RebrandSoftware - Slashdot User

Comment Boxee/Netflix/HDHomerun (Score 1) 304

by RebrandSoftware on Saturday March 27, 2010 @01:17AM (#31637080) Attached to: What's the Best Way To Get Web Content To My TV?

I can't believe I'm not seeing more Boxee setups. I have had mine running great for a few months now, next month it will pay for itself.

Between Boxee's TV shows, my HD tuners recording over the air, and Netflix Streaming there isn't a single show I used to get via cable that I can't watch directly through Boxee now. In addition, there's cool stuff I've found through Boxee like EarthTouch and Revision3.

Here is the setup:

HD antenna in my upstairs bedroom, using the existing coaxial in my house to get the signal to the basement ($40)
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT1650-Digital-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B0027FGW3K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269666138&sr=8-2

HDHomerun network capture card ($120)
http://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-HDHR-US-Definition-Television/dp/B0010Y414Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269666182&sr=1-1

GB-PVR on a Windows machine or MythTV on Linux/Mac to record up to two shows at once (free)

1 TB networked USB drive to store recorded/burned/downloaded shows/movies ($100)
http://www.amazon.com/Iomega-Prestige-Desktop-External-34275/dp/B001D7REJ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269666279&sr=1-1

Existing windows/mac/linux box to run Boxee on (free to cheap). I found it pretty simple to hook up my Macbook Pro but am looking forward to the Boxee Box coming out soon.

If you have an iphone/touch you can use it as a networked controller for Boxee, which is cool and seems to impress people. Having pandora on the TV is also really nice. Since I'm running on the Macbook I can pick up and move it upstairs at any time, and the whole system is available from any networked computer in our house with Boxee installed. And to top it all off I can get live HD TV on any of those computers because the HD Homerun is networked!

Anyway it's ****ing awesome. : )

All this for $260 and starting next month I will be saving approximately $60/month on cable bills.

Comment Re:Just in case... (Score 1) 371

by RebrandSoftware on Monday March 22, 2010 @12:06AM (#31563440) Attached to: If ET Calls, Who Speaks For Humanity?

Is there any particular reason an alien species would be any nicer to other species than we are to other species?

I hope that when we reach the level of intelligence necessary to travel to other inhabited worlds we will have, in the process of obtaining that intelligence, learned that we should respect other species and do everything possible to prevent suffering in all living creatures.

The Murky Origins of Zork's Name 70

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday January 09, 2010 @11:44PM from the murky-enough-for-a-grue dept.

mjn writes "Computational media researcher Nick Montfort traces the murky origins of Zork's name. It's well known that the word was used in MIT hacker jargon around that time, but how did it get there? Candidates are the term 'zorch' from late 1950s DIY electronics slang, the use of the term as a placeholder in some early 1970s textbooks, the typo a QWERTY user would get if he typed 'work' on an AZERTY keyboard, and several uses in obscure sci-fi. No solid answers so far, though, as there are problems with many of the possible explanations that would have made MIT hackers unlikely to have run across them at the right time."

Sharp Rise In Jailing of Online Journalists; Iran May Just Kill Them 233

Posted by timothy on Tuesday December 08, 2009 @10:20AM from the your-ethics-may-vary dept.

bckspc writes "The Committee to Protect Journalists has published their annual census of journalists in prison. Of the 136 reporters in prison around the world on December 1, 'At least 68 bloggers, Web-based reporters, and online editors are imprisoned, constituting half of all journalists now in jail.' Print was next with 51 cases. Also, 'Freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent of all journalists jailed worldwide, a dramatic recent increase that reflects the evolution of the global news business.' China, Iran, Cuba, Eritrea, and Burma were the top 5 jailers of journalists." rmdstudio writes, too, with word that after the last few days' protest there, largely organized online, the government of Iran is considering the death penalty for bloggers and webmasters whose reports offend it.

Comment Re:Backfire on PETA (Score 1) 820

by RebrandSoftware on Tuesday December 01, 2009 @01:10AM (#30279566) Attached to: Scientists Create Artificial Meat

It might be nice to have a pet cow. You could keep it in your new surplus-land backyard with your pet chickens that lay eggs.

Comment Amazon Ditched DRM? (Score 1) 200

by RebrandSoftware on Saturday June 09, 2007 @01:17PM (#19451527) Attached to: Anti-DRM Activists Take On the BBC

Then why the Amazon Unbox DRM on my Tivo? I "rent" a movie, it's downloaded to my Tivo automatically. I have 30 days to watch it before it's deleted from my Tivo. Once I start watching it, I have to finish within 24 hours or it's deleted from my Tivo. Those stingy rules are the reason I don't rent from Amazon Unbox other than my initial test.

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