Category: ifttt

By Jeffry Thurana, MakeUseOf – September 23, 2010 at 12:31PM

When it comes to the video converting business, the name that pops up in most people’s mind is Handbrake. And why shouldn’t it? Handbrake gets the job done and it’s free. But that’s the problem with having something convenient: you settle for that and stop looking for alternatives.

There are other good video converters out there too. Some manage to get their name known, while some are still flying below the radar. Two of them are DVD Ripper and Video Converter from MacX. The combination of these two will be able to fulfill the ripping and converting needs of every movie lover who uses a Mac.

Rip & Backup

The first member of the dynamic duo is a DVD ripping app. As the name suggests, this one will help you rip and back up your DVD movie collection. But it is no ordinary DVD ripper, because it allows you not only to rip but also to convert the result into the format that you want. So you can go directly from a DVD disc to an iPhone compatible file without any additional effort.

The first step in using the app is to click the “DVD Disc” button at the top left of the window. A small window will appear, letting you choose what disc you want to rip from the drop down menu.

The app will analyze your disc and display all the available segments. The app will also automatically choose the recommended segment to rip (usually this would be the longest part).

From my experiment I can safely say that this app handles copy protected DVDs better than Handbrake. While both apps can handle ordinary DVDs just fine, Handbrake freezes with most of the copy protected ones.

Aside from the available segments, there are other settings that you can tweak from the interface such as audio settings, subtitles, start and end time, and also the location where the conversion result should be saved.

The next step is to choose the video output settings. There are some pre-configured settings available for users to choose from: MP4, iTunes, MOV, Music, MPEG, and FLV. Even though you have to upgrade to the Pro version to have more ready to use settings, the available ones on the free version are enough to cater to our daily needs. Moreover, the available settings are also adjustable should you find the need to change.

But please note that changing the settings are not advisable if you don’t know what you are doing. After everything is set, click the “Start” button.

A small progress window will appear, giving you overall information about the ripping process. There are also options to shut down the computer and open the output folder after the process is complete. All that’s left for you to do is wait for the conversion to finish.

Another bonus feature of the app is the ability to view and take screenshot(s) from the movie. Just move the slider to the position that you want and click the camera button to the right of the slider.

Convert Video Files

The second member of the team is the Video Converter. This one specifically handles file to file conversion and will be especially useful for those who want to bring their movies to mobile devices. The working principle is basically the same with the DVD Ripper; but instead of choosing a DVD to rip, this one will ask you to find video files to convert.

From my simple experiment, I found that the conversion process took more or less the same time as Handbrake. There are some cases where Handbrake is slightly faster than the Video Converter.

Another difference between the Video Converter and the DVD Ripper are the number of pre-configured settings. There are options in the Video Converter that are not present in the DVD Ripper, such as: iPhone, iPod, iPad, Blackberry and Android.

The Good, The Bad & The Verdict

To sum up, I will try to quickly compare the DVD Ripper – Video Converter combo with Handbrake.

First, the good. As I’ve mentioned above, DVD Ripper handles copy-protected DVDs better than Handbrake while Video Converter has more pre-configured settings than Handbrake.

Second, the bad. I personally think that the developer could just combine the two apps into one, so users could do everything using just one app – just like Handbrake. As for the conversion speed, we could say that Handbrake is faster – even though the difference is not too significant.

And for the verdict, I think it’s up to the end users to choose which app they prefer to use. But whatever the choice is, it’s always good to have options.

---

NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!

---

 

 

Similar MakeUseOf Articles

• How To Rip & Convert A DVD Movie For Your iPod (Mac Only) (30 comments)
• How To Easily Convert Video Files to DVD, MP4, VCD, MPEG, AVI … with VideoSpiritLite (25 comments)
• How to Create a DVD from Any Video File (24 comments)
• How To Convert Your VHS Video Tapes to DVD’s using PC (26 comments)
• An Introduction To Codecs, Converters and Rippers (23 comments)
• The Top 5 Free Apps To Split Or Merge Video Files (23 comments)
• Media Cope – An All In One Media Player, Cutter & Converter (19 comments)
• How To Rotate Video Files on Your Mac and PC (8 comments)
• How To Make Professional Video Editing Cuts Online For Free With JayCut (3 comments)
• How to Copy DVDs That Are Copyright Protected (Windows) (64 comments)

By nate@arstechnica.com (Nate Anderson), Ars Technica – September 23, 2010 at 12:10PM

At its monthly meeting today, all five FCC Commissioners set disagreements (mostly) aside and unanimously supported the final rules that will open empty TV channels to unlicensed broadband use. If all goes according to plan, these “TV white spaces” will be the raw material that unleashes another WiFi revolution—but this time with longer range, better building penetration, and even more speed.

White space devices will still need to query a special geolocation database before transmitting, in order to avoid broadcasting over existing TV channels and wireless mic users, but the FCC has ditched the expensive “spectrum sensing” tech it initially required back in 2008. On a conference call yesterday, reps from Google, Dell, and Public Knowledge worried that a requirement to include both the database check and spectrum-sensing hardware would make the new white space devices too costly and too difficult to build, while broadcasters and microphone users have long argued both techniques are necessary to avoid any interference.

Read the comments on this post

By Jason Fitzpatrick, Lifehacker – September 23, 2010 at 09:30AM

If you’re staring down a cryptic error code, web site ErrorGoblin can help you decipher what it means, give you additional information to further your search, and even provide a solution for the particular error you’re encountering.

ErrorGoblin supports Windows, Mac. and HTTP errors. (You don’t have an option to select HTTP error codes, but it will return information if you plug one in.) The search results show information for the error code you searched for, plus similar codes in case there wasn’t a perfect match. Error codes with available solutions will display the solution under the additional information section of the error code readout.

ErrorGoblin is a free tool and requires no registration. Have a favorite tool for divining error codes? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

By Kevin Purdy, Lifehacker – September 23, 2010 at 07:00AM

LastPass is easy, secure, and works across systems and browsers—it’s our favorite password solution. Here’s how to take LastPass further: force saving on uncooperative sites, manage notifications, “rate” your passwords, use two-factor authentication, and more.

If LastPass is intriguing, but you’ve not quite made the jump, consider our previous feature on why it works so darned well. Founding editor Gina Trapani also considers LastPass as the sweet spot between convenient and security, as detailed in this embedded entry from her Work Smart video series:

Once you’ve picked up the basics of importing and storing passwords, Secure Notes, and setting up your browsers with LastPass instead of insecure password storage, you can get more out of LastPass by exploring its features around the edges. Here’s a few of our favorites:

Manage Your Notifications

After installing LastPass and setting it up with a few passwords, you might notice that it’s a bit, well, overzealous in its reminders, notices, and questions. Asking to save new passwords or change them? Sure, that makes sense. Reminding you every time LastPass fills in a form, or offering to generate a new password on every site? Not so helpful.

To get less browser chatter, click the LastPass icon on your browser taskbar, or get to its settings from your add-on/extension menu. In the preferences list, choose Notifications, and uncheck those things having to do with “Form Fill” and “Generate Secure Passwords.” You can also get rid of the browser-spanning “Bar” notifications if you’d like, because your LastPass icon will still spin and change colors when it wants your attention—to save or change passwords, bad LastPass logins, and the like.

Take the LastPass Security Challenge to Fix Your Weak Passwords

Just because your passwords are locked away in LastPass doesn’t mean they’re actually good passwords. If you give LastPass permission to run through your passwords, the app can show you which are decent, which are pretty much asking to be hacked, and provide direct links to where you can fix them.

Sign into LastPass through your browser add-on, or on the site itself, then head to the Security Challenge site. You can also access this site through your extension’s Tools menu. Hit the “Start the Challenge” button, and LastPass will analyze all the passwords you’ve tucked away, then provide both aggregate data on your entries (average length and strength, numbers of duplicates, etc.) and show you each password for each site, and how it rates.

Force LastPass to Remember Stubborn Sites

For various reasons—weird design and intentional lock-downs among them—LastPass can’t or won’t take note of the username/password combo on some sites and offer to save it. This also applies to sites that have sub-sections you can log into.

If you’ve got a site that won’t take input, go ahead and type in your user/password combo, but don’t hit the login button. Instead, click your LastPass browser icon, then choose “Save All Entered Data.” You’ll get a kind of behind-the-scenes look at how LastPass views the page. Scroll down, and you’ll see the text you entered next to the named field. Hit “Save” in the lower-right corner, and the next time you head to the site, LastPass should be able to save you the trouble of logging in. Be sure to check as well in the Advanced section of your browser add-on preferences—you’ll see an option there that lets you ignore or respect sites that use the basic autocomplete=off code on their sites to discourage tools like LastPass.

Create Your Own Keyboard Shortcuts

Like all the apps that you plan to use every day, you should get familiar with LastPass’ keyboard shortcut powers. In this case, though, you’ll mostly create your own scheme that’s familiar to your fingers.

The default keyboard shortcut that everybody should know is the login changer. If you’ve got multiple accounts at, say, Twitter.com, LastPass can remember them all. To change between them at the login screen, hold Alt (or Command on Macs) and press Page Up or Page Down on your keyboard. The other shortcuts for saving, generating, and entering passwords are up to you to fill in, depending on what you feel works. I find that holding Alt as a general LastPass modifier tends to work best and interfere with the fewest shortcuts.

Require Two-Factor USB Authentication

If you’ve got some really sensitive stuff stashed in LastPass, or you’re heading somewhere without real guarantees of security (like, say, internet cafes in Thailand), you can upgrade to a LastPass Premium account (about $1 per month) and start using LastPass Sesame. It’s a thumb drive application that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it changes your LastPass account so that it requires generating a one-time password from the USB drive before unlocking any passwords. In other words, even if someone gets your root LastPass password, it won’t do them any good without access to the thumb drive you’re likely carrying with you.

Install the Binary Version for Extra Cross-Browser Features

You’ll notice, peeking around LastPass’ settings, that there are certain features that are only available if you “Install the binary version.” These are usually system-wide features that browser extensions wouldn’t grant access to, but they’re pretty convenient, especially if you use more than one browser regularly. With the binary version, you can set LastPass to automatically log itself out if your browser has been idle for a set number of minutes, and also make one LastPass login count for all your browsers.

---

What’s your favorite LastPass feature that doesn’t get much attention? What do you wish LastPass offered that might make you switch? Let’s hear your picks in the comments.

By Darknet, Darknet – The Darkside – September 23, 2010 at 04:40AM

wifite is created to to attack multiple WEP and WPA encrypted networks at the same time. This tool is customizable to be automated with only a few arguments and can be trusted to run without supervision. Features sorts targets by power (in dB); cracks closest access points first all WPA handshakes are backed up (to […]

Read the full post at darknet.org.uk

By Splashpress Media, ForeverGeek – September 22, 2010 at 04:58PM

One of my greatest childhood frustrations was the Etch a Sketch. No matter how hard I tried, I never was able to create a cool design or picture with the thing, and it drove me nuts. Eventually, I hucked it across the room in frustration and stormed off. Inevitably, a week or so later I’d go and pick it up and try again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

But this is legitimately cool. It’s an official Etch A Sketch iPad Case, and better yet, it’s cheap. $39, which is cheaper than most iPad cases out there today, and it also doubles as a hiding box for your iPad, because really, who’s going to jack your Etch A Sketch?

By Jason Fitzpatrick, Lifehacker – September 22, 2010 at 03:00PM

You’ll find them in everything from food containers to electronics packaging, but silica packets are a cheap and abundant desiccant you can use all around your home to keep things dry. Toss a few in your toolbox for rust-free tools.

DIY magazine Popular Mechanics took a moment to highlight all the uses their readers shared for old silica packets, including keeping tools in great shape.

Toss them in your toolbox to keep your tools free of oxidation. I am a line mechanic for Delta Airlines. We do all our work here outside since we don’t have a hangar. So when an aircraft arrives with maintenance issues I have to wheel my tools outside, leaving them vulnerable to weather, and sometimes my toolbox gets filled with snow or rain. I have found that if I put two desiccant packs per drawer in my toolbox, it is just enough to dry them out and keep my tools from oxidation.

Check out the full article for more tips and tricks like using them to save a wet cellphone, extend the life of razor blades, and even dry your fishing gear. Have a clever use for a product most people just throw away? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

By (author unknown), Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine – September 21, 2010 at 09:28PM

The account in Exodus of Moses and the Israelites fleeing the Pharoah’s advancing chariots is one of the most well known stories from the Bible. It tells of a body of water – variously translated as the Red Sea or the Sea of Reeds – parting to leave a passage of dry land with walls of water on both sides that allows the Israelites to flee to the other shore, before the waters rush back to drown the pursuing soldiers. The account also tells of a mighty east wind that blows all night and a new computer modeling study that applies physics to the escape route shows how the movement of wind as described in the book of Exodus could have parted the waters. ..
Continue Reading Computer modeling suggests parting of Red Sea may have been caused by the wind

Tags: Model,
NCAR,
Physics,
Water,
Wind

Related Articles:

• MIT designs giant wind turbines for use at sea
• Zeppy 3: wind-powered airship to attempt Mediterranean crossing
• Hot, cold and sparkling water cooler (and heater)
• World’s largest offshore wind farm
• World’s biggest wind turbine to take a spin in Norway
• Aquasolo self-watering system

By Whitson Gordon, Lifehacker – September 21, 2010 at 02:00PM

If taking notes isn’t quite your style, you can import conversations, interviews, lectures, or any other voice recording into free service VoiceBase, which will transcribe them and make them searchable.

VoiceBase acts as your personal and public voice recording database. No matter what your recordings—phone conversations, interviews, or presentations—you can import them into VoiceBase and it will transcribe them for you. Once it’s done, you can edit the transcription manually for any errors.

You can then search the database (either limited to your own recordings, or including public content) for words within the transcriptions. It will highlight your search terms so you can go straight to the part of the recording or transcription that you need—perfect for condensing and extracting quotes from an interview, or for finding important points in a lecture. Right now, you get two hours of storage for free, but you can upgrade to more for a small fee. Hit the link to check it out. If you’re an Evernote user, be sure to check out similar service Voice2Note for Evernote integration, too.

By Mark Wilson, Gizmodo – September 21, 2010 at 02:00PM

The photos that follow are impossible. But they actually happened. The entries for this week’s Shooting Challenge are composites, stacking subjects from the same place at different moments in time. The results will bend your brain in the best ways: More »