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December 21, 2006

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Here, behind this massive glass structure is the Australia Exhibit at the National Aquarium, in Baltimore, Maryland. Complete with full-size trees and plants, waterfalls, crocodiles, birds and even huge "flying fox" bats flying and hanging around in the framework of the ceiling, this is quite an addition to an already impressive attraction.

The bats reminded me of the time when I was in Sydney, Australia, and I was trying to get a picture of them flying around at night. As you ca see from the next link, it was dark and I never got a good shot of them.

reference links:

06-12-0691

Technology Tips: "My old computer is a TIVO?"

So, as we often upgrade our computers to the latest and greatest, faster monster machine, with all the bells and whistles, (that will likely be the slowest thing on the planet within a few months),  we are still left with the dilemma of what do we do with that older and obsolete piece of junk that we are replacing? Well, before you throw out that old PC, or toss it to the wolves (i.e. "kids") you might want to consider another option. Many of my geek friends, as well as myself, have used some of our older, clunker PC's for media devices in our living room entertainment centers. With just a few modifications you can transform that system into a fairly nice multimedia player for the whole family to enjoy. Her are a few things to consider...

1. If you don't have an extra monitor lying around, or you don't really want another display in your living room anyway, a TV output is the way to go. Many video cards can be purchased with a "TV out" connector, allowing you to connect directly to your television or VCR. This way you can use your TV as the computer monitor. But you'll have to adjust the resolution to around 640x480, since the standard television signal is much lower quality than that of a computer's VGA display. Would you believe I actually just located such a card for only $4.99, (after the $20 rebate)? Then use the audio output from your computer's sound card and plug it into the audio input of your television or entertainment system. Now you're ready to go and use the system as is.

2. The next thing to consider is to connect the PC to your cable or antenna and pick up television signals. And I just located such a device for as low as $20. Many of these cards come bundled with software that will allow you to watch, pause, and record live TV directly to your computer.

3. Now you might want to be able to connect to the internet in order to download and play files and media from various web sites. This would, of course be the task of connecting to your existing home network, or cable modem, however you might prefer. I just installed a simple USB wireless network adapter to mine. But if your system was already working on the internet before, you might just consider some options for networking back to your existing network the way it was previously connected. If you never before had more than one system in your house you might need to look into getting a router to share the internet connection. But this would also allow you to share files to and from your new system as well.
With Windows Media Player I can browse hundreds of various online stations and listen to streaming music. 
Email access and so many other internet options right in your living room make this a really cool thing to have.

4. An internal DVD player or CD ROM drive in your old PC would be nice to use for various applications, especially if you have a DVD or CD burner to record with.

So, of course all of these options and suggestions that I have described would all definitely depend on just how old your "old" system really is, and what it might take to get it up to speed in order to perform all of these functions. You may need to add more RAM or hard drive space as well as various other components. 
But to give you some sense of perspective, I am using an old Pentium II, 300Mhz, running Windows 98. The system currently has about 220megs of RAM and a 5gig main hard drive with an extra 20gig drive added for more storage space. At the current format and video compression ratio that I am recording, my 20gig hard drive will store approximately 36 hours of video.

With adding memory card readers and various other USB devices there's just no end to the possibilities of what you can do, and integrating a PC to your entertainment center is a perfect addition. 
Even if just to use a cool screen saver to display neat graphics or family photos.

Thinking of buying one of those expensive photo frames? You're already there.
Thinking of connecting your iPod or MP3 player to your stereo? You're there.
Don't want to go into the other room to check your email? You're there.
You want to show everybody that funny clip on You Tube? You're there.
You want commercial free music? You're there.
Well, the list can go on and on....

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