home and office computer support for D.C., Virginia & Maryland
Lifehacker has an article explaining how to burn any video file to a playable DVD using free software, either DVD Flick or Free DVD Creator.
DVD Flick is my favorite of the two. It lets you add menus, subtitles, and custom audio tracks. It works with 45 different file types.
DVD Flick is open source and easy to use. Its online guide walks you through the simple process of creating a DVD.
Slingbox is a device that hooks up to your cable, tuner, or DVR. You connect to it remotely using the SlingPlayer software to watch TV from wherever you are on the Internet. It costs $150 to $240 depending on the version you want.
Because it is a one-to-one connection and not a broadcast, it isn’t illegal. So if you want to watch your home TV while you’re on the road, or if you want to watch the football team that isn’t shown where you live, Slingbox is a great solution.
The quality isn’t perfect. It depends on the upload bandwidth at the Internet connection where the Slingbox is located. Sports programs unfortunately will suffer the most from the video compression because they have a lot of action. Sometimes you just need to listen to the announcers to figure out what really happened.
If football is very important to you, then consider purchasing DirecTV and then adding the Sunday Ticket for $300. But if you can handle the reduced video quality, Slingbox is a great solution.
UPDATE: Slingbox just released the Slingbox Pro-HD
A friend who fled New Orleans and Luling, Louisiana showed me his webcast on Ustream. Ustream allows Mac and Windows users to share their video on a Ustream page. Unlike broadcasting a live feed straight from your computer, Ustream can handle thousands of visits, as my friend’s page had before his house lost power when hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana this morning.
Another service like Ustream is Stickam. Both are free so I suppose their business model is to just be purchased by Google.
If you have a webcam and a nice view from your window, give Ustream a try. Or you can just use it to watch emergencies like this.
Best of luck to everyone in the storm.