I tend to be very conservative about adding plug-ins or new software to my Windows Home Server. Indeed, on my v1 box, I’m not sure I ever installed anything other than Squeezebox Server, and I have not installed too much else on my 2011 box. That being said, one of my favorite add-ins for WHS 2011 is Home Server SMART […]
Read more
By now, we’ve all become accustomed to the movie industry’s efforts to continue to enforce traditional release windows and exclusivity deals. One of the vagaries of these deals often comes up in relation to streaming and digital distribution systems, where movies can seem to arrive later than one would expect or can come and go, seemingly at random. One of […]
Read more
Television shows can be profitable based on ad sales during an initial run if the ratings are high enough, but the real long-term value is in distribution and syndication, selling the rights to replay a show on another network and in other markets. Tapping into this revenue stream is the primary reason so many cable networks have raced to join […]
Read more
The LaCie 5Big Office+ is a five-bay network attached storage device powered by Windows Storage Server Essentials 2008 R2. Though geared toward small business users, it would also be a good fit for a home user looking for a NAS with robust data redundancy and user management options. Based on the Colorado family of server products, WSSE 2008 R2 utilizes […]
Read more
It wasn’t that long ago that the big news surrounding DirecTV’s HD DVRs was the deployment of an updated HD UI. Now, DirecTV is adding features to take their DVRs beyond simply watching and recording TV. Internet connected DirecTV HD DVRs can now be used to stream Pandora Internet Radio. Pandora is integrated into the device’s “Extras” menu and provides […]
Read more
The loss of Drive Extender, the storage pooling and redundancy feature of the original Windows Home Server, was a crippling blow for Windows Home Server 2011 in the eyes of many WHS enthusiasts. A couple of different companies sprang up to try to fill the void left by Drive Extender with new WHS plug-ins. Drive Bender was the first to […]
Read more
Netflix has been keeping busy this last week. First came the announcements of 1080p streaming for the new Apple TV and the iTunes integrated payment options, and now comes announcements of a new support site and the addition of the “Just for Kids” interface to the Playstation 3. Netflix’s previous “Help” site had focused heavily on FAQs and tutorials browseable by category. With the […]
Read more
Cebit is usually one of my favorite tech trade shows. CES may be fun, but shows like Computex and Cebit are when the real hardware is unveiled. Unfortunately, between the Windows 8 Consumer Preview release and the new iPad announcement, this year’s Cebit kind of fell through the cracks for me. It’s unfortunate too, because there was some neat stuff on […]
Read more
NBC has been the sole source for Olympics coverage in the US for the last several events, and each time, the network has tried to tweak their offerings to best capitalize on their exclusivity. Sometimes this has meant utilizing NBC’s secondary cable networks for extended coverage or providing event replays online. This year, NBC seems intent on providing as much […]
Read more
We’ve reviewed a couple of different mobile device-based universal remote control systems. Some are platform specific, such as the VooMote Zapper, which is geared toward iOS devices. Others come in multiple flavors, such as the Griffin Beacon. We reviewed the Griffin Beacon with an iPhone. At the time an Android version was still in the works. Now that it is available, […]
Read more