Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

[chaz]

That sucks.  Wish it could cast mp4, mpg etc. 
there's always apple tv for that i suppose.

I suspect that apps like Plex will have Cast support very soon.

I use Google Play Music so my music will already play.  Locally stored videos, however, I have yet to find a solution (and am basically waiting on plex as its what I use on my server).

have you used the plex app for roku?  how is it?

[vansmack]

have you used the plex app for roku?  how is it?

Yes, and it's fine, though it took forever to catalog.  I'm not sure if that was my Synology NAS (213J) or if it was because I have a large collection, but it seemed like it would never completely catalog all of the songs.

For movies it's quick and easy.

[i am gay and i like cats]

go watch the ken burns doc the civil war, on netflix app.

go watch drag talk with mahogany la piranHa, on gay life television app

go watch anything, on revision three app

go watch all frontline episodes, on pbs app

go watch seinfeld, on crackle app

[vansmack]

That sucks.  Wish it could cast mp4, mpg etc. 
there's always apple tv for that i suppose.

Apparently, if you drop the file in the Chrome Browser it works.  I didn't even know you could do that!

http://www.droid-life.com/2013/07/25/tip-you-can-play-local-video-files-through-chromecast/

I'm at works so I can't try it out, but will soon.

[HoyaSaxa03]

I cut the cord last night.  My feudal aid to Comcast is now down to $40 a month for 50 mbps (advertised).

Watched the Nats game just fine on the Roku, love the time-shifting abilities.

Any protips for a Harmony 700?  Just got mine set up, can't believe I didn't have a harmony before this.

[vansmack]

Any protips for a Harmony 700?  Just got mine set up, can't believe I didn't have a harmony before this.

Pay close attention to your use patterns over say 30 days or so, then spend some time creating custom sequences/macros.  That's the true power of the Harmony line of remotes.

[chaz]

Watched the Nats game just fine on the Roku, love the time-shifting abilities.

How are you getting local games?  A proxy?

[chaz]

That sucks.  Wish it could cast mp4, mpg etc. 
there's always apple tv for that i suppose.

Apparently, if you drop the file in the Chrome Browser it works.  I didn't even know you could do that!

http://www.droid-life.com/2013/07/25/tip-you-can-play-local-video-files-through-chromecast/

I'm at works so I can't try it out, but will soon.

report back

[vansmack]

Best Deadline Deal Ever: Angels

So ESPN has been doing this 30 day series of talking about the best deadline deals ever for each team (they have not done the O's or Nat's yet).  While I can remember a number of bad deals for the Angels, I couldn't think of many that really ever worked out. 

ESPN chose the Teixeira trade in 2008and I was like WTF?!  Sure he had a good second half of the season but he was terrible in the playoffs and that bastard turned us down for the Yankees so he's dead to me.

I never realized the arbitration pick the Yanks forfeited to sign Teixeira in the 2009 Draft ended up being Mike Trout.  God I love him even more now....

[HoyaSaxa03]

Watched the Nats game just fine on the Roku, love the time-shifting abilities.

How are you getting local games?  A proxy?

http://www.unblock-us.com/

DNS settings on my router, so it works on all my devices.

[chaz]

Watched the Nats game just fine on the Roku, love the time-shifting abilities.

How are you getting local games?  A proxy?

http://www.unblock-us.com/

DNS settings on my router, so it works on all my devices.

Thanks!  And very interesting.  Works without a hitch?

[HoyaSaxa03]

no problems yet.

[chaz]

I don't understand how a few dns servers has the same net effect of using a proxy to disguise your location.  Unless there's more to it than I'm gathering at first glance.

Edit:

Nevermind, just read up on it, makes sense.  A simple and elegant solution.

[HoyaSaxa03]

I don't understand how a few dns servers has the same net effect of using a proxy to disguise your location.  Unless there's more to it than I'm gathering at first glance.

Edit:

Nevermind, just read up on it, makes sense.  A simple and elegant solution.

I don't really understand how it works, and I don't really care to.  But it does.

http://www.bestvpn.com/blog/4266/unblockus-review/
http://support.unblock-us.com/customer/portal/articles/291570
http://vpn-services.bestreviews.net/dns-unblocking-service-unblock-us-vs-vpn-services/

[vansmack]

report back

I was in The OC weekend so I didn't get a chance to play with it much this weekend, but the performance was spotty in the two movies I did try.

I think it's really going to depend on the file format and sadly, the higher end 1080p stuff didn't work that well.  Google does describe this part as "experimental" though.  I think the limitation is the 2.4ghz range limitation, but I'll give it a longer go this week.

Plex did announce that they will be adding Chromecast support to their apps though, and that could be a game changer.