iPhone Garage Door Opener

Ever wonder what a "weekend project" means to a guy that runs a successful DVR/media search software company? 

 

Rakesh Agrawal of Snapstream Media, Inc. wanted a special sort of garage door opener - something that he had with him all of the time.  So what better than the iPhone that he takes with him everwhere right?  Yep Rakesh used the X10 Commander app, his WiFi home network, a windows XP computer and an RF to X10 interface device to turn his iPhone into a cool little iPhone Door Opener.

                    (both photos are from Rakesh's blog)

 

I'm pretty happy with my basic iPhone apps, but I have to admit - this is pretty cool.

 

Check out how he did it and how it works on Rakesh's blog.

Make Your Own DTV Antenna

Make Magazine shows us how to make your own antenna, yes the over-the-air, digital variety.  Not a project I'd probably tackle, but if you happen to have some scrap wood, coat hangers and a few other relatively inexpensive parts around the house you can do this yourself. 

The Video How-To Below:

 

Maker Workshop - DTV Antenna & Steadicam on MAKE: television from make magazine on Vimeo.

 

More information including a PDF download is available at MakeZine

Hauppauge Component HD Encoder for HTPC's - UPDATE

Rakesh from Snapstream Media has the latest scoop on Hauppauge's soon-to-be-released HD PVR device that will receive HD from a cable or satellite set-top box component video output and encode the HD channel into H.264 at up to 25 Mbit/s.  I first mentioned this device back on January 10th when it was being demo'd at CES.  This device is exciting for HTPC users because it provides a way to get true HD channels (all of them - not just the unencrypted QAM ones) from the cable/satellite boxes without needing a CableCard tuner.  If it works as expected it's going to be huge for SageTV, BeyondTV, Media Portal, GBPVR and even Vista Media Center users that don't have access to a cablecard tuner.

 

Rakesh visited Hauppauge in November 2007 and has since been in communication with Hauppauge regarding the device.  He doesn't yet have a test unit although he mentioned in the Snapstream Forums that he expected to get one within the next few weeks.  Here's a few tidbits of information he mentions:

• Includes Hauppauge's IR blaster with code library
• It accepts component video up to 1080p
• The hardware is "basically done" and simply waiting for the final case design!
• It's based on a chip from Ambarella
• It will require a "relatively powerful PC to playback the recordings from this device.
• Estimated shipment is expected before 3/31/2008

For more details and information on the device check out Rakesh's post at the Snapstream Blog HERE

 

UPDATE:  I now have photos of the Hauppauge HD-PVR device here

Hauppauge Demos PVR Recorder to record 1080p HD from Cable and Satellite Boxes

UPDATE:  For an update with more information on this device, check out this post 

HTPC fans, this is big news...  There has been rumblings all week on the SageTV forums about a very exciting HD Recorder for the Home Theater PC.  The new Hauppauge "HD PVR" records video from HD Cable TV or satellite TV boxes into H.264 in real-time to your HTPC.  The device takes the digital TV feed from the cable/satellite TV box's component cables (also referred to as 'YPrBp" or red/blue/green connectors) and then uses it's on-board H.264 hardware encoder to record that high definition TV programs in ISO standard, HD H.264 AVC format in real time.  It uses an IR blaster to control the channels on the set-top box so you can use your HTPC to schedule recordings and change channels.  The HD PVR can encode 720p, 1080i and 1080p content in the H.264 format at rates of 5 to 25 Mbps.  This isn't perfect, but it should satisfy almost all HTPC users.  Plus the H.264 profile is compatible with blue-ray so it should be playable in blue-ray players as well.

A working prototype was being demo'd at CES by Hauppauge.  The Hauppauge recorder is slated to be available in Q1 2008, with a suggested retail price of $249.00 according to the Hauppauge press release.

You may be asking why is this big news?  Well before this, you needed the expensive and inflexible Cablecard devices (or the lesser known and lesser supported R5000 mod) to record encrypted HD channels.  It also will likely work with Non-Microsoft Vista Media Center PC's unlike the Cablecard tuners so this would open up the possibilities to SageTV users and likely other HTPC software programs.  I would guess it would take a pretty powerful processor to do the conversion to H.264 on the fly so you better have a beefy HTPC though.

Another likely problem with this in the future would be if Hollywood realizes this "hole" exists in their plan to lock down all content, they'll probably push the cable and satellite companies to turn off the component outputs or just remove them from future boxes.  For the present though this looks like the "holy grail" for diy HTPCers.  I for one am very excited about it.  If I can find some photo's I'll put up another post with an update.

If this device works as advertised it will sell like hotcakes and give those who spent their hard-earned dollars on Cablecard a little heartburn.

 

More Information:

SageTV Forums

Press Release

Missing Remote

Green Button Forums

DIY: Put a Photo On Your Virtual Jack-O-Lantern Or Even a Real Pumpkin

I was wanting to try out several ideas I had for Jack-O-Lanterns as I was preparing for tonight's annual Jack-O-Lantern carving ritual with my daughter.  Even though I have a ton of free Jack-O-Lantern Patterns to pick from, I wanted to try out some unique ideas - from some of my photos.  I didn't think it was possible to make a virtual, realistic looking Jack-O-Lantern using a photo until I found the Pumpkinizer at GlassGiant.com.  Here I found a neat web tool that allows you to upload a photo and "attach" that photo to a virtual jack-o-lantern.  You can then save that photo (by right-clicking with your mouse) to print, use on a blog or website etc.

Here's a shot of my ugly mug on the virtual pumpkin.  Turned out pretty nice and it looks fairly realistic too! 

If you are a perfectionist, take your photo in front of a black background or you can use your favorite photo editing application to "black-out" everything behind the image so it looks just right on your Jack-O-Lantern.

Here's another one with a Ray Charles Photo.  Nice...

Make a Virtual Jack-O-Lantern from a Photo at GlassGiant.com

 

Want to make a real jack-o-lantern based on a photo?  Check out this tutorial at GeekCulture.com

 

Looking for more Halloween Themed Posts?

Halloween Computer Mods

30 - Plus Websites for free Jack-O-Lantern Templates for Halloween

More than 14 different geek-themed Halloween Costumes

30 Halloween Themed Wallpapers / Backgrounds for your Computer

Make Your Own Halloween Hologram

Halloween Printable's - Masks, Toys, Projects, Origami and More

A doorbell "shocker" for scaring your Halloween victims (Don't try this at home)

 

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Halloween Computer Mods: Using a Pumpkin as a Computer Case

There are some people (like me) who are satisfied celebrating Halloween with a simple, traditional Jack-O-Lantern.  Then there are those that like to step it up a notch and go that extra geeky mile.  Here at the Geek Tonic Blog, I wanted to highlight those who put a little something special into their Halloween Celebrating.  Below are several computer mods that take a pumpkin and use it as a computer case.  Most of these are using real pumpkins and Macs as well as PC's are included.  Enjoy this very unusual display of Halloween Spirit.

The University of Arkansas Computer Store's staff was showing off their skills with a Mac-O-Lantern

Here's a shot of the Mac-O-Lantern during the build process:

The faux-neon Mac Tattoo/Logo is glowing on the side of the pumpkin - too cool:

 

Those crazy University of Arkansas Kids also made a Pumpkin PC.  This one was their first version of a Pumpkin Mod

Here's a shot of it during the build:

Another modder, ghettocomp at the ocforums made his own version of a Pumpkin Mod PC.

Carving with the Dremel

PSU showing

Final Product

 

If you want a more permanent version (non-organic) Pumpkin Mod, you might want to check out the one I ran across last week thanks to HackaDay:

This one is made from an aluminum frame made to look like a pumpkin.  You can check out the photos and how-to on Russ Caslis's site.

 

More Halloween Themed Posts:

30 - Plus Websites for free Jack-O-Lantern Templates for Halloween

More than 14 different geek-themed Halloween Costumes

30 Halloween Themed Wallpapers / Backgrounds for your Computer

Make Your Own Halloween Hologram

A doorbell "shocker" for scaring your Halloween victims (Don't try this at home)

 

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Make Your Own Halloween Hologram

Want to make a hologram illusion on the cheap for a cool Halloween decoration? Watch this overview that shows the hologram in action as well as how it is made.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO



The entire how-to on making a hologram is over at Instructables. Definitely one of the better instructables I've seen and just in time for Halloween!

More Halloween Themed Posts:

30 - Plus Websites for free Jack-O-Lantern Templates for Halloween

More than 14 different geek-themed Halloween Costumes

30 Halloween Themed Wallpapers / Backgrounds for your Computer

Halloween Computer Mods: Using a Pumpkin as a Computer Case

A doorbell "shocker" for scaring your Halloween victims (Don't try this at home)

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30-Plus Sites For Free Halloween Jack O Lantern Templates

The Internet has a vast supply of resources for every occasion and Halloween is no different.  I've compiled a list of 30 different places you will find Free Pumpkin Carving Patterns to use as Jack-O-Lantern Templates for this Halloween.  There are traditional, political, scary and fun patterns here - something for everyone.
Each Halloween, my daughter and I spend an evening carving several jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.  She usually does two that turn out fantastic and then I do one or two as well.  Each year, we scour the Internet to find free printable templates to help in the carving or at least to give us some ideas.  You can see some of our handiwork on the picture to the left and right from past Halloweens.

UPDATE:  FOR AN UPDATED LISTING CHECK OUT THE 2008 LIST OF 40-PLUS SITES FOR FREE PUMPKIN PATTERNS!

This year I decided to let you in our little secret of where to find the best, free Halloween Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin Carving Templates.  There are many places out there to find really nice patterns - most of them for free.
1. The Pumpkin Wizard - UPDATE:  THIS SITE HAS LOCKED OUT ANY FREE USERS THE WEEK OF HALLOWEEN DUE TO SUPPOSEDLY HIGH VOLUME.  There are many free patterns and some additional members-only patterns here including traditional, patriotic, sports teams, celebrities and more.
2. Jack-o-Lantern.com - Here at the appropriately named Jack-O-Lantern.com you'll find a pretty nice selection of patterns.  One unique inclusion here is a how-to on making a pattern of your own (or anyone's) face using a photograph and a graphics editing program such as Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Photoshop.
3. Extreme Pumpkin - For the winner of the most "extreme" and unusual Jack-O-Lanterns of the list head over to Extreme Pumpkin.  Here you'll find the flaming pumpkin head, the cojoined twins pumpkins and the puking pumpkin:

4. The Pumpkin Farm - A few very simple, traditional Jack-O-Lantern patterns
5. EHow - Ehow has a large selection of simple, traditional Jack-O-Lantern Patters as well as some Letter/Monogram-type templates
6. Zombie Pumpkins - Some free some not - includes Mario, World of Warcraft patterns among others you don't see on any of the other sites listed here.
7. Kim's Free Pumpkin Patterns  - More simple, traditional Jack-O-Lantern Patterns
8. Pumpkin Masters - Three nice Jack-O-Lantern Patterns from Pumpkin Masters, the maker of those pumpkin carving books you see sold in stores this time of year.  There are only three, but they're nice ones including Jack Junior, a Pirate Skull and a Starry Night.
9. FabulousFoods - There are several moderate to complicated patterns here including some traditional templates as well
10. Hersheys - Everyone's favorite candy company has 24 different patterns with 12 each of easy, intermediate and advanced patterns.
11. Kraft Foods - Kraft has six relatively easy, traditional pumpkin carving patterns.
12. Family Fun - Family Fun Magazine has 11 free Jack-O-Lantern patterns as well as some additional pumpkin projects
13. How to Make Your Own Pattern - A nice tutorial on how to make your own Jack-O-Lantern pattern as well as a free Ghost Pattern
14. Pumpkin Lady - Lots of free patterns as well as several "premium" ones.  You'll also find one of the better how-to's on carving your Jack-O-Lantern as well.
15. DLTK - A nice selection of Jack-O-Lantern Patterns with several themed for younger children.
16. Hewlett-Packard - HP has 7 different patterns for your carving pleasure.
17. Better Home & Gardens - BHG has several Jack-O-Lantern stencils as well as many other Halloween themed projects
18. PumpkinGlow - several jack-O-Lantern Patterns
19. Yankee Halloween - has a US Flag pattern
20. Spookmaster -  has a handful of free patterns as well as a bunch of premium patterns
21. Home Logic - Four nice patterns including a Frankenstein, Reaper, Wolf and Skull
22. CBC News - CBC has some unique patters for Jack-O-Lanterns.
23. Paper Pumpkins - 9 different easy, traditional pumpkin carving patterns for the kids
24. Pumpkin Lights - a few additional stencils for Jack-O-Lanterns
25. DIY Network - The DIY Network has several Jack-O-Lantern patterns, how-to's and other Halloween crafts for you.

26. Allrecipes.com - AllRecipies.com has 6 Jack-O-Lantern patterns from Reader's Digest.
27. ChrisDunmire - Chris Dunmire's Creative Slush blog has a very unique pattern he calls the "Nit Wits PUNKin".  Take a look at ChrisDunmire's resulting Jack-O-Lantern to understand why it's called creative...

28. EvilMadScientist - Here you will find the geekiest of all Jack-O-Lanterns.  It's a Cylon jack-o-lantern and has the how-to, but you'll need to do some electronics work to make this one.

29. Branidjasmine - Here you'll find Political, Jack-O-Lantern patterns for Hillary Clinton, Rudy Guiliani, Barack Obama, John McCain as well as some non-political patterns you won't find anywhere else.
30. Metacafe - A video how-to for a small, LED Jack-O-Lantern.  Cool.
31. Convert a Photo into a Jack-O-Lantern
32. Flickr Jack-O-Lantern Group - If you just need some inspiration for your own design and would like to see some photos of jack-o-lantern's created by others, be sure and check out the Jack-O-Lantern Group at flickr.
To get you in the Pumpkin-Carving Mood I bring you a Jack-O-Lantern Video from YouTube uploaded by Violet990.  These are some photos taken at the The Jack O' Lantern Blaze in Hudson Valley, NY.  Pretty Impressive.

More Halloween Themed Posts:
More than 14 different geek-themed Halloween Costumes
30 Halloween Themed Wallpapers / Backgrounds for your Computer
Halloween Computer Mods: Using a Pumpkin as a Computer Case
Make Your Own Halloween Hologram
A doorbell "shocker" for scaring your Halloween victims (Don't try this at home)

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iPod Hack: Put New iPod Firmware on Old Video iPod

Have an older model iPod video?  Jealous of those new iPod owners with the new, slick looking user interface including the split-screen, redesigned now-playing, mini-now-playing on every screen and more.  Some hackers over at ipodwizard have created a way to put the new iPod firmware onto those older iPod Video's.

As always, remember that this is a hack and there is some risk of things not going according to plan involved here, but there have been several reports on the forum thread saying the hack was working so it sounds like it's worth trying if you have an older iPod and want to resist buying a newer one.

Read about & download the iPod firmware hack HERE

via ArsTechnica

 

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Prove Your a Star Wars Geek - Make Your Own Lightsaber

Are you a Star Wars fan?  Have kids that love to act out the lightsaber fights from the movies?  Or possibly it's you who secretly wants your own lightsaber...  Well the finkbuilt blog has an excellent how-to on making your own authentic lightsaber of your very own.

 

 

A quote from the finkbuilt blog explains his motivation in making the lightsaber replica:

"You see, the 2-minute dueling sabers were fun for a couple of days, but they weren’t the most durable things in the world and were a bit lacking in the realism department. So I decided to build a nicer set of “elegant weapons from a more civilized time”.

To make the lightsaber, he uses aluminum tubing, battery, an old bicycle seat post, strips of windshield wiper, a heat-sink from an old PC and gold connectors from the edge of an old circuit board.  Yes, this project will take some skill and care, but hey - if you're as much of a Star Wars fan as I think you are, its worth it right?

Head over to finkbuilt.com to read about how he made this amazingly real-looking replica of the lightsabers from Star Wars.  Very impressive.

 

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Make Your Own DVD Box Sets With Your HTPC

Here's a great idea for those of you lucky enough to own a Home Theater PC:  Make your own DVD Box Set of TV shows or movies for that matter.

Why make your own sets?  Zack outlines two great reasons and I've added the last two :)

1. Cost

2. Don't have to wait for them to be released to DVD

3. You can watch them anywhere - even away from your home (of course if you have a Personal Media Player like the iPod or Zune, you can automatically load those shows up on those devices too.)

4. You can draw your own palm trees (nice Zack) and DVD art to give it that personal touch.

Zack over at the Snapstream Blog walks through one of the nice features of BeyondTV recently added.  A DVD Burning Plugin has been available on the last few versions of Beyond TV and you can purchase this plugin for any of your Beyond TV or BeyondTV Link boxes.  The plugin gives you the ability to select a show or series of shows to burn to a disk, then click go all from your remote.  Once it's done compressing (if needed) and burning your new DVD, you can take that DVD to view anywhere there is a DVD player.

Zack's post goes through all of the steps to making your own DVD sets with screen-shots of the process and lots of detail.  You can do this with almost any of the Home Theater PC's, but Beyond TV has the advantage of the DVD Burner being "built-in" to the core software making the process seamless with no tweaking required.

Read the entire how-to over at the Snapstream Blog

 

Other stories you might be interested in:

Review of HDHomeRun Dual Qam Tuner

Windows Vista Media Center and XP MCE Cheat Sheet

Beyond TV & Beyond Media Cheat Sheet

GBPVR Cheat Sheet

Media Portal Cheat Sheet

RSS Feeds For Beyond TV 4.7

Beyond TV 4.7 Released

 

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This Halloween Don't Just Scare Them... Shock Them

It's getting close.  Halloween is just around the corner and you're probably trying to decide how to scare your victim trick-or-treaters this year.  Well T3Hprogrammer has come up with a frightening way to send a little shock.

T3Hprogrammer says:

I'm always looking for a new way to scare people on Halloween. This year, I thought up a way to make people think they are getting electrocuted when they ring the doorbell! It is very simple, requires little to no knowledge of electricity, is cheap, and can be built in only an hour or two once you have all the parts. It requires no permanent modifications to your doorbell.

Read how to set up a little shock on your doorbell for this Halloween...

 

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Awesome Studs & Spikes DIY Digital Picture Frame

If you've been following this blog for a while you know I'm a big fan of DIY digital photo frames.  While browsing flickr, I found a very different, yet nicely done digital picture frame made by ragordon65. 

He had built several different DPF's all with different appearances.  This one was made with an old Pentium 233 Mhz Sony laptop.  He embedded a USB extension cable in the side of the frame that plugs into the laptop's USB port.

Spikes and studs for the "look" are from StudsAndSpikes.com

 

Here's a few shots of his build process:

Be sure and check out his flickr photostream for more detail on how he made his digital photo frame with even more pictures.

I'm in the process of designing and building another digital photo frame, but in the meantime, check out the first one I made in this post.

You might also be interested in the Ultimate Flickr Hacks Collection.

 

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RSS Feeds For Beyond TV 4.7

A new, lesser-publicized feature of the most recent Beyond TV 4.7 that was just released is RSS Feeds.  With this latest version of BeyondTV, the webadmin provides access to RSS feeds of your upcoming recordings, recent recordings, disk space remaining and recent showsqueezed (compressed) recordings.  These feeds can include the hyperlink to open up a show or the hyperlink can be turned off.

I should note that this feature was added by none other than Ccarlin the same BTV user who developed another feature on the BeyondTV Webadmin - the ability to placeshift any record BeyondTV shows across the internet.  For more on how to placeshift Beyond TV shows across the internet, check out this post.

 

There are several applications to this feature including:

• Show your recent recordings on your personal blog
• Make a Windows Vista or other Desktop Gadget - below is an example of a mock-up vista gadget that is in development, but you could create your own fairly easily with the RSS feed.  [Note: Greg Caulder who is developing this gadget is looking for help with the images for this Vista Gadget - if you are interested in helping out, let him know]

 

• Keep up with your BTV happenings via your RSS Reader like Google Reader (see example below)

 

 

HOW TO SET UP RSS FEEDS FOR BEYOND TV:

First, you'll need to have your Beyond TV Webadmin set up.  Also if you want to access your feeds across the internet, you'll want to be sure and set up your firewall for that kind of access (here's how)

The RSS feed is as follows:

Note: Insert your BTV Server IP address or name in the place of "LOCALHOST"

http://LOCALHOST:8129/RssToday.aspx?Display=DRUBS&Links=Y

The options for the different RSS feeds are as follows:

D - Disk space, R - Recent recordings, U - Upcoming Recordings, B - Blocked Recordings, S - Show Squeeze and Links is Y or N.

For example, if you wanted a feed with only the upcoming and recent recordings, the RSS address would be as follows:

http://LOCALHOST:8129/RssToday.aspx?Display=RU&Links=N

Note that if will be using the rss feeds on a publicly accessible place such as a blog, you will want to be sure you have the Links=N set so that others viewing the feed won't have access to your server ip address or name.

 

Read more about the latest version of Beyond TV 4.7.1 HERE

 

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GBPVR HTPC Software Keyboard Shortcut Cheat Sheet

This is part four of a six-part series where I'll share with you the keyboard shortcut cheat sheets that I have compiled for the most popular Home Theater PC programs available. 

 

This one is for the GBPVR HTPC Software.

TO DOWNLOAD A PDF VERSION OF THIS GBPVR CHEAT SHEET CLICK HERE

NOTE: As with many of the HPTC programs, you can customize the keyboard mappings on GBPVR to your liking.
http://gbpvr.com	Home
http://gbpvr.com/pmwiki	Wiki & downloads
http://forums.gbpvr.com/	Forums
Navigation Keyboard Shortcuts
Power	F12
Return to main/ previous menu	HOME (or) ESCAPE
Accept the selection	ENTER
Go to pictures	F5
Go to radio	F6
Go	F11
Audio Control Keyboard Shortcuts
Turn down volume	CONTROL+Z
Turn up volume	CONTROL+X
Music Library Keyboard Shortcuts
Go to music	F4
Play an audio file or song	CONTROL+P
Stop music	CONTROL+S
Skip to the next song	CONTROL+RIGHT ARROW
Fast forward a song	CONTROL+LEFT ARROW
Toggle b/w icon & list view while navigating library	CONTROL+B
Control the TV Keyboard Shortcuts
Go to Recorded TV/Videos	F3
Go to the Guide	F1
Go to live TV	F2
Record a TV show	CTRL+K
Pause or resume live TV or recorded TV	CTRL+Q
Fast forward xx minutes	# MINS +CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
Rewind xx minutes	# OF MINS +CTRL+LEFT ARROW
Catch up	CTRL+O
Display the context menu	CTRL+B
Aspect Ratio	F7
Return to main menu with Video inset	ESCAPE
Go to the last channel viewed	CTRL+W
Control the TV Guide Keyboard Shortcuts
Go to/ view TV guide	F1
View TV Guide During Playback/LiveTV	CTRL+G
Scroll right, left, up down in guide	ARROW KEYS
Skip Back one day in guide	CTRL+LEFT ARROW
Skip Forward one day in guide	CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
Move page up in guide	PAGE UP
Move page down in guide	PAGE DOWN
Move forward one page	CTRL+F
Move backward one page	CTRL+D
Move to specific channel	NUMBER KEYS 0-9 (then) ENTER
Watch highlighted show	CTRL+P
Video/TV Playback Keyboard Shortcuts
Go to Recorded TVVideos	F7
Play	CONTROL+P
Pause	CONTROL+Q
Stop	CONTROL+S (or) ESCAPE
Rewind	CONTROL+D
Fast forward	CONTROL+F
Skip commercial (w/Comskip add-on)	CONTROL+P (or) 0+CONTROL+RIGHT ARROW
Skip back xx seconds	# SECS+CONTROL+RIGHT ARROW
Skip forward xx seconds	# SECS+CONTROL+LEFT ARROW
Skip back 60 seconds	CONTROL+LEFT ARROW
Skip forward 60 seconds	CONTROL+RIGHT ARROW
Show progress bar	CONTROL+B
Quick jump to side menu (while navigating library)	CONTROL+LEFT ARROW
Toggle icon/list view (while navigating library)	CONTROL+B
Play DVD's Keyboard Shortcuts
Go to the DVD menu	ESCAPE
Play	CONTROL+P
Pause	CONTROL+Q
Stop	CONTROL+S (or) ESCAPE
Rewind	CONTROL+D
Fast forward	CONTROL+F
Skip forward 60 seconds	CONTROL+RIGHT ARROW
Skip backward 60 seconds	CONTROL+LEFT ARROW
Skip forward xx seconds	# SECS +CONTROL+RIGHT ARROW
Skip backward xx seconds	# SECS +CONTROL+LEFT ARROW
Skip to chapter xx	CHAPTER# +ENTER
Show progress bar	CONTROL+B
Change Aspect ratio	F7
Change the DVD audio track	CONTROL+G
Change the DVD subtitles selection	CONTROL+Y

 

Other HTPC Software Cheat Sheets:

Windows Vista Media Center and XP MCE Cheat Sheet

Beyond TV and Beyond Media Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Media Portal Cheat Sheet

Mac Front Row Cheat Sheet: Coming Soon

MythTV Cheat Sheet: Coming Soon

 

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Beyond TV and Beyond Media Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

This is part three of a six-part series where I'll share with you the keyboard shortcut cheat sheets that I have compiled for the most popular Home Theater PC programs available.  This one is for Snapstream's Beyond TV and Beyond Media HTPC Software.

Other HTPC Software Cheat Sheets:

Windows Vista Media Center and XP MCE Cheat Sheet

Media Portal Cheat Sheet

GBPVR Cheat Sheet

Mac Front Row Cheat Sheet: Coming Soon

MythTV Cheat Sheet: Coming Soon

 

TO DOWNLOAD A PDF VERSION OF THIS Beyond TV CHEAT SHEET CLICK HERE

TO DOWNLOAD A PDF VERSION OF THIS Beyond Media CHEAT SHEET CLICK HERE

Snapstream Beyond TV     www.snapstream.com Home http://forums.snapstream.com/vb Forums  & Downloads http://blogs.snapstream.com/ Blog http://www.snapstream.net/ Online Guide www.couchville.com Couchville TV Guide http://couchville.com/buzz Top Recordings of BeyondTV Users http://brentevans.blogspot.com Brent Evans Geek Tonic Blog     Navigation Keyboard Shortcuts Exit Beyond TV User Interface ALT+F4 (or) CTRL+SHIFT+F1 Choose Selection / View Details ENTER Exit current screen / Cancel ESCAPE Return to home screen HOME Move one page up PAGE UP Move one page down PAGE DOWN Move left, right, up, or down ARROW KEYS Toggle windowed mode / full screen ALT+ENTER Border-Off/ Border-On (windowed interface) F11     Audio Control Keyboard Shortcuts Quiet Mode / Suppress UI Sound Effects Q Mute / unmute volume M Turn down volume MINUS KEY - Turn up volume PLUS KEY + (or) EQUALS KEY = Next subchannel Up (for HDTV only)   [ Next subchannel Down (for HDTV only)   ]     Control the TV Keyboard Shortcuts Go to Recorded TV F5 Go to live TV F6 Record live TV R Stop recording or stop playing a TV show S Show/hide buffer (During Playback) P Pause or resume live TV or recorded TV SPACEBAR Go to front of buffer BACKSPACE Rewind live TV or recorded TV (3 speeds) ARROW KEY LEFT Fast forward live TV or recorded TV (3 speeds) ARROW KEY RIGHT Skip forward (default 30 seconds) PERIOD KEY . Skip backward (default 30 seconds) COMMA , Delete Saved Recording DEL Display/hide program information I Adjust Video Settings (brightness, contrast, gamma, deinterlace) O (or) G View Remote Control Information F1     Control the TV Guide Keyboard Shortcuts Go to/ view TV guide F7 View TV Guide During Playback/LiveTV E Scroll right, left, up down in guide ARROW KEYS Skip Back 6 hours in guide CTRL+ARROW KEY LEFT Skip Forward 6 hours in guide CTRL+ARROW KEY RIGHT Move page up in guide CTRL+ARROW KEY UP Move page down in guide CTRL+ARROW KEY DOWN Return to current time in guide SPACEBAR (or) BACKSPACE (or) P Select channel to go to on the TV guide NUMBER KEYS (and then) ENTER Open Record Options from TV guide R Force an update of TV Guide Information from online database U     Control Recorded TV Keyboard Shortcuts Skip to Next Chapter (Commercial Skip) ARROW KEY UP Skip to Previous Chapter (Commercial Skip) ARROW KEY DOWN     Control Live TV Keyboard Shortcuts Go to live TV F6 Select Specific Channel NUMBER KEYS 0-9 Go to the next channel up ARROW KEY UP (or) PAGE UP Go to the previous channel down ARROW KEY DOWN (or) PAGE DOWN Go to the last channel viewed L     Radio Control Keyboard Shortcuts Display presets & their values O Jump to assigned station presets NUMBER KEYS 1-9 Tune UP ARROW UP Tune Down ARROW DOWN Seek UP PAGE UP Seek Down PAGE DOWN Return to previous station L Fast Forward (3 Speeds) ARROW RIGHT Rewind (3 Speeds) ARROW LEFT Skip back (30 seconds default) COMMA KEY , Skip forward (30 seconds default) PERIOD KEY . Pause or resume live radio SPACEBAR Go to front of buffer BACKSPACE Date & time info - show/hide I

 

	Snapstream Beyond Media
www.snapstream.com	Home
http://forums.snapstream.com/vb	Forums  & Downloads
http://blogs.snapstream.com/	Blog
http://brentevans.blogspot.com	Brent Evans Geek Tonic Blog
Navigation Keyboard Shortcuts
Exit current screen / Cancel	ESCAPE
Exit Beyond Media	ALT+F4
Choose selection	ENTER
Return to main menu	HOME
Options menu	O
Return to home screen	HOME
Move left, right, up, or down	ARROW KEYS
Toggle windowed mode / full screen	ALT+ENTER
Border-Off/ Border-On (for windowed interface)	F11
Audio Control Keyboard Shortcuts
Quiet Mode / Suppress UI Sound Effects	Q
Mute / unmute volume	M
Turn down volume	MINUS KEY -
Turn up volume	PLUS KEY + (or) EQUALS KEY =
Music Player Keyboard Shorcuts
Toggle full screen visualizations	F
Play an audio file or song/ Loads & plays the playlist for selected album, artist, genre or playlist	P
Pause or resume an audio file or song	SPACE
Stop Playback	S
Add/ remove selected item from playlist	Z
Go to previous song	OPEN BRACKET [
Skip to the next song	CLOSE BRACKET ]
Rewind a song	SEMICOLON ;
Fast forward a song	RIGHT QUOTE '
Toggle file browser view grid/list	V
Picture Viewing Keyboard Shortcuts
Zoom in	UP ARROW
Zoom out	DOWN ARROW
Play a slide show	P
Play/Pause during slideshow	ENTER ARROW
Next Photo	LEFT ARROW
Previous Photo	RIGHT ARROW
Pan up (when zoomed in)	2
Pan down (when zoomed in)	4
Pan right (when zoomed in)	6
Pan left (when zoomed in)	8
Video Playback Keyboard Shortcuts
Play	P
Play/ pause	SPACE
Toggle info display	ENTER (or) |
Stop	S
Rewind	SEMI-COLON ;
Fast forward	RIGHT QUOTE '
Skip back (30 seconds)	COMMA ,
Skip forward (30 seconds)	PERIOD .
Play DVD's Keyboard Shortcuts
Go to the DVD menu	R
Go to DVD title menu	T
Play	P
Play/pause toggle	SPACE
Stop	S
Go to the previous chapter	OPEN BRACKET [
Go to the next chapter	CLOSE BRACKET ]
Skip back 7 seconds	COMMA ,
Skip forward 7 seconds	RIGHT QUOTE '
Toggle Info Display	I (or) ENTER
Browse Files Keyboard Shortcuts
Toggle file browser view grid/list	V
Enter the directory / run file	ENTER

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