Check out "My First Presidentiary."
My favorite excerpt? Cool and Unusual Punishment.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Bad Jokes, A Little (Very Little) Patience, Video Captures, And My Life For Rent
As something of a bad, private joke I keep a pair of handcuffs in the drawer of the nightstand next to my bad.
It's a joke because my bed doesn't have a headboard, so there wouldn't be anywhere to handcuff someone (willing or otherwise).
Oh, wait. That's not why it's a joke. It's a joke because there's no one likely to be in my bedroom to be handcuffed (willing or otherwise), so it's a joke in the same way that my keeping condoms handy in that same drawer is an even funnier joke.
Or sadder. I forget which.
In any case, after talking to my mother and then participating in my weekly conference call for work, I sat around for a bit before finally opting to venture out into the world.
I went out to pick up a longer S-Video cable so that I could leave my DVR hooked up to my computer.
While I was there I picked up some Y-Jacks for the audio-out from my DVR so that I could have the audio connected to my DVD player/receiver and my computer at the same time as well.
I was certain that I had audio cables long enough to reach the computer, so I didn't buy new cables, as I briefly considered doing.
(I was mostly right on that score; the cables reach, but they aren't long enough to be tucked neatly away behind the book case.)
While I was out I opted yet again to buy a meal (I went with a Southwest Salad at Chick-fil-a, so it was a little healthier than some of my other dining experiences this week).
Going to Wal-Mart and a popular restaurant around noon is probably an extremely bad idea for me, as by the time I got to Safeway and was picking up a few snacks for the weekend my patience for dealing with other people was at a near-record low.
People just idly standing in my way, driving too slow in a frickin' Jaguar X Type, babies crying, and people just generally looking and acting stupid: it all came very close to sending me off on some kind of "Incredible Hulk" style rampage (minus the green skin, purple pants, and superhuman strength, of course).
As the vein was throbbing in my forehead, it occurred to me that there was a time in my life when I had a lot more patience.
Or course, it also occurred to me that there was a time in my life when I actually had a sex life.
The two things may be related.
And I suppose that when I had more patience all I was really doing was internalizing my anger without expressing it...which is why I have such a major stockpile now. I still try to internalize my anger, but it's sort of like stuffing it into a garbage bag that you know you need to haul out to the dumpster, but which you really don't feel like having to mess with, as it's bound to spill out if you disturb it, and you very well might be out of garbage bags anyway, so you wouldn't be able to replace it even if you did haul it out.
I do manage to sfuff some of it in, which is why I don't go around slamming into other cars or punching people, but even so, it doesn't take much to set me off.
Long gone is the Jon who might have been considered stoic and uncomplaining.
My patience was tried even more when I got home and tried to connect the S-Video cable.
It took me forever to get it turned the right way to plug into the computer, and even after I did, Media Center wasn't able to detect the signal, which resulted in a stream of profanities.
After taking a breath and disconnecting the cable, closer inspection revealed that I'd bent one of the pins when trying to shove the damn thing into place on the computer.
I calmed down a little further and grabbed a knife (I figured it was probably wisest to get the knife after I'd calmed down) and used it to straighten out the pin.
I tried connecting the cable again, resulting in the pin bending once again and my calmness going out the window (which is, coincidentally, almost where the cable ended up).
Retrieving my serenity, I very carefully connected the cable to the computer and the DVR, went through the setup once more, and success!
It was shortly after succeeding that I discovered a major limitation with MCE: it doesn't have any controls for capturing video frames as still images.
I tried installing some of the TV tuner software that came with the card to use inside of Windows, but it all sucked.
Ultimately I found that the best method, though it's a bit clunky, is to simply record whatever I want to capture from, then open the file that MCE saves in a different application that does support capture.
Like I said, it's clunky, but it works.
Beyond messing with the TV setup on the computer (and doing the laundry), I placed a call to a realtor who worked with Brian and Kathleen and Scott and Stacy (and a few other people I know). He had contacted Brian last week asking him to help get the word out on a condo that some clients of his are trying to rent out.
The asking price is higher than I want to pay, but they are apparently flexible, so it's possible I could get them down to a more affordable level.
In any case, I got his voicemail and left a message.
I suppose I should start more active searching for a place next week.
The problem, though, is that I just hate the thought of moving, so I avoid thinking about it as much as possible.
I especially hate the thought of having to continue to rent.
If I move into a different apartmen complex, odds are that somewhere along the line it will convert to condos and I'll be in the same boat.
If I were to rent the condo that Brian told me about, who knows when the owners will decide to sell it out from under me? I'm sure I could get a long-term lease, but even that's only temporary, and at this point, with my schedule, and rapidly advancing age, years fly by like months, so before I know it I'd be at the end of the lease and out on the street once more.
Of course, that's just the transitory nature of my existence, as, without somehow magically doubling my income, or meeting that "someone special" who can help resolve my "patience" issues and chip in with the bills, which, at this point, seems less likely than the magical income-doubling, home ownership is nothing more than a foolish dream for me.
Besides the future uncertainty involved in the whole "life for rent" thing, the more immediate hassles associated with moving are weighing on my mind.
Like having to talk to people like realtors and leasing agents, asking friends for help or paying for movers, getting settled in once I do end up somewhere...it's all just one giant pain in the ass, and I can't help but wish that I could just find some nice, reasonably dry cave (with electricity and cable hook-ups) somewhere. Of course, out here even that would run $1,500 a month....
In any case, my work week is very nearly upon me, so I will bring this entry to a close.
It's a joke because my bed doesn't have a headboard, so there wouldn't be anywhere to handcuff someone (willing or otherwise).
Oh, wait. That's not why it's a joke. It's a joke because there's no one likely to be in my bedroom to be handcuffed (willing or otherwise), so it's a joke in the same way that my keeping condoms handy in that same drawer is an even funnier joke.
Or sadder. I forget which.
In any case, after talking to my mother and then participating in my weekly conference call for work, I sat around for a bit before finally opting to venture out into the world.
I went out to pick up a longer S-Video cable so that I could leave my DVR hooked up to my computer.
While I was there I picked up some Y-Jacks for the audio-out from my DVR so that I could have the audio connected to my DVD player/receiver and my computer at the same time as well.
I was certain that I had audio cables long enough to reach the computer, so I didn't buy new cables, as I briefly considered doing.
(I was mostly right on that score; the cables reach, but they aren't long enough to be tucked neatly away behind the book case.)
While I was out I opted yet again to buy a meal (I went with a Southwest Salad at Chick-fil-a, so it was a little healthier than some of my other dining experiences this week).
Going to Wal-Mart and a popular restaurant around noon is probably an extremely bad idea for me, as by the time I got to Safeway and was picking up a few snacks for the weekend my patience for dealing with other people was at a near-record low.
People just idly standing in my way, driving too slow in a frickin' Jaguar X Type, babies crying, and people just generally looking and acting stupid: it all came very close to sending me off on some kind of "Incredible Hulk" style rampage (minus the green skin, purple pants, and superhuman strength, of course).
As the vein was throbbing in my forehead, it occurred to me that there was a time in my life when I had a lot more patience.
Or course, it also occurred to me that there was a time in my life when I actually had a sex life.
The two things may be related.
And I suppose that when I had more patience all I was really doing was internalizing my anger without expressing it...which is why I have such a major stockpile now. I still try to internalize my anger, but it's sort of like stuffing it into a garbage bag that you know you need to haul out to the dumpster, but which you really don't feel like having to mess with, as it's bound to spill out if you disturb it, and you very well might be out of garbage bags anyway, so you wouldn't be able to replace it even if you did haul it out.
I do manage to sfuff some of it in, which is why I don't go around slamming into other cars or punching people, but even so, it doesn't take much to set me off.
Long gone is the Jon who might have been considered stoic and uncomplaining.
My patience was tried even more when I got home and tried to connect the S-Video cable.
It took me forever to get it turned the right way to plug into the computer, and even after I did, Media Center wasn't able to detect the signal, which resulted in a stream of profanities.
After taking a breath and disconnecting the cable, closer inspection revealed that I'd bent one of the pins when trying to shove the damn thing into place on the computer.
I calmed down a little further and grabbed a knife (I figured it was probably wisest to get the knife after I'd calmed down) and used it to straighten out the pin.
I tried connecting the cable again, resulting in the pin bending once again and my calmness going out the window (which is, coincidentally, almost where the cable ended up).
Retrieving my serenity, I very carefully connected the cable to the computer and the DVR, went through the setup once more, and success!
It was shortly after succeeding that I discovered a major limitation with MCE: it doesn't have any controls for capturing video frames as still images.
I tried installing some of the TV tuner software that came with the card to use inside of Windows, but it all sucked.
Ultimately I found that the best method, though it's a bit clunky, is to simply record whatever I want to capture from, then open the file that MCE saves in a different application that does support capture.
Like I said, it's clunky, but it works.
Beyond messing with the TV setup on the computer (and doing the laundry), I placed a call to a realtor who worked with Brian and Kathleen and Scott and Stacy (and a few other people I know). He had contacted Brian last week asking him to help get the word out on a condo that some clients of his are trying to rent out.
The asking price is higher than I want to pay, but they are apparently flexible, so it's possible I could get them down to a more affordable level.
In any case, I got his voicemail and left a message.
I suppose I should start more active searching for a place next week.
The problem, though, is that I just hate the thought of moving, so I avoid thinking about it as much as possible.
I especially hate the thought of having to continue to rent.
If I move into a different apartmen complex, odds are that somewhere along the line it will convert to condos and I'll be in the same boat.
If I were to rent the condo that Brian told me about, who knows when the owners will decide to sell it out from under me? I'm sure I could get a long-term lease, but even that's only temporary, and at this point, with my schedule, and rapidly advancing age, years fly by like months, so before I know it I'd be at the end of the lease and out on the street once more.
Of course, that's just the transitory nature of my existence, as, without somehow magically doubling my income, or meeting that "someone special" who can help resolve my "patience" issues and chip in with the bills, which, at this point, seems less likely than the magical income-doubling, home ownership is nothing more than a foolish dream for me.
Besides the future uncertainty involved in the whole "life for rent" thing, the more immediate hassles associated with moving are weighing on my mind.
Like having to talk to people like realtors and leasing agents, asking friends for help or paying for movers, getting settled in once I do end up somewhere...it's all just one giant pain in the ass, and I can't help but wish that I could just find some nice, reasonably dry cave (with electricity and cable hook-ups) somewhere. Of course, out here even that would run $1,500 a month....
In any case, my work week is very nearly upon me, so I will bring this entry to a close.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
And Squish, Then Stretch, And Squish, And Stretch!
Most of today was spent just randomly messing around with some of the features of the new computer.
Specifically, the Media Center features, most of which are pretty cool.
I did run into one issue, though.
Media Center is intended to be an easy to use, attractive front-end for Windows that provides convenience features for listening to music, looking at pictures, and watching TV, DVDs, and videos.
For the DVD part, it seems to use whatever your default DVD application is, allowing you to access it through the Media Center front-end and wrapping it up in a Media Center-style package.
I have a widescreen monitor, so when I watch widescreen DVDs I don’t have the whole issue of letter-boxing (at least not to the same extent I would with a normal monitor), and yet, when MCE was playing the widescreen “Elektra” DVD, it resized it to fit a non-widescreen monitor, with all of the resultant distortion.
I found this baffling, as if I went outside MCE and just watched the movie in the normal DVD application, it played it widescreen.
I had to go into MCE and tweak a setting to get it to go widescreen, but it was still somewhat distorted, as MCE was simply convinced that the DVD was in 4:3 format.
For the benefit of those who don’t know, 4:3 refers to the aspect ratio of most TVs. That’s the ratio of horizontal to vertical (if the screen is 4’ wide, it’s 3” high). Most movie screens have an aspect ratio of 16:9, which is why movies have to be resized to fit TV screens. This can be done by either cutting off some of the background on the sides, squishing it in, which causes things to look really tall and thin, or adding those black bars at the top and the bottom.
Of course, if you have a screen with an aspect ratio of 16:9 (my monitor’s is 16:10), you can view the whole thing without losing any of the picture, having things squished, or letter boxing.
In any case, MCE was convinced that this 16:9 DVD was formatted as 4:3, which led to the squishing. To correct this, I had to change a setting which made MCE stretch it out to 16:9. However, this still led to some distortion, as rather than simply playing the movie in 16:9 format, it first condensed it to 4:3, then used its “intelligent stretching” to convert it to 16:9.
I’m not sure why it did that, as it seems kind of silly. “Intelligent” stretching would have been to recognize that it didn’t need to be stretched in the first place.
Beyond that, I have one other minor complaint about the new system.
It’s designed to be quiet, as it has a very “open” design, which allows air to flow through it pretty easily, eliminating the need for noisy fans to keep it cool. However, the fact that it is so open makes it easier to hear the hard drive grinding away whenever it’s active.
Still, it’s not a big deal. I just find it kind of funny that a feature designed to keep the noise level down in one regard actually increases the noise level in another.
I’ve been pretty lazy in the cooking department this week, and, as a result, having been eating a little less healthy than usual.
Sunday night, for the first time in who knows how long, I actually ordered a pizza. Leftovers took care of lunch and dinner on Monday.
Yesterday I had lunch at McDonald’s, and opted for dinner from the Chinese place across the street.
Leftovers in that case actually led to a sort of flip-flop of meals today, as I had cold Lo-Mein for breakfast which left me, having failed to do any real grocery shopping this week, with little in the way of options for dinner outside of bacon and eggs.
So I had dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner.
For lunch I had a smoothie from the place across the street. Minus the whey protein, the particular smoothie I had is pretty much exactly like the protein shake I normally make for breakfast. I noticed, after I’d ordered, that they actually make one with whey protein. I may have to try that somewhere along the line, as their version is much better than mine.
It not only tastes better, it has a much better consistency. I think that’s due mostly to the fact that they have expensive devices designed specifically for making smoothies, whereas I have a cheap blender. I think that it’s also because they use frozen yogurt, though.
I picked up the smoothie when I was taking advantage of the fact that, for a change, it wasn’t raining by going for a walk.
And that was pretty much my day. Nothing too exciting, though, honestly, I don’t think I’d really know what to do with excitement, nor do I really think I actually want any.
While listening to Nick Cave today, I may have come up with a title for my National Novel Writing Month contribution, which I will be starting on – sadly, again largely sans plot, though I do at least have a definite idea of what I want to accomplish – next week.
I don’t think I’m going to blog it as I write it the way I did last year. I still haven’t decided yet, but I while there is an appeal – and a source of motivation – to blogging it as I write it, I’d kind of like to have something a little more polished to make available to anyone of a mind to read it.
While I am leaning towards posting it after it’s finished, I’m not totally averse to doing it the other way. Anyone out there have a preference?
In any case, I won’t be too likely to make regular Threshold posts while I’m working on my novel, so that’s something to keep in mind.
In the meantime, I think this is enough of an entry for now.
Specifically, the Media Center features, most of which are pretty cool.
I did run into one issue, though.
Media Center is intended to be an easy to use, attractive front-end for Windows that provides convenience features for listening to music, looking at pictures, and watching TV, DVDs, and videos.
For the DVD part, it seems to use whatever your default DVD application is, allowing you to access it through the Media Center front-end and wrapping it up in a Media Center-style package.
I have a widescreen monitor, so when I watch widescreen DVDs I don’t have the whole issue of letter-boxing (at least not to the same extent I would with a normal monitor), and yet, when MCE was playing the widescreen “Elektra” DVD, it resized it to fit a non-widescreen monitor, with all of the resultant distortion.
I found this baffling, as if I went outside MCE and just watched the movie in the normal DVD application, it played it widescreen.
I had to go into MCE and tweak a setting to get it to go widescreen, but it was still somewhat distorted, as MCE was simply convinced that the DVD was in 4:3 format.
For the benefit of those who don’t know, 4:3 refers to the aspect ratio of most TVs. That’s the ratio of horizontal to vertical (if the screen is 4’ wide, it’s 3” high). Most movie screens have an aspect ratio of 16:9, which is why movies have to be resized to fit TV screens. This can be done by either cutting off some of the background on the sides, squishing it in, which causes things to look really tall and thin, or adding those black bars at the top and the bottom.
Of course, if you have a screen with an aspect ratio of 16:9 (my monitor’s is 16:10), you can view the whole thing without losing any of the picture, having things squished, or letter boxing.
In any case, MCE was convinced that this 16:9 DVD was formatted as 4:3, which led to the squishing. To correct this, I had to change a setting which made MCE stretch it out to 16:9. However, this still led to some distortion, as rather than simply playing the movie in 16:9 format, it first condensed it to 4:3, then used its “intelligent stretching” to convert it to 16:9.
I’m not sure why it did that, as it seems kind of silly. “Intelligent” stretching would have been to recognize that it didn’t need to be stretched in the first place.
Beyond that, I have one other minor complaint about the new system.
It’s designed to be quiet, as it has a very “open” design, which allows air to flow through it pretty easily, eliminating the need for noisy fans to keep it cool. However, the fact that it is so open makes it easier to hear the hard drive grinding away whenever it’s active.
Still, it’s not a big deal. I just find it kind of funny that a feature designed to keep the noise level down in one regard actually increases the noise level in another.
I’ve been pretty lazy in the cooking department this week, and, as a result, having been eating a little less healthy than usual.
Sunday night, for the first time in who knows how long, I actually ordered a pizza. Leftovers took care of lunch and dinner on Monday.
Yesterday I had lunch at McDonald’s, and opted for dinner from the Chinese place across the street.
Leftovers in that case actually led to a sort of flip-flop of meals today, as I had cold Lo-Mein for breakfast which left me, having failed to do any real grocery shopping this week, with little in the way of options for dinner outside of bacon and eggs.
So I had dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner.
For lunch I had a smoothie from the place across the street. Minus the whey protein, the particular smoothie I had is pretty much exactly like the protein shake I normally make for breakfast. I noticed, after I’d ordered, that they actually make one with whey protein. I may have to try that somewhere along the line, as their version is much better than mine.
It not only tastes better, it has a much better consistency. I think that’s due mostly to the fact that they have expensive devices designed specifically for making smoothies, whereas I have a cheap blender. I think that it’s also because they use frozen yogurt, though.
I picked up the smoothie when I was taking advantage of the fact that, for a change, it wasn’t raining by going for a walk.
And that was pretty much my day. Nothing too exciting, though, honestly, I don’t think I’d really know what to do with excitement, nor do I really think I actually want any.
While listening to Nick Cave today, I may have come up with a title for my National Novel Writing Month contribution, which I will be starting on – sadly, again largely sans plot, though I do at least have a definite idea of what I want to accomplish – next week.
I don’t think I’m going to blog it as I write it the way I did last year. I still haven’t decided yet, but I while there is an appeal – and a source of motivation – to blogging it as I write it, I’d kind of like to have something a little more polished to make available to anyone of a mind to read it.
While I am leaning towards posting it after it’s finished, I’m not totally averse to doing it the other way. Anyone out there have a preference?
In any case, I won’t be too likely to make regular Threshold posts while I’m working on my novel, so that’s something to keep in mind.
In the meantime, I think this is enough of an entry for now.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
"Sin City" TV Series?
From superherohype.com:
Sin City TV Series in the Works
Source: Variety
October 24, 2005
Variety reports that the Weinstein brothers' newly formed studio, The Weinstein Co. will develop a Sin City series:
Also in the works are a [series] based on Dimension's "Sin City" -- which would follow in the footsteps of 2006's second pic in Robert Rodriguez's "Sin" series -- and a [series] based on the Miramax title "Rounders," capitalizing on the current craze for poker playing.The "Sin City" franchise moved to the Weinstein brothers' company after they went their separate way from Disney's Miramax Films, which released the first film.
If it were a series on Showtime or HBO, this could be extremely cool. If it's on basic cable...well, it would still have potential.
Sin City TV Series in the Works
Source: Variety
October 24, 2005
Variety reports that the Weinstein brothers' newly formed studio, The Weinstein Co. will develop a Sin City series:
Also in the works are a [series] based on Dimension's "Sin City" -- which would follow in the footsteps of 2006's second pic in Robert Rodriguez's "Sin" series -- and a [series] based on the Miramax title "Rounders," capitalizing on the current craze for poker playing.The "Sin City" franchise moved to the Weinstein brothers' company after they went their separate way from Disney's Miramax Films, which released the first film.
If it were a series on Showtime or HBO, this could be extremely cool. If it's on basic cable...well, it would still have potential.
Ass Grooving
As was noted in my response to a comment earlier today, I finally have my new computer. This made me happy for about twenty minutes.
After about twenty minutes I had performed all of the immediately necessary steps to get the system up and running, such as getting it connected to my network, uninstalling some of the crap, and just personalizing it ever so slightly.
That all went along very smoothly.
Then I moved on to the hardware.
My first step was to try to add the GB of RAM from my old computer to the new system. So I opened up the old one, took the RAM out, and had it ready to go. Opening up the new system was a breeze. You just pull a handle and the panel pops right off.
Getting the RAM out of the old system had been a bit of a hassle, and getting it into the new system was as well, as there were some wires in the way. Eventually, after a lot of swearing, I got the two DIMMs securely in place, hooked up the monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and powered up.
It wouldn't boot with the additional DIMMs in place.
It's possible I just didn't have them seated properly, but I didn't feel like messing with it, as it's also possible that the DDR2 RAM in the new system just won't work with the plain old DDR RAM from the old system. So I opted to leave that as a problem for another day, slipped the DIMMs out, and moved on to swapping out the DVD burner and replacing it with the LightScribe burner.
This proved to be the biggest hassle, as removing the two-piece front panel to allow the burner to slide out proved to be quite a headache. Eventually, after even more swearing, I had the new drive in. Before putting everything back together I booted it up and made sure that everything was working (I had also installed the USB card from the old computer).
Everything was fine and dandy. The system booted up, installed the driver for the burner, and I was good to go.
So I put the front panel back on, which took some effort, slapped the side panel back on, and put the system in its final destination on my desk. I found that the new system is quite a bit deeper than the old one, so it was bumping into the board at the back of its niche and sticking out from the front. Not too big of a deal, so I opted to worry about that later. I hooked up a few more things, planning to gradually add peripherals, and turned it on.
Or rather, I tried to turn it on. The front panel had not slid properly into place when I put it back on, so the little plastic piece that's attached to the button on the front panel wasn't touching the actual power switch inside. So basically when I pushed the power button nothing happened. Swearing some more, I took it apart once again, made sure the plastic piece was properly positioned to transfer effort applied to the button onto the switch, and once again hooked things up.
Success!
With the hardware set-up hassles, many of which were physically painful, as they were hard on my finger tips and aggravated my tendonitis, out of the way, I was happy again.
I then went about further personalizing things, or as I like to call it, wearing my own "ass groove" into it (It's a "Simpsons" reference; when carnies stole their house from them, Homer was concerned that the ass groove he had worn into his couch after years would be damaged.).
For a change, I'd actually had the foresight to use the "File and Settings Transfer Wizard" to gather up some of my settings from the old computer and saved them on my external drive. I attempted to transfer them over to the new computer, but I couldn't, as I'd used an old version of the wizard on the old system.
Ah well. Most of it was easy enough to replicate without the wizard.
I then decided to transfer my ATI All-In-Wonder card (which isn't compatible with XP Media Center Edition, so I couldn't use it in my new system) into the other Dell. I was annoyed to discover that the other Dell doesn't have an AGP slot, so I couldn't put the AIW into it.
So much for that. I then opted to throw one of the DIMMs into the Dell's single available slot and bump it up to 1 GB of RAM, but doing so led to POST errors. So that's 1 GB of RAM that I have sitting around unable to be used in either of my two active computers, along with an ATI All-In-Wonder card that is now useless. *Sigh*
At this point it was after noon, and I hadn't eaten anything. It occurred to me that I probably should, and that this was a good time to take a break from my efforts.
Despite the fact that the new Dell is running Media Center Edition (MCE), and one of the major functions of MCE is built-in software support for TV tuner cards, it didn't include a tuner. As mentioned, the AIW is not compatible (I wouldn't want to use it anyway, as the new Dell has a much better graphics card). So if I wanted to take advantage of this feature I'd need to buy a new, MCE-compatible tuner card.
I had intended to buy a new ATI card (The TV Wonder Elite), and was going to wait a while and buy it online.
Thinking on it, though, I decided to head over to Best Buy to see if they had the card in stock, and then get something to eat.
They didn’t have the TV Wonder Elite, but they did have a card from Hauppauge that was MCE-compatible, included an MCE remote, and was about $30 cheaper than the ATI card, so I decided to just buy that.
The fact that it included the MCE remote was the clincher, as I would have had to buy that separately if I’d gone with the ATI card.
Of course, I think the ATI card is a higher quality card, so somewhere along the line I might make the switch. We’ll see.
I was annoyed with myself after I left Best Buy and stopped to eat at McDonald’s, as I’d forgotten that the Monopoly game now includes “Best Buy Bucks,” and I got a $3 one. If I’d eaten first I could have knocked $3 off the cost of my purchase (I also bought the Director’s Cut DVD of “Elektra.” It wasn’t a great movie, but it was entertaining enough that I figured it was worth getting the DVD.).
Oh well.
Once I got home I threw the tuner card in and set it up with MCE.
The cool thing about the remote is that it includes an IR blaster that will allow you to use the MCE remote to control your digital cable (or satellite, as the case may be) receiver.
It basically plugs into the back of the USB IR receiver that you connect to your computer, runs on a long wire, and you put it in front of the IR port of your cable box.
It’s a little slow, but it works.
There is one problem with the new tuner card, though. The AIW card included a little plug that accepted multiple connection types (S-Video and Composite) from your audio/video source. It essentially served as an extension cord, allowing you to have your audio/video source (in my case, my cable box) a little further away. This card doesn’t have that, and I don’t have an S-Video or Composite cable(s) long enough to reach the computer.
So there’s some more stuff I’ll have to buy.
In any case, it’s looking like it’s nearly time for me to eat something again, and I have some more “ass grooving” to do…
After about twenty minutes I had performed all of the immediately necessary steps to get the system up and running, such as getting it connected to my network, uninstalling some of the crap, and just personalizing it ever so slightly.
That all went along very smoothly.
Then I moved on to the hardware.
My first step was to try to add the GB of RAM from my old computer to the new system. So I opened up the old one, took the RAM out, and had it ready to go. Opening up the new system was a breeze. You just pull a handle and the panel pops right off.
Getting the RAM out of the old system had been a bit of a hassle, and getting it into the new system was as well, as there were some wires in the way. Eventually, after a lot of swearing, I got the two DIMMs securely in place, hooked up the monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and powered up.
It wouldn't boot with the additional DIMMs in place.
It's possible I just didn't have them seated properly, but I didn't feel like messing with it, as it's also possible that the DDR2 RAM in the new system just won't work with the plain old DDR RAM from the old system. So I opted to leave that as a problem for another day, slipped the DIMMs out, and moved on to swapping out the DVD burner and replacing it with the LightScribe burner.
This proved to be the biggest hassle, as removing the two-piece front panel to allow the burner to slide out proved to be quite a headache. Eventually, after even more swearing, I had the new drive in. Before putting everything back together I booted it up and made sure that everything was working (I had also installed the USB card from the old computer).
Everything was fine and dandy. The system booted up, installed the driver for the burner, and I was good to go.
So I put the front panel back on, which took some effort, slapped the side panel back on, and put the system in its final destination on my desk. I found that the new system is quite a bit deeper than the old one, so it was bumping into the board at the back of its niche and sticking out from the front. Not too big of a deal, so I opted to worry about that later. I hooked up a few more things, planning to gradually add peripherals, and turned it on.
Or rather, I tried to turn it on. The front panel had not slid properly into place when I put it back on, so the little plastic piece that's attached to the button on the front panel wasn't touching the actual power switch inside. So basically when I pushed the power button nothing happened. Swearing some more, I took it apart once again, made sure the plastic piece was properly positioned to transfer effort applied to the button onto the switch, and once again hooked things up.
Success!
With the hardware set-up hassles, many of which were physically painful, as they were hard on my finger tips and aggravated my tendonitis, out of the way, I was happy again.
I then went about further personalizing things, or as I like to call it, wearing my own "ass groove" into it (It's a "Simpsons" reference; when carnies stole their house from them, Homer was concerned that the ass groove he had worn into his couch after years would be damaged.).
For a change, I'd actually had the foresight to use the "File and Settings Transfer Wizard" to gather up some of my settings from the old computer and saved them on my external drive. I attempted to transfer them over to the new computer, but I couldn't, as I'd used an old version of the wizard on the old system.
Ah well. Most of it was easy enough to replicate without the wizard.
I then decided to transfer my ATI All-In-Wonder card (which isn't compatible with XP Media Center Edition, so I couldn't use it in my new system) into the other Dell. I was annoyed to discover that the other Dell doesn't have an AGP slot, so I couldn't put the AIW into it.
So much for that. I then opted to throw one of the DIMMs into the Dell's single available slot and bump it up to 1 GB of RAM, but doing so led to POST errors. So that's 1 GB of RAM that I have sitting around unable to be used in either of my two active computers, along with an ATI All-In-Wonder card that is now useless. *Sigh*
At this point it was after noon, and I hadn't eaten anything. It occurred to me that I probably should, and that this was a good time to take a break from my efforts.
Despite the fact that the new Dell is running Media Center Edition (MCE), and one of the major functions of MCE is built-in software support for TV tuner cards, it didn't include a tuner. As mentioned, the AIW is not compatible (I wouldn't want to use it anyway, as the new Dell has a much better graphics card). So if I wanted to take advantage of this feature I'd need to buy a new, MCE-compatible tuner card.
I had intended to buy a new ATI card (The TV Wonder Elite), and was going to wait a while and buy it online.
Thinking on it, though, I decided to head over to Best Buy to see if they had the card in stock, and then get something to eat.
They didn’t have the TV Wonder Elite, but they did have a card from Hauppauge that was MCE-compatible, included an MCE remote, and was about $30 cheaper than the ATI card, so I decided to just buy that.
The fact that it included the MCE remote was the clincher, as I would have had to buy that separately if I’d gone with the ATI card.
Of course, I think the ATI card is a higher quality card, so somewhere along the line I might make the switch. We’ll see.
I was annoyed with myself after I left Best Buy and stopped to eat at McDonald’s, as I’d forgotten that the Monopoly game now includes “Best Buy Bucks,” and I got a $3 one. If I’d eaten first I could have knocked $3 off the cost of my purchase (I also bought the Director’s Cut DVD of “Elektra.” It wasn’t a great movie, but it was entertaining enough that I figured it was worth getting the DVD.).
Oh well.
Once I got home I threw the tuner card in and set it up with MCE.
The cool thing about the remote is that it includes an IR blaster that will allow you to use the MCE remote to control your digital cable (or satellite, as the case may be) receiver.
It basically plugs into the back of the USB IR receiver that you connect to your computer, runs on a long wire, and you put it in front of the IR port of your cable box.
It’s a little slow, but it works.
There is one problem with the new tuner card, though. The AIW card included a little plug that accepted multiple connection types (S-Video and Composite) from your audio/video source. It essentially served as an extension cord, allowing you to have your audio/video source (in my case, my cable box) a little further away. This card doesn’t have that, and I don’t have an S-Video or Composite cable(s) long enough to reach the computer.
So there’s some more stuff I’ll have to buy.
In any case, it’s looking like it’s nearly time for me to eat something again, and I have some more “ass grooving” to do…
Monday, October 24, 2005
Sonnuva...!
So when I got home Friday night there was no note on my door indicating that my computer had been delivered to the office while I was at work.
That was irritating, but I figured it was no big deal, as it meant that I’d be getting it today.
So I stayed home all day today, waiting.
That’s not really a big deal, as it’s not like I really have anywhere to go or that I need to be, but at the very least I could have gone for a walk during that brief period when the sun actually made an appearance, or gone out and done my grocery shopping.
Instead, I opted to allow myself to nod off on the couch, hoping to be awoken by a knock on my door.
A knock that never came.
In providing “Order Status” information, Dell only informs you that your order has shipped and gives an estimated delivery date, with the caveat that it can take an additional five business days beyond that.
They don’t give a tracking number, which makes it impossible to actually check on the location.
So I sent an e-mail off to Dell support requesting a tracking number.
By this time it was a bit after five, so I decided that I would venture out as far as Safeway to pick up a few things. As I was walking along the parking lot a UPS truck turned in, so I headed back towards my apartment.
The truck parked in front of my building, and I waited in my apartment for a knock on my door.
Again, it was a knock that never came, as the driver delivered a small package to someone on the first floor before driving away.
Some hours later I checked my mail and found that I’d gotten a response from a nice lady (the name seemed feminine, at any rate) in India apologizing for the fact that I hadn’t gotten a tracking number. She gave me the tracking number, and went on to explain that she had checked with UPS and found that my computer had been delivered….last Wednesday.
Apparently the jackass driver arrived shortly before I got home from that meeting on Wednesday, presumably knocked on my door, then brought it over to the office…without leaving a note on my door to inform me that this had happened.
Of course the office has been closed for hours, so I have to wait until tomorrow morning to get it, hoping all the while that the uncaring, short-timing employees in the office haven’t let someone else walk away with it.
Granted, I probably should have gone to the office just on the off-chance that it had been delivered, but to date I’ve never had any reason to believe that the driver wouldn’t leave a note for me.
Suffice to say, I’m not a happy Jon right now, though obviously that’s not really out of the ordinary…
That was irritating, but I figured it was no big deal, as it meant that I’d be getting it today.
So I stayed home all day today, waiting.
That’s not really a big deal, as it’s not like I really have anywhere to go or that I need to be, but at the very least I could have gone for a walk during that brief period when the sun actually made an appearance, or gone out and done my grocery shopping.
Instead, I opted to allow myself to nod off on the couch, hoping to be awoken by a knock on my door.
A knock that never came.
In providing “Order Status” information, Dell only informs you that your order has shipped and gives an estimated delivery date, with the caveat that it can take an additional five business days beyond that.
They don’t give a tracking number, which makes it impossible to actually check on the location.
So I sent an e-mail off to Dell support requesting a tracking number.
By this time it was a bit after five, so I decided that I would venture out as far as Safeway to pick up a few things. As I was walking along the parking lot a UPS truck turned in, so I headed back towards my apartment.
The truck parked in front of my building, and I waited in my apartment for a knock on my door.
Again, it was a knock that never came, as the driver delivered a small package to someone on the first floor before driving away.
Some hours later I checked my mail and found that I’d gotten a response from a nice lady (the name seemed feminine, at any rate) in India apologizing for the fact that I hadn’t gotten a tracking number. She gave me the tracking number, and went on to explain that she had checked with UPS and found that my computer had been delivered….last Wednesday.
Apparently the jackass driver arrived shortly before I got home from that meeting on Wednesday, presumably knocked on my door, then brought it over to the office…without leaving a note on my door to inform me that this had happened.
Of course the office has been closed for hours, so I have to wait until tomorrow morning to get it, hoping all the while that the uncaring, short-timing employees in the office haven’t let someone else walk away with it.
Granted, I probably should have gone to the office just on the off-chance that it had been delivered, but to date I’ve never had any reason to believe that the driver wouldn’t leave a note for me.
Suffice to say, I’m not a happy Jon right now, though obviously that’s not really out of the ordinary…
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Remember The Reason For The Season (It's Presents!)
If it weren’t for electronic gadgets, I would be largely unconcerned with the material world.
However, said gadgets are a major concern for me, and my desire to own cool electronic toys is a stronger motivator for me than even the basics need for food and shelter.
I work so that I can buy cool stuff, not because I’m concerned about keeping a roof over my head; that’s entirely peripheral, as it’s more a matter of keeping a roof over my cool electronic devices.
But outside of that I’m not especially materialistic. Take my piece of crap car, for example (You weren't really expecing a Henny Youngman gag, were you?). It’s almost entirely utilitarian, with no consideration of “flashiness” or style.
Sure, I’d like a nicer car, but it’s not really a major motivation in my life.
For the most part, the same can be said of my clothes. I basically only wear clothes so that I won’t be naked, which, honestly, is more a consideration of the weak stomachs of others than even a concern about protecting myself from the environment. Fashion, style, labels: these things are largely meaningless to me.
Excepting gadgets, I find it hard to care about things, because, well, they’re things.
In fact, one of the biggest of the many problems I have with society is its materialistic obsession with things. People will, quite casually, kill other people in order to take possession of the other person’s things, and that, to me, just seems silly. Like suicide, it’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem, as the odds are that once you have what you killed to possess, you'll find you didn’t really want it that much and it wasn’t worth the effort to get.
Of course, society tends to obsess, and kill, about abstract things, too, like beliefs, which is in many ways even sillier than killing because of material things, but that’s wholly unrelated to the point I’m trying to make.
What is my point, you wonder?
Christmas is coming.
It won’t be long before all of the stores are filled with lights, and tinsel, and ornaments, and soon after that the holiday season will be in full swing.
It’s the time of year in which we actually glorify all of our materialistic excesses.
There is no finer example of the brutal, mindless greed of our species than the spectacle of crass consumerism that is Black Friday. People have been killed over toys. Toys! And ugly, annoying toys at that.
We’re not talking about primitive man struggling to eke out survival in a cold, inhospitable world, we’re talking about civilized housewives trying to get their hands on a Tickle Me Elmo (or whatever is the must-have item this year) inside a well-heated, comfortable mall.
People push, pull, punch, kick, stomp, and claw their way to the top of a pile of their fellow human beings just to get their hands on some shiny new bauble that will be forgotten before the wrapping paper has been thrown away.
When watching my fellow human beings wallowing in this kind of excess, indulging their every covetous, jealous whim, I can’t help but think that I’d be perfectly content living quietly in a cave somewhere far away from the madness of the human race and material concerns.
Except…
I want stuff, too.
Cool stuff. Gadgety stuff. Pointless, expensive stuff.
Yes, materialism is truly awful, and we should all spend more time contemplating the nature of man, the universe, and our place in the scheme of things, but dammit, I want some cool toys to play with while I contemplate!
So in the spirit of heartless, soulless materialism, and the upcoming holiday season, I present the first-ever Threshold Christmas Wish List!
This list covers some of the items I want most.
As mentioned, I pretty much only work so that I can afford to buy the various things I want. The problem is that I don’t make enough to afford all of the things I want.
Thus, the Wish List. These are things that I try to save up for, but invariably fail because I get to a point where I can afford something, spend the money on that, and have to start the cycle all over again, meanwhile not getting the more expensive things I wanted in the first place.
Thus, again, the Wish List.
While I’m not actually asking – and certainly not expecting - any of my loyal readers to provide any of these items, or even to help cover the costs, I’m also not discouraging you from doing so. After all, I’m not proud; I will accept charity.
And I'm writing up this list early to give you plenty of time to start shopping...
At the top of the list, of course, is a place to live. It would be nice, albeit extremely unlikely, to find a place that I could afford to buy, but at the very least I’ll settle for a nice place for rent that doesn’t cost too much more than what I’m paying now. I definitely don’t expect any of you to help on this one…unless of course one of you out there happens to be a wealthy philanthropist who just randomly buys people homes. So just in case, I will happily settle for a two-bedroom condo. I don’t need anything too fancy (though if you wanted to give me a mansion…).
Next up is the Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW 24-inch Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Monitor.
What? Don’t I already have a Dell UltraSharp Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Monitor? Yes…but this one is bigger. A full 3.9 inches bigger. Maybe size doesn’t matter to some people, but to me, in this instance at least, it does. I want the bigger monitor. I’m especially covetous of it because Scott has one.
The next item on the list is the SonyVAIO XL1 Digital Living System.
Look, if you’re going to ask stupid questions…okay, yes, I did just buy a new computer, and yes, it is running Windows Media Center, and yes, it did cost a hell of a lot less, but this thing is friggin’ sweet.
I would still happily use my Dell (whenever I get it, that is; it wasn’t delivered on Friday) as my primary system., and this would be a dedicated Media Center, managing my DVD collection, storing shows transferred from my DVR, and serving as a quick source for Internet access when I’m sitting on the couch and too lazy to walk over to my main computer.
Of course, I would also have the Gateway CX200 Convertible Notebook lying around for quick access to the Internet.
This is the latest in a long line of wished-for Tablet PC systems, and is the one that I feel delivers the most bang for the buck, especially the $1,099 version. And in answer to your obvious question, I don’t honestly need yet another computer, but this list is all about wanting.
On the topic of tablets, my current graphics tablet has been acting a little flaky lately, and its small drawing area (4x5) is beginning to cramp my artistic style. So on the less expensive end of things, I’d like to have a new Wacom graphics tablet. This one I’m flexible on, but I would at least like to have the 6x8 Graphire (the Bluetooth version in particular would be cool), but I’d also be extremely happy with the 9x12 Intuos. Notice that I’m not going too crazy and wishing for a Cintiq (though that would also be cool).
If I’m going to have a sweet Media Center PC as the main component of my home theater, I’ll also need a sweet HDTV.
While there are bigger, more expensive ones out there, in this case size isn’t as important, so I’d be happy with the amazing resolution of the Westinghouse 37” LCD Monitor
Technically, this is just a big computer monitor, so why get this and the 24” Dell? Honestly, for working up close, 37” would be a bit much. It’s perfect for watching TV, though.
Finally, the battery in my existing MP3 player, which has a color screen and plays video files in addition to audio, has lost its ability to hold a charge. It remains useful as my home audio entertainment center when it’s plugged in and hooked up to my home theater system, but not so much for going for walks, flying on a plane, or hitting the treadmill, so it looks like I’m in the market for a new MP3 player. Sure, I could go with a less fancy system that doesn’t have a color screen or play videos, but it seems a shame to downgrade. That’s where the Archos AV 500 comes into play. Again, I’m not greedy, as I’m perfectly willing to go with the 30 GB rather than the 100 GB model.
Of course, while I’d prefer the Archos product, and I do have certain reservations about owning one, I wouldn’t refuse if someone were to make me a gift of a Video iPod. The capacity is the same (though the screen is much smaller and it has less functionality overall) and the price tag is $200 less than the AV 500.
So that comprises the major items on my Wish List.
Excluding the place to live, the total cost comes to about $7,550, which is about $6,550 more than I ‘m able to spend, and exactly $7,550 more than I’m willing to spend under my present circumstances.
I asked Scott if I could have a $6,550 raise, and he said he’d get right on it, but I get the feeling he was being sarcastic....
So it remains a wish list, unless…well, I don’t want to put any pressure on you, but I’ve got a feeling that Santa isn’t going to be putting these things under my tree, so if you, my smart, generous, good-looking, and loyal readers don’t do it, who will?
At the lower, more reasonably priced level, there are things like the upcoming recut and extended DVD edition of “Sin City” (Coming December 13. Just in time for Christmas!), and various other items such as “Batman: The Animated Series” Volume 3 (Available now) and Volume 4 (December 6), along with “Superman: The Animated Series” Volume 2 (Also December 6).
Of course, these last few items are things that I can easily pick up for myself….or which can be purchased by any friends and family who may happen to be reading this.
As for the rest, well, it’s really not all that important.
After all, too much concern over material things is a definite problem in the world today. We need to focus on the things that really matter, like family and friends, love and unity, and peace…and getting me that monitor, friggin' sweet Media Center PC, Tablet PC, HDTV, graphics tablet, and MP3 player!
Let the blessings of the season be upon you!
However, said gadgets are a major concern for me, and my desire to own cool electronic toys is a stronger motivator for me than even the basics need for food and shelter.
I work so that I can buy cool stuff, not because I’m concerned about keeping a roof over my head; that’s entirely peripheral, as it’s more a matter of keeping a roof over my cool electronic devices.
But outside of that I’m not especially materialistic. Take my piece of crap car, for example (You weren't really expecing a Henny Youngman gag, were you?). It’s almost entirely utilitarian, with no consideration of “flashiness” or style.
Sure, I’d like a nicer car, but it’s not really a major motivation in my life.
For the most part, the same can be said of my clothes. I basically only wear clothes so that I won’t be naked, which, honestly, is more a consideration of the weak stomachs of others than even a concern about protecting myself from the environment. Fashion, style, labels: these things are largely meaningless to me.
Excepting gadgets, I find it hard to care about things, because, well, they’re things.
In fact, one of the biggest of the many problems I have with society is its materialistic obsession with things. People will, quite casually, kill other people in order to take possession of the other person’s things, and that, to me, just seems silly. Like suicide, it’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem, as the odds are that once you have what you killed to possess, you'll find you didn’t really want it that much and it wasn’t worth the effort to get.
Of course, society tends to obsess, and kill, about abstract things, too, like beliefs, which is in many ways even sillier than killing because of material things, but that’s wholly unrelated to the point I’m trying to make.
What is my point, you wonder?
Christmas is coming.
It won’t be long before all of the stores are filled with lights, and tinsel, and ornaments, and soon after that the holiday season will be in full swing.
It’s the time of year in which we actually glorify all of our materialistic excesses.
There is no finer example of the brutal, mindless greed of our species than the spectacle of crass consumerism that is Black Friday. People have been killed over toys. Toys! And ugly, annoying toys at that.
We’re not talking about primitive man struggling to eke out survival in a cold, inhospitable world, we’re talking about civilized housewives trying to get their hands on a Tickle Me Elmo (or whatever is the must-have item this year) inside a well-heated, comfortable mall.
People push, pull, punch, kick, stomp, and claw their way to the top of a pile of their fellow human beings just to get their hands on some shiny new bauble that will be forgotten before the wrapping paper has been thrown away.
When watching my fellow human beings wallowing in this kind of excess, indulging their every covetous, jealous whim, I can’t help but think that I’d be perfectly content living quietly in a cave somewhere far away from the madness of the human race and material concerns.
Except…
I want stuff, too.
Cool stuff. Gadgety stuff. Pointless, expensive stuff.
Yes, materialism is truly awful, and we should all spend more time contemplating the nature of man, the universe, and our place in the scheme of things, but dammit, I want some cool toys to play with while I contemplate!
So in the spirit of heartless, soulless materialism, and the upcoming holiday season, I present the first-ever Threshold Christmas Wish List!
This list covers some of the items I want most.
As mentioned, I pretty much only work so that I can afford to buy the various things I want. The problem is that I don’t make enough to afford all of the things I want.
Thus, the Wish List. These are things that I try to save up for, but invariably fail because I get to a point where I can afford something, spend the money on that, and have to start the cycle all over again, meanwhile not getting the more expensive things I wanted in the first place.
Thus, again, the Wish List.
While I’m not actually asking – and certainly not expecting - any of my loyal readers to provide any of these items, or even to help cover the costs, I’m also not discouraging you from doing so. After all, I’m not proud; I will accept charity.
And I'm writing up this list early to give you plenty of time to start shopping...
At the top of the list, of course, is a place to live. It would be nice, albeit extremely unlikely, to find a place that I could afford to buy, but at the very least I’ll settle for a nice place for rent that doesn’t cost too much more than what I’m paying now. I definitely don’t expect any of you to help on this one…unless of course one of you out there happens to be a wealthy philanthropist who just randomly buys people homes. So just in case, I will happily settle for a two-bedroom condo. I don’t need anything too fancy (though if you wanted to give me a mansion…).
Next up is the Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW 24-inch Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Monitor.
What? Don’t I already have a Dell UltraSharp Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Monitor? Yes…but this one is bigger. A full 3.9 inches bigger. Maybe size doesn’t matter to some people, but to me, in this instance at least, it does. I want the bigger monitor. I’m especially covetous of it because Scott has one.
The next item on the list is the SonyVAIO XL1 Digital Living System.
Look, if you’re going to ask stupid questions…okay, yes, I did just buy a new computer, and yes, it is running Windows Media Center, and yes, it did cost a hell of a lot less, but this thing is friggin’ sweet.
I would still happily use my Dell (whenever I get it, that is; it wasn’t delivered on Friday) as my primary system., and this would be a dedicated Media Center, managing my DVD collection, storing shows transferred from my DVR, and serving as a quick source for Internet access when I’m sitting on the couch and too lazy to walk over to my main computer.
Of course, I would also have the Gateway CX200 Convertible Notebook lying around for quick access to the Internet.
This is the latest in a long line of wished-for Tablet PC systems, and is the one that I feel delivers the most bang for the buck, especially the $1,099 version. And in answer to your obvious question, I don’t honestly need yet another computer, but this list is all about wanting.
On the topic of tablets, my current graphics tablet has been acting a little flaky lately, and its small drawing area (4x5) is beginning to cramp my artistic style. So on the less expensive end of things, I’d like to have a new Wacom graphics tablet. This one I’m flexible on, but I would at least like to have the 6x8 Graphire (the Bluetooth version in particular would be cool), but I’d also be extremely happy with the 9x12 Intuos. Notice that I’m not going too crazy and wishing for a Cintiq (though that would also be cool).
If I’m going to have a sweet Media Center PC as the main component of my home theater, I’ll also need a sweet HDTV.
While there are bigger, more expensive ones out there, in this case size isn’t as important, so I’d be happy with the amazing resolution of the Westinghouse 37” LCD Monitor
Technically, this is just a big computer monitor, so why get this and the 24” Dell? Honestly, for working up close, 37” would be a bit much. It’s perfect for watching TV, though.
Finally, the battery in my existing MP3 player, which has a color screen and plays video files in addition to audio, has lost its ability to hold a charge. It remains useful as my home audio entertainment center when it’s plugged in and hooked up to my home theater system, but not so much for going for walks, flying on a plane, or hitting the treadmill, so it looks like I’m in the market for a new MP3 player. Sure, I could go with a less fancy system that doesn’t have a color screen or play videos, but it seems a shame to downgrade. That’s where the Archos AV 500 comes into play. Again, I’m not greedy, as I’m perfectly willing to go with the 30 GB rather than the 100 GB model.
Of course, while I’d prefer the Archos product, and I do have certain reservations about owning one, I wouldn’t refuse if someone were to make me a gift of a Video iPod. The capacity is the same (though the screen is much smaller and it has less functionality overall) and the price tag is $200 less than the AV 500.
So that comprises the major items on my Wish List.
Excluding the place to live, the total cost comes to about $7,550, which is about $6,550 more than I ‘m able to spend, and exactly $7,550 more than I’m willing to spend under my present circumstances.
I asked Scott if I could have a $6,550 raise, and he said he’d get right on it, but I get the feeling he was being sarcastic....
So it remains a wish list, unless…well, I don’t want to put any pressure on you, but I’ve got a feeling that Santa isn’t going to be putting these things under my tree, so if you, my smart, generous, good-looking, and loyal readers don’t do it, who will?
At the lower, more reasonably priced level, there are things like the upcoming recut and extended DVD edition of “Sin City” (Coming December 13. Just in time for Christmas!), and various other items such as “Batman: The Animated Series” Volume 3 (Available now) and Volume 4 (December 6), along with “Superman: The Animated Series” Volume 2 (Also December 6).
Of course, these last few items are things that I can easily pick up for myself….or which can be purchased by any friends and family who may happen to be reading this.
As for the rest, well, it’s really not all that important.
After all, too much concern over material things is a definite problem in the world today. We need to focus on the things that really matter, like family and friends, love and unity, and peace…and getting me that monitor, friggin' sweet Media Center PC, Tablet PC, HDTV, graphics tablet, and MP3 player!
Let the blessings of the season be upon you!
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