Put your DVD into IPod /IPhone

There are many softwares which can rip your DVD movies and convert them to be put into your iPod or iPhone. Most of these softwares have to be bought. Why waste money when you can do it for free!:) Here we will be using 3 free softwares to rip, convert and put it into your iPod or iPhone!:)

You need:

• DVD Ripping software: DVD Decrypter 3.5.4.0 (free download)
• MPEG 4 encoder: Videora iPod Converter (free download)
• iTunes (free download)

And ofcourse,have enough free space on your computer HD!

Now,lets say that you want to put your DVD into your iPod, you will have to rip it first to your computer harddrive.
But unlike ripping DVD to PC for which we use File Mode , we use the IFO Mode to rip the DVD for converting it to Mpeg4 supported by iPod and iPhone.

(If you are just converting files already on your hard drive, you can skip the part of ripping the DVD to your HD.)

Rip the DVD using DVD Decrypter

Put the DVD into your DVD-ROM drive and start DVD Decrypter.
Go to Tools > Settings, then select IFO Mode tab.

Click the File Splitting field in the Options section. Set it to None.


Go to the Stream Processing tab and select Enable Stream Processing.


Click the "DVD to Hard Drive" Rip button and wait for it to finish. When you are done you will have one big file ending in ".VOB" wherever "Destination" is set.

Convert the file with Videora iPod Converter


Start Videora iPod Converter.
Select your iPod model.

Next you will be taken to the Convert Section.



Choose the Normal Mode.You will need the internet connection.Normal mode has a step by step wizard guiding you through the conversion . Infact, you do not need a tutorial when you choose the Normal mode option.


The wizard will guide you through all the steps to convert the files.









You are done!
Your files have been converted!:)

Now for the Final Step!
Launch iTunes. Copy the movie from your Movies folder to your iPod. That’s all!
You have your DVD in your iPod or iPhone!Enjoy!:) Read more Entry>>

Burn The Ripped DVD From PC

You have Ripped DVD files in your computer's hard drive and you would like to burn it to a blank DVD!But then, you must have noticed that the size of the ripped files contain more than 4.7 GB of data. The blank DVD holds just 4.7 GB ! What do you do? Well, just shrink or compress the size of the files to fit into a 4.7 GB DVD without apparent change in image or sound quality. How? By using a free software called DVD Shrink!

DVD SHRINK can RIP and COMPRESS the disc and then BURN it to a blank 4.7Gb disc all in one process. Thus you have ripped files automatically saved to PC’s HD and then compressed and burnt.(But then, this is for another post! ) :)

You can use DVD SHRINK in combination with a DVD burning software like Nero, to either make a backup copy of any DVD video disc or burn the ripped dvd files. ( If you already have a preferred alternative burning software you can still use DVD Shrink. The output from DVDShrink can be saved as files on your hard drive and then burnt with the software of your choice.)

Now, back to burning your ripped files! Lets say, that your original DVD is 7,673MB and you have to compress this to 4,464MB! Fine! Lets do it!

Your ripped DVD is in in file mode (that is, a collection of .IFO, .BUP and .VOB files on your HD)
Open DVD Shrink.




















Set Preferences!
Click Edit>Preferences


















Select the Target DVd size from the drop down menu.
Check Burning with Nero in File I/O



















Go back to DVD Shrink.
Click Open Files button.













Then press browse and select the folder where your ripped DVD files are saved..























DVD Shrink will perform a quick analyzation .Then this window opens.
By default, DVD Shrink automatically selects a compression ratio to make your movie fit onto the allocated space (the output size you set up in the preferences).The green bar indicates the size of the compressed file.





















In case the compressed file is more than the allocated space,you can go to the Compression Settings and uncheck unwanted subtitles or other menus!

You are ready to Burn your files to a blank DVD now!Press BACKUP.
This window appears.
Select backup target.
Select folder for Temporary files.
Press ok.

















Encoding starts.
















Insert an empty disc.


















The Burn process starts.
When done, remove the burned DVD from the DVD drive .
You can play back your DVD in any DVD player and enjoy!:)


Copyright © 2008-2009 Laila Rajaratnam. All Rights Reserved.

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Rip DVD To PC

Would you want to watch movies from your laptop during vacation? Would you want to backup your stack of DVDs to your PC? Well, then the answer is, Rip your DVD! Ripping DVD is computer jargon for copying DVD onto your PC's hard-drive.

Ripping a DVD is really very very simple, especially with a free program called DVD Decrypter. Unfortunately DVD Decrypter is no longer easily available. But still, few are available and you can find them by Google search! DVD Decrypter is a free tool which enables you decrypt or rip and copy the DVD to your PC's hard disk. You can download DVD Decrypter from here.

After copying it to your PC you can choose to :

• Watch them with the likes of PowerDVD and WinDVD .
• Copy or burn to another DVD.

Here is simple easy step by step on how to Rip DVD to your PC:

• Install and Open DVDDecrypter.
• Insert the DVD to be ripped into your PC's DVD drive.
• Ensure that you have sufficient free space on your hard drive to store the DVD.
  

Start DVD Decrypter and select Mode -> File.



Then open the Settings window from Tools -> Settings.


Settings window will open up.
Select the File Mode and click All in Select Files from the drop down menu.Click OK.

Choose the Destination for your DVD files. Or click Browse to select your Destination.

Finally, click on the DVD to Hard Drive Symbol to start the ripping process .


The ripping or the decryption process starts.


When the process is completed,the DVD ripped files are in your computer.

That's it!Done! You have suceessfully ripped the DVD to your PC hard drive.

Now, you can view it or burn it to a DVD as well.

Handbrake is another free DVD ripper that copies a movie to a computer hard drive for viewing on your computer or iPod.


Copyright © 2008-2009 Laila Rajaratnam. All Rights Reserved. Read more Entry>>

Step By Step Tutorial To Produce Podcast

There are 4 steps to produce your podcasts.Ofcourse these are just the basic steps for you to have an idea about what podcasts are all about!

1. Record Your Audio and Create Your MP3 File

You can record your audio in a free software program called Audacity which is quite simple to use.You can download it from here.

Audacity is available for the Windows, Mac OS 9 or X, and Linux/Unix versions. You will also have to download the LAME MP3 encoder in order to export MP3 files. You can find the link on the same page as the Audacity download.

There is another easy method to record your audio! Use the Sound Recorder which comes with Windows.The Basic tutorial to record using the sound recorder is here.

When your audio is done - Save it and Note the size of the file.
To note the size of the file-
1. Right click on the .mp3 file you created
2. Click “properties” and note the size.


2. CreateYour RSS Feed File

An RSS feed is in fact a text file with the extension .rss . Name it whatever but it should end with .rss . You will have to write a RSS file with XML or Extensible Markup Language which is similar to HTML or HyperText Markup Language .Both XML and HTML use similar tag system inside the RSS file. The good news is, you can copy another RSS file as your template and then modify it as needed.
The other option is to sign in to certain sites, so that you need not do the coding.

ClickCaster and MyRSSCreator are two such sites which offer no-coding!

You can also make use of some free and fee-based RSS file generators like –

Podcast RSS feed generator
Simple RSS File Generator
ListGarden RSS Feed Generator Program

3. Write the XML Inside the RSS File

Now write the XML..which begins with – title
It goes something like this..
The title of it:
The description:
The publish date
The mp3 file itself:
The exact location
The exact length of file:
And the type of file it is:

There! You’ve created the code needed for a podcast! Now, name your RSS file and save it to your desktop or a directory .
Example: MyPodcast.rss

4. Upload the .MP3 File, RSS File, and Validate It

An RSS file must stay inside a server. If you have your own website then you do already have a server hosting your website. Use that server!
You upload your RSS file along with the mp3s for your podcast using either any free FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program like CoffeeCup Free FTP or any other webpage upload software your hosting company provided.

To Validate or Check Your RSS File is Correct

You can type in the address of where you uploaded your RSS file a to a RSS Validators site like : http://validator.w3.org/ ,type your url and press check
Now all that you do is to provide the address of your RSS file to anyone who wants to subscriber to your podcast.
For example:http://www.yourwebsite.com/MyPodcast.rss

For people to receive your podcast, there are many free software programs.
Don’t forget to advertise your podcast by listing it in many of the directories available on the Internet .

Copyright © 2008-2009 Laila Rajaratnam. All Rights Reserved.


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Windows Sound Recorder

It is very easy and simple to use the Sound Recorder which comes with Windows! You can record, mix, edit, and play sounds. You will need a microphone as well.

With the Sound Recorder you can:
• Add sounds to a file.
• Delete part of the sound file.
• Change the playback speed, volume and direction.
• Change or convert the sound file type.
• Add an echo.

First, plug your microphone into your sound card's mike input.

Open Windows Volume Control.

Go to> Start >Programs>Accessories>Entertainment>Volume Control



On Volume Control , Click Options and highlight Properties
Select Recording
Check Select box ,where it says MIC volume
Click OK



Next,Go to Start>Programs>Accessories>Entertainment>Sound Recorder

When you start your recording, the volume switch can be adjusted using the slider control. Sound Recorder saves files in .wav format.If you need to convert it to MP3 format you can use any free converter programs.That's it!
Save it wherever you want to!
Great!You have just recorded your own audio!:)

Copyright © 2008-2009 Laila Rajaratnam. All Rights Reserved. Read more Entry>>

Google's Hidden Utilities

There are the many utilities hidden in Google search! The following are a few of them!

Google's Weather




Would you like to see the weather for many U.S. and worldwide cities? Just type "weather" in the search box, followed by the city ,state, or country.

Google's Time




Do you want to see the time in many cities around the world? Type in "time" and the name of the city in the search box!


Fill in the Blank



Do you have a question? Let Google ‘fill in the blank’for you! Add an asterisk (*) after the sentence or question in the Google search box.


Stock Quotes



Want to check out the current market data of a company or fund? Type in the ticker symbol into the search box. Then, you can click the link to see more data from Google Finance.

Spell Checker



Would you want to spell check that your word is correct? Type in your word and the search will generate results with an alternative spelling and it will ask “Did you mean: (more common spelling)?”. Click in the suggested spelling to launch a Google search for that term.

How cool are all these? :) Read more Entry>>

Produce Your Own Podcast

Since podcast is the hot topic now, how about producing your own podcasts ? It is cool to host your talk show! Actually, Podcasting is a breeze !

To start your own podcast, all that you need is :

• A microphone
• Some free software
• Space on a web server
• Gift of the gab

That’s all! Simple!:)

But then, you should also learn just a few skills, which is a child's play!

You need to know how to:

• Record your audio and save it as an MP3 file.
• Create an RSS file.
• Write the “directions” that are inside the RSS file
• Upload the RSS “feed” and yourMP3 file
• Authenticate that the file is written and sent correctly.

Yes, That’s it! Told you that it is a snap!

Besides, just keep in mind the following:

• To use a good quality microphone so that your audio sounds good and clear.
• For recording, it is irrelevant what software application you use to record your audio.
• You simply have to create an audio file that can be converted to an MP3 file format.

Well, you are all set to be a Radio star!

Don’t miss the next post –Step by step tutorial to create your own podcast! :)

Copyright © 2008-2009 Laila Rajaratnam. All Rights Reserved. Read more Entry>>

Google's Hidden Calculator

Is there anyone who do not know that Google is a search engine? Well , but then, how many know that you can use Google search box as a calculator as well?It has a hidden calculator! Oh, no! It is not just an ordinary calculator to calculate only the basic math stuff but it can calculate both the basic and advanced math problems too!

Another advantage is that, you don't have to restrict yourself to numbers! Google can understand any words and abbreviations and evaluate those expressions, too.

Like for example, you want to add 1+1 (Great! Since I’m not a genius at Maths, I can only understand such simple basic stuff as 1+1..LOL)

Anyway,Go to Google Search engine.
Type in 1+1 and click Search
Your ansnwer will show up 1+1=2

You may use words too
Like,one plus one
and your results show.. one plus one=two


You want to search for documents containing the terms you added, like for instance the 1+1,we just totaled? You can just do that and get results!

You can calculate like this too!
Next, coming to Complex Math problems…

Google can calculate more complex problems such as three to the thirtieth power,
3^30

the square root of 160
or (sqrt)

or the sine of 30 degrees.
sine(30 degrees)

You can even find the number of possible groups in a set. For instance,
24 choose 7 - finds the number of possible choices of 7 items from a group of 24 items.
And so on and so forth!

In the same manner,to calculate logarithm base 10 values, type log (100) in search box and press search button to show the result.
To calculate cos90 value, type cos(90) in search box and press search button to show the result.

Here are some other math syntax Google recognizes:
• + for addition
• - for subtraction
• * for multiplication
• / for division
• ^ for exponential (x to the power of y)
• % for modulo (to find the remainder after division)
• choose X choose Y fines the number of possible subset groups of Y out of the set of X.
• th root of creates the nth root of a number
• % of finds percentages X % of Y finds X percent of Y.
• sqrt finds the square root of the number that follows
• ln logarithm base e
• log logarithm base 10
• lg logarithm base 2
• ! factorial - This must follow the number you wish to factor.

Is'nt Google's Hidden Calculator amazing!




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Google's Hidden Dictionary -1

Everyone knows that Google is a search engine! But then, did you know that Google has a Hidden Dictionary? Well, you may have noticed that when you're searching for a word, Google will offer a link to Web definitions of your word. This is part of Google's hidden dictionary!
Let’s say that you want to know the meaning ,the definition ,synonym of the word GREEDY.
Go to Google and type in the word greedy.
Click the Google search button.
Your results will show up.
You will also see a link for definition. Now Click definition.

Another page will open up with the Dictionary Meaning, Thesaurus,Antonyms,Word Tutor,Translations,Best of the Web and even Shopping for the word GREEDY.





But then , if you are only interested in finding a quick dictionary style definition of greedy, use the syntax define:
Like this - define:greedy
Type in and click Google Search.

If you want the definitions in other languages too,there are options.
For,instance, if you click on German, the results will show up in German!


What if you are not a good speller?Do not worry! Google will still suggest an alternate search, just as it does for regular Web searches. Like if we type in define: gredy, Google will helpfully ask you, "Did you mean: define: greedy."

How cool is this? :)


Copyright © 2008-2009 Laila Rajaratnam. All Rights Reserved. Read more Entry>>