2011 — 25 November: Friday

It occurs to me that 06:50 is still really a bit on the early side1 so I'm returning to my bed with Mr Mullin's diary for company and a hot cuppa just for me. I'm about to hit 1997 (as it were). Time enough for breakfast in another hour or so. There's no point rushing these things...

Did I ever express...

... an opinion about hdmi connections, I wonder? And HDCP, of course? Love the former, hate the latter. I'm now trying the hdmi to DVI connector I last had to use with my first-ever hi-def video source (namely the original Humax satellite receiver that I bought purely for use with the BBC's then-experimental transmissions). If this, too, fails I shall have to step back down into the equally murky world of analogue connections, starting with component. This is all very annoying, and may just be caused by a faulty hdmi socket on the back of the Netgear. I have tried three different hdmi cables and a variety of connections. All I can say is that, when the link goes "iffy" it steps away from hi-def and goes to something that looks like it lives on the wrong side of basic composite video.

And, naturally (thank you, Murphy) I have to relocate the Netgear box physically under the plasma screen. I'm very glad I decided to put it on that wheeled shelving rack when Brian the Plumber was doing his "let's lift all the floorboards" trick in pursuit of the unleashing of higher temperatures last year. If I ever finish, it will be time to update my photo of the setup. This one (from April 2010) is now sadly dated:

The latest (April 2010) of numerous iterations

Although Bettie Page never goes out of fashion :-)

Just as you should never...

... ask a question if you can't handle the answer, you should never let a Netgear media box scan for media files without constraint. It's unearthed ("disinterred" is nearer the mark) stuff I've long forgotten, often for good reason. I think I shall be content to stick to browsing a few named folders in future. The hdmi connection is holding up so far, as is the phono analogue audio lead that I'm using to carry co-ax digital audio. I'm a master of compromise, I tell you.

Tea, Mrs Landingham? The sun is, after all, well above the horizon — it's now 10:51 and it's turning into a nice day.

Refreshed by my "lemonses"...

... I've finally tidied up things (a little). Click the pic for a bigger image:

Revised system

The Netgear box is on the floor under the screen. [Pause] Having demonstrated it to Brian and Liz, lunched, and replenished my dwindling stockpile of foodstuffs a tad, I'm now back in time to catch part of Kermode's next set of film reviews. When that's finished, I shall nip over to see Roger and Eileen and inspect their tin of broken biscuits. I shall then declare the weekend begun, I think.

Some of us are old enough to remember Monty Python's "Contractual Obligation" album. Today's arrival reminded me of that:

DVD

It is an excellent show. Made me laugh a lot.

  

Footnote

1  I'm retired, you know.