Home media server

NOTE: This setup involves pirating. If you would prefer to pay for every single movie/song you ever watch, you can basically ignore this entire blog post and just buy an AppleTV. Use the iTunes store on it for renting and purchasing movies/music/etc. For TV shows, if you don't want to pay for CableTV, the AppleTV has an app called "HuluPlus" on it that costs $8/mo. Problem solved.

BUT, if you're not a millionaire and still want access to all the media in the world, read on.

So...

I get a lot of questions about my awesome home media system. Here are the perks...

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BENEFITS:

- IT'S EASY

The process for set up below appears to be "involved". But trust me, it's simpler than it looks, and most of the steps are things you only have to do ONCE. After it's set up, getting the movies/media you want is very easy. Let's just say my wife downloads movies all the time.

- NO MORE DISCS

I never have to go to a Redbox, in fact, we haven't watched a single DVD/Blu-ray for over a year.

- THE VIDEO QUALITY IS AWESOME

Newsflash: DVDs are actually recorded in 480p resolution. Chances are, your TV does 1080p. This means that if you're still a DVD-watcher, you've been watching mediocre stuff this whole time. Nooooo!

- NO MORE TV SCHEDULES
My wife and I watch little/no live TV, yet are still pretty caught up on shows we enjoy watching (Walking Dead, Parks & Recreation, etc.)

- WORKS EVERYWHERE
I can watch whichever movie/show that has ever existed at any time, whenever I want, from whichever device i want, from wherever it may be. (Living room, on my commute, traveling, etc.)
(The same above statement is true about music.)

- NO MORE MOVING FILES / SYNCING
I never have to copy/move files from one device to another (let's just say i haven't sync'd my iPhone in about 2 years).

- IT'S CHEAP
The monthly costs for all of this is very very low, and I can pick and choose what I want, unlike Cable TV service which basically forces you to have every channel (I have no CableTV service).

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WHAT YOU NEED:

 - An HDTV
If it has an HDMI port, you'll be fine. HDMI ports look like this.

 - A computer
It doesn't have to be a great computer. For this system, a computer that never gets moved works best, though it'll work fine with your laptop. It can be a Mac/PC/whatever.

 - An external hard drive
The bigger, the better. If your computer has hi-speed connections liks USB 3.0, FireWire 800, or eSATA, get an xhdrive that supports it.

 - An internet connection
Preferably one that isn't AOL :-)

- A Plex-connected device
Examples: a Roku, PS3, Xbox360/One, LG/Samsung SmartTV. My favorite is the Roku 3. Unfortunately, the AppleTV does NOT support Plex.

PRO-TIPS:

- My system works very well because I rely very little on wireless connections. I have all of my devices (my ps3, my computer, etc.) physically connected with Ethernet cables. Yes, i have long cables running along the wall moldings at my house. It's much less obtrusive than you think.

- I suggested the Roku3 because it supports many other streaming services besides Plex, all in one box. Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Spotify, etc. (among other random stuff you may enjoy).

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SET UP PLEX:

1a. Get a myPlex account.
It's free. Do it here.

2a. Organize your media
Create a "movies" folder and a separate "TV Shows" folder on your external hard drive. You may also want to create an "Other Videos" folder. If you already possess some video files, throw them in there.

3a. Install Plex Media Server on your computer.
This software streams your computer's stored media to other connected devices.  When Plex Media Server is originally set up, it will ask you where the folders are (from step 2a). You will see an option to add a "Home Movies" section in Plex. I use the "Other Videos" folder for that. (There are specific reasons for this, and you will soon see why).

NOTE: Plex has an option for adding a music section. I would advise against this since it just doesn't work very well. It does have an option for adding an iTunes "channel". In my experience, it works beautifully.

Get Plex Media Server here.

4a. Set up your computer to never sleep.
Yes, your mind still thinks it's 2001 when computers consumed lots of electricity. But this simply isn't true anymore. This setting needs to be on in order to always have access to the media. It's going to be ok. I promise.

5a. Install/open Plex on your device
It's a different process for each device, but on the Roku3, you just navigate to the "Channel Store" and search for Plex. Add the channel, and you're good to go. Process is similar for PS3, and on an LG Smart TV, they call it a "smart library" or something like that.

6a. Install Plex for your mobile devices
It'll be the best $5 you ever spend. Trust me. iOS/Android/Windows users get it here.


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ACQUIRE YOUR MOVIES/TV SHOWS:

1b. Install a torrent client on your computer.
Mac users should use Transmission. Windows users, i suggest qBittorrent.

2b. Get your movies/TV shows
My go-to source is http://www.thePirateBay.org . You simply make a search, click the "SE" column in the search results to sort by Seed, and click the little magnets when you see what you like. "Seeds" are sources of the file you want. The more "Seeds", the faster the download.

3b. Pay close attention to download destinations
When you click on the little magnets from step 2b, your torrent client will automatically open up and begin the download. Make sure that you download to the appropriate folders from step 2a.

PIRATEBAY PRO-TIPS
- Get Chrome here, and add this extension to block ads.

- Add "720p" or "1080p" to your searches, and pay close attention to the file size listed for each search result. Usually the best quality is between 1GB-3GB. Anything more than 3GB is usually very high-quality, but often not enough of a difference to be noticeable. However, the really big files, (≥4GB 1080p) often have awesome 5.1 surround sound. For movies like Star Wars, it's worth the wait. NOTE: HD TV shows are pretty much always 720p.

- Avoid search results that say "TS", "HDTS", "Telesync" or "CAM". This means that it's recorded in the movie theater with some dude's camcorder. Like those DVDs u buy in Chinatown. It's not worth it. Just wait for the date the movie is released for rental. On that day, PirateBay will have delicious 720p/1080p versions of the movies you want.

- Add the year to the movie you're searching for. Sometimes it makes life easier. Example: Searching for "Batman 1995" will get you Batman Forever. Batman 1992 is Batman Returns. Don't know the year? Wikipedia.

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WATCH YOUR MOVIE/TV SHOW

1c. Make sure Plex Library is updated.

Click the Plex icon, and click Update Library. If you have downloaded any new movies/shows, Plex will recognize them. Click here to see how it's done.

2c. Open Plex on your TV or mobile device

On the mobile device, it'll have you log in with the info from step 1a.

3c. ENJOY

To get new movies/TV shows, just repeat steps 2b + 3b.

Don't know what to watch? Check these lists:

iTunes Movie Charts

IMDb Rental Charts

iTunes TV Show Charts

So your hard drive just died...

I have lived this nightmare three times in my life. The first time, it was a hard drive that I had accidentally plugged in to a wall socket that was tied to a light switch. People came in and out of the room, turning off the light and rebooting the hard drive without knowing it. It was 120GB. Lost.

Second time, it was an external that just fell off a desk. I cried. 1 terabyte (about 1024GB). Lost.

Third time, another external hard drive died for no apparent reason. It'd just reached the end of its life.

At this point, I had learned my lesson. All. Hard drives. Die. It has nothing to do with how careful you may be, or how safe the drive is, or how expensive or cheap your drive is. These drives are mechanical, and do eventually die. It's important to keep in mind that any and ALL data on this drive WILL eventually be lost. Think about it that way. Whether it's on the internal drive of your computer, or on the external, it WILL get lost.

UNLESS...
You keep a copy.

Making copies is tedious, and even software that does it automatically isn't 100%. It also means you have to purchase a second drive just to hold the copy. I personally don't like doing this, but if you're fine with it, you can stop reading this post.

My solution goes as follows:

The first, easiest, and most important storage solution everyone must have is some basic cloud storage.
Store your documents and anything important on Google Drive, Dropbox, Skydrive, wherever. If you're smart, you'll pay the $5/mo to increase your Google drive storage to 100GB. Move your photo library onto the Google Drive folder, as well as your documents folder on the computer. Always save stuff to this folder, always work off the folder. The day your internal hard drive dies (and trust me, it WILL), you will still have all your stuff safe and sound in Google Drive.

For most people, this will suffice.

For those of you who have large libraries of massive stuff (sound libraries, HD video footage, etc.), you will need to invest in some kind of big fat RAID box. I use a Drobo Mini. It takes four hard drives. It's great. After buying a few terabyte hard drives to fill it, you'll end up spending about $800, but these advanced gizmos have self file-copying technologies, so when one drive dies (and it WILL), you won't actually lose any data. You just need to go out and buy another drive to replace the dead one, and it'll be back up and running, with all your files intact. This is AWESOME.

Anyone with irreplaceable files that you never want to lose (photos, videos of your family, songs you've recorded, any files you're getting paid to work with, etc.) should at LEAST have a basic paid Google Drive account (or similar).

Just remember. All the hard drives in your home/office. (Internal, external, etc.)
WILL
EVENTUALLY
DIE.

Beginning Photography Lenses

A few months ago, I decided to buy a DSLR camera. I got into photography fairly quickly, and learning about photography consumed a LOT of my time. Here is some of my work.

A question I get a lot from beginners is what kind of equipment they should buy next.
There's a few things one should know about the gear they have with the first camera they buy.

1. There's a good chance your camera came with an 18-whatever mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens. There's a lot I can say about focal lengths, and aperture, etc., but I'm going to boil it down to this: The smaller the f-stop, usually the better the lens. Having to be at 18mm just to get an f-stop of 3.5 is not great. Low f-stops means more light coming into the camera and more bokeh (that dreamy blurry-background look).

2. Zooming doesn't just makes things seem closer or farther. Zooming in and out actually changes the apparent shape of your subject.
Try this: zoom all the way out to 18mm and take a picture of your buddy, with their face filling the frame, head to chin. Then zoom all the way in as far as your lens will allow, and take the same photo with the same framing (you will have to step back).
You will see a difference that looks like this:

Moral of the story: Wide focal lengths (anything 35mm and below) produce fat noses and weird shapes. They're great for large groups or landscapes, but it's not as flattering of an image as telephoto (zoomed-in) photos, (anything higher than 50mm). The 35mm-50mm range is considered somewhere in the middle.

In conclusion, buy one of two lenses: a 35mm or 50mm prime.
Prime lenses don't zoom, but the trade-off is a lens that takes amazingly sharp images (much sharper than the lens your camera came with) and great low-light and bokeh performance.

What does this mean?
The lens works well in dark situations.
Here's a photo i took with the lights off in my living room and no flash.
And for bokeh, here's an example 

WHAT TO BUY
For Canon users: 
- The super popular nifty-fifty, plastic-fantastic: the 50mm f/1.8 
It's a must-have for Canon users. I think it's their cheapest lens, but it takes some stunning images.

- OR for a comfy walk-around lens, the coolest little pancake, the 40mm 2.8 
It's a comfortable focal length, and at f/2.8, bokeh is definitely possible.

For Nikon:
The 35mm 1.8G or 50mm 1.8G

Wife and i made some bread

Bread is fun to make and eat. Here are some pictures.

Bread makes you fat, so my suggestion is as follows:

Buy a 2 lb bag of all-purpose flower, and seriously don't buy any bigger.
Otherwise, you will end up making a bunch of bread and you will gain 14 lbs guaranteed.

Anyway, recipe (as stolen off my buddy Evan Santiago) is as follows:

Stuff you need:
- 1.5 tb Quick-rise yeast (i used this)
- 2 lb bag of of all-purpose flour (6.5 cups)
- 1.5 tb salt
- 3 cups water
- butter
- a lil canola oil
- bread pan. Forgot what size ours is. It's like the size of a shoe.

1. Yeast + salt + water into bowl. Let it sit 5min, or until it bubbles.
2. Throw in the flour. Grease up a fork with some canola oil and mix it all up. Mix it real good.
3. Cover your dough (leave a crack). Let your dough sit for an hour.
4. Preheat oven to 450, bake for 35min.
5. Let the bread cool for a few min and cut it with a serrated knife. Don't push on it, saw it downnn.
6. Eat your bread, but not all of it, cuz you'll get fat.
7. Bake the second batch of dough, but give it all away. Don't be a fatty.