XBMC Remote

I wanted to do this for quite some time, a remote control application for XBMC. Although the original XBMC Control application was doing pretty much what I wanted, the screenshot image was too small to read. So I decided to write my own and learn a bit of C# in the process... It's not doing too much, I've implemented a minimum set of keys and it allows for a good quality screenshot - in fact the image is captured at the XBMC TV resolution and then it's resized by the .Net PictureBox control to fit in the client app window.

Planning to implement all commands on the remote control and the game controller, maybe even to execute a set of a batch of commands (as in Select all & Copy when in the File Manager), anyways we'll see how it goes.

Download from here. Let me know if you find it useful or if you have any suggestions.

Update Friday, 07 September 2012

Since writing the post, XBMC4Xbox split from the main XBMC project and the app continued to change, but I only tested it with XBMC4Xbox. Might just work with XBMC, the HTTP API shouldn’t be much different really.

Download from here.

Windows - Allow Remote Desktop access with blank passwords

Although you may be able to logon locally without a password, Vista just like XP does not allow by default remote access for those accounts. The obvious solution is to set a password for the account, another solution is to change the setting below.

• Run gpedit.msc
• Go to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options
• Set Accounts: Limit local accounts use of blank passwords to console login only = Disabled

Robocopy GUI

Technet Utility Spotlight

Robocopy GUI
Joshua Hoffman

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc160891.aspx

"This powerful tool, included with the Microsoft Windows Server® 2003 Resource Kit Tools, allows for all of those advanced functions and more. Robocopy enables the more serious file replication tasks that can really simplify your job. The biggest benefit I think you'll find is the ability to create full mirror duplicates of two file structures (including all subdirectories and files, if you choose) without copying any unnecessary files. Only the files that are new or have been updated in the source location will be copied. Robocopy also allows you to preserve all of the associated file information, including date and time stamps, security access control lists (ACLs) and more."

Read full article here.

Download Robocopy GUI 3.1.2: UtilitySpotlight2006_11.exe (1052KB)