February 2007 - Ian Dixon's Blog - The Digital Lifestyle.com: Windows Media Center news, podcasts, videos, forums and wikis

Anybody going to The Connected Home in London?

While I know its not CES, The Connected Home show at Olympia in London (March 5-6th) looks interesting. In fact it will be the first time IPTV has been shown on the XBox 360 in Europe. Unfortunately I can't make it down there but if any readers are going...

Published Sat, Feb 24 2007 8:33 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Computers and Internet

Tool for sharing recorded TV with Media Center PCs

There are some great guides on how to share recorded TV between Media Center PCs that walk you through setting up the shares and permissions. I didn't know that MVP Doug Knox has developed a tool to take care of all the hard work for you. So Doug has...

Published Fri, Feb 23 2007 10:01 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

The Media Center Show #96 - Doug Berrett - Webguide 4.0

The Media Center Show #96 (MP3 - 19.5mb- 56mins 46secs) by Ian Dixon Listen Here This week on the show is Doug Berrett author of Webguide the remote scheduler application for media center, well I say remote scheduler but it does a lot more that that....

Published Thu, Feb 22 2007 8:51 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Podcast

Webguide sidebar available for download

I talked about on the blog this week about the Sidebar Gadget for Webguide, well its available for download now

Published Wed, Feb 21 2007 6:57 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Help for MCML Developers

While Media Center Markup Language is very powerful for developers, it does have a steep learning curve so I was impressed to find a project Steven Harding is working on (with help from top Media Center developer Nial Ginsbourg) Its a projet called MCMLLookalike...

Published Tue, Feb 20 2007 3:41 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Custom List

The Windows Media Center Show #94 : Media Center Extenders with Mark Pendergrast The Windows Media Center Show #95 : Rathe Hollingum

Published Tue, Feb 20 2007 12:39 PM by Ian Dixon

Windows Live for TV Beta is live

I blogged about Windows Live for TV a while ago and its now available for download. I have been playing with it and it quite nice to be able to view Live Spaces from Media Center. Its great to be able to have Windows Live Messenger working on it. It's...

Published Mon, Feb 19 2007 10:47 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Using Windows Home Server (Part 1)

So I got my Windows Home Server setup and I thought I would give my first thoughts. First off I bought a small form factor PC with a 160gb drive in and added a 500gb SATA drive. This is my box: it's a Biostart with AMD Sempron 3400 with 1gb of memory...

Published Mon, Feb 19 2007 4:22 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Home Server

What are the pros and cons on going from MCE2005 to Vista?

An interesting thread has been posted on TheDigitalLifestyle.com forums: Compare MCE 2005 to Vista Home Pro The poster was considering upgrading from MCE2005 to Vista and asked "What are some Pro's and Con's for upgrading to Vista on my Media PC...

Published Mon, Feb 19 2007 10:40 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Sidebar Gadget for Windows Media Center!

Last week I was complaining about that lack of Sidebar gadgets for Windows Media Center. Well Doug Berrett has filled the void with the Vista Sidebar Gadget for Webguide . Its a great gadget that sits in the Sidebar and can display the guide, recordings...

Published Sun, Feb 18 2007 8:49 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Installing Windows Home Server

I have been planning to do a post on using Windows Home Server but not had the time to write it up yet. So I was pleased to see a post on building a Windows Home Server . The post details the steps taken in setting up the server and has lots of screen...

Published Fri, Feb 16 2007 1:06 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Home Server

Reports of problems with new HP Pavilion Vista PC's and Windows Media Center Extenders

A user on the forums on TheDigitalLifestyle.com reported a problem with a brand new HP Pavilion M7775 running Windows Vista Home Premium and Media Center Extender sessions crashing. The user did all the usual stuff, checked network connections, firewall...

Published Thu, Feb 15 2007 9:32 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Vista

The Windows Media Center Show #95 Rathe Hollingum (Microsoft European Development Center)

The Media Center Show #95 Rathe Hollingum (Microsoft European Development Center) The Media Center Show #95 (MP3 - 18.4mb- 53mins 36secs) by Ian Dixon LISTEN HERE This week on the show I am taking to Rathe Hollingum a Microsoft developer from the European...

Published Thu, Feb 15 2007 8:28 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Podcast

Icehouse Beer Media Center Jukebox

CE Pro have pictures of MCE Integration 's Icehouse Media Center Jukebox, its a jukebox, a beer cooler and a Media Center PC. Checkout the pictures on CE Pro and MCE Integration's Jason Alinen will be returning to the show in a couple of months

Published Tue, Feb 13 2007 5:52 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Gadget Blogger Wanted

As part of TheDigitalLifeStyle.com blogs I am looking for a blogger to do a gadget type blog. There are so many great gadgets out there and would love to have someone blogging about them in relation to Media Center and the digital lifestyle. I know there...

Published Tue, Feb 13 2007 5:39 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Coming up on two years of podcasting!

Coming up next month will be the 2nd Birthday of my podcast and the 100th show. As I have hinted I am going to changing a couple of things around to take the show forward but will still be focusing on Windows Media Center. The changes are coming in March...

Published Tue, Feb 13 2007 3:39 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Get Windows Home Server Beta 2

According to the Windows Home Server Blog you can get hold of Beta 2 now. So if you want to start beta testing the software you can register HERE People that are interested in participating in Beta 2 can register here so we have their names as we steadily...

Published Tue, Feb 13 2007 9:14 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Home Server

BitTorrent Media Center Application

Chris Lanier has details of a new plug in for the Vista edition of Windows Media Center. It's a BitTorrent application written in Media Center Markup Language so you get the great look and feel of a Vista Media Center application. It sounds like its early...

Published Tue, Feb 13 2007 8:45 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

I want a Windows Media Center Gadget for the Vista Sidebar

One gadget that is really missing from the Windows Sidebar in Vista is a Windows Media Center Gadget. I am always checking what I have set to record, what has recently recorded and whether Media Center is recording at the moment and it would be great...

Published Mon, Feb 12 2007 5:41 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

First Windows Media Center Tip - How to transfer Series recording from one PC to another

To kick of the tips forum I have posted details on how to use mceBackup 2.0 to transfer Media Center TV series recording from one PC to another. This is the method I used when reinstalling my main Media Center PC with Windows Vista a couple of weeks ago...

Published Sun, Feb 11 2007 8:21 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Share you top Windows Media Center tips

As there are going to be lots people using Media Center for the first time when they get Windows Vista I thought it would be a good idea to share our top tips with the new users. It could be anything, from how to share recorded TV to picture settings...

Published Sun, Feb 11 2007 7:42 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Tip on putting TV shows on to a Zune

The Zune players look nice and I wish I had chance to pick one up while I was at CES, one thing I did notice was that they can't play recorded TV files from Media Center. Over at The wow blog on the hive there is a nice post on how to get Recorded TV...

Published Fri, Feb 09 2007 3:20 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Sky to launch new DTT service - Could it work with Media Center?

Sky announced today that they will be offering Premium subscription channels on Digital Terrestrial (DVB-T) in the UK. This will include content like sports, movies and Premiership Football. So this got me thinking, if Sky is available over DVB-T then...

Published Thu, Feb 08 2007 5:47 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

Windows Home Server Blog - One Household at a Time

Over on the Windows Home Server Blog there is a nice overview of the high level features of the first version of Windows Home Server, and it looks like more details are coming soon on the blog When we started formulating ideas for solving the problems...

Published Thu, Feb 08 2007 11:19 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Home Server

The Media Center Show #94 - Mark Pendergrast talks Extenders

The Media Center Show #94 (MP3 - 21.7mb- 1hour 03mins 19secs) by Ian Dixon LISTEN HERE This week on the show I talk Media Center Extenders with Mark Pendergrast from Microsoft, we talk about the progress from the V1 extenders and what is coming in the...

Published Thu, Feb 08 2007 9:59 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Podcast

The Media Center Show Extra #9 CES Part 4

Over on The Media Center Show Extra site I have posted Show #9. This is the final Extra show from CES 2007, and on this show I talked to Jonathan Sass from Simplifi Digital . We look at their Media Center Expander card that enables you to have AV devices...

Published Wed, Feb 07 2007 8:55 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Media Center Show

Details on my new Vista Media Center Book

For a while now I have been working on a Vista Media Center book with Tony Campbell co-author of Using Windows XP Media Center 2005. The writing process is going well and I am really enjoying doing it, its amazing the hidden features you learn! You can...

Published Sun, Feb 04 2007 8:08 PM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Books

One Voice launch Voice Control for the XBOX 360!

This sounds great, as I am a big fan of One Voice communicator and a Xbox 360 users, so this is ideal for me. More details on a future show and here is the press release (via Chris Lanier ) One Voice Technologies, Inc., developer of 4th Generation voice...

Published Fri, Feb 02 2007 10:36 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Media Center

The Windows Home Server Forums open

I am really excited about Windows Home Server, I think its going to be a great product for people like me with multiple PCs in the home. I am going to be talking about it on The Media Center Show in the future and have opened a new set of forums to discuss...

Published Fri, Feb 02 2007 9:58 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Windows Home Server

Upgrading my laptop from XP to Vista

I talked about installing Vista on my main Media Center PC and I am glad to inform you that it's still working well and Media Center is looking great. My next task was to upgrade my main work laptop. This is a Sony Vaio VGN-FE22H, its about 8 months old...

Published Thu, Feb 01 2007 1:41 PM by Ian Dixon

The Media Center Show #93 - The Awards Show

The Media Center Show #92 (MP3 - 24.5mb- 1hour 11mins 21secs) by Ian Dixon LISTEN HERE Welcome to The Media Center Show Awards. Joining me to talk about the results is Windows expert Ed Bott , we also catch up with a few of the winners. There is a major...

Published Thu, Feb 01 2007 9:20 AM by Ian Dixon

Filed under: Podcast

February 2007 - Ian Dixon's Blog

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Anybody going to The Connected Home in London?

Tool for sharing recorded TV with Media Center PCs

The Media Center Show #96 - Doug Berrett - Webguide 4.0

Webguide sidebar available for download

Help for MCML Developers

Custom List

Windows Live for TV Beta is live

Using Windows Home Server (Part 1)

What are the pros and cons on going from MCE2005 to Vista?

Sidebar Gadget for Windows Media Center!

Installing Windows Home Server

Reports of problems with new HP Pavilion Vista PC's and Windows Media Center Extenders

The Windows Media Center Show #95 Rathe Hollingum (Microsoft European Development Center)

Icehouse Beer Media Center Jukebox

Gadget Blogger Wanted

Coming up on two years of podcasting!

Get Windows Home Server Beta 2

BitTorrent Media Center Application

I want a Windows Media Center Gadget for the Vista Sidebar

First Windows Media Center Tip - How to transfer Series recording from one PC to another

Share you top Windows Media Center tips

Tip on putting TV shows on to a Zune

Sky to launch new DTT service - Could it work with Media Center?

Windows Home Server Blog - One Household at a Time

The Media Center Show #94 - Mark Pendergrast talks Extenders

The Media Center Show Extra #9 CES Part 4

Details on my new Vista Media Center Book

One Voice launch Voice Control for the XBOX 360!

The Windows Home Server Forums open

Upgrading my laptop from XP to Vista

The Media Center Show #93 - The Awards Show