Over the weekend I was able to try out LinuxMCE. It only runs on Ubuntu 6.10, so I had to downgrade. First I tried to install from my Kubuntu 6.10 disc, but it wasn't able to set up the partitions exactly how I wanted them. Next I tried to install from my 6.04 disc, but when I tried to upgrade from 6.04 to 6.10, the upgrade ran afoul and the installation got trashed. Then I decided to download a 6.10 text installer, and this worked just fine. After installing it I ran all of the updates and started the installation of LinuxMCE. The installation itself wasn't too bad, I was just missing one package that it needed, so I downloaded it and it installed just fine. When I ran it for the first time, it took about an hour for it to generate all of the data it needed (the second time it came up quickly). Unfortunately this is where I ran into a road block. When LinuxMCE finally finished loading, it took me to a screen with some scrambled grey boxes. It took me a few hours to figure out that this was because I needed to install the fglrx drivers for my graphics card. It would have been nice if LinuxMCE had told me this, instead of booting to a scrambled screen. After I installed the drivers, I was able to get it running, but the CPU was maxed out at 100%, without letting up. Obviously they have some issues to sort out with ATI graphics cards. They provide multiple user interfaces, so I switched to a less graphically demanding UI, one that didn't use any 3D features of my graphics card. It wasn't terribly pretty like this, but from then on it ran without any serious problems. This is the first release of their software, so hopefully they'll fix all of these bugs in future releases. For the first release of an open source project, they're doing quite well. I was able to fire up a movie, and even in the low graphics mode it had some nifty features. When you're watching a movie, if you click anywhere on the screen, it will bring up a control panel, while allowing the movie to continue playing on the upper part of the screen. Ideally, if my graphics card were working, I would be able to go through all of the menus, and they would just be transparently laid over the playing movie. The solution in the low graphics mode was adequate, but nothing special. One thing that I liked though was if I left the part of the program that was playing the movie, to play around with other things like music, it would remember exactly where the movie was playing so it could be resumed at a later time. It also fetched the DVD cover from the internet and put it onto a screen where you can sort through your collection. LinuxMCE was unable to find the music that I have on my computer as well as my One Piece videos. This was very disappointing because the promotional video for LinuxMCE claimed it could find all of your media without any configuration. So much for that. I haven't taken the time to see if I can tweak it into working, but it's rather disappointing that it doesn't work as advertised. Some of the other features of LinuxMCE that look very promising are the home automation features. This is what really sells me on the idea that this will eventually be a fantastic product. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the hardware necessary to try these features, but I would still like to in the near future. With an IR transmitter attached to the computer, LinuxMCE can control all of your other media devices like televisions, VCRs, DVD players, audio receivers, etc. That way when you insert a DVD for instance, it will turn on your television, set it to the appropriate channel, turn on your receiver and set the correct inputs, and anything else that you may need. With the addition of a bluetooth transmitter, you can use your cell phone as a remote control, and it can detect when you're in the room (when your phone is in the room) if you want to set up systems to activate with proximity. I think it would be cool to have it turn on some music whenever someone walks into the room for example. If you have a light controller, it can also dim the lights when you put a movie in. Very cool. If you have a home security system, it will alert you when someone is at the door, and you can view them on the screen if you have a camera at the door. You can also unlock the door from within the program. I personally won't have need for that any time soon. Our security system consists of a dead bolt and a guard dog. Anyway, major potential in this program, but they need to focus on nailing down the basics like graphics card support and scanning for files. The reason why some of the fancier features work while some of the basics don't is because LinuxMCE is a mashup of several different programs made by other people. Those programs all work great by themselves, but LinuxMCE is trying to integrate them all into one system, and to provide easier setup and more automation. They still have a long way to go, but I'm rooting for them.
In other news, I've decided that I hate the news. In particular, I can't stand Fox, CNN, or MSNBC. I really have no idea what their cable TV broadcasts are like these days, we haven't watched TV since December. I'm talking about their websites. All of the top stories for the past several weeks have been about Anna Nichole Smith. There are British sailors being held hostage by Iran, with the potential to ignite World War III, and that story is relegated to their little side bar. No, they know what's important. Whether or not the step aunt of a dead whore is able to sue her brother-in-law's kitten for ownership of Anna Nichole's stamp collection is likely to have a more profound effect on my life than a trifling thing called nuclear holocaust. Oh, and have you noticed that Fox has permanently devoted a block on their front page to the latest news on Britney Spears' hair? The ramifications that has on how history will be written are nearly unimaginable. Okay, tirade over. I get my news from Slashdot, Digg, and Google.
Now for good news:
Tara wants to help me build a Shelby Cobra from a kit someday
Isaac expressed interest in installing Linux
The semester is almost over
I got A's on my CS252, CS340, and History 201 midterms (still waiting on my other classes)
Nintendo Wii is selling like hotcakes
Vista is not
We rearranged our living room, and it absolutely rocks
Indian food for lunch tomorrow
I found out that I can use Gaim to chat on Google Talk
A hexagon shaped storm on Saturn was found to still be shaped like a hexagon after 15 years
Passed off a program today
Annie's new food made her stomach better
Tara got some new Magic cards
I'm tired and it's bedtime
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