More notes on the remote control issue. Model URC-44CXXXB02 is apparently a One For All "Navigator" which has been re-branded for Comcast. This turns out to be an important tidbit of information because in order to use the programming applications available through Hi-Fi Remote, you have to know specifically what remote you have. Doh.

The IR.exe program needs an .rdf configuration file ("remote definition file") to operate. While there are no .rdf's out there for the URC-44CXXXB02, there are other "Navigator"s that have been re-branded for other cable companies; Time-Warner comes to mind.

So, now I've got all this set-up and configuration and programming and special function information down pat. Next step, a hardware hack. Granted, the JP1 cable is a relatively minor piece of work, but I haven't used a soldering gun since I was in the Cub Scouts.

If nothing else, though, this will be good practice towards that arcade control panel I've been eyeing for a couple of years now. I have a garage and a place to build a cabinet now, so it's time.

...Brian is at concerts I'm working...

Doesn't mean anything to you, does it? It shouldn't, either, unless you happen to be subject to Comcast Digital Cable TV. That's the serial number of the remote that goes with the Motorola DCT-2224-1662 digital converter set-top box that Comcast uses (at least in my region).

Not surprisingly, there's very little information regarding that remote on the web. What information would you need, afterall? Comcast doesn't even provide a users' manual, it's just a remote. Well, it's a multi-function remote... and it'd be nice if it came with a book of codes for setting up your other components. But no.

So, I go to One For All who makes the remote and I play around their site. I discover that this is a discontinued model which Comcast has snapped up and re-branded. One For All doesn't archive their old products, but they do link to a third-party who does. How nice of them.

Eventually, I get my hands on the instructions for reprogramming the auxilary devices and the device codes that go along with my various pieces. But the codes for JVC amplifiers/receivers don't work for mine, and since that's the brains of the home theatre this whole endeavor is a bit moot.

Anyway, the web is woefully under-informed on this topic, so I thought I'd make available what I've found to others.

The Motorola DCT-2224-1662 is relatively new equipment and you won't find a device code for it listed anywhere. However, if you dig deep enough, you may discover that Motorola converters are formerly General Instruments converters and you can try their codes. If that doesn't work, GI was formerly Jerrold. For the record, my remote came from Comcast pre-programmed with device code 0476. (If your remote only takes three digits, drop the leading zero.) Or 0276, or maybe 0810. My other components are here:

TV JVC AV-27050 Code 0053
VCR JVC HR-VP638U Codes 0067 0008 0206 0041
DVD JVC XV-525BK Code ???? (anyone?)
Rcvr JVC RX-774VBK Code 0074 (doesn't work)
Amp JVC RX-774VBK Code 0331 (only controls power & volume)

All these components came with their own "universal" "multi-brand" remotes. None of which are capable of handling the Moto. That's why I'm concentrating on the One For All.

So, what's next? Check out Hi-Fi Remote to see where I'm going from here.

Calendar Live - A Day in the Life During TV's Dog and Pony Show

4:30 p.m.: Affleck and Hayes patiently explain how clues in the show could lead viewers to win $1.2 million, the amount stolen in the fictional series.

A reporter asks, "What do you do in case of a tie? In case two people at the same time send in an entry saying, 'The money is in the refrigerator.' "

Affleck replies with feigned anger: "First of all, you've now ruined it. The money was in the fridge, and now we have to change it. I knew this was too easy." He shouts an expletive, standing up as if he is about to leave. Everyone laughs.

Naturally, people are already digging into the Push, NV enigma. As with Majestic, certain in-game websites have already been uncovered. In fact, I see a direct correlation to The Portland Chronicle and it's Fire at Anim-X video clip. Further, clues in the trailer lead you to a voicemail box (shades of ISD) with a password yet to be found (and probably yet to be established).

Hey? Did anyone try 7654824731947?

Ah. It's been a long week of off-site training, but now I am back at my desk and doing the lunchtime procrastination thing. My, my, my. Some of you are the usually prolific selves and there's a lot to catch myself up on.

(Actually, you all are your usually prolific selves and you can apply the sarcasm at will.)

I tried to stay in touch last week, but my dial-up is whack. Ever since I moved, I'm getting speeds of 24k. Yeah, 24k. Back in the days of text bbs I could read faster than that, and now that I'm at the mercy of flash-splash and humongo-gif it is unbearable.

("Flash-splash and humongo-gif"? Sounds like a freakin' indie superhero comic.)

That explains why I haven't written. That also explains why I haven't jumped on the Faerun Evenings bandwagon yet. So, now that I am back, what is there to write about? Pitifully little, actually. Everything's been status quo for quite some time now.

"But Brian," you say, "at least tell us what you did this weekend. Your life can't be utterly devoid of actvity..."

Well, okay, since you ask. Saturday afternoon Shannon & I found ourselves at the Innagural Cadillac Grand Prix of Washington, DC. Wow. Talk about exciting. I'm not a follower of auto-racing (heck, I don't follow much of any sport at all) but ever since I was a little kid in SoCal watching open-wheel monsters roar through the streets of San Diego, I have always been mesmerized by these things.

NASCAR ain't got nothing on these guys. No offense, but Gordon & Wallace only turn in one direction...

We followed that up by running downtown for a free concert in the 8th & G street venue. A handful of minor bands, some local, leading up to Sister Hazel. Hazel was pretty cool. They're a good "lowest common denominator of southern rock" band that puts teeny-pop idols to shame. You don't have to be formulated pablum to be generally accepted, and if you're good you don't have to cater to a wide audience; you gather one naturally.

They ought to get more airplay, but they don't. I think it's because they aren't pigeon-holed into any particular demographic ("They don't offend anyone? How do I sell that?"), so the stations can't book advertisers. I'll let Matt keep the soapbox on why the FM market is a Bad Thing, he's got a lot more passion about it than I do. The minor bands weren't too bad, but one chick whined so insistently about a bad sound check that I think she was setting up an alibi for why she sucked.

Sunday was a nothing day. I re-installed a drop ceiling in the laundry room which I had torn down previously (I needed to know where the pipes & conduit & coax were going). I watched more Grand Prix; the headline event was televised. I considered laying carpet padding in the basement, but decided that there wasn't enough to be useful. Oh, and I also stuffed a couple of bags of insulation back into the ceiling joists. Shannon was happy to finally have that stuff up off the floor (it's been there since the range outlet/gas feed installation a month ago).

Keely was happy about it, too. She was finally allowed into the basement to check out what kind of monsters we had down there. She was tiptoeing around on eggshells, growling at the clothes dryer that apparently challenged her somehow. Meanwhile, Fergus slept peacefully unawares all the way upstairs.

Homi: I'm like a dwarven Ike Turner. I like my beoches to cry after a beatdown.

weebl: lo bob! you have pie?

steg: Then she would say, "Okay, so how is your special friend?" And I would have thoughts of short yellow schoolbuses.

S'alright, Sabs. It's not at all an uncommon thought when someone mentions Matt... ;-)

francis: Just make them a secret government team of covert "black-ops" little ponies.

I'm no longer amused by all of the misdirected referring URLs, and I'm considering changing all instances of "cd key generator" to "bargle nawdle zouss". At least then I'll be getting hit by people with common interests.

For that matter, "Dark Age of Camelot (or DAoC)" I shall now call "that Nordic Celtic thing (or tNCt)" and "Neverwinter Nights" will be "Faerun Evenings".

I swear to gawd, if I get a google hit for "Faerun+Evenings+bargle+nawdle+zouss" then I'm going to give up this web thing all together.

Hey, you! Yeah, you... with the human head. Check this out. For a limited time only, the world-famous Orange County Fair will be presenting a multimedia thing-a-ma-jig which can only be described as... The Weird Al Experience. That's right, it's your big chance to share the amazing world of "Weird Al" Yankovic. The entire life of "the hardest working music satirist in show business" is going to be on display, just for you. Really. Go on, pinch yourself.

The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site

Chalk up yet another reason I miss living Behind the Orange Curtain.

Does anybody read Indonesian? I'd like to get myself a .id domain, but I can't follow the requirements. Oh, and for you knowledgeable-pseudo-hacker-types, how do I whois a hostname.id?

I'm looking at my referring URLs and, as usual, they are 20-to-1 comprised of "bargle nawdle zouss". Then something else dawned on me: they're all google. All of them.

Does anybody ever use any other search engine anymore?

From: jmsatb5@aol.com (Jms at B5) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated Subject: from jms to b5 viewers Date: 02 Jul 2002 05:56:46 GMT

Okay, so here's the deal. There are now three episodes remaining of Jeremiah's
first season, "A Means to an End," by Sara Barnes, and the two part "Things
Left Unsaid" by yr obdnt srvnt.

The first is a quieter, more personal story but also sets up what's going to
happen in the two-parter, and the latter (directed by Mike Vejar, our good luck
charm on B5 who did our best episodes) is pretty much nonstop intensity and
action and character stuff end to end.

Though we're already doing well, it would be great to go out on a real bang
ratings wise, so I'm going to try an experiement. If every B5 viewer who sees
this can get the word to every other viewer who gets Showtime normally (I
wouldn't sign up just for this, that's fiscally imprudent) to watch the next
three episodes, that would be terrific. I think that would be sufficient to
kick us over the edge into a sure renewal for year two.

And they're fun episodes on their own rights, even if you haven't seen the show
before. Though "Means" is, again, a quieter episode, there's one scene in it
that will have just about any SF fan worth his/her salt rolling on the floor.
I can pretty much guarantee you it's something you haven't seen before.

As for "Things Left Unsaid," of all the things I've written and produced, this
may be the best thing I've ever been involved with, from a production
standpoint and much of the writing. We kind of got pulled back a bit after the
events of 9/11 put a damper on the television business in terms of the kinds of
stories one can tell, but we really got this puppy back up on the rails again
with the two parter, which is emblematic of what we'll do in a second year.

Anyway...just a call out from here to B5 fandom, to see if it's still there, so
we can get together one more time on a biggie.

Thanks.

jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)