mysite blog

DVD to iPod/xbox with one file

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

I recently replaced my dead 5g iPod video with a shiny new 16gb touch. I've been really happy with the device on many levels and I've been especially blown away by the screens quality. This thing really has a watchable screen, unlike the ipod video; which I never bothered too much with video after the initial "cool" factor wore off.

I wanted to transfer some or most of my dvd's to this device as well as continue to stream them to the xbox 360. However, I didn't want to have two copies of the same movie; one divx and one mp4. So I started to play around and read what others have been doing. Here is the conclusion.
Let's begin. Standard disclaimers still apply. Step 1. Create the iso file. This can be done with steps from the previous post using the now defunct dvd decrypter. For the sake of new content I'll post my entire process here using DVD Clone from slysoft. This combined with slysoft's AnyDVD is about the best combo for dvd decrypting that I've seen. They update constantly and all upgrades have been free so far. Well worth the money.

Choose The first option (copy dvd titles)
You will now have to choose your dvd file.
Select the content you want. I'm only choosing the main movie here.
Choose the audio tracks you want. I'm choosing AC3 2+6 channel English
Click next and save the output where you have space with a descriptive name.
Click save and you will get the overview of your choices. If all looks good then click Go.
...And it starts!
Soon you will have an big iso file ready for the real fun.

Choose file and select browse to find your iso. Select it and load it into handbrake.
We start out with the iphone/ipod touch template and modify it.
We select anamorphic PAR for aspect ratio. This keeps the films original aspect.
We Select AAC+AC3 audio for use on xbox / home theater and ipods
We select iPod ATOM to ensure compatibility to with 5g and up ipod videos. This isn't needed for the touch or the iphone.
We now select title and and choose the first option for the default chapters. This video has 33 chapters, you can check the chapters tab to see the fun.
Click start and go for a walk. Once it's all done you will have one file for your xbox and your ipod.
If you are having trouble streaming to the xbox 360 follow this excellent guide by Red Herring that I wish I had found before I banged my head on the wall getting this to work in vista.

my lady has a blog

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

My beautiful girlfriend has just set up a blog. She's learning a ton of CSS and html as well as the in and out of wordpress. I'm so proud of her. You can check it out at http://bagged-lunch.com/

beirut stamp

Sun, 25 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Please review and sign if you agree.

To: U.S.Congress

On Sunday October 23rd,1983 at approximately 6:20am Lebanese time over 241 U.S. Marines,Sailors and Soldiers were killed,hundreds were wounded or disabled. This was the result of a suicide driven truck laden with over 12,000 pounds of explosives that detonated in the BLT 1/8 24th MAU headquarters barracks in Beirut,Lebanon.Other servicemen from 1982-1984 perished from sniper fire and other atrocities.Others died years later from the results of their service. This makes a total of 273 Marines,Sailors and Soldiers that died. These fallen comrades were on a peacekeeping mission when this terroist activity occurred.We have been requesting a stamp,to no avail from the Postmaster General and the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee in Washington,D.C.for the past 19 years.Some comments for not honoring our fallen heroes in the past with a postage stamp were"We try hard to honor positive things." "People want non-controversial pretty stamps." "Beirut lacked significance in American history and not enough people were killed."The United States has made a distinct impact on the "war on terror" since 9/11,notably so because of the experience gained and the blood lost in Beirut,Lebanon 1982-1984.Please sign the below petition to give a lasting gift to the Goldstar mothers,wives,fathers,sons,daughters and families left behind.This stamp is well deserved to honor our fallen heroes that gave all so that you,I and all Americans remain free today. Semper-Fi !!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

http://www.beirutstamp.com/petition/index.html

FairUse DVD format shifting

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

I get asked this question a lot so I figured why not write something I can point people to. But First I encourage you to read this http://w2.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.php and I have some personal disclaimers.

I'm not responsible for any illegal activity you decide to use this information for. eg; ripping anything you don't personally own, rented or borrowed DVD.
I'm not responsible for any data lose or damage you may cause to your computer by using these tools.
don't share it out on P2P networks. You certainly don't have that right and this is clearly illegal.
Don't complain to me if you can't figure it out. It's very straight forward ;-)

This is a pretty simple n00bie "howto" for shifting your dvd collection to divx format. I do this all the time to stream my dvd's to my xbox360 for easy viewing on my TV. I started doing this because I'm lazy and I when I decide I want to watch a movie I'd rather not get up and load the dvd when I'm all cozy on my couch. This is also great if you have rare or out of print dvd's. They will stay safe in their little jewel box and you don't have to worry about scratching em up or your kids mucking up that Disney dvd that is back in the "vault" as they say.

For now we will be using two tools. I'll expand the tutorial in the future to include dvd to ipod and dvd to dvd. You will need to get a copy of dvddecrypter and Fair use wizard and a video encode such as divx Okay, let's get started.
The first step is to remove the immoral/illegal? copy protection from your dvd. This is what we will use dvddecrypter for.
Step 1. Load your dvd into your computers dvd rom.
Step 2. launch dvddecrypter and let it find the dvd. this is an automatic process.
Step 3. From the menu bar choose Mode > ISO > Read
Step 4. Click the dvd to hdd icon on the bottom to start the decryption process.
Check the log if you're a nerd. :-)

Step 5. Wait. That's it your dvd will be decrypted as an iso and ready for the next process.

Once you get the iso you can pretty much do whatever you want with it so remember my disclaimers. ;-)

Now you will create the divx file from the iso you just created. This is what we use fairuse wizard for.
Step 1. Launch FairUse Wizard and select Create a New Project. Fill in the name, browse for the folder you want to store it in, then click next.

Step 2. Browse for your ISO that you just created and load it into fuw.
Step 3. Click okay and choose the defaults unless you know what you are doing. Choose to auto detect the interlace mode.

Step 4. Choose your encoder. It will let you select what is available for your computer. In this example I have quicktime pro and the divx encoders so I have three options. I choose XviD since I've had the best results on the xbox360 with this option although DivX should work just as well. iPod/appleTV users will want to choose x264.
Step 5. Click next and wait........ Seriously go get coffee and a donut, take a shower, a nap, go watch some TV, because this is gonna take a while.

When all is done you will get this screen.
So a quick recap of what you will need.
1. a dvd that you own.
2. divx video encoder
3. dvddecrypter 4. Fair use wizard

Adobe Lightroom

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0700

So I've committed myself to learning lightroom and I'm finally starting to get it. It's a really cool app with a bunch of neat features, it's not perfect but I'm really anal retentive about software. Once you see what they are trying to do you can really appreciate it. The UI and feature are unique and it in bridges to photoshop for more advanced editing.

Is Debian dead?

Sun, 03 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0700

With so much focus on ubuntu, it's community, and structured organization it has been said that Ubuntu is what Debian should be.
Seems at least one major Debian developer agrees. Debian needs to evolve or become a historic reference. With Ubuntu being as true of a gnu Linux as Debian but with more structure, more active development, and a sane release road map Debian is becoming insignificant and I hate to say it but I've had no reason to go back to Debian. Ubuntu gives you everything that Debian gives you and then some. In my opinion Ubuntu is not just a distro that uses apt or is built on Debian, it's Debian's successor.

Random stuff

Sat, 27 May 2006 00:00:00 -0700

My grandpa passed away yesterday and I'm sad because he was such a fun guy to be around.

I'm eating toaster strudels because I don't feel like cooking.

Windows Vista is disappointing and runs like ass on a pretty whoop ass gaming machine

Compiz and xgl for linux is fucking amazing.

I want a new PC game but the gaming scene sucks lately I play only the DS. I can't wait until hellgate:london

my cats ass stinks

Looking at old picture I came to realize that my brother doesn't wear pants unless he has to.

Stuff on my desk

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0700

I have a pack of coffee filters on my desk. along with a lot of other random crap. I need to clean this up and get origanized.

-Lots of papers
-iPod
-3 8x10 frames
-CD-R/DVD+R
-Can O' Air
-Nintendo DS and Gamboy advance
-Dead Hard Drive
-Bottle of water
-160 gb External Hard Drive
-Wired Magazine that mysteriously started to show up over a year ago and despite warning of "this is your last issue" it still comes every month and I've never paid for a single issue.
-Lots of other random crap, CD, and stuff I should throw out
-camera
-camera case
-2 standard usb cable
-1 mini usb cable
-mini tripod
-headphones w/ mic
-cable ties/originizers/hide away modules
-2 ubuntu install cd's X86 amd64 versions
-1 Debian/Sid netboot disc
-electric pencil sharpener
-a cool little penguin box my ex made me
-A crazy chinese root.
-a coffee mug that say /dev/mug on it
(unix geeks will think that that is funny.)
-1 empty bottle of liptons green tea w/ citrus.

Just got back from DR...

Thu, 25 May 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Just got back from DR testing. 8:00am - 11:00pm.

Pros:
I get a comp day
I was in moonachi, NJ and that's a cool name for a town.
I was busy so time flew by
Catered breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I got some pictures of the dorks I work with

Cons:
The DR staff where we are contracted are a bunch of fucktarts
everything went wrong
some people annoy me.
I'm tired as hell but all wound up.

Picasa

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0700

I started playing with picasa 2.0 based on a recommendation from a friend. I didn't like picasa when I first tried it about two years ago but it has been refined and it's very useful. I put together a list of hotkeys most are documented but I did find some easter eggs. So here is the list so far

--Undocumeted-- open in web browser
ctrl + shift + L</strong>

covert EVERYTHING!!! to Sepia, even the gui.
ctrl + shift + I</strong>

toggle Star/unstar selected photo
CTRL + *</strong>

--Documented-- Open in default editor
CTRL + SHIFT O (oh != zero)

Small Thumbnails
Ctrl-1

Large Thumbnails
Ctrl-2

Open File
Ctrl-0

Edit View
Ctrl-3

Slideshow
Ctrl-4

Timeline
Ctrl-5

Rotate
Clockwise Ctrl-R

Rotate
Counter-Clockwise Ctrl-Shift-R

Order Prints
Ctrl-T

Black-and-White
Ctrl-SHFT-B

Export to Webpage
Ctrl-W

Email
Ctrl-E

Search
Ctrl-F

Import
Ctrl-M

Hold in Tray
Ctrl-H

Flip Horizontal
Ctrl-SHFT-H

Flip Vertical
Ctrl-SHFT-V

New Album
Ctrl-N

Print
Ctrl-P

Print Album Contact Sheet
Ctrl-SHFT-P

Select all pictures in Album
Ctrl-A

Deselect All
Ctrl-D

Invert Selection
Ctrl-I

Export to Folder
Ctrl-S

Keywords
Ctrl-K

Full Screen Mode
F11

File Properties
ALT-ENTER

Locate on Disk
Ctrl-ENTER

Select 1st Pic in Album
HOME

Select last pic in Album
END

Pause/Play Movie
/ (slash key)

Rewind Movie
, (comma)

Fast Forward Movie
. (period)

Mario Kart DS

Sat, 17 Dec 2005 00:00:00 -0800

I caved in and got myself an early Christmas gift. I've played a little single player and set up the wifi which was a easy as pie considering I have wep and mac filtering on I was anticipating trouble. If anyone want to race my friend code is 060190 791998

New Office Chair

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0700

I just spent the better part of an hour putting together a chair that should have only taken me 15 minutes. The instructions were so dodgy that this thing had me guessign every step and It nearly pushed me over the edge but when I sat down in it it was the sweetest victory.

Virtual Filesystem: Building A Linux Filesystem From An Ordinary File

Mon, 25 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700

Virtual Filesystem: Building A Linux Filesystem From An Ordinary File Good article, worth the read. I plan to incorporate this on my laptop for storing sensitive personal data.
----------------------------
Ubuntu: Hoary
Dell 600m
2.0ghz
1gb ram
80gb hdd
ipw2200 wifi b/g
64mb ati Radeon
xsvga screen 1400X1050
-------------------------------

MSpaint masterpiece~Diamonster

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700

deviantART: powerdraw by ~Diamonster This guy spent 500 hours in MSpaint to create this. I had no idea MSpaint was this capable or someone is this capable with MSpaint is more like it.

Nero Linux

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700

I'm playing with the Nero Linux demo and so far it's nice but not worth paying for when you can just use K3B for KDE or Brasero for Gnome which I find to be right on par with Nero. It works great with the gnome desktop and can burn just about everything you need.

New Computer!

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0700

Well I built my new computer and I'm very happy with it. I recycled some of the old computer so I saved some money in that respect. I got an AMD64 4000 (San Diego core) 1gig of corsair DDR400 ram MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum and a WD raptor Drive sata150 at 10,000rpm. Then I treated my self to a 20.1 LCD monitor that runs 1600x1200 700:1 :)

iPod touch dock mod

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

I hacked apart an old handspring visor dock to make a horizontal ipod touch dock. It can sit on my desk at work and I can just flip through the cover art. I don't keep my music on my work laptop so this is perfect for me.
Behold! flickr