ill add this question to the thread… what is the best way to centrally store all of this data at the house so you can easily show pictures on the tv… like a media center type of thing, for not that much $
You could get a NAS box. With that you’d have redundancy for backup purposes and then any machine on the network could access them. If you have something like an xbox or ps3, you can use that to view the pics on your tv.
I may start tagging with Picasa. I’ll probably play with Ubuntu a bit too and see how I like gimp and/or f-stop. Or even Picasa in linux. Photoshop in windows is just too slow.
As for storage, I’m thinking DVD backup, although burned DVD’s don’t last forever.
I should really just build a new box with a raid1 array.
As for centrally locating/displaying… Video out from the computer run to the TV? Bluetooth mouse to control it, or some such shenanigans?
my video ipod works amazing, i can either use my tv through the usb link, also known as wiselink on the samsung tv’s. I also use my 360 with either a jumpdrive or my ipod as well. this also works well for playing music at a party using the background effects through a projector onto the wall/floor. its a cheap/awesome attraction for a party.
I’ll look into those two. Sure I don’t need to use Ubuntu, but every now and then for no good reason I like to use Linux. Of course then I get things like a frantic phone call from my wife this morning: “What the hell is oobanootoo and why can’t I print anything? I’m late for work!” (I haven’t set anything up yet or figured out how to edit GRUB to set XP to default…)
Yeah that’s another possibility. Easier to set up. But I like the set it and forget it aspect of RAID. Faster reading too. Maybe I’ll go external sooner than later and go RAID 1 when I build my next PC.