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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.
Well I would start with a system like Plex and build a custom play list for them. I just say use plex because that is what I use but there are any number of plex like systems that would accomplish the play list part.
I"m not sure how you would do the timing.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
The unfair and unconstitutional infringement of infant's right to information will be strongly opposed by the Alliance of American Advertisers Astroturf Organization.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
I'd recommend Kodi with the PsuedoTV Live plugin, which lets you set up channels from your library with various rule sets to determine what is shown and when.
I did something similar with a Raspberry Pi, a simple BASH script, and OMXPlayer. I loaded tons of old 80's Christmas shows/movies on a USB thumb drive and plugged it into an old 13" crt television. The Pi played all my shows 24 hours a day during the xmas season. Whenever I turned the TV on, I could enjoy an old classic. I did have to reboot the Pi once a day but other than that it works perfectly as a homemade tv station.
I got a media center, put all the acceptable / 'parent-approved' stuff in a network share, and then gave the media center the credentials for that share - and NOT the shares with the more adult stuff on them.
It didn't take long for them to figure out how to turn on the box, navigate to their share, and select a file. Kids aren't dumb, they're ignorant... and they have nothing else to do but learn so they're pretty good at it if you give them even half a chance (and don't just do it for them when they whine).
Mr Rogers then Sesame Street then grandparents' story-time, then two hand-picked cartoons
I will not be complicit to this child abuse.
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How much would a 30 second spot right after Mr. Rogers cost me?
Do you have ESP?
Better still, print out each frame onto postcard sized stock, and install into a what-the-butler-saw machine. That way your kids get exercise turning the handle too. Win!
Time for bed, said Zebedee - boing
Why do the shows have to play in order? That was something we put up with when we were kids because we had no choice. Dump a bunch of kids shows in a folder, put it in a Kodi library and let your kids explore on their own.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
I've gotta say, the BBC have done this for me/us. Cbeebies is great for kids from about 2 until about 8-9-10 or so. The iPlayer Kids app is also an excellent idea - basically, you can load that up on an tablet and let them loose on making their own choices, sharing with siblings and whatnot and know that 100% they won't see any adverts for shit toys you don't want to have to buy or even have to deal with explaining to your kids, and they also won't see anything other than fairly reasonable content with some semblance of education thrown in.
I realise we shouldn't leave kids unattended with a tablet or a TV (which we don't), but even the likes of YouTube, TinyPop, NicJR, and even Netflix etc can't get close to what the BBC offers (mostly because those sources are heavily Americanised, so have 'wrong' accents and words for stuff, or just have really low-quality content).
As for what you can do yourself, getting the content is of course the hard part. Playing content directly on a tablet, or via a Kodi media client on a TV or whatever is pretty easy (again, it means your kids can choose what they want to watch, within your 'walled garden'). Getting enough variety and keeping up with whatever-the-other-kids-at-school are watching is the hard part - and trying to integrate streaming services into one usable entity is just futile.
The best part is that - thanks to the information age - there are a lot of parents who believe that, too. I've no idea how they do it, I simply can't watch my kids constantly.
Anyway, it ultimately leads to full-grown people who can't function without mom and dad holding their hand. As a parent, that's not the kind of result you should be looking for.
Or you could just leave some good books for them. (There is one in every crowd, and today, I am the one.)
More bonus points, with plex pass you can set up users with a pin and set content rating restrictions on each user, no more manually setting up libraries!
Netflix has a kids section, as does Hulu. Amazon has pretty solid selection by age group too. At least on FireTV - you can lock most things down with pin access. I've got a 5 and 7 year old that can turn on the TV themselves and watch assorted kid stuff. The trick is they know they need to ask first, and that we as parents are in control of the TV. We say when it needs to be turned off. It's perfect for when we need an extra hour or so in the morning, or as we get ready and the kids have woken up a bit too early.
It's certainly not perfect since our kids can somehow find the most god awful shows in the mix. It's not that they are age inappropriate, they just kill braincells for any adult in a 10 mile radius.
If this is an issue at all, a parent is well advised to cancel their cable subscription entirely.
If an adult can't go on living without the television shows they want to watch, then why on earth should they expect their kids to?
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Is the goal to give your kids the most similar experience to growing up with a tv that you had? Why can't they pause grand parents story time if they have to pee? Because you didn't have time shifting when you were a kid? What's next, as teenagers are you going to scoff at them for texting their friends, and then tell your friends how the lost art of rambling in voice calls is a sign of the end times? I'm trying to be constructive here, your kids have access to technology that you didn't have as a kid, and that is a good thing. Why not just let them use a 5 year old cell phone with the Kodi/xbmc app to control a raspberry pi full of Mr Rogers episodes, and have enough faith in them that they won't spend the next 48 hours binge watching it like it won't be there tomorrow?
Submitter here. My children are aged 2, 2 and 4. For the past year, the eldest has had an ipad with Mr Rogers, Sesame Street, grandparents, and a few cartoons. She has chosen to ignore everything apart from the cartoons, and she gravitates towards the shallowest ones, the "candy".
More generally, children of these ages are all about testing limits, and they do so constantly. This is a good and normal and essential part of childhood development. I work hard to make sure that the limits they test are good constructive ones that will help them grow. I think though that limit-testing about when it's time to turn off TV or what to watch on it is singularly unhelpful - that becomes the kind of limit-testing that a drug addict does upon their friends.
You say "have enough faith in them that they won't XYZ". That misses the point. They don't spring out of the womb with fully-fledged good instincts. My job as a parent is to develop the right instincts in them, teach them over the years how to make the right decisions, so that by the time they're older then I'll be able (as you say) to have faith that they'll make the right decisions. I can do that now with the oldest using the potty, and choosing what clothes to wear, and mostly resolving conflicts with her friends. She's not quite there with TV. And when it comes to homework, assignments and studying for exams, I'm going to spend many years with her in middle-school and high school helping her plan it out and develop her own autonomy so that by the time she's in college then I can have faith she'll do the right thing herself -- not just fall off the edge of a cliff.
I think TV is a particularly difficult example. One the one hand she has the full weight of generations of behavioral-scientists and billions of dollars poured into the question of how to make shows that are addictive eyeball-catchers. On the other hand she has... what? Sure I can create experiences for her myself that are more compelling. But I'm not always going to be there. I have to give her creative mind space to come up with her own play that's more compelling than TV. She's getting there, but she's not strong enough yet to develop these faculties against an onslaught of on-demand cartoons.
That worked when kids could go outside and find something to do, but now if you let them outside without an adult CPS will take them.