Solitude is the Air We Breathe

Getting Closer to the Next Project

Just working out costs and benefits for a new fanless desktop. Inside the case we don't need that much so will go for a low power Intel Core i5 processor and as much storage as possible.


The case choices so far are:

Streacom's FC05 OD (untested)

A-Tech Fabrications NAS4x (but can't handle full i5 processor)

HDPlex's H5.S Series (but product currently unavailable)

So still a bit of thinking to do. In the meantime, let's upgrade the Lorne media centre yay!


Further Info:

Windows 7 Starter Kit

I Yawned. Solid.

Sound-Style-Power-Connectivity-Value

Ezzy has been listening to more music at home via the TV, so we thought we would look into something a little more portable and less energy-intensive. Here are some of the options:

Lifetrons Drumbass IIIe

UFi UCube USB-Digital Speakers

Philips Fidelio Prime DS9000

Sonos Play 3

Yamaha TSX80

Yamaha TSX140

Interested in Conflict?

[Solved] Front LED Too Bright

One of the issues we have with the MP45-BDR (which otherwise is an awesome little HTPC for the living room) is that the blue LED on the front is VERY BRIGHT. It also blinks when the little one goes to sleep, almost as if a pulsar is approaching.


I looked into tweaking the voltage to the LED but the risk/reward pay-off wasn't there.


Instead I have opted for a small piece of transparent plastic which I shaded in with a Sharpie.

Further Info:

Windows 7 Starter Kit

Windows XP Starter Kit

2nd Baby Arrived (father doing well)

Baby News

RKHTPC

[Solved] Wi-Fi Extender

I, Dino

[Solved] To NAS or Not to NAS

After the stupid Inspiron 5150 died, we got the Asus Ezy PC. Then we relocated the HTPC to the study and started using Ethernet over Powerline to stream from the HTPC to the MP45-BDR.  This set-up works ok and even has WAF.


BUT
Somehow we filled up the 2x1TB drives on the HTPC, so the question becomes, is the Next Project a NAS or is it a new media PC (Sandy Bridge?) to replace the one at Lorne?  In particular, I am intrigued by the promise of WiDi 2.0, which might solve the problem of the bad connection infrastructure at Lorne.


SOLUTION?
In the end I went with upgrading the HTPC HDDs to 2x2TB HDDs.  I used WD Caviar Greens (combination of low power consumption and "brand name" reliability) so now we have 4TB of storage capacity (plus the old 1TB drives can be used in the Next Project).


Switching over the drives was fairly standard but, partly for fun, I installed a new USB3.0 card, and then used a cheap HDD dock to transfer the files (max speed observed was about 49MB/s - not earth-shattering but much faster than the USB2.0 speeds I was looking at, plus now I can use USB3.0 devices).


Now to copy those archived files onto the new HDDs and fill them up too.

eBay Results

Netcomm NP204 Powerline Adapters $102.50

Cotton Hammock $5.00 (donated to charity)

USB Multi-Display Adapter $20

DVico FusionHDTV DVT-T Nano $11.83

Intel 2.4GHz 4MB Core 2 Duo T7700 $60

Bose 301 Series IV Direct/Reflecting Speakers $208.50

Aiwa HV-MX100u VCR $25

 Alan Pinkus Ladies Gold & Silver open toe heels size 9 $1.25

Bose Lifestyle 5 Series II $415

Next Project

I am not sure what the Next Project will be yet, but I know it will look cool:

Or maybe:

Further Info:

Windows 7 Starter Kit

Windows XP Starter Kit

2nd Baby Arrived (father doing well)

Baby News

RKHTPC

Windows 7 Starter Kit

The stupid Dell Inspiron 5150 finally died (well not really, it hangs on boot, but I can't be bothered to reinstall everything again).


Time to upgrade! Especially since Ezzy needs a new laptop for her Ph.D.


We chose the Asus Ezy PC 1215N (Black) based on size, looks, and ability to run some basic apps.


Here's what I'm installing this afternoon:

• AVG Anti-Virus
• Google Chrome
• Adobe Flash
• Adobe Reader
• MS Office 2007 (have the install DVD)
• 7-Zip
• K-Lite Codec Pack
• Internode Monthly Usage Meter
• PC Coach
• iTunes :(
• Skype

Further Info:
Windows XP Starter Kit
2nd Baby Arrived (father doing well)
Baby News
RKHTPC

Chinese Rule

Further Info:
"Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior" by Amy Chua, WSJ Online, 8 January 2011
"The Tiger Mother Responds to Readers" by Amy Chua, WSJ Online, 11 January 2011
"Why I Love My Strict Chinese Mom" by Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, NYPost, 18 January 2011