Category Archives: General

Ripping movies using My Movies software

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I thought I’d write a bit about what I’ve learnt about ripping movies from DVD. The process is a lot more in depth then it first may seem.

Logically, you may think it’s as easy as ripping a CD. Unfortunately, as I have now found, there is more to it.

I first started getting interested in this topic, when I got recommended a very useful movie cataloguing app called “My Movies“. I love stats, and tracking what I watch. I love IMDb, and being able to track actors across films, and genres.

I started looking into how to to import DVDs using the My Movies for Windows app which has an import feature. It works well but this is where I started getting caught up in the DVD encryption issue. So, logically, DVDs have encryption to prevent you from simply copying them with built in software.

Import disclaimer

My Movies works with either DVD Fab Passkey or AnyDVD to decrypt the movie and import it into the My Movies database. Together they work very well but a disclaimer is shown, so check local laws before proceeding (does anyone really check?).

I tested importing some DVDS for as long as trial copies of both import tools worked (around 1 month each). From what I found:

  1. The speed of your PC directly impacts the conversion process.
  2. Ideally, you want the fasted optical disk drive you can get to reduce the copy process to a minimum.
  3. You need plenty of local disk space – the movie is copied from the disk first, and then converted to a format your TV/console/player can deal with before giving you the opportunity to remove the imported version.
  4. If you have foreign language films, dealing with subtitles is the biggest pain in the ass — something which has led me to take a break from the whole test.

For now I will continue to use My Movies for it’s cataloguing and database apps. I have the iOS app and the features on that are great. I love being able to scan the barcode of a film to add it to your collection. You can also mark films out “on loan” so you don’t lose anything! Great product, overall.

I’ve only scraped the surface here but will probably write a followup post somewhere soon.

Moving on

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Not long ago I lost an old friend – not as in dead lost – but lost as in they moved up the country and broke all contact without much notice or explanation… it wouldn’t be so strange other than I’d known them for a long long time (since school long).

I won’t be naming any names but I really don’t understand the reason for it. People need to take a break and have their space and focus time but to break all contact with the people you’ve been dealing with is rather odd.

You know they meant a lot when they keep on appearing in your dreams… months on even. The biggest problem was not knowing, so I made sure they were actually alive but the reasoning for the silence and why still baffled me. It’s actually really annoying, the dreams I mean. In my consciousness I have acknowledged that for whatever reason the friendship we had obviously wasn’t all that. I’ve other friends through work and out of work and come to terms with the fact I just need to move on and hope that if this person really cared then at some point they’d get back in touch.

I’ve written this in the hope that it’ll help by putting pen to paper so to speak (always better to get something off your chest).

Minimizing debt into 2018

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It’s coming to the end of another year and time to write a brief wrap-up post.

I think I have achieved a lot this year:

  • I finally got my Mazda MX5 through another MOT after a lot of hard work and that’s still ongoing.
  • I’ve been able to maintain a loving relationship which I am proud of, and through that, also made some new friends.
  • I’ve progressed in my job although that’s been a struggle, having to be put through potential redundancy early in the year.
  • My freelance work is still progressing, I tend to allow work to flow in via word of mouth so not to stretch myself but do pursue some leads when I can (sneaky feelers!)

I am attempting to reduce the amount of debt in my name. A while after buying my house (Keep calm, just bought a house) I required some additional money to buy furniture and decorate, and to also pay off some credit cards (consolidating debt). I immediately closed a credit card account thereafter. Credit cards are bad ideas. I am now left with one credit card and have just reduced the credit card limit to £1500 after they had increased it to £2900! I don’t want that temptation. If I don’t have the money, I can’t pay for something. Simple as. My loan will be near enough paid up at the end of 2018, so I’ll be able to close that too.

Considering I am only 27 I think I have done quite well. I have big dreams and passions but sometimes I have to look back and see how far I have already come.

I wish everyone a good new year, and remember to set achievable targets that you can reach!