BuhBye Traditional TV!

Here's a quick grainy shot of my new setup for TV. Ignore the Dish TV tuner, below is the Akimbo TV Player and next to it is the Mac Mini sitting on top of a 500GB hard drive. Between the content hosted on Akimbo which is costing me about $25 a month downloaded over my internet connection and the Mac Mini, where all my movie collection is being put onto plus Over-The-Air HDTV with the Migila TVMini HD add-on with DVR capability, I should have more than enough content to keep me being satisfied watching the boob tube. I'll post a review of the Akimbo later on this weekend since it looks like some nasty weather is brewing up in the DFW area. Don't want to get caught out on the H-D in one of those Texas-sized rainstorms I've been told so much about! So far the Mini and the Akimbo have functioned very well. Be glad to not be coughing up 70 bucks a month in TV costs for a bunch of crap I don't want. The inital cost ain't cheap as least for the Mac Mini, but figure you have a place to watch DVDs from plus if you want downloaded content off of iTunes, then use DVR, it looks pretty good in the long run. You get your money back in about a years time and for as long as I have been paying for Cable TV/Satellite, that is a bargin.

Visit to tha Dentist

Welp, I took a little visit to Dr Toothy today cause I cracked a tooth last night eating a peppermint after having dinner. After calling in and getting them to see me on such short notice, I was told it was a BABY TOOTH! Turns out that my left front canine never came in and a baby tooth was blocking it from erupting. So five minutes to shoot me up with novacaine and yank the tooth out and I'm done(for now). Doc was really good and knew his stuff, so I'll be back soon enough to get the full deal from them.

BF2 Virtual Appliance

Well, I was able to do it, I created a VM image using the latest version of Ubuntu server and created a Battlefield 2 server. It should run under VMware Workstation 5.5, Server and the VM Player as well. I don't know about ESX though. The zip file weighs in at about 1.2 gigs at this point. I may send it in to VMware as an appliance to be shown on their site. Now just need a possible place to host the file. I will be coming out with some instructions on what to do when you download the file when I publish it. There is already a README.TXT file that I have not totally finished up at this point. At this point the server starts by default and already has some basic settings in it. Its running with one processor and 512 megs of memory. Pretty basic actually at this point without a whole lot of fluff. I may go order me a new digital camera sometime soon and throw up some pics of Dallas, just been kinda lazy is all.

Update - The file is now being hosted via BitTorrent since I could not find anyplace willing to host 1.2 gigs for free. URL is in the comments.

Half Life 2 - Episode 1

Just got through the Half Life 2, Episode 1 and just like HL2, you are left wanting for more. This episodic content for Video Games, I am still debating whether or not is it annoying or a really good thing. Most first person shooters have crap for a storyline but the Half Life franchise has always been really good about developing the story plus the graphics, gameplay, and special features have been really good on both the first and the second. Steam also seems like a good idea as well. It was easy enough to pre-load the game and play. The new Sin game they have as well is supposed to be interesting. The MBP had no issues running HL2, Episode 1 also, so I am very pleased with the machine.

I should be getting my Video Over Internet device sometime next week. When I get it I'll give an overview of the device. I'm tired of paying cable companies and sat companies for crap shows and channels I will never watch.

Atlanta to Texas in 12 hours!

Well I managed to ride the HD from Atlanta to Dallas in around 12 hours. 13.5 to be exact but that counts the time spent for lunch and dinner and time wasted getting gas as well. Its pretty much a straight shot across 20 all the way till you hit the paremeter which is 635, Dallas' version of 285. The you have 35E, which is 75, Dallas 75 is Atlanta's 85, Finally, the GWB toll road is 400. Dallas and Atlanta have sooo much in common. Except the traffic sucks far less in Dallas than Atlanta. Anybody who says Dallas traffic is bad has never been to Atlanta and seen GA 400. Blech!