I’m becoming more and more captivated by the soundtracks in shows I’ve been watching. Rewatching Arjuna, I’m reminded that I want to have a copy of the soundtrack for it. I’ve also been really enjoying the music in RahXephon. It’s got one or two tracks in it that are really nice kinda downtempo-y stuff. Now I just need to find someplace locally that has them.

On part of my drive home this weekend I was listening to the Noir soundtrack and was again reminded of just how good it is. The flow between the tracks is really nice, and they are all mostly a good length. A few of the soundtrack CDs I have are just lots of around 30 second to one minute long tracks that feel like just snippets of music. I don’t like that as much.

Geek out time for Gregory. An article about Microsoft’s new multimedia software got me thinking about computers as TVs and why I have issues with such things on computers.

Changing Channels, on the PC. Windows XP Media Center Edition is Microsoft’s PC-based answer to digital video recorders like TiVo. But how well does it work? By David Pogue. [New York Times: Technology]

The article hits on a few things that caught my eye. The first of which is placement. Yeah, it’s neat that you can have a device like the TiVo on your computer. But there are a lot of implications for that. First, the cable companies. They aren’t going to give up their hold on things so easily. This is an issue with the TiVo also, but not as much of one.

The TiVo is designed to fit in with your current home entertainment system. It’s the size of a standard stereo component. it has cabling to drop it into your video connections and even an IR blaster if your cable box can’t be directly controlled by it. With a computer you’d have to either find someplace to put it right by your TV, or get a whole second cable box for it to control. Unfortunately, the cable companies seem to be quite resistant to the idea of you giving up those cable boxes. So it’s potentially going to cost you some extra money each month to do.

The second issue for me is that with a TiVo it is a dedicated box. I don’t have to worry that something else I am running will impact the programs I am recording. When I look at some of the games my friends are currently playing I can’t see how one could assure that you wouldn’t run into bandwidth issues. Especially when doing things like handling disk reads and writes while recording a show.

And, when it comes down to it, I just don’t like watching things on a computer screen. I watch digisubs that way because I don’t have any good way to watch them on TV (though I’m still eyeing that software for the PS2 that lets you). Now if someone were to take this software and incorporate it into a standalone box, they might have something. But then again, we already have TiVo and Replay out there (and don’t forget the whole DRM and MS thing).

I gave in yesterday and got Candy Corn when I was at the drug store. I couldn’t resist the pull of my addiction to it. Luckily I’ve got enough control at this point to not eat the whole bag at once.

I finally got around to looking at the Palm Zire. It’s metal, kinda cool looking. But unless I’m wrong, it’s still basicly the same as the model they’ve been selling for $99 all along. Now, if they’d made it a tiny bit more expensive, like $150, and included bluetooth, then they might have something. I still like my palm, though dealing with syncing has made it a little less useful for me. I keep looking at some of the fancier devices and they just don’t seem like things I’d use too much.

I’m bored. I need to find a way to entertain myself some. Movies? Clubbing? Concerts? This is the part of being unemployed that is driving me insane. Anyone up for some late night coffee?

Because she mentioned Anna’s and made me realize how much I was craving a steak burrito. Not quite as good as one from ‘bertos, but still so yummy. Time to have lunch and catch up on some TiVo’d shows.

It is street cleaning day again, which means parking on only one side of the street. Luckily this morning I’m parked on the correct side of the street so that i don’t need to move my car. But, I want my coffee, and I know if I move my car I’m going to lose my spot. It’s days like this where I kind of wish I had a coffee maker.

I also have a craving for a donut for the first time in ages.

gregory is a rubber fish that hums incessantly! It can be bolted onto a belt buckle and squeaks. Who are you? Using my other nickname, snooze is a cufflink that catalogues its contents, has a human brain inside and is made of glass.

Seen over on Zannah‘s and Machinegirl‘s journals

Since I wasn’t around today I only got a few discs done. I’ve got a bunch more queued up for tonight if I can’t sleep.

• The Style Council – Confessions of a Pop Group
• The Style Council – Cafe Bleu
• The Style Council – The Cost of Loving
• The Stone Roses – Turns into Stone
• Jimmy Somerville – The Singles Collection 1984/1990
• The Smiths – Louder Than Bombs

The only thing with ripping all these CDs is it makes me realize the holes in my CD collection. Now I’m wondering if I should just start adding everything that is missing to my Amazon wish list. Though that could end up being quite insane.

I had a meeting today for some possible consulting work. I won’t know right away, but it would definitely help with giving me more time to find full time work. It would also give me some experience for my resume.