Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Streaming HD to XBOX 360
My AverMedia A180 HDTV card arrived today. I plan on using my Windows Media Center 2005 box, which is hooked to an HDTV in our master bedroom, as an HD DVR that will feed both the master bedroom TV and my HDTV in the "manroom."
Installation of the card and drivers and the TV setup in MCE 2005 took less than 15 minutes. After heading downstairs, I was also able to view Live TV from the MCE 2005 box via the XBOX 360.
My first HD test recording was "American Idol" (it was the first HD thing I found in the guide!). Everything worked perfectly. I was able to watch (pause, rewind, etc.) the show in both our bedroom and in the "manroom." And the interface wasn't all that bad either. I have used a TiVo since 2001 and have bought into the whole "there is nothing better than TiVo" thing. However, the MCE TV interface wasn't bad (a whole lot better than cable DVRs that I've used).
Now I can watch HD versions or "Lost" and "24" without commericals. Very cool!
My AverMedia A180 HDTV card arrived today. I plan on using my Windows Media Center 2005 box, which is hooked to an HDTV in our master bedroom, as an HD DVR that will feed both the master bedroom TV and my HDTV in the "manroom."
Installation of the card and drivers and the TV setup in MCE 2005 took less than 15 minutes. After heading downstairs, I was also able to view Live TV from the MCE 2005 box via the XBOX 360.
My first HD test recording was "American Idol" (it was the first HD thing I found in the guide!). Everything worked perfectly. I was able to watch (pause, rewind, etc.) the show in both our bedroom and in the "manroom." And the interface wasn't all that bad either. I have used a TiVo since 2001 and have bought into the whole "there is nothing better than TiVo" thing. However, the MCE TV interface wasn't bad (a whole lot better than cable DVRs that I've used).
Now I can watch HD versions or "Lost" and "24" without commericals. Very cool!
Monday, February 27, 2006
Convert DVDs to iPod in 2 steps
Lots of sites and blogs picked up on this WIRED article about ripping DVDs and converting them for use with the iPod. One thing I noticed about the 3-step article was that it is 1 step too long. Of course, some would claim that my tip is 1 step too long because I'm not using Handbrake; however, the PC version of Handbrake isn't the easiest to use. Plus, I already use DVD Decrypter for so many other things so I prefer to use it.
Here is how I do it on the PC:
1. Decrypt the DVD
I use DVD Decrypter to rip the DVD to a single VOB file. By using DVD Decrypter to rip to a single VOB, you have no need for VOB Merge which was used in step 2 of the WIRED article.
Configure DVD Decrypter to create a single VOB by selecting "Tools" then "Settings" then the "File Mode" tab. In the right side of the "File Mode" tab, change the File Splitting menu to "None."
2. Convert the VOB
Like the WIRED article, I also use 3GP Converter. Open 3GP Converter, select "Model:MP4, for iPod," drag and drop your single VOB file in the "Drag&Drop files here" text area. Conversion begins as soon as you drop the file.
I found it useful to actually select my Output Directory before dragging the file. Otherwise, the app will use it's default directory.
IMPORTANT: Make sure that you have Quicktime installed prior to the conversion. Without Quicktime, 3GP will crap out and give you an error (2095). Unfortunately, it won't tell you why there is any error.
The conversion takes quite about 20 minutes (I think). Once you have the file, all that is left is adding it to your iTunes library.
BTW, in addition to VOB, you can also convert MPEG2 or WMV files using 3GP Converter also. Cool!
Lots of sites and blogs picked up on this WIRED article about ripping DVDs and converting them for use with the iPod. One thing I noticed about the 3-step article was that it is 1 step too long. Of course, some would claim that my tip is 1 step too long because I'm not using Handbrake; however, the PC version of Handbrake isn't the easiest to use. Plus, I already use DVD Decrypter for so many other things so I prefer to use it.
Here is how I do it on the PC:
1. Decrypt the DVD
I use DVD Decrypter to rip the DVD to a single VOB file. By using DVD Decrypter to rip to a single VOB, you have no need for VOB Merge which was used in step 2 of the WIRED article.
Configure DVD Decrypter to create a single VOB by selecting "Tools" then "Settings" then the "File Mode" tab. In the right side of the "File Mode" tab, change the File Splitting menu to "None."
2. Convert the VOB
Like the WIRED article, I also use 3GP Converter. Open 3GP Converter, select "Model:MP4, for iPod," drag and drop your single VOB file in the "Drag&Drop files here" text area. Conversion begins as soon as you drop the file.
I found it useful to actually select my Output Directory before dragging the file. Otherwise, the app will use it's default directory.
IMPORTANT: Make sure that you have Quicktime installed prior to the conversion. Without Quicktime, 3GP will crap out and give you an error (2095). Unfortunately, it won't tell you why there is any error.
The conversion takes quite about 20 minutes (I think). Once you have the file, all that is left is adding it to your iTunes library.
BTW, in addition to VOB, you can also convert MPEG2 or WMV files using 3GP Converter also. Cool!
Michel Gondry & Dave Chappelle?
WIRED is reporting that Michel Gondry is releasing a documentary about Dave Chappelle. I'll give you a second to try and get your head around that... need more time? Thought so...
Gondry is one of my favorite directors, but his style is so "out there" (for lack of a better description). I can't even imagine what he will make of such an event (which featured Erykah Badu, Kanye West, The Fugees and Mos Def); however, I can't wait to see it.
The film, titled "Block Party," is scheduled to be released in March.
WIRED is reporting that Michel Gondry is releasing a documentary about Dave Chappelle. I'll give you a second to try and get your head around that... need more time? Thought so...
Gondry is one of my favorite directors, but his style is so "out there" (for lack of a better description). I can't even imagine what he will make of such an event (which featured Erykah Badu, Kanye West, The Fugees and Mos Def); however, I can't wait to see it.
The film, titled "Block Party," is scheduled to be released in March.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
The Cult on Late Late Show
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson featured a performance by The Cult last night. Luckily, I heard about the it on Hair Nation (Sirius 23) yesterday afternoon, so I was able to TiVo it.
They performed their classic "Wild Flower." What is weird is that watching the video of the show and just the audio give two totally different "vibes" (for lack of a less-cheesy word).
On screen, it played a little flat. Ian didn't really look all that into it. I'm sure playing on a cramped stage in a TV studio (where the audience is across the room) doesn't help. However, listening to just the audio, it sounds awesome.
Check out the MP3 here.
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson featured a performance by The Cult last night. Luckily, I heard about the it on Hair Nation (Sirius 23) yesterday afternoon, so I was able to TiVo it.
They performed their classic "Wild Flower." What is weird is that watching the video of the show and just the audio give two totally different "vibes" (for lack of a less-cheesy word).
On screen, it played a little flat. Ian didn't really look all that into it. I'm sure playing on a cramped stage in a TV studio (where the audience is across the room) doesn't help. However, listening to just the audio, it sounds awesome.
Check out the MP3 here.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Got "Full Auto" today
My copy of "Full Auto" for XBOX 360 arrived today. I've only been playing for about an hour; however, it is really fun. I plan on posting a full review after I've played through more the game (I've only gotten 11 of 50 achievements at this point).
I didn't realize that "Full Auto" was developed by Pseudo Interactive who made one of my favorite early XBOX titles "Cel Damage."
BTW, if you're playing "Full Auto" on XBOX Live, post your Gamertag as a comment.
My copy of "Full Auto" for XBOX 360 arrived today. I've only been playing for about an hour; however, it is really fun. I plan on posting a full review after I've played through more the game (I've only gotten 11 of 50 achievements at this point).
I didn't realize that "Full Auto" was developed by Pseudo Interactive who made one of my favorite early XBOX titles "Cel Damage."
BTW, if you're playing "Full Auto" on XBOX Live, post your Gamertag as a comment.
Text-image.com is cool
Text-image.com, will convert an image into a text image. Don't know what it is really good for; however, it is very cool.
I took this photo of Kevin Federline and Britney Spears, fed it into the converter at text-image.com and "POPOZAO!" this is what I got:
Text-image.com, will convert an image into a text image. Don't know what it is really good for; however, it is very cool.
I took this photo of Kevin Federline and Britney Spears, fed it into the converter at text-image.com and "POPOZAO!" this is what I got:
000101010111011011111101100101000100001000010100100001000011000101000100100110
101000111100100011111010101001111010111001011010111001001011111111010000000101
010001011111101011100010110101001110011000011000000100101110111011000110000100
111111111111100001011010001010100100100001011101001111011011010010101110000111
101001001110001100001010000001001100101010000010011100111101011011000011010000
000001001011000100010001011010100101100010101111100011110100010000101111110010
011101111001000011110110011011010101111011001101111001011101101110111101100100
010010011010010101110000010100100101010100011010010000101101110111100000011010
100100010011110011011110000011001000101010100001111011111101010010101101000010
010000010001001011010011001110101100001011101000111001010000110100110001010100
100101101101100001010000101100000011001110001101111111000100000001010000110101
010111011011110011100100101110010000111111000110100100001100001101001011011000
100110111110001100100001011101011100100011000010010000100100100101001111111000
001101011001110111100100110001111101110110010001101101010001101100111000100111
110100100111011110110110001011010110000000111101100111010101100101010001011011
111010010001000100010100010110000000001000011111111111101011001101111100110110
101111001001010001101111010111011001111111111101011011110011001101101010010100
111011000000111101100010011100111000100111010000000001101100010000101000101111
011111001000010101010010001011101110111010000110011001001100101101011001110100
110000011111001001011011100001111100111101010000000101111010110000010100110101
110100000011000010110001110100100110111010111010000111110110001110100000110010
111011101001100001110011000110111111001000000001101101101010111111001010010010
101101110001011101100101001011110010111110111001000010000001000110000000110110
001101011101001111100111110101001011001010111111001100010010111010001010110110
110001101111100010110000110001110000000100001011110100010000000000000111000000
010101010101110100011110011100100001101101001101011100101010110010111110001001
100100010101011110111011110100011111000001110110101100101011000100110011100001
000110001000101000100010110011100010101000100010010110000111011110011101100010
101011101011011111110110101111011111001100010111011110010010101001111010011010
001110111100110000001101000000111111111101100001000111110100110110100111110001
001000110000110001100011011011000000110000111100011111101101011010001001101010
011111110111100010101001010010010011010010000011011010000101100011110000001100
100001100101110011100011110101000111010111111110010100100111001001001100101101
100110001010001110110001011001010110010110111100101111011101110000011010111001
000110111010110111010111100100110101010111101101110100000001101000000100100111
011110110110111001001100100101111001101010101111110011011100101110011010101011
110010001000001010111110000010000110101011000101010100011011010110000110000001
110110100010000000110100100110001000100000001000110000101101100010001110010111
100001000101101101101011101110111100011000110100111100011010001111000011000110
101001101100001011111001100100101010111110001101110110111101100111101101100101
110101110101011010101101101011000101110101111011110011111000111011110111111011
101001100110010010100001000001000111000000001100011101011110111111011111000110
010111011001110111111110011110000000111000001101101100100110001000000110111010
101100100010011111011111101101101011010101000111100000101100010111111101011000
100001100000011101010110011110001011101001100000101101000000000110100000011111
101110000111100100110000111101110111000101111101100001011111011101110110010100
100011110001011001000011010100110001111011011110101101100000011101111111000001
BTW, thanks to Dan for sending this to me.
Happy Birthday, Amy!
By the time you read this, I will probably already have a black eye. Today is Amy's birthday. She is 30 today (Hey, if I've already got one black eye, another one won't matter). She thinks this makes her old, but I think that's crazy (especially 'cause I'm already 35).
Happy Birthday!
By the time you read this, I will probably already have a black eye. Today is Amy's birthday. She is 30 today (Hey, if I've already got one black eye, another one won't matter). She thinks this makes her old, but I think that's crazy (especially 'cause I'm already 35).
Happy Birthday!
Thursday, February 23, 2006
URL on a van
I was returning from lunch today and saw an average looking minivan (Burgundy, I think) with a URL on it's back window. Not only was the URL (NerdPokerLive.com) dumb, but it just didn't fit the van. It had one of those "I care about kids" license plates and one of those ribbon stickers supporting one of the million worthy causes that one can support with ribbon stickers.
After visiting the URL, it appears that the van owner is just using a service that allows them to set up a casino/gambling site. Maybe soccer moms are an uptapped gold mine for casino sites and this person is blazing the trail.
And how can they lose with copy like this on their site:
"Nerd Poker Live is much more than sun, sand, and surf. This sleek metropolitan hot spot is colored by an exhilarating urban lifestyle where excitement is driven by skills and luck. At Nerd Poker Live, you don't have to wait until sundown to indulge yourself in Nerd Poker Live's enticing casinos or sports excitement. Click here to play now!"
I know I'm all in!
I was returning from lunch today and saw an average looking minivan (Burgundy, I think) with a URL on it's back window. Not only was the URL (NerdPokerLive.com) dumb, but it just didn't fit the van. It had one of those "I care about kids" license plates and one of those ribbon stickers supporting one of the million worthy causes that one can support with ribbon stickers.
After visiting the URL, it appears that the van owner is just using a service that allows them to set up a casino/gambling site. Maybe soccer moms are an uptapped gold mine for casino sites and this person is blazing the trail.
And how can they lose with copy like this on their site:
"Nerd Poker Live is much more than sun, sand, and surf. This sleek metropolitan hot spot is colored by an exhilarating urban lifestyle where excitement is driven by skills and luck. At Nerd Poker Live, you don't have to wait until sundown to indulge yourself in Nerd Poker Live's enticing casinos or sports excitement. Click here to play now!"
I know I'm all in!
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
10 worst game controllers
IGN has a pretty funny look at the worst console controllers ever made. Sadly, I had a couple of these: the Atari 5200 controller and the original XBOX controller.
The 5200 controller was a total POS. As the article correctly notes, the 4 fire buttons were made out of some really rubbery material. This meant that they quickly lost contact with whatever part of the controller registered the button press. So after a couple of months, you had to practically dislocate a finger to get the buttons to work. I remember my mom buying me one replacement controller before I gave up on the 5200.
One fond memory I have of the 5200 was getting patches for games. Many of the games encouraged players to take photos of their high scores and send them in to the publisher to receive a special patch. Being a dorky kid, I actually went through the process of getting patches for Pac-Man, Congo Bongo, River Raid and Defender. I wish I still had them.
As for the original XBOX controller, I had no problem using it... until I got my 360. Now, going back and picking up an original XBOX controller is just awkward. I think it may be a combination of the original sort of sucking and the new one totally kicking ass.
Check out the rest of the list.
IGN has a pretty funny look at the worst console controllers ever made. Sadly, I had a couple of these: the Atari 5200 controller and the original XBOX controller.The 5200 controller was a total POS. As the article correctly notes, the 4 fire buttons were made out of some really rubbery material. This meant that they quickly lost contact with whatever part of the controller registered the button press. So after a couple of months, you had to practically dislocate a finger to get the buttons to work. I remember my mom buying me one replacement controller before I gave up on the 5200.
One fond memory I have of the 5200 was getting patches for games. Many of the games encouraged players to take photos of their high scores and send them in to the publisher to receive a special patch. Being a dorky kid, I actually went through the process of getting patches for Pac-Man, Congo Bongo, River Raid and Defender. I wish I still had them.
As for the original XBOX controller, I had no problem using it... until I got my 360. Now, going back and picking up an original XBOX controller is just awkward. I think it may be a combination of the original sort of sucking and the new one totally kicking ass.
Check out the rest of the list.
I want to start a roller derby league
As I mentioned earlier this week, I registered the domain name "LouisvilleRollerGirls.com." The reason? I really, really want to start an all-girl roller derby league here in Louisville.
I discussed the idea with half a dozen co-workers over lunch and there were a lot of good ideas tossed around. We even scoped out some patrons of the restaurant to see who we thought might want to play. There was a group of nurses that we could tell wanted to call off the jam.
Of course, I know that I am underestimating how much work (and money) it would take to do such a thing; however, I'm still in the honeymoon phase of the idea, so don't shit on my parade just yet.
Amy is even on board with the idea. In fact, she wants to skate. She said her handle would be "Big Mammy."
Anyone else interested? If so, let me know (especially if you have a building to hold the bouts or a roller derby slant track or a shitload of money that you would live to squand-- invest in all-girl roller derby action.
As I mentioned earlier this week, I registered the domain name "LouisvilleRollerGirls.com." The reason? I really, really want to start an all-girl roller derby league here in Louisville.
I discussed the idea with half a dozen co-workers over lunch and there were a lot of good ideas tossed around. We even scoped out some patrons of the restaurant to see who we thought might want to play. There was a group of nurses that we could tell wanted to call off the jam.
Of course, I know that I am underestimating how much work (and money) it would take to do such a thing; however, I'm still in the honeymoon phase of the idea, so don't shit on my parade just yet.
Amy is even on board with the idea. In fact, she wants to skate. She said her handle would be "Big Mammy."
Anyone else interested? If so, let me know (especially if you have a building to hold the bouts or a roller derby slant track or a shitload of money that you would live to squand-- invest in all-girl roller derby action.
"Black Sweat" on iTunes
Prince's new single "Black Sweat" is now available exclusively from iTunes. Also available is "Beautiful, Loved and Blessed" which he performed during his recent SNL appearance.
Although I am going to buy the new album, I figured the downloads were worth the money because it will be nearly a month until "3121" is released. Plus, downloading the songs from iTunes enters you in a sweepstakes to win a private concert at Prince's place.
Check out the new songs here.
Prince's new single "Black Sweat" is now available exclusively from iTunes. Also available is "Beautiful, Loved and Blessed" which he performed during his recent SNL appearance.
Although I am going to buy the new album, I figured the downloads were worth the money because it will be nearly a month until "3121" is released. Plus, downloading the songs from iTunes enters you in a sweepstakes to win a private concert at Prince's place.
Check out the new songs here.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
XBOX 360 camera in May?
Engadget is reporting that the XBOX 360 camera, that will allow video chat and messaging, will be available in May. Their source is the Chinese version of the Official XBOX Magazine.
I am actually interested in trying out the camera. I think it could add an interesting dimension to gameplay, depending on how it is supported. Or maybe seeing the 13 year-old who is whipping my ass at Halo 2 would just add insult to injury.
Of course, I would trade this camera for some decent original 360 titles. Is that too much to ask for?
Engadget is reporting that the XBOX 360 camera, that will allow video chat and messaging, will be available in May. Their source is the Chinese version of the Official XBOX Magazine.
I am actually interested in trying out the camera. I think it could add an interesting dimension to gameplay, depending on how it is supported. Or maybe seeing the 13 year-old who is whipping my ass at Halo 2 would just add insult to injury.
Of course, I would trade this camera for some decent original 360 titles. Is that too much to ask for?
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Impressions: Blockbuster Online
My two week trial with Blockbuster Online is about to end, so I thought I would share my impressions of their service as it compares to Netflix.
Online tools
BB's website leaves a lot to be desired. Feels very old school. Advantage: Netflix.
Availability
On the first day that I joined, which happened to be after their Super Bowl ad blitz, almost all of the movies I added to my queue were unavailable. I don't know if they don't reserve part of their inventory for new customers (like NF does) or if their reserves were depleted by the flood of new members those ads must have brought in. BB did ship me my first movie the next day, though. Advantage: None.
Delivery times
As with the early days of Netflix, BB was able to get my movies to my house the day after they shipped. And returns were processed just as quickly. So compared to how NF *used* to be, they were the same. Advantage: None.
Selection
I can't really speak to this point because I went for popular, new releases during my trial period. Advantage: Unknown.
Overall, Blockbuster was a decent experience; however, nothing special. I think Netflix' online tools, especially their emphasis on community (user ratings, friends lists, etc), give them a big advantage.
Because I haven't been with BB long enough to experience their version of smoothing/throttling, I can't comment on if they are better or worse than NF in that regard. So, for the time being, I think I am going to stick with Netflix.
My two week trial with Blockbuster Online is about to end, so I thought I would share my impressions of their service as it compares to Netflix.
Online tools
BB's website leaves a lot to be desired. Feels very old school. Advantage: Netflix.
Availability
On the first day that I joined, which happened to be after their Super Bowl ad blitz, almost all of the movies I added to my queue were unavailable. I don't know if they don't reserve part of their inventory for new customers (like NF does) or if their reserves were depleted by the flood of new members those ads must have brought in. BB did ship me my first movie the next day, though. Advantage: None.
Delivery times
As with the early days of Netflix, BB was able to get my movies to my house the day after they shipped. And returns were processed just as quickly. So compared to how NF *used* to be, they were the same. Advantage: None.
Selection
I can't really speak to this point because I went for popular, new releases during my trial period. Advantage: Unknown.
Overall, Blockbuster was a decent experience; however, nothing special. I think Netflix' online tools, especially their emphasis on community (user ratings, friends lists, etc), give them a big advantage.
Because I haven't been with BB long enough to experience their version of smoothing/throttling, I can't comment on if they are better or worse than NF in that regard. So, for the time being, I think I am going to stick with Netflix.
I love to buy domain names
Hello, I'm Shawn and I have a domain name problem. Well, it's not really a big problem (because I don't buy all the domains that I think of); however, I do have quite a few that seemed like a good idea at the time. And recently, I've added a couple more just for shits and giggles.
Here is my active list:
shawnmorton.com -- Used to be my site for doing web consulting. Now it redirects to sMoRTy71.com.
sMoRTy71.com -- My personal site
mortonkids.com -- Space for my kids (who, for the most part, are too young to do anything with it). Link
vivamustachio.com -- Site that I tinkered with last year as a goof. Site is still live, just haven't updated it. Link
louisvilledodgeball.com -- We were going to organize a dodgeball team (at the office) to compete in a local league. We never did. Link
louisvillekickball.com -- See explanation for dodgeball above and replace the word "dodgeball" with "kickball." Link
dealectable.com -- A friend and I were thinking about building a web service and I thought the name would be cool for the type of service I had in mind.
louisvillerollergirls.com -- I just bought this one the other day. Would love to have an all-girl roller derby league here in Louisville. So in true "Field of Dreams" fashion, I figure if I register it, they will come.
Hello, I'm Shawn and I have a domain name problem. Well, it's not really a big problem (because I don't buy all the domains that I think of); however, I do have quite a few that seemed like a good idea at the time. And recently, I've added a couple more just for shits and giggles.
Here is my active list:
shawnmorton.com -- Used to be my site for doing web consulting. Now it redirects to sMoRTy71.com.
sMoRTy71.com -- My personal site
mortonkids.com -- Space for my kids (who, for the most part, are too young to do anything with it). Link
vivamustachio.com -- Site that I tinkered with last year as a goof. Site is still live, just haven't updated it. Link
louisvilledodgeball.com -- We were going to organize a dodgeball team (at the office) to compete in a local league. We never did. Link
louisvillekickball.com -- See explanation for dodgeball above and replace the word "dodgeball" with "kickball." Link
dealectable.com -- A friend and I were thinking about building a web service and I thought the name would be cool for the type of service I had in mind.
louisvillerollergirls.com -- I just bought this one the other day. Would love to have an all-girl roller derby league here in Louisville. So in true "Field of Dreams" fashion, I figure if I register it, they will come.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Does Hollywood hate you?
After posting about the potential confusion around exactly what hardware configurations will allow for full HD resolution when playing HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs, I found this terrific post from Thomas Hawk aptly titled "Hollywood Hates You."
It looks at how HDCP may prevent some of us, who have invested thousands of dollars in HDTVs, from being able to view HDTV content in the future.
Check it out.
After posting about the potential confusion around exactly what hardware configurations will allow for full HD resolution when playing HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs, I found this terrific post from Thomas Hawk aptly titled "Hollywood Hates You."
It looks at how HDCP may prevent some of us, who have invested thousands of dollars in HDTVs, from being able to view HDTV content in the future.
Check it out.
Business Week article on homeschooling
Business Week has an interesting article on homeschooling. We've homeschooled our kids for about 3 years now. This is one of the first articles that I've read that doesn't portray homeschoolers as religious wackos or hippies (we're neither BTW). Unfortunately, it introduces a new stereotype -- home schoolers as educated elitists. I don't think that is accurate either; however, it sure beats the other two, I guess.
We chose to homeschool our oldest son because we was so far ahead of his grade level (even at kindergarten age) and the public school had no mechanism to allow him to do work appropriate to his skill level. So, we decided to try homeschooling to see if we could provide him with a better experience.
Now, at 8, he is an A student doing 4th grade work. Most importantly, he loves to learn and read. Most mornings, he gets up and starts on his school work without being asked.
In addition to his homeschool curriculum, we supplement subjects like Spanish and history with a 2-day per week program at a school that caters to homeschoolers. He also participates in sports (basketball, right now) and takes guitar lessons (w/ about 10 other kids his age) to provide more socialization opportunities.
Check out the article here.
Business Week has an interesting article on homeschooling. We've homeschooled our kids for about 3 years now. This is one of the first articles that I've read that doesn't portray homeschoolers as religious wackos or hippies (we're neither BTW). Unfortunately, it introduces a new stereotype -- home schoolers as educated elitists. I don't think that is accurate either; however, it sure beats the other two, I guess.
We chose to homeschool our oldest son because we was so far ahead of his grade level (even at kindergarten age) and the public school had no mechanism to allow him to do work appropriate to his skill level. So, we decided to try homeschooling to see if we could provide him with a better experience.
Now, at 8, he is an A student doing 4th grade work. Most importantly, he loves to learn and read. Most mornings, he gets up and starts on his school work without being asked.
In addition to his homeschool curriculum, we supplement subjects like Spanish and history with a 2-day per week program at a school that caters to homeschoolers. He also participates in sports (basketball, right now) and takes guitar lessons (w/ about 10 other kids his age) to provide more socialization opportunities.
Check out the article here.
More problems w/ HD-DVD & Blu-Ray?
As if launching competing formats at the same time isn't confusing enough for most consumers, News.com is running a story about the uncertainty around the copy protection on next generation optical formats. Seems that no one is able to definitively say which configurations of hardware and connections will "allow" the full HD signal to be displayed, especially when there is a PC in the mix.
For example, if you have an HD-DVD drive in a PC and you connect it via DVI to a monitor, the full resolution of the HD-DVD may not be displayed due to DVI's lack of copy protection. The OS may downconvert the video to SD in that case.
Similar questions arise when you look at standalone DVD players and TVs without HDMI inputs. Will those allow you to display full HD?
My TV has DVI, not HDMI, because it is 2 years old. If I buy an HD-DVD player and I can't get full resolution, I will be beyond pissed. And, because I'm somewhat of a nut once I have a bad customer experience, I will probably swear off the new formats altogether.
Personally, I think all of the inconveniences and uncertainty that the content owners keep forcing on consumers is actually more harmful than the risk of piracy. Most people will NEVER pirate a DVD. Never. However, everyone who buys one of these new players is automat
As if launching competing formats at the same time isn't confusing enough for most consumers, News.com is running a story about the uncertainty around the copy protection on next generation optical formats. Seems that no one is able to definitively say which configurations of hardware and connections will "allow" the full HD signal to be displayed, especially when there is a PC in the mix.
For example, if you have an HD-DVD drive in a PC and you connect it via DVI to a monitor, the full resolution of the HD-DVD may not be displayed due to DVI's lack of copy protection. The OS may downconvert the video to SD in that case.
Similar questions arise when you look at standalone DVD players and TVs without HDMI inputs. Will those allow you to display full HD?
My TV has DVI, not HDMI, because it is 2 years old. If I buy an HD-DVD player and I can't get full resolution, I will be beyond pissed. And, because I'm somewhat of a nut once I have a bad customer experience, I will probably swear off the new formats altogether.
Personally, I think all of the inconveniences and uncertainty that the content owners keep forcing on consumers is actually more harmful than the risk of piracy. Most people will NEVER pirate a DVD. Never. However, everyone who buys one of these new players is automat