My networked gadgets

I’m a firm believer in the power of networks and Metcalfe’s Law, and try to hook up as many of my gadgets to my wired/wireless network. Hooking up all these toys to my LAN forced me to become much more of a network adminstrator than I really wanted. but I learned a lot along the way. Here is what my network looks like today:

Trying to keep all of these gadgets running is quite a daunting task. For example, my Linksys NSLU2 which is running the Twonkyvision media server is not operational right now because the fan burned out in the Apricorn enclosure that holds the hard disk drive with many of my MP3s on it. Also, the wireless connection between the Airlink+ AP411W and my Linksys WRT54G is unfortunately rather flaky, often interrupting the video stream from the Slingbox, like right now as I’m typing this sentence. Still haven’t figured out why the wireless just drops out periodically.

I’ll talk in much more detail about my experiences with many of these gadgets in the coming weeks, so check back again soon.

Why this blog?

I really am a gadget addict. As soon as a new gadget is announced, I start thinking about how I buying it. As an example, in terms of MP3 players, I have:

1. A Rio PMP300
2. A Creative Nomad Jukebox (6GB)
3. A Creative Nomad II
4. A TDK Mojo
5. A Creative Nomad Zen Xtra (30GB)
6. An Apple iPod mini (6GB)
7. An Apple iPod shuffle (512MB)
8. A Netgear MP101 digital media adapter

As you can see, it seems like I just can’t stop buying new toys. So why this blog? Well, unlike a lot of the review sites that play with a gadget for a bit, I actually use my toys and try to learn as much as possible about them to get the most value and enjoyment from them. My modus operandi is to scour any fora on the gadget to learn about others’ experiences and usage tips. My intention with this blog is to document much of what I have learned about my gadgets so that others may benefit from my trials and tribulations.