This is a newer version then the one that shipped with the winter fun pack. It should install better (but not perfectly) for non-USA locales, we removed the reaction compensation setting because it didn't work, and fixed the recorded TV location entry field to accept longer strings.
3:45:16 PM   []

No, we did not include the ability to queue videos. However here is a hack courtesy of Ben our video PM:

You can create a video playlist in Media Player and save it as an .asx. Then put it somewhere where My Videos can see it and it will appear in your gallery.

10:24:46 AM   []

NY Times, Steal This Show:

Millions of viewers are now watching illegal copies of television programs - even full seasons copied from popular DVD's - that are flitting about the Internet, thanks to other new programs that allow users to upload and download the large files quickly.

If you don't understand the ease of, or haven't yet acknowledged the huge amount of TV show piracy currently going on, you need to read this article.

What actually really got me excited about the prospect of working on Media Center was that in university/college we'd hook my laptop up to our cranky old CRT TV using a s-video to RCA connector in order to watch downloaded episodes of the Sopranos and Six Feet Under. The idea that there was a better way really excited me, and now I've ditched the laptop for a PC in my living room. Of course, now I can afford cable and no longer need to download but many of my friends still don't have cable even though they have high paying jobs and rely on Net to get all their TV programming.

My take away is that people want their shows on demand, commercial free (my thoughts on why we have commercials), and possibly only want to pay for what they watch. It sounds like at least CBS is listening:

"We have to try as an industry to get ahead of this and give the audience an attractive model before the illegal file-sharer providers meet their needs," said David F. Poltrack, CBS Television's executive vice president for research and planning.

Though I think they need to try harder because they're rapidly losing the early adopters.
12:25:32 AM   []