video – Page 2 – chmod 644

Going all-in with Nest cameras

January 21, 2019 at 10:04pm by windracer

I seem to go through technology re-orgs every four years or so. To start off 2019 I decided to re-do my security camera setup.

My first cameras were installed in 2010 (Foscam outside, TRENDnet inside). In 2014 I switched my indoor cameras to Dropcams but since Dropcam (now Nest) didn’t have an outdoor solution at the time I went with PoE TRENDnet dome cameras outside. While this solution was perfectly functional and served me well for the past five years, it was a bit of a pain having to use two different apps to view the indoor vs. outdoor cameras. Now that there’s the Nest Outdoor (released in 2016 and then the IQ Outdoor in 2017), and I also have a Nest thermostat and smoke detectors, it was not a tough decision to consolidate and go with more Nest cameras.

Hydra: TiVo’s next-generation user interface

November 3, 2017 at 8:00pm by windracer

Last weekend, TiVo officially released their next-generation user interface, code-named Hydra so I used the Early Access Request link posted by TiVo_Ted on the TiVo Community Forums to upgrade my Roamio Pro so I could check it out:

A few hours later, my box had upgraded to 21.7.2.RC7 and the next-generation UI:

The new navigation structure and screen layouts are going to take some time to get used to. I have a lot of TiVo-related muscle memory that no longer works (like using Left to go back a screen, or pressing “1” on TiVo Central to jump to OnePasses, etc.). Think carefully before upgrading your own box(es) to Hydra … if you want to go back to the “classic” UI it will involve a complete reset of your box, which means you’ll lose all recordings, settings, etc. Ouch.

Mainly the reason I upgraded one of my boxes was so that I could start updating my Alexa skill for the new UI navigation. I’ll post more opinions once I have more time to play around with Hydra.

TiVo Bolt

June 25, 2016 at 10:36am by windracer

It’s been three years since I bought my last TiVo and now that I have a 4K TV I wanted to be able to watch some 4K content. Despite Rovi’s purchase of TiVo and the uncertainty of the future of the hardware business, I purchased TiVo’s latest Series6 model, the TiVo Bolt UES (Unified Entertainment System).

I went with the smaller (500gb for 75 HD hours) hard drive model because in retrospect, my six tuner, 3TB Roamio Pro seemed to be overkill for my needs: even with two Minis in the house I didn’t see a lot of tuner contention and that DVR’s hard drive hardly went above 20% utilization. Hard drive upgrades are pretty simple, though, should I need to expand the Bolt’s recording capacity. This is also the first TiVo I’ve owned since my original Series2 boxes that I haven’t purchased the lifetime service plan for. Instead, I went with the annual fee, figuring this would make it financially easier to replace the box in the next few years if something goes wrong with it (lifetimed units aren’t eligible for the Continual Care Warranty), or a newer, better model comes out (despite the Rovi’s ownership) and I want to upgrade.

TRENDnet TV-IP311PI outdoor camera and TPE-TG44g PoE switch

June 10, 2014 at 7:32pm by windracer

Now that the wireless network re-design was done, I wanted to replace my aging Foscam outdoor cameras with newer, HD models. Installing the Ubiquiti UniFi AP was my first introduction to power-over-ethernet and I decided to move to PoE (instead of wireless) cameras. I already had TRENDnet cameras in my current setup, along with TRENDnet switches, so I decided to stick with that brand and selected the TV-IP311PI outdoor cameras and TPE-TG44g PoE switch.

Sony HDR-CX330

April 19, 2014 at 4:39pm by windracer

My daughter had to do some filming for a class project and the thought of having to transfer her video off of my old Panasonic PV-GS250 miniDV camcorder (in real-time) just wasn’t appealing. I decided it was time to get an HD camcorder. Since I needed it pretty quickly, I did some brief research on Consumer Reports and then purchased the Sony HDR-CX330 at my local Best Buy (online, with in-store pickup).

TiVo Roamio Pro and Mini

November 14, 2013 at 1:32pm by windracer

When I got my first TiVo back in 2003 it seemed like I was adding new TiVos to my “collection” almost every year and had four of them by 2007. With the recent release of the TiVo Roamio line I decided to do a little consolidation and upgrade my setup with the latest hardware.

My existing TiVo setup consisted of the Premiere (2 tuners), the OLED S3 (2 tuners), and the THD (2 tuners). I still have my original Series2 (single tuner, non-HD) box but it’s been sitting in a closet, unused, for some time (kept only for sentimental reasons).

I ended up selling the THD on eBay but kept the OLED S3 and Premiere for now since they both have lifetime service (although they are now in the closet with the S2). I replaced the lot with a new 6-tuner, 3TB Roamio Pro.

Security vulnerability in TRENDnet cameras – update now!

February 10, 2012 at 8:32pm by windracer

If you have a TRENDnet webcam that is accessible over the internet, a serious security vulnerability has been discovered that allows anyone to access the video stream without having to login/authenticate! I got an e-mail from TRENDnet about this earlier in the week, but not everyone registers their products so not everyone may be aware of the problem. Be sure to download the latest firmware update for your camera and apply it ASAP!

Universal’s Rip Ride Rockit rip-off

September 6, 2011 at 7:44pm by windracer

This past weekend I rode the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster for the first time at Universal Studios Orlando and really enjoyed it. I didn’t know anything about it before riding, so that first experience was really cool. You get to pick your own music from a selection of about 30 tracks and then rock out while you ride (I chose The Crystal Method’s “Keep Hope Alive”). After getting off the coaster, instead of the traditional screens showing a captured photo for purchase, I found an interactive kiosk that played back video of me on the ride. Each car has a video camera that records you on the coaster along with the music you selected.

Those birds … they’re so angry!

November 22, 2010 at 10:03pm by windracer

I have been hooked on Angry Birds since I first played the lite version on my iPhone back in April (and then immediately purchased the full version). I started over from scratch when I bought the HD version for my iPad in October. The other week I finally completed all of the released levels with three stars and found 17 golden eggs! Take that, piggies!

Now, someone is trying to broker a peace agreement between the birds and pigs. You can guess how it turns out. 🙂

Rumor has it Angry Birds 2 will be told from the pigs’ point of view (Angry Pigs?) and support multi-player! It might be out by the end of the year … just what I need.