Thanks to the purchase of the new iMac (as previously discussed in My new life with an iMac) I have freed our old Dell Dimension 3000 to live a more simple life by reprovisioning it as a Windows Media Center for our front room. With a "simple" rekick of Windows Vista, installation of a new video card, and the purchase of a dedicated Windows Media Center remote we are up and running...and I have to be honest...I wish I would have done it sooner!
Yes, I can hear your grumbling about Vista, but honestly, I think Microsoft has nailed the Windows Media Center piece, particularly with their integration with Netflix. Eventually I hope Netflix will be able to stream all of their movies, but for now, I guess I can settle with the 12,000 titles they have available online and stick to the "old-fashioned" way of getting DVDs via USPS.
As for additional media, in particular DVDs, I did find it a bit odd that I had to modify registry settings in order to view ripped DVDs through the WMC, but other than that, I can't complain.
Also, due to our recent switch to AT&T's uVerse (which is based on the same WMC platform) I can't imagine that I will be changing out my media gear anytime soon...in the meantime...do you have any DVDs I can borrow?
DJ Steve Porter - Slap Chop Rap
This remix is so good it has actually been made into a legit commercial for the Slap Chop...hmm...I wonder if they edited the part about the nuts...
DJ Steve Porter - Press Hop
Outstanding remix of some recent sporting news - I wonder if it takes practice to get that good...
Champion of My Heart
Every once in a while you have to be reminded that 1980-89 was the greatest decade EVER!!! My good friend...okay...I have no idea who he is...regardless...some dude named Carlos Knight exemplifies the awesomeness that was the 80s with his musical gem "Champion of My Heart" as seen on his MySpace page.
A few young men took it upon themselves to create a music video for this musical masterpiece.
Of course, never one to back down from a battle, I am planning my own "Champion of My Heart" video so stayed tuned!
In the meantime, please keep in mind that the other guy knows karate, and you don't know what to do...how will you know that your punches filled with fury and your kick is f*$@ing lethal...
That's right...how will you know...that you're the champion of my heart?!
A few young men took it upon themselves to create a music video for this musical masterpiece.
Of course, never one to back down from a battle, I am planning my own "Champion of My Heart" video so stayed tuned!
In the meantime, please keep in mind that the other guy knows karate, and you don't know what to do...how will you know that your punches filled with fury and your kick is f*$@ing lethal...
That's right...how will you know...that you're the champion of my heart?!
My new life with an iMac
Okay, it's true, the witty Mac commercials may have started to make me question my devotion to Windows, but the dagger in the heart was the new iPhone I bought for the misses several weeks ago. I am a Blackberry user thanks to my company's need to be in touch with me every second of the day, but after toying with the iPhone for about 3 seconds, I was hooked. I started thinking that if the iPhone was that intuitive, then Macs themselves must be just as good...they are...but with a caveat...(read on)
Our new 20" iMac (read: refurb'd 20" iMac - refurb is seriously the only way to go these days) arrived on Friday night and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Within mere seconds of powering it on I was ready to go...that's right...30 seconds at the most (we had to watch the cool intro video) I was browsing the web. As a lifetime Windows user I was obviously confused as at the 30 second mark I would just start hearing the nifty Microsoft theme song...then we have to wait for it to load every program on the computer, double check that it didn't miss a program, ask me if I wanted to load all of the programs, triple check for anything else and about 3 minutes later (on a decent machine mind you) we're ready to go...:(
Could it be that my beloved Windows computer was not even in the same ball park as a machine that is literally only a screen, keyboard and mouse?! Yes...it's true...but...
If you are a fan of certain programs such as Microsoft Publisher, an IM client known as Digsby, or the owner of an HP Printer/Scanner...you've got some work to do. As I always try to do I did some research prior to purchasing our 'new' iMac a realized that although the Mac these days are pretty bad ass, they can't do everything...at least not easily.
Since the misses is an avid Publisher user and we both love Digsby...and printing...I knew I needed to find a work around...enter Parallels. Parallels is a program that allows you to you...gasp...run Windows on a Mac...
That's right, old habits die hard and programs that won't run on a Mac suck!
Unfortunately ditching the programs and the printer was not an option so I opted for the VM (Virtual Machine) route.
My first VM attempt was to try Windows Vista...I should have known better... Now don't get me wrong, I still love Vista and think it is a great OS, if you have the CPU and RAM to support it, but when you are splitting resources (as you do in a VM) it can be a little more difficult.
Every time I launched Vista, it was fine until I attempted to open Publisher and then I waited...and waited...and waited...and waited...closed the VM...relaunched the VM...viola, Publisher...not gonna fly...
So, as I write this, I have removed Vista and am in the process of installing XP and to be honest, that shit's looking pretty good right now...next step...Office 2007...
Our new 20" iMac (read: refurb'd 20" iMac - refurb is seriously the only way to go these days) arrived on Friday night and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Within mere seconds of powering it on I was ready to go...that's right...30 seconds at the most (we had to watch the cool intro video) I was browsing the web. As a lifetime Windows user I was obviously confused as at the 30 second mark I would just start hearing the nifty Microsoft theme song...then we have to wait for it to load every program on the computer, double check that it didn't miss a program, ask me if I wanted to load all of the programs, triple check for anything else and about 3 minutes later (on a decent machine mind you) we're ready to go...:(
Could it be that my beloved Windows computer was not even in the same ball park as a machine that is literally only a screen, keyboard and mouse?! Yes...it's true...but...
If you are a fan of certain programs such as Microsoft Publisher, an IM client known as Digsby, or the owner of an HP Printer/Scanner...you've got some work to do. As I always try to do I did some research prior to purchasing our 'new' iMac a realized that although the Mac these days are pretty bad ass, they can't do everything...at least not easily.
Since the misses is an avid Publisher user and we both love Digsby...and printing...I knew I needed to find a work around...enter Parallels. Parallels is a program that allows you to you...gasp...run Windows on a Mac...
That's right, old habits die hard and programs that won't run on a Mac suck!
Unfortunately ditching the programs and the printer was not an option so I opted for the VM (Virtual Machine) route.
My first VM attempt was to try Windows Vista...I should have known better... Now don't get me wrong, I still love Vista and think it is a great OS, if you have the CPU and RAM to support it, but when you are splitting resources (as you do in a VM) it can be a little more difficult.
Every time I launched Vista, it was fine until I attempted to open Publisher and then I waited...and waited...and waited...and waited...closed the VM...relaunched the VM...viola, Publisher...not gonna fly...
So, as I write this, I have removed Vista and am in the process of installing XP and to be honest, that shit's looking pretty good right now...next step...Office 2007...
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