This past week TiVo unveiled its online Season Pass Manager, available through your account on tivo.com. Adding to the existing features of being able to view your Now Playing and To Do lists online, the SPM lets you re-order, copy, and delete the Season Passes on your TiVos from your web browser.
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Foscam FI8904W outdoor internet camera
I’ve been pleased so far with my in-house internet cameras and decided I’d like to be able to keep tabs on the outside of the house as well. TRENDnet sells weatherproof enclosures for their cameras but they won’t work with the night-vision models because the IR just reflects off of the glass. I started looking at other models of outdoor cameras and chose the Foscam FI8904W.
TiVo Premiere
It’s been almost three years since I bought a new TiVo, so it was time. I’ve added the new TiVo Premiere to my main home theater setup, relegating my trusty, original Series3 box to home office duty.
I already had the 1TB WD Expander drive from the Series3, so rather than spend the extra cash on the Premiere XL, I went with the base 320gb model and then connected the Expander giving me 190 hours of HD recording capacity.
TRENDnet internet cameras
Another piece of tech I implemented before we went on our vacation roadtrip was a series of TRENDnet wireless internet cameras so we could keep an eye on the house while we were away.
Cleveland tourism videos
I can post these and laugh because Cleveland is my hometown. Unless you’re from there, you’re not allowed to snicker at these! 😀
Though humorous on the surface, they are a sad commentary on the current state of the city … the Flats used to be a really cool place. I have fond memories of going to the Powerhouse or Shooters on weekend, hanging out by the river. Or catching an outdoor concert at Nautica. And you can’t have lived in Cleveland in the early 90s without remembering the Free Stamp controversy.
Oh well … at least we’re not Detroit … and the Cavs are still going strong in the NBA playoffs!
Thanks for the links, Jaime!
Panasonic PV-GS250 miniDV camcorder
While filming the holiday party movie for work, my 7-year old Sony miniDV camcorder‘s CCD finally gave out. In a rush to replace it, I picked up the Samsung SC-D353 on the cheap at Circuit City. Well, you get what you pay for: the camera’s autofocus was horrible, it had a black-and-white internal viewfinder, and poor sound quality … so back it went.
After a little more research (and less rush), I decided to graduate to a 3 CCD camera and chose Panasonic’s PV-GS250. Three sensors means very accurate color reproduction and this camera delivers. It’s chock full of options and connections (S-Video, Firewire, etc.), includes a 3.2 megapixel still camera with a built-in flash (which saves photos onto an SD card), color viewfinder and screen, and is overall a slick looking piece of equipment (very sturdy). Included accessories included a corded microphone which also doubles as a remote control, an actual remote, and the various necessary cables. Hopefully this lasts me another 7 years like my Sony did.
Logitech QuickCam Pro
Once I got broadband access, I decided to try out one of those eyeball-shaped Internet cameras. I chose Logitech’s USB QuickCam Pro. It was a snap to connect and configure: install the software, plug in the USB cable, and you’re up and running. Using SpyCam I was able to set up my own WebCam! It can also work as a motion-detector (recording video for a few seconds when it detects movement), an interface for immersive video games (something I’ve never tried), and useful for video conferencing (I personally use Eyeball Chat).
ADS Tech PYRO1394DV firewire card
Since I have a digital video camera of course I want to be able to edit video on my PC. Since most digital camcorders have IEEE 1394 ports (also called Firewire (by Apple), or iLink (by Sony)), I also have a Firewire card: the inexpensive PYRO 1394DV card from ADS Tech. The PCI card provides two external (and one internal) Firewire ports, a cable to connect to your camcorder, and is bundled with Ulead’s VideoStudio SE which pretty easy to learn. Beware … you need a LOT of hard drive space to store all the digital video clips!
Sony DCR-TRV8 miniDV camcorder
My digital camcorder is the Sony DCR-TRV8. It’s a miniDV camera complete with 10x optical zoom (120x digital zoom, but who uses that?), digital and picture effects, 12/16-bit PCM sound, audio/video output, 3″ flip out LCD screen, and a ton of other cool features. Since it’s now several years old, it’s been supplanted by much newer models in the DCR line (including ones with megapixel still image capture, MPEG movie modes, and even Bluetooth connectivity!) but mine still works perfectly and continues to help me document those memorable moments.