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2376

Living Room / Re: I found a home theater configuration expert!

« Last post by superboyac on September 01, 2011, 11:31 AM »

What he did not tell you is that authentic BD discs are encrypted using AACS, in order to rip them you need a decrypter such as Slysoft's AnyDVD or at minimum a bunch of BD+ decryption keys. You cannot expect it to just rip BD by clicking "Start"... there's a reason why film industry is packed of millionaires.

-lotusrootstarch (August 31, 2011, 08:11 PM)

I don't think you need AnyDVD for MakeMKV, at least not from what I understand.  I have both, and if I'm not mistaken, the advice from MakeMKV was that Anydvd is not necessary; it can take care of all that itself.  That's why i like MakeMKV so much, it really is a one-button, one-click ripping procedure.

The other thing that many people don't understand: I'm not trying to make the cheapest rig possible.  I'm trying to make a really nice, elegant setup.  So I'll spend a little extra to get a few nice things.  And after I rip something, i don't want to worry about ripping it ever again...I want, in the purest form possible, that disc in my computer.  From there, i can re-encode it to whatever I need.  The goal is to rid myself of the discs.  If this means I need to get several hard drives, so be it.  Again, I'm not trying to be perfectly efficient here...I'm trying to be elegant and robust.

Here's how I look at it.  I've spend many many hours/days/weeks of my life dealing with all my media over the years.  backing up, moving to discs, copying back to the drives, organizing files, renaming files, encoding files, looking for lost discs...I spend a lot of time with media.  I'm trying to cut out all of that annoying stuff and we now have the technology to do it.  i will pay a premium for a super-streamlined access to my media.  I watch tons of movies, I listen to tons of music, I record, i write, I spend most of my free time with this stuff.  It's as important to me as anything.  I will go to great lengths to make this all a better experience for me in any way.

2377

Living Room / Re: Building a home server. Please help, DC!

« Last post by superboyac on September 01, 2011, 11:09 AM »

as someone who has absolutely no clue, I'm getting mixed messages reading this thread -

• dont go the expensive server route
• do use NAS
• using NAS for serious business is like asking for trouble

if he has the money why shouldnt he get a business solution if it's more dependable?
or does it cost an arm and a leg more?

-tomos (September 01, 2011, 07:49 AM)

Thanks tomos.  That's how I feel also.  Oshyan is right also, I am overkilling this.  But I know that, this is how I work: I overkill to the extreme, and then start paring away.  It's how I learn things.

So here is where I'm at now:
I'm probably NOT going to get a server, and just a NAS.

I would prefer to get commercial quality, as I too don't like consumer quality.  But if it's not available or if it's like twice as expensive, then it's not worth it.  But I do like commercial quality in an eccentric way.

I still may buy server, but I'm letting go of that.  It sounds like a NAS connected to my router with my desktop managing whatever I have to do with it is the solution.


And why is using a NAS for serious business trouble?  That is such a vague statement, it makes no sense to me.  What does "serious business" mean?  It's just files and folders to me, and moving them around, renaming them, copying them...what makes something more serious than another thing?

2378

Living Room / I found a home theater configuration expert!

« Last post by superboyac on August 31, 2011, 12:51 PM »

http://blog.insanege...d-bd-collection.html

I love this guy's blog.  I just found it, and he seems to have written in great detail all the things I've been trying to do lately.  And his tastes seem to be right in line with mine.  First, his primary goal is to store all his media onto hard drives, which will be multiple terabytes.  He has over-engineered it, like I would, and he's running a Windows server with the NAS for storage.  He uses MakeMKV for the video ripping (as I would), and he stores his catalogs using the collectorz software (which i also use).  He even talks about how to setup XBMC and Boxee for the home theater.  it's a great article for anyone going through this.

I love how he is doing this from a home user, home theater perspective.  It's difficult for me to understand all this stuff because all the information out there is about businesses and their requirements, and all the technical jargon associated with it.  It's hard to understand how that translates to a home user.  So this guy is really great with that.

2379

Living Room / Re: Building a home server. Please help, DC!

« Last post by superboyac on August 31, 2011, 12:24 PM »

Sheesh...
Why don't I just get one of these and attach it to my desktop?  I know a lot of you really feel I should just go with a NAS.  Check it out:
http://www.synology..../img/top/DS2411+.jpg

2380

Living Room / Re: Building a home server. Please help, DC!

« Last post by superboyac on August 31, 2011, 12:19 PM »

Ok ok, I hear you guys loud and clear...

I can let go of the rack, since everyone is saying it's way too much overkill even for me.  I agree.  So let's say I build a normal tower instead, I still need some box that will be able to handle 5-10 drives.  What is that box?  How will it connect to the tower?  Can I have everything in one enclosure somehow?  Is there some kind of enclosure where I can stack a tower and an additional disk bank in?

I'd like to hear more about what options exists as far as the disk drive banks.  I've settled on the Norco because it has the best bang for the buck by far, from what I've seen.

2381

Living Room / Re: Building a home server. Please help, DC!

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2011, 05:24 PM »

"Why did you make this mistake?"

-superboyac (August 30, 2011, 03:54 PM)

Well, first a crucial piece of information is missed, and then the rest of it just falls into place naturally... 

[Supervisors hate me]


two things bugging me about that config. It's a rack system, why? It's much easier to stuff a tower in a corner somewhere. Rack systems require a...Rack. Which is going to take up a good bit of room, or it'll have to sit on top of something large/flat. Which is still not a stellar option as cooling could get tricky.

6 drive bays with 4 1TB drives and 2 emptys, doesn't sound like a lot of room for expansion. I thought you were after something like 13TB+??

Although you could go with a Gen III 4U PowerEdge 2900 with 10 Drive slots...That'll give you some room to grow.

-Stoic Joker (August 30, 2011, 05:19 PM)

Yeah, I noticed that too, but wasn't sure.  I actually asked for a rack, so I want it that way.  But I don't want to buy any storage stuff for the server component.  For the drives, i want to buy one of those big Norco enclosures that hold 10-15 hard drives.  So I may ask to remove any storage things that I don't need, but it's pretty cheap anyway, maybe I'll just keep it for now.  I don't know.  That's why I want to kind of figure it out here.

2382

Living Room / Re: Building a home server. Please help, DC!

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2011, 03:54 PM »

Ha!!  brilliant.  Reminds me of an idiotic question I was asked once by a supervisor:
"Why did you make this mistake?"

I just stared at him silently for a while, then I managed to say, "Well...it's not like I did it on purpose, so I don't really know what more I can say about that."

2383

Living Room / Re: Building a home server. Please help, DC!

« Last post by superboyac on August 30, 2011, 03:26 PM »

OK server experts, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the configuration shown below:


So just to summarize, I want a server at home.  My needs are simple, but because I'm so unreasonably picky and overengineer things, I make a big show out of it.  I basically want a really big external hard drive.  In this case, the really big external drive is the server, and the bigness comes from having several hard drives in the rack somewhere.  That's the clearest way to describe what I want.

FYI...I have no idea what most of the stuff shown on that list is.

2384

Living Room / Re: Seriously, Youtube is becoming impossible!

« Last post by superboyac on August 26, 2011, 11:59 AM »

I haven't seen a youtube ad ever in my life.

-superboyac (August 26, 2011, 07:52 AM)

That's because the unicorns love you!

 

-40hz (August 26, 2011, 08:45 AM)

They do, tis true.  It's pretty kinky...

2385

Living Room / Re: Seriously, Youtube is becoming impossible!

« Last post by superboyac on August 26, 2011, 07:52 AM »

Just FYI, I've been using Ad Muncher at home and Adblock at work...I haven't seen a youtube ad ever in my life.

What I'm annoyed by is the bandwidth choking.  It's to a point where I just don't care for youtube that much anymore.

2386

Living Room / Re: GOD IS DEAD~! =P

« Last post by superboyac on August 25, 2011, 10:06 AM »

<orchestra plays softly>

Don't cry for me Cupertino
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance

Have I said to much?
There's nothing more I can think of to say to you
But all you have to do
Is look at me to know
That every word is true...

(with apologies to Andrew Lloyd Webber)

-40hz (August 25, 2011, 07:55 AM)

Bravo!  Encore!

2387

General Software Discussion / Re: InfoQube & TreeSheets: Information managers of the future

« Last post by superboyac on August 24, 2011, 10:48 PM »

Yes Armando, thanks for clarifying that.  I also use InfoQube primarily as a one-pane setup.  But the only reason I can do that is because InfoQube's outliner area is so flexible and powerful.  You can have all sorts of fields and relationships going on without even going to a second pane.  And, yes, the second is available if you need it, but like yourself, the better I get with IQ, the less I need the second pane.
I remember in the beginning I used the HTML pane a lot, but that outliner is just too powerful to avoid.  Actually, several times I've gone back and moved information from the HTML pane into a grid once I realized that I can modify the grid with special fields and other ideas I came up with.  I really like the idea of having it all in the grid.

2388

General Software Discussion / Re: InfoQube & TreeSheets: Information managers of the future

« Last post by superboyac on August 23, 2011, 10:13 AM »

OK, I'm understanding something better now.  What is so unique about InfoQube is that the outlining is the primary feature.  All of these things (except treesheets) can be considered hierarchy style, 2-pane outliners or notetakers.  Most of these, including RightNote, organize your note titles in an OUTLINE on the side, but the main content is the guts of that note.  InfoQube does this very differently.  For InfoQube, the main content is the OUTLINE, and the stuff that goes inside each note is not as prominent (it would be the HTML pane).  In a sense, this makes InfoQube better because it has supercharged features for the outline part, while still retaining what most programs can do with the insides of the note.  For Rightnote, the outline is only the note titles, and there isn't much more you can do to it other than adding icons and moving it around the hierarchy.  In InfoQube, this outline has very powerful features, including multiple fields, and all sorts of relationships you can create about them.  That's why Armando always says he can store just about everything he needs to inside IQ.  It's very flexible with that outliner+html pane.  This is why I say IQ is the future.
In this screenshot, you can see Rightnote's traditional layout.  The green rectangle is highlighting the outline part where the note hierarchy is created.  This is very standard stuff.  Obviously, this is not where most of the program's power comes from.  The main part is the inside of each note, where the content is with all the great table features, and editing controls:


Now, pay attention to InfoQube.  The outline part that I indicated for above, is now a super duper deluxe outline.  You can add fields to it, checkboxes, automatic dates, pretty much whatever you want.  The power of InfoQube is here.  That's what makes it different:


So in my opinion, Infoqube has the most flexible and attractive set of options for general purpose notetaking (especially if you need to commit to one for a while), Rightnote has the UI elements absolutely nailed down.  We need a merger!!

2389

General Software Discussion / Re: Rightnote, commercial alternative to abandonware Keynote

« Last post by superboyac on August 23, 2011, 09:46 AM »

Many thanks to kartal for bringing Rightnote to my attention. I've been trying to find a Evernote replacement for the last few days, and now this one is one of my top candidates, though more testing is needed. (Its unicode support isn't complete yet, so I'm weary.)

What can you do with above mentioned products that you cannot do in EverNote?.

-tymrwt33 (June 13, 2008, 11:20 PM)

With Rightnote I can do tables and spreadsheets, for example. Don't get me wrong, there are many things Evernote can do that others don't. This is a category that really no one does them all. 2+ years after SuperboyAC did the wonderful note-taker review (which I revisited many times lately ... ah, must make a donation), I found myself still wondering from one to another, liking a bit of each. It's not just the features they have are different. The ways they implement those features also matter.

-mwang (March 18, 2009, 09:46 AM)

I feel the same way.

2390

General Software Discussion / Re: InfoQube & TreeSheets: Information managers of the future

« Last post by superboyac on August 23, 2011, 09:29 AM »

Boy, this is bringing back memories of that huge roundup...
Currently, I am most impressed by RightNote.  I can't put my finger on it, but it just seems to be awesome in every nook and cranny that I look.  TreeDBNotes is not one I've played around with much, and I can tell it's as powerful as a traditional notetaker comes, but there are some things I don't quite like about it compared to RightNote (the searching comes to mind).  Mybase has lost favor with me.  It feels old, and development is slow, but it is still relatively powerful in specific areas.  In other words, it may do a couple of things that other programs can't do, and that may be dealbreakers for some people.  InfoQube is still the most powerful of the bunch, but it falls short on the UI front compared to the others.  The UI of RightNote is the best I've seen in a notetaker.

2391

General Software Discussion / Re: InfoQube & TreeSheets: Information managers of the future

« Last post by superboyac on August 22, 2011, 11:59 PM »

Sounds like you're using TreeSheets more like a mind or idea mapper than a pure "note taking" app, eh?

Rightnote sounds interesting. Shoulda linked it though This one? http://www.bauerapps.com/RightNote.html

- Oshyan

-JavaJones (August 22, 2011, 05:54 PM)

True.  I think you are right.  Mindmapping is the more accurate term.

Rightnote is awesome, I just tried it.  Very well made program.

2392

General Software Discussion / Re: What special character do you use to have a file sorted at the top?

« Last post by superboyac on August 22, 2011, 11:51 PM »

I put square brackets around the names of shortcuts I want to appear at the top of the file list directly under the folders.

[Thumbdrive Documents]

-Jimdoria (August 22, 2011, 06:17 PM)

I like this also.  Very clean AND symmetrical!

2393

General Software Discussion / Re: TreeSheets - an interesting and innovative note taker (freeware)

« Last post by superboyac on August 21, 2011, 06:03 PM »

Hi Folks,

Mostly, I use Linkman for freeform stuff, pointing me to web links with keywords.  However when I write and organize I usually want a simple explorer-style hierarchial notepad, preferably with tabs (tabs basically mean I do not have to open a different file or have long involved left side explorer looks ... it is simply an organizational dimension). Good RTF is essential. Stability too. Everything else is negotiable. Multi-folder-level comes in handy, 2 levels might be sufficienct.

Keynote I traditionally used.  Keynote-NF remains in the running.

TreenoteDB has a nicer look-and-feel, but they have a funny concept of "Free" where you really need "Free-registered" .. which is about $20. In terms of value, it's worth it, as is the Professional .. right now I do not like the misuse of the word free.

MyBase is pricey, the look is impressive, I am very tempted to give it a whiz. Any real downside other than $ ? Does it have real hefty-pizazz ?

Other contenders, most sans tabs, are TreePad, MyInfo, Whizfolders, AllMyNotes Organizer. I think these are some of the leaders in the more traditional look-and-feel.  Each has some special pizazz.

Granted InfoQube, Treesheets or another might also be really fine even in traditional mode.  If I remember InfoQube was special in your flexible field creation. How important that is for me, as more a database or PIM feature, I am not sure. If I try it, I may like it.

Sticking with the more traditional sense (straight hierarchy) and going around the thread theme, your thoughts ?  More exotic stuff is fine, as long as it is strong on the basic "Treepad" (Keynote, TreeDBnote)  look as well. 

Shalom,
Steven

-Steven Avery (August 21, 2011, 02:48 PM)

Excellent analysis.  Everyone who is exploring PIMs should read this, as Steven points out some very fundamental characteristics that might help you choose one program over the other.  It's hard to make that choice because we ourselves don't really know how we prefer to keep track of information.  Our mind's mechanics is a mystery...even our own minds.

I think you are also right about Infoqube.  It's power is the flexible field creation.  Unlike other outliners, you are not limited to the fields out of the box, everything is basically up for grabs.  The presentation is fundamentally a tradional outline (top-down, indent to the right).  That being said, it's outline navigation features are also probably better than anything out there (it's based on Ecco).  It's not simple, however, and for a lot of things may be a bit overkill.

Mybase, i feel, is antiquated by now.  You may remember that I really like mybase about 5 years ago, but what does it do that's really that special?  Also, it's interface feels like it hasn't kept up with the times.

Treesheets is as simple as it gets.  Plus it is different and unique.  It is probably the simplest application of the bunch with the most powerful possibilities...I feel it's the most elegant application of these types.  Doesn't mean it's the best, though, depending on what you need to do with your info.

2394

General Software Discussion / Re: InfoQube & TreeSheets: Information managers of the future

« Last post by superboyac on August 21, 2011, 05:53 PM »

Hmmm....I'm noticing something significant here about how we use PIM's.  It seems like it is very important for us to not only store the information we have saved, but to also retain as much as possible HOW we got to that bit of information.  That's why we care so much about the link being automatically noted in programs like Onenote, cintanote, evernote, etc.  And the importance of that is that we can later go back to our database, find that information, and trace it back to the source (which is probably not in our database) and explore the topic further.  And of course, this idea is also what causes us to want good search features, and intra-linking, inter-linking features.

Now, Treesheets would not be very good for this, and if this is what you are trying to do, you're not going to like it.  When I first tried TS, that's what I was trying to do, and I gave up pretty quickly.  It's unsatisfying in that way because it doesn't really offer any features that allows you to record meta information with whatever it is you want to keep.  The concept of tags, links, anything "extra" or meta, is not really it's purpose.

What Treesheets excels at is the ability to layout information.  The visual presentation of it is crazy effective, and has made me fall in love with it.  This may be a weird analogy, but it is a very DEDUCTIVE way of organizing information, and I love it.  I'm a mathematician in my heart, and my knee-jerk reaction is to think of all things deductively (which I'm trying to control now).  Math is also purely deductive, that's why it resonates with me so strongly.  So, in treesheets, it's all about organizing your IDEAS (not really random bits of trivia).  You create an idea, then you dig into it, and you keep digging and digging...that's exactly how treesheets presents the information.  It's a hierarchy that can have endless levels.

So what's so different about that compared to outliners and their hierarchies?  Outliners can make outlines with bullets or numbering schemes that just indent and indent until you want to stop.  But it doesn't look the same, and it's not as effective.  An outline, as it expands, goes from top to bottom, and the levels are indented to the right.  That's ok, but that's not how my mind really works.  Treesheets presents an idea in a CONTAINER...then any sub-ideas will be INSIDE that container, and you can do this to infinity.  This is presented VISUALLY in just that way, which is awesome.  Furthermore, the navigation features of Treesheets have this cool visual effect of making you feel like your digging INTO an idea.

I really should make a video about this, this is far too much explaining to be effective.

2395

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on August 19, 2011, 04:23 PM »

But one of users told me that he experience some issues with skin(i.e PK-69) redrawing (but he has kinda outdated computer) on player window resize, may be skin system regression(not sure, because I cannot see same issue for me), so don't be too strict Anyway, we're working on completely new skin system for RC-3.

-Kinjal (August 18, 2011, 11:25 PM)

I can confirm that behavior on my computer also.  My computer is fairly powerful, so I hope that helps.  I'd love to see the new skin, they keep getting better and better.

2396

General Software Discussion / Re: InfoQube & TreeSheets: Information managers of the future

« Last post by superboyac on August 18, 2011, 11:08 PM »

Any chance you would take a video of what you did?
I tried to use it, but discarded it quickly... it just didn't resonate.

-urlwolf (August 18, 2011, 08:34 PM)

If you tell me your thoughts on it, I'd be able to comment on it.  What didn't you like about it?  What would you like it to accomplish?  I can't show you the grids I have prepared because they are private, and creating one from scratch would take a while.  But if I know what you need, I can maybe do a little thing about that.

For me, the best way I like to describe it is this:  it feels like it shows me graphically the way my brain works.  You start with a a general subject, and you just dig deeper and deeper and deeper.  You can literally hone in (zoom in) on your idea.  It is seriously effective for me.

2397

General Software Discussion / Re: InfoQube & TreeSheets: Information managers of the future

« Last post by superboyac on August 18, 2011, 05:45 PM »

So I've been using Treesheets fairly heavily the last few weeks...I'm just continuing to be more and more impressed with it.  I think I have found my ultimate note taker.  This thing is brilliant.  This is what I'm talking about when I talk about elegance in a program.  It is visually really nice, very easy to use compared to most applications of this kind, and the unique way it handles hierarchical information is just in a class of its own.  I'm able to display my weirdest and most complex ideas in a very satisfying way with this program.  It may very well replace multiple programs that I currently use regularly.

Give this a shot, people.  Any of you who are interested in mind mapping, information management, todo lists, outliners, anything like that...try this out.  I give it my highest recommendation possible.

2398

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Super Flexible File Synchronizer Mini-Review

« Last post by superboyac on August 18, 2011, 03:09 PM »

^^ Yes, I think you've nailed it.  I remember this now.  It was sort of confusing.  I'm using the background scheduler because it's the easiest.  But I am going to move things to a server soon and I'll probably go the service way for that.  Thanks for digging that up!

2399

General Software Discussion / Re: Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

« Last post by superboyac on August 18, 2011, 01:12 PM »

Yes kinjal, your english is perfectly fine!  We love that you are participating here, and hopefully more people will appreciate the good effort being made with this video player.

One of the tiny little feature requests I have is this (I got the idea from KMP):
It would be great to be able to control the volume steps.  Right now, Light Alloy can change the volume in increments of 5%.  I'd like to be able to set that increment to something else (either larger or smaller).  KMPlayer does it in this way:

2400

General Software Discussion / Re: InfoQube & TreeSheets: Information managers of the future

« Last post by superboyac on August 18, 2011, 11:08 AM »

@40hz You're welcome 

There aren't that many that are in very active development, part of the market has been taken away by online, sync with smart phone type services.

-rgdot (July 15, 2011, 08:41 AM)

I don't know if this is a good thing. Right now we have PC tools that are very poor because most of the effort is on the phone version. The limits of the phone version are extrapolated to the pc. Even worse, they make a web-based version and wrap it for PC use, losing all the advantages of a desktop native app. Phones are awful to write notes, anyway.

-urlwolf (August 18, 2011, 03:09 AM)

I know, I feel the same way.  PC apps have suffered in recent years because the developers can't make a profit on these little sharewares.  People have gotten so used to quality freeware that they just can't afford it anymore.  All the real money is being made on the mobile apps, which are nice and everything, but no where near as utilitarian and productive as those badass windows programs we have grown to love.

I'm noticing some great things coming out of Russia lately.  They have this whole Delphi thing going on there, which I love.  Actually, Europe seems to offer a better environment for people wanting to still make pc shareware.  I don't know why, but that's what I've noticed.