Why Would I Want to Do This?

Typically, I prefer just to have the movie files because with most movies I don’t really need all the extras. I have my DVD collection ripped and stored as MP4 or AVI files on a hard drive. However, there are some DVDs that have a lot of extra content, commentaries, interviews, etc. In these cases I prefer to have everything. By ripping the contents of the DVD and playing back the VIDEO TS folder contents, I get everything you’d get on the DVD (including the Ads… Grrr!) and I don’t have to get up and swap DVDs when I want to watch a different disc. There is a trade off, of course. These raw Video-TS files will take up much more space. For example, a single DVD in the Band of Brothers set is 7 GBs.  Normally, I can store 8 – 10 movies ripped as MP4s in that amount of space and that disc is two hour long episodes, plus some extras.

How do I get a Video TS file?

You will find VIDEO TS and AUDIO TS folders on every DVD. The problem is the copy protection. Assuming your disc is copy protected, you can’t simply copy these files off a DVD with any application. That is where DVDFab comes into play. Note: The AUDIO TS folder is basically irrelevant. It’s typically just an empty folder.

You can rip a Video TS file using DVD Fab’s HD Decrypter. The DVDFab application “suite” is a bit confusing, so just understand that the HD Decrypter part, which is the part we need to copy Video TS folder, is always free. Check out my full post on how to rip your DVD to Video TS. DVDFab has since released version 7 of their application, but the tutorial still works as very little has changed from the application interface aspect.

How to Do It

Step 1 – Install and Setup Media Browser (Optional)

First, if you’d like to use Media Browser, go ahead and install it. I won’t rehash the entire process here, as I already covered it in a previous post. So, if you haven’t read it, or need a refresher, jump on over and read my Media Browser post here. It’ll give you the ins and outs of getting setup. Don’t worry. It’s not too tough.

Step 2 – Download and Install DVDFab

Pretty Straightforward. You can find the latest download here.

Step 3 Rip your DVD w/ DVDFab HD Decrypter

This is another step that I have covered previously so, to see the step by step process, read my Rip a Copy Protected DVD to your Hard Drive with DVDFab post. Again, not very complicated. Copying the VIDEO TS file with DVDFab / HD Decrypter takes only about 20 minutes or so, depending on the disc and your hardware.

Watching in Media Center Movie Library

Add the VIDEO_TS & AUDIO_TS along with a top level folder to your movie library. I prefer to simply rename the top level folder created by DVDFab and then copy it over. It won’t display any metadata, however, without the help of any third party tools.

**Thanks to Jim Walshaw for pointing out the native WMC Movie Library support! He also mentions Media Center Master,which I have yet to cover, for adding cover art and metadata.

Watching in Media Browser

OK, if you followed the steps to get Media Browser setup we are now ready to copy our ripped files to our Movie library in Media Browser. Media Browser recommeds that your store VIDEO TS and ISO files in a different directory and with a different structure than media files like MP4, AVI, MPEG, etc. Mixing these types with ISO’s and VIDEO TS can cause issues.

For a movie, you’ll want to use a format like this:

C:\Movies\DVD Rips\Movie Title\VIDEO_TS (The “Movie Title” will be the actual title of the film.)

For a TV Show, I set it up like this:

C:\TV Shows\TV Show title\Season 1\TV Show DVD 1\VIDEO_TS

Once you’ve got it all configured, you’re ready to watch all those DVD’s (OK, VIDEO_TS / VOB files) without ever having to rifle through your DVD collection.

How everything appears depends on the Media Browser theme you are using.

A downside (very minor) is that your individual episodes will appear as in the image below, instead of with the nice cover art.

Side note: How the heck does Band of Brothers get a 5.75 / 10 rating?!?

Follow Up note: The actual IMDB website gives it 9.6/10, so I don’t know where 5.75 comes from….

Boxee uses the IMDB database to pull it’s movie information and cover art. As long as you have your movie files named properly based on IMDB standards, you’re pretty much half way there.

You’ll want to use one of the naming conven tions below. If you aren’t sure of the proper title of a movie, check with IMDB.com

Office.Space.avi

Office Space.avi

Office Space (1999).avi

Office.Space(1999).avi

When you’re ready to add your source folder(s) where your movie collection is stored, go to Settings > Media and Select Add Sources. Then Browse to the source location.

Then select Add source.

Select your media type, how frequently you’d like to scan, and then select Add.

It may take a little time, but you’ll start to see your Movie Cover Art appear in My Movies.

If you swore off Boxee after trying an earlier edition it may be time to come back for another look. If you’d like to see how fix incorrectly identified files, unrecognized or unidentified files, how to filter your collection, and more, check out my full write up on how to manage your movie collection in Boxee over at How-To Geek.

Recently the folks at Lifehacker rolled out a nice little guide for better organizing your Android Home Screen, complete with a video! They got some nice tips, tricks, and apps included in the post.

Check out the Video below:

Check out the full Lifehacker guide.

First, plug your device into your PC. When iTunes opens, select it on the left.

In the Options section on the Summary tab, uncheck the box for Open iTunes when this iPod (iPhone) is connected.

Select Apply before you exit.

That’s it. You’re done! No more auto opening iTunes each time you plug in your device.

Once again, I’m going to use DVDFab’s HD Decrypter to rip the DVD, but we’re going to adjust some settings so that HD Decrypter creates an xml file that we can use to automatically pull cover art and metadata for our movie collection in the native Movie Library.

Simply ripping a DVD to your hard drive without compressing / converting it is going to result in significantly higher file size than if you ripped your file to Mp4 using h.264, or AVI using DivX, etc. However, using this method you’ll be able to play the full contents of the DVD just as if the DVD was sitting in your DVD drive. This way you do have to worry about digging through your DVD collection every time you want to play a movie. Plus, you don’t have to mess around with mounting it as a drive like you do with ISO files.

Rip the DVD

We’ll rip the DVD using DVD Fab’s HD Decrypter, but first we’ll change a few settings. In the common settings, set the Default output type to DVD Folder and check the box for Create dvdid.xml which can be used by Windows Media Center.

When you are finished, copy the top level folder and subfolders, including the xml file to your WMC Movie Library.

When you’re finished you’ll have nice cover art and detailed synopsis to go along with your movie. Awesome!

After doing a little Googling, checking some forums, and perusing Amazon, I didn’t really find anything specifically crafted for the Droid. I did however come across the iArmBands Armband for the Nexus One and other Android phones. One of the reviewers stated he used it for the Droid, so I gave it a shot.

Overview

The armband claims to fit arms from 8 inches to 20 inches (very small to large).  The pocket dimensions are H – 5″, W – 3″, D – .7″

It’s a decent arm band. It fits my geeky little arm fine, unlike the armband for my old Samsung mp3 player that seemed like it was designed to fit your average steroid abuser. You can see in the image below the location of all the openings in the fabric for earphones, changers and such. Note: For the Droid, you’ll need to remove it from the case to charge it.

Naturally, it’s not as responsive to touch and finder sliding through the clear plastic covering as it is normally. It often takes me a couple swipes or taps to get  the action I want on the touch screen, but it’s not too bad.

One thing to be aware of is that it will take some adjusting or even slight modification if you are planning to use it with headphones. (Which I would assume would be most people) The four holes for earphones don’t line up properly with the Droid’s earphone jack. You’ll see in the In the picture below that I’ve simply pushed back a bit of the material so I could cleanly insert my earphones plug.

This is how it looks with the Droid properly inserted into the case. You can kinda see that the hole on the left lines up more with the power button.

Conclusion

To some up this armband in a few words… It’ll work. Clearly not designed specifically for the Droid and is more of a universal armband. If you understand that going in, and really just want something that will hold the Droid on your arm while exercising, this band will do the trick. I picked this up at Amazon.com for a bit under $15, which I thought was a decent price. If the armband was specifically designed for the Droid, I’d probably be willing to pay more.

I’ll give it 3 1/2 out of 5. Some of you won’t like that you need to do a bit of adjusting / modifying to plug in ear phones, but that really didn’t bug me. It is a snug fit for the Droid and on humid days it takes a bit of work to get the phone back out. When it rings, I wouldn’t bank on being able to stop exercising, pull this thing out of the case, and answer the phone in a timely manner.

Interestingly, my iPod Touch fits perfect in this armband. so, if you’ve also got an iPod Touch you’ll definitely be able to get dual use from this armband.

Do you know of a better armband for the Droid? Or, use a different one that you like? Drop me a note in the comments!

Order from Amazon

If you’d like to order from Amazon, or read the reviews of others who purchased on Amazon, here’s product link.

iArmBands ArmBand / Arm Band for Google Nexus One & HTC T-Mobile G1 Android gPhones / google phone

Press and hold your finger down on the Home screen (Long press as some refer to it). You’ll get the Add to Home Screenpop up. Tap on Shortcuts.

Then choose Directions and Navigation…

Type in the address (or a place if you want a link to a park or mall, etc.) Click on the Car icon if you want driving directions, and make sure turn-by-turn navigation is selected.

Scroll down on the same screen and give your destination a name and attach an icon. They have a convenient little icon with a house that I found perfect for my Home icon. Finally, click Save.

Now you have an icon on your Home screen for quick and easy Navigation.

Just tap the icon for quick Navigation to your home or destination. If anyone has a different solution they prefer, let me know. I’d love to hear about it!

Press and hold on the Home screen until the Add to Home screen pop up window appears. Then tap on Shortcuts.

Scroll to and tap Direct Message.

and then select the friend or family member from your contacts.

Now you’ve got a shortcut to Text that person on your Home Screen.

Do you use Google Navigation on your Droid? Here’s how you set a navigation shortcut on the Home screen.

So off to the App store I went with my iPod Touch in search of such an app. I stumbled across the iHandy Level app. It had a decent rating and best of all it was free. (Otherwise my interest would have died right there…)

Anyway, I downloaded the app and it found it worked really well. It’s really simple. The instructions are very clear and thorough.

You simply calibrate the device by laying along a flat surface and pressing the calibrate button and you are ready to use it. And you can re-calibrate any time you may need it. (This, of course, assumes you have a truly level surface available to calibrate the device)

There is also a Hold button that freezes the level in place so you can read it.

Tap release remove the hold and use the level again. You can use horizontally, or face up like the example below.

There are a few customizable settings.

I certainly don’t think this will replace a real level in a real carpenter’s toolbox, but I thought it was kinda cool. Maybe impress some friends if nothing else.

If you are really into the iHandy Level app, you may want to try there entire suite of Carpenter apps. Currently, for $1.99 you can get the Protractor, Plumb Bob, Ruler, Surface Level, along with the free Level Bar.

I haven’t tried any of the others, but based on my limited experience with iHandy Level, I’d might give them a shot if I ever felt the need for such apps.

Overall, I give it 4 cups of coffee out of 5. it’s simple, it works, and best of all, it’s free.

Get iHandy Level from the App store.

My native Movies tile, which I had removed and replaced with Media Browser, was back. Hulu which I had placed in the TV strip was also gone. Although I custom “Add-In’s” tile I had created with tiles for Boxee and a few other items was still intact.

I found a fix at the Australian Media Center Community forum. The developer chimed in and said that a fix in Media Center Studio would be forthcoming eventually, but here is a fix for the time being.

On your Windows 7 Media Center PC, browse to the following directory:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome\Packages\MCEClientUX\dSM

Find the StartResources.dll file. It was the only file in the folder on my PCs.

Rename the file to something else. I choose to append an _old to the filename.

Once you restart WMC, you should be back in business and able to make all typical edits with Media Center Studio. If you get a message that Media Center can’t start after changing the file name, change the original file back to it’s original file name. Next, use the Restore Default button in Media Center Studio, then try again to rename the dll file.

Note: I’m in the United States and his is worked for me. There are a few different file tweaks noted in the full thread that worked in other parts of the world, so if you’re outside the US, double check the forum thread. (link below). The fixes start on page 2 of the thread.

You can find the thread in the Australian Media Center Community forum here. There is also another helpful thread over on the Green Button.