I came home early today

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I came home early today to wait for the Dish installation guy. I've decided to ditch cable in favor of satellite TV, in search of a clearer picture. I have "digital" cable now, and I say "digital" because only channels over 100 are actually digital, the rest are the same analog signal you get before, complete with all the static, ghosting, and interference problems I've come to hate. All of those things are tolerable on a 27" TV, but with my new 53" widescreen set, it really ruins the viewing experience. So, since Dish has the locals for the Cedar Rapids/Waterloo/Dubuque DMA now (other than the ABC affiliate, who can't seem to work out their differences with Dish), I'm switching. I don't watch much on ABC, and certainly nothing I'll miss, though I'm going to send a letter to the station expressing my displeasure that they don't want me to watch their advertisements.

My dreams of Dish didn't pan out today, however, due to the large trees in my backyard. I'm going to need the dish mounted on a pole on the back side of the trees, well away from the house, and they have to "Call before they dig". So, they've called, and will be back on Friday to install the Dish on said pole. I understand the reason they have to call before digging, but it's rather silly in my backyard, as the gas line comes in from the curb out front, and cable TV, telephone, and electricity are all delivered via above-ground cables, rather than buried lines. And really, what are the odds of hitting a hypothetically buried line with a pole that's only an inch in diameter?

So check back in on Friday, and we'll see if I'm in digital bliss. I am getting a Dish PVR 508 with the package as well, which is sort of a crude TiVo device. I say crude because it lacks a lot of the scheduling features that TiVo has, but should have excellent picture quality, since it records the digital signal directly from the satellite. I'll be sure to post a review once I've gotten good with it.

Spring has sprung in a

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Spring has sprung in a big way here in Iowa. Today was one of those days that reminds you why you live here, and why you suffer through the long cold winters. In short, it was gorgeous. But, the warmer weather brought problems as well, the air conditioning in my building at UNI is off, and I was told by our maintenance guru that it will remain off for at least a month. They've installed new coils for the air conditioner, but not run the well water to them yet, in fact, they haven't even started. So, with the temperature in our computer labs hitting 85 degrees already, we're a bit paranoid that things are going to become unbearable if we have to wait another month.

My office is nice and toasty warm, and since I don't have a window, I can't open it. So, I'm shutting down hot things instead. My vintage 1953 refrigerator that time forgot has been turned off, and is defrosting as we speak. Tomorrow, I'm going to beg, borrow, or steal an 18" or 19" flat panel display so I can power down the spaceheater that is my 21" CRT monitor, then swap a 15" LCD in for my old 17" CRT display as well. Doing all of this should hopefully lower the temperature in my office by 5 degrees F, or so, and keep me from sweating all day.

This story really cracked me

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This story really cracked me up! Gotta love the Weekly World News!

[via Backup Brain]

Time Traveler Busted Some stories are just too good to be true, and, well, this one's from the Weekly World News: 'Time-Traveler' Busted for Insider Trading. Supposedly, the guy's made so many correct stock picks that he's been hauled in by the SEC, and his defense is that it's not insider trading, he's just from 2256. Uh huh.