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February 20th, 2005:
Gettin’ the band back together.

Gina and I had our first date after she tried out for a band that I play guitar in: Rogerbox. The band has been a pretty significant part of our lives over the past few years. In December of 2003 we lost our drummer, Eric, to job prospects in Ohio. We auditioned a few drummers, and a few months after Eric left, we brought Andy on board. He too left the band to pursue his career and we were left without a percussion section once again. After Andy left, we posted some signs and updated our website to find a new drummer. We had a few bites from musicians with a lot of experience. However, they wanted to make money playing shows. We’re not really in it for the money, and as soon as we shared this morsel with our prospects, they faded away.

A few weeks ago, Eric called and expressed his desire to get together and practice. We did just that. After a couple of practices, it feels like old times again. We’re a little rusty, but things are coming together well.

We haven’t talked about where this might lead, but I think we could pull things together and play a show relatively soon. We’ve had a few calls during our hiatus, and it wouldn’t be difficult to book a show or two.

When we stopped playing, something was missing. I wasn’t sure if it was the social aspect or the extra “free time…” In any event, it feels good to be playing out with other musicians again.

I recently purchased an inexpensive “sonic maximizer” that has made a world of difference in my guitar tone. It clarifies my sound without much effort, it’s compact, and easy to use. I highly recommend this piece of equipment to anyone looking to clean up their sound without a large investment (new guitar). Even more, I’m hoping to use this new tool in an upcoming show… whenever that me be. I hope to see you there. Keep an eye on our website for upcoming performances.

- Duane

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February 15th, 2005:
Goodbye airblogging.com, hello flickr.

I’ve given up on airblogging.com. It’s not being maintained in a way that I can rely on. In the past, I’ve kept away from 3rd party solutions since they’re all too often well outside of my control. Many of them start charging for their service, others just disappear. I switched to flickr.com. They offer simple photo storage and blog updating in addition to a number of advanced features. I use the automated email update system to post to flickr, which then sends the update to blogger.com. This is especially handy when using my new Sony Ericsson K700 to send moblog photo updates. More on that phone later…

- Duane

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January 31st, 2005:
Adventures In Home Media Solutions
Part 4

Tivo set the standard by which all other PVRs are compared. It’s intuitive and elegant interface (including remote control), responsiveness, and reliability are difficult to beat. It offers some basic home media center/server features such as mp3 playback, photo viewing, and recorded video sharing. Tivo has become more than a company, more than a solution… It has become a verb. Apparently Tivo doesn’t like that. Recent actions taken against web sites and promotions that encourage users to “Tivo that show” prove that Tivo is working to seperate itself from other DVR solutions.

My goal was to find a PC-based solution utilizing some existing hardware resources that offered a similar experience to Tivo without limiting future upgrades (multiple tuners, high-definition output) and extending the media center experience beyond DVR and media playback (gaming, internet access, multi-format video viewing, file server access, home automation). I also hoped for a reliable and mature solution.

The hardware I selected was:

TV Tuner:

Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250. A solid, full featured tuner with onboard mpeg encoder and decoder. Compared to the 150, there is a negligable difference in picture quality, but more importantly, the 250 is compatible with non-Windows solutions (including MythTV). The MCE version ships without a remote (since Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 has one of it’s own), reducing cost. OEM versions of the card can be found for a significant savings over thheir retail counterparts. The OEM cards ship in a simple white box with a 4-page installation guide. No media ships with the card, as the drivers are covered by the operating system. Expect to pay $100 to $120 for an OEM card from suppliers such as PC Alchemy and approximately $150 for the retail version.

Video Card:

NVidia GeForceFX 5200. Windows XP MCE 2005 requires a DirectX 9-compatible display adapter. MythTV (and Linux in general), gets along better with NVidia cards than their ATI counterparts. (In the past, I’ve preferred ATI’s offerings, but NVidia has made a believer out of me…) The 5200 is a cost-effective solution. It meets all of the requirements, and offers surprising performance for the price. Additionally, the DVD Decoder Codecs/Software sold by NVidia for use with their products is excellent. PC Alchemy offers several bundled packages that include a Hauppauge tuner, Windows XP MCE, DVD Decoder software, and video card. If you keep an eye on ony of the popular deal sites online (Deals On The Web, XP Bargains) you may be able to find one of these cards for $20 (or less, after rebates). Legends are still shared of those who have found these cards for free after enough rebates are mailed.

CPU/Motherboard:

I had hoped that I would be able to pull this caper off with a 1.1 gHz Athlon processor, but XP MCE requires a minimum 1.6 gHz powerplant. A faster front-side bus helps with the DVD decoding as well. I went with a Soyo Dragon KT600+ v2 motherboard with an Athlon 2600+ (snicker) CPU. It does the job. If you’re planning on compressing video files while you record television or recording multiple sources at the same time, a few more mHz will help.

Storage:

I am using a multiple-drive configuration. One drive (~30g) hosts the operating system and software while the other (~200g) is used for recording. A lesson learned from computer based audio recording: don’t record to your system drive. Recording anything in realtime uses a cache, most often in the same location as your operating system and/or recording software. Allowing your system to record to one drive, while crunching away on another will extend hardware life, reduce system stress, and limit complications that could lead to system failure. More storage is better, as recorded programs at high quality consume a great deal of disk space. Reduced quality recordings, of course, conserve space, but animated shows (cough, Adult Swim, cough) suffer greatly from increased compression by showing obvious and distracting artifacts.

Sound Card:

While most will find their onboard audio solutions sufficient, I wanted digitial audio support… my Soyo MB did not support this, so I re-used my aging PCI Sound Blaster (w/ SPDIF-out). Numerous low-cost options are available from a number of brands.

Pre-assembeled Offerings:

HP, Gateway, and Dell offer complete Media Center Machines starting at $800. However, as the features and specs grow, so does the cost. Expect to pay about $1500 for a flagship system. If you want a warranty, customer support, and a cool logo, these are viable options… if it fits your budget.

Windows MCE XP 2005 cost round-up:

In trying to research the cost of a custom media center computer, I found that there are innumerable component choices and endless iterations of hardware combinations. Expect to pay $400 for a basic system meeting minimum system requirements to $800 for a competitive solution to the pre-built options from major brands.

Other options:
Linux

If you like to tinker with software and hardware and don’t have strict requirements for dependability or features, seriously consider KnopMyth. Just because I didn’t have to patience to get every aspect of KnoppMyth working doesn’t mean that other can’t either. The hardware requirements are less strict (though I still highly recommend a video solution from NVidia.. their Linux support is great). and the OS and software are free.

Mac

With the release of the Mac Mini Apple is offering a low cost option for a brand-new computer in an attractive and tiny form-factor (6.5″ square, 2″ tall). With an eyeTV from ElGato and an external hard drive, you can build a Mac-based solution for about $800… without a unified interface. (Though these folks want to change that.)

Tivo

Forget all of the complication of a PC and go with a simple set-top solution. Tivo offers tons of features for a low initial cost ($99 – $199, depending on configuration). My biggest gripe was the $12 monthly service charge. Of course you can pay $299 for lifetime Tivo service.

My decision to use XP MCE was based on these factors:

  • Existing hardware… sorta
  • Ability to share recorded content with other computers
  • Ability to watch existing mpg, avi, quicktime, and divx content
  • Some gaming use.. mostly MAME… (KnoppMyth has a plug-in for MAME support)
  • No recurring cost/limited initial cost

Everyone will have different requirements and goal in choosing their home media center solution. I hope that these articles have proven to be useful.

Read Part 3…

Further information and related links:
MythTV
KnoppMyth
Microsoft Media Center
PC Alchemy, Home Theater PC equipment reseller
PVRBLog

- Duane

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January 28th, 2005:
Mac Mini media center project…

Although I’ve just completed my XP-based media center, I would sell it in a heartbeat to switch to a Mac-based media center. Every day, Microsoft Anti-spyware Beta detects 3-6 new spyware threats on my media center box alone. Engadget gives a few pointers as well as links to this project site focusing on building a complete mac mini media center solution.

- Duane

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January 22nd, 2005:
The Blizzard Drama of 2005.

Refer to this handy map during this news update:

Today started simple enough. Gina and I woke, made some breakfast, and headed out to pick up our dry cleaning. We’re attending “Rent” at the Masonic tonight with 3 other couples, and want to look out best. We were planning on some snow, and Mother Nature delivered. About 8 inches fell overnight and a few more were expected.

(1.) We jumped into Gina’s 2000 Impreza RS, and traveled about a mile to Irv’s Deluxe Cleaners. The roads were treacherous, but the trip was short and we had the beauty of All Wheel Drive on our side. A few minutes, and we were in and out of the cleaner. Time to go home… but the car won’t start. Could the cold have killed the battery? Did something get wet during our four-wheel drift heroics and blow a fuse? Regardless, we were stranded. So, we called our local hero, Brad.

Within a few minutes Brad arrived… in style. There’s something to be said about performing surgically precise doughnuts in a bright purple pickup… in the middle of a main street. We attempted a jump start… with no luck. We assumed that the battery was, indeed, toast. Then it occured to me that a fuse might be to blame. (Gina has no voltmeter in her dash, but the interior lights, headlights, etc. were still working.) I checked the 2 main breaker locations and found nothing wrong. Then, I checked the fuses for her security system and keyless entry. Behold, a very blown fuse. (2.) Brad piled the three of us into his 2 seat truck and we were off (once again, in style…).

(3.) Back home, we cleared off my car and headed off to (what we thought was) the nearest auto parts store to buy some 10 amp fuses. After our stop at Autozone, we headed back to Irv’s Deluxe Cleaning… where every fuse we tried immediately blew. While practically standing on my head installing fuses, it occured to me that I might be able to use the security bypass. I tired, it worked, and we caravan-ed back home (4.). As we left the cleaner, we noticed… with pains of irony, that an auto parts store was, in fact, right across the street (see Stealth Auto Parts Store on map,

We ran to the front door, and I reached into my jacket pocket for my house keys, and found nothing. Somewhere during our adventure I had lost my keys. I did the practical thing and began to panic while swearing. Back to the cars. No keys to be found in either one. (5.) Back to Irv’s. After a minute or two digging through the snow where I had perfomed my fuse installation headstands, Gina found my keys.

(6.) Once again, we drove home and got back to the mundane things that have to be done on the weekend. Such as laundry and the ceremonial soaking of fragile electronics. (I left my cellphone in my jeans pocket while they were in the washing machine.) I realized this, rescued the phone (although it might be too late), and it is now recuperating (hopefully) in front of a hair dryer.

I only hope that our outing to the theater tonight is far less eventful.

- Duane

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