Posts by Stuff n Things
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It'll be really interesting to hear how you guys work out with you're fancy new equipment. I thought it was particularly cool that Joanna was getting some benefit out of the box without having to have the latest and greatest TV.
We recently picked up a cheap-as-it gets solution to recording Freeview. We found that this 'JC Matthews' freeview HD tuner box (no, I've never heard of them either) can record high-def freeview on to an external hard drive through a standard USB plug.* You need to be a teeny bit tech-savy (download a software update file on to a thumb-drive, stick it in the box's USB slot and then search through a few menus), but it finally means that we can actually record freeview shows. It's very much in the style of the old VCR (you have to manually set the time and date) but the high-definition picture is woooooonderful on a LCD TV.
(slightly off-topic: CSI is v gross the first time you see it in high-def)
The interface is not perfect, and the manual does not give any advice about how to record a show, but I only paid about $200 for it - which was the winner for me at the end of the day (I can't justify payin $900 for a recorder anytime soon). I wouldn't recommend it to my grandparents, but for anyone slightly tech-savy it is an option...
*I'm not afilliated with this product or company ... just want to mention cheaper recording options.
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I'm very keen to see where IPTV goes in the next wee while - the idea of programmes on demand has so much potential! TVNZ and TV3 have ondemand websites - now it's just a matter of getting that content on my TV with a user-friendly interface...
I recently had a go at attaching a small, low power computer (an Asus EEBox, about $500) to the back of our LCD TV to view YouTube and related streaming sites. It's been pretty awesome, but non-YouTube sites struggle to provide a consistent stream. I get a good TV-friendly interface with some software called Boxee, and have been very pleased that this has given me ondemand-style access to old Media 7 and Top Gear episodes (yus!).
Am interested to see how the NZ streaming website ziln.co.nz works out. It seems to have potential, but at the moment it's a bit too slow to be useful. Of course this is probably the fault of our internet connection, but I'm in the middle of one of NZ's larger cities with a 'fast as your line can go' broadband plan, so I'm not sure there's much more I can do about the line in...
The Myfreeview and Tivo boxes are interesting, but I think a lot of potential customers have been a bit disappointed to see that the cost of buying in to the technology is closer to $1000 than, say $400.
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Surely changing a car tyre has got to be in there?
Again, I'm not insinuating that people of the inwards-genital persuasion can't do this ... just observing that I feel strong and manly when I've had opportunity to prove that I can lift a tyre, use a jack, remove the nuts and get my hands dirty. And sweat. Or something.
Roar.
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Marriage is all about church? News to me.
My wife never developed an interest in Christianity, and I made my mind up to not pursue it when I was young. We got married in January this year - and I can assure you there was nothing church-y about it.
Our celebrant gave us a huge about of information for planning the ceremony, and none of it required reference to a man on a cross or a dude in the sky. The only thing that didn't work was singing (it's easy to give church-goers a hym to sing, but it can be HARD to find a suitable song you can get a bunch of friends & family to karioke to)
What is marriage? For us it was just about getting all our favourite people together, making a promise in front of them, and then celebrating the occassion.
PS - was fascinated by the comment from our Dutch photographer, who pointed out that back in his homeland it is compulsory to get married at the Town Hall. You can have a ceremony in a church, but it doesn't officially count until you've had a civil ceremony.
This is kind off the opposite to England where, until recently, you could get married in a church, or a Registry, but NOWHERE else. If you had a ceremony in a winery, you would then have to go have a thing in a Registry. Weird.
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Interesting website... except that it thinks Kiwi only refers to fruit.
I'll come back when it's ready a few more books...
(BTW - at least it knows the meaning of life...)
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You're really getting the hang of the underwater camera - the ray looks particularly cool with the glossy sheen to it.
By the way, the Far Side link is a bit screwy - it has some extra guff at the beginning and end. I believe the correct link is: here
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Awesome underwater shots! I've heard these can be really hard to do right - so well done!
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I got asked to do a phone survey about Ferrit a couple of years ago. I think the guy was kind of surprised that yes, I had heard about the site, yes, I had looked around it and, yes, I actually had bought quite a bit of stuff online (this was around 2005, when online purchases were a bit more of a novelty).
I made a few suggestions about how they could improve the site but the guy didn't really want to know (I guess his survey script didn't have an area for suggestions).
Really, it was quite a shit site. Yes, by the end it did have a comprehensive database of stuff you could buy - but they were let down by the lack of product description. If I buy something online I miss out on being able to see the product in person and I can't just chat to a sales rep about it. To make up for this, I need heaps of info in the product blurb, so I know exactly what I'm getting. In most cases the Ferrit prduct pages had only one or two lines: This is a TV...by Panasonic...the end.
The really silly thing is that Ferrit linked to the Ascent website, which is one of the most thorough and easily accessible shopping websites I've ever come across (for electronic stuff anyway).
Sigh /endrant
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Not Always Right
THANK YOU for this gift! :-)
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Avoid anything with the term "style" in the title. A bit like "pork flavoured" sausages - WTF does that mean anyway?
Also can apply to the term 'drink', ie fruit drink vs fruit juice. BIG difference. I've noticed, however, that it is impossible to get cranberry juice vs cranberry drink (must be something to do with the food standard).
Also - beware foods that are sold as 'dietry supplements' in supermarkets. Manufacturers tend to use this to get round food labelling laws and can put some terrible stuff in teas just because they aren't 'food'...