Escaping - 221/365

Escaping - 221/365, originally uploaded by morberg.

A photo from Ramatuelle, France during our recent vacation there.

Software for a Vista based HTPC

I've done a couple of posts on my HTPC setup in the past and I'm now quite happy with the way my system is setup. Since I don't do backup (yes, I know I should, but there really isn't much to save on the HTPC should it crash) I figured I should list the software I'm using in one place. I don't use the media center for anything but watching/recording TV and movies. So here it is, Niklas Morberg's guide to software needed for a Vista based media center:

• Vista Media Center. Not much to add here, I've tried a couple of alternatives, but I think this works really well. Especially together with:
• Mediabrowser which is the best plug-in ever. I use VMC to record and watch TV and Mediabrowser for everything else. I love it.
• MC Menu Mender to remove stuff from the media center UI that I don't use (and set mediabrowser as the default choice)
• DVDFab HD Decrypter for ripping DVD:s (the built-in drive makes too much noise when viewing DVD:s directly)
• External USB drive with ripped DVD:s
• CCCP codec pack to play back pretty much anything
• uTorrent and SCRU to get and unpack pretty much anything
• 7-zip to handle compressed files
• Firefox with xmarks add-on for bookmark synching between computers
• AutoHotKey to switch sound device, audio streams, and subtitles with the remote
• TightVNC for remote controlling with laptop (my original blog entry on the matter)

So not a massive collection, but still some extra stuff needed to get the HTPC to do what I want.

Martini - 83/365

Martini - 83/365, originally uploaded by morberg.

I think this image turned out really nice. Head on over to flickr for more and a setup shot in the first comment.

Horse - 50/365

Horse - 50/365, originally uploaded by morberg.

So I made 50 days of my 365 project so far. Here's hoping I'll go the distance. Nothing special about this picture other than the number...

Dinner

Dinner, originally uploaded by morberg.

I've decided to try a 365 photo project - taking one image each day. When I joined flickr and looked at my archives in calendar view I noticed I was quite active when I got my first digital camera, but after a while the images were further apart.

Having a project like this will hopefully make me pick up the camera every day even if nobody has a birthday. Should be a good way to learn more about my new Nikon D90 as well.

If you're interested you can either follow the RSS feed for my 365 project directly or drop by my photostream now and then (also available as RSS of course). Good images might end up here as well.

Shining - the other version

Brilliant alternative trailer for The Shining:

When to get a Nikon D90?

There are currently lots of rumors floating around about an upcoming digital SLR from Nikon, the D90. The camera will most likely have:

• 12 MP resolution on a DX sensor
• Active D-Lighting
• Live View
• 3" LCD
• 4,5 fps burst mode
• 1080i and/or 1080p video recording
• HDMI and GPS port

I want one. But when should I get it? I looked at historical price data for Nikon cameras and kits sold in Sweden (data from prisjakt.nu) and ended up with the following chart:



There is quite good correlation between different models (possibly excluding the D300) and the price drop, so a curve like this can probably be assumed for the D90 as well.

The introductory price for the D90 will probably be $1,000 and $1,300 with a 18-105 VR lens. I'm guessing this will translate to 10.000 SEK and 13.000 SEK. Now you only need to decide how much you want to pay and how long you are willing to wait.

I'm leaning towards getting the kit when the price drops to 10kSEK and I'm guessing this will happen around May 2009.