Nov 30
adminApple, Media, Tech dvd decrypt, handbrake, videolan, visualhub, vlc
Handbrake is a wonderful, open-source, utility for converting DVD movies to other formats. In my case, I use it to convert my DVD collection for use on my Apple TV. It works great.
Today, a new version (0.93) was released. It includes a long list of improvements from GUI updates to fixes for the lingering errors in 0.92. Among the list of changes was the news that Handbrake will no longer decrypt DVDs! This is no shock to Windows users, who are accustomed to using more than one application to rip a movie. For the rest of us, this is quite the change. I have never needed anything other than Handbrake.
Fortunately, it is an easily fixable issue, and the Handbrake developers include the solution. Simply install the VLC player. Handbrake will automatically leverage the necessary library to do the decryption, if needed.
What makes this news interesting to me is the “why” associated with this change. What was wrong with the built-in solution? Was it fear of some legal pressure? Is it based on a collaboration of those two teams? Is it assumed that the VLC team will continue to develop and manage the necessary library(ies) needed to keep this solution working? Is it possible that VLC is working to have Blu Ray decryption soon that Handbrake would now be able to leverage? In my dreams. 
The possibilities are both exciting, and slightly disconcerting, as this is a relatively important change for Handbrake users.
The more prominent change in their release, while not as interesting to me, was the addition of converting files and sources, other than DVD’s. This is similar in capability to the now open-sourced project VisualHub.
Oct 18
adminTech Clean, computers, iPhone, macbook, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
Well, maybe I should have titled this “Cleaning Your Laptop”, but this works on other things, including my iPhone.
I have many people ask me how to best clean their laptops, desktops, and other computer electronics. As you may know, there are many solutions sold at most gadget stores. Usually, these solutions are for cleaning LCDs, and contain isopropyl alcohol mixed with water.
However, many manufacturers do not recommend the use of chemicals. More
Sep 28
adminTech android, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Palm, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile 7
It is no secret that Microsoft is struggling a bit to keep up with the competition. With the latest news coming out that they are even further behind on their release cycle for Windows 7, things are looking slightly bleak.
In a mobile PDA market that they once controlled, it seems that more competing solutions are released almost every week. So far, the only thing keeping them in the mix is More
Sep 25
adminTech android, Beta, G1, Google, iPhone, T-Mobile
Android – the Google “Open Source” answer to smart phone software, doesn’t seem like it is really ready for primetime. I was surprised this week when T-Mobile and Google announced the new G1 phone and Android software. It was an event full of “It will probably” or “we imagine someone will…” promises to support how great their new platform is. More
Aug 04
adminApple, Tech, iPhone App Store, iPhone, NetShare, tether, tethering
When I bought my first iPhone, and read the many reviews online, there was the occasional murmur from geeks wishing for a tethering solution for their iPhone.
Tethering is the process of linking your phone to your computer, and using the phones data connection on your laptop.
While i thought it would be kind of cool, I didn’t really care. The first gen iPhone is EDGE only. We all know that EDGE means SLOW. It’s fine for most iPhone tasks like checking email, getting RSS feeds, and mobile-formatted sites. Otherwise, it is slightly painful to use. That’s really not a good tethering solution.
Fast forward to today, we have the iPhone 3G now. If you are one of the lucky folks who have 3G in your area, tethering becomes a much more plausible thing. The problem is, AT&T still doesn’t have a solution for us iPhone users.
This past week I read an article about a new application in the iTunes App Store. It’s called NetShare – and it let’s you tether your iPhone. More
Jul 20
adminTech hard drive, laptop, park, safe sleep, sleep, sudden motion sensor
Laptops are are a wonderful thing. They give us freedom from being tied to a desk, and nowadays they give us nearly the power of a desktop machine. While these technical wonders are great tools to have, they do come with a downside, and I don’t mean short battery life.
The downside is, it’s a portable machine, but has a hard drive made of moving parts. Hard drives don’t really like to be moved around while they are on. With 1 or 2 platters spinning at 5400 revolutions per minute(RPM), and the read/write heads floating barely off the platter surface, it is an opportunity for damage and data loss. More
Jul 13
adminApple, Tech, iPhone App Store, Apple, iPhone, iPhone 2.0, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch, iTunes, Multi-protocol chat
(source)
Like most iPhone owners this weekend, I was having a blast with the new 2.0 software. Also as a .Mac user, I have watched the painful Mobile Me transition unfold (well, it still is). While waiting for the Mobile Me rollercoaster to stop, I spent a lot of time experimenting with or reading about many of the 500 applications now available for iPhone and iPod Touch users. Interestingly, I noticed one important application not on the list. More
Jul 12
adminTech Data, Do No Evil, Google, Health, Money, Personal information
(source)
Being an IT geek, I work with a lot of geeks. Many of these geeks are Google fanboys. In the early days, when the Gmail beta was really beta and had not-so-many users, I was a fanboy too. As time went on I began to enjoy the google search engine more and more. It is a great search engine.
Google spent more time developing Gmail, and eventually other services, but I never really fell in love with them. To me, Google errs on the side of efficiency at the cost of great user experience. I can’t blame them too much, as others tend to err on the other side of that.
Things were fine an dandy for me until word of the “Do No Evil” mantra came into existence. More
Jun 20
adminLifestyle, Tech Facebook, Gadgets, Geeks, Internet Addiction, RSS, Social Networking
The Internet, our land of virtual promise. I was thrilled the first time I plugged in a modem to a phone line, and heard the sound of the internet connecting. Logging into Compuserve or Prodigy to explore this amazing new world. Those were the good old days. Good because, the ever expansive internet was actually fairly small. It didn’t consume people’s lives. It wasn’t enough of a virtual reality for people to escape the real world.
Nowadays, the opposite is becoming true. It seems that an ever-increasing percentage of people are online, and all the time. The internet has blown up into a never ending river of information (truth and lies), social networking (often a way to avoid actually having direct interaction with others, while still calling them friends), and online gaming worlds that allow you to be someone else. The latter two are quickly growing. I know that is a generalization, and many people enjoy these things while still having a balanced life. However, that balance is becoming rare. I know, I have been there. More
Jun 16
adminTech AT&T, m-spam, SMS Spam, Spam, Text Spam
(image source)
Have you ever received spam messages sent as SMS text to your cell phone? Has it happened repeatedly? Yea, it sucks.
Until today, I didn’t think there was anything you could do about it, unless you turn off that service to your phone. Apparently, there is something you can do. While this solution is not perfect, it probably gets close. More
Older Entries Newer Entries
RSS
