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| Spending frenzy | |
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6.01.2008
12:18 PM | Link |
 One of the positive side-effects of all my decluttering efforts has been a change in my purchasing habits. I used to view buying things as one of my hobbies, but lately I've been much more frugal, trying to buy fewer DVDs and books, for example. I've also been saving more and monitoring my savings closely. So, feeling weird about spending a lot of money is a relatively new feeling for me! Last month I had a lot of expenses converge so it felt like I was bleeding cash. I had to pay for the rest of my Las Vegas vacation, buy a new suit for a wedding, and my car needed some semi-major maintenance, all at the same time. I could afford all these things, but I was only able to save half of what I usually do - no big deal, but I decided I would take a break from buying anything for this month. However, this morning I did the exact opposite - I just ordered an HDTV! And now you get to hear me justify my huge purchase!Switching to HDTV was actually one of my goals for this year, along with replacing other furniture like my computer workspace and my rocking chair. So, I was already committed to getting one sometime this year. Last Christmas I got to setup and experience my dad's new HDTV, which has been fueling my desire for months! The only thing holding me back was the amount of change involved, since I'll have lots of things to get rid off (my old incredibly heavy TV, my old AV receiver, my entertainment center) and I also knew I would need a new TiVo for HD recordings. Well, that's what pushed me over the edge - Amazon is having a special right now (for about a week) on Samsung HDTVs (which I had already chosen as the brand I wanted) with a completely free TiVo HD box! Since I'm a TiVo addict, there was no question that I needed the box, and now I'm getting it free and saving around $225! The model I ordered is the Samsung LNT4071F, which is similar to my dad's, but a little newer with a higher contrast ratio. In a way, all of this is becoming a decluttering project, too, because with the new TiVo I can get rid of my cable box (along with my receiver and speakers I already mentioned), so eventually my AV world is going to be nice and tidy. Of course, I have no idea how I will begin the transformation once the new HDTV arrives, but I'm sure it will be a fun adventure! Labels: decluttering, life, tivo |
| Five minutes of entertainment | |
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9.23.2007
7:04 AM | Link |
 I've really been enjoying TiVoCast lately! For non-TiVo people out there, TiVoCast automatically downloads short videos from the web (usually popular video podcasts) so you can watch them easily just like any other TV show on your TiVo. They have signed up lots of my favorite stuff, and it's definitely helped me stay up-to-date with my podcast watching, since convenience always wins for me! It's nice to watch the latest Rocketboom when I have a spare five minutes here and there, without ever worrying about getting it from iTunes to my iPod (and I will always prefer watching video on my TV to sitting in front of a computer monitor). Besides Rocketboom, I love the animation shorts on Channel Federator, the quick tech reports on CNET, the hilarious (and amazingly high quality) fake news reports on the Onion News Network, as well as a few fun pop culture shows (and there are still other shows to choose from!). Recently I've been totally into Pulp Secret and their show called The Stack, which is three guys sitting around reviewing comic books. I love watching fans obsessed with what they truly enjoy, and these guys have so much fun talking about the latest issues and throwing around their comic book inside jokes - it definitely makes me want to pick up some of the titles they review and check them out on my own!Labels: tivo |
| Unbox on TiVo is cool | |
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3.29.2007
10:13 PM | Link | I used to be pretty skeptical about video downloading services, because I rarely watch video on my Mac (I would much rather burn DVDs and then watch them on my TV later). But recently I decided to try Amazon Unbox, because now you can order video that magically appears on your TiVo, ready to watch! It's definitely a great idea, and while I'm still much more likely to just rent DVDs via Netflix, I had to try out the service since they gave me a $15 credit to give it a shot. It took me about two seconds to register my TiVo (every TiVo has a unique service ID) with Amazon, and then I started browsing movies. Amazon has most movies for $3 or $4 bucks (which is like a virtual rental), and I decided to check out Idiocracy. After buying the movie with a single click, it started downloading directly to my TiVo in just a few minutes - pretty impressive! Watching the movie was great, just like any other TiVo show. It's nice to have another option for semi-immediate viewing, especially for impulse rentals. With technology like this, it really makes me think about all the cool possibilities there are for home media devices like TiVo - it's only going to get cooler! |
| TiVo Series 2 | |
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6.02.2006
8:24 PM | Link |
 Yesterday I finally joined the current TiVo revolution with an 80-hour Series 2 DVR! I've been a TiVo fan for years, chugging along with my giant Sony Series 1 model, but I've had my eye on the Series 2 for months and months, since the price kept coming down. Well, they recently kind of gave up on selling the boxes altogether, since now the TiVo box is free if you agree to the monthly service for at least a year. I was paying for that anyway, so why not get a super-cool new TiVo box for nothing? (Of course, the Series 3 HD box is just around the corner, but I don't plan on switching to HD until next year, I think.) I just hooked the new TiVo up yesterday, and I'm totally loving it. The setup process was amazingly smooth (much easier than several years ago with my original model), especially since I'm using my wireless network to connect, rather than the phone line! So, now my TiVo is a full-fledged net device, with all kinds of cool possibilities, such as listening to podcasts, viewing photo libraries, and online scheduling, which I just tried out today! I'm also enjoying new tweaks in the TiVo user interface, such as folder groupings of recorded shows and sleeker menu backgrounds. I'm totally re-impressed with TiVo all over again!
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| TiVo and pizza | |
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2.01.2005
7:29 PM | Link |
It's a rainy day, so I think I'm going to order a pizza and veg with TiVo all evening. I've been following a silly schedule of giving each day a "theme" so I can decide what to do with my free time. It helps me to balance all of the stuff I like to do, so it's kind of fun. Anyway, today will definitely be TiVo day, since I have several episodes of Enterprise and the new Battlestar Galactica to catch up on!
Today my pal Ryan and I went shopping for lunch - he shopped for DVDs and stuff for a Super Bowl party, and I bought some more stuff at the The Container Store, since I have been going wild with organizing in the past few weeks (one of my New Year's resolutions). Now I have a place to put all my GameBoy Advance games, a crate for my Christmas decorations, and another big container for random garage stuff. Last night I moved all my college papers into nice plastic boxes - no more cardboard for me! Well, my PEZ month on Flickr is finished - take a look at the whole thing! I think now I'm going to move to my die-cast Disney attraction vehicle collection. Hopefully I can get some semi-sharp photos of them. |
| Strength through spinach | |
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6.07.2003
9:42 PM | Link |
 Sometimes the TiVo guide descriptions really crack me up. The other day I happened to notice the description for a half-hour of Popeye cartoons: "The sailor courts Olive Oyl and gains strength through spinach". I guess that's exactly accurate, but it sounds so silly!
Very few things are more embarrassing than being awakened by the crash of your empty beer glass slipping from your lap and shattering on the floor! That's what I get for falling asleep in my rocking chair, I guess. (At least I had finished the beer!) |
| Time for TiVo | |
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9.27.2002
9:57 PM | Link |
Tonight is TiVo catch up night - now I've seen the season premieres of Enterprise and Smallville, along with some Justice League and other stuff. Both were great, and both were a little hokey, too. But hey, I had fun watching them!
I just noticed that my car is 75% paid off - I might start paying a little extra to finish it off at the beginning of the year. Think of all the silly junk I could buy with that car payment!  Disneyland Countdown: 15 days!
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| TiVo catch-up | |
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8.21.2002
10:25 PM | Link |
I've been trying to catch up on all the episodes of Enterprise that I missed - my TiVo is filling up with them! (Have I mentioned how essential TiVo is? "Watch more in less time" is my motto!)
Walt Disney World Countdown: 22 days!
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| TiVo random frames | |
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8.22.2001
11:38 PM | Link |
I think that "last frames" of things that TiVo records are really interesting. What I mean is that when TiVo records a show, there are usually the first few minutes of whatever came on afterwards, so when I fast-forward to the end of the recording, it stops on some random frame of something (part of a commercial, the opening of the next show, or whatever). These last frames are so cool because of their complete randomness - there's no way I could ever consciously create a collection of such varied images. It would be fascinating to see a set of these all together. (I know, this is a bizarre thing to talk about, but I really do think about this everytime I watch a recording!)
I'm finally getting around to some old Last 5 reviews. They're weeks old, but I don't think any entertainment decisions are made based on WEBmikey reviews anyway. |
| TiVo bliss | |
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6.20.2001
11:30 PM | Link |
After 19 nights away from the couch, tonight I stayed home. Believe it or not, I was tempted to go out just to keep the streak going, but the gentle beeps of TiVo lured me into an evening of escapist bliss. So, with a pipe and a pot of coffee, I managed to watch:
Whew! That should do me for the weekend, which once again is full of rehearsals and music. I guess I love both worlds (the world of vegging and the world of living), but I've been a little unbalanced for some time. I think the best thing I (or anyone) can do is keep everything in moderation (including moderation). |
| No TiVo today | |
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5.06.2001
9:20 PM | Link | I've tried to make this a TiVo-less day, and so far it's going well. I needed to spend time studiying for my Philosophy final, and I knew the temptation would be too strong if I even turned on the TV, so I just listened to music today instead. Granted, the reason why it's so easy not to watch is that I know TiVo is recording everything I would want to watch anyway, so look out tomorrow - oh boy! |
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