Fucking awesome.

[Link to video]

About a month and a half ago, I posted about how my TiVo had died. Specifically, the remote which is the only device you control it with, was dead. I called TiVo support and after running a few tests to narrow down the problem, they told me that I was still under warranty and that a replacement remote would be received in 5-7 business days. They were very nice, except for the fact that a month and a half later, they’ve done jack-shit.

I have called TiVo four or five times now since then. To date, they have attempted to send me a remote three times to two different addresses and from what I am told each time I’ve called, these replacement remotes have never actually been shipped. Three fucking remotes! Not a single one ever actually sent out. Now, every time I call, the support person has always been very nice, but they tell me that’s all they can do. It’s bullshit.

Meanwhile, I’ve been paying my monthly TiVo service fee for a box that’s unplugged. I can’t use it. If I plug it in, it changes channels on me, since I can’t control it. I’m paying for a service that they’re not making good on.

When I called TiVo for a credit for this unused service, I was flat-out told no. No credit till my service is restored. Then, I can call them up and request a credit for downtime. But really, when is that going to happen? Where’s my fucking remote? Three tries and these numbnut fucking morons can’t ship a single one? How long is this going to drag on? I’m under a one-year contract and it seems I can’t get out of it or at least suspend service until this shit is fixed, but in truth, I have zero fucking confidence that it will be. I feel like I’m being completely ripped off. I would be utterly unsurprised if my next manic and desperate call to them has them telling me that all I can do is kick down cash and buy a series 3 box. It would make sense…assholes.

Two days ago, after the deadline for the third shipping attempt expired, I broke down and ordered a remote from TiVo’s web store. It’s only thirty bucks, but I really shouldn’t have to do this. I’m under fucking warranty! Whatever…I gave up. I bought the damn thing and paid an extra fifteen bucks for next-day delivery.

Now I’m waiting for TiVo to ship this new remote…again. It’s fucking pathetic.

TiVo is a great, convenient service, but they’re absolutely inept. I got addicted to using TiVo and you would too, but pray nothing goes wrong with your box, because they will fuck you with a smile.

Truthfully, I’ve had it. I want my TiVo working, since I’m paying for a contract, but that’s it. I’m never, ever dealing with them again. Let me reiterate in bold—I will never give TiVo another fucking dime of my money ever again. A little convenience is not worth it. Fuck them.

Before opting For TiVo, I’d semi-explored the option of building my own media center device, running Linux and MythTV, a free and open source PVR program. I didn’t do it because I’m lazy, but fuck it. Once this TiVo shit is over, I’m going that route.

Fuck you TiVo, give me my television back!

Ever since I saw my first screenshot of what using a compositing manager can do to your desktop, I’ve been itching to try my hand at it. With my recent upgrade to Kubuntu Dapper Beta, along with my trusty NVidia card, I now had nothing but procrastination holding me back. Naturally, this means I’ve been sitting on this project for way to long, but today I sucked it in, strapped myself to my PC, bit the leather and gave it a go.

I figured it would be a big hassle, but following this guide found on the (K)Ubuntu forums, I was up and running composite windows in about five minutes. Everything looks good and stable. It’s fucking sweet! I now have configurable glass-like window translucency, drop-shadows and a really nice fade-in/out effect that a screenshot obviously cannot do justice.

I still have a good amount of tweaking to find that nice middle ground between sweet-ass eye-candy and usability, but one thing I realize right away is the need for a suitably cooler desktop wallpaper. Something heavy on the year 2535, I think—another project for me to procrastinate on.

Now with all this graphical sweetness all up in my display, all I have left to do is try my hand at setting up and running XGL and Compiz.

Liron-Freaking-Fishypants-WTF-OMFG-Tocker aka Cheeseball Deluxe in response to my post on moving to Kubuntu Dapper Beta asks:

Ever since I had been trying out all sorts of “community” versions of Mandrake/Mandriva, I’ve stopped being an early-adopter. I’ve never had any pleasant experieces with pre-release versions of operating systems, since I have a low level of tolerance and most of the stuff I use my computer for on a daily basis is “mission critical” (read: “work”). However, I’ve been looking for a reason to move away from Mandriva for a short time, as I personally don’t feel the evolution taking place. Being a simple end-user and not a programmer, if I don’t see or feel this evolution it’s a bad, bad sign. More people are moving away from Mandriva as we speak.

My question is this: Would you recommend Kubuntu over other linux os’? If so, why? Do you believe it’s more capable than other distros you have used? If so, in which ways?

I’d definitely recommend Kubuntu over other Linux-based OS—but I’d take it with a grain of salt. My experience in home use has always primarily been Debian-based OS. Since you use Mandriva, like me, you are used to having access to repositories and using apt-get and whatnot. I like it. I prefer it. I’m very inclined to stay in that sandbox.

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Last night, I came home and booted my Kubuntu box as I usually do. About five minutes into checking my email, my beloved and enormous CRT monitor went black. I tried Alt+F’ing to a command line, thinking it was an X issue, but I couldn’t get anything on the monitor. So, I tried a reboot—no luck. All I had was a blank and black screen, yet the little green light on the monitor was telling me that the monitor seemed to be getting a signal. I tried the monitor on another Ubuntu box I keep lying around. Nothing. Blackness as dark as my soul at that thin, bleak moment, faced with the prospect of getting through the night deprived of that warm and lovely cathode glow.

At this point I fell back upon the time honored and trusted method of hardware repair known as “Smacking the Shit Out of Your Gear”. I began placing several surgical and precise whompings along the sides of the monitor casing. My inner caveman assured me that he knew what he was doing.

Suddenly, while in the midst of whacking, there came a loud pop from the guts of my monitor and a curl of smoke drifted out of the vents in the back. The damn thing was dead. I told myself that my whacking was a mercy killing, rather than the coup de grâce.

I now have a schmancy flatpanel LCD. My lovely cathode ray tan is starting to fade. I miss my old monitor.

A couple nights ago, on a whim coupled with a deep whiff or two of paint thinner (figuratively), I wiped my trusty and much-loved Ubuntu installation (after properly backing up my shit, of course—what kind of midget-humping idiot do you take me for?) and tried a fresh install of Kubuntu.

I’ve always been a user of the Gnome desktop and while I’ve flirted with others like XFCE, Fluxbox and KDE, I’ve stuck to it, mainly because it worked and I was used to it and rather lazy. Gnome’s been good to me. So, why the switch? Honestly, I’ve no real excuse aside from a constant need to tweak shit, an overwhelming feeling of boredom and a desire to peel myself away from my PlayStation for more than five minutes.

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