A Networked Home

Archive for January, 2008

Do you have a nice receiver in your home entertainment rack? Do you have a desktop PC with a lot of music stored on it? How about a wireless router and laptop? Or do you at least have an MP3 player? Well, if you would like to enjoy all of that music on your PC or MP3 player through that receiver in all of it’s surround sound glory then you can do it for $10 (or less)!

A quick trip to Radio Shack, Best Buy or any other place that sells a variety of audio cables is all you need to make. Just ask for a Y-Cable. They usually come is 3 or 6 foot models and run only a few dollars.

When you bring home your cable you will find a mini jack on one end that will plug into your headphone out port on either the laptop or MP3 player (or desktop PC if it happens to be close to the receiver). On the other end are 2 composite (or RCA) jacks (usually red and white) that can be plugged into a free Audio-In port on your receiver.

That’s it! Now either play your MP3 player through the home stereo or use the laptop to access the music on your PC via wireless file sharing and hit play!

NOTE: I have never used 802.11b, but, I assume, within reasonable range it would be fine for streaming audio. But, if possible, use 802.11g or 802.11n for best results.

(For full-screen shots click the images)

I just received my invitation to Hulu. So, I spent a good portion of my afternoon checking it out, and here’s what I think….

There are a LOT of shows available. Not everything , of course, but quite a bit. And, they are adding new ones all the time.  There are also clips - such as SNL skits.  You can browse the available titles in several different ways thanks to the very well designed menu system.

You have the option of watching in a browser screen, but going full-screen is the only way to go.  You will need a fairly good monitor because the old CRT will not give the optimal picture - a test on a 19″ CRT produced a darker than desired picture.

The menu options disappear after a few seconds giving you a TV like picture.  To get them back just move the mouse.

As for commercials, they are few and unobtrusive.  It takes about 43 minutes to watch a one hour show, which means an average of 3 minutes of commercials for a one hour show.

Hulu also gives the option of enbedding a video (both full shows and clips) in your web site, ala youtube.

The site is still in beta so you will need to get an invitation to check it out.  As of now it seems very promising.

Here’s a tip to change the way you can view your Now Playing List and get a few options.

• Enter the Now Playing List.
• While in the list press: SLOW - 0 - RECORD - THUMBS UP
• Now when you press 1 you will view the default (sort by record date), 2 will sort by expiration and date, 3 will sort alphabetically

If you lose power or reboot your system you will need to go through this process again.

NOTE: If you have the “Folders” option turned on this will not work.

Zune version 2.3 has been released. From Zune Insider:

Quick FYI: Zune will be issuing a software update today around 10am Pacific. There are no new features in this update, but it does provide some performance enhancements around set-up, sync and as always general reliability.

About a year ago I signed up to be a beta tester for Joost, the new online TV darling of everyone “in-the-know”. It was created by the two geniuses who brouhgt us Kazaa and Skype. At the time I found it vaguely entertaining, but soon lost interest.

After months of ignoring that icon on my desktop I decided to give Joost a second chance. My old beta version no longer worked so I deleted it and downloaded the latest version for Windows - it also has a version for Mac, but, alas, none for Linux. And, as a side note, no Linux version appears to be in the works either.

I downloaded and installed the latest version and launched it from the new task-bar icon (yes, this can be turned off and I am sure I will do so). My, how things have changed - they now boast over 20,000 shows from both mainstream and niche channels. CNN, ESPN and MTV are represented as well as smaller markets like (personal taste here) Cycling TV. I, of course, decided to test Cycling TV. It’s off-season now, but the channel had great repeats of all the big European races from 2007. Before I knew it I was watching the action from the ‘07 edition of Het Volk! For the rest of you, there is now a myriad of programming available.

Downside?

Now, since Joost was created by the same guys who brought us Kazaa, my next question was SPYWARE. I did some searching and found no actual spyware is installed with Joost (unlike Kazaa). Now, for the privacy zealots out there, yes, Joost reports what you watch back to the “networks”, but that should come as no surprise - they aren’t going to give their content to Joost without getting back numbers of viewers. This info goes out on port 11208 (UDP) for anyone interested. This port can’t be closed without disabling Joost so you just have to deal with it. I, for one, find this no concern.

Bottom Line

I thin Joost is coming of age. There are some bugs - I received some strange error messages at some points - but, it is getting close to being ready for prime time so give it a shot, download the latest version HERE. I think the shear number of channels and programs available is worth a look for anyone.

NOTE:

Joost defied my best efforts to bring you any type of screenshot as an example for this article. I am sure this is something mandated by the content providers, who once again prove that they have no clue about today’s market - wouldn’t want to allow that free publicity!

Netflix is a wonderful service, but they have the annoying problem of being tied to Internet Explorer for their online viewing system. So for all of us Firefox users I sat down and took a look at this problem and found a simple solution.

First, open Firefox, click the “Tools” menu and choose “Add-Ons”.

Next choose “Get Extensions” a the bottom right of the box.

In the search box type “IE Tab” and hit “Search” and you should find the extension called “IE Tab”.

Click the extension and choose to “Install Now”.

Next go to the Netflix website and then click the “Tools” menu and choose “IE Tab Options”.

Now add netflix.

That’s all it takes. Now whenever you go to Netflix it will be fooled into thinking you are running IE and you can view movies online.

When looking to add or remove a service available in Linux you need look no further than the handy “Services” menu which can be found under “System” - “Administration”.

Here you will find lots of useful programs than can be enabled or disabled with the click of a check box. For instance you can enable Folder Sharing - in this case across a Windows network via Samba.

If you don’t see the option for Samba then don’t worry, we will cover that in the next Linux tip!

The AP is reporting that Netflix, beginning Monday, will increase the amount of time you can watch streaming video on your PC. The plan seems to be “unlimited” except for the $4.99 per month subscribers.

This is great news for all of us Netflix junkies!

A few years ago DirecTV entered into a deal with TiVo and began making several models of their DVR running the TiVo software. But, when DirecTV was purchased by News Corp they were forced to halt sales of the DirecTiVo and begin using DVR software from another company that News Corp also owned.

Now that DirecTV is out from under the News Corp thumb they announced back in July (2007) that they would once again support their TiVo boxes and users, like myself, soon got a software update. The most noticeable part of which was the addition of folders. And further updates were planned for early ‘08 (see Engadget).

But, to confuse things once again, in December (2007) DirecTV purchased ReplayTV (see Engadget). It would seem that DirecTV simply bought up ReplayTV for its patents and will not continue the hardware line. the ReplayTV website is of no help - as today is January 13, 2008 and the website is nothing but an ad for ReplayTV Personal HD “coming in November 2007″! That’s it. Not even a link to click on.

So, for now, I will assume that DirecTV will be, as they said last year, continuing their TiVo updates.

At this point though, DirecTV is still not offering the TiVo option to new customers, only their own DVR. A search of their web site found nothing of interest either.

So, on to the TiVo web site… Here I had some luck searching for DirecTV info. The first match to my search was this bit of not-so-good news:

Did you know that if you are a DIRECTV TiVo customer, you are not receiving the full spectrum of TiVo features such as Amazon Unbox, Home Movies by One True Media, Multi-Room Viewing and TiVoToGo?

On top of that, DIRECTV is also not providing its complete HD channel lineup to your TiVo DVR.

We believe all TiVo customers, regardless of whether they are a cable or satellite customer, should be treated equally. All of our customers should be able to enjoy our new products, services, and features.

To help create change, we recommend you reach out to the leadership at DIRECTV, as it is also important for them to understand your needs as a DIRECTV subscriber.

Please contact Chase Carey, DIRECTV President and CEO, at chase.carey@directv.com and Paul Guyardo, the Executive Vice President of Operations at pjguyardo@directv.com and voice your opinion.

We value you and your support. Thank you for your loyalty to TiVo

Unfortunately, that was all I found that was of any relevance on TiVo’s site.

Further searching found this on ars technica:

(dated August 1, 2007)

The recently launched TiVo HD has DirecTV’s leadership itching to look like anything other than a dead end for TiVo fans. Come 2008, DirecTV’s TiVo users will get a major update to their DVRs. The message from DirecTV HQ appears to be “don’t bail on us yet, TiVo users.”

In early June we reported on signs of renewed courtship between TiVo and DirecTV’s new ownership, Liberty Media. TiVo CEO Tom Rogers hinted at the possibilities between the two parties when he noted that Liberty isn’t in the business of making DVRs, unlike DirecTV’s previous owners, News Corp. TiVo’s profitable relationship with DirecTV came unraveled years ago when News Corp’s influence led them to roll their own DVR solution and begin phasing out TiVo altogether.

Clearly the road map has changed, as the two companies today announced something that I thought I’d never see: a series of major updates planned for Series 2-based DVRs. This includes all TiVo units DirecTV has rolled out in recent years, including the HD TiVo HR 10-250, which is based on the Series 2 platform.

According to the announcement, early 2008 will bring three much needed updates: web-based scheduling (”Remote Booking “), the Recently Deleted Folder feature, and Overlap Protection. The announcement was not exhaustive, and also noted that additional updates are coming, as the two companies “will continue to explore ways to bring future enhancements.”

“It is important to us that our customers with TiVo service also have access to the latest DVR technology and we look forward to exploring additional opportunities with TiVo,“ said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development for DirecTV, Inc.

Beyond all of this I was unable to come up with much concrete information anywhere on the web about what is going on. I am going to continue persuing this and, hopefully, get a rep from DirecTV to grant an interview. My initial call was met with a recorded message and, after selecting an option, the recording said “Thank you. Goodbye”!

Things are getting thin now. Only one item that I found of interest.

• Actiontec’s zControl home automation device is now offical. More on Engadget.