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Thoughts on software complexity
02 June 06 09:06 PM | Peter Rosser | 1 Comments   
If you've ever tried to create a software application of any decent size, you have probably realized that what works with small tools more often than not does not scale well to larger sizes. There are whole books written about how to scale up and out, Read More...
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Captioning Support Sucks
19 February 06 01:42 AM | Peter Rosser | 6 Comments   
Looking back at the bugs we've fixed over the last several months, we certainly have had a good share of captioning issues, especially with regards to the size of the codebase compared to the "video" code. Surprisingly, we don't hear from users a ton when captions don't work properly, but maybe that's because a minority of the users actually use them in the first place. I'm not usually so negative, but I'm just annoyed at captioning today. The following is a poorly thought-out rant on the subject. ... Read More...
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A Brief History of ATSC in Media Center
03 February 06 12:09 AM | Peter Rosser | 26 Comments   
In the beginning there was NTSC in Freestyle (Media Center 2002), and it was good. Media Center supported the #1 market and proved that computers could do a great job recording television, pausing Live TV, and organizing recordings. With support for one Read More...
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Classy & Easy Thank You Notes
09 January 06 02:40 PM | Peter Rosser | 3 Comments   
If you are truly lazy, but still want to show your gratitude, you can always do what I do. Instead of spending all that precious mental energy composing a thank-you note, just fill out a handy form! Everybody wins: you don't have to stress your imagination Read More...
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16.7ms = free software (a silly contest)
05 January 06 06:34 PM | Peter Rosser | 30 Comments   
Sometimes being obtuse is it's own reward, but this time there's something in it for you if you know what "16.7ms" is referring to. I'm curious enough to see that I'm willing to shell out my own hard-earned cash to the first non-Microsoft employee that Read More...
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Windows Insomnia: Why Won't My Computer Go To Sleep?
04 January 06 09:18 PM | Peter Rosser | 7 Comments   
One of the issues I am investigating for a fix relates to the auto-suspend feature in Windows. The way it's supposed to work is you set a time in the Power control panel (Control Panel --> Performance and Maintenance --> Power Options) that controls Read More...
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Happy New Year!
04 January 06 10:58 AM | Peter Rosser | 0 Comments   
Happy New Year! It was a nice month, but the break is over and I've returned back to work. Christmas at the Rosser house was a low-key affair, mostly spend decompressing from hectic work schedules and enjoying family and friends' company. My daughter's Read More...
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Visual Studio 2005 Shipping on my Birthday
31 October 05 10:14 PM | Peter Rosser | 1 Comments   
You know I'm a geek when something like that gives me even a little bit of a thrill. November 7th... not just an election day or my birthday, but also the VS2005 public ship day. ^_^. I'm installing it now on my primary and backup dev boxes at work now... Read More...
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IEEE 1394 vs. UDCP
26 October 05 11:34 PM | Peter Rosser | 7 Comments   
I have been exchanging a couple of emails with Ray Maker, a fellow 'Softie, regarding whether IEEE 1394 recording is an "enthusiast" feature or more mainstream. I am of the opinion that it stands a good chance of being mainstream, and Ray thinks it more Read More...
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Recording over 1394 (Firewire) in Media Center
25 October 05 11:26 PM | Peter Rosser | 17 Comments   
There has been some recent effort to pry open the 1394 interface in various STBs (set-top boxes), most notably that of timmmoore's STB package that goes to extraordinary lengths to hook into Media Center's experience. The state of the world today, at Read More...
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DRM in MCE Rollup 2
20 October 05 07:33 PM | Peter Rosser | 40 Comments   
I was posting to TheGreenButton.com and thought I'd save myself typing the same thing again, since it's good info, even if I am restating/repackaging existing opinion. The following is a response to people who thought for some reason that Rollup 2 was Read More...
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PC Video Outputs
20 October 05 10:38 AM | Peter Rosser | 3 Comments   
I am seeing a pattern of confusion regarding S-Video and video resolutions with a lot of users in the community, so this posting is for those of you asking things like "why can't I get HD over S-Video" or similar questions. If you want anything above Read More...
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