Review: HTC BH-S100 Stereo Bluetooth Receiver

Got my HTC BH-S100 receiver in earlier this week and have had a few days to try it out at home and at work.  In summary exactly what I expected and works exactly as I need it to.

Bluetooth Stereo Headset A2DP Pairing in Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy

Update: Someone created a better explanation here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BluetoothHeadset

Well, I got my HTC stereo a2dp headset in.  While pairing was very straight-forward on my WinMo phone, it wasnt quite so obvious in Ubuntu.

The problem is this:  You try to browse for the device, select it, and you receive an OBEX error.  Apparently behind the scenes the gnome bluetooth manager is trying to establish an OBEX file connection with the device which a Headset generally does not have, thus you will get an OBEX error before the pairing process is complete.  Instead you need to establish an audio connection with it to trigger the authentication process, which seemingly the gnome bluetooth manager cannot do via a GUI.

Here is what I did (based on http://wiki.bluez.org/wiki/HOWTO/AudioDevices):

Think Geek posted my action shot

Not exactly my best composition ;) , but I quickly fired off a shot of my TixClock that I purchased on ThinkGeek.com, sent it in, and they posted it as an action shot.  Here it is

Bluetooth Headset - Quest for a decent stereo A2DP headset

The stereo bluetooth from my phone works quite well on my Sony head unit in my van.  I wish to repeat the success listening to my music at work.  I checked out various bluetooth headsets on the web, read quite a lot of reviews for the Plantronics, Motorolla, Sony, Jabra, and Logitech.  I always look at the negative reviews first to get to the point and sadly didnt find any headsets without some cosistent problems ( Uncomfortable, low battery life, fragile, low-fiedelity etc )

A change in strategy was in order and stumbled upon a few devices that merely receive stereo bluetooth and translate it into an analog 3.5mm socket to use your whatever headphone devices fit reliably/comfortably in your ears.   Of those that I looked at (Sony, Panasonic, HTC), I determined that the HTC BH-S100 was the best performer for battery / compatibility.

http://www.htcaccessorystore.com/uk/p_htc_item.aspx?i=140889

It was a bit hard to track down a vendor in the US, but managed to find it at Hookup Wireless http://www.hookupwireless.com for $70.  When they arrive, Ill post my take on these as well.

Honda Del Sol (Non-ABS) - Changing the front brakes / rotors

My Honda Del Sol was having slight issues with its brakes and I noticed that the rotors were pretty thin in the front.  When replacing brake pads or the rotor, both should be serviced at the same time.  For example, if the pads are worn out you should have the rotor either machined or replaced, such that the grooves left behind from the old pads dont shorten the life of the new pads.

Here is how I changed them:

MUTO - A street painting animation

Incredible artistry in this link of what the artist calls "MUTO".  It depicts an animation composed of a series of street/wall paintings.   Im not sure how long it took this artist to do this, but it is an amazing three minutes of video / audio!

http://www.blublu.org/sito/video/muto.htm

The future of Autos - VW "One-Liter"

VW is planning on making a production car in 2010 based on a prototype car called the "One-Liter".   The prototype features an 8hp diesel engine, aerodynamic carbon fiber body, weighing in at around 600lbps, and getting 232MPG.

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/07/laugh-at-high-g.html