Monthly Archives: May 2007

WordPress broke it

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The editor for WordPress (what I use to update this site) changed a lot with this last upgrade I did. It seems to have broken a lot of things, including embedded video. So in case you missed the Little Big Planet video from my earlier post, here it is again:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Taiurn541SE[/youtube]

Thanks to Viper’s Video Quicktags plugin for WordPress.

In other news, here’s a quick review of the Hauppage Wireless MediaMVP– I already have a Tivo and the POS Time Warner DVR, so with 3 tuners recording I didn’t really need another. I was thinking of setting up a MythTV box, but decided to go with the MediaMVP instead. Right now, I have a space PC running the Tivo Desktop software. I have a few shows that are scheduled to automatically transfer. Every night I have a scheduled task that runs a command line utility that converts the .tivo files into a playable MPEG. It’s not the perfect setup (I’d like to stream shows right off the Tivo – hey Tivo, how about something like the MediaMVP to do this with Tivo?) but works perfectly for the bedroom TV.
The device itself is a cool little thin-client. It’ll show your pictures, play music, and any compatible videos located on your PC. I really like the ability to play internet radio as well – one of my favorite stations (WOXY) is now “internet only.” Speaking of internet radio, help us save it! Seriously, a 300-1200% hike in royalties that only internet broadcasters have to pay is just asinine. Who’s pushing for this?! Has to be the Clear Channels of the world… but I digress. Back to the MediaMVP: Video streaming is actually pretty impressive. I don’t have the best signal, but I haven’t had any issues in the few shows that I’ve played. Pause, FF, and FR all work about as you’d expect. There’s a noticeable hesitation, but nothing horrible. This thing would truly shine as a MythTV front end, but I just don’t have that kind of time. I am thinking of giving mvpmc a look when I have a few minutes. It’s a replacement operating system for the MediaMVP that introduces a few new features and functions. If you’re geeky and going to go that far with it, I’d suggest picking up a router that will handle DD-WRT – it will at least save you from installing a DHCP server on your PC (you need a DHCP server that will hand out a ‘next server’ address, most consumer-grade routers won’t do that.) I’d suggest the Buffalo G54S – I grabbed one at Circuit City for $25 (after $25 rebate) and it completely spanks the Netgear wireless-G router that it replaced. I couldn’t hold a signal in the back of the house with the Netgear, I’ve got a good enough signal to stream video with the Buffalo. I should have taken some screen shots with Netstumbler, it was an impressive jump. Same channel, location, everything… Jon reported a similar increase in range when he replaced his existing (Linksys?) wireless router with a Buffalo G54S.

One of these days I might actually try to put together a well written post that doesn’t wander from subject to subject 😀

Time Warner Cable sucks. More later, but I think I’ll have them do all this work, then I’ll switch to Dish or DirecTV.

Goodbye spam, hello front porch.

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“Akismet has caught 100 spam for you since you first installed it.”

Awesome. A week of using Akismet and it caught 100 spam comments. I think 4 or 5 got through that I had to moderate, but I’ll accept that. If you have a WordPress blog, check them out at http://akismet.com/ – takes two minutes to install. I hope Jessica doesn’t install it – it makes me happy that she has a billion-zillion comments to delete everyday.

In home improvement news, click through to see my new front porch… Continue reading →

Games!

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Ninja Gaiden Sigma – Oh. Hell. Yes. If you have a PS3, you must go to the PS Store this moment and download the demo. This is on my ‘must rent’ list already, just from the short level the demo gives you. It’s beautiful. In true Ninja Gaiden fashion, it’s just plain fun. The controls are just complex enough to not be a “button masher” but you also don’t have to worry about a stupid-long combo of buttons to perform a single move. Check out some of the vids over at IGN and just pretend you’re watching in HD.

I tried the Armored Core 4 demo. Meh. This isn’t a “next gen” game, and there’s absolutely nothing spectacular about it. Don’t tell me “It’s just not your kind of game” because it’s close enough to the Battletech/Mechwarrior series that I’ve loved for years.

I also grabbed the Super Rub a Dub demo from the store. For $7, I might actually buy it. It’s one of those I can see the controller getting passed around for everyone to try. Remember the little maze games where you tilted the whole thing around to get a little metal bearing into a hole? Same concept – you tilt the whole board on your screen with the Playstation’s Sixaxis controller tilt function.

While I’m on about games, I can’t wait for Little Big Planet – if this doesn’t make you giggle with excitement… well, you have no soul. Sorry.

Odd… I thought I used to be able to edit the html of my WordPress entries… I’ll have to figure out where that went. Anyway, couple of movie reviews coming up later and my review of the MediaMVP.