Installing VLC Media Player in a corporate environment

Queue the Madness song “Baggy Trousers” – “Oh what fun we had …” (Not a lot of fun WAS had actually).

A lot of our customers use VLC Media Player.  I’d put it down to the fact that it plays DVD movies.  Windows Media Player doesn’t*  And our customers do like being able to [...]

Paintshop Pro opens in Browse Picture mode.

Which is another way of saying Thumbnail view.

Annoying if you are wanting to open a picture file for editing.

My fix?

Check the Default entry for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\Applications\psp.exe\shell\ open\command

and change it to:

“<filepath to your psp.exe file>\psp.exe” “% 1”

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ASCII Art

Dot-matrix printers, and the ASCII character set, combine to mark great computer drawing.

The Mona Lisa ASCII art is the best example I ever saw.  ASCII Man demonstrates animated GIFS, which I have talked about before.

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Converting audio & video files – I recommend Super!

Want to convert from one audio or video file format to another?

Have a look at Super.  I’m really impressed with this utility as I needed to convert some AVI files into a format suitable for my PDA.

Other reasons you might use it?  Convert from the strange OGG for a more mainstream MP3 [...]

“Web delivers new worry for parents: Digital drugs”

Queue the IT news beat-up:

We all know that music can alter your mood. Sad songs can make you cry. Upbeat songs may give you an energy boost. But can music create the same effects as illegal drugs? This seems like a ridiculous question. But websites are targeting your children with so-called digital drugs. [...]

Of Tin-Foil Hats and Binaural Tones.

There is some thought that listening to binaural tones can improve your attention, concentration, and consciousness.

What are binaural tones you ask?  Good question!

Let’s go with my simple explanation.  Say you are wearing a stereo headset.  In your left ear, a sound is playing at a 400 Hz frequency, and in your [...]

Tips for Web page & Blog graphics

Use only JPG or GIF graphics … as these are the most web friendly.

 

I heard that there’s GIF87a and 89a.  What are the differences? GIF89a allows you to do GIF animations, and interlacing.

 

 

So what’s interlacing? Simply put, the image builds up as the end user is watching the download.  [...]

Kenny Baker not included.

This is seriously cool, and according to one of the guys at work, cheap as well.

An Digital Audio and Video Projector, in the shape of R2-D2.

Well worth a look at the introductory video:

R2D2 Video Projector

The Nikko website is here.

* Kenny Baker was the actor inside R2-D2

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Converting WMA to MP3

I think the Microsoft Windows Media Audio format sucks … when I can’t listen to them in my car, or on my home stereo.  Sure I could replace both, but it’s easier to look at converting the WMA’s into MP3 format.

Now I like the idea of “free”, preferably “free beer”, but I’ll settle, [...]