Michael Creasy's blog

Microsoft Windows Media Center, digital media and more...

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Author: mcreasy Date: 10/14/2005

Many questions - MSAS, playing WAV files and what to develop Media Center apps with

I've had lots of questions recently and no time to really get answers and post them up here. If I...

Author: mcreasy Date: 07/13/2005

This week's questions (actually last week's): More on HTML and add-ins

How are HTML apps and add-ins associated with each other? (Can HTML apps trigger add-ins to be...

Author: mcreasy Date: 06/24/2005

Media Center PC's are getting cheap!

Betanews reports that Gateway/eMachines will be offering a new Media Center PC for $599! The specs...

Author: mcreasy Date: 06/23/2005

This weeks questions - always on top and registering add-ins and HTML together

I've decided to take all the questions I get by email and answer them on Fridays in one post, so do...

Author: mcreasy Date: 06/10/2005

How to disable a Media Center add-in

Jason over at Digital Media Thoughts sent me an email about his new article on The Powers and Perils...

Author: mcreasy Date: 06/09/2005

David Burnett on digital photography

David Burnett talks to the New York Times on what cameras he uses and why he mainly shoots digital...

Author: mcreasy Date: 06/07/2005

Questions answered

I've had a couple of questions by email that I should answer (note I've paraphrased some of these):...

Author: mcreasy Date: 06/03/2005

Yes, I'm still alive.

Sorry I haven't had much (anything) to say for a while. I've been terribly busy on a number of...

Author: mcreasy Date: 06/03/2005

Back at work

No, I haven't forgotten about this blog. I've just got back from a long and exhausting holiday and...

Author: mcreasy Date: 05/03/2005

Media Center keyboard shortcuts

All the keyboard shortcuts for Media Center for those times when you just don't want to use a remote...

Author: mcreasy Date: 03/30/2005

iPod your BMW

The ability to install an iPod in a BMW has been around for a few months now and I hadn't given it...

Author: mcreasy Date: 03/30/2005

MSN Video Download

MSN Video Download apparently went live today with a choice of two membership types Premium and...

Author: mcreasy Date: 03/30/2005

Canon SD500 first impressions

I've always owned Canon cameras and was looking around for a new small digital camera and decided on...

Author: mcreasy Date: 03/29/2005

MSN Remote Record

MSN Remote Record is live and out of beta. In simplest terms it's a way of browsing the same TV...

Author: mcreasy Date: 02/24/2005

Emailing me with tech support requests

I get a lot of emails asking for help with people's Media Center and I can't answer them all. Feel...

Author: mcreasy Date: 02/23/2005

Intel Barebones Media Center PC

This is pretty cool if you're looking to build your own Media Center PC. Intel have started...

Author: mcreasy Date: 02/18/2005

Update for Media Center Extender for Xbox now available

There's an update for MCX for Xbox available on Xbox Live now that will allow you to play back...

Author: mcreasy Date: 02/17/2005

Installing applications on Media Center

In response to an emailed question from Mike Kaltschnee about how to install applications on Media...

Author: mcreasy Date: 02/17/2005

OT: Photo from this weekend

I won't make a habit of this, but I wanted to share a picture I took this weekend at the Pike Place...

Author: mcreasy Date: 02/07/2005

What's in a name?

Quite a lot it seems. I own a few domain names. Most I've had for several years and they've always...

Author: mcreasy Date: 02/02/2005

Sony will offer an upgrade to Media Center 2005

If you've got a Sony Media Center PC and want an upgrade to Media Center 2005, you'll want to click...

Author: mcreasy Date: 01/31/2005

17th Century Blog...

I started reading Samuel Pepys diary earlier this year and I've read about half of it so far. Pepys...

Author: mcreasy Date: 12/31/2004

Improving "My Pictures"

eHomeUpgrade talks about how to improve the My Pictures experience in Media Center. There's some...

Author: mcreasy Date: 12/31/2004

Got an Extender? Got HBO? You'll want this update.

Now you can watch copy protected TV on your Extender. Update for the HP model. Update for the...

Author: mcreasy Date: 12/20/2004

Geek dinner tonight

A reminder about tonight's geek dinner... Charlie says he will have some prizes...

Author: mcreasy Date: 12/09/2004

What would make debugging Media Center applications easier?

Right now the method for debugging Media Center applications is pretty much to use Visual Studio...

Author: mcreasy Date: 12/07/2004

Media Center Geek Dinner - Thursday December 9th

Charlie and I have talked about this for a while and we've finally got around to doing something...

Author: mcreasy Date: 12/03/2004

Winter Fun Pack 2004 includes TweakMCE for Media Center 2005 users

The Winter Fun Pack 2004 is now available to download. There's a bunch of things included for...

Author: mcreasy Date: 12/03/2004

Tranquil mini Media Center PC

Tranquil PC (via mini-itx.com) have this cool looking Media Center PC available in the UK. It's very...

Author: mcreasy Date: 12/03/2004

MediaCenter.IsApplicationActive isn't implemented

If you've been trying to use MediaCenter.IsApplicationActive and wondering why it doesn't work then...

Author: mcreasy Date: 12/03/2004

Giving the PC the finger

Biometrics just seem cool to me. I’ve watched far too many films where access to a computer or a...

Author: mcreasy Date: 12/01/2004

MSN Remote Record Beta

Public Beta of the MSN Remote Record Service. This service enables users running Windows XP Media...

Author: mcreasy Date: 11/23/2004

Digital Joy

Coming November 7th.;-)

Author: mcreasy Date: 11/05/2004

AOL Spam stats

According to AOL's stats, they've blocked almost a billion bits of spam today. That's a lot of spam....

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/28/2004

Photo iPod

Photo iPod Colour screen and everything. Hmm, tempting. Doesn't seem like there's anything else new...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/26/2004

Sample Media Center 2005 Add-in download

To try and make things easier for anyone looking to experiment with building add-ins for Media...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/25/2004

Cool new Media Center hardware

HP have announced a new Media Center PC that would look right at home next to other home...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/15/2004

Would you like an Media Center add-in sample in VB.NET?

I posted an introduction to add-ins earlier this week using C#. I know there are lots of VB...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/15/2004

Having trouble getting the Media Center 2005 upgrade?

If you've got a Media Center PC and you want to upgrade to Media Center 2005 you need to contact the...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/15/2004

EthanZ is blogging

Ethan is a PM who works on Media Center and specifically on the extensibility platform that I also...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/13/2004

Media Center is not XP Home

It's not XP Pro either. Media Center should now be thought of as another version of XP just like...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/13/2004

Do you have an HP Media Center PC?

If so you can order the upgrade to Media Center 2005 here. If you've got a different brand, check...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/12/2004

How To Build An Add-In For Windows Media Center Edition 2005

How to build an Add-in for Windows Media Center Edition 2005 First, the basics... What is an Add-in?...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/12/2004

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (part two)

I knew I'd forget a couple of things as there so many new features, here's what I missed: Messenger...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/12/2004

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

Today (October 12th) is the day that Windows Media Center 2005 is launched. There's bound to be a...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/12/2004

Something's coming...

...in 80 minutes. I think you're going to like it...

Author: mcreasy Date: 10/12/2004

Geek dinner

i just got back from the geek dinner. I met Robert Scoble and a whole load of other people....

Author: mcreasy Date: 09/25/2004

Geek dinner in San Francisco

Robert Scoble is going to be in San Francisco this weekend as well so we're having a geek dinner on...

Author: mcreasy Date: 09/22/2004

Han does NOT shoot first!

My Star Wars DVDs have arrived a day early so I'm watching A New Hope right now. The picture quality...

Author: mcreasy Date: 09/20/2004

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