Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2011 > February > 10 > Entry
The Linkdown for Thursday, Feb. 10
Some links you should check out:
- HP finally unveiled its new slate of WebOS tablets and phones.
- Amazon.com is closing its Texas distribution center over a tax dispute, which is bad news if you like getting stuff you buy really fast.
- The Verizon iPhone officially hit stores today! The lines were not as bad as last year! Maybe it was the weather.
- Did you miss our new Digital Savant podcast? Judging from the response, I think it might be a regular thing around here!
- On NPR’s “All Things Considered” this week, I revisited children’s iPad story book apps and got thrashed in the online comments section.
- More 3-D TV channels are coming, but does anyone care?
- After a glut and poor sales last year, Activision is shutting down the division that makes the “Guitar Hero” games and halting future games, at least for now. (The company that spun off and did “Rock Band” is not affected, but has also been restructuring). Future of the “DJ Hero” series is uncertain.
- Rich with irony: Sony accidentally retweets the PlayStation 3 exploit code they’ve been fighting to contain.
- Hey, “Intergalactic Nemesis” fans: you can read the comic books on your mobile device for free! Support Austin theater/multimedia.
- AT&T extends unlimited mobile-to-mobile free calling to all carriers (but you have to be on a $20 individual or $30 family unlimited messaging plan
- Everyone thought the Catholic Church had approved an iPhone app for confession, but the Vatican says you can’t actually use it to substitute for real-life confession. Sorry, Catholics.
- Hackers and Hacks has an event next Thursday here at the Statesman on working with government data.
- An NYU professor figures out what the rest of us already knew: implanting foreign devices in your head probably really hurts.
- OK Cupid drops some science on best questions for a first date if you want to have sex. (Possibly not safe for work.)
- “True confessions of a digital hoarder.” Does this sound familiar?
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Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment Categories: Austin, Internet
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By Omar Gallaga
February 16, 2011 11:57 AM | Link to this
Hi Wendy -- you probably don't need an iGrabber unless you want to transfer your VHS tapes to your computer and have them available as digital files.
Your flat screen TVs probably still have RCA inputs (the red/white/yellow connectors) to connect your dual deck VHS/DVD player. You can also probably record your VHS home movies directly to DVD using that deck.
By Wendy B
February 15, 2011 1:39 PM | Link to this
I have several family videos that are on VHS tapes that I need to transfer to DVD's before they go bad. All of our TV's are new flat screen and I don't think the VCR/DVD dual deck I have will connect to them? So is this why I'll need an iGrabber? If you can't tell, I'm not very smart with technology:) or do you have a better recommendation on how to get these all transferred? I know I can pay to have it done but I have over 20 tapes I need to transfer. Thanks so much for your input!
By Omar Gallaga
February 14, 2011 3:41 PM | Link to this
Hi Mike -- you'd probably get the best quality recording VHS-to-DVD on your deck and then importing the DVD footage to your Mac. If iMovie can't import straight from the DVD, you can use a free program like Handbrake (http://handbrake.fr/) to convert it to a video format you can then import into iMovie.
One caveat: you probably won't be able to do this with commercial VHS tapes, just home movies and stuff you recorded yourself. They usually have copy protection that won't allow you to copy it straight to DVD on the same deck.
By Mike
February 14, 2011 12:38 PM | Link to this
Omar,
Thanks for info on converting VHS tapes to digital in today's Statesman. I have a dual deck--VHS to DVD (haven't used it yet--) and wonder if I can get the same or better results than with the iGrabber. I have a Mac Pro with latest Mac software & want to edit the content of the tapes with iMovie. Your thoughts?
Thanks,
By Jason Neulander
February 11, 2011 10:45 AM | Link to this
Hey Omar, thanks for the plug! http://www.theintergalacticnemesis.com