The “War” For Top Talent In Silicon Valley

The unemployment rate in Silicon Valley may be higher than the nine percent national average, but that’s not making it any easier for some young technology start-ups looking to hire engineers.

Todd McKinnon, the co-founder and chief executive of San Francisco software start-up Okta Inc., calls the competition for top talent “a war.” His company, which this year raised $10 million in Series A funding from venture firm Andreessen Horowitz and angel investors, plans to spend 80 percent of its new capital on salaries, mostly for engineers.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Fiber-Optic Networks Regain Some Glow

After the telecom bubble burst a decade ago, fiber was a dirty word.

Now, the fiber-optic network business is enjoying a resurgence, particularly for metro fiber, the high-capacity lines that connect a city’s office buildings, data centers and cellular towers to the Internet.

There have been 14 acquisitions in the industry this year alone and 45 since the fiber market began its turnaround in 2006, according to investment bank Cowen & Co.

“There’s a shortage of metro fiber, and the demand is just going through the roof,” said Rob Shanahan, chief executive of Lightower Fiber Networks, a fiber company serving the Northeast that has acquired five other companies since 2008.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

40 For the Next 40

We are in the midst of an accelerating, revolutionary transformation. Change is happening everywhere – in technology, business, government, economics, organizational structures, values and norms – and consequently affects how we live, work and play.

Read the rest of this post on the original site »

The iPod Family(Part 1)

We're hard pressed to say the iPod family's fallen on particularly hard times, but being under such excruciating public scrutiny can take its toll on any dynasty; especially in a year like 2005, the family shaken to its core by so many tragic deaths. From the humble beginnings of the iPod that began the legacy so many years back, all the way up to the tragic loss of the iPod mini just yesterday, we felt it might be time to take a visit to the iPod family cemetary on this early autumn afternoon.


iPod family Tree

2001


The first generation iPod-October 2001 - July 2002

2002

The second generation iPod-July 2002 - April 2003
But a few mournful months after the passing of the 5GB iPod and the birth of the 10GB iPod, came a new 10GB iPod and the 20GB, which started at $499. Perhaps one of the least well-remembered of the iPod family, this iPod included the first non-mechanical (solid state) scroll wheel, though the center and circumference buttons remained tactile. Perhaps most groundbreaking was the official Windows support (via Musicmatch Jukebox, ironically), though the wired remote, calendar, and artist search were all significant as well. Eventually this iPod would undergo tattoos by Beck, No Doubt, Madonna, and Tony Hawk before being committed to history in April of 2003.

2003

The third generation iPod-April 2003 - July 2004
This was the iPod—born of humbler pedigree—that grew up, provided for itself a higher education, and made its own way in the world. The third generation of the family rid itself entirely of mechanical buttons on its body, shed some of its baby fat around the waist down to 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.62-inches, and came forth at $299 for 10GB, $399 for 15GB, and $499 for 30GB. This was also the first iPod child to feature a remote connector and dock connector—which finally enabled USB 2.0. In September the 30GB iPod was priced at $399, and a 40GB model was released for $499.

Related theme:
The iPod family(part 2)
The iPod family(part 3)
The iPod family(part 4)
The iPod family(part 5)

Recommended Products For you:
DVD to iPod Converter for Mac
It's a specially designed iPod conversion program to Convert DVD to iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, convert DVD to iTunes on Leopard.
iPod Video Converter for Mac
It can convert MP4, MOV, 3GP, AVI, RM, MPEG, ASF and FLV to iPod video with high output quality and various features .

How to fix error while burning DVD with iDVD

If you found message warning while click “Burn” in iDVD program. As same as pictures below:



Following these steps, you can fix the error:
1. Message warning click “Open DVD Map”.
2. New window will display. Find out yellow triangle and “!” inside.



3. Correct any mistake and then try to burn again.

How to import video from camcorder to Mac

You may be ready to make a movie after you capture great footage with your FireWire camcorder. In this condition, you need import your camcorder to your Mac. More specially, you need to connect your camcorder to your Mac, and then copy footage from the camcorder into iMovie. And when you import video into an iMovie project, it would divide your video into individual clips for the easy editing.



Part 1. How to Import Video from a Camcorder to your Mac
Step 1: Connect camcorder to your Mac computer with cable (USB/Wifi)
Step 2: Select mode of camcorder such as PC/Computer mode.
Step 3: iMovie will automatic open Import window.
Step 4: If DVD Player automatic open. just quit DVD Player first.
Step 5: So now, you can review your video or select "Import All"(make sure your switch is set to "Automatic").
Step 6: If you select "Manual", you can import some clip to iMovie
Step 7: If you import from Tape based device (DV/HDV), iMovie will automatic revise tape and import all
Step 8: iMovie automatic create thumbnail video after complete import

Part 2. Tips:
iMovie automatically detects your camcorder
iMovie will automatically detect when you have a FireWire camcorder connected. If you see the message No Camera Attached, make sure your camera is turned on and properly plugged in to your computer via a FireWire cable and that your camcorder is set to VCR, VTR, or Play mode. You can also click the Connection Help button for more suggestions.
iMovie supports different video formats
When you create your project, choose the appropriate video format depending on your needs. For importing video from your camcorder, choose between DV, DV Widescreen, HDV 1080i, and HDV 720i. For recording from your iSight, select iSight. If you will be copying MPEG-4 files from your PDA or phone, select MPEG-4.
Import directly to the iMovie timeline
You can import footage directly from your camcorder to the iMovie timeline rather than to the Clips pane. This is a quick and easy way to get your footage into your iMovie project. You can then edit right in the timeline. From the iMovie menu, choose Preferences, click Import, and then choose the option Place clips in Movie Timeline.
If you're importing video that is already edited
Instead of importing your video as separate clips, you can set iMovie to import your video as a single clip. This may be useful if you're importing a movie that you've already edited and you just want to change a small portion. From the iMovie menu, choose Preferences, click Import, and then deselect the "Start a new clip at each scene break" option. If you prefer, select "Limit scene length to" and set a limit for the number of minutes. This will ensure your imported files don't get too large, in case you'll be copying clips between iMovie projects.
What you need to make a high-definition video with iMovie
High definition video is quickly becoming the format you see broadcast on TV. An HD camcorder stores more pixels than a standard camcorder, letting you see more detail in your video footage. iMovie supports importing and editing video from HD camcorders (HDV 720p and 1080i), so you can make movies just like the pros-and it's a great way to archive your most precious life events in the highest resolution possible .
Using video from an MPEG-4 camera
Many digital still cameras, PDAs, and mobile phones let you record short videos in the MPEG-4 format, a standard compression that is used to significantly reduce the file size of video. While iMovie doesn't know how to import video from these devices directly, as it does with FireWire devices, you can still use the MPEG-4 files once you've copied them to your Mac. Just drag them into the iMovie Clips pane using the Finder or import them using Import from the File menu.
Monitor the remaining amount of hard disk space
Digital video clips use a large amount of hard disk space. For example, five minutes of DV footage uses approximately 1GB of space. The same amount of HD video can occupy between 2GB to 4GB, depending on the format and footage. To save hard disk space, import and edit your video in sections instead of trying to do so all at once. You can see how much space remains on your hard disk by using the monitor located in the lower-right corner of the iMovie window.
Using video from your connected or built-in iSight camera
You can record video directly into your iMovie project with your iSight camera. That’s to say, you can add clips to your project spontaneously while you're working on it. Just connect your iSight camera to the FireWire port of your Mac and you're ready to start recording. If you have more then one camcorder connected, such as a camcorder and an iSight,- or you have an iMac with a built-in iSight-choose iSight from the pop-up menu that appears when you switch to camera mode.

How to Remove DRM protection from iTunes

iTunes is a champion of music, video downloading services. The user-friendly iTunes makes downloading music, videos quick and hassle-free; however, iTunes purchased songs and videos will not run on any other media player except for Apple products due to digital rights managements (DRM) which limit usages of devices or files.
This is a tutorial to remove DRM protection from iTunes. Then you can burn the iTunes videos to DVD and convert the iTunes videos to other format files.

Part 1, Remove DRM protection from iTunes Music using iTunes + CD-R/W
Probably the most widely accepted method for stripping purchased songs of DRM protection is burning tracks to a CD-R/W then re-importing back into the iTunes library. A method guaranteed to free you of DRM madness.
Create an iTunes playlist containing your purchased songs.
Insert a blank CD-R or a CD-RW.
Burn the playlist to disk.
Re-import the songs after a successful burn.
Delete the original purchased tracks.

Part 2, Remove DRM protection from iTunes using software
1. Remove DRM protection from iTunes music and videos for free on PC.
QTFairUse. It can Remove DRM protection from iTunes music and videos for free.
QTFairUse(.) for ITunes will allow you to convert protected m4p format files purchased in the iTunes Music Store to unprotected m4a files, playable everywhere. It supports fully automated conversion of all protected tracks in your iTunes library.
It will confirm whether you want to convert all the files in your library. Press 'y' and Enter to do that. Next it will ask if you want to skip already converted tracks (e.g. from the previous run). Press 'n' and Enter to overwrite them, 'y' and Enter to skip. After that, the script will begin conversion of all files in the library. Converted files will have m4a extension and will reside next to their m4p counterparts. To stop the conversion in process, press Ctrl-C in the console window. You can also close iTunes.
If you want to convert specific m4p files, pass their filenames as the commanding parameter. You can do that by e.g. dragging and dropping the files on QTFairUse6.exe. QTFairUse6 will convert them and exit. You can find converted files next to the originals, with m4a extension.

MyFairTunes. It can Remove DRM protection from iTunes music for free.

2. Remove DRM protection from iTunes music on Mac.
The software I introduce:
FairGame It is a freeware to Remove DRM protection from iTunes music on Mac OS X. FairGame(http://seidai.50webs.com/Seidai%20Software_files/FairGame.zip)will convert the songs you bought on the iTunes Store to an unprotected format (using iTunes default encoder) and keep all the original metadata, lyrics and artwork. FairGame doesn't do lossless DRM stripping. It re-encodes protected AAC files purchased in iTMS into unprotected AAC file using Apple's iMovie software.
What you MUST DO (only once) to get FairGame to work:
enable "Access for assistive devices" in the "Universal Access" system preference
select "Place clip in Movie Timeline" in the "Import" preference of iMovie HD
Then you can simply
select some songs in iTunes
click on the "Process songs" button
then don't touch anything and wait until it's done...(FairGame is scripting iMovie's interface to process the songs, don't interfere)



Tips:
If you want to burn the iTunes video to DVD, Just follow these steps:
1. Get the iTunes video to computer. You need to transfer the videos to iPod or iPhone and then use free iPod manager to get the videos from iPod or iPhone to computer.
Here is a tutorial: How to get videos from iPod and iPhone to Mac and PC for free?
2. Use freeware to burn the iTunes video to DVD. Here are the tutorials:
How to convert iTunes videos to DVD on PC for free?

Recommended Products For you:
DVD to iPod Converter for Mac
It's a specially designed iPod conversion program to Convert DVD to iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, convert DVD to iTunes on Leopard.
iPod Video Converter for Mac
It can convert MP4, MOV, 3GP, AVI, RM, MPEG, ASF and FLV to iPod video with high output quality and various features.

Microsoft Eyes Wider Net as Xbox Turns to Entertainment

The Kinect has been an early hit for Microsoft, but an even bigger moment to celebrate will be if the new gaming accessory can help move the Xbox beyond the hard-core gamer demographic to appeal to a mass audience for general living-room entertainment.

In the first 25 days at market, Microsoft sold 2.5 million Kinect accessories and now aims to sell five million this holiday season. The sales helped the Xbox become the best-selling console in November.

The Kinect is a motion detection system similar to the Nintendo Wii, but is hands-free and doesn’t require any controllers. Xbox 360 owners can purchase one for $150.

During our visit last week to the Xbox offices in Redmond, Wash., Craig Davison, the senior director of marketing for Xbox LIVE, told us the goal is to broaden the audience for Xbox. He said the competition is no longer limited to PlayStation or the Wii, but extends to Google TV and Apple TV.

Hard-core gamers enthralled with Call of Duty and Halo may shudder at the prospect, but the trend is already in play.

But adding a new kind of player to the platform is critical if Microsoft wants the console to be an entertainment hub. Kinect allows users who’ve never picked up a controller to play, and brings new functionality to hardware, which historically has been marketed as something that must be replaced frequently.

Game console owners are most likely to use the boxes to play games and watch DVDs, but after that, Nielsen reports, entertainment services are a close third. Video-on-demand and streaming services such as Netflix, MLB Network and ESPN3 account for 20 percent of Wii users’ time, 10 percent of Xbox 360 users’ time and 9 percent of PlayStation 3 users’ time.

Davison said the demographics for Xbox started to shift in 2008 when it introduced Netflix streaming to the console. Since then, it has launched a partnership with ESPN, and will launch Hulu Plus early next year. It’s even helping out the top line: Close to 85 percent of Xbox Live’s revenues come from games, with the remainder coming from Zune, he said.

Here are some other numbers to consider:

–Since the launch of Zune on Xbox 360 in November 2009, the pace of HD movie and TV consumption–downloads and streaming–has more than doubled.

–In the last year, Microsoft has seen a 157 percent increase in the time spent watching movies over Xbox LIVE.

–42 percent of Xbox LIVE users who spring for Gold status at $59 a year are watching an average of one hour of TV or movies every day–or more than 30 hours a month.

Bonobos Raises $18.5 Million to Sell Better-Fitting Pants

Bonobos got its start three years ago promising men “better-fitting pants” sold over the internet.

Now it has raised $18.5 million in venture capital to tell more people about it.

The funds raised today will give the New York-based company the cash to add a sales and marketing team. The goal is to increase its relatively small customer base of 32,000 customers to 100,000 in 2011.

Bonobos, which is named for a kind of chimpanzee, was started by Andy Dunn while he was at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Dunn himself professes to like clothes, but not shopping.

Despite its tiny footprint, Bonobos is on pace to have $15 million in annualized revenues, and in the past six months alone has tripled its business. It has a 50 percent return rate based on selling well-fitting, comfortable clothes and offering great customer service.

Investors participating in the round include Lightspeed Venture Partners and Accel Partners, along with a handful of angels. To date, the company has raised $26.25 million.

Following Layoffs, Yahoo Cuts Products: MyBlogLog, Delicious, Yahoo! Buzz

At an all-hands meeting for the Yahoo product team following a round of layoffs yesterday that significantly impacted that group, Chief Product Officer Blake Irving showed off a slide of plans to “sunset” eight products and consolidate others.

Products on a list to be shut down include MyBlogLog, Yahoo! Picks, AltaVista, Yahoo! Bookmarks, Yahoo! Buzz and Delicious. Some of those properties came from acquisitions and others were internally generated.

The news of the Yahoo plans first came out via a screenshot of the Webcast posted on Twitter by Eric Marcoullier that included a slide with a list of impacted products next to an image of Irving, along with EVP of the Americas Ross Levinsohn, announcing the news.

Marcoullier was founder of MyBlogLog, which created one of the products being shut down. (MyBlogLog was bought by Yahoo in 2007 and has been pretty much neglected ever since.)

The slide also shows plans to merge additional products, including Fire Eagle and Yahoo People Search, and make features out of many others, including Yahoo! Alerts and Yahoo! Calendar. (If you have better eyes than I do, please help identify some of those logos in the comments.)

Marcoullier is no longer at Yahoo, although the validity of his Webcast screenshot was confirmed, after he was quickly criticized on Twitter by various current Yahoo employees who didn’t appreciate it getting out, including Irving himself, who insinuated he would fire whoever leaked the Webcast. (Click on image here to enlarge.)

While the layoffs and shutdowns obviously indicate a de-emphasis of technology products by Yahoo, they aren’t necessarily unwarranted. Some of these products were the same as those mentioned on then-SVP Brad Garlinghouse’s infamous Peanut Butter Memo way back in 2006 as candidates for streamlining.

Update 12:21 p.m. PT: Yahoo’s statement on the matter just came through:

Part of our organizational streamlining involves cutting our investment in underperforming or off-strategy products to put better focus on our core strengths and fund new innovation in the next year and beyond. We continuously evaluate and prioritize our portfolio of products and services, and do plan to shut down some products in the coming months such as Yahoo! Buzz, our Traffic APIs, and others. We will communicate specific plans when appropriate.

In response to a follow-up question about Delicious, which seems to be the “sunsetted” product people are most upset about, the spokeswoman replied, “We continue to operate Delicious today, and will communicate specific details when appropriate.”

Put Limewire music, YouTube video on iPod

1. Put music and videos from Limewire to iPod
Limewire is a download tool I assume lot of us use. I often use it to download free music and videos and put them on my iPod. I also often visit Youtube to watch videos and sometimes I download videos from Youtube to put on my iPod.
Search and download songs from Limewire. You may get songs in all sorts of formats, but not all formats are supported by iPod. Usually I select three formats: MP3, AAC and M4A formats that are supported by iPod and can be directly transferred to iPod using iTunes. For the detailed specs info, you can visit http://www.apple.com/iPod/specs.html. After you download the songs, open your iTunes, click "File" from the upper left corner, select "Add file to library", browse your computer hard drive and find the songs downloaded by Limewire, select the songs you prefer, click OK and the songs will be put in your iTunes. Then you can just transfer the songs to your iPod from iTunes.

2.Youtube video to iPod
I often visit Youtube to watch videos and sometimes I download videos from Youtube to put on my iPod. Youtube videos are in FLV formats, so I use a free online FLV converter to do the conversion:
Firstly, go to Youtube and open the page of the video you want to put on your iPod. And you will find the Youtube URL of this video to the right of the playback window. Then copy this URL. See the highlighted area in the figure below:



Secondly, go to http://vixy.net/ , paste the copied URL into the URL field of this web page, and select "MP4 for iPod/PSP" from the "Converts to" drop-down list. Then click "Start" below this list to start the conversion. See the highlighted areas below:



Finally, after the conversion, this website will provide a download link for you to download the converted MP4 file. When you see the link, you can just download the final file from the link, save the downloaded MP4 file on your computer and use iTunes to sync it on to your iPod.

Recommended Products For you:
DVD to iPod Converter for Mac
It's a specially designed iPod conversion program to Convert DVD to iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, convert DVD to iTunes on Leopard.
DVD to iPod Converter for Windows
It is one of the best conversion programs for PC that can put DVD on iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano and so on.

New Zune2 review (part 2-1) upgrade, hardware, software and Social

When we first caught wind that Microsoft was in fact doing its own portable media player (and then published the first ever photo of the Zune), we hoped it might finally be the play to knock the iPod off its perch. Sure, in mid 2006 there was no shortage of devices more advanced than any given iPod, but then (and now) the iPod enjoyed unchecked dominance of the market in the US and many countries abroad. Steve Jobs knew the day would come that Microsoft would really enter the game.
What we were hoping for was that the portable media world might be in store for another Sony / Nintendo upset. Remember in the 90s how Sony and Nintendo's partnership went awry, and Sony, totally sick of Nintendo completely owning the game console space, brought out the original PlayStation? Before the console's second generation was through Sony had more market share than they knew what to do with. Sony upped Nintendo's game with the PlayStation, then upped their own with the PlayStation 2 -- and took over.
If Sony could do the impossible and topple the infallible Nintendo of old, surely Microsoft, the world's largest technology company, could make at least make a dent in Apple's armor. Yeah, the first-gen product is important, but the second gen product is crucial, because if you can't up your game -- and everyone else's -- you're just another player. This year, Microsoft really had to make the Zune count. Read on to judge for yourself whether they did.
The first generation Zune, as we all know, was little more than a slew of off the shelf hardware and software Microsoft cobbled together in a rush to make a play for the annual holiday gold rush. And the interesting part is, all things considered, it really wasn't bad at all. No one thought it was "done", but it was a lot better than some of the other PMC-based devices we'd seen to date. This year Microsoft brought a slew of new Zune products (and enhancements) to the table, including two new players (flagship 80GB and the flash model), new device software (which runs on all devices), new desktop software, and a new service (Zune Social, a music-oriented social network reminiscent of Xbox Live).



Device software
Yeah, we know Microsoft technically skipped right past device software v2.0 and jumped to 2.2, but the update is the best place to start since it affects the most users and devices. Microsoft won some well-deserved brownie points for ensuring all Zune players new and old can run the new firmware, meaning that for now your old Zune will have feature parity with the new hardware.
So here's the deal with the device software: it adds some crucial bits (many of which we expected the first time), takes away some minor but important things, and leaves the other 90% largely unchanged. First, the stuff Zune 2.0 takes away:
Song flagging
The five star rating system
The language menu The good stuff, though, is very good:
MPEG-4 and H.264 playback support
Podcasting support
Sync over WiFi (which we'll get to later)
In terms of performance, both old and new hardware and firmware were almost identical in testing. A lot of people have been claiming the new firmware is much snappier, but we didn't find that to be true at all. Two Zune 30 devices boot up within a half second between 1.0 and 2.0 series firmwares, and the flash-based Zune 8 we tested booted to home screen less than a second faster. Traversing menus took no more or less time or when syncing and the like. (Note: scrolling through long lists appears to happen slightly faster, but that's likelier an interface tweak, not a performance increase.)

Related theme:
New Zune review part 2-1
New Zune review part 2-2
New Zune review part 2-3
New Zune review part 2-4

Recommended Products:
Aiseesoft DVD to Zune Suite
It can help you convert DVD, IFO and all video formats to Zune, Zune 2 MP4, WMV and Zune supported audio MP3, WMA, and AAC etc.

How to convert TS to MP4, MOV, etc on Mac OS X

What is TS?
Transport stream(TS, TP, MPEG-TS, or M2T) is a communications protocol for audio, video, and data which is specified in MPEG-2 Part 1, Systems (ISO/IEC standard 13818-1). Its design goal is to allow multiplexing of digital video and audio and to synchronize the output. Transport stream offers features for error correction for transportation over unreliable media, and is used in broadcast applications such as DVB and ATSC. It is contrasted with program stream, designed for more reliable media such as DVDs.
TS format is a container format that encapsulates pocketsize elementary streams and other data.
Important elements of a transport stream: Packet, PID, Programs, Program Specific Information (PSI) , 1 PAT , PMT , PCR , Null packets

How to play TS files on Mac?
You need media player to play TS files on Mac OS X:
VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, ...) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network. It supports Mac, linux, Windows.
How to convert TS to MP4, AVI,MOV, etc on Mac?
You need a video converter for Mac to convert TS to MP4, AVI, MOV, etc on Mac. Then you can put them on iPod, iPhone, PSP, Xbox 360, iMove, other potable players.
Step 1: Download TS Video Converter for Mac:
We recommend you Aiseesoft Video Converter for Mac which can convert TS to MP4, Convert TS to AVI perfectly. This Mac TS Video Converter also can extract audio from TS and Convert to MP3, M4A, etc. Compared with other video converters, this TS video converter for Mac provides you with better output quality, more advanced functions and higher conversion speed. You can download free trial Version here: for Mac intel users, for Mac PowerPC users. Then install and run this program. The trial version should be fully functional for what you want to do.
Step 2: Load the TS files you want to convert



Click the "Add File" button to browse your computer hard disc and add the .TS files you want to convert to the program.
Step 3: Output Settings
After you added TS files, you can select an output format for each video file and specify a directory on your computer to save the output files.
The TS Converter for Mac supports comprehensive video formats including AVI, MPEG, WMV, MP4, XviD, 3GP, FLV, etc.
If you don't know what formats your device supports, you can just select the format according to the device name. Of course, if you don't want to use the default video and audio encoding settings, just click the "Settings" button to customize these settings.



Step 4: Edit your TS files
This TS Video Converter for Mac set video brightness, contrast, saturation, crop video, trim video/audio and even merge multiple files into one file.

Step 5: Start the conversion
Click the Convert button to start conversion and then you can just go out for a walk or take a nap, and the conversion may have been finished when you come back: )

Modifications of transport stream specification for random-access media (M2TS)
Transport Stream was designed for tape and broadcast, but it required modifications for usage with random-access media devices like new generation of digital camcorders that record onto DVD disks, hard drives or solid-state memory cards.
Random-access based systems may save data packets into a temporary buffer if a storage device is not ready, for example on device startup. Packets are written out of order, and to keep track of them, a 4-byte timecode (TC) is added to standard 188-byte packets. The result is a 192-byte packet. This is what is informally called M2TS stream. Sony calls it "BDAV MPEG-2 transport stream". JVC calls it TOD (possibly an abbreviation for "Transport stream on media") when used in HDD-based camcorders like GZ-HD7.[9] M2TS transport stream is also used for AVCHD video files, which often have MTS extension.

When Facebook Bought ConnectU From the Winklevii (Or, Parsing Legal Filings for Fun)

Earlier this week there was some confusion about outlets reporting that Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss had filed another lawsuit against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for stealing the social networking idea they had asked him to develop for them back when they were all students at Harvard. While the Daily Mail story on the matter has been taken offline, Radar posted a PDF court filing of a Facebook brief to the U.S. District Court in California, where the Winklevii had appealed their argument that the $65 million settlement they had extracted from Facebook was nonbinding and constituted securities fraud, given information Facebook had not shared with the brothers about its valuation.

The brief was actually filed back in June, and I found a better, watermark-free copy of it here on the Web site of the Winklevoss lawyers. Last night I took the time to read it in full, and it was surprisingly not boring.

Perhaps the most revelatory thing in the Facebook filing is that Facebook’s lawyers seem to be having fun with the case. Their writing is laden with imagery and over-the-top exasperation with the Winklevii’s allegedly poorly formed legal arguments. Here’s the dramatic intro to the brief:

This appeal arises from the settlement of rancorous litigation on two coasts. On one side were Appellees Facebook, Inc. and its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. On the other side were the Appellants, who founded a failing competitor of Facebook’s called ConnectU. The CU Founders claimed that they had the idea for Facebook first, and Facebook stole their idea. Facebook denied those claims and, for its part, accused ConnectU and its Founders of unlawfully infiltrating its systems, stealing millions of email addresses, and then spamming them. During a global mediation, the parties signed a “Term Sheet and Settlement Agreement.” In the interest of achieving litigation peace, Facebook agreed to purchase ConnectU for [redacted] dollars and [redacted] shares of Facebook stock, one of the hottest startups in the world. Surrounded by a bevy of lawyers, the CU Founders signed the deal. Then they suffered a bout of settlers’ remorse. They ask this Court to relieve them of the deal they struck to plunge back into scorched-earth litigation.

Besides the writing, the other thing that’s interesting is the information about the terms of the relationship between Facebook and ConnectU. While the story has been simplified into a Hollywood-style betrayal as portrayed in “The Social Network,” the outcome of Zuckerberg and the Winklevii’s legal mediation is much less widely reported.

As part of its settlement with the Winklevoss twins, Facebook agreed to acquire their social network ConnectU (which they eventually did find someone to build), and has been “operating” it since Dec. 2008, the filing says (the site itself is offline).

Facebook contends that this earlier agreement to buy ConnectU was final, while the Winklevii are calling it a draft (their co-founder Divya Narendra has publicly said he’s moved past the Zuckerberg vendetta, though he’s mentioned in the filings as well).

The settlement came after closed-door professional mediation in February 2008. Facebook says it’s outraged that the Winklevii and their lawyers are bringing conversations from mediation back into the appeal, because all involved were sworn to confidentiality.

(You can also read the ConnectU appeal brief for the case to which Facebook was responding. However the bits from the mediation that were supposed to be confidential have been blacked out.)

But after the settlement, ConnectU came back to the table asking for its share to be revalued. It had originally negotiated using a publicly reported valuation from when Microsoft invested in Facebook, rather than an internal valuation from around the same time that would have priced the shares much lower ($8.88 versus $35.90). A revaluation of the shares to a smaller amount would give the twins a larger stake in the company.

And also, the Winklevii wanted the transaction to be labeled a merger instead of an acquisition so they could avoid paying some taxes on it.

Facebook replied in the June brief, again in remarkably florid fashion:

“First, the CU Founders try to leave this Court with the impression that the only valuation figure they knew was the $15 billion figure from the Microsoft press release, and that they, therefore, had reason to enshrine it as gospel. They also portray the one 409A valuation on which they rely here as some seismic event in the life of the company, as if an unexpected bolt of lightning from on high emblazoned $8.88 onto a couple of tablets. Both the impressions are false.”

Facebook, by the way, to add insult to injury, says the internal valuation of its shares at the time of the Microsoft investment was actually even lower than the Winklevoss lawyers are arguing: Six days before the Microsoft transaction, Facebook had filed a document valuing employee stock options at just $6.61.

The attorney who signed the Facebook brief is Monte Cooper of Orrick, an intellectual property specialist. I hope he also writes novels in his spare time.

2011: Apps Get Spendy, Carriers Get Grabby, Google Loses Its Way

Every year for the last five years I’ve made it a habit to attend an annual dinner at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel hosted by Mark Anderson, the CEO of Strategic News Service. Stratnews is a newsletter that circulates to senior executives of several tech companies, and Anderson also runs a conference called FIRE, for Future In Review, where President Mark Hurd appeared last month. At this dinner, Anderson gives a speech during which he makes 10 predictions concerning the tech economy for the coming year, and it’s always interesting.

This year I’m not attending because I had other things to do, but I managed to catch up with Anderson by phone this morning for a quick rundown on his predictions. Here they are, as summarized by me with a few quotes from my chat with Mark today:

1. The smartphone market breaks in two. Secure for the enterprise vs. consumer-oriented. As companies become ever more concerned about protecting their intellectual property from being exposed or stolen in network-based attacks, corporations will become a lot more careful about allowing employees to use smart phones on their networks. “Research In Motion will get a ‘yes’ nod right away. Apple’s iPhone will get a tentative ‘yes’ and Microsoft will be next in line after that if they’re willing to see the opportunity that’s in front of them, with a special secure version of Windows Mobile 7. Everything else, Android in particular, will be in the other seat.”

2. Wireless carriers make a grab for power. Increasingly marginalized as the owners of so-called dumb pipes, carriers will use Google’s Android to make a grab for power they’ve been generally losing lately on the handset. “Android gives carriers power while Apple’s iOS takes it away. The long-term trend toward the carriers ultimately losing their power will not change, but in 2011 they’ll see Android as a ticket to regaining some of the power they’ve lost on the handset.”

3. ITunes seeds its own competition. As much as it seems the monolithic player in digital media, iTunes will seem less so this year. “I think Netflix is going to be an amazing story in 2011. It may have out Hulu-ed Hulu in terms of video.” However iTunes’ control of the market for music will remain unchanged.

4. The free-app ecosphere hits a money wall. All those inexpensive and free applications on the iPhone and Android phones will start to cost a lot more than they did before. “If it’s an app that helps you rent a car from Hertz or fly Southwest Air it will still be free. Real smart phone applications will start to cost money and the prices will escalate. They’ll go from costing zero to $3 to between $10 and $30.”

5. Google loses its way. Google will fail to answer the fundamental question “What business am I in?” and will be perceived as confused and lacking a cohesive strategy. “Google is all over the place with its driverless cars, and Google phones. There’s lots of great ideas bubbling up through the employee ranks getting nods from top management, but I don’t see any strategy there. It’s a fun place to work, sort of like a Xerox PARC for grown-ups. And there’s nothing wrong with that unless you’re a shareholder. There’s never been a company with so much money and so random a strategy as Google.”

6. The year of the electric car, part 2. Electric cars start showing up in real production numbers, and charging stations for cars start popping up like weeds. “The numbers begin to shoot up in 2011 and they never stop.”

7. Carry-alongs — netbooks, tablets and the like — remain the fastest-growing segment of computers. Expect to see a lot more 9-inch and 7-inch devices this year.

8. Data Matters. Oracle takes off and becomes and emerges as a global platform for databases. “Larry Ellison and Mark Hurd working together remind me of Bill Gates and John Shirley. One is the brilliant visionary and strategist and the other is the genius operations guy. SAP will suffer as a result, and in fact already it. It will get worse.”

9. Net TV is in, cable is out. Internet-based TV options will penetrate about 40 percent of US Households, which will trigger a revolution in mass media. Cable and satellite providers will suffer. Cable cutting is real and will be seen not as the result of consumers cutting back in lean economic distress, but as a making a permanent choice. “They won’t be back.” Netflix (see prediction #3) will make a breakout play to reach them.

10. E-Books Go Mainstream Though their share of the book-publishing market will remain fractional, the growth of that fraction that is e-book sales will go ballistic. Expect revenues in the ballpark of $160 million per quarter and a compound annual growth rate of about 140 percent. “E-reading will become as common as eating with a spoon.”

So how accurate is Anderson? Very, he argues, though what forecaster wouldn’t? You can judge for yourself. Here’s a story I did last year for Bloomberg Businessweek on his predictions for 2010, and another on his predictions for 2009.

Google’s Wojcicki Discusses How Mobile Solves Local, Skirts Questions About Groupon

Google’s Susan Wojcicki was the 18th employee at Google, and now oversees all existing and upcoming advertising opportunities for the company.

At D: Dive Into Mobile, she discusses what gets her excited about products in the pipeline. We’ve heard one example for years–where a consumer is offered a discounted latte while walking past a Starbucks. “The good thing is they are going to become real. This is the year where it will become possible,” she said.

Some problems the new iPod touch users may meet

1. How to change iTunes to recognize the new iPod touch
Some New iPod users may meet the situation that your iTunes can not detect your new iPod nano, iPod touch, or iPod Classic. It should recognize it immediately. If it doesn't, download the latest version of iTunes. The problem will be solved:
1) Re-launch iTunes, with and without your iPod plugged in.
2) With iTunes open, reset your iPod Touch
(here:http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305743 ) Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds until the Apple logo appears.
3) Restart your computer leaving your iPod touch plugged in
Note: If you uninstall iTunes from a computer, it will be uninstalled for all the users. But it will show up again for all users once you re-install it again. Before uninstalling each user should backup his/her playlists so they can bring them back when the re-install is completed.No music for any of the users will be removed by iTunes. It will remain intact where it is saved.

2．'I can't turn on my iPod'
I have a 1st or 2nd generation video iPod (80 gig).
My computer is windows 2000 so I downloaded the windows 2000 iTunes. So I decided to update my iPod, it was updated and it was fine. It ran out of power. Then it won't turn on? I tried to charge it but it just keeps saying please wait such and such. I left it there for like 2 hours already, and still it didn't charge up... Is the problem because I updated my iPod or something else? And when I opened my computer, iTunes asked me if I can format my iPod into windows. I put yes, it didnt do anything.So I have to problems, its not charging.. and its not turning on.
by Ashley :'My friend had this same problem a few years ago.She just left it plugged in to her computer for a few days, waited it out... eventually the problem fixed itself on its own. I'd say just wait it out for a day or two, and if it's still having problems, take it in to your nearest Circuit City or something.”
by Karat :'its the most popular iPod problem. If you drain the battery fully, you're screwed. Basically the battery is down, but the darn thing wont charge unless you connect it to the usb and the usb wont detect it unless it has charge! So please take it to your nearest apple outlet.”
by Kylla :'The one thing you never want to do with an iPod is let it run out of power, not good for it at all :P I've done it a few times but try to avoid it. What you want to do is hold the menu button and the play/pause button at the SAME time and just wait for it. It should restart it. Thats how my iPod works, yours could be different so experiment with the buttons. Try holding perhaps the center button and the play/pause button? or center button and the menu button? Try to see which two buttons will restart it, its bound to work. But hold BOTH of them down at the SAME time with one hand..and be patient, wait for about 10-15 seconds or so. :)”

3. Why does my 30G iPod video always die quickly?
Even when I am just listening to music. It shuts off after about 45 min. And that is a problem because I am going on a plane trip soon and I plan to watch a movie on my iPod, but movies eat your batttery. Does this happen to anyone else???? How can I make the battery life last longer. btw, it is only like a year old.
by dipin :'In an iPod the battery life is different.
it doesnt depend on how old it is rather it depends on how many times you have charged and discharged it.
for increasing the battery life you should fully charge the battery every time you are charging it . and secondly you should never let it discharge completely . put it on charging just before it shows the red signal and disconnect it only when it is fully charged.
sorry to say but now u'll have to get the battery replaced from apple reseller if you want to watch complete movie the battery life as said by apple is 500 complete cycles of charging and discharging”
by sugadoll :'The same thing happened to me. The problem is that your computer can't detect a completly dead iPod, but you need the computer to charge it so your screwed. j/k I solved it by pluging it into my ihome dock that plugs into the wall. So if you have a wall iPod dock or a car one you can charge it enough so that the computer can detect it. Problem solved.

Recommended Products For you:
DVD Ripper for Mac
Convert DVD to any video or audio formats on Mac OS X. Aiseesoft DVD Ripper for Mac is a professional Mac DVD ripper software.
Video Converter for Mac
Convert all video formats from one to another on Mac OS X. Aiseesoft Video Converter for Mac is a specially designed Mac video converter.

How to play Videos on Xbox 360

There are two ways you can watch videos on your Xbox 360:



1. Download video from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Some of these videos are available for free while you may have to pay for others. Microsoft is in control of what videos are available through the Xbox Live Marketplace.



2. Stream videos from your Windows Media Center PC by using your Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender. You are in control of what videos you want to watch, however there are restrictions on what kind of video you can playback. See below for more details.



Is there any way I can play my own videos WITHOUT a Media Center PC?.
No. Without a Windows XP Media Center PC, you can only play back the movies Microsoft offers in the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Do I need additional hardware/software to playback video on my Xbox 360?
Yes. You will either need the optional Xbox 360 Hard Drive to download/watch video from the Xbox Live Marketplace or you will need a PC with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center as your OS in order to stream video from your PC.



Does it support video streaming through Windows Media Connect?
No. There are video sharing capabilities built into Windows Media Connect, however, Microsoft has chosen to ONLY allow you to share Audio and Pictures through Windows Media Connect. You CANNOT stream videos through Windows Media Connect to your Xbox 360.



What kind of videos can I play using the Media Center Extender?
Microsoft Windows Media Video (WMV) 7, 8, & 9
- Maximum resolution of 1920x1080 (1080p) at 30 frames per second.
- Windows Media Audio Standard or Windows Media Audio Pro audio.
- WMV content may be Windows Media DRM-protected.
- Bitrates up to 8 Mbps.
WMV Image 1 & 2
- Maximum resolution of 800x600
MPEG-1
- MPEG-1 layer I and II audio.
MPEG-2, DVR-MS
- Maximum resolution of 1920x1080 (1080i).
- MPEG-1 layer I and II or AC-3 audio.
- Bitrates up to 19.2 Mbps.

Does it support avi? Divx? Xvid? Quicktime? H264?
No. The Media Center Extender in the Xbox 360 only supports playback of DVR-MS, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and WMV video.

How can I watch these other (avi, divx, xvid, etc) videos on my Xbox 360?
You have to convert these videos into the video formats the Xbox 360 Media Center Extender can playback. We recommend you to use Aiseesoft Total Video Converter (for Mac OS, choose video converter for Mac ) to convert all popular video formats to xbox 360 video and audio files perfectly with just a few clicks.



Does the Xbox 360 support direct video streaming through Windows Sharing/Samba Shares?
No.

Can I watch DVDs through the Media Center Extender?
No, you can only watch DVDs by using the Xbox360's DVD drive.

Can I use a DVD Disc Changer through the Media Center Extender?
No. This functionality is not available in through the Xbox 360's Media Center Extender. You can only watch one DVD at a time by using the Xbox360's DVD drive.

Will My DVDs be available on the XBox 360?
"No. We did not implement the ability to remotely play back a DVD from a MCE to an XBox 360 Extender so it did not make sense to make My DVDs available. I certainly understand how cool it would be if you could put your MCE and full loaded DVD changer in a closest and use XBox 360's to watch your DVD collection from any room wirelessly but this is something that's going to have to wait until a future release." - Matt Goyer - MCE Program Manager

Can the Xbox 360 play video off the Xbox 360 Hard Drive?
Yes, but only video downloaded from the Xbox Live Marketplace or preloaded on the Xbox, not your own videos.
Can you hook up an external hard drive to the Xbox 360 and play videos off that?
No.

Recommended Products for you:
DVD to iPod Converter for Mac
It's a specially designed iPod conversion program to Convert DVD to iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, convert DVD to iTunes on Leopard.
iPod Video Converter for Mac
It can convert MP4, MOV, 3GP, AVI, RM, MPEG, and FLV to iPod video with high output quality and various features.

MKV file, MLV player, Free MKV Converter and MKV Burner on Mac OS

What is MKV file?
.MKV is a container format developed by Matroska. Matroska file types are .MKV for video (with subtitles and audio), .MKA for audio-only files and .MKS for subtitles only. The most common use of .MKV files is to store HD video files.It can hold different types of video and audio. For example, there might be an .avi file contained within the .MKV file. High Definition movies in 720 or 1080 pixel width format are often encoded and packaged as a Matroska format video with a .MKV file extension.

How to play MKV file s on Mac?
I recommend trying either MPlayer OS X or VLC Media Player. They are all free.
These excellent and free multimedia players can tackle many of the video formats unknown to QuickTime. They contain a decoder to decode the .MKV files. They will also play many of the formats you will find inside the .MKV file.
How to convert MKV to DVD, MP4, AVI, etc on Mac for free?
I recommend VisualHub to convert MKV to MP4, AVI, etc on Mac. It can convert MKV to iPod Nano, convert MKV to iPod Classic, convert MKV to iPod touch , convert MKV to iPhone, convert MKV to Apple TV, convert MKV to Xbox 360, convert MKV to PSP, convert MKV to PS3, AVI, convert MKV to MP4, convert MKV to MPEG, convert MKV to Flash, convert MKV to WMV and convert MKV to DVD.
Techspanion (The developer of VisualHub) has closed shop and after an outcry from fans, VisualHub, the popular video converter on Mac OS X have now gone open source. It has got new name Film Redux. You can download its open source and built it by yourself. Here is a tutorial: How to build iSquint and VisualHub?



Step 1, Run Film Redux (VisualHub)
Step2, Load MKV videos
Insert your MKV files from your Mac .Click the Add files button to load your MKV videos.
Step3, Convert MKV to MP4, AVI, iPod, etc.
Here is the list of the formats that VisualHub can convert MKV
They are iPod Nano, iPod Classic, iPod touch , iPhone, Apple TV, Xbox 360, PSP, PS3, AVI, MP4, Quicktime, MPEG, Flash, WMV. Choose the format you want to convert MKV to and click Start.



That’s all. Now, we have converted MKV to iPod Nano, iPod Classic, iPod touch , iPhone, Apple TV, Xbox 360, PSP, PS3, AVI, MP4, Quicktime, MPEG, Flash, WMV.
How to convert DVD to MKV on Mac for free?
I recommend you use Handbrake to you to convert DVD to MKV on Mac . HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 converter. It can convert DVD to MKV on Mac eaisly and for free.
Step 1, Download and Install Handbake
Download the free program Handbrake. Check to see if your Mac has the system requirements; click on the apple icon in the top left corner and About this Mac. Then install HandBrake.



Step 2, Run it and insert DVD.
Select your favorite DVD disk and put it in the disk drive. Then run HandBrake and click Detected Volume to choose source. Click Open and you will be able to see many titles included in this DVD disk. Choose the longest title if this is a movie DVD, or choose your favorite chapter if this is an episode.
Step 3, Select Output setting
Select MKV files as output format and select other settings such as video quality, audio track, Audio Sample Rate, bitrate, Picture Settings, etc.

Step 4, Rip DVD to MKV on Mac
Check all settings and click Rip. A progress bar will show its ripping speed; depends on many factors like speed of Mac, filesize, etc.
That’s all. We have converted DVD to MKV for free now.
Note: Handbrake can not rip encrypted DVD movies. If you want to rip encrypted DVD movies, you can use this DVD Ripper for Mac. You can also use Mac the ripper which is free.

Finally! Google’s Chrome App Store Coming Next Week

Still waiting to see the Google Chrome app store? Circle next Tuesday on your calendar: People familiar with the company’s plans tell me Google will open up the store–at least a bit–on December 7.

That jibes with what I’d heard in October, as well as with reporting this week from TechCrunch. And there’s a decent chance that Google will be showing off more than just a store that day. Engadget, for starters, thinks we’ll see a Google-branded netbook designed for Chrome that day as well.

As far as the store goes: My understanding is that the marketplace, designed to showcase Web apps, will be available for anyone who’s using the beta version of the Chrome browser. So the rest of you have a couple of days to upgrade.

UPDATE: There you go: — Google’s Chrome Team just announced a media event to “share some exciting news about Chrome” on Tuesday, Dec. 7.

Pay for Web TV? No Problem! Hulu Plus “Exceeding Expectations”

You can watch Hulu anytime you want on your PC, for free. But if you want to watch the service on your iPhone, your iPad or your TV, you’ll need to pay $7.99 a month.

Who’s interested in that? Plenty of people, according to Hulu CEO Jason Kilar. He says the service, which formally left its beta phase a couple of weeks ago, has “exceeded expectations” and has already hit its year-end subscriber goals.

Cool! So how many people is that? Kilar won’t say, of course–the joint venture between GE’s NBC, Disney’s ABC and News Corp.’s Fox is awfully selective about the data it releases. (Disclosure: News Corp. also owns this Web site.)

But Kilar is willing to talk broadly about the service, and the way subscribers are consuming it: While Hulu Plus lets you watch video on mobile devices like Apple’s iPhone and iPad (but not Google’s Android handsets) most viewing is happening on TV screens, he said.

And most of the time, the service is getting to the TV from the Web via Sony’s PlayStation 3 console, one of several devices Hulu is working with (not included, so far: Google TV and the Boxee Box). So that’s interesting.

But why pay for Hulu Plus at all? Why not simply connect your PC to your TV with an HDMI cable, and watch regular Hulu, for free?

You can! And Hulu’s efforts to persuade you not to do so illustrate a key problem for the service and the Web video business in general.

Because while consumers may not see any difference between the stuff they watch on the Web and the stuff they watch on TV, advertisers and programmers do. The first kind of video is much less valuable than the second.

That’s going to change over time, but for now, Hulu has to do its best to make sure that anyone who watches Hulu on a TV screen “pays twice”–by both watching ads and handing over a credit card.

Let’s let Kilar explain in his own words, via an interview I taped at Hulu’s New York office yesterday. Note the storyboards for Hulu’s excellent Alec Baldwin-is-an-alien ad behind him.

Jon Stewart Explains WikiLeaks To The Rest of Us

What’s really in the most recent batch of WikiLeaks documents? And should we care? Jon Stewart explains, and then dissects the fascination that certain digerati (you know who you are) have with transparency.

Sorry couldn’t shave down the 8-minute running time, but it’s worth it (boy do I miss the Hulu clip-editing feature). Also, NSFW is your workplace isn’t cool with the word “penis”.

How to Put Youtube videos on iPod, PowerPoint ,etc for free

This guide will show you how to download video content from numerous sites (youtube, Google Video,etc) and convert videos to iPod on Mac using two methods. It is pretty simple for according to the following statements.
iPod, iPhone accepts mp4 video detail as follow: MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per sec., Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48 kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats.
PPT accepts: mpeg, asf, avi, wpl. wm, wmx, wmd, wmz, dvr-ms, mpv2, mp2v, mov, etc

1. Using free online YouTube converter
The first method is using a website to convert youtube video to iPod or powerpoint for free, Of course, you can also convert other media videos.
This is good for you when you only have one file to convert or you can't install the programs necessary for conversion. My favorite is zamzar converter.
You don't even need to download the video file to your computer. Enter the URL of the video to the box, choose the format you want to convert youtube videos to (iPod accepts mp4 video. So choose the format 'mp4'), and Enter your email address , then click 'convert'. The output file will be sent to your mailbox after the conversion.



Another free online converter I like is media convert.
But you can't convert big video files using free online converters. It is up to 100MB. And the quality of the output files is so.

Tip: How to put pictures and photos to iPod, iPhone
1. Download iTunes from http://www.apple.com
2. Plug your iPod in to iTunes
3. Make a folder on the computer with all of the photos you want on your iPod (Name it something you with remember!)
4. Click on the iPod icon in iTunes
5. Click on the Tab "Photos" on the top.
6. Check the box "Sync photos from:"
7. Chose the folder all of your photos are in.
8. Click apply, then eject your iPod and enjoy your photos!

2. Using iPod video converter for Mac
The Second Method is using iPod video converter software to convert Youtube videos to iPod on Mac for free.
For this you need the following:
1. A video to download.
2. iPod Video Converter (Mac OS X version / Windows PC version).
Step 1: Download the videos
The downloaded file might be two formats: avi and flv . iPod and iPhone only support mp4 format. So you need to convert the videos to MP4 files.
PowerPoint understands .avi. If it the file is .avi, you do not need to convert it to put it on PPT. But most videos will probably be in .flv format. You can't embed Flash in PowerPoint. These will need to be converted to .mpeg or .avi format.
To do these conversions, you will need video converter which is capable of doing the conversion.

Step 2: Converting The Video to iPod, iPhone, Powerpoint, etc
Great, now you have located the file and downloaded it to the desktop. What's next? Well, you need to open up your freshly installed Aiseesoft Video Converter for Mac.
Click the "Add File" button to add the video files that get from the video sites to the program by automatically selecting an appropriate encoder for the video files you want to convert to.
Select the output format on the output format list. Aiseesoft iPod Video Converter for Mac can convert videos to almost all popular video players like iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, iPhone, Apple TV, PSP, PS3, Youtube (web), Creative Zen, iRiver PMP, Archos, various video mobile phones and many other digital video and audio players. If you want to put videos to PowerPoint, you need to convert the videos to avi or mpeg formats.
This process only lasts a few minutes at the most.
If you want to convert several videos into one file, what you need to is to click'merge into one file' option . As we know, the mp4 format is high conpatible with iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, PSP, so it the best format for converting to iPod, iPhone, etc.

How to convert videos such as MP4, WMV, MOV and AVI to DVD for Free

DVD Flick is a free DVD authoring program that allows you to take a video file saved on your computer and converts it into a DVD that can play back in a DVD player, your computer, or Home Cinema set. The software allows you to add audio tracks and subtitles to your DVD. Your original video files may be in any of the following container formats: AVI, MOV, MPG, WMV, ASF, FLV (Flash video), Matroska and MPG. Supported codecs include MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, XVid, DivX, WMA and WMV (Windows Media Audio and Video), MP3, OGG Vorbis, H264 and On2 VP5/6. The program is open source.
DVD Flick is the all-in-one tool that can convert:
AVI to DVD, FLV to DVD, HDMOV to DVD, MKV to DVD, MJPG to DVD, MPG to DVD, M2V to DVD, MP4 to DVD, M4V to DVD, NSV to DVD, NUT to DVD, QT to DVD, MOV to DVD, RM to DVD, SMK to DVD, OGM to DVD, WMV to DVD, ASF to DVD, 3GP to DVD, 3G2 to DVD for free.
DVD Flick supports DVD Authoring, ISO image creating, DVD burning also in one tool.
System requirements:

• A Pentium or AMD K-6 processor. Pentium 3 or later recommended, the faster the better.
• 64 MB of free physical RAM, 128 MB or more is recommended.
• Windows 2000, Windows XP , Windows Vista (If you are Mac user, use this Mac dvd creator)

Download the latest version of the DVD Flick website
If you are using Mac, Please click here to download the Mac DVD Creator

1. Download and run DVD Flick



2. Click "New project” button to create a new project.
3. Browse your hard drives to select path to the folder, where the resulting DVD folders
(AUDIO_TS, VIDEO_TS) will be saved. It is highly recommended to use NTFS file system in your OS, cause the temporary m2v files in most cases exceeds 4GB limit for FAT32 file system. Additionally, don't use non-English letters to the browsing path, because the errors could occur during DVD authoring process.
4. Add your title - select the video file or files for the project. DVD Flick supports these video file types: AVI, FLV, HDMOV, MKV, MJPG, MPG, M2V, MP4, M4V, NSV, NUT, QT, MOV, RM, SMK, OGM, WMV, ASF, 3GP, 3G2.
5. Title added. Left bar indicates how many bytes is used on the blank DVD disc with the default preferences. The percentage depends on the video file size which you have added in the previous guide step.



6. Edit title.
(1) General settings for the "Title".
reate chapters every: Purpose of the chapters usage is forward/back skipping forward during the DVD viewing. It is recommended to use this option.
You can also use fixed numbers of chapters - check "Create" button.
Aspect ratio is an auto detected value received from video file's frame dimension.


(2) Video sources for the "Title" - this tab informs us about video codec, frame size, Aspect ratio value, frame rate - Frames Per Second.


Frame rate. Check the bottom listing:

• 23,976 FPS - NTSC Film Format
• 25 FPS - PAL Format
• 29,97 FPS - NTSC Format
• 30 FPS - NTSC Format Reccomendations for the non-standard
• 12,5 FPS - PAL Format
• 15 FPS - NTSC Format Warning! Remember the format for your file - it will be the same "Target format" in "Project settings" .

Add a file to a title: This option allow to you to add new file or files to the "Title". It could be additional videos for this DVD, cutted scenes for examples, etc. Important thing is the same FPS for the main video file and the additional file.
Remove a file to a title: You can also remove a file to a title.
(3) Audio tracks tab.
Remove an audio track: Press "Edit" button, then remove from the "Audio track sources" additional audio track.
Add an audio track: Press "Add" button on the ”Audio track sources" tab, select the audio file from hard drive, check in the new "select audio track(s)" window track(s) you wish to add. Press "Accept" button. DVD Flick could extract audio tracks from all supported video files (AVI, FLV, HDMOV, MKV, MJPG, MPG, M2V, MP4, M4V, NSV, NUT, QT, MOV, RM, SMK, OGM, WMV, ASF, 3GP, 3G2), and also native audio file formats: AAC, AC3, Flac, MKA, MP3, MP2, MPA, OGG, WAV, WMA
Select language for the additional audio track. Select the audio track, and then select from the”Track language" list box.
(4). Subtitles tab.
Add subtitles. Press "Add" button on the "Subtitles" tab, and then select from disk file with subtitles. DVD Flick supports these subtitles formats: AQT, JS, RT, SMI, ASS, SRT, SSA, TXT. Subtitle settings. Press "Edit" button to change subtitles settings. Select the language you need. Other settings are for the Font, Font size, and placement of the subtitles. As usually, press "Accept" button to save setting. "Force display" option will force subtitle displaying during playback, even they were not selected in menu.



If everything was made rightly, we will see this window with the changed settings for subtitles. There are no more editing tabs for "Title properties". Press "Accept" button to save preferences.
7. Project settings. At the DVD Flick main window press "Project settings" button.
General tab.
Select a "Target size" for your DVD from list box. The default value is "DVD (4,3 GB)", default values could be changed by pressing "Use as defaults" button. If you need to select custom DVD size just scroll up the list box to the "Custom" value and the bottom "Custom size" option will be enabled for editing.
"Encoder priority" allows to you to use "DVD Flick" with high priority in your operating system to decrease full encoding time.



Video tab.
Set your DVD "Target Format".
"Encoding profile" for better encoding performance is highly recommended to select as "Normal" or "Best". "Fastest" and "Fast" mode decrease full encoding time, but with the lower quality results.
"Target bitrate" is more easy to use as "Auto fit". This option will calculate bitrate for encoding automatically depends on DVD "Target size" and will be set as maximum possible value. If you have some advanced experience with DVD encoding, you can set "Custom bitrate".
Set up advanced video options - press "Advanced" button.
Check "Second encoding pass" to improve output encoding results. It is highly recommended to use this option, but it wills increase full encoding time.
Check "Half horizontal resolution" to enable Half D1 DVD Mode - one of the standard for DVD, decreases frame size to 352x576 for PAL and to 352x480 for NTSC (instead of 720x576 (PAL) and 720x480 (NTSC)). Could be used as a possibility to decrease encoding bitrate, for more video length on one DVD disc.
Check "Add overscan borders" to make your DVD with black left and right borders to view all the source video on your TV.
Deinterlace option is not recommended to use.
Check "Force MPEG-2 recompression" to recompress your mpeg-2 video source files, do not check option if m2v files were encoded with Cam Video Tool 4 DVD Flick.



Burning tab.
If the "Create ISO image" is set, the ISO image file will be created on your disk, in the "Project destination folder". ISO image could be useful, if you prefer to burn DVD using another application, supporting ISO images. "MDS" (Media decriptor) file will be created also. If you want to burn your DVD with DVD Flick, check "Burn project to disc" (red arrow). if you are using DVD+RW, DVD-RW disc, check "Automatically erase disc if it is rewritable". If quick erase will be not possible, ImgBurn (included in DVD Flick installation package) will make full erase for rewritable discs.
Accept all "Project settings" using "Accept" button. Now we are ready to burn our DVD.

8. Create DVD.
Press "Create DVD" button at the main window.
DVD Flick will ask for confirmation to proceed - press "Yes".
Additional warning about "Project destination folder" - Press "Yes".
"DVD Flick Progress" window shows to user all executed steps.
When the DVD burning will be done, we will see this window. Press "Close" to return to the DVD Flick main window. In the main window you can save DVD Flick project to your hard drive.

DVD Flick is only for Windows PC users. If you are Mac user, you can use this best DVD creator for Mac. It is a professional Mac DVD Burner program that converts almost all popular video formats such as FLV, MPEG1, MPEG2, MP4, DAT, 3GP, 3G2, MOV, AVI to DVD on Mac. And it can burn DVD movie playable on portable or home DVD player on Mac.

If you want to convert iTunes videos to DVD, you need to get the videos from iTunes to computer .
And then use DVD flick to convert iTunes videos to DVD for free.

If you want to burn YouTube videos on DVD, you can download the youtube videos to your computer.
And then using DVD flick to burn YouTube videos on DVD for free. If you are a Mac user, use this best dvd creator for Mac to help you. You can also copy videos form other video sites such as veoh, google video, iFlim, vidilife, blip.tv, music.com, zippyvideos, dailymotion, devilducky, etc and then burn them to DVD using this methods.

Here are some other DVD burner.
DVD Styler
DVD Styler is an open source DVD authoring system for Windows and Linux. It converts MPEG files, which you can drag and drop into its window, create NTSC/PAL DVD menus which are highly customizable (you can set image backgrounds, put text and images anywhere, change the font and colors, etc), set chapters for the movie, etc.
DivXtoDVD Perl Script
DivXtoDVD is a Perl script for Linux and other Posix systems (like BSD, Unix, Unix-like operating systems) that converts a DivX movie to DVD compliant files (AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS directories and files). It uses transcode, ffmpeg, mjpeg and dvdauthor to do the job in one step. The software is open source. Note that this is different from the commercial ConvertXtoDVD software which was also formerly named DivXtoDVD. If you're looking for the latter, a trial download is available.
ImgBurn
ImgBurn is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit! It has several 'Modes', each one for performing a different task:
Read - Read a disc to an image file
Build - Create an image file from files on your computer or network - or you can write the files directly to a disc
Write - Write an image file to a disc
Verify - Check a disc is 100% readable. Optionally, you can also have ImgBurn compare it against a given image file to ensure the actual data is correct
Discovery - Put your drive / media to the test! Used in combination with DVDInfoPro, you can check the quality of the burns your drive is producing
Q DVD-Author
Q DVD-Author is essentially a GUI front-end for dvdauthor and other related tools found on a Linux system. You can create DVD menus, convert your projects between PAL and NTSC (and vice versa), create sub-menus, add subtitles, transcode your input videos from other formats, apply multiple audio streams to the videos, give menus multiple soundtracks, create a DVD slideshow, create animated menus, etc. This is an open source program that works under Linux and other Posix OSes.
KDE DVD Authoring Wizard
The KDE DVD Authoring Wizard allows you to create a DVD from a DVD-compatible MPEG-2 file (that is, it doesn't do the conversion from other formats for you). You can add multiple files and create a menu of the playlist if you wish. Your DVD menu can have multiple pages, a soundtrack from OGG or MP3, animated thumbnails and be in the NTSC or PAL format, be in 16:9 widescreen or 4:3 full screen, etc. This DVD authoring tool works under Linux. It is open source.

How to download torrent video and put torrent video to iPod, iPhone, etc

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Viewers May Be Willing to Watch More Ads Online. Lots More.

Viewers of television shows on the Web have grown accustomed to 15- and 30-second commercial breaks — a fraction of the time given for commercials on traditional TV. Would they accept TV-style ad loads?

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Online TV Streams Come Under Fire

In the latest cat-and-mouse game between media companies and technology start-ups threatening to undermine their businesses, the big networks are intensifying their fight to stop Internet services that stream TV stations online.

Owners of the major broadcast-television networks are suing in federal court two start-up companies that stream broadcast TV stations online without their consent, arguing the start-ups are infringing on their copyrights. A judge in New York has scheduled a hearing Monday on the networks’ request for a temporary restraining order against FilmOn.com Inc., while another case against Ivi Inc. could be heard in coming weeks.

Ivi and FilmOn, which grab free over-the-air broadcast signals and convert them to online streams, are claiming their right to distribute the networks under a provision in the U.S. Copyright Act. Seattle-based Ivi is also arguing that Ivi isn’t governed by a separate communications statute that requires cable and satellite companies to negotiate licenses with content owners before transmitting their networks.

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Netflix Web-Only Service Coming, Probably Not Cheap

Hate discs? Love Web video? Netflix should have something for you shortly: At the Web 2.0 conference yesterday, CEO Reed Hastings said a streaming-only option for U.S. subscribers should be available “shortly.”

It’s the third time this fall the company has talked up a Web-only service. And each time it does so it excites some of you who… really like the idea of not using DVDs.

The rest of you? You may be underwhelmed.

The big caveat here is we don’t know what Netflix plans to offer. But my hunch is the company won’t be able to offer a streaming-only option at a significant discount to its most popular $8.99-a-month plan, which also lets you stream unlimited video–and allows you to check out any DVD you want.

Note that:

• The streaming-only service the company launched in Canada this year costs $7.99 a month.
• Netflix has been testing the same service, at the same price, in the U.S. this fall.
• Even though the Netflix streaming-only option only offers about 20 percent of the catalog available on its traditional DVD rental service, the company is paying big money for that catalog. Netflix has already racked up a $1.2 billion digital content bill, which could grow to $2 billion next year.

Netflix has also been testing out a price increase for its $8.99 streaming + disc plan, to $9.99 a month. Perhaps that’s to make the $7.99 option appear that much more attractive ($7.99 also happens to be the new price for Netflix competitor Hulu Plus).

And perhaps $7.99 will be just fine for people who don’t want to deal with discs and envelopes and mailboxes, and want instant video whenever they want it. Even if they can’t get everything they want.

In any case, this could all be moot. While I haven’t seen any reports of a streaming-only option priced below $7.99, Netflix has said it has run “many” tests. So perhaps it has a trick up its sleeve.

For giggles, I asked Netflix PR guy Steve Swasey what he could tell me. His response: “Stay tuned!”

Fair enough. I assume that “shortly” means “in time for the Christmas shopping season, when people start buying shiny new TVs and gadgets that work well with Netflix streaming.” And that kicks off on Black Friday–just eight days away.