Month: September 2011

Switchfoot @ Six Flags St. Louis

Lorin Olsen

The Switchfoot concert I attended yesterday was fantastic.
– Maybe it was fantastic because of the weather: I was blown away when it was raining and sunny and a rainbow spread across the park. We are so blessed by this beautiful world. May we treat this precious gift with the dignity that His generosity demands.
– Maybe it was fantastic because of the spirit of everyone in attendance: I loved it when all the young men and women came together in the center of the venue. The sense of spontaneous and uninhibited joy was palpable. I was reminded why I love working with youth so very much. Lord, please bless me with the ability to always teach people that burn brightly on your behalf.
– Maybe it was fantastic because Jon, Tim and the band were really going with where the Spirit led them. They were fantastic – as always. But it was so intensely cool to watch Jon change up the set list just because he felt led to do so. I don’t know if that was planned or not. But it was staggeringly awesome.
– Maybe it was fantastic because I was there with members of my family. While we didn’t have the full complement of my family there, it was wonderful to be with my children and the people that they love. It was amazingly intimate to be with them – and with a few thousand other people.
– Maybe it was fantastic because God’s Spirit was really present with us. In fact, I can guarantee that God’s intimate Spirit was the reason that yesterday was so fantastic. For me, it was one of the most meaningful concerts that I have ever been able to attend. I can’t tell you how many times I cried during the concert. In fact, I’m crying as I write these words.
Some days you tuck away into your memory because they are so very special. This was one such day for me. When I finally see my Savior face to face, I will be tearfully thanking Him for moments like this.
Thank you, Lord Jesus!

DLNA Difficulties Defy Desires

Lorin Olsen

Over the past couple of days, I’d completed all the chores that needed to be done on this long weekend. So today was a free day. The weather was amazing today. But Cindy and I decided to take care of a few things: Cindy spent the day working on schoolwork while I worked on configuring the new TV to work with the rest of the household network.
My goal was simple: facilitate streaming movies from our media server to the new Samsung TV. I have ripped almost a hundred of our DVD’s into MP4 (i.e., .m4v) file formats. And I’ve used these files on other computers as well as mobile phones. So I assumed that this was going to be rather simple. But simple technology tasks often become very complicated – as was the case today.
The first step of the process was to set up a DLNA server. Since we have a Twonky server already built into our media server (i.e., a Western Digital NAS server), I figured that I would go ahead and use that platform first. But when I attempted to play a movie from the media server, the Samsung TV just displayed an “in progress” graphic. It took almost five minutes before it timed out with an error.
After playing with this for a while, I finally decided that the embedded Twonky server in my WD NAS might be outdated. So I decided to buy a copy of the software for my main system. After a failed transaction through Paypal, I was finally able to purchase and download a current version of Twonky server. After a few minutes of configuration, I was able to try streaming content once again. The results were identical. So I was now out a couple of sawbucks and I was no closer to a solution.
After tasting failure twice, it was time to do some research. First, I found out that I am not the only person who has had this problem. Second, I learned that many of the problems with streaming via Twonky were the result of multiple Twonky servers on the same network. While that didn’t make much sense, it was worth spending the time to reconfigure my systems. Of course, the result was some lost time and no substantial progress towards solving the problem. So it was three strikes – but I wasn’t out.
Next I was coming to the conclusion that the problem might lie with the new Samsung TV and not the streaming server. There are enough references to Samsung TV’s not support every MP4 container type. Indeed, some references even suggested that AVI files solved the problem for them. Of course, I’m not going to convert all of my AVI files on a whim. So I decided to pursue a different short-term course.
I saw quite a few derogatory references to Samsung’s DLNA implementation. So just in case it was the DLNA client built into the TV, I decided to copy one of the MP4 movies to a USB drive. I plugged the drive into the TV (after renaming the file from .m4v to .mp4). After finding out how to browse to a USB connected drive, I was able to successfully watch one of the movies that I couldn’t stream to the TV.
So now I’m left with a quadry: should I convert and/or rip my DVD’s again? I hardly think that this would be worth it. Since I really want this to work via DLNA, I’ll be entering a ticket with Samsung service concerning their DLNA server on the 6-series televisions.
[Note: If you’re wondering why the movie poster from Serenity is attached to this post, it’s because Serenity was the movie that I used to perform my various tests.]
 
-Roo

A Very Samsung Summer

Lorin Olsen

It’s been a Samsung kind of month here at the castle. First it was the Galaxy Tab. Then we added a Samsung refrigerator. Finally, we ended up buying a second Samsung TV.
Why did we need another TV? Well, our second daughter has started a job in Chanute, Kansas as an assistant basketball coach. She is having a wonderful start to the new school year. But she is obviously moving out of our house and into her own apartment. That is great. We are so proud of her.
But there are two challenges (one practical and one emotional) that this transition brings. The practical challenge is that Dana needed a TV. Cindy and I had talked about putting an LED/LCD screen in our bedroom (to replace a seven-year old tube system). Since there needed to be a +1 purchase somewhere, we chose to give our daughter the older system so we could buy a new system.
The device we chose was a 40″ LED/LCD panel from Samsung. We already had a huge Samsung TV in our main living room. And we have loved that device. So buying another Samsung TV was a natural next step. And this time, I made sure that it would work with the DLNA infrastructure that is now throughout the house.
After getting the TV set up yesterday, I’ve been setting up a robust DLNA complex using Twonky Media. I have used Twonky in the past (with my Western Digital external hard drive). So I just bought and installed the full product on my media PC. Once I set the server up properly, I have been able to stream stuff stored anywhere in the house. And since I’ve stored all my favorite movies in digital form, it is stunningly simple to pull up any of my favorite movies either on the TV, the tablet or my mobile phone.
That took care of the first challenge. The second challenge won’t be as easy to address. Now that Dana is setting up her own apartment, she rightfully wants her own daughter to be with her. I love Dana’s sense of responsibility – and her devotion to Jayden. But it means that Jayden will no longer be living here with Cindy and I. So while we are proud of Dana, I am so terribly saddened that I won’t be seeing Jayden’s beautiful smile or hear her infectious laugh each and every day. I can only imagine the loneliness and loss that Dana felt while she was separated from her daughter for the past two years.
I don’t think that we can solve the second challenge by buying anything or by performing some kind of technical configuration. This one can only be solved with time and with the comforting knowledge that Jayden (and Dana) are starting off on a new and exciting journey – and we will always be along to help and to share in both the burdens and the joy.
-Roo