Messages

16

Users / Re: Cell Phone, Bluetooth and Asterisk? Anyone Done it?

« on: December 09, 2010, 12:57:21 am »

Now, THAT is cool 

I wonder if you could still use the Mobile as an Orbiter - as long as you are in range of an MD for bluetooth connectivity. I wonder if it'd handle moving from one BT device to another....

More things to play with

17

Feature requests & roadmap / Re: Queue and play options in media browser

« on: December 08, 2010, 03:20:09 pm »

I think it would be a good idea to have a "report" option on comment pages so we dont have to pm a moderator everytime someone added a stupid comment or an inappropriate comment

Err, so the link "report to moderator" doesn't work for you?

And also an "edit" and "delete" option tooonly for your own comments, dont know how many times i have made a mistake writing a comment and there is nothing you can do about it.

At the end of your posts is an icon that looks like a notepad and pen. It lets you edit your posts. Then there's the icon that says "Remove".....

Sorry, I don't want this to seem inappropriate (and sorry, Pos that it's waaaay off the OP's topic) but honestly, Mak, averything you suggest is already there 

18

Feature requests & roadmap / Re: Queue and play options in media browser

« on: December 07, 2010, 05:22:37 pm »

Pos, Thom, J (and everyone else!)

Firstly, I also don't want a flame war. My original posting was on-topic and meant to be constructive and in no way do I want to offend anyone! I apologise that my latter comment has taken the thread on a different tack and, like I said, if that needs further discussion, then a new thread is needed.

Thom, your work here is legendary and much appreciated by everyone. No one is perfect, though, and proper discussion is both healthy and valuable.

J, whilst I sympathise to a certain extent with your viewpoint, you come across as very aggressive! Please don't use my comments in order to promote your stance in this way, or to instigate a flame war!

Pos, Is this a new direction for Forum Admin? I have seen other threads become far more off-topic and out of line  (and get way with it). I would welcome stricter moderation as long as it isn't at the expense of free-speech! If that earns me a ban, well, so be it.

Sambuca, your suggestion seems to have provoked some debate. If you have some spare dev capacity, I think the consensus is that there are more productive areas that this could be utilized

19

Feature requests & roadmap / Re: Queue and play options in media browser

« on: December 07, 2010, 04:35:50 pm »

Thom,

Good points, well made. Certainly there is no intent by me to make more work for you (or anyone else!). Sambuca threw a suggestion out there which, I assume, he was planning on implementing. I was trying to suggest a third "compromise" way to keep everyone happy.

Trust me, having seen the way my wife, in particular, interacts with media (especially music) the queue is most definitely the wrong answer for her (and an awful lot of other people I know!!) Often, she listens to a track half way through (or thereabouts) and then selects something new. The kids are even worse! Their boredom thresholds are so low that I honestly don't know why modern artists even bother writing tracks that last longer than 30 seconds! (Gone are the days of such wonders of Hey Jude and Bohemian Rhapsody being popular with the "yoof" )

Personally, however, I think that this is all candy. Rather than mucking around with the detail of the UI, I think it is MUCH more important to get a released, stable system even at the expense of functionality. I know it's difficult, but if there's going to be any form of dictatorial refusal to add stuff to the system or allow edits, it should be pursuant to a feature freeze pending getting what's there working reliably. I understand why 810 has taken so long and have seen comment from, amongst others, yourself that once 810 is released, the tie to a particular Kubuntu version should be weakened, making future upgrades easier. More recent comments about 1004 seem to contradict this.

Just my 10 cents.

20

Feature requests & roadmap / Re: Queue and play options in media browser

« on: December 07, 2010, 03:53:02 pm »

Thom,

I respect your opinion. I accept you have a large amount of experience in this.

BUT

Apple more or less wrote the original Human Interface Guidelines and they chose the opposite approach. As far as I am concerned, it's about choice. I agree with not forcing people to go through an additional layer every time they play something.

What I am proposing is that there is a choice of 3 default actions (which you would select in WebAdmin).
1. Play it Now (Always) - the Apple approach.
2. If something is already playing, queue it (Always) - your approach.
3. If something is playing, ask.

I have to take offence to your comment "I will not let anyone else implement it". I always thought the philosophy of the project was "he who writes the code, writes the rules", so if someone else implements this, are you saying you will block its submission? This may be a minor issue in itself, but if that is, in fact, what you are saying it represents a very serious shift in the project philosophy. That would deserve, I would respectfully suggest, an open discussion of its own.

21

Feature requests & roadmap / Re: Queue and play options in media browser

« on: December 07, 2010, 03:22:29 pm »

I'd like options.

One of the most successful media UIs around is the iPod/iPad/iPhone. In that, if you select a new media, it starts to play, replacing the existing media if necessary, it doesn't queue.

I'd like to be able to, if there is something already playing, be able to "on the fly" either replace the current content, or add it to a "play this next" type of queue. (Actually, I'm thinking more of the family when I say "I'd like"!!!)

Anyway, I can see that the UI could become cluttered, which would be bad, so why not a third default option, where if something is already playing, a pop-up asks you if you want to queue/play now (or a sub-menu, or whatever).

That way, folks who want it to queue automatically because that's what makes sense to them (Thom et el) get what they want. Folks who like Apple's approach can have everything just play immediately and folks like me (my family) who can't make up their mind what they want are also catered for

22

Users / Re: Sharp Aquos

« on: December 01, 2010, 11:21:58 pm »

It's certainly worth noting! If I had more $$$'s to throw around, I may well go that way (in fact, I may wait a while and see if the cost comes down)

What makes of TV have you tested? The "4-colour" thing seems impressive, but I do wonder if it's a bit of a gimmick and if the sample stuff they show is designed to make it look much better than it actually is.....

23

Users / Re: Sharp Aquos

« on: December 01, 2010, 09:31:43 pm »

Andrew,

I'm looking at this one because of it's price. The one with ethernet (and NetFlix and stuff) is about $800 - $1000 more expensive!! For that price, I can get an MD and hide it behind 

24

Users / Re: Sharp Aquos

« on: November 29, 2010, 04:03:07 am »

PS.  How you liking your transfer over here so far?

We (my family and I) are absolutely LOVING it over here in the US. In our experience, most things are better here and the standard of living is much higher. Obviously, the United States is a huge country compared with England, so it's a real case of YMMV! But here in Indiana (just North of Indianapolis) we're having a great time.

I'd be VERY interested in hooking up with other MCE users in this area. I'll start a new thread soon!

I did suggest some time ago that we install the Google Maps extension to the Wiki. What that allows you to do is to optionally put a tag on your user page that gives your location (either general or specific). You then have a single page that you can visit that shows a Google Maps view of where everyone is. Would be great for folks who want to make contact with others nearby and would also give a feel for the general spread of users around the globe.

25

Users / Re: Sharp Aquos

« on: November 29, 2010, 01:52:57 am »

Thanks, T-S

I'm planning on getting finance for it (at this point in the year, I don't have a spare $1200 kicking around...) If you get a chance to see one and can report back, that would be most helpful

Yeah, I tried a few otehr manuals and none of them would load for me Maybe a temporary glitch, I'll try again later.

26

Users / Re: Sharp Aquos

« on: November 28, 2010, 03:10:03 pm »

Thanks for the responses.

I have another Sharp Aquos and it is excellent, most of them do have RS232 for control.  Mine is plug and play.

That's useful to know. It seems to be a large range of TV's, but at least I now know it's possible  I read some reviews that say the sound quality is bad. How do you find it? I will probably get an amp and stuff eventually, but for now....

My advice is to run down to the store and have a look, see if there is a RS232 port and that it says Control/Service and not Service Only.  I just checked and my local store has them in stock.

My local store does too, unfortunately, they don't have that model on display (only the one with the built in NetFlix that's about $800 more!)

It is funny though that you cannot find the manual on the Sharp website?

I looked, but there seems to be something wrong with their website. That model isn't listed (maybe it's end of life, which would explain the price at BestBuy) and, although I can find it in a search, the links to the pdf manuals seem to be broken 

have a look here: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Sharp_Aquos_LCD; that might be helpfull

Humm, I already did a search of the wiki, and found nothing. I followed your link and it is a "this page doesn't exist yet, please create it".........

27

Users / Sharp Aquos

« on: November 28, 2010, 03:16:33 am »

Hey Folks,

I'm thinking of getting a 60" Sharp Aquos TV (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sharp+-+AQUOS+/+60%22+Class+/+1080p+/+120Hz+/+LCD+HDTV/1348076.p?id=1218252650535&skuId=1348076) for my main viewing area. I've been trying to get information as to RS232 control options etc, but so far, no joy :-(

Has anyone else got one of these yet? If so, comments?

28

Users / Re: Secure outside access to orbiter - HTTPS or VPN?

« on: October 29, 2010, 06:15:26 pm »

note that there is no hard rule that the fqdn in the cert matches the address you type in, you will just get a warning in the browser if it doesnt.

Be careful!

It all depends on the client in use - I have no way of knowing if the Touch Orbiter, for example, can cope with a certificate error. True, most Web Browsers will give you the option to ignore the error, but it's always preferable to avoid the errors coming up if possible - you never know what new features may be around the corner!

For example, at work we teach the setting up of TLS/SRTP for Polycom SIP-based phones. In this case, a certificate subject mis-match simply stops the phone from registering......

29

Users / Re: Secure outside access to orbiter - HTTPS or VPN?

« on: October 29, 2010, 04:35:19 pm »

AFAIK no, MCE does not do this for you.

Most people don't need a DNS entry for home systems (LinuxMCE or otherwise) because most people don't want inbound access from outside.

If you are running servers that you want to see from outside (in your case a webserver) then you need to set up the ability to find your server from an outside location.

If your IP keeps changing (which it might if you don't have one staticlly assigned) then you need to set up a Dynamic DNS service. They are easy to use and usually free

Just Google "Dynamic DNS".....

30

Users / Re: Secure outside access to orbiter - HTTPS or VPN?

« on: October 29, 2010, 03:32:20 pm »

Well, I've never tried using an IP address as a Certificate subject. but I don't see why it wouldn't work. - The quote from the Wiki would certainly suggest so!

Most people use DNS for one of two reasons...

1) It's just easier to remember.
2) You can change the IP address without having to change your links (or in this case, your certificate).

If you have a fixed IP, then 2) won't be an issue for you, if not then I suggest you explore one of the Dynamic DNS services out there. I have used DynDNS in the past, I'm guessing homeunix.org is another.