Month: July 2007

DVD Flick takes the simple route

I have a number of AVI, MPG and MOV files that I’ve encoded or downloaded that I’d like to burn to a playable DVD to watch on my TV. In the past the above scenario was possible but not very easy to do. Nero was one option, but it wasn’t always easy to sync the audio track or the picture quality was poor.

DVDFlickWell, DVD Flick makes it easy to take AVI, MGP, MOV, WMV, ASF, FLV and MP4 content and turn it into a playable DVD. Basically, it’s a simplified DVD authoring tool that makes the whole process quick and easy. You don’t need to be a encoding expert to make it work.

For example, I downloaded the BBC TV show called the IT Crowd in AVI format but wanted to play them on my DVD player. I just dragged them into the new project window and told DVD Flick to burn it to DVD. It works and it’s that simple. 

–Link to IT Crowd episodes

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How to improve iTunes sound quality

I’ve been looking for a way to improve the sound quality of iTunes (for Windows) for two years, but up until now was unable to find a good solution. But I came across SRS Audio Soundbox and it works very well.

Unlike some of the other DSP (Digital Signal Processing) add-ons I’ve tried, SRS works at the system level instead of application level so it improves the sound quality of any audio coming through your soundcard. It includes profiles based on audio content type such as music, movies, games and voice.

The improvement is substantial and makes iTunes fed mp3s sounds a lot better. It’s well worth the $20 to register, but you can try it free for 14 days.

–Download SRS Audio Sandbox here

SRS

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Not much has changed for Windows users

As I waited in line last night at Fry’s I noticed something peculiar: Customers (I counted 8) in line carrying boxes of Norton Anti-Virus. I also noticed three people waiting to buy a spyware program. I think it’s called Spyware Blaster.

I don’t ever recall buying an anti-virus program because there are a number of decent free one’s available. Personally, I’ve used eTrust for years, but I don’t know if it’s ever done me any good. I don’t open email from people I don’t know let along download or click attachments from them.

But it made me wonder if things have changed much for the average PC user over the past 10 years or so. When Windows 3.11 was around, there were many utilities one could buy to help keep it running properly. Remember PC Tools and System Mechanic? This was well before the spyware and adware days. The utilities I used most back then were a disk defragger and a duplicate file finder.

I notice the latest version of System Mechanic is advertised as fixing the following Windows (Vista compatible) issues:

Optimize PC for peak performance

Repair problems and errors

Clean up clutter

Remove spyware and fix security vulnerabilities

Maintain reliability and speed

I can’t imagine paying for Windows XP or Vista and then spending another fifty bucks to fix it. There’s an entire cottage industry around helping people fix or work around the Windows problems. Are PC users so lazy and so stupid that they mess up their computers to the point that 3rd party software is required to keep them operational?

Or is Windows so slow, so bug-ridden and vulnerable that such software is required?

norton

 

 

 

Is this guy smiling because he switched to Linux?

Wasn’t Windows XP supposed to fix this? How about Vista? How would you feel spending up to $400 on a new version of Windows only to find out that you’ll need to cough up more money for utilities to keep it running? Given my experience with Vista, I don’t believe there’s a utility in the world that can make it run as it should. It’s just downright annoying to deal with.

Ten years from now are Windows users going to be in the same predicament?

10 minutes with an iPhone

I visited the Apple store in Bellevue this afternoon and Apple iphone-2might as well call it the iPhone store. There were two giant iPhone replicas in the display case as well as two large tables of full of iPhones to touch and demo.

Say what you will about Apple but they know how to display their merchandise. Go into a Best Buy or CompUSA and their cameras, computers, mp3 players and phones are usually tied down. If you’re lucky, they are attached to a metal tether that’s long enough to lift it 6 inches off the table. You have the sense the last thing they want you to do is actually test out their products.

But the Apple store is just the opposite. Everything in the store is situated  and displayed as if to say, “Pick me up and see what I can do!”. Which is exactly what I did with the iPhone. A few quick thoughts gleaned from the 10 minutes I spent with it:

  1. Oh that display! Simply gorgeous.
  2. Touch screen worked better than I expected.
  3. It’s smaller and thinner than I thought.
  4. Compared to my Motorola Q, the iPhone felt speedy
  5. It’s bright. Did I mention that gorgeous screen?

For obvious reasons I couldn’t test out the phone feature but as a video iPod it was fantastic. Apple is so much further ahead than Microsoft and its Windows Mobile it’s not even funny. Compared to the iPhone, Windows Mobile is years behind.

It’s probably a good thing the iPhone doesn’t support Exchange mail or I’d want to ditch Verizon and switch.

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The nifty IE Tab for Firefox

As much as I enjoy Firefox, there are times when I need to run Internet Explorer such as running Windows Update or retrieving email over Outlook Web Access.

Instead of firing up IE, I can run IE inside of Firefox with a nifty little add-on called IE Tab. Once installed I tell IE Tab which sites to launch in IE. See screen below.

IEtab

 

 

 

 

One thing to keep in mind, if you have other add-ons such as Mouse Gestures installed (my favorite Firefox add-on) they will not work in IE Tab. This isn’t a big deal, but I used to add MSNBC to IE Tab until I realized my gestures wouldn’t work.

Here is Windows Update running under Firefox using IE Tab. Without IE Tab this would not be possible.

winup

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These are the best shoes I own

After spending 10 hour days on my feet last week in Orlando, I can say that the Ecco Austin Oxfords are my favorite shoes. The leather is very soft and feels worn in the first time you slip them on. The back of the shoe is nicely padded and the heel is the right height. The only change I made to the shoe was replacing the laces with a more rigid pair making it harder for them to come untied.

As much as I like Cole Haan they are not nearly as comfortable as these which are on sale now at Nordstrom. I think I need a pair in black now.

Ecco Austin Oxford in Espresso ecco

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What I learned at the tea party

teacupI woke up this morning and found myself in the middle of a tea party hosted by our kids. This is the first official tea party I recall attending and it was clear from the start that I wasn’t privy to all the rules. Here are a few things I learned by attending the tea party:

  1. You can’t just show up to the party looking like you rolled out of bed. A dress code exists that includes “nice shoes and no T-shirts”. No exceptions.
  2. Preparing for the tea party is just as important as the party itself. As a rule of thumb, expect the prep time to take three times as long as the party.
  3. You are served at a tea party. You don’t place an order. “it’s not a restaurant”.
  4. Girls serve the food, boys pour the tea. This rule is set in stone, I’m told.
  5. Colors matter. Oh boy do they matter as I learned when I tried using a green cup with a yellow plate. This won’t happen again. Lesson learned.
  6. The typical spread at a tea party is “cake, pizza, chocolate milk, water, chili, bread, cereal…..” Pretty much everything except tea.
  7. Attending a tea party requires a good imagination. The plastic piece of pizza pulled in triple duty as the pizza, cake and bread.
  8. When the party is over, the attendees are responsible for picking up their plates, dishes and cups. I guess they weren’t kidding when they said this “isn’t a restaurant”.

I learned a lot more at the tea party than I expected and it was fun to see how the three kids worked together to pull it off. Luca and Anna loved matching up the plates and cups and preparing the food. Lincoln was just happy to be included. As best I could tell, Lincoln spent the entire time on “watch the teapot” duty.

It might have been the first tea party I’ve attended, but I can’t imagine attending a better one.

What do you want to become?

When I was seven or eight years old I wanted to be an F7-Compassarchitect. Back then all I knew about being an architect was that my best friend at the time, Guy, wanted to be one and that it included getting to play with a compass. Guy was the coolest kid on the block so if he wanted to be architect, so did I. It took another few years before I realized I didn’t want to be an architect. 

My father was a coach and teacher for over 30 years. During my teens as well as through college I don’t ever recall wanting to be a coach or teacher. My father would leave before 6 am most mornings and return home late into the evening, especially during football or basketball season. The long hours had an influence on me and I told myself that when I grew up and got a job, it would be one that didn’t keep me away from home so often.

Well, things don’t always go as planned. My first job out of college I worked as a retail store manager. The store was small but the hours were long and included most holidays and weekends. When I got into technology a few years later I told myself that I didn’t want to work weekends or late nights. For the most part I was able to do that except I had to travel a lot, much of the time with very little notice.

Looking back on my career I see that the hours I’ve put in average quite close to those my dad worked while I was growing up. But what I realize now that I didn’t back then was that my dad loved his job and the hours probably didn’t seem so long to him. He loved working with kids. He enjoyed teaching and learning from them. The influence he’s had on kids over the 30 years is immeasurable.

Although my career has been challenging and enjoyable so far, it’s only been the last few years that I’ve felt I’m giving anything back to the younger generation. Most of my career has been spent helping pad the coffers of large companies and high powered executives. But my current jobs allows me to interact with a young, fun group of people who have taught me a lot.

As much as I love technology, I’d switch jobs with my dad in a heartbeat.