DirecTV Prepares Tivo Clone

Techdirt turned me onto a story about DirecTV launching their own Tivo replacement from CNN: Challenger takes on TiVo, video on demand.

While this is bad news, this still won't kill Tivo. People love Tivo, not the service. In fact, few people know what a PVR is -- even people that own a Tivo. It's that ubiquitous. It also has a UI that defines the industry. Assuming that Tivo can come through on their NetFlix arrangement (for broadband movie distribution), I think they will be around for a while . . .

D-League Basketball

Shelley got some free tickets to the Kings NBA game tonight so Kelly, Shelley and I wandered down to Arco Arena to see the Minnesota Timberwolves. Having never been to Arco, I was surprised at how small it was. The last NBA game (and only) was in Chicago and Sacramento's stadium seemed smaller than my University's. However, it was packed with locals and they do love their Kings in a midwestern, minor league kinda way.



The Kings folded to Kevin Garnett's Twolves 121 - 110 late in the fourth quarter.

Blogging with Blogger and Flickr

So a few people have asked about the infrastructure that supports Wander, my blog here at Blogger.com. It's actually pretty simple:

• The blog itself is hosted by Blogger
• The photos are stored at Flickr
• The photos and text are posted via email from my Treo 600

To replicate this setup, follow these steps:

1. Go to Blogger: Create your Blog Now and sign up for their free blogging service. They have you enter your some personal details, create a name for your blog and choose a template that defines how it looks.
2. Go to Flickr and signup for an account there. They'll want to know a little about you also. Flickr allows you to upload and store photos free (with restrictions).
3. Once you have both accounts active, you need to configure Flickr to post to your Blogger account. Go to your Flickr account page, a choose the link "Your Blogs" under the Blogging header. Click "Set up a new blog" and follow the prompts (hint: you are setting up a blogger blog). After this is completed, you can upload a picture to Flickr and then post it to your blog.
4. Finally, go back to your Flickr account page and choose the "Upload by email" option directly under the "Your Blogs". It allows you to set a style for the blog postings and gives you a email address to send them to.

Once you have all that completed, snap some pictures on your handy camera phone and email them with some snarky dialog to the email address that Flickr gave you. Instant blogger goodness.

God Hates Shrimp

Now that many of the "red" states have officially outlawed freedom of choice and the persuit of happiness (just after surrendering the home of the brave moniker with their fear-induced presidential vote), some enterprising people have found a new cause to put their biogotry behind: God Hates Shrimp.

Thankfully, we here in California still believe in freedom of crusteceans.

MNF

So Kelly and I spend every Monday night watching football (and my fantasy team win again) at our local Folsom bar, The Powerhouse Pub. And every week it just gets cheesier. The picture tells the story here (think unattractive scantily clad ladies).

Having said all this, the pub also has a 103" HDTV setup. I think we'll
endure the cheesiness for a few more weeks.

Prius

Shelley's finally got her wish and was able to trade in her VW Beetle for a Toyota Prius. As you can see from the photo, it's silver and kinda funky.

Happy to say that the gas mileage is incredible. I averaged 51 MPG on my trip to the Bay Area yesterday.

TiVo to add banner ads

A lots of talk today about Tivo's plans to add banner ads during fast forwarding. I don't think that this is really that big of a deal AS LONG AS this is implemented unintrusively.

I still think that I need to expand my PVR rig to HiDef. Check out EFF's Guide To HD PVR for some interesting details. HD capture cards are trending down to ~$250.

Fall (when the llamas return)

It's a beautiful fall day, unlike last week when Brian was visiting. And with beautiful falls days, come llamas.

This llama lives on our back fence line. He's been gone lately (not sure where llamas go - perhaps on the llama show circuit ?), but has reappeared now that the weather has gotten nice.

Konfabulator Ports To Windows

Konfabulator! the die-hard, mega-cool desktop beautification widget program has been ported to Windows XP. Once the exclusive treat for Mac OS X fans, Konfabulator was completely screwed by Apple and decided to open new markets to survive.

Maybe they will wise up and port this to Linux.

Lockdown Brewing Company

Kelly and I got a chance to meet our local brewer tonight at the pub. Lockdown Brewing Company Powerhouse Ale, currently only brewed in kegs, is served in several of my favorite pubs and brewed in Folsom. Lockdown has ambitious plans to offer several other brews in the coming months.

Supposedly, the brewery will open their own brewpub in downtown Folsom in December 2005.

Live PSP Under Glass

Gizmodo has a quick link that Sony has actual working PlayStation Portables installed in Tokyo's Shinjuku train station (which I used to have to travel through every day to get to my office in Akasaka).

Read more at Gizmodo : PSP Under Glass. Even better pictures over at Engadget.

New Photo Blogging Service

It looks like Flickr has a new competitor, Zoto.

I haven't done any comparisons yet, but it looks like Flickr is a little further along in terms of market presence and technical development. Still competition is good and the sign of a growing market.

Moving to Canada, Eh ?

Slate has a really good article on the ex-patriot movement stemming from last week's fiasco election.

However, what's really funny about the article is the link to the "new" map.

Salmon Season

Brian and I hit the American River Bike Trail this morning to see the annual salmon run. Although you may not be able to see it in the picture, there are just tons of fisherman waiting for the salmon to release downstream.

Dear TiVo...

This is incredibly cool: Permalinks to specific show episodes for your Tivos. Create a link to a specific show that you can then schedule on your Tivo via their remote scheduling feature.

Although I don't watch much TV thse days, you will see some of these on Wander soon.

The Hidden Door Company

I want these installed in my next house: The Hidden Door Company - Gallery of Products Page.

From our friends at Boing Boing.

Zeke Bone

I want this new Tivo remote. Not only is it a cool purple color, it has a rubberized coating.

Zeke would love this. Unfortunately, you can't buy it -- Tivo is giving them away for referrals.

Solice

After a day or two of discussions with friends about where we should spend our next four years in exile expat paradise, this (the Boing Boing: My Modest Proposal: The U.S.A.R.?) amused me.

Perhaps I can spend my expatriot years here in California.

Vote

Well, Louie and I did our moral civic duty and voted today.

No fancy electronic voting here in EDH. Just strange punch cards and weird California initiatives.

Although Louie is a lifelong Liberterian, I have a sneaky suspicion that he voted for Nader.