June 2010

*** PLEASE NOTE THAT AS OF 25-JAN-2011 DSPLAYER IS NO LONGER BEING DEVELOPED*** A few weeks ago I was browsing the XBMC forums and noticed that there is an XBMC build that integrates an internal Directshow based player (called DSPlayer). This is important for two reason. The first is that that DSPlayer supports hardware acceleration […]

About a week ago I posted a guide on how to display PGS subtitles embedded in mkvs using Haali. At the time the only way to display PGS subtitles in mkvs was to use a combination of Haali and FFDShow. Since writing that guide two important changes have come out. The first is that Mosu, […]

If you’re a HP MediaSmart Server user and enjoy using your server then have you considered what you would do if your LAN port failed to work?   Oh man that’s one nightmare that I would not wish upon anyone and yet it does happen and so this prompted me to figure a way to restore […]

A minor update to Media Browser 2.2.4 (Cronos) has just been released. The biggest fix was switching to the new API being used by TheMovieDB, which Media Browser uses to gather metadata/artwork for movies. You can see the full list of updates/fixes here As usual, the latest Media Browser can be downloaded here. I was […]

One popular program for creating mkvs that I have written about earlier is MakeMKV, which in a few simple clicks can convert your DVD or Blu Ray disc into an mkv. The one “drawback” is that for Blu Ray discs MakeMKV keeps the subtitles (PGS format) in its original form. While this sounds great, support […]

If you have followed my guides you know I spend a decent amount of time focusing on Windows Media Center. However, I don’t like to lock myself into just one Front End, but instead like to test out different Front Ends. If one comes along that does a better job at what I am looking […]

In the beginning of May I posted about new firmware updates that were coming to the Popcorn Hour C-200/A-200 that would hopefully fix some nagging issues I encountered when reviewing the players. Well, a few days ago the first beta of the new firmware was released for testing. As a beta tester I downloaded the […]

CloudBerry Lab has released an update to the popular S3 backup Add-In, CloudBerry Online Backup. Now at version 1.5, the application introduces some additional features to make backing up your data to the cloud as simple as possible. The new release introduces a Simple Mode that enables users to create an exact copy of their […]

Though the name might lead you to think otherwise, Windows Home Server is also well suited for the small business and home office environment. The client PC backup software is one of the most compelling features for home users and small businesses alike, and I’ve previously talked about how we use Windows Home Server at […]