Finally, I’ve completed the hard drive upgrade of my TiVo, and let me say it was a very bumpy road.
First, I had to find a hard drive that was a good price and at least 200gb, and CompUSA pulled through with a 200gb Seagate Barracuda drive that was on sale in their Black Friday ad. So, I headed to CompUSA at 11:30pm on Thanksgiving to be there in time for the Midnight opening, and there were at least 150 people there… Somehow or another I managed to get my hands on the hard drive I wanted, and waited in line for 2 hours to pay for it ($30 after rebates!).
After extensive research on upgrading TiVo recording capacity by replacing the hard drive, I decided to use the WeaKnees.com Interactive TiVo Instructions as my guide to the entire process. The process is fairly simply, and basically involves removing the hard drive from the TiVo and placing it in a PC with the new drive, then copying the TiVo operating system and recorded programs to the new drive. If you want more detail than that, read the directions.
The entire process of copying the original TiVo drive to the new Seagate drive took about 7 hours to copy and completed without any problems…until I put the new drive in the TiVo to see if I was successful or not. As the TiVo powered up, I smelled something burning so I immediately turned off the TiVo and opened it back up to make sure all of the connections were correct. I put everything back together, and the TiVo would not go past the boot screen, and a wonderful clicking noise was coming from the hard drive, a.k.a it was dead.
Luckily, CompUSA had another drive in stock at the local store, and they exchanged the drive for me without hassle. I repeated the entire process again yesterday, and it worked! My TiVo’s orignal maximum recording capacity was 40 hours, and is now 222 hours. Not too shabby for $30 and a few hours of work…
PS If you ever buy a TiVo, refer me when you sign up using jon@jonfrederick.com as the email address!
It’s official: this is now my favorite SUV.
Touareg W12 Sport Edtion:
note: the link is in German, and Google Translate makes it a bit cryptic
Last night I attended my second New England International Auto Show, and I’ve come to realize that it’s pretty much just a huge dealer lot… but what can I say, I still need to go check them all out…
The main attraction this year was Camp Jeep, which wasn’t too exciting, but definitly worth the wait…
I spent most of my time sitting in
Audis and drooling at the
Porsche collection, and checked out the new Jetta GLI (not overly impressed) But my show favorite was the new
Audi 25Quattro S4.
new england auto show: pictures
ps - I updated the site beacause Matt Youse bitched for a whole month…
Well, i had quite the eventful weekend. Saturday morning the Corrado and I started on a journey to Ocean City, Maryland to attend H20 International, and meet up with the infamous Matt Youse and Jared Henninger. The trip took about 10 hours from start to finish, and 453 miles according to Google Maps. Surprisingly, the Corrado made a respectable 28mpg on 93 octane gas, not too shabby if you ask me. We had reservations at the glorious Executive Motel that was 1 block from the beach, and right in the center of most of the VW action going on in Ocean City.
Friday night and Sunday afternoon I got to spend some time with my parents and Maggie at their new beach house which is located right near Rehoboth Beach. Too bad I live on the other side of the world now, or i would be spending a heck of a lot more time there…
Saturday was overcast and pretty uneventful, and we had lunch at the Brass Balls Saloon right on the boardwalk, and walked around a bit. The fun began when Jared and I took a short drive to the local Go-Kart track and tore it up on the Slick Track for about 2 hours straight (the “no bumping” rules were a bit of a joke that night…) We finished up the night with dinner at Big Peckers, and some partying at Seacrets.
Sunday was the day of the show, and it did not disappoint… Being my first and last VW/Audi show for the year (compared to the 5 I was at last year) I was very pleased with the turnout, and had a great time with my friends, and met some new people. Check out the photo gallery of all the cars from the show. I also picked up some Kamei eyelids for my Audi, so you will soon be seeing an update on that.
photos: H20 International
photos: Mom & Dad’s Beach House
Looks like i was right all along… the Porsche 911 is the greatest performance car known to man (according to myself, and Auto Express magazine). Although I do not own own, nor have i ever driven one, I drool over them on a daily basis, and I aspire to own one someday (a 911 Targa to be precise).
Porsche 911 named best performance car ever by Auto Express
It looks like my tiny hometown has made it all the way to CNN. 13 Students at Kutztown Area High School have been charged with Computer Trespass, which is a 3rd degree felony in Pennsylvania.
Basically, my former high school decided to participate in the Apple 1 to 1 Learning program, where each student is given a laptop to use in school, and at home. Logically, the laptops are set up in a manner that will limit administrative and internet access to each student, so that questionable content and unwanted programs can not be utilized. Each student also signed a contract agreeing to terms of use of the equipment.
Now, here is where the geniuses in the Kutztown Faculty and Administration follow their typical path to failure. The password to gain administrative rights on each computer was 50trexler, the address of the high school… From what I hear, the password was definitely not ‘top secret’ and does not follow the standards of a strong password. Naturally, the students discovered the password, and used it to its full extent. After being caught downloading music, and viewing ‘questionable content’ 13 of the ~100 students that knew the password are being charged with a 3rd degree felony. People with 3rd degree felonies get denied at universities, lose scholarships, and get turned down at job interviews. Does the school district have any idea that they are ruining these kids lives?!?! The students should be punished, but not faulted for discovering the weakness and stupidity of the Kutztown High School administration.
Support the Kutztown 13 by visiting their site, and buy something from the store.
CNN.com - Harmless hackers or teen criminals? - Aug 9, 2005
CutUsABreak.org
