The difficulties of ATSC

It's a bit surprising where the difficulties of Amateur ATSC TV lie.

It turns out that getting MPEG encoding gear isn't going to be very difficult after all. Part of this is due to the work of European hams, who have been transmitting digital TV using European standards for years now. North American ATSC standards, however, are more challenging.

At first I thought that I'd be able to simply take the output of the MPEG encoder and feed it into the 8VSB modulator, but it appears that the result, though it would be a valid MPEG 2 transport stream, would not be good enough for ATSC. There are three issues remaining that I've identified:

1. The audio has to be Dolby AC3. ATSC doesn't support any other audio format, and AC3 is heavily patent encumbered, meaning there are no low cost encoders for it. You can encode it with open source software, but now you're using a PC as your encoder, with all of the complications and reduced reliability that entails.

2. ATSC requires a constant 19.39 MB/s data rate. You're supposed to stuff the channel with null packets to make it so if your data is less than that.

3. The dreaded PSIP. PSIP is a complete waste of time and effort for amateur TV, but if you want the thing to decode properly with consumer grade tuners or receivers, you've got to generate at least a static set of PSIP tables.

On top of all of that, one other ham I've talked to who is extremely experienced with ATV says that 900 MHz and 1.2 GHz in the bay area are more or less useless due to heavy interference. And if that weren't enough, there's 8VSB's sensitivity to non-linearity in the RF chain, which has implications for the design of your power amplifier.

European hams have had success with DVB-T, which doesn't have these issues, but you can't use ordinary North American consumer equipment to decode it, which makes it (at least here) just another specialized ham-only mode. The value of attempting to transmit ATSC compatible video is that just adding a downconverter to a standard consumer system is the only change required, which expands the potential receiver pool exponentially.

This is looking less possible daily. :(

ATSC for ATV? Yes!

Well, maybe. For the acronym challenged, ATSC is the standard for digital television broadcasting in North America. One of the aspects of amateur radio that I have toyed with of late is ATV, or amateur television. Although ATV using broadcast compatible analog transmitters is relatively commonplace, no one that I know of has attempted to transmit digital ATV using the ATSC 8VSB modulation standard. I aim to try to be the first.

I will attempt this by setting up a repeater. The repeater will receive standard analog FM ATV on the 1.2 GHz band and retransmit it using ATSC on the 902 MHz band (hopefully). I sent some mail around and believe I can get tower space on Mt. Chual (near Loma Prieta), which will have excellent coverage of the South Bay.

So to do this, I need to get all the pieces: a receiver, a controller, an MPEG encoder, complete with SMPTE 310M transport stream output, an 8VSB modulator, a custom 900 MHz upconverter, amplifier, mask filter and antennas.

Of all that stuff, probably the most expensive will be the MPEG encoder. I have a potential line on the 8VSB modulator, and the rest of it all is pretty standard stuff. Thankfully, putting pieces together like this should not be a problem, since FCC type acceptance is not required for amateur equipment.

So how will anyone receive it? Well, they would need a downconverter and an ATSC tuner. The downconverter can be easily has from P.C. Electronics. Model TVC-9S would do nicely. You're not supposed to use the government issue ATSC tuner coupons to buy ATSC tuners for amateur radio operations, but if you happen to use them to get yourself an ATSC tuner, there's nothing to say you can't use it for amateur TV reception. :)

It's even possible that in the future multiple encoders could be set up to send on subchannels. But you have to walk before you can run.

More YouTube: Fun with dry ice

No, it's not the coolest or most fascinating dry ice related video on YouTube, but I thought it was pretty cool.

The bluff that roared, redux

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: $110 + $9 Sit & Go (Turbo) (_), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:28:58 ET - 2008/08/20
Seat 1: (1,485)
Seat 2: (1,470)
Seat 3: villain (1,500)
Seat 4: hero (1,500)
Seat 5: (1,500)
Seat 6: (1,545)
Seat 2 posts the small blind of 15
villain posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Qs Ad]
hero raises to 105
Seat 5 calls 105
Seat 6 folds
Seat 1 folds
Seat 2 folds
villain calls 75
*** FLOP *** [6h 3d 4c]
villain bets 150

We have rockets (wink wink). Let's act like it.

hero raises to 450
Seat 5 folds
villain calls 300
*** TURN *** [6h 3d 4c] [4h]
villain checks

Well, let's continue the charade. I can't believe he'd be here if he didn't have an overpair. Maybe it's a small overpair and I can drive him off it.

hero bets 945, and is all in
villain calls 945, and is all in
hero shows [Qs Ad]
villain shows [8d 5h]

what what WHAT?

A straight draw?!

You called a pre-flop raise with an 8 and a 5 at the beginning of the SnG?!

Of course, the other question is, what's with the hero bluffing his whole stack at the beginning of a SnG? What kind of donkey shit is that? :)

*** RIVER *** [6h 3d 4c 4h] [6c]

None for you!

hero shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
villain shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
hero wins the pot (3,120) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
villain stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,120 | Rake 0
Board: [6h 3d 4c 4h 6c]
Seat 1: (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: villain (big blind) showed [8d 5h] and lost with two pair, Sixes and Fours
Seat 4: hero showed [Qs Ad] and won (3,120) with two pair, Sixes and Fours
Seat 5: folded on the Flop
Seat 6: didn't bet (folded)

In San Mateo, Poker < Prostitution

You'll recall I blogged about San Mateo County Sheriff's deputies busting a home poker tournament. I've found yet more proof that law enforcement priorities are messed up in San Mateo County: The SM County Sheriff and his undersheriff were recently busted in a Las Vegas massage parlor raid by Las Vegas Police.

Chris Hanson says, "So, what are you doing here?"

Send it... a little...

6th out of 477. $50+$5->$1192.50. Fastest turn-around time between MTT cashes either online or B&M.

I hate this fucking game

That graph is my SnG finish positions for the last two days. 27 percent of the time, I've cashed. 27 percent of the time, I've come in fucking fourth. Makes me want to cry. I can't identify any mistakes at all. I've just gotten totally ass-raped.

Depressing

You know, it's cold decks like this that make me second guess myself so constantly. I spent quite some time building up a nice little stack. And then shit like this happens:

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: Turbo Hundo (_), Table 7 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 3:18:17 ET - 2008/08/12
Seat 1: (1,920)
Seat 2: (1,170)
Seat 3: (1,880)
Seat 4: (2,350)
Seat 5: (1,890)
Seat 6: (1,705)
Seat 7: villain (2,100)
Seat 8: (1,735)
Seat 9: hero (5,250)
Seat 3 posts the small blind of 30
Seat 4 posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [As 5s]
Seat 5 folds
Seat 6 calls 60
villain calls 60
Seat 8 folds

Ok. There are a couple limpers. With a suited ace, the idea is to try and flop at least a flush draw and then see if you can finish it cheaply.

hero calls 60
Seat 1 calls 60
Seat 2 folds
Seat 3 folds
Seat 4 checks
*** FLOP *** [4c 4s Qs]
Seat 4 checks
Seat 6 checks
villain checks

I like to semi-bluff. It disguises the draw so nobody has a clue what it is. A check-call is a dead giveaway.

hero bets 330
Seat 1 folds
Seat 4 folds
Seat 6 folds
villain calls 330
*** TURN *** [4c 4s Qs] [Ks]
villain checks

And there it is. At this point, the villain is pot committed if he has any sort of hand. If he called the flop, I can't see him folding here.

hero bets 4,860, and is all in
villain calls 1,710, and is all in
hero shows [As 5s]
villain shows [4h 4d]

I mean, he sure isn't going to fold having flopped fucking quads.

Uncalled bet of 3,150 returned to hero
*** RIVER *** [4c 4s Qs Ks] [Qd]
hero shows a flush, Ace high
villain shows four of a kind, Fours
villain wins the pot (4,410) with four of a kind, Fours
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,410 | Rake 0
Board: [4c 4s Qs Ks Qd]
Seat 1: folded on the Flop
Seat 2: (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: folded on the Flop
Seat 7: villain showed [4h 4d] and won (4,410) with four of a kind, Fours
Seat 8: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: hero showed [As 5s] and lost with a flush, Ace high

Tonight has been just a series of either bad beats or coolers. It just drives me fucking bananas.

Send it!

2nd out of 448. $50+$5 -> $3472.00.

That's my best online tournament cash, both in percentage beat and cash. I've done better a couple times at Bay 101, but never online.

Heads-up was brief. We started the last hand almost exactly equal and I went all-in with a king and was called by AJo and neither of us hit. Oh well.

Wha...?

This was very, very early in a 400 player MTT. That, in and of itself, should say something about the result of this hand.

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: Turbo Fiddy (_), Table 25 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:21:13 ET - 2008/08/08
Seat 1: Mario (2,037)
Seat 2: (2,685)
Seat 3: (2,610)
Seat 4: hero (4,040)
Seat 5: (2,020)
Seat 6: (3,290)
Seat 7: Luigi (2,460)
Seat 8: (2,165)
Seat 9: (1,670)
Luigi posts the small blind of 40
Seat 8 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Kc Jc]
Seat 9 folds
Mario raises to 280
Seat 2 folds
Seat 3 calls 280

Raised in early position and called. Bye.

hero folds
Seat 5 folds
Seat 6 folds
Luigi calls 240
Seat 8 folds
*** FLOP *** [7d 3d 6d]
Luigi checks
Mario bets 560
Seat 3 folds
Luigi calls 560
*** TURN *** [7d 3d 6d] [5c]
Luigi checks
Mario bets 1,197, and is all in

This has to be a big pair or a straight protecting himself from a diamond draw, and the other guy either has the flush or has a flush draw.

Luigi calls 1,197

Mario shows [9h Ah]
Luigi shows [Ts Jd]

Really? There are more than three hundred fifty players remaining. The tournament pays 45. I could almost see Mario representing the big hand. But what's with Luigi? He called with the jack-high flush draw. Setting aside the fact that he's likely a 3:1 dog to make his flush, who says that the jack-high is going to be the best one?

*** RIVER *** [7d 3d 6d 5c] [Qc]
Mario shows Ace Queen high
Luigi shows Queen Jack high
Mario wins the pot (4,434) with Ace Queen high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,434 | Rake 0
Board: [7d 3d 6d 5c Qc]
Seat 1: Mario showed [9h Ah] and won (4,434) with Ace Queen high
Seat 2: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: folded on the Flop
Seat 4: hero didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Luigi (small blind) showed [Ts Jd] and lost with Queen Jack high
Seat 8: (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: didn't bet (folded)

Piracy boosts popularity, film at 11.

According to this /. article, the music industries own studies have affirmed the idea that it is better for bands and for the music industry to just give away MP3s and let the resulting increase in popularity drive concert ticket sales.

Gee, you think?

Isn't this the exact same concept as allowing music to be played, more or less, for free on the radio (yes, radio stations pay for music rights, but the amount that they pay is virtually negligible - it certainly pales in comparison to the amount of money spent in promotion) spurs concert ticket sales? According to everything I've ever read about the music industry, bands pretty much just make records for free in the hope that album sales drives concert ticket sales, which is where the average band actually makes their money. What they get out of the "big record deal" isn't money from album sales, it's promotion from the record company that, yes, drives album sales for the record company, but also drives concert revenue for the band.

As for me, the last CD I bought was National Lampoon's "That's not funny, that's sick," which was actually a record first released in 1977. I bought it about 3 years ago, promptly ripped it into iTunes and filed the plastic in the garage. Apart from that, for about the last 5 years or so all the music I've bought has been either DRM-free iTunes plus AACs from iTunes, MP3s from Amazon, or when absolutely necessary iTunes DRMed tracks (but only when there is software available to easily strip the DRM. And, no, burning a CD and ripping that doesn't count).

TV reception and black magic

Well, I spent some more time fiddling with the antennas. I've actually turned the VHF beam southeast to try and pick up KSBW and KCBA (Salinas) from Fremont Peak. Here's where things stand:

DTV stations that come in perfectly, with no issues: KPIX, KQED, KBCW, KICU, KCSM, KTEH, KKPX, KCNS, KSTS, KTSF, KGO, KMTP, KBWB, KFSF, KNTV

DTV stations that are marginal - most of the time they're fine, but sometimes they pixelate or drop out: KRON, KTVU, KDTV.

DTV stations that come in at least sometimes, but are not 100% coverage: KSBW, KCBA, KRCB.

DTV stations that don't come in at all, but I don't see why not: KTLN, KTNC.

If I go up to the roof and aim the UHF a little bit more northerly from where it is now, KRCB, KTLN and KTNC seems to come in a little better, but KTVU and KRON start getting more marginal. We're talking about maybe 5 degrees, with an antenna whose half power beam-width is more like 30 degrees.

The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the pre-amp is being overloaded and that it's pushing the weaker signals down a little. If that's the case, then the analog shutdown next February will help somewhat.

The shutdown will certainly help KSBW and KCBA, which currently suffer co-channel interference from KXTV-TV and KOVR-TV. We also will likely be able to pick up KAXT-LD. At the moment, KAXT-LD is co-channel with KTNC-TV. One worry is that KRCB-DT is going to be co-channel with KMUV-LP, but fortunately it will be in the opposite direction, so the antenna's front-to-back ratio should bury it. The bad part about that is that we will have no chance at all of picking up the other UHF channels from Fremont Peak: KQET and KSMS. But KQET is redundant if you can receive KQED and KTEH already (KQET-1 is the same as KQED-1, KQET-2 is the same as KTEH-1 and KQET-3 is V-Me, which is on KTEH-5), and KSMS is a Univision affiliate like KDTV.

Bad beat of the year

Very. First. Hand.

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: $28 + $2 Sit & Go (Super Turbo) (_), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:03:08 ET - 2008/07/31
Seat 1: (300)
Seat 2: (300)
Seat 3: hero (300)
Seat 4: (300)
Seat 5: villain_a (300)
Seat 6: (300)
Seat 7: villain_b (300)
Seat 8: (300)
Seat 9: (300)
Seat 1 posts the small blind of 15
Seat 2 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Kd Ks]
hero raises to 300, and is all in
Seat 4 folds

Later on, Seat 4 claims he folded an ace. That will be significant later.

villain_a calls 300, and is all in
Seat 6 folds
villain_b calls 300, and is all in
Seat 8 folds
Seat 9 folds
Seat 1 folds
Seat 2 folds
hero shows [Kd Ks]
villain_a shows [Qs Ac]
villain_b shows [Jc Ad]

You just LOVE to see that when you've got kings. I didn't see Seat 4's comment that he folded an ace until later. If it were true, then that means that, barring a set, there was only one card left in the deck that would beat me. That's just a great spot to be in.

And yet...

*** FLOP *** [As Js Jd]

To quote young Eddie Murphy in "Raw,"

"And then he kicked him in the ding-ding!"

*** TURN *** [As Js Jd] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [As Js Jd Td] [2h]
hero shows two pair, Kings and Jacks
villain_a shows two pair, Aces and Jacks
villain_b shows a full house, Jacks full of Aces
villain_b wins the pot (945) with a full house, Jacks full of Aces
villain_a stands up
hero stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 945 | Rake 0
Board: [As Js Jd Td 2h]
Seat 1: (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: hero showed [Kd Ks] and lost with two pair, Kings and Jacks
Seat 4: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: villain_a showed [Qs Ac] and lost with two pair, Aces and Jacks
Seat 6: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: villain_b showed [Jc Ad] and won (945) with a full house, Jacks full of Aces
Seat 8: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: (button) didn't bet (folded)

There but for the grace of the poker gods...

I've been playing the super turbo tournaments at Full Tilt lately. It works well with my short attention span.

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: $28 + $2 Sit & Go (Super Turbo) (_), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:15:54 ET - 2008/07/27
Seat 1: villain (330)
Seat 2: hero (255)
Seat 3: (300)
Seat 4: (270)
Seat 5: (300)
Seat 6: (300)
Seat 7: Luigi (300)
Seat 8: (300)
Seat 9: Mario (345)
Seat 4 posts the small blind of 15
Seat 5 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Ts Td]
Seat 6 folds
Luigi calls 30
Seat 8 folds
Mario raises to 345, and is all in
villain calls 330, and is all in

Well, shoot.

Against one caller, I'd figure my tens would be good to go. I'm probably against either a smaller pair or an ace. Only if my opponent has a bigger pair am I in any real trouble.

But with two opponents, the chances are much better that one of them has a bigger pair or an ace with a better-than-ten kicker (if two opponents have an ace and neither has pocket aces, the odds go up a little - each has one of the other's outs, after all). Besides, there is the early position limper to consider. What's he gonna do?

This is a hard one, but I've got to give it up.

hero folds
Seat 3 folds
Seat 4 folds
Seat 5 folds
Luigi calls 270, and is all in

Sure enough, he did join the party.

Mario shows [7h 7s]
villain shows [4h 4c]
Luigi shows [6s 6c]

AAARRRGGGHH!!!!

FOURS?! You CALLED all-in with fours?!

I mean, being the third in with sixes is pretty dumb too, but if you're second in with fours, you're at BEST a coin-flip.

Uncalled bet of 15 returned to Seat 9
*** FLOP *** [5d Tc 4d]

Holy dog shit.

At this point, the 4s would have one out to beat me had I made the call - That's about 19:1. It has to come runner-runner 9 for the 9s to win. That's also about 19:1, it turns out.

Of course, as it happens, he's in fat city. There are 4 cards in the deck left that beat him, so he's about a 5:1 favorite.

*** TURN *** [5d Tc 4d] [4s]

Wow. Nice catch, Eeyore.

*** RIVER *** [5d Tc 4d 4s] [9d]

Had the river been a ten, and had I made the call, this hand might have gone down in history as the ultimate cooler. 4 pocket pairs all-in before the flop, two of which flopped sets, and both of which made quads.

Maybe next time.

Mario shows two pair, Sevens and Fours
villain shows four of a kind, Fours
villain wins the side pot (60) with four of a kind, Fours
Luigi shows two pair, Sixes and Fours
villain wins the main pot (945) with four of a kind, Fours
Luigi is sitting out
Luigi stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,005 Main pot 945. Side pot 60. | Rake 0
Board: [5d Tc 4d 4s 9d]
Seat 1: villain showed [4h 4c] and won (1,005) with four of a kind, Fours
Seat 2: hero didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Luigi showed [6s 6c] and lost with two pair, Sixes and Fours
Seat 8: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: Mario showed [7h 7s] and lost with two pair, Sevens and Fours

Statistical stupidity

ABC News recently had a video on My Yahoo that had the "worst" foods purported to be good for you (alas, I don't have a deep link to the video). First on the list of diet soda. The silly woman said that those who drink diet soda are heavier than those who don't, so you shouldn't drink diet soda.

Uh, newsflash: You've got the cause and the effect backwards there. People who are heavy drink diet soda because they know they're heavy. The ones who aren't heavy drink whatever the hell they want because whatever they're doing is working for them (or at least isn't a problem).

It's like saying bariatric surgery causes obesity because only obese people have it done.

Solving the CableCard / OpenCable conundrum

One issue I've always had with satellite TV is that before recently, every tuner has required so-called "home run" wiring. That is, a coax run all the way from the receiver to either the dish or a multiplexer, with no splitters in-between. The reason for this is that there needs to be a communication path from the tuner back to the dish (or multiplexer) so that it can select which set of transponders it wants to tune at that moment. If you've got a couple of dual-tuner DVRs, that's quite a lot of coax. The latest little innovation from DirecTV is the SWM-8, which neatly solves this problem. It allows you to connect up to 8 tuners using as many splitters as you need (with the caveat that you need to have at least one branch of the splitters pass DC power from an indoor mounted power supply module). The way it works is very similar to SDV cable TV systems. There are 9 channels set aside - 8 of them provide one tuner's worth of signal down from the dish, and one is a shared upstream request channel from the tuners back to the SWM. Each tuner requests a channel to be allocated to it from the SWM at startup, and as the channels are changed, it requests a different satellite transponder be sent down its allocated SWM channel.

With this system, the satellite system itself can become arbitrarily complex, but the complexity can be hidden behind the SWM. Already the SWM can handle a single 5 LNB Ka/Ku dish plus two auxiliary dishes (one for international programming and one for carrying local channels for some markets).

As I've previously noted, this system is somewhat similar to SDV systems for cable - the only difference being that SDV channels are shared by all subscribers, not allocated solely to a single downstream tuner.

Verizon's FIOS offering already includes a box that transitions from fiber to coax for the household. In principle, that box could also provide addressable decryption so that the house simply sees all of the subscribed channels as clear QAM - no need for CableCard at all.

This same idea could apply in the world of cable TV as well. Each household would have an addressable box that would perform pre-tuning and decryption for a set of tuners within. There would be a spec for the channelization and for the upstream communication protocol. The channel data would be clear QAM. The same box could also have an Ethernet jack and provide IP service as well, for subscribers to cable-delivered Internet. Since the box obscures the cable infrastructure, it offers greater flexibility to the cable company in laying out their networks.

Got my iPhone 3G!

Well, I gave up on getting an iPhone 3G today, but my lovely wife Scarlet didn't. She called up the Valley Fair Apple store and they still had some. Clearly Apple has managed to prepare for the launch better than AT&T.

For the most part, the new phone isn't really that distinguishable from its older counterpart. It's a little bit lighter, and the 3G network is noticeably faster. The bad news is that in my house, the phone only gets EDGE (well, it really gets WiFi, of course, but if I disable WiFi for testing, I get no 3G coverage).

The GPS functionality works well. As long as you're outside (and in some cases, inside) you get a blue dot on the map that follows you around. Unfortunately, Apple didn't turn the google maps app into a full GPS turn-by-turn app. The official excuse is that the GPS receiver isn't "good enough" to properly deliver turn-by-turn navigation. I still don't know why Apple didn't go with a bluetooth GPS solution. The receiver could be plugged into a car's power jack (remember when they were called cigarette lighters?) and basically left there. But as it is, the GPS functionality that is there is an improvement. At my parent's house on Point Loma in San Diego, the old phone always decided that we were near Lindbergh Field in downtown (an error of over 5 miles and across two bodies of water).

I still would not have bothered with the upgrade if it wasn't for the broken screen. The only appreciable difference between the two generations is the 3G networking and GPS. The rest of the updates were in the 2.0 firmware, which means they're available for users of both models.

I've bought a few things from the App store so far: ICE, which is a small app intended for emergency responders who find you unconscious (say, laying near a set of railroad tracks), and check your phone to see if there are any clues as to who you are. The icon is a giant red cross in a white field, labeled "ICE," which means "in case of emergency." At $1, the price is right.

I also fetched the PayPal app, the AIM app, Remote, and I bought the Apple Texas Hold'Em game. I also bought Bejeweled 2 for my wife's phone. The Texas Hold'Em game is beautiful and functional, but the AI for the computer player is rather annoying. They tend to be calling stations.

Has Apple lost their tiny little minds?

Go click on this link.

It's a 404 page now, but it used to be the home of Apple's retail stores. Why they'd move that page is a giant mystery to me, but whatever.

Go to the bottom of that page. There's a link to click on to visit an Apple retail store. That link takes you to -- wait for it -- that same page.

I have no words.

EDIT: At some point later that week, they fixed it. It was, at the time however, yet another thing that was annoying me that particular day (the iPhone 3G launch day).

iPhone 3G anger management

I was not angry since I came to France
Until this instant.

- Henry V, Act IV Scene VII

I was confronted with a situation this morning of such effrontery that I can't leave it alone.

A couple weeks ago, I dropped my iPhone and the screen got cracked. I took it to the Apple store and they basically said that it would cost as much to repair it as it would to simply wait for the iPhone 3G and upgrade to one of those.

Now, right away my response to that is that Apple is becoming more and more like HP (and we're not talking about the old, good HP - the ones who are now Agilent). I'd have paid $100 to get it fixed rather than $200 to get it replaced, but no.

Now, I stood in line at the iPhone launch. I was there a couple hours before the launch time, and by my estimate everyone who was in line before the actual launch time got the phone of their choice.

So I was not too concerned about this launch, seeing as how they managed to do things more right than wrong. Surely they can't fuck it up - particularly having done one of these before.

Yes, they could.

I arrived an hour early. 7 AM. I was, by my estimate, perhaps the 150th person in line. When I got up to 6th place in line, they announced they had run out of the 16 GB versions - both colors. By that time, it was about 9:45. Almost 3 hours of my life that I'll never get back. Thanks to AT&T.

Let's say that only 10% of the folks in line wanted the smaller phone. That means that they must have started with fewer than 70 of each color of the 16GB model.

Really, AT&T? 70 of each was going to be plenty?

Now that's even before I rant about how they could have counted people in line at 7:45 and let us know then rather than waiting until they ran out. What could they possibly have had to gain by not telling us 3 hours earlier that we were going to be wasting our time? When they sell concert tickets, they start by handing out numbered wristbands. That never occurred to them at AT&T?

And, naturally, you can't just order them from the Apple store. No. That would be far too convenient. So now, I will be forced to poll the store(s) daily until either Apple or AT&T pulls their fucking thumbs out.

Thanks for nothing, Steve.

Idiot commentators on YouTube

First, we have to start with the video in question:



Oliver Hudson and Sam Farha are playing the very first hand of the WSOP main event. Hudson flops tens-full and loses. Lots of the commentators on YouTube berate Hudson for going out on hand 1, but I think they're wrong. If you don't go broke in that spot, you're not getting full value out of your monsters in the long run. Let's look at the math.

If you flop a boat with a pocket pair with your boat being an under-set and overpair, there are 3 cards left in the deck of which your opponent must have two in order to have you beat. The odds of that happening are 360 to 1. I'll bet my entire tournament on those sorts of odds every time you give me the chance.

Recently, I got a chance to do exactly that:

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: $33 + $3 Sit & Go (Turbo) (_), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:25:52 ET - 2008/07/03
Seat 1: (2,385)
Seat 2: (795)
Seat 3: (1,380)
Seat 4: (1,510)
Seat 5: hero (1,520)
Seat 6: (1,500)
Seat 7: (1,500)
Seat 8: villain (1,410)
Seat 9: (1,500)
hero posts the small blind of 20
Seat 6 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Ts Tc]
Seat 7 folds
villain raises to 120
Seat 8 folds
Seat 1 folds
Seat 2 folds
Seat 3 folds
Seat 4 folds
hero calls 100
Seat 6 folds
*** FLOP *** [Th Ac As]

There's my boat.

hero checks
villain bets 160

Ok. Either he was continuation betting and he's never going to put another nickel into this pot or he has an ace or maybe pocket kings and thinks he has the best of it. If he has an ace, then the only way he's beat at the moment is if I have him out-kicked or have a boat already. If I'm in his shoes, and I have an ace, I have to call unless I have a super-weak kicker. But then, if I had a dry ace, I wouldn't have made an early position raise pre-flop.

hero raises to 1,400, and is all in

My raise is designed to look like one of those idiot bluff plays that you see pretty frequently online.

villain calls 1,130, and is all in
hero shows [Ts Tc]
villain shows [8d Ad]

I thought so. A8 is sort of weak for an early position pre-flop raise. I had him on an ace-and-a-face.

In any event, he has 4 outs at this point - the case ace and 3 8s - plus the board pairing runner-runner. He's a 4.5:1 dog.

Uncalled bet of 110 returned to hero
*** TURN *** [Th Ac As] [7d]

He can also now win with any of the 3 remaining sevens. He's still a 7:1 dog.

*** RIVER *** [Th Ac As 7d] [2c]
hero shows a full house, Tens full of Aces
villain shows three of a kind, Aces
hero wins the pot (2,860) with a full house, Tens full of Aces
villain stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,860 | Rake 0
Board: [Th Ac As 7d 2c]
Seat 1: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: hero (small blind) showed [Ts Tc] and won (2,860) with a full house, Tens full of Aces
Seat 6: (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: villain showed [8d Ad] and lost with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 9: didn't bet (folded)

Don't play during the day

I have a day job, so I don't play during working hours. Even if I didn't have a day job, I think I would refrain. Here's a small example of why:



This is the SharkScope dump of a $33+$3 tournament that started at about 12:30 PM PDT today. There are 4 players with positive ROIs and 1000+ tournaments of experience, and one of those has a 20% ROI. Two out of the three negative ROI players have too small a sample size to be significant, and one of the players at the table is a fish.

If I've learned anything as I've improved it's to recognize when it's best wait for a better opportunity.

Sharkscope and Safari

So for a while now, I've had to use SharkScope in Camino. It turns out, though, that if you use the "Develop" menu in Safari to change the user agent to Opera for mac, the page will work correctly. I managed to get the page sort-of working with the IE5 user agent as well, but the login widget wouldn't work. Opera for mac, however, seems to do the trick.

It's also possible, however, that the whole thing is just a heisenbug, and that it just happened to work best when I picked Opera. I rather doubt that the SharkScope developers test their site with Safari (though now that they can get Safari for Windows, they have less of an excuse).

All rise for the royalty, redux

PokerStars Game #_: Tournament #_, $15+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/06/19 - 21:37:59 (ET)
Table '_ 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: (1545 in chips)
Seat 2: hero (1460 in chips)
Seat 3: (1515 in chips)
Seat 4: (1390 in chips)
Seat 5: (2955 in chips)
Seat 6: (1250 in chips)
Seat 8: (1600 in chips)
Seat 9: (1785 in chips)
hero: posts small blind 15
Seat 3: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Ad 6d]
Seat 4: calls 30
Seat 5: folds
Seat 6: folds
Seat 8: folds
Seat 9: folds
Seat 1: calls 30

Ordinarily, this is supposed to be a fold so early on in the tournament, but for half price, let's see if we can see a cheap flop.

hero: calls 15
Seat 3: checks
*** FLOP *** [Jd 8h Kd]

The nut flush draw? Sure!

hero: bets 90
Seat 3: calls 90
Seat 4: folds
Seat 1: calls 90
*** TURN *** [Jd 8h Kd] [Td]

And there it is.

hero: checks
Seat 3: checks
Seat 1: bets 90

Let's not scare anyone away.

hero: calls 90
Seat 3: calls 90
*** RIVER *** [Jd 8h Kd Td] [Qd]

WHOMBA!!!!!

And, of course, we're out of position. What to do? Value-bet here or hope that one of these two bluffs at it? Let's try the slow-play.

hero: checks
Seat 3: checks
Seat 1: checks

ARRGGGHHH!!!!!

*** SHOW DOWN ***
hero: shows [Ad 6d] (a Royal Flush)
Seat 3: mucks hand
Seat 1: shows [Ts Qs] (two pair, Queens and Tens)

Well, the board was four-flushed. Nobody was going to call a value-bet without a diamond.

hero collected 660 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 660 | Rake 0
Board [Jd 8h Kd Td Qd]
Seat 1: (button) showed [Ts Qs] and lost with two pair, Queens and Tens
Seat 2: hero (small blind) showed [Ad 6d] and won (660) with a Royal Flush
Seat 3: (big blind) mucked [Kh Ac]
Seat 4: folded on the Flop
Seat 5: folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Final TV setup

I've finally decided on how our TVs are going to be set up from now on. I thought I'd share how I did it.

In our house, we've got 4 TV receiver type devices. Two of them have DirecTV HR21 DVRs, one is a TV in the guest bedroom with an ATSC tuner, one is an HD HomeRun ATSC decoder on the network for the computers.

We actually have 8 RG6 cable runs in our house, which is a lot given its small size. To the extent possible, it would be nice to give all of these cable runs the same signal, so if we decide to move a receiver around it won't be a problem. It also turns out that splitting the signal that much causes problems for some of the channels. Plus, we only have two cable runs to the living room, which causes a problem for the HR21 (ordinarily) because it has 2 tuners plus the AM21 ATSC tuner (which would require a third cable run for its antenna feed).

Fortunately, all of this can be worked out.

We start at the TV antenna. There are actually going to be two of them - one is a ChannelMaster 4228 UHF antenna. This will capture most of the DTV signals. However, we are going to have a couple of VHF-hi channels post 2/09 - KGO and KNTV. For those, I have an AntennaCraft Y5-7-13 VHF-hi antenna. Both of those feed into a ChannelMaster 7777 mast-mounted amp. The 7777 can take a separate VHF and UHF input and amplify and combine them into one feed into the house. The amplifier is necessary because of all of the losses caused by all of the splitters used to feed all of the drops.

We also have DirecTV. The fix for the living room running out of cables is an SWM-8. The SWM-8 allows a single feed to be split with conventional splitters and drive up to 8 DirecTV tuners. Not only that, but the SWM also has an input to diplex in the terrestrial antenna feed too! The downside of that is that we need to power the pre-amp. So we need to inject power into the antenna line, but after the SWM, which is awkward. Fortunately, there is an RG6 run from the distribution point out back into the garage, where the pre-amp's power supply can live. The only thing left is to figure out how to inject that power into the line after the SWM.

Well, it turns out that you can use an ordinary satellite diplexer to do just that! Just connect the VHF/UHF line to the OTA-in port on the SWM with a short length of RG-6, connect the satellite port to the line coming from the power supply in the garage, and connect the combined port to the lead going to the CM7777. The satellite leg of the diplexer has a DC power-pass on it, and the VHF/UHF side has a DC block. A regular power injector would probably do this job with slightly less loss (since the diplexer has a needless low-pass filter on the VHF/UHF port), but it was handy and worked.

The SWM also has its own power injector. If you use a splitter on the SWM1 port, it needs to have a power-pass port, and that port must be connected to the port in the house to which the SWM's power supply is connected. In our case, however, I just connected one line from the bedroom directly to the SWM-1 port. Inboard of the SWM power supply, I am using a diplexer to break out the VHF/UHF and satellite signals for that receiver.

The SWM-2 port has a 1-4 splitter feeding two lines to the living room and one line each to the guest bedroom and the port for the HDHomeRun (which is actually in the dining room). If we want to upgrade the guest bedroom from standard TV to DirecTV, we simply need to diplex that port.

The only downside to this setup is that we now are only able to use SWM compatible receivers. Turns out that isn't likely to be a problem going forward, since we already have the two HR21s we're probably going to have for the foreseeable future, and if we wanted to add a receiver later, we would probably only be able to get compatible ones new.

More on the DirecTV HR21

So we've had a few days now with the HR21, and I have to say, it's nice. As I said in my last post, I don't particularly miss the TiVo menu system. The HR21 shows a picture-in-picture view of the current program while you're in the menus or in the guide, unlike the TiVos. I also hooked our receivers to the network, which enabled home media viewing and DirecTV on demand. It took a day or two for the on demand feature to work, but now that it does, it's quite compelling. I've already downloaded an episode of Californication that Scarlet had missed from last season (of course, you can't get shows on-demand for channels to which you do not subscribe). They also have some extra channels that have concerts, Olympic stuff, and even an Adult Swim VOD channel.

Among the new niceties with the HR21 is that PPV events now are not charged until you actually watch them. It is free to record a PPV event - or even download one with on-demand. You only get charged when you start watching it. The downside is that, like iTunes rentals, you have a 24 hour window in which to finish watching.

The AM21 seems to work pretty well. The only quirk is that although we've selected "channels I receive" as the default guide, the over-the-satellite local channels still show up, even though we don't actually get them. This means that when you're picking a show to record, you have to make sure to pick the one that is over-the-air. Fortunately, they're easy to spot - they have a sub-channel number (like 9-1 instead of just 9).

The HR21s have an eSATA port on the back, which allows you to replace the internal hard drive without any tools. I don't know if we'll take advantage of this or not. Unfortunately, it doesn't cascade the two drives, so when you plug in an external drive, you lose access to the recordings on the internal drive. But adding a 1TB drive (and they're not that expensive anymore) would triple the capacity. Time will tell if that is necessary or not.

Wiring the system up with the SWM module was just as easy as wiring up any older multi-switch. I decided to keep the terrestrial wiring separate, but the SWM-8 does have a terrestrial input so that you can diplex everything together. DirecTV apparently has a new LNB in the works that integrates an SWM-8. That will make DirecTV much more like cable TV than it is now - just one wire leaving the dish that can be split with ordinary splitters as many ways as desired (feeding up to 8 tuners). But with the SWM-8, you can achieve the same thing right now if you want (though the SWM modules are not cheap, unfortunately).

There's only one feature missing from our setup that I'd like to see added - the ability for two DVRs in the same household to share content over the network. Right now, I have to set up a series link (aka season pass) for The Soup on both DVRs to be able to watch it in either room. If DirecTV would allow sharing content over the network - even if they don't allow downloading directly to a PC - that would be just about perfect in my book.

DirecTV - good product, incompetent service

So we finally decided to move with the cheese. Every DVR we've ever owned has been a TiVo, and the last few have been so-called "DirecTiVos" - DirecTV DVRs powered by the TiVo software. But not so long ago DirecTV ended their relationship with TiVo and started making their own DVRs. They also launched new satellites to carry HD programming that were not going to be compatible with the TiVo DVRs. So we were going to face a stark choice some day - either switch to Comcast and buy real TiVos, or go with the "can't believe it's not TiVo" DirecTV DVRs.

I'd been watching the various forums for a while and finally decided that the software on their DVRs was ready enough and called them last week to get them to install the new 5 bird dish and a pair of HR20 DVRs. Well, when they came on Saturday, they said that they had HR21s, which do not have an ATSC receiver in them to receive local channels. Well, that ruined the plan, so I told the installer I didn't want them. I then called up DirecTV and spent an hour on the phone with them. Turns out that the HR21 does not have an ATSC tuner, but you can get one as an accessory add-on (the AM21). But you can't just add an AM21 to your order and have the installer bring it, you need to have an HR21 on your account first before their computers will let you buy one. Stupid. So, fine, I had them come out Monday.

The next problem is that we have two RG6 lines running to the living room. Since one of them is going to be dedicated to terrestrial signals, that means that if I want the two-tuner functionality, I will need to use the new SWM technology. When I explained that to the installer that came Monday, he said that they could not do an SWM installation except for new customers with more than 5 tuners. Grumble. So I told him to just install it with one tuner and I would do the SWM thing myself. So I've placed an order for the two AM21s and an SWM-8. The good news is that the cost of all the stuff I need to buy to make it right is about the same as the cost that I expected to pay for the new receivers and the installation (which it turns out was free).

The installer left before the software updates were complete. Of course, the receiver in the living room got stuck. My brother-in-law called DirecTV up and read them the riot act, and they said they'd send the installer back, but he never showed. I finally power-cycled the thing and that fixed it.

Now that it's all in (except for the AM21s), I have to say I'm reasonably happy with the functionality. I don't really miss TiVo's menu system. Time will tell, but I may miss the suggestions (the HR21s don't save anything you don't actually request), but it's nice to see Discovery channel programming in HD.

More later.

Hit by CalTrain - learn from my mistake

This morning on my way to work, I got hit by the northbound CalTrain train that I was supposed to board at the Santa Clara station. I was taken to the hospital to be checked out, but only suffered from bruises and scrapes and needed two stitches on my forehead. Service was delayed for everyone else for 20 minutes while the police investigated. For those inconvenienced, and to the crew of the train, I offer my apologies.

The Santa Clara station is one of the few stations remaining that are so-called "hold out" stations. That is, there is a platform between the two tracks intended for use by passengers boarding (or disembarking) trains on the far track - which are the Northbound trains. Well, today, the Northbound train was on the opposite track. When I heard the train approach ringing its bell, I glanced over in that direction and saw the train approaching and slowing down, but did not see that it was on the wrong track. So I started to cross the Southbound track - where the train was - and got hit. The train was going maybe 5 MPH, but it still threw me 10 feet onto the platform. I thank my lucky stars that it threw me onto the platform rather than onto the tracks.

Generally, I wait until the head of the train passes me before I venture across the crossing. Today I didn't do that, and it nearly cost me my life. I don't intend to repeat that mistake. Please don't anyone else repeat it either.

I'd like to see CalTrain fix all of the "hold out" stations. They're working on California Avenue right now, and they've shut down weekday service to Atherton, but I haven't heard about any plans for Santa Clara.

WPT Champions Boot Camp

I just spent 3 days at the WPT Boot Camp Champion's camp. There they teach advanced no-limit hold'em tournament strategy. I won't spill the beans on everything I've learned, but I did pick up a few tweaks to my game that I hope will make the difference. I came in 3rd in the STT, and made an early exit in the MTT, but both of those were just cold decks. I've learned first and foremost that you have to have a plan. Chance favors the prepared mind, and all that.

Let's see if things will be a little different now.

Extra class

Passed my Extra today. w00t.

Back in college, the extra was a written exam that was slightly easier than the Advanced class exam, plus a 20 wpm code test. I passed the extra written once, but could never get the 20 wpm code, so I gave up on that. Now that they've gotten rid of the code requirements, the extra written is a little tougher than before (since it has some of the Advanced stuff, I think). I tried a couple weeks ago to pass it without any study, but that didn't go well. Since then, I've taken practice exams on the AA9PW exam page, and every question I got wrong I took the opportunity to learn something new. Some of the questions were formula based. For that, the W5JCK site's cheat sheets were invaluable. After taking enough practice exams, I felt confident enough to try again.

One suggestion: you'll want a scientific calculator for the test, but you don't want one that is "too smart" - particularly a programable one, since the VEs may disallow its use if they have any concerns that it is may have answers or formulas or anything like that programmed in. So for the test, I went to Walgreens and bought a cheap $8 sharp calculator. You want one that has trig, inverse trig (preferably in degrees), square root and 10^x. That's all you'll need.

I don't really care all that much about the extra 200 kHz or so of HF spectrum. This was really all about checking off another box on the life experience list, I guess. That, and now I can be a full fledged VE if I want to.

WAS... not... :(

I went through all my old QSL cards this evening. Alas, I can no longer claim WAS (worked all states) 20 meter AMTOR. I actually am 11 states short of that, though for 9 of those states I have QSL cards for other bands or modes. Somehow, however, I don't have a card for Rhode Island or West Virginia.

The WAS rules state that you must work all states from either one QTH or if from multiple QTHs, none can be more than 50 miles away from any other (fancy way of saying that you have to have done it inside of a 50 mile diameter circle). Fortunately, the old QTH in Stockton is just barely less than 50 miles away from the current QTH. Barely.

So now I must somehow manage (while we're in the ass end of the solar cycle) to find a band open to RI and WV and have a QSO and get a QSL card. That'll be a challenge.

Don't ever limp

In general, far too many people limp in in early tournament play. The only excuse for limping - particularly in early position - is as the first part of a limp-reraise play. Other than that, you should only limp with a hand that you'd be willing to call a raise with. And there aren't many of those given that with tournament poker there is the gap rule, which says that you should call a raise only with a hand better than that with which you'd be willing to make the same raise.

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (_), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:34:09 ET - 2008/05/06
Seat 1: (1,400)
Seat 2: (2,170)
Seat 3: (1,260)
Seat 4: (2,445)
Seat 5: (525)
Seat 6: (3,180)
Seat 8: (1,270)
Seat 9: hero (1,250)
Seat 1 posts the small blind of 20
Seat 2 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Ad 4d]
Seat 3 calls 40
Seat 4 calls 40
Seat 5 calls 40
Seat 6 calls 40
Seat 8 calls 40

Come on. Everybody limping? None of that!

hero raises to 340
Seat 1 folds
Seat 2 folds
Seat 3 folds
Seat 4 folds
Seat 5 folds
Seat 6 folds
Seat 8 folds

Uh huh.

Uncalled bet of 300 returned to hero
hero mucks
hero wins the pot (300)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 300 | Rake 0
Seat 1: (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: folded before the Flop
Seat 4: folded before the Flop
Seat 5: folded before the Flop
Seat 6: folded before the Flop
Seat 8: folded before the Flop
Seat 9: hero (button) collected (300), mucked

An important lesson in tournament strategy

The setup:

This is a super-satellite tournament. We are 5 handed. 6th place was the bubble. 5th place gets a booby prize. 4th through 1st tie for the win.

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: Super Sat to FTOPS Event #16 (_), Table 2 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:09:21 ET - 2008/05/05
Seat 1: victim (910)
Seat 2: hero (11,925)

Heh. Nice stack, dude. :) I caught lucky once or twice, but for the most part, I played a good game and didn't get screwed.

Seat 3: (3,625)
Seat 4: (3,870)
Seat 5: villain (3,670)
hero posts the small blind of 60
Seat 3 posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to nsayer [Qd 8d]
Seat 4 calls 120
villain raises to 240
victim raises to 910, and is all in
hero calls 850

What?! With a suited queen?

Well, it hardly costs me anything to make the call, and tripling him up, if that's what happens, doesn't really change the table significantly from my point of view. On the other hand, if I catch, it's over. But the villain may have a better hand than me. It is in our joint interest that one of us have a better hand than the victim.

Seat 3 folds
Seat 4 folds
villain calls 670

Remember this moment carefully. I tip my hat retroactively to the villain here.

*** FLOP *** [4c 7s 4d]
hero checks
villain checks
*** TURN *** [4c 7s 4d] [Qs]

*DING*

But what if the victim has pocket kings, the villain has ace high, and an ace is coming on the river? It is still better to simply check it down.

hero checks
villain checks
*** RIVER *** [4c 7s 4d Qs] [6d]
hero checks
villain checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
victim shows [Th Td] two pair, Tens and Fours
hero shows [Qd 8d] two pair, Queens and Fours
villain shows [Ad As] two pair, Aces and Fours

Oh ho!

The villain would normally have been perfectly justified in re-raising pre-flop to make me go away. I certainly would have folded. But my hat goes off to this villain - he recognized the situation perfectly. What if the victim had A4 and I had 58o? The villain would have had the 3rd best hand, the victim would have been chipped up, I would still have been a monster chip lead, but he would have been seriously wounded. By letting me draw all the way to the river, I might have won the pot instead of the victim, and it would have been over.

villain wins the pot (2,970) with two pair, Aces and Fours
victim stands up
villain stands up
hero stands up
Seat 4 stands up
Seat 3 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,970 | Rake 0
Board: [4c 7s 4d Qs 6d]
Seat 1: victim (button) showed [Th Td] and lost with two pair, Tens and Fours
Seat 2: hero (small blind) showed [Qd 8d] and lost with two pair, Queens and Fours
Seat 3: (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: folded before the Flop
Seat 5: villain showed [Ad As] and won (2,970) with two pair, Aces and Fours

Web stupidity

Why do webmasters create "About us" links on their web pages? Isn't the entire site "about you"?

6 times out of 10 when I visit a web page, it's because I want to either call them up or get their address. Typically the best way to get that is to click either a "store locator" link or a "contact us" link. I like it when sites put those on their pages.

The anti-example of that level of cluefullness is the web site for the Camino Medical Group. First, when you go there, it redirects you to their parent organization, which has a deep link back to their site. That's pretty stupid. Furthermore, there is one of those stupid "about us" buttons, but there is no easy way from the front page to find a list of clinics and their addresses. I had to click "find a doctor" and from that page, "find a location."

To quote one of the old VW TV ads, "You get an F."

Amateur PSK31 and Mac

I've been a dormant ham for a while now, but with some encouragement from my wife, I've recently got back on the air. Back in the day, I managed to work all the states on 20 meter AMTOR. Since then, the new AMTOR is a mode called PSK31. It's a digital mode optimized for keyboard-to-keyboard QSOs.

You have to use computer software to work PSK31. It converts your typing into audio, then converts the tones it hears from your transceiver back into text. It does the latter by listening for signals throughout the audio passband of your rig, showing them all in a waterfall display that you click on to choose either a blank spot to call CQ or on a signal to decode it and set up your transmitter to reply to.

So to make it work, you need to do three things:

1. Get the receiver's audio into the computer
2. Get the program's transmit audio into your transceiver
3. Allow the program to control your radio's PTT button

The grand plan was to buy a TigerTronics SignalLink USB. It looks to me to be the best possible solution. It connects to your computer only via a USB cable. It has an internal USB audio device and the signal isolation transformers necessary to keep the two apart. It uses VOX to key the radio (that is, when audio comes out of the audio device, it keys the radio automatically). All in all, it seems ideal. Unfortunately, however, they're 4-6 weeks backordered, since it appears that I'm not the only one who thinks it's an ideal solution.

The next best thing is a RigBlaster Plug-n-Play. It makes 3 connections to your computer - audio in, audio out and a USB connection. The USB connection is for a USB-to-serial adapter that is used for PTT and for an (optional) radio control serial port interface. The port's RTS line is connected directly to the radio's PTT actuator. There is a software download on West Mountain Radio's site that contains an unsupported MacOS X driver. From what I can tell, it works just fine.

On the software end, there is a program called MultiMode, but the interface seems awfully primitive to me. Plus it costs almost $90. Instead, I went with cocoaModem. It has an auxiliary helper program called cocoaPTT that will do the serial port RTS for PTT thing on behalf of cocoaModem. You just have to make sure that the rigBlaster is plugged in, then start cocoaPTT, then start cocoaModem.

What REALLY sucks about poker

I guess the worst thing of all about poker is that literally nobody I know really well cares about it. So I have nobody to talk to about it. I am on a cold streak that, as all cold streaks do, seems to stretch back as far as I can remember. I can tell them about the fact that your heads-up opponent has 20:1 odds of holding a pocket pair, and that losing because you've held the under-pair 6 times in one day is spooky bad luck, not bad play, but they don't get it. I am playing as correctly as I know how, and getting screwed. And there's no one I can have a conversation about it with. I think that, more than anything, is why I keep going to boot camps and trying to find a tutor. At least there I can have a conversation with someone. You can't do that at Bay 101 or Garden City - you go there to take people's money.

Sigh.

This just sucks.

The problem with poker

Alright. It's finally become clear that people who play online are just too stupid to fold. You can tell them a consistent story all the way to the river and you can see through the screen as they shrug their shoulders and toss in their last chips, knowing that they're beat.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6005794296: $20 + $2 Sit & Go (45724711), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 14:13:39 ET - 2008/04/12
Seat 1: (1,470)
Seat 2: hero (1,470)
Seat 3: (1,500)
Seat 4: villain (1,545)
Seat 5: goat (1,545)
Seat 6: (1,470)
hero posts the small blind of 15
Seat 3 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***

I'm going to keep my cards secret for now.

Dealt to hero [?? ??]
villain calls 30
goat calls 30
Seat 6 folds
Seat 1 folds
hero raises to 150

Standard raise - 2 limpers = 5xBB

Seat 3 folds
villain calls 120
goat calls 120
*** FLOP *** [9d 6s 4d]
hero checks
villain bets 270
goat calls 270
hero raises to 600

3x check-raise

villain calls 330
goat calls 330
*** TURN *** [9d 6s 4d] [2h]
hero bets 720, and is all in

Now let's just pause here. If you were in their spot, what is the WORST possible hand I could reasonably have (if I'm not bluffing with nothing at all).

Remember: I raised pre-flop, I check-raised the flop and went all-in on the turn.

A9?

I could have an overpair, I could have flopped a set.

villain calls 720
goat folds
hero shows [Kh 7h]
villain shows [Ac 4c]

WTF?!?! SECOND TO BOTTOM PAIR?!

*** RIVER *** [9d 6s 4d 2h] [Qd]
hero shows King Queen high
villain shows a pair of Fours
villain wins the pot (3,720) with a pair of Fours
hero stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,720 | Rake 0
Board: [9d 6s 4d 2h Qd]
Seat 1: (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: hero (small blind) showed [Kh 7h] and lost with King Queen high
Seat 3: (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: villain showed [Ac 4c] and won (3,720) with a pair of Fours
Seat 5: goat folded on the Turn
Seat 6: didn't bet (folded)

Crispin is right. Bluffing online just doesn't work.

sid-milter and SMTP AUTH

I use sid-milter. It works well enough for what it does, but there is a stumbling block. I have my laptop set up for SMTP AUTH so that if I'm not at home, I can still send e-mail as long as I can reach my home mail server. My home domain has an SPF record that includes a "-all" clause in it so that if someone tries to joe-job me, at least those who look at SPF records won't get misled. The problem is that sid-milter doesn't seem to know to check to see if a message was sent with SMTP authentication. I get the Authentication-Result: header with all failures in it. That tends to look bad, even if a spam filter somewhere doesn't trigger on it and junk my e-mail.

Well, since I am out of town and it's happening to me, I decided to fix it. I got into the source of the sid-milter and added a check nearby the "ignore domain" list code. It checks to see if the message has the {auth_authen} macro set, and if it does, it does the same thing as if the "ignore domain" list check matched - it just accepts the message without doing anything.

Here's the patch:

--- sid-filter.c.orig 2006-07-20 15:28:09.000000000 -0700
+++ sid-filter.c 2008-03-24 15:55:00.000000000 -0700
@@ -1892,6 +1892,13 @@
   return (testmode ? SMFIS_ACCEPT : SMFIS_REJECT);
  }
 
+ char *auth_authen;
+ auth_authen = smfi_getsymval(ctx, "{auth_authen}");
+ if (auth_authen != NULL) {
+  /* User used SMTP auth. No problems */
+  return SMFIS_ACCEPT;
+ }
+
  /* if the responsible domain is one we trust, just accept */
  if (domains != NULL)
  {

Oh, note that you must add define(`confMILTER_MACROS_ENVFROM', `i, {auth_authen}') to your sendmail.mc file.

Still here

No, I'm not going to be one of those folks who abandons their blog. I just don't have anything interesting to post about of late. I've decided everybody is tired of me whining about bad beats and cold decks, and there really isn't anything interesting on the mac front.

I did get a chance to play the Thursday morning tournament at Bay 101 last week and came in 9th. I didn't have to rebuy, but I did buy the add-on, so that $80 turned into $170. w00t.

As soon as anything interesting happens, I'll post about it.

Hooray for Time Machine!

We were beset by thieves at the office this weekend. I had my company MacBook Pro on a Kensington lock, but the thieves rummaged through my drawers until he found the key. D'oh! They did, however, leave behind the Time Machine drive. Well, the IT staff replaced the laptop this morning, and with fingers and toes crossed, I booted up the Leopard install DVD and went into the Time Machine restore menu item. The entire process was completely painless. About two hours later, the machine rebooted just as if nothing had ever happened. I did lose the Windows XP virtual machine, but that was because I told time machine to ignore it. It's a 20 GB opaque file that changes every time I run Windows, and I figured that would take up all my time machine space. I don't regret the decision, though, because all I used Windows for at work was to run Outlook and TOAD, both of which simply need to be reinstalled on top of a fresh Windows installation.

Nice call, damnit

What a night. 0 for 3. KK over QQ, an idiot rivering two pair to beat my overpair, and then there's this hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (_), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:18:22 ET - 2008/02/27
Seat 1: hero (2,060)
Seat 2: villain (1,900)
Seat 3: (5,040)
Seat 3 posts the small blind of 30
hero posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Ah 5c]
villain raises to 210
Seat 3 folds
hero calls 150
*** FLOP *** [8s Tc Jc]
hero bets 400
villain calls 400
*** TURN *** [8s Tc Jc] [8d]
hero bets 1,450, and is all in

Now, look at it from his point of view. What might I have that would allow me to be so aggressive? We're 3 handed, 9Q is not out of the question. 97 is maybe pushing it, but how about AJ, KJ, AT? Maybe an 8?

villain calls 1,290, and is all in
hero shows [Ah 5c]
villain shows [Kc Qc]
Uncalled bet of 160 returned to hero

Unbelievable. Ace high is the winner at the moment. But he has a straight-flush draw and over-cards. So he has 6 outs for the overs, 6 9s and aces that aren't clubs, and 9 clubs. 21 outs. Since we're on the turn, though, that's still less than 2:1 odds, and if the river is a red deuce, he's gone. Using strict pot odds, any call on the flop is correct, since he's the favorite. And on the turn, he has to call 1290 to win over 3800, so that's correct. But this is a tournament. If he fails to suck out, or if I've already got a boat or quads (in which case he has exactly two outs), he's out on the bubble. Since he was the favorite on the flop, he should have pushed immediately. I, of course, would have folded my bluff hand, but if I had the AJ I was representing, I would have called.

Of course, as it turns out...

*** RIVER *** [8s Tc Jc 8d] [9h]

Grumble.

hero shows a pair of Eights
villain shows a straight, King high
villain wins the pot (3,830) with a straight, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,830 | Rake 0
Board: [8s Tc Jc 8d 9h]
Seat 1: hero (big blind) showed [Ah 5c] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 2: villain (button) showed [Kc Qc] and won (3,830) with a straight, King high
Seat 3: (small blind) folded before the Flop

Bad beat du jour

Seriously. Can I please have a 3 day period go by without one of these? I don't think I'm asking for much.

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (_), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:51:00 ET - 2008/02/13
Seat 1: hero (3,230)
Seat 2: (1,170)
Seat 3: villain (2,900)
Seat 4: (1,700)
hero posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [9c Kd]
Seat 2 folds
MrStrehl raises to 180
Seat 4 folds
hero calls 120
*** FLOP *** [Qd Th Jc]
hero checks
villain bets 360
hero raises to 1,200
villain raises to 2,720, and is all in
hero calls 1,520
villain shows [Qc Qs]
hero shows [9c Kd]

Get all your money in with the best hand....

*** TURN *** [Qd Th Jc] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [Qd Th Jc 3c] [Td]

And then get fucked up the ass.

villain shows a full house, Queens full of Tens
hero shows a straight, King high
villain wins the pot (5,800) with a full house, Queens full of Tens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,800 | Rake 0
Board: [Qd Th Jc 3c Td]
Seat 1: hero (big blind) showed [9c Kd] and lost with a straight, King high
Seat 2: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: villain showed [Qc Qs] and won (5,800) with a full house, Queens full of Tens
Seat 4: didn't bet (folded)

Is Leopard Apple's Vista?

It's a harsh thing to say, I know, but Leopard has been more troublesome than any other release of MacOS X to date. Let's run down my list of problems:

1. Mom doesn't like the way iCal's detail panel works. I can't say I blame her. What was wrong with the drawers, Steve?

2. On Scarlet's machine, the dock periodically disappears. The workaround is to kill Dock.app, but why is this necessary?

3. Suddenly screen and disk sharing from one of the mac minis to my laptop doesn't work. It says the password is wrong when you try and screen share (bullshit. It's the same password that works for ssh and screen/disk sharing from any other machine), and disk sharing just says that an unknown error occurred. In general, this is the one problem with macs. When shit doesn't work, it can sometimes be completely impossible to figure out why.

4. Back to my mac randomly works or doesn't work, depending on how lucky you are.

5. Time machine over airdisk. We were all but promised this functionality. We're on the eve of 10.5.2 [edit: 10.5.2 is out now] and still nothing.

Maybe my luck is turning around

Although one hand does not a swing make, all in all this was a refreshing tournament. I wasn't party to any hands where someone sucked out. Incredible.

But the capper was the last hand, which offers the lesson that it is not simply necessary to get a monster hand, it is also necessary for your opponent to have a hand almost as good:

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (_), Table 1 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:32:34 ET - 2008/02/09
Seat 5: hero (4,840)
Seat 6: villain (4,160)
villain posts the small blind of 60
hero posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Ac Td]
villain calls 60
hero raises to 360
villain calls 240
*** FLOP *** [Qh 2s As]

That board doesn't bother me. Let's slow-play it.

hero checks
villain checks
*** TURN *** [Qh 2s As] [Ah]
hero checks
villain bets 400

Here I let the timer run a little before calling.

hero calls 400
*** RIVER *** [Qh 2s As Ah] [Ad]
hero bets 300

Gosh, how could that 3rd ace have helped me at all? I must be completely bluffing. Tee hee. If he has a queen, then the only hand that beats him is pocket kings or the case ace. If he has a queen, you can be sure that if he has his way, all the money is going in the middle.

villain has 15 seconds left to act
villain raises to 1,000
hero raises to 4,080, and is all in
villain calls 2,400, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 680 returned to hero
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hero shows [Ac Td] four of a kind, Aces
villain mucks
hero wins the pot (8,320) with four of a kind, Aces
villain stands up
hero stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8,320 | Rake 0
Board: [Qh 2s As Ah Ad]
Seat 5: hero (big blind) showed [Ac Td] and won (8,320) with four of a kind, Aces
Seat 6: villain (small blind) mucked [Qd Ks] - a full house, Aces full of Queens

Too bad for him we weren't at a cash table at Lucky Chances. That hand would have scored him the bad beat jackpot (aces-full or better getting beat).

Happy birthday to me

It's my birthday. Look what I got for it:

PokerStars Game #_: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/01/27 - 21:37:58 (ET)
Table '_' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: ($17.95 in chips)
Seat 2: ($26.80 in chips)
Seat 3: ($54.65 in chips)
Seat 4: hero ($25 in chips)
Seat 5: villain ($58.70 in chips)
Seat 6: ($22.40 in chips)
Seat 7: ($17.55 in chips)
Seat 8: ($10 in chips)
Seat 9: ($8.30 in chips)
Seat 6: posts small blind $0.10
Seat 7: posts big blind $0.25
hero: posts big blind $0.25

Yup. First hand. Just sat down. The button just passed, so I decided to post.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [9c 8c]
Seat 8: calls $0.25
Seat 9: folds
Seat 1: folds
Seat 2: calls $0.25
Seat 3: folds
hero: checks
villain: raises $1.25 to $1.50
Seat 6: folds
Seat 7: calls $1.25
Seat 8: calls $1.25
Seat 2: folds
hero: calls $1.25

A suited connector is in relatively good shape against the sort of hand that would raise, and there's 4.50 in the pot and it costs me a buck and a quarter to call, so the odds are right.

*** FLOP *** [2s Js Td]
Seat 7: checks
Seat 8: bets $0.50
hero: calls $0.50
villain: raises $3 to $3.50
Seat 7: folds
Seat 8: calls $3
hero: calls $3

With two others in the pot, whatever the bet is, I have odds to call with my outside straight draw.

*** TURN *** [2s Js Td] [Qh]
Seat 8: checks

There's my straight. There's a flush draw, though, so time to pull the trigger.

hero: bets $20 and is all-in
villain: raises $33.70 to $53.70 and is all-in
Seat 8: folds
*** RIVER *** [2s Js Td Qh] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hero: shows [9c 8c] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
villain: shows [Ac Kc] (a straight, Ten to Ace)

Ouch.

villain collected $54.05 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $56.85 | Rake $2.80
Board [2s Js Td Qh 6d]
Seat 1: folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: folded before Flop
Seat 3: folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: hero showed [9c 8c] and lost with a straight, Eight to Queen
Seat 5: villain (button) showed [Ac Kc] and won ($54.05) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 6: (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: folded on the Turn
Seat 9: folded before Flop (didn't bet)

The bluff that roared

PokerStars Game #_: Tournament #_, $12+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/01/24 - 21:52:51 (ET)
Table '_ 1' 6-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: (1850 in chips)
Seat 2: hero (1140 in chips)
Seat 3: (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: (1360 in chips)
Seat 5: (1760 in chips)
Seat 6: (1390 in chips)
Seat 3: posts small blind 10
Seat 4: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [5d As]
Seat 5: calls 20
Seat 6: calls 20
Seat 1: calls 20
hero: calls 20
Seat 3: calls 10
Seat 4: checks

Family pot. We have almost no chance at this.

*** FLOP *** [8s 6h 4c]
Seat 3: checks
Seat 4: bets 20
Seat 5: calls 20
Seat 6: calls 20
Seat 1: folds

Minimum bets are suspicious to me. They're weak as hell. Besides, now there's 180 chips in the pot and it costs me 20 to call. That's more or less correct odds to try and catch my inside straight draw.

hero: calls 20
Seat 3: folds
*** TURN *** [8s 6h 4c] [3d]
Seat 4: bets 20
Seat 5: calls 20
Seat 6: calls 20

Oh, come on. There's 260 chips in the pot now and nobody's going to make a try for it? Screw that! Now there's a whole bunch of potential hands that made a straight. Let's pretend we have one.

hero: raises 130 to 150
Seat 4: calls 130

just call?! That's suspicious, in retrospect, but at the time I put him on a straight draw still.

Seat 5: folds
Seat 6: folds
*** RIVER *** [8s 6h 4c 3d] [Kh]
Seat 4: checks

Well, my ace-high is for sure a loser. Let's try and make something that looks like a value bet.

hero: bets 200
Seat 4: calls 200

Crap.

*** SHOW DOWN ***
hero: shows [5d As] (high card Ace)
Seat 4: mucks hand

WHAT?! He called my river bet with a hand that lost to ACE HIGH?!

That may be the stupidest thing I've seen all week.

hero collected 940 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 940 | Rake 0
Board [8s 6h 4c 3d Kh]
Seat 1: folded on the Flop
Seat 2: hero (button) showed [5d As] and won (940) with high card Ace
Seat 3: (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: (big blind) mucked [7c 9h]

He called my river bet with a brooklyn straight. A word to the wise: If you miss your flush or straight draw, you probably have the worst hand.

Meanwhile, I bet seats 5 and 6 were... a bit upset. :)

Seat 5: folded on the Turn
Seat 6: folded on the Turn

All rise for the royalty

PokerStars Game #_: Tournament #_, $12+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/01/23 - 22:19:27 (ET)
Table '_ 1' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: (2095 in chips)
Seat 4: hero (3310 in chips)
Seat 5: (1965 in chips)
Seat 6: (1630 in chips)
hero: posts small blind 15
Seat 5: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Qc 4c]
Seat 6: folds
Seat 1: calls 30
hero: calls 15
Seat 5: checks
*** FLOP *** [Jc 2c Kc]
hero: checks

Now, trapping here can be considered dangerous. You're potentially letting the singleton ace get a free card.

Seat 5: checks
Seat 1: checks
*** TURN *** [Jc 2c Kc] [Tc]

Damn! Sure enough. Now I have to worry about that ace, so I have to be prepared to fold the 2nd-to-nut flush if I get serious action.

hero: checks
Seat 5: checks
Seat 1: checks
*** RIVER *** [Jc 2c Kc Tc] [Ac]

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!!

The problem now is getting value. There's only 90 chips in the pot because I tried to trap on the flop and got scared on the turn.

hero: bets 50
Seat 5: calls 50
Seat 1: calls 50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hero: shows [Qc 4c] (a Royal Flush)
Seat 5: mucks hand
Seat 1: mucks hand
hero collected 240 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 240 | Rake 0
Board [Jc 2c Kc Tc Ac]
Seat 1: (button) mucked [3c 9d]
Seat 4: hero (small blind) showed [Qc 4c] and won (240) with a Royal Flush
Seat 5: (big blind) mucked [6c 5h]
Seat 6: folded before Flop (didn't bet)

So that's how tonight has gone. Since it wasn't a cash game, I didn't get any sort of bonus for my Royal. And I netted a grand total of 160 chips on the deal. I wound up getting 2nd place - my only cash for the whole night - when I flopped top 2 and the other guy flopped a set. Every other time I got my money in good all night long, I got screwed. 2008 has been the suck so far, no doubt.

Time machine and AirDisk

How was this not broadcast over the entire Mac-loving portion of the tubes?!

If you want to use Time machine over AirDisk (a USB hard disk connected to an Airport Extreme), type this into a terminal window on your mac:

defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

Mischief managed!

thanks to this guy. Credit where it's due, and all that.

San Mateo county home poker tournament busted up by police

Clearly having solved all other higher priority issues on their to-do list, sheriff's deputies in San Mateo county raided a home game and arrested two people and took a 13 year old away from his parents. According to the complaints, the tournament proceeds were being skimmed by the organizer (he denies this), and a "refreshment fee" was charged the participants, which amounts to an illegal rake for a home game.

Congratulations, super cops, you've clearly made the world a better place by not allowing our neighbors to play poker at home for low stakes.

There is, however, a lesson to be learned. If you want to advertise a home game outside of a circle of personal friends, take some time to familiarize yourself with the law. If you don't want to be stuck with the bill for refreshments, make a point of describing the event as BYOB. Never ever rake the pot in any way, don't open the game to minors, and do whatever you have to do to make sure that the game is completely honest (if someone catches someone cheating, the cheater can ruin your life if they claim you were in cahoots with them).

The cops will have a much, much harder time justifying wasting the courts' and DAs' time with your home game if there are no grey areas they can use to hassle you.

Macworld '08 Keynote - more questions than answers

So, as usual, the keynote was fun to watch, even if you have to watch it tape delayed. His Steveness is, as ever, the eternal showman.

My wife and I have iPhones, and we love them. It's nice to see the new features, which indeed were downloadable before the sun set on the day they were announced. Left un-announced, however, were a few things I'd still like to see support for:

1. GPS over bluetooth connectivity, for up-to-the-second positioning and turn-by-turn navigation. No, I don't want or need GPS built-in to the phone. The current functionality demonstrates sufficiently that it is not really necessary. Perhaps we'll see this in a TBD 3rd party native app when the SDK arrives.

2. Since day 1 I have been unable to make the phone's wifi work with internet connection sharing on a mac. This is a pretty glaring one, Steve. I'm not the only one either. The mac support forums light up with this one pretty frequently.

3. Dinging the iPod touch folks $20 for buying them sooner rather than later seems like deja-vu for us who bought the iPhone on the first day. At least the magnitude of the sting is less.

4. No A2DC profile for the iPod touch or iPhone? We still have to use wires and adapters? Humph.

I have a little bit more ire for the announcement of the Time Capsule. This is nothing more than the existing Airport Extreme with a hard-disk built into it. Steve billed this as a fix for those who found that at the last minute the ability to use Time Machine on a laptop with a USB disk shared from the airport was removed.

So help me figure this out, people. Somehow it's the 480 Mb/s USB interface that's the problem that's going to make it impossible to fix this without buying a new box with the drive built-in instead?

Now, in Steve's defense, he didn't say that this functionality wasn't going to be addressed for existing airport owners, and the new price points are competitive with what the prices of an old gigabit airport, external USB enclosure and drive would be.

Since I work at Netflix, I won't blog about the movie rental or Apple TV stuff. Sorry.

Lastly, though, was something I can't really complain about. The MacBook Air looks like a really fantastic machine. I know exactly to whom I'm going to recommend it. My mom! The 4 or 5 of you reading this who know me well are probably stunned by that, expecting me to name my wife or even myself. Nope. The time is right for mom's old, aging iBook to go. She's needed the optical drive on about 10 occasions, and she could use Dad's in a pinch. But for her, small and light trumps it all. I really think she'll love it. She'll particularly love jumping from a 1.mumble GHz G4 with 640M of RAM to a 1.6 GHz core 2 duo with 2 GB of RAM.

And no, it's not a surprise - I won't be buying it. :)

Donkeys upset me

PokerStars Game #_: Tournament #_, $6.00+$0.60 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2008/01/13 - 17:38:57 (ET)
Table '_' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: (255 in chips)
Seat 2: villain (2865 in chips)
Seat 3: hero (1655 in chips)
Seat 4: (720 in chips)
Seat 5: (1900 in chips)
Seat 6: (1605 in chips)
villain: posts small blind 15
hero: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Ad 9s]
Seat 4: folds
Seat 5: folds
Seat 6: calls 30
Seat 1: folds
villain: calls 15
hero: checks
*** FLOP *** [5d 8d 9d]
villain: bets 30

This guy is the worst player I can remember seeing. He has repeatedly made terrible, terrible calls, and has made these minimum bets whether he hit or not. With top pair and the nut flush draw, it's time to teach this guy a lesson.

hero: raises 1595 to 1625 and is all-in
Seat 6: folds
villain: calls 1595

At this point, we turn 'em up, and he had T7o with no diamonds - an outside straight draw with a flush showing.

Retard.

*** TURN *** [5d 8d 9d] [Tc]

Oh, of fucking course!

*** RIVER *** [5d 8d 9d Tc] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
villain: shows [7c Th] (a pair of Tens)
hero: shows [Ad 9s] (a pair of Nines)
villain collected 3340 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3340 | Rake 0
Board [5d 8d 9d Tc Qs]
Seat 1: (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: villain (small blind) showed [7c Th] and won (3340) with a pair of Tens
Seat 3: hero (big blind) showed [Ad 9s] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 4: folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: folded on the Flop

I shot the sheriff

PokerStars Game #_: Tournament #_, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/01/11 - 17:32:47 (ET)
Table '_' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: (3180 in chips)
Seat 2: villain (1550 in chips)
Seat 3: hero (1760 in chips)
Seat 4: (1470 in chips)
Seat 6: (1430 in chips)
Seat 7: (1280 in chips)
Seat 8: (1380 in chips)
Seat 9: (1450 in chips)
BSUfan41: posts small blind 10
rocton: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Kd 9s]

I've decided to bluff here, I've got aces, and I'm going to the wall with it.

hero: raises 40 to 60
Seat 4: folds
Seat 6: calls 60
Seat 7: folds
Seat 8: folds
Seat 9: folds
Seat 1: folds
villain: calls 40
*** FLOP *** [8d 5s 7h]
villain: bets 80

If I had aces, I'd be afraid of that flop. Any one with a would have a straight draw, and the 45 or 9T hands have an outside draw. So I can't give a free card.

At this point I actually said in the chat window, "No draws allowed!"

hero: raises 120 to 200
Seat 6: folds
villain: calls 120
*** TURN *** [8d 5s 7h] [7d]
villain: checks
hero: bets 600
villain: calls 600
*** RIVER *** [8d 5s 7h 7d] [9h]
villain: bets 140
hero: raises 580 to 720
villain: calls 550 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hero: shows [Kd 9s] (two pair, Nines and Sevens)
villain: shows [8c Tc] (two pair, Eights and Sevens)

Now, if you were in his shoes, would you honestly think your 2nd pair was good at this point? I've had a pretty good image at this point, so I think the full bluff would have been unexpected.

hero collected 3170 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3170 | Rake 0
Board [8d 5s 7h 7d 9h]
Seat 1: (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: villain (big blind) showed [8c Tc] and lost with two pair, Eights and Sevens
Seat 3: hero showed [Kd 9s] and won (3170) with two pair, Nines and Sevens
Seat 4: folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: folded on the Flop
Seat 7: folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Pave BAREC

Silicon valley has outgrown its agricultural past. The state finally saw the reality of the situation when they decided to close the Bay Area Research and Extension Center - a small plot of land run as a research and educational farm. The question now is what to do with the land. The answer is obvious. The bay area is one of the most expensive places to buy a home in the country. Despite the overblown talk about a housing crisis in this country, it's clear to me that the best use of that land would be the use proposed by measures A and B - part affordable senior housing and part park.

Those opposed to this plan want to keep this land as some sort of "urban farm" experiment. In actual fact, their motives are clearly less pure. Look for the "NO on A & B" signs in Santa Clara - they're concentrated in the southeast corner of the city near the site. This is NIMBY, pure and simple.

So, if you live in the city of Santa Clara, I urge you to vote "Yes" on measures A and B. We have more need of affordable housing than we have of NIMBY agri-fanatics.

Table sheriff

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: $10 + $1 Madness (_), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:30:44 ET - 2008/01/05
Seat 1: villain (675)
Seat 2: (1,455)
Seat 3: (1,455)
Seat 4: (2,325)
Seat 5: hero (1,590)
Seat 6: (1,500)
Seat 4 posts the small blind of 15
hero posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #3

So first, a bit of setup. This is the fourth hand in the tournament and I've just raised the last 3 and picked them up before the flop.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [Qs Ac]
Seat 6 folds
villain calls 30
Seat 2 folds
Seat 3 calls 30
Seat 4 folds
hero raises to 135
villain raises to 240

There's a new sheriff in town. Too bad he's a short stack.

Seat 3 folds
hero raises to 1,590, and is all in
villain calls 435, and is all in
hero shows [Qs Ac]
villain shows [6c Th]

The downside of wearing a tin star is that it gives the other fellow a nice mark to shoot at.

Let's pretend he thought I was stealing. Was it worth a third of his stack (with a crap hand) to write me a speeding ticket?

I've spoken before about pot commitment and tournaments. Yes, he only had to cal 435 to win 1395, but it was his last 435 and he had ten high! Even if I was stealing, wouldn't I have done it with, oh, say, KJo perhaps? Maybe even QTo? either of those has him crushed pre-flop. Even a suited connector is in pretty good shape against a 3-gap hand.

Uncalled bet of 915 returned to hero
*** FLOP *** [As 5c 9s]
*** TURN *** [As 5c 9s] [8d]
*** RIVER *** [As 5c 9s 8d] [Kd]
hero shows a pair of Aces
villain shows Ace King high
hero wins the pot (1,395) with a pair of Aces
villain stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,395 | Rake 0
Board: [As 5c 9s 8d Kd]
Seat 1: villain showed [6c Th] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 2: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: hero (big blind) showed [Qs Ac] and won (1,395) with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: didn't bet (folded)

Gambling propositions

We Californians have an election coming up. As has been the case several times over the last few years, there are propositions on the ballot to once again tinker with the indian gaming setup we have going on. As is always the case, it pits two powerful sets of special interests against each other: the indian tribes on one side and nevada gambling interests, card rooms and horse tracks on the other.

And, as always, poker players find we have no dog in the hunt. All of the fuss is about slot machines and other "house games." Poker is a completely different animal from those - with Poker, the vying is between all of the players seated at the table and the house has no interest in the outcome (because they rake the pot by the same amount regardless of who wins it). In virtually all other casino gaming, the player plays not against the other players present but against the house, and the house always has an odds advantage which insures the house will be profitable over the long term. Even bookmakers don't have any interest in the outcome of the events upon which they are making book, because of the "vig" - the difference in odds between the two sides of the proposition. If you want to be a profitable book player, you need to be better than everybody else at picking the outcomes, and so much better than you can overcome not only the odds, but the vig as well. At least with poker the rake is typically so small that it's easy for reasonably good players to overcome it. Besides, with poker you have a much larger percentage of the available information at your disposal when making a decision. But this isn't intended to be a diatribe espousing the virtues of Poker over other forms of wagering.

So where do I stand? I am voting my continued disappointment with the state of the restrictions on Internet poker players we currently enjoy in the U.S. I am voting "no" on all gambling-related propositions other than those that are aimed at restoring the rights of players to easily move their money back and forth between the financial institutions of their choosing and sites that provide honest and fair Internet poker.

I urge my fourteen readers to do likewise.

Fixing vonage voicemail to work with the iPhone

We have vonage. We're pretty happy with it. One thing that's particularly nice is that they will e-mail you voicemails as attachments (I wish they would not then also store them in a voicemail box that has to be hosed out periodically, but that's another issue). The one downside is that these voicemails are attached as µLAW WAV files, which aren't compatible with the iPhone.

Not to worry: if you run your own mail server, a little bit of perl can re-encode them as MP3s, which the iPhone is perfectly happy playing. So now vonage voicemail comes in as e-mails on the iPhone, with MP3 attachments that can be listened to. Huzzah!

To use this, set up an alias in sendmail to pipe the e-mail through this perl file, adding the destination e-mail addresses as arguments. For example:

vm-fixit: "| vonagevm.pl user@example.com other@example.com"

Then, set the vonage e-mail address in the voicemail set-up to vm-fixit @ your domain. With the example above, it will change the audio to an MP3 and mail it to user@example.com and other@example.com.

#! /usr/bin/perl

use Email::MIME;
use Email::MIME::Modifier;
use File::Temp qw/ tempfile tempdir tmpnam  /;

my $in_msg;

{ local $/=undef;
  $in_msg = <STDIN>;
}

my $message = Email::MIME->new($in_msg);

$message->walk_parts(sub {
  my $part = shift;
  return if ($part->content_type !~ m[audio/wav]);

  ($fhw, $filenamewav) = tempfile( SUFFIX => ".wav" );
  print $fhw $part->body;
  close $fhw;

  (undef, $filenamemp3) = tempfile(SUFFIX => ".mp3");

  system "/usr/local/bin/sox $filenamewav -t wav -w -s -r 8000 - | /usr/local/bin/lame -m m -b 32 - $filenamemp3";

  my $mp3audio;
  { local $/=undef;
    open FHM, $filenamemp3;
    $mp3audio = <FHM>;
    close FHM;
  }

  unlink($filenamewav);
  unlink($filenamemp3);

  $part->body_set($mp3audio);
  $part->content_type_set("audio/mpeg");
  $part->name_set("voicemail.mp3");
  $part->filename_set("voicemail.mp3");

});

open SENDIT, "|/usr/sbin/sendmail " . join(" ", @ARGV);
print SENDIT $message->header_obj->as_string;
print SENDIT $message->crlf;
print SENDIT $message->body_raw;
close SENDIT;