Yap Episode 20 - Media Players

08 Apr

Posted by: Michael in: Wacky Geeks PodCast

News

Microsoft wants access to your private information - Microsoft and other tech companies are currently pushing bills in various U.S. states that would allow them and others complete access to all data on a private computer and to all Internet traffic in and out of it in the name of providing better privacy.
For Sale - Star Wars Landspeeder Replica.
Microsoft Buyout of Ailing Sony Possible - BonaFideReviews has published an interesting article stating that a Microsoft buyout of Sony is quite possible sometime in the not-so-far future. From the article: ‘All this added up, you have to ask yourself. Will the next Playstation you purchase post-PS3? run a Microsoft operating system and have backwards compatibility for PS1, PS2, PS3, Xbox and Xbox360? Putting your rabid love for Sony aside, this doesn’t seem as far fetched as it once did, when the Sony name wasn’t covered in enough red tape to fill the Grand Canyon.
Star Wars Kid settles lawsuit with tormenting peers - In the Globe and Mail today, news that Ghyslain “Star Wars Kid” Raza and parents have settled their lawsuit against school bullies who released the infamous video onto the interwebs.
Microsoft doesn’t want you to be able to buy a OS naked PC - Microsoft has urged UK PC vendors not to give customers the opportunity to buy a PC without a pre-installed operating system.
Parallels Workstation- A new virtual machine for MacOS ? X Intel based systems

Want to switch from Windows to Mac here is your chance!

How to pull an all nighter
Amazing video of Rube Goldberg Machines!!! - Check out this video!!! Its a collection of a bunch of different Rube Goldberg devices. Its a pretty long video (over 9 minutes total) WATCH IT NOW!
Total eclipse as seen by astronauts on the ISS - From NASA’s Earth Sciences and Image Analysis site, this photo was taken by the Expedition 12 crew aboard the International Space Station
Diet Coke and Mentos - This geyser works better in a liter bottle than an aluminum can because of the bottle’s nozzle geometry
List of Photoshop plugins, brushes, and actions
New version of Google Toolbar for Firefox

Places to buy music
- Let’s Buy Some Music: Part 1 - TechCrunch ? compares iTunes and its competitors. Allofmp3 wins on all counts, but number of songs. They also offer the highest quality. The stores reviewed: iTunes, Allofmp3, BuyMusic ?, MSN Music, Napster, Rhapsody, Walmart and Yahoo.
- eMusic - a cool independent MP3 ? subscription site
Winamp
- Pros
  - Lots of plugins
  - Speed of loading
  - Great UI
- Cons
  - No built in cd ripping or burning software in free version
  - Lots of addons and skins don’t work across versions
  - Lack of development recently
iTunes
- Pros
  - Very easy to navigate UI
  - Easy ripping and burning of CDs ?
  - Easy editing of songs
  - Great podcast support
- Cons
  - Doesn’t interface with any other MP3 ? player other than the iPod
  - Large UI sometimes gets in the way
  - When doing some tasks, it is a CPU hog
Windows Media Player
- Pros
  - Comes with Windows
  - Looks slick
  - Required with lots of MP3 ? player
- Cons
  - Make your MP3s ? sound like s*#t
  - DRMs ? all your music unless you rip as MP3 ?
  - It’s Microsoft
RealPlayer
- Pros
  - Plays Realaudio files
  - Rhapsody on Demand service
- Cons
  - Takes over your system
  - Lots of extras you don’t need, have a hard time getting rid of it
  - Nasty interface, huge drain on system resources
Other cool players
- Songbird
- RealAlternative