Recorded fine yesterday. But now there's a message from Comcast permanently on screen that says something to the effect "If you can see this message, your TV isn't ready for the Comcast digital upgrade. I have the cable wire going in to the dvr, then the tv. The TV channels are fine. And the audio comes through on the dvr, just not video.

Ah. That's curious. Hmm. I wonder if that's something to do with HDTV improvements. I believe that unit is SD only. Not sure what your options are to continue to use that unit.

So my computer is acting normally. I finally did a reinstall, although there was a problem with the disc for Windows 7 64 bit so I installed the 32 bit version, I'm not sure how big of a difference is between the two.

Now I have some questions about tablets. I know they have been discussed recently. Mom is planning on getting a tablet, she says she wants an iPad because she's familiar with Apple products and trusts them and also she likes the size of the iPad.

She'd be using the tablet in addition to her lap top, to read books, and also for educational apps/games and books for my nephew.

Size is pretty important to her - she wants something that she'll feel is easy on her eyes.

With that information in mind is there another tablet anyone would recommend besides an iPad? I'm not trying to steer her away from an iPad, I'm just trying to compare a few and give her the best advice about what to buy.

In the Android world, your best bets for 10 inch tablets are probably the Nexus 10, the Samsung Galaxy Note, or whatever the most recent Asus Transformer is. The Nexus 10 is a finger-input only tablet, much like the iPad. The Note adds an active stylus which is apparently well loved by those who like such things. And the Transformer can add an extremely high quality keyboard dock that also brings extra battery life. So they all have different selling points.

In the Windows 8 world, the Surface is apparently pretty great. That market is still coming into its own. I'm holding out for one with an active stylus - probably a Lenovo. (And when I say I'm holding out, I means I probably still won't buy it but will lust for it).

But if she's primarily an Apple user, can afford the iPad, and especially if she has an iPhone or iPod Touch and intends it mostly for consumer use, I think she's probably right to go for an iPad or iPad Mini.

I use a Nexus 7 and love it. It's quite easy on the eyes. I think your mother could see one in person at Staples. The Nexus 10 screen is lovely as well, although I've only ever used pre-production units and haven't used one extensively.

If one wants to watch legally acquired TV shows or movies on a tablet than Apple is the way to go. Google Play has only a fraction of the content. The same might apply for apps, it would be good to make sure the apps one wants are available on the platform one buys.

For eBooks the situation is better. The Kindle app is good on both Android and iPad and you can switch back and forth easily and Amazon has almost anything anyone else has.

Windows Surface is getting some pretty bad reviews: [link] is particularly damning . I'd wait until at least the next generation before buying one.

In general, I'd think most people who are asking for their mothers should go iPad. iPad or Android will probably do most of the things she can think of to have her tablet do, but she's already familiar with iOS, and the things that sell a lot of people on Android she probably doesn't care about.

(Size isn't an issue--my Android tablet is a couple years old and it's a bit thinner than an iPad with a skosh larger screen, but you couldn't tell them apart by eyeballing the dimensions)

If one wants to watch legally acquired TV shows or movies on a tablet than Apple is the way to go.

Well, anything in the Kindle line would work quite nicely for this as well. Amazon's video selection is certainly comparable to iTunes. If you're in the Amazon ecosystem at all, they can be compelling. I didn't mention them because they're all smaller, and I got the impression larger tablets were the goal.

ETA: Actually, it looks like the Fire HD 8.9" tablet is out! [link] . Don't know if that has appeal, but I do quite like my OG Fire so if she's an Amazoner it could be cool. The educational stuff looks like it has some pretty neat potential for parents.

ETAA: The Kindle Fire HD 8.9" is apparently only $249 today using a promotional code FIREHD89 at checkout. That's a pretty sweet price.

I finally upgraded my computer from Leopard to Snow Leopard and it's like a whole new world. Wow. I apparently know a lot less about computers than I thought I did, but I somehow GAINED 20GB of hard drive space in the process. Is Snow Leopard that much smaller of an OS than Leopard was?

Is Snow Leopard that much smaller of an OS than Leopard was?

Snow Leopard is smaller than Leopard, because it longer included PowerPC binary support, and it no longer installs printer drivers that you don't need.

Thanks! That makes sense.

Damn! I'm not excited about the new front end for Skitch on my desktop, BUT there's now a Windows version. For reasons I can't explain Snagit 10 seems to be working on my office laptop, but Skitch does the basic things I want out of a capture app--a couple options for how to grab, BIG arrows, and outlined text.

Looking again, they seem to have removed some of the control over the text (at least on the Windows version), but added a "pixellate" tool, which is handy. Those missing text controls are going to limit its usefulness, though.