internet kaspersky security: Succesful trial run of FreeviewHD in MythTV!

Succesful trial run of FreeviewHD in MythTV!
I have noted earlier in this blog that Mythtv does not work with FreeviewHD due to lack of audio support. Well thanks to work of Paul Kendall (see his site here) and others it is now possible to use Mythtv as a HTPC delivering FreeviewHD. There are a couple of caveats to that of course; a powerfull CPU is required as there is no hardware H.264 accelration, and you have to be prepared to do a little bit of extra work in setting the machine up (not much different with fiddling with codecs with MP or GBPVR though).

So to test it all out with my machine I downloaded the latest version of Mythbuntu (8.04.1) and installed it onto my external hard drive. There are then a few step I had to go through before I could run myth-backend setup:

1) After restarting from the CD to the hard drive, I added the following line to the bottom of /etc/sources.list (open terminal, type 'sudo nano /etc/sources.list'):

                      deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/paul-kcbbs/ubuntu hardy main

Then run: 
'sudo apt-get update'
'sudo apt-get upgrade'

That will require confirmation and run for a while, after which the machine will be up-to-date with Paul's patches installed.

2) I have a Nova T 500, and according to it's wiki page it requires a cold reboot to be detected. Before this is done though, add the folowing to /etc/modprobe.d/options:

#enable LNA
options dvb-usb-dib0700 force_lna_activation=1
#disable 2nd tuner suspend
options usbcore autosuspend=-1 

Now you are ready to run mythbackend setup and configure the tuners, sources etc. Also a guide will need to be setup somehow, I havn't got around to that yet.

With the configuration basically as above, I scanned in the digital channels to test out performance. With my 2.4GHz single core I could watch just TV1 and TV2, it would start skipping on fast moving scenes. TV3 was a no go.


From here, I plan on swap the CPU and graphics card out and put in my 5200+ X2. With a little bit more tweaking to get dual core being helpful (thanks to the mythtvnz list) hopefully I can get all the channels working. If I can do that, and get a guide loaded for all channels on my test setup I will do a reinstal and move everything over to Mythbuntu :) 
Uni holidays are next week so this will be on the backburner with a very busy last week, will post again when I test things further.

Challenger trio push for wider termination probe
Orcon, CallPlus and WorldxChange want to see the investigation broadened

GeoSmart Maps updates AA Roadwatch Site

GeoSmart Maps has rebuilt the NZ Automobile Association’s Roadwatch web site and re-launched it to inform motorists about events taking place on New Zealand roads; this includes road works, accidents, road closures, delays and incidents such as slips and washouts, which are very topical given current weather conditions.

The original web site had generic maps which showed the general area where incidents had occurred, whereas the new site has dynamic maps allowing people to view the incident location on a map at region, suburb or zoom right down to street level.

A pop up window on the map provides in depth information about the incident including its anticipated resolution date and time. The site dynamically updates information every 5 minutes and indicates whether the incident has been verified. The service also includes Future Notifications such as events and other known issues.

“The service will be fully managed by the AA and a call centre which is operational 24/7 will feed public information into the system. The system will also soon have the ability for local authorities to enter information about planned road works,” says GeoSmart’s General Manager Phil Allen.

“AA Roadwatch is about informing motorists so they can make better decisions on the roads, whether it’s’ taking an alternate route or leaving half an hour later.”

AA Roadwatch may be found at http://www.aaroadwatch.co.nz

Background

GeoSmart Maps is the leading provider of mapping data in New Zealand and has been in the business for 30 years. It is the leader in the provision of Car Navigation data as well as Fleet Management with a client list including Navman, TomTom, Siemens VDO, Honda, Ford, BMW and more.

It is also the leader in cartographic and web mapping with clients including Wises, the New Zealand Automobile Association Inc, Bayleys Real Estate, St Johns Ambulance, Ministry of Education, Heart of the City, and many more. Over 300 web sites in New Zealand use GeoSmart’s SmartFIND web mapping API’s and data. GeoSmart also supports solutions in many overseas countries including the Middle East and Asia.

In 2007, GeoSmart was purchased by the New Zealand Automobile Association Inc. The AA brings many additional resources to GeoSmart as well as being a major user of geospatial data, giving away more than a million maps a year to its members.

For more information, please contact Business Development Manager, Luigi Cappel email luigi.cappel@geosmart.co.nz or phone 09 966 8768

Torvalds: Fed up with the 'security circus'
The security circus glorifies the wrong behaviour, says creator of Linux

Linux still not ready for the masses?
Every couple of weeks, or so, someone out there in the land of journalism volunteers their opinion about Linux supposedly not being ready for the mass market, being complicated and complex, stating that nothing works and complicated hacking is requir... (more in the full post)

Google looked at the The World Market for Coal for power generation.
I found this video interesting,ï¿½ more so because it was released at the same time as Nationals new energy plans. One point in the lecture from David Victor Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. David pointed out that gas produces half the carbon emissions of coal.ï¿½Nationals "or yeah" has designs that produce only a 3rd compared with coal.ï¿½Coal still really produces alot of nasties so is + 3 rd ok. This video points figure to the cost's of emissions and show projections for the future. Carbonï¿½sequestration is also examined in this interesting lecture from an interesting speaker. Quote Google talk:

The success of Google's "RE less than C" initiative hinges on coal (C). This talk will review major developments in the coal industry worldwide and explain why coal will be very difficult to unseat in the emerging markets where growth in consumption is most rapid. In the industrialized world the situation is different, and the recent explosion in the cost of building and operating new coal-fired power plants means that in some settings renewable energy (RE) already cheaper than coal. Yet the coal industry has never been so competitive as it is today, and it is possible that coal could remain a dominant energy source even in a carbon-constrained world. So far, however, actual investment in the new technologies needed to make coal competitive has been about two orders of magnitude less than needed.