Coty's Weblog

Thinking About Tomorrow

Well, Apple is supposed to announce "fun new products" tomorrow. I really have no idea what it will be, but here's what I've been thinking I'd like:

• Expanded network TV content
• Feature-length movie content
• Intel-based Mac mini to store and play said content
• Video-capable AirPort Extreme to distribute said content

Goodness knows I love my TiVo(s), but if iTMS would add The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm, then I think I could be done with cable and TiVo. Oh, and I'd need The Daily Show and Colbert Report. At that point, I'd have all the shows I want, and I think I could do it for less than I'm paying for cable.

GoToTiVo Coming!

PVRblog reports that TiVo 7.2 will allow PC to TiVo transfer or GoToTiVo as I've referred to it previously.

I cannot wait, but apparently I will have to. Alas, I don't have 7.2, yet. When it does get here, I will be uploading video like a madman. I wonder how many Thomas the Tank Engine videos will fit on an 80-hour TiVo. (You'd need a Thomas-obsessed toddler to understand.) I might have to upgrade.

Listening to AvH and Udell Talk About TiVo HME

Though I've blogged about TiVo a good bit, including a post about their Strangberry acquisition, I failed to blog about the release of the fruits (sorry) of that acquisition: TiVo's Home Media Engine. That was not at all because I wasn't excited about its release. I downloaded the HME SDK shortly after it came out and have hacked around in it a bit. (Nothing much, but some useful hacks for my use.) It is cool, and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes from developers more dedicated than I.

Anyway, I've also had a podcast of an interview between Arthur van Hoff and John Udell on HME in my queue for a long time. I'm listening to it now, and it is pretty informative. I've learned are that what I called "GoToTiVo" TiVo calls "TiVoToComeBack". I like my name better. I also found it interesting that AvH mentions Google Video Search as something that could be integrated with TiVo via HME. One of my first thoughts with GVS was how nice it would be to be able to link from GVS results to video that I might have on my TiVo. Looks as if I might get that.

Jon makes a good effort at pressing AvH on going beyond what he is comfortable revealing. Good stuff.

More BG Fans

Perusing my feeds today, I found two more Battlestar Galactica fans. Drunkenbatman confesses to being a fanboy after reading Brent’s post. He also points to the Battlestar Galactica blog. Cedric also notes his appreciation of the series. It appears that he did what I’m doing and downloaded episodes in advance of their airing on SciFi, as he's already finished the first season. I have 11-13 downloading in Azureus as I type. I had been using the BitTorrent client for MacOS X until just now, but it suddenly quit handling torrents. It would begin processing and then just stop. Anyway, Azureus looks pretty good—particularly for a Java program. I liked that the BitTorrent client was using PyObjC, but that can’t make up for not working.

Guilty Pleasures

Well, I outed myself in my previous post. Now it appears Brent is hooked, too.

The Kindness of Strangers

I’d like to thank everyone out there who has been digitizing The Daily Show and the new Battlestar Galactica. I’ve been downloading via BitTorrent some episodes that I’d missed to watch while I’m recuperating from knee surgery. (Arthroscopic—not a big deal.) We don’t have a TV in the bedroom, but I do have my PowerBook. If I had Windows machines at home, I could use TiVoToGo™, but I don’t, and I’m pretty sure that is not a job for VirtualPC. Since TiVo’s chairman is apparently a Mac fan, I hope I will have that option in the not too distant future.

Sports Night [lemonodor]

If I were a cam whore I'd have the Sports Night DVD set on my wish list.... [lemonodor]

Not a "cam whore", but I think I might put it on my list anyway. I don't watch sports to any real extent, and I certainly don't watch sports shows, but I love Sports Night. What is most striking to me about this show is that I cannot watch it in the background. The dialog is non-stop and demands your attention. If you didn't catch this when it was on network TV--and few (including myself) did--you should really try to catch it via recordings or on Comedy Central.

TiVo Series 2

We finally got a TiVo Series 2 a couple of days ago. We've had a Series 1 for several years and have loved it. I've been wanting the Series 2 and the $50 price break through the end of July pushed us to finally upgrade. I'm pretty happy with the purchase. I don't think I'd have bothered if I hadn't wanted the Home Media Option so much. I have to say I'm pretty pleased with that, too. It was easy to set up once the upgraded software was downloaded to my TiVo. (TiVo really needs to get the newest software out into the channel. I guess inventory delays that, but it makes for a bit of a disappointment when you have to wait.) I downloaded the TiVo Desktop for my Mac and started sharing music from iTunes and photos from iPhoto in no time. I really like being able to put photos on the TV so easily. I've attached my TiBook to the TV via S-Video, but this is much nicer. iTunes sharing is nice, as well, and I was surprised to find that TiVo will even stream continuous radio streams. I had the KCRW stream configured as a playlist and TiVo just picked it right up. Cool.

Children Of Dune Tonight

JQuazar writes "Time to get to that Tivo and select 'pick programs to record,' Children of Dune starts Sunday on the SciFi channel!" Waiting...patiently... [Slashdot]

Done. Had to override Alias. Need second Tivo.