In Front Royal this week

So I'm in Front Royal, VA this week at my grandparents' house over my Thanksgiving break. I'm staying in the basement with my uncle's big TV - I've seen it before and I know that it's HD, and supports 1080i. So I brought my PS3 and 360 with the HDMI cables, and I brought my standard AV cables in case we had to move into a different room. But I never really considered that the TV might not have a single HDMI input - and that's the case. It's an old school HDTV, and everything's hooked up with component cables. So I went out to Radio Shack and bought a set of the "universal" PS3/360/Wii component cables. The only problem with that is that there's some problem with the wiring in this house such that there's a TON of electrical interference - so 95% of the time you're watching something on this TV over [analog] component cables, you either get waves going across the picture, or just lines all over it. So I did some research and found that the TV has ONE DVI input - which is a DIGITAL input (it's the same digital video signal as HDMI, but cannot carry sound). So if the TV also had an optical audio in, I could just get a HDMI to DVI adapter and I'd have a digital connection to the TV - but of course the TV does not have optical audio inputs, so right now I'm running the PS3 via HDMI (to DVI) for video with analog audio, and standard component cables on the 360. Phew.

I Hate Snow.

img247
Originally uploaded by Davers!

I was in History lecture today and I could see out the window that it was starting to snow pretty hard outside. Then it hit me. This is the first year that the snow does me no good. It won't get my classes canceled, unless the governor declares a state of emergency or something. Now it just gets in the way and makes it hard and annoying to drive, and it takes longer to get EVERYWHERE. Everything gets all wet, too. Books, clothes, CAR INTERIORS.

Meh. It also makes driving a LOT more stressful, because I have to concentrate a lot more on every turn and everything has to be more carefully executed.


In other news, Thanksgiving break is next week, so this week is mostly review, then the week after the break is review, then finals week. I'll probably be in Front Royal for most of next week, which should be cool. Getting away from the immediate family and school for a while is definitely nice sometimes. I recently published my Gears of War 2 review, and I think Left 4 Dead comes out tonight, so my review of that will no doubt be up soon.

Whooooooooo

CIMG3723
Originally uploaded by Davers!

So a few days ago I decided that I needed some place to put my components. I mean, I have a cable box, PS3, 360, and Wii. Unlike in the olden days when you could stack your VCRs and DVD players, the PS3 and Wii are virtually unstackable, and I wouldn't dare stack the 360 because it might overheat. So I designed the little thing you see on the right - it fits over the top of the cable box, and houses the PS3, 360, and Wii above. Many people have asked me if it will overheat any of the consoles, but it really shouldn't. For example, the Wii has no openings on either sides, only the back - so it's not losing any circulation by being cramped on the sides. With the PS3 and 360, the INTAKE is on the top of the console (left side on the 360, right on the PS3), and the exhaust is out the back - so all of the heat goes OUT, and is not trapped, so everything stays cool.

My car's at NGP Racing in Aberdeen, MD getting the AC fixed - I should have it back in a week or two.

I saw the midnight premiere of Wanted, and it was cool. Best movie so far this year, in my opinion.

I'll be going to Front Royal tomorrow to spend the weekend with my grandparents and cousin, so that should be cool. I ordered a sound system for my TV as well as a very nice router and some cat6 cable, and I'll probably take the router with me to grandma's.

Werd.