Cool links I’ve found recently:
Super (MOV to AVI conversion).
VB to Java converter. That is, it compiles VB6 code into a Java class. Latest update here. Q+A. (No, you can’t download it yet, they’re still working on it.)
Oh, guess who’s on about giving away Digital set top boxes again? Yup. I do like this argument, actually: It is not the Government’s job to champion new technology. It is the Government’s job to provide universal infrastructure and manage the task in a financially responsible way.
XML Notepad, which after a looooong time not being available, is back, and upgraded. (Requires the .Net Framework 2).
There is one massive problem with your average set top box, which I have never seen mentioned anywhere in all the promotional material.
This is the fact that it is very tricky to record material on your DVDR/VCR. Well not tricky as such, rather the problem is that you can only record whichever channel the STB is set to. If you want to record Channel 2 you have to remember to set your STB to Channel 2 – you can’t set up multiple channel recording in advance.
When I went away I managed to forget this and instead of recording the last 3 eps. of Doctor Who I managed to record whatever it is that SBS shows on Saturday at 7.30 because I was watching SBS the Friday night before I went away 🙁
Three weeks worth of war documentaries, then? Sigh. Well do try and get hold of the episodes… and avoid spoilers for the last two!
Bought an LCD TV a bit over a year ago and a DVD recorder 6 months back. Inbuilt digital tunners were simply not avail. I didn’t look high and low nor did I look at really high end equipment but I think this was pretty much the case back then and still is now. So you really are stuck with LesC’s problem.
On top of that, 18 months ago digital set top boxes were all up around $400 even though our local transmitter was about to go digital. Hardly very enticing.
If I recall correctly, digital TV was on the cards since at least 98 and probably under consideration a lot longer. Would have thought a better way to go would be to mandate all TV’s sold in Aus since, say, 2000 include digital tuners or provide incentives to do so. If this would have been prohibitively expensive, then clearly digital TV would not have been such a good idea anyway.
(And, for me, the best way to go would have been to stay analog. Digital simply has no great advantage for the viewer, I don’t expect the extra channels will provide a lot. Better reception in most areas is negated by complete loss in marginal areas.)