[mythtv-users] mythtv-users Digest, Vol 51, Issue 120

[Gregg]

> Message: 9
> Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:30:00 -0400
> From: Rod Smith <mythtv at rodsbooks.com>
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Guide Data Idea Doable or Not?
> To: Discussion about mythtv <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> Message-ID: <200706221530.00151.mythtv at rodsbooks.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;  charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> On Friday 22 June 2007 14:16, Gregg wrote:
> > This may not be worth the coding, but is it possible not to house all
> > the guide data on the myth box and just query an exiting guide service
> > on demand and import the data into the database when required for
> > recording?
> >
> > Example.  I want to record Lost, I hit guide on my myth box and it
> > initiates a connection to some guide data site.  I do a search for
> > lost and pick the episode I want. It downloads that specific data and
> > places it into the database, then at some specific interval it
> > searches again for that program every week to update time and so on.
> > The gist is the IP will not be banned from the site for scraping all
> > program data. It  just query's for the one it wants to record, and If
> > the user wants to search current programs the guide pops up a modified
> > web browser with preset location info.  The user could search and add
> > for as far out as the data provider allows.
>
> I see several problems with this:
>
> 1) If your Internet connection goes down, or if there are any problems
>    reaching the site hosting the data, you won't be able to schedule
>    anything until the problem is restored. With the current system, or
>    most others under discussion, this wouldn't be an issue; at worst,
>    you'll just be missing a day or two's data about two weeks out.
>
> 2) There'll be a performance hit. It's almost certain to take more time
>    to search an external database than to search a local one. This will
>    be particularly true for dialup users -- they'll have to wait for
>    the modem to dial, connect, etc. Such users also won't be able to
>    schedule programs when anybody is on the phone.
>
> 3) You'll probably be unable to search for programs using title, actors,
>    etc., because few existing sites provide such facilities. If you mean
>    you want to host a fully searchable database that you access remotely,
>    then this problem isn't so big, but then the remote server would have
>    to be powerful enough to handle everybody's searches.
>
> 4) I'm not convinced your method would result in lower bandwidth use.
>    This is a question that would require testing, in the end, but I
>    suspect that any but a very light user would end up downloading the
>    same data multiple times.
>
> 5) Depending on how this would be implemented, there might be privacy
>    implications. Do you really want some company to know that you're
>    searching for "Paris Hilton's Makeover Tips"? ;-)
>
> --
> Rod Smith
> http://www.rodsbooks.com
>
>
Thanks for the input, I can see how there could be a delay if the
server goes down or internet connection is bust, but honestly how
often does that happen?  2% of the time?
And what percentage of mythtv users are using dialup?  I made the
assumption that most everybody is connected through dsl,cable etc...
my bad :). You are right about the specific searches by actors name
etc that is a good feature.  Personally I don't really care if the
provider sees that ip xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is searching for "for "Paris
Hilton's Makeover Tips".

Does anyone know how beyondtv does it.  I don't think they store all
the guide data.