[mythtv-users] Linux MCE project

[Stroller]

On 24 Mar 2007, at 17:05, Adolfo R. Brandes wrote:
>> Have you used a Wii, at all? It's great for selecting menu items &
>> shooting baddies, but text input is still quite slow.
>
>   You got me there.  My frame of reference is actually restricted to
> the LinuxMCE video itself.  I have never touched either a wiimote or a
> gyro mouse.  But as you put it, if text input _feels_ better on a
> gyro-mouse/wiimote, even if it is not faster, then I'm all for it.

Yes, that is quite reasonable - text input does feel really nice on  
the Wii. I don't know about text input to MythTV on a numerical  
keypad, because I've never tried it. To correct my previous comment  
(below) it probably feels clumsier - but I still maintain it's  
probably no slower.

The wiimote is nice because you're pointing AT whatever you're  
choosing on the screen. I'd say it probably takes a day or so to get  
used to - IIRC there's an initial tendency to "overcorrect" and for  
the cursor to flail wildly around the screen as you zip past the icon  
you intended. Once you're used to it, tho', pointing with the wiimote  
is a matter of just the tiniest movements of thumb & index finger and  
it feels very natural. I don't know if those giroscopic mouses you  
mention would feel so good.

>> (...) I can't see that this would be any harder or
>> slower with T9 input than with the Wiimote.
>
>   Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we have T9
> in MythTV.  It's just the old numbers-to-letters gig.

Yes, quite right. I think T9 is a trade name for a brand of "looking  
up the dictionary when converting numbers to letters". I meant, of  
course, simple numeric-keypad text input (although perhaps T9 would  
not be so hard to implement).

>> My ideal would be to use the Apple remote with MythTV (...)
>
>   That would make a nice specification for changes to MythTV, and
> probably a bit less involved than doing something with a pointer in
> mind.

:D

TY.

I'll maybe look at it later once I've got some hands-on experience  
with MythTV.

>   I did a bit more research on the subject, and found these:
>
> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/ 
> Controlling_MythTV_using_a_Wii_remote
> http://doctabu.livejournal.com/64758.html
>
>   My plan, therefore, is to buy a Wiimote (which is readily available,
> as opposed to a gyro mouse), build a "sensor" bar (which is not
> readily availabe) ...

I'm finding the sensor bars on eBay for £1 + £6 postage from Hong  
Kong. They seem to come with the appropriate connector that plugs  
into a Wii, but you could just lop that off & connect it to a 9v  
battery instead.

Stroller.