TiVo

I got a Netgear WG111 network adapter for my TiVo last week. I bought one online from BestBuy.com, figuring it would be the right adapter, since it was listed under “accessories” on their Tivo page. No luck though — I got a v. 2 adapter, which didn’t work. I returned it to my local Best Buy store with minimal hassle, and had a friend pick up a compatible adapter from *his* local Best Buy, which happened to have a couple of them in stock. It works fine, and was only $30. (I see they’re up to $57 this week, so I guess I got it just in time.)

I installed TiVo Desktop today. It seems to be working fine, though I haven’t tried to transfer anything from the TiVo to my computer yet. The functionality for viewing photos and listening to music via the TiVo is working fine.

The music functionality might actually be worth taking advantage of; I have a lot of music on my computer that I’d like to listen to on my stereo. I don’t sync my iPod to my desktop PC, and my DVD/CD player on my stereo doesn’t play CD-Rs, so I’m pretty much SOL for listening to music from my desktop PC on the stereo, unless I transfer it to my iBook, then sync it to my iPod, then hook *that* up to the stereo.

Girl Detective

While googling for reviews of Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier series, I stumbled upon Girl Detective, a fairly interesting blog. It’s written by a young woman who does a lot of reading and, apparently, a fair amount of cooking. I noticed her making a number of mentions of a 50 book challenge. This is a pretty interesting concept — the idea that you should read 50 books over the course of the year, and blog on all of them. Maybe I’ll try that next year. Thinking over the books I’ve read this year, I don’t think I’ve come close to 50. If you count graphic novels, then maybe.

Final Fantasy VIII

I picked up on Final Fantasy VIII again today, after a long break. It was a good day for videogaming; lots of snow, and not much else to do. Looking back through old blog entries, it appears that I started this game about two years ago, November 2003. I guess I don’t need to be in any hurry to get a PS3 or XBox 360, since I’m still working my way through PS1 games. I still have FF IX to play, too, before I get to FF X, the first PS2 FF game.

Cartoon Musicals II

Lincoln Center will be running part two of their Cartoon Musicals program from Dec 28 – Jan 4. I caught a number of the features from the first part of this series, and there was some great stuff shown. Part two seems to feature even more obscure and esoteric stuff. Plus a couple of showings of the South Park movie, which is certainly not a bad thing.

Chris Whitley R.I.P.

I just found out that Chris Whitley passed away a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been listening to him since Din of Ecstasy, which came out in 95, so it’s been about 10 years. He put some great stuff out there over the years. Dirt Floor is my favorite — just him, a guitar, some banjo, and a bunch of raw, honest music. I really don’t know much about him personally; I don’t think I’ve ever even read an interview with him or anything like that. I know I’ll miss him, though.