Category Archives: Software

Software, Technology

DreamVo

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Last week, I filled you in on my DVR history and my newfound obsession with building my own. For all the technical stuff, you should check out Adam’s article at lifehacker. Yes, it’s over a year old but the concepts are the same. He goes over the finer points of choosing a capture card and setting things up so I’ll leave that to him. I want to talk about the possibilities…

What really got me reeling about all this was the idea of building a computer for a brand new environment — my living room. What typically lives next to the television? Cable or satellite box, DVD player/recorder, DVR, audio receiver/stereo, game console(s). So why can’t we build all of that into one box and customize it to our own exact specifications? I think we can.

This is what I want on mine (I’m calling it DreamVo):

mythTV
mythtv_mainThere are lots of options out there for software and most of it is Linux-based. This was a little intimidating to me at first as I have never used Linux but I’m coming around… the idea of an OS I can make my own is pretty shiny. mythTV is available as a free download and it’s packed with tons of features and options, making it my choice on the software front. I may also check out SageTV or BeyondTV but both of those have to be purchased so I’m sticking with the free stuff for now. mythTV gives me many of the bells and whistles that are on my wish list such as:

Video editing
edit_commercialsCut out those commercials to save disc space and clean up files before archiving. This is something my current DVR won’t do and I wish for it every day. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to burn your favorite shows to DVD commercial free?

Electronic program guide
epguideNo subscription fees. Ever. Escape the drag of monthly subscription fees from services like TiVO by having your own interactive program guide at your fingertips. Change channels, select programs to record and view program descriptions. Did I mention it’s free?

Remote scheduling
web_programAh… one of my favorite things about the old ReplayTV was the ability to login to my account on their website and view the contents of my hard drive as well as set programs to record. So on those rare occasions where I left for work without setting the recorder for that night, I could quickly login and make sure I didn’t miss Party of Five or ER.

MP3 player/manager
musicRip, categorize, play, and visualize MP3/Ogg/FLAC/CD Audio files. (FLAC, Vorbis, and MP3 encoding). Create complex playlists (and playlists containing playlists) through a simple UI.

Console game emulator
emulatorAnother project I’ve been dying to tackle lately is to setup an emulator to play old school console games on my PC. Playing them on my TV instead? Even better. mythTV comes with an emulator for NES and SNES. I’m thinking I could acquire the skills to add Colecovision as well.

Weather
weatherGet current conditions, an extended forecast and radar at the click of a button. Forget sitting through the morning news or waiting for your area’s report on The Weather Channel. We’re talking instant gratification, baby!

DVD player/ripper
dvdBackup your DVD collection or use the ripper to cut file sizes down by going to a lower quality file. And of course, watch DVDs.

RSS news reader
news

Stay up-to-date without staying in front of the PC. Quick access to newsfeeds with this RSS reader.

What’s missing?

Web browser
firefox_linuxMozilla Firefox is available for Linux so it stands to reason that it could be integrated and be functional in a HTPC box. Imagine this: You’re watching a movie on DVD and having one of those inevitable “What else was she in?” discussions with your friends. You pause the movie, pull up IMDB in Firefox and have the answer!

Satellite TV on your computer
sattvtopcWebsites like satellitetvtopc.com claim to offer software that allows you to legally watch thousands of satellite tv channels on your pc. I haven’t tried this yet either, but it’s on my list. The site lists major networks on its channel list so I’m thinking free TV is definitely worth looking into. You pay a one-time fee for the software and supposedly the channels are free for the taking… but if /when it works I’ll have to figure out how to get the DVR to record off it!

Wireless keyboard/mouse
keyboard_mouseThis wireless keyboard/mouse combo available from DigitalConnection makes the perfect finishing touch to my DVR/HTPC setup. It has a small footprint, gets great customer reviews for connectivity and the built-in trackball/mouse it hard to beat! Once I get the web browser working, I’ll need to be able to reply to posts on my favorite forums or…

Instant messenger
Okay so I have a keyboard and mouse… I may as well be able to IM my friends right? I’m going to put Pidgin IM on my list. Again, it’s Linux-based so I’m thinking I can make it work.

I know this was a long list and most of the features are qualified with statements like “if I can figure out how to…” but that’s half the fun right? It is to me. I’ll keep you updated as I research and further develop the plans for my DreamVo.

Software, Technology

Digital Recorder Recap

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Ever since I bought my first DVR back in 1999 (Panasonic ReplayTV), I have wanted to do as others have done and hack into it. Off-the-shelf DVR’s traditionally ship with 80GB-ish hard drives and of course, it was only a matter of time before people realized how easy it was to crack open the case and put in a bigger drive. More hard drive space = more hours of recording time = win!

I was never brave enough to try my hand at upgrading my DVR. I just loved it way too much and was afraid my ignorance about computer hardware would lead to some type of critical mistake, leaving me DVR-less. Not to mention I paid a hefty price for being an early adopter ($600 plus) and that was just too much of an investment to take chances with.

But oh how the times change. The DVR died last year, not long before Christmas. I assume the hard drive went bad… I used the poor thing to the point of abuse and am surprised it lasted as long as it did. And let me tell you, just like everything else, they don’t make them like that anymore. I got seven years of service out of that machine and it worked great until the day it just stopped working.

So I found myself shopping for a new quickly. But much to my disappointment, the market is heavily dominated by TiVO. Back in the day, I bought the ReplayTV over the TiVO for one reason — they offered a lifetime subscription to their service for $199 compared to TiVO’s perpetual $5ish per month subscription fee. I finally found a combo DVR/DVD-RW machine with an 80GB hard drive and bought it last December.

About a month ago, the DVR started acting up (couldn’t get any video out to the TV in spit of the on-unit display working fine) so I started searching the web for a possible solution. That’s when I found this article at lifehacker.com and I was off. These units are commonly referred to now as PCHT (PC Home Theatre) units. Custom-sized cases that fit nicely in your home entertainment center are even being sold so you no longer have to find a way to fit a bulky tower somewhere near the TV.

I’ve gotten long-winded so next time I’ll fill you all in on the cool Linux-based GUI’s for homemade DVR’s and other exceptionally cool stuff.

Software, Technology, World of Warcraft

Programs I can’t live without, take 2

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trillianTrillian – So many friends, so many instant messengers… Multi-messengers are more plentiful today than they were a couple of years ago. You know the kind I mean — one program that will let you chat with your buddies on AIM, your co-workers on MSN, your Ultima Online pals on ICQ and your boyfriend on Yahoo! instant messenger. As far back as I can remember, Trillian has been around to make chatting simpler. It’s the Yoda of cross-platform instant messengers.

Plus, for geeks like me who have a need to customize EVERYTHING, there are skins in abundance to change the look and feel of the application. The privacy settings are highly customizable as well so if you’re not speaking to your boyfriend today, it takes about two seconds to set yourself invisible to him and no one else. Trillian also has SMS and IRC support.

firefoxFirefox – Mozilla’s browser won my heart and screen real estate over two years ago on the idea of tabbed browsing alone. Little did I know I’d fall further in love with goodies in the form of extensions. The user-driven development community is as huge as the hate is for Microsoft these days. I could spend all day browsing through page after page of extensions for the browser ranging from development tools, to communication and blogging tools, to toys and games.

Reading that old post makes me laugh… part of me can’t believe it’s been two years since I wrote that and part of me can’t believe I ever browsed the web any other way. I want to mention two of my favorite extensions here as well. The View Formatted Source extension is displays formatted and color-coded source information for the page you’re viewing and, optionally, CSS info. It’s a must-have for tweaking site layout or editing a theme someone else has designed to suit your own needs. When I went to create custom design for my World of Warcraft guild’s website, I used this extension, ahem… extensively. Coupled with ColorZilla and able only to modify the header graphics and CSS due to the hosting service we use, I transformed the site from a standard out-of-the-box template that about 50 other guilds were using to a truly custom design complete with tabard-matching colors and artwork. Colorpicker creates an eyedropper tool you can use on any part of your screen to get the hexadecimal color code for that pixel. It’s a real time-saver for hacks like me.