We Got Served» Site Updates - We Got Served - The Windows Home Server Site

Follow WGS Behind the Scenes via Twitter

Terry Walsh — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:13:51 +0000

So, WHS aside, I generally like to be one of the last people to get into certain technologies. Mobile phones? Got one when work forced me to get one. Standard issue Office Crackberry? Sits on the sideboard switched off. Facebook? Don’t even.

Generally, I don’t have the time to play with a lot of the prevalent microblogging technologies that are around – and I question whether people are really that interested in what I’m up to outside of writing WGS (I’m writing this on the train home from work, if you must know), but I have this nagging feeling that the site may just need a Twitter feed, for the social networking junkies out there, and those who really do need the news first.

I’ve found a nice Vista sidebar gadget that allows me to update Twitter quickly and I’ll take a look at hooking up the site’s RSS feed to Twitter too, so if you’re a Twitter user, then you can follow me/the site over at http://twitter.com/wegotserved

There you’ll find you’ll pick up the behind the scenes story at WGS, including first site of some of the news snippets that will be hitting the site in the next day or so. The first snippet is up on Twitter now, which won’t hit the site for a few hours.

Yep, I know I’m last there.

More Info: Twitter

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Windows Home Server MVP 2009

Terry Walsh — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:33:39 +0000

Just had an email through from Microsoft to let me know that they’ve renewed my Windows Home Server MVP award for 2009, which is a very kind gesture on their behalf.

Whilst We Got Served keeps me hugely busy, it’s great to be a part of the growing Windows Home Server community, and I’m so pleased with how WGS has grown in the past year into such a fantastic community resource for home server and digital home enthusiasts.

A huge thank you to all of our readers, writers, moderators, commenters, advertisers and posters all over the world - WGS wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your passion and contributions.

Thanks too to the WHS team over at Microsoft for the award. It’s really brilliant to be part of such an amazing community of MVPs - here’s to another action-packed year!

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We’re Tech Blog of the Week at talkToshiba

Terry Walsh — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:58:47 +0000

talkToshiba awarded your favourite Windows Home Server site (yes, this one!) Tech Blog of the Week this week, and asked me to do a brief interview all about what we do here.

You can check it out at the link below - thanks guys!

More Info: talkToshiba

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WGS Wiki Editors Needed

Drashna — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:19:05 +0000

As many of you may know, We Got Served has been growing a lot lately: Our audience on both the blog and the forums is growing dramatically, and there is a lot of new content that has been added; incorporating a lot more of Windows Media Center; recent promotions of moderators on the forum to get things a little more organied over there, and a recent overhaul of the website. Most aspects of the site have definitely been able to keep up with that growth, but not all.

We brought on a number of new writers a couple of months ago which is working out really well ((hope you agree!), and myself and a few others have been promoted to moderators on the forums. However, this leaves me with much less time to work on the WGS Wiki, which already has a lot of areas that do need work on. There is already a long list of tasks that I want done for the wiki and most of them have been sitting around for a while, unfortunately. Although I’ve been the driving force behind the wiki, most of it is has been done solely by me. Others have contributed here and there, and that I am very grateful for.

So what is it that I’m getting at? We need help with the WGS Wiki, to turn it into a major guide and tutorial resource for Windows Home Server. Here is list of things we are looking for in potential WGS Wiki Editors:

Time - We need those who are willing to regularly spend time working on the wiki. Now, I don’t mean 3-4 hours every day. Just a few hours or so a week, preferred. If you have the 3-4 hours a day, that would be great. But not expected.
Proofreading and Collaboration - Even writing a single page is a big task and very prone to making mistakes. Small or large. That, and there are some projects that are just too big for one person. And being able to work with other editors to get the job done may be required time to time.
Updating - From time to time, we will need to update information found on the wiki. Whether it is because of some quirks found in a specific program that have to be accounted for, because the program changes drastically, or because the content is no longer accurate.
Keeping an eye out - Both on the forums, and the world in general. The Wiki Discussion threads are a key component of the wikis. Problems, questions and comments about the various pages appear in these threads. And because of them, the pages are clarified, fixed and updated making the WGS Wiki better.
Experience - Not required. Though knowing how to edit a wiki is a definite plus, it isn’t necessary. The hardest and most time consuming part is putting thought to word. Formatting and layout are the easy part, and can be handled by myself and others. And there really isn’t a steep learning curve for wiki editing. Once you get the hang of it, you’re an expert! Also, experience with Windows Home Server or Windows Media Center will absolutely help. You can’t properly write about what you don’t know.
New Content - This mainly includes writing new pages, and helping link pages together. Though it isn’t limited to it. As it is right now, there is a limited amount of information that can go on the Wiki. So it is equally as important to watch for new information that can and should go onto the Wiki. Or new programs to get running on Windows Home Server, or Windows Media Center.

Please remember, we are looking for these qualities. And by no means all of them. The most important one is definitely time, as it is very time consuming. And ideally, we are looking for 3-4 people for this position, but the number is not set.

If you feel you met some of these qualities or even all of them and want to help We Got Served to keep growing and to continue to be the wonderful resource it is, then leave me a message either by PM on the forums, comments or send me an email at “drashna (at) wegotserved.co.uk“.

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New Add-Ins Section Launched at We Got Served

Terry Walsh — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:07:35 +0000

I’d like to announce that We Got Served’s popular Windows Home Server add-ins section has been relaunched, with new functionality and a tighter integration with our forums.

Managing the add-ins page for the last year has been a difficult job with more add-ins, and add-in updates released every week. We’ve been looking for ways to improve this area of the site over the past few months to make things a little easier to manage, to provide better tracking of community ratings and downloads, and to improve our offer to readers.

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The new add-ins section provides the following new features:

Clear categorisation of all commercial and community add-ins, with sub-categories denoting the type of add-in.
Any WGS forum user can submit/upload an add-in or an add-in update
Full user ratings system (5 stars)
RSS Feed available to be kept up to date with the latest submissions
Version control - we can hold the last 4 versions of an add-in
Ability to email links to add-ins to friends and colleagues
Full community statistics - popular downloads, newest files, most viewed files etc
View add-ins by title, submission date, file update date, ratings etc.
Automatic forum updates with all add-ins& updates uploaded
Larger screenshots

So, with the new section launched, I urge all WGS readers to do two things;

Get rating those add-ins - we need to separate the wheat from the chaff for other users, so get rating all of the add-ins you’ve used.
Stay vigilant and if you see any add-in updates, submit them on the site!

One other change to mention is that whilst everyone can browse the add-ins list easily, submitting and downloading add-ins requires registration at WGS Forums, which only takes a minute or so.

This is a big upgrade for us here at WGS, and I’m delighted it’s in place and live - feel free to let us know what you think of it.

More Info: Windows Home Server Add-Ins

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Yet Another New Face - Welcome From Germany

Gregor Herdmann — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:59:44 +0000

The last week brought a couple of new people to this site – now it is time to remember another name…

Hey, I am Gregor Herdmann from Berlin, Germany, the newest addition to the international team at We Got Served. Some of you might have come across my name in the blogosphere before. I have been posting for LiveSide.net, a blog mainly focused on Windows Live and its competition, for some time (and I will continue to post there). I am a 22 year old law school student here in Berlin and while I know that this does not seem to have much to do with technology at first I am very interested in intellectual property law – brands, copyrights, patents – without them, no-one would spend money to create products…

I started using Windows Home Server during its early beta phase – after being truly amazed by the initial appearance at CES 2007. At home I am running a frankenmachine server with 2x 500GB storage. When I built my system, unfortunately the cool OEM hardware solutions were not yet on the market. As you may guess I am also running a test box with the public beta of Power Pack 1.

I was also an early adopter on the Windows Media Center front, as I was one of the lucky few to get invited to the first ever beta release that was intended for the German market – I have never stopped using it since. While WMC has made some significant improvements over the years I certainly share your pain about missing support for additional TV standards, features like Softsled or even basic 10 foot UI support for Recorded TV locations on the network (without using unsupported registry hacks) which would simplify the integration with Windows Home Server. The information on the Fiji release of Windows Media Center that leaked to the web indicates that the new product team in Europe is hard at work. And while not all feature requests will be served, some standards will be added by this release shortening the list of things desperately needed in the product.

Here at We Got Served, I will try to combine all three aspects of my digital world – Windows Home Server, Windows Media Center and Windows Live. They all could play a big role in the true digital media experience across the home and the web with a unified user experience. Let’s hope that the latest HP slogan – “the computer is personal again” – becomes reality soon. I am looking forward to the improvements the future might (hopefully) bring in this area for software and hardware alike as we all know how painful the setup of a connected experience can be today.

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WGS Forum Move - Update Your Bookmarks!

Terry Walsh — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:01:56 +0000

If you have the forums at We Got Served bookmarked, you’ll need to update it as we’ve moved the forums over to a new server at http://forum.wegotserved.co.uk

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Salutations!

Matthew Miller — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:28:10 +0000

Howdy all,

My name is Matt Miller. You are going to be seeing my name popping up around here quite a bit in the future so I wanted to take some space to introduce myself. Terry has brought me on to invade We Got Served with the latest in Windows Media Center news, reviews, guides, and ideas.

Let’s start with the basics:

Name: Matthew Miller
Age: 32
Home: Mesa, AZ USA
Marital Status: Happily with two of the cutest little boys ever!
Occupation: Teacher
Qualifications: 24 years using computers, 18 years building computers, 14 years helping others buy and build computers, 4 years lavishing my attention on Windows Media Center

It is the last two qualifications I would draw your attention to. I lack the computer engineering degree, but happily claim the mantle of geek. That being said, I have spent most of my life using my geek powers for good by sharing my experiences and educating others on how to use their computers in new and exciting ways. I have even combined my interest in computers and education by spearheading a program to develop new techniques for integrating technology in the classroom. In the last couple of years I have been particularly interested in Windows Media Center and have converted a number of friends into WMC users as well. These are the passions I will be bringing to We Got Served.

I built my first Windows Media Center machine about four years ago. It was such a success that it didn’t take long for me to convince my wife to ditch the DVR from our cable provider and we haven’t looked back since. Since that time I have deployed WMC PCs for each of my kids and added two Xbox 360s which spend much of their time serving as WMC Extenders. I have plans for more in the future and will be sharing my past and future experiences and the lessons I have taken away.

While I have a great deal I want to share with the We Got Served community about Windows Media Center, I am looking forward to hearing from the community as well. Let me know what you want to learn about Windows Media Center and how our coverage of Windows Media Center can benefit you. If you already use WMC, join me in sharing your experiences.

Finally, watch for my WGS username: millpub

You will see it frequently in the forums and the comments. I can’t wait to hear from you.

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Greetings From Another Enthusiast

Kevin Voet — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:17:20 +0000

Hello everybody, my name is Kevin Voet and I’m going to be writing about everything for people like us, whom I like to call: ‘Digital Media Enthusiasts’.

That can range from everything about Windows Media Center, new plugins, software and even some hardware. I’m going to try and focus on the combination of Windows Media Center and Windows Home Server - two great Microsoft products in their own regard but they (could) make a hell of a combination together in my opinion!

But first, a little about myself. I’m 21 years old and in University College studying to become an Electronics/Computer engineer so, yes, I’m a geek and proud of it! In my free time I often take on project relating to the ‘Digital Home’. This includes everything from homebrew media-/homeservers to modding of old devices (think: XBOX Media Center on the original XBOX).

As a media enthusiast I’m also going to try and focus on things like features and (self-written) walkthroughs about things that I myself find useful. That could range from Windows Media Center plugins to streaming media onto a Windows Mobile device over the 3G UMTS network.

I sincerely hope you will all enjoy my writing and remember, it’s an interesting time for us, Digital Media Enthusiasts.

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Hello from Across The Pond

Jim Clark — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:37:23 +0000

Hello everyone,

My name is Jim Clark and I am going to start delivering Windows Media Center news, insights, rumors, guides, reviews, and whatever else related to Media Center, or MC for short. So who am I?

Name: Jim Clark
Age: 54 (Yes, I’m getting up there!)
Location: Marion, Iowa USA
Kids: 2 girls (out of college), 2 boys (one just graduated HS and another in 10th grade)
Occupation: Mechanical Design Engineer
Interests: Computer nerd, camping, watching my kids sports careers
WGS Username: JC634

I have been around PC’s since the mid 1980’s. My first computer was a PC XT clone. 20(!) meg HD, 1200 baud modem, BBS’s, CompuServe. God, that was cool!

Flashing forward 20 years…

Over the last 3 years or so, I have maintained an avid interest in Crystalfontz LCD displays and associated CrystalControl software. I maintain the User Screen Library forum over there and have written several worklogs centered around CF displays. I have also written a Users Guide for their software.

OK, enough about me. Back to Media Center.

Before my MC cohorts and I can provide the most pertinent information to you, the reader, we need your feedback. What kind of information are you looking for? Do you have any MC or Digital Media sites that you peruse frequently? Let us know. Quite simply, we hope to become a central information hub on MC that you come to. To do so, we need to know what you want to learn about.

If you are new to MC, don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. I’ve had Vista since it went on sale to the public, but I did not use MC until late last year when I wanted to convert some VHS tapes to a digital format. Hello TV tuner, and after that, Hello MC. It was earlier this year that I put together my WHS. I quickly found this machine to be an ideal place to store all my CD’s, DVD’s, and pictures. As well as my converted VHS tapes. Nice central repository so that I could share this data among any computer I had attached to my WHS.

So if you are new to MC, this is your chance to learn about the various features of this software along with me. If you are a veteran of MC, this is your chance to share your knowledge.

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