There's been quite the to-do (or, to-don't?) on forums about the AppleTV. There are a lot of people who hate Apple with a passion, and hate their grand success these past few years with an even greater passion. So when it looks like a new product line (the AppleTV) is a less than astounding device, they assault with all their nerdy, bitter forum-posting might.

To be fair, out of the box the AppleTV isn't a very spectacular device. Heck, we don't even have a video store in Canada, so out of the box it's fairly useless to me. The other day at the AllThingsD technology conference, Steve Jobs said that the AppleTV wasn't a business so much as it was a "hobby". That got me thinking: does he want us to hack this thing?

When I got my AppleTV several weeks ago I did several things. First, I installed a bigger hard drive in it; a not so simple process which involved removing the original drive, imaging it's OS volume, copying that onto the new drive, then installing that into the aTV. Then I got SSH working, so I could log into the system remotely. I installed all sorts of new QuickTime codecs. I got File Sharing turned on so I could drop files onto it remotely without having to go through iTunes (the normal method, which screens out files it believes the aTV can't play).

Most importantly, I got a plugin for aTV called, simply, ATVFiles. It just makes a new main menu which lists files stored in a certain location on the hard drive. So I can play whatever I want. For example: if I were, hypothetically speaking, itching to see season 3 of BattleStar Galactica, but found that the release date for the DVD set hadn't even announced yet, I'd be pretty upset. Now, let's say a friend of mine got a hold of high-quality rips of the HDTV broadcast of season 3. That would be pretty cool, except they're all in DiVX format. So instead of huddling around my laptop screen, Angela and I can... I mean, could just relax on the couch and watch those episodes on Jeff's big TV. Ahhhhh....

Also, at AllThingsD Steve announced that in the next couple of weeks there will be a software update that lets you view YouTube videos live from the interwebs. Admittedly, the quality won't be so great, but once again, it's better than 10 people huddling around one laptop screen.

So is the AppleTV the next, latest, greatest, end-all, be-all, PVR, DVR, HDTV appliance? No, but who cares? It's so much FUN...

Posted at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)

How do you make a tall, multi-level building with only one floor? Try a helical building. Crazy.

Posted at 02:54 PM | Comments (3)

Limnic Eruption: How odd geographic and meteorological conditions caused a lake to accumulate CO₂ and kill over 1700 people in 1986.

In case of another national disaster, George Bush wants to declare himself dictator. But then, we Canadians have this little piece of legislation.

Movies I have seen lately: Little Miss Sunshine, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Pan's Labyrinth.

Adam, we NEED more BSG.... please!

Posted at 05:53 PM | Comments (3)

Starcraft II: It's about !@#*ing time.

Posted at 12:22 PM | Comments (2)

I'm in Pender Harbour. Whoop.

Posted at 06:42 PM | Comments (1)

Chatbots have been around for a while. They're programs that try to trick you into believing that they're alive by using a set of algorithms to respond to conversation. So what happens when you take two of the top chatbots, ALICE and Jabberwacky, and have them talk to eachother? The results are fairly amusing.

Posted at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)

Top 25 Censored News Stories of 2007

Some of these I've never heard of, but there are a few on this list that made me say: "Yes, I've heard of that. Why isn't this stuff making the news?" Specifically debates on the future of the internet and the massive U.S. detention centres being built.

That world is such a scary, awful place.

Posted at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)

Man, it's the middle of May already. Before I know it summer will be upon me. Where's the time going?

The wedding was wonderful, by the way. It's always good to let all that gooshy stuff run free. I had a good time seeing lots of people I haven't talked to in ages. It makes you realize how a couple of years doesn't seem like a lot of time anymore. Good times, good times...

Actually, one of the reasons I didn't blog last week was the horrific fever I came down with on Monday which made me feel like a baby that someone had beat with a pipe. It took me a few days to feel fully back on my feet. Nadia had something awful on Monday too, and Bryn and Jamie apparently came down with something. I have a feeling that these events where we spread the love also have a way of spreading the germs.

Right now I'm eating lunch. Lunch consists of broccoli, asparagus and cheese crépes leftover from yesterday (thank you Angela), with a Henry Weinhard's orange cream soda from the local convenience store. I don't know if you'll find any of that interesting, but I just thought I'd mention it because that's what I'm doing.

Going to Pender Harbour with Iain and friends next weekend. REALLY looking forward to getting away. I need a vacation very badly.

Posted at 11:43 AM | Comments (2)

Today consisted of:

- Long, boring, uneventful work day
- Stay-at-home co-worker showing up at the office
- Impromptu visit to the Keg next door by the entire office
- 2 Manhattans, 2 glasses of red wine and dinner (courtesy of the company)
- A sudden exit and somewhat crooked walk up Burrard street to the theatre
- Spider-Man 3 with Iain and Jen – w00t!

Yesterday I was walking with a new coworker past Granville and... I walked by Jude Law. Which was really odd. Because it wasn't one of those experiences where you're like, "Say, that person kind of looks like... maybe..." and you wonder about it for a bit. He was Jude-fucking-Law, right out of A.I. or Closer or I ♥ Huckabees. I looked back over my shoulder to see him pull a small note out of his jacket pocket and take a look up at the street sign. Maybe he hasn't been around here before. Upon retelling, my boss suggested that I should have called out to him: "Hey, Jude!" I'm guessing he's probably heard that one before.

I'm going to see two good friends of mine finally tie the knot tomorrow. I'm very happy for Bryn and Jamie, and I look forward to event, as I do to any wedding where close friends get to celebrate their love and commitment. I must admit, selfishly, that the thing I'm most looking forward to is seeing my lovely Angela all dolled up, and getting all dressed up, and getting to dance with her, all romantic-like.

I love you, sweetie. ;-)

♥

Posted at 11:59 AM | Comments (2)

I'm going to break my relative silence by writing a long post about something I've recently become passionate about.

The band Nine-Inch Nails has always been on the periphery of my interest. I've known a lot of friends who've liked them and their industrialist-electroinc sound pleases me. Their last album kind of sucked, though, so I hadn't taken the time to become a true fan.

Several months ago, NiN fans began finding mysterious USB keys at concerts. They keys contained never-before heard tracks from a new album, as well as other strange "clues" and links to odd websites. As fans continued their investigation, a story began to take shape. Some people went through some serious detective work, including spectral analysis of audio on the keys. The clues were disparate and numerous, so much so that a Wiki was formed to collect and organize all the information. Although I haven't read through all the data, the story goes something like this:

In the near future, terrorists use biological weapons in an attack against Los Angeles. The results are devastating; millions die. This leads to a further military push against "rogue states", and tighter government restrictions on the U.S. populace at large. Eventually, all Americans are forced to take a drug called Parepin which the government claims "bootstraps" the immune system and galvanizes the body against biological attacks. The U.S. populace becomes increasingly docile and malleable and some begin to realize that Parepin is merely an agent of psychological control.

As western governments tighten their grip on their citizens, the citizens begin to form resistance groups. Islamic terrorists attack more aggressively in response to military incursions. The year zero timeline documents a slow and steady erosion of rights. Elections are suspended. The US begins a new calendar (hence Year Zero) and begins to revise history. Church and state begin to merge. The gap between the rich and poor becomes a gaping chasm. People who openly resist, criticize, or oppose the government disappear to secret prisons in Guam. Humanity's exploitation of the Earth has caused the environment to rapidly decay.

Then, people begin to see The Presence: an ominous, hand-like thing which descends from the sky and speaks, "from inside" those it addresses. It tells them that their chance from redemption is fading, and that if humanity cannot make amends that it shall "wipe this place clean". As more encounters with the Presence occur, it is dismissed as a drug-induced hallucination. Some see it as the embodiment of God.

As a last-ditch effort to save mankind, a group of scientists make use of a resonance property of quantum computing to send data back in time, that could be accessed via our present-day internet (this being NiN's explanation for the mysterious websites). They try to send as much evidence back as possible before they are caught and arrested.

Humanity's downward spiral (pun intended) continues, until one day the Presence follows through with it's pledge, and the apocalypse occurs.

Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails tell the story through their album, Year Zero, which skilfully crafted lyrics and viscerally emotional electronic music. It is a frightening vision of the future, as could only be told by NiN. I applaud them, not only for their honesty but also their artful presentation. If any of you are Nine Inch Nails fans or enjoy electronic music in general I heartily recommend you check this album out.

Posted at 09:04 PM | Comments (2)

I have no idea what to say.

Posted at 10:54 PM | Comments (1)