I knew it was coming, and just kept putting the theft off. I wish now I hadn't procrastinated so much on stealing the chair-- but when the day came and they kicked us all out and changed the codes, it was too late. I know a couple of them disappeared, and I even had a no-security-cameras route picked out that made use of the fact that our roof door was unlocked and that it lined up with the fourth floor of the adjacent parking garage. There was a 6' chainlink fence in the way, but i'm sure I could have climbed it and pulled the chair over with me. If only I had gotten around to it. *sigh*
So (much like the later simpsons episode) I made off with as much ethernet wire as I could.
One well-prepared bastard had the foresight to lock the super-expensive pro video camera in a filing cabinet and mark it with a distinctive scratch. He bought a lot of 25 beat-up file cabinets later at the auction for about $100, pried the drawer open, and took the camera home after selling the other cabinets for a few bucks to one of the furniture dealers.
I got one the way everybody else who has one at home did-- I waited for an auction, and bought one for 1/4 price. Check ebay, too.
Well worth it-- but you *have* to spend the time to adjust it to make it work for you. They don't feel much different when you're just sitting in it-- you notice the difference at the end of the day when you're not sore from sitting in a chair. But everybody's different, and I'm sure as many people dislike them as like them, even after adjustment and extended use.
Last year, I bought a 512MB CF Card on sale from Dell for about $80. They lost the order altogether-- no record in their system of my number. So I asked them to place the order again at the sale price, but they wouldn't without proof.
So I hung up and called back. Tried the business number. Bounced around between reps a little, and ended up with a "giver." Apparently unable to even check pricing information, the tech actually had *me* look up the price online. She then credited the difference in price to a *previous order* (so that she had a credit card number to hang it on) and told me to re-order the card from their website.
As is traditional for Dell, the card went back on sale a few days later. I ordered it, and ended up getting the card and making a $20 profit.
The reps are so confused and without information you can tell them nearly anything. They don't care, and just want you gone. It's amazing anyone is still even bothering to offer support-- utterly worthless. But at least you can get your revenge by getting some of your wasted time back in the form of money and free stuff.
Hell, I'd put up with the taco part if they fixed the game swap and got a better screen. The vertical orientation is great for space invaders and tetris, but not so much for side-scrollers or 3D games. Switch to a gameboy orientation.
If they threw in a split thumboard (half on each side) so I could IM, i'd ditch my t600 in a heartbeat for it. Unfortunately, it's just not a replacement.
I did something similar with the iText libraries for java. Generate PDF's to your heart's content-- place text and images into the page, flatten it, and *pop* out comes your document.
"I was clear enough that there were already light-colored moths present before the massive soot-generation started."
I meant to type:
"I was clear enough that there were already dark-colored and light-colored moths present before the massive soot generation started."
Sorry for any confusion. I'm just trying to clear up terms for everybody. Saying things like "evolution doesn't happen" just makes you look foolish when you argue with the sciency types, because by the accepted definition, it does happen and has happened within recent history. Make your argument clearer by stating that you believe evolution does not create new species or is not responsible for creating people, if you wish.
That said, I'm a sciency type, and I would appreciate it noted that I have tried to be fair and balanced here while pointing this out. I'm not trying to sell anybody my beliefs, only pointing out the small part of the idea of "evolution" that is testable and tested fact. The rest of it is, and will remain for the forseeable future, only a theory.
My girlfriend has been reading his books, and as I am a giant geek and read everything, I read them. His other two were better-- the glaring holes were too big for me to suppress my "that's not the way it works" reflex.
Never mind the fact that you can't "replace the code on the web" without also somehow magically replacing any version that's already downloaded... I about lost it laughing when the big computer exploded. Sure, maybe the cooling system could rupture and leak or something, maybe-- but he had to go and make a bunch of overheating FPGAs into a giant fireball of doom.
I realize this doesn't prove much, because none of you know which one of us is which. But here are the pictures. That would be *me* soldering, despite boarder's faulty memory, and him meticulously slicing the wires out of an IDE cable to make a little connector block.
I give up. Call it what you want. I was under the impression that microevolution *is* the variation in distribution of existing genetic material.
Merriam-Webster says microevolution is a "comparatively minor evolutionary change involving the accumulation of variations in populations usually below the species level" which I would take to mean that we didn't get outside of our species, which you would seem to be implying is a requirement for a change to qualify as evolution.
It's not like the moths turned into dogs, or something. I'm not implying they did anything BUT change in population distribution, and thought I was fairly clear on that in my post.
You are absolutely correct, and I hope no one took my post as trying to claim otherwise. This is indeed an example of microevolution. It does NOT indicate a change of species, as there were already variations across the species present. I thought by saying "primarily light colored" I was clear enough that there were already light-colored moths present before the massive soot-generation started. This is how microevolution works. Bacteria evolve resistance by this mechanism-- all the ones that aren't resistant die. The remainder breed, and you get high percentage of resistant bacteria. All that has changed is the proportion of resistant vs. nonresistant bacteria in the population-- both were present beforehand, just in different quantities.
This is not an example of a new species being created via evolution. That is exactly the type of evolution that is a theory, and will remain a theory until it is either superseded, disproven, or actually witnessed.
And even witnessing the evolution of a new species within our lifetimes will NOT put the creation part of the whole thing to bed. We can't ever prove things that happened when we weren't there-- best guesses on present-day evidence and religious explanations are the closest we will get. We'll need time machines before we have factual answers to that one.
They found that nothing you could do would affect the validity of a breath test *if you were drunk*. As in, "there's nothing you can do to make it show 0.0 when you're 0.1"
What the grandparent post was saying (and they confirmed on mythbusters) was that there are things that will make it look like you're drunk, *if you are sober*, or make you appear drunker than you are. Mouthwash, for example, caused them to blow a.48 when they had been much lower than that only minutes before.
Pay attention. Mythbusters said there's no way to beat a breath test. They did not say there's no way to accidentally look drunk when you're not, and in fact showed otherwise.
There are two separate ideas that fall under the name "evolution." The first is the basic idea of one thing evolving into another-- there are a number of examples that we have watched happen right before our eyes. The common example is the English moth, biston betularia-- whose population was 95% soot-colored after heavy industry in the late 1800s, but was primarily light-colored in the years prior.
The second is the theory that evolution is responsible for everybody being here. This isn't provable, but it seems to be the best no-magical-stuff explanation we have right now. This is where you're right-- evolution-as-creation is a theory.
The idea that evolution happens is a solid fact. We just don't know if it's the only thing at work that could have led to people. (or other various animals and plants)
He's lying, and I have pictures. He soldered nothing. Mostly, he was cutting apart the IDE cable (which I was admittedly pretty lousy at.)
He does have an excellent point, though-- my trusty tivo remote covers about 80% of my viewing, but anything else requires that I use a pile o' remotes to change inputs and play dvds, etc...
I had a Series 1 tivo, and I loved its remote. No problem hitting the numbers, or turning the tv/receiver on without moving my hand or contorting myself. I *loved* that remote. Perfect balance, ergonomics, layout, etc...
I got a DirecTivo, which is fantastic because of the two tuners and the digital recording. But they decided to redesign the remote. It's longer (so much for the balance), it has unused buttons in key places (there's an unused "window" button where power used to be, and power is hidden in the middle now-- so much for layout), and the layout/length change makes it so you have to either use two hands or shift it in your hand to reach all the buttons. Very disappointing. Thankfully, my old remote will control the DirecTivo to a degree (the new separate guide button makes it tough)-- I just wish DirecTV hadn't felt the need to mess with perfect. The Phillips Series 1 tivo remote was spectacular and "just exactly what you need," turning on TV and receiver, channel changes tivo, and volume changes your choice of tv or receiver.
Of course, it won't control your DVD, VCR, change inputs on your tv/receiver, or learn the secret codes for your HTPC card's IR dongle. But that would require a slew of extra buttons.
I helped build the little parallel cable that runs his remote, since Aeronautical engineers aren't much with soldering irons. I was going to build one for myself, until I actually tried using his. I guess you get used to it, but I decided I prefer a remote where you can tell what the buttons do just by looking at it, rather than having to be the one that programmed it. He says "intuitive," but that's because it's his setup. I couldn't figure out how to control his replayTV with it. That's the big drawback for the programmable remotes that don't have screen faces-- you can't change the text.
But hey, everybody likes what they like. I like the original Tivo peanut remote, but the new slightly longer one that came with my DirecTivo ruins the perfect balance and layout of the old one.
I still play a ton of games, but I won't play crap anymore. When I was a kid, I'd play anything that fell into my hands. Now, I won't play it unless it's exactly what I want to play, and I wonder how I ever managed to deal with some of the crap I used to play.
I also make a point of playing online with friends who are scattered all over the country. Use Roger Wilco and catch up with friends while using your experience and teamwork to slaughter hordes of newbies. Or just get completely destroyed, like I usually do. Whatever.
Old tivos (series 1) don't support USB ethernet because they don't have USB. They do, however, support the TurboNet ethernet card from 9thtee.com. These require you to open the case and plug the card in, much like putting an ethernet card into a PC. More expensive than a USB dongle, but they work just fine.
DirecTivos don't support ethernet of any sort despite having USB, but you don't need it. (DirecTV is scared of connectivity. Fear of pirated shows, or something.) You get your guide from the satellite. The "complaining about missing guide data" is a bug that a patch is going out for in the near future. Dtivos (including mine) have been incorrectly reporting "1-2 days of data remaining" while actually having weeks of guide data. They keep working just fine, but you'll see the message when it's not true until you get the patch.
The original poster's comment still stands-- a properly calibrated RP CRT set won't have burn-in issues if you don't run it in torch mode. I'm good to go at the year mark, and I've been playing video games and using a tivo with it the whole time.
If I enabled the stupid automatic brightness thingy, it cranks the set up so high it gives me a tan. That, obviously, will burn it in. Well adjusted brightness (nice blacks but no lost detail) puts me around 38%. Your mileage will vary. Always calibrate your set.
CRT remains the one tech in their entire list that can change its native resolution. Any other tech is going to be scaling your image and introducing artifacts most of the time. 1080 native? ABC's 720p and 480i/p from TV/DVD will all be scaled. 720p native? 1080 signals are scaled. Etc...
All this aside, I got it because it offered very good quality at the lowest price. It weighs a ton, eats power, and has analog inputs, though, so someday I'm looking forward to these magical cheap LCOS and SCR DLP sets people keep promising. CRT will remain the "bang for buck" choice for another year or two, until DLP costs drop dramatically.
"Im truly worried than 50% of American Students are grading less than the national average" think about that one for a second.
---------
I know what you're thinking. In a *normally distributed* set of people, you get 50% below the average. Not everything is normally distributed. For a really simple example, consider four people's test scores:
Person 1: 20% Person 2: 20% Person 3: 20% Person 4: 100%
The mean score is 40%. 3/4 of these people are below the mean. It's easy to think of situations where more or less than half are below average.
DirecTV tivos get their guide data from the satellite, not the phone line. Normal tivos need a phone line, but can be modified (in the case of series 1 units, with a card from 9thtee.com, or for series 2 units, a USB ethernet adapter) to use ethernet.
You can use a DirecTivo (as other posters have pointed out) without a phone line, as long as you don't need to do any PPV stuff.
Atari 7800 could play 2600 games. Sega Genesis could play SMS games with an adapter. Gameboy Color played Gameboy games, and Gameboy Advance plays both. Commodore 128 played Commodore 64 games. (not quite a console, but it took cartridge games and used atari joysticks)
Among these examples are some colossal failures (the 7800) and some all-time successes (the Gameboys). It's neither fair to say that the PS2 is the first, or that going the backwards-compatibility route leads to failure OR success.
If you only have component inputs, ATI's cards can output component HD with a $30 dongle you can order on their website. MMmmmm... giant HD video games.
HD tuner cards with VGA outputs can be connected with a VGA->Component breakout cable, as long as your HD card supports YPrPb (normal VGA is RGB). All the ones I've seen that have their own outputs support this.
My combo uses both, and connects the output of the radeon to the loopback input of the HD card (kinda like an old voodoo 3d accelerator) with another VGA->Component cable.
I use a MyHD MDP-100, which they no longer make. But the MDP-120 will do the same. You don't need one of these at all to get desktop/game output, though-- just that ATI adapter. (which only works with ATI cards-- the reason it's cheap is that the card already supports component out. It's just a pin rearranger.)
Your setup is very similar to mine. I use a MyHD card to output to the set as well.
But I wanted the desktop, too. So I bought a couple of VGA->Component RCA breakout cables and set things up like this:
Radeon HD Component Dongle -> Component RCA to VGA breakout cable -> MyHD VGA input
and
MyHD VGA output -> VGA to Component RCA breakout cable #2 (just like your current setup.
All this does is allow you to use the handy source switching built in to your MyHD card to toggle between 1080i desktop from the Radeon, and 1080i video from your MyHD card. Works like a charm.
With a few cables, you can do what the above poster did AND still have your desktop. Pressing the "HD" button on your MyHD remote will toggle between desktop and video.
Plain and simple, tuning and recording HDTV is still freaking expensive. A $500 computer and $200 HD tuner card gets you all the functionality of:
1. HD tuner (standalone cost, $300+) 2. HD recorder/PVR (standalone cost, $400+) 3. 1080i/720p DVD player (standalone cost, $250) 4. PC games in HD on big screen (closest comparison is an XBox with an HD kit-- $200) 5. A high-end scaler/filter box for HD video. ($500+)
It depends a bit on your situation and how anal you are. If you have only analog component inputs, you want as many steps done in the digital domain as you can. If you have DVI, this is not such a big deal.
Additionally, you can do scaling better with an HTPC than you can with most sets built-in scalers. It's simply easier to get quality results when you're scaling right from the digital source, and you have the flexibility of complex, customizeable filters and scaling algortithms.
It's the sort of thing that only the truly bored or quality-obsessed really care about. But if, like me, you found buying an HD tuner card to be your cheapest solution to get HDTV to your set-- you discover there's all these little fringe benefits *even though you went the cheap route*.
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I knew it was coming, and just kept putting the theft off. I wish now I hadn't procrastinated so much on stealing the chair-- but when the day came and they kicked us all out and changed the codes, it was too late. I know a couple of them disappeared, and I even had a no-security-cameras route picked out that made use of the fact that our roof door was unlocked and that it lined up with the fourth floor of the adjacent parking garage. There was a 6' chainlink fence in the way, but i'm sure I could have climbed it and pulled the chair over with me. If only I had gotten around to it. *sigh*
So (much like the later simpsons episode) I made off with as much ethernet wire as I could.
One well-prepared bastard had the foresight to lock the super-expensive pro video camera in a filing cabinet and mark it with a distinctive scratch. He bought a lot of 25 beat-up file cabinets later at the auction for about $100, pried the drawer open, and took the camera home after selling the other cabinets for a few bucks to one of the furniture dealers.
I got one the way everybody else who has one at home did-- I waited for an auction, and bought one for 1/4 price. Check ebay, too.
Well worth it-- but you *have* to spend the time to adjust it to make it work for you. They don't feel much different when you're just sitting in it-- you notice the difference at the end of the day when you're not sore from sitting in a chair. But everybody's different, and I'm sure as many people dislike them as like them, even after adjustment and extended use.
Last year, I bought a 512MB CF Card on sale from Dell for about $80. They lost the order altogether-- no record in their system of my number. So I asked them to place the order again at the sale price, but they wouldn't without proof.
So I hung up and called back. Tried the business number. Bounced around between reps a little, and ended up with a "giver." Apparently unable to even check pricing information, the tech actually had *me* look up the price online. She then credited the difference in price to a *previous order* (so that she had a credit card number to hang it on) and told me to re-order the card from their website.
As is traditional for Dell, the card went back on sale a few days later. I ordered it, and ended up getting the card and making a $20 profit.
The reps are so confused and without information you can tell them nearly anything. They don't care, and just want you gone. It's amazing anyone is still even bothering to offer support-- utterly worthless. But at least you can get your revenge by getting some of your wasted time back in the form of money and free stuff.
Hell, I'd put up with the taco part if they fixed the game swap and got a better screen. The vertical orientation is great for space invaders and tetris, but not so much for side-scrollers or 3D games. Switch to a gameboy orientation.
If they threw in a split thumboard (half on each side) so I could IM, i'd ditch my t600 in a heartbeat for it. Unfortunately, it's just not a replacement.
I did something similar with the iText libraries for java. Generate PDF's to your heart's content-- place text and images into the page, flatten it, and *pop* out comes your document.
Where I said:
"I was clear enough that there were already light-colored moths present before the massive soot-generation started."
I meant to type:
"I was clear enough that there were already dark-colored and light-colored moths present before the massive soot generation started."
Sorry for any confusion. I'm just trying to clear up terms for everybody. Saying things like "evolution doesn't happen" just makes you look foolish when you argue with the sciency types, because by the accepted definition, it does happen and has happened within recent history. Make your argument clearer by stating that you believe evolution does not create new species or is not responsible for creating people, if you wish.
That said, I'm a sciency type, and I would appreciate it noted that I have tried to be fair and balanced here while pointing this out. I'm not trying to sell anybody my beliefs, only pointing out the small part of the idea of "evolution" that is testable and tested fact. The rest of it is, and will remain for the forseeable future, only a theory.
My girlfriend has been reading his books, and as I am a giant geek and read everything, I read them. His other two were better-- the glaring holes were too big for me to suppress my "that's not the way it works" reflex.
Never mind the fact that you can't "replace the code on the web" without also somehow magically replacing any version that's already downloaded... I about lost it laughing when the big computer exploded. Sure, maybe the cooling system could rupture and leak or something, maybe-- but he had to go and make a bunch of overheating FPGAs into a giant fireball of doom.
Ah well.
I realize this doesn't prove much, because none of you know which one of us is which. But here are the pictures. That would be *me* soldering, despite boarder's faulty memory, and him meticulously slicing the wires out of an IDE cable to make a little connector block.
Yes, we're both dorks. I might be somewhat worse.
Dorky Pictures
I give up. Call it what you want. I was under the impression that microevolution *is* the variation in distribution of existing genetic material.
Merriam-Webster says microevolution is a "comparatively minor evolutionary change involving the accumulation of variations in populations usually below the species level" which I would take to mean that we didn't get outside of our species, which you would seem to be implying is a requirement for a change to qualify as evolution.
It's not like the moths turned into dogs, or something. I'm not implying they did anything BUT change in population distribution, and thought I was fairly clear on that in my post.
You are absolutely correct, and I hope no one took my post as trying to claim otherwise. This is indeed an example of microevolution. It does NOT indicate a change of species, as there were already variations across the species present. I thought by saying "primarily light colored" I was clear enough that there were already light-colored moths present before the massive soot-generation started. This is how microevolution works. Bacteria evolve resistance by this mechanism-- all the ones that aren't resistant die. The remainder breed, and you get high percentage of resistant bacteria. All that has changed is the proportion of resistant vs. nonresistant bacteria in the population-- both were present beforehand, just in different quantities.
This is not an example of a new species being created via evolution. That is exactly the type of evolution that is a theory, and will remain a theory until it is either superseded, disproven, or actually witnessed.
And even witnessing the evolution of a new species within our lifetimes will NOT put the creation part of the whole thing to bed. We can't ever prove things that happened when we weren't there-- best guesses on present-day evidence and religious explanations are the closest we will get. We'll need time machines before we have factual answers to that one.
They found that nothing you could do would affect the validity of a breath test *if you were drunk*. As in, "there's nothing you can do to make it show 0.0 when you're 0.1"
.48 when they had been much lower than that only minutes before.
What the grandparent post was saying (and they confirmed on mythbusters) was that there are things that will make it look like you're drunk, *if you are sober*, or make you appear drunker than you are. Mouthwash, for example, caused them to blow a
Pay attention. Mythbusters said there's no way to beat a breath test. They did not say there's no way to accidentally look drunk when you're not, and in fact showed otherwise.
There are two separate ideas that fall under the name "evolution." The first is the basic idea of one thing evolving into another-- there are a number of examples that we have watched happen right before our eyes. The common example is the English moth, biston betularia-- whose population was 95% soot-colored after heavy industry in the late 1800s, but was primarily light-colored in the years prior.
The second is the theory that evolution is responsible for everybody being here. This isn't provable, but it seems to be the best no-magical-stuff explanation we have right now. This is where you're right-- evolution-as-creation is a theory.
The idea that evolution happens is a solid fact. We just don't know if it's the only thing at work that could have led to people. (or other various animals and plants)
He's lying, and I have pictures. He soldered nothing. Mostly, he was cutting apart the IDE cable (which I was admittedly pretty lousy at.)
He does have an excellent point, though-- my trusty tivo remote covers about 80% of my viewing, but anything else requires that I use a pile o' remotes to change inputs and play dvds, etc...
I had a Series 1 tivo, and I loved its remote. No problem hitting the numbers, or turning the tv/receiver on without moving my hand or contorting myself. I *loved* that remote. Perfect balance, ergonomics, layout, etc...
I got a DirecTivo, which is fantastic because of the two tuners and the digital recording. But they decided to redesign the remote. It's longer (so much for the balance), it has unused buttons in key places (there's an unused "window" button where power used to be, and power is hidden in the middle now-- so much for layout), and the layout/length change makes it so you have to either use two hands or shift it in your hand to reach all the buttons. Very disappointing. Thankfully, my old remote will control the DirecTivo to a degree (the new separate guide button makes it tough)-- I just wish DirecTV hadn't felt the need to mess with perfect. The Phillips Series 1 tivo remote was spectacular and "just exactly what you need," turning on TV and receiver, channel changes tivo, and volume changes your choice of tv or receiver.
Of course, it won't control your DVD, VCR, change inputs on your tv/receiver, or learn the secret codes for your HTPC card's IR dongle. But that would require a slew of extra buttons.
I helped build the little parallel cable that runs his remote, since Aeronautical engineers aren't much with soldering irons. I was going to build one for myself, until I actually tried using his. I guess you get used to it, but I decided I prefer a remote where you can tell what the buttons do just by looking at it, rather than having to be the one that programmed it. He says "intuitive," but that's because it's his setup. I couldn't figure out how to control his replayTV with it. That's the big drawback for the programmable remotes that don't have screen faces-- you can't change the text.
But hey, everybody likes what they like. I like the original Tivo peanut remote, but the new slightly longer one that came with my DirecTivo ruins the perfect balance and layout of the old one.
I still play a ton of games, but I won't play crap anymore. When I was a kid, I'd play anything that fell into my hands. Now, I won't play it unless it's exactly what I want to play, and I wonder how I ever managed to deal with some of the crap I used to play.
I also make a point of playing online with friends who are scattered all over the country. Use Roger Wilco and catch up with friends while using your experience and teamwork to slaughter hordes of newbies. Or just get completely destroyed, like I usually do. Whatever.
It's still fun for me.
Old tivos (series 1) don't support USB ethernet because they don't have USB. They do, however, support the TurboNet ethernet card from 9thtee.com. These require you to open the case and plug the card in, much like putting an ethernet card into a PC. More expensive than a USB dongle, but they work just fine.
DirecTivos don't support ethernet of any sort despite having USB, but you don't need it. (DirecTV is scared of connectivity. Fear of pirated shows, or something.) You get your guide from the satellite. The "complaining about missing guide data" is a bug that a patch is going out for in the near future. Dtivos (including mine) have been incorrectly reporting "1-2 days of data remaining" while actually having weeks of guide data. They keep working just fine, but you'll see the message when it's not true until you get the patch.
The original poster's comment still stands-- a properly calibrated RP CRT set won't have burn-in issues if you don't run it in torch mode. I'm good to go at the year mark, and I've been playing video games and using a tivo with it the whole time.
If I enabled the stupid automatic brightness thingy, it cranks the set up so high it gives me a tan. That, obviously, will burn it in. Well adjusted brightness (nice blacks but no lost detail) puts me around 38%. Your mileage will vary. Always calibrate your set.
CRT remains the one tech in their entire list that can change its native resolution. Any other tech is going to be scaling your image and introducing artifacts most of the time. 1080 native? ABC's 720p and 480i/p from TV/DVD will all be scaled. 720p native? 1080 signals are scaled. Etc...
All this aside, I got it because it offered very good quality at the lowest price. It weighs a ton, eats power, and has analog inputs, though, so someday I'm looking forward to these magical cheap LCOS and SCR DLP sets people keep promising. CRT will remain the "bang for buck" choice for another year or two, until DLP costs drop dramatically.
---------
"Im truly worried than 50% of American Students are grading less than the national average" think about that one for a second.
---------
I know what you're thinking. In a *normally distributed* set of people, you get 50% below the average. Not everything is normally distributed. For a really simple example, consider four people's test scores:
Person 1: 20%
Person 2: 20%
Person 3: 20%
Person 4: 100%
The mean score is 40%. 3/4 of these people are below the mean. It's easy to think of situations where more or less than half are below average.
DirecTV tivos get their guide data from the satellite, not the phone line. Normal tivos need a phone line, but can be modified (in the case of series 1 units, with a card from 9thtee.com, or for series 2 units, a USB ethernet adapter) to use ethernet.
You can use a DirecTivo (as other posters have pointed out) without a phone line, as long as you don't need to do any PPV stuff.
Remember your roots, man!
Atari 7800 could play 2600 games.
Sega Genesis could play SMS games with an adapter.
Gameboy Color played Gameboy games, and Gameboy Advance plays both.
Commodore 128 played Commodore 64 games. (not quite a console, but it took cartridge games and used atari joysticks)
Among these examples are some colossal failures (the 7800) and some all-time successes (the Gameboys). It's neither fair to say that the PS2 is the first, or that going the backwards-compatibility route leads to failure OR success.
If you only have component inputs, ATI's cards can output component HD with a $30 dongle you can order on their website. MMmmmm... giant HD video games.
HD tuner cards with VGA outputs can be connected with a VGA->Component breakout cable, as long as your HD card supports YPrPb (normal VGA is RGB). All the ones I've seen that have their own outputs support this.
My combo uses both, and connects the output of the radeon to the loopback input of the HD card (kinda like an old voodoo 3d accelerator) with another VGA->Component cable.
I use a MyHD MDP-100, which they no longer make. But the MDP-120 will do the same. You don't need one of these at all to get desktop/game output, though-- just that ATI adapter. (which only works with ATI cards-- the reason it's cheap is that the card already supports component out. It's just a pin rearranger.)
Your setup is very similar to mine. I use a MyHD card to output to the set as well.
But I wanted the desktop, too. So I bought a couple of VGA->Component RCA breakout cables and set things up like this:
Radeon HD Component Dongle -> Component RCA to VGA breakout cable -> MyHD VGA input
and
MyHD VGA output -> VGA to Component RCA breakout cable #2 (just like your current setup.
All this does is allow you to use the handy source switching built in to your MyHD card to toggle between 1080i desktop from the Radeon, and 1080i video from your MyHD card. Works like a charm.
Cables available here:
Short cable for connecting your Radeon to your MyHD
Long cable for connecting your MyHD to your HDTV's component input
With a few cables, you can do what the above poster did AND still have your desktop. Pressing the "HD" button on your MyHD remote will toggle between desktop and video.
Plain and simple, tuning and recording HDTV is still freaking expensive. A $500 computer and $200 HD tuner card gets you all the functionality of:
1. HD tuner (standalone cost, $300+)
2. HD recorder/PVR (standalone cost, $400+)
3. 1080i/720p DVD player (standalone cost, $250)
4. PC games in HD on big screen (closest comparison is an XBox with an HD kit-- $200)
5. A high-end scaler/filter box for HD video. ($500+)
It depends a bit on your situation and how anal you are. If you have only analog component inputs, you want as many steps done in the digital domain as you can. If you have DVI, this is not such a big deal.
Additionally, you can do scaling better with an HTPC than you can with most sets built-in scalers. It's simply easier to get quality results when you're scaling right from the digital source, and you have the flexibility of complex, customizeable filters and scaling algortithms.
It's the sort of thing that only the truly bored or quality-obsessed really care about. But if, like me, you found buying an HD tuner card to be your cheapest solution to get HDTV to your set-- you discover there's all these little fringe benefits *even though you went the cheap route*.