Re: Apple II: Second Best Tech Product of All Time!

["mdj" <mdj.mdj@gmail.com>]

On Apr 5, 6:17 pm, Mark McDougall <m...@vl.com.au> wrote:

> What annoys me is that even the EPG information transmitted on the
> digital channels is not accurate. I was recording a show one night on my
> PC, when I checked to see if it had finished. The EPG indicated that it
> was "now showing" the next show, so I stopped recording. About 10s later
> I realised that the 'previous' show hadn't finished at all!!!

The only way I know of to get an accurate program guide is via IceTV,
who will sell you a subscription to theirs for $99 a year.

> > If this wasn't legal then surely they wouldn't be
> > available for sale ?!?!
>
> Of course they're not illegal. I think the 'underground' reference is
> the import/hacking scene...

No. The Copyright Amendment Act 2006 introduced exemptions to allow
format shifting and time shifting. However, the time shifting
exemptions do not allow you to keep the material you've time shifted
after you've watched it.

So while a PVR isn't illegal, certain usage of it most certainly is.
Let's hope the lawmakers stay sensible and not bow to pressure to
limit the capability of such devices.

> > With analog transmission ending within the next decade (at the
> > latest) any analog solution is a waste of resources IMHO.
>
> Well, the next 2 decades anyway. Maybe. ;)

I think the main driver here is the wish of ISP's to reuse spectrum
for wireless broadband, so if we ever get the telco industry properly
deregulated, there is hope.

> >> The geek (and even non-geek) crowd in Australia is skipping over
> >> PVR, since actual content is *very* limited and most of it is
> >> imported from the US or UK, so the better model for us is to
> >> torrent our content via the net.
>
> The geek crowd are more likely setting up 4 tuners in their linux boxes
> which are also connected to the net, and buying $250 remote controllers
> which can interface to MythTV.
>
> But yes, _hypothetically_ downloading a 350MB HD AVI of "Heroes" without
> ads is a rather attractive alternative to having to remember to set the
> VCR - and you can watch episodes that haven't aired yet, even if they do
> sometimes have Spanish subtitles... ;)

And the time lag between local (re)broadcasting of foreign content and
when it's originally broadcast is a big issue today since internet
news, fan sites, etc. tends to focus around it's original broadcast
timing. So if you want to participate in the 'community' you actually
*have* to download them.

Matt