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Author Topic: The Internet as a Form of Media  (Read 2951 times)

sraymond

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The Internet as a Form of Media
« on: June 13, 2003, 01:42:31 pm »

JRiver,

I had brought this up once (or twice or more) in the past, and it's sort of slipped my mind of late.  But now seems as good a time as any to bring up the topic again.

Is it possible to add "internet content" as a form of media?  It would seem MC is already web-friendly (i.e. the Start page and the web part of the TV tuner channels), so why not take it one last step?

I suggest you add a "web content" to the Media support that simply opens the internal MC web viewer with the appropriate URL.  This will add an entire new dimension to MC, as well as build on existing dimensions.

For example, how do I use MC to "manage" the dymanic web content of many providers?  For example, I'm a huge cycling fan (read:  Tour de France and Giro d'Italia) and one of my favorite Italian media sources has a page with links to the latest video clips.  Of course, the links change frequently.  I'd like MC to let me get to the webpage so that I can click on the links (which will then open the Real media in MC).  Let me put the URL in the medial library that then opens the internal web browser, and, as the French say (note:  snide comment deleted!) "voila".

Or, as I've mentioned before, I'm a little addicted to doppler radar.  I love to get a quick fix before I head out in the morning.  There are plenty of websites that offer a .jpg, but how do I get at it with MC?  Let me put the URL in the Web Library (TM) and Bob's Your Uncle.

This would seem to me to be quite useful with a minimum of programming - but I recognize that to those who don't know how to do anything, everything looks easy!

So...  any chance of this making it into production?  Please?

Scott-
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Warlock

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Re: The Internet as a Form of Media
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2003, 02:01:51 pm »

Quote
Let me put the URL in the Web Library (TM) and Bob's Your Uncle.


LOL  :D

I'll second Scott's suggestion.  I subscribe to Major League Baseball's broadband package, which includes live radio and tv broadcasts of games.  I'd love to be able to access them through MC, rather than having to launch Realplayer.
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knickelfarz

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Re: The Internet as a Form of Media
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2003, 02:30:24 pm »

My vote for Web Library (TM)! It's not so strange as it appears at first sight ... imagine the possibilities in combination with hairstyle ! No more struggling with those 12foot away Browsers here on my sofa, no need to leave the MC task....
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NoCodeUK

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Re: The Internet as a Form of Media
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2003, 02:15:21 am »

I think that sounds like a great idea.  You get my vote.  Would be much better than that annoying bloody Media Bar in IE which likes to steal all of your media liks...

Adam
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sraymond

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Re: The Internet as a Form of Media
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2003, 02:54:12 pm »

JRiver,

So what do you think?  Will MC manage .URLs in the library any time soon?

Fellow MCers:  In the meantime, I've taken to manually editing the file "C:/Program Files/J River/Media Center/Data/WebPages/Homepage/index.htm" (which is what the Start looks to) to include a few of the items I use.  This kind of works for me, but it would still be much more elegant to let MC manage .URLs as a form of media.

Scott-
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shAf

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Re: The Internet as a Form of Media
« Reply #5 on: June 17, 2003, 03:53:31 am »

Quote
... it would still be much more elegant to let MC manage .URLs as a form of media.

 Manage URLs ?  I cannot even get MC to manage media streams (if they aren't on JRiver's search list of web media).  Saving as a playlist works, but many SM URLs don't stick.  There is so much streaming media out there, and bookmarking the wwwpage, just so I can copy & paste the SM URL into "open streaming file" is hardly elegant.  JR, ... please!   :)
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cheerios from the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland

sraymond

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Re: The Internet as a Form of Media
« Reply #6 on: June 17, 2003, 11:26:00 pm »

I always thought that the Web Media interface broke the model used in the Media Library.  Wouldn't it be better if the streaming media was treated like another form of media?

So add a .URL media type and have a field for "format" for WMA, WMV, RAM, etc.  I can imagine this might be a larger change than just .URLs opened with MC's internal browser.  But what happens when a webpage with a stream link is clicked within the internal MC browser?  For my RAISport streams, it simple opens the stream in MC as if I manually typed the stream URL in the "Open Streaming File" dialog.  Does this work for your streams as well?  To test, just edit the index.htm file with a hyperlink to your stream.

Scott-
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shAf

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Re: The Internet as a Form of Media
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2003, 04:40:01 am »

Quote
... what happens when a webpage with a stream link is clicked within the internal MC browser?  For my RAISport streams, it simple opens the stream in MC as if I manually typed the stream URL in the "Open Streaming File" dialog.  Does this work for your streams as well?  ...

Simply clikking on the hyperlink does not seem to work consistently (as it did with MJ8 ).  MC will most times do nothing at all.  However, if I right-clik the hyperlink ... copy shortcut, and then paste this into "open streaming file", it will work fine.

What also works fine is my list of favorite Web media which I have added to my list by using MC's "search and add", but this works only for MC's fixed list of "all" web media.  If I found a streaming file elsewhere, there should be an easy way to add it to my favorites.
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cheerios from the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland

sraymond

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Re: The Internet as a Form of Media
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2003, 11:02:43 am »

Bump.  Might this happen?
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