Ricky Says

Wondering how to convert your DVD movies into a video format that will run on your new iPhone or iPod?

I looked at two programs that rip DVD into mp4 video format for both the Mac and PC. I found a free open-source program called Handbrake that worked on a Mac but wouldn't rip copy-protected DVDs on a PC. I also found a program called Aimersoft DVD Ripper that converts DVDs into mp4 format for both iPods and iPhones. It works great on both Windows and Mac OS X, and also takes still shots of movie frames - a very useful feature.

Handbrake

Using Handbrake was as easy as plugging in my DVD, selecting the DVD in Handbrake, and clicking a button to kick off the conversion process.

I used The Matrix Revolutions - one of my favorite sci-fi action flicks - and tried it on both the Mac and PC. The Mac version took a whopping 4 hours to rip the DVD and convert it into mp4 format, which seemed like an eternity. The PC version wouldn't even start the conversion though, complaining that the DVD was copyright protected (which it is).

The Handbrake user interface was also hard to figure out. It has so many options to configure, that I found it difficult to figure out where to start.

Due to the slow ripping speed of Handbrake, the large file size of the video file, and since it wouldn't work for me on a PC running Windows Vista (at least not with a copy-protected DVD), I decided to look for another option.

Aimersoft DVD Ripper

Next I downloaded Aimersoft's DVD Ripper, which rips DVD to mp4 video that will run on iPhones, iPods, and any other device that can view standard mp4 videos.

You can create ringtones for free with iTunes using the steps outlined below, and can upload them to your cell phone with a USB data cable or a Bluetooth connection.

I'm assuming you already have your song loaded in iTunes, and you can refer to other articles in the iPods and MP3 Players forum if you need instructions for loading songs into iTunes from your iPod or a music CD.

Set the song length to about 30 seconds

Right-click on the song in iTunes and select "Get Info" from the pop-up menu. Choose the Options tab and change the Stop Time to 0:30 for 30 seconds of play time.

This won't change or damage the actual file; it just tells iTunes to only play the first 30 seconds of the song (plenty of time for you to answer your phone). You can change this setting back to full length after you create your ring tone.

Configure the iTunes MP3 Encoder

Configure the MP3 Encoder built into iTunes to use 22khz and mono encoding (the format used by cell phone ring tones).

Click the Preferences menu and then choose the Advanced tab. Click "Importing" and then choose "MP3 Encoder" from the Import Using drop down. Choose "Custom..." from the Settings dropdown, which will display an "MP3 Encoder" dialog like the one shown below.

My kids use our home computers daily to play games online or to do research for their school projects. It won't be long before they'll want to start blogging or visiting social networking sites that their friends have told them about.

As a parent myself, I think its important to be aware of the dangers that are lurking on the Internet so that you can protect your kids from viewing inappropriate or adult-related web pages.

Internet security vendors like Symantec (makers of Norton Antivirus), McAfee, and Panda Software have already started gearing up for the challenges our current generation of children are facing on the Internet.

Here are some chilling statistics from Panda Software's child security web site:

1. 25 percent of five-year olds use the Internet.
2. In 2004 more children used the Internet than adults.
3. 44 percent of children have felt sexually harassed on the Internet.
4. 28 percent of minors visit pornographic web pages.
5. Children accessing pages with violent content: 38%
6. Children accessing pages with racist/xenophobic content: 16%
7. Children entering chat sessions about sex: 26%
8. 50% of children use the Internet alone.

By far the most frequently asked question I receive at RickySays.com is "How do I transfer a photo from my computer to my cell phone? (or vice versa)"

Cell phone manufacturers don't ship software with their phones that would do this for free, because they'd rather make money on transfer fees. Windows doesn't provide any help either.

For example, I bought a Motorola Razr v3 phone and it only came with a user's manual and a charger; there was no software for transferring any files to my computer, and nothing built into Windows XP or Vista that would recognize my phone.

Fortunately there are a few ways to transfer photos or ring tones from your PC to your cell phone (or from your cell phone to your PC):

1. Email
2. Bluetooth
3. USB Data Cable

I'll discuss each of these approaches in this article.

Email

You can send your phone an email with the photo or ring tone as a file attachment. For AT&T/Cingular customers the email address is your_number@cingularme.com. For example, if your cell phone number is 691-548-1294 then you'd send an email to 6915481294@cingularme.com and it would arrive as a text message on your cell phone.

Once you receive the text message on your cell phone, you can view the photo or ring tone and save it as your wallpaper or in your phone's audio library. On the Motorola Razr, when you view the picture you can select the "Set as Wallpaper" menu option.

The downside to this approach is that it costs money to read text messages - as much as a penny a kilobyte. This might not sound like much, but when you consider that most pictures are about 75kb that adds up to about 75 cents for each photo that you send.

Of course cell phone companies want you to transfer photos from your cell phone using email, because that way they can charge your for the data transfer.

If a picture can tell a thousand words, then a video can be even more effective on your blog or website.

You can add your favorite YouTube video to your blog by following a few easy steps:

1. Find or Upload the YouTube video

   There are thousands of videos on YouTube that you can show in your blog. You can also upload your own video by creating a free YouTube account and using their simple upload form. They'll even convert your video into the right format for you, and will give you the HTML you need in order to view your video from your blog.

   One of my favorite YouTube videos shows a few guys who built a radio-controlled, jet-powered F14 model plane. They show the whole take off, some Top Gun flying stunts, and a near perfect landing.