My Latest Blogger Hack

I've written a brand new Blogger hack called Dynablogger! It is a pretty slick rewrite of my prior hack for comment notification. This one provides notification of new posts as well as old posts with new comments. It also makes use of some nifty AJAX programming to load things on the fly without having to reload the whole page. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Take Advantage of Your Free Remote

My standard cable remote control supported some simple functions for my TV such as Power On/Off, Volume +/-, Channel +/-, etc. However, for the longest time I've been very annoyed by the fact that it does not support more advanced functions such as input selection, TV menu options, picture-in-picture, etc. Recently I was able to find a lot of great info that helped to change all that and now I can use my Comcast remote control to do everything on my TV!

The model number of the remote control that they gave me with my Motorola 6412 Series III DVR is URC-1067ABG1. It is manufactured by a company called UEI. From what I've read, a lot of remotes that come with DVRs (TiVO included) and cable boxes are UEI remotes, and are all reprogrammable. CJH Engineering has good instructions with all of the important detail for reprogramming the remote. CJH even uses screenshots of my remote, but chances are yours might work too so give it a try.

Another resource I used was the JP1 Remote Control group on Yahoo. Once I joined, I went to tools folder in the files section and downloaded the Keymap Master spreadsheet. The spreadsheet allows you to import the programmable device codes for a plethora of devices. I went to the TV device code folder and downloaded the codes for my TV (an HLN-series from Samsung). The JP1 group has other great tools to use your PC for downloading codes to your remote (you will need some hardware in addition to the software tools in the group). Unfortunately, my remote doesn't support the JP1 interface. However, I was able to use the EFC codes to manually map all of the advanced functions of my TV remote.

For example, the advanced code for the PIP function on my remote is 213. To program it I did the following:

1. Press the TV button
2. Press and hold the Setup button until the TV button flashes twice.
3. Press 9-4-4. The TV button flashes twice again.
4. Press the Setup button.
5. Enter the 3-digit code, preceeded by two 0s (5-digits in total): 0-0-2-1-3
6. Press the button to map the code to (in this case, the PIP On-Off button)
   

Voila! The PIP button works! You can even program macros (multiple button pushes mapped to a single button)! You can also move buttons from one device to another. For example, you might want the PIP button to control the TV PIP when you're in Cable mode. This is another very useful feature to use. CJH has all of the info on how to do this. I never have to use my old TV remote again!

Unfortunately, I was unable to do the same button remapping for my home theatre system (a Panasonic HT700 series). The JP1 Yahoo group does have the EFC (Extended Function Codes) for it, however I tried them and they don't work. Now I have the same frustration I had with the TV, where basic functionality is supported. I can't use it for playing DVDs, selecting inputs, etc. Only the volume and power buttons work (at least they do, so I can use the stereo for my TV audio). The code I used to program the AUX on my remote was 1907. Hopefully one day I can find the EFC numbers for it.

Xenoppix

Xenoppix is a customized Knoppix disk that includes Xen 3.0. This is a great way to test out Xen without having to install it to a hard drive. If you have an Intel CPU that supports Virtualization Technology, you can actually run an unmodified operating system with it. Knoppix is an ideal platform to use as a host system, as it provides excellent automatic detection of system hardware. I suspect (although have been unable to confirm) that it should be possible to use Xenoppix to run a Windows XP guest operating system. I wish I had an Intel VT CPU to confirm first-hand. The newest Intel Macs have VT support, so theoretically one should be able to use Xenoppix on it to run Windows XP and other operating systems.

Gabriella is Born!

Well, she finally made it! Be sure to check out Gabriella's blog for the story and pictures.