I just got set up with IMified which is an interesting IM bot that can be used for notes, reminders and, in this case, blog entries from any IM client that you have access to (in this case iChat from my Mac at work). I’ve just started using it, but it may be a pretty nice way for me to make some quick blog entries. If you are interested in checking it out, just IM IMified (AIM) or imified@gmail.com (Google Talk/Jabber), or go to http://imified.com.
We have been making vacation plans for the family this summer and have decided to take a seven day cruise to Alaska late this June.
While watching a promotional DVD provided by our agent, we saw that Princess Cruises offers one that Becky and I have thought would be one worth investigating: the World Cruise.
That’s right, you too, can get on the boat in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and cruise for 102 days visiting 42 ports of call before you finally disembark in Southampton, England. Sure, it’s about $25k per person but when you do the math, it’s not a bad deal.
We figure it would take about 5-6 years to save up for that. If you wish to contribute funds to the effort, just let me know.
One side project that I’ve been working on for about a week is ripping my catalog of DVDs for use on my iPod and the recently built Mac Mini media center. The iPod has supported video for about 18 months now and I have a video iPod but up until recently, the resolution of the video had to be 320×240 (or 480×480 in some situations). That resolution, while decent on the small iPod screen, isn’t respectable enough for TV playback and that was a pre-requisite for ripping my DVDs. I don’t have enough desire to watch videos only on my iPod to rip my DVDs once for it and then have a second copy for TV playback.
When Apple started selling download-able movies from the iTunes Music Store (iTMS) they made them available at 640×480 and released a firmware update for the video iPod that supported that resolution. For the unfamiliar, that is the effective resolution of NTSC (analog TV) video.
A popular program for ripping DVDs for iPod/computer/Sony PSP use is HandBrake. There are many programs to convert video for iPod use (including iTunes itself), but HandBrake can convert encrypted (read commercial) DVDs that represent most first-run store-bought DVDs.
The original HandBrake program has more-or-less been abandoned by the original author but has been picked up volunteers who have recently added full 640×480 resolution encoding (currently in beta form) and have renamed it MediaFork.
As a disclaimer I have to state that circumventing the encryption on a DVD is currently against the law. Personally, I feel that my use falls logically under fair use as I am doing this for my personal use only on DVDs that I have already bought and paid for. I don’t see why I must spend another $15 to get a lesser quality copy of a DVD I own just to have it on my iPod.
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A colleague at work had a birthday this past Thursday and, to be honest, I thought he was a year or two older than me. As it turns out, he is three years younger than me.
It’s not a big deal, but it’s a bit of a bummer to realize that you are pretty much the oldest in the group (aside from managers). Of course, I never expected that I was the youngest in a the group, but when you realize that you are not, it is a bit tough.
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I think that this is perhaps the funniest commercials I’ve ever seen. I can’t help but laugh every time I see it.
I decided to upgrade the site today to the just released WordPress 2.1. Initial checks look good, but if you find something not looking or working correctly, please let me know.
As quite a lot of people do this time of year, I’m trying to shed some unwanted extra weight from my frame and the primary way I’m accomplishing that is by watching what I’m eating. By eating better foods and lower amounts, I’ve already dropped about seven pounds. Five to ten more and I’m good.
One thing I often have problems with is knowing what the calories of various items are. This page is quite helpful as it shows visually, what 200 calories of different foods look like. This is a very good reference and quite interesting.
I’ve been using MythTV which is the open source DVR and home theater system for Linux for years. I originally set it up because I wanted a TiVo but disliked the concept of a monthly fee to use something that I paid for. Of course, I’m a geek, so it’s reasonable for me to put together a new box, install Linux, and install and configure a fairly complex product that was, at the time, early in development.
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One thing about Disneyland that I heard about years ago is a little know private club in the New Orleans district called Club 33. I ran across a