I found it quite difficult to find information on how to convert basic cable (plain old cable) into composite.  This is for the folks who have cable, but don’t want to pay for extended services and cable boxes.  There are two verbiages that you will find on your web searches:

1)  Just use an old VCR!
2)  Just use an old computer!

End of thread…  End of post… That is where the story ends and it leaves a lot to be desired.  I have problems with both of these solutions.

1)  The VCR is archaic
2)  I don’t want to leave a computer running in a room that will be used sparingly
3)  I don’t want to wait for a computer to boot up

This can be negated if you have a cable box that already does that.  But there are still people out there without cable boxes.  Or don’t want a cable box in every room or on every device; I’m sure the cable companies want you to.  I can’t seem to justify the extra $30 + fees for the box to move away from basic cable.  Renting a cable box seems like a dirty tactic to me; in the long run they have to make a killing.

I have NetFlix so if I want to watch a movie I can just get it off of there.  Also, there is NetFlix streaming which is awesome.  I do not want to give the cable companies more money – it’s already highway robbery.

The problem with this is that projectors do not have a TV tuner.  It doesn’t know what to do with the coax connection.  Projectors cannot tune (most of them that are out there anyway).  But I believe there is a happy medium… a product by Ambery.com -> Super Video to WXGA Converter.  This device works much like a cable box expect that you can buy it and use it how you like.

It takes a coax connection (Clear QAM), it won’t decrypt any of the pay channels like a real cable box, and converts it to composite, VGA, or S-Video.  Composite will most likely be your best choice for a projector.  I believe they also have one with component connections.  If you are looking for HDMI I’m not sure what will be needed – I’m guessing an upconverter of some sort.

Clear QAM is important.  If the device is not Clear QAM then it will not be able to tune to the cable frequencies.  If you have been looking at the Analog-to-Digital most of the ones that I have found do not have clear QAM meaning they will not work with cable; you will need an antenna to retrieve the signals.

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So, today is the day that we should all be thankful for the various things in our lives: our family, our friends, our loved ones, our pets, etc etc. For all those things I am very thankful. But I think I am going to do something a bit different…

The top 5 technologies I am thankful for:

#5 SMS
Short Message Service – My preferred way of communication. I can keep in contact with a lot of people in a short amount of time. I’m just not a big phone person, I think having a conversation on a phone takes too long when you want to ask a simple question. Phone calls are not obsolete; they just have their place.

#4 Apple iPod
I don’t know where I would be without my iPod. I would be drowning in a sea of CDs and that’s no good. Having my entire music library in my pocket is quite an amazing thing. Also the ability to add the many podcasts I listen to is great.
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I think John C. Dvorak needs a hug.

Dvorak is a brilliant man, I enjoy his commentary, and what he brings to various podcasts. But I think one of his recent articles [find it here] is complete FUD. Of course we are in a bubble, we are always in a bubble, and the bubble is either growing or shrinking or bursting. Zoliblog.com also feels this way, nice read btw.

Overall, I don’t think Dvorak is wrong, but I think what he says goes without saying. It’s like saying it’s going to rain. Of course, it is going to rain, and just by saying that it is going to rain soon does not mean you have great foresight. The bubble we are in is a different type of bubble that should be greatly appreciated.

From Dvorak’s article…

“It was an event for people who wanted to get rich quick in tech and get out quick”

From this one event Dvorak summated that indeed the bubble was coming. That people are just going to sell, sell, and sell. I don’t think that is completely true, well partially true. People are going to sell their start-ups like they always do, but they are going to Facebook and Google. Mark didn’t sell Facebook to Yahoo! this should be a good sign that this bubble is a much different bubble, that and there are no sock puppets thank you Pets.com.

Alright I’m going to say it too, the bubble is coming, beware the bubble 2.0, beware! You can thank me later.

Has TechTV been reborn on the Internet?

It was an interesting side note on episode 107 of TWiT about Morgan Webb’s new video blog WebbAlert.com, which is fairly cool. I always enjoyed what Morgan has to say during X-Play and the one hot minute or whatever it is called. I don’t watch G4 anymore, well because Comcast made it a pay channel and I don’t feel it is really worth it. Especially with so many good podcasts out there. TWiT my favorite and Buzz Out Loud, my two must listens. Back to topic.

It is really interesting to see all these former TechTV people and money in general going into podcasts, netcasts, videoblogs, etc etc. DL.TV is fairly exciting. It is good to see these great Technology programs being made, because quite frankly there is a demand for it.

Morgan Webb’s daily videocast (Monday through Thursday) will keep you up-to-date with all the best tech stories. On TWiT 107 they also said that Morgan’s contract with G4 was expiring soon? I think she is great on G4, but if she were doing something like Leo does on TWiT she would have a great fan base and wouldn’t need a network. I think independent shows via the Internet will start to become a great avenue for entertainment. I love podcasts/netcasts and various videoblogs.

The Internet is here.

I have been way busy that past 15 or so days! Unbelievable. Believe it. At work we are doing a MPLS network rollover so that has been enjoyable. Also we are opening another branch, so I have been busy running network cables and such. Good times.

In the little free time I have gotten I’ve been listening to twit and diggnation; my favorite podcasts netcasts; I am definitely for changing podcast to netcast. I digress. Twit is really cool. I would really like to do a netcast one day with my views on technology and the world around us.

So here are some links on how to make your own PODCAST/NETCAST

A nice beginner tutorial
Cnet Guide In-depth
Podcast Alley podcasters
Little overview of podcasting

Audacity seems to be the program of choice for podcasting/netcasting in the Windows/Linux world. I have used this program before to record music off a PA system and it works really well. Open source is great. I will look into this more. Again I think a podcast/netcast would be a very fun thing to do.