Quick overview:

Make more bars appear on 3G phones….do I care? not really.

Addresses the keyboard lag…do I care? yes.

But now here is the catch. If you upgrade to 2.0.1 there’s no Jailbreak available for it. Rumors say that WinPWN and PwnageTool can do it, but the new version have not been released yet.

Download Here:

WinPwn

PwnageTool

After a few years, many complaints, and even more copycats BMW has finally added/updated their iDrive interface. Personally I was expecting a little more, but I guess this will do for now. I was hoping that they would have gotten some sort of multi-touch pad to replace the knob to allow for a more intuitive system, but I guess the one coming out in a few months will be sufficient enough.

Here’s a PDF attachment of their new iDrive. I’m loving the on-bored hard drive to copy files to, and the map layouts.

Download Brochure

So it has been awhile since my last rambling; however, I thought this would be extremely helpful to many of the users who purchased Office: mac 2008 Home & Student Edition.

Now I have two MacBook computers and seeing that Office:mac 2008 H&S comes with 3 keys I figured I could install two keys and be done with it. Well the only problem is that I forgot which key I installed seeing as I installed Office:mac 2008 H&S on both MacBooks at different times. So what is the problem? I inadvertently installed the same key on both MacBooks so when I use using them both today I couldn’t have Word 2008 open on both. I would receieve an error message that they key is already in use/installed.

Now luckily Microsoft was gracious enough to put the first 3 characters of the product key in the error message, so all I needed to do was figure out how to to change the product key to one of the other two I had purchased. Well the only way officially by Microsoft as per the e-mail was, “in order to change the product key you must re-install Office:mac 2008 H&S.” Now this I do not approve of, so I go on the wonderful world of the wide web (aka the internet) and look around. Thanks to the wonderful folk(s) at MVPS I was able to reset the key without any troubles.

The process is quite simple actually but before you do anything make sure no Office:mac 2008 H&S application is open. So restart your computer if you have to and make sure the My Day application is switched off. Now, to do this change, basically you navigate to two different folders:

1. ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008
2. /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Office

In the first folder what I did was right-click and select the option for “Compress ‘Microsoft Office 2008 Settings.plist’” so I would have a backup and then proceeded to delete it.

In the second folder I did the same but for the file “OfficePID.plist” and after that I simply emptied the trash and launched Word. At this point it prompt me with a wizard and I was able to input a product key and continue using both computers at the same time.

I have come across many new things since the last time I posted; however, I thought this was something that would be most helpful since the iPod is becoming as common as the mobile phone. With its video capabilities coupled with larger storage space your favorite DVD’s can be stored in your iTunes library for later synchronization to your iPod. But how you ask? Well since I’ve converted over to the Mac as of 2007 (took me a few months to become “friendly” with it) these instructions will be for Mac only; however, I have not forgetting my Windows roots (nor can I) so this guide will accommodate Windows users but you’ll need to fill in the blanks. (Which I’m sure you’re used to… :P) So let’s begin…

Things you’ll need:

• Apple Computer
• iMovie HD
• MacTheRipper
• QuickTime Pro (optional)
• HandBrake
• Your DVD

The first step serves two purposes. One it decrypts the DVD, and second it creates a local copy of the DVD to you can try different methods of encoding for your iPod without having to use the DVD again and again.

1. Launch MTR (DVDShrink for Windows Users)
   • Insert your DVD and rip the DVD to your hard drive. If using DVDShrink create an ISO file.
2. Launch HandBrake**
   • On the Select a DVD screen, choose DVD Folder/Image and browse to the root of the ripped DVD. (Windows users will navigate to the ISO file)
   • At the bottom place a check mark in Enable queue
   • In the Source section select the Title with the most track time.
   • Click on Presets and select the iPod format. (This will set all the options for you)
   • If you can choose the option for 2 pass encoding as it will encode it properly, granted it takes double the time…. chances are you’ll leave your computer on all night anyway so knock yourself out and elect this option.
   • Click on Add to queue
   • Go back to the Title and double check to make sure there are no more lengthy track times. If there is simple repeat the previous three steps but make sure you change the name in the File field. (i.e. DVD_Title.mp4 to DVD_Title2.mp4, DVD_Title3.mp4, etc… this way you’ll know the order when you combine them later.)
3. iPod Friendly Conversion (If you have QuickTime Pro and only one .mp4 file skip this step… there’s a quicker way…)
   • Launch iMovie HD and create a new project.
   • Go to File—Import and select the DVD_TitleX.mp4 file(s). This importing will take some time, sometimes more than 4 hours!
   • Once it has imported the track(s) drag them one at a time from the grid and put them in the the right order. (This is why you saved each file as DVD_Title2.mp4, DVD_Title3.mp4, etc… so you know which order they’ll be placed in.)
   • Now that they’re in order click File—Export and select iPod then the Share button.
   • That’s it you’re done…. it should be in your iTunes library ready for synchronization to your iPod.

If you have QuickTime Pro and only one output file from the HandBrake conversion (i.e. DVD_Title.mp4) then open the movie in QuickTime and select File—Export and set the Export to Movie to iPod. Once it exports it just move the file to your Movies folder and add it to your iTunes Library.

Depending on how you have iTunes setup, you can either “Add to Library” or “Import” from iTunes. The reason I say this is because in the Advanced Settings of iTunes there’s an option that will automatically copy the files you add to the iTunes folder. So instead of having one ~1GB movie you’ll have two thus taking up ~2GB of hard disk space as opposed to the ~1GB which you intended.

That’s it. I would post pictures; however, in the country I am in broadband internet isn’t exactly stable with large file uploads…. that I’m a bit weary from my travels today to take screen captures. Enjoy!

**Yes, yes…I know HandBrake converts it into an iPod friendly format so why the heck did I continue with iMovie HD/QuickTime Pro? Simple because although HandBrake works, for me it didn’t convert it 100% of the time into an iPod friendly format in which the iPod accepted it so I could watch it on the iPod.

So I’ve been pretty bad. It’s been some time since I’ve updated this with anything new but in my defense I’ve been busy. Now that I’m sick and literally can’t do much I figured let me  put something up on here seeing that is has been a long time…

But fear not I will have some more to write about in the days to come….

But for now take solace in this:

Zero Nine F Nine One One Zero Two Nine D Seven Four E Three Five B D Eight Four One Five Six C Five Six Three Five Six Eight Eight C Zero Four

Or if you prefer the audio version from woot.com

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