Leinninger.com

After far to long, I’ve finally added a new article. I’ve made up for my procrastination with a doozie. It’s a 4 part piece detailing the process of evaluating a few home media center options. I’ll post each section as I complete the editing and layout… most likely a day or 2 apart.

Thanksgiving has come and gone, as has the day-after-Thanksgiving shop-o-thon. Gina and I had dinner with my family at my Aunt Sharon’s house. Nice, simple, and relaxing… not to mention the good eats. Michigan delivered a little snow. Not enough to complicate travel, just enough to remind us that we are, in fact, still in Michigan. Sigh.

Gina has been putting in 12-18 hour days finishing her doctoral thesis. She is completing her graduate research in neuroscience at U of M. I’m sure she’s looking forward to getting her defense behind her and continuing with her career. I’ve always been fascinated with the microscope imagery she captures. In fact, I’ve decided to use these images as the basis for my next (and hopefully final) painting project at Wayne State.

- Duane

Last night I successfully installed and configured MythTV using a NVidia card (much easier than ATI). First off, I’ll say it purty. It is by far the most attractive Linux GUI I’ve yet encountered. The installation was not difficult, but I would recommend that novice Linux users read the instructions in entirety 3 times before beginning the installation.

That said, I’ll cut straight to my 1 word review: immature. The feature set is rich (TV, Program Guide, PVR, DVD player, music player, online tools, CD/DVD burning, and more). But none of it functioned at a “production” level. Linux fans would argue that ” it’s not production software.” Fair enough. But I’m looking for a production solution. Something that just plain works. MythTV v4r5 is far less complete than the first beta release of Mac OS X. It’s a good hobbiest’s solution, not a reliable appliance.

Things that would have swayed my opinion? How about the ability to control the GUI with a mouse (especially the music playlists)? (I know… it’s designed for a remote/keyboard, but still…) How about a DVD player with a useable interface? How about a video player that I don’t have to tweak command line settings for different file types? These are all things that can be adjusted, tweaked, and customized as MythTV is simply a frontend to a set of well-established Linux multimedia tools.

Since Tivo has implemented fast-forward ads and still has a monthly fee while lacking a lot of major features and MythTV has proven to lack stability and polish, it looks as though I will be using Windows MCE… at least for the time being. I have decided, however, to keep my options open by using hardware compatible with both MCE and MythTV.

- Duane

I’ve been using computer-based tv (and recording it) since 1996. Yeah, I know, worship me for being so ahead of the trend. I started with an Xclaim TV on my Power Mac 7500, then a bt878-based PCI card in a Windows PC (using MS Web TV for listings). I moved on to an EyeTV about 2 years ago (using Watson for my TV listings/program guide). Well, Watson is no longer available, so automated recording is little more difficult than I like… not to mention the hassle of running into my home office to record something.

I’ve been thinking about Tivo, MythTV, and Windows MCE for a while now. I’ve seen Tivo in action at George and Jenny’s and Windows MCE at the house of Lloyd. I should have MythTV up and running tonight on some surplus hardware.

Considering that Tivo would cost $100-$200 after rebate + monthly subscription fees, and MCE is ~$130 for the software (plus hefty hardware requirements), Myth is looking very tempting. Not to mention, KnoppMyth makes it pretty idiot proof. So, it’s a deathmatch: MCE vs. MythTV. More to come…

- Duane

A handful of people left my workplace in a relatively short time span. Never before have we experienced such a group exodus from our team. (Everyone left on good terms, for their own, personal reasons.) After we dealt with that distraction, we were told that a new business direction, set in motion over a year ago, would be put on hold pending government review. Rather than upset the environment and fill everyone with fear and doubt, this has proven to bring everyone together. Teammates that were working on the “new business direction” are starting to work with other teammates with no ill-will related to 18 months of work being put on hold. I’m enjoying the exposure to a 1/2 dozen different points of view and an impressive collection of expertise and experience.

I code. I’m a fair mix of frontend development and middle-end (php/xslt) skills. I work towards web standards and I try to keep up on the latest news and developments. I’ll be tacking my first “big” object-based project at work. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve developed objects and classes in php before, but I’ve never built a platform that will be built upon over and over. I’m looking forward to the experience.

At the same time, several co-developers in my office have begun to work with .NET. That’s cool and all, but between the IDE licensing, training, books, production hardware, and OS licensing, it’s a relatively large investment. (Although MS does a great job of spreading out the cost over time.) There are some nice bait and switch tricks, as well as “upgrades” requiring new IDEs. I have to give it to MS. They know how to get you hooked. Then you spend a little money. You want the “integration features,” so you spend a little more. It doesn’t quite do what you want, but you’re at the point where you either scrap the MS way (effectively wasting the time, money, and effort invested), or move forward into an “enterprise agreement.” This is where MS makes the money. Support contracts, software packages, “free upgrades” (as long as they don’t change the packages they offer… which they do often). At this point, you have locked yourself into the universe of MS. Going forward it will always seem easier to buy a boxed solution from them. But, each solution is designed to leave you wanting… needing a little more.

In other news, I will be crewing for Glenn (my father-in-law) while he competes at Nelson Ledges this weekend. As I understand, the facilities are quite “rustic”. This should prove to be interesting.

- Duane