Messages

61

Users / Re: Sorry

« on: April 14, 2009, 05:25:50 pm »

LOL, I know I'm not supposed to be responding in this manner, but seriously, I HAVE to and I hope the mods are cool with it.

Windows Lighting Control:  FAIL
Windows Video Surveillance:  FAIL
Windows Telcom:  FAIL
Windows Alarm/Motion Detection: FAIL

Dude, when someone rings my doorbell, whatever media I have playing pauses and a wireless camera above my door displays the video of the person on every TV in my house. 
When I go to bed, I select "Sleep" on any orbiter in my house (or in my yard for that matter using my wireless webpad), all the TV's/AV equipment in my house shuts off, every light in my house shuts off except my porch lights and one hallway light.  Although I don't have it setup yet, in the future my house will call me and display video of the person ringing my doorbell on my phone and I will be able to talk to them through a speaker at my door from my cell phone.  Did you get that?  My HOUSE will CALL me!!!

Comparing LMCE to WindowsMCE is like comparing the Internet to a telegraph, they are two different animals.  The list of things that LMCE can do that WMCE cannot goes on and on.

If all you want is media control then there are a lot of options out there, one being WindowsMCE.  If you want centralized, customizable, scalable, complete home automation/control AND media control, there is only ONE option, LMCE.

62

Users / Re: Full support of Gyration Remote development work - Contributors please post

« on: April 03, 2009, 04:30:51 pm »

It's great that we have a lot of "count me in" replies, but to move forward we need to get the specifics nailed down.

Thom, can you give us a price for this work?  Once we have that, then contributors can commit hard dollar amounts and we'll be on our way.

Moderator Comment: Dale_K - I have already provided this information further up the thread.

Reinforcing Totallymaxed's comments - this thread is for contributors to post in-principle support for contributions only, please.

63

Users / Re: Cover Art

« on: April 01, 2009, 04:51:59 pm »

Jesus, posde, -241 Karma?  Did you screw sombody's mother or something?  LOL

64

Users / Re: Full support of Gyration Remote development work - Contributors please post

« on: April 01, 2009, 04:50:22 pm »

Lets get a cost so we know how much and how many we need. The remote is one of the most important aspects of any media center. It can be frustrating, no matter how good the product is, when it is difficult to use from the couch.

Agreed, put up a hard number, then we can get specific dollar amounts from contributors and we'll know what we need.

65

Users / Re: Full support of Gyration Remote development work - Contributors please post

« on: April 01, 2009, 12:18:32 am »

Ooops, I posted this in the other thread.

You can count me in for $100 via PayPal, CC, GooglePay, whichever is convenient.  PM me with payment details.

66

Users / Re: Gyration Remote - F6 & F8 (roses) functionality??

« on: April 01, 2009, 12:17:22 am »

OK, at this point, I am going to start a new thread asking for people to post if they are interested in contributing to Thom's effort in getting this properly integrated with LinuxMCE. For what it is worth, I think that it is a good idea, and Thom is the correct person to do the work. He also deserves to be appropriately remunerated for this effort. If we get a reasonable number of people interested, I will work with Thom to determine how much this will cost per person. All those who are concerned that they have limited ability to contribute meaningfully to this project, here is your opportunity! You will not only help yourself and Thom, but also leave a lasting legacy for others.

You can count me in for $100 via paypal, CC, googlepay, whichever is most convenient.  PM me with payment details.

67

Users / Re: Remote: what to buy

« on: March 31, 2009, 07:11:43 pm »

*hmm*

Nobody reads, nobody pays attention.

There are dead keys on the remote. To get full support of this remote, Orbiter has to be extended to parse the raw HID packets coming off this remote to handle the keys that the kernel does not handle.

Damn it, I am getting very tired of explaining this!!!

-Thom

Thom,

I'm aware of the dead keys on the remote as I did read the article.  I accept the limitation as there is, for me, no better alternative.

68

Users / Re: Who Is LMCE3000???

« on: March 31, 2009, 06:47:21 pm »

(Resisting the urge to completely flame lmce3000)  hehe  j/k

Welcome to LMCE.

I don't know the particulars of your personal experience but I'm also a newbie to LMCE and I've seen this same type of complaint many times.  I personally have found that it's usually a combination of a lack of patience from experienced LMCE users coupled with a hypersensitivity from a new user in unfamiliar territory.  I've never read anything and felt it was mean or malicious (except from Zaerc, I'm pretty sure he's Satan, hehe).

I'm not sure what business you're in but try and imagine people asking you a question that is in their manual/wiki/help system over and over again.  After about the 200th time you get the same question, even the most patient of us will give a /hmm.  Even Jesus isn't that patient.  From what I've seen, at least 60% of the questions asked by new users are already answered by the wiki or forums.  So I can understand a little impatience from experienced users.  Couple that impatience with a new user that is in unsure territory, feeling lost and confused and it's easy to see how something innocuous (sp?) can blow up into a flame war.  Comments like "Get to Work!!!" for instance, could easily be miscontrued, as it's certainly inconsiderate to demand work from people that donate thier time.  I'm sure you didn't mean it in a malicious "you're a lazy bastard" kind of way, but in typeform it can easily be read that way.  Comments like that, that are misunderstood in their true intent start a cascade effect of flaming and misunderstanding.  Please realize I'm not flaming you, just pointing out one comment similar to many others that start this sort of thing.

For any new LMCE users my advice is (and I really can't express this strongly enough):  SEARCH THE WIKI AND FORUMS EXHAUSTIVELY!  When you're absolutely sure you can't find your answer, SEARCH AGAIN!  If you still can't find your answer, post on the forums and I'd recommend starting that post with something like: "I've searched the forums and wiki and I can't find...".  Personally, I've found every "basic" question I've ever had answered in the wiki and/or forums.  Even I think it's silly when I see the "Can LMCE do this....?" questions.  Not only is that stuff in the wiki but there's a damn video!!!  A question like that is irritating even to me and shows a complete lack of effort from the poster and the poster should be informed that they have to do more research before posting or they will continue asking those types of questions and sucking up other people's time.

Perhaps the powers that be would consider a "READ THIS BEFORE POSTING" sticky.  It may alleviate some of the repetitive questions.

Personally, I've found everyone here to be extremely helpful and I'm continually amazed at how much time I've seen devs spend helping someone with a problem (me for one).  (Shit, now I sound like I'm sucking up.)

Anyway, that's my perception of every "flame" issue I've seen.

69

Users / Re: Remote: what to buy

« on: March 31, 2009, 05:43:52 pm »

The gyration remotes will work if people will pay me to do the necessary driver work.

-Thom

I was under the impression I can get a Gyration remote to work as per this wiki article:
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Using_the_Gyration_Remote_GYR3101US_%28Non-Fiire_Chief%29

Is that not the case?

70

Users / Re: Cover Art

« on: March 31, 2009, 04:51:27 pm »

I tried various programs to mass identify mp3's with sketchy success.  If the mp3's were ripped directly from the retail CD it should have the id3 data already and LMCE will simply download appropriate art/info for it.  If that is not happening, I've found the best way to do it is to sort your music into folders then use the webadmin to assign attributes.  LMCE doesn't utilize folders as a system of sorting, they're only to make it easier for you to identify songs from the same artist/album.

With avi files, bite the bullet, head into webadmin and wear out the search amazon button.  Believe me, it's the best way.

71

Users / Re: Remote: what to buy

« on: March 31, 2009, 04:43:29 pm »

I have a Fiire remote and I freakin love it!  I just got a WebDT 366 and it's nice too but there are a few things really keeping me from using it.

No absolute positioning: With the gyro remote I can hold the media button and use absolute positioning for volume, lighting, media, etc.  The pad orbiter doesn't have this.  With the pad you cycle through 2X, 4X, 8X, etc. like you would with a normal remote.  Yes, it's fully functional, but once you get used to absolute positioning it's annoying to go without it.

No visual indication of volume control:  When I press the volume up/down on the pad there is no indication that it is going up other than the audible volume level.  I know this is a tiny thing but I really like seeing a bar indicating volume level.

The only WebDT's you can get are used so you will have to accept that they will have various imperfections, unsure battery life, scratches, etc.  The one I have is not too bad visually, but obviously used and the battery only lasts an hour or so.  I am keeping an eye on some of the new pads coming out (I hate having used stuff), hopefully there will be a good solution coming out under $1000 and I could go that way.

I think I would use the WebPad if it had absolute positioning and I could get a new battery, but for now I have both the pad and the Fiire remote sitting next to each other and I ALWAYS reach for the Fiire remote.  I've already ordered 3 of the Gyration remotes, one for the back rooms of my house and 2 for standby replacement.

Just my 2 cents.

72

Users / Re: "On A Quest For The Ideal Orbiter"

« on: March 26, 2009, 03:56:26 pm »

I'd love to see this as an orbiter like the WebDT.  It would be nice to be able to buy an orbiter like that that isn't scratched or has a weak battery life for less than 2K.

73

Users / Re: "Possible Orbiter"

« on: March 25, 2009, 07:20:45 pm »

Please keep us informed about this. I would be very interested in this.

I see that you can request a 30 day trial and they will put custom logos on them.  This might be a good relationship for one of the LMCE business guys to develop.

74

Users / PadOrbiter Image

« on: March 13, 2009, 05:50:09 pm »

Where can I download the PadOrbiter image for a WebDT 366?  The Wiki page has no link.

75

Users / Re: Has Fiire gone under?

« on: March 13, 2009, 04:54:05 pm »

I just contacted Gyration and was told they are no longer producing remotes of any kind.  They are selling current inventory and that's it.

So, what's the next best option for gyroscopic remotes?