Once you've assembled the hardware, and collected the software, it is time to begin your install. You can expect this entire process to take between one and two hours to complete. Please follow these instructions:

1. Install Windows
   It is assumed that you partitioned your hard drive as specified in the previous post. When the Windows install is complete, don't forget to format the D: drive with 64K block size. You will also need to disable User Account Control, and the Windows firewall to save yourself some headaches later on.
   
2. Install Hauppauge software
   Insert the CD that came with the Hauppauge tuner, choose your language and then install both the drivers and WinTV (although WinTV may actually be optional, I'm not sure) and then reboot
   
3. Install Gigabyte motherboard drivers
   Download the latest drivers from the Gigabyte web site. It is assumed that you have already done this on a different machine with internet access, since without the LAN driver installed, you will not be able to connect with the HTPC. So download these drivers in advance and either burn them to a CD, or put them on a thumb drive. Specifically, you will need the Realtek HD Audio, which provides Dolby Pro Logic II support through both the HDMI connection and the optical digital audio port (if your receiver has one). You will also need the chipset driver package which includes the ATI Radeon 4200 HD video driver necessary if you are driving a true 1080p HD display. Install both of these drivers and then reboot.
   
4. Install GBPVR
   Early on, I had some issues with GBPVR crashing. If while configuring it, you run a channel scan, and for some reason it does not detect all of your local channels and you force a rescan, there is a bug that causes it to crash when you start mapping the channels to your Electronic Programming Guide. I recommend you join the GBPVR forum. There is a wealth of support information there which is publicly available, however, the search function is a lot easier to use if you are a registered user and logged in. The Boxee forum uses the same software, so the same is true for it. I recommend joining both.

   I also recommend joining Schedules Direct and paying the $20 annual fee for their TV guide data. There are a couple of free sites out there, but I can't vouch for the quality of their data, and I can say that Schedules Direct is already integrated into GBPVR, so setting it up to pull your TV listings every night is a snap.

   Download GBPVR (I am assuming version 1.4.7) and install it, and follow these instructions to configure it.

   Now install the Visual J# redistributable, followed by the WizRecordingRename utility, which you will install into the GBPVR folder. This utility allows automatic renaming of the recording files that GBPVR creates. This is important because Boxee will automatically catalog the recordings and download IMDB data about them, but only if the files follow Boxee's particular naming convention. Once you have installed these two items, copy the PostProcessing.bat and the WizRenameRecording.xml files into the GBPVR folder.
   

5. Install Boxee
   In order for Netflix to work within Boxee, you will need to install Silverlight, so do that first. Also, to make sure you are using the version of Flash that Boxee expects, go to http://www.boxee.tv/flash and install it from there. I can tell you how critical it is that you get the right version of Flash. There are a lot of versions out there, but only one that makes Boxee work. Lastly, install the Boxee beta (I am assuming version 0.9.20.10711).
   
6. Install EventGhost
   I struggled with getting the Hauppauge-included MCE remote to work correctly. The source of the problem is that the IR receiver plugs directly into the Hauppauge card, and is not a USB device, so it uses special drivers and Windows does not natively recognize the events that are generated when you push buttons on the remote. As it turns out, you don't need anything beyond the drivers on the Hauppauge CD. You just need to disable the IR program that gets installed with WinTV, by removing it from the Startup folder, and then install EventGhost. Run EventGhost and go to File -> Options and set it to autostart and minimize to the system tray when closed. Then copy the HTPC.xml file to your Windows 7 user folder and load it into Eventghost (File -> Open...) -- it then becomes your default config file and will be loaded automatically every time you start the machine. I have it set to autostart Boxee too, but you can remove that if you like.
   

[Stay tuned for Part V, The Results...]

I started out thinking this would be a Linux-based PC, but two things changed my mind. First, I've written before about my travails with Linux. I want to like Linux, I really do. But I can't. Mabye I'm just not geeky enough, or maybe I'm just lazy, but configuring the guts of an operating system is not enjoyable, and I will avoid it every chance I get. If that means I buy Windows, so be it. Second, and more importantly, at the time of this writing streaming Netflix movies to a Linux box was still not an option -- this was a deal-breaker.

So I began with an old OEM copy of Windows XP for this build. Let me say that you can get this build to work with XP SP2 (I know because I had it working, but then got lazy about my configuration management and wound up in tweak hell that I couldn't seem to back out of), but you might be better off avoiding the hassles, and investing in an upgrade to Windows 7. This is the path I chose, and for the purposes of this guide, I am assuming the Windows 7 OS. But if you choose to go the XP route, I'll just point out that SATA support is not native in XP. So you will need to obtain SATA drivers from the motherboard manufacturer, and create either an install floppy with these drivers, or a slipstreamed XP install disk with the drivers integrated. I won't go into details here on how to do this, but I used a free tool called NLite, and it was relatively painless. It even allows you to remove all of the unnecessary Windows components, and I was able to get my install time down to about 18 minutes.

An important thing to keep in mind when installing Windows is that you will enjoy better performance by creating at least two partitions and putting Windows on one and storing your media on the other. I partitioned the 500GB drive into a 20GB C: drive and a 480GB D: drive. After your install, the first thing you should do is format the 480GB partition with a 64K block size (4K is the default). The larger block size lends itself to fewer and less frequent drive accesses, which will prevent jerky or choppy video when you play back recorded HD content, and drive fragmentation becomes less of a problem as well.

There are two main software components that you will be installing and configuring: Boxee and GBPVR. My goal was to integrate these two as much as possible since they are both free, relatively mature, products with more or less mutually exclusive, but highly complimentary, features. GB-PVR is, as the name would suggest, a Personal Video Recorder that uses the TV tuner card to record over-the-air television to the hard drive, and Boxee provides everything else from my list of requirements. These two packages were not designed to work together, but I've found that they can be made to play nice with each other, and perform satisfactorily -- at least until something better comes along.

One caveat right up front: if you install Windows 7 and think you might want to play around with Windows Media Center, do that first. When you're done playing with it, reinstall Windows and never run it again because when you run it you will be prompted to install all manner of helper apps that Media Center needs to function, and one or more of them prevent Boxee from working correctly. I learned this the hard way. Let me add that I like Media Center. I like it a lot. The user interface is the slickest and most sophisticated I've seen, configuration was painless, and it does everything! With one exception: the Internet TV module is severely limited and was enough to convince me that Boxee was a better choice. Although Boxee is still in beta testing, all you have to do is install it and play with it for a few minutes to see that it has far greater potential for future expansion.

[Continued in Part IV, The Install...]

Let me start by saying that I did not compile this entire list of hardware through trial and error. Most of it came from Jay Taylor's excellent blog over at AMD, and a big thanks to him for starting me off in the right direction. I bought all the necessary parts for the base system following the links he provided. This includes the chassis, motherboard, memory, CPU, hard drive, and optical drive. Beyond that, I started experimenting. Buying my own tuner cards, remote controls, antennas, etc., and returning a lot of it until I found the right mix.

While evaluating antennas, I tried an RCA amplified antenna that cost about $20. I was unimpressed. The signal was strong enough in a few locations, but it was generally a crap shoot. I then considered going to the other extreme and purchasing a Channel Master 4221, which got great reviews everywhere I looked. I even entertained the idea of building my own out of coat hangers. Both of these still might be future options, but in the end, a Terk amplified antenna in the $40 range seemed to serve my purposes. For those of you who have not yet jumped on the Digital TV bandwagon, I'll point out that with the transition to digital, the channel numbers of your local stations have likely also changed. Most have migrated to UHF in the 20-40 range, so don't expect to find them in their old locations.

My choice of tuner card was driven by both positive user reviews and the strongly desired feature of a dual-tuner on a single card. Not only was the Hauppauge 2250 cheaper than buying two separate tuner cards, but it takes less power and space inside the PC chassis. I also don't have to worry about a splitter to feed two antenna leads because the splitter is internal to the card. This is a very attractive design. The card worked very well with the included WinTV software, however, I did struggle to get the included Windows MCE remote to work. I will cover this in more detail in my next post on software, but the problem is that the IR receiver plugs directly into the Hauppauge card, rather than a USB port, so the included drivers do not make the remote work exactly like a Microsoft branded remote would.

When it comes time to assemble your rig, I am assuming you know how to put a PC together (if not, you will find a bunch of step-by-step assembly videos on Jay's blog), but here are a few lessons I learned that you might find helpful. The chassis is pretty small and cramped inside, so you will likely have to temporarily remove the power supply (it's only a few screws) in order to mount the hard drive. The hard drive will come with a SATA cable that has a right-angle connector on one end. You will want to use this one as the motherboard connectors are pretty hard to get to once the hard drive is mounted. The power supply has a 2x2 power cable for the CPU (which attaches to the motherboard near the CPU socket), but the connector is a 2x4. Don't let this confuse you (like it did me), just plug it into half of the 2x4 connector -- it should only fit one way, so you can't get it wrong.

So here's your shopping list. I'm providing links to all of the hardware below for your convenience. (Disclaimer: this web site and the author are not affiliated with Newegg.com in any way. These links are provided as a convenience. Feel free to shop around!)

[Continued in Part III, The Software...]

So you're about to read a page that provides you all of that. I know this is a incredible claim, but when I set out to do this, I promised myself I would do it right, and I would keep detailed notes so that I could then provide this information to others. This is truly a turn-key system -- no bullshit. You buy the hardware I have listed, you follow my instructions for installing the software, and you will have the ultimate HTPC. You will be out $500, but you will still have your sanity. And your hair.

So how do you define ultimate? Well, at the time of this writing, ultimate means a confluence of several established platforms as well as integration of emerging and future techologies. The ultimate HTPC isn't about specs. It isn't about raw CPU horsepower. It isn't about bells and whistles. It is about performance, but without sacrificing aesthetics. The ultimate HTPC will replace cable/satellite as your primary source of television content. There are sacrifices implied in that statement. You are ready to say goodbye to premium channels (like HBO and Showtime), although most if not all of their content is made available on DVD at some point. You are ready to say goodbye to a lot of second-tier channels, although the same is true of most of their content, and a lot of it is also available online. The ultimate HTPC will also replace your standalone DVD player. By the way, my design is not Blu-Ray capable. Blu-Ray, in my opinion, is a solution in search of a problem. It's an industry conspiracy to steal our money, and I'm not participating. If you're like me, standard DVDs are just fine. The ultimate HTPC allows streaming of Netflix movies as well as any other internet content that is consumable through a web browser. The ultimate HTPC is also capable of storing a significant amount of content -- both PVR-style, as well as traditional movies ripped from DVD.

So those are my criteria: use over-the-air HD as the primary source, play standard def DVDs, stream all known content from the internet, and hold at least 500GB of video content either internally or through Network Attached Storage (NAS). If this sounds like the kind of system you would like, and you have the money, here begins the journey.

[Continued in Part II, The Hardware...]

It's called a Roku and it started life as nothing more than a set-top box that allowed streaming of Netflix content. It works with either a wired or wireless internet connection, and automatically adjusts the video quality based on the connection speed that is available, but even over wireless a high quality picture is possible (even HD). This latest incarnation of the device has expanded the number of sources from which streaming content is available. Netflix is joined by several other providers, including Amazon's Video on Demand service, as well as Major League Baseball. There are several other lesser-known providers available in the Roku "Channel Store" that one can subscribe to, including one of my favorites (that I already subscribe to through TiVo) Revision3.

The only gripe I have with the box is that I wish it allowed you to point at any internet-based content source, perhaps by entering an RSS feed, or something similar. Maybe this will be offered in a future version of the firmware. Apart from that, I've been very happy with the ease of the initial configuration (and the linking to my Netflix account) and the quality of the video streams. I also like that if you have to stop a movie in the middle, it remembers your place so you can resume watching later. If you are already a Netflix subscriber, there are few reasons not to buy this box and bring the mailbox shuffle to an end. Shipping movies by mail is soooo last decade.

Many have criticized the movie for being too political, as it draws obvious parallels between the war portrayed in the movie and the current war in Iraq. The anti-imperialist message is undeniable, of course, but the movie succeeds at delivering that message without coming across as preachy, which is not an easy task for any storyteller. Most notable for me is that the story is also surprisingly spiritual, invoking our own indigenous Native Americans in describing the people and cultures of the fictitious world of Pandora. That spirituality ultimately plays an active role in the story's outcome, and is not just an afterthought.

Overall, Avatar is exquisitely made eye candy that is also emotionally satisfying. I would recommend it.

The point is data are rarely conclusive. And even when they are, the personal agendas and biases of those who own or collect the data, might sometimes prevent the truth from being known. So it is with the current debate surrounding what was once called "global warming" and is now called "climate change" -- just the surreptitious change of moniker is enough to bring motives into question. Couple this with the recent revelations of emails between scientists in the field that have given the appearance of impropriety, the failure to reach consensus at the recent Copenhagen summit, and the whole environmental movement seems to be losing momentum.

I hesitate to say that the movement is receiving its just desserts. I am sympathetic to the goals of the movement, I'm just not a fan of their tactics in most cases. I also struggle with the way the message has been communicated over my lifetiime. I was two years old when the first Earth Day was held, and the histrionics first began about how we were killing our planet, and that if we didn't address the crisis, we would all be dead by the end of the century. Well, for those of you keeping score at home, the crisis continues unabated now forty years hence, and we're all still here. But no one within the movement shows any sign of backing away from the hyperbole -- they just keep moving the goal line out, a generation at a time.

So as we enter the fortieth year of this movement, where are we really? Is the planet in better or worse shape? Are zebras black with white stripes? Or white with black stripes? The answer that seems most reasonable to me, and the one that is most striking, is that no one really knows. Not yet. For each objective data point on one side of the debate, its equal appears on the other side. Forty years on, and we have a stalemate, the rhetoric on both sides having become trite. The problems appear objectively real, but the proposed solutions do not.

I would encourage the movement's crusaders to take advantage of this respite, dress your wounds, and regain your bearings. But most of all, refine your message, banish the traitors among you who have brought harm to the movement, and come back when you've figured out the color of the zebra. Until then, frankly, I'm tired of hearing from you.

Last night we went to see Irving Berlin's White Christmas at the Fabulous Fox. This was a great show too. Outstanding musical numbers and dance routines, fabulous period costumes, and a talented ensemble cast. This one is highly recommended as well.

His book, An Inconvenient Purpose, approaches the environmental movement from the unique perspective of Christians seeking to act as stewards of God's creation. He calls for the perceived conflict on this issue between left and right to be ignored in favor of doing what is right for the planet and what is right in God's eyes, regardless of one's political affiliation. I think this is an important point, and one that does not receive much attention. The debate is always framed in the media as left versus right, and those on the right, who have not taken the time to educate themselves, assume (wrongly) that because Al Gore advocates it, it must be wrong.

The author does a great job in this book of appealing to this demographic, and laying out a case for stewardship that transcends politics. He covers all aspects of the movement, from pursuing alternative energy sources, to lessening our dependence on foreign energy for national security reasons, to the environmental impact of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. But he keeps coming back to hydrogen as the clean solution to our dirty addiction to oil -- and that cleanliness is next to godliness.

My readers know that I frequently cover alternative energies, and that I'm a fan of electric cars. So, I may not share the author's conviction that hydrogen fuel cells are the absolute best solution, but I found this point from the book to be very good:

People talk of the inefficiency in creating hydrogen, and all the energy that must be expended to generate hydrogen molecules. However, people don't think twice about the inefficiency of creating electricity from start to finish. The electricity arriving at the normal house outlet often contains only a third of the energy content that orginated in the coal from which it started. Factor in the incandescent bulb inefficiencies of a typical house lamp plugged into that outlet and you're at about five percent.

That is something to consider when criticizing an alternative energy -- remove the beam from thine own eye before casting out the mote from thy brother's eye. An Inconvenient Purpose carves out a well-defined niche for Christians in the environmental movement, and acknowledges their obligation to participate, it tackles the complicated issues involved in very accessible layman's terms, all while offering an optimistic view of the future and the path we should all be following.

Don't allow yourself to be brainwashed into believing that the current theater that passes for airport security is a necessary part of life in this country! It's a fad. It's all part of the knee-jerk reaction that this country had to 9/11 that continues to play out even today, eight years later. But make no mistake, it is a temporary condition. Common sense is on life support, but it is not yet dead. We can resuscitate it and get our lives back.

Every once in a while, there is a story in the news that offers a glimmer of hope -- what we used to call good news -- and today's Post Dispatch offered evidence that common sense may be making a comeback. The story, TSA changes procedure after Lambert incident, revealed that the fear-fueled hysteria does have limits. Steven Bierfeldt was inappropriately grilled by TSA personnel for trying to travel with a large sum of money. After facing a lawsuit from Bierfeldt and the ACLU, the TSA revised their rules to require their agents "to stick to matters related to flight security rather than policing airports for other crimes." Gee, ya think?

So be patient, fellow travelers. As common sense recovers, and continues its physical therapy, these small victories will continue until things return to normal. And one day, as we spritz our hair before boarding our plane, we will all look back at the dark days of the TSA as quaint and unnecessary.

Why do I refer to it as the fossil record? Because personal liberty is all but extinct in this country today, but it wasn't always that way. And here, buried in an obscure, century-old, Supreme Court ruling, is a gleaming nugget of evidence of what liberty in this country used to mean:

The individual may stand upon his constitutional rights as a citizen. He is entitled to carry on his private business in his own way. His power to contract is unlimited. He owes no duty to the State or to his neighbors to divulge his business, or to open his doors to an investigation, so far as it may tend to criminate him. He owes no such duty to the State, since he receives nothing therefrom beyond the protection of his life and property. His rights are such as existed by the law of the land long antecedent to the organization of the State, and can only be taken from him by due process of law, and in accordance with the Constitution. Among his rights are a refusal to incriminate himself and the immunity of himself and his property from arrest or seizure except under a warrant of the law. He owes nothing to the public so long as he does not trespass upon their rights.

Today, the Supreme Court hands down rubbish like Kelo, or ekes out a disappointing simple majority in a case like Heller. But there was a time, way back in the Mesozoic Era of freedom, that the Supreme Court would affirm what the rest of us already knew: you have the right to do whatever you want, unless or until it infringes upon the rights of another to do the same. Evidence of this attitude among modern Americans is very hard to find, indeed.