As someone who loves nature, and loves to see animals in their natural environment, I feel really fortunate for some of the opportunities I’ve had to travel the world and see things I thought I’d only see on TV.  One of my dreams has always been to dive with Manta Rays in their natural setting.  Manta Rays can grow up to 25 feet from wingtip to wingtip, and can weigh up to 5000 lbs.  These gentle giants are plankton eaters.  They open their huge mouths to take in large amounts of water, and filter the water out of their gills, catching the plankton in the process.  They’re very gentle, and curious about humans.As I’ve traveled over the years, I’ve traveled to many places where there were opportunities to see Manta Rays, with no luck.   It was by luck that I finally had my first opportunity.  I took my first ever vacation to the Hawaii Islands.  I visited Kona, Hawaii.  I really had no knowledge of Kona…I’ve heard of Kona, but nothing specific and I had no expectations.  When I arrived, I quickly found out how beautiful Kona really is.  I wanted to book a Scuba Diving trip, and after doing some research on  diving companies, I settled on Kona Honu Divers.

When I visited their dive shop, I found out that they have a Manta Ray dive that is world-famous, and is consistently rated as one of the top 10 dives in the world.  As it turns out, Kona is the only place in the world where Manta Rays have been conditioned to come to certain areas to eat plankton and play with divers.  Quite some time ago, one of the major hotels placed spotlights on the ocean floor, shining towards the surface, and they found out that the lights attracted plankton, which the Manta Rays LOVE.  So I had booked the dive and couldn’t wait for the experience.

Once we arrived at our location, it was still light out and we went for a dive just to explore and see what the area had to offer.  The Manta Rays don’t normally show up there until after dark, so after our first dive we returned to the boat and waited until then.  The winds really started picking up, and the boat was rocking around quite a bit.  We were getting a little concerned because the weather was not that great, and they had no sighting the previous two nights.  I was starting to get a little bummed out, and we were about to give up when someone shouted they saw a fin come out of the water.  We immediately put on our scuba gear and got in the water.

I was BLOWN AWAY.  As soon as I got in the water, there were two huge Manta Rays waiting for us.  They were swimming large circles from the bottom of the ocean to the surface, looping over and over, and so close to us.  Their large mouths were sucking in huge amounts of water, and they would swim right at us with their mouths open, turning away at the last moment, brushing against us.  Finally!  I was in such awe of the amazing, giant creatures.  I couldn’t believe that I was really there.  After about 15 minutes swimming on the surface with the Manta Rays, it was time to see more.  This video shows what we saw when we got in the water:

We dove to the ocean floor, about 35 feet deep, and formed a circle around the spotlights anchored to the ocean floor, shooting towards the surface.  Because of the weather, there was a strong back and forth current, making it harder to stay in one place, so we grabbed onto rocks to enjoy the show.  The first video above shows the amazing scene we were witnessing.  There were 9 of these amazing Manta Rays circling and swimming everywhere.  They were brushing us with their wings, circling around us, coming from all sides.  It was really a surreal experience…I felt as if I was watching a sci-fi movie.  Most of them were around 15-20 wide, gliding through the water with such amazing grace.  Along with the spotlights from each of the divers, and the little fish everywhere, it was a lot to take in.

This is one of those experiences that really cannot be explained with words, or with video for that matter.  It’s something you have to experience in real life to fully understand the impact that this will have on you.  I’ll just say that it’s one of those moments that really changes you, your outlook on life, your appreciation for all of the creations on this earth, and your desire to be part of those things.  I hope everyone will be able to share in this experience at least once in their lives.

I’d also like to say that I’ve been scuba diving in a lot of places around the world, and the guys at Kona Honu Divers were as professional as they come.  If you make it to Kona, you HAVE to go on the Manta Ray Dive, and I really recommend going with Kona Honu Divers.  I’m not affiliated with them in any way, just a satisfied customer.  Also, thank you to Louis B. for shooting and editing the videos.

If you’re not already familiar with HDMI, it’s no doubt you will learn about it in the near future. HDMI is fast becoming the industry standard AV Connection. According the HDMI Organization, HDMI is the first and only industry-supported, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface. With a single HDMI Connection, you can send a full 1080p signal along with multi-channel digital audio to your receiver or TV.

HDMI Organization estimates that over 229 million components incorporating HDMI will ship in 2008. By 2010, an installed base of nearly 1.2 billion HDMI enabled devices is projected. And according to the Consumer Electronics Association, HDMI Cable sales will be up by 21% in 2008.

HDMI is a great system, when it works properly. There’s a few issues though that are preventing some from embracing HDMI. One of the issues that comes up often is the physical HDMI Connection. Its connection is lacking any type of “locking” or “latching” mechanism. The result for many is a loose connection. The slightest movement can cause you to lose your sound or picture. The HDMI Cable might move just enough to interrupt the signal, or it may easily come completely unplugged from its input. Just do a Google search for “loose HDMI” or “HDMI loose” and you’ll see tons of articles, blogs and forum posts complaining of the problem. Not only is it a big inconvenience, but it can also result in damaging your equipment. It’s not uncommon for the HDMI input to be damaged from repeated plugging and unplugging.

There have been many attempts to address this problem…some good solutions and some not so good. But they all have one thing in common…you have to purchase a specific cable with a locking mechanism.

Blue Echo Solutions is finalizing it’s patent pending design of the first Universal Locking Adaptor for HDMI Cables, designed to work with your existing cable, or the cable of your choice. It’s designed to work with MOST HDMI Cables on the market, and most HDMI Components on the market, regardless of the fixing screw location…it will even work with most components that don’t have a fixing screw. It’s called hd EZ lock™, and it’s an adaptor that clamps firmly around your HDMI Cable and secures it to the input.

If you’ve experienced this problem, or you’d like to take the extra measures to prevent this from happening, hd EZ lock™ is the solution you’ve been waiting for. For more information, you can visit http://www.hdezlock.com/ and submit your e-mail address for updates and to be notified when its available. hd EZ lock™ will be available in August 2008.

hd EZ lock™ is an inexpensive solution that is easy to use, reusable with future systems, and best of all, it will save you from a lot of frustration, and possibly from expensive repairs. At $19.98 for two adaptors, can you really afford NOT to use it?

With today’s rising gas prices, we all are searching for ways to save money and be more efficient with our fuel consumption. More and more of us are also starting to think “green.” One positive thing to come out of the recent rise in gasolin prices is the public awareness to conserve fuel, start thinking about alternative energy sources, and to think about the effects that our tremendous appetite for fuel is having on the earth.

One company is onto something big. I was driving by the local Home Depot, and I had to do a double take when I saw 30 to 40 goats, along with a goat herder, and their company banner…”We’re going GREEN using goats”.

Really unusual to see this in the city. Well, it looks like their doing a great job trimming the weeds, without using any fuel. I guess it get any greener than that!

Well, not so fast, but you might be able to in the very near future.  I have been amazed over the last few years at how many people hate cable boxes.  One of the most common questions I hear when someone’s purchasing a new TV is “is there a way to get rid of my cable box?”

A few years ago, many manufacturers had a feature called Cable Card, which allowed you to eliminate your Cable Set-top Box with a “card” that plugged into a slot on the back of your TV, allowing you to plug your coaxial line in and receive your cable channels.

It never really took off, for several reasons.  The biggest problem was that it was a one-way communication system.  That meant that it could only receive information, not send information back to the cable companies.  The problem was that you could not receive the channel guides (the cable menu system), pay-per-view, video on demand, etc.  Most people were used to these on their Cable Boxes, and did not want to give them up.  Also, you can’t use a separate TIVO box (or similar device) with Cable Card.  There seemed to be other issues, and performance seemed to be a problem with many users as well.

Most manufacturers dropped this feature from their TVs within a year or two, and I’m not aware of any that have them currently.

The good news, potentially, is that Sony Electronics just announced it has signed an agreement with the major cable operators in America to begin producing “tru2way” bi-directional digital cable ready products that will not require a separate set-top box.

According to Sony, “tru2way” will resolve the problems of previous Cable Cards.  It will allow for interactive services like video-on-demand, digital video recording and interactive programming guides,  and finally allow viewers to return to the days when all you needed was a coaxial cable into your TV.

With all of the problems of the previous Cable Cards, we’re a little skeptical until we see it, but it sounds very promising and hopefully, everyone will support this new standard and allow you to say goodbye to your cable box.

Gaming Console’s have been huge for some time now, and I’m sure everyone either has one, or knows someone that has an Xbox, Playstation, or Wii.  So you know what these are, but did you know that some consoles do much more than just allow you to play games?

I bet many of you own a Microsoft Xbox 360 but don’t know the full extent to which you can use it (I’m sure a lot of you do, but I bet a lot of you don’t).  Microsoft has a program called Windows Media Center which allows you to organize and control your entertainment from your PC.  You can play your favorite music, view your photos as a slideshow, watch DVDs, download movies, and you can even watch and record your favorite TV shows (and in the US, you can even record HDTV programs with an HD compatible tuner).  Windows Media Center is included with Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate Home Editions, and is also available separately.

Windows Media Center allows you to add up to 5 Media Center Extenders so that you can expand your system.  A Media Center Extender is a box that you can add to allow you to “extend” the functions of Windows Media Center.  I’ll give you an example that should clarify what this means.

If you have your PC in your office, and it has Windows Media Center installed, you’re able to do the normal functions such as listen to your music, play a slideshow, etc on your PC.

If you add a Media Center Extender to your family room TV (connected through either a network or wirelessly), you now have the ability to do the exact same thing in your family room.  This means that your family room Media Center Extender acts as an extension of your office PC and allows you to extract information from your office PC and play it in your family room.  It acts completely independantly of your office PC.  This means that if you’re watching a slideshow of your trip to Hawaii in your office, you can play a slideshow of your trip to Europe in your family room, without interfering with the Hawaii slideshow.

Another example is I’m in my office listening to the newest Michael Jackson anniversary CD.  You stop by to say hi, and you hear me listening to Thriller.  You decide you want to hear that so you go to the family room, pull up the Media Center software and find Thriller (from the same anniversary CD I’m listening to on my PC) and hit play.  Now Thriller begins playing in the family room, and I’m still listening to it in my office.  Even though you’re selecting this from the family room Media Center Extender, which is accessing the information from the office PC, it’s totally independant so it does not have any effect on what I’m listening to in the office.

You can have up to 5 Media Center Extenders connected, all accessing one PC, all with independant control.  You can listen to a CD in one room, watch a photo slideshow in another room, listen to a differnet CD in another room, etc, all from the same PC, all at the same time.  And because you have the option to do this wirelessly, it’s a very simple way to expand your system throughout your household.

So what does this have to do with the Microsoft Xbox 360?  Well, the Xbox 360 is also a Media Center Extender.  That means if you already have an Xbox 360, and you have Windows Media Center, you just have to add a network connection to your Xbox 360.

 You can do this either using a wired or wireless connection.  For best results, Microsoft recommends using a wired network connection to connect both your PC and your Xbox 360.  Second best method is to use a wired connection from your router to your PC, then use a wireless connection from your router to your Xbox 360, using the Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adaptor.  There are some other basic recommendations that are listed on the Microsoft website.

It’s very easy to connect and setup up.  There’s also a Xbox 360 Universal Remote that allows you to easily control your Media Center through your Xbox 360.

You also have the option of using a stand alone Media Center.  Several companies are manufacturing them and they allow you to do the same thing minus the gaming ability of the Xbox 360.

We offer a couple of units from Linksys, the DMA2100 and DMA2200 which are Media Center Extenders and wireless receivers all in one.  The DMA2200 also has a built in DVD Player, and both units have an HDMI output to your TV.

Also, we carry a couple of very cool new TVs from Hewlett Packard.  The HP SL4278N and the HP SL4778N Flat-panel LCD TVs have a built-in network media device that allows you to create a wireless Ethernet connection to your computer, and access your music, photos, and more from your PC.

It’s really exciting what’s going on in the world of convergence…being able to tie your PC and your home entertainment systems together, sharing your music, photos, TV throughout your house, wirelessly!

So if you have your Xbox, make sure you’re maximizing it by using its Media Center Extender capabilities.  If not, take a look at the Xbox, or one of the other options to make sure your whole house it getting in on the action.

Click here to visit our store for the Xbox and other Media Center Extenders

We’ve recently added a bunch of items to our Clearance Center and we’re excited to be able to offer such a great deal on these items. 

Our prices are very competetive on all items, but our clearance items are discounted very aggressively, and some items are discounted more than 80% off of their retail price.

We have some brand new items which we normally don’t stock, so we want to get rid of them as soon as possible.  We also have some demo items that we want to get rid of…and this means one thing…a great deal for you!

Here’s a few of the Brand New items that we’re selling in our clearance section:

We have two Audioquest HDMI-1 (HDMIONE) HDMI Cables, 1 Meter long.  If you’re not familiar with Audioquest Cables, they are a High-End Cable line that offers some of the best cables available anywhere.  Believe it or not, they have Speaker Cables that retail for $8400.00 for a 10 foot pair!  They’re not as well known as Monster Cable, but in my opinion they are a better cable.  Most people haven’t heard of them because they don’t market their products as heavily as Monster Cable does…they definitely spend their money on design and production, making sure you get a top notch product for your money.  The HDMI-1 is their second best HDMI cable, using a 26 AWG 2.5% silver conducter and a Skin-Foam-Skin Polyethylene Dielectric. 

These cables retail for $175.00 each, but our clearance price is $118.75 each.  Click here if you’d like to see our HDMI-1 product page.

This is a Brand New Audiovox DPF1000 Digital Photo Frame, only one available.  This is a 10.4″ (diagonal) screen Digital Picture Frame which allows you to play your digital photos in a slide show.  It has some built in storage for 20-40 high resolution photos, as well as directly supports SD, MMC, and MS memory cards.  To see more specifications and features, click here.  This retails for $240.00, but our clearance price is $123.25.

Crash, Blu-ray DVD, 1080p High Definition, 16 x 9 widescreen DVD, brand new.  This disc retails for $40.00, but we have one available in our clearance center for $14.25.  Click here to view the Crash Blu-ray DVD product page.

We also have incredible deals on demo items…these are items that have been used, but are in very good condition.  The cable above is another Audioquest cable.  The Audioquest YIQ-1 60 foot Component Video cable uses a 24 AWG 2.5% silver conductor with a Hard-Cell Foam Dielectric and Aluminum Foil + Silver-Plated braded shield and Multi-colored braided outer jacket.  This ensures that you’re getting the best picture quality available, especially in a longer run (such as this 60 foot cable).  We have many other component video cables available in shorter lengths, both from Audioquest and Monster Cable.  The YIQ-1 60 foot Component Video Cable retails for $1000.00, but our clearance price is $387.25.  That’s a huge savings, and if you have the need for a long component video cable, you won’t find much better, especially in this price range.  Click here to view the product detail page for the Audioquest YIQ-1 60 foot Component Video Cable.

We have many more items in our clearance center to view…all with great deals.  Items such as Monster Cable Banana Connectors, RCA Audio Cables, Subwoofer, Composite, Digital Coaxial, Coaxial and Component Cables, Case Logic CD/DVD and CD Player cases, and more.

Some items will carry the full manufacturers warranty, and at a minimum every item comes with a 30 day satisfaction guarantee.  Visit each items detail page to see if it’s new or demo, it’s condition, and what the warranty is.  Click here to view our Clearance page and begin browsing your way to great deals!

Pioneer Corp, electronics manufacturer announced today that they will no longer manufacture their own Plasma TV panels, and they will start purchasing panels from outside suppliers.

I say it’s a sad day because I think Pioneer makes the best flat-panel available today (comparing all Plasma TVs and LCD TVs).  The Pioneer Plasma TVs, especially the Elite line is, in my opinion, has the best picture quality of any Plasma or LCD TV available today.  The only TV that I thought was close was the Fujitsu Plasma TV, which late last year announced they are out of the consumer Plasma TV market.

Their reason, as was the reason for Fujitsu, is that they’re losing too much money on Plasma production.  I’m not sure if they will be able to have their panels manufactured like they are currently manufacturing them, but I’m sure that they since they are purchasing them from other companies that they will be different. 

Their electronic processing is also a very important part of their performance, and other manufacturers are making very good panels, so hopefully they will still produce a great product.  Time will tell.

It seems that the LCD market is slowly killing Plasma TVs.  I’m still a big Plasma TV fan, but I have to say that LCD TVs are really catching up in their quality, and the newest LCD TVs have been very impressive.

The Consumer Electronics world changes so fast, that as LCD TVs catch up to Plasmas, new technologies such as OLED are coming out with an absolutely amazing picture.  I guess we’ll always be one step behind the game!

Ever since both formats were released, I knew there could only be support for one player, and that would be Blu-ray.  I recommended Blu-ray to my friends and clients…I just had a feeling.

Not that Blu-ray picture was any better.  To be honest, both formats, when compared side by side, were amazing.  Even when comparing the same DVD in both formats, it’s hard to tell the difference between the two.

I think it was more of the marketing, as well as by looking at who was supporting which format.  Also, Blu-ray is the only true 1080p format on the market.  Even though that doesn’t mean its picture is better than HD-DVD, it’s great for marketing.

Even looking at the manufacturers that were supporting HD-DVD.  Toshiba was the only big name manufacturer, along with Microsoft with the X-box.  LG had a combo HD-DVD/Blu-ray player.  But there were many Blu-ray players on the market.  Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung and more.

Just before the January 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Warner Brothers studio announced that it would support Blu-ray.  The HD-DVD camp tried to downplay this, but soon after slashed the price of their HD-DVD players.  The Blu-ray booth at the CES show was buzzing…in contrast to the HD-DVD booth, which seemed pretty quiet when I visited, and when I passed by at other times.

It just seems to get worse for HD-DVD.  This week, Best Buy and Netflix (following Blockbuster) announced that they would only support Bly-ray.  Today, Wal-Mart joined the band-wagon and announced they also would only support Blu-ray, and would begin phasing out of HD-DVD next month.

And if that’s not bad enough, Blue Echo Audio Video has also decided to strictly support the Blu-ray format…a move that is certain to expedite the death of HD-DVD.

Rumor has it that both Microsoft and Toshiba, two of the biggest supporters of HD-DVD, will make the change to Blu-ray soon, which will officially (kinda) be the end of HD-DVD.

For those of you considering juming in to the world of High Definition DVDs, I really recommend making the jump to Blu-ray.   And for those of you that purchased HD-DVD players, maybe it’s time to put that in your kids room and make the jump into the Blu-ray waters…it’s safe to come in now.

Edit - Reuters announced that Toshiba has officially announced they will stop production of HD-DVD equipment, which means Blu-ray will be the High Definition DVD format winner.

Well, I find myself listening to so much music these days and thinking “this stuff is so unoriginal (sucks),” or “what happened to the talent,” or “they just don’t make music like they used to.” I guess that means I’m officially old now!

But today a friend emailed me a youtube clip of a girl named Charice Pempengco, a 14 year old girl with an absolutely incredible voice…I was blown away and couldn’t believe it. I thought there was no way that’s really her voice. But it is and it’s amazing. And not just a great voice, she’s a true performer. She knows how to work her audience. There’s no doubt about it to me, she’s a star and I can’t wait to see great things come from her. Here’s the clip my friend shared with me. If she gave this performance at the Apollo Theater, she’d bring the house down!

Wow! The show looks pretty funny too

Vicci Martinez is a friend of mine from Tacoma, Washington. I’ve known her since she was a little girl, and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her perform over the years. I’m not sure how well she’s known out there, but in Tacoma and Seattle, she’s very popular and has a huge following. She’s now in her early 20’s, but she’s been performing in public since her early teens. She performed on starsearch, and opened for BB King, Sting and Annie Lenox and many others, as well as performed with some great musicians.

Vicci writes all of her music, and she also has such an amazing voice and a HUGE stage presence. If you ever get the chance to see her live, you’ll see what I’m talking about. And it’s so nice to see her keep her artistic integrity and do things her way. Here’s a couple clips of her performing live.

Vicci’s a true talent, and hopefully you’ll get a chance to see her and pick up her CDs. I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of her in the future.

While I don’t know Ms. Pempengco, I can say that her tremendous passion comes through in her voice and her stage presence. And I have seen the years of hard work Vicci’s put in and her passion for her music is unbelievable. These girls are not only incredibly talented, but they are true performers, and true inspirations.

So I guess it’s one of those things that you can go round and round about, trying to debate if the lack of customer service these days is blamed on a lack of Customer Loyalty, or just a change in culture, or pressures felt with price competition.  Maybe it’s all of these, and I’m sure there are other factors that influence this as well.

Regardless of the reason, there are still companies that believe in providing great customer service, and are able to balance that with competitive price.  I think it’s actually more of a mindset…providing poor service is easy to do, especially if you have the attitude that ‘they’re getting what they paid for.’

I was lucky enough (or unlucky enough, depending on your point of view) to be raised in a culture that placed a huge amount of emphasis on customer service, and that has stayed with me to this day.  I think there is still such a thing as customer loyalty, although definitely harder to find these days.  Because of customer service, I have been fortunate enough to have a large following of loyal customers over the years, and many of these customers have become my good friends.  And I know that my experience will dictate what I say to my friends.  If I have a positive experience shopping, I will definitely tell my friends and make a recommendation.  If I am treated poorly, I will make sure I tell my friends also…I truly believe that if I receive poor service from a company, I should do whatever I can to let my friends and acquaintances know about it so they don’t have to go through the same thing.

So as consumers, we can do something to make sure that customer service doesn’t leave the American culture.  We can buy from stores that provide excellent service, and we can recommend those shops to our friends and families.  We can also tell our friends and families when we are treated poorly by a company so that they don’t give their business to that same company.  It’s really a shame to see these companies prosper when they continue to treat people poorly.

And as a business, we can also strive to continue to provide excellent customer service, and if we’re not providing the best service available now, we should take steps to improve our service so that we can provide world class service. 

It’s something we have to work on as a nation, because the last thing we want is to have great customer service disappear.