"Lucas could have done it better..."
For the news department today I've started contributing to a friend's new blog, entitled
The Infinite Wisdom of Trees. I also found this
hilarious list of don'ts to keep in mind while viewing RotK. Then I combined the two. Oh I wrote the Canadian version of one:
"There's orcs all aboot da screen eh...where's waldo?!"
I'm sure the Canadian author of said blog thought that was hilarious. I thought it was funny. I wonder if Canadian translations can be a profession ;-).
Oh and that Sadam guy was captured. I'm sure you haven't heard anything about it. Barely mentioned on the news. Barely 23 hours a day. Hey lets have a little coverage eh? Damn media. Now the liberals are even more shrill. First it's "can't even capture Sadam!!" then it's "so what!! where's Osama?!!". Jeeze make up your mind why don't ya. And do some re-direction away from an obvious accomplishment. Ya duh. That'll widen your appeal to the public at large.
Now I feel compelled to reveal a project I've been contemplating lately. Namely I'd like to make my own custom PVR (think Tivo). Not to save money on buying a $200(US) Tivo mind you, but just to see if I could do it. First I'll need a job so I have money enough to do it of course. Once I buy all the parts and assemble the computer I'll follow the instructions of one of the many free PVR projects out there. Or maybe I'll try all of them and see which one works better. That will be part one: assembling and building a PC/Linux-based PVR just for the sake of doing so. Sort of an intellectual pursuit/exercise.
Part two (should I get that far) will be to make my own interface for such a device. Now this part will take a lot longer. Again assuming I get to the part I will make it Windows-based and use nothing but freeware I can find. And of course use my favorite interface program: LiteStep. Now this step two will take a really, really long time. Now for some of the free software I use I may have to implement CygWin emulation layer to run some of the Linux-exclusive programs involved.
So maybe there's more like three or four steps:
1. Pick out and purchase necessary parts for such a device, including micro ATX case, micro ATX mobo, TV card and large HDD. I'll need a CPU of at least 1.8 Ghz.
2. Assemble system and parts and install Windows to do initial test. Maybe I can trick it into using an external USB CD-ROM to setup Windows (wouldn't that be nice?).
3. Attempt setup of Linux-based PVR projects to see if I can at least get it partially working. All those scripts, this step isn't looking easy!
4. Whether I accomplish step 3 or not start looking into using Windows freeware and LiteStep solution to interfacing with the PVR.
Bonus step: Try making Windows-based bootable CD so it goes straight into PVR program. More space for TV recordings on the HDD!
For the
fantastic future: burn recordings to CD/DVD and/or edit out commercials. Ya right. By the time I got that working such a device would be obsolete.
Now this is either a good idea or the insane ramblings of a geek that needs something to do. Either way it'll be very difficult! I would also need some sort of easy way of changing the configuration, too. I'll leave until last along with documentation :-).
So I guess that's all for now. Thanks for letting me trust pass on your blog phoobar! Oh one more thing: in case you're wondering where my title joke came from, I borrowed them from
here. Good night.
