Up to this point I don't think I've used this blog to relay any news stories or public current events, however this one keeps getting better. A good summary of the Sony CD copy protection debacle can be seen online on Business Week.
p.s. on a related topic, I'm now using iTunes as my primary music player at home, basically because of the support for my iPod Shuffle. I'm sure my adventures in automatic categorization from Musicmatch's, playlists, proprietary categories and MP3 tags will spawn its own blog entry soon.
Most of you know I love technology - especially the kind that results in creating a perfect audio / visual world of entertainment.
Last week I took another jump forward with the purchase of a DVD / Hard Disk recorder.
I think most people know what a DVD recorder is (although I was surprised to hear that a good friend of mine doesn't even own a DVD player), but if you're not familiar with the PVRs and Tivos of the tech world, a Hard Disk recorder is basically a way of recording TV or other video sources onto a computer-like hard disk. From there, you can watch the recording or copy to a DVD for backup or playing on a regular DVD player*.
Why would I subject myself to this, you ask ? Well, I love technology. The appeal - a nice solution for transferring 8mm home videos to DVD and also defeat the familiar tech snit...I'm tired, want to go to bed, but don't want to miss Letterman tonight, but F*** me - I can't find a VHS tape that "clearly" has space or unwanted material on it ! I even managed to sell my wife on the idea, so A/V component #19 is added to the home.I did quite a lot of research and found a number of manuals online that provided some interesting reading - maaan- this stuff is almost as complicated as configuring Microsoft Smart Card Logon. I ended up choosing a combination DVD / Hard Disk (160GB - 70 hours worth) recorder - Pioneer DVR-633H-S. Other ones I shortlisted were the Panasonic DMR-E85H and the LG LRH-539.
But this thing has a mind of its own. You can imagine there's a certain about of complexity setting up a new fangled digital component that wants to show you a cool on screen TV Guide when you have a digital cable box - ugh. So, get this, it comes with a small IR transmitter that you place in front of your cable box so that it can change stations on the cable box like you would do with a remote. A little low tech, but it works. However, when it's off - it's not really off, because it goes hunting for program guides (or porno for all I know). The real mystery is what channel it will select when it turns on again ! The menu system is pretty wacky but recording success rates are now climbing above 50%.
So this got me thinking a little about all the gear I have around the home and making my life rather complex... *so if I pick up a disk at home, I can hopefully identify whether it's an audio CD, CDR, CDRW, CDR Music, video DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, Video CD, CD+G, CD ROM or Direct CD formatted CDR, all I have to do is then figure out which one of the 13 disk players I have around the house that will be able to play it.
Life wasn't this complicated with tape was it ? Oh, I forgot Betamax !
Now, if I could only find the right remote !
Just listening to a few choice new tracks from Madonna's latest release (see Rolling Stone, Sun and Guardian reviews) - big dance record !Instantly thought of my old friend JB as he was an early believer in Ms. Ciccone. The crew dismissed her as too poppy, but 20 years later, she's still making an impact !Great track called "I love New York" instantly makes me think of my good friends J&A in NYC and the street vibe of the one of greatest cities in the world.Gotta dance.
Just listening to a few choice new tracks from Madonna's latest release (see Rolling Stone, Sun and Guardian reviews) - big dance record !Instantly thought of my old friend JB as he was an early believer in Ms. Ciccone. The crew dismissed her as too poppy, but 20 years later, she's still making an impact !Great track called "I love New York" instantly makes me think of my good friends J&A in NYC and the street vibe of the one of greatest cities in the world.Gotta dance.
