A Few Digital Odds And Ends

I’ve had a few digital ball in-the-air over the past few days. Maybe you were wondering how things turned out?

Over the weekend I wrote for advice on a DVP. Don’t know what a DVP is? Join the club. This is ‘the next thing’ in video delivery.

Basically a DVP is a computer that delivers TV programs via the Internet. You can watch HD shows in HD without cable or even a (getting out the smelling salts) TV station.

There is little written about this new category of product. I took a chance and ordered a Roku HD.

Thanks to those who provided advice here and on Facebook. I’ll let you know how it worked out.

Another tech problem I had concerned Stef’s HP laptop. It was shutting down spontaneously!

She shipped it east where I stressed with it then monitored its health. Why was it shutting down? I began to suspect it was overheating then protecting itself. The CPU was showing a core temperature well over 100&#176 Celsius (over 212&#176 Fahrenheit).

Disassembling a laptop is way out of my comfort zone. I farmed that task out. My thought was something was impeding the internal fan.

The laptop is now fine. A small dog and cat’s worth of fur was removed from the fan. It was so clogged it couldn’t turn.

Keeping a laptop on the floor in a house with pets is bad idea! Are you listening Stef?

Finally I spoke to teachers for the Connecticut Association of Schools last night. I used two pieces of technology to make my job easier.

I listened to the anchors at the station with my iPhone and Bluetooth earpiece and our standard ‘dial-a-prayer’ phone line. It was the best sound from the field I’ve had ever! That’s a big deal. It’s tough to have a conversation when the person you’re speaking with is unintelligible. Problem solved!

Even better I brought along a laptop loaded with TeamViewer to run my weather computer. I am a big fan of this software. I was able to see my desktop at work including all the maps I showed on-the-air from our live shot in Southington. Without this addition I’d be flying blind. Amazing!