Randy Weber

I hooked up the Apple TV, accessed iTunes on my Mac mini, and synced my music from my mini to the Apple TV.

Next up was installing Boxee. Not quite as easy as the instructions made it out to be, but I still got it installed and working. There was some overscan on the video but the software has a really easy way to adjust the overscan, so no problem.

Hulu worked, though it listed videos that weren’t available anymore. That was annoying. ABC.com didn’t work, nor did Fox. That’s makes Boxee a lot less useful. Didn’t try You Tube.

I like the Apple TV’s implementation of Front Row for music much better than I like Boxee. I see Boxee as my avenue to Internet video. For that it works well. I had an episode of 24 running from Hulu. It looked great.

The Apple TV and Boxee are definitely worth it.

As I said earlier, the Apple TV is a breeze to setup. I’ve since loaded all of my music onto it. It took forever to load 65GB of tunes via Wi-Fi. But it’s done and it looks and sounds great. It operates pretty much just like Front Row on my Mac mini. So it’s a keeper. I’ve disconnected my mini from the TV and taken it downstairs to the office where it will replace my ancient mini-ITX project PC. My next step is to load my photos onto the Apple TV. Then I’m going to try out Boxee.

I’m setting up my new Apple TV today to replace my Mac mini in my entertainment center. So far, it’s been a breeze to get it connected to my mini and to get it on my wireless network. I’ll let you know more once it’s all set up.

I hope everyone has a great new year.

Is it just me or does Live Search put the coolest pics up?

My Dad is clearly the Bay Area Sports Good Luck Charm. We’ve seen the Raiders, the Warriors, and the 49ers this week. The home team won each time. These are three bad teams, so that’s saying something.

Back to the 49ers. They won on a last minute field goal after perfectly executing their two-minute offense. It was a great game. Got lots of good pics from this one.

Tailgaiting

Scenes from the game

The final play

Final score

Dad and I went to Chinatown to continue our tradition of non-traditional X-Mas dinners. We cruised across the Bay Bridge, drove down Lombard Street, went up Coit Tower, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge where we drove through the hills above Sausalito, and we finished up crossing the San Rafael Bridge on our way back to Alameda.

Lombard Street posted by vgm8383 to Flickr:

Coit Tower posted on Flickr by code_martial:

Found this on Gizmodo. Enjoy. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Dad and I went to Fisherman’s Wharf today. It’s always nice to get fresh Dungeness crabs and clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl. Yummy!

The sea lions were out making a bunch of noise at Pier 39.

And out in front of the In-N-Out Burger was The Bushman. This dude sits on a milk crate holding branches he cut off of a tree. He hides behind them and pops out to scare people walking by. He got us when we walked by. We wondered how he kept from getting his ass kicked. Turns out he hires a body guard. Claims to make about $60k a year. You can read about him at the link above. Pretty interesting stuff. He’s been doing this for years. It’s hilarious watching him. We sat in the In-N-Out burger watching him while we ate. BTW, In-N-Out Burger kicks ass!

Alcatraz was just as impressive the second time around as it was the first. The island was opened up so we could walk around more. The place is much smaller than you’d imagine and the cells are depressing. They’re small, damp, and cold. Few get any sunlight. It must have been terrible to have been there so close to the city, being able to hear all the life going on around you, yet knowing you were stuck in your little cell on the island.

After checking out Alcatraz, we saw the entire Miami Hurricanes football team waiting in line for their chance to see Alcatraz. They were in town to play Cal in the Emerald Bowl.

Dad and I spent Christmas Eve checking out Alcatraz. On the ferry back to Alameda, we had a great view of the city.

Today was my first day. It’s a great company with great people. I’m very excited.