Subject: From: Date:

RE: [ECS] TVL Usages Michael David Tue, 30 Nov 1999 20:44:00 -0500

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Hi Carl!

I'm off on vacation, so I am working from memory here, but basically, it
goes like this:

ECS pulls the the titles in, one letter at a time, pretty much using the
logic set forth by Mark in his TVl events.  Then, ECS assembles each title,
and then it then copies that title to one of 20 text items I use for title
holders.  I use those title holders to speak the names of the shows, and to
send to ACE'S buttons.  The info for show times and channels works the same
way - reassemble the the data into a string - copy it to holder items, and
use those holder items as needed.

As far as whether an intermediate use can do tigs like this, the answer is
yes.  And, here on the list, we all help each other when we get stuck.  :)

Cheers!

Michael David
michael@michaeldavid.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Carl Keyes [mailto:carlkeyes@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 1999 3:45 PM
To: ecs-list@netbloc.com
Subject: RE: [ECS] TVL Usages


Michael,

Thanks for all the info!

I'm curious about how you have ECS
search for a particular listing
and copy or make use of that info
somewhere else.
Is that something an admittedly
intermidiate user could do?

Thanks again,

Carl


>From: "Michael David" <michael@michaeldavid.com>
>Reply-To: ecs-list@netbloc.com
>To: <ecs-list@netbloc.com>
>Subject: RE: [ECS] TVL Usages
>Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:33:44 -0500
>
>Hi Carl!
>
>Early on, I had ECS really close to doing some way cool stuff with the TVL
>info.  I never found the time work out all the bugs, but it was 90%
>functional.  Since then, Mark has improved and streamlined the TVL stuff
>quite a bit - and still - I can't find the time to go rewrite my events to
>take advantage of his improvements.  So, I can only tell what it was close
>to doing, and what I hope to have it do again soon.  :)
>
>1) Download DSS and 4DTV listings from the web each day.  Cable modem -
>what
>the heck.
>
>2) At 20, 28, 50, and 58 minutes past the hour, announce our favorite
>upcoming shows (up to 20 total) that may be coming on, based on the info in
>the tvlfavs.txt file.
>
>3) Display the titles of those upcoming shows on ACE buttons, which allowed
>us to pick (by button press) which of the upcoming shows we wanted to
>watch.
>
>4) When the time came, ECS would switch the appropriate satellite receiver
>to the proper satellite and transponder, and make the necessary routing to
>switch the TV's in the house to source from that same receiver.
>
>5) Then the titles of the upcoming shows would transfer to a different set
>of ACE buttons that display the current shows.  Using these buttons, we
>could select an alternate program, if the one we chose happened to be a
>rerun, or was preempted.
>
>6) If we didn't initially hit a button to pick an upcoming show, ECS just
>tuned to the first one in the list,  If we weren't home, ECS would record
>the first title.  I had planned to ask Mark if there was a way to designate
>a priority level (separate for watching and recording) to each of the
>titles
>the shows listed in the TVLFAVS file.  Using this priority level, ECS could
>then make the best likely choice when automatically selecting a program to
>watch or record.  Just never got around to asking him about that either.
>Hey Mark, what do you think?
>
>7) My hope was to eventually get this system working on a multi-user basis,
>so each of us could have our own list of favorites, and each of our
>televisions would be routed to the receiver displaying our personal choice.
>Never had time to get there either.  :)
>
>So, what's TVL good for?  For us, it did a great job of helping us to not
>miss our favorite shows.  With two separate satellite systems, there's a
>lot
>of program guide to go through just to spot something we want to watch.
>That ritual used to take me at least five minutes each half hour, which
>invariably meant I'd miss the first few minutes of something.  In recent
>times, it just got to the point where it was too much effort to go through
>the guides and make a choice, so the TV would just sit on one channel most
>of the night (often the Sci-Fi channel).
>
>So, my personal opinion is that TVL is darn handy, and an awesome addition
>to ECS!
>
>Cheers!
>
>Michael David
>michael@michaeldavid.com
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: ckeyes [mailto:ckeyes@california.com]
>Sent: Monday, November 29, 1999 9:18 PM
>To: ECS-List
>Subject: [ECS] TVL Usages
>
>
>Hi,
>
>Anyone care to share how they make
>use of TVL downloads?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Carl
>

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