A Multi-Media Event

So. I have a 25″ TV. With one Coaxial input.

-I have an entertainment center DVD/CD/radio/aux box of doom with a composite of doom out (like RCA with 3 other vid related thingers- anyone know what this is), S vid out, DA out, RCA in. This is what I want my sound to run through, since it also has the 5 (used to be 6 but I lost one a move ago) speaker set up. Surround sound.
-I have a VCR with RCA out, RCA in, Coax out, Coax in
-I have an XBox with an advanced AV Pack adapter with RCA out, s-vid out, DA out.
-I have a wii with RCA out cable.
-I have an Atari 2600 with a fork. also an adapter for it to coax, but I really just like saying fork for an output connector type.
-Jared has one of those all in one Crayola color games with RCA out cable.

I also now have basic satellite. This has not been an issue in the past, since I don’t watch TV, but I feel as though I should really be taking advantage of the free satellite. I believe this runs through the cable line. so, more coaxial.

I have “high speed” internet through a phone line with the little bumper box of doom. I am only supposed to have this go to one device at a time. No peer to peer, etc (bandwidth is shared by the building). Internet ready devices are:

-Laptop
-Wii
-Xbox
-I am getting a server to play with.
-I am building a set up for my son. Probably not even worth thinking about right now… but something that would come up down the line.

I have been thinking of storing all vid/audio on a server to use as a great media storage unit. It seems the most useful way to play with server stuff and learn while actually accomplishing something to make my life easier.

I have very little money right now. The less I have to spend, the better. I recognize that I will need a wireless router… I don’t like being confined to my room for internet. That’s the whole point of the laptop. And other things will likely be needed for the media center of doom (like switches). But I don’t want to spend massive amounts I don’t have right now, either.

A couple people have offered TVs with more than than just the coax… One was RCA and s vid, and I think the other just RCA. There are possibly more out there. I would lose inches accepting either, though. Which is a deterrent.

What can I say? The more inches the better.

So. This is what I have. What are my options in putting things together to have to do as little cable shifting as possible but still be able to access all these devices when desired?

EDIT!!! So I may be picking up a 36″ With RCA and S-vid inputs and RCA outputs. Sorry if you have to alter calculations for this. But only a little.

Tags: RCA, DVD, CD, Radio, Sound, TV, Coaxial, VCR, XBox, Wii, Atari, Satellite, internet, Laptop, server, s-vid, S-video, switch, media, multimedia, multi-media, wireless, router, cable

Expert Advice

I do not have a psychology degree. I do not have a philosophy degree. I don’t even have a 4 year degree. My degree is in Computers and it’s an AAS. It’s a tech degree, which isn’t really a degree, and it’s an associate’s degree, which is the degree people get when they don’t know where to go from there. It’s an awkward degree, a pretend degree, a confused degree. It’s the degree the other degrees don’t talk about because it doesn’t require as much study to acquire. And that doesn’t really make it a degree, right?

Just because higher level degrees take more study to obtain, that does not mean that the more one studies the higher the degree you have.

For instance, my son is addicted to the My Sims wii game. He can tell you every character and when they’re likely to appear in the game. He knows where every essence is and which characters will ask you for them. He knows the personality types associated with every character and every essence, and even which personality types each character doesn’t like. He can even mime the actions the characters make to a tee.

My child is an expert in the field of the My Sims game. He does not have a degree, but what he doesn’t have in letters he has more than made up for in hours staring at the television set, wiimote and nunchuck in hand, ignoring his chores in pursuit of mastering that which has piqued his interest to obsession.

It would be admirable if there weren’t still a giant pile of dirty clothes on his bedroom floor.

The point is, anyone can be an expert, and you don’t need a degree to be one. If my seven year old can do it, you can do it. In fact, it’s possible you are already in expert at something. What have you spent hours of time obsessing over? Video games? Scrap booking? Movies? Maybe you spent enough time obsessing over it that you decided to pay an institution enough money to give you a degree stating that you spent time obsessing over it.

If you did, I will admit to being jealous over it.

Truth is my obsession. I have looked at the concept of truth from a variety of angles. I have studied philosophy, meditated, prayed, analyzed, and blogged. I have gone through therapy, talked to gurus, and taken classes.

I am not an expert. Unlike my son, I cannot tell you about all the nuances of truth or where to find honesty. Truth is not so easily defined. How does one define a concept? When you tell someone you love them, does it mean the same thing to both people? If I say I want justice, will you and I agree to some measurement of how much? Is there a tangible element to freedom that is universal?

Dear Reader.
What is your obsession? What are you an expert in? What is the excuse for the pile of dirty clothes in the middle of your bedroom floor?

Tags: Expert, Truth, psychology, philosophy, education, Brilliance, wii, degree, obsession, laundry

Marvel at This

In my house, we do not watch TV. We seldom watch movies. No- our big vice is video games.

I am NOT as big a video game player as Topher, and Topher isn’t nearly as big a game player as our son is. Our son could play video games until he starved himself. Topher will pause long enough to make a sandwhich. I will pause long enough to actually cook something. Even chicken if it’s pre-thawed.

Between the two houses, my son has his pick of consoles and games. At his father’s house, he has an NES, a PS2, and a GameCube. At my house, our child has access to an Atari 2600, an XBox, and a Wii. I don’t think any other child has ever been as spoild in video games as ours.

For Christmas, my son received a copy of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for the wii. I have to admit, it made me nervous. I really enjoy a good superhero ,and I hate it when a game will try to make a storyline fit where it shouldn’t. So we recently cracked open the game.

I’m in love.

The characters all have their attitudes… nothing is forced; all of it just IS and it is wonderful. Spiderman is as corney as he should be, Wolverine as dark, and Deadpool is, well, um, weird.The storyline and animation are sell done, the controlls ar easy to use…

But as I was playing, there was a sense of familliarity over them… something about the jabbing attacks, the characters, the 3D yet still linear game play. The straightforward buy not storyline…. they all combined to make something that was “Newly Nostalgic” which is not only the best description I can come up with, but also the name of my next perfume line.

Tags: comic, video+games, game, Brilliance, Topher, wii, Christmas