MythTV Heaven
Blog Entry on the Monday 07th, May, 2007
I been playing with my MythTV box for a while now, but I think I nearing the ideal set-up.
The box I am using for MythTV is based in the computer room. It was going to be too noisy and possibility too big to fit in the living room. Wireless video senders did not work too well, even setting the channels to opposite end of the spectrum to the WLAN these do not work too well with WLAN, (or microwave, washing machines, or anything that sneezes around 2.4GHz).
So the ideal set-up: mpvmv. A nice small quiet box - MediaMVP. A PowerPC processor with hardware MPEG decoder and remote control. Throw in OSS replacement software and I have a nice MythTV player. Quiet is really no noise, no moving parts, small is the size of a small book.
Mvpmc is really fun - all Linux of course, I am playing with the daily builds at the moment. The MVP's in-build wireless does not yet work, so I am using wireless ethernet bridge.
Being able to instantly access all my recording straight to the telly, is so cool. Allyson has already started to fast-forward the adverts. I watched Doctor Who after Connor went to sleep at a more convenient time. We went out last night - no remembering to set the video, MythTV only needs to be told once to record your favorites - what every time it is on. So Connor and I watched the football highlights in the morning. Many people who use MythTV say that they do not watch Live-TV - I can understand that now. I can scroll through my library of recording and watch TV at a time the suits us.
I would like to set-up VLC-streaming, so I can play any type of video format.
Other news. Another decision to make career-wise this week-end. A flying visit to St Helier. A nice Saturday night out and a long Bank Holiday weekend.
By The Way - Hex numbers can be hard to find.
The Blair Years
Blog Entry on the Thursday 10th, May, 2007
So Tony Blair will be leaving office. When he first came to power on May 2nd 1997. I had just stay the night at Allyson's place, (for the first time).
So how was the Blair Years ?
Gay marriage into law and clause 28 was repelled. I got married.
We have a stable economy - no varying interest rates as a short term political tool. We brought our first house sold this and moved to a second house.
The minimum wage into law. I have trebled my salary.
Blair become the first Labour leader to have won three elections. I become a Dad for the first time.
Peace in Northern Ireland. Dad - rest in peace.
The NHS has improved. I have stopped smoking.
We illegally invaded Iraq. I moved from an company run by exiled Iraqis to work for Transport for London.
Schools have improved, but the end to free University education in England. I am now a Chartered Engineer
So what will the Brown years be like ?
MythTV - Screenshots
Blog Entry on the Monday 14th, May, 2007
Following on from MythTV Heaven, after chatting with Trevor - I'd thought I would share some Screenshots of my MythTV set-up. (Large images)
I need to upload videos and photos, mainly of Connor from my phone soon. I have also disabled/locked my Wiki - too much spam, not enough time to defend the site.
May 19, 2007
Blog Entry on the Saturday 19th, May, 2007
News Item 1 - Traffic Lights (London)
News Item 2 - Traffic Lights (London)
News Item 3 - Traffic Lights (London) (Flash)
Not allowed to comment.
May 26, 2007
Blog Entry on the Saturday 26th, May, 2007
Yes I know I keep going on about my MythTV box, but MythTV it is that good. We are off the the in-laws for the weekend, so I have made a couple of emergency DVDs for Connor, (Pingu, Postman Pat and Something Special). I will watch Dr. Who and other good stuff when we get back.
We are thinking of canceling our DVD-rental subscription. We are watching the TV at times we like, without missing something good. So we always have something good on hand to watch rather than a DVD. I might be able to spend some of the money on a new tuner card. The current tuner does not pick up a set of digital TV channels, (including Channel-5 - Thomas The Tank Engine)
From chatting to people who have different systems (Windows Media Centre, TiVo, HD Recorders, Sky-Box) the feature that set Myth apart is the scheduling. It will intelligently look at the TV schedule. I have a dual tunner, but if I have three porgrammes that are on at the same time, it will see if one is repeated later - if so record that one at a later time. This is a simple example - Myth is great at shuffling around the recording schedule (with-out any work on my part).
I had fun last Sunday - when to Thorpe Park with the team from work.
