a little ludwig goes a long way: SHN. John points out that instead of using lossy Mpeg compression. Going to a lossless compression scheme like SHN might be better. Great point. With disk space so available, I’m already encoding at 320Kbps variable rate which is still 5x less than the raw CD format. But, I know I’m losing something.
Archive for May, 2003
PowerDVD Update
2003
05.21
05.21
CyberLink Patch Files. Yet another update for the DVD player on my machine. For some reason PowerDVD works, but nothing else can play a DVD. Not Real, Windows Media Player or Interactual. Feels like a codec got blown away.
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Windows XP ASPI Drivers
2003
05.21
05.21
Adaptec?Windows ASPI Package. Here it is the current Adaptec ASPI drivers, so I can flash my DVD drive.
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Nearly There…DVD+RW
2003
05.21
05.21
DVDplusRW.org – Compatibility List DVD-Video Players. Well, I finally blew the DVD+RW as a test with MovieFactory. It looks decent, not great. Main problem now are the many incompatibilities with players.
Compatibility hacking for DVD Recorders. My Toshiba 6200 needs a compatibliity hack, but the Sony DRU-120A drive I have can’t have the bitsettings changed. At least the latest version of Nero has this utility built-in. Arrrgghh.
Sony DRU-120A Support. At least I found support page and I got the manual now. Also to update the firmware, you need Windows ASPI drivers which XP doesn’t load anymore. Arrrgghh.
Also, my machine has corrupted codecs thanks to Kazaa Lites Codec Pack installation so I can’t see the DVD on my machine anymore. Sigh. I need to get the Windows XP SP1 CD. Windows is demanding a CD and I only have a copy on the disk. Arrrggghhh.
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DV to DVD or DiVX
2003
05.21
05.21
Well, I’ve finally mastered the Video Explosion/VideoFactory tool and have a nice video, now there is the issue of how to get it out to the real world. It isn’t easy:
- Sonic MyDVD. This has got to rate as one of the most ugly programs I’ve ever used. Main issue is that you have just one movie, it puts a tiny button on the first DVD menu that gives you no hint you are supposed to click on it. Seems designed for adding several movies into one DVD. At least 6 to make the layout look semi-decent. Didn’t try to actually blow the DVD though.
- DVD Complete. This has a much nicer layout. But it is still confusing to have one movie just sitting there. Also, Cnet.com users reports lots of bugs blowing the CD. Nicest layout tools though. Also has a strange requirement that the DVD Video be under 8MBps and VideoFactory defaults to 8.3MBps. Argh.
- ULead MovieFactory. Has an OK layout. The main issue is that the layout again is ugly. Doesn’t have a single movie option really. Most of the programs seemed tuned for lots of random video clips and a slideshow.
- ULead VideoStudio 7. This was actually the first tool that I used. It was harder than VideoFactory/Video Explosion, but it sure made a beautiful DVD menu. It is tuned for a single movie on a DVD, so it boots right into the chapter menu rather than into a multiple title menu.
To convert this into a DiVX format movie. That is using MPEG4, it seems that this is a little easier:
* DivX Digest – AVI to DivX Guide. Good instructions on how to take an uncompressed AVI and turn it into a DiVX file.
* Moo’s Video Editing Tips. The only issue is that VirtualDub mentioned above can’t read DV Camcorder AVI files unless it has an older Video for Windows Codec. That you can get from Canopus.
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Naveen
2003
05.20
05.20
a little ludwig goes a long way: Naveen. Proving once again, I don’t understand the law. Naveen Jain owes Infospace $200M or more dollars!
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Jabber
2003
05.20
05.20
Jabber Software Foundation: open instant messaging powered by XMPP. An open IM standard. Supposed to be pretty good according to Gary.
Wifi Hotspot Directories
2003
05.20
05.20
Here are some of the top Google hits for wifi hotspot directories. Interesting to see the third tier actually building networks:
- Node DB. Wireless node database.
- PDAStreet: Software: Other Internet & Communications: WiFi HotSpot Directory. An Excel spreadsheet of access points.
- Riverwalk Directory. Another directory. I think this is the actual content of the one above.
- Wifi Freenet. Only free access points are listed here. Not much there, but interesting to see what people try.
- Hotspot Locations. A pretty complete directory it seems.
Interesting third tier WISPs:
* Seattle Wireless. Seattle’s local hotspots. Note that they are now charging for this.
* PersonalTelco. Portland based hotspots. They have 158 locations right now.
* aXess2go. Has 14 hotspots right now.
Finally, here are the big boys who are creating the biggest underlying networks:
* T-Mobile. 2,300 locations and counting. Interesting to see how many are airports. Of course they are also doing Starbucks and will do Borders and Kinkos. They are now doing $20/month with no commitment for T-mobile customers. Wow.
* Wayport. They are in 10 airports and 500 hotels right now. Their pricing remains high at $30 with a one year agreement.
Here are the consortium folks who are aggregating:
* Airpass. A roaming consortium provided by Airpath. They do provide hotspot services, manage hotspots and provide roaming. This is based in Toronto and is looking for financing. A partner with RovingIP.
* iPass. Has existing customers, owned hotspots and roaming. They have 1,000 APs from 11 underlying networks.
* GRIC. They have a global network. Charges $30/month.
* Boingo. They have 1,300 locations now through roaming agreements with Wayport in particular.
* Picopoint
* FatPort
* Kubiwireless
Analysts are trying to get a handle. With roaming agreements there is much double counting.
* How Many Hotspots are there?. A good analysis of who has actually deployed what as of January 2003.
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VideoFoundry can split MP3 and WAV
2003
05.20
05.20
Sonic Foundry. After all that, it turns out that VideoFoundry/Video Explosion can strip out the audio tracks and produce MP3 or WAV files. It is buried in the custom render menu when you choose Make Movie. Not documented anywhere either. Sigh.
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AVI Joiner
2003
05.20
05.20
Divx Avi Asf Wmv Wma Rm Rmvb Fix Joiner – Download.com. Another utility program. This does fixup of various video files. Good for fragmented downloads.
For me, this is most useful for various segments of AVI files that Video Explosion creates. I create one large file and then extract all the audio and then off into a CD with Nero or through an MP3 converter with Exact Audio Copy.
Wow, there are lots of utilities aren’t there around.
