Tag Archives: free

Mediamote – free remote control for Windows Media Center, designed for iPhone and iPod Touch

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I recently stumbled across this free app, available on the App Store, which is designed to work as a remote control for Windows Media Center on Windows Vista and Windows 7.

The app works over wi-fi, so you’ll need a wi-fi connection for it to work. You’ll also need to download the Mediamote server from here and install the software.

Once it is installed, simply run the Mediamote app from your iPod Touch or iPhone, select the PC that it is installed on and then you are good to go.

Now it is up and running, you’ll see that the app has some quite concise options that allow you to control most aspects of Media Center.

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When I tried this with the Windows 7 Media Center, I was very pleased at how quickly it worked and how all of the buttons worked properly.

I would recommend this to anyone who can’t afford to shed out of a new Media Center remote but would like something simple and easy to use.

TVCatchup for iPhone gets loads more channels!

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Great news iPhone and iPod Touch owners! TVCatchup – the UK’s brilliant online TV streamer – has just launched a huge bundle of new channels for their site.

Many more of the Freeview channels are now available to stream free, anytime.

Just some of the new channels include Channel 4+1, BBC Four, ITV3, ITV4 and Fiver.

The service is still totally free and works over 3G or Wi-Fi so don’t miss out!

Head straight over to iphone.tvcatchup.com to get started.

We could be at the end of the free public wi-fi era… already

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I was reading on the news site ISPReview today that we could well be at the end of our free wi-fi era already. The reason is that the government’s Digital Economy Bill would appear to suggest that wi-fi holders are to be held fully responsible for any data transferred across their internet connection.

Basically, this means that if you are in a pub using free wi-fi and you download an illegal MP3 from a site you are putting that pub owner at full responsibility for that download and is at risk for a hefty fine for allowing illegal downloads.

It was in the news that a pub owner has been fined £8,000 for an unknown customer downloading illegal files.

So this could signify the end of free wi-fi. Companies can’t afford to give out free internet if they risk being fined for something they didn’t do.

It’s a shame really, but I think it’s silly that business owners are put in responsibility for crimes they haven’t committed.

Using Windows Live Writer to manage your blog

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Over the last couple of posts I’ve written (including this one), I have been using Windows Live Writer. This is a free piece of software that is created by Microsoft. It can manage and sort your blog for you with ease, and means you don’t have to use any online dashboard.

For GEEK!, I use WordPress and Windows Live Writer takes WordPress in its stride. I simply tell WLW my login details, and it automatically works out what my blog looks like, what theme I use, and what my posts would look like.

It does this all very quickly, and within a minute or so it is ready to go.

It is really quick, efficient and professional and I really like its simplicity. It is a great concept that works very well. I really like using it because it is so much easier than logging into the WordPress dashboard, then getting distracted by plugins, WP upgrades – the lot. With this, I just write my post without any distractions at all.

Perfect! Another recommendation for GEEK! Recommends.

[UK] Live TV on iPhone/iPod Touch is here!

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Big news iPhone and iPod Touch users – you can now get live TV in the UK on your Apple devices.

Before I explain and you explode in excitement, you need to head straight over to http://iphone.tvcatchup.com to get the service.

The service is in beta so you only get some of the Freeview channels, but all the big ones are up on there.

I’ve just tried it now and it’s absolutely brilliant. The service is apparently optimised for 3G and Wi-Fi, but I’ve just ran it through on Wi-Fi and it streams in harmony. I’m on a 2MB connection here and it loads up really quickly, and hasn’t buffered once in the last 15 minutes. Perfect!

This is another brilliant addition to the TVCatchup service. Perfect if you’re in need of some TV and you aren’t at home.

Great work TVC, I’m really looking forward to the final version, but for now the beta is way more than I need!

A little legal note: Remember you need a UK TV license to watch TV while it is being broadcast. For your own legal safety, make sure your license is up to date before using the service. Thanks!