Sweet Sauce Live Services / Mesh Backgrounds

2008-11-12T03:13:27Z

We’ve gotten endless pings about folks wanting to get their hands on our sweet looking desktop backgrounds for Live Services / Live Mesh.

Well… you can now grab an entire pack of various backgrounds from [here].

A few samples to wet your appetite…

Spread the love.

LiveFX using IronPython

2008-11-10T03:45:18Z

Several folks have asked how to get started using LiveFX with IronPython.

Here is a quick Getting Started guide:

Download and install the latest IronPython console from [here]
Grab the sample LiveOE.py file from [here]
Edit the LiveOE.py file and change the line
sdkLibsPath = r"..\LiveFrameworkSDK\Libraries\.Net Library"
to reflect the path where you’ve installed the LiveFX SDK .NET libraries
Launch the IronPython console from the command line: [ipy.exe -X:TabCompletion]
At the console, you can now type something like:

   import LiveOE
   livefx = LiveOE.Connect("username@live.com", "password")
   for i in livefx.Mesh.MeshObjects.Entries : print i.Resource.Title

That about does it.

Introducing the MeshMobile…

2008-11-09T13:15:35Z

[pronounced like Batmobile]

The MeshMobile is the latest addition to my device mesh – enabling my car to be always connected to the rest of my PCs, Macs, Media Centers, and mobile phones. It is essentially a carputer running an instance of the Live Operating Environment, and software which uses Live Framework to enable the car to become an integral part of the mesh.

The MeshMobile took about a month of hardware/software design… and about 3 weeks of fabrication and installation. In a nutshell, it’s a miniPC platform, running Vista as the base OS, Live Operating Environment, Centrafuse shell with some custom extensions to plug-in Mesh functionality. Of course, the ultimate carputer is part of the ultimate pure bread of air-cooled engineering marvels… the 993 Turbo.

So, what can it do (besides going from 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds)… the MeshMobile essentially has completed access to all Live Operating Environment functionality, including access to services such as identity, synchronization, peer-to-peer, mesh applications, etc. Using these…

The MeshMobile automatically synchronizes multiple data types such as music, videos, and pictures within the mesh. For example, when I add a new music album to my collection at home, the next time I hop in the car that album is automatically synchronized locally to the vehicle and is available within the car’s music collection.
The MeshMobile automatically reports its location into a Live Folder within the mesh. Every few seconds a set of GPS coordinates (with their Virtual Earth link) are dropped into a Live Folder which is then shared with a select group of folks who can view the vehicle’s location at any point.
The MeshMobile web browser synchronizes its Favorites links with the rest of the devices in the mesh.
It can log all relevant activity in the vehicle and synchronize across the rest of the devices in the mesh.
It can send out notifications with mesh News, SMS messages, etc.
Has complete phone/address-book integration.
Also working on integrating its night-vision camera, and ODB-II diagnostics in the next rev.
… and lots more.

Check out the Channel 9 video for more info: http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Charles/Ori-Amiga-Mesh-Mobile/

So, what type of hardware is in the MeshMobile…

Base System	AOpen miniPC Duo MP965-D
	- 165(W)x50(H)x165(D) mm - Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile 2.0GHz T7300 (45nm) - Intel GM965 + ICH8M Chipset - 4GB DDR2 SODIMM 667 Memory - 250GB SATA 5400 rpm, 8MB cache

Power	- 90W (19V, 4.74A) AC Power Adapter - Two-phase voltage stabilization - Carnetix PNX-P1900 Dual Output - 140 watt 12v DC-DC Regulator

Video / Display	- GM965 chipset (Intel GMA X3100) - DVI-i Port - D-Sub Port (via DVI to VGA Adapter) - Multi-TV Out (Composite, S-Video, YPbPr) - Mp3Car 2008 7'' Transflective LED Backlit Sunlight Readable Touchscreen

Networking	- WiFi 802.11b/g USB Mini-Adapter - AT&T USB Connect 3G - Bluetooth

GPS	- BU-353 Weather-proof GPS Receiver

Microphone	- Andrea Electronics Microphone DA-350 linear multi-element array microphone

Accessories	- SPEC Research RF Wireless Mini Keyboard, Optical Trackball - Griffin Powermate Volume Knob - CCD Infrared 'night vision' camera - Zune mini-audio jack

Software	- Vista Ultimate SP1 - Live Framework Client Runtime - Centrafuse 2.0

The CAD-designed custom fabrication for all the hardware and wiring was done by Benchmark Motoring.

ori amiga's blog

Sweet Sauce Live Services / Mesh Backgrounds

LiveFX using IronPython

Introducing the MeshMobile…