JackLuminous has finally released an alpha of the long awaited VideoLibrary 2.0.  Initial screenshots look very nice!

The announcement was made over at TGB and he takes no responsibility for how much hair you may pull out when using this release.  It will break, according to him.  However, it is in a form that will at least give you chance to take a look at where it is going.

Personally, I’m interested in the new database model that is being used over the older XML store method.  I hope to give this a try in the next few days and see where it is.

Download is available here and it does now require Microsoft SQL Server Compact Edition 3.5 SP1.

I have mixed feelings about the announcement that Media Browser is going commercial.  Everyone loves something that is free.  It’s even better when that free product is actually good.  That is the case with Media Browser.

Sam announced on his blog yesterday, and then subsequently posted on it at the Media Browser forum, that they are forming a company with the intention of charging for Media Browser.  More than likely, we are going to see a yearly subscription model with the first year primarily focusing on bug fixes and performance enhancements.

I truly wish the Media Browser team the best of luck in this endeavor.  I will probably purchase one copy (times are tough in my neck of the woods right now) just so that I can stay involved, but I’ll have to wait before adding any other clients.  That will be my opportunity to go with MediaPortal (if it works out).  Otherwise, I’ll stick with current release, which works well enough (despite a few bugs).

I realize there will be a fallout and many will flock to the other free options available.  Who knows?  Maybe this is the ‘room to breathe’ that Brian over at MyMovies needs to get his MCML version out the door (not holding my breath though).

Personally, I think the worst part of seeing Media Browser leave the free community is the ‘community’ aspect.  Free/open source projects always have the best message boards and the users are always more inspired to find ways to ‘make things work’.  Sadly, I’m sure most of that will dwindle away.  Support forums for commercial products are usually less friendly and do not have the personality as it’s filled with those who only want results for their payment.  Hopefully the mold will be broken this time around (I hope I get to stay on as a volunteer support moderator for them…I’ve always loved to moderate forums and have done so for 10 years).

I’ve seen Video Browser come a long way in a short amount of time.  It seems like it has only been a few short weeks that I noticed Video Browser development had picked up again…that was some excitement.  I never knew it would get to this point (and I’m sure the devs didn’t either).

I’ll be sure to continue following Media Browser the best I can and I’ll probably even freely advertise for them whenever they get the details ironed out.  I really want to see them succeed.  They’re a great bunch of guys that have given us a great run of free software for the past couple of years.  It’s time we pay them back.

With discussions of charging for Media Browser now heavy, I have decided to start looking at alternatives for browsing my media collection and the only real choice for me seems to be going to a whole new front end – MediaPortal.  The Moving Pictures plugin is the closest thing I can find to what Media Browser offers and so I have begun getting comfortable with configuring it.

I do want to say that I am not against Media Browser becoming ‘pay-for’ software.  In fact, I believe it is 100% worthy of a price tag.  Unfortunately, I’m not in a good position to purchase anything like this for a while.  Especially with some of the proposed pay scales I’ve heard mention of (yearly subscription and per seat licensing would be way out of my price range considering I have multiple clients).  Hopefully, things will settle down later and I’ll be able to get a license or two.  I still believe Media Browser the best media organizer/presenter available.

Anyway, as I begin to learn the ins-and-outs of MediaPortal and the various plugins available, I’ll probably shift my content more in that direction.  I’ve been a total Windows Media Center user for several years now, so this will be a big adjustment for me.  Oh well, here’s to change!

A ‘bug fix’ release for Media Browser has been released.   Several issues have been resolved such as ImagesByName actor images.  There have also been a number of performance and cosmetic enhancements.

One major addition is a recent items ‘pagination’ effect which lists multiple ‘recent added’ items in a scrollable view format on the enhanced home page.  I saw this in the SVN the past couple of days and it’s NICE.

Full release notes are available here.  Download here.

It’s no secret that I hate Comcast, although I still use their Internet service.  A few months ago, I successfully removed myself from their  Digital Voice in favor of Vonage and ditched their severely overpriced cable TV service for DISH.

One good thing about Comcast around Atlanta is that their service coverage area is so large and populated that they are forced to rely solely on contractors for installation and maintenance (this can be very bad too…especially when you have problems).  In my case, I don’t pay for any TV, yet the contractors are lazy and don’t trap the line when you’re on Internet service only.  This allows for basic TV service which Comcast charges about $12 a month for, if I recall correctly.  More importantly, this opens the door for clear QAM signals to pass.

I use an HDHomeRun as my central tuner for all HTPCs.  It’s not used much, but does come in handy once in a while.  Ever so often, I will run a scan to update the lineup since Comcast changes it fairly regularly.  When I say they change it, it must be due to incompetence because today’s scan cropped up a typical 111 channels.

After removing a couple of duplicates, local service channels and OnDemand streams (yes, those are picked up), it settled down to around 80-85 solid channels.  This includes channels like Disney, A&E, History Channel, Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, E!, BET, Cartoon Network, MTV, Nickelodeon, TruTV, Sci-Fi and the list literally goes on and on.  Most of those aren’t in HD (480p), but all local broadcast channels (NBC, FOX, ABC, etc.) are.  All are digital, nonetheless.

I don’t know how long Comcast will make these available for free to me, but I’m going to enjoy the ride…