November 22, 2005
Tivo and Yahoo -- two great tastes come together
I just discovered that I can now sync up the TV listings in MyYahoo with my Tivo. This is immensely cool and utilitarian.
When I see a program in MyYahoo that I want my Tivo to record, I just click a link and it programs my Tivo to record the show. Before, I'd see the program in MyYahoo, then hop over to the Tivo site to set up the recording. Now it's one-stop shopping. Another cool touch: When I set this up, Yahoo asked me if I wanted to sync up my Yahoo program guide with my Tivo program guide. Yup.
I also saw that Tivo is planning to allow recorded shows to be easily moved to a video iPod. (I just hope they do a Mac version; the currently don't offer very good Mac support.) I also hope they ignore the whining and moaning rising up from the TV industry and follow through with this. This is the kind of stuff that will give Tivo a competitive edge over those generic cable company DVRs ... and it's the kind of utility that will make it indespensible.
Posted by Bob Benz at 3:17 PM | Comments (3)
November 20, 2005
Lara bugs out ...
Lara's new job gave her a case of new car fever, which she used as an excuse to secure a VW beetle, which she's long coveted.
Not surprisingly, Spiney opted for the aquarius blue version. Hmm.
I keep a gorilla mask in the glove compartment that I wear when I have to be seen in it with her ...
I've posted a few photos of her in the new car on my Flickr account.
Posted by Bob Benz at 7:45 PM | Comments (8)
More LBJ antics ...
LBJ recently made the scene for several more photo opportunities.
These include our littlest president participating in a high-power conference call, cavorting with Rusty poolside and getting artistic.
Posted by Bob Benz at 7:33 PM | Comments (3)
November 18, 2005
Video iPod (reprise)
So after seeing our Mac Whore's video iPod, I rushed out and bought the 60 gig version. I opted for the black version. All I can say is that it's astoundingly cool.
The first thing I did was checked out the music videos and TV shows available in the iTunes store. I downloaded several videos (Mazzy Star, U2, Everclear, Velvet Underground, among others) and then downloaded the two pilot episodes of Lost, a TV show that I'd heard a lot about but never bothered to Tivo.
It's massively, mind-bogglingly phenomenal.
During my gauntlet of business trips this week, I put the video iPod through its paces. As soon as the airplane's wheels went up somewhere above Memphis, I started watching the first episode of "Lost." It works. Really well. The small screen is very crisp, and when you wear headphones, it really pulls you into the movie. It's a great way to endure a flight when you're too tired to read and too cramped to pull out your computer. (And "Lost" is all that; I'm downloading the first season as I write this. I love the fact that there are no commercials and wonder if there's a business model here for people who are willing to pay for commercial-free content.)
The one thing I'm tripping on is ripping DVDs to my computer so I can put them on my iPod. I downloaded Mac the Ripper and, as the Mac Whore suggested, Handbrake. Both are cool and work well, but I think my G4 Powerbook just doesn't have the huevos to do this work. Ripping a DVD is mind-numbingly slow (like, all night). So now I'm toying with an upgrade to one of the G5 desktops ... Funny how technology has that domino effect.
Now I just need the iTunes store to expand its horizons and start offering A LOT more stuff to chose from -- at least until I get a Mac fast enough to rip DVDs for viewing on my iPod.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:06 PM | Comments (3)