This sounds cool, I would actally look at doing this even for 1-3$ a episode so I didn't have to buy a TiVo. But I own one, but when I miss a show it would be a great way to catch up on a series that I start mid-season.

From gizmodo
CinemaNow to Offer Television Episode Downloads

filed under Portable MediaCinemaNow is set to complete a deal with most of the major television networks (only Paramont/Viacom is a hold out) to provide per-episode downloads of television shows—maybe even before they hit DVD. Up to this point, CinemaNow hasn't had much success (by my estimation), namely because it takes so long to download a high-quality, two-hour movie. People are probably more willing to accept a lower-quality video file for television, though, especially for something like a 30 minute sit-com. The real question will be price, of course. $1 to $3 sounds about right for an episode (especially if we don't ever have to buy that copy again to download it to different devices), but as is typical with legal download services, it'll probably be more expensive than buying the real-world media option (in this case, DVD Season Packs).

I found a way to pull apart the DVD's of our home movies we had made. I'll post information later on how to have Super-8 converted to DVD. After its on DVD, they put it into (4) 1-Gig .VOB files. By using DVD Decrypter to 'backup' the DVD, I was able to tell it to create VOB files based on Cell-ID. This caused each chapter to be made into its own VOB files. Which are pretty close to MPEG-2 files. Mom is going to see if we can re-encode these files, or add audio to them (Super-8 has no sound).

Also, I can make the DVD's smaller by using DVD Shrink, which can change video clips into

I found this article about the pending Windows Media Center 2005 review pretty interesting. I am not convinced that I would spend $2000 for a WMC, versus another TiVo. But you have to admit things are heating up in this space. The next version of the TiVo should keep pace with this. But it definately put TiVo on notice... which sucks since I have stock in them. :)

http://www.robichaux.net/archives/000859.php#000859

In my hunt for a Media Player, I talked with Bill about what Santa brought him. He got the new Roku HD1000 Media Center for use with his HDTV Plasma TV. This product is BEAUTIFUL. It seems like a must for people with HDTV's.

It does the following things, all in HD! (1080i)

• Slideshow pictures


• Play MP3's


• Play Movies from the network


• Read Pictures/Movies/Songs from CF or Smart Media (on front)


• Access PC/Macintosh Network shares

It has special utilities for properly sizing your pictures to be displayed on HDTV so you get native resolution on the pictures without having it resize them. It also comes with several art packs that you can set classical music to, and have the art cycle through on a slide show.

I'm starting to get into the idea of setting up a Media Center for my house. I already have the best thing on earth... a DirecTivo with a network card, web access, and the ability to make DVD's from it. But... BUT... I want MORE! So... the most complicated but feature rich path is to go with Myth. But its really for more of the hardcore Linux users. Going with Microsofts Media Center is pricy and requires LOTS of hardware, but gives you TiVo like functionality. I have a TiVo so I don't need that. What I really want is something to play my MP3's on my TV, and also some movies I download. So currently my thought is to run XBOX Media Player, which requires you to hack your XBOX, but given you can buy a complete system with a remote control for about $220.00, and the system has networking, DVD player, IR Remote control and the ability to do HD out... hell, how can I go wrong? Well see....

Well, after my TiVo crashed, I have gotten back in and learned how to recreate the system from scratch. :( I am able to start with a brand new drive, use the 25xtreme image, then upgrade it to upgrd310. But this leaves me with a basic config.

Update: Well it seems that I need to run the upgrd252.sh script, since 3.1 doesn't work with my TiVo. Also key to the upgrade process is ensuring you have a compatible drive.

Good story on /. about a Hacking TiVo book.

Buy on Amazon.com

This weekend I helped Lorinda's dad get his new Universal Remote. This thing took about 30-45 minutes to get setup. This included getting it to become 3 different remotes, and then enhance it to have the volume control always control the stereo's volume. It also had a great 'FAV' channels feature that lets you press NBC to goto the channel for NBC. There were 50 of them, and I found it dramatically faster than bringing up the GUIDE. This remote even has pre-programmed codes for TIVO (Sony and Phillips).