ftp again...

I finally got my ftp server back up in a working condition. For those of you fans of a cappella, I hope this becomes the place to come to for your needs. I'm starting from scratch yet again so if you've had an account, you'll need a new one. Just ping me for one.

PVR experiment

I was catching up with my buddy Rod (http://rodericj.com/~rod/) whom I have not talked with in quite some time. He's doing well. I'll let you ask him for the details.

While talking to him, he mentioned that his friend had built a PVR. A PVR, for those too lazy to follow the previous hyperlink, is a Personal Video Recorder. It's a device that can record video much like a VCR. The difference is that PVRs record to a hard disc. This allows for cool features like the pausing of television. A perfect example of a commercially available PVR is TiVo. (Wikipedia loves this paragraph)

Now the problem with TiVo (corporate link) and other commercially available PVRs is the monthly charge and the near inevitability that they'll be swallowed by competition and my equipment will become obsolete. Even if they're not swallowed anytime quickly, who would want to pay for those monthly subscription fees? I, and apparently many others before me, would not.

Rod's buddy had installed a openly available PVR called MythTV. I read some pages and saw some screenshots and was instantly impressed. I always wanted a TiVo, but I couldn't stomach the monthly costs. I definitely felt the gut urge to undertake the adventure of building a similar system.

Adventure? Indeed. See, I've done some research this evening and I can go a few routes...

• No adventure & empty wallet: Go with TiVo
• No adventure & less empty wallet: Go back to my regular television and rot my brain slowly
• Some adventure & empty wallet: Buy a commercially available "do it yourself" PVR software bundle.
• Tons of adventure & less empty wallet: Get a copy of an openly available "do it yourself" PVR software bundle that is much harder to install/configure because it isn't being funded by commercial purchases (we'll argue the freeware debate another day)

While the last option will most likely drive me the most crazy, it'll probably also be the most entertaining for you readers. The frustration ... The anger ... The disappointment ... The frustration. But it'll have drama. And readers love drama.

I'll be updating (ir)regularly with the latest details of do-it-yourself-PVR-building. Perhaps I'll be paving the way for one of you to follow later on. And for those of you (thank you Tom) who enjoy my tirades about dumb topics and pointless, longwinded stories have no fear. I'll still be writing in those valuable nuggets of daily time-wasting (your welcome Rod).

Google - one step closer to really scary

I'll keep this short because this could be a long topic. Google scares me. Really. I was just starting to get over their really cool (I can almost see President Simone) and creepy (I can almost see President Bush) Satellite feature (click "Satellite" on right side of page) when their latest feature just came out. It seems like they come out with a new way to graft themselves to our lives each week. This time, Google is searching by numbers.

They can search basically any number you could think of. Phone numbers? Yes. UPC codes? Sure. Patent numbers? Uh huh. UPS, USPS, and FedEx tracking numbers? Yep. VIN number? No problem. VIN numbers? VIN NUMBERS?! They're hooked into my damn car now! DAMN! Not scary enough? How about FAA airplane registration numbers and FCC equipment IDS? Cause you can search those now too! I thought we were making a big deal about airplane/airport security. Now we're going to just give information away about planes? Why don't we just give everyone the names and pictures of the upcoming flights' pilots too while we're at it!?! I mean, I'd feel better knowing who my pilot was since I'd also know that anyone could look up anything about the airplane I'm flying in.

It would be nice to know that someone, somewhere is thinking, "Hey maybe we shouldn't make that ramp on the information highway... Maybe we don't want to make that information publicly available to the entire world. Maybe."

an odd relationship

This story is confusing and has many characters. Try and keep up. I'd also like to point out that this entry (to the best of my very hazy memory) uses the MLA format for citing sources.

Anne's mother Cathy told me that her mother was a friend of a family up in Vermont. One of the sons in this family (Ian) is attending RIT next year. It came about that Ian could email me with any RIT/CompSci questions as he needed being that I'm a recent graduate.

So in one of his questions, Ian asked if I had any people who could answer questions in Film (they have a fun little flash animation) or Physics (they have a pretty boring one) as he had friends also starting at RIT who could benefit from their knowledge. I told Ian that I'd have to look for a physics major because I don't know any.

So where do I turn in search of a physics major? The friendly (yet closed and hidden and not-so-secret-anymore) Brick City Singers' Alumni Group. I sent the guys an email explaining a short version of the story and the need for a physics major.

Tom, current member in the group, couldn't help me out with a physics member but he was able to point out that the potential relationship between the incoming freshman and the physics major would be quite funny:

“I’m the only physics major who is a friend of a friend of a former member of an a cappella group who was contacted through an email list by the former music director of that group who is an RIT alum and a friend of you.” [Guzewich]

Of course Tom only got it partly correct. I didn't include the relationship through Anne so he missed a step plus I don't think he quite got it right. I would claim it should read like this:

"I am the only physics major who is a friend of a member of an a cappella group who was contacted through an email list by the former music director of that group who's fiance's grandmother is a friend of a family who's son is a friend of yours. And thus so am I." [Campbell]

We still haven't found that physics major (so if you're one, please contact me), but I'm sure if we were able to put the two in touch it would be like reuniting long lost twin siblings.

Works Cited

Campbell, David. Thought of five minutes ago. 5 April 2005.

Guzewich, Thomas. "physics major (off topic)." E-mail to RIT Brick City Singers Alumni Group. 5 April 2005.

Steve donates his hair

My brother Steve has been growing his hair for as long as I can remember with the eventual intent to donate it to Locks of Love. The time has come just recently and he successfully dontated in the Buffalo, NY area before going back to Fredonia after his spring break. Here's a little photo-journal of the adventure. *queue sappy slow "memory" music*


Steve's hair is dreaded out into 10 inch locks.
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Steve grasping his donation after the damage is done.
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Before the razor...
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... And after the razor.
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An arial view of Steve's dome taken by the Goodyear Blimp.
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Steve and his girlfriend Ellen - post donation.
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Steve sporting the new look back at school.
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