Downloading, streaming, or encoding music and movies.
Media
Why did my Quicktime file play sideways on Windows 7?
Episode 1238
Joe's Quicktime movie files were playing sideways on Windows 7. He upgraded to Windows 10 and now it plays properly. Leo says it's likely that the video was shot on a mobile phone in portait mode and the previous version of windows couldn't read the metadata for the accelerometer in the phone. Now, with Windows 10, it can read that data and adjust the image properly. If it happens again, Leo suggests using VLC Media Player to rotate it.
What format should I rip my CDs to?
Episode 1237
Charlie wants to rip his CDs to a memory stick. Should he partition it since it's 128GB? Leo says why not just get a smaller one? Or, better yet, rip the CDs into higher quality. If he's going to do it, do it once. Charlie should rip the CDs into FLAC, which is a lossless format, and preserves 100% of the CD quality. MP3 doesn't do that, neither does AAC. FLAC is identical to CD quality. Use that for archival storage and then he can convert down from there to a USB drive.
What's a good solution for Windows Media Center?
Episode 1236
Mitch from
Mitch is mad that after updating to Windows 10, Windows Media Center is no longer there. Leo says that he's furious with Microsoft about that, killing off the XBMC without giving anyone a choice. But Leo says there's more to it -- likely copy protection issues.
New York Times Puts Out 'Virtual Reality' Edition
Episode 1236
Partnering with Google, the NY Times has put out a virtual reality edition with a custom Google Cardboard viewer and app. Leo says that while this may be the future of news, he's not sure he wants to be immersed in a news report, especially one that's coming from war torn areas of the world.
Beatles Videos on Blu-Ray Selling Out Everywhere
Episode 1236
45 years after they broke up, the Beatles continue to outsell just about everyone. Lately, they released a Blu-ray of videos of all their hit songs and it's selling out everywhere. 31 million copies sold!
Twitch Branches Out to More Than Just Gaming
Episode 1233
Twitch.tv, the Amazon streaming site that allows gamers to stream their gameplay, has added some channels that take it beyond its "Let's Play" videos. They currently have a Bob Ross "Joy of Painting" marathon, and a channel where they're installing Arch Linux.
How many songs do I have in Apple Music?
Episode 1234
Chris from
Chris can't find out how many songs he has in Apple's new Music app. Leo says to try sorting by songs. But it could be that Apple has dropped their obsession with the number of songs available. Leo says to go into the Settings -> General -> Usage settings and he should see how many songs he has. It should be app specific and Apple has been moving stuff like this to settings now.
How can I extend the range of my video signal?
Episode 1234
Steve has a Security Camera DVR and he's used a splitter to watch it in several rooms using a balun, but he keeps losing the signal. Leo says that HDMI doesn't throw very far, and using a balun amplifies the signal and sends it over ethernet to the other side. The distance is still limited to around 200' and it could be that he's at the extreme edge of the range. Steve could go RF. The chat room says that using Cat6 Ethernet cables could make it that far, and at MonoPrice.com he could get an extender kit to around 328 feet.
How can I share my band's music online?
Episode 1234
Tyler is in a rock band and they're recording their first album. They want to release a few songs for free on their website, but they're having trouble offering free downloads over iOS. Leo says that iOS can play MP3s, but it's hard to get mobile apps to talk to one another. Leo advises putting them on SoundCloud. It's a good place to do it because he can do it for free. And SoundCloud has an app that people can use to play the songs on mobile as well.
How can I rip my DVDs?
Episode 1231
Scott bought some new DVDs and he wants to rip them to his Mac, but he's having trouble with it. Leo says it's likely due to copy protection. Leo recommends Handbrake and VLC VideoLan client. Both of those will work together to bypass copy protection and rip the movie to his hard drive. He can also use VLC to play the ripped video file back.
