Catch a Cast

I'm making my way though the new features of iLife '06. iPhoto is definitely faster, but I'm still pissed that it will crash on me when I'm simply browsing photos and applying star ratings. I don't think it likes that I've never gone beyond the default 512MB in my Mac mini.

The built-in photocasting was a breeze. I simply made an album, dropped in some photos and told it to make a photocast out of it. The rest was automagic. My machine already knows how to get to .mac because I use it for daily backups and other good stuff. I selected the photo size (high quality, but not full size) and iPhoto just did its thing. The photos were uploaded and then it asked me if I wanted to announce my new photocast. I selected yes and it opened Mail.app, created a new message and populated it with the necessary text and links to explain the photocast. That's beautiful integration. It's so integrated that I had to go to another machine to verify that it worked. If I enter the photocast RSS link in to Safari, it launches iPhoto and asks me if I want to subscribe :) I didn't have any doubt that would work. I wanted to make sure people that don't have iPhoto 6 could get to it. I have confirmed it works on another machine running an RSS reader, so now's your chance to give it a look.

A photocast of 10 of my favorite photos that I have taken.

Warming Up to Podcasts

Podcasts have never been very interesting to me. The problem with most podcasts is that they involve speaking or video and require concentration to get anything out of them. You can't enjoy these podcasts while working, and you can't enjoy the video while driving. That's not to say I have avoided podcasts. I've been known to let the Engadget one play while cleaning the house, but that was back when Phillip Torrone was doing them, before he left to run the MAKE: Blog.

Lately I've warmed up to podcasts. I now have the ability to view video podcasts on my iPod and I've recently started riding the public bus to work. That's a great combination. I now have 20 minutes, twice a day, that are perfect for enjoying podcasts.

It is quite enjoyable to subscribe to podcasts in iTunes and let the autosync magic happen. I'm especially enjoying the ABC news World News Now video podcast and the Progressive Sounds __SpinCast. I have enjoyed progsounds for years, so it is nice to see a proper podcast from the crew. As for the news, we don't watch the news at our house. I used to watch the news daily, world and local, but I just don't anymore. Having a 15 minute dose of world news in the morning should be good for me.

Podcasts still have a few problems. For one, you have to sync them, daily if you are wanting that daily content. That sucks. I don't want to take my iPod in to the computer room every night and I hate having to eject it before taking it out of the dock. Give me wireless docking already! Bluetooth, WiFi, Wireless USB, whatever. Make it happen Apple. Second, the podcasters need to stop trying so hard to be cool. The ABC news one is especially bad. They have flashy graphics touting that you are watching a super duper podcast. They talk about it during the content. We get it already! I had to make the decision to subscribe to your podcast. I was awake during the procedure. I'm aware that I'm getting an ABC news podcast. You've got me. Stop selling me something I already "bought".

So, I like podcasts. They are by no means the greatest tech idea to come along lately, but I have found use for them, so I'm glad they exist.

Hot Winter - A continuous DJ mix

I finally finished another mix! Here's the setlist.



James Zabiela - Robophobia
John Kelley - Force Ten
Adam Freeland - Heel N Toe (Album Version)
BT - Knowledge of Self
The Crystal Method - Badass
The Nextmen - High Score (Stanton Warriors Remix)
Plump DJs - In Stereo
James Zabiela - Skanksuary
Linus Loves - Stand Back (Young Punx Remix)
The Chemical Brothers - Spring

It feels like this one took forever. I started a few months ago with an idea for a mix that is absolutely nothing like this one. I played around with that one for a few nights when I had time, but one track kept sticking in my mind, begging me to make a mix around it.

I gave in to the robot powers (robot wants to kill me) and started gathering tracks for this mix. Other than Robophobia, I only knew of one other track that absolutely had to be in the mix, and that was Heel n Toe. With those two tracks as my anchors, I spent a few nights playing with various tracks, trying to find something I liked. Iteration after iteration and I'd end up throwing out 2 or 3 tracks and trying some others. During this time, I heard the Stanton Warriors mix of High Score, and of course I had to have that in there! Luckily I found a copy on Amazon, but it took a couple of weeks to arrive, further delaying completion.

Finally, all of the pieces were ready and I had some time this weekend to record the mix, and make that spiffy album art. For your listening pleasure, I present sadida - Hot Winter.

The mix was recorded live, so I'll use that as my excuse for my sucky mixing. I did add 2 samples from a certain movie later on. They are both pretty obvious. First comment to identify them correctly gets a cookie.

5 of the Now & Then

Welcome to another installment of 5 tracks I'm enjoying at the moment. Along with these fresh 5, I've put up a page with my past cinco supremes.

If you are getting lulled into thinking I only post links to dance and electronic music, keep sharp. I have R&B and Jazz in this set.

Lewis Taylor - Lovelight

Ramsey Lewis - Dear Prudence

Latyrx - Say That

Petter - These Days

The Freestylers - Don't Stop

Vote With Your Dollars

Mark Cuban is fun to listen to. I don't always agree with what he is saying, but when he gets going on movies, tv, dvd, high def, and the like, you better listen up. He gets what's happening in today's digital media world. He understands the forces at play and he is doing something about it. His recent post calling out movie theaters was especially enjoyable to me.

Now to the title of this post. By no means am I against try before you buy when it comes to music and movies. Most of my music purchases are spurred by tracks that I hear in DJ mixes that I download from the net. Many of these mixes are put out by the guys making the music, but many are not. Technically, they are illegal, but if it weren't for these mixes, these record companies would have a few thousand dollars less in their revenues. If I hear something I like, I make an effort to purchase it. I vote with my dollars because I want more of things that I like.

This works the same way with movies. It's cool to see friends borrow a movie and then like it enough to go buy their own copy. They are supporting the products they enjoy. Along with the success shown by direct delivery media stores, it would be nice to see expanded try before you buy opportunities because this is already happening every day and I'm not talking about file trading networks.

To bring this back around, there is a movie called Bubble that is releasing at the end of the month. It's worth noting because the movie is releasing in theaters, on DVD, and on TV, all on the same day. You can't get much more try before you buy than being able to watch it on TV and then go buy the DVD that same day. I plan to cast my vote for day and date and will buy the DVD. Will I like the movie? I sure hope so, but even if I don't, that's fine. This is a statement buy. A good movie will just be a bonus.

One Less Car

The new year calls for a new goal. That's the way it works, right? To help achive my goal, I'm going to put it in writing here and track it through the year. That will be a reminder to myself and allow you guys to harass me if I fall behind.


The goal is to ride my bike 100 days this year, with a large portion of those days to include commuting to work by bike instead of car. Now 100 days may sound like a lot to those that don't ride, and not very much to those that do. It's going to be a busy year, so I think 100 is enough to keep me pushing, but still achievable. I hear that's the best kind of goal.

I started off pretty good. I have 5 days of riding in so far, including 3 days of riding to work. I fell off a little this past week, but having the opportunity to ride at all in January is appreciated.

Winter riding is tough, not just because it is cold, but because of all of the gunk on the roads. The gunk likes to eat bicycles (and cars), just ask my crap-ass bike from college. To save wear and tear on my road bike, and just because I wanted to, I picked up a single speed bike in Chicago last September. I'm having a great time on my Langster. It's easy to clean, fun to ride, and mean looking. There are a few hills in CR that I can't get up on this bike, but I'm working on it.

So help me out guys. Ride your bike with me. If you live and work anywhere within 30 miles of Cedar Rapids, I'll even ride to your house and ride in to work with you. Great days start with bike rides.

5(3)/100

What's That Sound?

Here is the music that is making me smile this week. I'm taking it back a bit for a few of these.

The Chemical Brothers - The Boxer (DFA Version)

Eclat & Prudo - What's Happening In Piso?

The Prodigy - Out Of Space

Lo Fidelity All-Stars - Many Tentacles Pimping On the Keys

Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya

Core Duo Dance

Between CES and Macworld, we've seen quite a few Core Duo notebook computers released over the last week and a half. I'm leaning, okay toppling, towards the Apple one, but I figured I would gather some juicy details and do some comparison.



First let's see who everyone brought to the party.

Acer Travelmate 8200
Apple MacBook Pro
Dell Inspiron 9400
Gateway NX560XL
Lenovo T2600
Sony FE11S

And now, the fun.

Manufacturer	Model	Processor/RAM/HD	Screen	Size	Weight	Wireless	Other	Price
Acer	TravelMate 8200	2GHz/RAM/120GB 5400	15.4" 1680x1050	14.3x10.7x1.5	?	WiFi, Bluetooth	Camera, Modem, 5 in 1 Card Reader	?
Apple	MacBook Pro	1.83GHz/1GB/100GB 5400	15.4" 1440x900	14.1x9.6x1	5.6lbs	WiFi, Bluetooth	Camera, MagSafe	$2499
Dell	Inspiron 9400	1.83GHz/1GB/100GB 5400	17" 1440x900	15.5x11.3x1.6	7.94lbs	WiFi, Bluetooth(+$50)	Express Card, 5 in 1 Card Reader	$2690
Gateway	NX560XL	1.83GHz/1GB/100GB 5400	15.4" 1400x1050	14x10.4x1.3	6.32lbs	WiFi, Bluetooth(+$50)		$1715
Lenovo	T2600	2.33GHz/?GB/100GB 5400	15" 1400x1050	13x10.6x1.4	4.8lbs	WiFi, Bluetooth(opt)	EV-DO opt	?
Sony	FE11S	1.83GHz/1GB/160GB 5400	15.4" ?x?	?x?x?	?	WiFi, Bluetooth	Camera, ExpressCard	$2069

Highlights

• Lenovo wins with the fastest processor


• Apple wins the smallest package (at least with the data I have). This is a big deal to me.


• Acer wins with pixel count


• Lenovo wins on weight


• The Gateway has decent dimensions, but man is it heavy.


• Sony packs in the biggest hard drive

It's interesting that even when comparing like stats, you don't get the whole picture. Things like Apple's 1GB of RAM being 1 DIMM where others are using 2 DIMMs, leaving no free slots. I also left out the video card stats. I haven't followed those closely and they are harder to compare manufacturer to manufacturer, so if you are a gamer, go do some more searching.

One final thought. It took forever to gather this info. Wouldn't it be nice to have consistent "window stickers" for computers like they have for cars?

Apple + Intel + Moby = Bliss

What kind of Moby collector would I be if I didn't point out that the music in the new Apple commercial is Moby's God Moving Over The Face of the Waters? One of my favorites for sure, the easiest place to find it is Moby's I Like To Score compilation from 1997.

Moby is regularly featured on Apple's iTMS, but strangely, that compilation, and the track in the new commercial are no where to be found there.

For the record, I have close to 90 unique Moby releases on CD and Vinyl. Yes, I have a problem.

My ReplayTV is Worth Thousands

If you watch TV and have a computer, it is an exciting time indeed. Between the shows sold through the iTMS and the recent announcement of a video marketplace by Google, many of your favorite shows should be available for purchase from the Internet, and I'm not even talking about the DVD sales.

Many of the shows are available for $1.99, which isn't too bad, but that's far more than people pay per show for cable or even when they buy the DVD season set. Along with primetime favorites such as CSI and Survivor, Google will be selling NBA games. Fantastic I thought, I'm lucky enough to catch the Lakers on TNT, ESPN, and whenever they play the Bulls, but I'd like to watch a few more games. That is until I found out I would have to pay out $4 for the privilege! No thanks guys. I'm a fan, but I'm not that much of a fan.

All that thinking about show pricing got me wondering how much I do spend for the TV we watch. I've tried a few times to calculate the per show cost, but I usually quit when I start to realize how much TV we watch. Ugg.

What I will try to calculate is how much money our treasured ReplayTV is worth. Of the shows available for purchase from iTMS and Google (soon), we watch Lost, Law & Order, Desperate Housewives, Survivor, CSI, The Amazing Race, and NBA games. Other than the NBA, I'd guess each and every episode from every season of those other shows has been recorded at some point on our Replay (syndication). The ReplayTV is now 3 years old. So, I'm going to note a rough calculation of the number of episodes we are talking about here.

(25+9 + 20*15 + 23+10 + 70 + 100 + 70 + 25*3)

Figuring out the NBA games was fun. First, I found a NBA TV schedule that was plain text. Then, I just paste that to a file, run it through grep a couple of times and count it with wc. Thank you OS X.

ryans-mac-mini:~/Music ryan$ grep Lakers lakers.txt | wc -l
33
ryans-mac-mini:~/Music ryan$ grep Lakers lakers.txt | grep NBATV | wc -l
9

The Lakers aren't on as much as they used to be when Shaq + Kobe = ratings so I upped the number a bit to compensate. I didn't watch all of those games (recording conflicts), so I'll leave them in the calculation and ignore the fact that they cost twice as much.

I calculate 682 * $1.99 = $1357.18

The ReplayTV itself was about $550, but that includes the lifetime subscription and I expect it to live a continued good life.

But you don't get to keep the episodes you say! Well, I could if I wanted to and don't forget about the thousands of other shows we have recorded and watched that aren't available for download (purchase). That's got to be worth some large sum of money. I know the time I saved by skipping commercials is close to priceless (the price is watching the TV in the first place).

I think the most shocking number to me was what 3 years of cable cost me. $45 a month for the 3 years used in these calculations is $1620! If it weren't for the throw away shows that we watch (not you Judy) and the spectacular viewing of HD (vs the crap resolutions they are selling), paying per show doesn't look all that bad.

Auxiliary Displays - It's Already Been Broughten

Back in March, I blogged about wanting auxiliary displays [Bring On the Auxiliary Displays]. Just today, I came across a fantastic Channel 9 video post from the Windows Sideshow team showing off their auxiliary display tech. People like to talk about how video blogs suck, but Microsoft is doing great stuff with Channel 9. Unrestrained tech content from the very guys making the tech, yes please! Take 17 minutes out of your day and go watch the video.

I'm not sure how I missed it, but Engadet covered Microsoft's aux display tech in April. I had no idea Microsoft was this far along when I wrote my original post. Go Microsoft. Make it happen.

After watching the video, I realize that Microsoft is going a slightly different direction. Their first targets are add-ons to notebook computers and keyboards. Logitech is already doing cool stuff with aux displays on their keyboards. Between them, Microsoft, and Asus, maybe this will gather momentum.

I think notebook computers have stagnated recently. For awhile, size and computing power were market drivers, but now you can choose from dozens of ho-hum notebooks that will get the job done. Integrating aux displays is a tremendous opportunity for a notebook manufacturer to make their device stand out and command an upgrade. As Microsoft shows, in many ways, these +1 displays on notebooks will provide PDA-like functionality which could allow a user to leave one more device and charger at home.

Microsoft says they are using some of the SPOT technology. How about using their Smartphone and Windows Mobile tech too? They say themselves that they want to use typical cell phone displays. Those would be the same displays that their mobile developers have already designed for when writing Smartphone apps. Wouldn't it be cool if you could run that code unchanged in the aux display? Emulators run on the desktop, why not on the aux display coprocessor or the main processor itself in a different power mode?

Finally, you knew I'd drag Apple in to this :) Apple could build in an aux display and allow Dashboard widgets to run in it. Run the weather widget when you are travelling. Run the iPhoto viewer widget when you want to show off. Run the iCal widget when you are on the run. That's juicy.

So, to go along with my previous mockup of an aux display tablet, I thought I'd see what a Powerbook would look like with iPod like controls integrated in to the lid.

This gives you the iPod experience with your music when you don't have your iPod with you. The clickwheel could also be the interface to the rest of the widgets that run in the aux display.

I'm liking the idea even if I'm luke warm on how it looks in the lid.

An iPod Full Of Nothing

My dreams have finally been realized. I have a simple, elegant way to watch Seinfeld episodes on the go!



The tool that has made this possible is Handbrake Lite. I have played around with the full Handbrake and have had mixed results. Handbrake Lite, however, is just what I need. It has one purpose in life, and that is to rip DVDs (that I own!) to a format that is optimized for iPods with video.

All it takes is a mac, a couple of clicks, and some time. This is amazing. I can't wait to rip the rest of my Seinfeld and Simpsons episodes. Yes, I'm aware that you could watch TV episodes on portable media players for quite some time, but show me where it only took a couple of clicks. This is finally to the point where it is worth the effort, because the effort is minimal. I would love for Apple to embed this functionality directly in to iTunes (iMedia?), but I doubt they will, especially with the CSS nonsense surrounding DVDs.

Now all I need is for public transport to come near my house and I can trade driving for Kramer each and every morning.

Did Lemmy Jump The Cliff?

Ever had any of your favorite software die? I'm a vi guy. I started my development career on various UNIX boxes and the places I worked for required (ok, highly recommended) that I use vi. The initial learning curve was steep, but I'm vi through and through now. I even toyed with a Windows Explorer replacement that would allow navigation via vi keys. You could blaze through the directory tree and renames, combined with the '.' command, would be the greatest ever. Alas, that's one of those free time projects that sits patiently, waiting for me to come back and tie it all together.

Back to Lemmy. Lemmy is/was a vi clone for Windows. When I started developing primarily on Windows, I pined for my vi. I can't remember the reasons, but I never liked Vim. Then again, I never gave it much of a chance. Lemmy met my needs and I didn't have a reason to look elsewhere. I've used Lemmy for years and watched it grow and change hands a couple of times. It's last owner was softwareonline.org. If you go there now, you just get a domain renewal form. Did Sofware Online give up trying to sell vi to the Windows masses? I paid $20 for a license at work 6 years ago. Can't they live on that $20? :)

Lemmy isn't really dead though. You can still download it from Download.com and you can bet that I have the installer saved in no less than 10 locations. Lemmy is one of the very first pieces of software I put on a new Windows machine.


While we are on the topic of vi. I love the Tarsier image that O'Reilly uses on the vi book. This guy loved it enough to laser etch it on his Powerbook (drool). That very same image can be found on the Limited Edition of DJ Shadow's The Private Press.
How's that for small world? The mascot of my favorite text editor combined with my favorite DJ. Wow, I'm a geek.

:wq

Product 6.0 2005 XP .NET for Pocket PC...Mobile

I'm going to do my best Andy Rooney impersonation here. I'm going to complain about how Microsoft names things. This is by far an original complaint, but at least I'm adding a fresh screenshot to the mix.

This screenshot is even better than the Firefox installing one.



As I'm installing Visual Studio 2005 today, I notice it is installing to a Microsoft Visual Studio 8 folder. Well that's dumb. Talk about confusing. What is the product name, VS 2005 or VS 8? Looks like the marketing guys changed things at the last moment and the engineers didn't have time to go back and scrub it.

We're supposed to be in the age (who says? I says) of usability and the biggest software company in the world can't even decide on a consistent product name. Stop confusing us!

Visual Studio has gone from numbers (6.0), to the silly .NET thing, to .NET with a year (2003), to years without the .NET (2005).

This isn't the only example of this from Microsoft. Why does the desktop Windows have Service Packs, but the mobile Windows have AKUs?

Why did Windows go from numbers (3.1) to years (95) to letters (XP) to nothing (Vista)?

Why did the portable Windows go from form factors (Handheld PC, Palm PC) to Pocket PC, to Windows Mobile with years (2003), to Windows Mobile with numbers (5.0)? Ohh yeah, don't forget, it is still a Pocket PC, but it doesn't run Pocket PC anymore, it runs Windows Mobile.

Why did Microsoft Office go from versions (6.0), to years (97), to letters (XP), back to years (2003)?

I really don't think that any of these are better than any of the rest. I just want them to pick one and stick to it!

Slushy Streets iMix

I put together a playlist for shoveling the driveway or driving to work in the muck. I call it Slushy Streets


Tracklist
1. Golan Globus - Blazer (2005 Radio Edit)
2. Quannum Projects - Quannum World
3. Gorillaz - Dare (Soulwax Remix)
4. The Orb - Aftermath (Album Version)
5. Dizzee Rascal - Fix Up, Look Sharp
6. Aesop Rock & L.I.F.E. Long - Inner City Hustle
7. Bloc Party - Tulips (Original Version)
8. Beck - Missing (Remix by Royskopp)
9. Littl Shyning Man - Hart of the Wud
10. Roots Manuva - Motion 5000
11. UNKLE - Reign (Radio Edit)

If you like ANY of that music, you'll probably dig the DFA Holiday Mix 2005, up on iTMS right now. A 45 minute mix for 99 cents? Must be the season of giving!

1 Box Please

As long as product functionality is not compromised, I'm all for convergence and a single item to do it all. Crappy cameras in cell phones, bad. High quality DVD players in home theater receivers, good, in certain uses.

I bring that up because we got a new AV setup for our living room. We were looking to free up some space in the room and getting rid of a massive component stack and big floor standing speakers was a great way to do that.



The box of choice is the Denon S-301. You can read my full review of it over on sadida.com. I even slicked it up a bit with pictures and a video (ooooo, a video). We're quite happy with it so far. It's been everything we wanted and the performance is top notch.

Another interesting thing I found is that Denon is running a blog for the S-301 and its little brother, the S-101. This isn't the first time a product has gotten its own blog. The iPod has dozens, but they aren't official ones. For offical products, I'm aware of myxda.com, but it is still refreshing to see companies connecting with their customers and bringing the post-sale details right to them. Too bad that I, a customer, had to find the site during searching while writing my review. I don't know how "regular" customers would find it.

I have been impressed with Denon lately. Not only are they doing this receiver blog, but their engineers and test teams frequent a few of the Denon DJ boards. Being a tech guy myself, I like it when I get straight technical answers that I can trust.

I Still Want Bluetooth in my iPod

Time flies. It's been nearly a year since I last posted about wanting Bluetooth in my iPod. If you don't feel like going back to read that post, I'll sum it up for you.

• Address Book, Contacts sync


• Audio to headphones (A2DP)


• Music file sync in small quantities

I think all of that still has value, but I have a few more things that Bluetooth would enable.

Playlist sync - The playlist I listen to the most is "Not Heard Recently". I like to keep my music rotating through. I'll listen to specific things when the mood strikes, but usually it is NHR or shuffle. I recently upgrade to a 5G iPod which left my 3G iPod to secondary purposes such as hooked to my home stereo. I also have a shuffle which I use while working out, mowing the lawn, and riding my bike (only while on trails). I still like to keep that NHR playlist updated, which requires me bringing the pods back to the main machine every so often. Sometimes I'll end up with playlist overlap and listen to the same songs 2 or 3 times before they get pulled off of the NHR playlist. Bluetooth would allow me to keep the playlist more up to date and avoid that.

Playlist sharing - If you follow my blog, you'll see me posting music I like and DJ sets that I work on. Lots of the music comes off of the iTMS and the stuff that doesn't is usually available on Amazon. How cool would it be if you came up to me at work and I could just send you that playlist over Bluetooth? I would send the songs, just the playlist metadata. It would take about 5 seconds and brings a social element to the iPod experience. You can share playlists with people on the bus, or friends at school. If you have the songs on the playlist, you can instantly play that playlist in the order your friend made. If you don't, you can check out the songs on the iTMS the next time you are synced to your computer. Apple isn't making much on the music sales, but more sales has to be a good thing. Getting your customers "in" to the store is half the battle. Why not let your other customers help fight that battle by getting their friends in to the store?

Music send - A2DP works great to headphones. I've heard it and I'm considering buying a pair of headphones. In addition to headphones, there's no reason car and home stereos can't be the A2DP "sink". Sure, we can cable up, but do you want a cable hanging out of your car's dashboard, even if it is in the glove box? I know I don't. Add in the hand-off technology you get with Bluetooth headsets for your cell phone and you can have your car start playing the same music you were listening to on headphones when you walked up. Don't laugh, I know friends that do this every day with FM senders on their iPods.

Remote control - Control the iPod using the Bluetooth AVRCP. I was very disappointed to see Apple use IR for their universal iPod dock and remote for the new iMac. If they do bring out a Mac Media for the living room, it better have Bluetooth for remote control. They can keep their stinky IR, but add Bluetooth too!

Printing - Without getting too far away from the purpose of an iPod (music), you could bury the ability to print things like album art, playlists, notes, and even photos to Bluetooth enabled printers using BPP, or as a simple Object Push. This is another social element, and all part of the Apple Experience. Bluetooth enabled printers are out there and this would avoid you connecting your iPod to someone else's computer which may or may not have the right cables and software. This isn't vaporware stuff. It's possible today with the right software.

Finally, I have to comment... have you seen the new Creative Zen Vison:M? I can't stop laughing at the thickness. They better have room for Bluetooth in there...and a waffle maker!

Video is an Internet Star

You like free videos, right? Good. Head on over to deepdish.com and check out the new video for their upcoming single, Sacremento. Keep a sharp eye out for BT making a cameo.

It's no Crooked, but I like Deep Dish, so it is worth a post.

Medium Definition?

So an article over at the Technology Liberation Front discusses the fact that many people who have HDTV, don't know what to do to see HDTV, or simply aren't making use of it. 49% of the people that HDTV aren't watching it. Well count me in to that 49%, but I'm not dumb, I'm frugal. I know what it takes to watch HDTV, I just don't want to pay for it.

I might be called an early adopter when it comes to HDTV. We bought our set in January 2001, nearly 5 years ago. At the time, HDTV in this area was nearly non-existant. There were a couple of OTA channels becoming available, but the content was few and far between. I didn't care though. I was at a point in my life where I was able to buy a nice TV, and I needed it to last awhile. I knew HD was coming, so if you are buying a big set, you pretty much had to drop a few more bucks and just do it right.

DVDs look fantastic on our WS-55807. Good thing too, because that's the only exercise I really give the thing. I guess I can call DVDs medium definition. Ohh, I tried HDTV. My set doesn't have an ATSC tuner, so I experimented with a few OTA tuners. In the end, they were expensive, marginally capable of receiving a signal, required an antenna, and there stilll wasn't a whole lot of content. I tried a couple and they both went back to the store. It wasn't worth spending $200-$300 to watch a few shows in HD.

Why don't I just go with digital cable? Good question. Good answer too, money. It is shameful what Mediacom wants for the privledge to watch HD. Granted, it has been a while since I checked, but it was going to cost me an extra $30-$40 a month to get HDTV over digital cable and that was going to require sticking a stupid digital cable box on my TVs. Uhh, no thanks. NBA in HD looks spectacular, but I can buy a lot of music with $40 a month and I'll enjoy that a whole lot more. HD needs to be free, and by that, I mean no add-on cost vs. regular cable. I know they need to cover their upgrade costs too, but the extra cost needs to trickle away. My friends that live in big cities (Denver, Milwaukee) get HD on their sets for pennies compared to what I'd have to pay.

So we've gone 5 years with no HD, but I'm ready to give it a another go. The content is finally there. All of the major networks are available in my area in HD. Every night has shows in HD that we normally watch. We sold our old college TVs at last summer's garage sale and we recently got a new set for the bedroom. It has a built-in ATSC tuner. This was a requirement. We weren't going to have an external tuner, especially not in the bedroom. We also strung coax through the house when it was being built, so hopefully I can put an antenna near a window in the basement and not have to have that eyesore in the bedroom. I'd love to explore cable card, but I don't know of anyone in my area that is offering it. Maybe in another 5 years :)

Mac mini in the Living Room?

You've probably already seen the rumor that a revamped Mac mini is on the way and will end its trek in your living room. It will be optimized for multi-media and possibly even contain PVR software. Ohh please let this be true. I can't help think that my beloved ReplayTV will die someday and TiVo isn't all that appealing to me, yet. I'm probably underestimating, but how hard can PVR software be? Once you've got the recording and playback handled, the rest is just file management, simple searches, and pretty GUIs. Apple has plenty of multi-media experience with Final Cut Studio, QuickTime, iTunes, and iMovie. They are well on their way with pretty GUIs in Front Row. They proved they can excel at managing type specific files with iPhoto and iTunes. Roll it up in one tasty software burrito and let us feast!

Ok, you get that I'd buy one of these, but what would it look like? Maybe we've already seen it. The Mac mini form factor is great, but I'm not sure it would fit in a typical home theater stack. What if it looked like Apple's xServe?



Certainly we don't need all of that stuff. It's too wide, so I'll chop it a bit. We have no need for the rack mounts, so I'll remove those. We don't need massive cooling, so say bye bye to the gigantic air ports. And, we won't need terabytes of data in it, so we'll cut it off at the knees. What's left? A 'shopped mockup of a Mac media, of course!



It still is too busy, but you get the idea. I'd put one of those next to my TV for sure.