An introduction

Ok so what's this new blog all about? Well I've had a PC in my living room for the last two years, and combined with the LCD TV via DVI, we can watch TV on it and also surf/email etc.

We've got so used to it, I doubt we could now do without.

One thing which I've worked on since I got the PC is a TV guide to help with the scheduling of recordings. What started off as a way to see what was on, has expanded into a Tivo like application. Now, we define recordings by a set of rules and the recording is done automatically. Repeats are ignored and we can search for programmes by genre, name, actor etc. We can even get the DVD cover on screen for a film..

And what's the best thing about it? It does exactly what we want and nothing else!

Here's a picture for reference, you can click on it for a full sized version:


The data comes from XMLTV and the guide is written in C#. I like the vertical appearance rather than the (more common) horizontal type I guess because I find it easier to read.

All this is well and good, but my plans don't stop there. This works so well in one room in the house, I want it available everywhere!

This blog will detail my trials and tribulations of trying to get there. Once we're through, you might need to wash several times to get all that geek out of your hair ;-)