Skip to main content

Gadget Wisdom

Category: News

0 Responses

Urgent: Change your Wireless Security Settings

Linksys WAP54G 802.
Image via Wikipedia

Crunchgear reports today that researchers have developed an attack against WPA Encryption when using the TKIP protocol.

If you haven’t already, change your wireless access point security settings to the AES Protocol, or switch to WPA2 to stay one step ahead of them. Or, if you are out and about, and cannot do so, consider using SSH Tunneling or  VPN to encrypt your connection a second time.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Published on August 27, 2009
Full Post
1 Response

More on the Analog Loophole

Component video cable with RCA connections.
Image via Wikipedia

In our previous post on the subject, we discussed the Analog Loophole, and how we were using the HD-PVR 1212 to capture HD video.

We’d had some problems, and reduced the quality to 720p and AAC analog audio only. After a week, on Thursday night we switched back to AC3 digital audio delivered using an optical toslink cable. So far, the recordings are stable. Our next step will be to switch from 720p only to 1080i only. And we ultimately hope to allow both 720p and 1080i to record, so that we can record both HD formats that are broadcast without any scaling.

But, what if they close the Analog Loophole? There is a solution out there. GeekTonic recently had a guest-post on the subject. It discusses the HD-Fury2 It provides an HDMI input, and a component video output. The HD-Fury2 and the HD-PVR will work together, so even if they turn off the component outputs, this will enable an analog path.

Why do we need the analog loophole? Well, our cable company encrypts almost everything. If they missed something, any day it could be gone. We have, in addition to the HD-PVR, a Silicondust HDHomeRun, with is a dual digital tuner that works with cable and broadcast. One day, we came home and they’d encrypted TNT-HD, one of the few channels outside of broadcast they offered.

We use the Silicondust HDHomerun for unencrypted cable and broadcast, mostly to allow us to record cable and broadcast channels simultaneously, although us not to have to rely exclusively on the one cable box hooked into the system. The HDHomerun is a very well supported device. The developers are very involved, and continue to release new firmware. The latest version of the firmware improves channel scanning and handling, among other things.

Like anything, you have to find the solution that works for you. Even if we lost cable entirely tomorrow, we could switch to Broadcast and maintain a good selection of programming. We choose however, to continue to push what we can do and learn and explore new things.  More on this to come.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Published on August 16, 2009
Full Post
1 Response

Obama the Nerd President

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW7OPByRGDY

John Hodgman, best known as the PC in Apple’s insulting the competition ads, spoke at the Radio and TV Correspondents Dinner. Hodgman goes into nerd and geek versus jock as philosophical terms, and gives Obama a test to definitively prove once and for all if he is a nerd, a geek, or possibly a space alien sent to enlighten mankind(we’re kidding). Well, either way, it is worth checking out.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Published on June 22, 2009
Full Post
1 Response

The Latest on Hulu and Netflix

Time to catch up on the latest from these two services.

  • Playboy seems to think Hulu is coming to the Roku Video Player. That would certainly please us. But Roku, the creator of the player, has insisted they have not made any public statements regarding Hulu and they don’t know where Playboy gets their information. Roku currently supports Amazon Video on Demand and Netflix, and promised as many as ten new channels by the end of the year but has not yet delivered.
  • Netflix appears to not recognize Puerto Rico as part of the United States and is blocking the territory’s use of its Watch Instantly feature, something Hulu once did. It explicitly excludes anything outside of the fifty states and the District of Columbia.
  • Hulu has added its own application for playing outside of a browser which works on Windows and Mac(but not Linux). In a ‘nod’ to Boxee, certainly a more developed product, the new product originally advised you to kill Boxee on Macs to avoid conflicts. This has since been changed. Hulu’s Terms of Service state that: “You may not download, install or use the Hulu Software on any device other than a Personal Computer including without limitation digital media receiver devices (such as Apple TV), mobile devices (such as a cell phone device, mobile handheld device or a PDA), network devices or CE devices (collectively “Prohibited Devices”).” It does not prohibit hooking a computer to a TV, but it seems to suggest this is the thing Hulu is trying to forbid, which does not bode well for them.
Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Published on June 2, 2009
Full Post
0 Responses

Roundup: Acceptable Use

ABC News Special Report ident, circa 2006
Image via Wikipedia

The MPAA, well known for its lack of insight on the subject of fair use…namely what we are allowed to do with content we’ve purchased,  maintained during a recent hearing at the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress that videorecording a TV set playing back a DVD is an acceptable analog alternative to breaking copy protection on a DVD(Video available here).  These meetings take place every few years. In 2006, professors were granted an exemption in order to break copy protection on DVDs so that they could utilize high quality video clips in classroom teaching.

Elsewhere, research indicates more than 40% of U.S. Households under 35 watch Internet Video on their TVs(note the emphasis) at least once a month. The idea that consumers can get good content to watch from free or cheap online sources and watch it on their TV sets using a variety of methods is not one that is good for cable companies. These companies can either improve their on-demand services and ensure that everything that is free online can be accessed on-demand for free, or pressure their content providers to keep as much content off the internet as possible. Even if they do, there is plenty of web-exclusive content to enjoy.

For those of us trying to enjoy our fair use rights and thinking about downsizing your cable bill, here are some stories we’ve been monitoring:

  • XBMC, the popular multi-platform media center software, has released version 9.04, code-named Babylon. The release incorporates many improvements over previous versions. Check it out.
  • A hack has been released that will allow any computer to emulate the OCUR compliant BIOS, permitting any Windows computer to support digital cable with a Cablecard. The hack can be easily modified, should countermeasures be enacted.  We never understood why the cable companies should care. You are still paying for cable, after all.
  • TV Squad reports that ABC News is increasing its Youtube presence. The site will feature news from several ABC programs, like Good Morning America, 20/20, Nightline, ABC World News, and This Week with George Stephanopoulos.  Another reason to dump the TV.
  • TV Squad also taught us the Food Network offers a website, Food2.com, where they offer video recipes and web only shows for your enjoyment.
  • Boxee, continuing to gather support, has launched a contest for developers to encourage new plugin applications. Recent new plugins for Boxee include the highdefnow HD feed, who has given Boxee users direct access to their files which means you’ll get the smoothest playback from Boxee, without the same stuttering that a flash player might produce. This is a perfect example of content providers working with Boxee to promote their content.
  • Jumping on the Twitter Bandwagon, ABC’s Nightline news anchors are going to host a weekly online news program that uses Twitter for debate and questions. The show, called NightTline will air its first episode Wednesday at 12:30PM EST. It will air not only on the Nightline website, but on ABC News Now, offered as a subchannel on many ABC stations and cable systems.
  • With the signing of Disney to the Hulu family, it leaves CBS as the only major network not offering such content on Hulu, preferring its own media player. Meanwhile, CBS does offer content on Youtube.
  • Speaking of Youtube content for CBS, MGM, Lionsgate and Starz, who made content available last month, most users complain that the content is lacking and limited. But we hardly expected them to put their A-game on Youtube.
  • Time Warner Cable, defeated in its attempts to start metered bandwidth, another method for the cable companies to slow-down the growth of internet-based video, declared that it is not giving up on its hopes to implement the feature, but merely withdrew due to negative public opinion.
  • Netflix, not only a respected DVD-by-mail company, but slowly being known for its on-demand streaming, reported it isn’t particularly concerned about iTunes or Hulu as competition, but the DVD Kiosk, such as Redbox. Cheap $1 rentals are one of the reasons that people leave their Netflix subscriptions. With the gradual closing of video stores, the kiosk is becoming more ubiqitous. The company is concerned that if the kiosk companies get their costs down even further, they could very well be in more stores and locations…practically on every street corner. However, what these machines lack is the extensive library that Netflix offers. Unless you can order any DVD online, and have it delivered into the kiosk to be picked up, in addition to its standard stock of DVDs, then Netflix will always have a place.
  • Netflix also reports more streaming deals will be coming. The company had a “tremendous amount” of consumer electronics deals on the way, We’ll just wait for Linux. If not, the Roku Box still looks good to us, if they can get media streaming from the home computer added to it.
  • PBS Launched an Online Portal for full-length versions of some of its programs. Previously, while PBS had content online, it was not always easy to find. It can be found at pbs.org/video.

There is more to come. We monitor hundreds of stories, but there are only so many hours in the day, and we do have a day job. Coming soon, we will be taking our Streaming Video Guide from a different post, cleaning it up, and updating it into a permanent and regularly updated page on our site.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Published on May 12, 2009
Full Post
0 Responses

Happy Birthday, Game Boy

Nintendo Game Boy
Image by unloveablesteve via Flickr

The 20th anniversary of the Game Boy‘s release was this week. It was originally a simple device with a green monochrome screen, four buttons (A, B, Start, Select), and a four-way directional pad, much like the original Nintendo.

It was bundled with Tetris, and with that, and a few other games, we spent many an hour during our youth. We still have it in a box somewhere, ready to relaunch a wave of nostalgia, the same way we recently pulled out our Nintendo.

Our gaming time has reduced as we’ve grown older, and limited of late to nostalgia. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing. For the Gameboy, it has launched a wave of portable game players as successors that are still popular today.

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Published on April 24, 2009
Full Post
0 Responses

Video News

Matchbook showing the Blue Network logo, circa...
Image via Wikipedia

    Sometimes, we just want to share some news, without much fanfare. Here are some of the little bits we’ve collected over the last two weeks you might find interesting.

    • Microsoft has clarified its position on third-party codecs in Windows 7. The problem is that in Windows 7, if the video you want to watch is naively supported by Windows, there’s no easy way choose a different codec. You’ll be able to add third-party support for a codec not supported initially, but replacing the defaults will apparently be difficult. On a positive note, we are certain someone will come up with an easy codec tweaker program to solve this, bt Microsoft clearly isn’t concerned.
    • MythBuntu is testing the beta of its Jaunty Jackalope 9.04 version. MythBuntu is a version of Ubuntu that is bundled with the software and setup for the MythTV suite, which is a Linux-based DVR.
    • Disney may end up with a stake in Hulu, the online streaming site, in exchange for adding ABC(which they own) content to the site. More Disney content may has been discussed but it centers on ABC; other possibilities could include ESPN, and, if not the Disney Channel, some offshoots of it. We’ll see what comes of that.
    • If not that, Youtube and Disney have announced a deal for the launch of multiple ad-supported U.S.-only channels featuring content from ESPN and Disney/ABC Television. Previews are up now, and the ESPN channel will launch mid-April, ABC in mid-May. There is no deal with Youtube on full episodes though links will be made back to the various channel homepages where additional content may be available.
    • Speaking of online content, the Times reported last week that some broadcasters and cable networks are worried that their push to put some of their programs online may be threatening the revenue they get from showing it on TV. This is why the cable companies are getting involved, by offering the content online people demand, but only as part of their subscription process. The networks may license the content to other organizations on a more ala carte basis, but only if their revenue is maintained.
    • ZeeVee released a retooled Internet video browser. Named Zinc, it appears to be a competitor to Boxee, the open-source media center/video browser. It works for Windows and a Mac version is scheduled for sometime this month.
    • Cox Communications is planning on rolling out tru2way set top cable boxes starting this summer. For those of you unfamiliar with the technology, tru2way is meant to expand the Cablecard system to allow a full range of options, including program guide and on demand, on televisions equipped with the techology, which includes a Cablecard for decryption. Unfortunately, like Cablecards, there is a lack of TVs equipped for this technology.
    • Hulu is now the fourth largest video site in the U.S., as statistics for the month of February prove. Since last May, Hulu has grown the number of videos it streams by 277 percent, and its audience has grown 410 percent.
    Related articles by Zemanta
    Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
    Published on April 5, 2009
    Full Post
    0 Responses

    Back from the Boxee NYC Meetup

    Boxee
    Image via Wikipedia

    As you know, Gadget Wisdom was represented at tonight’s Boxee New York City meetup. We did a little tweeting from there, but tried to focus on the presentation.

    Now, this meet was chock full of goodies, networking and general wonder. Direct link to the video.

    • Boxee is unveiling a new API(application programming interface) “The new API enables developers to build apps using XML pages and Python scripts. developers can now do pretty much whatever they want UI-wise and control the data and metadata around the media.” This will be developed more over time, but it simplifies third-party development in Boxee, making it a community where anyone can contribute.
    • The new version includes an enhanced version of the Boxee browser. It is based in the XUL Framework…the basis for the Firefox and related Mozilla products. It will display any full web page, and try to play the video on it, and try to do so in full screen.
    • The launch of additional content, including Pandora radio, which was apparently its number one most requested music site to integrate.
    • The CEO of Boxee promised the application would be free forever, although extensions that allow access to paid content may come.
    • He also said they are not interested in sharing user data for profit.
    • Adult Filters and Privacy controls will be enhanced in the future.

    Now, you can read the CNet report of the event if you’d like an alternate view.

    We did get a chance to ask a question, got a free Size M t-shirt, and almost sung on stage during the talent competition for a free Mac Mini. Our question is bad news for us. Supporting alternate Linux distributions is not in the Boxee gameplan. They’ll be leaving that up to third-parties. So much for Boxee on Fedora support. We’d hope they’d express willingness to incorporate specific fixes for that into the Boxee source code…so Boxee under alternate distributions can find the libraries it is looking for without a whole bunch of symbolic links.

    Even worse, the Linux version is behind the other versions, as the Boxee developers seem to be focusing on the Mac version…not surprising considering Mac users appear to be their largest group. Boxee hopes to move from Alpha software to Beta by the end of the third quarter. Beta means increased stability, and a redesign of the basic elements of Boxee. Once the framework is at a certain level, it will be declared ready to move closer to the mainstream.

    In the meantime, if you have a Mac or Ubuntu, try it out. It should work mostly out of the box with these OSes. The Mac seems best supported though.

    Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
    Published on March 24, 2009
    Full Post
    0 Responses

    Digital TV Continues Its March Toward June

    A broadcasting center at a TV Studio in Olympi...
    Image via Wikipedia

    Another 158 stations will be shutting off their analog broadcast before June 12, the revised shutoff date. Fifty-eight of those stations are PBS stations, many of which cannot afford the continual expense of analog broadcasts. The FCC could prohibit a station from shutting down early to make sure that people can get at least one station broadcasting in analog in their area. Here is the list of all 158 in PDF Format.

    We predict as time continues, more stations will opt to switch to digital early. Month to month, more people prepare for the digital transition, stations feel more confident with the early switch. It may be by the end, only some of the network affiliates will be left.

    Engadget HD points out that Windows Media Center is not quite ready for the digital transition. It needs to release some patches to provide proper guide data for digital broadcast channels. We prefer MythTV, an open-source DVR which, in combination with Schedules Direct(a $20 a year nonprofit TV listings service), has fairly accurate scheduling data and has great support for OTA(cable as well, but cable providers often encrypt channels).

    The irony of digital broadcasts is that, without moving our old roof-mounted antenna which was installed with the building a quarter century ago, we’ve had a wide variance in quality. We picked up cable around 2000, when the quality of network broadcasts in analog dropped to the point it was difficult to watch. That kept us off analog till last year, when we bought an indoor antenna to see what we could pick up, and ultimately reconnected a wire to the old antenna on the roof. Since then, without again touching the antenna on the roof at all, the digital reception has decreased to lose us two local PBS affiliates, and a local MyNetwork affiliate. We may need to replace or investigate that one of these days.

    On a positive note though, the stations we do get are crystal clear. Which is certainly an advantage. More on this later…

    Related articles by Zemanta
    Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
    Published on March 19, 2009
    Full Post
    0 Responses

    New iPod Shuffle locks out Unapproved Accessories

    A stack of the iPods I now own... included are...
    Image via Wikipedia

    The new iPod Shuffle, to many people’s frustrations, moves the controls off of the unit onto the headphones. Most found this means that non-Apple headphones will require a special dongle that includes the new three-button controller. As Engadget put it, “if you want to use your own cans[headphones]: assuming the adapter will cost between $20 and $30 like most other Apple accessories, you’re looking at minimum $100 outlay for the new shuffle, and at that point you might as well pick up a $150 iPod nano.”

    Now, this new Shuffle uses a specialt chip to lock out aftermarket accessories that aren’t authorized by Apple. This chip can’t legally be reverse-engineered, and thus Apple now controls the headphone and adaptor market for the Shuffle, because you have to have the chip in order to produce an accessory with the necessary control buttons.

    Thus, Apple, which already has a serious command of the music player market share, has ensured they will control and tax every part of the iPod purchase, headphones, chargers, music…and will force users to repurchase things they already own, ie headphones, to be compatible.

    Crunchgear, which has a picture of the DRM chip, points out that Apple has a long history of creating “authenticated” hardware and this definitely could be a situation where Apple is adding lock-in controls to their hardware if not actual DRM. It is one of our pet peeves with Apple dating back years. Their attempt to control the process at every level, giving little or no freedom to the user. They’d relaxed somewhat, but now this philosophy is back.

    We’re told that Apple offered to sell developers the chip for $1 in a bundle with a $2 microphone, costs which are then multiplied and passed on to consumers. There are also authentication chips inside the new Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic, and the In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic. It is not technically a DRM chip, as many said, it is merely a controller that sends signals in a proprietary format. But they could have easily put that in the device instead of the headphones, if they wished.

    Related articles by Zemanta
    Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
    Published on March 16, 2009
    Full Post

    Get New Posts By Email