Facebook Vanity URL
My apologies to the other fifteen Chad Hobson’s in the Facebook world, but you snooze, you lose. http://www.facebook.com/chadhobson. I rule.
Editing Windows 2008/Vista Hosts.ini File
Just a quick note about editing the host file in Windows Server 2008. If you try to edit it through Notepad, when you save it you’ll get a “location not found” error. Trick is to right-click and open Notepad “As Administrator” and then open Hosts.ini. You’re welcome. 
Dr. Pete's Wedding Details
The man single-handedly responsible for me “growing up” and ending up in software development has finally leaked his wedding details. He even takes the opportunity to blame me for him not becoming an orthodontist. Whatever. “Cosmetic dentist” sounds way cooler anyway, Pete. See you in Anguilla!
HD on Linksys DMA2200!
Now that the prices on the DMA series Linksys extenders have fallen to less than $150, I’ve set out down a path whereby I’ll have a single Vista MCE server in my rack upstairs and up to 5 extenders throughout the house, one per tv/display. So far all has gone well with a few minor annoyances like having to change DivX to xViD (google “FourCC changer”) and one really annoying thing… lack of HD from any source other than an HD tuner.
I, like most, have several MKV files that are 720p or higher. The Linksys extender does not recognize MKV files even though my MCE does. The solution was actually quite simple, though it isn’t fast by any means.
1. Download and run mkv2vob (free).
2. Select the Configuration tab.
3. Select Video Transcoding “Always”
4. Select Output FIle Extension ”mpg”
5. Select Transcoding Codec “MPEG-2 (Fast)”
6. Tick the box for “Always Transcode DTS”
7. Click the “Add File” tab
8. Add your MKV file and select an output directory.
9. Click Add File and wait.
Since you’re transcoding to MPEG2 (the only codec I’ve foudn that will handle HD and not go all choppy) this means you’ll have to wait a bit. Also, the Extender will not playback audio if its DTS, so you have to force that to transcode as well to AC3.
After a short wait (varies depending on your processing power), you will be left with an MPG roughly the same size as your original MKV file that will play stutter-free over your network (mine is wired, wireless networks suck).