup from  your cable provider.  I have two problems that Google TV does not solve; first, I’d like to hide channels I do not have, second, I’d like to hide channels I do not want.  I’m an elitist, I didn’t buy a 60″ widescreen HDTV to watch a show in  4:3.  Allow me to hide the shitty SD channels from searches.

Since everything is indexed and presented differently, allow me to rate shows.  The “What’s On” option then becomes “What’s On That I Can Tolerate”.  Instead of 200 options, I can see if any of  the 10 shows I actually like on are TV now, then I can browse “What’s On” now if I choose.

4. Lack of Scheduling

Like most adults, I have a set TV routine.  News in the morning, Family Guy / The Office whenever it’s on, and then the rest of the weekly garbage on TV.  If you are going to claim its a smart device, then allow me to schedule what I want to watch.  At 6:30am, automatically tune to my favored local news station, so that when I turn on my TV, it’s on.  Whenever Family Guy comes on between 6:30pm and 9pm, prompt to change the channel, I can accept or deny the request.

5. Does not index DLNA content

I started this piece off with a discussion about my media center, I was hoping GoogleTV to help. My goal was to get rid of having to use my AppleTV for XBMC.  Google TV cannot mount SMB or NFS shares like XBMC can, so I had to rely on DLNA.  Not ideal, but workable.  Except that you can’t index DLNA content with the searching function.  Pointless.

6. Integrates with Nothing

As another android device in the house using my primary display in the house, it only seems natural for the ability to receive alerts on my TV.  For beginners, when my phone rings, display who is calling.  For advanced users, allow me to send an HTTP request which pops up an toast-style notification of my choosing and design ala Growl.

I’m an advanced user, my needs are above the bell curve, granted; however, so far, the features are below the curve.

First, admit to yourself that you may not know everything. If you just glanced over that last statement, start this paragraph over again.  Why am I making you re-read it? Because when you are viewing a house, you are not likely to take in every little detail which may make or break your purchase.

It’s Dangerous To Go Alone! Take This.

You will need the following items when you are ready to go visit houses:

• A Trusted Friend – Take along a friend whose taste you trust. This person will be your sounding board, and an extra set of eyes.
• A Camera – You will not remember everything, take a picture of things you like, and things you do not.
• MLS Paperwork – The sheets you printed out from the last article.
• Pen – You will want to take notes at each location and make a pros and cons list of each property.

You will know whether you want or do not want a house as soon as you enter it.  The rest of the tour just reinforces your initial opinion.  You will be looking at the proverbial “lipstick on a pig”; painted walls, cleaned carpets, and basic furniture layouts.  Do not let this happen.

Going to your first house will be an overwhelming experience.   On your first visit the the house, try to ignore the flashy elements and concentrate on the concrete line items the house brings to the table.  It may have 2 bathrooms, but is one out of the way?  Does the layout make sense with your furniture items or lifestyle?  You will be looking at the house from a “how can I live here” point of view.

Your friend has a very important role as well. He or she will be responsible for viewing the house from a “how can you live here” point of view.  He or she should know your strengths, your weaknesses, and be a normalizer.  You might be blinded by the hot tub or spa on the deck, your friend should remind you that the small kitchen cannot support a dishwasher.

Groundhog’s Day

On a good day, your realtor may take you to see somewhere between five (5) and eight (8) homes.  For each house you visit, you should take a picture of it from the streets, the front door, and develop a light pros and cons list. Wash, rinse, repeat.

After a while, they will all start to blend together. Use this to your advantage. If you can not remember a house, it may not have been right for you.  At the end of the day and at the end of each outing, keep a running binder of your top five (5) houses and throw the rest away.

Error Parsing the server 1.2.3.4 clients.xml file. Login will continue contact your system administrator

After clicking OK, you get the real message:

The type initializer for “VirtualInfrastructure.Utils.HttpWebRequestProxy” threw an exception

A workaround for the solution was posted by ftublo on the VMware Communities forums.

1. Create a folder (e.g. Lib) in the Windows 7 machine where the vSphere client is installed (%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\).
2. Obtain a copy of %SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll from a non-Windows 7 machine that has .NET 3.5 SP1 installed. Copy this file into the folder created in Step 1.
3. In the vSphere client launcher directory, open the VpxClient.exe.config file in a text editor and add a <runtime> element and a <developmentMode> element within the <configuration> element. Save the file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
...
<runtime>
<developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/>
</runtime>
</configuration>

4. Create a batch file (e.g. VpxClient.cmd) in a suitable location (e.g. Desktop). In this file add a command to set the DEVPATH environment variable to the folder where you copied the System.dll assembly in step 2 and a second command to launch the vSphere client. Save the file.

SET DEVPATH=%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib
"%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe"

NOTE: If you are running 64-bit Windows, replace all instances of Program Files with Program Files (x86).

You can now use the VpxClient.cmd (or the shortcut) to launch the vSphere client in Windows 7.

This workaround bypasses the normal .NET Framework loading mechanism. Assembly versions found in the DEVPATH folder are not checked. Handle with care.

In most markets, realtor services for the buyer are free, so take advantage of it; their commission comes from the seller.  You are going to want to be honest with your realtor but definitely need someone you can trust.  Ask your family, friends, and co-workers for an agent they trust.

Wants and Needs

Before you step out your door, make a wishlist of things in a house you want, and things in a house you cannot live without.  A pool, as tempting as it is, may not be a need; but depending on where you live, central air is a must!

The MLS search engine is a list of all houses on the market and their respective options.  If you make your wants and needs list based on the search engine fields, your agent will have an easier time finding houses.  As an example:

• Single Family Home / Townhouse / Condo – If you have ruled out condos because you want a yard or single family homes because you don’t want to mow your lawn, tell your agent. This is the biggest way to reduce your search results.
• Beds, Baths – Unfortunately, this one isn’t so cut and dry.  A den can always be turned into a bedroom, and a half-bath can usually be retrofitted with a stand-up shower.  Decide on with your minimums, for example, you might want at least 1.5 baths because you don’t ever want to have to use the bowl while your significant other is in the shower.
• Amenities – Garage, Pool, Center Air, Driveway, etc – These should might be considered negotiable, but make sure you know what you definitely DON’T want.

Two Types of Agents

There are two types in agents in most markets, licensed realtors and satellite agents.  I will use the terms interchangeably through this series.  Real estate companies employ licensed realtors, they are the person who you will sit down and do all the paper work with, such as writing the offer.  They are often full-time employees of real estate companies.  Licenced realtors can employ satellite agents who do all the “grunt work”, i.e. dealing with the buyer and showing houses.

The real estate market for agents is competitive and costly.  There are license fees, lawyer escrows, and tons of laws that licensed realtors have to know.  This tends to be a full-time job, because the amount of sales you must to turn a profit after paying all the fees is high.  Since showing houses is mostly wasted time, licensed agents employ satellite agents to show houses and deal with buyers until they are ready to commit.  The satellite agents do not have to pay high fees and can do the job on a part-time basis.

You will most likely have most of your dealing with a satellite agent.  Find one you like and trust.  Remember, you don’t have to sign anything until you are ready to make an offer.  You will want your agent to get to know you in and out, your likes and dislikes; provide all this information and he or she will be responsible for separating out the wheat from chaff.

MLS Listings

You and your agent should decide on a price range first, but it’s not as easy as the number on the pre-approval letter.  You’ll probably want to take the number on your pre-approval letter plus $25,000 as your search area.  Why?  If you were selling a house, would you list it at cost or would you add a premium to it?  Houses always list high because they were loved by someone and they feel that is what the house is worth.  However, it’s only really worth what someone will pay for it, most sales never settle at the list price, there is always room to knock down the price.

I will discuss more about prices later, but if you are approved for $300k mortgage, wouldn’t you at least want to look at a $315k list price house?  There’s always a chance the seller really only wanted $290k or has to leave quickly and will take the first offer.  You don’t want to be kicking yourself later when you find out that house sold within your range.

Once you have given your agent your price range and a list of wants and needs to help narrow down the search results, you should get back some printouts of MLS Listings; this is like the baseball card of the house.  It tells you all about the features, the land, and comparable stats.

Sit down and select a list of houses that appeal to you and you want to see.  Pictures can be decieving, so don’t be too picky based on a one-sheet.  Finally, grab your notebook and continue on to Part III of Buying Your First House.

Our goal at the end of Part I is to have three numbers:  your credit scores, the maximum monthly mortgage payment you are comfortable with, and a pre-approval letter that has your maximum that is allowed to be financed.

Get Your Credit Report

I’ve already told you how to obtain your free credit report, so this part should be easy.  Get your three credit reports and resolve any disputes on them.

Set Your Budgets

Before spending any money, you should always know how much you have to spend.  If you are online savvy, set up a personal finance account at any reputable institution (I use MoneyCenter, but it’s not user friendly, beginners should try Quicken or Mint).  These sites become your electronic balance sheet and are like accountants who never forget.  Enter in your bank accounts and credit cards and they do the rest.  You can see pretty graphs of your income, expenses and categorize where you spend your money.  Do this now, so by the time you are ready to write up an offer, you are confident you can afford the payments.

Your goal in this step is to come up with a number you are comfortable in paying each month for your new house.  Keep this number in stone!  This number should work out to be around 35% of your Take Home pay for the mortgage and no more than 45% of your Take Home pay for all reoccurring monthly debt (mortgage, student loans, car loan, credit card minimum payments).

Now is the time to start paying off credit card balances, start consolidating student loans, and reducing monthly payments.

Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage

With your past few months finances and your credit reports printed out, I recommend physically going to a bank and sitting down with a mortgage lender.  This is only a dry-run!  Do not sign anything, just ask for a pre-approval letter.  Tell the mortgage lender what you are comfortable in paying as a max payment each month (the number you calculated in the “Set Your Budgets” section) and s/he will do some math and give you a preapproval letter for a certain purchase price and amount that is allowed to be financed.  This is not the last pre-approval letter you will get, it’s just a start, our maximum.

Now that you’ve all this, let’s continue on to Part II of Buying Your First House.

You are entitled to a one (1) free copy of your Credit Report from each credit reporting agency ANNUALLY by law (1 credit report from each credit reporting agency = 3 reports). The ONLY website authorized to do this is  https://www.annualcreditreport.com.  Everything else is a scam!

Let’s get some definitions out of the way:

Credit Report: A list of your entire credit history: loans, credit cards, previous addresses, payments on all loans/credit cards.
Credit Score: A score which sums up your entire Credit Report in terms of the companies risk on lending to you.  Lower Score = Higher Risk.
Credit Reporting Agencies:  Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.  Also called Credit Bureaus.
FICO Score: The most widely accepted Credit Score, provided to consumers by Equifax.  This is what you want.
Vantage Score:  An substandard calculation provided by TransUnion and Experian as an alternative to FICO.

The three Credit Reporting Agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) each compile their OWN credit report on you, and calculate their own credit score on you.  Judgments by lenders are based on the compilation of all three.  You would be wise to get all three, make sure each credit reporting agency has the same information.

Start by going to annualcreditreport.com and follow the links to all three agencies to retrieve your -credit report- FOR FREE.  Remember, your credit report is only a list of your history, it is DIFFERENT from your credit score, which is a calculation of your risk to the lender.  The websites only offer your credit report for free, the credit score costs money to see.

Most likely you will be asked to create an account on each agency’s website.  For your benefit, create the same username on each, and use a password you don’t use for ANYTHING else.   Save your login information in your fireproof safe so you remember for next year.  You can only get your credit report from each agency once every 365 days, not calendar year, I suggest you do it on your birthday each year so you don’t forget.

To make things more confusing (as if they weren’t already enough) Experian and TranUnion have developed their own scale for credit scores called VantageScore.  Yes, even the credit bureaus you are supposed to trust pull shananigans.  This score is dogshit and lenders do not care about it.  The only site which will give you a FICO Score (which is what you want) is Equifax. Purchase your Credit Score from Equifax ($7.95) only, but make sure you get AND PRINT (2 copies each) all three of your credit reports.

If a business runs your credit report and charges you money, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT to receive a copy from them. If an apartment complex runs your credit (regardless of if you get in or not), you can get your full report from them (and see your FICO scores from all three!  Sneaky, I know).   Multiple credit checks by business within 30 days do not count against you.  So don’t wait months to have another business do it.

Your credit score is basically calculated on three things:

1. How often you make on-time payments.  (If you missed a payment by more than 30 days in the past 3 years = bad, otherwise OK).
2. Your credit used-to-available ratio.  (if you have $1000 of available credit across all cards, and you owe $900, ratio = 90%, bad.  If you owe $100, ratio = 10%, good.)
3. How much balance is kept on cards each month.  (If you pay just above minimum payment on each card each month = bad.  If you pay off it completely each month = great.)

If you want a quick boost, pay off your credit cards.  If you want a better boost, ask for a balance increase and DO NOT USE IT.

Do not close your cards while there are balances on them.  It’s better to keep the card and keep the credit line even if you never use it until it’s empty.  Get rid of any “store” cards (Circuit City, Sears, etc) you have and only keep 1 or 2 from major banks that do not have annual fees.  As a bonus to yourself, make sure your card has reward points.  It’s better to keep a card you have had for longer than keep a newer card.

Almost done, go through each report you get, sit down with a highlighter and make sure it’s all correct.  You have the right to dispute any information on the credit reports.  Bad information may hurt you.  I recently had to correct where I worked on one report because it looked like I changed employers last month (a negative because they like stable people), so I got it corrected and it raised my score.

Finally, put your monthly bills on your CC, and pay them off EACH MONTH.  It keeps activity on the card AND shows that you pay it off each month (double bonus).  I know it’s a lot of info, so bookmark this page, print it out, send it to your friends, and read it later.

UPDATE:  The only caveat to obtaining your credit report online is a security measure called a “Security Freeze”.  That means what they have on file for you is not the same what you just typed in as your last residence or whatever when you started filling out your information on annualcreditreport.com.  Call the offending company up (search the site for a customer service number) and ask them to unfreeze your account so you can get your free credit report.  Simple mistakes could be a misspelling of the street name, street name or apartment number.  Don’t panic.

Windows? Linux? Mac? No problem.  Installers are available for all three systems.

DropBox (a glorified subversion system for the rest of us) has finally worked its way out of beta and will become the backbone for our project.  Transmission of data to DropBox is via HTTPS, so we at least have half the problem resolved.

The second problem is DropBox’s STORAGE of my files.  If they defect to the goverment faster than AT&T did with the NSA, then you can be sure your private key and personal bookmarks to porn sites will be used against you.  I wanted the storage of my files encrypted. Since I couldn’t trust DropBox, I turned to my good old friend, TrueCrypt.

The solution here is to create a TrueCrypt volume inside of your DropBox folder.  Even though DropBox has a 2GB folder limit, you shouldn’t use all of it for your TrueCrypt drive.  Unfortunately, TrueCrypt creates the encrypted partition to it’s maximum capacity, which means if you create a 1GB encrypted volume, it actually takes up 1GB on the harddrive even with nothing in it.  And transferring a 1GB file many times for little to no content isn’t the best plan.

Since the volume is filled out to maximum filesize even with no data, it’s best to create a few smaller drives (in the 256MB range) as DropBox has to upload the entire file at least once and you have to download the synchronized file on every computer.  TrueCrypt can mount about 12 volumes automatically, so my recommendation is to keep the volumes small and increase the sizes for volumes you don’t modify often.

Don’t feel guilty about using encyption.  Don’t be guilted into the “If you have nothing to hide” mantra; privacy is your right as a human, exercise it.

For one main reason: it’s polished. That critical “step-back” after everything is done to say “what can we improve now?”  This is something that Microsoft and companies who build Intel PCs are seriously lacking.

The first thing you notice about a brand new Macbook is the clean look.  The keys are not smashed on the keyboard just to fit them on all, there are no random air slots for fan exhaust, ports aren’t strewn all around the device in any place they would fit.  MagSafe, most people’s favorite feature, makes sure your clumsy oaf of a friend doesn’t rip your laptop out of your hands after he trips on the power cord; being lightly magnetic, it simply pops off.

Secondly, the Operating System is clearly polished. The fades, the slides, the transitions; that is what makes polish.  Quicktime’s movie player window elegantly slides up to fill fullscreen on a Mac.  Windows Media Player forcefully takes over the full screen.  OSX NEVER changes resolution from boot up to shutdown including screensaver mode.  Windows manages to violently switch resolutions over 3 times at a MINIMUM. Don’t even attempt to count if you send your video to a projector or run a screensaver that doesn’t run in your resolution.

So why do I have a Mac if the only programs I use are Firefox, Pidgin, iTunes, and tons of cross-platform or open source freeware that populate the rest of my Applications folder?  Because of the polish.  Because of three simple programs that nobody has managed to duplicate successfully in Windows:  Dashboard, Spaces, and Expose.

You might be laughing right now at my choices, and I would agree.  But if I can get the same programs and function from any of the three main OSes (Windows, Linux, OSX), I’ll choose the one that spent time to make me a customer by prettying it up.  Much like dating, if given a choice of siblings, the winner is often the one who spent a little more time tarting his or herself up for the showroom floor.