Thursday, November 04, 2010

Deal of the Day – 10% Newegg Hard Drives $81 2TB

Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5

Newegg has a special on hard drives today through tomorrow (11/5/2010).  For all hard drives, enter promo code EMCZZYR25 at checkout and you’ll get 10% off ($10 max off).

So one decent deal from this would be the Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive – the 64MB WD20EARS version which is priced at $89.99 and drops to $80.99 after the 10% off.

There are plenty of other hard drives to choose from so if you’ve been looking for more storage, check out the price with 10% off.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Kodak Pulse 10” Digital Photo Frame Review

Can something as geeky as a digital photo frame work for the technophobe?  Might it actually be possible for mom and dad or even grandma & grandpa to survive with a digital photo frame?  Up until now I would answer no for most of us, but I have in my possession something that just might be the answer – the ideal geeky, yet simple-enough-for-mom-to-use digital photo frame!
Kodak Pulse Front
Kodak Pulse Back
I personally have enjoyed the “art” of making do-it-yourself digital photo frames out of old laptops.  Yes, the DIY digital photo frame is a great project that is economical and a downright rewarding project.  But those DIY digital photo frames also require some technical maintenance at times since they still are just computers inside.  Getting photos on and off of the frame, rebooting, Wi-Fi issues etc all can be deal-breakers for the parents and grandparents.  Even geeks like me can appreciate the “it-just-works” kind of gadget.
I first learned of the Kodak Pulse at ZatzNotFunny! when Mari did a hands-on with the smaller, 7-inch version of this frame.  Mari’s verdict of
“If you want the grandparents to be able to plug in a digital frame and forget about it, the Kodak Pulse is a clear winner.”
had me hooked, but the 7” frame was simply too small for my taste.  I was already used to a larger, laptop-sized DIY frame and wasn’t willing to sacrifice that size – especially for the price at the time.  Thankfully they released a newer, larger version of this frame last month and I’ve been trying it out for about a month now.  Read on for my take on the 10” Kodak Pulse which is basically just a larger version of last years 7 inch digital photo frame.  It’s touch-screen, has a nice, bright display that is the same 800x600 resolution as the 7 inch version and it comes packed with Wi-Fi, multiple memory card format support as well as USB.
Kodak Pulse Touchscreen UI
Read on for the Complete Review

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Finding Technical Info about Your Media File with MediaInfo

If you spend much time with media files on a computer – say with Home Theater PCs, creating videos or ripping DVDs there will come a time when you need to dig deeper into that video file to understand more about it.  My favorite tool for this sort of job is the free, MediaInfo.

I’m currently working with the conversion (transcoding) of HD video files and in doing so I need to know what each video file is made of.  Information like the video format, bitrate, codec, subtitle information etc.  MediaInfo can give you this information and more.

MediaInfo provides the following information about a media file:

  • General Information: title, author, director, album, track number, date, duration...
  • Video: codec, aspect, fps, bitrate...
  • Audio: codec, sample rate, channels, language, bitrate...
  • Text: language of subtitle
  • Chapters: number of chapters, list of chapters

MediaInfo supports a large number of media formats including:

  • Video:
    • Formats: MKV, OGM, MP4, AVI, MPG, VOB, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, DVD, WMV, ASF, DivX, XviD, MOV (Quicktime), SWF(Flash), FLV, FLI, RM/RMVB
    • Codecs: DivX, XviD, MSMPEG4, ASP, H.264, AVC
  • Audio: OGG, MP3, WAV, RA, AC3, DTS, AAC, M4A, AU, AIFF, WMA
  • Subtitles: SRT, SSA, ASS, SAMI...

 

How To Use MediaInfo

When you first open up MediaInfo, you’ll see the very basic User Interface like below:MediaInfo 1

Select the file-open icon and browse to the media file or folder.  Next you’ll see the basic info screen like below.  This gives you the most used data about a media file like the container, file type, framerate, audio information etc.  For many, this will be all you need.MediaInfo 2

If you want more information though you can select the “view” icon and switch to one of the many viewing formats to give you all of the detailed media information this program has available.MediaInfo 3

I often choose text or HTML so I can copy that information and past it into documentation or an e-mail depending on the task at hand.  As you can see below, there is a LOT of technical information MediaInfo gives you.MediaInfo 4 

MediaInfo is free (donations welcomed) and my personal favorite for this task.  I used to use the free, GSpot program for this task, but it hasn’t been updated for quite some time and I find MediaInfo is better.

To download and read more about MediaInfo head to it’s Sourceforge page

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Deal of the Day – 2TB WD Hard Drive $80 Shipped

 Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5

And the 2TB drive continues to fall.  Today Newegg has the Western Digital Green 2TB drive for $79.99!

This is the Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s 32MB Cache Internal Hard Drive $79.99 with free shipping when you enter code EMCZYZX48 at checkout.

That same drive is $99.99 at Amazon right now.



TV Premieres, Finales & Specials This Week 10/31/2010

We’re back for another What’s-on-TV Check-In.  Halloween comes tonight and the November sweeps month starts tomorrow.  This should mean some quality TV on the big networks primetime shows.

Like every week, GeekTonic covers the TV scene with a complete listing of premieres, finales and specials for the week.

The Walking Dead

                  The Walking Dead premieres on AMC Halloween Night!

 

Check out the complete list of finales, premieres & specials below.

The GeekTonic Guide to TV Premieres, Finales and Specials this Week – 10/31/2010

NOTE: All Times are Listed for EST – TV schedules subject to change

Click Here if you want a downloadable PDF  version of this “GeekTonic TV This Week Guide.”

Sunday, October 31

Dead Set (7:30pm on IFC) IFC gives us the complete 4-episode horror-comedy series imported from UK. 

The Walking Dead (10pm on AMC – Available in HD) New sci-fi series based on the comic series of the same name by Robert Kirkman.  The world has experienced a zombie apocalypse.  An appropriate premier date for a show like this given Halloween.

Swamp People (10pm on History – Available in HD) Season finale

 

Monday, November 1

Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood (8pm on TCM – Available in HD) New docu-series narrated by Christopher Plummer that tells the true stories behind the growth and success of the American movie industry.

My Big Friggin’ Wedding (9pm on VH1) New reality series

The Women of SNL (9pm on NBC – HD) Special highlighting SNL stars such as Tina Fey, Laraine Newman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Kristen Wiig

Mario Lopez: Saved by the Baby (10:30pm on VH1) New reality series

 

Tuesday, November 2

Meteorite Men (9pm on Science – HD) Season 2 premiere begins the hunt for more meteorites.

Mysteries at the Museum (9pm on Travel – HD) New series

Running Russell Simmons (10pm on Oxygen) New reality series

 

Wednesday, November 3

Secrets of the Dead (8pm on PBS – HD) Season 10 premiere of this show that uses techniques of modern forensic science are used to investigate historical mysteries to find proof of what really happened.

Circus (9pm on PBS – HD) New series on PBS that invites viewers to take a look behind the scenes, of the big top to the back lot. "Circus" tells the story of what it takes to make it as a performer in the Big Apple Circus.

 

Thursday, November 4

Oddities (9:30pm on Discovery – HD) New series

On the Road With Austin & Santino (10pm on Life) Season finale

Pranked (10pm on MTV) Season premiere

Megadrive (10:30pm on MTV) New reality series

Bully Beatdown (11pm on MTV) Season premiere

I Can't Believe I'm Still Single: From Portland to Portland (11:30pm on Showtime) Season premiere

 

Friday, November 5

Supernanny (8pm on ABC) Season premiere

 

Saturday November 6

Sunday, November 7

Great Migrations (8pm on National Geographic – HD) New series

Worlds Worst Weather (8pm on Travel – HD) Series premiere

Shake it Up! (8:30pm on Disney) Series premiere

Kendra (10pm on E! – HD) Season premiere

Eastbound & Down (10:30pm on HBO – HD) Season 2 finale

Married to Rock (10:30pm on E! – HD) Another reality series premiere

 

Monday, November 8

Strike Force (10pm on National Geographic World) Series premiere

Conan (11pm on TBS – HD) Conan finally returns – now on TBS.  He welcoms guests "First Guest Poll" winner, Seth Rogen and musical guest Jack White

 

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