My love-hate relationship with my TiVo

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Wes Johnson

TiVo is one of the greatest time management tools ever!  You can tell TiVo to record different shows based on your preferences.  You can pause whatever you’re watching, live or pre-recorded, to resolve any interruption that may spring up.  The latest TiVo series also records in HiDef.  You can view YouTube videos as well as instant downloads from NetFlix.  I love my TiVo HD.

That wasn’t always the case.  A few months ago my TiVo was not my friend.  I would be watching one of my videos and for no apparent reason the TiVo would hang.  Then after what seemed like an eternity, it rebooted.  Over the next couple of weeks it got progressively worse.  I went to the TiVo Community to see if they had any suggestions.  They said it was the hard drive getting ready to go.

Finally, it happened; my TiVo crashed.  I had to repair it.  I decided to do the TiVo hard drive upgrade.  This was not a trivial task.  I had to go on a shopping spree.

  • Hard drive; The TiVo HD uses SATA.  I ended up purchasing a 1GB drive from the recommended list.
  • PCI SATA controller; my system didn’t have any SATA drive until then.  Of course my local computer store didn’t have one, so I had to take a trip to Frys.
  • TiVo hard drive formatter software; Instant Cake from www.dvrupgrade.com

Once the new drive was properly prepared the operation was relatively painless;  Open case, replace drive, close case.  After a day, the system software updated to the latest version and my TiVo was operating as good as new.

The worst part of this whole experience was that I had to retrain my TiVo.

Life is good again and my TiVo is my friend 😉

Till next time, have a great day!

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Sprinklers and Procrastination

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Wes Johnson

Many years ago, I was an extreme perfectionist. What, you say, does that have to do with Sprinklers and Procrastination? Being a new home owner, I had never done sprinklers before. I had read many books on the subject. I had this fear that I wouldn’t live up to my own standards. I might make a mistake. The project had to be perfect, or I shouldn’t even start it. I put off the project for 6 months. I would always find some reason to avoid starting.

Finally, after many months of excuses, I started the project. Sure, I ran into a few snags along the way. The errors were few and most were fixable with a PVC coupler. As time went on I got better and faster. Once the project was completed, I pressure tested the assembly, then ran the sprinklers. The sprinklers worked exactly as designed, it wasn’t perfect, but it was functional. After, I completed the testing, I covered up the ditches where the pipes were laying and no one ever saw any of my work. All they could see were the results of my work.

I learned a few things on that project:

  • PVC is pretty forgiving.
  • PVC Couplers are your friend.
  • Most of the time no one sees your mistakes, they know it just works.
  • Perfection isn’t always necessary. Sometimes, functionality is more important.
  • Procrastination delays success.

Don’t let perfection or fear of failure get in the way of success. Stop making excuses and start being successful.

Till next time, have a great day!

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Introducing MrWes

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Wes Johnson

Wes JohnsonHi my name is Wes Johnson. No, I’m not the comedian Wes Johnson, although I do have a pretty good sense of humor. Unfortunately, he already beat me to the domain name. My friends and Boy Scout troop know me as MrWes. A long time ago, a neighbor of mine gave me the nickname. I liked it so much, I decided to keep it.
So, what do I do? I am a software/firmware engineer. I have extensive experience developing shipping products for Macintosh, Windows, Windows Mobile & PalmOS. I have also developed firmware for several hand-held devices and OEM devices.

My languages of choice are C/C++. I plan to learn Java and C# to stay marketable. I am currently completing my Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. If I stay on target, I should complete it by the end of 2009.

This blog will cover my life experiences & lessons learned. My interests are wide and varied, so don’t expect my blog to be narrow in focus. I promise to keep my posts relatively short and interesting.

Some of my many interests are: computers, programming, microcontrollers, TiVo, home automation, green technology, teaching, finances, hiking, camping, gardening, etc.

If want to see my professional history check out: www.linkedin.com/in/mrwes
I have a Twitter account. You can find me at: www.twitter.com/mrwes

Till next time, have a great one!

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