Posted by Doug
Thu, 25 Jan 2007 20:11:00 GMT
Today I’m officially (and finally) cable TV free! We’ve finally tired of paying the high monthly fees to get content. Sure, there are lower subscription plans, but none of them include a DVR or are High Def. So, we just pulled the plug. We’re simply going to rely on our Blockbuster on-line account plus our local library plus some iTunes plus some “backnet”.
I setup my old Apple G4 Powerbook (not the powerbook I’m selling on eBay) in the living room with the mini-DVI to s-video connector. Using the 1.3.1 version of Enabler (not the 1.3.5 version) I was able to install Apple’s Front Row to use as a front end for selecting and displaying shows.
I have a bunch of video and TV shows that I’ve “aquired” that are in .avi format. Using iSquint I’m able to convert those easily into the format that iTunes prefers. Also using Parsley is Atomically Delicious I can tag these with the special meta-data iTunes needs to recognize the files as TV Shows and Movies.
All in all I’m real happy with the solution. I’ve also got our family iPhoto album with all of the photos we’ve taken since we got a digital camera setup as a screen saver. So now the idle TV shows snapshots from the past! The kids love it. I think they might actually prefer sitting and watching the slide show of photos to some of the stuff they normally watch on TV when bored.
Posted in Movies, House, TV, Freedom, Mac OS X | 3 comments
Posted by Doug
Wed, 03 May 2006 14:22:19 GMT
Back in January I started a new job that lets me work from home. The first order of business was to setup my own office. Prior to this, my wife and I had been sharing a desk. We did a lot of work to clean out our basement and set me up a working space down there. Just prior to this, my Dad had visited and seen what a total pit my basement was. After we finished cleaning it up, I was so proud I made this little video (Apple Quicktime, 3MB). I’m just now getting around to doing anything with it and I thought I’d share it.
Looking back at this video, the basement really doesn’t look that clean. Just note that there’s a lot less stuff in it.
Posted in House, Family | Tags basement, dog, home, Justin, video | 2 comments
Posted by Doug
Thu, 23 Mar 2006 16:16:46 GMT
From a suggestion on #caboose I’ve snagged my wife’s 65cm exercise ball as my desk chair. I sit at my desk a lot and struggle with poor posture and general lower back pain.
The ball is quite fun. I’m such a fidgety person, I can’t stop bouncing! If you want to setup an iChat video you can see me bounce. I’m definitely sitting up straight. After a little over six hours on it yesterday, my back is definitely feeling sore. Not aching like I’m out of position sore; but sore like my muscles are feeling the exercise.
I’ve still got my regular desk chair, but when I sit in it I immediately start to slouch. After a few minutes I get pretty aggravated when the casters start to make ruts in the chair matt and I have to keep scooting to re-adjust my position. I’m really liking the ball!
Posted in House, Hardware | 5 comments
