I was shipping a few packages at the UPS Store and noticed two unrelated individuals in the store with XBox 360s on their way to be repaired. I asked them about it and they both said their XBox 360 quit working and they were experiencing the “Red Ring of Death.” Then the UPS guy behind the desk said there had already been four others that day sending in their 360s with the same problem.

This surprises me because I thought Microsoft had worked out the issues. For those of you who haven’t heard of the Red Ring of Death, check out this wiki article. It says the red lights on the indicator “ring” represent “general hardware failure” and is known by gamers as the infamous “Red Ring of Death.”

Anyone else seen this problem on their XBox 360? Is it only with the older units?

Check out more of Brent’s reflections on tech, gadgets, software and media at Brent Evans Geek Tonic.

My primary means for surviving the writers strike has been to load up my home theater PC DVR with recorded shows to watch through Spring and Summer 2008. Additionally, I’ll continue renting movies from Netflix and catch up on movies and TV shows that I missed out on before. While I’m at it, I’ll also spend some time outside.

Still, if I were a TV Network exec and trying to find several months of worthwhile programming, here’s what I’d do while waiting out writers strike. It’s actually a pretty easy solution and could revive some decent shows that deserved to be saved.

• Firefly - Re-run the Firefly television episodes in their originally intended order and conclude with the Firefly Serenity movie. Promote the heck out of it and bring in tons of viewers who never saw it the first time. If Firefly gets decent rating, FOX could bring it back with new shows once the strike has ended for an easy hit TV show.
• Jericho - With the new, second season of Jericho coming soon, CBS should air the first season once more in prime-time and promote it in a big way. They did this during the summer, but it was right around July 4th when many potential viewers were not watching television. Run it again now to get the attention it deserves and bring in new viewers ready to make the second season of Jericho a success.
• Heroes - Show Heroes from the beginning, promote it, and bring in new viewers while audiences are desperate for quality content (read: not reality TV).

Bottom line is that networks can air quality re-runs and sufficiently promote them as must-watch “classics” - which could be supplemented with behind the scenes special clips and interviews.

What other shows should the networks resurrect for reruns? I’m thinking shows that have either been canceled and/or haven’t received the attention they deserved their first go-around. Also, how are you planning to deal with the writers strike fallout?

Check out more of Brent’s reflections on tech, gadgets, software and media at Brent Evans Geek Tonic.

Many Home Theater PC users have been clamoring for a silent, easy-to-setup media extender that can handle High Definition video - a plug & play box that lets users remotely access their HTPC content from any TV in their home. Today, SageTV is answering their customers desires by delivering a new HD Media Extender ($199) now available for sale today that works with SageTV, their flagship PC DVR software. I had the opportunity to get a review unit to run through the paces prior to release. Over the past week I’ve been giving the SageTV STX-HD100 a workout by using it to extend my Home Theater setup.

I was very impressed with my overall experience with the SageTV STX-HD100 extender. It matched my SageTV interface almost exactly and handled just as well as the SageTV server does with a much easier setup than a full-fledged HTPC box. The only issue I had with the extender was one that was easily fixed with a firmware update. The positives far outweigh the negatives. This extender gives you the ability to place your digital content (TV, Movies, Music and more) wherever you want it - all in a small, silent box that’s affordable.

As Chris Lanier pointed out, SageTV has beat Microsoft to the market with an excellent HD extender that can handle about any file format you throw at it with great picture and sound quality. I highly recommend the SageTV STX-HD100 to anyone who owns or is considering the SageTV HTPC software for their Home Theater PC needs. This new HD extender by SageTV is an excellent solution for getting your media from your HTPC to your bedroom, living room or anywhere you have a television.

Check out the entire SageTV HD Extender review and many more pics over at Brent Evans Geek Tonic.

Due to the writers strike, I’ve been keeping a running tab at how many television episodes remain and it’s beginning to look pretty grim. Here’s a rundown of the casualties and where a few favorite television shows stand:

Season Canceled
24 was set to premier in January 2008. Fox wanted to air all 24 episodes without interruption, and since they haven’t all been filmed, there’ll be no 24 this winter.

Zero Episodes Remain
Heroes, Desperate Housewives, Big Bang Theory, Bionic Woman, The Family Guy, The Office, Reaper, Rules of Engagement, Two and a Half Men

1 Episode Remains
Chuck, Criminal Minds, Girlfriends, Life, Pushing Daisies, Shark

2 Episodes Remain
Back to You, Dirty Sexy Money, Grey’s Anatomy, K-Ville, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Moonlight, My Name is Earl, Private Practice

3 Episodes Remain
Bones, Brothers and Sisters, CSI, Dirt, House, Journeyman, Numbers

For a complete listing of remaining shows, including air dates and information on other shows premiering in 2008, check out the frequently updated Brent Evans Geek Tonic: How Many TV Shows Remain.

The latest SageTV beta version (v6.3.2) was released last week. Notable features included within this build:

• 125 new online services (check it out above)
• Hauppauge HVR-950, ElGato EyeTV Hybrid, and HDHomeRun support for Mac
• Various bug fixes & performance optimizations
• Enhancements included in beta v6.3.1

Remember, this is a beta where the kinks get worked out. So, there will likely be some bumps. (via SageTV forums)

Brent enjoys sharing his reflections on tech, gadgets, software and media. Check out more at Brent Evans Geek Tonic.

I’ve been a Beyond TV & Beyond Media (both Home Theater PC software products) user for the past three years. So when I saw that Rakesh Agrawal, the founder and CEO of Snapstream would be in Kansas City to talk about his company’s latest project, Snapstream Enterprise I jumped at the chance to meet with Agrawal to hear about what Snapstream is working on and learn more about Agrawal and the company.

Rakesh was generous enough to sit down with me and answer several questions I had for him. Over lunch, we talked about Snapstream’s history, the change in their industry, Snapstream’s new Enterprise product, the effect of Microsoft Vista on Snapstream, Integration of DVD & Music playback with Beyond TV and many other topics.

I asked Rakesh how he initially became interested in the Software PVR market. He explained that the idea took hold when traveling on business. “We needed a way to stream our shows to the hotel room from our home. That grew into a concept that became Snapstream Personal Video Station.” Personal Video Station was even showcased in Bill Gates keynote address at the Windows XP Launch which is ironic since Windows eventually added their own PVR program to their Windows Operating System. Version 3 of Personal video System was launched in May 2003 and in November of 2005 the latest version of Beyond TV BTV4 (note there has been many free upgrades since 2005) was released.

Our conversation moved on to how the Software PVR business has changed since Agrawal started Snapstream back in 2000. Snapstream moved on from “Personal Video Station” to Beyond TV and then Beyond Media (Snapstream’s HTPC media front-end software) These two products were developed separately and continue to act as stand-alone products today.

Learn more about Snapstream’s new Enterprise initiative and the future of BTV at Brent Evans Geek Tonic.

You may have heard of the extremely popular, but thorn-in-the-side of the music industry AllofMP3.com. Well after selling non-DRM’d MP3’s to the masses for dirt cheap (they didn’t pay royalties), the Russians are at it again - this time offering movie downloads for $1.99. After AllofMP3 was shut down, it was re-branded & re-launched as MP3Fiesta and continues to sell music online. And now they’ve launched this new movie download service, called ZML, which will most definitely be on Hollywood’s hit list.

Their terms of service imply they’re following the Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems (ROMS) policies (although ROMS won’t recognize the organization if this goes down like it did with AllofMP3):

You can’t buy movies on the site if it violates the laws of your country.

Yes, this statement is pretty silly and no, it doesn’t mean you can legally purchase movies from ZML.com or that they’re legally permitted to sell them. But they’ll move a ton of movies here until they get shut down.

The site offers thousands of movies and the downloads are compatible with all the major devices including iPods, Zunes, and DivX players. While I think this would be the perfect model (DRM-free and usable in all devices) for movie download sites, I don’t think purchasing movies from ZML is a good idea.  Without paying studio royalties, ZML looks like it’s unethical and illegal as well.

Brent enjoys sharing his reflections on tech, gadgets, software and media. Check out more at Brent Evans Geek Tonic.