SnapStream Blog

Downloadable TV shows have been a hot ticket since iTunes got things started in October of last year and since then, it seems a week doesn’t go by without an announcement of new TV shows available on the net. TechCrunch writes about most of the options for TV show downloads. Joining a TV show mid-season (for example, I just started watching Lost a couple of weeks ago)? You can get caught-up on missed episodes by downloading them over the net. Downloaded (or streamed) TV shows can be a great way to supplement the high-quality recordings made with PVRs, like our Beyond TV.

Sweeps month has arrived once again, and with it many great hours of season finales and special shows.

I have many emotions with the shows in the upcoming weeks. Excitement as I wait to see “How How I met Your Mother” and “Unan1mous” close out the season. Sadness to see the “West Wing” end, as it has been one of my favorite shows over the past few years. And indifference as “Desperate Housewifes” concludes a less than stellar sophomore season. Between the best and the worst shows, there will also be a number of great episodes as the networks vie for great ratings. House, Lost and Prison Break are sure to pull out all of the stops, while Alias closes out it’s five year run.

When scheduling your shows to record, make sure to watch out for odd starting or ending times. These times can cause conflicts that could cause your shows to record.

The easiest way to alleviate this problem is to install a second (or third or tenth) tuner card available from the SnapStream Store.

While you wait for the UPS man to bring your new toy however, you can still use the recording features of Beyond TV to make sure you don’t miss any shows. For example, say you want to record both CSI at 8 and then the new episode of ER at 9. Since ER starts at 8:59, it would normally not record since CSI would still be recording.

To fix this, schedule the episode of ER to record from the Viewscape SnapStream.net Guide and then click again on the show. Choose “View and Edit Details” and change “Start This Recording” to “1 Minute Late”.

Then you can schedule CSI and it will be able to record without conflict. Using the same method, you could also choose to stop CSI one minute early.

For a full list of finales, check out the Baltimore Sun article with a full rundown..

Recently, I was honored with the request to write about one of my favorite plug-ins for Beyond Media. Having influenced several of the major plug-ins, and coding nearly a half-dozen of them, picking a favorite among them is certainly not an easy task. So, after some consideration I decided I would highlight the Game Library Plug-in. Any avid game player will quickly realize that the Game Library is the ultimate tool for organizing any game collection.

The Game Library Plug-in for Beyond Media

The key component of the Game Library is the simplified setup. Installation is a simple download, and setting up the library is as easy as drag and drop. The games are automatically imported. The cover art is automatically downloaded. The searchable data fields (from genre to year released) are automatically populated. Actually, the ability to search for games is the true time saver. You can filter titles, first by system, and later by genres, years released, publishers, or even keyword descriptions. Want to find all PC Games installed on your system that were released by Activision? It is easy with the filters.

Details for Half-Life in the Game Library plug-in

While it is true that the Game Library comes preconfigured for a dozen or so emulator systems, my favorite hidden gem is the ability to organize PC games. To do this is easy. First, enable the “PC Games� system and drop a short-cut link with the name of the game (ie: Half-Life 2.lnk) in the selected “PC Games� folder. Let the system import and download the data, and your good to go!

I’ll close this never-ending blog entry with a brief bio about myself for the new folks. I first heard of SnapStream several years ago when it was a lonely web interface; with the release of PVS v3.0 (Beyond TV) I finally ditched my TiVO and fully adopted their software. I have held official roles as technical support, forum moderator, beta tester, product advisor, and SSDN Administrator. Currently, I have limited time to actively participate in forums (or even watch TV), but occasionally I check-in to see how my favorite company is doing. And yes, I do plan to continue to developing this and other plug-ins, just not today.

Now for the obligatory legal terms: Remember play safe, and responsible. Requesting or linking to ROMs is strictly prohibited, and frowned upon, on the SnapStream Forums.

– Brett Flury, Guest Blogger and SnapStream Enthusiast Extraordinaire (Brett on the forums)

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Other Beyond Media downloads that we’ve highlighted:

• Netflix on your TV
• NHL scores your TV

When blanka and narf collected on the $13,000 bounty to get Windows XP installed on a Mac, we knew it was time to test out the hack. But after two days of failed attempts, we thought our dreams of Windows XP on a Mac were a distant dream. Then Apple released Boot Camp for Intel based Macs.

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