Here or There? 
In yet another blurred line between real and virtual, the game designers responsible for There are connecting their virtual world to the real one. About to go into a public beta test, There is "the first online getaway that gives you the freedom to play and talk naturally while having fun and making friends". No big deal, right? Well, add 'shop' to that list and that's where it gets a bit more interesting. The game is rumored to include virtual malls that your avatar can shop in, and if you like what your avatar just bought, you can have a real one sent to you next day air.
Field Day festival
Just got an email from w.a.s.t.e announcing that Radiohead will be playing the Field Day festival in Calverton, New York (on Long Island) the weekend of June 7th and 8th. Tickets go on sale 'privately' on April 15th ('publicly' on April 18th), and there are three different ticket types - a Single Day Ticket can be purchased for Saturday, June 7th or Sunday, June 8th for $65, a Two-Day Pass costs $120 and a Two-Day Pass with Camping costs $150. A booking fee will be applied to all tickets.
If Radiohead doesn't sell you on it alone, how about this posse?
Saturday, June 7 - Radiohead, Beck, Thievery Corporation, Beth Orton, Interpol, Royksopp, Liz Phair, Tortoise, TheRaveonettes, Ben Lee, My Morning Jacket, Gemma Hayes, 22-20s, Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players and more.
Sunday, June 8 - The Beastie Boys, Sigur Ros, The Roots, Blur, Elliott Smith, N.E.R.D., Blackalicious, Peanut Butter Wolf, The Music, Polyphonic Spree, Le Tigre and more.
What a lineup.
If Radiohead doesn't sell you on it alone, how about this posse?
Saturday, June 7 - Radiohead, Beck, Thievery Corporation, Beth Orton, Interpol, Royksopp, Liz Phair, Tortoise, TheRaveonettes, Ben Lee, My Morning Jacket, Gemma Hayes, 22-20s, Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players and more.
Sunday, June 8 - The Beastie Boys, Sigur Ros, The Roots, Blur, Elliott Smith, N.E.R.D., Blackalicious, Peanut Butter Wolf, The Music, Polyphonic Spree, Le Tigre and more.
What a lineup.
A Monday night with Tivo's Home Media Option
Well, I raced home on Monday night to do a number of things in preparation for the Syracuse/Kansas game. I ordered pizzas, ran the Swifter over the floors, chilled the beer, uncorked a bottle of wine, upgraded the operating system on my TiVo, installed a wireless network adapter and got TiVo's Home Media Option up and running. All in time for the game and ahead of company arriving.
The service update took the longest, and is required in order to make use of the Home Media Option (among other things). The download of the service update took 30 minutes or so, which was followed up by a manual restart and an automated 15 minute installation process. While that process was underway, I headed to my computer to download, install and configure the TiVo Desktop software and then paid the pizza delivery guy. Pretty standard version one media management software, top notch pizza.
Once the service update was applied, I plugged my Netgear MA101 802.11b Wireless USB Adapter into one of the two TiVo Series 2 USB ports on the back of the unit. The adapter was detected right away, at which point I carried out the straightforward installation steps (DHCP settings, wireless network identification, 128-bit WEP key entry, etc.). The next thing I knew, I was listening to Underworld through my A/V receiver, all courtesy of TiVo. Very cool.
The skinny? Well, the remote scheduling interface, streaming music and digital photo viewing capabilities are rudimentary, but functional. While the remote scheduling works, it currently relies on your TiVo to pull requested recording changes down on its next scheduled reconnect, which currently only happens once per day (and I haven't found a way to adjust that setting). That obviously leaves much to be desired as far as just-in-time recording goes. I don't have two TiVos, so I have nothing to say about the TiVo-to-TiVo sharing outside of I think that it's crap that you have to pay $50 bucks to install HMO on the second unit.
All in all, it's a pretty cool version one feature package that will, no doubt, get better with age, but remote scheduling needs the most work. The package is well worth the up-front cost for one unit, especially if you are able to cancel your home phone line once TiVo is downloading updates from your network.
The service update took the longest, and is required in order to make use of the Home Media Option (among other things). The download of the service update took 30 minutes or so, which was followed up by a manual restart and an automated 15 minute installation process. While that process was underway, I headed to my computer to download, install and configure the TiVo Desktop software and then paid the pizza delivery guy. Pretty standard version one media management software, top notch pizza.
Once the service update was applied, I plugged my Netgear MA101 802.11b Wireless USB Adapter into one of the two TiVo Series 2 USB ports on the back of the unit. The adapter was detected right away, at which point I carried out the straightforward installation steps (DHCP settings, wireless network identification, 128-bit WEP key entry, etc.). The next thing I knew, I was listening to Underworld through my A/V receiver, all courtesy of TiVo. Very cool.
The skinny? Well, the remote scheduling interface, streaming music and digital photo viewing capabilities are rudimentary, but functional. While the remote scheduling works, it currently relies on your TiVo to pull requested recording changes down on its next scheduled reconnect, which currently only happens once per day (and I haven't found a way to adjust that setting). That obviously leaves much to be desired as far as just-in-time recording goes. I don't have two TiVos, so I have nothing to say about the TiVo-to-TiVo sharing outside of I think that it's crap that you have to pay $50 bucks to install HMO on the second unit.
All in all, it's a pretty cool version one feature package that will, no doubt, get better with age, but remote scheduling needs the most work. The package is well worth the up-front cost for one unit, especially if you are able to cancel your home phone line once TiVo is downloading updates from your network.
Tivo's Home Media Option
TiVo's Home Media Option has finally hit the shelves (so to speak). I purchased my subscription just after lunch. I've been meaning to hook TiVo into my wireless network and get rid of my home phone for awhile now, and the HMO will help accomplish that (and pay for itself within 3 months). Factor in remote scheduling and MP3 streaming, and you have one extra-thick layer of icing on the cake. I'll report back with a verdict once I've got everything running.
