Archive for the ‘XMLTV’ Category
XMLTV Alter Expiration
Posted by banger@epgstream in XMLTV, XMLTV: Guide Pack on July 3rd, 2009
Anyone with a version of XMLTV: Alter that has expired can download the latest version from our download page.
Sorry for the delay in a response, but work is killing me … I’ve even had to put off a climbing trip to Thailand because of mountain of commitments! 
“Everybody’s working for the weekend …”
Posted by banger@epgstream in Windows 7, XMLTV on February 28th, 2009
Well, maybe not everybody works for the weekend, but I’ll definitely start working again tomorrow on the XMLTV to MXF compiler (wmcGuideCompiler7) again! 
The core functionality is all done so I’m just finalising some deployment and configuration components.
If you hadn’t already worked out from my previous QR Code entry, I proposed to my long-time-suffering girlfriend today so I’ve been busy this week getting a few things finalised for today! I won’t bore you with all the details but, needless to say, I did all the right things … “asked the dad”, “consulted the mum” and “got down on a knee”. Oh, and she said “Yes!”.
So without further delay (tomorrow) …
Knuthing better than The Art of Computer Programming
Posted by banger@epgstream in Random Thoughts, Recommendations, Windows 7, XMLTV on February 18th, 2009
I don’t know about you guys, but I find I have to throw out books and whitepapers from my professional library every few years. I recently tossed out a few old Visual Basic 6, Microsoft C++ and Microsoft .NET 1.x books which were taking up valuable space and came across some old friends …
Aside from my Bruce Schneier books, I really love my well-read “The Art of Computer Programming” (TAOCP) volumes by Donald E. Knuth and was happily side-tracked for a hour as I thumbed through some familiar chapters. Keen to see if there were any new Knuth editions published, I temporarily abandoned the library cleanup and checked on Amazon to find:
The Art of Computer Programming (Vol. 1-3) – US$149.18
3 updated editions, a boxed set and all hard covered to boot! How could I not buy these computing classics in the hopes that one day I could pass them onto my computer-literate grand-kids? Needless to say I promptly purchased these tax deductible references and then returned to the purging of my professional library.
Two weeks later (i.e. yesterday) this heavy boxed set turned up on my doorstep, and much to my surprise, in pretty good condition after being shipped from the USA. Ahhhh… nice white pages with no notes in pencil or dead mosquitoes stuck between the pages. Now I can take my tattered old TAOCP paperback copies to work and not worry so much if any “light fingered” work colleages are going to borrow my books for months at a time!
If you haven’t heard of Donald Knuth before then take some time out of your day to find out about his work. This is especially important if you want a better understanding of the “hows and whys” of software development fundamentals, or maybe just need to write lean, mean, industrial strength code.
Oh… errr… I finally sent off the sample Windows 7 EPG MXF data to Mike Hayton this morning for critique. I would have sent it last night but I was too busy flicking through TAOCP, Volume 2. Hopefully Mike will give it the thumbs up and we can start looking at releasing a new wmcGuideCompiler7 version!
The second cut of our Windows 7 guide compiler!
Posted by banger@epgstream in Windows 7, XMLTV on February 17th, 2009
I had been planning to send Mike Hayton some sample MXF data on the weekend but I ended up being side-tracked by the Valentine’s Day and a surprise itinerary planned out by my girlfriend! Needless to say I got very little work done, but I did have time to think about how to progress the XMLTV to MXF compiler project.
The original plan was to release a new version of our Guide Service Proxy application which included a Windows 7 MXF guide compiler. After a little refactoring and a lot of reflection and I decided that we should bundle the compiler as a new application, rather than trying to stuff it into the currently stable Guide Service Proxy.
A logo is worth a thousand words …
Posted by banger@epgstream in Windows 7, XMLTV, XMLTV: Guide Pack on February 11th, 2009
Well, as of today I can cross the TV program images off the “TODO” list with addition of this extra eye candy to our Guide Service Proxy compiler. I decided to go with programme/movie images rather than network icons first because they are more visually pleasing. As the days go by (and I find the time) I’ll add the network icons to the mix!
First cut of our XMLTV to MXF compiler!
Posted by banger@epgstream in Windows 7, XMLTV, XMLTV: Guide Pack on February 9th, 2009
It’s Alive! It’s Alive!
I managed to dodge all the distractions of a lazy Australian Sunday and build a fairy clean, first cut version of a Windows 7 XMLTV to MXF compiler! 
Using XMLTV data from ozTiVo.net I was able to load guide data for 15 glorious channels directly into my Windows Media Center guide!
Writing a new XMLTV compiler for Windows 7!
Posted by banger@epgstream in Windows 7, XMLTV on February 7th, 2009
Ok time to get busy! I’ve cleared my schedule for the rest of the weekend and plan on writing a new guide compiler for the Windows 7 beta. I had spent some time a few weeks ago looking at the new Windows 7 internals to try and figure out how to load and display the XMLTV data. I could load the data but unfortunately could not get it to display correctly.
Reviewing Mike’s recently released documentation, the internal objects look very similar so hopefully it won’t take long to knock up a working compiler!
Wish me luck!
Starting to feel the financial pinch, OUCH!
Posted by banger@epgstream in Free*EPG, Windows Vista & XP, XMLTV on August 20th, 2008
After starting our Windows Media Center guide service (Free*EPG) in June 2006, we’ve seen a lot happen in the EPG world, especially in Australia! Over the years the number of homes with media centers have sky-rocketed and we hit over 10,000 active users in August 2008!
Our original service launched in 2006 provided a simple interface for Windows Media Center users in Australia to download their EPG. Only Sydney was supported in the early days, until we decided to incorporate data from the ozTiVo community which saw us distribute data nation wide. Today, our servers receive thousands of download requests every day for that precious EPG.
In most organisations this would be fantastic news with hundreds of new user subscriptions rolling in every month, but not for us … [Un]fortunately epgStream.net is a not-for-profit organisation and we are funded through the kindness of our subscribers, so it can be financially lean some months! The increase in user subscriptions to our service has placed more demand on our server and bandwidth resources, but there hasn’t been a corresponding increase in donations. We don’t require a lot of financial support, but Needless to say donations had run dry a few times leaving us “out of pocket” when our regular hosting bills arrived.
Free*EPG XMLTV Service v2.0 Now Available!
Posted by banger@epgstream in Announcements, Free*EPG, XMLTV on April 2nd, 2008
Double What The?!? We’ve followed ozTiVo.net’s lead and now have a new XMLTV service which is more grabber friendly! This new service uses HTTP caching so it’s fast and will allow grabbers to specify the amount of data they need per channel.
To get the ball rolling we’ve created a free Windows 2000/XP/Vista grabber named xmltvDownload which will allow you to download XMLTV data from ozTiVo.net or epgStream.net.
Read more about accessing our new XMLTV Guide Service 2.0 here.
ozTiVo.net Guide API Integration
Posted by banger@epgstream in Free*EPG, XMLTV on February 13th, 2008
Over the next week or two we’ll be cutting over to a new ozTiVo.net feed interface (refer this announcement). Even though we don’t expect any problems, there is still always the possibility that a few gremlins might creep into the works.
If you notice channel data missing, incorrect timezones or incorrect data then please let us know!
