Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Oh don't even think I haven't used many a converter in my time. Truth is I am constantly looking for a better one and I am fed up with media converters who claim to be the best when they are NOT. Of course when I read that Blaze Media Pro was a power house I immediately rolled my eyes, scoffed and began my trip down doubt and trial lane.
FINALLY I can say I was wrong and now I have a program I can stick with and even encourage other people to use.
Blame Media Pro is a video converter and an audio converter, but it is also a DVD ripper. Video files can also be created from still frame images and/or other videos. That feature is particularly helpful when you're putzing around and trying to put something fun together for YouTube. Which I have been known to do from time to time, lol. (Yes, it even has a tool to extract the audio from video files.)
Unlike many other software programs out there this one has an extensive list of supported conversions for audio files. Every extension you can think of is supported. Formats supported for audio conversion include CD, MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG, MPEG-4, AIFF, M4A, AAC, AC3, FLAC, and ALAC, and two-way conversions among MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, WMV, ASF, Flash (SWF and FLV), iPod, PSP, 3GP, and MOV are available for video. MPEG options are available for VCD, SVCD, and DVD compliant output.
Above all though I think the best feature is the video compression. I mean this not only converts, but it also compresses the file which then makes burning easier. And since this is the professional version there are even ways to edit video, including deleting frames which is sometimes the only thing I need to do.
Needless to say this is finally a conversion and ripper software that stands up to its name while also killing the competition hands down. Blaze Media Pro.
Labels: compression, converter, software, video
Friday, July 11, 2008
No, I'm not iPhone crazy, so hop over to Engadget for their play by play of today's launch.I'm more interested in the happenings over at Techdirt. Today they have an article about the whole privacy debacle in regards to internet realms.
Does Comcast believe the FCC has authority over its traffic shaping efforts? Well, it may just depend on who's asking. When the FCC asserted that it did have a say in regulating Comcast's traffic shaping efforts, Comcast emphatically stated that the FCC's authority does not extend that far. And, technically, Comcast is probably correct that it would be an overreach of the FCC's mandate -- though the FCC clearly disagrees.
Still, when defending itself against a lawsuit in California over the very same traffic shaping, Comcast has convinced a judge to suspend the lawsuit by noting that the FCC has clear authority over these matters:
This issue "i.e., the reasonableness of a broadband provider's network management practices" has, however, been firmly placed within the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"), an administrative agency whose authority to regulate internet broadband access companies' services is well-established.
And then of course there is a neat piece of software I recently stumbled upon which I thought I'd quickly brief. It's called "TrueCrypt" and it's software for the top secret agent identity in all of us. When you encrypt files on your hard disk, not only do you want to scramble the files, but sometimes you want to prevent others from discovering that the files even exist, a sleight-of-hand known as steganography.
Best thing about this...it's freeware. =o)
Labels: Comcast, FCC, internet, software, TrueCrypt
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Finding music composing software that is easy enough to use, but also allows the production of quality tracks is something I know a lot of singer/songwriter folks struggle with when they try to record on their own.The company who creates Finale software is "MakeMusic" they are the only company that creates, owns and licenses the most advanced and patented technologies and solutions that support the composition, arranging, teaching, learning and playing of music. Knowing they create products to help teachers and composers should help you to be more comfortable with their background.
Finale can record or import a mono or stereo audio file to enhance playback. The 2008 version of the software comes with more than 250 world-class Garritan instrument sounds. After hearing back from customer's on how they can better their software, the interface has been newly streamlined to be more efficient, intuitive and consistent.
Sponsored post.
Labels: Finale, music production, software
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Although not breaking news, I read today that the surfers of the web should be aware of a new virus which deletes important [Windows] system files and additionally hijacks your sound card to say "...Your system files have been deleted. Sorry."
This new Trojan was detected by Panda Labs, a company which offers software such as anti virus and firewall)
Users who contract the BotVoice.A Trojan will hear the phrase, "You have been infected. I repeat, you have been infected and your system files have been deleted. Sorry. Have a nice day and bye bye," on a continuous loop while the virus attempts to make its mark.
According to Panda, it prevents users from working with the computer properly, as it does not allow the files with certain extensions from being run: .BAT, .COM, .EXE and .MP3 files, among others. It deletes system files, then modifies the Task Manager and Windows registry and blocks any possible action to undo the damage.
The Trojan can find you through peer-to-peer networks, external storage devices, or malicious websites, but it does not spread automatically by its own means. Just remember to keep your security software up to date.
A talking virus. Hmm..candy corn is suddenly coming to mind.
Panda Labs.
Labels: security, software, Trojans
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
I'll be honest. I don't like Macs. There, I said it. Needless to say, I laughed when I read today that Apple had ported Safari to the Windows platform. When it comes to internet browsers I do mainly use Firefox. But I didn't switch to Firefox until about a year ago. Even on a Mac I use Firefox. Why? Because I don't like Safari. Safari always seemed to be lacking something. It was slow, you couldn't import and export bookmarks, and it doesn't load all websites correctly. So today when I read the Safari news, I said "Ok Mr. Jobs, I'll bite." I downloaded Safari for Windows. It was great to see an import and export bookmarks in the file menu, but other than that I found nothing special, and I would not use Safari over Firefox. For you Mac/Safari users, I'm sure you'd give a yawn to this news. For you Windows/IE/FireFox users, this may look quite different at first, but I'd say you will switch back to your previous browser after a while. I already uninstalled Safari.
I'm sure the purpose of this software release was not to make the world switch to Safari, but rather to give people more access to Apple products, to give them a taste of the Mac world. "Like what you see? Come join us, and together we can usher in a new era of computing - an era where Macintosh reigns over all things PC." If you want to use a Mac, don't fake it by using Safari, just go out and buy one. But anyway, forget about how I feel - try it yourself. The link is below.
Download Safari for Windows here!
Labels: Apple, Macintosh, software
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