Welcome to Whitenoise, where you can come to talk about anything you want with other Gizmodo readers. From your unnatural fear of dentists to the NBN and everything in between. Think of it as the official unofficial Gizmodo community forum.
A new week, a new thread. Feel free to take the conversation anywhere you like.
Create some whitenoise by commenting below…
Dan Miller
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 8:17 AMI’m really interested in seeing how well the homes on The Renovators sell after what happened on The Block Sunday night. I’m so over all these home improvement reality shows. Wish channel 9 would listen.
EckyThump
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 8:55 AMJust do what we do,.. record a pile of shows you do like and watch them instead! They aren’t gonna stop making this crap, because it’s a hell of a lot cheaper to make than paying writers and actors to make anything decent! Not that Australian commercial stations have made anything decent to watch recently anyhow!
Big Windows
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 9:24 AMCouldn’t agree more… Must admit I have been a little lazy though… Instead of looking for Misfits as a download I have just been waiting and watching on Iview. Lovin the odd crap sic-fi coming on late at night too. Damn kids get in the way of viewing habits.
Virus__
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 11:08 AMOh I dunno, Underbelly: Razor could be good. The first 2 episodes were pretty decent.
Chumly
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 11:58 AMsh!t have I missed two episodes already?
is underbelly on 7′s terrible catch up service?
Virus__
Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 12:01 PMChannel 9 airs it, pretty sure they have it on their site!
Chumly
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 12:01 PMDidn’t watch The Block, or The Renovators for that matter but it seems a bit rich to expect a house to sell at auction in front of a TV crew with no prior open homes etc.
Average time to sell a house in Melb is 58 days apparently.
Luke
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 8:19 PMI am sick of reality TV shows altogether, sick of The Block, sick of The Renovators and most of all sick of MasterChef,
I know most people here dont like foxtel but you dont have to watch any of the shit free to air offer.
Virus__
Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 12:03 PMAnd you don’t have to watch any of the shit FTA puts up either if you don’t have Foxtel/Austar, just simply turn the TV off. Plus PayTV imo is a waste of money, I get all my TV shows advertisement free (how I like my TV) & if i’m watching TV at home it’s usually on a version of the ABC
Sam
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 12:40 PMSo where’s Danny been lately? I noticed since the weekend its been pretty much goodbye Danny, hello Alex.
Not a complaint, just a question :)
For what it’s worth, I’m enjoying your articles Alex – keep up the good work! How’s working in Allure comparing to CNet?
Danny Allen
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 6:37 PMHeya Sam:
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/08/gizmodo-sbs-interview-on-steve-jobs-stepping-down-video/
Sam
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 9:08 PMWelcome back Dan
Lachlan Bromage
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 3:18 PMThere’s a LOT of talk about these HP TouchPad and yes, I got one.
Simple question. Does anyone know of a app that can stream vids from my PC on the network to the TP? I would like to watch .avi and if possible .mkv files. Not fussed on .mkv’s at the moment but would appreciate someone advising of an app (preferably from personal experience) that does this.
Cheers.
I don’t care how much it costs. I have read that there is nothing of the kind available in the Aus app catalog, and hence, would like anyone who knows a way of doing this to shed some light.
EckyThump
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 8:41 AMI’d be surprised if it had enough grunt to play videos this way, the buffer would have to use a big chunk of it’s memory! However I’m not that up with WiFi. I just dump the stuff on a micro SD and run from there! Having said that I haven’t opened the one I bought for my wife yet, hows it shaping up?
Sam
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 8:54 AMI don’t think the hardware is necessarily not up to the job. My Sony Bravia TV is able to stream from my media server across the network using DLNA, and while I don’t know what kind of processor and memory it has in it, I certainly don’t see it being any higher spec’ed than the touch pad (especially considering the TP can load flash content, where as my Bravia advises most web pages with flash require too much memory).
Chumly
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 10:37 AMmy mobile can do this (DHD)using apps like Plex.
Given the touchpad has twice the grunt I’d say it should handle it just fine.
No idea about apps though.
You’re best to find an app that does the transcoding on the PC and just streams a standard video format to the touchpad – like Plex does on Android (and iOS?).
If I was you I’d be flashing android on it as soon as a stable rom is released anyway.
Lachlan Bromage
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 12:38 PMGot it.
After searching some forums, I used a program (can’t remember which one) that installs .ipk files onto the touchpad when it is in developer mode.
Program called Kalemsoft Media Player (something like that). Downloaded the server for the PC and the .ipk file for the TP.
And can I say… it works effortlessly. Granted you have to spend 10 seconds setting up a username and telling the PC which folders to share but that is about it.
I had AirVideo on my iPad but is struggled to play certain files. I have approx 2800GB’s of video and I have not found a file it doesn’t play.
If I find the forum with the instructions I will post it.
Sam
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 3:10 PM“…If I was you I’d be flashing android on it as soon as a stable rom is released anyway…”
Why? The only reason to dump WebOS would be if it no longer offers the user experience that the user needs. Granted WebOS is no longer supported, but it is still a current OS. Maybe once the market moves on and WebOS begins looking dated Android would make more sense.
People are talking about running Android on the TouchPad like it’s already been done – fact of the matter is; it’s likely to be a few weeks/months before it starts popping up in unstable beta builds, and then you’d probably have to wait that amount of time again for anything close to stable to be released.
Chumly
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 3:47 PMapps mostly.
But then I have no idea really as I’ve never used webOS. Maybe there are apps already for everything you need.
WebOS might be amazing but I doubt there’ll be much developer support from here on in.
Depends what you want to do with it I guess.
EckyThump
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 11:49 AMI’m not normally a fan of cats on the net, but -
http://www.zgeek.com/content.php/8718-Turdsday-Theatre-O-hai.-Talking-cats!
this is funny
EckyThump
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 12:00 PMIf ever you need proof that the US is in deep and dire shit, here’s the proof! Quite a lot of schools are reducing their schools to four days a week!! No school on Friday,… no work for teachers on Friday,.. less pay for teachers, less education for kids, dumber kids, dumber nation,.. anyway, you get the idea!
http://www.zgeek.com/content.php/8718-Turdsday-Theatre-O-hai.-Talking-cats!
Chumly
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 3:52 PMumm…. is that the same link as the cats?
Are they saying something I’m not getting?
EckyThump
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 4:19 PMOh crap!! Sorry, I buggered that up didn’t I? Heres the proper link
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/schools_nationwide_move_to_4-day_week_20110824/?ln
It’s worth a look ! #]
Chumly
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 5:27 PMYaysus. The four day school week has obviously already had an impact on web design.
Rhys
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 9:46 AMThe worst part is; some people actually think it’s a good thing. Heres a quote comment from the link:
“Public “education” in the United States is mainly about
mental manipulation in support of the status quo.
Contrary to ARK’s claim, one fewer day per week of
mandatory propaganda means one more day per week that
children have a chance to actually learn something.”
EckyThump
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 11:22 AMHmm, the other issue is that parents now have to find and pay for child minding! A lot of them have the arse out of their pants already. The big winner, Child minding will make the fortune five hundred, and the big loser,.. kids running rampant on Fridays, because their parents can’t afford child support! #[
Rhys
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 12:21 PMYeah i noticed that, but something i may have missed, seems like they are asking for child minding to be provided by the government.
Have a read of some of the comments, they have very strong opinions. Good or bad.
EckyThump
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 2:55 PMI’m pretty sure that the US is getting close to imploding, it’s already a police state, They are in hock to China, the military can keep you as long as they want (stop loss) and now they’re cutting back on an already disastrous education system! The answer of course is to drastically cut back on military spending, pull out of Iraq and stop starting wars they can’t finish! Unfortunately they are in Iraq and Afghanistan as a means for a couple of big money companies, that have politicians in their pocket to make money! #]
Luke
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 10:58 AMDoes anyone know of a place online that sells rare music, the reason i ask is because i have been searching for many years for “All Fired Up” by the Rattling Sabres, it is actually the original song that Pat Benatar covered which became a smash hit a year later, EMI the record company couldnt keep up with demand for the LP’s and eventually interest dropped and they stop producing the record.
As i have said i have been searching MANY years for this song and the vast treasure trove called the internet has come up with absolutely nothing except the video clip of half the song on youtube.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sam
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 12:02 PMRed Eye records are usually pretty reliable – though a quick search yielded nothing. I was going to suggest Gaslight records in Melbourne – but just found out they closed 6 years ago (how behind the times am I?)…
eBay maybe?
Luke
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 12:40 PMThanks… It is an incredibly rare record to find, It is also on the album “All Fired Up: Lost Treasures of Australian Music 1970 – 1990″ but again that album is incredibly rare.
I have searched record stores and op shops for it but still nothing.
Oh well, i shall keep my search up and hope i shall one day have it.
Sam
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 1:48 PMI know your pain – I went though a few years trying to collect The Sharp’s back catalogue; which had all been out of print since 1996 or earlier.
Luke
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 1:04 PMInterestingly… i was doing some research and i discovered that they have the disc in the ACT, NSW and VIC state libraries but not the SA state library where i live :(
EckyThump
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 12:42 PMWell people it’s time to overthrow the Gov’t and vote in the Greens, something I would normally strongly be against! But the Gov’t has just passed the “Cybercrime Bill ” which will mean that all ISP’s will have to record thirty days of everybody’s internet traffic! These guys just officially became total retards, even Telstra warned against it! Here’s the ‘Australians’ take on it
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/government/cybercrime-bill-on-fast-track/story-fn4htb9o-1226121333983
Luke
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 1:06 PMWould a connection to a VPN be able to get around this?
EckyThump
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 2:56 PMIf you know what you’re doing you can mask your ID, but they still have everything you’ve done stored for thirty days!
olearymo
Friday, August 26, 2011 at 2:26 PMHey Danny, when you came aboard you made a thread (http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/06/gday-gizmodo/) where you asked us what we do and don’t want from Giz Au.
The most popular things were ‘less Apple’ and ‘more Aussie content’.
Since Steve Jobs’ retirement there’s been a lot of negative sentiment about the over-saturation of Apple news. Personally I’ve found it (just) acceptable, but many others appear to feel it really ruins there experience here somewhat.
It really seems that the two things are linked though. Apple news, and non-Aus news. Most (if not all) of the overly Jobsian content is coming from the US writers (Diaz et al).
I understand that advertising and money are involved. It could be that the Jobsian articles, while disliked, get lots of hits from people complaining in them.
Just wondering if you can weigh in on this topic a little? You’ve spoken a little in some other threads but I (and I suspect others) wouldn’t mind seeing your stance / thoughts on it, and if there are any feelings that you guys would like to have a bit more veto power over republishing the US stories, kinda tuning them to the Australian audience?