Cliff Watson and I both shared so much in common, but mostly our love and obsession for so many years, most of which was visibile here at AVS Forum. Only in this wired world can you have a best friend that you never meet in person, and yet speak every day, most times several times a day about everything, but mostly about HTPCs and the evolution of everything about video. He was funny, kind, crotchety, stubborn, brilliant, and always interesting.

Cliff passed away last night. I won't hear that voice anymore, there's a big hole in my heart that left with him.

I write this because I want everyone to know that this was his absolute favorite thing, to post at AVS and talk tech with all of you. I hope much of what he said will be preserved here forever, every nuance, argument, enlightenment, the essence of Cliff. I thank you all for him for all the great memories.

I am devestated. He helped me so much over the years and was a real "mensch" in all the right ways.

Joel

Good lord... I'm stunned. Cliff was a serious advocate for us here, and a great resource. I never knew him beyond the words he typed, but certainly this was a better place for him.

This is incredibly sad and shocking news. There is going to be a huge void in this forum that nobody can replace.

I for one will miss his presence here. He was an immense help to those involved with HTPC's.

My goodness :(

I feel like I grew up with Cliff. We all grew up with Cliff.

He will be missed like a member of the family. I wish I had been able to meet him in person but I'll always remember him.

Tears.......

I will certainly miss Cliff; his knowledge, his humor and his ability to deal with a bunch of whiney consumers (yes, sometimes myself) that never had to pay him a penny for his help.

God's speed Cliff.
And, to his family, my condolences.

Oh my God! I had no idea about this!

Cliff has been my friend for all the years that I have been here. I am so shocked to hear about this. This is not just a great loss for this forum, but a very personal loss as well. I've talked tech, chatted, laughed, exchanged jokes, vented frustrations, learned and listened to this great individual more times than I can count. He was someone I will always remember for the rest of my life.

My friend, I salute you. You were one of the truly great ones.

What a horrible shock!

My thoughts go to his family. It's hard to image but I'm sure he'll be missed more by his family that us here.

My fond memory of him will live on in my head until the day I die.

Mark

Cliff...Thank you for being such a part of AVS Forum over the years. You were one of the best we have had and will be greatly missed.

My thoughts and prayers to Cliffs family and friends.

Regretfully,

What a great loss for us in cyberspace that enjoyed his curt counsel and straight on advice. He will be truly missed.

Condolences to his family and friends

So unexpected..

Cliff was here before I ever arrived and still here even after I was not so active.. His knowledge was incredible and his contribution huge..

My thoughts go out to his family, I am sure a man like that will be missed by many much closer to him than us also.

We'll miss you Cliff.

God Bless.

Yup, Cliff was the best and helped so many people. When talking to him on the phone he would get so excited over what ever it was he was working on. He truly loved his work and helping people. He was one of the good ones. We will miss him.

This is very sad indeed. Thank you Kei for letting us know.

Sigh.

When I saw the title of the thread I had a sinking feeling what news it would bring. Cliff's unique voice will be missed. Thank you for letting us know so those of us who only knew him from his posts here have a chance to bid farewell.

I am so bummed, had to post. Hundreds of times, Cliff's posts, some curt after answering the same question a dozen times over, helped me to expand my knowledge in this area and resolve problems. Said a prayer for my 27 yr old niece last week and will say one for Cliff.

Very sad news indeed!

Without Cliff, the HTPC adventure wouldn't have been the same and I would have missed a big part of the experience without his thoughts, observations and advice.

Cliff's legacy will fortunately be with us for a long time, as many of his ideas and hard work are captured in this forum.

Goodbye to a very dear friend!

Eiffel

Cliff's passing leaves a void that will never be filled here.

His enthusiam and contributions to our hobby were irreplacable.

Cliff was like that cool uncle you'd wish you'd had. And we did.

Thanks, Cliff.

Words can't descibe what a loss it is to lose Cliff. He was sooooooo helpful and the ultimate authority on so many subjects. Bye Cliff. Thank you Kei for sharing.

Paul

I, too, had that sinking feeling when I saw the sticky and it's title this morning... shocked seems like such a weak word.... there was no clue in his recent posts that anything but continueing help and humor (ref the rumor thread) were on the horizon.... I 've had MyHD 100 for several years and a 130 since it first became available, but only recently (as in last 5 days) began to use it in earnest.... I looked forward to many a lively discussion with Cliff abou this.... now, his silence will always be a reminder.... you'll be missed my friend.... :(

Jim

I haven't posted much in the past but have gathered such a wealth of information from all of you here. This is the last thing I would have expected to find when browsing AVS this morning.

Cliff, you have touched us all here... You will be missed more then you can imagine. We all hope to meet up with you again someday.

Casey

Sometime the greatest tribute you can give to a person that will live on long after they have left us is to remember there wisdom reflect on there knowledge and take it with you on your daily walk. What puzzles me is for someone I never met I am so very sad to say he will be missed is an understatement. Kei I know how close you and Cliff we're I'm praying for his family and you.

Keith. :-(

We'll miss you Cliff, my condolences to his family.

This is very, very sad news!
We'll all miss you Cliff!!

_____
Axel

I don't know what to say. Cliff and I had many long phone conversations over the years and his sense of humor and knowledge will always be with me. I spoke with him just a couple of weeks ago and knew he was not well, but this news is truly shocking.

He was a friend, an advocate, a supply of terrible jokes and will be sorely missed.

What a shock. Andrew had told me Cliff was sick but I had no idea. He will be missed by all here. My heart goes out to family and friends.

Terry

Sad and sobering news indeed.

A great loss to us all...

I never said it enough, but one last time- Thank you Cliff. You were a rare breed.

Dave

I'm stunned. I will deeply miss reading his posts.

Goodbye Cliff. My prayers are with your family.

Whenever your car broke down on this information superhighway Cliff was the type of guy who would stop and lend you a hand. His helpful advice was THE reason I started following this forum. And you never needed to ask him for help because if there was ever a tough question that only he could answer he always seemed to find it and answer it. Cliff Watson made this forum a better place, and he will be dearly missed.

Goodbye, Cliff. The subject line of your next-to-last email to me said "down but not out". I actually believed you, you sonofagun.

I also am very shocked and saddened by this news. He was a great guy and for years was always there to just talk the hobby or unselfishly lend his wealth of knowledge from the HTPC, audio and video. He will truly be missed.

Goodbye Cliff, thank you for all of the help.

Like so many others I am shocked and saddened. For us more than Cliff. For Cliff, who did what he loved right to the end I could imagine worse. For myself: not to have the fun and enlightenment I would so often receive from his posts I will miss that knowledgeable, crotchety, funny man. I hope the rest of his trip goes well.

Andy

Deepest regrets. My regards go out to his family. I hope they are handling it well. I am very sorry for his family, friends and everyone in these forums as he will be greatly missed.

What a shock. I always enjoyed the humor in Cliff's posts and he was a great help to many. Very sad to hear this. He will be missed. Thanks for being here Cliff!

Like everyone else, I'm shocked and saddened to hear this news. I too was concerned that the news wasn't good when I saw the thread title. Cliff was a huge asset to this community and will be sorely missed.

Without Cliff, the HD tuner card market wouldn't have progessed to where it is today - which is a pretty significant jump from where it was 3 years ago. He helped push a number of the manufacturers to deliver a better product, including drivers and software. His work with MIT, the manufacturer of the MyHD cards, actually inspired me to go all out to do what I could to enhance the accessDTV software - without his influence, this probably would not have happened. He even made some contributions to my efforts with the accessDTV software sharing some helpful information.

The same can be said for a number of other pieces of the HTPC universe.

I hope he didn't suffer and my condolences go out to his friends and family.

I remember how Cliff helped me troubleshoot some of the early software with my MDP-100. I was not picking up one of the local ATSC stations properly, and he was able to get a software fix from MIT within 24hrs.

His passing is certainly a loss. My condolences to his family and the "Digital Connection family."

Terrible news. I can only hope his family is able to find peace.

Cliff is the main reason why I watch HD today. Without him and his posts on the MyHD cards I never would have taken the plunge. I never would have put up an antenna against my wife's first wishes. I never would have spent the time and money in building an HTPC based around the MyHD card. And I never would have spent countless, and precious, hours with my family enjoying the fruits of the labor.

A testament to his love for this forum is how he continued to post here regularly even though he was sick (something I, and probably many others, had no idea about). What can you say about a man that, even in his final days, is offering all the help he can to people he doesn't know.

God bless you Cliff. We will most definitely miss you. :(

If there was ever an ideal forum contributor, it was Cliff. My prayers go out to his family. God bless you Cliff.

This is very sad news, indeed. Cliff will be missed.

Cliff Watson was an integral part of this forum. He was a key person that helped the HTPC movement during its infancy. His presence will be sadly missed. I, like most, have been helped by his efforts on more than one occasion. I was shocked to learn that he had health problems and now can no longer contribute to what we all share.

I would like to give something back for his tireless efforts. Does anyone know what illness eventually took his life? I would like to make a donation in his honor to an organization that is fighting this illness. I would recommend others do the same.

Cliff's passing was a loss to all of us. It tends to put in perspective all of our declarations, rants and raves. This is just a hobby. Everyone, including myself, should keep this and mind and lighten up. We will all miss him.

Cliff was in the process of being diagnosed with cancer. While he mentioned that it was the result of his one time chain smoking habit which he quit a few years back, everyone who knew him and his work in the nuclear industry believes that his vocation and exposure that cause of his illness. He downplayed his work in the past, mostly because he had to due to the classified nature of the position, but the more I find the more I am amazed by the man that I called friend, a person that shaped my life and changed it forever.

Kei -

I had no idea. Cliff will be greatly missed.

- Tom

Man, that's terrible. I hope his last moments weren't filled with pain, as I've seen with other victims of cancer. He was an awesome forum member, and a great person all around. He'll be missed.

Maybe if I post something on the SageTV forum about Cliff's strange sense of humor, this will just turn out to be another of Cliff's tricks. If only . . . .

I'd totally missed the sticky on this and had just been wondering where Cliff was when I saw the post in the MyHD thread. This is very upsetting news. Cliff will be missed not only for his knowledge, but also just for being Cliff--for as Kei put it: "He was funny, kind, crotchety, stubborn, brilliant, and always interesting."

Goodbye, Cliff. I remember buying the newest HDTV tuner cards years ago and exchanging PMs with Cliff - at 2am his time. He even called me late at night to help with problems. Those were fun times. Cliff was the Grand Master of HDTV and HTPCs. He will be greatly missed and will not be forgotten. I hope that he is watching holographic HDTV right now and smiling.

What can you say that is enough, Cliff will be missed.

I write this because I want everyone to know that this was his absolute favorite thing, to post at AVS and talk tech with all of you.

My thoughts and prayers to Cliffs family and friends.

I am glad hear that he received as much from this forum as he contributed.
I have enjoyed my exchanges with him for a number of years now.

Regretfully,


Scott Lieberman :(

A great loss. Condolences to his family and friends.

Ken C

I only knew Cliff from reading his comments here in the Forum, which always contained a great knowledge. My condolences to his family and friends.

My condolences to all that know Cliff.

He readily shared his knowledge, in the way that Cliff did best, and it will be sorely missed.

Kei, is there a place we can send condolences to his family or make donations on his behalf?

I'm still stunned by the news. I knew Cliff had been ill, but when I spoke with him he was home awaiting more tests.

As to his impact on our hobby, he's been sensei, rabbi and guru to anyone who ever used a computer for large screen entertainment. Without Cliff, the HTPC world would be impoverished beyond comprehension and I'd still be trying to figure out how to make a first gen. DVD player work into a Marquee projector.

Beyond his willingness to share his vast knowledge with anyone who asked, Cliff's delight at discovery was contagious. I'm pleased that I was able to send him the first SNAP enabled P-965 in the country. I could see his smile from here when he told me that the music was in the room completely and incomprehensibly separate from the speakers.

We will not soon have his equal on this forum.

I miss him already.

Jeff

Kei, is there a place we can send condolences to his family or make donations on his behalf?

You could donate a dual core HTPC running a 64 bit version of Windows to the garbage can (or at least convert it to another use). Cliff would appreciate that sort of thing. ;)

Thank you for all your insight and dedication to our common love of home theater and HTPC integration. You won't be forgotten...

I'm so sorry to hear this, he was aways there for you.

This is truly sad news. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

I always look forward to Cliff's posts, and because of him I own multiple MyHD and Fusion3 cards. He has forgotten more about the technology behind TV than I will ever know.

The landscape of the HTPC forum has changed. Cliff, you will be missed...

This is shocking and sad news. The HTPC world will truly never be the same again without Cliff's presence. Since pre-release of the HiPix and up to the latest MyHD updates, I always benefited from his attention and work.

Some people find the Internet mercurial and transient. But with people like Cliff behind it, the AVS corner of the web is rock solid, with a wry, friendly voice. I'll try to remember him by being more patient, inquisitive, and responsive to newbie questions-- which is what I had for Cliff five years ago when I first got into this crazy hobby.

OMG, I have been away from here for awhile and just read this posting. This is a very sad loss for both Cliff's family and the HTPC community. The amount of knowledge he held was immeasurable and cannot be replaced and like stated before gladly handed it out for free. A great loss.

R.I.P. and GOD bless you always.


peace

My deepest condolences to Cliff's family and friends.

He will truly be missed by all.

Bryan

He helped me so much when i first came to the site and started my first HT room... he will be missed :(

He helped others when he didn't have to. I always found it rather amusing how his level of knowledge and commitment drew people to assume he was an employee of the products he loved to tinker with. I am sure his generosity extended beyond this forum, as such character traits often do. My deepest condolences to those he left behind. It is a poorer world with his passing.

He helped so many of us and now we learn that he continued to do so while facing this horrible thing that took him.

He certainly will be missed.

Farewell Cliff.

So long, Cliff. Enjoy the sunsets from your new angle in the sky. :)

If richness can be measured by the quantity of one's friends, Cliff was a rich man indeed. Rest in peace friend.

Shock and sadness are all I feel about this. Cliff was a wealth of information, and will be in the future thanks to this forum (and others).

He will sorely be missed.

Best wishes to his family and to all of his friends


Rich

Wow, what a huge shock.

I saw the title and couldn't believe it. I bought the components for my first HTPC from DC and read 'Cliff Notes' as well as his good advice and help on this board for years after. It's not until something like this happens that you realise how much people you've never met can have an effect on you, and leave such an impression.

Such a sad loss....

Gary.

Cliff and I had some fun exchanges here on the board over the years. It had gotten to the point that I would read anything with his name attached to it, even if the thread topic didn't interest me in the slightest as there was always something worthwhile in his words.

I haven't been a regular for many months now, and checking in today and seeing this news, I sorely regret it.

God speed, good buddy.

Kensai

My condolences to Cliff's family and close friends. This is truly sad news for the AVS collective.

He was one of the true bright lights on the forums. I'd exchanged a few posts and a few e-mails with him, and he was always cheerful, helpful, and probably forgot more than most of us will ever know. I will miss him.

This is truly sad news. My prayers gos to his family and friends.

I always log-in to look forward to Cliff's posts,

thank you Cliff

carry his work forward... he is not gone, he lives in the hearts and actions of those he touched.
Giving of himself, like the rose breathes its fragrence into space, is the mark of a tall soul.

AS such, he would prefer not to be the cause of sadness, but would rather his friends embrace his memory with laughter, and sharing with each other what he shared with us...
a life well lived.
What if he had never come at all?

ahh.. what I would not give right now to ready ANYTHING for the 57th time .. sigh

Never having met him in person, but judging him from the PM's he sent me and postings he left behind, he was a giving, funny, generious, knowledageable soul.

There are too few of those with those qualities around. He will be missed.

What a thing to read after being away for a while.

Cliff worked so hard to make everybody else's life easier and more fun, and succeeded in so many ways.

He will be sorely missed.

Cliff was one cool cat. The things that you keep reading just reverberate that everyone felt the same way. Cliff would go out of his way to help an AVS neighbor. I know that where he is now, he's got the latest and greatest gizmoes - and everything that doesn't work is getting tested and fixed by Cliff! I'm tilting a tall one bottoms up in your honor tonight Cliff! You'll be missed. God bless you, my condolenses to your family who'll find it hard to get on without you. I hope we can all integrate some of the finer points of your personality into our lives - sharing, helping, enduring.

As I read through this thread (home theater pc`s) I would always stop, to read what cliff had to say. I do not know how old he was , but I hope he had a full life. Mabe this blog could be sent as part of a card to his family. Mabe a complation of his postings (his wisdom) could be perminitly linked to benifit the newcomers who will never know him.

Oh my God !!!

Sad news - my prayers to his family.

We will all miss him.

I am so sorry. Cliff's posts were great. Thank you Cliff.

cliff was a major reason that i bought the mdp-120 for my first htpc and that i added a fusion to it later on, knowing that he had done it and that it would work. so sad. he will be sorely missed.

does ne1 have contact with his family? if so, please refer them to this thread so that they know how many lives he touched, how respected and loved he was, and what an impact he had on the forum and its members.

i'll be thinking about cliff tonight when i watch "lost" on my myhd card.

my condolences to his family and friends.

My condolences to his family and friends as well. Cliff was "the" source for help on the MyHD cards. Thanks. He will be greatly missed.

As I read through this thread (home theater pc`s) I would always stop, to read what cliff had to say. I do not know how old he was , but I hope he had a full life. Mabe this blog could be sent as part of a card to his family. Mabe a complation of his postings (his wisdom) could be perminitly linked to benifit the newcomers who will never know him.

What a grand idea!

I'm shocked of his sudden passing. We were squabling in another thread(supposedly a fun bs thread) a couple of weeks ago and I had no idea(hint) of his illness. I'm gonna deeply miss his personality and knowledge on this forum. I may have not been on his 'A" list as being a stranger and all, but he was here to help me technically on these tv cards when I needed some questions answered.

My deepest sympathy and condolences to his family and friends

Cliff, you'll be missed greatly. Im very sad of your departure but comfort w/ the thought of having learned a great deal about HTPC from the great man.

Wow, this is not what you expect when checking in at avsforum... He will indeed be missed.

Anyone who has spent time in the HTPC forum knows Cliff's tremendous knowledge and prolific contributions.

Thanks for sharing, Cliff.

Good bye Cliff, I'll miss you.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't he somehow involved with the original HTPC card the 3DFusion? I still have two of those cards lying about somewhere but remember him fondly from his posts known as "Cliff Notes." I know he's done a lot since then, I too continued to learn from his posts. He'll be missed.

I am saddened to hear this news. I communicated with him several times over issues with the MIT cards and HDTV in general. His knowledge and helpfulness was amazing and will be missed.

Steve

I'm shocked of his sudden passing. We were squabling in another thread(supposedly a fun bs thread) a couple of weeks ago and I had no idea(hint) of his illness. I'm gonna deeply miss his personality and knowledge on this forum. I may have not been on his 'A" list as being a stranger and all, but he was here to help me technically on these tv cards when I needed some questions answered.

I remember Cliff got upset with me in the beginning over mouse issues. Oh, and my suggestions for changing the language used in the program for the various settings. And I mentioned dual core and 64 bit Windows because those were other topics he didn't like when other people brought them up too much. But that just made Cliff---well Cliff. I'll really miss that. I always had the feeling we wasn't really very upset--I hope that was the case.

BTW, this is my favorite post of Cliff's. I tried poking a little fun at him just to see how he'd react.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5194352&&#post5194352

hahahahahahaha, nice one Karyk, I see a smile on his face in his response

The more I think about him, the more he's missed.

Been away a few days...really sad to hear about Cliff...his posts were always the first ones I looked for in the HTPC section. Cliff was helpful, knowledgeable, and insightful...a real representative of the best of AVS forum.

Thank you Cliff, I will miss you.

I just logged on to the forum for the first time in a while to see this. It is extremely hard to write anything at all that would do justice to his memory. Cliff, Kei and I go way back to the earliest days of the HTPC craze. I had relied on him in many a pinch and he had always come through. It is because of Cliff that our displays at the major trade shows looked as they did. He would always return my calls and somehow knew the answer to my questions before I even finished expressing them. This is a sad time for us, but an even sadder one for his family. Kei, I hope that if you know anyone from Cliff's family, you will let them know exactly how many faceless, nameless of us he was important to. Nothing can remove the grief of losing a loved one, but knowing that there are many sharing in that grief, somehow reduces it a bit.

God Speed Cliff

My condolences to Cliff's family and friends.

He has helped me so many times with my HTPC even though I probably annoyed him with my questions. He was a rare find. A generous and passionate man when it came to this hobby of ours.

You will be missed.

Doug

I am very sorry to hear of Cliff's death.

When no one else could answer questions about MyHD...I knew Cliff would. He even gave me his phone number so he could walk me through some problems I was having with the unit that the company tech support didn't know how to fix.

Cliff was a good man and will be missed!

This thread is such a great tribute to such a great friend. Though its been a couple of years since we last talked you will be greatly missed! My prayers are with your family and friends.

I just found out about this on another thread. I'm terribly shocked to hear this news.

As others have said, Cliff was a good man with his heart in the right place. He gave freely of his time and expertise to help others. This forum and the hobby in general will be a lesser place without him.

God's speed Cliff. You will be missed.

Andy.

I will add my voice to the chorus. Cliff's contributions to the world of HTPC are immeasurable and he will be greatly missed. My condolences to his friends and family. The world is diminished by his loss, but his leagacy lives on in the lives he touched.

Cliff was a great guy always helping. He spent more time than he should have answering the same questions over and over. He will be missed.

Jay

Thank you Cliff for all your contributions to the HTPC forum. We have gained alot of knowledge through learning and sharing of AV issues.

Our condolences to his family and loved ones.

Gideon

Cliff had over 14000 posts on AVS. His absence will be felt by all. What a shame.

Joe M.

I just saw this thread and am very shocked and extremely saddened. For those who might not be completely familiar with the depth of Cliff's contribution to this forum, take a walk down memory lane as the pioneers discuss how it all began...

http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31038&highlight=pioneers

Cliff, I tip a teary heart to a someone who made a difference.

Shocking news....Cliff will be sorely missed. RIP my friend.

Hadn't checked in with this section in a week and was disturbed to see the title of Kei's post.

It was because of the articles by Cliff in particular, that I embarked several years ago to build my first HTPC. It was crude and never worked very well. With my second HTPC, I purchased one from Digital Connections. I ran into some problems, but by referencing his articles and some friendly and helpful emails from Cliff (and Kei too) I was able to get everything working.

That's 5+ years and 4 HPTC's ago. It is not an exaggeration to say that with his well written, easy to understand articles, along with his posts here, Cliff made it possible for the computer illiterates like me to get started in this crazy hobby.

I've said, and I've posted: People like Cliff who participate in this forum and elsewhere, make it possible for people like me to engage in this hobby. I am eternally thankful to Cliff, and by proxy, all those in this forum who help others.

While my knowledge is limited, I have always felt it my obligation to help the "unwashed" like me who struggle to understand the things I struggled with. Cliff Watson is the best example of the person who inspired such thinking in me. I think that makes Cliff a role model for all of us to follow.

Thank you Cliff!

Wow I have not gone to the forum in a week and I am just a loss of words. Cliff has been a father to us all in the HTPC world. He helped me buy my first LCD RPTV in 1999. Since then I read almost all his post. When Cliff posted people listened.

You will be very missed Cliff but thank you for everything.

Perry

Never conversed with or emailed him but saw him everywhere helping guys around.

A terrible loss to his immediate family and this great extended family.

Wow.....miss a few days and the world CAN stop for a minute. I have to admit I was totally shocked and saddened in that instant that I read Kei's post. This for a man that I never met, never e-mailed, and had just a few direct interactions through this site. While I may not have had a reason to speak with him personally, I certainly read and learned from his posts here.

If Cliff said it, you knew you could take it to the bank.

I will miss him......which really surprises me considering I didn't know him at all. I guess that says something about how much he affected us all. There will be a void here on AVS for a long time to come. Rest in Peace my friend.

What a shock.

RIP . . .

A great loss to all of us here.

Walt

I just saw this thread and am very shocked and extremely saddened. For those who might not be completely familiar with the depth of Cliff's contribution to this forum, take a walk down memory lane as the pioneers discuss how it all began...

http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31038&highlight=pioneers

Cliff, I tip a teary heart to a someone who made a difference.

Thanks so much for posting this thread. I remember reading this as a true "newbie" to the HTPC concept and having no frame of reference. Now, having had dialogs with Cliff, Mark Rejhon, Wayne, and many others from that thread it really adds that much more relevance, years later.

It makes the loss of Cliff that much harder to deal with, but I do take solace that his legacy does continue, the he is not gone, and that his wisdom, charm, sense of humor, and general goodwill will live on with every thread that he contributed to.

Personally, IMHO, Cliff's first contribution to THAT thread should be a sticky, along with Wayne's post (xcel). Maybe less of a sticky, and more of a "mission statement" of sorts of the HTPC forum.....


Rich

Oh no... been gone for a while and can't believe what I'm reading!! My thoughts and prayers go out to Cliff's family.

I am shocked and saddened. Even though I never personally met Cliff, having read seemingly thousands of his posts over the last four years, I felt as though he was a friend. He will be missed. I feel like it’s an end of an era. Lets keep his spirit alive.

Unbelievable!

This news saddens me dearly, almost to tears.

I got to know Cliff quite well over the past years from many hours of chatting with him over the telpehone and he really loved life and the excitement that each new day brought.

A great Southern 'boy' who was a tribute to how to live one's life. He meant what he said,let his conscience guide his actions and was a kind soul.

Cliff cared deeply about other people even though he had his own 'crosses to bear' which he never complained about.
I will never forget the time when I was in a wheel chair for 6 months in 2003 , how Cliff would do things to keep my spirits up. My favorite was when he called me up to ask how many pretty nurses I had run over just to get their phone number.

There have been many great comments in here about how Cliff touched peoples lives in so many positive ways and those do give me one consolation in this very sad time: His deeds and actions tell us of a person who is at peace in heaven.

Joe

My condolences to Cliff's family and friends. As much as we here will miss him, our loss is nothing compared to theirs.

Fran

I'm shocked and saddened by this news. Cliff was one of the great early HTPC proponents that we all owe a debt of gratitude too. This is a loss not just for his family and those who worked with him such as Kei, but it is a loss for all of us. :(

All my respect,

The older I get, the harder it is to put words out for poeple who die. When they've been someone that has affected my life, often in any large or small way, it leaves me speechless.

A very sad day indeed.... May he rest in piece and my condolences to his family. A final THANKS for all that he has done, he will be missed.....

I don't visit the forum as much as I used to but couldn't believe my eyes reading Kei's post. Cliff you will be missed.

My deepest condolences to his family. I have little else to add to this sad post as a lot has been said already.

Thanks Cliff for all the help when buying my first HTPC back in1999
and all the assistance getting the drivers to work with the M-Audio card.
And thank you as well Kei.
I still have that HTPC today (with some changed components).

The world needs more such persons, not less.

My interaction with Cliff was in pre-production HiPix card. His knowledge was incomparable and his humanity will be sorely missed. Thank you Cliff.

I was at DC's web site this evening checking something on Cliff's Notes, and saw the changed heading, which led me here, and ultimately to this thread.

My feelings are remarkably similar to what everyone has expressed - shock, disbelief and a sense of great loss.

The start of what would become my many HTPCs was in 2001, with a rack mount PC case, MAudio sound card and various other supplies from DC and reading Cliff's and others' postings to the forum. What seemed very complex back then was simplified by Cliff and others, to the extent that I gave it a try, and started a hobby which provided joy to me and my family over the years. As I learned the "secrets" of PowerStrip, HD tuner cards, ffdshow, audio and video filters, YXY, etc., I was like a kid in a play ground, and Cliff was right there, leading the charge. When my drivers conflicted with Windows 2000 (back then - or whatever issue), Cliff was there, e-mailing me new drivers or giving advice.

I've drifted away from the forum - the downside to a stable configuration which I'm happy with - so I missed the news of Cliff's death until now. I feel a great personal loss about a person that, amazingly, I never met face to face.

In this I appear to be very much like all of the other contributors to this thread. The uniformity of sentiment and respect for Cliff is a testimony to his character and spirit.

Condolences to his family and to his friends at DC.

Marcel J. Dumeny

Just learned about it.
I am shocked and sad. My condolences.

I haven't been on the boards in ages. I just read this and I'm deeply saddened. Thanks Cliff, you were a tremendous help. A source of unparalled knowledge and dry humor. You are greatly missed!

I find it fitting that I was doing a search trying to get the AV 24/96 card I bought from Cliff working in the pc I am updating to WME2005. While doing so I found this thread.

I am so sorry to read this news. Especially so late. Cliff helped me with this very card well over 5 years ago. He was a great guy and a credit to our hobby.

My condolences to Cliffs family and his many friends.

Godspeed Cliff!!!!

wow. i havent visited in a while and just saw this post. this is truely sad and a belated condolances to his friends and family.

I would just say that, when someone we know and respect dies, that the sadness we feel should be for ourselves, for our loss. But we shouldn't grief for those who have passed, because they have laid down their burdens and moved on beyond the cares and burdens of this earth. We should celebrate what they were and what they were about and what they accomplished, and though we can grieve for our loss, I think that those who care for us and pass away would want us to celebrate them and their lives, not to become depressed or morose, as I'm sure that we would wish for those who we will inevitably leave behind.

Since I picked up my old myhd a couple of months ago I wondered what happened to Cliff. A couple of years ago when I first got the board, I found his were the comments to read. I did not ask because it was OT and I was once again a newbie. I did miss his comments, he knew his subject, was helpful to those who needed it, and, suffered fools badly. I thank Dean for his perspective; I too grieve at his passing though I didn’t know him except for that gleam of intelligence that showed through his posts. My condolences to all who knew him well.

OMG:eek:

This shows you how long it's been since I've been in the HTPC Forums. I knew Cliff way back in the old DVD "3DFusion Card" days when I built my own HTPC before many even knew what it was. That was when processors weren't even fast enough to decode DVDs and you had to have hardware processors on the card itself.

I am so saddened by this news to lose such a great man, PC guru and constant AVS contributor:(

I am sure this impact has left a void here at AVS' HTPC Forum, but this knowledge lives on in all of you that he has touched and taught here.

Many belated condolences to all that were closer to him than I.

I'm shocked! Like a ton of bricks - You will be missed Cliff - Condolences to all that were close.

Man I just noticed this:(

I haven't been able to visit the forums as much as I'd like. I still have have some of the transport stream test pattern files he shared way back when.

Oh My GOSH! I have been so inundated with my job since last summer that I missed this horrid news! :( I've had one heck of a ride outside AVS.

Cliff, thanks for always being there for the HTPC newbie! You helped get my MyHD MDP-120 to understand the crazy audio my local ABC affiliate was spewing out and did all in your power to help diagnose the tuning delay for my local PBS. I thank you and have always looked to you as the official-unofficial liason to MIT. You were so much more too. Feature request for MyHD? Tell Cliff, he'll get the gears turning. MyHD anomaly? Tell Cliff, he'll plant the seed to get it fixed. He will truly be missed.

May God bless you Cliff. Man..talk about being stunned!!! When I read the topic of this thread I said ,"Who has cliff helped get set up now"

I couldn`t beleive I was reading a farewell to Cliff Watson thread!! My eyes boiled over in tears and I don`t think I`ve ever even talked to cliff before!!

It`s just that he has contributed so much on soo many different topics that I feel like I kinda knew him. Like we all are one little avs family that the rest of the world didn`t know about.

I just want to send my condolences to Cliffs family and friends.

Thanks for all the hard work you`ve put into the htpc and hdtv projects that have enable me to look like a pro in the company of my friends and family.

Extremely sad news indeed and somehow I missed this thread.

I enjoyed Cliff's posts and the amount of knowledge he was willing to share with everyone.

I send my condolences to Cliffs family.

Ler's hope he is in the better place now.

Hey Dean and all,

I saw this thread pop up today, I didn't realize there were still so many comments being added. I've had my time for grief, but still feel that pang every once in a while. Today, I was just remembering some of Cliff's eccentricities (and there were many). :D

During our many conversations, I found Cliff tried his best to keep up with all of the posters here. His memory was good, but it was helped by the fact that he would make up little nicknames for everyone, especially the ones that use their real names, and with those whom he had beef. Some of you that he did help really made him as happy as his help may have you because he was the kind of guy to whom a "thank you" meant the world.

Thanks everyone!

This was a shock to hear.... I have not been active on the forum in some time but I remember back when several forum members were working on the Hi-Pix open source software project it was always good to get feedback from Cliff...both good and bad. Often he made me mad...but his comments were always constructive and had valid points.

Mike

I had not visited the HTPC boards in a long time.

Cliff was very knowledgable and helpful when I was building my first HTPC. It had a HiPix card and a 24/96 sound card. It was/is a good machine, largely due to his efforts to improve things and share that knowledge here.

I joined the forum to get in on the group buy for the HiPix card.

He will be missed.

Doug

Ah dammit Cliff. I only found out today.
I'll remember you my friend, you were my light and guidance when I started on this board, and I learned all I know about HTPC today.
I'll have a glass of wine tonight and I will raise it to your memory.

Ivan

I'll have a glass of wine tonight and I will raise it to your memory.

Ivan

What a lovely thought. I might just do the same....

I'm speechless - Cliff Watson is someone whose name I knew well back in the MyHD 100 days. I was constantly awaiting his next word. I'm truly shocked to learn that he passed 3 years ago (almost to the day). Perhaps it's serendipitous, so that this post gets a timely bump so that everyone can raise their glass.

Man oh man...
It's been three years and I didn't even know. Now I feel almost like it happened today. Cliff was crucial to the beginning of the HTPC. Without his help a lot of us would never have gotten our early htpc's off the ground. I do remember Cliff getting a bit gruff at times, and I always respected that. Ask any question, but at least try to give him something to work with - then he'd get the real deal, from whoever he needed to go to and tested things himself.
His obvious love for helping has always been rare, but I like to think it carries on in avs and across the world amongst caring people.
Kei, and digital connection have always been around helping out and continue. And other selfless people like renethx are carrying the flame of people like Cliff in this forum. People can be beautiful in so many ways, even in hard times. I think I'll toast to Cliff and people like him tonight myself. Never too late?

I think Cliff would be very discouraged/disgusted with the state of DRM on the HTPC, given his feelings over the broadcast bit and related issues early on. I conversed with him often (PM and threads) in the MDP-100 days and earlier. I'd like to think he'd be a welcome DRM refugee in the Linux forum with many of us "old timers" (by internet standards ;) ). At minimum, Cliff's helpful spirit lives on in these forums, and in particular, his nuts-and-bolts style is embodied in the Linux forum, which feels like the HTPC forum circa 1999-2002. :)

Please, no DRM/OS discussion here- just my personal feelings re: the current state of things and my memories of Cliff here. Just reminiscing.

What a sad thread :( Being new to HTPC , I had no contact with Cliff Watson, besides reading about his EPG addons etc. But I read this entire thread and for some reason it just made me feel very sad.

* raises glass in honor of Cliff *

Very sad news , never realised. Condolences to his family.

Your are missed Cliff.

Hard to believe Cliff has been gone as long as he has. The htpc forum just isn't the same without him. :(

Just playing with my USB HDTV tuner today and thinking of you Cliff up in the big sky.

Sadly I never got to know him, he seems like a great guy from all the comments on this post.

It's always sad when someone passes away and I send my condolences to all his friends and family.