Starting to do some development of an HTML app for the Boxee Box. Rob @ Boxee told me that I could enable remote debugging to my dev machine. Awesome, right?!
Turns out if you are on OS X there are some small hoops that you have to jump through to get this all set up to work. Those hoops are outlined below [1]:
1) In /etc/syslog.conf note the file that local0 is writing to. I have local0.* set to write to /var/log/boxee.log
2) Change the syslogd startup procedure:
You should edit: /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist
Ironically, uncomment the lines after the comment: Un-comment the following lines to enable the network syslog protocol listener.
3) Restart syslogd by running:
> launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist
> launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist
And if your firewall is off, or better yet configure your firewall properly, you should be able to monitor your log however you wish… I am using tail -f /var/log/boxee.log
Voila!
_____
References:
[1] http://meinit.nl/enable-apple-mac-os-x-machine-syslog-server
Here are the bullet points of this post:
1) I LOVE Boxee.
2) I just bought a Tivo Premier with a monthly fee of $19.99 and I am ok with paying them that.
3) I strongly dislike Time Warner Cable and think it is a BAD company.
So why would I buy a tivo (2) if I love Boxee (1)?? Read on.
I want to cut the cord. I pay >$100/month for the ability to flip through hundreds of channels, of which I really only watch a handful. So what to do, what to do…
I bought a digital antenna which gets me ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, WB, PBS, PBS KIDS, and a few others, all in HD, stunning HD. For FREE!
Unfortunately, I can’t get these stations with the boxee box and while I do like what Boxee has to offer, and LOVE the UI/UX, it is not enough and not ready for my wife to use it on a daily basis let alone my daughter (she already knows where to point the remote).
So Tivo lets me DVR content, making the limited channels I do get, more valuable while more cost efficient. I can use Netflix Instant on the Tivo and I figure I can buy a season pass on Amazon VOD for ~30 for the few shows I really watch and I’ll be saving BIG over the course of the year.
ENTER TIME WARNER CABLE.
I am still considering NOT canceling cable. I would get a cable card (M-Card) to put in the TIvo so I can get all those channels… BUT they dont have the cards in their stores. I need to “schedule” a 4-6 hr window (really 8-10hr) for someone to come to my apartment, pick up my box, and give me a cable card. AND I have to pay $40 for this visit to happen. Lucky me!
It is easier to just cancel it all! I even mentioned this to them and they didn’t even blink. They didn’t care I was going to cancel.
If I ran my business that way I would be out of business. PERIOD.
Goodbye Time Warner Cable :)
I like this splash screen! Again, @boxee, @ufl, @idancohen, and @dN0t were great to work with!
Boxee App developer Henry Sztul said: “Boxee is a fantastic service to bring Internet video into your living room. The UFL Boxee app will allow people to watch live games, games already played, and older video content on any TV in their home connected to a PC running Boxee or a Boxee-enabled device like the upcoming Boxee Box by D-Link. The ultimate goal is to provide a state-of-the-art sports viewing experience that cannot be found anywhere else online. As a developer, this has been an exciting project. Sports content like this just does not exist outside of traditional cable, and there are so many directions this could go technologically.
United Football League Announces Launch of Boxee App to View 2010 Season Games | UFL
Check out my new United Football League App featured on Boxee! Football Live on your TV… WITHOUT cable! #awesome!
@boxee, @idancohen, and @@dN0t were great to work with!
[even better UI update in the works!]
(and yes, I watch Warehouse 13 :)
You can now watch *live* C-SPAN on Boxee! Check out my seeSPAN app in the repository! Archive video content coming in next release… let me know what you think!
I second the twitter app… maybe we should even be able to hear twitter talk through our TV??? vis a vie: http://bit.ly/14WnsU
bijan:
Our portfolio company Boxee is an open source, media center application that runs on Windows, Macs, Linux and even AppleTV. It’s browser that is optimized for a 10 foot experience and a remote control.
Think of it as Front Row or Windows Media Center but so much better. Not only does it support a wider range of services like Netflix, Last.fm, flickr, cnn, mtv, cbs, pandora, youtube (and many more coming) — but it’s also social. You can see what your friends are watching & recommending.
(I’ve written about Boxee a bunch in the past. You can search for Boxee in the search box on the right side of this blog if you want more info)
A few months back they introduced an open api & the Boxee app store so third party developers can create & easily distribute apps to Boxee users. I think it’s the first App store model for the television.
I’m really excited about the response so far from third party developers. Here’s a few of the apps so far:
-Facebook Photos. This is cool. You can watch facebook photos on your big screen. Photos look great on a HD monitor.
-DropBoxee - Jon Steinberg created an app that integrates drop.io and boxee. the result is a super slick way to get personal media onto Boxee.
-Weather Channel - i use the weather app on my iphone all the time. now i have one on my tv.
Some things I’d love to see in the Boxee App Store at some point:
-Games. Most web games require a keyboard. Boxee uses a remote control. It makes game play tricky but someone is going to build killer games for boxee. social games for the big screen. big idea
-Twitter. i’d love a twitter app for Boxee that filters by keywords as well as the folks I follow on twitter. would be a fun app for parties. or integrated with other web services like music or sports.
-Flickr+Tunes - I want to see a flow of artist pics on flickr when I play my music on boxee. also great for parties.
-Tumblr. There is so much great content on tumblr, from music in my dashboard to photos to video clips. I’d love to see it on the big screen.
I can’t wait to see what else third party developers will do with this open platform.
As far as I can tell…
* $70 gets me countless commerical breaks where the sham-wow guy yells at me telling me that I live a boring life.
* $70 gets me cynical evening news broadcasts where I’m treated like an drooling idiot while “investigative” pieces have jingles telling me how I’m supposed to feel about them.
* $70 not spent on cable TV gets me $70 closer to a mac mini + Boxee
I’m reasonably sure that these companies are just enjoying one last hurrah before the giant race to the bottom. Soon they’ll all be nothing more than a pipe.
Ted Roden on getting HD from cable providers
unlike other app stores, boxee does not want to be a gate keeper (or bottleneck) in deciding which applications are published so anyone can become a publisher.
boxee blog » introducing the boxee API (via fred-wilson)
PaidContent reports Disney is in “serious” talks to put ABC shows on Hulu. ESPN and Disney Channel could be on the table as well. Every major broadcaster but CBS on Hulu? TV is deeeeeeead. [via paidContent via gizmodo]
Meanwhile, NBC and Fox only get paid when you watch the TV shows on TV or cable, which gets them Nielsen ratings and subscriber fees. Internet revenues from the likes of Hulu are puny. So they can’t afford to lose viewers to Web video shows on TV when they need them to be watching TV shows on TV. That’s the gist of Zucker’s quote.
Longer term, this anti-customer strategy will fail. (See: Music industry v. Internet.) But perhaps it saves the networks a few years, and could open more opportunities for the cable industry to build up their on-demand content and technologies so that subscribers at least keep feeding the monster $80 a month.
NBC Boss Explains Why Boxee Users Can’t Have Hulu (GE, NWS)
My 2 cents: Go all the way or don’t do it at all. The networks should put all their weight behind web technologies like Boxee. Hell, make their own (isn’t that what hulu is?), I don’t care! I think this is the quickest way to skirt this issue of ad revenue (hello, watches on Hulu will give 10x more info then Nielson ratings, eg IP, Location, Time of viewing, browser, OS, etc). No brainer if you ask me!
Boxee: Latest Boxee Brings Hulu Back, Adds an App Box
So in case anyone was curious, I am still in a boycott of Hulu. This is despite hacks that have been found to get Hulu back on Boxee.
In case anyone wondered or forgot let me refresh your memory
1) Boxee received a letter from Hulu asking them to remove Hulu’s content from their application.
2) Boxee acted in good faith and removed their content.
3) Henry started a global boycott of Hulu. (ok maybe just local… ok maybe its just me!)
I still believe that an application like Boxee is the future of entertainment online and disagree strongly with Hulu’s power play!
Join the resistance by BOYCOTTING HULU.COM!
![Check out my new United Football League App featured on Boxee! Football Live on your TV… WITHOUT cable! #awesome!
@boxee, @idancohen, and @@dN0t were great to work with!
[even better UI update in the works!]
(and yes, I watch Warehouse 13 :)](http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l8wb11DWF51qz5zn8o1_500.png)
