Month: December 2007

Categories
Tech

Playing H.264 mp4 Videos On Xbox 360

After all of the trouble I’d had with Windows Movie Maker during my last project, I decided to upgrade my tools. In addition to this, I’m planning to save my videos primarily in H.264 mp4 format which is higher quality than wmv and is compatible with my PSP and iPod.

Unfortunately, despite what the fall update said, I was not able to play the mp4 videos on my PC on the Xbox 360 in the living room. A lot of tinkering and searching finally lead me to a blog article in A Red Herrings Space which had the instructions I needed. Thanks Red Herring!

Stream H.264/MP4 from Windows Media Player 11 to Xbox 360/Playstation 3

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc

New AMV: All for Inuyasha

After a great deal of technical difficulty due to field order swaps on the DVDs and crash happy Windows Movie Maker, I got my new anime music video completed and uploaded for the Ohayocon AMV contest. I also decided that this will be the last AMV I make using Windows Movie Maker, it’s just too darn restrictive and unstable.

Anyhow, Inuyasha is one of my favorite anime series and this song, “All for You” by Namie Amuro, is just so beautiful! Enjoy!

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc

AMV Or Sleep?

Ugh! The AMV is not done yet and I must sleep! One of these days I’ve got to stop using Windows Movie Maker for this stuff, but I’m just too cheap, or a glutton for punishment! ^_^ As usual, I’m trying to get a new anime music video ready in time for a convention AMV contest at the last minute. I love much dramu!

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc

Simca Sighting!

A couple of days ago, I had the great pleasure of spying a stunningly attractive woman who, except for the absence of pink hair, looked a lot like Air Gear’s Simca. She didn’t appear to be as busty, but the style of the clothing and her overall shape just screamed “Simca!” Another great reminder of why getting out during lunch to get some exercise can be a good thing. And lucky me, today I saw another woman also dressed in a Simca-esque fashion, perhaps I’m witnessing a fashion trend. Fresh air sure is a good thing! ^_^

Categories
General

A Number 1, A Number 2…

My youngest son is very rules oriented. I learned yesterday that he has labeled our two bathrooms, “Number 1”, and “Number 2”. He does number 1 in Number 1 and number 2 in Number 2!^_^

Categories
General

Antidote To Life

I guess the best antidote to life is to just live it out. I got a few hours of having the house to myself during which time I got to reprise my yearly role of Santa Claus, wrapping and delivering presents to the tree. This was followed by some very therapeutic house cleaning and the washing of many things. Finally, I actually enjoyed helping my daughter fill out high school application forms.

Just goes to show, that things are rarely as bad as they seem. And even if they are, it really doesn’t matter, in a little while something else will come along. So I’m thankful for another day on this beautiful blue ball afterall.

Categories
General

Depression And The Age Of Imperfect Children

It’s midterm report time again, and again it’s a period of dread and depression here. Most would say that 3 out of 4 good reports would be a good thing. But in this age of standardized testing, ridiculously intense competition, and Ritalin, anything less than perfect overshadows anything good that comes. And so it is again, lots of yelling, accusations, and scheduled testing. At this point my feelings are of resignation and depression.

Still, my overall disposition remains optimistic. I never had any special testing, diagnoses, or drugging, and I think I turned out just fine. Indeed, most people thought I was a pretty smart, if somewhat shy, kid. Now there’s a word that doesn’t get used anymore, just plain ol’ shy. Now anyone different has to be diagnosed and subsequently prescribed the “appropriate” drug. What ever happened to letting the kids discover who they are on their own? I still believe that my job as a parent is to help them develop into the people they were made to be. This may or may not be what I would want or dream of and probably should not be. The world works best, I think, with a variety of people, personalities, and abilities. The most renowned art and science seems to come from those off the mainstream, not the so called “normal” people. Indeed, there really aren’t any normal people. Normal is just an artificial construct, probably more useful for academic comparisons than being a target of one’s aspirations.

Categories
Games and Sports

Steroids In American Baseball: Who Really Cares?

In the wake of the Mitchell report on steroid use in Major League Baseball, which names a number of high profile players, one would think that there was a general outcry just watching the news reports. But is this really the case. The very probable use of performance enhancing drugs in American baseball has been virtually common knowledge for years. Nevertheless, people keep going to the ballpark and watching the games on TV. In fact, 2007 was a record year for revenue and attendance. That hardly sounds like shock and outrage which may best explain the glacial pace at which the league has dealt with the “problem”. I guess as long as butts go in the seats and the money rolls in, there is no problem.

So if people like drug powered baseball, then heck, why make all the fuss? Just give the people what they want and maybe we’ll see some of those baseballs put into orbit next year. Everyone loves the long ball!

Categories
Tech

Xbox 360 Multimedia Lovefest

When all of the talk about this box or that box taking over your living room and being the mother of all multimedia got started, I could only greet with yawns of indifference at best. I really didn’t want everything ending up in one box (including my PC), and hooked up to the living room TV. Afterall, I’ve got some things on the PC that need to just stay there…heh heh…like all of my code, yeah, that’s right… But I keep an open mind, and like to at least try new things before passing judgment.

I have my TiVo box to thank for my latest discoveries because the 2.5.1 update to TiVo Desktop got me exploring new ways to stream video on my PC to the TV in the living room. Well, I’ve not been over impressed, actually, not impressed at all with TiVo Desktop. TiVo Desktop feels clunky and lacks a number of features unless you spend $25 for the plus version. I found it particularly annoying that the 2.5.1 update seems to imply that you can stream a bunch of new formats, including wmv, in the free version. I wasted a lot of time before discovering that I would need the plus version for that. Even if it was included, I have a series two TiVo which is so underpowered that you really have to wait for the whole thing to download to avoid stop and go playback. TiVo is good enough for its main job as a personal DVR, but really sucks for the added on multimedia extras.

So in comes my Xbox 360. The most recent Xbox Live Update included support for a number of additional media formats and since I’d not used it for anything but games, I decided to see if it could easily get my PC bound media playing on the big screen of the living room TV (sadly, still SD) and saving me the time and trouble of burning DVDs.

I was not disappointed. Right now it plays everything I have except a couple of oddball DivX encoded videos (plays other DivX okay) and, of course, music from the iTunes store. I was so happy with it that I’ve not touched any games on it for some time, instead using the time to give my PC media a living room airing out so to speak. No more lengthy transcoding! Yay!

Bottom line, TiVo had better watch its back. Outside of being a DVR, my 360 did everything better than my TiVo. If DVR functions are added plus a comparable TV scheduling service, getting the 120GB hard disk for the 360 might be looking pretty good. TiVo is already in partnerships to add their software and service to 3rd party cable boxes. If they’re smart, they’ll also be exploring ways to get on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 because after what I’ve seen, the multimedia functions of these powerful games consoles will eat them alive. If these boxes become powerful DVRs as well, it could be game over for TiVo.

Categories
Anime, Manga, Etc cosplay

Saddle Up For Ohayocon

Five or six months between conventions is too much for me, so I’m getting ready for my first trip to Ohayocon coming up in January 2008. I’ve been missing my Roger Smith cosplay, so I’ve decided to wear it on the trip. Roger wears normal clothes, so only the initiated would even notice and I’ll get a kick out of looking sharp to boot. Chicago to Columbus is about 360 miles, so I’ll need to make at least one stop, maybe two. So Roger will get a little outside public airing.

I’m not planning any new costumes for Ohayocon, only tweaks to old ones. Nice, low pressure con, as far as costumes are concerned. And I’ll enter two AMVs in the Anime Music Video contest. I hope they’ll have an overflow too so I can submit my other two.

Home life is fine, most of the time, but if I can get away from it all every few months, that’ll keep me happy. ^_^