Audio-Visual Entertainment
After having a DVD drive installed in cube (a tiny machine about the size of a shoebox) for a while, I actually used it to watch a movie. Jacinta received a copy of Spirited Away for her birthday, and I was surprised at how easy it was to get everything running under Linux.

I spent about 15 minutes upgrading the drive's firmware, apt-get installed Ogle, dropped in the disk, and it played. Woo-hoo!

Having a open-source operting system with an open-source DVD player work "out of the box" was deeply satisfying. The only thing that didn't work was the TV output, but our 17" LCDs give a pretty nice picture, and are easily relocated to the lounge-room.

As it so happens, I remember getting the TV output working for a course I ran the other year where my only "projector" was a TV. I'd just forgotten I needed to run the appropriate utility. Oops.

In any case, I'm chuffed that our little shoebox performed its first test as an A/V machine admirably. Now if I can only replace the fan in the power-supply that sounds like a failing lawn-mower, we might use it more often for home entertainment.