bitRipper offers one-click DVD ripping

Want to convert your DVD into a video file that you can play on any computer, but don't feel like fussing with complicated DVD ripping software? It doesn't get much simpler than bitRipper. All you need to do is pop a DVD into your optical disc drive, fire up bitRipper, and click the Start ripping button. That's it.
Of course, you can click the settings tab to access more advanced features. For instance, you can change the audio or video codecs or adjust the bit rate, aspect ratio, or video resolution. At the very least, I'd recommend configuring the audio. The default settings use a ridiculously low bitrate that sounds just awful.
For some reason, when I tried ripping a video using the LAME audio codec, the audio and video were out of sync, but when I tried again using the Fraunhofer codec all was right with the world.
[Via: MakeUseOf ] [Tag: bitripper, dvd, dvd-ripper ]

Hulu: People are actually watching us

Much to everyone's amazement, Hulu doesn't suck. Seriously. When Fox and NBC first announced plans to get into the online video streaming business, a lot of commenters spent a lot of time talking about how silly it would be to take on YouTube. And then Hulu started showing full length movies and TV shows with minimal advertisements. The video quality is fairly good, and the content library includes things you might actually want to watch. Now, just two months after publicly launching, Hulu reports that:

• The site has served up more than 63 million video streams
  
• The average Hulu user watches 2 hours of Hulu video each month
  
• Hulu is now the top network video site

Hulu has also launched a distribution deal with TV.com today, and plans to start streaming video through TVGuide.com, Break.com, Zap2it, BuddyTV, Flixter, and MyYearbook in the next few weeks.

[Via: Download Squad ]
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Redlasso offering bloggers TV/radio searchable database

Redlasso is a database stuffed with the latest TV and radio programming, allowing registered users to search for and "lasso" out clips in order to imbed them on other sites. Although the company is currently negotiating deals with several content partners, Redlasso says "virtually all media" (TV, Radio, streaming internet programming, podcasts) is indexed in almost real-time.
Much of TV and radio has so far been unsearchable in any truly convenient way. Until now, finding and embedding a TV clip often ends requires the use of less-than-legal services and practices. This is the hole Redlasso is trying to fill, though, it's hard to foresee the sight's success (or failure.
The accounts are monitored to make sure no one's watching extended amounts of programming. This makes it an inconvenient tool for media pirates, but it is intended solely for bloggers and other web publishers only. As a result, expect some type of application process when requesting an account. As for us, we're waiting on our acceptance emails.

Although the service is free, it is currently in closed beta, meaning its unavailable to the general public.

[Via: Download Squad ]
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Hungarian student throws eggs at Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

OK let's be honest. Who hasn't wanted to throw eggs at Steve Ballmer at some point. You know, you're up late at night trying to finish some report, and suddenly your computer crashes and you lose three hours worth of work (never mind the fact that this could have all been avoided if you hit the save button every now and again), and you turn to the sky and scream BALLMER!!!!

Well, maybe it's not as bad as all that. But when Ballmer spoke at the Hungarian University of Economy today, one student started throwing eggs at the Microsoft CEO. According to Valleywag, the act was meant to protest the millions of dollars Hungary's government spends to license Microsoft software at universities. While he's mostly yelling in Hungarian, you can make out a bit of English when he not-so-politely asks Ballmer to give the money back to the taxpayers.

The whole thing was caught on video. Note that Steve Ballmer was not harmed in the making of this video, but several eggs lost their shells.

[Via: Download Squad ]
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Video-Tabs: Learn to play guitar the YouTube way

A few month ago we checked out iVideoSongs, a web site that lets you buy music lessons from experts like Rush's Alex Lifeson, or Graham Nash from Crosby, Stills & Nash. The video quality is excellent, the lessons are top notch, and you can find lessons for beginners, intermediate, and advanced musicians. But only some of the lessons are free. For many you'll have to pull out your wallet.

Or you could just resort to the thousands of music lessons uploaded to YouTube and other video sharing sites for free. But who wants to sift through videos from every dude who thinks he's the next Jimi Hendrix in order to find the most worthwhile lessons? That's where Video-Tabs comes in. The site is basically a blog that features user generated guitar lessons, which are sometimes punctuated with actual guitar tabs.

Some of the lessons are excellent and easy to follow. Others not so much. But for the most part, the tutorials that we checked out seemed to feature people who actually knew how to play the songs they were teaching. If you're a visual learner, the site is definitely worth checking out.

[Via: listio ]
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YouTube flagging videos of content owners

YouTube has been linking copyrighted videos uploaded by third parties to their respective content owners. This occurred with a Modest Mouse video, which YouTube linked to the official Modest Mouse page. The link says "Contains Content From: Sony BMG," and it may be YouTube's way of preventing content owners from removing videos uploaded by fans.
Up until now, YouTube has said it shouldn't be held responsible for the copyright violations performed by its members, but it has also been very cooperative in removing copyrighted material when asked. Last year Google announced a video identification system, permitting content owners to identify (and choose how to share or remove) their content, so it seems this is what's at play here.
We're sure YouTube doesn't like to remove member videos. It's bad for business: a site with unhappy members typically means a site that eventually has no members. But if YouTube's just linking videos instead of removing them, it must be a positive step for consumers in the ongoing Copyright war.

[Via: Valleywag ]
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Silverback brings advanced usability testing to the Mac

Silverback, a new OS X application from the renowned UK-based design team Clearleft, was a mystery for quite a while. The app had a site with some neat visual tricks and a gorilla with a clipboard, and it said the application was for designers, but what did it do? The suspense was killing us! We finally had a chance to test Silverback this week, and if you design websites or application interfaces, this program is worth the wait.

Silverback basically turns your Mac into a full-featured usability testing station. Add a new project, add some users, and have them come sit down and test out your interface. Silverback hangs out unobtrusively in the background, capturing video of the the entire screen, including a cute (and useful) effect that marks where your tester is clicking. This in itself would be handy, but Silverback also takes advantage of your built-in iSight camera to include a picture-in-picture of the tester's reactions, on top of the screen capture.

This way, you can see everything the user is doing in real time, and they can speak comments aloud as they come up, rather than pausing to write them down. Usability testing the old-fashioned way generally involves expensive setups and lots of instructions, but Silverback is intuitive to use and provides straightforward and informative results. Silverback is currently in private beta, so some testers can test its testing functions (this makes our heads hurt a little bit.)
[Via: Download Squad ]
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Nominate the best for the Flash Forward Film Festival

Flashforward2008 is going to be in San Francisco this August. This annual conference is directed at Flash designers and developers and those who aspire to be called a designer or developer. Every year Flashforward features a Film Festival with open nominations of the best Flash content out there. In 2008 the categories have changed to the following:

1. Application
   
2. Cartoon/Story/Narrative
   
3. Code
   
4. Experimental/Art
   
5. Game
   
6. Motion Graphics
   
7. Navigation/Experience
   
8. Sound
   
9. Typography
   
10. Video

Anyone can submit links to Flash based works in all categories that are 'innovative and compelling.' Previous winners include Paper Vision 3d, the MoMA Contemporary Voice exhibition, and the amazing Tokyo Plastic. If you do submit a nomination to Flashforward2008 via the official film festival page, please let us know in the comments below with a link. The deadline for nominations is Father's Day, June 15, 2008.

[Via: Download Squad ]
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DivX Mobile Player 0.90 released for Windows Mobile

For years TCPMP was the reigning champ of Windows Mobile video players. The program is light weight, customizable, and can handle practically any video codec you can throw at it. But the developers of TCPMP have moved onto the commercial CorePlayer. So when we saw that there was a new version of the DivX Mobile Player, we figured we'd take it for a spin and see how it stacks up.

The application is pretty. Like really pretty. When you load it up, DivX Mobile Player will automatically detect any videos on your device which it can play. It will then create thumbnail images form the files to make your video list easier to navigate. Unfortunately this can take a while and the program doesn't respond to taps very quickly while your phone or PDA is busy grabbing thumbnails.

The video playback screen is sparse, which is a good thing if all you want to look at is the video. You get a black background, a scrollbar, two menu buttons, and your movie. You can watch your videos in fullscreen mode and get rid of the toolbar buttons. And you can adjust your colors and a few other settings. But there are some important features that are missing, like the ability to adjust your aspect ratio. Seeking also takes an excrutiatingly long time.

We're not quite ready to throw away TCPMP yet, but the DivX Mobile Player is worth keeping an eye on. The latest version features improved power management features, which should help improve battery life while watching videos. The DivX Mobile Player is also available or Symbian devices, but the latest version is 0.89. An update shoul be coming soon. You'll need to register for a free DivX account to download the mobile player.

[Via: Pocket PC Thoughts ]
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Lycos Cinema: Watch movies with friends across the world in real-time

Remember Lycos? Once upon a time they were a search engine and internet portal, just like Google and Yahoo! And today they're... well, actually they're still around, much to our surprise. And today the company launched its most interesting product in ages: an online video site with a social twist.

When you start watching a movie in Lycos Cinema, you can invite friends to watch along with you, no matter where they are. The video will play back on all of your computers at almost exactly the same instant. So users can chat about the movie in real-time as they watch. The person who starts the movie can pause, rewind, and fast forward the video stream. And the controls are almost instantaneous. If you've got a broadband connection, you can skip ahead to the end of a movie in just a matter of seconds, with no buffering.

The site features both free and paid content. When you rent a movie, you can pay one fee for a one person rental, another for "5 seats," and the top price for "10 seats." The prices seem reasonable, topping out at around $6 for 10 seats. But there's one major problem. The content sucks. We're talking, makes Joost, and even Babelgum look good sucks. The most exciting thing we could find in the free content was a Godzilla movie. The rental store content is about as fresh, with titles like Convoy and Monster from a Prehistoric Planet in the featured content section. You can imagine what the non-featured content looks like.

[Via: Download Squad ]
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PicLens image browser plugin adds support for YouTube

You know those pretty slideshows that you can view in Flickr? PicLens is a browser plugin for Firefox and Internet Explorer that lets you view images from a bunch of sites as slideshows. When we last looked at PicLens, you could view images from Flickr, Google, Photobucket, SmugMug, DeviantArt, and Yahoo! Now PicLens has added support for YouTube videos.

When you click the PicLens button in your browser, you get a black screen and a search bar. Just type any term in the search bar and you can sift through a wall of YouTube thumbnails. Click a video and it will start playing. You can blow videos up to full screen, or look through more thumbnails while your video is playing. In other words, it's kind of like watching YouTube without the ads.

[Via: VentureBeat ]
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Zune Marketplace adds TV shows, other stuff

Microsoft released an updated version of its iTunes competitor today. The new Zune Marketplace adds TV downloads and a bunch of new music features. Here are some of the highlights:

• 
  
  The desktop application is integrated with the "Zune Community," allowing users to send messages and share their collections with friends
  
  


• 
  
  Ability to drag and drop a friend's Zune Card onto your portable media player
  
  


• 
  
  Gapless playback
  
  


• 
  
  Tools for editing meta data
  
  

But it's probably the new TV store that's going to steal the show. Microsoft says more than 800 episodes are availabe as of today, with titles including South Park, The Office, Heroes, 30 Rock, SpongeBob, Ghost in the Shell, Battletar Galactica, and Robot Chicken. Programs will cost you $2 per episode. There's no word on if and when we'll see movies on the Zune Marketplace.

[Via: Download Squad ]
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Some movies now available on iTunes the same day as DVD

There's no question that it's faster to purchase a movie from the iTunes store than your local video store -- assuming you have a speedy internet connection. But if you want to get the latest releases as son as they're out on video, you're probably better off making the trek to the video store. Or at least that's what we would have told you yesterday, when it could take weeks or months longer for movies to show up on iTunes. But now Apple has announced that many movies will be available on iTunes the same day as they are released n DVD.

Apple has reached deals with Fox, Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal, Sony, Lionsgate, Image, and First Look. That covers a lot of territory. New releases will typically set you back $14.99. The press release doesn't make it clear whether this applies to the $2.99 movie rentals, so if you want to rent a video for just a few bucks, you might still better off using Netflix or walking to a bricks and mortar store.

[Via: TUAW ]
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YouTube and New Orleans team up for presidential forum

YouTube, the mayor of New Orleans, and the governor of Louisiana have publicly invited the presidential candidates to participate in a presidential forum this September. Since this is not an official debate, it is unknown if any of the candidates will actually show up. Either way, the event should prove successful -- here's why.

It's been quite some time since New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina, but the city is not done suffering. There's about 86,000 evacuees stuck in Houston, Atlanta and 40 other cities, and there the government currently has no plan on how it will bring these people home (not to mention the city's other 921,332,437,208 problems). So even if the candidates don't show up to the debate, the publicity stunt should help to remind government officials that it's not over yet. In other words, it's a giant call for help.

Despite that many may dismiss YouTube as a time-waster, this isn't the site's first dive into the presidential race. Last year, YouTube allowed its users to record and send in questions, which would be answered by the candidates on TV. And though we know the Google owned site gets a lot of great publicity out stuff like this, we can't help but tip our hat for the good work.


[Via: Silicon Alley Insider ]
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Stage6 clone DivXit becomes Vreel

Remember that Stage6 clone called DivXit we told you about yesterday? Apparently the folks at DivX didn't really like its name too much. Because today the site has a new name: Vreel. There's also a new Q&A which makes it clear that while the site was inspired by DivX's defunct Stage6 video sharing service, Vreel will build a brand new video database.

Vreel will, however, use the DivX codec and webplayer which are pretty much the things that made Stage6 special. Stage6 was one of the first sites to offer high definition video streams. While many other video sharing sites have since caught up, the DivX webplayer is still one of the best looking HD video streaming applications we've seen.

The launch date for Vreel has been pushed back a week to May 6th. Vreel says when the site goes live users will be able to upload files up to 800MB, with an eye toward enabling 1GB uploads eventually.

Vreel will eventually offer video downloads in addition to online video streams.

[Via: Davis Freeberg ]
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DivXit: The second coming of Stage6?

Almost two months to the day after DivX shut down its marginally popular Stage6 video sharing site, it looks like a third party group plans to resurrect the service. Or at least to clone it.

There's not much information available about DivXit.net yet, other than the fact that the site should launch next week. We're going to go out on a limb and guess that the folks behind the site plan to implement a DivX web video player and set up online conversion tools that let users upload various video types to share on the service.

No word on how DivXit will be able to make a Stage6 clone profitable when DivX was unable to do so. The company shut down Stage6 because it was spending too much time and energy on the bandwidth-heavy site instead of focusing on its core mission of working with hardware manufacturers to deliver DivX-certified devices.

Update: It looks like DivXit has a new name and a new launch date.


[Via: GHacks ]
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