Dec. 20th, 2007 12:56 pm
Dear Lazyweb,
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chezmaxI've got a couple different Dear Lazywebs here:
1) Let's say there was a show at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY some Friday in February that I might be interesting in seeing. Let's further assume (due to lack of information) that it starts at 8 pm. For those that often do the Buffalo trip, would it be possible to leave Waterloo at 5 pm and arrive there in time? Google Maps speculates about 2 hours, but with the bridge and rush hour traffic in K/W and near-rush traffic in Hamilton and an international bridge, I'm a little dubious.
So, it this possible, or doomed to fail? What route would you take to get there? Which bridge? etc. etc.
2) I've got a nice 1080p TV. I've got an old PC running Windows XP with a DVI->HDMI adaptor. Does anyone recommend any decent software to make this into a usable media computer? It has a TV Card, but I don't have cable, so I'm not really concerned about timeshifting or TV or the like. Mostly, I'd like something with a user interface that's decently usable on a TV, with perhaps, a wireless mouse. I'd like to continue to run XP on it for other purposes, so, a windows based solution would be nice. I'd prefer to use freeware. Any suggestions?
3) There was a third one; but I've forgotten it. Oops. Does anyone know what I was thinking about? Would you like to give me some unsolicited advice? Tell me something!
1) Let's say there was a show at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY some Friday in February that I might be interesting in seeing. Let's further assume (due to lack of information) that it starts at 8 pm. For those that often do the Buffalo trip, would it be possible to leave Waterloo at 5 pm and arrive there in time? Google Maps speculates about 2 hours, but with the bridge and rush hour traffic in K/W and near-rush traffic in Hamilton and an international bridge, I'm a little dubious.
So, it this possible, or doomed to fail? What route would you take to get there? Which bridge? etc. etc.
2) I've got a nice 1080p TV. I've got an old PC running Windows XP with a DVI->HDMI adaptor. Does anyone recommend any decent software to make this into a usable media computer? It has a TV Card, but I don't have cable, so I'm not really concerned about timeshifting or TV or the like. Mostly, I'd like something with a user interface that's decently usable on a TV, with perhaps, a wireless mouse. I'd like to continue to run XP on it for other purposes, so, a windows based solution would be nice. I'd prefer to use freeware. Any suggestions?
3) There was a third one; but I've forgotten it. Oops. Does anyone know what I was thinking about? Would you like to give me some unsolicited advice? Tell me something!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
The *only* thing to worry about in crossing at the Peace Bridge is whether there's a Leafs game in town that night. Since you'll be AT the HSBC, there'll be no lines at the border. 3 hours is plenty of time (pending the weather, of course).
Route is 401 - 6 South - 403 - QEW - Peace Bridge - I-190.
Takes about 2 hours in good conditions.
no subject
Angry icon due to the thought of that kind of idiotic traffic.
no subject
If it's not the end of the world to miss part of the opener, I'd say go for it.
Google maps assumes the border takes 0 minutes. Silly google.
2) Toss MythTV onto it (check out those screen-shots!) You can make it dual-boot if you want to keep using the XP stuff. http://mysettopbox.tv/ is a version that runs "live" from CD if you want to try it nondestructively. (I've not tried any of this, buyer beware, etc).
3) Ware the ides of December!
no subject
no subject
I forgot to add above that google's route is the one I'd take.