How-To: Play DVDs On Your Media Player (XP/Vista)

In a previous post I discribed how to make backup copies of your DVDs, just in case. This guide will show how copy your DVDs so your favorite media player can use them.

DVD to Media Player

(PS3, PSP, iPod, AppleTV, PC)

The most common format used by modern media players is the AVC file format. This is same file type as the videos from Apple's iTunes Store. We can easily convert our DVDs to this file format with a little time and patience.

Computer Requirements:
Windows XP or Vista
DVD Drive
10GB of free space

Software You Will Need:
DVD Decrypter (free)
vStrip (free)
Red Kawa's PSP Video 9 or PS3 Video 9 (free but ad-supported)

Basic Instructions:

1. Use DVD Decrypter to copy your DVD to your PC's hard drive (.vob files).
   1. Select your DVD as the source.
   2. Select the desktop as the destination.
   3. Select only the VTS files to convert.
   4. Press the [DVD -> Hard Drive] icon to start.
      
2. Use vStrip to convert the multiple .vob files into one .vob file.
   1. Click the Input -> "Add..." button and select all the .vob files on your desktop.
   2. Click the "Output" tab and type an output name.
   3. Click the "Input" tab and click "Run" to begin.
      
3. Use Red Kawa's PSP Video 9 for a mobile media device or Red Kawa's PS3 Video 9 for home media decive. Don't worry about the "PSP" and "PS3" name, the video produced from these programs can be used my many, many devices.
   1. Click the "Convert" tab, then follow the Video Wizard.
   2. The entire converting process will take about x2 the video length for an older computer or Celeron M laptop, to about .5x the video length for a modern dual processor.
   3. Click the "Input" tab and click "Run" to begin.
   4. The converted file will be a .mp4, usuable by most media players.

つづく

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How-To: Make Backup Copies Of Your DVDs (XP/Vista)

After the wonderful Thanksgiving dinner you promised to show the kids the movie Ratatuee, or some equally kid-friendly film, with the goal of shutting them up for just a couple hours. You open the DVD box, their eyes glued to your every move, only to find the DVD is missing. Now you have deal with pack of whinny DVD-hungry kids, or maybe this is not your fate? Perhaps you made a backup copy of your movie, or you want to.

Let me show you how.

Copying a DVD is just like copying a VHS tape...ok, I lied. It takes more time and effort, but the results are worth it. Furthermore, it is within your copyright rights to make a personal copy to protect your DVD investment.

Copying a DVD to DVD
What you will need:

• The DVD you purchased
• A computer with a DVD writer drive (DVD+/-RW Drive)
• A blank DVD-R or DVD+R
• Free or Not Free Software (based on your situation)

Windows XP/Vista

1. Download, insall, and run the software DVD Decrypter (free) to copy the DVD data.
1. Insert your DVD movie into the computer.
2. Under the menu bar select Mode -> ISO -> Read
3. Select your DVD Drive under where it says "Source".
4. Look at the information on the right side and find the Number of Layers.
1. If it says "1", then we can easily copy the DVD.
2. If it says "2", then we will have to compress the DVD.
5. In DVD Decrypter we just determined if your DVD is a single or double layer disc. This is important information because you will be copying your movie to a blank single layer disc. If the movie is on a double layer disc, it will have to be compressed to fit on a blank single layer disc.
2. For a single layer disc
1. Under where it says "Destination", select where you would like the DVD data to be temporarily saved. It will be saved as a ISO file (.iso).
2. Click on the image of (DVD) > [Hard Drive] to begin copying. This should take 10-30 minutes.
3. When it is finished copying, select Mode -> ISO -> Write, under the menu bar.
4. Select the ISO file (.iso) that you just saved, under "Source".
5. Under "Destination", select your DVD Writer Drive (DVD-RW).
6. Click on the image of [Hard Drive] > (DVD) to begin making a DVD copy.
7. Done.
3. For a double layer disc, read this guide.
   

つづく

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Sanami's Friend from Goon-mah

Today Sanami's friend from 群馬県 (Gunma) visited with us for the day. She was really nice, but a little shy. Together the three of us went shopping at the mall in Kawasaki City. Yes, Kawasaki is not just a motorbike manufacturer, it is also a huge city. Our shopping was mostly focused on Christmas cards, suit coats, and jackets. Pictures of cooked octopus at the end.

Sanami found a nice black winter work jacket for $250. For that amount of money I hope she can use it for a few years. I too went shopping for suit coats and jackets, but found nothing to my liking. Well, I did actually, but nothing within my price range.

We ate at a nice Korean restaurant for lunch. They served some kind of bowl with vegetables, egg, and cooked/burnt rice. It was interesting. For a post-shopping snack we had takoyaki. You can see it bellow.

つづく

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Thanksgiving Day

I forgot to take photos.

I can't believe I forgot to take photos.

Thanksgiving was fun, and I forgot to take photos.

Oh well, I can at least describe the dinner.

The one photo you see is the cleaned table from after our Thanksgiving dinner. It was a grand event with Eli, Yuki, Sanami, and myself. Eli is a friend of mine who studied in Japan with me back in 2005, and Yuki is his girlfriend. It was hard finding a day when all four of us had a free day. We decided on Sunday, even though Eli and Yukie would be coming off work that night. Sanami and I had the day off, so we prepared most of the food.

The night before our Thanksgiving, I made Italian meatballs, and they turned out wonderful. Well, the sauce was wonderful, and the meat was just okay. Since I made it from scratch, I will place the recipe at the end of this post.

On our Thanksgivings Day, Sanami and I made cheesy mashed potatoes, gyoza (pot stickers), pumpkin salad, and a mandarin orange yogurt for desert. Everything was made from scratch except for the gyoza dough. All the food was at least okay, which is pretty good for me. Most of the time my food suffers from a lack of flavor, since I fear using too much salt. Eli and Yuki bought some roasted chicken and wine as well. The chicken was good, the wine was pretty...bad. Bargain wines are often a gamble, and we lost.

It was a really fun dinner, and I am truely thankful for my friends and family.

Nick's Cheap Marinara Sauce

• 1 can of tomatoes
• basil
• ketchup
• Bulldog korokke sauce
  
• pepper
• red wine
  

1. Cook the tomatoes at medium low heat in a pan for 5 minutes, stirring occationally.
2. Stir in a squit each (about 1.2 tablespoons) of ketchup and Bulldog sause.
3. Stir in a little bit (3 tablesspoons) of red wine.
4. Add small sprinkle of pepper and a large sprinkle of basil.
5. Stir occationally until the sauce thickens.
   

つづく

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Buggy Website Bugs

I am still trying to work out some of the bugs on this page. Hopefully I'll find a solution by next week.

つづく

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PlayStation Phone Home

Today my PlayStation 3 finally arrived after being sent to the Sony PlayStation Clinic. Before my sick baby was throwing-up green bubbles on the screen before just refusing to do anything. Unfortunately the repair process cleaned-out all my "important" data, but that was a small price to pay for free repairs.

The paperwork that was included with my returned system indicate that the system's main board was damaged. While I won't admit this was my fault, I will say that I will never attempt to reset a frozen PS3 via the hard power-off switch. The regular power on/off switch is a touch-sensor, not a regular button or switch. I just assumed that if the system was frozen a hard or soft reset would be the same. Perhaps they are, and the system's freezing was a sign the main board was going bad.

It really is good I got it back this week. Tomorrow is Japan's Thanksgivings Day, a national holiday. Since Sanami is off work, and we have our Japanese DVD player back (the PS3), we will be renting Lemmy's Great Restaurant. What, you've never heard of it? Perhaps you are more familiar with the US title, Disney's Ratatouille.

PS3, back from service.

つづく

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Hello Everyone

A great big welcome to all my friends and family! If you fit into neither of these catagories, I welcome you anyway.

I have recently started living in Yokohama, Japan. I want to say, "It feels good to be back," because it does feel good, the living here part. The speaking Japanese on a daily basis part, that is a little more stressful. But, all-in-all, I am enjoying where I am right now in life.

On a techincal note: while this post marks the beginning of my many journal entries, I will be post-dating some journals to capture memorable events that have already happened. You will be able to read these journals, but they will not appear on the front page.

Thank you everyone for your support and love,
Nick

つづく

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McCafe?

Yes, starting this month McDonald's is trying a new restaurant concept in Tokyo. So instead of selling fatty hamburgers and fries, at McCafe they sell high fructose pastries and espresso drinks. Crazy.

つづく

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Meetin' Da' Fam'

So, it was interesting meeting all of Sanami's family. I won't lie, I was quite nervous. I asked her if she was nervous meeting my family for the first time. And of course it was. It was also around the same time last year, near Thanksgiving day. Well there was no turkey waiting for me in Saitama, but there was a Zoo and another surprise. I will save the big surprise for the end. I am not quite sure why we went to the Zoo. It was just Sanami, Sanami's mom and me. Sanami's father was at home watching TV (not a fan of the Zoo) while her sister was working. I think Sanami's mom thought it would be something entertaining to do. Well, not more than 30 minutes into our visit to the Zoo did Sanami's mom get bored. She left just the two of us to wander, like a date.

I forgot to mention that Saitama and this zoo is in the middle of farm-country. I am used to living in the big city of Tokyo, and Saitama was more like... Indiana. Really flat with lots of farms and a couple big cities.

After the zoo we went to see Sanami's sister at her work, a clothing store. I was surprised by two things in this store: (1) Clothes in the country cost a lot less than in Tokyo. (2) When buying clothes in Tokyo I am a L or XL. In Saitama I was a XXL or XXXL. Is it because I am fat? No, my shoulders are wide and my chest is big. I learned something new, I guess. Japanese men also have small chests, just like Japanese women. But really, everything here is just a little bit smaller. Now getting back on track.

Later that night I had dinner with Sanami's mom and dad. While Sanami's dad did not talk much (we exchanged 5 or 6 short conversations), I guess he talked more with me than he usually does. As a "gift" for our visit to the country, I took home an old kotatsu. They offered to mail it to our apartment near Yokohama, but I couldn't stand the thought of wasting money. With a few ropes and my very limited craft skills, I was able to carry it on the trains for our 2 hour trip back to Tokyo. I am glad we have it though, it is really warm.

So, the big surprise. Sanami and I were waiting for Sanami's mom outside near the train station in Saitama. This was before going to the zoo. Well, to our great surprise, we see 40-50 people all dressed as anime or video game characters. We had stumbled upon a Cosplay Mixing event...in the middle of nowhere! They were part of COS-MIX, an internet group that meets to show off their costumes. Needless to say, I was shocked. I was able to take one photo with Sanami's cell phone and will try to upload the photo later.

つづく

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