Thanks for tuning in!

TGIF and cheers to the ones and ones of my readers out there. CurrentlyVince turns three years old today! Huzzah!

This exercise in blogging has been mostly running-centered, but I never meant for it to be totally running-centered. In that spirit, this post is dedicated to the tech infrastructure I've added at home since getting the home server and notebook in February:


The new PC. In the end, "Vince-built" beat "vendor-built." This was going to be a media machine, and I had a certain set of specifications in mind. So during a weekend of pet-sitting at my parents' place, I homebrewed a box on the stovetop with these ingredients:

• Case: Antec NSK1380 -- This is a fairly compact enclosure that accepts microATX motherboards and features a quiet and efficient power supply.
• CPU: Intel Core i3-530 -- With no gaming expectations, I was happy to go with the new energy-efficient, dual-core mighty mite of Intel desktop processors and its on-die integrated graphics.
• Motherboard: Intel DH55TC -- A comfortable throne in which to seat the i3, this microATX board offers three expansion slots, a choice of three different video connectors, and my first gigabit Ethernet port. 4 gigabytes of RAM from Corsair fill two of the four memory slots.
• Hard drive: 1-terabyte Western Digital Caviar Green -- Hard drives should never be noticeable, except for their capaciousness!
• Tuner: Hauppauge HVR-2250 -- This is the key hardware ingredient, featuring two TV tuners and an FM radio tuner onboard.
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit -- And this is the key software ingredient, because a big part of the reason I wanted to step up from Windows XP was to harness the goodness of Windows Media Center.

This was my first PC build in several years, and I did impress myself when it powered up without complaint after assembly. That hubris was short-lived, however, as the machine suffered a disturbing amount of instability for the first couple of weeks, spontaneously shutting itself down at random intervals. In the end, I discovered that I had not properly fastened the heatsink fan over the CPU, allowing it to overheat.

With that problem corrected, the machine is now stable and quietly recording my desired over-the-air TV programming in Windows Media Center. Hauppauge's software lets me schedule the recording of radio programming, including the entirety of A Prairie Home Companion, which is an NPR show oddly not available via podcast at this time.

With this new desktop PC in my bedroom, the rest of this ensemble had the task of delivering content to the living room.


Media Extender. There are other devices dedicated to playing digital content on the TV, but they are almost as expensive as the XBOX 360 Arcade, which comes out of the box ready to work with Windows Media Center and Home Server. I did add on Microsoft's media center remote control, which conveniently controls the TV as well. (I really needed this since my TV's original remote stopped functioning!) Someday, I may even try playing a game on it!

Wireless bridge. I didn't want to string Ethernet cable across my apartment, and 802.11g speeds weren't going to make the grade for streaming video. The 802.11n adapter for the XBOX360 would cost around $80 -- virtually the same amount as the Linksys WET610N from Cisco. Cisco markets this as a "gaming adapter," but the WET610N has the advantage of being usable in the future with any device with a wired Ethernet port, so the decision was easy.

Wireless router. I splurged on the Linksys WRT610N, which can operate 802.11n networks on two separate frequencies. I've dedicated the less-frequently used 5-GHz spectrum to the wireless bridge. Meanwhile my ordinary networking chores are taken care of on the 2.4-GHz range, a space that is shared by a few other wirelesss networks in my apartment complex.

The result is a DVR setup that is nearly on par with the functionality of TiVo or a box from the cable companies, minus the subscription fees. I had been previously using a Philips DVR for recording shows, but programming it was just like setting up a VCR -- set channel, set start time, set finish time. That interface is a clumsy mess compared to the slick interface of Windows Media Center. The oncreen program guide makes selecting shows simple. And having two tuners on the PC means being able to record two shows at once while using the TV's tuner to watch a third. When combined with the Roku Player I got last year, I have a bottomless well of stuff to consume from the comfort of my couch.

Tomorrow, this space will be turned back over to a post on running -- a different variety of geeking. Have a great weekend!