private void prep_file(string file)
{
  if ((File.GetAttributes(file) & FileAttributes.ReadOnly) == FileAttributes.ReadOnly)
  {
    File.SetAttributes(file, FileAttributes.Normal);
  }
}
 

Here's the exception I was getting that led me to this:

System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path 'C:\sxr\dictation_duck\temp\08_20_10_09_28_33_00013889.voc' is denied.
at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
at System.IO.FileStream.Init(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Int32 rights, Boolean useRights, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttrs, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)

When you plug them in they usually keep the same drive letter. You can also mount them onto a directory and they'll sometimes keep that. Usually and sometimes means it'll work fine for months and then up and change for no reason.

Since Windows doesn't cooperate, I needed an easy way to find the recorders. The solution I came up with was to give them all a standard drive label and then use the code below with some additions to do what I needed to do to get the dictations off of them.

Download Visual Studio 2008 Sample Project

 
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.IO;
 
namespace DriveLabelDemo
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
 
        private void logger(string message)
        {
            DateTime time = DateTime.Now;
            string format = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss";
            logbox.Text = logbox.Text + time.ToString(format) + ": " + message + "\r\n";
            this.logbox.SelectionStart = logbox.Text.Length;
            this.logbox.ScrollToCaret();
        }
 
        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            logger("Searching!");
            // CHECK THE LIST OF DRIVES FOR ONE LABELED RECORDER
            DriveInfo[] drives = DriveInfo.GetDrives();
            foreach (DriveInfo drive in drives)
            {
                string label = drive.IsReady ? drive.VolumeLabel : null;
 
                string to_show = drive.Name + " - " + label;
 
                if (label == textBox1.Text)
                {
                    to_show += " <- MATCH";
                }
 
                logger(to_show);
            }
            logger("==================");
        }
    }
}
 

This config below will get your ParentDir function working via the 'Back' button and the ContextMenu via * or #.

This needs to go into the global keyboard section of keymap.xml:

<code>
<key id="61606">ParentDir</key>
<key id="61600">ContextMenu</key>
</code>

You can put an ' (apostrophe) in front of the + or -, like this '- or '+. The ' is Excel's comment character. The ' will not be displayed. The + or - will be.

I hate VPNs.  Call me odd, but I think the protocols should have the encryption built in.  If you need it use it, if not, don't.

net-to-net.conf:

conn net-to-net
        type=           tunnel
        authby=         secret
        left=           MY PUBLIC IP
        leftnexthop=    MY DEFAULT GATEWAY
        leftsubnet=     MY PUBLIC IP/32
        right=          REMOTE PUBLIC IP
        rightsubnet=    REMOTE PRIVATE IP/32
        keyexchange=    ike
        pfs=            no
        auto=           start
        ike=3des-md5-modp1024,3des-md5-modp1536
        esp=3des-md5

net-to-net.secrets:

MY PUBLIC IP REMOTE PUBLIC IP: PSK "password"

Download Source!

Once downloaded, open the file and change $ad_dir to the path (not url) of your images. Then upload it to your web host. Call the script from an IMG tag: <img src=ad_rotator.php>

PlayOn is a UPnP server that you install on your PC. It scrapes RSS feeds and then performs some magic so you can watch videos from those feeds on DLNA capable devices. So far it supports YouTube, Netflix, CBS, CNN, ESPN and Hulu.

It works well on my Xbox running XBMC. It's really nice to watch videos from those sites on my TV, so nice that I paid the $30 for the registered version of PlayOn.

It is a beta, and the only problem I have found is a strange one. My first attempt to play a video never works, the second one always does. This means I click play, wait five seconds for it to fail, then click play again. It's hardly even annoying.

I really like this setup. It is easy to use and I have never had a problem with it besides one; my Xbox is loud. It is not any louder than a normal Xbox and in PC terms it is pretty quiet. After years of working around computers hard drive whines and fans annoy the piss out of me. Where as a normal person would never hear it, I can. Normally I can tune it out, but sometimes, like when I pause a show, I can hear it.

This is what it sounds like:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It is slowly driving me insane.

I tried out a Popcorn Hour A-110 and it did not have any where near the features or polish XBMC has. It was quiet though. I've also tried MythTV it was a pain in the ass to setup and use. Also the PC needed to run it wasn't any better noise wise than the Xbox.

Now my plan is to make the Xbox silent by purchasing a new hard drive and fan.

HD: Seagate Barracude 7200 80GB ($52 shipped)
Fan: Noctua NF-R8 Ultra Silent 80mm ($21 shipped)

Both of these come recommended as being very quiet.

Here is where this story gets sad.

The fan couldn't push enough air and my Xbox was getting too hot. Back to the old fan. Thing is, even spun up, the original fan isn't very loud. XBMC keeps it at around %20 max spin anyway. It's silent.

The new hard drive was just as loud as the old one. From experimenting a bit the hard drive is by far the loudest component in the Xbox. The only other noise makers are the DVD drive, the case fan, and the GPU fan. I never use the DVD drive. The GPU and case fans are pretty much silent.

What recourse does that leave me with? Not much really, I can purchase an SSD hard drive which will be silent as the night is dark, but they cost about $250 for 80GB. That's more than I paid for the Xbox, new hds, and fan put together. I'm not willing to do that.

My other option is to build an HTPC from scratch and use XBMC Linux. Again, relatively high cost would be factor in this too.

What I ended up doing was pushing the Xbox as far back into my entertainment center as possible. A couple inches of wood and a TV make for ok sound proofing.

Good times.

I have an Xbox with XBMC that I had been using every day. I bought the Popcorn Hour for a couple of reasons, HD, quietness, and I'm worried about my four year old Xbox having a heart attack in the middle of a movie.

It was my hope that the Popcorn hour would work at least as well as the Xbox and solve those problems. The Popcorn works exactly as advertised, no complaints there. I can plug it into my network and watch videos off of a SMB share.

I really think my problems are more, 'It is not XMBC', rather than the Popcorn Hour being flawed.

What I like:

* The case looks a lot nicer than an Xbox.
* It's silent. This is wonderful.
* Watching TV on an Xbox makes you feel like a huge nerd, not so much on the Popcorn.

My problems:

* The interface is slow. There is a second or two pause between pages when scrolling through a directory listing. XMBC can scroll through the same list in a blur. This slowness annoys the hell out of me, I don't see any reason why it should be slow either. Cache the directory listing, and then scroll the cached copy, dang.

* I have a lot of music videos that I like to queue into a random play list and play while I work around the house. Popcorn can't seem to do this.

* No FLV file support, this one is my fault for not paying attention to the supported formats list, but it still bugs me.

* Whenever a video loads, my TV displays a bright blue 'NO INPUT' screen for about four seconds before the video starts. This is annoying any time, and blinds you late at night.

As my opinion stands now I wouldn't recommend the Popcorn Hour to anyone. At first I was going to say it would be nice for someone who isn't computer savvy, but anyone capable of having a collection of ripped videos and such to warrant a Popcorn Hour is probably smart enough to figure out XBMC.

Update 11/15/08:

Some goony goon goon suggested I set the PH to use one video mode instead of auto. That fixed my TV blue screening.

I still hate the PH and I am sending it back.

My Xbox will never play HD, so for that I'm going to wait until XBMC Linux matures and then I'll build an HTPC. In the mean time, so begins Operation Silent Xbox.