Category Archives: Technology
Biostar TF7050-M2 S/PDIF Digital Audio
As boxed, the Biostar TF7050 supports multi-channel analog audio, and HDMI audio, which is digital but encrypted. In order to pass-through AC3 streams (for Dolby Digital and DTS), I needed a standard digital audio output. The motherboard has headers for … Continue reading
Home Theater PC
I’m tired of wrestling with my Mini-ITX PVR/DVR/Media PC setup which has worked a total of three weeks in the last three years. So last night I ordered a new batch of much more standard items. All parts were ordered … Continue reading
Ubuntu + Handbrake + AMD64 == “cannot find -lz”
Attempting to compile Handbrake using jam resulted in a strange error, something like: /usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lz error: C compiler cannot create executables According to the Internets, I needed to install the development version of zlib. However, zlib-devel does not … Continue reading
Aeroflot comment
Cracked.com had a so-so article which mentioned Russian discount airline Aeroflot. The winning comment was by Kostanza:
How to Export a Type Library
It had been awhile since I’d exported a TypeLib, so I had forgotten how! The world has moved on to .Net and its “tlxexp.exe” tool, which is for .Net/CLR assemblies only. 1) Download OLEVIEW.EXE the OLE/COM Object Viewer
XBox Video Encoding: AAC versus AC-3 audio
The XBox 360 can play back xvid/divx + AC-3 (or AAC), and H.264/x264 + AAC. I’ve noticed a distinct difference in audio quality between AC-3 and AAC, at both the default 128kbps and forced 192kbps AAC (–aencoder aac –arate 48 … Continue reading
uShare on Buffalo TeraStation Live for XBox 360 Video
uShare, a GeeXBox project, is a media server which is compatible with the new XBox 360 “Spring Update” media player capability. Running uShare on a desktop seems straightforward, but getting it working on such a lightweight machine as the TeraStation … Continue reading
Using Handbrake to Encode Videos for XBox 360 Playback
I installed the Microsoft Spring ’07 Update, allowing the XBox 360 to play videos encoded as MPEG-4 Part 2 (xvid/divx) and H.264/x264. After fumbling around for countless hours, I found handbrake settings that work with the XBox 360. Since all … Continue reading
Ubuntu With autofs and Infinite Recursive Directories
Trying to get autofs working on Ubuntu, I found that everything worked except that I could never actually get at the folder contents. Instead, I would get an infinitely recursive set of empty folders: jeff@ubuntu:~$ ls /smb/myserver/ backup/ info/ media/ … Continue reading