HandBrake - a great freeware tool for ripping DVD / BluRay to MP4 etc.

There are many tools available that allow you to extract DVDs or BluRay to PC but none that I've found that are as easy or simple to use as the open source tool, HandBrake.

With HandBrake I have managed to batch rip a home-made DVD comprising of multiple chapters into MP4 files on the fly, with some degree of quality control and tweaks.

I won't go into a thorough review here because this is a product highlight - the controls can be a tad finicky here and there but altogether the package provides all the features I have needed thus far, and I am very happy with the results.

Pumping out MP4 videos from a DVD is all I needed, and this one does it for free.

Grab HandBrake here:
https://handbrake.fr/

Superbru 2015 - week 4

Patchy start for me on Superbru 2015 ... hopefully I'll pick it up. Let's monitor my comeback or my plummet...

Super Rugby 2015 Calendar for iOS, Google, Android, etc.

The Super Rugby 2015 calendar is here, available in various formats for your browsing and productivity pleasure:

• XML
• ICAL
• HTML

You should be able to add this to your BlackBerry, iOS, Google, or Android calendar with ease.

Here are the Google steps (since most people sync their Google with their device/s).

1. Load up calendar.google.com
2. At the bottom left, click the drop-down triangle under Other calendars and select Add by URL
   
3. Enter the ICAL address (also available above):
   https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/04alup93dv5tjbfnma2ndrkm11onkud0%40import.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

And there you go!

Set up Inactive Account Manager for Google

All sorts of things can happen in life:\

• Sickness
• Disability
• Total loss of electricity (only in South Africa, thanks ANC and Jacob Zuma)
• Abduction by terrorists
• Abduction by aliens
• You go to heaven
• You go to hell

If you want your data available to your spouse, friend, loved one, or dog, then you need to ensure Google has your Inactive Account Manager settings - to do this follow this link

https://www.google.com/settings/account/inactive

and set it up - it will take you five minutes and will save your family, friend, loved one, or dog many weeks (months, or even years) of agony getting access to your personal content.

Go on, do it. It's the responsible thing to do.

Increase your YouTube video size limit beyond 15 minutes in 1-2-3 steps.

Increasing your YouTube video size limits is as easy as 1-2-3 ...

Here's the support article: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/71673?rd=1

Here are the steps:

1. Go to YouTube and verify your phone number https://www.youtube.com/verify_phone_number
2. Plug in the SMS PIN to YouTube
3. Enjoy

So easy.

Google Calendar Tips and Gems

I'm pretty sure it's a safe bet that you are using GMail. Given the likelihood, you're probably also using the Google Calendar service too. Well, "using" is probably quite subjective. I mean, I can't actually remember the total number of people I know that don't harness the whole potential of Google Calendar - the shared calendars, the SMS reminders, the additional public calendars. It's quite silly, really. Google Calendar is the de facto calendar application as far as I'm concerned.

I have included a dottotech video below with a few "hidden gems" - I was aware of four of them but never knew about dragging the date picker!

A few quick-fire tips from my side:

Under Calendar Settings

• Add a moon phase to your Google Calendar
• Add friends and contacts Birthday reminders
• Add the weather
• Enable Offline
• Add some Labs!

Enjoy :)

Remote Desktop Protocol via web browser (RDP bypassing site firewall)

Sometimes I have the need to RDP to a remote site but having to file a request with the IT dept. in order to get through the firewall can sometimes delay a quick 5 minute task into a 3 or 4 day task. Just not practical at all!

Thankfully, Ericom has come to the rescue with Ericom Access Now - a web-based "application" that lets you use their site as a gateway to the RDP connection you want. It's obviously not ideal, can slow the process down possibly, and adds a layer of complexity but at least it is an alternative that is (currently) free.

Check it out: http://app.ericomaccessnow.com/ *

Enjoy :)

* PS - I had this installed as a Chrome App on my browser but I am sure you can run it just from the website, although I have not tried this.

FREE Games

Not sure how long these will remain free but if I see they're staying that way, I'll add them to my free games list...

• http://www.desura.com/games/pong-breaker
• http://www.desura.com/games/i-wanna-steal-your-wife
• http://www.desura.com/games/square-heroes
• http://www.desura.com/games/patmos-alive

(hint: you do not need Desura installed to download these DRM-free games)

FREE games list

Many people enjoy getting free games, right?

Yeah, some people, don't enjoy it so much and that's alright too.

It's the ones that moan and groan about the free games that are probably not very likable people anyway, but for the rest of us, we love getting free games!

Check out this list (work in progress) on free games available to download, play, and enjoy - both reasonably new and old games are listed here (well, mostly old, but they're still FREE)!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AmeLEAsBdlLIdGQyTkdkTGpUaU82SmRWX1Jlck03anc&output=html

ExtraPuTTY for XMODEM over Serial

Managing HP ProCurve switches is a breeze when you've got an HP ProBook 6570b handy with its (really under-rated) RS232 connector.

Some of the switches don't have a USB port (which itself is a hassle to get working) so I've found the easiest way to pull config files over the wire in Windows is with ExtraPuTTY - this little fork of PuTTY integrates file transfer protocols like XMODEM which have made my life a lot easier.

http://www.extraputty.com/

Just log in via COMx over Serial, then when you initiate the transfer, click on Files Transfer and follow the prompts!

Windows Easy Transfer issues from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1

I attempted a Windows Easy Transfer from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and it all backed up wonderfully smoothly. The restore, however, landed me in some trouble when it said the settings couldn't be restored, only the files.

I didn't really have any option, so I accepted this and it promptly restored all the files to the new installation. Many objects worked, others didn't, but the worst part was, there were now some legacy files stashed away in my computer that caused fresh installations of these programs to not work.

Not only is this highly irritating but it's also left me with anything else but a fresh install of Windows 8.1.

The next couple of posts will be outlining how I remedied particular programs that were not behaving since my standard uninstall options were not available to me with a fresh Windows.

MAC spoofing in Windows

Spoofing your wireless adapter's MAC address is quite a simple trick to pull off in Windows and if you ever need to do it, this is the easy method:

1. Find your ID information for the adapter
2. Edit the registry entry for your MAC
3. Disable the adapter
4. Enable the adapter

Here are the steps in a little more detail:

1. Find your ID information for the adapter
1. Open a command prompt (Start --> Run --> CMD)
2. ipconfig /all
3. Note the Description and Physical Address information



2. Edit the registry entry for your MAC



1. Start --> Run --> REGEDIT
   
2. Go to...
   Computer\HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSetXXX\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
   
   
3. There will be a bunch of entries, one for each adapter, so go into each field and check "AdapterModel" to see if it matches your Description from step 1.3 and then confirm the MAC address from step 1.3 matches NetworkAddress.
   
   
4. Right-click on the adapter folder that matches your device --> New --> String Value --> "NetworkAddress" (without any "'s).
   
5. Change the Value data field of the new entry and enter a new MAC address. For example, DEADBEEFCAFE.
   
3. Disable the adapter
4. Enable the adapter

Check your MAC address by running IPCONFIG /ALL ...

HINT: A neat trick I've employed is to rename the NetworkAddress entry in the registry to .NetworkAddress when I won't be using it but it's then easier to find with a search later.

Free game/s on Greenmangaming.com!

https://freegame.greenmangaming.com/

Thanks to Oltman for the tip :)

Google Chrome: Extensions vanished and replaced by a drop-down

If you've suddenly noticed that your Google Chrome Extensions have all been replaced by a minimalist >> drop-down menu there's a way to get your Extensions back:

• Hover the mouse over the region between the omnibar and the >>

• Cursor changes to a left-right arrow
• Drag it along
• Voila!

Cut and Paste not working in VNC Viewer between Linux and Windows

A simple solution to a simple problem:

My cut and paste between my Windows 8 box and my RHEL box (running a VNC session) stopped working. After doing some reading (thanks to http://almost-a-technocrat.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-to-enable-copy-and-paste-between.html for assistance) I realised it's a simple answer:

In a terminal, run 

# vncconfig &

And that's about it ... at least, it solved my copy & paste problems!