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.
What is ASLR?
Windows Vista includes a variety of security features not found in previous operating systems such as Windows XP. One of these features is ASLR. ASLR is like a shell game...
Dell Mini Note - Asus EEE PC killer?
On the Gizmodo web site there are now some more photos and full specs available about the upcoming Dell Mini Note. Officially, Dell calls this system the 'Dell Inspiron 910'. It comes with a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1024x600 screen, built-in web... (more in the full post)
Xero is going international
Wellington-based Xero is going international, according to a release in the NZSX and a blog post. Xero is a listed company in the NZX and this is from the official announcement:
Xero wishes to advise that by early 2009 it will release a global version of its award-winning online accounting software.
Xero is choosing to disclose this part of its strategy now in order to openly respond to growing international sales enquiries.
Earlier this week Xero was named as one of the world's Top Ten Best Application User Interfaces of 2008 by Nielsen Norman Group, the US-based analysts and experts in software design.
'King of usability' and award judge Jakob Nielsen commented about Xero: "Making accounting fun? That's an award-winning design."
The award has led to a surge in interest from small businesses internationally asking when Xero will be available in countries outside its initial target markets of New Zealand, the UK and Australia.
Xero is a web-based accounting software-as-a-service platform. Sounds boring, but they managed to create an easy to use, good looking software that works for the company owner and for the accountant.
Clippy for VI: What we all have been waiting for
Here is what we command-line users have always wanted. Microsoft's assistant - Clippy - for VI. I found this animated GIF via reddit on a site called houghi.org. But I have no idea who originally produced this image.Good stuf... (more in the full post)
Microsoft lost the plot on Media Center...
We waited so long for Microsoft Fiji, er, TV Pack - to find out it may only be released to OEM and don't event have the HD h.264 support.
Then a few months ago I posted here how the Apple iTunes movie store would kill the media center - when it was released to UK, France and Canada.
And now Apple has announced the Apple iTunes movies for Australia and New Zealand.
Yes, for the first time I am downloading iTunes as we speak. I am going to install in our media center in the lounge.
The iTunes Store in Australia and New Zealand feature over 700 films for rent or purchase, with new release titles available for purchase on the same day as their DVD release, including favorites such as “National Treasure 2,” “Jumper,” “27 Dresses,” “Cloverfield,” “Vantage Point” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
iTunes movies in New Zealand start at NZ$9.99 for catalog title purchases, NZ$17.99 for recent releases and NZ$24.99 for new releases. iTunes Movie Rentals are NZ$4.99 for library title rentals and NZ$6.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are priced at just one dollar more. Movie rentals can be previewed, purchased and watched on iPod classic, iPod nano with video, iPod touch, iPhone and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.
Enough said. Microsoft lost the battle in the consumer entertainment media space.
Now we just need those New Zealand ISPs to stop selling plans with 10 GB cap and offer real stuff - let's start with 200 GB?
Linkification
The first in a (hopefully) on-going collection of interesting links.
Web Happenings / News
Xero: 2000 Customers - Congrats guys from a happy customer
VFX Manager: A new addon application for managing your XNet VFX service
NZ Communications website launched - several jobs available too
Mobile banking - on Kiwibanks new iPhone and Windows Mobile internet banking site
China Netcom falls prey to DNS cache poisoning
Palm Treo Pro launches around the world with Windows Mobile 6.1 - looks promising
One hundred pushups twitter challenge
Google street view car in Wellington
Community
Auckland .Net code camp 2008 - hurry times running out to register, see you there!
Hawke's Bay IT User Group - if your in the bay then why not sign up and come along to the next meet up?
iPhone / Apple
Vodafone NZ released new iPhone plans
Make an iPhone ringtone with iTunes in windows
Learn how to develop for the iPhone - Web apps that is
Programming for the iPhone really sucks - using the SDK that it
Apple iTunes shows how New Zealand ISPs are not providing internet service
Code
Very handy javascript memory leak detector
The future of .Net reflector - development taken over by Red Gate Software
Mega awesome CSS resource list
Other
20 must have geek ringtones and text message alerts - and 10 to avoid!
Red network here we come!
Got a letter today from Vodafone:
I'm in Howick, so I'm thinking that us Howick exchange Vodafone customers are being migrated from the 29th of September (quite a long way for me - gosh, sending out a letter a month in advance)
Particularly happy about the $20 credit for doing nothing (other than suffer through a few hours - hopefully in the early hours in the morning).
The letter also hints:
You can even look forward to making voice calls over the internet soon too.... that could mean that VoIP or Naked DSL could be introduced probably by the end of year - I hope.
All I need to do now is wait for that inevitable confirmation email...
Xero going into PR mode - in the UK
I see New Zealand company Xero is engaging traditional PR for its UK launch.They also try to appeal to the Apple fan base with this press release I found today:
Xero set to make Mac users passionate about online accounting software
Mac users are generally more likely to rave about their computers’ great graphical capability than the business software they can use, but a new online accounting package called Xero (http://www.xero.com/) is out to change all that.
Xero co-founder and UK MD Hamish Edwards says the business has committed Mac users on staff. So when it came to developing the software, making sure Xero worked on Safari was never going to be enough. Xero also had to deliver the intuitive, great looking experience Mac users are used to.
“We are big fans of the Mac experience so we realised there was huge scope to improve the experience small business owners were having inputting and analysing their financial information.”
Katie Lips, Mac-user and social media strategist and Director of Kisky Netmedia (http://www.xero.com/whosusingxero/kiskynetmedia.htm), says Xero has more than delivered.
“We’re always on the lookout for cool new web apps and I find it quite funny that I am so excited about one that does accounting – but I am!
“What I also like about Xero is that it looks good. Not something that you immediately think of as necessary when doing your accounts, but for me it’s so obvious the designers have thought about how people work and what they want to be able to look at. All the ‘headline’ data is there for me to see easily, which is quite often all I want to know.”
As well as presenting key financial data in dashboard format, Edwards says Xero is intuitive in other important ways. It’s as simple to use as a computer game, but also has enough sophistication to prepare a business’ end of year financials.
Says Lips “The best way I can think to describe how happy I am with Xero is I use it all the time. From not even looking at the accounts side of the business I am now using Xero all the time to run invoices, look at the bank statements and all sorts of accounting things I never wanted to know about before. And I am enjoying it.”
As well as running on Safari, Xero also runs on Internet Explorer and Firefox, making collaboration with people using PC-based systems hassle free.
Xero recently expanded its offerings to Apple users with the introduction of Xero for iPhone and iPod Touch. This enables customers to access their accounts information wherever and whenever they need to and it’s available free to all Xero users.
Xero provides small businesses and their advisers with one, up to date, easy to use, instantly accessible set of accounts and business information.
Learn more about how Xero can help you http://www.xero.com/overview/
Test drive Xero https://www.xero.com/signup/
Contact our media and marketing team ukpress@xero.com
While I haven't found this kind of press releases from Xero here in New Zealand, I understand the high profile of their executive team, plus the fact they are a New Zealand-based technology startup, and their proximity to the target user market made things easier - word of mouth spread quickly.
Starting something in another country is a different business though and the traditional PR machine still holds the keys to many doors.
But appealing to the Apple user base in its first reach? Is is a significant number of accountants and small companies using Apple products to run the business - in opposition to doing the business?
In any case, well done going there.
Apple iTunes shows how New Zealand ISPs are not providing Internet Service
Apple has released its iTunes Movies service in New Zealand last week, and this has shown us how badly the ISPs are performing.
First we have the problem with "data caps". Most people I know are on 10GB or 20GB plans, which means that they either pay a premium for any excess traffic during the billing period, or have their connection throttled down to dial-up speeds. yes, dial-up speeds!
Take for example this comment from someone with Vodafone:
Going to take me about 3 hrs. Its 2 Gb which will be over my d/l cap for day !! ( Ihug) so Ive stopped for today and continue tomorrow to complete
Two gigabytes a day? Two days to download the movie?
I am using TelstraClear cable-modem service and downloaded a 1 GB movie in 20 minutes. But not even TelstraClear is free of problems as we can see in the same discussion:
... [I] bought groundhog day just to test the waters and the download speed was soooo slow, 3 hours nearly!
Three hours on a 10 Mbps cable-modem connection?
I hope the launch of Apple iTunes will show ISPs three things:
1. Not every heavy downloaded is a pirate downloading copyright material being illegaly distributed;
2. There's demand for a service with a bigger monthly data allowance, and
3. Their concept of "fast" is off.
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