We will rock you

So I had an idea: I was thinking about how I want to replace my dead laserdisc player, and I may as well get one that plays karaoke discs. Then I realized the people that run karaoke down at the bar aren't a permanent fixture yet, and SK is related to the owners. Why not add a few things to my DJ setup, and run karaoke my own self?

Last night I tried to hit the guy up at his bar, but he left during the first song. Hmm. I left SK a message, and did the same at the bar... no call yet. Guess I'll go shopping online for the player now. After that, all I need is a microphone and some karaoke discs! Already got speakers and a mixer. Heck, a friend at work even gave me a mic stand. Later I can improve my sound gear and add a TV.

I know how to do it right... call out who's on deck so more people stay, and keep that song list up to date. I don't even need a huge collection, as long as I get people to tell me what songs they want, and then get 'em. Most places play bits of interlude music between songs, but I'd keep it short, and maybe even spin some vinyl.

A little closer to video...

So I figured out what driver I need, and loaded it somewhat successfully. I'll need to try another version and fiddle with it, because the tuner isn't working. At least the device is being detected now.

If you use Linux, don't buy the current Hauppauge WinTV-Radio. It's got the newer Connexant chip, not a Brooktree 878. It's not worth it just for stereo sound. Even if I get this thing working, I'm not buying another one for the PVR I plan to build for my parents; they're getting a cheapo BT878 card that works easy.

Sorry if this computer stuff is boring, but getting this $70 investment to work has been an all-consuming ordeal. When it's done, I'll have something about as cool as TiVo with a DVD recorder, so it's going to be worth it.

Sometimes being a geek gets tiresome

So I tried Gentoo Linux on my home computer, because RedHat 9 was showing its age and I hated the package dependancy problems. Almost a month later, I'm sick of it. Yeah, it grabs dependencies for you and compiles everything from source, but packages still get broken, and configuring stuff is a pain. I don't have the time for this...

But really, my main problem is getting the drivers for my video capture to load. Is it just me, or are the modules pointlessly complicated? I just want to load a driver, and have it tell me if it detected my card or not. I think I'll just try another kernel first, but the whole devfs thing that Gentoo uses seems to be getting in the way of simplicity.

If you know what all that means, you probably have more patience than I do. Leave me a comment if you have any bright ideas, or exceptional documentation about V4L drivers and making /dev/video0 work.

Sorry, domain down.

TheHutch.net is offline, and I thought it was my fault for forgetting to renew my registration. Turns out the address of the server changed, so I just had to update it. Should be working tomorrow, but if the picture won't load, that's the reason probably. Unless you're reading this much later, of course. At least mail is still working, from what I can tell.

UPDATE OCT 06: Back online. Now you can read my incomplete website again, lucky you.

band names

A buddy of mine used to make them up all the time, but now I'm trying to come up with a name for a DJ + drummer project, with possibly some synthesized layers. Here are some brainstorms...

• Mythodical (was going to be a DJ name)
  
• Crunchy
  
• Hitmen
  
• Forge(ry?)
  
• Undermine
  

I'm sure this won't be the end of the list.

NW Natural is teh suck.

I just had the strangest conversation with the gas company. They're now officially worse than the cable company: I have to take a whole day off from work Wednesday and wait for them to get there so they can do a "safety check" on our furnace, before they will turn on the new gas service that they just connected to us. They actually suggested leaving a key outside so they could get in, and no, they wouldn't let me bring it to their office. First she offered to have the technicians call 10 minutes before they arrive so I could go home from work. Who lives that close to work? Then I asked her to have them call anyway so I'd know when they're on their way. Nope, that's too much work for them to call everybody for 30 seconds each, unless they are actually at work.

All this is after fighting with them for a month, to get us connected for new gas service. It's not rocket science, it's something they do every week. Maybe I wouldn't be dealing with this if the sellers of our house had actually had the new gas furnace hooked up to a gas line. They aren't charging me any money for the hookup, so the seller really has no excuse. Maybe I can sue the guy in small claims court for selling us a house with no working heat.

I can't believe the incompetence. Now I'm considering converting the furnace to propane just to be rid of these morons. Apparently they don't want our money badly enough to not suck.

UPDATE:

I called back because now I have a meeting on Wednesday. The guy starts with the phony scripted "how may I provide you with excellent service?" So I tell him my story, and ended with "I'm not sure how you CAN provide me with excellent service. It doesn't sound like an option."

To make a long story short, homey came through for me. Now I just have to take Tuesday afternoon off, but they might arrive after 5. No worries; they'll be done in record time, since the furnace is A-OK. I had to fix the wiring on the thermostat myself, though: whoever installed the furnace connected it to some excessively-spliced wires going nowhere, instead of the thermostat wires that I found dangling nearby.

Sweet, glorious heat -- it's about time. At least this weekend will be warm.