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Mike Holmes honorary BCIT Doctorate

February 21st, 2008

Last week, Mike Holmes from HGTV Canada’s Holmes on Homes received an Honorary Doctorate of Technology from BCIT.

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He was a crowd hit at the Winter 2008 convocation ceremony. He even wore his “Holmes on Homes” brand cover alls, and steel toed boots undeneth his robe, which is pretty funny.

Home Improvement, news, Pentax, pictures , , , , ,

ExpressVu 6141 HD receiver now available

January 16th, 2008

expressvu_6141_receiver.jpg

This receiver is the second MPEG-4 based receiver released by Bell. Based on the spec’s, this unit will be replacing the 6100 model. The cool thing about this new unit is that it is not a PVR, but it will become a PVR later this year when Bell releases new firmware activating the USB port! This will allow you to connect an external hard drive or an Archos 605 and 705 portable media player.The 6141 HD receiver comes with the PVR remote, and an new EPG (electronic program guide) allowing you to view up to three days of programming on the screen at one time.

Output ports include: Coax, Component, S-Video, Optical, HDMI.

Inputs: 1x Satellite In, OTA Antenna

USB, and Ethernet for future use.

If you have the new 6141, please feel free to post a comment with your experiences or questions.

DVR, expressvu, HDTV, news, video , , ,

Two New HD Channels… Super Channel

October 29th, 2007

branding_superchannel-none.gifExpressVu HD subscribers will be happy to know that we will be getting two new HD channels that we can subscribe to!

Bell ExpressVu is the first to launch the new Super Channel, and starting on November 2nd, ExpressVu HD subscribers will be the first to preview the new set of stations until November 22nd.

Read more…

DVR, expressvu, HDTV, home theatre, news, PVR, tech

Bell’s new HD PVR, The ExpressVu 9242

October 27th, 2007

img_vip622dvr.jpgLast week, Bell ExpressVu quitely began shipping the new HD 9242 HD PVR to Bell stores. The new receiver, has been long expected because of ExpressVu’s impending shift to MPEG-4 over MPEG-2.

The new receiver, which has been rumored for several months now has finally shown up, and adds increased HD recording capacity (30 Hours, vs 24 hours on the 9200), its black! (unlike the silver unit in the picture) and it has an S-Video output for TV2.

Right now, there is no reason to upgrade your 9200 to the 9242 unless you are having technical problems, or you really need the extra 5 hours of HD recording capacity. Bell is not expected to begin rolling out MPEG-4 unil at least 2009.

If you have a 9242, I’d like to hear your impressions of the new unit in the comments below, likewise, if you have a question, please post a comment and I will do my best to answer it for you.

expressvu, HDTV, news, PVR

New ExpressVu 9 Day Guide

August 27th, 2007

ExpressVu LogoThe biggest complaint about the Bell ExpressVu PVR models was finally addressed today, all Bell ExpressVu receivers should now be capable of a 9 day program guide. I can’t confirm if this is the case for other reciever models first hand, but early reports and email tips show that this is the case.

The limitation of a 40 hour guide was by far the largest complaint of ExpressVu 9200 HD PVR owners, and owners of Bell’s earlier PVR models. ExpressVu had been quietly updating the firmware of their receivers over the summer, and just flipped the 9 day guide switch sometime today.

With the addition of the 9 day guide comes 9200 firmware version 150. I have not noticed any new enhancements other than the longer guide, but the extra days of information will be really useful for planning PVR recording timers.

Read more…

9200, 9220, expressvu, HDTV, home theatre, news, PVR, tech

Microsoft Was Distributing Ubuntu Linux

June 23rd, 2007

For the last few days, Microsoft has been distributing Ubuntu Linux from the Windows Marketplace website. Over 10,000 people downloaded Ubuntu via a link to CNET from the Windows Marketplace website. Curious about how Microsoft described Ubuntu? Well they called it “Perfect”

Note: This is the desktop version of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a community developed operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops, and servers. Whether you use it at home, at school or at work Ubuntu contains all the applications you’ll ever need, from word processing and e-mail applications, to Web server software and programming tools. Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge. You do not pay any licensing fees. You can download, use and share Ubuntu with your friends, family, school or business for absolutely nothing.Version 7.04, named “Feisty Fawn,” adds the Ubuntu Studio, a multimedia editing and production suite, to the distribution.

The page is gone now, and is currently still available via a google cache, but not for long. Groklaw has a screenshot.

via digg

funny, linux, microsoft, news, tech, ubuntu

Technical Details of Dell’s Ubuntu offerings

May 22nd, 2007

ubuntu-300.pngDell releases a preliminary overview of what customers can expect from Dell’s Ubuntu offerings. So far, things look good for the Open Source community, and it appears that Dell “gets it”. I especially appreciate how Dell would like to use an Open Source hardware driver where possible, and how they appear to be thinking about the details, such as recommending users purchase post script printers, etc.

I’m not holding my breath about seeing this north of the 49th, hopefully, us Canadians will see something before the end of the year.

read more | digg story

linux, news, tech, ubuntu