Contoling your Ubuntu Saucy Salamander based set tob box with Kinnect

So I finally got some time to play around with my Kinect controler again, and mostly remebered to play with it because I found a $5 TV stand for it at Five Below. 

I sometimes hate looking for the remote, and often wish I could take call and video chat using via XBMC, not to mention have a living room Bunny cam (I have 2 rabbits) while I'm away.

After much searching, and a ton of hacking to get the damn thing installed, here's the quick way to install TISCH, a program that can use your Kinect to control your mouse like in Minority Report (WARNING: unfortunatly the program currrently seg falts for me) :

if you are runing Maverick or earlier, you can just install the PPA as instrcuted on the TISH website.

If youa running a more recent (aka CURRENT) version of ubuntu - DO NOT ADD THE PPA - it will not work.

Instead edit your /etc/apt/sources.list file (as root - use sudo) and include the lines:

# TISCH (ppa wasn't working)
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/floe/libtisch/ubuntu raring main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/floe/libtisch/ubuntu raring main
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/floe/libtisch/ubuntu maverick main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/floe/libtisch/ubuntu maverick main 



Then in a terminal type (copy / paste)

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install libtisch2 libtisch2-dev libtisch2-csharp libtisch2-java libtisch2-python

First Post!

Just a quick post to explain this blog and it's title.


When I first ventured into the realm of media centers / set top boxes, I tried MythTV but it was difficult to set up, and updates always broke my configurations.  Then I came across the Boxxee app.  At the time it was wonderful, so wonderful in fact that I decided I needed it connected to my TV at all times, even if MythTV recording wasn't perfect.  I started with compact desktops that made lots of noise and consumed lots of power, but my parents needed something better so I recommended they get the Boxee box  -- WHAT A MISTAKE!

I purchased a Zotac Mag for my self (a much better, possibly even perfect, choice).

After the  Boxee box came out the company quickly dropped linux support and began breaking packages.  It became a nightmare to maintain for my parents, and I considered flashing it with XBMC several times but it was always more of a process than just fixing their individual issue.  I have since move to XBMC my self and thus, most of my post will be about that.

Since then my parents have also bought a Roku so I may also log problems and hacks for that here as well.

I tried one of those android based MK802 sticks about 3 months ago, and was hoping to replicate my Zotac setup on them, but found it difficult to install Linux (which meant XBMC plugins I was use to didn't work) and in android it had a bad tendacny to overheat, so I shipped it back.  So I'm not likely to cover much android here until decide to upgrade from my Nexus 4.