Simple TV Dual Tuner First Impressions

Bringing tech to the corn fields of the Midwest, gadgeteer and cat lover Adam Miarka contributes to Zatz Not Funny when the overlord allows. When not on ZNF, Adam posts pictures to http://www.adammiarka.com and harasses the public from @adammiarka on Twitter. Background Being a Kickstarter for the first generation Simple TV, I’ve always been interested in technologies that … Read more

Choosing An iOS Infrared Remote Control

ZNF regular Chucky seeks our assistance in choosing the right iOS IR remote solution for his situation… I’ve always avoided Harmony universal remotes. I’ve never really liked the Harmony UI, in either the touchscreen or physical button incarnations. But now, with the variety of iOS based universal remotes available, I’m suddenly interested in getting myself … Read more

Mirror Worlds 1, Apple 0

A federal jury in Texas has ruled against Apple and in favor of the company Mirror Worlds in a patent case that could bring damages of more than $625 million. The jury found that Apple willfully infringed on three patents related to how files are displayed on iPods, iPhones, and Mac computers. Mirror Worlds created … Read more

When Disaster Strikes

As we recently read, Mari’s beloved Asus netbook gave up the ghost. As they are wont to do. After a short period of some basic troubleshooting, she went the practical and conservative, perhaps costly, route of having a technician recover her data. It’s inevitable. Hardware will fail. And we’ve talked backup here several times over … Read more

ZNF ‘Round The Web

Leaving comments across the blogosphere… Twitterrific Comes Roaring Back Into The iPhone Twitter App Wars As someone who paid $10 for the original, I’m glad the upgrade was free. But they may have introduced extra complexity and reduced usability in how they implemented the expanded feature set. I’m a bit torn between it and Tweetie. … Read more

ZNF ‘Round The Web

Leaving comments across the blogosphere… Technology Predictions for 2009 TeleNav is already an excellent application on many handset platforms and carriers. For a more “dedicated” experience, I have a feeling the continually delayed Garmin Nuvifone will be too little, too late, and too buggy. So I’m going on the record and stating Apple will either … Read more

Web Video Coming to FiOS TV

TiVo’s not the only primary television add-on with web video intentions. Verizon is currently beta testing web video on their set-top boxes and their initial marketing partners include Veoh, Blip.tv, Break.com, and YouTube. Unlike TiVo which taps directly into YouTube’s H.264 content, Verizon utilizes their Media Manager PC software as an intermediary. Sites are indexed … Read more

Dave Dumps Vista

Now that I’m back home for a few weeks, the time has finally come to remove remove Windows Vista from my desktop. While I appreciate the rich GUI and new functionality (photo gallery), the computer is just too slow to be usable. Plus, my MCE <-> Xbox 360 connection has been unreliable. The media extender … Read more