Sunday, May 17, 2009

How To Watch Foreign DVD's

Earlier, I had posted that a combination of DVD Decrypter version 3.5.4 could help with dvd's that have different region codes than the one your computer is set for because the VLC Media Player could then play the files.

Since then, I've changed my mind because my computer has Vista Home Premium, which VLC was crashing.

I then read that if you revealed the extensions on the vob (video object files) that were
made by DVD decrypter to an mpg/mpeg extension, you could play the files on Media 11 Player, which came with my Dell. That was also helpful, but it entailed a lot of work, changing all the extensions. And then you couldn't get subtitles.

Btw, I did this all in service of the complete set of Murphy's Law with James Nesbitt I had purchased from a British purveyor, where the dvd's are set to region 2.

Then I read from another website more about how to use DVD Decrypter. I didn't quite understand it all, but I read something about Daemon Tools, which would create a virtual dvd drive on your computer which could then help the dvd software program on my computer read the ISO file made by DVD Decrypter as if it were a real dvd without any region code problems.

Again, Daemon Tools was not compatible with my OS, so I uninstalled it, which was also a bit of a problem.

Then I read about another program, which is also freeware, that makes a virtual drive on your computer so that my main media-playing software, MediaDirect by Cyberlink, can play the ISO file Decrypter made for me as if it were a region 1 dvd.

It's perfect. The program, Virtual CloneDrive by Slysoft, is their only free program and it creates a single virtual dvd drive on your computer. And for my purposes, why do I need more than one?

It works a treat because now when I use Decrypter to make an ISO file of the Region 2 dvd's I bought, it immediately recognizes that it will be associated with Virtual CloneDrive. I click on the ISO file, and MediaDirect opens it right up.

Perfect.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

How To Remove Splinters-Vinegar/Peroxide and Baking Soda

This is the only remedy that really works. Reliably.

Because while other suggest warm water and baking soda, or using a debriding agent like a salicylic patch, these don't work. Those methods may soften the skin sufficiently so that you can remove the splinter a bit more easily, but they don't actually cause a chemical reaction that causes an embedded splinter to move towards the surface of the skin Much as those who rely on the warm water/baking soda aver, there is no chemical reaction going on there. It's inert.

With vinegar/peroxide and baking soda, there is a chemical reaction. That initial bubbling reaction that you get may stop, but the interaction of the two ingredients that causes that initial bubbling? That continues to work more subtly on the finger. And, after about twenty minutes of soaking, the splinter will move closer to the surface of the skin. And it can then be painlessly, and I do mean painlessly, removed with tweezers.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Swine Flu and the Racist Discourse

The other day, someone said that he didn't want to be around "Mexican" people at all. He then observed that he didn't feel the same way when there was the media-driven SARS scare. Of course, he is East Asian.

This is an interesting illustration of a few things. First, that while ethnic minorities cannot be racist in that they do not have the social power that allows them to act out their bigotry on a level that can intimidate on a deeper level than just a personal threat, they can harbor racist ideation. Meaning they can have racist thoughts. The big difference, obviously, is that members of ethnic/racial minorities cannot plug into, resonate with, or otherwise take advantage of a long, historically-established, set of institutionalized racist agendas that have made entire racial groups feel oppressed, fearful, and exploited because they are the victims of such behavior. Racism as a practice implies the ability to do just that: plug into a larger, institutionalized, oppressive, and exploitative discourse that regulates our institutions. However, you can be a bigot.

So that was the first interesting characteristic of this particular observation.

The second is this. That the reason this person did not fear for his health during the SARS scare was that he was Asian, and he knew that the likelihood of his contracting that illness here, in the U.S., was remote. And what's more, he knew that he, as an East Asian, had absolutely nothing to do with its spread so the idea that people were demanding that East Asians be confined if they had traveled, was not only preposterous, but as he correctly had identified, was racist.

And this is the thing about identifying these illnesses along with a particular country: they plug into, resonate with, and further institutionalize people's racist ideation, especially those Euro-Americans in power. And here is the true racism, because it can be acted upon through legal, institutional avenues that then reinforce people's racist ideas.

(Chinese) Avian flu, (Mexican) swine flu, (Asian) SARS, all of these illnesses legitimized racist discourses against an entire people, here and abroad.

On returning to this man, he further said that not only would he not want to be around any "Mexicans" at all, but that he didn't think it was safe to go to entire counties because a few "possible" cases might have been identified in those counties. That is akin to asking a person who lives in Los Angeles whether they are alright because an earthquake of 4.4 registered in Morro Bay (that is in the middle of the state). In short, it is quite ridiculous.

Moreover, the chances that you will get sick from this flu strain is very, very small. I mean, really. All the people who have been confirmed to have contracted it had mostly 1)mild symptom, and 2) have added up to may 20. Or 30. All over this nation.

Who is to blame? First, and most obviously, the media. While scientists keep telling the news media that this is not hitting people very hard, even local NPR--for shame--stations rebroadcast the "threat" on the hour, along with the hourly news update.

Second, people are to blame. For being alarmist. Gullible. And watching TV news, which is not news. It's entertainment.

This country seems filled with people who always need a scapegoat, a bugaboo, or some kind of enemy to "fight." Who knows why.

Friday, May 1, 2009

A Good Companion for VLC Media Player

The VLC player is good, but only insofar as it can actually read dvd's from different regions. For one disc I bought (a series called Murphy's Law from the UK), I had no trouble. Indeed, when I bought the third series from a used dvd outlet in Australia called RedeyeRecords, I didn't even have to change my region setting on my new Dell 1525.

But with this entire set of the series, I did have to change the region. And then I discovered this media player and I thought, I'm set, now I can buy all sorts of dvd's of UK series that they just won't sell for an American audience. Shows like Waking the Dead, for example.

Unfortunately, after the first disc, none of the others would play. The picture kept pixelating. I read on the VLC forum that it was because I needed to address the problem at the firmware level.

I reject that because I happen to know, from downloading a free trial of Divx Player that the problem can be addressed at the software level.

However, I have discovered that if I copy my dvd's to my computer using a program called DVD Decryptor, then I can then use VLC player to play the files on my computer. It is a little less convenient because I do have to copy them to my computer, and it doesn't play all the chapter's seamlessly: I have to then click on the next video file. But at least I can buy dvd's from all different regions, now, and not worry about not being able to watch them. And best of all, it is free.

Obviously, the problem with these programs is that they can be used to make illegal copies of dvd's and cd's, which is actually an unfortunate by-product. Really what's great, I think, about them is that they allow you to any region dvd and play them. Without spending money on a silly program.

park

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