CNN Videos Plugin

[HTPCGB]

This plugin allows you to scan CNN's website for available news videos and then play them within GBPVR.

Requirements:
-.net 2.0
-windows media player 9 or higher

Installation:
1. Place the .dll in the plugins folder.
2. Copy the "CNN Videos" skin folder into the "Blue" skin directory.
3. Ensure that plugins are enabled in the GBPVR config app.

Known Limitations:
-does not work on the mediamvp

To do:
-make the media window look like a part of GBPVR/make it skinnable
-a settings menu to ajust the buffer size of the media window
-BBC video news support (Edit: this feature is now part of ubustream and will not be integrated into this plugin)
-time/date information for each item

Please post any bug reports in the related development thread.

Edit: Version 2 has been released to address some bugs.

Enjoy.

[asout]

This is great! It would be perfect if;

1) It would work on MVP (if xdvd can do dvds on mvp I'm sure this could)

2) Access Google videos (similar to Sagetv does now)

well done!

[HTPCGB]

I'm glad that you find my plugin useful. There is work being done right now to integrate the CNN plugin's abilities (and others) into UbuStream. Hopefully this will offer a means to watch the CNN streams on the MediaMVP.

As for searching for and playing google videos, that would require a completely different plugin. (Something that I may think about doing if I have time.) You are of course welcome to attempt writing such a plugin yourself. It is a great way to learn .net and the people here are very supportive.

Thanks for your feedback,
HTPCGB

[ubu]

I'm glad that you find my plugin useful. There is work being done right now to integrate the CNN plugin's abilities (and others) into UbuStream. Hopefully this will offer a means to watch the CNN streams on the MediaMVP.

As for searching for and playing google videos, that would require a completely different plugin. (Something that I may think about doing if I have time.) You are of course welcome to attempt writing such a plugin yourself. It is a great way to learn .net and the people here are very supportive.

Not just google but youtube, yahoo, etc., etc.....

The new UbuStream dynamic source architecture we've been working on will do a pretty good job for sites with a finite set of streams that get replaced daily (or regularly). But for sites like these that have a massive number of streams to choose from, the user needs the ability to browse and choose. Seems like the CNN plugin is already headed in that direction. Could we, I wonder, come up with another "mini-plugin" architecture for some kind of generic "stream selector" for these kind of sites?

For MVP users, the new dynamic source architecture will allow for a fairly klunky (and probably too labor-intensive) way to watch streams via UbuStream's interface to the ExternalRecorder plugin. But to get this to work seamlessly (and transparently for MVP users) we'd need to "borrow" the relevant code from ExternalRecorder and create something (a class library dll?) that UbuStream, the CNN plugin (and maybe other plugins) could use to transcode streams on the fly (without needing to associate them with a GB-PVR channel).

Two fairly major chunks of work, I know. Probably, neither of us has time to devote to it right now. But it could be done. Something to think about.

[chewy747]

i have to say thanks this works awesome! my ONLY complaint is if i want to quit a video before it is done, I have to use the mouse. If it could be integrated so I could use the hauppauge remote this would be perfect.

[ubu]

i have to say thanks this works awesome! my ONLY complaint is if i want to quit a video before it is done, I have to use the mouse. If it could be integrated so I could use the hauppauge remote this would be perfect.

If the "player" form app would trap the KeyDown event (on the control that has focus) and then check for the keystrokes the remote control is generating (Ctrl-P for Play, Ctrl-Q for Pause, Ctrl-S for Stop - standard GB-PVR key combos) this should be fairly do-able.

EDIT: I'd also vote for the ability to use the Back button (Esc key on the keyboard) to exit to the main menu from the plugin's button menu. Right now I can hit the Back button to exit from the CNN sections list to the button menu but then I have to actually navigate to the Main Menu button (Down button twice) so I can press it (OK button). Four button presses using three different buttons as opposed to two presses of the same button. (OK - I'm lazy. )

[HTPCGB]

i have to say thanks this works awesome! my ONLY complaint is if i want to quit a video before it is done, I have to use the mouse. If it could be integrated so I could use the hauppauge remote this would be perfect.

This feature was always present but I somehow managed to mangle it in the initial release. It is now fixed.

EDIT: I'd also vote for the ability to use the Back button (Esc key on the keyboard) to exit to the main menu from the plugin's button menu. Right now I can hit the Back button to exit from the CNN sections list to the button menu but then I have to actually navigate to the Main Menu button (Down button twice) so I can press it (OK button). Four button presses using three different buttons as opposed to two presses of the same button. (OK - I'm lazy. )

The laziness is mutual. I've been meaning to fix that for quite some time. It took about 30 seconds to write the code...:o