The Multi Computer Home

As I sit here watching TV with my wife I've just broken the news to her that in 2008 I'm buying a laptop (more on that in another post). Her response of course was a resounding WHY?! Of course for me the reason is easy, because, well I want one. But it does go a little deeper than that of course, its all about need and usage. My blog is called Digital Life because thats what I do, I like technology, I use technology and for the most part I buy the right technology for what I need to use. But lets get back on topic.

Sure a few years ago if you had two computers in your home you were either rich or maybe you worked from home or maybe it was because your old computer that you replaced was still in the attic, basement or garage, not working just not thrown away yet. But nowadays there is a need for more than one PC in the home, if you have kids in school read no further you need no more explanation. But what about me? I have right now four PC's, three desktops and a laptop. Now in all fairness, technically I only actually bought one of them so that is what has led to having so many. And for the most part they are all being used for worthwhile purposes and not just lying around collecting dust.

The biggest stretch I have is an old PC in my garage running Linux and basically acting as a music server and occasional check the web in the garage thing. It works and during the summer I plan to add some outdoor speakers which will make it work even more. Next up is another older Dell I use upstairs as a machine to collect and covert media for the main PC, it also acts as a media server and Internet access machine. The main PC is the one I bought and use the most (okay it's the one that runs World of Warcraft) and finally is yet another hand me down my iBook which since its not Wi Fi enabled or have a good battery its more of a mobile desktop Mac.

Again there's a need for that laptop but there's also a need for what I currently have. Times are a changing, think about television, no one would even question you if you had a TV in your bathroom, it's that TV just about anywhere is culturally accepted . The multi computer home is on its way, sure it has some time to go but for me that time is now. Now excuse me while I go work on convincing my wife of that.

Everyone Loves the Wii, but Mii

While I won't say the Wii is without its coolness, the total package is one that lacks. I don't regret buying a Wii (I did it on impulse when I had the opportunity last year) but I probably could do without it. I don't have many games but Wii Sports, Carnival Games and a few others fit the bill. Most of my games are basically mini game collections, my most recent purchase being the Zapper that came with Link's Crossbow Training. My issues may be from what I expect from the machine based on my usage of my 360. Sure I know the Wii is NOT a 360 but there's a bar that has been raised. On Christmas eve I purchased another nunchuck in hopes of playing some two player Link's Crossbow training Christmas Day, but alas my second Wii Mote would not stay synced once the game started, worked fine during Wii Sports, but by the time we spent 30 minutes trying to sync them we never got to play (We played Scene It? on the 360 instead).

So I let the Wii sit, maybe there was an update, there was. But it was for the shopping channel and the Photo Channel, so I did an update, which failed the first time because there was no connection, there was by the way. However I never did get to update the Photo Channel yet. I kept getting an error (maybe too many people were accessing the Wii World). And thats another thing, the shopping channels, aside from the fact that I actually like the elevator music they make me feel like I'm shopping using the very first graphic web pages ever. Why does it have to look so ugly? Part of the purchase is the shopping experience, that's mostly why Microsoft gets so much of my money, I like browsing the online stores. Of course the tied to the system idea of buying Wii games has kept me from buying anyway. I'd like to know that if anything ever did happen to my Wii I wouldn't have to jump through hoops to get back what I purchased. Sure Nintendo has a way of making good hardware but still.

I just feel like so much has been left on the table with the Wii, why can't I download DS demos, why can't I download NES games and play them on my DS, why can't I demo a game before I buy. Why are there no Wii demos? The news and weather channels are nice, but much like the Web Browser (again which is nice) I rarely use them. As a matter of fact I rarely keep my Wii in standby mode, because I rarely use it. I do try to, I do want to. I suppose what I want doesn't really matter much anyway, Nintendo is selling ALOT of Wii's to ALOT of different people, hell my parents have one, and they LOVE it! the irony is that the one game I thought I might want to pick up (Wii Fit) I heard isn't coming to the U.S., which baffles me because this was a big Nintendo announcement? For now I'll keep watching and playing, but hopefully in the future this little box will be let out of its cage, of course its Nintendo we're talking about here so I should probably just learn to swing my arms around and make sure I don't hit anyone instead.

Zune helps keep the Holidays Festive

I hope the holiday was festive for everyone, the wife and I spent the day recovering from having the family over yesterday, don't get me wrong it was a great day, but we consumed allot of food which left allot of garbage! Another thing we consumed allot of was holiday music and thanks to the Zune those tunes kept playing nicely.  When I purchased my Zune 80 I also purchased the home entertainment dock, the deluxe model with the component connection.  Although its only hooked up to the TV and not a stereo using it to play the holiday playlists I made ahead of time was quick easy and the TV speakers proved more than sufficient for playing some low level background music.  I had some holiday favorites queued up from country favorites of mine Garth Brooks and Martina McBride, along with the modern rock sounds of the Trans Siberian Orchestra and of course some Alvin and the Chimpmunks thrown in for the little guy.  Outside of the holiday music I used it to show off the new Dark Knight trailer! Although the Zune will soon be replaced at that location with a second Xbox 360 for media it was nice to enjoy it for Christmas.  Next up on the 31st is the annual New Years Eve party where the Linux PC in the garage will be called upon to supply some music for that portion of the party!  Happy Holidays!

Merry Digital Christmas!

The kids are all snuggled in their beds and parents and friends now prepare for the long digital day ahead!  Whether you'll be hooking up new equipment or booting up a new video game or DVD tomorrow chances are you'll be faced with some sort of digital entertainment tomorrow.  Or perhaps you'll be either on the giving or receiving side of some digital photography or video. One way or another someone will be capturing all the memories on digital disc or tape throughout the day.  So while some may be preparing for the Holiday feast the rest of us are charging up our batteries and clearing off our SD and Compact Flash cards! Just remember don't always look through the viewfinder, you'll have time to watch the memories later, see them the first time with your own eyes, and for gods sake set up the tripod, you'll want someone to know you were there!  Enjoy your holidays and try not to pull out too much hair when your in laws get you a brand new Blue Ray DVD for your HD DVD player!

Getting it all Connected

Sometimes the hardest part of building a digital life can be getting it all connected.  As 2007 comes to a close at the end of this month I have realized how much has changed in the past year.  One of the most important things for me is how my media is handled.  A digital life cannot be enjoyed if its more work than play.  In the past I've made things work, but alot of input on my behalf was always needed. This year with the Fall 360 dashboard update, the purchase of an 80GB Zune, the addition of my iBook, my Linux PC in the garage, and my Cingular 8125 I've had more time to enjoy media and less time getting it all to where it needed to be.  Today I had the task of getting a friend's 360 and PC connected together, essentially starting his first home network.  If there is one thing I enjoy more than getting my own media to work its getting someone else connected as well.  Of course the average person doesn't need as much as I have!  So now that it's all working together I have a new task for 2008, getting the wife to start using it!

HD-DVD: Or why I'm not really choosing anything.

I was thinking about this yesterday and a comment by Logan Macleod stirred it up a little more.  In regards to HD DVD and Blue Ray I'm not really so much choosing anything as I am not choosing anything.  Let me explain.  First of all the difference between DVD and Hi Def DVD is not the great difference that we saw with VHS to DVD.  In particular its limited even more by upconverting DVD and HD DVD players.  Right now I can honestly go between watching a DVD to an HD DVD to even movies encoded to play on my Media Center/360.  Sure there are quality differences, but they are not as dramatic.  More importantly I don't notice a HUGE difference in DVD and HD DVD (except whenever on an HD DVD they show vista type scenes, you know mountains, valleys, oceans, lots of color and detail.  But I digress.  I purchased my HD DVD player because of a good price and a good deal, I have not yet found that with Blue Ray and even for someone as technology savey as I'd like to think I am, I am still a little confused with the Blue Ray specs.  Sure Sony keeps updating the PS3 and its a great Blue Ray player but as a media machine its not there yet.  When I buy a product I am buying it for what it is when I purchase it, I want to know that going in if the product is never updated that it fulfills the need I have for it.  Neither Blue Ray or the PS3 do that, yet. This post is not to say that I am against either the PS3 or Blue Ray, but until they both decide what they are and when their ready to be that, I will continue to choose to not choose by choosing.

Blockbuster Rental Service is Messed Up!

So tonight I'm dropping off some movies at Blockbuster and I'm thinking to myself, I subscribe to a movie rental service that provides movie rentals directly to your door via the U.S. Postal service and I am at the video rental STORE more than I ever have in my life! I'm not really knocking the service, I get my value out of it, it just seemed really odd to me all of a sudden.

But Blockbuster has more problems, mostly the one where they keep raising the prices, and they are Blue Ray specific at least in store which makes it tough for me to get HD DVD's via the mail, because they don't seem to have many of those in stock either.  But that in store thing and those coupons keep me with BB, again its ironic that I can use NetFlix and get more HD DVD's delivered to my door yet I stick with the service that keeps me going to the store!

Speaking of the store, why are the people in the store paying to rent movies from the store?  Do they not know they can go home pay a lot less, get more movies and STILL get to come back to the store!

Anyway it seems that Blockbuster is up to raising the prices again, raising 3 at a time Total Access to $34.99 a month and 2 at a time Total Access to $29.99 a month.  Right now I seem to be grandfathered in to $14.99 a month with 2 at a time and the unlimited in store returns so I'm not really complaining or getting ready to cancel, but change my rate to $29.99 a month and NetFlix gets a new customer!

EDIT: As of today I found out that Blockbuster is raising my plan from $14.99 a month to $19.99 a month starting after the December bill.

Look Mom, I'm a Fake Rock Star!

I'm a BIG fan or Rock Band for the 360 lets just get that out of the way.  I've played alot of Guitar Hero both for the 360 and the PS2 but Rock Band is where its at.  As a matter of fact Rock Band is one of the rare 360 games that I keep going back to pretty much knowing I'm not going to reach anymore achievements yet I continue to play anyway. I've gone through the drums both on easy and medium and I played through the guitar on hard, yes hard.  Its an accomplishment for me and I loved it, I did need someone to pass one song for me (Flirting with Disaster) but I cleared 60 of 61 songs I had.  So what was next, well I still have the vocals, but its not as easy for me to sit downstairs and just sing, but maybe it will become easier.  In any case I don't have friends willing to come over often enough to play through Band World Tour so today I actually went out and bought a microphone stand and tonight I played guitar (on hard) and sang (on easy) and I had a blast!  I got a boom mic stand so it'll work nice playing drums too.  Rock Band is just one of those digital/ virtual experiences that can't be beat.  One word of advice though I use the guitar from Guitar Hero 3, its easier for me, maybe it will be for you too.  I'm looking forward to the annual New Years party and four player Rock Band, this show is going on the road!

Taking things to the next level

Along with the help of my fellow tech friend Logan Macleod I registered my first domain name www.daytonatwentyfour.com is now live and of course my new home, I'll still be using Blogger as my tool of choice but its nice to have your own name.  And yes I consider Daytona24 as part of my name anymore, I've used it for so long now. I think I've used Daytona24 starting back with Daytona24@msn.com which is over 10 years now, I've long stopped using that MSN email however choosing to use my own name for more "professional" reasons!  Seems this switch to Blogger continues to bring better things.  Perhaps soon Logan and I will begin our podcasting adventures, for now just stop by his site at www.loganmacleod.com and tell him I sent you.

Support the writers strike, use Bit Torrent?

I was reading an article in Thursday's USA Today about the Writer's Guild strike and what struck me the most was the amount of jobs that are being lost due to the strike.  It seems based on what I know that most of what the strike revolves around is online and streaming television distribution and the writers getting a cut of that.  Since online distribution is becoming more and more prevalent these days it would seem it's only right they do.  Yet the networks seem to move on against it.  So for now what we're faced with is a lack of new programming and a plethora of reality shows.  The article goes on to say that this may change peoples TV viewing habits indefinitely, I know myself that its giving me more time to do other things I like since there's not much on TV.  But getting back to the loss of jobs, isn't it ironic that networks attack bit torrent sites claiming that the loss of revenue not only effects big corporations but it also effects the little guys, the prop people, the set designers, the gophers etc.  These are the people we are told we are hurting by freely downloading online, yet as it seems they don't get a cut of it anyway. It's my hope not for the big networks but for the little people that this comes to an end with a solution that works for all (even the end users like us). The question is will we be watching when it does.

Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Ah December, the smell of Christmas in the air and the hope that I'll finally get all those DVD's I've missed throughout the year. Ok so that's not what Christmas is all about, well maybe it is for some. Anyway I haven't blogged in awhile so I figured it was time to back to business. I've been enjoying the added benefits the Fall 360 Dashboard update has brought and I'm in the process of getting a very cheap (read free) second 360 to extend those benefits even more. My Zune 80 has been by my side and helping me keep up to date on all my video and audio podcasts and I LOVE the Wi Fi sync. Speaking of Wi Fi sync it actually seems that I'm getting my home media to a point where most of it is automatic and doesn't need a whole lot of user modification to get the media around. I've been literally beating the hell out of Rock Band you know with the drums and all and as this writer's strike begins to keep new TV shows from hitting the networks I'm catching up on all the movies that have been piling up. And finally even though I've not been blogging all that much (I know my droves of fans are wondering where I've been) you can keep up to date on the goings on via my Twitter. Enjoy your holidays and enjoy all your media, keep those holiday playlists going!

Welcome to Daytona24's Digital Life Blogger Blog

Welcome to what looks to be the new home of the previous Daytona24 Digital Life Blog on Windows Spaces which you can find here, I have decided to move to Blogger to perhaps get a bit more (okay any) exposure and also for more flexibility. Hope if your passing by you'll enjoy.