May 3, 2010
AVATAR ON DISC
Ah, Avatar. Extraordinary movie-making, one of the prettiest movies ever to hit the screen. The perfect movie for your new Blu-Ray player and HD TV – it will look splendid.
Well, that’s if it will play. And if the disc in the stores now is the one you want to buy. Because the release of Avatar on DVD and Blu-Ray has managed to combine all the worst instincts in our entertainment companies for marketing and for copy protection paranoia.
The Blu-Ray disc on the market now has the movie on it. It has no extras. It has […] continued
April 25, 2010
J RIVER MEDIA CENTER 15
Long time readers know that periodically I mention J River Media Center, the program I’ve used for many years to organize my embarrassingly large music library. If you’re not familiar with the program, then please go read my write-up a few months ago, where I tried to make it clear who it might appeal to – and more importantly, who should not consider it. Anything that touches your music library, your photos and your videos should not be taken lightly!
Development has begun on J River Media Center 15, as the company continues to add […] continued
February 4, 2010
WHO WILL BUY THE APPLE iPAD?
Who’s going to buy an Apple iPad?
Well, not you or me, anyway – not this version, not at $600-800.
It’s not going to revolutionize anything, it’s not going to replace netbooks, but it will find large and devoted audiences, particularly after the price drops and some features get added. It’s easy to imagine version 2 or 3 with the built-in camera that ought to have been there all along, and with the GPS receiver that is driving the most interesting uses of the iPhone. More importantly, a couple of years from now the low-end version of the […] continued
November 13, 2009
J RIVER MEDIA CENTER 14
What software do you use to listen to music on a computer?
Most people use iTunes. A few lonely folks have gotten the new Zune HD and use its software. Still others use Windows Media Player. All of them are just fine. They’re very attractive and they handle basic functions to help you buy and listen to music. If they make you happy, don’t change!*
Some of you are outgrowing those programs.
If you’ve accumulated a large music library, you’ve probably realized that iTunes and the others are terrible at handling collections of more than a few hundred […] continued
August 13, 2009
FOLLOWUP
Gadgets and services are flooding onto the market so quickly! It’s easy to find a “review” of a new product that recites its features from a press release. It’s much harder to get feedback from people who have actually used something and learned what works and what doesn’t work in the real world.
Let me give you four examples.
SEAGATE REPLICA I wrote a hopeful article about the Seagate Replica backup device, which is intended to back up a WinXP/Vista computer completely automatically. I haven’t had my hands on one yet and I’m still optimistic. It’s a little […] continued
June 3, 2009
THE BATTLE AGAINST BLOAT
One of the most important things you can do to keep your Windows computer running smoothly is to be conservative about what gets installed on it. Do custom installs of all new software, look at all the choices, and turn down the ones that don’t fit your needs.
I ran across a good example of the kind of bloated software that slows down our computers and causes conflicts. A good friend asked for advice about installing Nero software for working with video and burning CDs and DVDs. The Nero suite is one of the best-known commercial products on the […] continued
February 20, 2009
QUICKTIME & QT LITE
I don’t use iTunes and I don’t want Apple’s version of Quicktime on my computer. I have a pretty low opinion of Apple’s skills at writing software for PCs.
If you have iTunes, you also have Quicktime. Or perhaps you’ve installed it separately. This isn’t for you. In fact, this isn’t for any of you unless you specifically need it and you know with confidence that you don’t already have Quicktime installed.
If you don’t have Quicktime, you may sooner or later wish you did. There are web sites that stream Quicktime videos, especially movie trailers, and you can’t […] continued
October 16, 2008
FLASH 10
Adobe released Flash Player 10, a new version of its ubiquitous software for displaying video clips and special effects in a web browser. You’re using Flash every time you watch a YouTube video. There’s a long list of new features on the Adobe web site, although really all that matters is whether it will stream higher-quality video without stuttering. Supposedly the new version will do better at that.
So I scurried off to install Flash 10, since I live for things like this – went to the web site and clicked on the “Get Flash Player 10″ […] continued
October 8, 2008
WHY PEOPLE HATE BUYING PCs, PART 37
From Paul Thurrott’s blog today.
Unbelievable.
I love Dell, I really do. I recently bought that Optiplex, which has been great. So when my dad called this morning and asked about buying a new PC, I told him I could probably get something at Dell for under $500. I headed over to Dell, went back and forth between the Inspiron and Studio desktops and then started configuring an Inspiron 518.
If you’ve spent any time on Dell.com, you know how this works. They have this nice configurator wizard that walks you through all of the components you can change on
[…] continued
September 22, 2008
AUDIO & VIDEO MYSTERIES
A few final thoughts about file formats for audio and video and how that affects a Vista Media Center Extender. This is the place where strong people are humbled and the whole project can be brought down with screams of frustration. I can only touch on a few of the myriad details.
There is a single overriding principle that you can put to use right away: make a conscious effort to avoid any file format that is locked up with any DRM (digital rights management, the schemes used with “licensed” content to prevent you from making full use of it), […] continued