[mythtv-users] Things I've learned from mythtv-users

[Yeechang Lee]

I've been reading mythtv-users for more than two years now. In those
two years I've learned tons about how to improve my MythTV
setup. However, along the way I've also received an education in so,
so much more. Highlights include:

* Those who are unaware of the Mac mini are condemned to reinvent
  it. (In an uglier and larger form that does less and costs twice as
  much.)
* The MPAA is the most-powerful lobby in Washington DC, with even more
  reach than the NRA, trade unions, or trial lawyers. Every single
  institution is controlled behind closed doors by it, including the
  White House, Congress, the FCC, and the Forest Service.
* Gmail users always have to be told that outgoing messages to mailing
  lists are by default hidden by Gmail.
* Ordinary people are so stupid and blind that if, one day, their
  Blu-ray players and cable boxes started delivering non-HD video to
  their HD displays, they'd never, ever notice. Or, if the sheeple
  ever did, all it would take is the MPAA to tell them that it's being
  done for their own good and they'd willingly cooperate.
* Everyone is out to get you. "Everyone" includes the MPAA, Best Buy,
  cable companies, satellite companies, Microsoft, and Frito-Lay.
* That TiVo charges $15 a month is the worst crime of the century.
* That Schedules Direct initially wanted to charge $60 a year was the
  worst crime of the millennium.
* Hollywood makes nothing but garbage.
* Hollywood unfairly keeps me from recording that garbage in the way I
  want.
* Cable TV is a necessity of life on par with food and electricity,
  even when "things are tight."
* No one knows any more why comma splices are bad. (This can be
  reworded as "No one knows any more how to use semicolons or
  conjunctions.")
* Asking a question gives me the right to "bump" it again within 12
  hours, since it's obvious that the only reason I haven't received an
  answer yet is that everyone else on the list must've had
  catastrophic system failures that prevented them from seeing it the
  first time. (Or the questioner uses Gmail.)
* The sentence "I've Googled the Internet for hours about this
  question" usually uses a definition of "Internet" that excludes
  <URL:http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/>.
* A message that complains that "The MPAA is evil for trying to
  prevent me from making high-quality recordings. Doesn't Hollywood
  know that there are many legitimate, legal uses for doing so?" is
  guaranteed to occur close by another that begins "So I'm trying to
  play TV episodes I downloaded with BitTorrent in the Internal
  player, and . . ." (Bonus points when the sentences occur in the
  same message.)

And, last but not least:

* The restrictions on CableCARD devices are another step toward the
  *overthrow of the government of the United States*.

Yeechang, who hereby incorporates
<URL:http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/249524#249524>
by reference, including the first sentence in said message

-- 
Frontend:		P4 3.0GHz, 1.5TB software RAID 5 array
Backend:		Quad-core Xeon 1.6GHz, 6.6TB sw RAID 6
Video inputs:		Four high-definition over FireWire/OTA
Accessories:		47" 1080p LCD, 5.1 digital, and MX-600