Why I won't be getting an Apple TV

Seriously, I was looking forward to the release of the Apple TV.  It was small, sleek and looked like it was going to finally bring the content on my iMac to my 30" HDTV.  Well, I guess it does do all that, but in a crippled way.  All my content has to be catalogued in iTunes for that to happen.  As any one whose tried knows, iTunes will not recognize any video content in AVI format, and even if it did, the Apple TV still wouldn't be able to play it unless you apply the hack to it's OS like some have already done, and it doesn't look trivial, at least not yet.

Most of my video content is Divx or Xvid.  I hardly buy ANYTHING off of iTunes, simply because I detest being restricted to 128kbps for music and 480p for video.  So even if my music would play on the Apple TV, my movie collection wouldn't and that is what I want it most for.

The best solution I can think of, and one I would like to implement once I have the spare cash, is a souped up Mac Mini.  Yes, there are tons of articles about using one for an HTPC and they are right.  Just add on a larger hard drive, buy an ElGato hybrid TV tuner so you can record both HD and SD content and you are set.  You can still stream your content across your network with iTunes, and it is now a PVR.  True, you can't get digital premium content but then again, you can buy most shows off of iTunes and your TV bill would still probably be less than what you pay now for cable!

I don't know, maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but it doesn't look like any one has it just right yet, and fortunately I still don't have the cash to get it if they had.

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The Flay Four

If any of you are fans of Iron Chef America, you might have noticed a trend in the Battles with Bobby Flay. There are four common ingredients that he normally uses for his cooking:

• Blue Corn Tortillas
• Mango Chutney
• Quail Eggs
• Peppers
  

My wife and I keep count of the "Flay Four" during every battle, and I thought I would share this little game with everyone else.

My Commitment

Lately, I've been wanting to write, yet I haven't been sure what to write about. I like fantasy and I would like to write something like that but I have a hard time coming up with ideas I like. I think what I will do is something that I have to credit Merlin Mann from 43folders for what I heard on "The Merlin Show", about doing something like this. Basically, it comes down to, if this is something I would like to do, then I should commit myself to doing it as though it WAS my job. So, in that case I am going to commit myself to writing a story, crappy or not, every week. So, every Sunday, I should have something posted up here for any one to read. Let's see how it goes. I can't promise it will be fantasy, or that it will be any good, but it will be something and that is what I would like.

300

For those 3 or four people that haven't at least heard about this movie, it is truly one of the most cinematically spectacular movies I have seen. It's based on the graphic novel (comic book) by Frank Miller that re-tells the Spartan Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartans stood against the massive Persian army commanded by the God-King Xerxes.
The movie is truly engrossing. I don't expect everyone to love this movie as I did. Those that don't care for the severing of limbs, splashing of blood or just all out warfare need not attend. The film is obviously intended for the testosterone/adrenaline bound and does well at providing both. I found myself griping the sides of my chair a few times when decisive moments in the battle came about, gritting my teeth and wondering what it would have been like to be there. Yes, I am somewhat of a nerd like that I don't care. I have never read the graphic novel and don't intend to any time soon, if I could even find it now. The movie was enough for me, at the moment.
I don't believe I will get my wife to watch this any time soon. I'm still trying to get her to finish watching Star Wars IV: A New Hope, so as you can see, I have my work cut out for me. The only reason I was able to get to watch the Lord of The Rings movies was that we were still just going out and we were still playing that game of "I like everything YOU like, because I want to be with you". That game is long since over, as any married man can attest. Still, I won't give up, she might come around. If not, I still have my brothers to watch these movies with.

New DVD Player - Oppo DV-970HD

Okay, so I have an HD TV, 30" only but I like it. And I have loads of movies in DVD format. I'm not plunking down $500 any time soon for an HD-DVD player or a Blu-Ray, seeing as I don't know which one will come out ahead. And I'm certainly not paying $1000 for the LG player that does both. That is where this Oppo DV-970HD comes in to play. It's an upscaling DVD that makes my DVD's look better than they did before (they can't ever look HD quality, but they look really good). It will also play Xvid and Divx Files I've burned directly to a DVD or CD, as well as Super Audio CD's (SACD) and Audio DVD's. It even comes with an HDMI cable included. It's awesome!
I know that there are DVD players out there that will play Divx for $60 or less, but they won't do upscaling and they don't play all the codecs that I've thrown at this puppy so well! Honestly, for $149 I am so happy I can't even tell you!

Check it out here.

Intro

Here I go again, trying to start a Blog. This time I mean to keep to it. Before I didn't know what to write about really, but now that I've had a little time to think about it, I will be posting things here about my journey in attempting to write, creatively. I might interject a few tech things here and there, that's just the way I am, but mainly I want to keep this blog about creative writing.
I've always had that desire, to write something, always had that burning desire to put down a scene or tell a story but the problem has always been that I don't know WHAT to write. And when I get a feel for something I want to put down I realize once I sit at the computer that it's half-assed, not fully thought out and so I determine it to suck and erase what little I have attempted to write. Part of it is being super critical of myself, the other part is that I just can't seem to allow myself to write something, be it crap or not. That is one of the things I have to get over. I need write, be it what ever it is.