Netflix made an update to their website a few days ago, and the login and search features within MyNetflix stopped working. Thanks for the many emails about this problem, bringing it to my attention.
I have updated MyNetflix to resolve these issues (v2.2.1.8), and you can download the new version from my Software page
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tags: Media Center, MVP, MyNetflix
Well, I found out about this a little last minute, but I’ll be attending the Silicon Valley Code Camp this weekend.
If I had known about this sooner, I would have volunteered to give a presentation on Media Center, PowerShell, or Silverlight.
Anyways, I’m excited about attending, and it looks like it will be packed full of great sessions!
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What is a Code Camp?
Code Camp is a new type of community event where developers learn from fellow developers. All are welcome to attend and speak. Code Camps have been wildly successful, and we’re going to bring that success to Northern California.
The Code Camp Manifesto consists of six points:
- by and for the developer community
- always free
- community developed material
- no fluff – only code
- community ownership
- never occur during working hours
Sessions will range from informal “chalk talks” to presentations. There will be a mix of presenters, some experienced folks, for some it may be their first opportunity to speak in public. And we are expecting to see people from throughout the Northern California region and beyond.
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tags: Code Camp
Netflix made an update to their website a few days ago, and the Movie Details page within MyNetflix stopped working. Thanks for the many emails about this problem, bringing it to my attention.
I have updated MyNetflix to resolve these issues (v2.2.1.7), and you can download the new version from my Software page
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tags: Media Center, MVP, MyNetflix
Netflix made an update to their website on Friday, and many of the watchnow features in MyNetflix stopped working as a result. Thanks for the many emails about this problem, bringing it to my attention.
I have updated MyNetflix to resolve these issues, and you can download the new version from my Software page
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tags: Media Center, MVP, MyNetflix
Back in February, I received this email from a Netflix email address:
“Hi Anthony,
We have heard about you and the projects that you are working on :-)
We would love to chat with you!
Call me when you get a free moment.”
The first thing I did was look this person up and make sure they weren’t from the Netflix legal department. After receiving independent confirmation that this person worked for the technical recruiting department, I called the number provided. Heck, I probably would have been happy to talk to the legal department anyways.
So, I had a couple of phone interviews, and then they flew me out to their Los Gatos office for an in-person interview. That went pretty well, and pretty soon they made me an amazing offer. So, my family and I packed everything up and moved out to San Jose, CA. I’m REALLY excited about the kinds of things I’ll be working on, and about working for one of my favorite companies.
So, what will I be working on?
The position I accepted is a research opportunity on a small team trying to build the next generation of the Netflix user experience. I’ll be working directly for Bill Scott, Director of UI Engineering. I’ll be working quickly to prototype and research user interaction models for new platforms for the Netflix service. Netflix intends to get their electronic movie delivery service to every screen hooked up to the internet. Many of those screens will require a very different site experience, and I’ll be part of this small team crafting that experience at Netflix.
Wait, what about MyNetflix?
I’ll continue to work on MyNetflix. I received permission to continue the maintenance and further development of MyNetflix on my own time.
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tags: Netflix, MyNetflix
Yesterday, Netflix added an additional queue to your account - the Instant Queue.
This feature ties in well with what many people have been requesting for MyNetflix. So, this morning I added the code necessary in MyNetflix to use this new Instant Queue. Now in MyNetflix, you can perform the normal queue operations on your instant queue (add, remove, move to top). However, the way that I anticipate people will use this feature is to add movies to your instant queue on your PC/laptop, and then select movies for viewing from your instant queue on your Media Center PC.
The new release has been posted to my Software page

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tags: Media Center, MVP, MyNetflix
MyNetflix has been in beta testing for over two months. Since that time, I have added features and fixed many bugs. It is now time for MyNetflix to come out of beta! The official (non-beta) version can be downloaded from my Software page. If you were using one of the beta versions, they are set to expire soon. I put a “time-bomb” in the beta versions so I could make sure people weren’t reporting issues from older versions of MyNetflix. The official version that is now on my Software page does not have any expirations built in.
As always, I appreciate any feedback you might have about this version. I will be working on the next version soon, and would like to incorporate any any feedback you might have into that version.
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tags: Media Center, MVP, MyNetflix
I just finished working on a few new features for MyNetflix, so I wanted to get this out there in public beta. The new version can be downloaded from my Software page, and includes the following new features:
Enhancements:
- New Search feature. This allows you to search for all movies, or only watchnow movies. There is an on-screen keyboard for use with the remote control, and MyNetflix also suggests searches to you as you type.
- Added the ability to select which bitrate you want to use for movie streaming. The default is “auto”, but now it can be overridden in the configuration application. This will be useful for those with slower connections who may have had problems with watchnow in the past.
- Sped up the video playback process when selecting to watch a movie
Bug fixes:
Screenshots
New Search Feature (Upper-right corner)

Searching

Search Results

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tags: Media Center, MVP, MyNetflix
Since I posted version 2.1 of MyNetflix, I have received some great feedback. I just released another minor update today which resolves some problems which were reported to me. The new release is version 2.1.0.2 beta, and can be downloaded from my Software page.
Changes since version 2.1.0.1 beta
Enhancements:
Bug fixes:
- Fixed the “Test” button in the configuration app. This was not working.
- With accounts that did not have WatchNow capabilities, MyNetflix would show the watchnow features and display an error if they were used. The configuration application now correctly tests for this, and MyNetflix will not show the watchnow categories if the feature is not enabled on your account
- Fixed episode selection screen, which broke due to changes to Netflix’s website
- Corrected problem with some configuration options (filtered genres, category order) not flowing through to the extender
- Corrected problems if the location of the Temp directory was changed (by changing the TEMP or TMP environment variables)
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tags: Media Center, MVP, MyNetflix
I have completed development on the next version of MyNetflix (v2.1). This new version has been in private beta for about a week, and now it is ready for public beta. One of the features you will probably be most interested in is the ability to play WatchNow movies in full screen, and use the remote control for pause/resume commands.
Changes since version 2.0 beta
Enhancements:
- Enhanced the “Watch Now” feature to play the media in full screen mode
- Added support for pause/play remote control buttons during “Watch Now” playback
- Added a “select episode” screen when selecting “Watch Now” on a TV series
- Redesigned gallery and movie details UI to remove dependency on third-party libraries (modified license agreement and about screen to reflect these changes)
- Added a busy indicator while looking up data
- Added new category - “Watch now in queue”
- Removed numbers from movie descriptions in the gallery
- Changed movie ratings to graphical stars on Movie Details screen
- Changed to navigate back to queue after adding, removing, or moving an item to the top of the queue
- Added the movie caption to the gallery thumbnails while images are loading. If an image cannot be loaded, a “broken image” graphic displays, as well as the title of the movie.
- Added the ability to reorder categories, hide categories, and hide genres
Bug fixes:
- Fixed problems with using special characters in username/password
- Fixed navigation issue when navigating to the end of a large set of movies (ex: Top 100) and then navigating to a small set of movies (ex: Queue) causes no movies to be displayed.
- Changed image cache location from %TEMP% to %TEMP%\MyNetflix
- Added refresh to queue after removing or moving to top
- Added an error message when trying to “watch now” on an extender, now says “Watch now is not supported on an extender.”
- Resolved issues with Netflix player (in Internet Explorer) and MyNetflix being treated as two seperate computers (reduces the likeliness of the “more than 4 computers” error)
- Removed MyNetflixBrowser icon from the Program Library
Public Beta Program
The public beta version of MyNetflix 2.1 can be downloaded from my Software page. Please send any feedback you might have about this version to mynetflix@anpark.com, or use my Feedback Page.
Public Beta Update - 02/28/2008 @ 8:58P MST
I just posted a new version of MyNetflix which resolves two issues. The first issue was that the “Test” button in the configuration app was not working. This has been fixed. The second issue was that with accounts that did not have WatchNow capabilities, MyNetflix would show the watchnow features and display an error if they were used. The configuration application now correctly tests for this, and MyNetflix will not show the watchnow categories if the feature is not enabled on your account. Thanks for the great feedback so far, and keep it coming!
Public Beta Update - 03/01/2008 @ 9:43A MST
It looks like Netflix upgraded their website last night, and the Episode list in MyNetflix stopped working. Unfortunately, this is simply one of the risks that comes with parsing the watchnow data from their web pages. I have corrected this issue and posted a new version of MyNetflix on my software page. Thanks!
Screenshots
Browsing your queue

Movie Details (in queue)

Browsing genres

Browsing genres

Movie Details (not in queue)

Browsing “Watch Now” movies

Browsing “Watch Now” movies

Movie Details (Watch Now)

Select Episode (Watch Now)

About

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tags: Media Center, MVP, MyNetflix