Dalhectar's Blog

Fall 2009 TV Thoughts so far

2009-10-12T11:40:00.001-04:00

Stargate Universe - SGU is to BSG as Parks & Rec is to Office. Uninspired, what passes for melodrama lingers without emotional intensity. Either the show is trying to hard, or not trying hard enough. Either way, it's my biggest disappointment of Fall 2009.

Meanwhile, Dollhouse, spent all summer in the gym and is twice the show it was in 2008. Rather enjoyable.

Second disappointment is Bored to Death. Recent HBO comedies like Hung and now this one continue to disappoint. Not quite absurdest enough for me; neither is it quite subtle enough. The show is only minor chuckle funny.

Heroes is back. Too bad no one cares anymore.

Couple of decent new comedies, Glee and Community. Watchable. But I only have a luck warm reception to these shows.

Modern Family. Best New Comedy. Where I've found most new comedies not hitting the required WTF quotient, this one scores.

FlashForward. I'm surprised how much I enjoyed it. Is it the new Lost, idk, but it's not tragic.

Sons of Anarchy. Favorite show of the fall. Kicks major boottay.

Mad Men. Season 3 is slower than season 1 or 2, but the new stasis in Mad Men is more exciting to watch than... most everythign else.

Dexter is also still a strong show in Season 4. The show has a great supporting cast, and even when the attention turns away from Michael C. Hall, MPD is interesting in and of itself to maintain a quality show.

Damn It

2009-08-14T22:58:00.001-04:00

I don't think I've ever felt so not understood. I might as well be talking to my television. For a person like me who feels like people should be empathetic toward others- to not feel any sense of understanding or comprehension from the other party...

The sad part is I think she might be trying, but I feel she just can't connect in a manner that I want to engage in a relationship with.

Another Windows 7 RC Post

2009-05-08T14:48:00.000-04:00

I can almost fully endorse Windows 7 Media Center. The beta DivX mkv splitter shows some real promise, and if it can one day support high bitrate h.264 video and subtitles, then I'd give it full 100% approval. If a person really wants a stable, turn key HTPC that supports every media type well, it seems like you still have to stick to Vista, but Windows 7 has UI and feature improvements that are most welcome.

- Movie Library for Extenders
- Shared Recordings
- TV Pack features are stable
- native h.264 and .m2ts support

For me personally, I think I'm willing to live with a few minor mkv issues in exchange for those improvements. If I was building a box for someone else though, I'd push them towards 3rd party codecs and plugins to get most of those features out of Vista. As third party develops work on tools like a Media Foundation mkv splitter though, then Windows 7 Media Center will be complete.

Shopping for a laptop in 5 easy steps.

2009-04-28T16:59:00.000-04:00

#1- Do you have any special needs? If yes, ignore this post. Let your needs do the shopping for you.

#2- What's wrong with a $1300 MacBook?

#3- Could you get away with only having Office, AIM, iTunes, and Firefox on your computer? If so consider a netbook. Asus Eee PC 1000HE Install a 2GB ram chip if you can.

#4- Desire really good battery life? HP Pavilion dv5-1235dx +6 hours max, C-net tested it to be well over 4 hrs in straight video playback. Normally people should cut in half whatever the manufactorer/retailer says (even Apple's claims), but this guy does 2/3rds what's claimed under stress, which is good.

#5- Toshiba Satellite A305-S6916. Power of a MacBook at 2/3 the price. Also available well under MSRP.

Windows 7 RC Initial Thoughts

2009-04-27T14:25:00.000-04:00

Don't really have much to say on Windows 7 RC1 right now. A few quick notes.

#1 Nifty new Themes
#2 Like new 7MC Splash windows and sounds (sounds are rather TiVOish)
#3 mytv Plugin has a few random startup errors, but works. Check out my WebCollection. Wish it was easier to update. the XML export file does not auto replace it seems.
#4 Codec support

This is the big thing. I used to get around the issue I had with xvid and external subs by renaming some of the default audio codec files. For some reason after reading this tip I used that MCDU app to pick FFDshow audio, but it does seem to give an error with some files when trying to play them. Still Win7 is supost to be able to read natively stopped playing, so I undid it. I might try renamignthe file again and see if that allows softsubs for all xvid videos with external subs.

Also, with my Carnivale S2 x264 encoded files, playback with the default MS h.264 coded have some distortions in the bottom 3rd of the video. I ended up using MPC + FFDShow to watch these files over the weekend. I want to generate screen shots somehow becuase that's a big issue...

More later

Incoherant Poltical Rant

2009-04-16T11:58:00.000-04:00

Just parsing through the text, can anyone take this guy seriously? As much as I don't like Ron Paul and his paleo-conservative distortion of libertarianism, he's genuine, and has built a political career out of fighting Right and Left. Ron Paul demanded government spending cuts equally to tax cuts during Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, and now Obama. I only hear of Glenn Beck talking about government spending cuts when Democrats are in power.

Trillions to foreign wars is ok, but trillions to the domestic economy isn't according to Glenn Beck. And Glenn Beck proposes no way to pay for his foreign adventurism financed by debt.

Where was Glenn Beck when it came to the Patriot Act, or Patriot Act II that eroded the liberties of American Citizens?

Where was Glenn Beck when Bush added layers of Federal Bureaucracy by establishing DHS?

Cap and Trade establishes a PRIVATE MARKET for Carbon emission rights. As the cost to mitigate carbon emissions goes down, those cost savings will be instantly realized by private corporations. It's a more capitalist solution compared to a straight up carbon tax, or set untradeable carbon emission regulations. Why do they deride MARKET based solutions?

Freedom of Speech does not mean freedom from criticism. In fact, it's the opposite. Freedom of speech gives me the right to call him a dumbass free from criminal prosecution. If I'm wrong, he has the right to claim otherwise, and exercises that right daily on Fox News. No one credible is trying to take that away.

Voting to establish a union is not the same as voting in a government election. Why is a regulation saying you have to have a secret ballot good, but regulation that allows for a card check OR a secret ballot bad?

I will however give him credit for citing Medicare Part D. But Bush's Medicare expansion will cost the Government more money and put future generations in more debt than all of bailout money passed by BOTH Bush and Obama. Yet teabagees complain about Obama wanting to spend money to fix the potholes on I-95. Well if government doesn't pay for the Wilson Bridge, who the fuck should? Or should people from Miami drive around the Potomac to get to NYC?

Still though, his relative small grievance against the largest unfunded government mandate passed in the 21st century is a joke. Add to that no mention of the boondoggle that is DHS, and I'll chastise him for only offering scant criticism to Bush's huge contribution to the federal debt.

My working definition of an Astroturf teabagger is someone who complains about bailouts adding debt but overlooks the larger debt Medicare Part D will add to current and future generations... while failing to offer senior citizens complete prescription drug coverage. Thanks to GWB, I get $17 trillion in unfunded liabilities and my parents and grandmother still have exorbitant prescription bills if they fall into the coverage hole.

Only in American Capitalism do we have expensive government run programs that are intentionally designed to not fully accomplish their stated goal out of respect to "market forces", "private enterprise", etc.

Instead of having private markets that work, or government that works, we have shortcoming for private markets and an expensive government unwilling to resolve those shortcoming.

Largest military on the fucking planet that has to pay six figure salaries to mercenaries while US troops make $25K. What The Fuck.

The fundamental failing of Republican governance in the 21st Century was its ineffectiveness to provide for the public good. Katrina. Iraq. Economy. Federal Deficits. That's what Republicans don't get. And Tea Parties aren't the solution when Republicans use the occasion to cover 8 years of incompetence.

Caprica

2009-04-13T21:06:00.001-04:00

It should be telling, that I stopped watching Caprica 20 minutes in to post this. Captures enough attention to be worth mentioning. Not enough attention to keep watching.

HTPC Data Check

2009-04-11T09:44:00.002-04:00

Using 3TB in encoded video files.

1,791GB used to store 287 HD Movies
366GB used to store 241 SD Movies
870GB used to store 58 TV Series
129GB used to store 29 Anime TV Series

Needless to say, I'm running out of space.

So why is it so hard?

2009-04-09T08:37:00.001-04:00

SO why is it so hard to have 2 rss feeds to show up in FB?

And seriously... these allergies, are no joke.

Perriello Ousts Goode

2008-12-18T08:50:00.001-05:00

There will be a little less xenophobic rhetoric in Virginia and in Congress in 2009. That guy was a loon. Glad he's out.

MacBook Fail!

2008-12-18T08:47:00.000-05:00

Funny to hear Leo Laporte's MacBook Pro trackpad failed on him. With that and all the other problems, it should only go to verify one of the truths when it comes to Apple.

NEVER BUY A FIRST GEN APPLE PRODUCT.

Seriously though... don't.

Only seen 114 of the IMDB top 250

2008-12-17T11:58:00.003-05:00

I got some catching up to do.

Second Run with Watch...

2008-12-09T20:29:00.002-05:00

This is my second run. Same run as the first one, but I did it a little faster. This time I have mile splits too. There won't be many more of these posted, unless I have something interesting to talk about.

View Larger Map

Funny Pic of the Day

2008-12-08T22:25:00.000-05:00

First run with ForeRunner 305

2008-12-08T22:05:00.005-05:00

Ran down to 18th and back home via Broad. Hmm... I wanted it to do mile splits, but I need to set that in the watch apparently.

View Larger Map

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	1:00:16	8:13 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	1:00:15	8:13 pace
Distance (mi)	7.32
Moving Speed (mi)	7.3 avg.	12.9 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+1,843 / -1,866
Temperature (°F)	32°F avg.	38°F high
Wind Speed (mph)	N 0.0 avg.	N 0.0 max

Games that play themsevles can sit in the corner and play themselves

2008-12-07T08:48:00.002-05:00

Between the dream texts, and the cut scenes... Lost Odyssey is pissing me off. I'm done with this game. Playing this is like hitting the pause/play button repeatedly on a poorly acted movie. I'd rather waste my time on something else.

Jack Black is Jesus

2008-12-03T15:26:00.001-05:00

Who knew it would take something so unfunny like the denial of civil rights for funny or die to make something funny. Oh the Irony...

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

20 (More!) of the World's Weirdest Animal Species

2008-12-03T11:17:00.000-05:00

http://webecoist.com/2008/12/02/strange-and-bizarre-endangered-animal-species/

The Glass Frog and the Coconut Crab are insane.

Convicted!

2008-12-03T06:42:00.002-05:00

The Home Theater Recommended List

2008-12-01T14:15:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving was pretty normal this year. Woody did the fried turkey at his place, so the whole family converged over there. Joy/Rob didn’t come, but normally we don’t really get to see Rob during the winter, coaching gets in the way. There was a lot of food though, the turkey, mac & cheese, and collard greens were right on the money. I didn’t really like the sweet potato though, and other items were on par.

Renee got to see the Popcorn Hour in action at Mom and Dad’s and was fairly impressed. It’s a device you really have to be a video pirate to appreciate, but there isn’t a better device of its kind anywhere, except for maybe the newer model that does even more codecs. It definite deserves to be in a dream home theater setup if you have Computer content you want to view on a TV. The GUI is fairly bare, but its no worse than streaming from a PS3 or 360, and supports more formats without the need of a transcoder.

The real dilemma of any home theater I think is what content do you get on it. Sure everyone wants a big screen, and big sound, but what are you actually going to enjoy? As much as I’m a fan of Media Center, honestly the costs are a bit too high. Considering that a cable DVR can do more or less the same job at $15 per month my HTPC does at $2,000, there’s no debate which is the better value. Now sure I have much more space, more tuners, and a lot more features (it does Netflix, web browsing, gaming, supports every codec on the planet, and everything else you’d expect from a computer), I can see why someone might want to go with a compartmentalized solution, and have their cable DVR (or better yet a TiVO) as one of several devices in the chain. Even if you add all the devices together, your budget will be less than have a fully speced out CableCard HTPC. So if you want all the features, at a fraction of the cost, this is what I’d go with.

Cable or Satellite provided DVR

Roku NetFlix Box

Panasonic DMP-BD35 Blu-Ray player + 1GB or more SD memory

Popcorn Hour A-110

Monoprice 4x1 HDMI switch (gotta connect it all)

Total comes out to $610 in equipment, and whatever your fee for cable/satellite and Netflix will be. Game consoles would change that. A PS3 negates the Blu-Ray player, but there are transcoding issues you’ll run into with Netflix stuff or downloaded computer stuff. Also not having any IR capability means you have to use a controller or buy an extra piece of equipment to use a regular IR remote. The 360 now does NetFlix natively, but you won’t have Blu-Ray, and the transcoding issues will still potentially be there for computer stuff. But if gaming isn’t a concern, that’s what I’d go with. I’d imagine that an Apple whore would replace the Popcorn Hour with an Apple TV, but if you aren’t trapped into their DRM scheme, I’d stay as far away from that device as human possible.

Elite Squad Review

2008-12-01T11:07:00.001-05:00

RT Link here

What I like about the movie is that it isn't overly preachy. I found this movie's fast edits and shaky cam actually appropriate for this gritty crime drama. That made the movie fun and entertaining, in a way a more serious film might not have been. For that I might rate the movie higher than I should, because I didn't quite feel preached to. My main beef with the movie was the narration, which personally I kind of wish I could have seen the movie without. Narration might have been necessary to keep some focus on its plot themes, and not get lost in action. The problem is that the narrator switches between his personal story and his God’s view of what’s happening with the main characters. It probably should have been one or the other, but telling ends up with too much narration. Remove either of these elements, and I think the added subtly would make the film feel more layered and complex. But with the narration and action, it became an assault of the senses which I can see why it turned off so many critics.

If the movie adds anything to the debate, it's that it tries to link the systematic societal failures that result in drug violence to upper class individual moral behavior. The movie asks, "How many poor kids have to die for a rich kid to smoke weed?" It's a message that gets buried under a lot of on screen violence, torture, and over narration. Even asking that very question ignores the role the state has in that violence, with the creation of a paramilitary police corp and corruption among the regular police. The movie points the finger at drug gangs, the state, and the affluent classes alike, and links individual actions to systemic issues. I can't knock the movie for that.

The movie doesn't tackle urban violence as a result of poverty, and treads likely on the subject of urban violence being a result of classism. In this movie, the race/class division almost seems acceptable if only non-black/non-poor kids didn't travel to the Favela to buy drugs. Then again, other films have documented classism elsewhere, and doing so here probably would have made this movie less of a shoot-em-up, and it would have been less appealing to me. A police drama has to be about the police, and by showing a liberal sympathizing university student resorting to torture to extract information from a witness, there's more to blame than just the cop, regardless of how disturbing the cop's actions are.

McGundam!

2008-11-30T09:30:00.001-05:00

More custom paint jobs here.

Been Waking Up At Night

2008-11-26T03:27:00.001-05:00

Insomnia has been creeping in as of late. And this cold is starting to get annoying. Don't like it too much.

More Phone Stuff

2008-11-25T09:13:00.002-05:00

- I find the GPS on the device practically useless. It takes so long to get in sync with the Sat, you might as well just type in the address manually.

- When the apps start to act up, they don't close gracefully. It seems like the apps create memory leaks that the OS does not recover from. The only way to get it back is a reboot. Feels like you are using Windows 98.

- Windows Live Mobile is fucking awesome. It's actually stable, and one of those uber functional apps. I would actually call it the killer app for Windows Mobile devices. You'll be far less annoyed with using a stylus when that little stick gets you a ton of information you'd have to download a half dozen iPhone apps to get.

If I was a better typer, I'd probably love the iPhone. But a dedicated keyboard is a must have feature for me, and given that need... This phone is fairly solid. Personally I think I'd prefer the X1 keyboard though. I think they nailed the form factor.

FIOS update

2008-11-20T06:19:00.000-05:00

Not quite 20/20... But it's getting closer.

Running Phones?

2008-11-17T19:22:00.006-05:00

So as I noted on twitter, I got this new phone. It's decent... but is it better than an iPhone... I feel no, and My reasons are below.

Bottom line, it all comes down to Windows Mobile. After 2 or three selections, eventually you end up in a platform that look uncannily like Windows NT 4.0. Several dialog boxes come up, and they are extremely small. Fairly annoying actually. They are small enough for the phone to include a stylus, like a old palm device. That gives you an idea. I can't use it with fingers alone.

Also, let's be honest, the apps just aren't there, and all the attention is going to Android and the iPhone OS. If you want 3rd party support, looking to Palm, OpenMoko, or WinMo... is just lacking. Even Blackberry is lacking in that regard.

I'm probably going to hate the keyboard, but I'll learn to live with it. Because don't get me wrong, I like the hardware keyboard of the Fuze. I think Sprint's version has a even better keyboard, but hardware is better than not. Also, the 3r party support is decent. It's just that third party apps rarely have the shine that iPhone apps do. And beyond what's currently out, there's more development forthcoming on the iPhone than WinMo. Since I will have this phone for 2 years, I don't want to be stuck with yesterday's apps. Looking for a nice blogging app, I know they are out there, I just want a good one. Also have to download and try a podcatcher app.

Also how the phone switches view modes by using the keyboard as an activator rocks. This is actually common on a slider phone, but when someone nails it perfectly, you have to admit they nailed it.

The Marathon

Glad I finally did it. Finished 1830th overall,with a time of 4 hours, 43 minutes. I fell apart during the second half of the race. My first 13 mile split was under 2 hrs. But I know I can run it, and I know a little bit what to expect. I want to do one in the spring, and then get ready for Richmond again in the fall of next year. I really want to break 4 hours before the end of 2009. I think that is possible. Also I want to run a 40 minute 10K.

Of course, thanks to my brother... all I could think of during the whole race was don't be like this guy. I love my brother.

I tried Mozy for the Mac, and it messed up my OS. Had to use Time Machine to restore my computer from the backup doing some damage to the file system. Thanks. For Nothing.

2008 Movies in Review - Part 1

2008-11-12T10:52:00.006-05:00

I try to do a year in review when it comes to movies, but the problem is that movies to me are relatively disposable entertainment. Without a list of what came out, it's actually kind of hard to remember what I've seen. The crap movie list probably won't fill out until next year, when IMDB does their end of the year page. But thanks to Rotten Tomatoes and NetFlix, the top should fill out well. Starting the year in review kind of early, but I think I got a good start. A fair amount of these are already on DVD.

So In order of preference:

Highly Recommended

Slumdog Millionaire - I think the vision and scope of this film, is perhaps the grandest of any movie I've seen this year. How a movie seems to accomplish so much, wow is all I can say. What can Danny Boyle not direct (besides a stalker movie)? *Added 1/1

Wall-E - Yeah I said it. Wall E before Dark Knight. Suck it. But seriously. Arguably more impressive than Keith Ledger's performance was the sheer amount of emotion this movie contained, and how that emotion was portrayed by animated mimes. There's no dialog from the principle characters, yet everyone in the theater teared up. This movie proves that less is more.

Batman, The Dark Knight - Underwhelming act 3, and average performance from Christian Bale do bring the movie down from what I would call one of the top breakout acting performances of my lifetime. Kieth was known before this movie, but after this movie, but watching him perform here is like watching a pitcher throw a perfect game at the World Series.

Mongol - This year had few epic sword and sandal movies. But this one ranks up there with the best of them. It's movies like this one that gives me a reason to keep tabs on what's playing in the Limited release market. Best Cinematography of the year. I really want the sequels to get made.

Che, Part 1 - Benico Del Toro's best role. There are some major acting performances I haven't seen, but I can tell you this one deserves an acting nomination. *Added 1/1

Bigger Stronger Faster* - This documentary deserves kudos alone for challenging conventional wisdom. Add to it its slightly whimsical nature, and well researched and advocated position, it takes the approach of a Michael Moore and Morgon Spurlock film, and ranks among the best of its class.

Tropic Thunder - What can Robert Downing Jr. not do? Funniest movie of the year. Also best ensemble cast performance of the year.

Iron Man
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
The Bank Job
Milk
W.
Kung Fu Panda
Hellboy II - The Golden Army

Recommended

Elite Squad *Added 12/1
Traitor
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Religulous
Gran Torino *Added 1/1
The Promotion
Step Brothers
Transporter 3 *Added 1/1
Red Cliff *(Note that this is the Asian cut [1 part of a 2 parter], not the 2.5hr single film version)

Watchable

Kabluey
Chicago 10
Sukiyaki Western Django
In Bruges *Added 11/17
Burn After Reading
Hancock
Choke *Added 1/1
Balls Out *Added 1/1
Cass *Added 1/1

Not Recommended

The Incredible Hulk
Cloverfield

Stop Motion Mega Man

2008-11-07T15:09:00.001-05:00

From Blip.tv via Geekologie

Celebrate Good Times Come On!

2008-11-07T14:26:00.003-05:00

Yeah, whatever scares you the most.

2008-11-07T14:17:00.000-05:00

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Speedtest with FIOS

2008-11-06T21:36:00.001-05:00

Palin during the campaign

2008-11-05T23:54:00.003-05:00

In the aftermath of yesterday's historic election, rumors are flying out of the McCain camp.

Palin thought South Africa was a part of a country, not a country in and of itself. She didn't know what countries were in NAFTA?

In Search of a Midnight Kiss & Traitor

2008-11-03T10:40:00.004-05:00

Saw 2 movies over the weekend. In Search of a Midnight Kiss was an indie romantic comedy, and actually surprisingly good. Quirky, slightly cliche, but I have to admit I loved the performances, and the ending wasn't typical. I have to admit I loved how the film skipped through parts of LA, where the city set an interesting backdrop to a lot of dialog. It's a movie that felt like it was mostly filmed on location, but the location wasn't closed down. Life just went on around the characters as it normally would, and that added something to the realism the movie wanted to imply. Love is sometimes messy, and doesn't end well, but it's the journey as much as the destination.

The other movie was Traitor, starring the man who would replace Terrance Howard in Iron Man. One of the better War on Terror movies, since the movie has come and left, I will spoil some of the movie. Personally, I think I would have preferred it if Don Cheadle was simply a terrorist vs an agent. The movie lost a fair amount of the energy when it became clear that he was deep cover. Personally I hope someone looks at this movie, and decides to make a evil Bond movie. And I don't mean Bond going rogue for personal reasons, but Bond working for the bad guys, and maybe even winning for the bad guys. Kind of like No Country for Old Men. Don was great in the movie, and honestly I like Guy Pierce's performance too, but towards the end it became kind of conventional, and a non-major movie like this has to be non-conventional.

Local Election Info

2008-11-03T09:32:00.002-05:00

There's a surprising amount of information around the web concerning the local Mayor's race. If interested, a decent first place to look is here.

If you can cut through the noise/humor, you'll also find lots of good info at some of the other links below.

First Debate Live Blog
Second Debate Live Blog
Third Debate Live Blog

Put Howard Back in Iron Man 2

2008-10-31T10:08:00.000-04:00

Cthulhu For President 2008

2008-10-31T09:58:00.002-04:00

All Politics is Local

2008-10-30T10:45:00.003-04:00

There's a fairly abrasive article about Goldman in this week's Style Weekly, who I stated I was for earlier. And the article brings up a number of good points that I missed. The article is correct, that inside of City Hall re probably acted as if he was bigger than his post, and contributed to much of the animosity within City Hall, and between departments, which is the ultimate legacy of the Wilder administration. With a region that suffered unnecessarily with the division between city and county and a regional and city political atmosphere so marred by divisions (territorial, geographical, and racial)... Goldman probably would not have helped the city in that regard. It doesn't matter if Goldman proposes some great idea on how we can decentralize the city's poverty, if he burns so many bridges we can't agree to do anything beyond knocking down a project or 2.

I was wrong in endorsing him. While I appreciate what ideas he might bring to the table, we elect people, not ideas. The city needs now more than any time in a generation, a person who can bring people together. I'm still not sure who can do that best, but Goldman would have been the least likely candidate to do so.

Another big city issue has been the city's first Charter School called Patrick Henry. The city has a number of special magnet high schools, such as Maggie Walker, Community, and Open. These schools give people like me (I went to Maggie Walker when the program was based in TJ) and Ashley (who graduated from Community), challenging opportunities to learn and grow, more so than the normal school environment. Much of my sense of curiosity beyond my day to day life was fertilized there. Ashley very well might not have entertained college as something achievable if not put through the mental meat grinder that churns out the city's finest high school graduates. Some of Richmond's most unique citizens have walked through the doors of Open, and their cultural impact is one of the jewels of the city. To see the city want to add another institution that can rise to the stature of these schools is something commendable.

But there are flaws with the proposed high school. It needs public transportation. The schools listed above work because they bring people from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to challenging curriculum. I was shocked to see that RPS will not bus kids to the new charter school. It's hardly a public school then. Also the schools are mandated to pull kids from Richmond's diverse neighborhoods, from Ginter Park to Blackwell, from Church Hill to the Fan and Westover Hills. There's no such mandate in the charter, and the risk that Patrick Henry becomes a city funded Collegiate is simply too great. I hope the school board settles these issues so that the opportunity is given to any city kid that yearns to learn outside of the regular RPS school structure.

I haven't read the Downtown Master Plan and it probably deserves its own post. But there are a few things I like about Richmond, and I'd like to see the city continue on its success. VCU has grown substantially in the past 10 years, and now looks like a complete urban campus. Along Broad Street at VCU there's a decent number of shops that have returned, and combined with Grace St. it brings a youthful urban feel that's a welcome alternative to the malls scattered around the suburbs. You still have to drive to Mechanicsville or Short Pump to buy a TV, but from books, clothes, food, and even home improvement, I don't have to commute just to get crap. That's welcome. Seeing how Carytown is becoming a Stony Point clone, a urban place that has goods and cheap eats for single people 30 or younger is nice. I wish it was dominated by fewer franchises/chains and more independent offerings, but even the real independent p[laces are around.

That growth even extends east down Broad, so it's not just VCU. Broad st. is coming back. Would suburbanites travel to 2nd and Broad, probably not. But urbanites don't need to head out to Pump Road as much.

Also I enjoy the diverse neighborhoods. When I want to feel inspired during a run, I'll run east towards the financial district. Something about 20 story buildings get me to run faster. Or i can head south to the river, or west to stroll through quiet west end neighborhoods. People here know to respect pedestrians, something you won't find in the more modest of Richmond's suburbs. People in the suburbs expect you to run or bike at American Family, not outside. The architecture on Richmond's suburbs isn't as bad as when I went to Colorado Springs (some parts looked like Weed's fictional suburb of Argestic, CA), but the subdivision bylaws limit everything down to what color lights you can have at Christmas and how high you can fly an American flag. Seriously, I'm not making that up.

I want to see that diversity continue, I want downtown to have more for people after 7PM, I want the north bank of the river tastefully developed, and the south bank kept pristine and natural. James River park should be protected. VCU has been a faithful steward, and if it wants to grow, I'm perfectly OK with that (but I can do without the Chili's). There's more art on a single block of Main street than a in a square mile of Henrico, Hanover, or Chesterfield. The city has its strengths, and it doesn't need to become Charlotte, NC or DC in order to exploit them. The strengths are already here. What's needed is managed growth, so there's a place in the city for people who are attracted to its promise while being preserves so we and people in the future can appreciate them as well.

And none of this requires a stadium.

The Obama Infomercial Hopegasm

2008-10-30T07:15:00.001-04:00

You can do a lot with a $600 Million dollars, like run for President!

I was trying to keep quiet

2008-10-29T21:05:00.004-04:00

I thought I was going to get out of the whole day without saying anything, but I can't help myself.

Saw the Obama infomercial. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!! I think I know who's going to win the Emmy for "Best Production Values" next year. While it wasn't done in HD, that broadcast looked better than most things I see on TV. I think they had the guys from Planet Earth filmed it.

But it was positive, hopeful, contains both specifics and a overarching agenda for he future...

He always seems to do it up kinda big. Epic is the word I would use to describe a person that gets 100K+ crowds. But I have to give him props for that. It is the top job on the planet after all.

Wanted to wash clothes tonight, but I goofed off to much this afternoon, perhaps tomorrow.

Speaking of which, I need to call people tomorrow. Get my weekend planned and all. A few events are happening, but I shouldn't go. I have to make sure rent is covered. I heard of this event in Waldorf, MD. Lots of DJs, but it's outdoors on Halloween night. Shit will be cold as fuck. I don't really want to dress in a costume and freeze my ass off. Sounds like no fun. And then to be kicked out when the cops bust the field party down... No thanks. My Ass is getting old.

I heart mtvmusic.com

2008-10-29T18:41:00.004-04:00

In honor of AMP, Liquid TV, and all the other awesome stuff that used to be on MTV (music).

Aphex Twin |MTV Music

24 will be back in just a few weeks...

2008-10-29T18:00:00.001-04:00

Can't Wait Baby!

Lightning vs Rainbow... FIGHT!!!

2008-10-29T15:04:00.005-04:00

From Justin found via Digg.

How many MPG does your body get?

2008-10-29T09:27:00.000-04:00

38 miles per gallon

Created by The Car Connection

The worst endorsement ever

2008-10-28T16:29:00.002-04:00

So Slate did a feature where their writers said who'd they support in the election, and 1 person came out for Bob Barr. But you have to check out what he actually says...

Raffi Khatchadourian's profile of Barr in this week's New Yorker depicts him—accurately, I think—as no more Libertarian than your standard Newt Gingrich clone.

Who is the real Bob Barr? When he was an unrepentant hard-right Republican, he did have notes of libertarianism to him. But in his libertarian rebranding, he can't quite mask his old, musky self. He's a fraud.

Some endorsement. In the end, he stands by his party rather than the man. But personally, I feel any person who stands by his party's nomination of this charlatan does almost as much a disservice to the Libertarian party as Bob Barr's congressional career has done to libertarian ideals.

Media Center in Windows 7

2008-10-28T13:40:00.002-04:00

We Got Served posted the first screen shots of Windows 7's Media Center, and I'm not all that impressed. I don't really like the Zune typeface the new menu has for WMC, and it looks kinda like a throwback to XP's Media Center.

Start Menu, Blah... too Zuney
Gadget is Good
Mini Guide is too big, I like the smaller miniguide of Vista, less obtrusive

That said, the Music Wall is pretty cool, personally I hope they figure out a better way to integrate iTunes data into WMC. A lot of people use iTunes for iPod support, and if there was a way that people could view and listen to iTunes catalogged music via WMC, I think that would help wein people away from iTunes into WMC.

TV Fall 2008

2008-10-28T12:00:00.002-04:00

This post will be incomplete, I just don't feel like writing a ton on it, or linking, or whatever.

New Shows for Fall 2008:

Fareed Zakaria GPS

This is a CNN News talk show that started during the summer. It's the only CNN show (actually the only of any 24 hour news channel except for BBCWORLD) to take a global perspective on issues. It's the type of TV show that makes people smarter as they watch it. It also doesn't turn into yelling matches that most other sunday news talk shows degenerate into. It's the best thing on CNN.

The show is also available as a podcast so you can skip commercials and watch it during the week. http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/fareed.zakaria.gps/

At the Movies

This is the replacement for Ebert & Roeper. 2 new guys have the format, and I have to saw ehh. Where Roeper used the show to highlight non-studio movies, the new guys have brought it back to mainstream films. I'm not really liking that change, and the two new hosts agree way too much for my tastes. They did add in a guest panel, but the panel sucks, except for the Village Voice movie critic, who I think articulates his opinion well.

http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/atm/

Fringe

There are a few new Sci-Fi shows coming out this fall, and the one that I've grabbed onto is Fringe. It's X-Files + CSI, but I'm liking the mix. I'm enjoying the dynamic between Massive Dynamic (the ubercorp of the show) and the Government. The main cast isn't that appealing, but there seems to be enough back story with the characters that's keeping me guessing.

http://www.fox.com/fringe/

True Blood

HBO's show about vampires in Louisiana. Not too impressed with early episodes, but I'm not ready to drop it. Later episodes have explored more of the alternative reality that's in thei litttle Louisiana town, and that's added a a lot to the show. Also there's been more Vampire backstory too. Color me impressed.

Sons of Anarchy

FX's My favorite new show, and perhaps even my favorite show of Fall 2008. It's part Sopranos, but has a more intense family dynamic. Imagine a Sopranos plot line where Christopher wanted to take the family in a direction Tony wasn't ready to go. The cast really stands out, there's some great acting there.

Heroes is getting better.

2008-10-28T09:54:00.002-04:00

I liked last week better than yesterday, but Claire, Peter, Parkman, and Daphne were less annoying, and Mohinder is getting slightly away from his mad scientist stinct. I can't argue with that. Silar's half way bad ass, but I really want a hardcore good guy who can go toe to toe with the baddies. But there are none.

Foilage from Space

2008-10-28T06:54:00.003-04:00

How cool is that?

Credit: NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Project via Discovery Channel Blog. Full 7MB version can be found here.

Long term gain, short term loss.

2008-10-27T11:24:00.003-04:00

Best Buy is carrying the Touch Pro now, and it's the most awesome hardware out there on the market. While I like the tabs of the Sony Xperia X1 (reminds me of some funky Linux windows management GUI), the accelerometer of the iPhone 3G (awesome for gaming), or the Storm (feedback + multitouch?!??!?!?! how insane is that), the Touch Pro is straight business. That's the best looking keyboard I've seen on a phone. Combine it with a GUI that does a decent job of hiding the garbage that is WinMo, a VGA screen, good touch ability, as much 3rd party support as the iPhone, it's God damn awesome. A bit pricey at $300 (or $750 unlocked WTF?). Chances are though I will end up waiting for the AT&T version, so I can move into the corporate account. But it has to be available in just a few days, especially with word that Verizon is getting their version ready as well.

Saw W last night. Like it overall. Was a bit overboard with the psychodrama. The dreams at the end were weak and overbearing. It's like Oliver Stone wanted to beat down stupid people with the message "Our President has daddy issues! We went to war becuase his daddy has daddy issues!" But the portrayals were spot on. That alone worth makes it watching. It jumps around in time a lot, but it serves the movie well. I was under the impression that the various quotes (like Powell's "you break it you buy it" or Tenet's "Slam Dunk") were all in different contexts, but the way the movie keeps the principles together gives you the "internal debate" feel that Bush probably had in his head. As storytelling, it's a effective way to make dozens of different meetings and arguements into a single movie. Oh, and I love Powell v. Cheney. Speaking of Powell, every lne was like "When I was with your dad..." or "Your Dad would have done..." and that seemed disingenuous. I don't recall any biography that refers to Powell constantly referencing Bush 41 that way. Might have done it once or twice IRL, but he did it like a dozen times or more.

Starting to run again, just in time for the big race. It's gonna hurt. Bad.

I'm working the polls this year. Actually, I'll be in City Hall, working with the CAP Central Absentee Prescient. If you live in the city, and mailed in your absentee ballot, there's a decent chance I'll be the one opening the envelop and making sure it counts on election day. It's actually a pretty cool little way to give back to the community. Think of people like Ashley in Michigan, or people in the military, I'll get to make sure people who signed up to defend this country actually have a voice in its government. Kick Ass. But working from 5:30AM to 10PM or 11PM doesn't. Still, it's personally refreshing to see that these ballots actually get counted in the same day totals, and not added in as an after thought for the final tally at Wikipedia.

Learned a lot about the voting process, provisional ballots, etc. Personally, I don't think the system is a fraught with problems as some activists would have you believe. On one hand, there are people who want to win, and will use the rules to their advantage. On the other hand, you're dealing with the public which didn't attend an all day class on a Saturday to review the ins and outs of federal and state election law. So I understand people's concern. All I can say is show up early, expect to wait a little bit, bring a government issued ID, be polite to everyone around you, and don't carry or wear any material referring to the campaign or election to the poll booth.

I never really finished my post on Goldman, but I'm at a loss as to who to vote for Mayor. The last candidate discussion is tomorrow, and I'll be at the Library of Virginia for it. Hopefully someone will stick out. Otherwise... probably just skip that part of the ballot, or vote for the person who is last in the polls to help insure a runoff.

Ong Bak 2 Trailer - Bad Ass

2008-10-23T21:13:00.001-04:00

Goldman droppign out

2008-10-21T11:06:00.001-04:00

With Goldman dropping out of race for Mayor, I'm at a bit of a loss as to who to support. Say what you will about Wilder, but I liked watching the 6PM news when "crazy white man" would let loose thought balloons into the air to test the waters and see what the city was interested.

Take for example the city school system. Massive capitol improvements are needed, and let's face it, we can't afford them. Goldman stands up, and says hey, let's close a lot of schools, build a few large mega modern facilities, and reap in the savings with better management of fewer facilities.

Or Stadiums. Why the hell should the city incur a ton of debt and raise my taxes to pay off a new stadium for county parents to take their kids to and high tail it back to whatever ticky tacky community they put their seed to bed in? I can understand my taxes being higher to support a K-12 population that's more disadvantaged, or providing more social services for people who need them, but to build a stadium to attract team that's just going to hit up city for more stadium improvements or threaten to leave? I'm not sure we need that type of corporate welfare.

Why destroy the character of Richmond to build the downtown versions of Twin Hickory or Brandermill? Aren't these single families going to live out in the counties near where they work, in close proximity to their Targets, Best Buys, malls, and Ukrops?

More on Mac

2008-10-15T15:00:00.001-04:00

In fact... It's even worse...

Displayport? The average home consumer is still getting used to DVI. The normal reason someone would want an external display is for presentations, and now you'll have to carry a dongle around. I would want a DVI connection on my laptop, becuase today's protectors are likely to have DVI and/or VGA.

No FW400. Sucks to be a DV video user. I guess FW800 is ok, but the loss of the FW400 is rather disappointing.

No FW on the MacBook at all on the MacBook is also disappointing. While switchers don't really care so much about FW, seasoned Apple Users have really come to like FW, becuase of the way it handles power. Mac Users get to enjoy that, but now it's gone. Blah.

$1,000 for a laptop is expensive. It's not uber expensive, but it's not cheap. The average person looks at the MacBook and things, high end/luxury. They don't think of them in the same class of computer as a $700 14" widescreen Core 2 Duo machine from Best Buy, or a $350 netbook. Therefore, I think much of the difference between a MB and MBP shouldn't be there. Probably the most significant would be the express card slot. Many of the shortcomings in either model can be fixed with expresscard, and the MB doesn't even cover for it.

New Macs... meh

2008-10-14T17:55:00.002-04:00

When it comes to the MacBook Pro, I think it's nearly the perfect laptop. It's a good size, not too heavy, professional design, has a great mix of power and portability. In fact, the only things I would say that are missing are...

eSATA
HDMI
Blu-Ray

Too bad the new MBP lacks all three. The other stuff is kinda nice, but dual integrated/discreet graphic chips aren't groundbreaking, and I'm not going to ignore a missing feature because its built out of a single sheet of aluminum. Try again Steve.

I hate smoking

2008-10-13T14:50:00.003-04:00

I hate this shit. When you smoke up for hours, your whole day wastes away, and you really don't want to do shit. Now I'm having a hard time to get into a more sober mood, you know, the type of mood that allows you to complete responsibilities.

I'm suck a slacker.

I haven't run since thrusday. Way to ruin marathon training...

HDR phot of canal walk

2008-10-08T11:43:00.004-04:00

Source (Henry Stern via River District News)

Foreclosure Alley - KCET report on mortgage crisis

2008-10-03T12:18:00.001-04:00

This is just messed up.

Goldman for Mayor

2008-10-01T11:45:00.001-04:00

Right now for Mayor, I'm supporting Paul Goldman, Wilder's former adviser. From the city debates, it seems like he's the candidate who is willing to put more attention into address citizen's concerns over developers (Pantelle) and is ambivalent over baseball (unlike Jones). I don't want to see the city get into hundreds of millions in debt for a AAA minor league team. I also dislike Jones' proposal for a satelite VCU campus within the city. A huge chunk of revitalized Broad Street is due to VCU. I'd rather see VCU grow vs more boarded up buildings on Broad Street. Also, I like James River Park, and I don't want to see it bulldozed over in the name of Condos. I also kind of like his idea of taking dilapidated properties, remodeling them, and then setting them aside for city civil servants like teachers and cops. They do carry a lot of heavy water for our community, and I think providing them great places to live in the city will attract a new generation of teachers and cops that can improve our streets.

The Internet... Is ON!

2008-09-16T21:14:00.002-04:00

OMG... Matt helped me turn my Actiontec ROuter to a bridge, and Oh My Sweet Jesus this thing is fast. a torrent with only 65 connected seeders (169 total) was coming down at over 1 MB/s. Holy Crap!!!

I'm so set when blu ray batman hits the scene.

Mega Man 2 Clip

2008-09-10T01:33:00.001-04:00

Palin

2008-09-03T10:34:00.000-04:00

At first, I thought it was a brain dead move, bringing in Palin to the McCain campaign. But after all the initial stuff, I think I see the biggest pluses she brings to the campaign. At first, given the backdrop of the Hillary storyline, it’s easy to see Palin as Clinton primary voter pandering move. But if you look at who is really excited about her, and where her base of support is, it’s not necessarily the working class that Hillary claimed to get the backing of, or women, but the evangelical. Palin brings the evangelical base. Her politics, from supporting Intelligent Design and anti-environmentalism, are evangelical wing-batism. But the real appeal seems to come from her uncanny good looks and her life story. Say what you want about getting her ex brother in law fired or teen daughter getting pregger… its so distracting to her appearance that all the non-policy issues slide off her. She’s too sexy for your scandal. And then she brings out this picture perfect family, and holds to stuff like hockey mom as if it’s a badge of honor, suburbs of America will eat this shit up. It’s the perfect counter to Obama. If Obama is “different,” “weird,” and “foreign”; Palin is “familiar,” “normal,” almost “cozy”. It works so well, I almost have to hand it to McCain. Smart play.

As convincing as Obama’s speeches are, even I find myself wondering how much of a consensus builder he is versus being a more standard politician. He doesn’t fit the DLC mold, but he’s not exactly a pure liberal contender. He’s something else, and I haven’t quite put my finger around it. That said, I want someone in office who will think about the problems that approach him. That’s Obama’s real strength, his analytical approach. It looks like he spent more time vetting his VP pick, and deciding what was right for him. While McCain might have made a good pick, I don’t see how the two will work together for 4 or 8 years. The choice of Palin, curiously, exposes McCain’s rashness and also gives us the most convincing example of him caving to the evangelical base.

Seeing what has happened to McCain, being remade into this puppet of the right-wing, is not the kind of maverick I voted for in 2000, and he’s not one I want to vote for to today. Palin being the vice president only makes the issue more clear.

Al Gore and Obama address

2008-08-29T10:40:00.000-04:00

The final day of the DNC was better than the other nights I saw. I liked Al Gore's speech. It was somewhat bitter, but I can't blame him for that. It was a straight forward message that hit on all the shortcomings of the past 8 years. I'm glad he spoke on it with clarity. Also, there is a real difference in passion when he speaks of climate change vs anything else. That difference in passion is probably why he's doing the best thing for himself by staying out of politics and sticking to promoting climate change awareness.

Obama's speech was... wow. I can't recall a better speech. It lacked specifics that would quell my hesitation concerning Obama's support of civil liberties, but barring that it was perfect.

On Tuesday I commented on Digg just how pointless this whole circle jerk exercise was, but I have to admit that this speech mattered. Color me impressed.

Randonness

2008-08-26T16:20:00.000-04:00

I tried to watch the DNC, but there was just too much bullshit for me to sit through. I find real infomercials more entertaining.

No one told me that Infected Mushroom is playing this Sat in Baltimore. I wish I knew on MOnday, I wouldn't have indulged myself. LOL

Caught up on some movies I wanted to watch. You know, it's real hard to watch people speak in other languages without subtitles. What I found really odd in Where in the World is Osama bin Laden, is that Morgan Spurlock speaks English, and people respond in Arabic. No translator. It's like if I was in Star Trek and my universal translator is broken. What the hell?

Bigger, Stonger, Faster was really good, but also really pro-steroids. I place steroids in the recreational drugs class. People I think should be able to use them, but they have to assume the risks involved. I don't think they harm society enough to be banned, but I have an admittedly high threshold of what I would allow individuals to take part in. That's just me. I'd never do it, but I'm not a gym rat. If some other dude or woman is, that's their business.

Also saw the John Reilly film The Promotion. It was ok. I don't really have a lot to say about it.

Next on my list is Transsiberian.

I decided to slow down on running this week. It's been hard the past few weeks and I want a little break. Probably will still run today just because, but yeah, I want to be a little lazy.

And I need to go grocery shopping.

This election will suck, and let me tell you why.

2008-08-21T16:05:00.000-04:00

McCain is ahead in the polls.

Obama resorts to personal attacks.

Bob Barr is running as a libertarian.

Why Cantor is on the VP short list...

2008-08-18T16:18:00.002-04:00

Isn't it obvious why Eric Cantor (US Rep for West Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield) is on McCain's not-so-short VP list?

He's a body double for Steven Colbert. Just look.

2008-08-14T16:31:00.002-04:00

I want this as a t-shirt. I think it sums up the election in a nutshell.

Selfish conceited thought for the day

2008-08-14T16:29:00.000-04:00

It turns me off to hear about your friend's exploits.

I hang out with you, and you I consider a good person. And you know what, I care. I want to know what you've done lately. I really do. I'm not a heartless bastard motherfucker. But you want to know what's not a good story- some random story about your friend and some other person. I don't really know your friends. I don't really care. I get kinda bored when you run off on tangents like that. I don't really care what your friend did at the club or who they were with while your ass was home. All you're telling me is that you don't go out as much as you'd like to... and while you might be happy to live vicariously through your friends, I really couldn't care less.

KTHXBYE

Sleepy

2008-08-04T10:23:00.002-04:00

Personal note, I’ve had a hard time sleeping… Kind of effects me at work and afterward. Just don’t have the energy to do much of anything.

Digg is like the unofficial Obama website. I’m starting to tire of reading about every little thing McCain does stupid. It would be one thing if this was the Daily Show, and they are posing fun at him, but every little quip makes “Popular”, outside of any real perspective. If there was some BIG news, then it should be front page. But everything is front page, so there’s no differentiating and its getting tiresome. By November, I’m not going to care, and I imagine other people will be burned out too. In the end, having people being burned out in November is a bad thing.

That said, seeing McCain’s comeback in the poll is the perhaps the best reason to re-energize Obama. Regardless of however “typical politician” I think Obama is, I don’t think the country can handle 4 years of McCain 2008.

The ebay stuff is going well. Spent $160 on 11 blu-ray titles. It’s under the $20 average Amazon price which is good. Got another 14 blu-ray movies from Amazon that were on sale, and then picked up 6 more from CL. That should build up my Blu-Ray collection, so combined with the HD DVDs I should have a healthy High Def DVD Catalog. Just have to wait for everything to arrive now.

The Media Server’s Hard Drive situation is finally resolved. 3TB running now. I did decide to sell my old LCD monitor and am replacing it with a matching 2nd Dell LCD, also getting a 9600GT for dual DVI goodness. It’s amazing what $100 will buy now in terms of graphics power.

Obamamania

2008-07-30T11:00:00.002-04:00

I don't want to sound like a Ron Paul supporter, but the Constitution matters. What makes the American Republic special isn't democracy, but rather the limits government places on itself. At the core, there is a division of private life and public life, and government should be limited from intruding into private life. I think I could live with all of Obama's other reversals, but the FISA one is just makes a WTF moment. I guess he can say he voted against it before he voted before it.

I'm so used to seeing McCain change his beliefs, it's nothing new. But to see Obama do the same thing... is disappointing

Home Theater Upgrade

2008-07-30T08:50:00.004-04:00

Rehashed and updated my Home Theater setup. Go into the specifics below:

Panasonic 50PZ800U - HDTV
Onkyo TX-SR705 - AV Reciever
Dell XPS 420 - Home Theater PC
3 ATi Digital Cable Tuners
Sony BDP-S350 - Blu-Ray Player
Toshiba HD-A30 - HD DVD Player
Microsoft Xbox 360
Sony PS2
MonoPrice 5 Port HDMI Switch
4 Mission m73 Loud Speakers
Mission m71c1 Center Channel Speaker
B&W ASW650 Subwoofer
Home Built Media Server w\ 3TB of storage space
2 APC BackUps RS BR1500LCD
NetGear 8 Port Mini Switch
Vantec SATA Hard Drive Dock

The speakers, sub, game consoles, rack, TV stand, and Switches are old. But the rest of the equipment is either new or upgraded. I tuned my old HTPC into a glorified server, all the bittorrents and DVD library rips get saved there, but now there's more space. That said I'm having some growing pains with failing hard drives in the RAID array, but I hope everything will be ironed out in the next week.

All the video equipment is now 1080p, which meant a new TV, HD DVD player for my 38 HD DVDs, a Blu-Ray player, and a CableCard HTPC. The CableCard HTPC has 3 Tuners and 2TB of storage. Works great with FIOS, I would argue that videos on it look twice as good as they used to on my old TV. Replaced the old receiver for a new one that can decode TrueHD and DTS MA, so it works great with the Sony Blu-Ray player. Ultimately decided to go with a standalone player for that bitstreaming support of TrueHD and DTS MA, and all I can say is wow.

It took a bit to get to get the CableCard HTPC to play everything right from within Media Center, but thanks to some help from thegreenbutton.com, I got it all worked out. Codec packs work pretty well for Media Player Classic, but not so much with Media Center. Below is what I use.

FFDShow Tryouts Beta 3 (later builds have issues with VMC)
DirectVobSub for subtitles
Haali Media Splitter for mkv
QT Lite for QuickTime support

For 5.1 SPDIF support I:
-Set DTS and AC3 to SPDIF in FFDshow Audio Properties
-Followed these steps to get 2.0 and 5.1 AAC audio to play

Plays well with the extender in the bedroom, as well with the DRMed CableCard recordings. Earlier with other codec mixes I had random instability, but not this is fairly stable. I did give up on my HD HomeRun. I dropped the HD HomeRun in favor of a 3rd ATi Digital Cable Tuner. While there's a net loss of 1 tuner, I get 100's of channels from the DCT, where the HD HomeRun gives me only 13 or so because of encryption from FIOS.

One of the nicer features about CableCard's DRM is that it does at least work with any Media Center extender out of the box. While extenders otherwise have poor codec support, right now I use a Popcorn Hour for all the AC3 content, ripped DVDs, and mkvs that Media Center Extenders do not play, while the extender can do the CableCard recordings. Both devices can do basic xvid/mp3 avi's well. Only thing right now a Popcorn Hour cannot play is a mkv with Ogg Vorbis audio. Too bad Golgo 13 uses that.

I didn't realize this, but the only HD DVD players that bitstream TrueHD and DTS MA are the high end players such as the A35. The mid range and low range players do not, which is disappointing. Well, since I won't be buying any more HD DVDs, I guess it doesn't matter. Paying $60 for a used player on ebay was a better deal than rebuying a bunch of movies. I'm trying to fill up my Blu-Ray collection with used Blu-Rays to save a little money.

Looking forward to the FIOS upgrade on 8/13 when FIOS will add a lot of new HD channels to everyone in Richmond.

First Post

2007-05-22T20:13:00.000-04:00

Feeling tired, not really too interested in doing a lot tonight. I've wanted to migrate to blogger for a while, finally decided just to type something. I might play around with the format a little over time. LJ is more or less dead for me. There's stuff to say, but I guess I just wanted to try out a new pen and paper to write it on. I think on a place less built around community I will feel more free to say what I want. Chances are that will break down to how many IRL people read this. Probably few to non, so it'll be good.

This weekend is Whistle, and there's a good chance I won't go this year. It's just so fuckin' crowded. While its size and scale makes it one of the few must attend events, I think I'll enjoy other stuff like Starscape and Gaian Mind more, so that's probably where I'll go. Also considering that there's probably no way I can talk Ashley to go as well. I feel torn between her displeasure at the various things that I enjoy, and my desire to be around here when I'm out enjoying myself. My mood is often soured when I'm out enjoying myself, and realizing that she isn't there. Never sharing my happiness with her is one of the worst aspects of our relationship. I don't think she realizes that.

I wanted to do a post on the HTPC fora while, but since I'm no where near it, then there's no real point. Not that I have done anything special, but I'm privately pleased with how well it has gone. I think I'm going to add HD-DVD support. Blu-Ray just costs too much for its limited appeal. It'll be cheaper for me just to get a standalone HD-DVD player, but the fun of having it on the computer makes that a bit more worthwhile. Hopefully improved Vista MC support for HD-DVD will come as well.

Later