Contractual Obligation Post
It's been over a month since my last post. If I don't post soon, January will be postless. Due to limitations in my home-brewed blogging software, a postless month can't happen. (It's like the Y2K bug but instead of planes falling out the sky there would be a 404 page somewhere.) To appease my application, I offer these updates...
Sometime in December we got an iMac, and it was the first computer I've set up that felt like an appliance. It was like setting up a TV. I plugged it in and it worked. At the time I felt it should also be a TV, and I was disappointed that I couldn't simply plug the cable into the back and start watching. Well last week I ordered an Elgato EyeTV and got my wish. It's a slick, tiny little USB device that I plug my cable into and presto, TV on my iMac. Setup was a matter of plugging it in and running through a 10 minute wizard. The best part is that it tunes QAM Channels in HDTV. Those are the channels that cable companies are required to send unencrypted over the wire. I don't watch much TV, and I don't want to spring for some HDTV package, but having the four networks and public broadcasting in HD is a nice option. The Tivo-like software that comes with it is pretty good, and there's free program schedule data. (But not for QAM channels in my area, unfortunately. I have to schedule those recordings manually.) The EyeTV software also exports recorded programs to iTunes for the Apple family of products. I feel like the EyeTV is good enough to be baked into iMacs directly. Being able to rip, mix, and burn TV seems like a natural fit.
King Corn is a fun documentary. The premise: a couple guys fromChicago the East Coast Boston buy an acre of land in Iowa and raise corn. Along the way they talk about how corn has become the dominant crop in America, and how pervasive corn is in the food we eat. (Think high fructose corn syrup in soda and everything else.) It's not too preachy or condescending, which is kind of amazing for this type of documentary. Many scenes reminded me of small town life in Nebraska where I grew up, which added another layer to the film for me. Anyway, highly recommended. (The film must be based on Omnivore's Dilemma which goes into this topic in depth. So if you see and like King Corn, you can get the gory corn details in Michael Pollan's book.)
Eddie is doing great. He's well over tripled his weight since he was born last September, and he's growing before our eyes. Here are a few photos:
The photos are in order from roughly three months, four months, and the last one now close to five months. And as you can probably tell I have plenty of photos to document his progress.
And with that, another 404 is stopped in its tracks. If I ever fix that particular bug there will be nothing stopping me from not posting. But what fun is that?
Sometime in December we got an iMac, and it was the first computer I've set up that felt like an appliance. It was like setting up a TV. I plugged it in and it worked. At the time I felt it should also be a TV, and I was disappointed that I couldn't simply plug the cable into the back and start watching. Well last week I ordered an Elgato EyeTV and got my wish. It's a slick, tiny little USB device that I plug my cable into and presto, TV on my iMac. Setup was a matter of plugging it in and running through a 10 minute wizard. The best part is that it tunes QAM Channels in HDTV. Those are the channels that cable companies are required to send unencrypted over the wire. I don't watch much TV, and I don't want to spring for some HDTV package, but having the four networks and public broadcasting in HD is a nice option. The Tivo-like software that comes with it is pretty good, and there's free program schedule data. (But not for QAM channels in my area, unfortunately. I have to schedule those recordings manually.) The EyeTV software also exports recorded programs to iTunes for the Apple family of products. I feel like the EyeTV is good enough to be baked into iMacs directly. Being able to rip, mix, and burn TV seems like a natural fit.
King Corn is a fun documentary. The premise: a couple guys from
Eddie is doing great. He's well over tripled his weight since he was born last September, and he's growing before our eyes. Here are a few photos:
The photos are in order from roughly three months, four months, and the last one now close to five months. And as you can probably tell I have plenty of photos to document his progress.
And with that, another 404 is stopped in its tracks. If I ever fix that particular bug there will be nothing stopping me from not posting. But what fun is that?