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An examination of the Windows Media Center package as it comes with the Windows 7 operating system

An examination of the popular Media Browser package that ads features and styling to Windows Media Center

Adding a TV Tuner card to your PC provides both Media Center and Media Browser with a whole new set of tools to work with

04 Recorded Tv

Setting the TV Tuner Card software to automatically record your favorite programs provides you with a library shows whether or not you were watching TV when they aired

05 Tv Series

The TV Card in combination with program data provided by your TV Station allows you to program a whole series with a single command - imagine an entire season of "The Simpsons" right there on your hard disk

06 Raid5

And speaking of hard disks - putting 3 or more together in an array attached to a RAID card can provide protection, performanace -- and maybe even both

07 Remote

Media Center component providers seemed to have come to a basic agreement on standards for their remote control - we look at a few of them

08 Extenders

Many of us gizmo guys have been forced to give up the dream of having a PC in the lounge. The spousal objections were just too strong. But help is at hand - using one of the many models of Media Center extenders we can enjoy many of the benefits of a media PC - now in the lounge as well

09 Filename Conversion

Although Media Center technology has expanded our entertainment horizons and at the same time made this diverse material easier to get, there still exist pockets of resistence where manual intervention is required. Re-naming files to confrom to the standard is one of those hold-out and we take a look at a techie way to automate the process

10 Ninite

And speaking of automating processes, here's a nifty little package to automate your next windows software installation

11 Last Filesystem

I've got quite a bit of disk space available on my home network, but I found out some time ago that it's no good having a bounty of space if you can't find what you've got. Tools like "Everything" are great (I use it at least once a day) but why not put it where you can find it as soon as you get it? In truth any filing system will do so long as you use it - and any system should be based on the way you use your computer, but I've offered up my own home-grown tried-and-true system for your consideration

12 Knowem

This is a fun little resource - type in your name and see how may social networks know who you are!

13 View Source

Here's one for the propeller-heads - it's a way to automate a download process using the raw text data from a web page. Pocket Protectors at the ready!

140Colors.Htm

As a web designer you're required to use color on your site (I don't believe I've ever seen a black and white site - something to think about) but if you're a guy you are more than likely to have some degree of color-blindless. Even if you don't you probably don't want to use words like "chartreuse" or "beige" or "passion pink". On top of that who can remember those stupid codes? (#00FFFF). Fortunately, the HTML people have provided us with "word equivalents" for 140 colors out of their 16 million possibles. This means that when we want red we can specify "red"

14 Css1

CSS is growing on me. I took a stab at understanding it several times before making this small initial step and I've made additional strides since that I hope to write about soon

15 Css2

One nice thing about using CSS over using tables in your HTML layout is that it's more flexible and (in my view) more attractive. Here's a little starter kit to get you going

16 Tv Setup

Returning to our roots, this piece is about fitting a TV card into your Windows Media Center setup. Even if you don't watch much TV, the technology is interesting in and of itself. If you do watch a bit of TV merging your PC technology with Broadcast functionality adds a new dimension to the mix and turns your PC into an intelligent DVR

17 Epg Setup 1

Taking TV technology to the next level, it's now possible to extract the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) right out of the air. Previously this information had been horded by the provider as a source of revenue, today the information can be freely available with a bit of software and some time to set it up

18 Epg Setup 2

Part 2

19 Epg Setup 3

Part 3

20 Call 4 Help

Tips and tricks for getting more information and faster problem resolution from your help desk.

21 Quick Edits

(The sections that follow ("in progress") are placeholder titles to remind me about the topics I'd like to cover but just don't have time to work on just now. This is a very short item to show you how to use the TAB key in Windows 7 to move between file names in the windows explorer window in "edit" mode eliminating the need to hit "F2" or the "right click", "rename", edit the file name, "enter" sequence.

22 Basic Setup

(In Progress) This section aims to describe the basic set of software tools that pretty much any computer user should and use. Included will be links to download the free or "free versions" of each.

23 Unix Help

(In Progress) Unix was my first operating system and I always keep a set of Unix tools on my PC for those times when Unix beats Windows 7 hands down. This article describes a few of these tools and the situations when they would be most useful.

24 Cmd

(In Progress) This article is the Windows Command Line counterpart to the Unix article just above.

25 Geek Zone

(Stalled) Can't really remember what I was going to do with this one.

26 Database 101

(In Progress) The next three items have been planned as a series of basic database training to describe what databases are good for, what they are not good for, how to design your database to fit the purpose, what to include, what to exclude, and how to design for expandability.

27 Database 102

(ditto)

28 Database 103

(ditto)

29 Raid Again

Proof-almost-positive that RAID hardware is the bee's knees.

30 Hot Win

Keeping your Windows installation cooler and cleaner by hiding those unslightly wires.

31 Cool Win

(InProgress) Tips and tricks to keep your windows installation running cooler

32 All My Movies

A cool little program to sort out your movie collection

33 Tmdb Api

(In Progress) a tutorial on how to link into the TMDb Movie Database - I hope this is going to turn into a stand-alone application one day.

I've been looking forward to writing this article for like, forever.

Background:

As computer systems have grown and evolved over the years they have also grown hotter and this heat appears to be the source of random un-associated errors. More than a year ago I started to make the connection between higher PC operating temperatures and system errors and so began my quest for a cool PC.

I don't overclock, but I do add more hardware to my configurations, and with the advent of RAID technology the number of HDDs has grown to 5 in my number 1 machine, and a whopping 9 in my number 2.

I've tried many different configurations over the years, mostly just adding and changing the number and position of internal 12 volt system fans but my current setup uses two different designs and two different sets of fan types and locations.

There aren't any rules about PC design for temperature reduction (none that I can find anyway) the changes I've made to my PC's are based on common sense and experience - things that work remain things that don't work are discarded.

Tidy Internals:

I have no wish to put a glass from on my PCs or install internal lights, but I do like the insides of my boxes to have a clean look - without cables floating about. In addition to being pleasing to the eye, this lack of cablling should contribute to a modest increase in the air flow through the box. The little I can find on the subject focuses on cooling the CPU and memory, while I find that keeping the disks cool is at least as important.

PC bgcolor="#1 features an attempt that mimics opening the case and putting a desk fan on the insides. My setup was just that for about 3 months until I got fed up with the clutter. The jury is still out on this design as the door fan tends to make more noise, and I suspect it uses more power as it plugs into the mains rather than drawing its power from the PC power supply.

In this design air is forced into the side and out both front and back ends passing over both the CPU and the Disk array to provide the cooling.

The design works to keep the unit cool, but I think I like my first design (the one now in use on PC bgcolor="#2) better.

Reverse Engineering

The cooling design for PC bgcolor="#2 came about as a result to my switch to RAID technology and the eight disks that are required to achieve the large disk capacity I was after.

A separate goal for this design was "easy access" to the back plane. I'd designed a cabinet that provided roll-out shelves to allow an operator to get at the plugs on the back of the PC and the design works. Plugging and Unplugging cables from the back connectors is certainly made easier by sliding the whole PC forward, but there is still a bit of shifting and stretching required to perform the actual cable operation.

given that the fan array had fully taken over the front panel and there were no useable connections to be had I figured out a way to re-locate all of the controls and connectors that were on the front panel to the back panel and reverse the orientation of the PC in the cabinet so the backplane faces out into the room and provides full and easy access to every part of the system I might want to address.