For a totally unrelated reason I spoke on the phone this morning with <name witheld>. The subject of the Champions League Final came up: Chelsea vs. Manchester United. He mentioned he would not be able to watch it but that he had a Slingbox set up at home connected to his Dish Network in Houston and that I could use it if I wanted to.

A small (60 MB) download later, I installed a client app and connected to his Slingbox. Presto: Streaming video of surprisingly good quality. Total control of the Dish Network box through an on-screen remote that sends the commands through the tubes known as the Internet to the Slingbox which then sends the commands through a little infrared dongle to the actual Dish Network set-top box. Phew!

This may or may not be the model <name witheld> has

After watching the fantastic match (uhm, and work of course), I came home. The Mexican League Semifinal was going to be only transmitted only on Telefutura, which the geniuses at Time Warner Cable Austin decided not carry in Austin (the single most important reason why I cancelled my cable: if I can’t watch soccer, what do I want it for?).

I decided to tap into <name witheld>’s Dish Network one more time: San Luis vs. Cruz Azul. Another small (60 MB) download later, this time for Mac, and I was in business. Again, the quality was fantastic.

Product highly recommended… and with the Euro so close, I might buy one and install it at someone’s house.

Below: Marco Antonio Regil, courtesy of <name witheld>’s Slingbox as seen on my Mac mini. Thanks a bunch, <name witheld>!

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