From Paul Jones‘s weblog, Durham’s Independent Weekly covers municipal Wi-Fi setups, like Carrboro’s.

Glad to see this getting coverage. Anything that makes Bellsouth stomp its feet in protest has got to be a good thing!

Well, last night I finally did it: I succeeded in watching satellite TV from my Linux box. Turns out that DVB support is weak in Red Hat Linux (no surprise there). My Fedora Core 3 machine didn’t properly configure DVB devices until I upgraded the udev package to the latest update. I also used the CVS sources for LinuxTV for the DVB drivers and apps. It also took a little Googling to discover the importance of the lnb option of dvbscan. Putting it all together got me the satellite signal I wanted.

The only remaining issue is figuring out why dvbscan is ignoring my polarization settings for the transponders and using horizontal exclusively. If I specify it manually in the channels file, the szap tuner app will correctly lock on to the signal. But dvbscan ignores it, for some reason. It isn’t much of a bother now, as I’ve got the channels defined that I want to watch. If I start adding new channels, however, or want to automatically search for some, I’ll be in trouble.

I’m also surprised there is no graphical front-end for organizing these channels. Then again, I haven’t installed MythTV in this whole setup, which is the ultimate goal. I’m confident MythTV has some nice interface for all of this.

My other find from yesterday is an ATSC PCI card, which will allow me to use LinuxTV drivers to pull in terrestial HDTV signals (conveniently, the only HDTV channels LinuxTV includes are in the Raleigh-Durham market). It decodes both high-definition (HD) and standard-definition (SD) channels. Thus, this $180 card will get me an HD receiver which I can stream to any computer in the house. I can also distribute digital SD-quality channels from the local stations to my standard-definition TVs. That will provide my TVs with a signal whose quality far surpasses that available on Time Warner Cable, as TWC offers local channels on analog only, last I checked.

There’s one thing I’m sure of: I’ve not taken this thing as far as it will go. It opens up whole new ways of using television. MythTV is TiVo on steroids. DVB-S satellite allows for cheap uplinks/downlinks. The HD PCI card provides an easy way to snarf local signals. I could literally have a whole cable TV “headend” inside my PC.

I can’t wait to add MythTV to this mix. This is fun stuff.

There’s no such thing anymore of getting up before the kids. Not until their teenage years do I expect this to change.

I didn’t sleep well, either. My sinuses are still doing battle with something. After having this fun for all of 2005, its time for it to stop.

I don’t think I’ll be taking any more flights on Airbus planes after another rudder fell off in flight. Air Transat’s flight 961 was at cruising altitude over open ocean when part of the rudder bailed out. After safely guiding the plane back using just engines and wing flaps, the pilot deserves a medal.

Boeing has taken its knocks (and earned most of them, too), but Airbus’s idea of building a plane by committee just begs for this kind of trouble. Maybe we the traveling public are actually better off that most airports can’t handle the huge new A380 airplane.

And avoid the flight paths, too, unless you want to be squashed by a falling rudder.

Man, I’m bummed. I missed Spring Break Shark Attack and none of my blogmates have posted a recap.

It looked like such a high-quality, realistic production, too. Look at the hills they put in Florida.
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I’ve been aware of the Terri Schiavo case for a year or more, having read about her on one of the websites I frequent. I’m a bit surprised that the issue has been elevated to national status, though.

I am saddened about what happened to her, and know the battle between her husband and her parents has got to be painful for everyone involved. However, Terri left no living will. Under Florida law, Michael Schiavo, her husband and legal guardian, has the sole legal authority to determine her life or death. Not her parents. Not the Florida governor or legislature. Not the Congress or the President of the United States. Time and time again, Florida courts have sided with Mr. Schiavo.

I don’t happen to hold Michael Schiavo in paticularly high regard, but that is irrelavent. Legal guardianship is a very powerful, very sacred authority. Attempting to thwart it in an “emergency” (or in other words, politicans using her life to politically grandstand, calling it “a great political issue” ), is clearly unconstitutional.

On a related note, it really pisses me off when politicans say “we want to uphold the sanctity of all life,” and yet have no qualms about executing prisoners. Hypocrisy, anyone?

My tournament experience can be summed up by two words: “bleeding red.” My bracket is covered in red, showing every pick I chose that consequently cratered. I’m about played out for the tournament bragging rights.

The other way I’m bleeding red is due to the fantastic defeat the Wolfpack handed Connecticut tonight. The Pack played a superb game, not backing down from the Huskies even after they made a late-game rally. I’m so happy that Juluis Hodge gets at least one more game in a Wolfpack uniform.
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I watched the NCSU-Charlotte game out of the corner of my eye here at the office. State beat a very good team. I was really nervous up until the end.

It doesn’t get any easier, though. Next up is either UConn (yikes) or a team capable of beating UConn, Central Florida (double yikes).

Weird Al Yankovic
Amish Paradise

As i walk throught the valley where i harvest my grain,
I take a look at my wife and realize she’s very plain.
But that’s just perfect for an Amish like me,
you know I shun fancy things like electricity.
At 4:30 in the mornin’ i’m milking cows,
Jebediah feeds the chickens and Jacob plows, fool
and I’ve been milking and plowing so long that
even Ezekial thinks that my mind is gone.
I’m a man of the land, I’m into discipline,
got a Bible in my hand and a beard on my chin,
but if I finish all of my chores, and you finish thine,
then tonight we’re going to party like it’s 1699.
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