Video

On a fresh installation of Windows 10, I found that Youtube was working just fine, but other embedded videos on sites like Twitch and Reddit were not. I thought it had something to do with HTML5 or flash, but as it turns out, it was because I had chosen the wrong version of Windows during the installation process. Choosing Windows Professional N or, basically any N version, results in video issues primarily due to the lack of appropriate codec and DRM support. Even Netflix will very likely not play. This also affects all browsers.

Today, I started dabbling in doing some screen recording in Linux and while I could find programs to record the screen, I couldn't get the audio working as I wanted. By default, the programs record either the system audio, or the mic audio (or if the program is shit, neither); they don't record both the system audio and the mic audio. The fix for this on my Kubuntu 16.04 (Xenial) system which uses the Pulseaudio system to manage audio is as follows:

The following are a bunch of Anna Russell videos that showcase some of her wonderful wit. While, the older videos (especially the analysis of the Ring cycle) were taken when she was well past her prime, they are still very entertaining, if not as good as the audio version recorded much earlier.

Analysis of the Ring Cycle

The original audio versions:

Everybody geeky is quite likely to have already heard of FM transmitters like this one that lets you broadcast any audio output stream on an FM frequency and tune into it with a radio. I'm a big fan of this gadget and have about 3 around for various uses.

That said, does anybody know of an equivalent video option that will let me tune into a video broadcast via the telly? That would rock! Google didn't help me much in my search... I suppose it's a question of terminology too.

I was in a predicament earlier today where I was stuck with a downloaded (ripped) DVD which was slightly larger than the capacity of a single layer disc. Fortunately, the disc came with an optional Italian audio component, which, when removed, would allow me to burn the DVD without any issues. While I was aware of DVD rippers where you can specify the audio streams that you would like to retain, I was looking for a solution that would work on the VOB files directly.

I'm pretty sure most people are aware of the huge amount of content available on sites like YouTube, Megavideo etc., and of the existence of hangers-on sites such as Keepvid, Clip Nabber etc. as well that let you leech the FLV files directly. Furthermore, I'm also sure that you've noticed many of these leech sites not working more often than not nowadays.

Anyone else notice the rising popularity of live video / TV sites and applications all over the place? In the last year or so, what was just a niche service / application has exploded into the mainstream and I won't be surprised if established sites such as YouTube also manoeuvre to get a piece of this pie.

Presently available offerings can be segregated into two categories: