Better late than never (I hope)

I'm too old for this (blogging, that is).

Or so I thought. It occurs to me that if I really want to be a writer, I'm going to have to start writing something creative on a regular basis. And since screenplays and fiction are giving me trouble-- why not something like a blog? I can do it at home, over lunch at work, maybe even once I get an Ipod Touch I'll do it on the run in airports or the library. At the least it'll let me find my voice. Besides, other people's blogs (down with OPB, yeah you know me) have been a real help to me in the past. For example, I just got a HDHomeRun QAM tuner for my Vista Media Center computer that I use as a DVR (I'm getting ready to record all of the good fall network TV shows so I can timeshift and watch them in HD at my leisure). I was having trouble getting it to work until I came across a blog where the blogger put some really easy to follow steps in place (much clearer than the manufacturer directions) and bingo-- I was up and running. This blog probably won't be as helpful to others as that, but you never know.

So anyway, I'll be rambling about whatever I feel like at the time. This definitely won't be a big personal "what did I do today?" thing. My life is not nearly interesting enough to support that and I wouldn't want to write anything that'll get people mad at me or fired from work. It'll more likely be a place to vent my spleen and sort through some thoughts. I imagine that poker, the Penguins, Steelers, comic books, movies, game theory, tv shows, and books will be the main subjects. We'll just have to see how it goes.

So as I was saying, once I got Vista Media Center working with the HDHR recording HD content on the QAM signal, I had less use for one of my Tivo Series 2 units (I have two of them) that don't record in HD. At one point I had two Series 2 Tivos, two ReplayTV showstoppers, the Comcast Motorola HD DVR (dual tuners!), and the Vista MC/HDHR machine that can record 2 HD shows at once plus a standard NTSC tuner. So if there were 9 television shows that I want to watch and they are all at the same time, I can record and watch all of them at a later time. Well, that doesn't happen and HD is soooooo much better than standard def that I find that I don't find myself using the Tivos or ReplayTV's much. I can now record 4 HD shows at once thanks to the Comcast box and the HDHR. Plus with the coming digital change-over, analog tuners (such as the tuner built in to the Tivo Series 2) won't be of any use much longer. Yes, cable companies will still transmit some analog channels to homes after the 2/09 switch date but that may not last long. I read somewhere that they're mandated to do so for three years. After that they could go all digital and once they do, Tivo Series 2 boxes will be almost useless. I might as well get something for it while I can. I'll recount my ebay story later. I just wonder if I should sell the other Tivo. I still have the two ReplayTV's to record stuff as a backup (more on THIS later) and the chances of selling them for anything worthwhile are slim (ReplayTV just never got popular with Tivo taking most marketshare and word of mouth. Nobody cares to buy old ReplayTV's even though they work just fine). But for now I can relax safe in the knowledge that on Mondays this fall I'll be able to record Chuck, Terminator: TSC, and How I Met Your Mother/The Big Bang Theory at 8-9pm all in glorious HD to watch later. And that's all that matters.