All Things Binary...

One thing I couldn't do on my DHD is finally possible now. Playing media files from a network share. It uses UPnP/DLNA to complete the objective. The best thing is that it is able to use the XBMC Server to serve up the media!

As XBMC plays the media folders which are in multi-file (rar) format, the media server will serve these as well, without the need to unrar them.

So, things you need:
1. XBMC with UPnP settings enabled in Network settings OR Windows Media Player with Streaming options enabled running on your PC. (The media folders should be already be added to the library)

2. UPnPlay (http://www.appbrain.com/app/upnplay/cx.hoohol.silanoid ) Install on your android device. Once running, it should find the XBMC/Windows Media Player Servers automatically.

3. Rock Player (http://www.appbrain.com/app/rockplayer-lite/com.redirectin.rockplayer.android.unified.lite) This is your video player. Once you click on a video in UPnPlay, you will have the option of playing the file on your Android device or on a DLNA connected device player. If you select your Android device, you will have the option to select the Video players you have installed on your device. DO NOT use the pre-installed stock players as they will fail. Select this Rock Player and it will work :)

Saturday, November 27, 2010

The next killer app..

http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/

Friday, October 22, 2010

HTC Desire HD

Alright, now that you have this precious phone, there are somethings that need to be done. Some of these you have to do and some of them are optional.

THINGS YOU HAVE TO DO:

Go to Settings - Display - Brightness. Un-tick Auto brightness and set the brightness as desired.
Go to Settings -Applications. Tick 'Unknown Sources' and Un-tick 'Fast Boot' (This you can switch back on once the 'Battery Calibration' (later) has been done). Then go to Development and Tick 'USB Debugging'
Go to Settings - Accounts Sync. Here you can set the duration between syncs. This depends on you. If you need your News & Weather updated every 5 mins, you should be prepared to have shitty battery life. Some things here can be frequently updated while some can be on 4 hour intervals.

Battery Calibration
(http://www.htcdesirehdforum.com/htc-desire-hd-how-to/calibrate-desire-battery-it-worked-for-me-!!/)

Power on your Desire HD then connect to your Charger and Fully charge until the LED changes Green.

Disconnect your phone from the charger and then power off.
Reconnect your phone to your charger with the power off and wait for the green LED. (If your LED turns green immediately, then you did not switch off the Fast Boot. The Fast Boot option keeps the phone a little alive in order to attain the fast boot. For this exercise, Fast Boot needs to be disabled)
Disconnect the phone from the charger and power it on.
Once the phone has fully booted / ready to use ... power off again.
With the power off connect the phone to the charger and wait for the green LED.
Disconnect from the Charger then power on and use normally.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Web Resources

These are some of the websites with the best tech resources:

Whirlpool Forum: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/
An Australian site with a wide variety of sub forums covering all things tech: Windows, Linux, Mac, iPhones, Android..... you name it! A site I visit daily, usually multiple times a day :)

Tom's Hardware http://www.tomshardware.com/
AnandTech http://www.anandtech.com/
Redmond Pie http://www.redmondpie.com/

Windows Setup

These are some of the programs you I install as soon as you get a new computer up and running. I came across Ninite (http://www.ninite.com) some months back and have found it very very useful in setting up new computers. You basically select all the apps you want to install and Ninite provides you with a file that runs all the installers one by one. A great time saver!

Applications TO AVOID at all cost:
Almost anything by ADOBE; Anything by Norton/Symantec This is obviously a personal choice but apart from Adobe Photoshop, most apps by these two are so bloated and taxing on the system that the lighter (and usually free) alternatives have a very good case for them.

Extract Now http://www.extractnow.com/extractnow.exe
This is a convenient utility that does all your unzipping needs. It’s a small application and negated the need for Winzip/WinRar

Avira http://www.free-av.com/
The current favourite free antivirus around.

FolderSize (Not compatible with Win 7)
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/foldersize/FolderSize-2.4.msi
Ever wondered where all your hard drive space has gone? In their infinite wisdom, Microsoft have deemed it un-necessary to show the size of folders in the Windows Explorer. This little app adds that functionality to Explorer.

Cutepdf http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
Create pdf documents from any program (Word, Excel, Paint or Outlook etc.) by simply selecting the Cutepdf printer and printing to it.

VLC Media Player http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html
One of the best media player around. Will play almost all media you throw at it. Retire Windows Media Player to the scrap heap.

Foxit Reader http://mirrors.foxitsoftware.com/pub/foxit/reader/desktop/win/3.x/3.0/enu/FoxitReader30_enu_Setup.exe
The alternative to Adobe Acrobat reader. Small and zippy!

LogMeIn https://secure.logmein.com/home.asp?hp=1
Would you like to control your computer from the office? Register for the Free Account and add your computers. Wherever you have access to a browser, you can connect and control your PC’s remotely.

WindowsLiveSync http://sync.live.com/
If you have more than 1 computer, this free app/service from Microsoft lets you have folders on multiple computers that are kept in sync. i.e whatever is added, modified or removed from one will be done on all the others. Additionally, you can also access the shared folder from any browser with your login details. PS: Do not try and share video or very large files. Even though they will work, this is ideally suited for stuff like documents, pictures and other smaller files.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

First Post!

Hello World!

Computers, tech gadgets and the internet.... these are a few of my favourite things! This, my little corner of the internet, is where I will share stuff with you people. Things you will find here range from the Windows OS, iPhone JB'ing, Media Centres, Internet Goodies and my latest interest: the Android Platform.

I'm no coder/programmer but a big user and collector of stuff! Here's where I share my stuff!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Honeycomb Wiki Test

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Stream Video to your Android device