SVC.com Free Shipping

Fan Power Adapters at SVC.com

I don't know if everything on SVC is free shipping but the fan extension wires are and the base price is not inflated. I hate paying more for shipping than for the product and SVC.com is the answer. I will be checking them out for other selections soon. Thanks SVC.

(I still use Monoprice for many cables because their price is great and shipping, although not free is low.)

Amazon.com: Logitech Harmony IR Extender System (Black): Electronics

Amazon.com: Logitech Harmony IR Extender System (Black): Electronics
I have been looking for an IR extender to communicate behind cabinet doors. This appears to be a good choice.

Driver Backup with Double Driver

Double Driver Give it a shot for backing up your drivers before you reinstall a system.

My New Kindle

My daughter just purchased a new Kindel 3G for me from someone on Craigslist who received it as an unwanted Christmas gift. It included a leather cover and three year extended warranty, all for $218. Now that is a deal. This eliminated my agony over whether to buy 3G and a cover. I never would have purchased the extended warranty but love having it.

I am 20% through my first book and yes, the Kindle is great. When I opened the Kindle there was a welcome message on the screen. The print was so crisp and clear I thought it was a plastic cover on the screen and tried to "peal" it off. No, the print is that crisp and clear.

For my first book I chose "The Steel Wave" by Jeff Shaara. I had already read the first book in this trilogy and it was fun to so easily find and buy the second one.

I am somewhat disappointed in the availability of Kindle books. Many of the selections I picked so far are not available in Kindle format. One trick I found is using Calibre, a free ebook cataloger. "God and Man at Yale" by William F. Buckley is a book I always intended reading but it has no Kindle version. I did find it in pdf. I downloaded it and let Calibre convert it to Kindle format. But alas, it was not a full version. So I'm combing the web for free books worth reading until I find something I want to spend 5-10 bucks on.

Sony CX-110

My new Sony CX-110

Edit: Windows Live Movie Maker now works with MTS files. Set autosave feature in case of crash.

I really like the camera. I've only had it a couple weeks but have used it a lot. Video is crisp and clear on the highest def and the sound exceptional. Zoom is great and stabilization is good. The key is size. It is small enough to take anywhere so it does get used.

Now for the stuff I need to remember.

Join mts files:

Use tsMuxer It joins files is short order and will save the combined files as .m2ts.

Or use MultiAVCHD (which uses embeded tsMuxer and more)

Edit with quality loss: Edit the new m2ts file in Windows Movie Maker. Yes it takes 6 years to load but then editing works well. Saving as an HD wmv file take another 6 years. I am now itemizing my parts for a new 6 core AMD rig.

Edit without quality loss: I have not done this but one could convert the compressed mts file into an uncompressed avi file (huge) and then edit.

Playback: PS3 will play mts files.

Pinnacle 12 does work for editing/clipping the mts. When burning disk choose AVCHD disk and some HD type file for high quality. -Burning is best done when you leave for vacation, talk about slow-

(I have yet to find how to clip and then save as mts)

Other notes:

Handbrake will also convert .mts to .mp4 and h264. Here is a YouTube with settings.

Koyote (free) is a good converter. This program will extract the audio only as option. It also creates mp2 dvd. I was underwhelmed with the video on the .avi conversion. Maybe different settings would help. Chosing dvd makes a .vob file and the video appears better than .avi. Movie Maker can edit the .vob file.

Joining (appending) .avi files can be done with VirtualDub.

Joining .vob files can be done. Here is one free option.

Windows Movie Maker can then edit the .avi file. I found WMM was easier to clip/delete with but video quality suffers, audio stays great. WMM will save the .avi as .wmv and can create a dvd set and burn a dvd but will not burn .wmv without going through a recoding episode so if you saved a .wmv and missed burning, you might want to look elsewhere. (at least I couldn't do it)

DvdFlick will make a dvd file set with .wmv and burn to disk with ImgBurn. I think ImgBurn alone can do it but I don't remember how.

I'm certain better ways exist to edit .mts files but so far this works in a pinch. Still looking ....

This may be a good solution.

Try VOB Free AVCHD Editor for clipping and joining. Also copies bluray but needs code breaker.