How to rip DVDs

I need to get my DVDs on my new 500 GB drive. What’s the easiest free way to rip DVDs?

My ‘My Book’ (500 GB Western Digital drive)

A few weeks ago I received my My Book which I had ordered from Amazon. Basically its a 500 GB external hard-disk and that means a decent amount of storage space. It came nicely packaged and the drive itself is smaller than one would think. The casing is black and looks inconspicuous and has these interesting morse-codish holes for ventilation. You can stack them up if you’ve got more than one.

It comes with some pre-loaded software that you shouldn’t worry about too much.  Once I powered it, it showed up almost immediately on my PC. The first thing I did was to format it in NTFS so I could store files greater than 4 GB at a time. This took about 40 minutes.

The main purpose for this purchase is to back-up my stuff and other media content (movies, TV-shows, documentaries, etc.). I also plan to back-up most of my DVD collection to it and then perhaps sell off my DVDs (gasp!). I don’t think it will be too long before I get another one.

The drive is quite speedy and doesn’t make any noticeable amount of noise. I would definitely recommend it as Amazon has a pretty decent offer.

Rohail’s vaccinations

Two days ago Rohail got his six month vaccinations at the local clinic. He was in a good mood and interacting with everyone including the nurse who was going to do the deed. He was lying on the table watching her as she prepared those scary looking needles and stuff. Sometimes he would get a bit nervous but Maliha and myself assured him it was all good. Overall it wasn’t too bad and he cried a bit when the shots were administered. They said that he would be feverish for a day or two, which he was but now he’s all good – Alhumdulillah. He’s due for the next one after 6 months.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End review

Yesterday I went with a friend from work to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End at the Mohallab cinema. It was certainly better than the sorry Spiderman 3 though a tad bit too long. The battle sequences were awesome and Johnny Depp is once again at his best.

What I love about this movie series is that while it is an action movie it still has a serious comedy punch. Some scenes are really funny and very subtle at the same time. Anyhow, to fully comprehend what goes on in this installment, you had better refresh what happened in the last two flicks. Otherwise, it could get pretty confusing.

The basic plot consists of how the last group of pirates must make their final stand against the East India Company’s fleet. They have to put aside their differences and fight. At the same time, everyone has their own hidden agendas such as William wants to free his father and get his bride, Jack wants to get undead and stay free of anymore precarious debts, then there is this whole plot of the ‘Calipso’, etc. Watch it to find out how it all unfolds.

As usual, this one also consists of a lot of betrayals, deceptions and double deceptions. It seems everyone is fooling someone. Jack Sparrow is brilliant and I chuckled when after he has once again fooled everyone that a soldier asks the captain whether he plans it all or just makes it up as he goes along.

Good watch!

Kuwait maps – Baladia

 

This is a revelation to me; a colleague just pointed me to the Baladia’s website where they have a pretty cool map of Kuwait. It is quite interactive and you can search for areas by the governorate, blocks, street name, building number, etc. Not only that, you can provide it two addresses and it will get back to you with the shortest route (with complete step by step directions) and the direct distance as well. It also has PDA-friendly screenshots.

Another cool feature is that the map is so detailed that it has street names, electrical transformers, schools, hospitals and a lot of other landmarks. It is also pretty updated and even shows a school with its name that is still under construction near my area. Much more detailed than Google maps.

[Link]

iPhone launch date equals my birthday

iPhone’s official launch date has been announced. Guess what – it coincides with my birthday! So am I getting a surprise present from Apple? Maybe this could serve as the push I need to make that Apple cross-over (hint, hint).

Steve, are you reading this?

If not, then Bill, are you?

Spiderman 3 – sad

We went to watch Spiderman 3 over the weekend. It has almost run its complete course at the Kuwaiti theatres but if you haven’t seen it already; you shouldn’t be too worried.

Before I go on, let me say that Rohail made us proud and sat through it all without any fuss. He even managed to take a nap during some of the loud action scenes!

Back to the movie – as a friend pointed out; it was more of a love story this time than the dark and sinister flick I expected to enjoy. By its third installment; it seems that Spidey has turned in to a cheap show-off. Romance, jealousy and revenge seemed to be the key points in the plot. Other than some of the fight scenes and the awesome animation of him swinging around New York; I didn’t really enjoy the movie much.

I don’t like giving away much during my comments on movies but I’ll just say that the plot was very weak and things between Spiderman and the Green Goblin very conveniently and quickly fell into place when it was needed.

I hope to catch Pirates of the Caribbean 3 this week and desperately hope that it is does not disappoint as well.

Photography fun

On Thursday I thought it was time to practice some of the night photography theory that I had been reading up on lately. You have to start somewhere; so I went over to Eureka with my trusty Z612 and picked up a tripod as that is probably as important as the camera itself if you’re going to be doing any night-time photography. My first stop was on the parking strip right beside the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road and I tried to capture some shots of the grand Towers themselves.

This was my first time playing around seriously with the aperture and shutter values. I was pretty impressed at seeing the whole concept in action where I could get different lighting effects just by playing around with these values. Thanks to digital photography where one can fool around as much as he wants without any fear of financial repercussions in the form of film roll usage. I also took a picture of the beach in front of me which was completely dark, however, the result I got on a 13-second long shutter-speed showed me stuff that I couldn’t even see with my eyes.

Then we all headed over to a fishing spot further along the Gulf Road and I captured some more shots. It was kind of humid and we soon called it a day and headed home.

Conclusion: Needless to say, easier read then done! However; practice will get me there.

More photos may be viewed here.