On the face of things, Theora seems to be a better codec simply based upon the fact that the OGG file is 50 MB compared to the 185 MB MPEG file. I still have to do some tests to see if this comes at the cost of worse quality in the picture or sound, but if it’s equivalent, then OGG is clearly the best format for storing DVDs. Not only is it free (and allegedly taggable via metadata), but it’s also smaller in file size.

To encode your video in a free codec (ie not proprietary), use Theora from Xiph.org. This codec is still in ALPHA stage (as in, not even beta!) so don’t use it for mission critical stuff just yet. However, xine and mplayer already play the codec. If you try to convert an avi to theora (using ffmpeg2theora) the audio will be out of sync with the video. So either encode the original video as an mpeg or type in the following:

Winter’s Returning:

Snow falls gingerly downward.

Will you stay long, snow?

“Dance, Dance, Christa Paffgen”

She’s got the time says she got time on her side Running the rule Commanding the late boys eyes She runs around, knows all the streets by name So mysterious, shadows meet James Dean She’s intoxicating, soon your favorite drink Your black dress in disarray Only dance floor prayers can save you Temperatures rise and I start to move But it’s you that’s coursing through my veins Say she’s got hope Took shelter to the Hollywood list, taking control Wanted my heart but I gave her my soul She’s like a Paige Davis with a Monroe kiss Disappeared today, left no trace But someday I’ll know your name Don’t need no drugs, you’re my chemical Now I’m dependent, swear I’m clinical Addicted to those glances, taking chances tonight I need a fix in those heroin eyes Don’t need no drugs, you’re my chemical Now I’m dependent, no not cynical Addicted to those glances, taking chances tonight I need a fix in those heroin eyes She’s no saint but she’ll take you to your knees Try her boy, but she’ll still do what she please Do you believe in science? She prefers chemistry She wanted my love but I gave her the rest of me Dear Stephen Patrick: You’ll adore me before the night is over If London’s calling don’t you dare pick up the phone Only you entwined could make this orphan feel at home Lips that need no introduction, but now waiting for your call if picture’s worth a thousand words Then your touch is worth them all

http://www.ultimateshowdown.org/

It’s a mix of very funny and a bit juvenile. Enjoy!

The important thing about installing a multi-disc distro with VMware Player is that it will create a lock on the disc so that it will tell you to change discs, yet when you do, it says the same disc is still in there. The way to counter this is to hit the CD-ROM button at the top of the VMware player window. This toggle button controls whether the CD is mounted or not. The first time you will get some warnings, but by clicking cancel you can tell it to ignore the lock the emulator has on the drive. From then on, changing discs during installation is as simple as toggling the button off and on, to let it know a new CD is in.

VMware has relased their VMware Player player for free. This product acts as a virtual machine (as opposed to an emulator) and is, therefore, supposed to give you much faster speeds than a program like QEMU. You could use it to run Windows on Linux or Linux on Windows. I will go over putting Linux on Windows. First go to http://www.vmware.com/products/player and download the player. Then download the Browser-Appliance. Of course, the easiest way is to download a Linux image which has already been created for you. They have Debian, Fedora, Suse, Ubuntu, and a few others. However, as I already have CDs of Fedora Core 5 test 2 downloaded, I don’t want to waste bandwidth (and time) downloaded the vmx image. Therefore, I will go over a slightly harder way, but, according to the PDF at this site, it doesn’t appear to be that hard.

AOL and Yahoo have announced they will allow companies to pay them money to guarantee their emails will get past the spam filters and appear certified. I don’t like this at all. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think it’s all too easy once this kicks in for companies who aren’t paying to get past the spam filters to suddenly find themselves sucked in. Kinda like the Mobster movies where the shop owner who doesn’t buy “protection” gets his store trashed. And what’s to stop them from extending this to us, the normal guys? Email is wonderful and powerful because it’s free! I can shoot off as many emails as I want all over the world without paying $0.39-$2 to get it to the person. Therefore I can send an email just to let someone know I’m thinking of them. I don’t have to come up with a whole letter to justify the cost. I hope I’m wrong. Darn spammers messing up the net for the rest of us!

I have mentioned using GRAMPS for a few posts already. I decided to head on over to their site and see what was on the plate for the next release, version 2.2. I am extremely excited!

The map view, if it’s included looks to be amazing! As you can see if you follow the link, it will show where all the events have taken place.

The pedigree view is much more vibrant now, instead of a dull black and white. It also appears to display more information.