Buddasworld

Lynx “Cool Metal” shower gel has the scent of warm...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:15:23 +0000

Lynx “Cool Metal” shower gel has the scent of warm melting plastic. Very weird.

Fetch me a towel Barbera… I feel dirty. Voice Over Man...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:00:05 +0000

Fetch me a towel Barbera… I feel dirty.

Voice Over Man from the telly gets sampled in to this cheeky little number from Awsum (I prefer the Technikal Remix)

Photo

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:16:17 +0000

Photo

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:59:59 +0000

Jake & Jessica on Flickr.Jake & Jessica the two monkeys.

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:48:16 +0000

Jake & Jessica on Flickr.

Jake & Jessica the two monkeys.

Photo

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:54:39 +0000

Zero: Technical Source Material for Decimal Number Systems (Numeric Text Systems Publications)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:30:06 +0000

Zero: Technical Source Material for Decimal Number Systems (Numeric Text Systems Publications):

Sometimes a book title can be a bit cryptic about what’s inside. Thankfully Amazon’s “Look inside” facility helps us out here - and what a surprise!

Really, who is this book going to be purchased by? If the answer is you, and you own a Kindle, then Amazon are waiting for you!

Home automation using web services and mashing them up?

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:14:15 +0000

A platform to connect your house to the web through a clear, consistent and simple set of API. Create mashups, connect devices and experiment new solutions to speed up innovation in home automation.

They are currently taking sign-ups for beta users. Fancy dabbling? Add your email address to their registration form.

Well you don’t see this everyday. Maybe there’s a...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:40:05 +0000

Well you don’t see this everyday. Maybe there’s a reason…

The Smitten - a woollen mitten has two hand holes – one for you and one for your other half.

Firebox.com is peddling it for £24.99 (with free delivery).

When baby toys swear. Wonder if vTech ever considered their...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:42:53 +0000

When baby toys swear. Wonder if vTech ever considered their electronic kids toys could be abused? It’s not just the

If Apple stopped using white plastic from 2003 and made a proper...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:00:05 +0000

If Apple stopped using white plastic from 2003 and made a proper iPad stand - the Magnus would be it. It looks invisible - perfect.

Now if only i didn’t have kids and a protective case around my iPad because of them…

The only thing a choir is good for: recreating The Prodigy...

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:43:56 +0000

The only thing a choir is good for: recreating The Prodigy anthems Mega mix with no electronic kit! Check the conductors dance moves.

Ever wondered how a single blind person might cook a hot meal?...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:00:06 +0000

Ever wondered how a single blind person might cook a hot meal? It seems plenty of Becks beer is the answer.

Not paid the gas bill? need to cook whilst out in the...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:00:05 +0000

Not paid the gas bill? need to cook whilst out in the wilderness? Well I know just the DIY project for you.

You’ll need a pin, a standard fizzy drink can, and some antifreeze.

I guess it could also be used by homeless drug addicts too.

I never got around to watching any of the Transformer movies...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:00:06 +0000

I never got around to watching any of the Transformer movies from the past few years. Thankfully I’ve been saved due to this handy abridged version covering all 3 of the movies.

I’m not sure the penis rocket is in the real movie?

This brown Tuff-Luv Macbook Air case is superb for my 13”...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:00:05 +0000

This brown Tuff-Luv Macbook Air case is superb for my 13” 2011 MacBook Air.

Great materials, perfect pull tab which slides up the MacBook effortlessly, and a very nice selection of textured materials on the front and back to make the cover a little more interesting than a simply leather cover.

The internal has a brown soft nylon lining to polish your device as it slides in and out.

Magnetic clasp is a final nice little extra to an overall perfect slip cover.

Well worth the £39 asking price from Amazon.co.uk.

Jessica takes a bite of Drupal on Flickr.Jessica takes a bite of...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:12:55 +0000

Jessica takes a bite of Drupal on Flickr.

Jessica takes a bite of Drupal

youparklikeacunt: @realsallymorgan went one further and broke...

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:04:28 +0000

youparklikeacunt:

@realsallymorgan went one further and broke it down to the actual car. This is the level of obsession that we heartily condone.

BMW drivers really are a bunch of cunts.

These instructions were found in some wiggly worm party...

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 21:32:12 +0000

These instructions were found in some wiggly worm party balloons. My mum pointed out that they “looked a bit rude”.

All Media Playback in a single box with Samsung

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:54:18 +0100

My XBox360 finally packed up with the red rings and I didn’t fancy going through all the instructions to pull the case apart and attempt to reset the heat sinks. The X360 was being used to stream media from my ReadyNAS NV+ storage box and play region 2 DVDs for the kids.

As a replacement I set out looking for a box to do everything the XBox 360 did and a whole lot more. My ideal criteria was:

Play DVDs (region free)
Play Divx, XVid AVI etc.
Play Blu-ray (without being restricted to HDMI due to old TV-Set)
Play MKV HD movie files.
Connect to my local network NAS box to stream files
Nice visual user interface to navigate content.

eBuyer.com was mentioned when I called out on Twitter, and there’s a number of devices which support playback of files over the local network for very reasonable prices.

However support for traditional silver discs in any of the devices found was lacking - and I’ve just not got the interest in backing up all the kids DVDs to the NAS box in addition to all the movies i’ve done.

The other thing I was wary about when looking at these cheap media streaming boxes was the reliability, crappy build quality, and easy of use with the user interface - as children would be operating it.

The new media box would be hooked up to the ageing Toshiba 36ZP48 in the kids sitting/play room. The TV supports component input and SCART, as well as digital optical audio input.

Plex & SmartTV Hub

Earlier this week I stumbled across a blog post which mentioned a new SmartTV application to turn any Samsung SmartTV compatible device into a Plex streaming client.

Plex works as a server component and a client. My Mac Mini is currently acting as the Plex server, but a Netgear ReadyNAS Pro 6 can also function as a Plex server if you have the cash.

The new Plex SmartTV application is great, and there’s been a lot of forum posts backing up how great it’s working already. Compared to the LG and Apple TV Plex clients this Samsung one is well ahead. After reading up on suitable hardware required to run the Samsung Plex app it was concluded that D-series devices are the ones to aim for, although the older C-series do work.

The Samsung solution

To my luck and satisfaction I discovered the Samsung BD-D5300 device which ticked all my boxes - and included so much more with the SmartTV applications. BBC iPlayer, Twitter, Facebook, games are all made available through the built-in ethernet port. A Samsung specific wireless adapter is available - but it costs £45.

I found the Samsung BD-D5300 available for just £85.99 delivered at Electrical123. A lot cheaper than even Amazon UK which was £109.59 (at time of writing this post). I also scored an extra £1.72 off the Electrical123.com price thanks to Quidco.com cashback.

To remove the European region lock on the DVD (not Blu-ray) follow the simple steps:

Remove any discs from the tray and close it.
On the menu screen press the RETURN key (bottom left).
Press 5 7 5 3 8
The number ‘2’ should appear in the top right corner of the screen to indicate the current region.
Quickly press ‘9’ to change to region free. The number ‘9’ should appear in the top right corner of the screen.

Thanks to the instructions from videohelp.com

To get the Plex developer application installed is a little more work, but nothing complicated. Follow the instructions on the Samsung Plex page. The app runs great once you point it at your Plex server and visually looks great. Shame there’s no way to make Plex auto start!

Summary

So for less than £85 I’ve gained a superb media streaming box which:

Network connected locally and on to the Internet.
Blu-ray and region free DVD playback.
Great looking hardware.
Fast Blu-ray disc loading.
Plex support.
1080p output over HDMI, 480p over composite/SCART.