The Xbox price drops were a huge secret for us all ;). Of course this means you can get a 360 arcade for a Vista Extender for the cheap price of $199. Don't plan on lots of file format support or DVD streaming, oh and there is that little problem of fan noise. Personally, I do not find the fan noise to be obtrusive while watching TV, though your mileage may vary :).

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File this one under "I'll believe it when I see it", Chris Lanier has the scoop from a post over at The Green Button by Charlie Nilsson an MS employee about Switched Digital Video.

Currently there's no way the Tuner Adapters that TiVo units can use would work with the existing ATI Digital Cable Tuners, so it doesn't really make any sense that we'll have any kind of a quick/short-term solution for SDV.

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Ok lads and lasses.  Time for another update.  In todays edition: choosing a linux distribution.

First let me start out by saying that the Windows Vista portion of my dual boot system is still in tact.  However, due to a few stability issues that I'm having running Mythtv in Windows I thought I would take another stab at my linux installation.  Initially I had installed Fedora 9 64bit but ran into a few problems.  1) There is no 64bit version of Adobe Flash, and 2) I could not get the closed source ATI drivers running.  So then I ran under Fedora 9 32bit for a while.  Here I was able to do everything I wanted to except for the graphics drivers.  After doing a bit of research, I found a page on FedoraForum that explained that the X server used in Fedora 9 is too new?!  They detail instructions on downgrading it to what was used in Fedora 8.  I followed their directions but somewhere along the road something got messed up because after I rebooted and logged in again, I never actually got to the desktop.  It just hung there.

Then I tried Fedora 8 but it didn't see my hard drive.  I don't know if the issue was with the drive (640GB Western Digital) or with the motherboard (lack of support?).  But for whatever reason, it said that I had no media to install on.

The next OS that I tried was Cent OS 5.1.  CentOS stands for Community Enterprise Linux and is the open source version of Redhat.  You can read John's CentOS installation guides here, here and here.  It basically installs the same way that Fedora does since both are done by Redhat.  Installation went smoothly but it was immediately apparent to me that CentOS did not have drivers built in for my ethernet port.  Not wanting to spend lots of time downloading them on another system and moving them over manually, I decided to move onto something else.  Even if ethernet was fixed, who knew what issues I'd run into with video.

The next OS I thought I would try is Ubuntu.  Specifically version 8.04.1 AMD64, which is the most recent version available at the time of this writing.  It is worth noting that version 8.10 is scheduled to be released in the next month or two I believe.  I decided to go with this distribution because it is getting more and more popular with beginners and advanced users alike all the time.  Installation was actually quite simple (to the extent that I didn't see a spot where you could customize which software packages were installed).  Pretty much everything worked for me right away with the exception of flash.  As noted above, flash isn't available for 64bit Linux.  As soon as installation finished and I was at the desktop I got a message bubble saying that there were proprietary drivers available for my hardware.  When I clicked on it, it asked if I wanted to use the ATI closed source drivers, which is why I went through this all in the first place, and after checking the box it downloaded the drivers and I was off.  However, there was still that issue of Adobe Flash.

So as I write this I am downloading Ubuntu 8.04.1 Desktop 386, which is the 32bit version of Ubuntu.  I fully expect that I will have the same simple installation experience with it and that all of my hardware will just work.  Because of this, and because this is my first time working with Ubuntu, I intend to write up a beginning guide for the rest of you on installing Ubuntu and the steps that I had to take to get everything working with Mythtv (OS installation, driver setup, mythtv installation, etc).  Look for it in the coming month.  And if I don't publish something soon, please keep bugging me about it until I do.

As always, feel free to drop a line in the forums about this or anything else.

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ArcSoft's Upscaling Technology, SimHD, Is Being Demonstrated at NVISION 2008

FREMONT, Calif.--(Business Wire)--

ArcSoft, Inc. announced today that ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre, its universal multimedia player, now supports NVIDIA CUDA which provides DVD upscaling through Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Devising its SimHD post processing technology with NVIDIA CUDA, ArcSoft is accelerating TotalMedia Theatre's DVD upscale performance on GPUs to deliver viewers a close-to-HD video from the standard definition multimedia files and DVDs, offering them a sharper and more vivid picture in real time. "The newly released, CUDA-powered SimHD technology is available in TotalMedia Theatre to allow viewers to obtain a HD-like viewing experience from not only DVDs, but also other standard definition multimedia files," said George Tang, ArcSoft Vice President and General Manager of Video and Home Entertainment Group. "We are pleased to be partnering with NVIDIA to deliver excellence in high-definition video on the PC." "CUDA provides our software partners an environment to develop high-level applications utilizing NVIDIA GPU accelerations," said Patrick Beaulieu, NVIDIA's Product Marketing Manager, Multimedia Group. "ArcSoft SimHD technology in TotalMedia Theatre sets a great example which harnesses the power of NVIDIA GPUs for much-enhanced video processing." TotalMedia Theatre utilizes general purpose GPUs (GPGPU) to provide sufficient power for intensive post processing technology such as SimHD. The application is compatible for use with NVIDIA GeForce 8 and 9 series GPUs. ArcSoft will continue working to deploy other technologies on NVIDIA CUDA. ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre with SimHD technology will be available in Q4, 2008. For a live demonstration, visit NVIDIA (booth 220) at NVISION 08, taking place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in downtown San Jose, CA. For more information about the product, please visit here.

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One of the greatest selling points you will hear in regard to Vista CableCard OEM PCs is that "It will save you money", because you will not have to rent whatever set-top-box your cable provider deems a requirement to view digital and HD channels. And originally, it was a valid point and one which really helped validate the necessity of the FCC's support of something which would reduce the ridiculous monopoly which cable companies had on how you can watch television.

I wonder if what's become of the situation is what the FCC and the other Consumer Fair Rights groups had in mind when they came up with the idea. Apparently, the Cable Companies (for this case, I will use Comcast, but have also been told that Time Warner shares this 'fun' habit) have taken it upon themselves to deem that the charge for the cable cards alone are not substantial enough--most likely as they are simply not making enough money out of the deal. Having to provide a service without forcing a consumer to rent their box?! ABSURD!

I will be the first to admit, the idea of being able to use my Media Center with high definition cable was the number one reason I chose to go with Cable Card. But a very close second was the cost savings--yes, I know I had to purchase an OEM system, but I was going to anyway, so it was a wash for me. Imagine my shock when I looked at my cable bill, which had then jumped from $70 or so to the near $90 range, and found out that the cable cards were the culprit! I am in the San Jose - Bay Area and am forced into Comcast San Jose. When I initially setup Cablecard, my understanding was that I would be charged $1.79 per card. Not free, but hey, not nearly as bad as paying $8-10 for a set-top box with a hideous user interface and response time. After looking at my bill however, it appears that is simply not true...

Comcast, in their shrewd way, have apparently seen fit to start charging me an ADDITIONAL $6.99 fee PER CABLECARD! And yes, that is separate than the already charged $1.79 each. After speaking to 3 customer service reps and 2 managers, I got a variety of excuses and responses as to why they HAVE to charge me the outrageous $6.99, stating on the bill it is for a "Digital Addon Outlet." Even when I explained this is for a single Media Center PC and that they have not installed any other outlet, they refused to budge. Here's the kicker--when I posed the question to them of how much a Set-top-box rental costs, they replied, "$6.99," and even admitted that yes, it would be cheaper to go with one of THEIR set-top-boxes instead of Cablecards, stating, that the only reason he knows why anyone would go Cablecard would be to "hang their TV on the wall."

I feel terrible writing this, as I really love the technology but there is already significant negative publicity surrounding cable card--with the lack of inexpensive boxes, to the terrifying thought of Switched Digital Video--but I had to bring this out into the open as I think it's an absolute atrocity of the idea the FCC started which was wonderful for the consumer. In the end, at least for now, it seems Comcast and other cable companies will continue to gouge you in every way, shape or form, until you resign to the fees and services they want you to use.

If this outrages you half as much as much it did me, I IMPLORE YOU to GET INVOLVED!! Write your cable company, write to the Consumerist and other Consumer Advocacy Groups. Digg this and any similar articles...and most importantly, let your WALLET do the talking! I know I will be, and there is power in numbers, and if enough Consumers speak up about this atrocity then that is how things can change.

EDIT 8/27

I wanted to update as a lot of people have replied with some great information. The main item of point, was pointing me to the Comcast FAQ which states some interesting facts, which basically lead me to believe I shouldn't be charged more than $2.05 per card. I took their advice and spoke to yet another CSR & their Supervisor, and pointed out the above FAQ, and to remind them that all my cards were on a single MCE computer.

Here's the kicker--she had no problem removing the $6.99 charge off my account, but then the Comcast system AUTOMATICALLY DISABLED the Cablecard it was associated with!! So even if a CSR wanted to uphold what Comcast should be doing, the system has now been designed to prevent them from doing so!

digg this article!

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More then a few of you guys and gals have 360s for your extender, so I figured this Lian Li's XB01 Xbox 360 case might be worth a look. It surely is a tad expensive, but when you consider the significant other fact, it maybe worth the money.

While in extender mode, I don't find the noise over bearing. Of course, my cable box is just as loud and hot so my comparisons are probably a little off. 

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nMedia HTPCKB Keyboard and Remote Everyone runs into a time eventually when a remote just isn't enough to control your HTPC, but you don't want to clutter things up with mouse and keyboard cables.  Read on to see if nMediaPC's most recent innovation will fit your needs.

INTRODUCTION

nMedia was founded in 2004 with a goal to "create future home entertainment PC systems that are optimal for today's consumer electronic gear" and to "transform the total home theater experience by intelligently converging digital entertainment AV functions, computer and networking technologies." This vision of convergence of entertainment AV functions closely match the philosophy of an HTPC.  They create necessary devices that blend in well with todays lifestyles. Today, they have brought us the nMedia HTPCKB keyboard and remote combination for review.

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If you are interested in running email from your server, you should check out the New England Digital Media User Group's live meeting on Ustream. They will fill you in on all the good information including anti-spam, webmail and all that other fun stuff.

The Ustream page is here.

The New England group page is here.

They have been behind some recent efforts to get training in WHS and Media Center out to the community.

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TV tuner evolution has finally crept to the point where we have combo cards that can tune unencrypted QAM and analog cable at the same time. So why would AVerMedia introduce a hybrid software encoding TV card onto the market? Let's see if this card, associated features, and price point make sense for the HTPC market of today.

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SageTV keeps the development train moving forward with their release of SageTV 6.4. This is the software you want if you want to use Hauppauge's new HD-PVR (record HD from component source and encode it to H.264). Whats new in 6.4? Look below for your answer.

SageTV 6.4 announcement thread

-Support for the Hauppauge HD PVR (Official on Windows, Experimental on Linux)
-Automatic STVI Generation in the SageTV Studio
-EXIF metadata/thumbnail support for JPEGs
-new file system & network browser
-H.264 videos from YouTube
-High definition photo display on the STX-HD100
-File transfers to/from Placeshifter clients
-editing of aspect ratios on the fly for the STX-HD100
-lots of bugs fixes & performance enhancements

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