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Ask Slashdot: How Can I Build a Private TV Channel For My Kids?
Long-time Slashdot reader ljw1004 writes:
I want to assemble my OneDrive-hosted mp4s into a "TV channel" for my kids -- so at 7am while I sleep in, they know they can turn the TV on, it will show Mr Rogers then Sesame Street then grandparents' story-time, then two hand-picked cartoons, and nothing for the rest of the day. How would you do this? With Chromecast and write a JS Chrome plugin to drive it? Write an app for FireTV? Is there any existing OSS software for either the scheduling side (done by parents) or the TV-receiver side? How would you lock down the TV beyond just hiding the remote?
"There are good worthwhile things for them to see," adds the original submission, "but they're too young to be given the autonomy to pick them, and I can do better than Nickeloden or CBBC or Amazon Freetime Unlimited."
Slashdot reader Rick Schumann suggested putting the video files on an external hard drive (or burning them to a DVD), while apraetor points out many TVs now play files from flash drives -- and also suggests a private Roku channel. But what's the best way to build a private TV channel for kids?
Leave your best answers in the comments.
"There are good worthwhile things for them to see," adds the original submission, "but they're too young to be given the autonomy to pick them, and I can do better than Nickeloden or CBBC or Amazon Freetime Unlimited."
Slashdot reader Rick Schumann suggested putting the video files on an external hard drive (or burning them to a DVD), while apraetor points out many TVs now play files from flash drives -- and also suggests a private Roku channel. But what's the best way to build a private TV channel for kids?
Leave your best answers in the comments.
Ask any /. member who's not a parent - they'll tell you that what you're doing is BAD parenting!
You need to be watching every second of every minute of what your kids are doing. What if one of the kids uses the remote to change the channel? You need to make a custom remote for them that only has one button. What if your kids have a question about something they're watching, or oh my gosh, what if they misunderstand something or misinterpret something? You have to be right there, hovering over their shoulders, to make sure they don't turn into terrible people. What if your neighbor sneaks into your house and slips some adult-related content onto your flash drive? You wouldn't want to subject your kids to that, and we all know how many predators there are hiding in every bush and just waiting to permanently warp the minds of your precious young children.
Better yet, why are you letting your kids watch electronics at all? We all know that's the tool of the devil, used to churn out lazy, mindless morons who don't contribute to society, or worse yet, watch too much PBS and become SJWs. Why not make your kids read a book? But not the wrong books, you should look over their shoulders and read every page they're reading, to make sure they're not putting a "My Little Ponies" book cover over a book with more salacious themes. But wait, why are you letting your kids have any entertainment time at all? As a parent, you should be supervising your children 24/7, and you need to make sure they're doing something productive like homework all the time. As any non-parent /. member, they'll tell you how to do it.