Some time back, Partner’s nephew appeared on Mecum Car Auctions (you should watch it sometime, it’s fascinating), driving a couple of the cars being auctioned. We wanted to share the video experience with Partner’s sister, because there were a few good shots of her son in the car.
Probably, with the right connections, we could have plugged into the TV or the DVR and extracted the images. But neither of us is very good at that, and I have struggled for a long time to figure out how to do it. We have a conventional DVD player / VCR wired into the system, but I think I connected the units in the wrong sequence; according to the DVR manual, I should be able to record programming onto a videotape, but I can’t. And I’m sure somewhere in the wide world there’s a cord that I could plug into the TV or the DVR to connect it with the laptop, but after buying at least three different cords (and facing blank stares from Best Buy staff members when I labor to explain what I want), I have given up.
So this is what we did:
• We recorded the show on the DVR.
• I took my little Polaroid digital camera (which takes videos too) and made a mini-movie of the relevant clip (Partner was behind the remote control on the DVR; it was a two-man operation).
• I uploaded the clip to Facebook. It wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely Partner’s nephew, and if I do say so myself, it wasn’t bad.
• I called Partner’s sister on my cellphone and told her to log into Facebook. She assured me that she was no longer on Facebook, because she hadn’t logged in for so long. I assured her that she was wrong. I talked her through it, step by step.
• And finally I heard her shriek: “OH MY GOD! MY BABY! MY BABY BOY!”
It was worth it.
But I desperately need to figure out a better way to do this.
I am told that the DVR has something like a computer’s hard drive at its heart. If so: why can’t I dive in there and copy out a file? It would be so much easier.
And can someone please go beat the bejeezus out of those stupid boys at Best Buy for me?
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