Ottawa Tonite.com : Section Title
- Watch Blu-ray and DVD
- Watch movies from a hard drive
- Watch movies from my network hard drive
- Watch .MKV movie files
- Play all sorts of games
- Watch internet streaming videos like:
- YouTube in HD
- Revision3.com Internet Television
- College Humor
- Integrate perfectly with all my couch needs
- CPU: Intel ATOM 330 at 1.6GHz
- 2GB RAM (max 4 GB)
- HDMI port
- Bluetooth
- Plus $69.97 Blu-ray DVD combo driver
- Plus $59.97 Western Digital Caviar 500GB
- Grand Total: $445.94
- Intel ATOM 330 at 1.6GHz
- 2GB (max 4GB)
- HDMI port
- Plus $69.97 Blu-ray DVD combo driver
- Plus $59.97 Western Digital Caviar 500GB
- Grand Total $420.93
Posts Tagged ‘Tech’
The Ultimate Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC) On A Budget
Past Home Theater
There seems to be a shift happening in the midsts of our livingrooms. While some advanced techies might know, while the rest have no idea, is the fact that you can own a all-in-one Home Entertainment PC for under $450 and they’re called HTPCs. That’s the price of a PS3 or an Xbox360(plus a few games) and also the price I just sold my old Apple PowerBook G4 laptop for. I sold it because it could not run YouTube at its lowest quality anymore, nor could it ever run any HD movies. So I bought a PS3, thinking it could do all of that. Turns out, it doesn’t. It doesn’t read .MKV files (standard HD files you find online) and doesn’t play very well with my network harddrive, where I keep all my photos, music and movies. Nor does it load Revision3.com to watch my online streaming content.
This is what I was looking for in a home theater personal computer setup:
So I get my research on and find the sweetest little systems, and I found them on TigerDirect.ca. I’m currently looking at a few different boxes, but these ones are winning:
Asus on Tiger Direct
$316.99 – Asus AT3N7A comes with:
Zotac on Tiger Direct
$290.99 Zotac IONITX-B-E comes with:
See any resemblances? So, after all that, I kept the Blu-ray and ended with just a bit over my $450 limit; $475.65 with tax. I’m skipping out on the bluetooth keyboard/trackpad for now, that’s another $80 Canadian. I’ll wait till they get cheaper. For now, I’m using a wireless keyboard+mouse (not bluetooth), and it’s a little frustrating at times. I’ll see what I can do with my Apple remote though.
There were other suggestions including Popcorn Hour. A great media center that plays all of your HD and network needs at a super affordable price starting at $179 right up to $361 and look really good next to your TV. The only con about the Popcorn Hour is that you can’t browse the net, but you can stream from popular internet tv sites as in SHOUTcast™ Radio, Blip.tv, Revision 3 and dozens of other online content sources. Probably does Flixster as well.
There’s also Nettops like the Acer Aspire REVO. Some like them, some don’t. Those who like them, love them. Good price, does what it says it does. Can’t install Blu-Ray drives in them.
Once I buy my Zotac, I’ll be going through a few Media Centers. XBMC vs Windows Media Center vs anything I can find.
-Thanks goes out to everyone who helped me out: Rick Dupuis, Jay Mulligan, Greg Burke and HD Nation on Revision3.com
Welcome to #Ottawa, @Foursquare!
Hey, #Ottawa! Remember at first when we all thought , “I don’t get this Twitter thing”? Well here’s your chance to get that old feeling back.
Foursquare has recently expanded to 50 new cities, including our own. It’s being touted as next year’s Twitter, so now is your chance to be an early adopter. It’s also your chance to get a head start on being the mayor of as many spots as possible.
What is Foursquare?
Foursquare (http://foursquare.com/) is a location-based social media site, a game and a travel guide all in one. You “check in” to a location from a list of nearby places from your mobile device or browser. The person who has checked into a location the most times becomes its “mayor”, and can be ousted as often as someone overtakes their visits. You can also leave shouts, tips and things to do for future visitors, and create “to do” lists for places you’d like to check out in the future. You can earn points and badges when you achieve certain goals, much like in Brownies or Scouts (for example, I earned the “newbie” badge when I checked in for the first time, and “crunked” once I had been to four places in one night). If a location doesn’t already exist, you can create it. Your Foursquare account can also be linked to your Twitter and Facebook accounts to let everyone know when you have checked in, become mayor, or unlocked a badge (don’t worry, these settings are customizable so that you don’t end up spamming everyone).
Stalker’s paradise?
Having grown up in the digital age, aware of the dangers that can be lurking, my second thought after “Neat-o!” was “Gee, that’s kind of creepy.” A newcomer to Foursquare myself, I still have a lot to explore, but I have thrown together a few tips to help you out:
1. You probably shouldn’t update your location if you are alone in a secluded area.
2. Make your icon a picture of you surrounded by a mass of big, burly men and amazonian women… and dogs with really sharp teeth and foaming mouths. Or just choose a non-identifying image.
3. It’s probably not a good idea to add your home address to the list of locations and proceed to “check in” every time you get home.
4. Fake left, then go right. Foursquare allows you to update your location from wherever you are (for now).
5. Update on your way out. If someone is following you, they wouldn’t have enough time to get there and accidentally “bump” into you.
6. You can check in to places with the option of hiding your whereabouts, so it will still count towards your badges and points. Remember – your cyberstalkers are only as good as the information you put out there for them.
The curse of the early adopter
Remember, Foursquare is still new in the area, and much like Twitter, it is only as fun as the friends you surround yourself with. Aren’t you glad you stuck with Twitter past that awkward phase? The more acquaintances you have participating, the more fulfilling it is for all of you. It is also a great opportunity to meet new like-minded individuals who enjoy the same things as you. I strongly suggest that you be patient as Ottawa works out its kinks and builds up its community. So tell all your friends about it, tweet about it, blog about it, and let’s start having fun. As with “real” life, the more you put into your community, the more you will get out of it.
Nominate an artist for a big, fat award
Expanded local arts awards amount to $14K
Detail of the Victor Tolgesy Award
It’s satisfying to see a great idea bear fruit.
Four years ago, I sat at a bistro table at the Novotel’s Café Nicole with other motivated members of the outreach committee of the Council for the Arts in Ottawa (CAO), drafting an ideal arts awards scenario that would adequately celebrate and encourage the work and careers of local artists who made the seemingly insane decision to make Ottawa, in place of T.O. or Montreal, their artistic base. Four years of lobbying work later (and two years after I amicably stepped down from the board to pursue motherhood), we have that scenario.
New emerging artist and expanded mid-career artist awards
This week, the CAO announced the expansion of its Mid-Career Artist Award program as well as the creation of a new award for emerging artists and an arts award lunch.
Beginning in 2010, instead of a mid-career award and a $1,000 cash prize going to one recipient, three mid-career awards will go to one winner who receives a $5,000 cash prize with two finalists receiving $1,000 each. The same formula will apply to the new RBC Emerging Artist Award co-founded by the CAO and the Royal Bank of Canada.
Fear not, the CAO will still be adjudicating the jewel in its awards crown, the Victor Tolgesy Artist Award given to an individual whose contribution to the local arts community has been significant. Its recipient list reads like a who’s who of Ottawa artists and arts champions: Penny McCann, Julian Armour, Jennifer Dickson, Ian Tamblyn, Paulette Gagnon, Tom Henighan, the list goes on.
All three sets of awards plus the Council’s Business Recognition Awards will be presented in a new format at the CAO Arts Award Lunch presented by RBC.
So how can you celebrate this good fortune?
Nominate an artist. Heck, nominate three. It is one of the greatest compliments you can give them.
But before you nominate, please read the criteria for each award which are available on the CAO’s website. (Because I know you’re asking yourself, “What the heck is a mid-career artist, anyway?”)
Nomination forms are available by calling (613) 569-1387, emailing council@arts-ottawa.on.ca, or by downloading the nomination form.
The deadline for all three awards is December 15, 2009.
Good luck. Merde.
Nichole is an Ottawa author and e-communications gal who also blogs at http://www.nicholemcgill.com and http://www.twitter.com/nicholemcgill
For a variety of reasons, I have a large network of friends on Facebook, including some people that I’ve never actually met in person, and others I haven’t seen in years.
Still, although we don’t always communicate directly, I feel like I know them all.
Over time, through my random encounters with their status updates, their lives take on a coherent form, one that has an actual presence in my life. In a very passive way– not entirely unlike absorbing the ambient gossip at the local corner store– I find out who is going through a tough time or training for a race, or who might be falling in love or looking forward to a walk in the sun.
However, more important that the particulars of a life, is the general point of view, the general disposition toward the world, that each person unwittingly reveals. Although you don’t find out how people interact with the world, you do find out how they interpret the world around them. In a weirdly sincere and poetic way, you discover character.
Some people are habitually angry, always pissed off at the government or the forces that caused the hot water heater to break. Other people reveal themselves frustrated and tired, exhausted by the demands of their children, while others, the vast majority, express gratitude and optimism for the small pleasures of the day.
Sam thanks everybody for the generous birthday wishes.
Lucy thinks life is pretty sweet when you can sit outside in the sun drinking coffee with a friend.
Benedict is wondering what it means when a small dog stashes all her kibble in a slipper.
Christine is enjoying CBC radio and the smell of soup on the stove while she does some administrative paperwork—all is good.
I’ve always taken great solace in these people, and have grown very fond of their quiet and benevolent presence. When I see their avatar pop up, I feel like they’re quietly sitting in the room with me, and I get the same comfort from them that I would get from seeing a familiar neighbour out, once again, raking the leaves.
Michael Murray also blogs at: http://www.michaelmurray.ca/blog/
