Posts Categorized: Technology

This is Part of Jon’s HTPC setup. For more, see: Introduction and Table of Contents The only negative I can think of: Once setup, the system is very FF (Fiancé friendly); one simple remote controls everything and it’s very intuitive. However, setting it all up is a totally different story. That’s a lot of different… Read more »

This is Part of Jon’s HTPC setup. For more, see: Introduction and Table of Contents OK, the best for last right? This is the part that gets the biggest WOW factor from guests. The HTPC controls every single light inside and outside the house, along with several other appliances. To do this I use a… Read more »

This is Part of Jon’s HTPC setup. For more, see: Introduction and Table of Contents DVD Catalog: Meedio also allows me to have a searchable catalog of all our DVD movies. You can search alphabetically, by genre, by studio, by rating, by actor, or by director. All movies have front and back cover art, a… Read more »

This is Part of Jon’s HTPC setup. For more, see: Introduction and Table of Contents Games: I’m a huge old-school game fan. I’m currently working my way through Chrono Trigger and The Secret of Mana. Again, this is where Meedio shines. Using a plug-in for Meedio I’m able to have a catalog of over 700… Read more »

This is Part of Jon’s HTPC setup. For more, see: Introduction and Table of Contents The “TIVO” Everybody knows what a TIVO is and what it can do, so what’s the advantages to doing it through your computer? Several. First, a TIVO can only record one, or sometimes two, channels at a time. With a… Read more »

This is Part of Jon’s HTPC setup. For more, see: Introduction and Table of Contents Now for Software: As for the core piece of software, I really can’t imagine using anything besides Meedio Essentials. I have to qualify that argument though… if you are a geek and enjoy tweaking things then there is nothing better… Read more »

This is Part of Jon’s HTPC setup. For more, see: Introduction and Table of Contents The UI: The user interface can be whatever you want it to be. I have a wireless Gyro Mouse and wireless Gyro Keyboard that have a 30-foot range. The mouse is great for the living room because you don’t need… Read more »

This is Part of Jon’s HTPC setup. For more, see: Introduction and Table of Contents The Case: I guess I’ll start by talking about the case. I designed and built the case with three things in mind. First was silence, second was unobtrusiveness to the living room, and third was easy accessibility. The second and… Read more »

This is Part of Jon’s HTPC setup. For more, see: Introduction and Table of Contents Features: Very high “FF” scores (“FF” is Fiancé Friendly) Silent Unobtrusive to the Living Room 6000+ MP3 Music Library (every single tag is correct, and every MP3 has embedded cover art) AC3 Music Library Photo Collection Ability to record two… Read more »

My friend Jon (the one that bought me the rare mentos) and I were e-mailing back and fourth about Apple’s new HTPC-like software (Front Row), so I asked him to do a little write-up on his home theatre PC setup. I got to play with it a bit last winter while out there visiting, and… Read more »