a web application request

So here’s what I want:

1. To be able to view my calendar (and sync it to my Zire 72’s calendar and iCal) online and edit it online as well.
2. At the same time, I want to be able to allow other people (people I freelance for) to put in requests for time that is viewable to me.
3. I want to be able to add tags to each scheduled event I have posted.
4. And when I confirm a request, it should send an e-mail to the person who requested it confirming the request.

I hope Google Calendar can do this, probably without the e-mail confirmations though. I checked through the MoMB site, but no luck.

Front Row on any Mac!

Curious about running Front Row on your mac but don’t have one of those snazzy new iMac G5s? It’s a pretty simple process.

It used to be that you had to change some administrator needed files by hand, which can be worrysome to some Mac users. Well, the files still need to be changed, but now there’s an application that does it for you. The aptly named Front Row Enabler.

Front Row Enabler is only one part of the equation though. The other two are Front Row, obviously, and a shareware program named Pacifist.

Pacifist is a package installer for OS X, outside of the built-in one. This is to circumvent the need to have an iMac G5 in order to install the package. You don’t ned to pay the $20 if you are just installing this one thing.

The enabler alters your BezelServices.framework and BezelService.loginPlugin in your system library. This is to change your computer’s identity, regardless of what computer you’re running. The computer’s identity regarding what kind of Mac it is. To my knowledge it doesn’t really change anything else.

Here’s some proof. The link goes to a screenshot I took in the transition to Front Row. You can see the system info saying it’s a 2.0 GHz G5 in the image.

Screenshot

A review of Salling Clicker is next, which acts as my Bluetooth remote for Front Row and multiple other applications. Go download and enjoy!

DVD to iPod Video encoding

So in all this hoopla over the iPod video, people immediately starting attempting to figure out how to get their movies onto the iPod. If you’re a Mac user, then there are two easy FREE apps you must have to easily get your DVDs to your ‘Pod.

Step 1 – MacTheRipper (MTR)

MacTheRipper is a freeware DVD ripper (extractor) for Mac OS X. It is dependent upon the open-sourced libdvdread and libdvdcss libraries. We also use the ‘tocgen’ program in certain modes, which is a part of the ‘dvdauthor’ project. This product is made to backup DVDs you have legally purchased for personal use. Any copyright infringing activity you choose to perpetrate using this application is illegal, wrong, and beyond our control. That being said, MacTheRipper removes CSS encryption, Macrovision protection, and sets the disc’s region code to ‘0′ for region-free by default, and is capable of removing RCE region protection as well, making an unrestricted copy of any DVD movie you own.

MTR rips the DVD content from your DVDs and places a “VIDEO_TS” folder on your hard drive. According to afterdawn.com, a VIDEO_TS folder is “On a DVD disc, DVD movie files are stored in the VIDEO_TS folder. There is also an AUDIO_TS folder, this is where DVD-Audio would be stored, but usually the folder is empty.” Regardless, the folder is placed on your hard drive completely copy protection free. You can view that with Apple’s DVD Player or the highly useful VLC media player. Another alternative is to burn that VIDEO_TS file to a blank DVD. For backup purposes only of course. My suggestion is to use use Toast 7, but that’s another post for another day.

So now you’ve got all the raw data from the DVD disc itself on your hard drive. It’s time to encode that sucker. You can’t place the video files directly from the VIDEO_TS folder because it’s not an iPod playable format (the format is a .VOB file).

Step 2 – Handbrake

HandBrake is a GPL’d multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter. HandBrake was originally available on the BeOS, but now has been ported over to MacOS X and to GNU/Linux. There is no Windows version of HandBrake.

Handbrake encdes .VOB files and DVDs straight to MPEG-4 and H.264 video files (H.264 iPod video version of Handbrake here). The iPod video plays both formats, but rumors have it that the H.264 format kills the batteries more than MPEG-4. The tradeoff is that H.264 is a higher compressed but higher quality format.

So you’ll be presented with the Handbrake options, you’ll want to go with mp4 video and the preset Language 1 settings. The other options are for alternate audio tracks, such as additional commentaries or alternate language tracks. Keep your sample rate at 44.1 kHz and your bit rate to 128 for the other audio options.

Picture settings are a different story. Because you’re looking at the iPod video’s screen, you’re going to want to encode the resolution to a with of 320 pixels. A standard 16:9 film might get you around 320×176, which will produce the letterbow effect on the video. (This might be a good time to break out any of those fullscreen DVDs you’ve got.) If you’re ripping a TV show, then just size it to the full 320×240 size of the iPod screen.

After that, just let ‘er rip and see how you like the results. My test film was “The Way of the Gun” It clocks in juust a hair shy of two hours and it was compressed down to a little over 510MB. That’s not bad considering the quality is pretty high and it’s a two hour movie.

Here’s a note on Handbrake. If you can, make sure to rip the DVD to your hard drive before encoding it. Occasionally Handbrake goes very slowly and will result in your drive spinning potentially for hours on end. I killed a DVD drive this way and had to have Apple send me a replacement drive (thank you Applecare Support). So rip the disc to your hard drive and then encode it.

Step 3 – Simply upload to your iPod and enjoy your video!

The whole process shouldn’t take more than 3 or 4 hours max if you’ve got a fast computer, and it only requres about 5 minutes of attention when you’re ripping your first few DVDs, the rest of the time is spent waiting for the files to be completed.

web browsers

So I still use Safari to browse the web, not to read RSS as I think it’s reader is lacking, but it’s still my overall browser. But there are alternatives to Safari.

• Flock – I like Flock’s built-in blogging abilities, flickr and del.icio.us integration, but my criticisms fall with their lack of bookmarks. They integrate your del.icio.us account as your bookmarks, which I’m not a fan of. Granted they’re in a developer preview at the moment (read: expect crashes), but I like where they’re going with this. I like their inclusion of extensions in such an early release. They claim it’s a social browser, but most of the browsing I do is still private. We’ll see with coming releases. It’s also a build that originates from #2 on the list. Some features are highlighted on the Flock site. It also includes a “What do you want to do with this file,” dialogue box, similar to IE on a windows box, it remembers passwords (just like Firefox).
• Firefox – Firefox is the Windows box alternative to IE. It’s got many of the same features that Safari includes, tabed browsing, Google built into the browser bar, pop-up blocking, RSS reader, etc. It also includes extensions, is pretty stable and is updated regularly if a security flaw is found. I’m not sure if the same browser flaws apply in the Mac environment as they do in the Windows world, but it’s always better to be safe then sorry.
• Opera – Recently a pay only browser until recently. I heard that the copany makes their money from Google searches made from inside the browser. I wonder if that’s how all these browser creation companies make their money? If you really feel like paying money to the company, you can buy their support services for $29 a year. An “idiot service” if you ask me. Also includes RSS reading, GMail support, high security, tabbed browsing, pop-up blickong, they are the “fastest browser on earth” (their words, not mine), etc. My complaint lies in the inability to create folders in the boomarks bar. I have the same complaint about Flock, although I hadn’t spent nearly as much time with it.

A complaint I have with all browsers except Firefox is that the “refresh” button is the same as the “stop” button. They change dynamically, but if the browser doesn’t respond in time and I hit stop, it’ll sometime refresh the page.

So what the hell do I do with four browsers on my computer? Well, I just like to be on the ball I suppose. And I have a thing for new applications and I’m always looking for something better than Safari, which is pretty damn good.