Laurel’s TV Picks

Want more info on any of this stuff? Follow the links or just ask me for more of my thoughts on any particular item/service/whatever. I’m more than happy to tell you my experiences and opinions.

Design

The current design (launched in September 2006) is by Becca Wei of E.Webscapes Design Studio. Becca rocks! She created the graphics and the Wordpress template and other bits of programming wizardry and deserves some sort of medal for putting up with my endless requests and suggestions. This year, my husband Kevin G. Austin helped me make some modifications to the Wordpress templates that Becca created.

I’m a big fan of the fonts from Font Diner and for years used their free fonts on my sites. The current design uses some of their other fonts.

Software

This site has been powered by Wordpress since January 1, 2006. Laurel’s TV Picks was originally coded by hand (ah, the good old days). Later on, I used Blogger (briefly) and Greymatter (from 2000 through 2005).

Wordpress works with a MySQL database.

I usually write the picks and other reviews in TextWrangler because for too many years weblog software didn’t have a good autosave function. I learned this lesson the hard way.

When I move files onto my server, I usually use Transmit. These days I use the software that comes with Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5.1 Leopard for Telnet/SSH and email.

I do most of my web browsing with Firefox; I highly recommend that you get and use a better browser like Firefox, Opera, or Safari if you haven’t already (see Browse Happy for some good reasons why).

I like Unix a lot and I’ve grown to really like all things Apple. OS X makes me happy because I can use the rather elegant user interfaces or I can go all command-line UNIX if I want to. Now that the new Macs can also run Windows, Macs can really cover all the bases if you need multiple operating systems.

Hosting, etc.

My site(s) have been hosted on DreamHost since 1998 I think. I’ve been happy with them most of the time (and only cranky with them occasionally). If you are considering using them as a web host and want to hear more about my experiences with them, just ask.

I’ve been registering domain names with Joker.com since 1998.

Hardware

Most of my work for this site is done on a Apple 15″ MacBook Pro (2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD SuperDrive) which was purchased at the end of January 2008. Prior to that purchase, I worked on a 12″ G4 iBook for years.

I can’t imagine using a laptop without an iLap. They rock.

I highly recommend the Higher Ground “Laptrap” laptop bag from Shaun Jackson Designs. There are nifty bags on the Shaun Jackson page, but you should be sure to click through to “Higher Ground” to see the bags like the one I have (the green Laptrap). These are the best bags I’ve seen if you want to use your laptop while it’s still in your bag (and on your lap or on a desk).

I’ve used a Palm TX for a number of years for a great many things. These PDAs have come a long way since the original Palm III I had in the earlier days of this site! I have a nifty stowaway bluetooth keyboard I sometimes use with it. I also have an Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation) which is fast becoming my PDA of choice– I use the apps so much, I sometimes forget you can also use it to listen to music.

Other Electronics

I’ve had TiVo since at least September 2000, possibly earlier than that. Still have that same TiVo in service, it’s an old Philips 30 Hour machine with Lifetime service. I used a DirecTivo for a couple of years, but am now trying out DirecTV’s HD DVR– it’s okay, but I can’t wait ’til they have new machines again via their partnership with TiVo. I honestly can’t imagine life without a DVR; I no longer understand the concept of having to be at home on a certain night at a certain time to see a specific show. I try to remember what that’s like when I write my picks, but it’s honestly a little alien to me now. (Get TiVo, Give TiVo)

My DVD player rocks. Why? Because it will play DVDs from any region and it can handle files of just about any format. My favorite feature is that it has a USB port, so I can put an AVI file on a flash drive and plug it in and watch a video without having to copy the file to a DVD or CD; some people have plugged entire hard drives into the player, but I haven’t tried that yet. It also upconverts, makes things look nice on HDTVs. Anyway, if you want one of your own, it’s the Philips DVP 5990 that I have currently, though there are other Philips models with similar features. (Previous models that are also excellent, which I have used: Philips DVP5982 which has all of the features I mentioned, and the Philips DVP 642 DVD player which lacks the USB and upconverting features, but is great for viewing any region/format stuff.)

For years, I made do with an old Magnavox 32″ TV set, which served me well and had the best “Smart Sound” feature of any set I’ve owned. For Christmas 2008, we got an amazing deal on a Philips 47PFL7403D/27 47-inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV and we love it. It’s a great TV and we’re in love with HD.

Since purchasing a Roku Digital Video Player I’ve watched more movies and TV shows from Netflix in a single month than I probably did in 3 or more months when getting the discs in the mail from Netflix. It’s so easy to use, it’s crazy. If you’re a Netflix subscriber and have a high speed internet connection, you should get one of these.

People

My fabulous husband Kevin G. Austin is a computer programmer and has helped me with some technical stuff from time to time. He was responsible for the first “time zone changer” script for this site and for a tool that helped me put together the grids for a while. He also encourages me, supports me, gives me advice, and is just generally awesome.

My parents and the rest of my family have stuck with me through thick and thin and it’s a sure bet that this site wouldn’t be around without their support of me.

Readers of this site (and of Windowseat Weblog and my Livejournal) have been supportive in a number of ways. Thanks so much to everyone who sends email, posts comments, sends donations, and sends me things from my wishlist or other cool stuff.