![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Went to a toy store yesterday. It's in Princeton, but unlike most of the oppressively yuppie town, it's a bastion of happy. Manic, over priced, kid happy; but happy. In addition to the kid purchases ( I'll reveal one later ), I, of course, needed a toy. For some reason, what immediately popped into my mind was a Rubik's Snake. It's not really a puzzle so much as a fiddle device. I find such things soothing.
Well, the one I had as a kid was called a "snake". I think they only came in black and white initially. They were big beefy things that could take a considerable amount of punishment without complaint. They felt solid. Each future iteration seems less solid. The current thing is called the twist. It is a smaller, flimsier, cheaply made particolored thing. One of the elements on the one I got doesn't sit entirely true. Still, I'm amused enough by it and wishing they made things like they used to. Damn, I sound old.
New techie, non retro toy: roku! It's in the mail. I decided to purchase Amazon's Prime service. No, not for the shipping perks, though that's nice. Rather, for the TV! Amazon offers a ton of TV free to prime accounts, most of which is from BBC America. Doctor Who (classic, modern, Torchwood), Red Dwarf, Black Adder! Also, specials and things like Farscape that I never caught all the episodes of.
I've tested the browser service out on stuff the other house viewer doesn't want to see. It's not perfect, since free means streaming. One internet burp and you can fall into pause purgatory. But, when the bits are flowing it looks fine. I'm hoping the roku is more intelligent with caching.
The Amazon buggers don't offer support for Boxee, but you can browse to the content and it will work. People have been bitching about this for a while and I may have to write an app. I was surprised that the streaming content doesn't seem to use a tunnel. I could conceivably sniff and store it. Something that would doubtless give media execs fits.
So, if I post even less ( hardly possible at this point, I know ), I'm probably watching a streaming boob tube.
Well, the one I had as a kid was called a "snake". I think they only came in black and white initially. They were big beefy things that could take a considerable amount of punishment without complaint. They felt solid. Each future iteration seems less solid. The current thing is called the twist. It is a smaller, flimsier, cheaply made particolored thing. One of the elements on the one I got doesn't sit entirely true. Still, I'm amused enough by it and wishing they made things like they used to. Damn, I sound old.
New techie, non retro toy: roku! It's in the mail. I decided to purchase Amazon's Prime service. No, not for the shipping perks, though that's nice. Rather, for the TV! Amazon offers a ton of TV free to prime accounts, most of which is from BBC America. Doctor Who (classic, modern, Torchwood), Red Dwarf, Black Adder! Also, specials and things like Farscape that I never caught all the episodes of.
I've tested the browser service out on stuff the other house viewer doesn't want to see. It's not perfect, since free means streaming. One internet burp and you can fall into pause purgatory. But, when the bits are flowing it looks fine. I'm hoping the roku is more intelligent with caching.
The Amazon buggers don't offer support for Boxee, but you can browse to the content and it will work. People have been bitching about this for a while and I may have to write an app. I was surprised that the streaming content doesn't seem to use a tunnel. I could conceivably sniff and store it. Something that would doubtless give media execs fits.
So, if I post even less ( hardly possible at this point, I know ), I'm probably watching a streaming boob tube.