myTV

Why Microsoft is innocent with IE.

admin — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:25:00 GMT

The never ending browser wars: Firefox is gaining, Chrome is here, Safari hits version 4, Internet Explorer should be canned. So many opinions, so many rulings.

Microsoft this week announced that it would not ship Internet Explorer in Windows 7 for the European market. No thanks to rulings and regulations by the European Union, Microsoft would face big fines if it decided to bundle IE with Windows 7. Still, Windows 7 shipping elsewhere will have IE--and thank goodness!

I understand the need for competition. But this bashing against Microsoft by the EU is getting out of hand. Because of the nature of the operating system, it's a matter of convenience for the user to have a browser shipped along. Imagine installing Windows only to find out you can't even get online to grab a 3rd party browser.

To be frank, I like to use Firefox. After a Windows install however, the first thing I do is go and grab the latest drivers. How does the EU expect me to be able to do that without a browser installed? Does the EU expect me to use possibly old drivers from the CD that came with the motherboard, graphics card and whatever else I have? No thank you.

How can I even get Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, or whatever else I wanted without getting to each browser's respective website to begin with?

Here's the kicker though: almost all recent operating systems ship with browsers. Flavors of Linux, Mac OS X, etc., all ship with browsers already packaged. And why does the EU think people lack choice if Microsoft includes IE? I don't. I can still use whatever I wish. Microsoft never forbid me and doesn't forbid anyone from using a different browser.

Removing the browser from the operating system is a disservice to the customer, not a favor. Please EU, get your heads around this. If you're going to force Microsoft to remove something that is a matter of great convenience for me and everyone else, enforce this rule for all operating systems. Imagine getting your Mac home only to find that you can't do jack without Safari installed. Imagine building your custom rig, booting up, only to find that you can't grab the latest drivers because there's no browser.

Is that called choice?

Sorry EU, that's called moving backwards.

I am sure the EU recognizes this issue. So what's the cause then? Could it possibly that companies who develop other web browsers are crying over the fact that their release isn't as popular? Could they possibly be making the claim that they're not shipping enough because Microsoft has an unfair advantage?

Let us be reminded that a long time ago, IE was the arm-pit of browsers, and Netscape was king. What happened there? What occurred was that Microsoft came up with a better and more convenient solution for end users. Period.

Technology and advancements often will make certain business go out of business or become unpopular. But so what? If you can't adapt, you're going to be phased out. That's just the nature of, everything.

I want a browser in my operating system. If I want or need to, I will go grab something else. But don't force me to, EU.

Thanks for playing! Down with Opera.

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:46:00 GMT

You may have heard it in the news recently, Microsoft is currently the target of an antitrust lawsuit by the EU for bundling its Internet Explorer web browser as the default browser in Windows. That's right, they're being sued for including their own browser in their own operating system.

Who is behind all of this? Opera Software, makers of the Opera web browser. In December of 2007, Opera pushed the EU to open a case against Microsoft as Opera believed it to be anti-competitive for Microsoft to include its own browser as the default browser within their own OS.

For some unknown reason, instead of combating the lawsuit, Microsoft decided to settle, and on Thursday announced that they would no longer include Internet Explorer in versions of Windows 7 (Microsoft's next operating system) sold in Europe, and would leave it up to OEM builders to decide which browser to install.

Well, things took a turn for the worse today when Opera made a statement saying this was not enough, and have now pushed the EU to pursue with the antitrust case. Opera believes the only reasonable solution is for Microsoft to include a "ballot screen" for users to select which browser to use.

That's enough! and it's time we do something about it.

Today, we are proposing a complete boycott of all Opera software.

This is absolutely nothing more than a company, who can't legitimately gain market share, trying to squeeze their unpopular browser onto Windows systems. Opera is simply upset because their browser is dead last in market share, and has already been surpassed by the recently released Google Chrome browser and Apple's Safari browser for Windows.

Microsoft is entirely within their right to include Internet Explorer as the default browser within their own OS, just like Apple includes their own Safari as the default browser in Mac OS X, and just like Opera Software would be free to include Opera as the default browser in their own OS, should they ever make one.

No company should be forced to include a competitor's product within their own products. This is as ridiculous as suing Coca-Cola to include Pepsi in their cans and bottles, or suing Toyota to use engines manufactured by General Motors in their vehicles.

Please join in the boycott

and remove all Opera products from your computers and devices. Opera needs to learn that this is completely unacceptable, and since they refuse to listen to us, it's time they learn the hard way. If they're disappointed with their current market share, they ain't seen nothing yet.

Please consider these great alternatives to Opera Web Browser:

Use Opera on your mobile device? Here are some fantastic alternatives:

And most importantly, spread the word! Use whatever means necessary to get the word out there, Opera doesn't deserve your business. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and share it on your favorite forums!

Boycott Opera!

Programming Language Inventor or...

admin — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:42:00 GMT

...Serial Killer?

Just a little something my wife came across earlier and thought I should post here. Can you tell the difference?

Pretty good I must say :)

Send your Nerds to NBC...

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:13:00 GMT

Can the combined powers of the blogosphere rescue “Chuck” from oblivion?

Will Chuck be renewed for a third season? A lot of folks don't seem to think so, and co-creator Josh Schwartz is urging fans to send their nerds to NBC. No, don't run down to MIT and box up a gang of them - he's talking about the candy of course.

If, in two weeks, that is the last episode of the show to ever air, it will be one of the least satisfying finales of all time. Chris Fedak, the guy who created the show, said people will set their living rooms on fire.

Is that your plan to win a third season?

It wasn’t so much a strategy for survival, it’s the story that we wanted to do for a while, before we ever knew our ratings information. But it certainly was designed that in the third season, the show would shift and become something even bigger than what is now. There was always a way designed to, like, kick out the jams and take it to 11, in the next season. Am I being cagey in my description? But it does. It whets your appetite for what could come.

Being who you are, and someone that a network would want to have a good relationship with, does that give NBC an incentive to renew the show?

I guess it doesn’t hurt. But it certainly isn’t a guarantee. People far bigger than I am have had their shows go down much more quickly. So it’s never 100 percent. That being said, I’ve got a lot of ideas for a lot of other shows. I don’t know how to answer that without sounding totally arrogant. The good news is that NBC does really like the show, creatively. They’re rooting for it. They’re not like, “Eh.” They are invested in the show, which is remarkable, considering they don’t own it. Often those are the shows that become orphans.

Can these grassroots “Save Chuck” campaigns really mean the difference between renewal and cancellation?

The difference between being a hit show and being an on-the-bubble show is so small now. The metrics have become so narrow that everything does help. If you do have a loyal fan base that really can make a difference. Now, more than ever, that kind of fan support can really have an impact. The cost of launching a television series is as high as it’s ever been. And obviously the odds have never gotten any better. If you look at NBC they’ve had a history of being patient with “The Office,” “30 Rock.” “Friday Night Lights” is a show where they’ve found a way to maintain its audience. Word of mouth is the most old-fashioned trend in entertainment and it still holds true. To sustain and hold onto our audience would be significant enough.

So there we have it folks. Get your nerds out and ship them off to NBC :)

myTV v1.2.09112 released

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:49:00 GMT

Real quick post this week

Changes since 09104 include;

					ID	Title
					119	EpisodeID not reset when moved/changed.
					133	09104 - GetEpisodeByEpisodeUID doesn't load fileBytes column
					134	09104 - Crash when deleting right-most episode on non-fanart enabled episode screen.
					135	getStats sproc needs to be looked at (again).
					138	Build failure in build: myTV - nightly build_20090416.1
					139	"Use standard Media Center playback screen" setting disabled by default.
					140	Build failure in build: myTV - nightly build_20090420.1
					141	updateEpisodeRow - filename cannot be null
					142	Build failure in build: myTV - nightly build_20090422.1
					144	Cannot change Season Banner 09104
					145	Weird SQL crash
					146	Add Unhandled Exception handler
					147	NULL values not correctly handled in fileBytes column
					148	Missing ExceptionHandler in svcUpdateShow(_seriesID)

[ Refresh ]

Results 1 - 14 out of 14

myTV v1.2.09104 released

admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:03:00 GMT

Available for download here.

What's new

Not actually new, but rather removed - Extender Impersonation settings.
These were no longer required - and would actually cause crashes if used. Removed from Settings.xml file and UI. Will have Transcode Extension UI in-place for next week.
Transcode 360 settings are now followed.
Up until now your TC360 settings were not actually adhered to when myTV decided it had to transcode a file for your viewing pleasure. This means if you had selected to offload the transcoding process to a remote (more powerful) computer - it would still be performed locally. As of now, it does check your settings and will offload the job to the "default" network server (if any).
This may actually change again before next weeks build as it means you can no longer start to transcode a movie on your remote server whilst watching a television show being transcoded locally. I may add a TranscodeServer spinner UI to the Settings to allow you to offload to any one of X servers (which may be needed if you have more than one extender??)

Bugfixes

Season selection screen - selection state is now remembered between season - episode - season screen.
getStats SP in installer now actually works.
fileBytes column does no longer allow NULL values.
SQL crash during installation fixed.

I'm fairly certain I've missed something out from the list(s) above, but according to my worklog that's all that has changed. I'll go through the list of resolved but not yet closed items to see if I can find something else and update this post as required.

What's next?

Get those bugreports in. As it stands there are no outstanding bugs logged in TFS - that's not to say there are none, but the majority of those I know about are slightly more in the form of feature requests or behaviour changes than actual bugs.

I'll be working on some of these for next weeks build as well as the new UI.

myTV v1.2.09097 released

admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:20:00 GMT

Available for download here.

This weeks "service" build.

New and improved

Automatic creation of myCollection.XML file for use with the myTV Web Collection.
This file is created in the service users' My Documents directory and includes everything needed for your own online collection page. Simply upload the resulting XML file to your profile (go to http://mytv.senseitweb.com/members/your_username/files/default.aspx) here on the website and your collection will be available from http://mytv.lockstockmods.net/mytv/your_username/. Replace your_username above with your actual username on the myTV forums.
This is still work in progress and hopefully by next week it will provide the online backup/restore functionality also.
Popup a confirmation dialog is merging seasons.
Did you know that you can merge seasons by use of the popup? Simply change the season number of the selected season to another already existing number and all episodes will be merged into the same season. Now slightly improved in that it will ask you for confirmation before making the change.
Pivotmenu refinement.
When selecting one of the top-level choices it will now automatically navigate into the submenu. Still work in progress as the submenu should automatically close once you leave it.

Bugfixes

fileBytes value never inserted/updated in database.
Crash when changing Episode or Season numbers.
checkEpisodeImages stored procedure was not created using the correct schema.
AddShows UI and myTVservice crash when TheTVDB returned malformed or non -XML data.
EpisodeID not reset when moved/changed.
Eventlog not created correctly.
Changing Season numbers will [sometimes] crash the app.
General SQL Script maintenance.

What's next?

Service build 09104 scheduled for release next Tuesday. More bugfixes and minor improvements. Possibly include the new service<->UI comms object which means running the service remotely is, again, a supported scenario. More on that as and when it makes it into release.

myTV v1.2.09090 released

admin — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:50:00 GMT

So it is [finally] time.

You'll find a chart of progress so far below. At the time of writing (which is somewhat prior to release - so things may still change slightly) there are 9 unresolved [reported] issues left to deal with. A number of them are in relation to the installer which is no longer of importance due to the single-entity service feature being deferred (more on that below).

What's new? What's been fixed?

The majority of work that's been done has been all internal which means you, as a end-user, won't really notice it. Other than the fact that it's running more smoothly (both as in less crashes and the UI performing faster) of course. There are a few new features though. Some of these are still being targeted for further modification but rather than keep them under wraps completely they are included as-is in this build. Anyway, here's the [incomplete] list.

New and improved

Support for iMon and irTrans remote control systems.
'i' button works on extenders.
Delete confirmation when deleting anything using the popups.
Mark all same episodes as Watched.
Basically, if you have two different S01E01 files (SD and HD for example) for a given show and watch one of them - both will be marked as watched.
Check that a valid Account Identifier has been entered.
It doesn't actually check the key is valid, but it makes sure it's in the correct format - which should stop all those "Oh I'll stick my username in here" errors.
Add a setting in the xml file to adjust the unwatched shows timer.
The time before the scroller autoscrolls to the first unwatched episode. Default value is 250ms - try increasing it by 100ms (or more) if the first unwatched is still not automatically selected on your computer. <DSTValue> in the Settings.xml file - no UI option.
Display progress whilst the buffer is filling.
The standard blue circle pops up as and when the buffer is filling (Extenders - Transcode360).
Zoom button on the Fanart spinner (in the show popup).
Filematching has been completely rewritten (see separate section below).
New SpecialFolders "collection" (more below).
Add to SpecialFolders option when adding/matching "new" shows.

Bugfixes

"Random" isn't very random.
It always was random. Now it's less random as it has a system in place to make sure all episodes are played an equal amount of times - sort of.
Application error when changing series banner.
Popup & Internet.
The popup no longer takes upto 30 seconds to be usable if your internet connection is slow or TheTVDB servers are down.
No option to turn on Fanart.
There is now - under Settings / Skins / Episodes.
Crash when trying to update favorite.
Torrent search broken on certain titles.
File not being deleted from the network (delete using popups with FS checked).
Incompatibility Remains for Triple Digit Episodes
Mostly fixed, although some incompabilities do still exist - see below.
Doesn't always select first unwatched EP (see DSTValue above).
There is no way to select the 'Save' button in the online tab of the popups for series.
Not having 'Online' enabled in settings hides the 'edit' tab in popups.
Setting FanArt back to 'none' causes myTV to Crash.
Impersonation settings not applied (these are no longer needed and will be removed completely).
Search Torrent Selects Wrong Files for download.
myTV crashes after clicking save when changing the show banner.
Application error when selecting a season with no episodes.
When no banner is available, mytv will crash when selecting FanArt.
Online settings displays 'extender' as the title.
Selecting and saving the default ShowBanner image using the showpopup crashes the app.
Season image spinner does not default to the current choice.
Using popup to change Show image does not update the displayed scroller image.
Using popup to change Season image does not update the displayed scroller image.
Play Next crash.
Deleting all episodes results in crash.
getIncompleteEpisodes SP script fails on new DB install.
Setting show as Favorite or Rating from series popup gives error ''Failed" (instantly).
Renamed files reported as NOT being updated in the DB.
myTVservice no longer recognizes !ut to ext renames.
Play random episode crash.
Rare: NullRefException in TheTVDBDAL.cs.
Start episode playback leaves you sitting on the selection screen bug.
Service adding sample files to DB.
ShowPopup crashes when used on a SpecialFolder.
get_BannerURL throws nullref exception when called from AddShows.
Change getIncompleteEpisodes SP.

Filematching rewrite

Much improved filematching engine. It now correctly recognizes most common (and uncommon) formats. Including, but in no way limited to;

Bones S01E01.mkv
1x01.mkv
Knight Rider 2008 1 Ep 13.mkv
24.712.x264.720p.mkv (Season 7, Episode 12)
321.mkv (Season 3, Episode 21)
1107.mkv (Season 11, Episode 7)
The.Colbert.Report.3.19.09.mkv
Daily Show 9 March 2009.mkv
and a whole lot more

Triple digit seasons/episode numbers are now catered for using the most common schemes (ie any filename with Season/Episode delimiters - for example S09E123, 09x123 or 9 Ep 123). It does not work for single number matches - i.e. SomeShow.1121.mkv will be matched as Season 11 Episode 21 and not, as you may have intended, Season 1 - Episode 121. Similarily, SomeShow.10121.mkv will not be picked up as Season 10 Episode 121.

A new feature is that if it fails to extract a Season/Episode or Date from the filename it will still be added to your local database in the "Specials" season. This means that if you have a file named "The.making.of.24.Behind.the.Scenes.for.Season.4.avi" it will be available thru the myTV UI and it's watched status will be tracked. It also means that if you have a weird namingscheme going on, the files will be added to the local DB and you can use the Episode Popup to change the season/episode numbering to correct values and available metadata will be picked up from TheTVDB.

There is currently a bug for datenamed files where it will not always manage to extract correct information / match this against TheTVDB - it does work for certain filenames though.

SpecialFolders

Any folders listed [as SpecialFolders] are added to your local DB with no matching against online records - ideal for sporting events, concerts or any other material not available (for whatever reason) at TheTVDB.com. If there is a folder.xml file present this will be used to populate the metadata - dgaust has released a utility to help with this.

Single-entity service deferred

This feature has been deferred due to incompabilities and problems with the current service<->UI communications protocol. The entire communications system is due for a rewrite which will solve all the current problems with netsh commands needing to be run (and sometimes re-run). I will move away from using the http protocol to a bog standard tcp connection, this will work over a single port (9321) instead of the five (9321-9325) currently allocated.

That being said, some of the betatesters have installed the service on their Windows Home Server or Windows Server 2008 operating system and are currently using it without a problem. This means that you're welcome to try [this] and if it works for you that's great. If it doesn't, you are on your own and all any any bugreports or cries for help will be ignored until this is a supported scenario (at which time you will have to upgrade the service).

Part of this rewrite also addresses the online collection/backup/restore feature (as it will use the same communications object). The online collection is what Kode has been working on, which was previously available here, but is now being phased over to a different server with direct contact to TheTVDB for faster access times. A new feature is / will be that you can use the collection as an online backup of your existing database and should something happen to it you can, with the press of a button (or three) synchronize a new blank DB with the online copy and all your files/ratings/watched status will be back as it was before the crash/reinstall. This is scheduled for inclusion in the next release along with the new UI (which we're not going to discuss now).

What's next?

Communications rewrite, new UI implementation, Online collection/backup features are the main ones. Tags are also being discussed (as a way of grouping together various shows, seasons or episodes), playlists (both automatically generated and manually edited) will make an appearance at some point, Separate Graphics table in the DB and a whole lot more. Some of these are prioritized, some are not. The separate graphics table for example will not make in until we have completed TheTVDB's backend redesign - similarly Actor images and the search function will wait for the same reasons.

And of course bugfixes

Any bug you find (and report) will be fixed within a few days and released as part of a weekly (or so) build. This [weekly] build will not normally include any new features but only bugfixes - and as such may not be released any given week if there has been no bugs reported or fixed. Please do not use bugNet for logging bugs as it is no longer in use (and will be removed soon) - instead post them in the bugreports forum, include as much information as possible and have a look thru the FAQ sticky topic (which I haven't yet created) before posting. As for the whole I've paid for the application why should I report bugs mentality that some people have - no-one is saying you have to spend your time bughunting, but if you find a problem in the software, that you want/need to be fixed, the only certain way of making sure it ever gets looked at and repaired is by letting someone know about it. Generally it's as easy as saying "myTV crashes when pressing the display seasons button on a show with a single season where no season covers are available", at other times more information is needed and you will be asked to provide this, in which case it's your choice whether you wish to take the issue further or not.

The next "scheduled" release (ie with new UI, communications etc) will go into closed beta shortly and be released as a public download shortly after that.

Mythbusters need your socks!

admin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:08:00 GMT

If you've ever done laundry, and I sincerely hope you have, you've almost certainly experienced the phenomenon of disappearing socks. If you're like me, you've wondered whether the socks were really getting lost in the wash or if it was just your imagination. Well, in a few months our confusion will be abated, because the Mythbusters are on the case!

Yes, in a future episode of Mythbusters, the team will be testing the socks-in-the-washing-machine myth, and, moreover, they need our help! They've put out the call for fans to send in pairs (yes, they must be pairs) of socks to the show for use in testing the myth. You can even send in a story about the socks if you want, and it might get read on the show! You won't be getting the socks back after the show's taped, so don't send anything you'd hate to lose.

They need the socks by February 18, so don't delay too long. Details can be found on the show's website.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

myTV christmas special - tis the time to be jolly

admin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:09:00 GMT

How would you like an extra 1500GB of diskspace?

What's that now? You'd love it? Well, here's the deal. Purchase myTV anytime between December 1st - 25th and you'll automatically be entered into a boxing day draw for a brand new Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1500GB harddrive (average retailprice around US$160.00). The draw will be done by use of a simple SQL query from the database of registered users and as such will be completely random (well, as random as computers get anyway).

As if that wasn't enough...

...we will also randomly pick out one new customer per day who will receive a full refund on their payment - as in, you'll get a completely free license to myTV to do with as your wish (you can either use it yourself, or give it to a friend - just PM/email admin with the recipients details). All winners will be informed by email no later than 23:59:59 (CET) on boxing day.

Yes, if you have already purchased your license in the month of December, you have automatically been entered into this draw even though it happened before this announcement was made.

"Hey jackass, what about me who already purchased my license way back?"

Sorry govna, you're outta luck. Ok, ok - I'm kidding. Unfortunately, finances don't allow us to offer up a second 1500GB drive just like that, however if you really want to be in the running without having to fork over for another license, donate $5.00 to the lightning fund (which I was going to remove as it's served it's purpose, but rather than fixing up new links and everything, I'll reuse it for this purpose until the 25th). Depending on how many entries we get in the "$5.00 raffle" the price may not be the 1500GB version, but perhaps a 750 or 1000.

Also worth mentioning

If for some reason you would like two 750GB drives instead of the 1500GB version, that can be arranged.

I'm new here, what exactly is this myTV thing I keep hearing about?

In short, it's the only television Add-In you will ever need for Windows Vista (or w7) Media Center. It uses TheTVDB as a backend and displays metadata for your locally stored television shows, keeping track of what you have (and haven't) watched in a easy to use (very high WAF according to existing users) manner. It's mainly designed for those with large (although your collection doesn't have to be large) amounts of recorded, ripped, downloaded television on their Media Center PC or a remotely available network share.

What it's not; It's not designed to replace the built in TV functionality of Media Center, not does it automatically handle Recorded TV (although, there are two "plugins" available at the moment - both in active developement by forum members which will automate this exact scenario).

"Why should I buy it when I can use JL's Video Library for free?"

That's a good question, and to be honest - perhaps you shouldn't.

If you're happy with manually editing XML files and storing these files on your filesystem, mixed in with your videofiles; then stick around for the next myTV trial to see which one you like more.

If on the other hand, you want a fully automated add-in, that takes care of all metadata in the background as well as provides full support for TheTVDB's duplex services (such as favorite shows, community ratings and so on) then there is [currently] no alternative to myTV.

In closing, I'd like to quote JL; "Personally, I'd say 'myTV' is probably the best tv/video plug-in out there that's has more stuff folks want. It's more feature-rich than this simple plug-in I've got going on :-)".

"Will I get my money back if it don't work?"

Why, certainly sir. So far we have processed 3 (three) refunds. Out of those three, two were due to the persons not having spent enough time reading up on the product (or rather, there was not enough source material for them to read up on) and one was simply not happy with the product (as he could not get it to work and the help he was given in the forums and per email fell on deaf ears).

In any case. If you, for whatever reason, is unhappy with the application, support or just generally feeling it's not an application for you - request a refund via email, and as long as the request is "valid" (i.e. you can't get the product to work 100% or it just does not fit your needs) we'll be happy to issue one.

How can I too get an entry on the myTV Collection?

At the moment you will have to follow these instructions. However, as from the next release of myTV the process of uploading/syncing your collection will be automatic (if you have opted in) and you will automatically get a "myTV Stats" badge below your username here on the website, as well as access to a few different forum signature banners for use elsewhere.

Well, that's it for this update. Happy holidays from Santa's birthplace (or so they say). I'll leave you with a christmas "carol" by Achmed the Dead Terrorist

(Please visit the site to view this media)

My Own Worst Enemy got pwned.

admin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:24:00 GMT

My Own Worst Enemy's worst enemy was its ratings; Christian Slater's TV spy run to end after nine episodes.

Nice camo, dude.

The fall season has its first high-profile cancellation (we're not counting The Ex-List). NBC has put the kibosh on the ballyhooed My Own Worst Enemy, reports Variety. The word came down last night after My Own Worst Enemy once again fizzled in the ratings department, with Monday night's episode drawing only 5.2 million viewers and a 2.3 rating/6 share among key demographics.

Riding a flood of publicity, My Own Worst Enemy was one of NBC's brightest new entries when it debuted on October 13 in the time slot behind the struggling Heroes. But the show never caught on with viewers, and Heroes' dwindling numbers and competition from Monday Night Football and Dancing With the Stars probably didn't help get the word out, either.

My Own Worst Enemy marked Christian Slater's debut as a leading television man. He played a man with two lives--one as a suburban family man and one as a super spy--that eventually converge after not knowing the other existed for some time.

The debut season of My Own Worst Enemy will be cut short, completing nine episodes of its 13-episode order. The show's fourth segment aired this past Monday.

What do you think--is this show worth organizing a "save the show" campaign around? Or should we just let it go?

SwarmPlayer - direct streaming of torrents

admin — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:08:00 GMT

The following is taken directly from EZTV. I've tried it out on a few torrents from various trackers and I'm more than pleased with the results. Some private trackers have banned the client meaning playback is not possible, but in general it will accept any old .torrent file and (at least for me) start playback within some 10 seconds.

Now to implement this in myTV :)

BitTorrent Video Streaming How-To with SwarmPlayer

EZTV has introduced BitTorrent Video Streaming! Instead of having to wait for an entire TV Show to download fully before you can watch it, it is now possible to use BitTorrent to watch a TV Show as it downloads! :)

This has been made possible with the use of new breakthrough technology in the form of a modification to the client-side BitTorrent protocol. This protocol modification has been implemented in a new program called SwarmPlayer in conjunction with a new .tstream format.

SwarmPlayer

You can download SwarmPlayer from here: http://trial.p2p-next.org/
SwarmPlayer contains a BitTorrent client with the required protocol modifications coupled with a customised version of VLC. Together they allow for BitTorrent Video Streaming. It should be noted that SwarmPlayer is still in very early development and, as such, some bugs are expected. If you experience a bug you can report it here.

The .tstream Format

SwarmPlayer can open and stream standard .torrent files. However, the new .tstream format is better suited for streaming. EZTV will now be providing .tstream files for every TV Show it releases. To download the .tstream file just click the button:

.tstream files are almost identical to torrent files and are backwards compatible with them.

Protocol Modifications

BitTorrent's current tit-for-tat algorithm is unsuitable for streaming and has been replaced with a Give-To-Get algorithm. More Information about the BitTorrent protocol modifications for streaming can be found here:
https://www.tribler.org/StreamingExperiment
http://www.tribler.org/Give-To-Get

Lightning strikes...

admin — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:18:00 GMT

So I should have posted this a while ago, but I've been trying to work on the build as well as scouring the net for various replacement parts I need without it costing me a fortune as insurance hasn't come through yet.

As some of you know already (TGB thread and a few others have mentioned it) there was a bit of bad weather a couple weeks ago (June 22nd) which took out my entire network including some cabling, switches, routers, computers and god knows what else. Basically the surge came in through the phoneline, burnt out the WAN and LAN4 port on my initial router (amazingly the LAN1-3 ports and WiFi still works on it - although without the WAN port it's pretty much useless). From there it went thru a good run on cable up to the loft where I keep everything running and took out the first gigabit switch (completely, there was smoke coming from it when I went upstairs to assess the damage), then the second switch - no smoke, but 'unplugging' the cable (or what was left of it) you could see the charred remains of a RJ45 port and continued back down throughout the network cables in the building taking out various pieces of equipment on it's way (such as my brand new HTPC, which I was pretty much just finished setting up), two of the servers (or so I thought, as time passed they all [computers] showed signs of 'wear' - although they are still running there are now a nice batch of bad blocks on the harddrives). I'm still waiting to see what the insurance has to say, but apparently they don't do "new-for-old" coverage here, and everything is marked down in value according to age, original condition [of the item] and pretty much anything else they can come up with to downvalue the equipment. As if that wasn't enough, they are telling me I should have surge protectors installed - well guess what Bub, I do/did, but as the voltage came in through the 'back-door' they did nothing but protect the actual electrical wireing in the house. I'm not sure of the extent of damage to the hardware [computers], other than the fact it completely blew my HTPC away. The mainboard is gone (as was expected), but it's also taken with it the PSU, CPU, harddrive, graphics card and the front OLED display. The RAM seems fine, but I haven't stresstested it yet. As of now the hardware is at a local computer-store for them to assess the streetvalue of it all and the insurance company will come up with their value later on (probably still weeks from now).

This left me completely without internet access until July 5th at which time I tried letting people know why the site was down and when to expect a solution. Unfortunately as I was going to grab the user-data from the SQL server that conked out on me as well (complaining about a missing or corrupt ntoskrnl.exe file), figuring I'd be able to just copy the original file from my install media I tried that, umpteen times with no luck and it was only a few days later I realized I had to use the ntkrnlmp.exe file from SP2 I got access to it, at which point I was ready to bring the website back up anyway (albeit only on a temporary server).

Anyhow, it's back temporarily and will have some problems with keeping track of your logins/information until I can do a proper rebuild. Email seems to be working again also and the new build should be out very soon - there's a few screenshots available in the forums already, but expect the popup to work fully as well as the proprietary playback-screen to function with currently watching information etc. There is also support for FanArt, which will display your selected FanArt image as the background on the Episode selection screen (may include it on Seasons at a later stage) as well as a bunch of other stuff - such as the application working fully even when there is no internet connection available (see, even the lightning brought something good with it). This new build, whilst still a beta, will initially be made available to all paid up commercial users and a new public trial will follow shortly after the actual release.

Now, back to the problems I've had. Speaking to some of you users via Messenger/Email/PMs - I've been told to ask for donations, so here goes :)

If you happen to sit on any kind of networking/server hardware that you do not need (or know of someone decommisioning their 'old' hardware) feel free to send it my way :) crzykidd has already provided me with a new switch (which is en-route with FedEx at the moment), so that's taken care of, but I could really do with a 1u (or bigger, doesn't really matter) server to use for the external webserver - doesn't need to be all that powerful as it'll only be running SQL Server and IIS, but it does need to be x64 architecture (to run Windows Server 2008 x64) and at least a couple GB of ram (CS/SQL is fairly memory hungry). In terms of drives, a dual configuration would be great as I could mirror the system-drive in case of another failure and have it back up within minutes, but anything you may have (or can get your hands on) would be greatly appreciated.

I'm also in the market for a router/firewall. I'm keeping my eye on a Watchguard Firebox x700 on eBay at the moment, which I should be able to hack and install dd-wrt on, but with my recent luck ... well, let's just say I'm not holding my breath.

Not to mention all the other stuff I could use for my 'personal' side of the network. I've been keeping my eye on eBay but everytime I find a 'bargain' some clown seems to come in seconds before the listing ends (last one was 7 seconds - for a Chenbro RM414b case) and outbid me by a few bucks. So, if anyone happens to know of any of these [cases] going cheaply (or similar cases, with the included port multiplied backplanes) do let me know.

If you don't have any hardware to spare but would still like to help out towards the rebuild, feel free to send a PayPal donation this way. This is of course not a mandatory thing, and if you do not wish to donate - you do not have to. It is simply here as an option as I have had countless people asking if I would be taking donations towards the rebuild and further development. If, once everything has been repaired/replaced (which will include a separate new development machine - sorely needed for myDVD work) any remaining funds will be forwarded to a charity of our (forum poll) chosing.

Let me tell you, it's no fun not having access to my television shows (or movies for that matter). Sure, we've had some nice weather lately (although TBH not enough to keep me happy) but being able to watch a show or movie in the afternoon/night is sorely missed. I've hooked up the laptop a couple times, but it's not quite powerful enough to playback the full-HD stuff, which is the majority of what I have. Not to mention the fact using good old stereo sound just isn't the same as a good DD or DTS surround mix.

Donations received to date;
crzykidd	Linksys SRW2016 gigabit switch
theotocopulitos	Hard cash donation
tmservo	4u Dual Opteron 2x320GB Raid-1 Server
Irene Charbonneau	Hard cash donation
zzdez	Hard cash donation
Daavid	Hard cash donation
spplutchok	Hard cash donation
Logan	Hard cash donation
Rusher	Hard cash donation
dgaust	Hard cash donation
tpurvis	Hard cash donation
s.t.s	Hard cash donation
sirmeili	Hard cash donation
moakesr	Hard cash donation
Monkeyslapper	Hard cash donation
steelman1991	Hard cash donation
Glenn	Hard cash donation

Update
As noted above, tmservo has supplied a 4u rackmounted server to replace the burnt out old server running these very forums (it's currently running on a backup machine, but it really needs a complete rebuild as I'm sure you've all noticed). I haven't received this yet so don't have full specs, but it's a dual Opteron on a Asus KFN5 board with two 320GB sata drives in raid1 (running on Windows Server 2008 x64). Will post full specs once it's up and running.

As a thanks to tmservo I would like to give a plug for his company here, so if you're in the market for a new HTPC (or a PC full stop) or just some general IT stuff, check out KC Tech Heads.

I've also received the switch from crzykidd, which (after a lot of cursing, hairpulling and crying - basically I managed to 'brick' the switch within hours of opening the box... all good again now though) is finally up and running. For those interested, it's a great piece of hardware - once you upgrade the firmware. If you pick one of these up and it happens to run older firmware it won't support a lot of the functions 'advertised' (SNMP for example).

I'm still also looking at a Dell SC1435 from eBay, there's a few like this going at the moment, unfortunately my net's been going down just as the auction is about to end so haven't managed to grab one yet, but with them going for around £110 I'll be sure to pick one up soon.

Canadian Copyright Act amendment - Bill C-61

admin — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:52:00 GMT

Some may have seen this already, some may not - but it makes for interesting reading, so here;

The Government of Canada has introduced Bill C-61, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act. The proposed legislation is a made-in-Canada approach that balances the needs of Canadian consumers and copyright owners, promoting culture, innovation and competition in the digital age.

What does Bill C-61 mean to Canadians?

Specifically, it includes measures that would:

expressly allow you to record TV shows for later viewing; copy legally purchased music onto other devices, such as MP3 players or cell phones; make
back-up copies of legally purchased books, newspapers, videocassettes and photographs onto devices you own; and limit the "statutory damages" a court could award for all private use copyright infringements;
implement new rights and protections for copyright holders, tailored to the Internet, to encourage participation in the online economy, as well as stronger legal remedies to address Internet piracy;
clarify the roles and responsibilities of Internet Service Providers related to the copyright content flowing over their network facilities; and
provide photographers with the same rights as other creators.

What Bill C-61 does not do:

it would not empower border agents to seize your iPod or laptop at border crossings, contrary to recent public speculation

What this Bill is not:

it is not a mirror image of U.S. copyright laws. Our Bill is made-in-Canada with different exceptions for educators, consumers and others and brings us into line with more than 60 countries including Japan, France, Germany and Australia

Bill C-61 was introduced in the Commons on June 12, 2008 by Industry Minister Jim Prentice and Heritage Minister Josée Verner.

For more information, please visit the Copyright Reform Process website. Thank you for sharing your views on this important matter.

The Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of Industry

The Honourable Josée Verner, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages and Minister for La Francophonie

MceFM - listen to Last.fm directly from Media Center

admin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:08:00 GMT

Some of you may use it already and others may have missed it completely, but MceFM - the Last.fm addin for Vista Media Center has just gone RC1. For those of you not in the know, Last.fm is the flagship product from the team that designed the Audioscrobbler music engine. More than ten million times a day, Last.fm users "scrobble" their tracks to our servers, helping to collectively build the world's largest social music platform. Last.fm taps the wisdom of the crowds, leveraging each user's musical profile to make personalised recommendations, connect users who share similar tastes, provide custom radio streams, and much more.

MceFM lets you tap into these streams directly from Media Center. You can either select an artist from your existing Music Library and play tracks like this artist, or you can simply start MceFM in standalone mode and enter the artist name.

Check out this video for more information

(Please visit the site to view this media)

edit- seems the video doesn't work inline for some browsers - if you're interested it can be watched av MceFM's website or downloaded from here.

MceFM will cost you €12.00 (just under $20.00), however if you have already been a user and provided feedback on the MceFM forums before the 17th of June 2008, you should log back on and PM damian for a complimentary licence.