Andy Wood

One of these was handed to me today: (thanks Jackie)

Apple iPod Nano (fourth generation, 16GB, red)

All of the features from last year’s Nano have migrated to the fourth-generation model, including music, video, and podcast playback, as well as extras such as photos, calendar, games, alarms, stopwatch, contacts, notes, and clocks. Apple also added a few features that make the 4G Nano more compelling than its predecessors.

A new Genius feature lets you create an instant 25-song playlists based around the musical characteristics of a single song. The Genius feature is easy to use, and the results are fun, provided your music collection holds enough songs to make interesting connections. To create a Genius playlist, find a song you like and hold the Nano’s center button until you see a Start Genius menu option. You can save Genius playlists directly onto your Nano, and with automatic syncing enabled in iTunes you can also transfer them back to your computer. Oddly, the Nano’s Genius feature won’t work if haven’t enabled Genius on your computer’s iTunes software. If you find iTunes’ Genius feature too demanding on your computer’s resources or too invasive of your privacy (the feature reports your listening habits to Apple), then you’ll need to live without the feature on your iPod as well.

The fourth-generation iPod Nano also adds the same tilt-sensor found in the iPhone and iPod Touch, which allows for some interesting control tricks. Giving the iPod Nano a vigorous shake, for instance, puts the music player into shuffle mode. Causal shaking caused by running or exercising isn’t enough to trigger the Nano’s shuffle mode, and you can always deactivate the shake-to-shuffle feature under the iPod’s setting menu or by engaging the hold switch.

If you passed on last year’s iPod Nano and are still holding on to a first- or second-generation Nano (or possibly an iPod Mini), there’s no better time to bite the bullet and get an upgrade. Given its competitive price, attractive range of colors, and improved user interface, Apple’s fourth-generation of the iPod Nano is its best yet.

Oh yeah… there is a difference:

Took about an hour, as I did a methodical wire by wire swappage.  I wanted to ensure that ever thing on the home network was working ok.

My Rig
Xbox360
Xbox
MediaVault
Jacks ‘puter
Printer
Downstairs Rear of house
Downstairs Front of house
Old file Server

Everything is online and seems to be working..  back to the project.

This was all possible via

Linksys WRT610N dual-N band router

I am sure that there are some people out there that have something very similar to this:

It isn’t a major problem, but it does make a clutter and from time to time, the replacing of the batteries gets a little much for the wallet.

The solution?

I think that the Harmony 550 might be the solution.  The software for programming your separate devices is "ok", perhaps it was to late for me to start doing ‘tech’ things, but it took me like 15-25 mins to install the software and program the basic TV operations.  It works though..

So… can I trade a little ‘learning curve’ for a 7 to 1 remote replacement and the saving in battery replacements?  I think so.

Open box, plug in power, plug in network cable, power on, wait for all HD lights to stop flickering, install software and the HP MV2120 500GB Media Vault is ready to be go.

I am not kidding either, setting up a share is a snap as well.  This was a lot easier than building a new computer, installing software, applying updates, etc.

This little library is the new file server for our home.  It is also an addition to the Xbox Media Center that I am in the progress of customizing the way I want.

To date, the above little dude is storing the complete .iso of:

Blade Trinity, Hot Fuzz, I Am Legend, Predator, Resident Evil Extinction, Tremors, Troy and Diary of the Dead.

Once I get this all fine tuned the way I want.  I will share what I did and how I did it.

The project that I have been talking about has been pretty successful.   Basically:

It allows you to:

Take a movie -

Say:

and stream (either the entire DVD or just the ripped movie) over your home network.

You utilize an original xbox along with some software , you can either ftp the files to the Xbox or stream from a source through the Xbox to your TV.

People have been doing it for years, but I ran into a situation where my 3 DVD carousals were starting to get tight on space.

I will post more details as to what I did and how soon.

I thought that this was going to be the hardest to find, but it wasn’t really.

If you do a little digging around, you might be able to figure out what I am doing with this and this and what I am showing here.

I have already made a dry run and it was successful, but now I need to dig deeper before I post more details.

Stay Tuned!

For this project that I am going to be doing shortly, another item

has arrived.

I am starting a new project and this new project will need one of these:

Yumm.

Oh yeah… all most as good as this.

When the HD format DVDs were starting to roll off the assembly line.  It was a no-brainer decision for me which format to go with.  Since I am the proud owner of an Xbox 360 , I opted for the HD-DVD add-on.

Now that the format wars are slightly over, am I bummed that I have a small library of movies that I can’t really enjoy?

No!

Enter the LG BH200 Super Blu Blu-Ray HD DVD Combo Player which is the solution for me.  It will allow me to play my current library and continue to expand my library in the HD range.

Oh yeah!