January 1, 2006
it's all... happening?

i've been trying to get my TiVo to boot from a toshiba laptop drive since they are so much quieter. unfortunately, it's not gone well so i've been reading a bunch of TiVo sites. one of them pointed to pulling HD video from a cable box.

since i happen to have the motorola dct-6200, and an ADC account, i gave it a try. i didn't see the r18 firewire SDK, so i just tried 19. installed, etc, and it seems to work fine. downloaded the VLC player, and it plays the files fine.

sadly, the firewire SDK software is pretty bare-bones, and isn't very usable for scheduling recordings. a few google searches later revealed iRecord, which can change channels on the cable box and therefore schedule recordings.

i tried to import one of these recordings into iMovie, but it complained that it couldn't read the file. someone on the internet said MPEG Streamclip could convert these files, but that complained that it didn't have the QuickTime MPEG 2 Playback Component, which is easy enough to get.

so, all the pieces are here, but i haven't found a mature one-stop solution yet. looking at what these pieces are (apple mpeg 2 and virtual dvhs software, firewire, and the motorola cable box) makes me wonder if this basically describes the new mac mini. is it just going to use this firewire connection?

while requiring a specific cable box may seem like it restricts the target users too much, they've done similar things before. the first iPods only worked with macs (that had firewire). iSync originally only worked with a few bluetooth phones, and there is only one phone that works with the iTMS (which is made by motorola).

fortunately, macworld expo is a little over a week away, and we'll soon know what's up. that is unless they don't announce it, and it can live on as a rumour for another year.

posted by jacob around January 1, 2006

January 8, 2006
mixed messages

posted by jacob around January 8, 2006

January 9, 2006
it was bound to happen

despite being unable to convince any of my buckeye-crazy friends to come out, i went to see emily at the paradise last night. i really regretted not going down to new york to see her last summer, and was relieved when i read she was going on tour again.

the show had a pretty weird vibe, but was excellent. my only complaint would have been that it was an hour or two too short... emily said "that's it" as she played the last notes of the last song. after playing the whole album, they didn't really have anything left for an encore. oh well, i hope she comes back soon.

on the way out, there were a few people hovering around the merch table, but nobody was really buying anything, so i picked up her album on vinyl. i just felt like... it would be a really beautiful album to listen to on a turntable. if only i had one.

i thought about stopping by tweeter after work, but instead decided to give harvard square's audio lab a shot instead.

it was like walking right into high fidelity.

there was some guy from belgium who had been in the store maybe 15 years earlier, and was in town again so decided to stop by. we talked about the iPhone a little, in fact.

and i could not tell if another guy in there worked there, or was just a regular customer. i imagine that i could go back every day this week and he'd be there.

after some brief conversation, i ended up taking home a pro-ject debut III. i liked the minimalist design, and i figure it was best to get out of there before he got the $4400 models back in stock.

after a brief taxi ride home (the box was a little bulky for early evening T travel), i arrived back in brookline anxious to play my new records.

the guy at the store noted that it required a little assembly, so i carefully took out the parts and opened up the instruction book. it begins:

Dear music lover,

it started dawning on me that this was indeed a special device.

i struggled with terms like azimut and anti-skating while trying to assemble this device. the instructions almost seemed backwards... they tell you about switching between 33 and 45 after you already put the, umm, platter? on the... hub. you see, there's no lever, or button, you have to remove the platter and switch up the belt. that would have been handy to know, when i put the belt on in the first place! oh well.

and i still have no idea what the little weight hanging off the string by the wire next to the arm is, but it seems like such a beautiful and elegant solution to whatever it does. this whole thing has reminded of emotional design... the admiration of its design makes its use more enjoyable. for example, the power switch is difficult to find at first; it's actually underneat on the left. but it leaves the base clean with elegant beauty, so in the long run the 45 seconds it took to find it aren't so bad after all. i guess.

their faq is awesome:

Historically, Pro-Ject and other high-end record players have concentrated on sound quality at the expense of comfort features found on consumer class products.

...

On the other hand, a record player is not a product which will play "straight out of the box". By carefully reading the instructions for use and by following an equally careful step-by-step assembly you will quickly learn about the product and how it works. Our entry-level Debut models are as close to "plug-and-play" as a record-player can get.

so plug-and-play that it only took me an hour of setting up before i could play anything... oops, playing at 45 rpm, flip the thing, change the belt, there we go. sounds ok, i guess. what's up with that popping and snapping? and this getting up every five minutes to flip records over is starting to get a little old.

but it's clear, from all these details, and the exquisite packaging that emily's and thom's records have, that these are truly labors of love? anyway they are fun. i'm going to stop by audiolab tomorrow and tell the guy how much fun it was setting it up, and thanking him for recommending it.

oh and emily's show tomorrow is going to be broadcast on INTERNET by the npr tomorrow, so you should check it out! hopefully they will have more bandwith than tsn broadband.

posted by jacob around January 9, 2006

January 10, 2006
not with a bang but a whimper

i guess this is what it's like to get old? over the weekend i saw nine inch nails' closer on vh1 classic, and last night i went to bed at 9:30 and had no problem sleeping until my alarm this morning.

posted by jacob around January 10, 2006

January 10, 2006
let music save your life

posted by jacob around January 10, 2006

January 10, 2006
nascar laptops

it's no surprise here that apple isn't shipping detritus like this. it will be sad to say goodbye to an old friend in a few weeks. actually... no, it won't. i can't wait either.

posted by jacob around January 10, 2006

January 12, 2006
screwed by big weather once again

yesterday morning i was promised thunderstorms. not just likely, or strong chance, but 100%. 100%! honestly. nothing of the sort actually happened. fool me once, noaa.gov, shame on you!

the even worse news is that i can't even take credit for coming up with "big weather". big ups to deb!

last night i found myself reading some web page spewing vitriol about the macbook pro. comment after comment railing about the lack of a modem or s-video, and then rambing about their old amigas. honestly.

posted by jacob around January 12, 2006

January 18, 2006
my life 2.0

i wonder if spending 13 hours at the office today makes up for the four day week? good thing i had that breakfast sandwich. oof.

posted by jacob around January 18, 2006

January 19, 2006
i'm so hungry.

apparently metric is/are playing on conan tonight. my tivo can't wait!

posted by jacob around January 19, 2006

January 23, 2006
hot dog, we have a weiner

a couple weeks ago i RMA'd 3 drives, and one replacement was finally delivered today, and sat outside in the rain/snow all day. i brought it in, put it on my desk, and immediately knocked it onto the floor.

posted by jacob around January 23, 2006

January 28, 2006
the saddest mac

after running linux for a week, my mac mini has decided to give up the ghost. i can't get it to boot to linux, from cd, or to an open firmware prompt, even after a PROM reset.

in other news, i went for my first run of the year. it was a nice day for it, and tons of people were out running up and down heartbreak hill. hopefully i will be too sore tomorrow to run again, because i probably ran a little longer than i should have, considering what happened last year.

possibly the only thing about running i actually like is being able to fall asleep at night, and, since i have to wake up early to get to the apple store tomorrow, i think i'll go try to do that right now.

posted by jacob around January 28, 2006

January 31, 2006
tonight's groceries

• 1 loaf cinnamon raisin bread
• 2 qts orange juice
• 1 thing shaving cream
• 1 jar pickles
• 1 macaroni and cheese
• 8 lbs frozen peas

do with this what you will.

posted by jacob around January 31, 2006