Yesterday I recieved a new laptop – the Toshiba Qosmio F15 Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 multimedia machine. Amazing little laptop, that – integrated TV tuner, PVR functionality, 80GB drive, Pentium M 745/1.8ghz, NVIDIA GeForce FXGo5700/128MB, etc. Early reactions are that it’s fairly HUGE (14.7″x11.2″x1.7″) and HEAVY (8.6 lbs, plus adapter). So it’s not quite the svelte machine that my TiBook is. But then again, this machine is much faster, has better video, and can watch/record tv. The Media Center apps are an interesting acoutrement, too. Got it up and running pretty easily, but was confounded by *two* audio streams from my DirecTV box. Turned out that you have to mute the line-in audio signal, otherwise you get audio piped directly through to the speakers *and* the encoded audio from the MCE video recorder. Was proud that I figured that out. And what is the deal with user manuals only on the HD for $2500 pieces of gear? That’s B.S., thank you very much. More detailed review soon.
All posts by jetrotz
Dad feels a kick!
Today, Joey was able to feel baby kicking up a storm inside Amy’s stomach. An awesome moment, really. Now I’m talking to the baby every night. I think baby likes human voices – seems more active when I do that. Wicked cool!
Watchmen Movie?
One of the best graphics novels ever, created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon back in the mid-80s, looks to finally be moving closer to becoming a movie. Slashot covers a Reuters report that Bourne Supremacy director Paul Greengrass is taking the helm after another director dropped out of the picture due to scheduling conflicts. I care for two reasons. The first is that this crime drama could make for an amazing, if somewhat geek-centric film. The other is that I bought this baby at a rock-bottom price on HSX.com, and hope it adds a few million more to my Hollywood Stock Exchange portfolio. For those of you who haven’t seen this thing – it’s rather like a fantasy stock market game for movie buffs. Buy low, sell high, short options – I’ve been playing this thing since 1998. I started with $2M of their ‘Hollywood Bucks’, and have a portfolio worth over $150M now. If that had only been real money…sob.
Blogging from Iraq
The photographer who captured what could be the Eddie Adams moment of Gulf War II has posted a personal explanation of those events, addressed to the members of the squad he has been working and living with for many months. ‘Kevin Sites | Blog‘ is a must read, offering insight into not only how a journalist must function in a war zone, but into the human side of this conflict. Now, in what is reportedly the first New York Times news story built entirely around a blog entry, the Gray Lady is covering this report (free registration required) in detail in today’s edition.