Well, now that the XBox 360 is soon going to be a reality, I figured I would rebuild my computer with Windows Media Center so I can really take advantage of the XBOX Media Center Extender.  This will allow a 360 to see the content on a Media Center PC over your home network.  I have to admit that I haven't looked at Home Theater PC's in a few years and boy have they changed.   Media Center 2005 is a really slick piece of software.    It is designed to be accessed from your couch using a remote control or from your desk using a mouse.  It can record tv like a tv, view pictures and play music.   For me, I plan to use it to watch the latest in internet tv programs like Digg, CommandN and TWIT and of course, some random shows I "borrow" from friends via BitTorrent ;)    I was able to rip my favorite DVD's and they play just fine from a simple folder on my network.     I have now completely flip-flopped.   Media PC's are AWESOME.   Now, I just need to find a good dual tuner HDTV card to drop in my ole Shuttle XPC so I can really make this baby shine.   If you haven't seen it before, I have a screen shot on the left. PS - Go signup for your XBOX Gamer Card on www.XBOX.com so you are all set for XBOX Launch day next month.   You can see mine at the right.   Later.

After waiting a few extra weeks to get a good deal from Amazon, I finally got my nano. If you haven't held a iPod nono yet, you need to. It's much smaller than you can possibly imagine I can't imagine how they fit the parts in there. It's almost too small. You really can't grasp it, you have to kind of place it on your hand for it to be usable. It's screen is crisp and just on the verge of too small but with bright colors and contrast. I got the black 4GB version that is in so much demand and it was worth the wait. I have pulled out out of my shirt pocket twice and both times, it has gather comments from complete strangers.

In preparation for moving the home theater, I have finally decided on a new Home Theater Receiver. My old Sony STR-444ES is getting positively old and can't do most of the now common audio standards (DolbyProLogic II, DTS ES etc) so I figured I would go ahead and get a receiver that can handle not only the latest HDMI video but also do a decent job of handling multiple rooms. I decided on the Denon AVR-4306. It has 3 inputs and one outut for HDMI , upconversion of all analog inputs to HDMI. It has 130 watts by 7 channels which is plenty for me (I am not an audiophile thiese days). Also, it has a snazzy iPod port on the front and ethernet on the back. As with most things I order this one isn't quite out yet but should be available in a few weeks.

BTW - If anyone is interested, I am selling my Canon 20D so I can downgrade to the lighter weight Rebel XT. It's in great condition with a perfect sensor (no bad spots) but does have one stuck green pixel on the lcd. It was there when I got it but since my goal was to get a good image sensor (these CMOS censors are notorious for bad sections) I kept it. The green pixel does not have any effect the image quality and it's stiill under warrenty so I guess I could get it fixed but it's such a tiny problem that I haven't gone to the trouble. Shoot me an email if you are insterested or have a reasonsable offer.

It's been a while since I build this site and it's time for a redo. Unfortunately, I am officially tired of hand coding web sites from scratch. I think it's time to move to a nice piece of blog software. Anyone have a recommendation. I am a C# programmer so I am thinking of DasBlog but am not sure if that is good. Maybe I will just go with Moveable Type or WordPress so I can officially join the Blog community and benefit from their set of tools.

My iPod nano is supposed to be here today, can't wait to try it out. I find it very interesting that last time apple introduced a tiny iPod with little storage everyone predicted it's doom. This time, everyone wants one. I had to wait 3 weeks to get mine since I wanted to get it from Amazon. I guess we have finally all embraced that Apple is the determiner of what is cool and we are foced to just face it and do our job of pre-ordering what ever it is they decide to sell (except that silly mighty mouse).

Lately, I have been pondering the recently released remake of the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." I enjoyed both the old and new versions but for me something just wasn't right. This weekend, I finally figured it out. I have a real problem with Charlie getting the "prize" in these movies. What did he do? Was he particularly good? No. Did he go above and beyond what's expected of a little boy and help his fellow man? Definately not. In fact when when the "great" Charlie found money on the street he didn't look for it's owner, he didn't spend it on food for his starving family, he spent it on candy. Deserving of the Willy Wonka fortune my ass.

If you ask me there was only one character in this movie that deserved to be rewarded. A boy that had his eye on the future. A character that selflessly sacrificed himself for the greater good of science. That hero of science is Mike Teavee. Sorry, Charlie, you picked the wrong buy. Wonka Candies is destined to be bankrupt in no time.

Disagree, Feel free to use the old comment link.