yup, what was i thinking not taking a look at this app earlier when davak mentioned it in his blog….   handbrake is an all in one video converter program.  its for both apples and pcs and does basically all the major file types/device types from iphone to psp to ps3 to apple tv to x360 to quicktime..

anywho, handbrake is able to convert a dvd to a ps3 mp4 file in about 2 hours on my setup (2gb memory, athlon 64 dual core) the quality is very good and the consistency and stability is topnotch vs ps3 video 9.  i have not had the av sync problems i had w/PS3 video 9 (very annoying when the audio would get behind the video by a minute towards the end of some movies)

now if only i could put an even bigger hdd in my ps3! oh handbrake.. how i love thee..

htpc, ps3, osx86, iphone, x360, hd, geek, windows, mac, gaming, music, console, apple | 2 Comments »

Happy New Year to everyone!  This last year was a pretty crazy year in regards to technology, gaming and being a geek.  Today’s post will be a personal recap 2007, and what i thought was the biggest trend from it.

2007: The year that gaming really went mainstream?

2006 yielded an estimated 12 billion dollars in revenue for the video game industry however 2007 could end up being an even better year.  This year we saw the X360 sales thrive (not counting japan of course) w/the release of much the anticipated Halo3 (which itself set a record for most copies sold on release for any media; movie, music, game).  We also saw gaming go mainstream with the help of the casual gaming system, Nintendo’s Wii (ie money printing machine, hehe).   Sony’s PS3 also started to pick up steam in sales with the price drops and release of two new models; however the PS3 was/is still trailing the pack in sales but has seemingly helped the next-gen format war for blu-ray vs. hd-dvd (x360 did not include the hd dvd, optional drive vs sony making blu-ray a requirement in the ps3).

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fanboy, blogging, Zune, launch, ds lite, life, x360, iphone, osx86, ps3, wii, opinion, gaming, linux, hardware, applications, console, culture, geek, handheld, apple | 2 Comments »

hahah! again, this is why when the iPhone launched, i really wasn’t too excited.  the iphone was the ‘jesus’ phone when first launched.  it was viewed as ‘revolutionary’ by the first, early adopters (who in turn also go screwed on a price drop only 3 months later, sure $100 voucher to the apple store but thats almost an insult since you HAVE to use the voucher at an apple store).

the hacking community started to really get involved in both unlocking the iphone’s sim card and also allowing third-party code to run.  however the apple’s latest 1.1.1 iphone firmware update appears to not only break/brick unlocked iPhones but also kills all the thirdparty apps that have been installed too.

the iPhone is starting to look more and more like my older Danger Sidekick in regards to closing off of the phone’s OS and third-party software. 

gizmodo.com even was pretty mad about this and they seem to be pretty hardcore apple fanboys too (http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/iphone/iphone-revisted-verdict-dont-buy-302075.php) 

in my opinion, i still would not get an iphone or ever since i hate systems that are so closed.  now open up the iphone to hackers again and maybe i’d consider one but then i would have to worry that apple may send another update and break it again.  

so, any iphone users w/thoughts on their purchase? are you having buyer remorse after apple’s lock-down?

iphone, culture, mobile, apple | 3 Comments »