mceNetCAM - New add-in review on the wiki

If you have IP cameras and would like to view and control them from within Media Center, take a look at the mceNetCAM add-in.

See the mceNetCAM wiki page here for more details and screen shots.

Twitter comes to TunerFree MCE

I can’t say I’m a big fan of Twitter, I could never really see the point of it, but I am a big fan of TunerFree MCE and I know allot of you are also addicted to Twitter, put the two together and you can now tweet to all your followers what you have been watching in TunerFree MCE !

Setup is easy you just go in to the Preferences in TunerFree MCE, enter your Twitter username click on a button on a webpage that opens up and then click on another button inside TunerFree MCE and your done!

You will then get a new Twitter  icon on the TunerFree MCE start page.

 

Twitter webpage

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, Media Center, Story, Twitter, TunerFree MCE

Clubhouse – Windows Community website

Check out the new Microsoft Clubhouse Windows community website, you can take a look at our Media Center related posts that are on there from this page.

The text below is from the Clubhouse website.

Clubhouse Purpose:-

“Let’s keep it simple. We’re here to help others learn how to creatively use Windows. The Clubhouse is all about sharing content and ideas. Showing what you do best. Voicing your opinions. Being an active member in a community that will select the best content for display on the Windows Vista and Windows Live sites.”

Clubhouse Content:-

“Sharing how Windows works in your life — that's what the Clubhouse is all about. Know any “secrets” that help you organize your day-to-day and stay connected? Have you discovered some cool ways to share memories with family and friends? How about making it easy to work — or play — from anywhere? We want to hear all about them!

• You could:
  • Tell us a story of what you did and why — a story that may inspire others to give it a try!
  • Share your tips on using a certain feature or a shortcut you've figured out.
  • Show off your skills by answering the challenge with great new content. “

200x200 Low-res album artwork still not fixed? - Build 7077

I've been looking at the album artwork issue again in Windows 7 build 7077 and as far as I can work out things are still the same.

Although there appears to be a bit of good news with what seems to be a bug fix in 7MC, in regards to all tracks on a single album now showing the album cover.

For the full details see this thread, I go in to quite a bit of detail so you might want to look here for the summary.

Are you seeing the same results?

Take Caution when upgrading WIN7 BUILD 7077

I recommend you take caution before upgrading to Windows 7 build 7077. Ensure you have a full back up of your data files.

I upgraded build 7022 t0 7068 with no problems and then I upgraded to build 7077 and I found that all the file security permissions on my D: data drive had been stripped off and corrupted rendering my system unusable.

See here.

vmcPlayIt Media Center add-in for PlayOn

I saw PlayOn a good while ago now, it’s a UPnP media streamer for the XBOX 360, PS3 and HP Media Smart TV’s.

You can get content such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon VOD, CBS, You Tube, CNN, ESPN and with PlayOn add-ins more content is available such as from Revision 3.

I thought this was going to be a great solution and I emailed the PlayOn developers at the time asking if they had any plans for a Media Center add-in as using the XBOX 360 dashboard didn’t really appeal to me that much. The answer I got back was no they were not going to be writing a Media Center add-in for PlayOn. So I was a little disappointed and then forgot about PlayOn.

However I saw yesterday on TGB on a thread that a chap called Eric is developing a PlayOn add-in for the Media Center UI so my interest in this was immediately sparked back up again. The add-in is called vmcPlayIt which is a free bit of software. PlayOn is not free however but you can tryout their trial for 2 weeks and have a play around with it.

Let me know how you get on with the PlayOn and vmcPlayIt add-in?

Clubhouse Tags: Clubhouse, media center, story, vmcPlayIt, PlayOn

I'm amazed it happened considering, but say hello to your new Media Center MVP !

I mentioned last month I think, that I had been nominated for a Media Center MVP, Most Valuable Professional award from Microsoft. Not sure who nominated me other than it was an existing MVP, which I know a few.

I was informed yesterday that I have been granted MVP status as a result of my contributions to the Media Center community, which is normally just me moaning things aren't working as I want them too, to be honest hehe! But obviously it's not gone un-noticed.

But it's a great honour with less than 5000 MVP's across the world in the various Microsoft fields of expertise, it's quite an exclusive club!

So what does this mean? I'm not too sure right now, I get a shiny new MVP badge, free subscriptions to TechNet or MSDN an account manger at MS and other perks which I've yet to explore.

But I really hope I can voice my and more importantly your concerns directly to MS in some fashion and that as a so called "community leader" I can influence MS more than I might have been able to in the past. Which will be good for all of us Media Center enthusiasts as we all want pretty much the same things at the end of the day!

On a more personal note, I'm moving in to the Custom Installer game at the moment, having just started a new consultancy job on Koh Samui , Thailand with a Smart Home company called Techworx, who I've got a feeling are going to become the leading Media Center solutions company in South East Asia!

Hence the lack of my blog posts recently, but it's a dream job for me on a paradise island, so I'm having a turn of good luck! And I am really enjoying the challenge. I am also hoping I can bring you more information on the inside track from the other side of the fence that as enthusiasts we don't really get to see properly, but only read about in snapshots, I hoping to open some of that up if I can.

Some of the software I've been wanting to get my hands on like Casa Tunes and Autonomic Controls Mirage and Poly Tunes for integrated whole home audio with Media Center. I'm hoping to work on Media Center integration with Home Automation solutions as well.

So my blog posts might not be as often as I want, but I am hoping they will contain more content and insight in to Media Center from a custom installers point of view, bridging over that gap from enthusiast to installer..

OK I'm rambling again..................