I picked up a Mac Mini at the local Apple store and converted it into a home theater PC for use in my entertainment center. The only extra item needed to make it all come together was the proper display & audio adapter. Now I’m able to use services like Hulu, Netflix, and iTunes on my primary television while reclining comfortably on my couch.

Granted, the only extra thing I needed was the display adapter, but I also chose to upgrade the hard drive. I replaced the factory 320gb drive with a 640gb Western Digital Scorpio drive, effectively doubling my storage space. Considering the amount of digital video content I’ll be storing on the computer, it seemed like a wise decision. As with most Apple computers, they design them so that the average consumer cannot replace or upgrade parts themselves. To that I say, “Ha!” The inside of the Mac Mini was a bit tight and cracking the chassis open required some sweat (and a putty knife), but it ended up being a fairly straightforward endeavor. To give you an idea how long this project might take, I took a time-lapse video.

Why do I wear blue surgical gloves while I film this video? For one, I bite my fingernails (bad habit, I know) so I prefer to hide them. Secondly, I don’t like getting hand oils all over sensitive electronic components.

December is nearly upon us and the holiday season is in full-swing. My tabletop Christmas tree is sitting on my dining room table and I purchased a set of new LED Christmas lights, which were promptly strung in my bedroom and kitchen windows. I can smell the power savings already.

Actually, these LED lights are pretty spiffy. Besides the obvious benefits of less power usage and a lower electric bill, they appear to be much more vibrant than the traditional incandescent lights. A good comparison would be automobile brake lights. The incandescents on a regular car are bright, yet soft, while the LED tail lights on a higher-end vehicle are almost piercing. The LED lights also run far cooler due to their reduced power consumption. The downside is that the strand of lights seems to have some kind of inline resistor, which does get slightly warm. It also the clunkiest thing on the entire strand (comparable to a C-size battery) and can be a challenge to hide when decorating.

Overall, I’m happy with my purchase. I’ll probably save a few dollars on my December energy bill, while providing seasonal merriment for all my neighbors.

The iPhone lets the user set a wallpaper. This wallpaper image shows up during two common occurrences. The first is when you unlock the phone. The second is when someone calls and are not in the phone’s contact list. On my phone, nearly all of my contacts have pictures. If my mom calls, I see a picture of my mom. If a friend calls, I see their picture. So, what’s the problem, you ask? Simply this:

Much to my chagrin, Tina Fey is not on my contact list. She’s my current wallpaper image. Thus, whenever a strange number calls me, I see a picture of Ms. Fey pop up on my screen and, for a split second, I actually think that she’s calling me. The next moment, the bottom drops out, I realize that it’s just my wallpaper image, and I begrudgingly pick up the phone. This is one little feature that drives me nuts about the iPhone. I want a background image that I can enjoy, but I also don’t want to be tricked into thinking a celebrity is calling me every time an unknown number calls me. Such a quandary!

I’m not one to give out free advertising. I refuse to wear clothing emblazoned with company logos, I don’t let car dealerships put their company license plate frames on my new car, and I don’t hang up political signs. If a company or person wants attention or sales, they can spend their own funds to make that happen. This includes spending it on me. For example, if Best Buy wanted to pay me $10/hour to wear one of their blue polo shirts around in public, I’d be more than happy to oblige. All that aside, I am willing to provide a company or product with positive word of mouth on my own volition, if I feel that it is especially beneficial, groundbreaking, or noteworthy. This is one of those times.

I’ve been using rechargeable batteries intermittently for years. For a while, I used Energizer NiMH batteries, but grew increasingly frustrated with their performance. I would charge these things up, put them in a drawer, and find them completely dead when I pulled them out six months later. What’s the point of using rechargeables if they aren’t convenient? As a result, I would buy huge packs of alkaline batteries and just keep throwing them out as they died. I felt like I was single-handedly supplying the local landfill with all of its garbage needs, which left me feeling like a heel, but what was I supposed to do? Spend four hours charging up my Energizers only to have them die again in no time? I don’t think so.

That all changed about a year ago when I purchased a 4-pack of Sanyo Eneloop batteries, along with an included AC charger. I took to these things faster than you can say ‘paradigm shift.’ They charge up in the standard amount of time, but they hold their charge for years. Yes, you read that correctly, I said YEARS. Using LSD NiMH technology, they can be recharged over 1,500 times and hold 75% of their original charge for three years (according to Sanyo). Is that not enough for you? As an added bonus, they come fully charged and ready to use when you buy a set… just like a typical pack of alkalines.

So, yeah. There’s my shiny endorsement for Sanyo battery products. If they felt like tossing a few advertising dollars my way, I wouldn’t be entirely unappreciative.

I only have time for a quick post today, as I’m going away for the weekend. To make things easy, I’ll just keep rolling with the astronomy theme.

As I’ve been scouring through astronomy books for the last couple days, the enormity of this field of study has started to hit home. I’m not even talking about the search for life on other planets, nebulas, black holes, the expansion of the universe, or any of that stuff. I’m referring to just our solar system. In an age where technology is expanding rapidly, new discoveries are made on almost a daily basis, and we’re carrying tiny computers around in our pockets, it’s almost baffling to think about how much we don’t know about our planetary neighborhood. Looking at how quickly things progressed in the 1960’s, you’d think we’d have astronauts orbiting around Uranus by now. Yet, it’s not even remotely the case.

Yes, this is a picture of Uranus.

Starting in the late-1990’s, we finally began to seriously study Mars, while we’ve almost completely neglected our own local satellite, The Moon. Venus, our other neighbor, has been largely ignored. Mercury has gotten some attention as of late, thanks to the MESSENGER spacecraft. Jupiter and Saturn seem to be under some form of constant observation (Saturn is being perused by Cassini at the moment). But then there’s Uranus, Neptune, and (arguably) Pluto. What do we know about them? Compared to Mars, we know virtually nothing about these outer planets. There are some plans in the works to revisit Neptune, New Horizons is on its way to Pluto (arrives in 2015), but Uranus isn’t even on the table.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Limited budgets and all that. We’ll get there eventually. It’s just depressing that the best pictures we have are from 23 years ago. I was too young to even recall Voyager II, let alone remember the pictures being unveiled to the public. If it wasn’t for the impending Pluto exploration, I’d be in a rather surly mood right now. Just think… No human being has ever laid eyes on the surface of Pluto in any detail, yet we will be doing exactly that in a few short years. I have to imagine that would give even the most jaded person a few goosebumps.