I ended up researching this for more than two months. I had to stay within a budget of $500, and the completed solution had to handle four things:

• DVR to record TV (preferably with dual tuners)
• Play DVD’s (and eventually Blu-ray)
• Netflix streaming
• Internet TV (YouTube, Hulu, Boxee, etc)
• One single remote to handle everything

In other words, I want it all. If I’m going through the expense and trouble of setting this up, I want one box (and one remote) that handles everything.

Armed with my list of requirements, I started researching. I looked at everything, and I mean everything: a homebuilt PC running Linux and MythTV, a Mac Mini with Front Row and eyeTV, hacking an XBox 360 or PS3 to act as a DVR, Tivo, Windows running Sage TV or Windows Media Center… For each of these, I looked at capabilities and limitations, new and used prices, searching forums for common problems. My spreadsheet to keep track of all of this was becoming increasingly complex, and I was losing hope that this was possible.

For Christmas I got a gift certificate and a little bit of money, which made my budget a little higher. I’ve now ordered the components, put it all together, and it works. It. Is. Amazing. Here’s my setup.

• Gateway SX2802 running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 6GB RAM
• 640 GB hard drive
• Integrated graphics accelerator with 512 MB shared memory
• HDMI output
• Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 dual TV tuner w/ remote

The total cost of the hardware was $618 shipped, but the gift certificates and cash that we got for Christmas kept our out of pocket expenses below our $500 mark.

Installing the TV tuner was a snap, literally 20 minutes from start to watching TV via my computer. Add another 10 minutes to get Netflix downloaded and configured, and the entire process is done in less than an hour. Everything works.

Over the air TV: comes in HD quality, strong signal, no issues at all. We get 9 channels and they’re all great quality. Once in a while the screen gets pixelated while decoding the signal, but I haven’t seen this last more than 2 seconds, and its happening less than once a week. Recording one show while watching another, or recording two things at one time works perfectly. Media center handles the guide for us, so we can always see the show that we’re watching, what’s on next, etc.

Play DVDs: nothing to say here really, it works better than my 10 year old DVD player. Its flawless.

Netflix streaming: this is my favorite so far. We’re on the $16/mo plan, for which we get 2 DVD’s at a time, and we can watch all the streamed movies we want. I have about 75 movies or TV shows in our instant queue, which means that within 2 minutes I could be watching any one of them. The image quality and sound are excellent, and pause/forward/rewind works just as you’d expect. I love it. LOVE IT!

Internet TV: Hulu & YouTube work great, just as they do on your computer. I haven’t set up Boxee yet, but I plan to at some point.

Transitions: It is super easy to switch between live or recorded TV, Netflix or a DVD. The remote control makes it a snap. The menus are intuitive and the interface is attractive and easy to read.

I have to say, this project has turned out better than I expected. I have everything that I want, I haven’t sacrificed anything, other than a high cable or satellite bill.

My first experience with Google came in 1999 or 2000. I was working at Dell and one of my coworkers made the statement “Just Google it” in response to a question, and I didn’t know what that meant so I searched Yahoo!. It took several more years for them to become my primary search engine because at that point I was already very familiar with Yahoo!. Now they ARE my primary search engine.

In fact, there are a number of Google products that I use on a daily basis.

Search. This is what got them started, and its still their salient product. The search results found within Google are still better than those of the other major players, in my opinion. I also love the simplicity and white space. I never use the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button because I like seeing all the options and selecting myself. I don’t really know what else to say about search, it’s been my home page for years now, and I use it at least 30 times a day. Seriously. And even I don’t know all of the commands that can be used to make their search results more targeted. Define, site, omit, and, or… I know there’s a list, but I’m not sure I’d use them all so I never look them all up. And did you know that Google is also a calculator? 32,874 divided by 4.

Mobile. How often have you been out and wanted to know the start time of a movie, but couldn’t get to a computer? Or wanted the answer to a question right away? If you have a smart phone that’s no trouble. If you don’t there’s Google Mobile. Send a text message to their servers with your search query and they’ll reply via SMS with your answer. This is awesome. I don’t use it every day, but I do use it, and it works exactly as you expect.

Gmail. When Gmail was announced my feathers were ruffled because the media played up the fact that Google servers scan your inbox for keywords that prompt advertisements. Then the service was launched and you couldn’t get an account unless you were invited. I think I bought my invite on eBay for $1. I’ve never looked back. There is no other email application that can compare with Gmail. Threaded email history, categorizing via labels instead of folders, filters, IMAP/POP/SMTP support, ever increasing storage capacity, fantastic search capabilities, easy archival, excellent spam detection… no one else can hold a candle to Gmail. My Gmail account has been my primary email address since the summer of 2005, I very rarely delete anything (and I send myself files all the time), and today I’m only at 20% of my total storage capacity. And, every once in a while I learn of another feature that I’ve never heard of. This is definitely the product that sold me, I may have never become a Google fanboy were it not for this product.

Maps. Before Google Maps I used MapQuest. At first I didn’t think that there was a significant difference between the map providers, it was just a matter of who you were familiar with. Then I realized that you could switch between map, satellite and terrain views. And you can email maps to people as a link. Then they published their APIs and you can embed their maps in your own web pages. Their directions are super easy to work with, they give you a couple of routes to work with, and if you want to alter one (to avoid a toll road, for instance) you just drag the route and the travel time and distance update automatically. Whoa! With street view came the ability to look at the buildings you’ll see when you arrive, before you even leave. Just a month ago I realized that you can search within Maps and it’ll show businesses in your area. Type in Austin, TX pizza and you’ll get a number of dots on the map. I’m not a map expert by any means, but if anyone else has brought in this many features without bloating the application, I don’t know about it.

Reader. If you like reading blogs, there are a couple of services that make it a snap to handle the RSS feeds of all your favorite publishers. I used Bloglines for years, and then finally succombed to Google Reader. I can’t say that Reader is hands above any of the other online RSS readers, but the truth is that it works perfectly and is very easy to use.

Goog-411. Do you ever have to dial information? If you call the phone company it costs. If you call Google its free. I’ve been using it for a couple of years and there have maybe been only two times that it couldn’t find the number that I was looking for. Just like the phone company, once you find the number it’ll dial and connect you, and you even have the option of having the info texted to you.

Voice. This service is newer, but man did they get it right. Once you have a number (currently by invite only, and not all areas are being served) you can easily forward that number to any or all of your other numbers, home, office or cell. You can also send or receive text messages using that number. Here comes the good part, you can arrange your contacts just as you would with your email addresses, work, family, friends, etc, and route them accordingly. Want all work contacts sent to your work number and all friends sent to your cell? No problem, either way, they all dial the same number. This service also converts your voice messages to text, and you can either listen to them or read them (or both) online. Phone companies, please pay attention.

Analytics. If you have a website, and you like monitoring the traffic that it receives, Google Analytics is a fantastic service. How many visitors, how long they spend on your site, how they found your site, their geographic location, etc. Its advanced features allow you to filter out your own visits, create and track campaigns, segment the traffic any way you choose and more. I have tried many other traffic monitoring tools, and I would recommend this over all of the others, free or otherwise.

Documents. Ten years ago it was pretty tough to get by without having a copy of Microsoft Office on your computer. As much as I hate the way Microsoft treats their customers, Word and Excel are some of the most useful programs available, I use them daily for work and in my personal life. Today there are plenty of free options. Google Documents is one of the best. Through this tool you can create letters, spreadsheets and presentations. They don’t offer the same amount of features as their Microsoft counterparts, but that’s one of its salient points, they’re generally much easier to work with because they aren’t bloated with options that you never use. Plus, you can use this service to create PDF files. If you used Microsoft Office you should at least check this service out.

Calendar. When Google launched their calendar service in 2006 I thought it was janky at first. Now I like it very much. The only reason that I don’t use it on a daily basis is that I’m required to use Exchange at work and its just easier to handle everything there. When I had a Blackberry, Google Calendar was my main calendar. Its a snap to create appointments or recurring meetings and invite anyone. You can share your entire calendar or just certain portions of it, and you can even publish portions of it on the web. Its very easy to use.

I haven’t even covered all of the tools that I wanted to talk about and I’ve already gone longer than I thought I would. I’ve also used and recommend Picasa, Google Earth, Google Finance, Google Desktop, Android, SketchUp and others that elude me at the moment. I’m also very excited to play with Google Wave when it launches.

Each of the services that I’ve mentioned above isn’t just great, they’re best of class. I don’t want to handle email without Gmail anymore. Phone companies, I’m paying you, please give me all of the features that Voice gives me for free. Is there anyone on the planet that still prefers MapQuest to Google Maps? Google doesn’t offer services, each time they launch something new it changes the way people think about the service. When you bring them all together in one account, it changes the way you use the web. Seriously. Sergey and Larry certainly don’t get all the credit, but their commitment to excellence shines through in everything this company touches.

Dear Google, I love you. Keep giving us the good stuff.

Tonight Gene Kranz, the famed NASA mission controller played by Ed Harris in Apollo 13, came to speak at UT and I was able to make it. I went with low expectations because I didn’t know much about him other than what I had seen in the movie, and just wow. This man is awesome. The speech was really inspiring and gave me renewed pride in being an engineer and being an American. It was that kind of speech.

Before Kranz came out, one of the professors involved in bringing him to speak at UT introduced some of the students and people present in the audience, and he did one of the coolest things that I’ve seen at any speech. He had the veterans stand to be recognized, and then he asked the military members awaiting a commission stand and be recognized. I’m proud of America, and I’m proud of my service, and I think its awesome that he gave credit to the military’s future leaders.

Mr. Kranz spoke for over an hour, most of it spent walking us through his thoughts and decision process during the Apollo 13 mission. Based on what he said I believe that the movie is pretty accurate (I’ve seen it dozens of times). What really came through in his speech, that I hadn’t noticed in the movie, is the amount of trust and cooperation between the team members. He pointed out a couple of times when he made a decision in the interest of moving forward, that some of the other engineers disagreed with, but once Kranz announced the decision the whole team got on board and worked together for the benefit of the mission. The whole story is inspiring, but hearing it from the perspective of this man in particular is something that I won’t soon forget.

When he was done he got a standing ovation, which he was aparently uncomfortable with because he quickly had us sit back down for a question and answer session. This was my favorite part of the event, the questions were great and he had some very good answers. I don’t remember all of the questions, but here are the ones that struck me.

He was asked if he was pleased with his portrayal in movies. He said that he thought Ed Harris did a great job, and that the story line of Apollo 13 was pretty accurate, with one notable exception. In the scene just after they realize the extent of the problem a few of the engineers state that such and such can’t be done. In the movie Harris (playing Kranz) blows up and says something along the lines of “failure is not an option”. Tonight Kranz said that he would never blow up at anyone who was within his authority, he wouldn’t allow himself the luxury of emotion or losing his cool when leading his team. I thought that was particularly insiteful.

Someone asked him what he thought of NASA’s decommissioning of the space shuttle and planned absence from spaceflight. He said he thinks this is a travesty because America needs awesome challenges to inspire and bring out the best in its people. Leaving a gap in the flight plan also means forgetting things that we’ve fought hard to learn.

When asked what he thought of privatized spaceflight, he said “its the greatest thing since canned beer.” There is nothing like advancing technology to stimulate the economy and capture the attention of the world.

My favorite response came when he was asked how he found or acquired the leadership skills to bring out the absolute best in his team. He said that he grew up in a time when his father’s generation fought in WWII. He and his peers were too young to go, but looked at his parent’s generation as heroes which challenged him to achieve something great. Then in the early days of supersonic flight men like John Stapp, Joe Kittinger and Chuck Yeager risked their lives for advances in aviation technology. During Project Mercury John Glenn climbed into an Atlas rocket, and at that time three of the first five of them had exploded on launch. Everyone at NASA had a clear understanding of the risks involved and chose to participate anyway because we saw the greatness within the goals. This brings a very clear focus that is difficult to achieve in any environment. Kranz said that he’s spent a lot of time ruminating over his carreer and isn’t able to point to any one thing that makes him a leader, but that he does recognize that he wanted to live up to the greatness that he saw in his father’s generation and believed that he could.

I just can’t express how awesome it was to hear Kranz speak. His involvement in Apollo 13 and NASA makes him an American icon, and his story is definitely inspiring. I was tempted to skip because I had homework to get done last night. I’m really glad that I didn’t.

To: Chris Leonard

Date: Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 6:03pm

Subject: Important Degree Candidate Information

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO SPRING 2009 DEGREE CANDIDATES

Our records indicate that you are a degree candidate for graduation at the
conclusion of this semester. Please review the following information that
appears on your record and report corrections as indicated.

You are a candidate for the following degree/major:

Degree: BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
Major : AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

Contact your dean’s office if you have questions regarding your degree, major, remaining requirements or commencement ceremonies.

I wrapped up the fall semester a little over a week ago, and it was a great semester. My classes were challenging, I learned a ton, and I earned good grades. All that remains between me and this degree are two classes and one lab. I’m going to earn a degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. This degree has been the most difficult thing that I’ve ever done, by a wide margin. I have questioned my decision to return to school, and wondered if I would even be able to complete this degree many times along the path. Now its all but certain. This last semester won’t be too bad.

One of the (several) reasons that I decided to go back to school was that I wanted to be able to earn enough to one day provide for a family. I’m not sure what direction my career will take once I graduate. Because of this degree and my background, I have options. Whatever the direction, I am fairly certain that I’ll be able to provide. This is a testimony to God’s goodness. I am humbled. It feels like I am achieving something here. Its so awesome I could cry. When I graduate I probably will cry.

I can say without hesitation that completing this degree has been significantly more challenging than I anticipated. Apart from the academic difficulty I have struggled to keep up with finances, time management, and of course separation from friends and family (often there is no time for anything other than studying). I can honestly say that I haven’t ever been tempted to quit, I WANT this. I can’t even count the number of times that I’ve wondered if I would be able to complete the journey.

One time I was visiting with a few friends, and I mentioned that I had just completed a difficult course and had heard from other students that the follow up course was even more difficult. My buddy said “Isn’t that the way it works? The courses become more challenging as your skills develop?” My heart fell, I went home and prayed. At that point I had no idea if or how I would get through the next course, much less the degree. Of course, I did make it through the material. And God has always been faithful in providing for me.

Honestly I’m not sure which I’m more proud of, earning a degree in aerospace engineering, or the fact that I’m a Longhorn. When I was 18 if you had told me that I’d get a degree from UT I wouldn’t have believed you. Likewise, if you had told me that I would ever earn this degree (from any university) I’m not sure I would have believed you. In my mind these two things are about equal.

I am a Longhorn and an engineer, and I quite literally could not be more proud.

My favorite line from Weyland is “Its fun being the only [electric car] at the strip, but I wish it wasn’t so.” I’ve known that there were people working on things like this, but this is the first time I’m seeing it. I did a quick search and found a few others as well. Enough that there’s now a National Electric Drag Racing Association. Don’t you just love American gear heads trying new things?

Here’s my question. If garage mechanics can turn an old beater into a record breaking racer, then what is wrong with Detroit? This isn’t pie in the sky wishful thinking or a hypothetical what if, I mean this as a serious question. The White Zombie has no radical new technology, Weyland just found the parts that he needed and made them fit his car. I don’t mean to discount Weyland’s work, of course he’s accomplished something here. This demonstrates that an electric car is not only possible, it works. This is no longer an experiment. What I mean is that Detroit wants us to help them stay in business while they keep producing trucks and SUVs.

Like most Americans (all of them that I’ve spoken to, actually), the recent talk of bailouts pisses me off. If the knuckleheads that are running these companies can’t keep it together then let them fail. If management can’t see what people want and produce it, then why on earth would we want them running the company?

As a sidenote, if we help out Dodge, this will be the second time that the government has lent them a hand. Lee Iacocca coaxed the government to guarantee loans for them back in 1979. It blows my mind that amid all of the high gas prices, they’re still coming out with new muscle cars. I say this is not a company worth saving.

This practice of lending a hand to struggling companies is not good. At some point they’ll have to stand up on their own, apart from any assistance, otherwise we’ll end up with a country full of companies that aren’t sustainable apart from handouts. It just sends me through the roof.

Weyland shows us just one method of energy efficient transportation, and he does it by breaking records at the race track, which is brilliant. I love it that he’s killing Corvettes. I hope America is paying attention. While Detroit is working to fit navigation systems and DVD players in their trucks, there are guys in garages coming up with creative solutions to America’s energy prices.

My mind is still consumed by fuel efficiency and energy consumption. I’ve had a handful of great conversations with other engineers, there are definitely some very cool ideas out there to bring the consumption rate of your daily driver up into the triple digits. And then, Volkwagen busts out with a 235 MPG car.

How? By rethinking everything that robs energy from a car in motion. Weight is reduced by having a carbon fiber body. Aerodynamic drag is reduced through tandem seating. It has a tiny 1 Liter engine with hybrid drive.

Is it ugly? You bet! Is it expensive? And how! Fortunately for you, it will save more than enough money to compensate for these annoyances. Assume you drive 1,000 miles per month, and you get about 22 MPG (like me). Getting one of these babies will do the same job as your car, and you save about 40 gallons of gas per month. Your neighbor with a Prius will be green with envy.

While I’m here, Obama recently recommended that we reduce our dependency on foreign oil by keeping our cars tuned and our tires inflated. Time magazine even backed him up with some favorable numbers. McCain bandwaggoned himself into the conversation. In the interest of time I’ll be succinct, you’re all idiots, and this plan is asinine. Of course it will save fuel, but once again it ignores the larger need for more fuel efficient cars. I have a much better idea. Lets apply our knowledge of science and physics and design a car that is more efficient.

Props to Chevy for ponying up a car that people are lining up for, the all electric Chevy Volt. Its cool to see American companies contributing.

As usual, there is more to say, but I don’t have the time to say it. I have a final exam in the morning, and that test isn’t going to take itself.

First, I feel compelled to reassert my opinion that somehow penalizing the oil production companies is absolutely, 100%, undeniably abhorrent! Companies exist to make a profit! If you’re upset with them for making too much money then stop buying from them! That’s all I’ll say about it here, but I feel pretty strongly about this.

Okay, so now on to evaluating. I ripped the American car companies pretty good in my essays, so lets check up on them. Ford has produced a hybrid SUV which is pretty nice. I see these on the road, too. If I were in the market for an SUV I’d consider them. I recall reading somewhere that they have a hybrid model of the Fusion in the works, but it hasn’t hit the market yet. GM, who at the time was saying that they had no plans to produce hybrid cars because they see it as an interim technology (those are my words, I don’t recall the exact quote), has since produced a hybrid Malibu, Tahoe and Silverado. Saturn make a hybrid version of their VUE. These all look great, though I do notice that most of them are trucks and SUV’s. Doesn’t seem that this would be a significant boon for America.

How about smaller companies? The most notable is Tesla. They’ve been getting quite a bit of attention with their roadster because its all electric with no sacrifice in performance or hipness. This car is a step in the right direction, and I think they were smart to make their first car a performance machine. That will go a long way toward sales for their more modest designs to come.

Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute has designed the Hypercar. This design promises a five-fold increase in fuel economy through advanced composite construction, aerodynamic design, hybrid-electric drive and efficient accessories, all without sacrificing performance, comfort or safety. I’m not sure how close this is to production, but I do know that they are taking their advanced composite construction technique further by using it to support other projects.

The X-Prize Foundation, who you may recall sponsored the race to privatized space flight five years ago (won by Scaled Composite’s SpaceShip One), is now sponsoring an automotive challenge. In order to win the $10M prize, you must produce a car that:

• gets at least 100 MPG.
• meets all applicable safety regulations.
• is able to be mass produced at a cost that the market will sustain.
• has features that are desirable.
• has a clear business plan for coming to the market.

That all sounds good, right? You’ll be proud to know that 14 of the 20 entered teams are here in America. From Aptera‘s radical 3-wheeled design to Poulsen Hybrid‘s retrofit kit for your current car, the good ideas are flowing.

So, while Ford and GM seem content to dip their toe into more efficient technologies (and where is Dodge in all of this, anyway?), there is plenty of work being done to offset rising oil prices. I can’t say for sure when I personally will benefit from this, but I’m excited just the same. First, it means forward progress and an active job market, and second its encouraging to see the ingenuity and creativity.

I have to throw in a couple of honorable mentions here, even though these aren’t American companies. The Smart Car ForTwo is now available in the states. I’m seeing them on the road more and more often, and I’m glad. Its an idea whose time is way overdue. If you only do inner city driving, why do you need a big car? Honda’s fuel cell vehicle, the FCX Clarity, is now available on the market. You’ll likely have a hard time getting one, and an even harder time finding a refueling station that can handle it, but its a step forward. Toyota is scheduled to have one available next year.

Finally, mad props to Iceland, who acknowledged that they would have a hard time contributing to advances in engineering but wanted to contribute anyway. They have committed to being early adopters to fuel cell technology to help with funding and testing. A portion of the public buses that run in Reykjavik (their capital) are fuel cells. Way to step up to the plate!

I know, I jumped from an athletic event to intelligence. I think its a logical jump though. Actually, I think its safe to apply this logic to any every area of your life. If you want to do better in a race, then make up your mind and do it. If you want more depth in your relationships, then make up your mind and do it. If you want more satisfaction in your job, more savings, a nicer house… you can change the outcome if you change your mind.

The Association for Christian Character Development (ACCD) says almost the same thing, but they express it in a different way. ACCD asserts that we have exactly what we intend to have. I have the job I want. I look exactly the way I want to look (weight and all, eesh). I have exactly the amount of financial security that I want to have.

I have more to write on this subject, but there’s no need to say it all in one sitting. For now enjoy the fact that you can be smarter if you change your mind. And if you don’t agree then enjoy your stupidity.