Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

i was just going to get them through netflix and jus t watch it as i had time :) ill make sure i dont spent much time with season 3 :) thanks!

The Dropkick Murphy's played with the Bosstones at the OC Fair last night.

"What's up Angel fans? We were going to play Tessie tonight but since the Angels swept the Red Sox this weekend, we're not gonna do it!"

I would have played it anyway and said until the Angels win a game against Boston in October, we'll play Tessie.

Servers in the home remain scarce

With its first update to Windows Home Server, Microsoft has fixed a critical bug that threatened to undermine the product's main utility–securely and reliably backing up computer files.

But the software maker still has to find an answer to the bigger problem–many consumers have no idea what a server is and fewer still have any reason to think they would want one in their home.

Microsoft knew it would face this challenge even before Bill Gates announced the product at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show. It even tried to make light of the issue, penning a fake children's book dubbed "Mommy, Why is There a Server in the House?"

Unfortunately, the child's question is still a prescient one. For many who need to back up their files, network-attached hard drives offer a less costly and intricate answer to installing even a simplified Windows Server. As a result, the product has proved to be a tough sell.

"This is a very difficult product category to be selling," said Forrester Research analyst J.P. Gownder. "Consumers, generally speaking, don't know what a home server is."

My new jukebox theme for the Home Server. We don't hide ours, instead making it an integral part of our system. As it's headless, it doesn't need a whole lot of space…

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Question for you Smackie:

OK…here's the situation:

Video camera died many many months ago and have been putting off the replacement. Now that I have a NAS with plenty of storage (for now at least) i'm thinking of ditching a tape based camera and going flash or hd based and storing it all on the network. Now the obvious next step is getting the video/audio from my pc to my home theater. Running cables is no biggie, crawlspace is easily accessible in this room so no issue there. What's the best method of delivery here? Get a video card with hdmi and dvi, run the hdmi to my home theater, set up the card so the displays are cloned?

Next issue is audio….just get a better sound card and run that (presumably toslink or digital coax)to my receiver? Or is there something snazzy that i'm overlooking that will deliver HD content from my pc to the home theater?

Moving from tape to disk storage is the way to go. The only donwside is when travelling for long periods of time, you may fill the disk. If you do this, you've probably filmed too much. But nonetheless, you can combat that transferring to a laptop or multiple disks.

What's already in your system? I think you had a media extender - is it audio only?

Any gaming devices to speak of?

I went back and looked - you've got a squeezebox, and if memory serves, that's audio only.

So, absent any gaming devices, the cheapest solution is to pick up an HDMI Video card and run an HDMI cable from the computer to the HDTV. With the right card, youâ??ll get both digital audio and digital video over one HDMI cable (ie, no need for a TOSLINK). There are rumors that quality fades over HDMI cables that are over 50 feet long, but I havenâ??t tested this (and many say this isnâ??t true). Thatâ??s something to consider when setting it up. Total cost here could be as low as $60, but youâ??re probably looking at around $100.

With a DVI card it can get a little more complicated, but I know you can get an ATI DVI card and their HDMI converter will do both.

The other option if distance is a factor for the HDMI cable is to get a media extender (or maybe youâ??ve already got one in a gaming machine or DVR). Friends of mine who have a NAS storage system swear by their Popcorn Hour. This will usually just require running a network cable to the device for HD video. If you choose this route, you will likely have to format your home videos to a format your extender can play, if theyâ??re not already (although the Popcorn Hour can play a lot of stuff). I would also say that a gigabit network set up will greatly improve HD video quality in this environment, when possible.

There are other wireless extender options, but I would highly recommend a wireless N network for HD quality. An unsecure G might be alright, but any security on the network and your streams will be pretty slow for HD.

If cash isnâ??t a problem, Iâ??d drop $179 (it may cost a little more on eBAy - they're hard to find) on the popcorn hour and add it to your network. The popcorn hour is not 10/100/1000 so wait on the gigabit network. Otherwise, add a decent HDMI video card and run an HDMI cable to your TV for $80-$100.

Home Servers May Render CD Racks Obsolete


DENVER (Billboard) - Converting to a fully digitized entertainment library is a good way to cut down on clutter in the house. So what replaces the CD rack once you do?

The 500 GB hard drive that comes standard on most home computers today? Soon, even that won't be big enough to store and organize the massive amount of digital music, video and photography that consumers are accumulating as part of the emerging "terabyte lifestyle."

That opens the door to a new market, one that for now remains a niche afterthought to most people: home servers.

instead of starting a new thread, i'll just ask the forum master.

1. i want to get a telescope. a good one. but i know nothing about them, really. like where to research models, prices, where to buy, ect.

2. is there a place where can one buy their old highschool yearbook? i have searched everywhere online (ebay, amazon, everywhere) or is it just a wait game crapshoot of searching.

Originally posted by walkonby:
instead of starting a new thread, i'll just ask the forum master.

1. i want to get a telescope. a good one. but i know nothing about them, really. like where to research models, prices, where to buy, ect.

2. is there a place where can one buy their old highschool yearbook? i have searched everywhere online (ebay, amazon, everywhere) or is it just a wait game crapshoot of searching.

so basically you are stalking somebody you went to high school with?

I'm not an atronomer, but I know a good one. He's in Seattle right now but gets back on Saturday - I'll be sure to ask him. I haven't used a telescope since I was 10.

Have you contacted the school? They may still have some copies or put you in touch with the publisher who can make another one for you (if you're a recent grad) for a ridiculously large amount of money.

And pollard - excellent work!

For those still interested in the Home Theater PC, the guys over at We Got Served have done a pretty good job breaking it all down for you:

The Beginnerâ??s Guide to Windows Media Center

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: The Total Microsoft Package

Part 3: The Hardware

Part 4: Competition (coming soon)

Originally posted by pdx pollard:

Originally posted by walkonby:
instead of starting a new thread, i'll just ask the forum master.

1. i want to get a telescope. a good one. but i know nothing about them, really. like where to research models, prices, where to buy, ect.

2. is there a place where can one buy their old highschool yearbook? i have searched everywhere online (ebay, amazon, everywhere) or is it just a wait game crapshoot of searching.

so basically you are stalking somebody you went to high school with?

1. the telescope is because of jupiter being so close to the earth right now. it got me excited again about space and seeing into the great beyond.

2. the yearbook is because when i gaze into the past, i am transported via a consciousness/sub-consciousness breakdown that makes the world of frozen time morph into an actual reality. truly frightening yet intimidatingly beautiful, too.

This had me laughing. I was not part of this test because I said in the survey that I have nothing against Vista, but that I'm going in a different direction with my computing.

Microsoft looks to 'Mojave' to revive Vista's image

REDMOND, Wash.–After months of searching for ways to defend its oft-maligned Windows operating system, Microsoft may just have found its best weapon: Vista's skeptics.

Spurred by an e-mail from someone deep in the marketing ranks, Microsoft last week traveled to San Francisco, rounding up Windows XP users who had negative impressions of Vista. The subjects were put on video, asked about their Vista impressions, and then shown a "new" operating system, code-named Mojave. More than 90 percent gave positive feedback on what they saw. Then they were told that "Mojave" was actually Windows Vista.

would you like to see a two girls one cup…cake? figured i'd ask before i posted it…

Originally posted by miss pretentious:
would you like to see a two girls one cup…cake? figured i'd ask before i posted it…

Did somebody get that for your for your birthday? 'Cause that would be awesome.

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i wish…. but no

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Your's is better.

Mr. P, I demand that this happen for Miss P. You can send me the bill!

Originally posted by vansmack:
It was a great show. The tempo was great - plenty of speed ups and slow downs, a lot of entertaining banter (a lot of self-depricating humor), and a good crowd.

The set was simple and so was the lighting. There were a few lasers and yes, big balls that were very well used (as seen in that video above).

It was very heavy with Viva (all but Cemeteries of London, I think) and the new stuff sounded great. Lost was the highlight of the new stuff for me.

caught coldplay last night in philly - really good show. agreed with all of the above, except the "simple lighting". did you guys have the giant screen behind the band? pretty impressive, they did some fun stuff with it (see pix, linked below).

the new stuff sounded better than i expected, "lost" was indeed a highlight. i really liked the version of "fix you" they played (a little more up-tempo), and we got an acoustic version of "the scientist" at the end of the show on the second stage - fun.

the philly crowd was good for coldplay, but dead for santogold who put on a great opening set. people seemed generally indifferent to her, despite several tentative reminders that philadelphia was her hometown (mild response at best). only exception were the two HOTTIES five rows ahead of me who stood up and started shaking to the beats, god bless 'em (actually, He already had).

Originally posted by vansmack:
The little letters next to some songs on the setlist are alternate stages, but I won't ruin any surprises for you. We were thoroughly entertained by both alternate stages.

spoiler alert: folks wishing to keep the surprise should not check out my pix.

Originally posted by vansmack:
They did a great job in the Arena, which good for them but bad for the fan - there's no going back now. We'd definitely see them in a big venue again.

coldplay are the cotton candy of arena rock - fluffy, lacking in nutritional value, but fun. hate them if you want but they put on a good show.

too many pix

has your astronomer friend shared his brain yet?

and i think i have a lock on the yearbook. now i can rule the past with my time machine.