Thoughts and Ramblings

Running the embedded version of Plex Media Player requires several compromises when a better experience can be obtained by using a full OS install. So I went through the steps to install PMP on an Ubuntu installation. Not only do I have a powerful playback appliance for Plex but I also have a computer where I can use a browser or any other application where I would want the computer displayed on a TV.

One of the more annoying issues that can impact novices on Linux systems is handling permissions across multiple users. One of the contexts where I see this the most is on the Plex forums where users have to deal with allowing the Plex Media Server to see their media when it runs as a different user. Years ago I solved this problem on my system with using ACLs and I’ve never had to deal with the permissions on my media since.

When I first subscribed to Netflix’s streaming service, it was a great way to watch movies and shows that I had missed through other sources. I started regularly visiting sites that tracked what’s been added to the service and adding items as a result. Then it changed.

Competition

It seems strange but the addition of competition in streaming service providers seems to have been a detriment for the consumer. Prior to this, the content owners had a choice of whether they wanted to get streaming royalties at a price that Netflix was wiling to pay or get none at all. Then when competing services started to arise, particularly Amazon, these content owners could play the services off of one another to get a higher royalty and offer exclusivity at a premium. With this change, the consumer must subscribe to multiple streaming services to get the equivalent content that used to be available on a single service.

Have you noticed a decline in Apple’s software quality over the past few years?

I have been asking this question of users of Apple’s products among my friends, family, coworkers, and others over the past year or two and the results have been quite telling. They have all reluctantly answered YES. None of them have anything against Apple and they all are long time users of Apple’s products, but they are all tumbling to the fact that the software quality used to be better. It’s not just limited to the Mac side either; they are noticing the same decline on iOS as well.

For quite a while, I’ve been having issues with OpenELEC (OE) based devices detecting the 24p frame rate (23.976 frames per second) on my TV. Usually when I play something in 24p and the TV doesn’t switch into this mode, I will reboot the OE player and it would resolve the problem. Then after the TV is turned off and later turned back on, about 1/4 of the time, the problem would resurface. I’ve seen this behavior with both OpenPHT (and it’s predecessor Plex Home Theater) and Plex Media Player. I finally got annoyed enough with the situation that I decided to do something about it.