What is a patchstick?
A patchstick is a bootable USB flash drive loaded with code to install additional functionality like XBMC and Boxee.  These are just the beginning.  By loading OpenSSH you’re able to SCP into the ATV and manipulate the filesystem.

What I’ve learned.
There are multiple flavors to choose from.  A Google search returned 14,000+ hits.  Ok, looks like I’m not alone here.  ATVFlash is a commercial version which offers support and has good documentation.  Patchstick.ca is a combination free/paid version.  Both of these are around $50 bucks - not what I was looking for.  I was looking for free and full-featured.  The only one I could find that was worth my time was ATVUSB-Creator.  This little gem did exactly what it claimed, installed without issue the first time and now I’m watching all of the content the propeller heads at Apple tried to release before Steve Jobs said no.  What a jerk.

Sounds cool.  Where do I start?
Download the builder, run it, pull the current DMG from Apple and write the “massaged” code to the USB drive.  That’s it!  Literally took 15 minutes to install the builder and pull the DMG.  There is a great step-by-step tutorial on their website here for those of you running a real OS.  The Mac flavor is there, too.

TIP - if you want to SSH into the ATV make sure you select the SSH checkbox in addition to Launcher

Let’s blow this thing up!
Power off the ATV (just pull the cord).  Plug in the freshly cooked USB drive and reapply power.  The ATV boots into Linux and runs the install routines.  When it says it’s done - guess what?  It lied to you.  Pull the USB drive out and power cycle the ATV.

Once booted you will notice a new menu item titled “Launcher”.  Select Launcher->Settings and set ATV OS Update enabled to No.  Omitting this step will erase the patchstick modifications when ATV updates are installed.  Select Launcher->Downloads.  Choose Launcher first, then the other two (XBMC & Boxee) afterward.  Head on over to the Boxee website and create an account (free).  On ATV enter your Boxee account credentials just created and you’re off and running.

NOTE: I did these exact steps and my ATV works 100% as it did before plus the additions.  If you toast your ATV it’s not on me.  The developer had simple steps which I linked you to above.  Failure to follow those is not my fault.  The purpose of this write-up was to document just how simple it is to enrich the ATV experience.

Although we don’t really celebrate Easter, we did go on an Easter egg hunt.  I placed eggs all over the backyard, gave her a basket and said “go find the eggs”.  She took her basket and started searching.  Her interest in finding the eggs was great but then, like always, she got easily distracted.  I can’t blame her though because I found a ladybug in the grass and had to show her (I mean her room is all about ladybugs).  I tried to tell her to be careful but she wanted to pinch it, so instead I put the ladybug on her hand and she let it crawl around.  It was really cool to see… until it fell back into the grass.

Oh but wait, we can’t forget the bunny ears…Grandma Sherry bought these for her and she absolutely loves wearing them.  I put them on her this morning and started taking pictures.   They were a little big so the ears fell off and then she was over it (after all she’s only 15 months).

Other than that, Zoe says hi and she hopes to see you all soon.

Happy Easter!!!!

Love,

Jason, Jenny & Zoe

We went to the mall tonight and had pictures taken for the first time with Zoe.  It was all fun and games while we waited in line, but once she was propped up on his jolly fat lap the waterworks began.  As much as we tried she never warmed up to him.  Jingling bells, fuzzy stuffed animals and funny faces didn’t work.

Oh well, maybe next year!

Jenny

It all started on a warm summer night.  The Bar-B-Que was lit, warming for a delicious creation.  The sun was setting.  Everything was right for a perfect evening.  And then it happened… Zoe crawled.  Jason was on the floor playing with her when she popped up and made a frantic lunge forward.  She’d done this before, but when she began to move her arms and legs in sync things got interesting.  He backed up quickly to give her room to move.  As she put together 3 or 4 “steps” we looked at each other and asked “Did you see that?” which was quickly followed by “Grab the camera!”.  A perfect evening just got better.

From there it’s been great.  She’s really figured out how to scoot around quite well.

Here’s a bit of her figuring it out.

Not too much to say about this step except we were very surprised.  Surprised at how it was like she knew exactly what a spoon was for.  She even opened her mouth when she was supposed to.  We just looked at each other in shock!  See for yourself!

Us either.  That’s why the other evening as we were leaving Costco and saw this guy backing out with the back hatch still up on his SUV we quietly waited for the disaster.  He had a case of beer and other groceries in the back, primed for roadway carnage.  You see, when we worked in grocery stores we had to retrieve shopping carts from lazy folks not unlike yourself, choosing to ditch them in a planter instead of the cart corral.  Not forgetting about those sweaty days fetching carts from the far reaches of the parking lots we watched this jerk abandon his cart in the middle of the lot.  In our mind this guy deserved what he had coming, and we hoped it was a crushed case of beer bottles and food scattered across the roadway.  But would it happen?

As we backed out he waited.  Since we were in front and didn’t want to miss the action we tried to predict his route home.  As we neared the road out he finally realized his issue and pulled over.  Arrgg!  What a bummer.

For him it turned out well.  His groceries would all make it home and the beer would still have its moment.  For us; however, even though bolts of lightning didn’t strike down on us we’re pretty confident the Good Sam Club won’t be accepting our application.  People like us really seem to have their own agenda, regardless of the nature of such agenda.  Apparently our agenda has a vindictive element.

As it turns out a lot could, and did go wrong. Apparently the fact that the waters feeding the Sea are laden with pesticide and fertilizer was ignored. Left unchecked it would ultimately prove disasterous. Add to that the water authority changing the amount of cleaner water deposited into the Sea. With no way for water to get except for evaporation, what went in, stayed in.

But all the while this was going on people sold their homes in the city for the promise of paradise in the desert. Dilapidated signs can still be found on the east and west shores advertising “Buy today, invest in your future”. Well, they got it half right! Now the land is so devalued the people that still live there are stuck.

I was more interested in the ruins and abandoned structures than anything. So off we went on a Saturday journey that would take us around the Salton Sea in one day. Beginning on the west shores at the Salton City we were amazed at how many dwellings still had occupants. Plenty of vacant lots, some scraped down to the earth, others with structures barely hanging on. Yet peppered in between these were some nice homes which looked like they were recently built. Maybe paradise isn’t lost for everybody. A few markets, Sheriff office and Chamber of Commerce buildings still seemed to be active. From the Salton City we headed north up the 86 to the North Shore, which was totally ghetto. Just around the northern tip of the Sea we saw a state park. WTF? Who would want to camp here? Roll down a window (okay, push the little button) and you’ll get a face full of foul smelling dead “matter”. Neat, let’s camp here. The shoreline was riddled with dead fish bones and barnacles. The little waves that would splash against the shore made a strangle gravel rattling sound. The water had a rust colored hue which looks a lot like an unflushed public toilet. Swimming anybody? As we went south on the 111 we stopped at the little community of Bombay Beach. 

At first it didn’t seem like much, but just over a berm was a chunk of time half-buried under salty mud. This little slice of yester-years heaven was the jackpot. Home to the now infamous most photographed trailer in the world, Bombay Beach proved to be land that time forgot. Houses burned out, others just abandoned. Windows busted out with jagged plates of glass clinging to the frames. Tires. Oh the tires. By far the most popular garbage at the Salton Sea. Trailers dissolving into the crunchy earth covered in rust. Wooden structures splintering in the arid desert environment. A shopping card half buried in mud. There isn’t much to smile about here for sure.