Yearly Archives: 2002

I love ripping CDs. I really don’t actually even use CDs in the house any more – I play MP3s off of my hard drive with WinAmp (Windows) or XMMS (Linux). So far I’ve ripped the majority of my CD collection, and have roughly 5500 MP3s stored on my Linux server.

My tool of choice for ripping has always been MediaMatch, but for some reason I just cannot get it to run under Windows XP Professional. It simply crashes at startup. So, I needed a new tool to do the ripping for me.

I had read that Windows Media Player 8.0 finally supported ripping to formats other than WMA. Well, you can, but it’s not an option available by default (of course). After poking around the web for a few minutes, I found the answer. It requires making a change to the registry, so don’t attempt this unless you know what you’re doing.

Copy this block of text into a file named mp3.reg:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Settings\MP3Encoding]
"LowRate"=dword:0000dac0
"MediumRate"=dword:00017700
"HighRate"=dword:0002ee00
"MediumHighRate"=dword:0001f400

Now, in Windows Explorer, right click on mp3.reg and select merge. Reboot.

Start up Windows Media Player and select Tools->Options and click on the “Copy Music” tab. Look for “File Format” and select MP3.

If for some reason MP3 ripping does not work, you may need an MP3 codec. I’ll leave it up to you to search Google.

Even though I’m finding fewer reasons to actually need a RealMedia player these days, there’s always the odd file/URL that requires it. My new PC did not have a copy of RealPlayer installed, so I headed over to Real’s site to grab a copy. The latest version of the player is now called RealOne, and at first glance, it looked like Real started charging for the player, or at least required a valid credit card number before they would allow the download. Well, sorry, no way. I didn’t need it that badly.

After poking around the site for awhile, I found that they had buried the free download page deep in the bowels of the site. So, if you want to download RealOne and not have to give them your credit card number, head over to their free download page.

At the recommendation of several people, I’ve decided to throw out my home-grown content management system for this site and switch over to Movable Type.

The transition was very easy, and I’ve managed to get the Perl-based Movable Type package integrated into my PHP-based web site. I had to hack a bit of code, but most of the necessary changes were in MT’s templates, which is just enhanced HTML.

So, you can now view archives of the entries on this site, and also add your own comments (this should be interesting…).

My lease is about to run out, so I’ve been doing some thinking about what to get next. At first I thought about going the SUV route, until I remember how much fun it was for Heather (all 5’0″ of her) to get into a Ford Explorer that we test drove a few years back. Then I thought, well, the economy is still in bad shape – maybe you should go for an inexpensive midsize.

Then I saw the Volvo S60.

I currently drive a Volvo S70, which is a great car, but is a bit on the “boxy” side. They’re safe as all hell (which is important when you commute into Boston along with a few hundred thousand insane drivers) and to tell you the truth, it was the most comfortable car I’ve ever driven. Well, after being available for only three years, Volvo is dropping that line in favor of the S60.

The car is very stylish. While the S70 was a four door sedan, the S60 is a sports sedan in every way. And it’s fast – 200 HP. I also opted for AWD, CD player, power sun roof, leather interior…

…and most importantly cup holders…

I get to pick it up tomorrow afternoon. Tommy’s as excited as I am.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for ants.”
      –R. A. Heinlein

Pixar meets Apple

Some toy ideas are just plain bad…

Peter Jackson

Ralph Bakshi

(If you don’t get this, go rent the 1978 Ralph Bakshi “animated” version of LotR…)