Tuxkids

I have long been looking for an solution to stream videos across the network the the kids' television. A co-worker is a big fan of Windows Media Center and suggested I look at that solution. The downside of that, besides having to use Windows, is that say I use an X-box 360 or other media extender, I have to have a Windows Media Center PC on to stream the video.

MythTV is appealing, but will have to wait. I think a good MythBox needs a quiet, small form factor case that fits in with the components like DVD players, etc. Thanks to Pat Davila from The Linux Link Tech Show, I have a line on an affordable case and motherboard for a future MythBox project.

I first heard about the Neuros OSD as an open source hardware project. This appealed to my inner geek, so I started looking around for one. I found one at a closing CompUSA heavily discounted, which was an even bigger incentive to pick one up. The Nueros web site currently has a link to J&R electronics, which has the OSD on sale for $159.

You might ask "What is open source hardware?" Well, like many embedded devices, the Neuros OSD runs Linux. You might be familiar with the Linksys WRT54G and it's open source firmware. Unlike the WRT54G, Neuros has released the schematics. An explanation of Neuros' Open Source philosophy can be found at the Neuros wiki.

Neuros describes the OSD as "One Device to Archive, Organize and Easily Play All of Your DVDs, VHS, and Video media." It is the Easily play part that I am interested in for my kids.
I may have set my expectations low when I went shopping for the OSD. The package is very attractive and has a substantial feel to it. I was also very impressed with its contents. They have included all of the cables, etc. needed to get the OSD connected to your TV and even included an IR Blaster to connect the OSD to.

Since my main need for this appliance is to play back recorded videos, I chose to simply connect the video out cable to a TV and connect the Ethernet cable to my LAN. This allows me to stream video from my Buffalo Linkstation NAS.

The OSD comes in an attractive case that looks at home sitting on top of you TV. There is a stand that sets the box at an angle, which gives it a futuristic look, but the remote works better when the box is setting flat on a surface. The unit is absolutely quite with no fan. This is a nice feature compared to the Xbox 360, which is pretty noisy for watching movies.

I have watched several video podcasts in DivX, Xvid and WMV format. I also tried a Quicktime file, but that doesn't seem to be supported. The video seems a little dark, and sometimes there is some lip sync problems. However, the video streams perfectly across the network and there are no pauses or buffering delays.

One of the coolest features is the ability to watch YouTube video directly on the OSD. This is very popular with kids. There is search capability to find videos. The videos stream quite well across our broadband connection.

The firmware appears to be very stable and quite intuitive. It has some nice features to bookmark long paths so that once you have found your videos, you can easily get back there at a later date.

There is new firmware available, which I have not tried yet. The new firmware requires more Flash memory than is available with the OSD, and the recommended way around this it to permanently install a 128M Compact Flash card in the slot. In the next installment, I will review the new firmware. Later, I will hook up a camcorder and DVD player and review the recording capabilities of the OSD.

Tuxkids is not necessarily a site for kids, but rather a site with information for parents on getting their kids using open source and free software.
Some of the areas that interest me are in overcoming the obstacles of using Linux rather than Windows for things like music and gaming. I'm also interested in getting my kids to do more with the computer than going to Barbie.com. Also, I'm a complete gadget geek, so I may veer off in that direction from time to time.
I should probably start by explaining why I think Linux is a good OS alternative to Windows. The first big advantage of Linux is internet safety. While your unpatched Linux box can be owned like any other computer, a Linux computer has a large degree of invulnerability to the spyware, viruses or other malware that your kids are picking up while surfing Myspace, Facebook or their other favorite sites.
That's not to say that Linux will always be impervious to malware, but as long as over 99% of those nasties are aimed at Windows, why not isolate your kids by getting them off Microsoft?
The second big reason for me to run Linux on my kid's computers is cost. I can take an old hand me down computer and breath new life into it with a fully modern operating system that requires way fewer resources to run than Windows Vista or even XP. Also, you don't have to load it down with expensive resource hogging antivirus suites that don't work anyway.
There is also the cost of the Windows license. Now granted, most of those old machines that you pass down to your kids were probably purchased with a copy of Windows XP, but maybe the hardware came from a friend or workplace, and now there is some doubt whether the Windows installed on that Pentium 4 is legal.
With Linux, there's no question.