[WebTV] TV at leisure

I like watching TV at my leisure, that's why I had SKY+

I told it to record and then either watched my favourite programme in batches or when I had time, but SKY+ has a problem, there is only so much you can store on it, even with the latest SKY+ edition with increased hard drive space, there was also the problem that SKY+ only allow you to keep a programme for a limited time, so...

I bought a DVD Recorder, It's works Okay..ish, but getting the two to work together, nightmare.

So what to do?

OK, I've bought TV Cards and PVR's for my PC and recorded programmes to my PC to watch later, these are flakey and the compression is not so good.

Download TV programmes via BitTorrent and watch them on PC, - good Programme quality but the setup is still not ideal, I want to watch it on my 32" widescreen TV in my lounge, not on a 17" 4x3 monitor in my study.

Almost there...

Purchase a DIVx/Xvid Networked DVD Player (Kiss DP-1500), it does the job, I can watch TV programmes downloaded using BitTorrent to my PC and watch them from any room that I have the Kiss DVD player wired to the network.

Shame about the KISS DP-1500 player though.., when it doesn't like something, it decides to stop there and ...., after reboot/switching the unit off and then on... watch another programme instead...

I thought we had it...

OK, what have we learnt ? ...

• Download TV programme using BitTorrent Technology
• Store on PC / NAS
• Make available via network [ Ethernet - Fast ]
• Works best using PC / MAC
• Networked Player good but limited

My answer so far, buy a Widescreen TV with PC input, connect TV to a whisper quiet PC / Mac Mini / or standard PC in the cupboard , attach a wireless keyboard & mouse or a PCTV Remote Control, install up to date codecs and a good video player (one you are happy with) Windows Media Player comes as standard with Windows XP and codecs are available.

Relax, watch TV and wait until something better comes along.

[Software] Bencoding - Deciphering Torrent Files

Most torrent files are encoded using a method called BEncoding, I had trouble finding a .net version of the decoder, so I ended up writing my own.

You can download this here: BEncoding.dll.

Although it will decode a BEncoded file (ie. torrent file), it cannot create one (maybe another time).

This project is in no way complete, and still needs exception handling for the "Path" property and other areas

Code Example:

• string filename = "afile.torrent";
  Bencoding.Decode bencodedfile = new Bencoding.Decode(filename);
  Bencoding.DebugDictionary db = new Bencoding.DebugDictionary(bencodedfile.Dictionary);
  
  Response.Write ( "/info/name = " + bencodedfile.get_Path("/info/name").toString());
  Response.Write ( "\n\n");
  
  // next section likely to cause an exception if used with a Single File Mode Torrent file
  
  Response.Write ( "/info/files/0/path/0 = " + bencodedfile.get_Path("/info/files/0/path/0").toString());
  Response.Write ( "\n\n");
  Response.Write ( "/info/files/1/path/0 = " + bencodedfile.get_Path("/info/files/1/path/0").toString());
  Response.Write ( "\n\n");
  
  Response.Write (db.toString);
  

Basic Documentation:
Constructor:

• Bencoding.Decode dict = new Bencoding.Decode(actualFilePath);
• Open and processes "actualFilePath"
  
  Property:
  Dictionary
• return a Bencoding.Dictionary - basically an modified arraylist
• example: dict.Dictionary - returns the Bencoding.Dictionary object ( if you wish to interogate the file in depth)
  
  Path
• returns object within the dictionary based on a path
• example: dict.Path("/info/name") - returns the Filename or Directory of the Torrent
• example: dict.Path("/info/files/0/path/0") - returns the first filename in a multi file mode torrent
  

[TV] New Models for the Distribution of Television Programming

This lecture is a must see, it shows a way forward for television programme producers in this digital / distributed age.

Presented as part of the Producing Interactive TV seminars in May 2005 by Mark Pesce
Lecturer, Digital Media Programme
Australian Film Television and Radio School

http://assets.hcbx.com/tv/newdistoftv.mov
Workshop/Seminar - Piracy is good ?

http://www.aftrs.edu.au/go/library/research-tools/reports-and-papers/piracy-is-good/index.cfm
Printed Materials