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December 24, 2004
You want to know what “geek” means? This is from a discussion board about MythTV:
I found MythTV, Freevo, and WebVCR+ all far too complicated to setup, so I created my own PVR. It is written in C and does not require a separate database process (such as MySQL) to be running. Despite this, it is very fast (faster than any interpreted language can be) and it has a full-featured GNOME front end.
It can be found at http://furioustv.sourceforge.net/
In anticipation of Tivo’s presenting ads while we fast forward, I’m looking into building (or buying?) a MythTV, an open source project that turns a linux box into a Tivo++. We love Tivo, but MythTV looks much better. (We’re also going to try to buy our next TV before the Broadcast Flag goes into effect in July 1, 2005.)
I find myself amazingly confused, however. For example, the EFF says that PC TV tuners will record HDTV off of over-the-air broadcasts but not off of cable boxes. That sounds crazy…crazy like the FCC. (Tivo also doesn’t record HDTV, except through some deal with DirecTV.) Will going the MythTV route lock me out of recording HDTV if and when commercial recorders enable it? Will the free source of programming information, zap2it.com, continue as free or is there a reasonable likelihood that we’ll be locked out of access? Does someone sell ready-to-run MythTV boxes? Alternatively, since it seems that there’s a CD with linux and MythTV sw ready-to-install, is there a list of exactly the right hw I can just go out and buy without having to make choices beyond how large a hard drive and whether I want a white or black case? (MySetTopBox is pretty good at this.) Just a few of a zillion questions. And I won’t be starting this immediately since I have been unable to extirpate entirely my sense of priorities.
Some initial links:
MythTV home
Screenshots – mmmm!
Documentation
PVR Blog (personal vido recorder)
PVRBlog’s MythTV how-to
MySetTopBox
Knoppmyth– MythTV on a CD
Support the EFF!
December 23, 2004
According to the NY Times, Bush has cut our contribution to global food aid by $100M. As Mathew Gross comments: “While he flushes billions into his war in Iraq and trillions into his senior-fleecing scheme. Nice man. Great moral values, there.”
Culture Cat has a list of blog entries that talk about gender issues in the blogosphere.
Chris Nolan publishes the second half of her critique of MoveOn.org at Personal Democracy. Lots of great information and an animosity I don’t share. MoveOn isn’t perfect, and if it were it still wouldn’t revolutionize politics or create a new movement, but I count it as an important ally in our joint struggle. Anyway, the two-part series is well worth reading. (Part 1 is here.)
December 22, 2004
With some trepidation, I’ve posted “Now Go To Damn Sleep,” doggerel for the worn-out parent. Here’s the beginning:
My angels, now, it’s to your room
To dip into sleep’s stream
And let your parents’ life resume.
Fast forward to your dream.
What’s that you say, my angels dear?
The day has not run out?
Tonight you just must-see ER?
And then the title bout?
Oh my dears, my little mites,
Walt Disney’s themed your beds.
And if you’re good and very quiet
I’ll tell my day instead.
Oh, Mikey, Sal and Ted please hear
The story I have to tell
I love each one of you so dear
But you’ve made my life a … well ….
After all, what could be better for the holidays than a little anti-child hostility?
Paul English explains carefully how to set up two wifi access points if you need to cover a broader area…
He also has a nice appreciation of David Brudnoy, the long-time Boston-area radio talk show host who was opinionated without being stupid or obnoxious. I only heard him a few times, but his movie reviews were the best thing in the Boston Tab newsweekly.
Doc said that, and he’s right.
Q: Which host of Saturday Night Live exhibited the biggest gap between his/her talent and his/her performance on SNL?
A: Robert De Niro. Twice.
Fascinating back and forth over at Kos. Kos calls Zack Exley, who was in charge of Kerry’s Net campaign, “an idiot.” Zack is anything but an idiot. He’s a good guy personally who has spent most of his life working fulltime for his political beliefs. I respect him, and am grateful for what he did using the Net to do traditional things, like raise money. I am certainly more of a believer than he is in the power of p2p politics, but of course campaigns also have to get the offline basics rights; just ask Howard Dean the day after Iowa.
Zack posts a spirited defense in which he vows allegiance to the Internet vision, so long as it’s not seen as a replacement for the traditional tasks. Who could argue? And does anyone disagree that the Kerry campaign would have done better if it had also let loose the dogs of the Web?
Here’s a response by kmthurman with a long discussion thread.
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