Subject: From: Date:

Re: [ECS] TVL Usages ckeyes Wed, 01 Dec 1999 18:17:03 -0800

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Michael,

One last question. When you say ECS "pulls" the titles
in, I'm not sure I understand what is happening.
Is there a search to determine which titles are used?

Could I set-up a watch on the downloads to look for particular
movie titles?

oh well, that's 2 q's.

Thanks again,

Carl

Michael David wrote:

> 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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