Sure did. I kept a book on me at all times. There was a lot of time spent waiting for things to happen, plus, I didn't really need to devote any time at all to learning what they were teaching, as my IQ was above 85.
You could run a mini to rca cable from the mini...
As to snow leopard server, no that wouldn't provide anything useful to your parents. And except for a smaller footprint, there's no real benefit to a mini server over a regular mini and an external drive.
I did some further investigation as to what's wrong with my a/c in the passat. It's likely the high pressure sensor, so I ordered one. 2 more weeks without AC, then I'll replace it and not need it
All the appletvs have the same interface. It's not like the itunes interface exactly, it's more optimized to work with a remote control. And the remote interface for it on the ipod touch is very itunes like. You get an almost identical interface on the mac if you use front row with it (the remote control interface...aim an apple remote at a mac and press menu, and you'll see it).