My Apple Media Center

I recently completed setting up my Apple-based media center. Based on a Mac mini, AppleTV, eyeTV and Airport Express, this set-up lets me record TV shows on my computer and view them on my flatscreen TV, while music from iTunes can be streamed to my stereo, providing me with a much better listening experience than those small PC speakers. Below I'll describe my set-up in some more detail:

• I am using Elgato Systems' EyeTV Hybrid to record TV shows on my computer, which are then automatically converted to an AppleTV-compatible format and added to my iTunes library. By doing so, these shows are automatically synchronized with my AppleTV and thus available for watching whenever I want. Using tvtv's Electronic Program Guide, recordings can be scheduled in advance. Although video recordings can become quite large in size, storage is not an issue as I added a 500GB LaCie miniHUB to the set-up.
  
  
• To be able to view other video content on my 32" Samsung flatscreen TV, I use iSquint. iSquint is a powerful open-souce app that can convert nearly any video format to the MPEG-4 format, which is required by AppleTV. Like eyeTV, iSquint can automatically add converted files to your iTunes library and thus to your AppleTV. Ain't that convenient?
  
  
• Apple's Airport Express lets me retire my CD player. With all my music available in iTunes, I can stream any song, album or playlist directly to my stereo. This set-up has the advantage that now all my music can be scrobbled and uploaded to my last.fm profile. While officially Airport Express only works in combination with iTunes, Rogue Amoeba's AirFoil lets you stream other audio sources via Airport Express as well. Hence, when listening to webradio or other webstreams you're no longer bound to your computer either.

A key element in this whole set-up is my AppleTV. I was probably one of the first people in the Netherlands to own one: I had it pre-ordered and when I picked it up from the Apple Store I was told that they would not be able to offer any support yet as they didn't even have one set-up in the store themselves. Although its practical use is limited as the iTunes Store is not yet selling movies or music videos in Europe, using AppleTV in combination with eyeTV and iSquint makes it well worth its $299 price. BTW, one of the video podcasts I enjoy watching via AppleTV is GeekBrief TV with Cali Lewis.

One thing AppleTV doesn't let me do is to watch webcasts or videostreams directly on my TV. That would be ideal in combination with Joost, the new brainchild of the founders of KaZaa and Skype. Using some of the same peer-to-peer technology as KaZaa and Skype, 'Joost is a new way of watching TV on the internet. With Joost, you get all the things you love about TV, including a high-quality full-screen picture, hundreds of full-length shows and easy channel-flipping.' I actually have the privilege of being a Joost beta-tester and it is my belief that online TV services like Joost may very soon come to compete with traditional TV, especially theme channels which make up the majority of cable operators' premium packages.

Up In The Cloud

Slowly but surely more and more of my digital life is moving up in the cloud. It started with this blog and a Flickr account before I even had my own digital camera. I hardly used my Flickr Pro account, so despite the fact that I nowadays do own a Canon Digital IXUS 40 I will stick with a basic account for the time being... My life is simply not that exciting and photogenic (...). This week, however, a trip to Finnish Lapland is on the agenda, so provided the battery will last in the cold (last week's maximum temperature was -15 degrees Celsius), expect me to post some nice pics upon return.

Next up was me using .Mac to sync calendars, contacts, keychains, mail accounts and mail settings between my MacBook Pro (March 2006 - ??) and Mac mini (January 2007 - ??), back up files and make files accessible away from home using iDisk. Especially iDisk proves to be very useful for me as it gives me access to private files away from home and working on my company laptop.

Then of course there are the sublime Google services like Google Calendar, Docs & Spreadsheets, Gmail and Notebook. With its 2GB storage capacity per account Gmail can actually be used in much the same way as .Mac's iDisk. A recent addition, Picasa Web Albums, allows you to create online photo albums a la Flickr, but you probably won't be surprised to learn that I haven't used Picasa yet (if you are surprised, something may be wrong with your short term memory! What did I just tell you about my Flickr usage?!).

But while all these web-based services and Web 2.0 sites are great, they are not the ones that triggered me to write this post. That honor goes to MP3tunes and Last.fm. MP3tunes, which was founded by Michael Robertson, of MP3.com and Linspire fame, provides you with a 'locker' wherein you can store all your digital music. Once you have uploaded all or part of your music to your locker, you can play your own music everywhere around the world, provided that you're connected to the cloud and the computer (or other internet-enabled device, i.e. Nokia's n800) you're using has an audio card and speakers. For playback you can either use MP3tunes' Flash player or you can stream them through your favorite mediaplayer. Music that is protected with DRM, for example anything bought in the iTunes store, can only be played by streaming it via the associated mediaplayer (in our example that would be iTunes). Big deal, you might say. But now imagine that you're working late and with all your colleagues gone you wouldn't mind listening to that CD you bought the other day. Simply accessing your locker from your desktop computer will do the trick. Or otherwise think of the many times you're over at a friend's place and you come to talk about this great new artist you recently discovered (yeah right...). Now you can let him hear it for himself straight away. Or when you're on holiday and catching up on your work e-mail in an internet cafe... O.K., I figure you're probably getting it by now.

Actually, when we talk about sharing your musical preferences and discovering new music and artists, that is precisely what Last.fm helps you to do. As you listen to music and use Last.fm, you build up a unique musical profile to share with your friends. Using a technique named 'scrobbling', Last.fm keeps track of all the music you play on your computer and, amongst others, tells you how your musical preferences compare to those of your scrobbling friends. It also finds you some musical neighbours, people whose taste in music appears to be quite similar to your own. That way you may find out about some new artist that you were unfamiliar with but whose music you mostly probably will appreciate as well. So there you have it, a social network where people connect on the basis of their musical preferences. But instead of writing and reading about it, I suggest you tune in to Last.fm and check it out yourself. In case you want to learn more about my taste in music, know that I go by the name of 'musicomnivore' (that's a bit of a give-away, isn't it?).

Final thought: that internet connection seems to turn into somewhat of an umbilical cord that connects me to my digital life...