Not that I’m complaining, I love my Beamz and would have a hard time parting with it! The really neat thing is that the Beamz is starting to catch on, and as a result more effort is going into supporting it and expanding it’s capabilities. Which of course has lead me to other people who are heavily involved in it’s growth. They are an amazing group and extremely dedicated! If you are looking for any of these people, as well as community support for the Beamz then I recommend that you check out The Beamz Community – www.beamzcommunity.com. Here, after you join, you can post questions, and interact with what I think are some of the most amazing people supporting the Beamz!

But I digress….

My wife is a member of our local Kiwanis Group, whose main goal is helping and supporting kids in our community. Last night she arranged for me to demo the Beamz to the group ( which of course I did. ) They are a pretty creative bunch, and the demo went over like gang-busters! With more ideas flying around than I have space to type – seriously!

What was really neat, was that one couple at the meeting had brought their children along, and they ( the kids ) also got really, really excited with the Beamz. I just stood back and let them have fun. It was really neat to see them experiment and try different things with it. Learning how to operate it as they went, one little girl ( the youngest ) would have taken it home with her if she could.

What a neat experience!

Here’s some more videos that I’ve recently come across that talk about the Beamz n Kids. Wow….

www.viddler.com/explore/beamz/videos/14/

These last two videos are professionals in their field, talking about how the Beamz is used and helping them with their kids.
www.viddler.com/explore/beamz/videos/15/

www.viddler.com/explore/beamz/videos/16/

As there seems to be a lot of interest, and I’m getting a lot of hits, because of the Beamz, I’ve now made a category called My Beamz. Where you can find any and all articles that I’ve written about this great little device.

Even my 5 & 7 year old grandsons enjoy playing it. They really like to use it as an air guitar – one hand playing the Beamz ( picture their hand where the neck of the guitar should be, only playing with the lasers in the Beamz ), the other strumming the air guitar. I gotta tell you it’s great fun to watch them having fun with it!

I’ve also upgraded my system now so that it includes the Beamz Studio and making your own unique music ( that can then be played in 100′s of different ways ) is pretty easy and amazing! I hope to have a separate article about that some time later.

What I’m excited about right now is that  I’ve been talking with the company, and they have arranged for me to have a coupon that can save you shipping costs ( if you are shipping outside the US you will probably still have duty and taxes to pay depending upon where you live ) AND also give you 10 free extra songs when you register your Beamz with them!Just go to their website www.thebeamz.com, click on shop ( at the very top ), add the system that you want and then go to the checkout where you will see the spot where you can enter the coupon/promotion code. It’s really that simple.

The Coupon code is BEETH and I’ve included below an image of the coupon if you wish to print it off.  If you are considering getting the Beamz why not save a few dollars when you do – I wish I had had this opportunity but I’ve made sure that others will.

Enjoy!

As there seems to be a lot of interest, and I’m getting a lot of hits, because of the Beamz, I’ve now made a category called My Beamz. Where you can find any and all articles that I’ve written about this great little device.

It’s called  “Beamz“, and while it may have been around for a while, I think it’s finally getting some deserved notice.

I think it originally must have had some bad marketing, because you can find all sorts of people from 4 years or so ago giving this little device ( although it isn’t really ‘little’ ) a big raspberry/bad rap/huge laugh. But in the last two years, it’s been getting some big time notice from some big time names ( more on that later. ) For now let’s just say that it was developed by a musician ( Jerry Riopelle ) for DJ’s/other musicians/people who can’t play music….. yeah I know. HUH ? But it works! And it works really well!

It’s a great little device that allows you to sort of play music, without really having to know how ( if that makes any sense. )    What I have found over the past few weeks of playing with it is that you need to have, or develop a sense of, rhythm using it. Once you have that, you can create music from it’s music ( again not very clear, but hopefully soon it will be. )

If you are looking for a really great technical and in-depth overview of the device, how it works, what it does, etc, etc then this is a website is where you need to go to get that. I don’t think it was written in English  ( possibly Italian ) but it has translation buttons for all the major languages at the bottom of the article. It is really  full of  in-depth information and well worth the read. Here is the website that you can find it at – www.marcodesalvo.it/beamz.html. My link should point to the English version of the article, but if it doesn’t just go to the bottom and choose the language of your choice. You won’t find a better over-view anywhere. Marco did an amazing job on this!

Essentially, for me, the Beamz takes a programmed piece of music or music “jam session” ( adhoc music played around a particular piece ) and breaks it up, on average, between 6 to 12 separate musical sections. Each of these sections could range between a cymbal being hit to a 12 piece violin movement and everything and anything in between. Each section is then assigned to one of the available laser beam banks that the Beamz will play. This ensures that the music, in general, will always play melodically when anyone plays the Beamz and hence no bad notes ( in theory anyways…. )

I unfortunately only have the basic Beamz package. The professional package actually lets one develop your own music and assign it accordingly to the laser beams within the Beamz, so my following description is based upon conjecture, observation and experimentation…… and YES I will be getting the Studio Software which will allow me to do everything the professional package allows one to do.

The laser beams act as triggers, in that while the beam is broken that particular section will play. But it actually does a lot more than just play that section. These sections are also programmed to play the music according to predefined parameters, usually based upon the beat or movement of the music, with appropriate end sounds when the beam is reconnected. The result is that it feels like you can play individual notes, rhythms and even full sections of the song depending upon how one triggers the laser beam. Which is why I’ve found rhythm to be so important ( at least in my case. )

Once you are “in the groove” or flowing with the rhythm of the music, you can actually play the various pieces of the music and create something that is altogether different in sound that what was originally there. A case in point is the music that comes with the Beamz music called “Green Onions”. Depending upon your mood you can either turn this into something jazzy, or rock like, or very bluesy all depending on how you play each laser beam.

I’ve heard it said that with “The Beamz” you can’t make a bad note…. we’ll I’ve found that some of the mixes, which give great variability in play style, can also mix discordant instruments ( for lack of a better word ) which can easily sound jarring and ill fitted. So while the notes themselves may not be badly formed, the playing of them at the wrong time can certainly make them seem that way… But I’ve found that once you learn which ones not to play when, leaves you sounding pretty good!

There are essentially two packages available, each device containing 6 lasers ( although there are rumours that there is or might have been a 4 laser device at one time. ) The main difference aside from price ( about US$200 and US$300 ) is that the lower cost unit simply plays music. The cheaper device comes with about 30 songs and can buy more later at US$3 each from the company. The more expensive unit apparently comes with a midi connection as well as Studio software which will let you create your own Beamz music from all sorts of sources. The Studio software can be purchased separately ( which of course, I will be doing ) for those who originally bought the $200 package, for $100.

The company is also in the process of setting up a social site for Beamz owners and fans. I think they have tried to find any and every combination of Beamz and Community and point it to the same website www.beamzcommunity.com. Where people will be able to share stories, information, songs, questions, etc, etc. They are also planning to come out with an SDK/developers package ( essentially the software needed by a developer to write software to talk to the Beamz ) for both Windows, Mac and Linux. Which means that more software and tools will eventually, no doubt, be coming out for your Beamz on the platform that best suits you.

Lastly, for me, the Beamz is a meditation device. Heaven knows I’ve tried over the years to try and find some way to still all the voices in my head and experience the “joy of meditation” but whenever I try there are at least 2 to 3 of them still arguing about how each other should be quiet …. I mean really! I’ve found that when I play the Beamz, my hands move and my mind is completely silent…. It’s really amazing…. and wonderful.

I’ve inserted some of my favourite videos of “The Beamz” below for you to enjoy. I hope, if you’ve gotten this far, that you will enjoy them as much as I did….. T’ill next time.

This first one is a remix of RadioHeads House of Cards…. I find it mesmerizing

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz8fx-1aVg0

This one is of Quincy Jones and Friends playing “The Light”. Watch how excited YoYo Ma gets over it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWJQS3uDf_w

Here’s one of a 9 year old who get’s into the groove of the Beamz – awesome

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVD45Bl4cRs

Finally a wonderful video using the Beamz prototype being used in a Childrens Hospital – truley amazing!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxY9ZGR54cQ

And lastly just for the fun of it “The Red Bank Bounce” played on two Beamz at once…. Wow!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiYls6cuudM&feature=related

Okay, this is the last, last, last, final….. I promise ( okay Hope.)  My wife insisted I include this video of an explanation by Dr. Barry Bittman as to why the Beamz is so awesome…. and I thought I was the geeky one.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=deFA_keAqhM

You can find lots more pictures and other videos available on The Beamz main website

www.thebeamz.com

BEETH is a promotion code I’ve arranged that will give you (if you order using it) free shipping and 10 extra free songs if you register with it

As there seems to be a lot of interest, and I’m getting a lot of hits, because of the Beamz, I’ve now made a category called My Beamz. Where you can find any and all articles that I’ve written about this great little device.

The problem that they have isn’t clear, they seem to be pointing a lot of fingers at China ( where they sent their off shore production to ) and they certainly have some pretty scary stories to tell about that, like this one ( click on the title to get the full story ):

The Cherrypal Underwear Crisis
… It took us four weeks until we found out that the shipping company actually didn’t ship the laptops to our customers, they sold them in Mainland China to their own distribution channels. During this nerve-wrecking four weeks some of our customers got faked tracking numbers, others cheap underwear, others nothing at all. Only after we got the first emails from “customers” in China praising our laptops we found out what was really going on…

That’s not the only horror story coming out of China for CherryPal, but it’s a dramatic one… From my point of view it falls down to service. They depended heavily on lip service and not too much on the real thing. I was dealing with the CEO of the company, Max Seybold, which initially really impressed me, unfortunately in the coming months after he first contacted me it went from being impressed, to dismayed, to anger, to frustration, to giving up… Here’s the chronology and story:

• January 5, 2010: After doing research and verification on the CherryPal Bing and being impressed with it I ordered one for my wife for her Birthday
• January 7, 2010: Shipped from San Fransisco
• January 14, 2010: Enters Canadian Customs
• January 20, 2010: Arrives at my door ( 15 days from order to delivery…. not bad…. )
• January 28, 2010: Hiccups/minor problems appear and I start dialoging with Max himself… ( I’m very impressed ) Problems are: 1) The system in configured as being someplace in China 2) The keyboard is configured as Chinese US ( didn’t even know such a thing existed ) 3) Several items/programs were installed as Chinese versions with no English menus ( I was to discover later that Windows Media Player was one of these. )
• January 29, 2010: Major issues now appear: 1) In order to upgrade Windows Media Player to version 11 it fails Windows Verification. Microsoft reports that the VLK/license is a blocked Vendor License Key and must be replaced. 2) Calling the CherryPal support number gets just a ringing phone, no one ever answers 3) The hard drive has been partition into four much smaller hard drives, which could lead to many problems for the less tech savvy. 4) The manual included with the Bing is written in very poor  English and describes ports and functions that do not exist
• January 29, 2010: Max Seybold says that they are working on the problem and that the issue is with this first batch of CherryPal Bings coming from China. He assures me that the license keys are valid, but that they will check with their manufacturer just in case. In the meantime they will also be contacting Microsoft to “get the COA validated.” He promises that if they cannot fix the laptop, they will replace it. He also apologizes for no one answering the phone as their offices were ?”upgrading our call centre as we speak”
  
• February 09, 2010: Max Seybold says that he will be sending me a new machine, to the same address, today. No deposit is necessary as he believes we can trust each other by now.
• February 14, 2010: I inform Max that the Bing worked admirably while on holiday, but we discovered that there was no telephone modem in the laptop. Which was an oversight we thought in the design as many people  (especially in the country ) still do not have high speed and need dial-up telephone modem access.
• March 02, 2010: Still no replacement computer in sight. Nothing has arrived. I ask Max for an update as time wise ( based on the previous order ) it should have arrived by now.
• March 03, 2010: Max replied that he dropped the ball. He was waiting to confirm that my computer was indeed part of a bad batch and that he ” will express ship you a ‘good’ bing today” and “will also send you a 7 inch Africa Linux to make up for the inconvenience“
• March 15, 2010: Counterfeit and “you are a victim of fraud” warnings are popping up more frequently on the CherryPal. Sometimes even blocking access to programs. The desktop picture has been replaced with a black background and Windows Genuine Advantage Failure notice. Frustration and anger are showing and I ask Max for a tracking number to confirm that the Bing has been shipped this time.
• April 19. 2010: Still waiting for Max to get back to me. I again ask for information about the replacement’s whereabouts. I even voice that I am still hoping to write a favourable review of the Cherrypal ( the computer itself is still a great little machine ) if I can get one that works properly.
• April 23, 2010: I send a broadcast email to every CherryPal address I can find or think of. Their listed phone number still doesn’t pick up, regardless of the time of day. No one has replied to any of the emails that I have sent ( the ones listed above are just the highlights .) I inform them that still nothing has arrived and my planned articles are going to start having a definitely different spin to them. I also mention that I am now researching how to fix it myself, and will probably have to buy a new Windows Professional License for it.
• April 23, 2010: This was my final message from Max. It was almost sad in it’s wording and probably says it all “ I don’t understand how this could have happened. I am really sorry. We will fix the problem immediately, no need to buy a Win XP license??. I will get back to you shortly.”
• May 03, 2010: Max still hasn’t gotten back to me. When I call their help line I now get “This is Cherrypal. All phone lines are busy. Please call later again. Thank you.” The message sounded like it was recorded in an empty warehouse. I ask Max one last time for an update. Is anything happening…. ( No one ever gets back to me )
• May 04, 2010: I write an introductory article on my blog on what I am about to attempt with the Cherrypal.
• May 05, 2010: I send Max and CherryPal an email that I have started my repairs and am writing my articles ( To date still no response )
• May 07, 2010: I write “The Bloom is off My CherryPal“
• May 10, 2010: I acquire a new Windows Professional License for the machine and write “Bing! A new License for my CherryPal“
• May 12, 2010: After a lot of prep work, I fix the disk partition problem on the computer and write “CherryPal Pie, Re-Cut“

I haven’t heard anything from Max Seybold since April 23, I hope he is doing all right. Unfortunately I would say that his company isn’t. My wife and I still like the Bing, even more so now that we got all the bugs fixed. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend it to anyone else, in spite of all the ooohs and aaaahs it generates. The service the company gave killed that chance, and may very well ( if it hasn’t already ) killed the company. What a waste.

Oh and just in case you thought that mine was a unique case, here’s some more links to check out…. again what a pity.

• CherryPal Customer Service: lies, ignored emails and technical incompetence
• Beware CherryPal Laptops – I made a mistake
• CherryPal F Rating with the Better Business Bureau
• CherryPal Mistakes and Customer Relations
• CherryPal Cancels Shipment on Africa

I think thats enough, I feel like I’m kicking a guy when he’s down. Hopefully CherryPal will get their act together, hopefully… and maybe one day I’ll get that replacement too…

You’ll hear it here first if I do, I’m just not holding my breath any more.

The problem was the hard drive. The bing comes with a great little 160GB drive. Which is plenty of space for email, and a lot of other stuff. The problem was that when Windows XP Professional was installed, someone had partitioned ( cut up ) the hard drive into smaller drives when they installed it. Specifically 26GB 50GB 50GB and 34GB ( roughly remembered .) Which in essence for most people turned the 160GB hard drive or pie into something less than a 30GB one. Also since Windows insisted on putting everything into it’s C: drive ( usually where it is installed ) it would quickly fill up as one added programs, updates and other paraphernalia. I needed to re-cut this 160GB pie into something that would work better and longer on Windows or better yet, turn all four small drives into one large one!

I have to tell you that this is pretty simple and straightforward in Linux land, plus it isn’t even really an issue with Linux because I can always mount ( dynamically add ) drives together to make the computer think it’s one big drive. Unfortunately Windows hasn’t anywhere close to anything like that, nor does it even have a tool that will let you resize a disk or partition ( that part of the drive that thinks it’s a disk by itself ) without losing the information on the disk ( and since my wife has been using the Bing for about 4 months now, it isn’t advisable to lose anything on her. )

The removal of empty partitions and the growing of the active partition ( making the C: drive that had all her current programs and information on it larger ) was easily handled by a linux program called GParted (or Gnome Partition Editor.) Which is found on any Ubuntu installation disk, as well as it’s own livecd ( a disk that will boot and just give you GParted. ) The process to do this is laid out quite clearly on their own website on Sourceforge.net. You can find all the steps here: gparted.sourceforge.net/larry/resize/resizing.htm. Make sure you scroll down and read Part 2 on the NTFS file system to see how to recover the disk and all it’s information. The process is quite simple and painless.

The challenge that required all the prep work, was a what-if scenario that I had to be ready for. Namely…. What if something went wrong and I needed to use a Windows XP Professional Rescue Disk or Installation disk to recover possibly lost data. The concern here wasn’t so much that no CherryPal comes with a CD/DVD drive ( external ones are easily connected via the USB port ), but rather the CherryPal was not shipped with any installation disks AND it contained no C:\i386 directory from which a new disk could be built!

This meant, essentially that if, for whatever reason, the CherryPal was to suffer a catastrophic failure, I could not reinstall Windows XP Professional even if I wanted to!

This needless to say sent me scurrying and searching for a couple of days looking for a solution, which of course, I finally found on a great little site called How To Haven: www.howtohaven.com/system/createwindowssetupdisk.shtml. I was able to do this because, luckily enough I had another much older laptop, which also did not have an installation disk, BUT did have the C:\i386 directory that allowed me to rebuild an installation disk.

I have to tell you the work in putting the installation disk together was not easy, there are a lot of convoluted steps and specialty programs that need to be downloaded and installed, but the bottom line is that How To Haven’s solution worked and I now have an Installation disk for Windows XP Professional and more importantly I now have a CherryPal Bing that is configured the way it’s supposed to be configured with a valid operating system ( see my previous post for that one .)

Next article will be a wrap-up of my CherryPal experience – ALL of it. Including the story on why I had to do this all myself – so stay tuned!