Neuros OSD: Much cooler than Tivo
Tivo dominates so much of the digital video recorder market that sometimes products that are infinitely more innovative don’t get the attention they deserve. One of those products is the Neuros OSD, a device that lets you record from live TV, DVDs, VHS tapes, or any other device that you can hook up to a TV. It can save that video in a format suited for playback on your TV, your cell phone, an Ipod, or a PSP. And you have a choice of methods to store your video, including external USB hard drive, networked PC, SD card, Pro Duo, or Compact Flash. The Neuros can also play videos from the Internet (such as Youtube) and media that you have stored on your home network.
Basically, for those of us that like to watch our recorded videos on our portable devices, the Neuros eliminates the need for a PC to do this. They’ve basically taken out the step of getting the video on your PC and then converting it to the proper format. The device is also attractive for those looking for a quick and easy way to convert their VHS and DVD libraries to a digital format.
As it stands, the Neuros OSD is a device best suited to tech nerds, however, once they perfect the user interface, I see this device being mass-marketed to consumers as a way to record from commercial DVDs. There’s definitely something attractive about the idea of having your entire video library store on one small device and accessible with the click of a remote button. Not only that, as portable media players become a larger part of our daily routine, devices like this become a great time saver.
How to download videos from Youtube and similar sites
One of the most common questions people have when browsing sites like Youtube is, “How can I download these movies to my hard drive.”
The answer is quite simple. Youtube and similar video sites convert all movies uploaded to their servers to Flash format. Flash videos end in the .flv extension. You can’t download these videos in your browser by default, but it is possible if you have the right plug-in installed and you’re using the right browser.
What’s the right browser, you ask? Well, that would be Firefox, of course. Firefox is a free alternative to Internet Explorer and a superior product in just about every way. Why anyone would voluntarily use IE exclusively when Firefox is available is a mystery to me. Anyway, if you want to download Youtube videos, you’re going to have to download Firefox first and then read on.
Where to find downloadable movie trailers
There are thousands of sites on the web that offer movie trailers, but sometimes you need to download a trailer for some reason. Either you want to post it to another website or you want a copy to send to a friend. Finding download links for trailers is never an easy task (unless you can download .flv files, which I’ll talk about in another post), but I stumbled across a site yesterday called Movie List that makes it fairly simple.
Movie List has direct download links to trailers of upcoming films, current releases, and popular movies of the last couple years. If there’s a trailer you’re searching for, chances are you’ll be able to find it at Movie List. This site has made my own life easier, so I thought I’d pass it along.
Bittersweets
Normally, I’m in favor of holidays that involve candy, but like most men, I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day. It’s a day where women expect us to shower them with affection and gifts for no apparent reason. How is that different than every other day of the year? That said, I may just have to buy some Valentine’s Day candy this year at Think Geek. I’m not sure if my wife would appreciate a tin of Bittersweets or not though. She would, however, like their caffeine candy and their chocolate avatars.
Do we really need a device to tell us what a dog is thinking?
Scientists are working on a device that will interpret what your dog is trying to say when he barks at you. Is this really something people need? Is it that hard to understand your pet? My dog has 3 or 4 different barks, and they’re all pretty obvious to me. One means “give me your food or else,” another means “let me outside or I’m going to pee on the carpet,” and then there’s the really grouchy one he makes at my wife that means “lift me up on the bed now, I’m too small to jump but I can still poop in your shoe if you don’t do what I say.”
I think this is a waste of time and technology. What we really need is a device that would figure out why women like my wife insist on bringing annoying, yapping little dogs into our homes.
Nintendo Wii-nning Big
I was first in line for a Nintendo Wii in November, 2006. Well, that’s not exactly true. I pre-ordered mine from Amazon.com and received it the DAY BEFORE it was released to the general public, so I never actually had to stand in line. Based on the articles I’d read on Nintendo’s new product and the few preview videos that were circulating on the web, I knew I had to have one.
It turns out I wasn’t alone. Nintendo’s profits are up in a year that saw slow holiday sales for most products. Chances are, if you don’t have a Wii, it’s not because you don’t want one. It’s because you can’t find one. I knew the Wii would be popular, but who knew it would be impossible to find for two straight Christmas seasons in a row?
It really is a great product though, so if you can find one and you can afford one, you should really give it a try. I had a family gathering at my house right after the Wii came out and it was amazing that my mom, my grandma, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, and, well, everyone in my family, wanted to play the thing. I’ve had dozens of family gatherings at my home over the years and I’ve had Playstations and Xboxes on at every one of them, but only the kids ever showed any interest in using them. When my eighty-year-old grandmother asked to play Wii bowling with me after seeing me play against other family members, everyone was surprised.
Grandmothers don’t play video games. Well, they didn’t until the Nintendo Wii came along, that is.
Jan. 24 – Nintendo announced a dramatic jump in profit on Thursday, driven by strong holiday sales of its Wii and DS game machines.
The Japanese gaming giant’s profit more than doubled in the last nine months, looking at full-year earnings over $4 billion.
Dan Sloan reports.
Are you paying too much for video games?
I’ve always been a bargain hunter, as my parents used to drag me to garage sales and flea markets on a regular basis when I was younger, instilling in me a sense of frugality. I’m constantly snooping around clearance bins, checking out dollar stores, clipping coupons, and doing whatever else I can to save a buck or two. Thus, it should be no surprise to anyone that I don’t like to pay full price for video games (or anything else for that matter).
Etree.org – Free legal concert recordings
The Etree community was formed in the summer of 1998 for the online trading of live concert CD-R’s. These CDs are traded in a high-quality, lossless digital format which can be burned to CD or listened to on certain media players. While the site was originally formed by Phish fans, it has grown to include concert recordings from hundreds of popular bands such as The Grateful Dead, 311, John Mayer, Ben Folds, Blues Traveler, Dave Matthews Band, Primus, Queens of the Stone Age, and The Smashing Pumpkins (just to name a few).
The George Foreman iPod Grill
I don’t know what’s more scary, the fact that they’re putting iPod speakers in just about everything these days, including an indoor/outdoor George Foreman Grill, or the fact that I kind of want one. My only concern is putting my expensive iPod near that heat and grease, although I would hope they designed the thing with protecting your mp3 player in mind.
The $99 price tag isn’t bad either. I’m curious to see some reviews on this.
Free wi-fi in Indiana?
So I was checking out the latest spam from Apple about new features on the Ipod Touch, and while e-mail, maps, weather, and stocks on the go are cool concepts, the Ipod Touch requires a wi-fi network in order to supply this data. The problem with this is that when I need a map I’m probably in my car, nowhere near a wi-fi hotspot like Starbucks. Sure, there are plenty of free wi-fi hotspots in Indiana (and every other part of the country), but there never seems to be one nearby when you need one.