Here's a couple that some might find useful

AVI Recomp (http://www.videopedia.pl/avirecomp/download.php?list.4) > sure, a zillion other apps can recompress an avi, but the beauty of this is that it allows you to easily crop frames, without having to install a mega-editing app to achieve this.. FREEWARE :) I was getting a frame overlap issue from recorded tv, but found out about it from people who use it to slice out subs and watermarks etc from vids ;) works great in xp or vista. Nice visual UI

AVI Trimmer (http://solveigmm.com/?Products&id=AVITrimmer[/url) >> ever wanted to slice a portion out of an avi - eg. opening/end credits, ads etc. This great little freeware app can do it quick and easy, giving you a lossless end file :) Nice visual UI

mtfbwya

Here's another lil gem.

Ever wanted to tweak your affinity settings? ie. have an app which controls which CPUcores do what when other apps or process are started. Helpful in getting some games to perform better, or improving multitasking by setting single cores per different app. etc. You can do it while tasks are running via task manager, but there is no easy way of setting it in windows that will launch each time you launch an app/game

I trawled and found this great little freeware app called "Get n Set affinity" (http://www.geocities.com/edgemeal_software/SetAffinity/index.htm) Small footprint, does exactly what you want it to :)

http://www.geocities.com/edgemeal_software/images/gns23009.gif)

It says ''not recommended for Vista'', though I have been using it with Vistax64 with no probs :)

mtfbwya

I've added an index of all the apps/sites mentioned in this thread in the first post, I was gonna add the descriptions of them as well but I thought it would make it look too cluttered, and if you want to know what the program's about, either click the link or look around in this thread :)

Since doing that alone took me ages, I didn't check to see if all the urls were working ok, if anyone notices a dead link or such, let me kow and I'll fix it ASAP.

http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-dvd-video-software.htm)
Its a handy little program that does almost everything involving changing music and audio files into a different type of file. It can also download youtube video and audio quite well. And its free, yay!

great stuff re- indexing negsun :)

here's one for you ipod users... I dont use an ipod meself, but the gf has an old school shuffle she intermittently uses. She recently wanted some new crappy girly music added to it, so off I went a'googlin :p I wanted to avoid installing the bloaty itunes so tracked down this beauty... sharepod (http://www.getsharepod.com/screenshots)

500ish KB, runs as a standalone executable app(no installation reqd!) FREE. Nice little GUI. Did the trick ;)

mtfbwya

heres one for those using Vista... do you like an uncluttered desktop? Not only does it contribute to your sense of tidyness but having more "black" on your screen actually reduces the power consumption of your monitor(just like a screensaver) :)

Heres a cool vista sidebar gadget called sidelauncher (http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=6e448d69-4151-4e20-89de-3181f2064af5&bt=1&pl=1) that allows you to put all your apps shortcuts and folders into a nice neat launcher. It actually uses what in in the quick launch tray, but that tray, and desktop icons can subsequently be hidden.. all you get is this:

quite nifty[/IMO]
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc288/Astrotoy7/sidelaunch.jpg)

Immediately below that is the multi sensor gadget (http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=eae5b056-f64d-4e58-8b91-4de93edbc37a&bt=1&pl=1). It works with the everest system utilties app to display key readings. Only allows 5 readings on there, though you can pick which 5. I find it great to monitor the impact of folding of my kit ;) It also means you can hide those garish everst icons from your system tray.

Heres what they look like on an overall deskie:

mmmm...power saving minimalism ;)
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc288/Astrotoy7/deskie.jpg)

seeing power consumption has been mentioned, might as well mention Blackle (http://www.blackle.com/). Its basically google search but will minimal colours/no white background, thereby saving just that little but of power each time you use it. The site has a 'watt hours saved' meter, which is quite cool to keep track of if you are into that type of stuff ;)

mtfbwya

I came upon this one by accident yesterday while hunting for other things... I have to give credit to the author of this one because it's so deviously simple, dangerous, exciting, and potentially useful -- just like me.

Windows Enabler (http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/speedload/Enabler.htm)

What it does: Enables 'grayed out' windows controls like checkboxes, radio buttons, and menu items in many applications.

Why it's useful: Think about how many times you've wanted to click something only to see that it's disabled. True, oftentimes there's a good reason for that, but you'll never know otherwise. It's your computer, you do what you want. :) As the website says, "you’d be surprised at how often it comes in handy."

Why it's dangerous: Now you're bound to second-guess every safeguard encoded into the apps on your PC. Careful with that curiosity, meow-meow.

How to use it: Run the .exe. That will put an icon in your system tray. Single-click the icon. That will turn on the enabler. Now just click a normally disabled control in some other application to enable it. When you're done enabling things, single click the system tray icon to turn it back off. Right-click and select Quit to remove the icon.

Ive come across a similar applet called Take Control Back... I'll post it later. Ive been using it and a great app called Restorator(Trialware) to hack into system dlls to pull out and tweak visual/xml elements

A few FF Addons I really like:
*Fission >> turns your address bar into a status bar
*Flagfox >> show pretty flags of the IP of whatever site you visit ; lolz : many p2p sites in Sweden !!
*Omnibar >> combine search and address bar into one
*Stylish >> allows customised extensions, like the hack to put tabs on top in all themes
*Foxmarks >> store/backup bookmarks online. Great if you use multiple pcs and want to sync bookmarks
*FireScribe >> post directly to your blog from a new tab/window. Improved image uploading support(though still sucks for blogger accounts due to hitch at Google's end)) nb. I want to make it clear dont have a blog but I have to maintain one for my gf :(
*Rulerdark Theme>> All black theme for the emo/powerconscious types among us. Has chrome style buttons and with stylish, you can plonk tabs on top ;)

mtfbwya

I just skimmed this thread and noticed that there weren't any Linux Apps listed!

Well... some of the apps listed swing both ways. VLC (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) is one. I use it in Linux almost exclusively for my video files (or any other media file). You can even use it to stream across a network if you want.

When I'm not using VLC, I like Miro (http://www.getmiro.com/) and lately I've been downloading all my podcasts via Miro. But it handles video subscriptions (get your weekly Diggnation, Geek Brief TV, etc.). Miro supports a variety of operating systems (but its best in Linux!).

Gimp (http://www.gimp.org/) - because not everyone can afford Photoshop. Gimp is open source and multi-platform. There's a Windoz version. There's also an off-shoot that has tried to imitate the functionality of Photoshop. Gimp does just about everything PS does, but it isn't laid out the nearly same. Being Open Source, other developers are free to play with the code.

Open Office (http://download.openoffice.org/) - I use it nearly everyday! Multi-platform -works on Linux, MS, etc.

Xournal (http://xournal.sourceforge.net/) - this is one of my favorites. It only works on Linux, however. Its a PDF annotation tool that lets you mark-up, comment, and highlight (among other things) PDF files and even export them as new PDF documents that can be opened marked/highlighted in Adobe reader and printed. I have a version on my Nokia N800 which I use to mark up journal articles that I'm reading for grad school, then I plug into a printer at school and print the highlighted & marked pages to a color printer. I've even used marked up PDFs in a presentation in a lecture I gave. A cool tool!

The best killer app I've come across in a while:

Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/) - a totally free and well done operating system that I've been using for several years. And each release just gets better. I installed the current distribution on a machine that previously only had Win XP and had Firefox up and surfing the net in about 20 minutes from Power up to signing in to iGoogle.

I just skimmed this thread and noticed that there weren't any Linux Apps listed!

Likely because persons using Linux as their chief OS are savvy and patient enough to wade through the lines of terminal window commands to achieve most tasks :)

That being said, apps like gimp, vlc and open office are great alternatives.

mtfbwya

Since we're talkin' Linux...

Ubuntu Studio (http://ubuntustudio.org/) is a fork of Ubuntu meant for multimedia editing. As such, it's preloaded with tons of open source audio, video, and graphics editors.

Blender (http://www.blender.org/) is one of the best 3D modeling programs I've ever used. Although it's more suited for animation and rendering rather than creating actual model files for games and whatnot, it is on par with 3ds Max in terms of complexity and quality of its renders.

Naah... the terminal window is dying the same slow death that the dos command window did with MS Win machines. :)

Avidemux (http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/)
Convert, transform, edit pretty much any video format into pretty much any other video format. You can open any .VOB file and save it as .MP4 or whatever. An awesome easy to use piece of open source software.


GAP - the GIMP Animation Package (http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Using_GAP/)
Exract animations or videos into images or put images together into animations or videos. Very useful to create animated GIFs from videos.


MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/detail/mythtv)
One of my favorites, it enables me to watch TV over the laptop with the USB-DVB stick on all other computers all over my network.


MPD - the Music Player Daemon (http://mpd.wikia.com/wiki/Music_Player_Daemon_Wiki)
Runs on the laptop connected to my stereo, so I can listen to music over it. I can control it from every other machine in my home. I also can stream the music to any machine I want.


WINE (http://winehq.org/about/)
I play my favorite Windows games using WINE. I use it at work, too.

MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/detail/mythtv)
One of my favorites, it enables me to watch TV over the laptop with the USB-DVB stick on all other computers all over my network.

There are a huge amount of linux based HTPC optiosn there, so many it gives me headache to think of the number :p I personally like Elise Mediacenter, but theyre all variations on a theme of course. For those looking to achieve the same thing on a windows based system...

If you have Vista Home Premium or Ultimate, it has the Media Center applet built in. There is an XP Media Center edition, which is still used by some, but no longer officially supported. If youre in XP, best use Media Portal (http://www.team-mediaportal.com/), which is OSource project. Finally there is the Windows 7 beta. 7077 is the most recent[leaked] build, and Release Candidate 1 is around the corner. Ive been HTPCing since 2006 and Im mightily impressed with win7. Some bemoan no native bluray, but apart from that, it is very user friendly, and with Astro's own custom black/transperent themes (http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/community/plugins-addons-windows-7/34641-windows-7mc-black-back.html), looks much prettier than the cruddy default blue. There are many cool themes available for media portal, and (some) variations of the Linux options(Elise MC looks great)

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc288/Astrotoy7/7MCTransperencies.png)

mtfbwya

No, the point is to have one or more TV cards in one PC somewhere in the corner and make it/them usable on all other PCs so as if they all had cards in them, hence client/server structure.

Elisa can't do that, and err, actually, none of the "apps" you have listed can.

My goal is that I don't have to attach a ton of antennas and DVB sticks and cables to my laptop to watch TV, not to have a fully fledged MC.

Thats good Ray. Thank you for the info.

Read carefully, I wasnt countering, just listing some other apps, like the thread title states ;)

and err, actually, none of the "apps" you have listed can

Things are never so black and white Ray ;) Not knowing what exists does not mean it doesn not exist[/metaphysical]

As you know, we try give a more fuller picture here, hence:

Referring to vista/w7 specifically, there are (at least) 3 rock solid options:

i) Using a server device('PC somewhere in the corner') with a network tuner such as the HD Homerun (http://www.silicondust.com/products/hdhomerun) These actually work on every platform from Myth to MPortal, XP, Vista and W7(beta). You can't do it wirelessly with this specific model, but unless your running a 802.11n network, I wouldnt fancy your chances of a stable 1080i stream on 802.11g, esp if you live in a big place with brick walls and such.

If you're able to splurge on a 802.11n setup, you probably wouldnt be wanting to watch TV on your laptop, but on nice 1080p LCD/Plasma/OLED/Projection display...

In any event, to continue:

ii) If you need wireless and have a 802.11n setup, best go with the linksys media center extender (http://www.linksysbycisco.com/ANZ/en/products/DMA2100) (which you can get for $95.00 USD) allows remote streming of live tv from the tuners over in your centralised media center pc. The wireless-n can handle 1080 broadcasts no sweat, and HDMI out gives you a dazzling pic on your TV. But the presence of older analog outputs(composite and s-video) means you can plug this gadget pretty much any TV(except really really old ones!!)

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc288/Astrotoy7/DMA2100-lrg.jpg)

Alternatively,

iii) You could use an xbox 360, which has built in media center extender functionality to stream live tv from your media center pc.

>Both of these above options plug straight into your TV, and are much cheaper than a lappie.

It all really depends on what your aims and budget are. If you are into gaming and already have a pc running vista, the xbox 360 gives you the most fun, with an almost effortless ease of setup. Something you cant easily say applies to a non Linux savvy user about Myth.

Mac users have the Apple TV (http://www.apple.com/appletv/) option as well, though that relies on "on-demand" content from the net rather than internal tuner sharing ;) Some workarounds are abailable to extend the device's limited 'out of the box' functionality

There are also similar devices using linux floating around, particularly those using the xbmc platform, which were originally made to run of the first gen xbox. The XBMC project (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbmc) has since blossomed to include win and mac integration(though not as stable on latter as that phase of its development is relatively new)

mtfbwya

Good lord, Astro. The point of watching TV on my laptop is that there's nothing near that reminds on anything home entertainment centre/TV screen like thing, sometimes not even a power outlet. Like my balcony, the backyard, bathroom, kitchen or my bed.


Thats good Ray. Thank you for the info.

Read carefully, I wasnt countering, just listing some other apps, like the thread title states ;)Read carefully yourself, I just told you that you've missed my point about MythTV.


Things are never so black and white Ray ;) Not knowing what exists does not mean it doesn not existThings become quite black and white when we talk about a 2 PC + 1 tuner card + Linux only setup, Astro. I know I can buy tons of stuff and windows applications and whatnot, but I didn't want to, because I had everything that's needed. And I know very well my options when it comes to home theatre systems since mankind had Laserdiscs and THX. Been there, done that. There's no need to spend endless money when all that I want is to watch TV. :rolleyes:


ii) If you need wireless and have a 802.11n setup, best go with the linksys media center extender (http://www.linksysbycisco.com/ANZ/en/products/DMA2100) (which you can get for $95.00 USD) allows remote streming of live tv from the tuners over in your centralised media center pc. The wireless-n can handle 1080 broadcasts no sweat, and HDMI out gives you a dazzling pic on your TV. But the presence of older analog outputs(composite and s-video) means you can plug this gadget pretty much any TV(except really really old ones!!)

[...]

Alternatively,

iii) You could use an xbox 360, which has built in media center extender functionality to stream live tv from your media center pc.

>Both of these above options plug straight into your TV, and are much cheaper than a lappie.More alternatively, instead of buying extra devices for some hundred bucks, use VLC and one of its remote control interfaces to stream multimedia content or live TV from your MCPC. Plus, most nVdia cards/laptops with an nVidia card have video/s-video/DVI/HDMI out connectors nowadays. :~~

It all really depends on what your aims and budget are. If you are into gaming and already have a pc running vista, the xbox 360 gives you the most fun, with an almost effortless ease of setup. Something you cant easily say applies to a non Linux savvy user about Myth.< tuner card + PC + http://mythbuntu.org/)

...I know I can buy
...but I didn't want to,
...because I had everything
...And I know very well
...All that I want..

So many "I's ! Heavens, Ray this isnt a blog page!

We have both provided a great range of information on windows, Linux and even Apple options for watching multimedia, in a variety of contexts. This is the purpose of this thread. Anything else, is particularly irrelevant.

If you want to write a guide about linux based htpc or streaming server/client setup, it would be a wonderful resource to have here for those interested. Alternately, if you want to do a more detailed focus/showcase thread on your setup, stating your personal preferences, that would be great too. That would be a more appropriate place for such discussion.


* * *

OT: Back to the apps.

There are a bunch of desktop management proggies out there, turning your desktop into cubes and what not. Here's a newer one for PC called Bumptop (http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/08/video-bumptop-gives-windows-7-touchscreen-pcs-purpose/), that sets up your desktop to look like a room essentially. You can pin stuff to walls, flip around, pile things up. Perfect for you that want to have ALL your icons on once screen in front of you as opposed to flipping through various virtual desktops. It is optimised for touchscreen and tablet pcs, and also has multitouch capability, but you can use it with a plain ole mouse of course too. Sys reqs are pretty low, I run it on a 4yo tablet with geforce4 32mb :p There's a free version available, see the linkied article for download link and demo video

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc288/Astrotoy7/bumptop-desk2_600.jpg)

mtfbwya

Well, of course, Astro.