Quad Tuner HD-DVR HTPC Build, Finally!

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Hong

I have been contemplating a lot about building my own HD DVR for about a year. This was partly spurred on by the upcoming renew date for my TiVo HD (November 2010). Do I shell out another $400 for a lifetime subscription (I bought my TiVo HD when they didn’t offer a lifetime subscription) or do I build a HTPC? Continue reading →

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How Many Licks?: Or, How to Estimate Damn Near Anything by Aaron Santos

Posted on August 16, 2010 by Hong

It looked much more interesting when I saw his talk at Authors@Google. However, I found it rather monotonic. Some of the ideas were interesting, but got boring fast.

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Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle by Daniel L. Everett

Posted on August 16, 2010 by Hong

I’ve always been interested in learning languages. That’s why I was interested in this Dr. Everett‘s book when I saw his talk on FORA.tv. The linguistic details on this obscure Amazonian language was a bit too much for me, but … Continue reading →

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Google I/O 2010: Google TV and Update on Android x86

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Hong

Besides the Froyo update to the Android OS, the other big announcement for the Thursday keynote of the Google IO 2010 is Google TV. From the demo, this is what I learned about it. It’s a software muxer. That is, … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Intel Atom Z6xx…

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Hong

Recently, Intel announced Intel Atom Z6xx (codename Moorestown) for the smartphone/MID devices. Anandtech has an excellent article on it. This is not the first power-conscious offering from Intel, but it is their first effort into the ever-expanding smartphone (and MID … Continue reading →

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Google Gives Up on Web-Based Mobile Phone Sales

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Hong

Today, Google officially admitted that their experiment in the mobile space to create a provider-independent, web-only handset market was a failure. Most people were predicting such since Verizon and Sprint decided against carrying Nexus One on their networks. Ever since … Continue reading →

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The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Hong

Another book I was made aware of through “Authors@Google” talks… This book gives a pretty good idea of what was wrong about the initial approach of the U.S. in Iraq and how and why the “Surge” worked. I think it … Continue reading →

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Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

Posted on January 21, 2010 by Hong

No wonder this book as been a best-seller for a long time. The book has a very good combination of academic and personal essay styles. Very easy to read and very convincing. Dr. Robert Cialdini explains, out of curiosity from … Continue reading →

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Cheap Low-Power HTPC / HD-DVR Design #5

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Hong

A comment pointed me to another version of the Zotac IONITX board that is a bit more expensive, but also has a few more features. The prices are based on November 24th, 2009. Case: Apex MI-008 ($39.99) – 250W is … Continue reading →

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Cheap Low-Power HTPC / HD-DVR Design #4

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Hong

With the announcement of Adobe Flash 10.1 Beta, the nVidia ION system seems even more attractive as an HTPC. Also, it seems NewEgg is carrying the new Zotac ION board. Also, through Bing Shopping, NewEgg is offering some (2%) moneyback. … Continue reading →

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