This page looks plain and unstyled because you're using a non-standard compliant browser. To see it in its best form, please upgrade to a browser that supports web standards. It's free and painless.

Paul's Time Sink

«Previous 
| Main | Albums |
Next» 

WebGuide

Paul Westbrook | 22 June, 2008 21:07

I have been looking for a solution for streaming and transcoding videos to our Xbox from the Windows Home Server.  I found WebGuide, and decided to try it out.

WebGuide is a plugin for Windows Home Server that lets you acess the content from your home server from the web.  This is different than the file based access that comes with Windows Home Server. You can view thumbnails of photos.  Also, you can stream music and video files from the server.  WebGuide relies on external transcoders to make your content playable.

 (More)

Technorati tags: , , , , , , ,

Computer :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

New Phone

Paul Westbrook | 11 June, 2008 23:01

My wife is getting frustrated with her Windows Mobile base Palm 700w, so we were thinking about getting her one of the new 3G iPhones when they come out.  Since she would be need to switch to AT&T, I would switch at the same time. 

Though, I do like the iPhone, I don't think that it would work for me.  There are still several features that I would still to have:

  • Qwerty keyboard (hard buttons)
  • Ability to tether to a computer to allow the computer to use that network connection
  • MMS support.

I am thinking that I would go with the AT&T Tilt, Blackberry Curve 8310 or potentially an unlocked phone that I would get somewhere else.

This Google Andriod video has me interested in this as an option, even though there isn't a query keyboard.

Technorati tags: , , , , , , , ,

Phone :: Comment (1) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

GreenDimes

Paul Westbrook | 11 June, 2008 22:29

About a year ago, I saw this post the mentioned GreenDimes.  GreenDimes is a services that stops junk mail. We donated the $15 (which is supposed to plant 15 trees), and then filled out the postcards that were in the packet they sent.  Then when ever we received a catalog, I would enter that information on the GreenDimes web site.

Within a few months, we have seen a significant reduction in the junk mail and catalogs that we receive.  I would recommend GreenDimes, as it has been working for us.

Technorati tags: , ,

General :: Comment (1) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

Photos with Windows Home Server

Paul Westbrook | 11 June, 2008 21:57

I have pretty much transitioned everything from our old NAS and Mac mini to our HP MediaSmart home server.  Copying the content to the server was very easy.  All of this content is easily accessible on all of our computers and can be played/viewed on our Xbox.

Windows Home server also has the ability to host "public" web gallerys. The intention is that you can select some photos to share with family members.  Theoretically, I could use Windows Home Server, and get rid of my gallery2 installation.

I made the assumption that once I copied all of our photos into the "Photos" directory, that these photos would automatically be available to be added to these Web Share galleries.  I found out that things don't work exactly this way.  It looks like, even if you have all of your photos in the "Photos" directory on the server, you still have to upload the photos through the web interface.  I wouldn't think that it would be hard to present an html representation of the photos in that share, to allow one of those photos to be selected

Technorati tags: , , ,

Computer :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

HTC Touch Dual

Paul Westbrook | 01 June, 2008 03:10

My wife and I are thinking of switching to AT&T for cell phone service, when the 3G iPhones come out.  When we switch, I was thinking about getting the HTC Touch Dual.  This looks like a pretty nice phone.

Technorati tags: , ,

Electronics , Phone :: Comment (1) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

Xbox and Windows Home Server

Paul Westbrook | 01 June, 2008 02:32

This is a pretty good article that describes how to serve up your content from your Windows Home Server to your Xbox.  It is working perfectly for me.

The one thing that I want to figure out is to have the video transcoded to play on the Xbox.  The Xbox only supports a relatively small subset of video formats.

[via MS Windows Home Server blog]

Technorati tags: , , , ,

Blogging :: Comment (2) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (2)

Posting bookmarks

Paul Westbrook | 01 June, 2008 01:36

It looks like posting from within del.icio.us is not working. The last time that I saw this work was in April.

Now I need to find a way to post links to my blog. I could use the javascript to show "shared" items from Google Reader, but this will not allow me to link to things that I don't find from Google Reader.

What I would like to find is a way to post the links from an rss feed.  This would allow me to post del.icio.us links and shared items from Google Reader.

Computer :: Comment (2) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

Problem solved with Windows Home Server

Paul Westbrook | 16 May, 2008 22:02

In this previous post, I mentioned that I was having probelms setting up my HP MediaSmart.  I connected the server and a laptop to a router that wasn't being used.  Once I did this, the setup worked perfectly, and I configured it.

When I connected the server back to the network, the probelms came back.  I then discovered, that if I disconnected my D-link NAS, the problem also went away.

I then tried connecting to the MediaSmart with RDP, and that works, even with the other NAS connected to the network.  I am able to do everyhing, and more, through rdp that I could do through the configuration application.

There is something wrong with the configuration client.  Maybe it has something to do with both the NAS and the MediaSmart being on different workgroups.  Maybe the clients sees one workgroup, the one from the NAS, and then it stops looking for the MediaSmart that happens to be in a different workgroup.

Technorati tags: , , ,

Computer :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

HP MediaSmart ex475

Paul Westbrook | 11 May, 2008 23:44

HP Windows Home ServerI have been interested in getting a Windows Home Server for a while.  Last week we got a HP MediaSmart ex475.  I was looking forward to installing it, and transfering everything off our NAS and our Mac mini.

When I plugged it in, it started up fine.  I installed the software fine on my laptop, but when the setup assistant tried to find the server, it failed.  It looks like this problem is happening to many other people. Reseting the server back to factory defaults didn't solve the problem.

I am extremely frustrated with this.  I am going to try creating a network with only the server and my laptop, to see if a noisy network could have caused the communication to be interrupted.  If that doesn't work, I will call HP techinical support.  (Unfortunately, this is hard for me to do, as they are only open during business hours, and I am at work at that time.)

I am very close to sending this back.

Technorati tags: , ,

Computer :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (4)

apt-get download speed

Paul Westbrook | 09 May, 2008 15:24

This post has a good tip for speeding up apt-get downloads.  Ubuntu will check all of the mirrors to find the one that has the smallest latency.

Technorati tags: , , ,

Computer :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

Sound, XPS m1330 and Ubuntu 8.04

Paul Westbrook | 08 May, 2008 22:40

In this previous post, I mentioned that everything was working correctly after upgrading to Ubuntu 8.04.  Unfortunately, after I wrote that post my audio stopped working. 

I went through several steps to get audio back, including building and installing the latest version of alsa.

I found that if I put the following line in my /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base file, everthing works

options snd-hda-intel model=dell-3stack

Technorati tags: , ,

Computer :: Comment (2) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

Windows Home Server

Paul Westbrook | 26 April, 2008 22:51

HP Windows Home ServerI am thinking about getting the HP EX475 MediaSmart Windows Home Server.  I would replace our NAS with his server.  Also be able to install SqueezeCenter on it as well, and then I can disconnect the Mac mini.

I can use the Windows Home Server to share our photos, music and videos to our XBox for viewing on the TV.

Also, I was thinking that I could install some software that would allow my TiVo content to automatically be archived.

Technorati tags: , , , , ,

Computer :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (1)

Upgraded to Ubuntu 8.04

Paul Westbrook | 26 April, 2008 22:21

This evening, I upgraded my laptop from Kubuntu 7.10 to 8.04.  I followed their recommended upgrade steps, where I used the alternate CD and then updated from that.  When I was prompted for conflicts for configuration files, I just selected "use the package mantainer's".  I was a little concerned about this, as this was necessary to get sound to work with Ubuntu 7.10, on my laptop.

After booting, everything seems to be working OK, including sound.

The only thing that I have had a problem with so far is that the upgrade upgraded my previous Firefox installation to the 3.0 beta.  Many of my plugins are not compatible with 3.0.  I know that this will be fixed soon.

Also, I haven't made the switch to KDE 4 yet.  I haven't configured it to how I like it, and until I do that, I will stick with GNOME.

Technorati tags: , , ,

Computer :: Comment (1) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (1)

links for 2008-04-19

Paul Westbrook | 19 April, 2008 02:33

Links :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)

links for 2008-04-11

Paul Westbrook | 11 April, 2008 02:37

Links :: Comment (0) :: Permalink :: Trackbacks (0)
Powered by LifeType
Design by Book of Styles