MarriedandWhatnot

Ordinarily I’d post this on my other blog because it covers more techie stuff, but hey these are one of those mild bipolar days. I located this site called flock.com. Granted it is not necessarily an obsession, but a pretty cool site I wanted to share. I actually discovered this site reading a friend of mines Mac magazine (I know, boo) and there was a section about must have iPhone apps. Well this site has a downloadable browser and the concept is pretty unique. It basically is like a wallet of all your social networks and puts them all in one handy dandy window. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Xanga – or blogs like eblogger, WordPress – it is all in one window. Dubbed the social browser, it is worth checking out.

In this economy, everyone is trying to save a buck. I was in the bedroom a couple weekends ago playing around, and wondered what would happen if I hooked up a regular antenna to our flat screen. So I took all the DirecTV cables out, attached the antenna, and did a channel scan. I be darn. I had NO idea there were free over the air HD channels! Here I am paying for this crappy service that goes out every time it remotely rains, and I attach an old HD compatible antenna from the closet (I purchased 3 years ago at Radio Wack) and get crystal clear reception…and a decent amount of stations too. At that moment my life changed (ok it really isn’t that serious, but I had to type that for dramatic effect).

I began performing searches on the internet for better antennas and converter boxes (for our old CRT). I did some research on Amazon for some more expensive antennas, but when it boiled down to it I ended up using my government issued coupon at Best Buy to purchase the RCA – UHF/VHF/FM Indoor Antenna (Model: ANT121) for $13 and the Insignia Digital-to-Analog Converter (Model: NS-DXA1-APT) for $59 (before the coupon rebate).

I arrived home, hooked it all up and was impressed. The Insignia has an on-screen signal strength indicator, along with an on-screen TV guide and other options. Definitely pleased with my purchase. I immediately took all my DirecTV boxes and shipped them jokers back. I am getting a better picture without PAYING additional for HD, and saving $80+ a month (and that was with NO premium channels). The only thing I will miss about DirecTV was my DVR, but in the words of Lee Corso…not so fast my friend! I have a feeling my next electronic obsession will be the TiVo HD DVR. Hmmm.