how to scrape websites?
#1
I've been toying around with XBMC for a few days now, and I have to say that I'm very confused. The possibilities seem endless, yet the functionality seems to be rather elusive to the newcomer.

I guess my main question is, how can I pull video or media from my favorite webpages?

In boxee all i have to do is click a button to be watching the most current episodes of "The Daily Show" right from the comedy central website.

With XBMC, i had to install navi-x, navigate to the "site scrapers" section, and still there are no comedy central videos.

Is there any way to write a 'site scraper' myself? Is there any documentation on the subject?

I simply want my HTPC to be able to stream good web content. Is Boxee simply a better bet for this sort of thing?

I figured since they shared a programing foundation that it would be simple to implement the functionality, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to stream this content. Some networks have their own plugins, and some are listed under the "navi-x" script, but it's difficult to localize everything I need in one place.

I keep getting the feeling that I'm simply missing a step. That the answer is right in front of me somewhere but I'm just not seeing it.
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#2
In terms of built in functionality for web streaming, Boxee is leaps and bounds beyond XBMC at the moment. There is currently some pretty intense work on an addon system that seems likely to resolve a lot of the discrepancy, but for now, if web streaming is your one and only thing, Boxee is probably the better bet.
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