May 16, 2008

Limewire is BAD

Filed under: Apple, Entertainment, Microsoft — admin @ 5:49 pm

Text messaging at its finest:

A friend: hey craig how do i download limewire again?
Me: Did you try a google search and type limewire? I’d do that.
A friend: do i say i might use limewire for copyright infringement?
Me: no, you don’t say that…
A friend: okay, thanks!

Sos yall knows copyright infringement is bad. You probably shouldn’t be doing it. :x

April 16, 2008

Why can’t I take screen shots while a DVD is playing?

Filed under: Apple, Entertainment, Technology — admin @ 3:23 pm

It’s a copyright issue. They think you’re going to be doing things you’re not allowed to. If you really need to however all you need is VLC media player. Start the DVD and take a screenshot when you’re where you want.

For more info on installing and using VLC media player visit this link.

April 9, 2008

I want to watch movies on my mac!

Filed under: Apple, Entertainment, Technology — admin @ 12:59 am

A few simple options;

  • Buy / rent them from iTunes
  • Watch a DVD
  • Rip a DVD to your Mac to watch later
  • Visit websites such as Hulu.com
Buying and renting from iTunes is easy. Simply start up iTunes browse to the iTunes store and have a look.

To watch a DVD on your mac it’s as easy as inserting the DVD. Just allow it to start up automatically. If the DVD doesn’t start playing right away you have many options to get your movie running.

Browse to your computer’s applications folder and open the DVD Player application. Once it’s running there shouldn’t be any problems. However if there are you may want to considering using VLC media player.

Start up VLC media player. If you’ve yet to install VLC you can do so from http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html . Once VLC media player is running you can choose file up top and then open disk.

From here it should be safe to choose okay and your movie should start playing.

 

What if you want to watch DVDs without having to have the disk with you at all times? That’s when ripping can come in handy. It’s very possible ripping isn’t legal in the USA so be sure to cover your bases before doing it. Ripping a CD or DVD means to copy the content of the disk to your computer. To rip your DVD you’ll need a program called mactheripper you can download mactheripper here.  I’ve also heard the program handbrake is good as well but having never used the program myself I’m going to explain how to use mactheripper.

This program is pretty simple to use. Click “save location” and then decide where you want the DVD to be saved. When you’re ready click go. In about 20 minutes time your DVD you own is now backed up on your laptop/ desktop. To watch these videos you can use VLC media player the same way I explained to watch a DVD only instead of choosing the DVD button choose the VIDEO_TS directory button. 

 

You’ll notice these ripped files are rather large. These files are large because the data is in the exact format used on the DVD itself. With programs such as Roxio’s Toast and these large files you can make backup copies of your DVDs. If size is an issue than it is possible for you to shrink the files down to a more manageable size.

I use a program called Visual Hub which I pay for to shrink files and convert them to various formats. Free options do exist. The same company that creates Visual Hub also has a program called iSquint.

To be honest most people only need video files at iPod size so it’s totally worth looking into just using the free version. I also suggest trying the free trial of VisualHub as well and deciding for yourself.

 

Websites like Hulu.com are starting to spring up everywhere. What they are are free legal ways to watch your favorite TV shows and movies. This is possible because the videos are ad supported. Did I mention it was legal? Another awesome way to watch tv is to use the program downloaded from http://www.joost.com/. 

 

*ripping commercial DVDs is illegal under the DMCA*