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so, mythtv is working pretty decent now. it recorded motd properly this morning. “and there was much rejoicing”. it really further solidifies  my current theories about what the next generation internet entertainment system should be. however, what mythtv doesn’t do is fixing a hugely annoying problem. right now, “match of the day 2″ should be showing on bbc 2, but it’s not. the fucking snooker world championships are still on. next, they’ll be showing paint drying.

at any rate, i’m sure you’re all waiting for some more django complaints. well, i don’t have any. i’m sure those you know me are thinking, “that can’t be, no complaints?”. there’s a simple reason, i haven’t been messing with it. i’ve been finishing reading a book on common lisp, “practical common lisp” that i haven’t had time to finish. i really think common lisp could be the best language in the world. the key feature of lisp is supposed to be macros. not macros as most programmers would imagine. reading this bit from the macros chapter should give a good impression. i’ll have more comments later.

the development environment for emacs is called “slime”. after starting the mode, the message at the bottom is: “connected. , this could be the start of a beautiful program.” i thought it was funnier than it probably is.

i finally got mythtv installed and working. i think. it’s not the latest version, but it’s what was in the ubuntu repositories and i’m lazy. so hopefully, i will actually get “match of the day” recorded. i almost did tonight, but there was issues with the fact that my system clock was still set for “america/chicago” timezone. luckily, they replay it tomorrow morning.

there’s nothing pleasant about installing mythtv. i really don’t like the ui either. it also records (even when it should just be copying the mpeg-2 file off the air) into a weird container format. i’m not sure what the point of that is. (update: this turns out to not be true. the mpeg-2 is actually stored as an mpeg program stream. it’s only mpeg-4 and analog captured video that is in the nuv container. they just still use the nuv extension on the file name even though it isn’t. why do they have an extension on the filenames anyway?)

another key bit of information is that your dpi should be set to 100-ish or else the fonts overlap. you also shouldn’t have your display resolution at 1920×1200 or else it’s excessively slow. i setup the mythtv user’s desktop so that it uses 1024×640 (why are computer monitors 16:10 aspect ratio?). the digital t.v. here broadcasts 720×576 anamorphic (like pal dvds) which is 1024×576 when unanamorphiced (word?).

1024×576 non-anamorphic should have been the choice for initial mpeg-2 based digital t.v. in the u.s. well, really 1024×512, but if they insist on retarded 16:9. eventually i’ll get my full atsc rant out of my system.

i was able to record this show “forty years of f***” on bbc one. it’s pretty interesting. it’s unbelievable that the broadcast networks here are less sensored than the u.s. (why is it the boob tube if you can’t show boobs?), but run by the government. you just haven’t to wait until after 22:00 or something. unedited movies with no commercials over the air. nice. my personal preference in the u.s. would still be that they shouldn’t show any movies edited. if you can’t show it, you can’t show it.

upcoming this week is also a bbc special “when lineker met maradona“. looks like it wil be good.

i went down to the nag’s head to watch the match. they have a projector and decent viewing for non-arsenal matches. of course, about 20 minutes in the projector went out. the projector image isn’t really all that great. it looks like they just have it hooked up with the composite in (that’s about as crap as you can get for those that don’t know). a lot of analog noise in the picture. i assume the source must be satellite.

any comments about the outcome of the match are obvious so i’ll just leave it at that.

makes pay-per-view seem like a good deal when you considered i paid $15 for a pint, burger and chips. at least you have control of the viewing setup. the new rose still has the best projector setup. luckily they did have the a.c. milan v barcelona on wednesday.

here’s a picture from my secondary viewing angle. the projector is ceiling mounted just above the right corner of the picture. a motorized retractable screen is mounted on the wall to the right of the picture. one other thing of note is that most of the pubs seem to have dumb-waiters that go to the kitchen in the basement. the one here is in the column to the left of the picture with the sign that says “sunday live music”.

one of my flatmates left the radio on in the kitchen. i don’t ever listen to music on the radio. ludicrous’, sorry ludarcris’ (i forgot he can’t spell his own name) “move bitch” (obviously i don’t listen to the radio since this came out in 2001. not that they played the unedited version in the u.s. anyway. i bet that was good for a laugh) came on. here’s the lyrics. obviously, i don’t have a problem with profanity. i have been behind somebody in a car and wished they would move. i’m sure i’ve even yelled “move bitch!” at some point (appropriately modified if it’s not a woman). but really, what is the point of this song? i know all the free speech arguments (turn it off, you don’t have to listen, yada yada). i’m just asking why? i’m not sure what art is, but i’m fairly certain this is not it. it definitely doesn’t pass moose’s extremely liberal definition. of course, the record companies don’t care. they’re just in it for the money (and so is pepsi). which, other than getting exposure by being an ass and a danger to people on the road (actively promoting d.u.i. and starting fights) why would someone buy this?

i’m not saying you need to sing about flowers or some other bullshit, but could you at least have a point? i guess what i’ve heard most quoted from women about rap is that they don’t listen to the lyrics they just like to dance. i’m sure they’re giggling and twirling their hair as they say it too.

this is more than the song’s worth.

btw, is it any wonder nobody cares when the record companies complain about copyright infringement by downloaders? they screw (in more ways than this) the exact “artists” (so they tell me) they’re claiming to protect.

there’s a story on yahoo (i’m sure others) about the whole iran nuclear issue and the u.n. nothing particularly new or unexpected. it’s this last quote from condoleezza rice that gets me:

“The Security Council is the primary and most important institution for the maintenance of peace and stability and security and it cannot have its word and its will simply ignored by a member state,” Rice said.

am i wrong or wasn’t it the u.s. (member state) that completely ignored the u.n. security council and invaded iraq? hypocrites?