Author: Tom Kern

Jaded….

In the end there is always the blog…

 

I haven’t forgotten you old friend I will return with new stories, musings, and deep technical thoughts that only matter to me.

 

I’m not going to lie though… I’m glad I had my username and password saved in Chrome… it would have been very embarrassing to be locked out of my own word-press blog.

Some where in time…….

11 years….

 

11 years ago I was a senior in college seriously doubting my degree choice and deciding to stick it out merely because I was so close to being done.

 

11 years ago I thought I had found the one… I’ve since found “the one” several more times :S

 

11 years ago I was 2 months from getting a 99 tacoma… and 5 years 2 months from a 05 Tacoma….

 

11 years ago my closest friends were in the military serving their country or in college or in the case of one not even in high school yet.

 

11 years ago I had 3 roommates… one dissappeared into the ether, one married his girlfriend and another will get married in the next year.

 

11 years ago I started this “blog” because I didn’t want to study for a cobol final. Yeah that’s right Cobol.

 

That’s how Not A University rolls.

Media and me….

OK so I’m not some super AV geek who has a IP based HD setup in house so I have HD via IP streaming to every tv in the house.

For starters I only have one TV so the whole HD over IP is a non-starter for me, but I do have a fair amount of media in DVD format that I would like to have accessible at my fingertips.  DVD conversion of media is another topic for another day, and honestly it’s more planning and process then actual problem so it’s not worth talking about.

I’m talking about the various digital outlets that I’ve gone to for my media more and more in the last couple of years. Basically it comes down to a simple oxymoronic premise I don’t want to be tied to a single service or outlet (iTunes, Amazon, Netflix) but at the same time have one file and device to rule them all.

 

Let me break it down for you, I have cable for one reason at this point ESPN and Fox Sports AZ, honestly those two things are barely enough to keep me on cable.  The only reason that I’m not a cord cutter is I have not devised a way to easily get my media onto my HD tv.  That problem is more a function of me being in a not research mood over the problem then anything else. As all great questions in the technical realm begin for me, I make a blog post about it.

How 2003 of me.

Ok so basic dilemma I have shows that I do want to watch, that I would like to not pay for if possible (and for the sake of argument and a paycheck lets just go ahead and say that bit torrent and it’s ilk are no longer a good way to go) so anything that is over the air is captured easily enough by a HD antenna and a recording device (hello TiVo) ok there are a few shows that watch that are not over the air… things like Top Gear… and damit if I’m going to watch six figure cars go fast I want to see them HD.   So things like that tend to be avalible in two spaces iTunes or Amazon which on a feature basis are pretty much at a even level with one another.   I have content from both of these providers so I’m not breaching new territory here either, which again I do like.  So the cruxt of the problem comes down to content and how it’s delivered to my TV.

In the case of amazon it’s almost all via a streaming type delivery with a download avalible in some case.  Essentially everything lives in the cloud though.

The iTunes model depends on a download to a device and then from the device it’s either watched on the device or streamed to another node on the network (HD over IP light)

Basically what I think this means is I need to get a Roku box and just use that.

I can’t see in between, but I can see when the sun goes down and the lights go out.

In the last 5 days I have been to more sporting events then I care to shake a stick at…. Sunday Cardinals – Giants game, follow on Tuesday/Wednesday with playoff Baseball with the Diamondbacks -Brewers.

I’m not gonna lie it’s been kinda awesome.

The part that was more awesome then winning two out of three of those games though is this little thought.

At Sunday’s Cardinals game, the crowd was in Cardinal Red (and Black) and while yes it was only the Giants they are a old rival from the days back in the NFC East.  And lets face it there are a fair number of New York transplants and people who while seemingly normal love the Giants.   After the Cowboys game two years ago and the Raiders game last year I had come to the opinion that Arizona sports fans would not measure up to these two “storied” franchises.  What I forgot about the Cowboys and the Raiders is that they have endured allot of losing in their time, not Cardinal levels of futility, but bad stretches and to a lesser extent the Giants have had the same issues in the past and I’m sure they will in the future that is just how these things work. While it’s easy to love a team when they are winning and going to the playoffs it takes a real fan to stick with them when the chips are down.  And after 5-11 last and off to a 1-3 start this year the Cards are defiantly in the “chips” are down category.  Things are looking up, but not that up, they are looking up though.  So what did I see on Sunday that inspired me to write this…. well I saw a “Red Sea” that stayed with their team the whole time, I saw parents and kids in supporting the Cards even if the dad (not Cody) was supporting the Giants just a little bit more.  And it made me realize, that while Arizona is a transient state and everyone is from somewhere else on home game Sundays we are all from Arizona at a Cardinals games.  Except for Raiders fans… those people are just mean.

 

Now while football is religion baseball is a lifestyle.

 

The last time I went to a playoff baseball game it was in 2001 and the Diamondbacks may or may not have won the championship that year.  It was a bought championship and honestly no one in tow cared we just wanted the championship.   Flash forward ten years and the only guy left on the field from the 2001 team is the third base coach and in the playoff hunt we are once again.  I don’t remember alot from the 2001 playoffs but I don’t remember the Diamondbacks ragging on the Yankees as much as the Diamondbacks were ragging on the Brewers the last night.  My favorite parts were the the “Will it sink or Float” and the sinking wedge of Cheese in the pool with the announcer coming on over the PA system and going something to the effect of “And the cheese sinks just like the brewers tonight” which I thought was very cool, the home team antagonizing the other team which for me as a Arizona sports fan is kinda of cool.  Also the Diamondbacks Legends race where the D’Backs mascot came out and beat up on the “german sausages” to clear a path for the legends was kinda cool.

Outside of the Suns Arizona has never really had this much pride in it’s pro-sports teams.  And well honestly the Suns are just pissing away what ever good will they had left, and I’m more then happy to see the Cardinals and the Diamondbacks move in for the local pride factor even if most of the support comes from people who already have a another team.

Hell there is even room for those stick wielding Canadians that are in town and are trying like hell to stay here.

 

 

drippings

Less brain droppings and more drippings this evening….. you know to tide you over.

 

Jay Feeley – I feel for the Kickers in the NFL… there is no love when you miss three field goals in a game.  At least he only missed two for us.

 

 

Gingerbread – The gingerbread update for my phone almost makes it seem usable (i.e. the battery doesn’t die if I merely think about using it).

 

Cards – Giants — I need to find the following items for Eve… a Cardinals license plate holder to go with her Cardinals Red car, A black Cardinals jersey (should it be a Dockett or Campbell Jersey?) for the black out game on Sunday, a Red Cardinals jersey for those games when there isn’t a blackout (I’m thinking Wilson or Rhodes),  And some matches so she can burn them in effigy.

 

And it seems that all of my Pandora stations lead back to Fatboy slim….

 

Finally a radio DJ that we can all agree is a oxymoronic name….