I’ve been looking for software to ‘backup’ some of my DVD’s to enable me to play them on my Archos 605 and up until now I had been using combinations of DVD Shrink and Auto GK but some of the DVD’s had DRM or DVD Shrink wouldn’t back them up.  Last week I found an application called DVD Catalyst. Here’s what it says about it on it’s website.

DVD Catalyst FREE ,the free version of DVD Catalyst, is a One-Click conversion utility to convert DVD to iPod, PSP, iPhone, PocketPC, Zune and PalmOS devices. While not as feature-packed as DVD Catalyst 3, DVD Catalyst FREE does offer many benefits over other free conversion solutions. Unlike the need to use multiple applications, or following a free “guide”DVD Catalyst FREE automatically converts DVDs as well as video files to a format that your portable video player can handle. There is no need to install additional software. DVD Catalyst FREE works on Windows 2000,XP,2003 and Vista, and includes all that is needed to work. No compatibility issues or the need to install additional codecs.

DVD Catalyst FREE supports all video-capable iPods, Zune, iPhone, PSP, PocketPC and PalmOS devices, and is completely free (no spyware/adware/toolbars etc)

Obviously this should only be used if you have the original DVD.

I have converted to Windows Mobile and it converts a 2 hour film in under 2 hours.  The output is an .avi file that once transfered to the Archos plays without any problems.  If you want to convert a DVD that perhaps has multiple episodes then it gives the option of creating one .avi file or one for each episode which is handy.

Sa Marina Hotel

Well our holidays are all booked - last minute as usual.

We’re heading to the Sa Marina Hotel in Cala D’or on the Southern East coast of Majorca. We stayed at the same hotel 2 years ago and loved it so we decided to go back again.  I tried to book with ThomasCook but they didn’t have anything so we booked it ourselves online.  Hotel, Flights, Transfers and Airport Parking all individually.  We just need to pack now and worry about what sort of bottled water we can use to make up formula milk for the wee man.  Apparently some bottled waters have high sodium levels - not good for babies.  Evian is apparently good.

Spending the last few days at work trying to clear the decks so I don’t have too much to come back to in October.  Spent last couple of nights getting some films added to my Archos and also some kids stuff for the plane journey to keep madam entertained.  Happy Days.

Oh yes and working out when the Grand Prix is on next Sunday so I can watch it in the bar !!!!

4 out of 5

Plot (from IMDB):- The mythical world starts a rebellion against humanity in order to rule the Earth, so as Hellboy and his team returns they must save the world from the rebellious creatures. Now, as the creatures who inhabit the spiritual realm gear-up for an all out attack on the human plane, the only one capable of saving the Earth is a tough-talking hellspawn rejected by both worlds.

I have to say that I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first one but it is still worth seeing.  The effects are fantastic and the monsters great.  Will there be a third film out?  Check out the trailer below.

 

Google Chrome

Just downloaded Google Chrome and had a test drive with it on a few sites and tried out a few of the features and have to say its very nice.  Here’s what I like.

• Imports Firefox favourites in nan instant.
• Pages load really quickly
• Like the incognito feature to prevent pages appearing in the browser history
• Recently closed tabs feature on the new tab page
• Recent used favourites on the new tab window
• The find panel that drops down and can be hidden
• Downloads page showing what has been downloaded - this can be searched
• Create application shortcut to create a shortcut to a web page on desktop, start menu or quick launch bar - opens the page in a window without any tabs or browser features - nice
• Search in the address bar - sort of miss the separate search.

On the whole it looks great - will use it for a full day at work tomorrow to see how I get on using it in anger.

Well after some last minute preparations and testing the google docs presentation in our Archive room just to check it would run on the machine where the interview was to take place I was ready for my interview.

Got the call to come up the stairs to the archive room just before 9:30am. I ran through my presentation which prompted some good questions then it was down to the questions to check I met the requirements of the job. Some of them were fairly tough and some threw me abit but managed to answer them all to the best of my ability.

Quite a few questions on leadership and team management which I was always going to be marked down on just because of the way the team is made up of high level individuals who are all on the same level. The team has never has a senior other than a manager which is a couple of levels above the rest of the team.

The long and the short of it is that the interview went really well according to the three people on the pannel. My boss thought I was holding back a bit as he normally sees me in a different light in meetings but perhaps because it was an internal interview I didn’t want to seem to at ease (not that I was). I was offered the job at lunchtime and have obviously acepted. Because of my team management experience (lack of) they are going to address that in some staff development training etc…

Happy days - this will be the fourth job I have had here as when I started back in 2003 I started as Information Officer (I had gone for a Senior Information Specialist job at the same time but wasn’t ready for it - the guy that got it had already worked in IT at another Institution so that gave him a massive head start), I then got promoted to Senior Information Officer then Information Specialist and now Senior Information Specialist so UAD has recognised my hard work.

sis0808_presentation

Presentation

I spent a couple of hours this evening starting to put some ideas together for my Interview Presentation next Wednesday.

The question is - “what improvements need to be made to the UAD portal (staff and students), why they are necessary and how they can be accomplished”

Not going to do the typical powerpoint with loads of text but going to use Google Docs and some images from Flickr for photographs containing numbers and use these as the backgrounds of the slides - I’ll just have a one line point on each slide with probably a maximum of 12-14 slides.  The presentation is to last 10 minutes with 5 minutes of questions and then 30 minutes for the interview.

Street View in Dundee and Carnoustie

The word on the ‘STREET’ is that Google Street View is coming to Dundee.  The camera car has been seen around the streets of Dundee since the 29th July - Evening Telegraph news item The camera car was traveling around the streets of Carnoustie today (Thursday 14th August) and rumors are that some of the Street Views of Dundee streets are already viewable (I haven’t found any yet) . Rick Curran took a video of the camera car traveling along the Marketgait

Reporting Scotland item on the 15th July 2008

404 error

Well I was supposed to be on holiday on Monday and Tuesday this week but got a text message and phone call on Sunday afternoon to say there was a ‘problem’ with one of the systems at work.  I ended up going in on Monday morning for an emergency meeting andended up staying till after 5pm rebuilding a web server - back in first thing on Tuesday morning for more rebuilding and probably continuing this for the next few days to get all systems back and running.

Nightmare.

The most critical service was back online on Tuesday at lunchtime - not bad considerning IIS needed reconfigured, database needed rebuilding, application server installing, upgrading and patching and then files transfered and checked.

Hey Ho - the boss is taking the web team out for a few beers sometime next week as a thank-you for all the hard work.

Blair Drummond

Just been off on holiday for a few days earlier this week and we went to a couple of places.  On Monday we went to Blair Drummond Safari Park - great day out with loads to see and do. Had lunch when we got there then played in the play area, watched the sea lion show, when into the animal area - now enclosed as a University study found that people approaching the animals all the time was stressing them out. We then went to see the Girrafes, Elephants and Rhinos then went through the drive through area.  Had a great day which was quite tiring.

Charleton Fruit Farm

On Tuesday afternoon we drove to Charleton Fruit Farm.  It was recommended by a couple of people and we had always wanted to take Hannah to pick strawberries.  What a fab place and a lovely warm sunny afternoon. It’s 1mile North of Montrose on the A92 just past Buick Furniture store but on the left hand side. There is loads to do for the kids - from stuff for the little ones to stuff for the big kids. The cakes are to die for - yum and the fruit is delicious - ok I ate a few strawberries just to check the quality as I was picking - excellent value as well. Huge punnet of strawberries and a smaller already picked container of rasps for just over £5.00.

Peppa Pig

My wee girl was watching Peppa Pig on my Archos 605 last night before she went to bed and disappeared with it somewhere to watch without being disturbed - I think our TV viewing or talking was disturbing her and she couldn’t here the sound fully (she’s not keen on headphones yet) - well she’s quite technically switched on - she can switch the Laptop on, use the mouse and play games on CBeebies website (see previous post) - so it was no surprise to discover she had managed to put the volume up full on the player while watching it in her bedroom.

Defenders Required

Bath time came and the player was switched off.  When I switched it on to watch something later the volume was up fully - when I tried to put the volume down it went straight back up again. I tried the volume button and the touch screen but the volume continued to max out.  I tried resetting the volume settings - nothing, resetting the device settings nothing, firmware update - none required. Switching on and off a few times - nothing.  There was no obvious signs that it had been dropped and my daughter promised that she hadn’t dropped it just that she had pressed the buttons and touched the screen. I put in a technical support request to Archos as the Archos forums were unavailable (typical) - just in case it needed sending back (it will still be under warranty).

Archos 605 power button

For those of you how may have had a similar issue here’s the fix.  I performed a hard reboot by holding down the on off button for 15 seconds then switched the unit back on to get the Archos start-up screen.  All seems to be functioning now and managed to watch it on the bus into work this morning.  Boy am I happy.