I've come to the conclusion that DLNA is the secret sauce of the digital home. Of course DLNA isn't a secret, I've just never paid that much attention to it before.

DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance. It's basically a standard protocol for streaming audio, video and photos between devices on your network, and it's built into a growing number of products including the PlayStation 3 and the latest Sony Bravia televisions.

DLNA requires two components - a DLNA server and a DLNA client. The DLNA server is usually a computer, running DLNA media server software such as Windows Media Player 11, TVersity or PlayOn. The DLNA server can also be a Network Attached Storage device. Your DLNA server holds all your content, plus some server software lets you connect to the internet to pull down stuff like internet radio and television clips from sites like Hulu. Of course if you want to access US-only sites such as Hulu, you'll need to be running Virtual Private Network (VPN) software to make it appear as if your DLNA server resides in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Once you've set up your DLNA server it advertises itself on your home network, waiting for a DLNA client or two to come along and connect. The great thing is that there are a lot of devices out there with built-in DLNA, giving them access to a whole range of extra content that they'd never usually be able to play. For example you can use a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360, or even a modified Xbox or Apple TV. It's a shame there doesn't seem to be a DLNA client for the PlayStation 2, as they're dirt cheap right now and there's an optional Ethernet adaptor.

There are plenty of DLNA-compliant, dedicated media players and the protocol seems to be creeping into mainstream DVD and Blu-ray players. You can also get a DLNA client to run on your computer - such as XBox Media Centre, a media player interface which has been ported toWindows, Mac and Linux as well as modified Xboxes and Apple TVs. DLNA is even built into some Ethernet-enabled televisions from the likes of Sony and Samsung, although the first generation of DLNA-compliant Sony Bravias would play audio but not video.

Some DLNA servers will even transcode video files on the fly, changing them to a format that your DLNA client can play - something that is important if you're using a device with limited format support such as the PlayStation 3. On the fly transcoding obviously requires a lot of grunt on the part of your DLNA server, so you might be better off looking for a more flexible DLNA client which can natively handle the widest range of formats. XBMC is a good place to start.

The reason why I started looking at DLNA is because I finally caved in and bought an Apple TV recently, but only so I could hack the bejesus out of it for a magazine feature. It's simple to hack the Apple TV by loading on software using a USB stick, after which you can use software such as XBMC and Boxee to stream all kinds of great content from your network or the internet. There's even an Apple TV VPN client, called BoxeeVPN, but I couldn't get it to work. Apple released the 2.4 software update for the Apple TV just before I bought one, which played havoc with a few of the software hacks, and this might be the cause of my problem.

Without a VPN I can't watch Hulu. I toyed with ideas such as using a VPN-compatible router, or running a VPN on a computer and then connecting the Apple TV using Internet Connection Sharing, but neither of these seemed like elegant solutions. Then I remembered that XBMC is a DLNA client, so the easiest solution is to run a DLNA server on my media centre as well as a VPN such as Witopia, and then use XBMC on the Apple TV to pull content off the media centre. DLNA server software such as PlayOn and TVersity handle local content and also offer plugins for online services such as Hulu. Hey presto, Hulu on your TV no matter where you live. Of course things are never that simple, but at least the concept is sound.

The reason why I've never paid much attention to DLNA in the past is that I've got a Vista Media Centre PC in my lounge room, which does everything (when it works), so I don't need to stream video between devices. I stream audio around the house using iTunes, Airfoil and a few Apple Express wireless points. I recently set up a television in the rumpus room downstairs, to keep the peace when the kids want to watch Play School but I need to use the TV for tinkering with toys. I've been wondering about the best way to get all my content downstairs and now I think I have the answer - XBMC running on an old PC with a DVD drive to cover all my bases. It certainly seems like the most elegant solution for my digital home.

The news that the EU is speeding up the process of standardising mobile phone chargers is welcome, at least to me.

The plethora of plugpacks cluttering up desks and drawers when different people in a household or office use different brands of handset is something we could easily do without.

The EU also has its eye on chargers for other devices, including cameras and notebooks. The former shouldn't be too hard to achieve, but the current variation in power supply requirements for notebooks could present a bigger challenge.

You can already buy 'universal' notebook power adaptors, but they are hampered by the need to provide different plugs to suit various makes and models.

And then there's the problem introduced by non-standard connectors, especially if they are patent-protected like Apple's MagSafe.

For all its claimed advantages, I seem to hear more criticisms of the proprietary nature of MagSafe than plaudits for its functionality.

That said, the recent class action against Apple over MagSafe adaptors seems to concern the cable and strain relief arrangements rather than the connector itself.

Anyway, Apple was one of the first companies to agree to the EU's attempt to introduce standardised chargers for data-enabled phones in 2010, so here's hoping the company will support further efforts in this area.

Last week was a very big news week. The death of Michael Jackson dominated media reporting and continues to stay in the limelight as further details surrounding his death, the fate of his children, the bun-fight over his estate and how his life will be celebrated emerge. However, in the wake (if you'll pardon the pun) of Jackson's death I wanted to look at what happened that day.

Jackson's death seemed to have been reported with a pretty high degree of accuracy. Save for some dodgy details surrounding a false autopsy report being "leaked" (coming from a British tabloid - there's a surprise!) most of what we've read has been consistent and backed up with good first level sources such as family members, close associates and the like. But last Thursday, another death was falsely reported.

Actor Jeff Goldblum, it was reported, fell to his death while filming his latest movie in New Zealand. This was backed up by a "local police report" and within minutes Twitter was completely wrapped up in the wave of incredibility. It turned out that Goldblum's death was completely false. It came from a random news generator where people put a celebrity's name in and a false death report is generated. A news agency saw the "story" and reported it. Within a very short time, it was a "fact" and was dominating Twitter. It was even reported on local breakfast TV in Australia (well done Richard Wilkins and The Today Show on checking the story out before reporting).

[Edit] I just saw this a few minutes after posting - Goldblum responds to his own death

Here's my point (you knew it was coming) - just because lots of people say something it doesn't make it true. Tools like twitter make it very easy to get a crowd to repeat a pice of information, giving it credibility by numbers. I suggest that news breaking on Twitter is probably less reliable than reporting in the mainstream media (The Today Show being an exception in this case).

While members of the media can, and ought to use, social media as a source of stories they shouldn't rely on them as a source of anything other than leads. The requirement to do proper fact checking still remains and important part of the news cycle.

Last week I mentioned that while I was on a break, I was reading a new book called Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale. And this is quite a large book to say the least and for $75 you expect some value for money. I haven’t counted the number of pages as yet but being about halfway, through guessing at around 600 the mark.

Now as the title may suggest, this book is about the TV series Doctor Who. But if you are thinking this book is strictly for the fans, then you'd probably be very wrong. You see, the book is a combination of e-mail messages by the producer the book and Russell T Davies, who up until the end of series 4 was the senior writer and producer of the series. Interspersed with the dialogue, are sidebars of further explanations of scenarios, thoughts from actors in the series, and other material that is sideways to the commentary between the two main players.

From a production point of view, what I find is extremely valuable insight into the way that Russell T Davies thinks about how to put a series together and going further into the book may give even more insight, but it strongly comes through he thinks of a central theme for a series. This theme is then segmented down into episodes that in themselves have a central theme. So, you end up with a series where all the episodes are intertwined, but are standalone stories in their own right. SO at the end of a series, whilst you have enjoyed 12 separate stories, they are woven together in eposide 13 to wrap up a whole bunch of loose ends you may not even have been aware of!

Another good example of this technique is Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. Before he died, he very cleverly tied together all of the Foundation books and the Robot series - which off memory about 13 books in total - into one grand finale that tied everything across all these books together.

What I am suggesting is that if anybody is/has a budding writer, and of course even better if you're a fan of Doctor Who, then this book. I consider a very valuable tool to get an insight into how a major writer in today's world thinks and puts together his thoughts for others to interpret the storyline into a TV series. It also gives them a look into past projects Russell T was/is involved with, such as Queer As Folk, Bob and Rose, and of course the parallel series to Doctor Who, Torchwood.

At the very least, it is a great present for anybody who is a Doctor Who nut. And there are a lot of us about.

The months before a new operating system ships can be like the calm before a storm – things go quiet as people wait for the big event.

For PC makers, such pre-storm lulls can have a significant hit on sales. Faced with the choice between buying now or waiting for the gleaming new software, many customers opt to keep their cheque books firmly in their pockets.

But, in an effort to avoid such pre-launch slumps, Microsoft has previously offered free upgrades to those buying a new PC just before the new OS hits the streets. This move has been welcomed by consumers and small businesses that need a new device immediately.

But the generous offers have always come with a restriction on the number of PCs that can be purchased and later upgraded. While this is no big deal for those purchasing just a couple of machines, what happens for larger companies who need to buy many more?

Last week Microsoft announced that the upgrade option for those purchasing Vista-based machines and wanting to move to Windows 7 when it ships will be limited to 25 PCs or fewer.

Companies contemplating larger purchases need to do their homework. According to Gartner analyst Michael Silver, one option is to enrol the new machines in Microsoft’s Software Assurance program which covers future upgrades of the OS and applications. However this option will cost extra and needs to be added to the total purchase price.

A second option, says Silver, is for companies to lean on their technology provider to encourage them to throw in extra free Windows 7 upgrades as part of the hardware purchase deal. It seems larger channel partners have the option to do this, and if it means getting a big order over the line they might just play ball.

The third option is to simply delay the purchase of new PCs until after the October shipping date for Windows 7. If you're a big organisation and can wait that long, this might be the best and most cost-effective long-term option.