Station in the Metro

Get a VHS/DVD Combo Deck

Oct 30, 2006 ramblings

I was trying to transfer my VHSes to DVD the manual, digitize and burn way, because I’m a control freak, and I want nice DVDs with pretty menus and edited-out commercials. But, I finally got one of the Panasonic combo VHS/DVD decks, and it does a great job. Sure the menus aren’t as pretty, but at least they’re digital, and if I ever want to go back and make pretty DVDs, it’s pretty easy to rip, edit and re-burn on my Mac.

If you want to get it done fast, a combo deck is the way to go. The Pannys even let you specify how long to record for, and then it will auto-stop and finalize the disc for you—so you can go do something productive while it dubs.

See more progress on: convert my VHS tapes to DVD

Understand Widescreen Video in 30 Seconds or Your Money Back

Oct 29, 2006 editing, ramblings

I’m writing this because just about every explanation of widescreen video on the web takes too long to get to the point, what with all the “history of video” and all that crap, and people like my friend AAl will give up before they even get to the first figure. So, without further ado:

Pretend […]

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Ruby on Rails

Oct 20, 2006 geek

Yesterday, I got Amazon’s shipment of Agile Web Development with Rails: A Pragmatic Guide, and I stepped through the installation of Ruby and Rails and did the first “Hello, world!”-type tutorial. Rails looks really amazing (there’s even a tutorial online that shows a simple blog engine being built in 15 minutes, and with only […]

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My Nerd Score

Oct 19, 2006 ramblings

I am nerdier than 81% of all people. Are you nerdier? Click here to find out!

Motorola DCT3412 Diagnostics

Sep 21, 2006 geek, howto

In the course of the recent Comcast debacle, I kept my eyes peeled, and gleaned a bit of info about the diagnostic menus on the Motorola DCT3412 I (“Dual Tuner DVR / HDTV Capable”).

To get into the main diagnostic status menu, grab the remote, and make sure the box is plugged in, but “off” […]

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Verizon FiOS Internet Service for Business

Sep 21, 2006 3 min geek, ramblings

My parents got FiOS internet at their home in Florida a few months ago, and it seemed to be pretty stable and blazingly fast — better than my expensive DSL! My parents! How dare they surpass me in the quest for newer/faster/better digital gadgets! I was appalled!

Anyway, after the shock wore off, I figured […]

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Comcast Follies

Sep 20, 2006 5 min geek, rants

When we last left our heroes, Comcast’s contractor had botched the install, and promised to send someone out Wednesday to fix things.

Wednesday came and went, with a call at the very end of the installation window informing us that the contractor had been involved in an accident, and gone to the hospital. Thankfully, he […]

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Mark Boszko

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