Dirt Peach

The Sweetest Office Suite--Free, Fast and Built for Windows

2010-04-13T22:41:00.003+08:00

Sorry for the pun.

Openoffice.org is just too slow. Even for when I had a Athlon X2 3600+ with 2 gigs of RAM. Slow meaning it took ages for it to load. Imagine the molasses hell I went through using Openoffice on this netbook. I used it on WinXP and now with Win7 and for the last time I'll say it was slow.

I did try Abiword and Gnumeric for a week or 2. I don't need to replace Powerpoint, Access, Onenote or Outlook. Just a word processor and spreadsheet is enough for me. This is for home use after all--not for school or work.

Abiword was ok but it had to install vcredist_x86.exe--which I can't stand. No fluff for me please.

Gnumeric was ok too but when I saved a file I was confronted with a file dialog that looked like it came from Gnome. It's superficial yes but I'd like Windows to look like Windows.

Which leads me to Softmaker Office 2006. It's free and it works just like Word and Excel 2003. Just the way I like it.

And yes it's fast enough for me.

Webcam Woes

2010-02-26T00:43:00.002+08:00

I just hit a snag with Win7 and my MSI Wind U100. The webcam doesn't work. It did with WinXP but not with Win7.

There is no driver available from the MSI website which says that the driver is included with Win7. I am able to install a driver through Windows Update but the driver doesn't work.

A quick Google search reveals that several other people have reported the issue like this thread in MS Answers.

So there you have it. If having a webcam is important to you, stay away from a Win7 and U100 combo.

While waiting for driver update, I will have to run Slax on a USB drive to use the webcam with Skype.

Apple iPad - I Don't See the Point

2010-01-29T03:46:00.002+08:00

The best way to experience the web, email, photos, and video.

Really?

How can it be better for web browsing if it doesn't do Flash?

How can it be better for email without a real keyboard?

How can it be better for photos if it doesn't have camera?

How can it be better for video if it only plays .m4v, .mp4, and .mov?

Just how is this better than an iPod Touch, Kindle or a netbook?

Windows 7 Starter - Speed

2010-01-22T19:17:00.002+08:00

I have no benchmarks to show but it seems to me that Win7 Starter is faster on my MSI Wind than the Win 7 RC.

Win7 Starter Review: Eye Candy

2010-01-08T03:26:00.002+08:00

The most obvious drawback to Win7 Starter has to be the inability to change the theme. It's one of the first things I do on a fresh install.

After a few days stuck with the same wallpaper, sound scheme and window appearance, I've come to the conclusion it's not so bad. The 2 worst things about it really is it's a bit to bright and too loud. I'm used to very dark active window bars and taskbars. And I'm used to disabling windows sounds.

For the savings over Home Premium, these are things I can live without. I've lived without Aero for nearly a decade anyway.

Required iPod Knowledge

2010-01-07T10:54:00.002+08:00

Itunes is fat and bloated. It should be part of The Biggest Loser and shed at least half its weight. Unfortunately for iPod users, it's a must have.

Install only what you need and follow this guide.

Extract three files from the iTunesSetup file, AppleApplicationSupport.msi, QuickTime.msi and iTunes.msi, and save them in a local folder. Open a command prompt window, navigate to that folder, and run the following commands:

* AppleApplicationSupport.msi /passive
* Quicktime.msi /passive
* iTunes.msi /passive

That's all you need for your Ipod Classic (Video), Nano, Shuffle and/or Mini.

Windows 7 Starter Review--Ep. 1

2010-01-06T09:30:00.004+08:00

I just installed Win7 Starter on my MSI Wind. Why Starter and not Home Premium considering all the limitations?

1. Aero Glass, meaning you can only use the “Windows Basic” or other opaque themes. It also means you do not get Taskbar Previews or Aero Peek.
2. Personalization features for changing desktop backgrounds, window colors, or sound schemes.
3. The ability to switch between users without having to log off.
4. Multi-monitor support.
5. DVD playback.
6. Windows Media Center for watching recorded TV or other media.
7 Remote Media Streaming for streaming your music, videos, and recorded TV from your home computer.
8. Domain support for business customers.
9. XP Mode for those that want the ability to run older Windows XP programs on Windows 7.

1 & 2 are just eye candy which I could live without to save Php3000.

No one else uses my laptop so 3 doesn't matter. And if anyone had to borrow it, I'd just save and log off. No big deal.

4 also does not matter since I'm using a laptop.

I'm sure I'll be playing DVDs only on my DVD player. The only movies I'll be watching on a PC are downloaded from torrents and are played with MPC. If I do have to play a DVD on my PC I'm pretty sure MPC or VLC will be able to handle it. (I'll confirm this later.)

Next is the lack of Windows Media Center. Again I use MPC to watch my media and recorded TV is not one of them. Just torrents of TV series.

Remote media streaming is another feature I'm not interested in. And so is domain support.

Lastly Win XP mode might be useful for old apps. But I doubt if I'll ever use an app that so old, it's not supported by Win7.

The biggest disadvantages for previous Windows Starter versions were hardware restrictions and a 3-application limit. I'm sure the 3-app limit has been lifted by MS and no hardware restrictions are listed in the Windows Team blog or the Win7 Starter page.

So far so good. The installation went without a hitch, much like the Win7 RC which I used for about 2 months.

Stand by for Episode 2.

Up Dharma Down - The World Is Our Playground - Lyrics

2009-09-08T23:48:00.000+08:00

you are my sunshine
and my occassional rain
we become divine
after every pain
so please, won't you
sit this through
because everyday
will find reasons to stay
if words are too few
to keep horizons in view
will you go
or stay and grow
standing on the edge
between crazy and sense
remember what i said
nothing has to end

Up Dharma Down Album Art

2009-09-04T01:47:00.002+08:00

Here are Fragmented and Bipolar

Daily Hatred

2009-08-28T06:03:00.002+08:00

One of the things I hate most about my job is having to deal on a daily basis people I detest, loathe and hate. I do not exaggerate. I regularly pray to the Lord God that these people get mugged or hit by a bus.

The worst part of it is I not only have to deal with these people, I also have to mind their feelings. I don't care if they get families gets murdered in the middle of the night. I care much less about their feelings.

Today's hatred is focused on... I'll call her Fangs. This person is the most narrow-minded and juvenile 50-year-old I will ever meet. Two unique and possible deaths I have for her--death by lung cancer and/or death by tooth decay.

MSI Wind Review Ep. 3 - The OC Strikes Back

2009-08-07T01:19:00.005+08:00

Well surprise, surprise. The Wind when OC'ed by 24% is comparable to a much more expensive HP DV2 and an MSI X-Slim, with 7-Zip at least. Above are my benchmark results compared with Techreport's results.

MSI Wind Review Ep. 2

2009-07-26T01:23:00.002+08:00

More thoughts on the Wind. The CTRL key placement issue now less of an issue. I found this modified BIOS that switches the CTRL and Fn. When I touch type, it works like a charm. On the rare occassion I look at the keyboard when I press CTRL, I wonder why it doesn't work, then I remember the switch.

I'm thinking of writing over the keys with correction fluid. Not the most elegant solution I know.

Also the latest BIOS has overclocking support. Pretty nifty. I don't think other netbooks have the option. I won't be using the feature for now but it's good to know that if I change my mind, it's there.

MSI Wind U100 Review

2009-07-18T08:00:00.002+08:00

I downgraded from a 15-inch Compaq powered by T2370 and 2 gigs of RAM running Windows Vista, to a MSI Wind—Atom N270 and 1 gig of ram. Why? Because portability and size are more important to me right now. Besides the Compaq was only used for netbook tasks. The most performance I needed from it was when I ripped CDs.

I settled on the Wind because of several favorable reviews online. It supposedly had the 2^nd best keyboard next to the HP Mini, standard netbook innards and a fair price.

It's been 3 days and I like it so far. I initially installed the Windows 7 RC on it but replaced it with XP after a day. The performance felt sluggish, much like how my previous laptop performed with Vista and only a gig of ram. The Atom, the 1 gig and Win7 just didn't do it for me.

XP is a much better experience. Using the Wind as a netbook doesn't feel like running a gimped CPU. The last time I used XP was with an Athlon64 3000+ with 2gb ram. The Wind seemed just as fast.

Besides the upgraded portability, the screen quality is also an upgrade from the Compaq. It has better viewing angles and is much brighter and it's matte surface has less glare than the Compaq's glossy screen.

Just 2 things I didn't see mentioned in all the reviews I read. One is the annoying placement of the left CTRL key. Its placement has been switched with an Fn key. And 2 is the HD noise—it sounds more audible than my previous laptop. The cause might simply be the quieter fan of the Wind which doesn't mask the HD noise. The loudness is comparable to the HD noise of my 120gb iPod Classic, if not slightly louder.

So do I recommend the Wind? Yep. Just remember you're using a netbook and not a laptop.

Here are some of the reviews I looked before I bought my Wind:

Techreport

HardOCP

LaptopMag

Album Art - Barbie's Cradle

2009-07-08T01:02:00.004+08:00

Here are the album covers for all 3 Barbie's Cradle albums: the self-titled debut, Music from the Buffet Table and Playing in the Fields.

OPM Album Art - Bamboo

2009-06-29T23:32:00.004+08:00

It's tough to find high res, high quality album art for OPM albums. Here's me sharing what I have. First up: Bamboo - As the Music Plays; and Bamboo - Light Peace Love.

Great Idea

2009-05-31T09:26:00.003+08:00

Here's a blog with a great idea. I do hope it catches on and most of the music torrents off of Isohunt follow this standard.

Compaq C762NR Review Ep. 3

2009-03-13T18:11:00.006+08:00

Here comes another bench. This time it's 7-Zip and comparisons are based on Xbitlabs.

This time the T2370 pulls ahead of the E2140. I think it's safe to say both are evenly matched. The E2140 pulls ahead sometimes because of its higher FSB while the T2370 wins a few where clock speed matters.

My Recommended Builds - March 2009

2009-03-11T03:41:00.004+08:00

One of my friends is buying a new PC for gaming and video editing and asked what I would buy. Here's my recommendation.

Intel Q8200 Php7,600.00
MSI P43 Neo-F Php3,900.00
Powercolor 4830 Php5,300.00
Western Digital Caviar Green 640gb Php3,300.00
Kingston 2gb Php1,200.00
Liteon DVD writer Php1,500.00
Corsair 400CX PSU Php2,600.00
Antec 300 case Php3,200.00
Total Php28,600.00

Also an officemate asked me for a budget gaming build. Here's what I'm recommending. I have an AMD CPU there because the guy is obtuse and would not have an Intel CPU not for all the sensible reasons in the world. The only reason one should have an AMD CPU is if they must have integrated graphics only.

Athlon X2 5000+ Php2,900.00
Asus M2N-MX/SE Plus or Asus M2N-VM/DVI or MSI K9N6PGM2-V Php2,500.00
Powercolor 4830 Php5,300.00
Western Digital 160gb Php1,800.00
Kingston 2gb Php1,200.00
Liteon DVDwriter Php1,500.00
Generic case w/ PSU Php1,500.00
Total Php16,700.00

*The recommendations are mostly ripped off from TechReport. Prices are from PCHub.

Compaq C762NR Review Ep. 2

2009-03-09T13:03:00.009+08:00

So my benchmarks would be more useful, I will be mirroring the results from various hardware review sites. First up is Cinebench R10. My results (in red) can be compared with Anandtech bench beta here.

Compaq C762NR Review Ep. 1

2009-03-09T02:10:00.014+08:00

Here is the first of a series of benchmarks on my laptop which is powered by an Intel T2370. FYI I've upgraded the ram to 2gb from the factory bundled 1gb. The first benchmark is LAME 3.98.2. I pre-ripped Jeff Buckley's album Grace to a single wav file before using LAME to encode. The file was encoded in 2.34 seconds at a speed of 20.122x. Here are the screenshots for reference.

Francis M - Freeman

2009-03-08T02:58:00.005+08:00

Here's a copy of the late great Francis Magalona's album Freeman. If we ever have to replace Lupang Hinirang as the national anthem, Three Stars and a Sun would get my vote.

Up Dharma Down - Bipolar Album Review

2009-01-05T21:18:00.003+08:00

I suck at describing music that I love. This album is exactly that--music that I love. And love is a word I don't throw around easily.

So instead of failing miserably to describe how this album sounds, I'll share what I think of it. Very few sophomore albums can say that they are better than their critically acclaimed and commercially successful predecessors. This is one such album. But this one doesn't edge out like Pinkerton did against The Blue Album. It demolishes Fragmented like it was an amateur effort. And Fragmented was no amateur effort. It WAS the best Filipino musical achievement of this millennium.

Bipolar is modern. It is brave. It is emotional yet brilliant. Shut yourself in a room and turn the volume up.

New iPod classic, Same Old Shit

2008-10-20T16:30:00.004+08:00

This will be my last iPod. I've had it with Apple's quality control or more appropriately Apple's LACK of quality control.

Last year's iPod classic at launch was slow as a rock. This was fixed in a few months but was replaced with a new problem. Its hard drive would not turn off and would drain its battery even when it was off.

Now the problem is random skipping. Several people have reported the same problem on the Apple support forums in this thread.

Plea for Cheaper CDs

2008-10-20T16:21:00.002+08:00

I’m currently pondering the current state of the music industry, particularly the distribution of music here in the third world particularly and the entire world in general. I think music—no, I believe—music is too expensive.

CDs are on average PHP 400 which is around USD 7. That has been their price since my first CD purchase in 1995. Back then the price was understandable. Cassettes were around PHP100 which were around USD 4. The peso was at 25 to a dollar back then. The price increase with the new medium was understandable. The album art was bigger. The sound quality was much higher. You could skip songs instantly. The CDs themselves were more durable.

The same price disparity was seen again when DVD began to replace VHS. Skip forward 10 years and here we are with DVDs at below PHP 200, sometimes going as low as PHP 150 for two DVDs.

That’s the value of entertainment—around PHP 150. That’s the price of a movie ticket, a good, hearty fast-food meal, several days worth of prepaid cell-phone load.

Aside from pricing, the music industry should also follow the movie industry’s other distribution method: home rentals. Movies can be rented since as far back as I can remember. Why not CDs? The Japanese have been doing this for years. Why not the rest of the world?

Of course there’s always the piracy factor. The solution is not just stricter laws and better law enforcement but more affordable pricing as well. If it’s cheap enough, the true music lover would pick the original product.

I Am Seven

2008-09-03T17:27:00.014+08:00

I bought myself and my iPod Classic an Altec Lansing IM7 a few months ago. It replaced an Altec Lansing MX5021 that was too bulky for my tiny living room. While it lacks the power and the stereo separation of the MX5021, it still sounds great for the price (Php 6500) and the small package.

Based on reviews on the internet (iLounge, Macworld, Pcmag) it's by far the best sounding portable iPod speakers for its price range. Even user reviews from Amazon confirm that it sounds incredible. There are a couple of 1 to 3 star ratings though but even the 1 star ratings still applaud its sound. I agree wholeheartedly.

Just a couple of flaws to note. Do get the newer black version since the white one has a sliding tray to load your iPod. Unless your iPod is in a case, it will be scratched badly. The black version has a cradle much like the Apple Hifi and the Bose Sounddock.

Also the remote is quite weak, you do need to be close (about 1 meter) and at a fairly perpendicular angle to the IM7 for it to work.

Biggest problem for me was the lack of any visual indicator for treble and bass. It took me about a month tweaking them before I had setting I was content with. Now I'll be hiding the remote so no one messes with it.

Secure Rip Torrents: Jeff Buckley - Grace

2008-02-27T02:28:00.006+08:00

After a long hiatus, I'm back. I'll no longer trouble you with my opinions. Instead, I'll share something some of you may find useful.

If you've read my previous posts, you should know I am fanatical when it comes to quality CD ripping. I'm also a cheap-assed torrent pirate. Arrh.

For me, there is nothing better than ripping a CD yourself with a secure ripper like EAC. The next best thing is downloading a torrent ripped with EAC.

How does one know for sure it was ripped with EAC? Here are some signs:
1. The torrent is labeled or has a comment or the files themselves are tagged indicating EAC was used to rip.
2. There is an EAC log included with the tracks.

Of course these are no guarantees. They can easily be faked. Also anyone can securely rip burned unsecure copies. Still, they're free so who am I to complain?

First up is... Jeff Buckley's Grace. This torrent is ripped into one file per disc with cuesheets. The EAC log is included. Enjoy. Download .torrent

UPDATE:
This torrent just got even better. With fooaccrip, I just found out this torrent is verified by AccurateRip. This means 2 things: this rip matches other rips by different people with different copies of the CD and ripped with different PCs.

My First foobar2000 Theme

2007-11-02T13:21:00.001+08:00

Here it is my first foobar2000 theme. It's pretty basic. Nothing fancy. It's aimed at people who like to keep the interface simple and clean and who spend time listening to their music rather than looking at their media player.

Some things you would need to set it up:

1. the latest beta version of foobar2000 (currently v0.9.5 beta 2) available here
2. foo_facets.dll available here
3. my theme file available here
4. (optional) the windows xp theme used in the screenshot is available here

After you have the foobar beta installed, copy the facets dll file into the foobar component directory. Run foobar then in preferences, go to default user preferences and click import theme. You just then need to select my theme file.

Ipod Classic Battery Drain

2007-10-31T18:16:00.001+08:00

It's been a while since my last post about my new Ipod Classic. Honestly I'm just tired of it. Last time I mentioned the little annoyances like slow syncing with Itunes and how it handles albums by various artists in cover flow.

Apparently that's not the worst of it. The damned thing's battery gets drained after around 2-3 hours of listening. Sometimes it get's drained even while it's off and not in use for days. It looks like the culprit is the hard drive failing to stop spinning. Now Apple, I think that is a BIG problem you need to solve quick. And this is happening to a lot of people. Check these links:

Mobile Magazine, Engadget, Ilounge, Apple Support

Bye Winamp, Hello Foobar2000

2007-10-31T15:18:00.002+08:00

I've been using Winamp since I first started listening to MP3s. I think that was 2001. I'm not sure though because it has been a long time. I've tried every other media player back there but I keep coming back to good old Winamp. It's light on resources, not bad looking and it just plain works.

With the new Winamp 5.5 and it's great looking Bento skin and album art support, I thought it just became perfect. But I've been getting a lot of crashes with this version and I can't wait for the next one.

Luckily I found the latest beta of foobar2000. I've been using this for months now as a ripper but never as a ripper because it just looks ugly. And I don't have the time and knowhow to configure it to look decent.

That was then. Now with the new version I was able to come up with this layout in minutes. It finally looks decent to me and usable. I'll continue tweaking this and see what I come up with.

Ipod Classic Firmware 1.0.2--Nothing New

2007-10-07T18:05:00.001+08:00

Finally an update. But still no fixes to the problems I've been experiencing. Itunes still freezes. Albums with various artists are still displayed multiple times in Cover Flow. Albums with the same title still have their songs grouped together.

And now another bug I've noticed: the Classic sometimes displays the wrong album art. Itunes displays the right album art but the Ipod does not.

Geez.

I wonder what problems I'll find if I used this for stuff other than music.

A Classic Experience Ep. 3--Bugs

2007-10-04T02:39:00.001+08:00

It's my third week with my Ipod Classic. While I love its looks, capacity and ease of use, I've been noticing more and more bugs as I go along. A lot of users have been experiencing the same things at Ilounge.

Have mentioned previously that Itunes freezes randomly with the Classic connected? I have to mention it again. Whether adding or deleting songs, editing tags or just plain searching through the Ipod's contents or scrolling through the song list, I guarantee you, Itunes will freeze.

Also there are more bugs about Cover Flow than the Various Artists problem. Different albums with the same album title appear together under one album art. To illustrate: I have an Alice in Chains album titled Unplugged and an 10,000 Maniacs album also titled Unplugged. In Cover Flow I select the first album. The Ipod then lists the songs from both albums.

WTF?

There's an easy enough solution though: I rename both albums and include the artist name in the album title.

One more thing. I play a Tori Amos song. The Ipod displays the song info along with the album art but it does not play. I hit pause then play. It still does not play. I check with the original file on my PC and it plays. Argh.

A Classic Experience Ep. 2-- Cover Flow

2007-09-24T02:09:00.001+08:00

The Cover Flow browsing mode is one of the major selling points of the Ipod Classic over other MP3 players. It is however painfully slow if your music library is composed of hundreds of albums--which is why most people would get an 80gb MP3 player in the first place.

While I don't have any benchmarks to show any speed difference, I do recommend resizing your album art to around 300 to 350 pixels. There's no point to high res album art on that small screen. Naturally it would take longer to the load high res pics.

One more thing to note: albums with various artists will be displayed multiple times in cover flow, once for every artist. It can be very annoying to see a soundtrack cover appear over and over again.

I've heard a lot of complaints about this in the Ilounge forums. Hopefully Apple gets to fix these problems soon.

Wish I Was a Pencil

2007-09-22T01:38:00.001+08:00

Here's me wishing I was a piece of wood with graphite insides and rubber ass. I thought I was a crazed fan but reading the last 2 Hikki blog posts make my heart skip. Here's a quote:

"Awww Hikaru-chan You dun lounge around only in your underwear"

'That doesn't matter, I just took a bath you know~. It's the season where you can enjoy fanning yourself while cooling down, only with your shorts on~.'

"Then me worry u can't marry again"

A Classic Experience

2007-09-22T01:08:00.001+08:00

It's been a long time since my last post. Blame it on the Ipod Classic. At $250, I got 80gb of storage--enough to store all the MP3s I've managed to collect in 5 years and video playback too.

First impressions first. It looks slim and feels handy. It still however feels like a hard-drive-based MP3 player so there's always the constant fear that dropping it means saying goodbye not only to the backup of my music collection but the $250 as well. Until Apple produces an 80gb, flash-based Ipod for under 300 bucks, this thing will stay only at home, while my Shuffle comes with me wherever I go.

Once turned on, there's the familiar Ipod interface that even newbies can quickly navigate. The only added feature over the 5th Gen model is the constantly present album art (provided your music is properly tagged with it). Looking for music either using Cover Flow or browsing through artists, albums or genres feels like browsing through actual CDs. And seeing random album art scrolling by the main menu can remind you to listen to an old favorite.

The sound quality, to my ears, using the stock earbuds is top notch. If there's anyone claiming that it sucks, he's probably just high on placebo.

Really the only bad thing about this Ipod is... Itunes. The newest version which is a requirement is as slow as watching paint dry on a rainy day. This on a Athlon X2 3600+ with 2gb of ram. (And no, I don't have any spyware.) The only relief to me is that once I have my music properly tagged with MP3tag and transferred using Itunes I can uninstall it finally.

That's My Father Up There!

2007-09-10T01:29:00.001+08:00

I just finished watching half of Armageddon on TV. I vaguely remember how much I detested it the first time I saw it. It was your typical overblown, cheesy Hollywood summer blockbuster.

I still remember most of the plot and it was obvious then and permanently embedded in my mind that America and Bruce Willis saved the day. Nearly 10 years later, at the climax of the movie, a few seconds before all of mankind was lost, as if I had no clue what was to happen next, I was going mad trying to stop myself from screaming, "Push the damn button already!"

It's still cheesy but fun. Yay.

Patience is a Virtue

2007-09-09T23:46:00.000+08:00

After years, of drooling over a hard drive based Ipod, it is finally time to buy one. Why just now? Well I have roughly 40gb worth of MP3s in my PC and 80gb is the sweet spot, I think, that has enough storage even for my future needs. And now it is only $250. I can't wait for these babies to available here in the third world.

Now if there was an alternative to Itunes in loading video to the Ipod, they would be perfect.

Dharma Not Greg

2007-09-06T00:23:00.000+08:00

Only recently have I realized that some of the best music ever made is played in the Philippines. Like the people, geography and history, the music is eclectic and dynamic, emotional but smart, loud at the same time soulful. Finally the world is noticing as documented in this recent Time Magazine article.

Read it. Go ahead and doubt it. But give the music a chance. Just a quick search through Youtube and you'll see and hear what the fuss is about.

The West does not have a monopoly of the best music. Play it loud and listen.

Hikki's Blog in English

2007-09-04T01:16:00.000+08:00

Geez, I adore Utada Hikaru so much, it sometimes creeps me out. I have all her albums, nearly all her singles, some of her music videos and 2 concerts.

There's something magical about her songs. And no, it's not because she's featured in some video game or anime soundtrack or because of some sci-fi, fantasy music video. It's just the voice and the songs. Art and music are the only things magical left in the world and Hikki makes great music.

After I thought I had read everything in English on the internet about her, I find this translation of her Japanese blog. Whoever is translating this--you have my eternal gratitude.

Now I have 7 years worth of blog posts I have to start reading.

New AMD Phenom Logo

2007-08-29T09:45:00.000+08:00

I just saw the new logo for Phenom--AMD's sucessor to the Athlon. I've been hearing a lot of mixed reactions on it. While I do like the new logo, I couldn't care less if it was the shape of a turd as long as it was faster than Intel's Penryn and available.

Winamp with Album Art

2007-08-28T12:05:00.000+08:00

If you read my foobar2000 ripping guide, you probably have an inkling that I love foobar2000. I do... but only as a ripper and not as a music player. Here are the features I have to have:

1. free
2. low system resource usage
3. support for mp3, wma, aac and ogg
4. active playlist edit window, like that of winamp
5. support for album art

Features 2 and 3 throw Itunes and WMP out the window. The fourth one is the killer. I have to see the entire active playlist and I have yet to see a player aside from winamp that does this. Others just have a list of playlists that you have to highlight or double-click to see their contents. There may be an option or plugin to do this in foobar2000 or musikcube but the solution eludes me.

Feature 5 has been dodgy on winamp... until now.

Doesn't this add to winamp's supposed bloat? Well, the great thing about winamp is that you can trim it down by uninstalling the plugins you don't need. With the lovely config I have on the left, it only uses 5-6 megs when minimized. I'll tell you how to do that once this beta of winamp I'm using goes final.

foobar2000 Secure Ripping Guide FAQ

2007-08-19T19:59:00.002+08:00

Q1 - Why are the MP3s I'm getting slightly bigger than the ones I get from Itunes or WMP ?

A1 - That's because the MP3s from LAME and foobar2000 are at a higher quality setting. If you can't hear an audible improvement and would like to have the smaller files you're used to, go to File then Preferences in foobar. Double click Tools then Converter. From the selection Encoding Presets, highlight MP3 (LAME) then click Edit. You'll get to the Commandline Encoder Settings window, where you need to move the slider to the left to get ~130kbps (*), V5. Click OK then Close and you're done.

Q2 - I've heard that MP3 quality sucks and that it's never as good as the original CD.

A2 - That depends mainly on your hearing ability and the listening environment and to a lesser degree the audio equipment you're using. The only way to tell is for you to do an ABX test where you blindly identify whether a sample is either the original or the MP3. A huge majority fail to do so at LAME's V2 setting for a huge majority of music at even the best listening conditions. If you want to give it a shot, you can start here.

Q3 - How about other formats like Itunes's M4A (also known as AAC) and WMP's WMA?

A3 - See this on choosing the best format. Just remember that should you choose another format, you will lose the compatibility guaranteed by MP3. And if you choose a lossless format, you lose lots and lots of hard drive space. If you can't hear the difference between an MP3 and the original CD then why bother with something else?

Q4 - I really do want to use another format. How?

A4 - Most encoders (like LAME) will be available at Rarewares. Nero AAC is available here. Unzip the files into C:\Program Files\foobar2000. Next time you rip, when you get to the Converter Setup window, you just need to pick your desired encoder. No other settings need to be changed as foobar2000 defaults to the recommended setting for all encoders.

Q5 - What are CD drive offsets and can I use them with foobar2000?

A5 - What they are HERE. To use them with foobar2000, you have to locate your CD drive in the list and take note of the corresponding Correction Offset. In foobar2000 pick File>Open Audio CD. Click Drive Settings and enter the Correction Offset you took note of in the Offset Correction Samples box. Click OK to save.

Q7 - Is it true foobar2000 is also a music player like winamp?

A7 - No shit?

foobar2000 Secure Ripping Guide

2007-08-19T13:53:00.016+08:00

UPDATE
I no longer recommend foobar2000 as a ripper due to a few of my rips not being verified by Accuraterip through fooaccrip. Also my testing documented here had unfavorable results for foobar2000.

I have gone back to using EAC and I recommend everyone to use it instead (unless you can afford dBpoweramp).

The only EAC guide that is up to date and with correct information is the HydrogenAudio EAC guide.

Do not let the number of pages fool you. Setting EAC up is just a matter of following its configuration wizard, changing a maximum of 3 settings from their defaults and disabling C2 or using C2 with Test & Copy.

If you must use foobar2000 to rip, watch the console. If it reports minor errors, then there is a possibility of a non-secure rip.

-------------------------------------------

Let's take care of the obvious questions first.

Why rip with something other than Itunes or Windows Media Player (WMP)?

Ripping CDs is not as reliable as copying files from a CDROM. Sometimes the audio data retrieved will not be an exact copy of the original. This can be in the form of pops, clicks and skips on MP3s. This is most evident on CDs with scratches. Itunes and WMP are known to ignore such errors in ripping. In most cases these programs will tell you that your rip was successful, when in fact, it was not.

Are there alternatives that will tell when errors and unexact rips occur?

Yes. This is called secure ripping. For Windows, there are only 3 that are free: DMC, Exact Audio Copy (EAC) and foobar2000. EAC is the most established and popular, but its wealth of options may be daunting to a first-timer. (UPDATE: only a few options need to be changed from their defaults.) Here is a guide for anyone interested. In my opinion foobar2000 is the easiest to use among the 3. My guide follows and you be the judge.

1. Download foobar2000 and LAME. What is LAME? "LAME (Lame Ain't an MP3 Encoder) is the Hydrogenaudio recommended MP3 encoder. It has been developed by the open-source community since 1998, and has become the highest quality MP3 encoder for most purposes."

2. Run the foobar2000 installer. Pick Full at the Choose Components Screen. Keep on clicking next until you reach finish.

3. Extract the LAME zip file into foobar2000 folder "C:\Program Files\foobar2000".

4. Once you have a CD in your CDROM drive, click File then Open Audio CD.

5. This step is only necessary to configure your CDROM drive. In the Open Audio CD window, click Drive Settings. Pick standard from the Security pull down menu then click OK. You can skip this step for your succeeding rips.

6. Back in the Open Audio CD window, click Rip which will take you to the Rip Audio CD window. Click Lookup to retrieve the artist, album and song titles for the CD.

7. In the freedb tagger window, highlight the matching CD information then click Update files. Now back in the Rip Audio CD window, click Rip.

8. Like step 5, this step only needs to be done once. You'll be taken to the Converter Setup window, where you need to select MP3. Then click OK. Next you'll have to browse for LAME which should be in "C:\Program Files\foobar2000". Once there click OK.

9. The next window will ask you where to save your MP3s. Enjoy your music.

10. For further reading: FAQ, HydrogenAudio Wiki, foobar 0.9 vs EAC Secure Rip

It's the end of the world as we know it...

2007-08-19T01:23:00.002+08:00

I can still remember the first time I thought about the end of the world. And no it wasn't because of the movie Armageddon. (That's my father up there!) but because of the book Countdown to Armageddon by Hal Lindsey. It's mainly about the book of Revelations interpreted to fit the 80's fear of a global nuclear war. It was a terrifying read for a 10-year-old. I really thought the world would end.

That fear subsided over the years. I lived through several earthquakes, arguably the biggest volcanic eruption of the 20th century and countless typhoons and floods. This is the 3rd world baby, and we've been through worse and we see worse on a yearly basis.

That sounds pretty catchy huh? Well it seems things might get worse on a monthly basis. I just saw an Inconvenient Truth and it was just as terrifying as a nuclear war. Most of you have probably heard of it. It's Mr. Almost Pres. Al Gore warning about global warming.

We've all heard about the issue since grade school and it's still here. Like AIDS. It's even worse than AIDS because there are people who've seen the evidence, gone through ever increasing droughts and ever strengthening hurricances and rising sea levels and say, "Nothing to worry about. This is all part of a cycle."

Well if the cycle involves my country and many others going the way of Atlantis then we've got to start doing something.

The first thing to do is watch An Inconvenient Truth. If you're too cheap to get a legit copy, here's the torrent. Burn the movie and share it with everyone you know.

Wild, Wild Web

2007-08-18T23:12:00.003+08:00

If you're reading this (the blog of a person you don't know), you probably spend a lot of time on the internet. Most likely, you'll have an account with a social networking website like Friendster, Multiply or Myspace.

I don't. Or rather, I do but it's not my photo on there. Just a picture of some nameless Joe who's covering his face. I just use that account to spy on people. Social networking my ass.

Take the guys above for instance. See their happy smiles. Such good friends they are. Little do they know their photo has been randomly picked from Friendster and posted on an some asshole's blog.

Think that's mean? The information and photos you share can be used for worse things. A lot worse. Someone can impersonate you and sign up for blogger as you. Post your photos. Say the things you say, you don't want to be heard by other people. Or they could just jerk off at your pretty photo.

No sir. Not me. The only thing you'll get out of me are my thoughts, which don't mean squat.

(Thanks for reading though. I'm pouring my heart and soul here.)

Once More with Feeling

2007-08-18T22:45:00.003+08:00

I like the word peach. I've liked it since 1997 when it hit me--it's cheap backwards. Now I don't think much about words anymore.

I think about work. I think about computers. I think about music and movies and sometimes books. (I hate that. I used to think a lot about books. Not anymore.) I think about the internet. But really I don't think that much about anything anymore.

I think I'm running out of thoughts.

Which is why I'm starting this blog. How very 21st century. How pedestrian. I don't care. The risk of Blogger going down is much less than that of my hard drive.

So once more, with feeling, I'll write my thoughts. Bring out the popcorn.