Author: jamesclay

Posted on

EyeHome can’t find my EyeTV content

If you have been reading recently you will know that I have upgraded my iMac to Leopard.

The majority of software and applications I use seem to have been working fine.

However last night I decided to use my EyeHome so that I could watch a recording of Merlin I had made earlier using EyeTV.

However the EyeHome could not find my EyeTV recording, and I knew I had some. The EyeHome could find video in my Movies folder and other content across the iMac but not the EyeTV recordings.

I did remove the relationship between the iMac and the EyeHome, restart the EyeHome application on the iMac, but no joy.

In the end I used Wi-Fi Access instead. One of the features of EyeTV following an update (version 2.5) was the ability to stream recordings wirelessly to an iPhone or an iPod touch. It’s simple to turn on, just go to the relevant section in the EyeTV preferences.

EyeTV Wireless Access Preferences

What this does is once EyeTV has finished recording a TV programme, it will automatically convert the recording into a format which will play on the iPod touch or the iPhone. This is then made available over your wireless network via a web interface.

So using an iPod touch I connected it to the TV, browsed to my EyeTV recordings using the URL given in the EyeTV preferences and played the recording.

This worked well (and the quality is better than the BBC iPlayer version).

Having enjoyed the episode of Merlin, I now wanted to work out why the EyeHome couldn’t find the EyeTV.

I did find this on the Elgato website.

If you are using EyeTV with EyeHome, then EyeHome thinks your EyeTV Archive is in the Library folder for your User account. In reality, it’s probably in the Documents folder, or somewhere else that you chose via the Recording Preferences in EyeTV. Due to this error, EyeHome can’t find your EyeTV recordings without help.

A symbolic link, that points from the true EyeTV Archive location, will solve the problem – name the link “EyeTV Archive”, and place it in the Library folder ( ~/Library/EyeTV Archive). In other words, put the link here:

Open the Hard Drive

Open the Users folder

Open the folder that’s named after your User account (it may have a House icon).

Open the Library folder

Place the link called “EyeTV Archive” in the Library folder

Most users can do this using SymbolicLinker.

In this way, you keep the EyeTV Archive wherever you like, but EyeHome will find a link to it in that Library folder.

My solution is going to be to move the default folder to the Library.

What is interesting is I am almost 100% sure that I did not change this preference and if I had I would have not put the archive in the Documents folder, but put it in the Movies folder.

This was a fresh install of EyeTV as when I upgrade an OS or change computer (or in this case change hard drive) I usually start with a vanilla fresh OS install and then add my applications as and when I need them. This avoids clogging the computer with applications I used once or rarely, and usually avoids problems following you around from the previous install to the new install. A good example of this is that my Canon printer now prints everytime.

Lets hope EyeHome works fine now.

Posted on

Google announce the G1 Google Phone

Today Google announced the G1 Google Phone. The good news is that it will be available in the UK from T-Mobile in time for Christmas. I had anticipated that like many other devices, that the G1 Google Phone would be available in the USA first and a few months (or even a year later) it would appear here in the UK. If you recall Apple’s iPhone arrived in the US in June 2007 and did not appear in the UK until November!  However it is looking like that it will be available in the UK within weeks (if not at the same time) as the US version.

Not totally impressed with the look of the device, it does not exude style and class like the iPhone, but it does come with a touch screen and I am sure the qwerty keyboard will be useful for many.

Incidently why is it that I need to stop and think about how to spell qwerty?

I do have a T-Mobile phone and I hope that I might be able to upgrade to the G1 when it arrives in the UK later this year.

Posted on

When the GO!ng gets tough, the tough get going…

Okay, in a previous post I mentioned how I quite liked the GO!VIEW service for the PSP from Sony and Sky.

Having now used the service for two months I have unsubscribed.

I think I would have probably unsubscribed last month, but the service wouldn’t let me so I was automatically subscribed for another month.

So what’s the problem, it’s not as if I don’t watch “rented” video?

Well let’s see?

Was it easy to find what you wanted?

Basically yes, the Flash based interface was a little annoying and a little too clever for it’s own good, but for most purposes it was fine.

Were the files good quality?

Yes, as I said previously:

The quality of the Doctor Who video was quite poor, almost VHS quality, however I was more impressed with the quality of the Hustle video which was (in my opinion) as good as the quality I have managed converting EyeTV Freeview recordings.

Was it easy to move the files to the PSP?

Yes, and when you consider I was doing this on parallels on my iMac, I had added a extra layer of complexity.

So why have you unsubscribed then?

To be brutally honest, the one reason I have unsubscribed is that there is no new content.

In the last two months, there have been no additions to the content line-up. So we have Hustle season 1, but no seasons 2, 3 or even 4! We have Spooks season 1, but none of the other seasons. We have a single Doctor Who story and though you can rent the new Doctor Who, as part of the Entertainment package you only have the single Jon Pertwee Spearhead from Space.

True I could have watched other stuff, but I didn’t want to watch Desperate Housewives or badly made TV movies. I wanted more of the stuff I had watched.

So though it was only costing £5 per month, I’d rather not pay £5 per month for re-watching the same content again and again…

If they bring in new content, I may subscribe, but for now I’m going…

Posted on

Seesmic on the Nokia N95

If you use Seesmic, you can now get an application for Seesmic for your Nokia N95.

We are announcing today the release of a new application for Nokia N95 cell phones that allows users to participate in video conversations from anywhere and at any time.

What is really new with our client is you can not only send your videos directly to Seesmic from your phone but you can also participate in conversations and follow the entire thread of videos, a space Seesmic has created anywhere you are.

Read more.

Could be useful if you use Seesmic a lot.

Posted on

Podcasts on the Nokia N95

Generally if I want to listen to a podcast, I use iTunes and sync with the iPod.

The other day I realised that I had forgotten to sync the iPod and therefore the latest version of MacBreak Weekly was not on my iPod.

Problem was, I was in my car and away from the computer.

So I stopped the car, and using my phone, a Nokia N95 I browsed to twit.tv and clicked the relevant link for MacBreak Weekly.

The phone then started to download the podcast over the 3G data connection. So I drove off…

Unfortunately the first attempt failed for some reason, though I guess I may have lost the 3G signal.

So I tried again and this time it worked fine.

Now what I liked was that the operating system on the N95 knew it was a podcast and added it to the podcast area and started to play it.

I liked the way the phone downloaded the podcast really really fast and then knew what to do with it.

Posted on

Renting from iTunes, hmmmm

I have finally got round to not just renting a movie from iTunes, but also taking the time to watch it as well.

Basically I wanted a film I could watch on an ipod on the train and it was one of those 99p films, “A Guy Thing“.

Not sure how I feel about renting movies, it’s not as though I have never rented a movie (as in a physical DVD) from Blockbuster before, but felt more pressure to watch a rented film from iTunes.

The terms are quite generous, you have thirty days to watch and once you start watching you have two days to watch and finish (or even watch it again).

I just felt that I had to watch it (having watched half) even though I wasn’t in the mood for it.

Will I rent again, possibly.

Posted on

Mail.app believes iTunes receipt from Apple is junk

You might have thought that the Mail.app included with OS X might have a hunch that e-mails from Apple (specifically from apple.com) probably isn’t going to be a spammer.

True you as a user may mark e-mails from Apple as junk manually, but the automated process, nah!

Or so you would think!

A few days ago I “purchased” a fair few apps from the iTunes store and as per usual Apple sent me a receipt outlining my purchases. I have received many of these not just because of the stuff I buy, but also as I more often then not download the free single of the week as well.

So you can imagine my surprise when Mail.app marked my latest receipt as junk!

Mail.app believes iTunes receipt from Apple is junk

No idea why.

Posted on

Hood 2.0 – It lives!

Hood 2.0: it’s a Web 2.0 world out there

This workshop will explore how using Web 2.0 can rethink the digital divide.

Gloucestershire College has been using Web 2.0 to enhance and enrich the learning process for a wide variety of learners across the breadth and depth of the curriculum. They have developed a range of learning scenarios and activities that are integrated into the learning process and support a diverse range of learners.

This workshop will demonstrate how Web 2.0 can be used to solve some of the issues facing diverse learners in this era of Facebook. YouTube, Twitter and then some…

The concept of Web 2.0 services in addressing the tensions between formal and informal learning, and empowering learners to take responsibility for their own learning will be examined. Then, how we need to address the pedagogical needs to drive the use of Web 2.0 services and not be blinded or awed by the technology of Web 2.0, will be explored.

During the workshop participants will be able to discuss and debate different learning scenarios and activities which utilise Web 2.0 services. Web 2.0 services will be used to demonstrate these scenarios.

Participants will discuss and debate these scenarios in small groups, covering how they could be utilised within their own institutions, examining the potential conflict between formal learning scenarios and the informal learning scenarios that Web 2.0 offers.

The groups will also discuss how the pedagogy needs to drive the scenarios and not the technology and address how Web 2.0 can empower learners to take responsibility for their own learning. Each group will provide feedback through either a blog entry, an audio podcast or a video presentation. These will then be made available online to allow participants to comment and continue the discussion beyond the workshop, and also allow other conference delegates to participate in the discussion.

After the workshop, the participants will have a greater understanding of the role of Web 2.0 in addressing the digital divide.

They will have considered how Web 2.0 can help resolve the tensions between formal and informal learning; discussed how Web 2.0 technologies in themselves mustn’t drive the learning, but support the pedagogy; and debated how Web 2.0 can empower learners to take responsibility for their learning.

The participants will have presented the results of their discussion and debate, through the use of a variety of learning technologies, to other participants and to other conference delegates.

I ran the workshop at ALT-.

Session seemed to go well though I did have about sixty people in a long narrow room.

Hood 2.0 - It lives!

The feedback from the session can be found here:

http://altcworkshop.blogspot.com/

Please feel free to add comments to people’s blog posts.

Other stuff from the workshop can be found on

Flickr

http://flickr.com/photos/jamesclay

Qik

http://qik.com/video/285383

Seesmic

http://seesmic.com/jamesclay

Jaiku
http://molenet.jaiku.com/

Recorded Gabcast podcasts from my sessions at #altc2008 today. They are online now at http://tinyurl.com/hood2feedback

A few comments from other people’s blogs and links mentioned as part of feedback.

http://www.projectwhite.com/tag/altc2008/

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2286799/Can-we-use-Twitter-for-educational-activities

http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2008/04/04/live-reviewing-a-book-on-twitter-here-comes-everybody-by-clay-shirky/
and here’s a reflection
http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2008/04/07/twitter-reviewing-some-reflections/

http://ashleywright.org/2008/09/09/hood-20-its-a-web-20-world/

http://www.projectwhite.com/tag/altc2008/ – loads of stuff , excellent

Thanks everyone, some great feedback and ideas.

Posted on

Oh dear VAIO problems!

VAIO TZ

Sony have had an issue with a few, well more than a few, of their VAIO laptops according to a BBC report.

Sony is recalling 440,000 Vaio laptop computers worldwide because of wiring faults that could cause overheating.

The recall concerns 19 Vaio models in the TZ series manufactured between May 2007 and July 2008 – but does not include models sold in the UK.

Luckily doesn’t personally affect me, nor any other VAIO laptops in the UK.