Windows Media Center

I haven't officially said it online, but I'm done with MediaPortal.

Windows Media Center in Windows 7 works so much better.

It's more stable, automatically downloads the program guide (for the correct time zone and time change), can be accessed on my android phone remotely, doesn't quit if disconnected from the network, wakes from sleep to record, has a better interface, and is just generally great overall.

Plus it has a great build in photo screensaver.

I've spent countless hours (days, weeks) tweaking, repairing, fixing, enhancing, un-enhancing...

My HTPC isn't a hobby anymore, I don't have to mess with it.

DIY 3.5" to 5.25" Hard Drive Adapter

Hard drive adapter brackets are so expensive, I decided to make some myself. I now have a dozen adapters for the price of one pair on newegg.

These are made out of 3/4" aluminum channel. Available from ye olde neighborhood big box hardware shoppe. Trim to 3-5/8" long.

The threaded holes that attach to the case are 1/8". They could probably be smaller if you have a tap & die set to thread the holes.

The pass through holes for the hard drive are 3/16".

The mounting pattern is:

3-1/16" on center for the case side of the bracket
2-5/16" on center for the hard drive side of the bracket.

These measurements may be more exact in metric, but the longest metric measuring device I have is a SwissCard.

Tip A: It's handy to have a drill press.
Tip B: I drilled the hard drive side holes through both sides so a screwdriver can be inserted all the way through for easy mounting.
Sub Tip B: Drill the important side first, then allow the bit to go through the less critical side.

I have to say it

The Eames' are overrated! There I said it.

They're overrated, overrated overrated!

THERE IS NO EAMES ERA. It's called the 50s, not the damn Eames era.

They didn't invent 50s design, but they did put a lot of work in on "everythingIdoisart".

I tried to watch a video about the Eames' once. It made me nauseous. Bent plywood, feathers in a box, and some fiberglass work stolen from Eero Saarinen. Worthless.

Check out someone who broke some ground. Gerrit Rietveld, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Alvar Aalto, or Richard Neutra.

Sometimes

Sometimes you just run into something interesting.

http://suttonhoo.blogspot.com/

While googleing Niles, IL. The tagline is either "Where People Count" or "Niles; It's All Here"

Illustrator

A very cool illustrator; Esther

Video conversion

I recently inherited a T-Mobile Shadow (aka HTC Phoebus). It's a pretty sharp little device. I haven't had any of the problems people complain about on the interwebs. It's a little quirky, but I like it.

Windows mobile 6 is an interesting animal, settings are all over the place. I'm actually slightly amazed I have it working, MS Exchange Syncing and everything.

Putting video on it has been pretty easy, I spent some time tweaking but it looks pretty good right now. I used Handbrake to turn some avi files into m4v files.

Turns out the frogs that code Handbrake are real jerks. Every other video processor allows you to select multiple files to encode. An entire directory perhaps. Not Handbrake. Oh no. Those frenchies don't want you to. Check this out:

Turns out a freedom loving individual out there has an answer: the Handbrakebatchencoder. I feel like I'm in Sweden or something. There are very long words in Sweden.
Check it out: http://handbrakebatchencode.codeplex.com/

This is why those quiche eaters are jerks. Check out how they treat their users in their own forums: http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7945

That's why I like Media Portal. The forums are a gentrified place of refined discussion. A place where developers don't eat crepes and mock their users.

Ok, back on topic.

1. Download and install Handbrake regular, the GUI edition (this and #2 are here)
2. Download Handbrake Command Line Interface edition. Unzip it to here: "C:\Program Files\HandBrakeCLI\HandBrakeCLI.exe"
3. Download and unzip the Handbrakebatchencoder, set aside
4. Get Handbrake to show it's query. Go to Tools>Options>Advanced and "Enable Query Editor"
5. Trial and error your way to getting video the way you want it. Dial it in.

Now you're ready for a batch encode. Open up the batchencoder .exe. Make sure your paths are going to the right place and paste in the query from Handbrake GUI, making sure you're putting it in there right. There's an example preloaded to get you started.

Here's the query I'm running.

-t 1 -c 1 -f mp4 -w 320 -l 240 -e ffmpeg -b 140 -r 15 -a 1 -E faac -6 dpl2 -R 48 -B 160 -D 0.0 -v 1

Details
320 x 240
MP4
No Filters
MPEG-4
15 Frames Per Second
140k Average Bit Rate
128 Bit Rate Audio

The video looks good. You can try a higher video bit rate if you'd like, it might make it look a little better but might glitch. The 200 Mhz processor in the Shadow isn't a blockbuster these days.

Chicago RedEye (it's a newspaper)

This is my favorite article from my favorite RedEye writer, entitled Hotdogocalypse.