Media Center: Cut the Cable For Good with Boxee and Apple TV
http://lifehacker.com/5138423/cut-the-cable-for-good-with-boxee-and-apple-tv
7 Cool Things to Do With Linux | davehayes.org
http://www.davehayes.org/2009/01/16/7-cool-things-to-do-with-linux

You want to know what you can do with Linux outside of the surfing, emailing, chatting and media consumption you normally do? Well, here are a few things to keep you busy.

Cool Things to Do With Linux

So you’ve taken the plunge and installed Linux. You’ve followed all the HOWTOs all over the net. You’ve got your wireless card working flawlessly. You’ve got your video card working (and you’ve begun to loathe that spinning cube). You’ve installed all the “restricted” software like Adobe Flash, Sun Java and Google Earth. You’ve got all the patent restricted codecs and even DVD playback working just like you want. Now what? You want to know what you can do with Linux outside of the surfing, emailing, chatting and media consumption you normally do? Well, here are a few things to keep you busy.

Inspired by Roku’s awesome Netflix video download box and impressed with Boxee’s free A/V media center platform, it was merely a matter of time before I’d create the BoxeeBox, an Ubuntu-powered HTPC that I call my “one box to rule them all.” Here’s how it’s done.

MaximumPC.com is the best online resource for PC How-Tos. Visit Maximum PC and read about How To: Turn Your Linux Rig into a Streaming Media Center.

A developer on Tuesday released a patch enabling Apple TV to play practically any DRM-free multimedia file with the insertion of a thumb drive into the box. Normally, Apple TV can only play video and music files that are compatible with iTunes or bought through the iTunes Store, but coder Scott Davilla's patch essentially "Jailbreaks" the TV set-top box from such restrictions by installing an open-source media center called Boxee. Currently in limited, invite-only alpha testing, the patch automatically installs itself onto a thumb drive and adds a Boxee button to the main menu of Apple TV. Clicking on Boxee brings you to an interface allowing you to view about 30 types of DRM-free multimedia (e.g., DIVX, AVI, MKZ and BIN) from any computer connected to your network; you can even play multimedia through internet streams (e.g. Hulu and ABC.com videos).

A developer on Tuesday released a patch enabling Apple TV to play practically any DRM-free multimedia file with the insertion of a thumb drive into the box. Normally, Apple TV

Media Server - OpenSource

** Posted using Viigo: Mobile RSS, Sports, Current Events and more ** Windows/Mac/Linux: Is having your entire media collection on tap, ready to stream wherever you may be, too much to ask? Not if you're using Subsonic. Subsonic can be installed on everything from a...

Windows/Mac/Linux/Xbox: What could make the already awesome Xbox Media Center even better? An infusion of eye candy, of course. Read on to see some awesome XBMC skins and learn how to install them.

Customize XBMC with These Five Awesome Skins

Moovida is a free and open source media center that allows you to enjoy all of your music, video and pictures in an awsome interface. Moovida is an all-in-one media player that plays: AVI, mp3, MKV, DivX, MOV, MP4. It runs under windows and linux. Download for free!

media center app

Maximum TV: How to Build a Hulu Desktop + Boxee PC

jak zbudować PC komputer do ogladania TV.

After I bought the Mac mini from my dad (the switcher), I hooked it up to my old, standard-definition TV. The Mac mini Media Center -- M³C for short -- was born.

"First, let me start by saying that my entertainment setup isn't exactly complicated. I don't have a fancy surround sound system, and I don't have a Blu-Ray or other high-definition DVD player. In fact -- as I mentioned before -- my goal was simplifying my television setup to eliminate a lot of the extras that I really don't need. That said, the M³C consists of four major components...."

"First, let me start by saying that my entertainment setup isn't exactly complicated. I don't have a fancy surround sound system, and I don't have a Blu-Ray or other high-definition DVD player. In fact -- as I mentioned before -- my goal was simplifying my television setup to eliminate a lot of the extras that I really don't need. That said, the M³C consists of four major components...."

Pundits may argue that the modern day HTPC has no place in the modern day living room, but we disagree. In fact, with the economy still struggling to regain its swagger, folks are staying in and finding entertainment at home more than ever. It's that truth that spurred us to start this here project: building a fully capable, Blu-ray and TV tuner-equipped HTPC for less than a grand. And lo and behold, we made it happen. If you're interested in seeing exactly how we pieced together a mighty fine entertainment box for less than the starting price of most pre-configured systems, hop on past the break with your notepad open. If you'll recall, we did a similar piece on HTPC building way back in early 2006. A format war and a digital TV transition later, we figured it was finally time to issue a revised edition. With disposable income becoming an increasingly rare commodity, we put a soft $1,000 cap on our model rig, and we did our darnedest to construct a solid, potent media PC that could

How-to: Media center

It should go without saying that in order for this to work you'll need a pretty new computer running either Windows Vista Premium (or higher) or Windows 7 as well as an ATI Digital Cable Tuner (DCT). The first requirement you probably already have, but the second can be a bit more difficult. Both the internal and external version of the DCT have the same functionality with the only real difference being where it is mounted. Some prefer the external since it is easier to swap out and doesn't require opening the case to install, while others will do just about anything to eliminate yet another box with a wall wart from their setup. We will warn you if you're leaning towards the internal though, it is pretty big and puts off some heat. So to accommodate the internal version you're going to need a decent size case as well as an internal USB port and free floppy power plug. Not for everyone

Acer AspireRevo

You won't find a better media center than the open-source XBMC, but most people don't have the space or desire to plug a noisy PC into their TV. Instead, I converted a cheap nettop into a standalone XBMC set-top box. Here's how.

ers in pretty close detail one method for putting together a dedicated, quiet XBMC media center without breaking the bank, but it's certainly not your only option. If you've gone down this road before, offer your tips and suggestions in the comments. For my part: I'm com

TheTVDB.com

We give a lot of attention to XBMC here, and with just cause. It's an open-source, cross-platform, highly-customizable media center solution that outperforms just about every commercial option out there. Here's how you can make it even better.

Media center tools

good hacks

was

Bra backup lösning.

How to turn an old PC into a media centre Play media on your TV with an old PC and XBMC : TechRadar UK

is a Media Center application. Featuring a simple user interface, Enna is based on the powerful Enlightenment Foundations Libraries (EFL) as for its graphical user interface and GeeXboX libraries as for multimedia playback and information retrieval.

Elisa

"[T]ech-savvy Mac types have embraced the Mac mini as the ultimate media center for obvious reasons: This Mac sits elegantly and inconspicuously beneath or beside an HDTV and links up to a flat panel with no fuss. Keep in mind an adapter is required for use with a TV HDMI port, given that the Mac has mini DisplayPort and DVI ports. After hearing about Mac mini media-center uses for years, I finally decided to give it a go. This blew my mind. Why didn't I try this sooner? My Apple loaner paired up spectacularly with a 52-inch Sharp Aquos LC-52D65U LCD HDTV. This opened up all kinds of possibilities. For starters, I could fire up a Web browser and watch TV shows or movies via video-streaming sites. Along with the popular Hulu, these include Comcast's Fancast and the TV networks' own streaming-video sites (including full episodes for many popular programs)."

I love messing with settings and geeky file-sharing programs. My spouse doesn't, but digs Hulu and appreciates free. So I set up a media center that satisfies my geek cravings but is actually easy-to-use for non-nerds. Here's what I pieced together.

Set Up a Geeky Media Center that Non-Geeks Can Actually Use - Media Center - Lifehacker

Media centers like XBMC and Boxee are excellent tools for playing local media on your big screen, but many new (and even experienced) users run into one big stumbling block: How do you get them to correctly identify your media? Here's how.

to get around to doing but find time for. Ever since I switched from using the classic Xbox to using a PC running XBMC, I missed the games. My old Xbox was set up with emulators and I had

So does this mean I can ditch my Windows Media Center? Please tell me it means I can ditch my Windows Media Center.

XBMC is an award winning media center for Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, Apple TV and Xbox. The ultimate hub for all your media.

XBMC is award winning media center for Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, Apple TV and Xbox. The ultimate hub for all your media.

Of course, the whole point of this is to turn your media center into a game console—you don't want to sit and play games on your TV with a keyboard (or maybe you do, in which case you can skip this section). If you have a gamepad already, you can configure that—if not, though, I highly recommend an Xbox 360 controller, which is USB and has drivers available for Windows direct from Microsoft. For Mac and Linux users, I know this third party driver worked well on my Mac in the past, and the xpad kernel driver or this third party Linux driver should work in Linux (though I have not tested either myself).

A guide on playing roms through xmbc

We love XBMC media centers for watching movies and TV, but if you like video games, they can do so much more. With a simple plug-in, some configuration, and a USB gamepad, you can play video games straight from your set-top box.

RT @deliciouspb: Top 10 Hulu Hacks and Power User Tips http://bit.ly/bRSFgf

Hulu has made your computer into a viable TV viewing alternative, and Hulu Plus might make it a real replacement. In celebration of all-things streaming and (mostly) free, here are our best Hulu hacks—downloading, watching anywhere, and advanced searching included.

RT @deliciouspb: Top 10 Hulu Hacks and Power User Tips http://bit.ly/bRSFgf

We've featured a fully automated media center set-up before, but Lifehacker reader Andre has improved on these methods, allowing you to download torrents to your media center while still seeding them to others. The basis for this guide was this fantastic guide written by Alex Ward. Kudos for alerting me to the existence of The Episode Downloader and The Renamer which integral to this setup. Following the instructions in the guide above, however, does not allow you to continue seeding a new torrent. The Renamer moves the file into a new location. By following this guide it will be possible to continue seeding your torrents for as long as you like while still getting your files added to the media centre as soon as they become available. This guide is written with Windows users in mind. It should be relatively simple to adapt for other operating systems. Also, the XBMC installation described here is a stand-alone Linux version.

We've featured a fully automated media center set-up before, but Lifehacker reader Andre has improved on these methods, allowing you to download torrents to your media center while still seeding them to others.