WaffleBox

I was one of probably a very few people who actually pre-ordered the Apple TV, with great anticipation. I could not wait to see how Apple would allow people to interact with their media via a tv set. Awhile ago I read how people were taking old desktop PCs and building media players out of them. Using things like Hauppauge’s tv controller cards and custom interfaces or plugins for various media players. I tried some of these “hacks”, but I never really could get things to work seamlessly and with a clean interface.

Then I heard about the Apple TV
And I was ecstatic, but I imagined things, features and such, that were just not there. There were things that I just assumed that I would be able to do with it.

1. No DVD support - This may sound odd, but I figured there would be a way to use the DVD player on my powerbook to effectively hook into the Apple TV. I had no working DVD player until recently.

2. No good DVD copying software for Macs - Not an Apple TV issue, but I imagined myself copying my DVD collection to my external drives and syncing with the Apple TV, eliminating my physical DVD collection. If you know of any really good DVD copying/backup software, please let me know.

3. No Tivo like features - I knew long before ordering my Apple TV that this would not be offered, but it is something that I thought would be a feature when the Apple TV was first announced. An hacks for this? I doubt it.

What I Love About the Apple TV
Playing music from multiple sources, plus being able to watch TV shows and music without the “main source” Mac being present. This, of course, is the core of what the Apple TV is about. And it does it phenomenally with such a clean and easy to use interface. It really is a pleasure.

The new YouTube integration is also fantastic. I really did not think that this something that I would use, but it is fun to browse through the popular videos.

For the most part, I use my Apple TV for watching TV shows I have purchased from iTunes, specifically The Office. It gets light use for music. I really think that is so much that can be done with it if Apple would maybe open up some things, add new features, ability to add more space without taring the thing apart.

Some Apple Hacks sites and links for you:

• http://www.appletvhacks.net/
• Gizmodo.com
• MacNN.com
• Filmnut.org

…it does to me. You be the judge.

• You’re Both Jerks
• Get to the Point
• You Did It
• Half Truth, Whole Truth
• The Law is not on Your Side
• You’re not Telling Me the Truth

I have no idea why Judge Maria Lopez has these sound clips on her site, but I nearly fell on the floor laughing when I heard them. Matt Groening definitely needs to build a character for The Simpsons around her voice!

a-hole-in-the-head.blogshot.com has some newspaper clipping from Life Magazine 1947 in which artists were asked to draw their favorite characters blind folded… If you ask me, the blind folded images are much more interesting than the originals.

A Hole in the Head - Eyes Wide Shut

Watching Daniel Radcliffe on The Jay Leno Show and he just revealed how he likes to mess with the paparazzi. He wears the same clothes everyday when leaving movie sets!

So, what does this do? This means that any photos the paparazzi take will be worthless because they will look like they were all taken on the same day. They’ll be boring photos that can’t really be used elsewhere since they will only have one photo to sell. Oh Harry! How clever!

Daniel 1. Paparazzi 0.