commandN #150 (September 25, 2008)

Direct Downloads are here!!

• H264
• MP4
• AVI
• WMV
• iPod

headLINES

• Google releases the Android
• Android alternative to Apple Apps Store
• Washington Post takes an internet risk
• Americans use thumb more than mouth
• Slackers Unite!
• Japanese Virtual Boyfriends

techTIPS - Lossless Audio Compression

• HydrogenAudio lossless audio comparison
• FLAC
• Monkey's Audio (APE)
• Apple Lossless Audio

webPICKS

• 8 Firefox speed hacks
• Gelaskins

Other sites where you can see commandN

YouTube, Yahoo, Metacafe, DailyMotion, Crackle, Imeem and Viddler

Comments

[Bruce]

Has anyone heard anything (rumours, facts, dont care) about an Android phone coming to Canada anytime this millenium? My contract with Bell is up last month, my phone is dying, and its time to get a new one.

Love the show.

Bruce.

[SteveintheUK]

So if Amber is wearing a scarf, and Will has on a woolly hat due to the weather starting to 'get a little chilly', why is there a girl in the background, 35 seconds in, wearing shorts?

Also why do I prefer to see Amber in a scarf then some random girl in shorts?

@Chris, Ambers and Wills sound levels are will matched but they are both fairly quiet compared to the sound that goes with the graphics, and if as they are both using lapel mics how comes the background traffic levels has been so loud for the last couple of episodes?

I listen to the H.264 version with headphones, desktop stereo speakers and 5.1 cinema system, although not all at the same time.

Jeff’s levels where better matched to the graphics levels but when using headphones those graphic sounds are way too high.

@Amber @Will, Isn’t that the same Michael Moore that got on is high horse about freedom of speech, and people having the rights to access information online for free and then went mad when his last film Sicko was a bit of a box office flop due to everybody downloading pirated copies for free over the internet. I got mine copy via Google Video, but don’t tell anyone. He does make some great films/Docs though.

@Jeff, great segment as always, I ripped my CD's and vinyl to a master copy as lossless which are kept on a couple of spare 160GB drives which are mirrored, and only get switched on when first ripping and get turned off once the two copies to use have been made.

The make two copies to use are converted to 320KBPS MP3 using iTunes, which are used for streaming over my home network from a NAS, the second copy is in 128KBPS to stick on the 2GB card that I have in my mobile to listen to when out cycling (but not when on roads). I've used FLAC before but hadn't heard of monkeysaudio.com before so many thanks again for yet another really useful link.

As you in an Audio mode at the moment, can I ask you what you think of Noise Cancelling Headphones, and if you think they are any good, what ones would you recommend? I need some for a HPV (Human Powered Vehicle) project that I am working on for sometime next year, I need to be able to listen to audio books when inside the HPV, which get quiet noise, plus be able to talk on the phone to the chase vehicle. So looking for a light weight, behind the head, non in ear design. Thanks for any help/info/points in right direction/future commandN segments that you can give.

@Amber, With a GelaSkins.com on the back and an ZAGG.com/invisibleSHIELD any laptop should be pretty safe from damage.

Plus many congrats on 150 shows, so can you now be referred to as ‘Professional Podcasters’ yet?

[Greg]

Looks like the h.264 and mp4 are turned around.

[Amber Mac]

@Greg - where are they turned around? Let me know! THX! -Amber

[Greg]

The H.264 is MP4 and the MP4 is H.264 (per GSpot).

[Michael]

I would love to have a lossless iTunes Library for when I use my Xpress to stream to my stereo, but I have a lot of content (20,000+) and I would like to be able to have it with me on my iPod at all times. I don't mind using ACC for that. Is there a (good) way to manage two libraries of the same content but at different bitrates?

Gelaskins are great! I have an Escher one for my MacBook Pro and the Gummi Bar one for my iPhone

[chris dick]

Hey, the MP4 is encoded h264 with an mp4 wrapper and the h264 is just a quick time movie. The best quality is probably the mp4 but some people like the .mov, both are h264 encoding.

-cd

[Bruce V.]

Hey, I subscribe to your show through iTunes. I just recently subscribed and started with show 148. Show 150 downloaded but 149 was nowhere to be seen. I am subscribed to the MPEG4 version and I thought there might have been something wrong with the feed, so I tried the other two versions. Show 149 doesn't show up in the h.264 or the iPod version. I don't know if this could be a problem just on my end or not, but thought you would like to know. Thanks for the show and for net@night with Leo.

Bruce

[Greg]

@Chris - Both are not h.264. The MP4 is an h.264 encoded video file. The file you get when you choose to DL the H.264 MOV video is an MPEG4 video file and not a Quicktime Movie file. The H.264 AVC codec is not used with it at all. I have no idea how this will affect ITunes, though I do know people had problems three and four episodes back (#147 & #148).

Going back through the MOV files to 143 I find that 143 - 146 were Quicktime Movies using the H.264 codec, 147 & 148 were h.264 with an MPEG-4 wrapper, 149 was a Quicktime movie file and 150 is a h.264 with an MPEG-4 wrapper. Keep in mind that the odd ones out (147, 148 and 150) had a straight MPEG4 video file under the H.264 (MOV) link and a H.264 in a MPEG-4 wrapper under the MP4 link.

[OnePiece]

Hmmm... Obama bump?

[jccalhoun]

Amber as Marsha? Did Amber ever get hit in the nose with a football? Does she have a bathroom with no toilet? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Amber Mac]

@OnePiece and @JCCalhoun - ah, I have to apologize for not censoring myself during the show ;)!

[Chris D]

Hey Greg... I think you're right, thanks for checking that out.. I belive the culprit is Xilisoft Video Converter, I use it occasionally when I have too much going on in Visual Hub and looking at more closely it doesn't do what I had originally thought it did.
I'll fire out a new h.264 early this week.

[Sgtret]

I liked the ending. The rest of it was good, but it was the end credits with your walk off that was something new and fresh.

A serious question: I don't recall ever seeing Jeff on the bloopers. Is it in his "contract" to never appear there?

Congrats on your 150. RIP PN!

[rob frost]

Hey Amb, is that the Twitter Fail Whale you've got on the back of your Macbook? ;)

[Amber Mac]

@Sgtret - we NEED some bloopers from Jeff, but maybe he's just that good!

@Rob Frost - HAHA, it is a whale!!!

[Jeff MacArthur]

To pipe in (I'll get to the other comments later :-) )...

The most recent blooper I remember being in was one where my dog, Bear, walked into the frame (some hotSTUFF segment a few months ago, I think). I think the smaller number of Jeff outtakes is because I mostly shoot the camera myself in my segs - I also suspect that a lot of my outtakes just wouldn't make the rating cut for language either ;-) .

Thanks for watching,

Jeff

[Jude]

@Jeff Well now that you mentioned it, we definitely need to see them!
@Will Skull caps are cool, just need a little more color coordination, ha...

Love the outdoor day shoots!

[Smith]

I have very poor speakers and with the volume maxed I still can't hear you so, please increase the volume if you can.

[Bryce]

Hey team, another great episode. Thanks a lot! Three of my favorite topics were discussed: digital music, Android and sms messaging.

I just registered a new domain at GoDaddy. I saved 10% by entering the promo code command10. That's the number 1 and the number zero :) The domain is www.iutas.com which fits with the sms stories this week. It's a way for consumers to get real estate information by texting instead of losing fliers.

Thanks for all your hard work and great content!
Bryce