DVD Back-ups

You know, I’ve not written much about the technology I’ve got.

Much as I’d LOVE to be working for MacWorld … ?   Frankly, I don’t the technology know-how.

But … ?

I DO know that I write well: and that, when I feel I have something to write about, I try to: as clearly and as distinctly, as possibly.

This post is — hopefully — going to be one of those occasions.

It’s about … 

Backing up … 

~≈†≈~

Blu-ray Discs: Ripping Movies and Avoiding a Bag Of Hurt.

18th January, 2015.

I’ve occasionally written pieces, here, about DVDs.

DVDs, movies, TV series, all sorts of media.

Occasionally?

Occasionally, I’ve written about how to use a programme called HandBrake to rip DVDs.

In other words, to re-code the contents of a DVD — whether those contents are TV shows or movies — into a form that can be played on a computer, iPod or other media player, or tablet.

Partly as back-up.

Partly because I feel if I’ve bought a copy of a film, it’s my copy of the film: and I should be able to watch that film on whatever device I own.

Whatever that device happens to be.

~≈®≈~

The Daily Teaser — 90-5-2014: The Peasant’s Revolt

Hmmm … 

Looks like I’ve found a work-around, there.

In case you DIDN’T know it … ?   I’ve long been an advocate of ripping DVDs: copying and transcoding a dvd to a computer, so we can watch it on a computer, iPod, or other video player.

I’ve long used HandBrake* as my default ripper: but have ALSO used commercial app, RipIt.

RipIt offers a trial period: you get ten rips for free, after which you have to play.   I’ve found, though, that opening a new user account^ get’s around this.

That’ll do me me: until I can afford to buy it.

AND let’s me rip the rare DVDs that HandBrake can’t handle.

Useful!

~≈‰≈~

HandBrake Get’s an Update

Oh, now that’s just silly … !

I’ve got to admit, JUST before I got home … ?

I got asked for directions from three rather glamourous women.

To Brentwood High Street.

I, of course, drew the obvious conclusion — they were The Only Way Is Essex fans looking for the Sugar Hut —, and, immediately after telling them how to get there, said “If you’re looking for the Sugar Hut … … ”

“It’s ok”, the eldest of the three replied, “we went there, last night.”

I had to gently tell them that it was in the middle of Brentwood High Street.

But somewhere … ?

A little part of me has ducked, in order to avoid the low-flying irony …

‹‹•››

At ANY rate … ?

What I WAS going to tell you was that HandBrake* — ever reliable open source DVD and BluRay ripper — has now been updated to it’s 0.9.6 version.

All to the good: I’ve just download the 64 bit version, along with the libdvdcss that it now uses, instead of the relevant VLC codecs.

Go get, folks: it’s STILL rather good!

Now …

Can anyone tell me the phone number for Angry Birds Anonymous … ?

* Just so you know, I’ve also managed to find out how to use my TV’s record function, that let’s me record a given programme as an mp2 transport stream. It took me a while and a lot of askingº to find out how to convert that to a smaller file I can use on my Mac. Basically … ? I then had to use VLC to change the mp2 transport stream (or .ts file ) into a programme stream. I then had to buy — and install — the QuickTime mp2 playback component from Apple: a one off purchase, so you know. Once that was done, it allowed me to use MPEG Streamclip to edit and export the programme stream, into whatever I happened to prefer: about the only thing it hasn’t worked on was something I recorded for a friend of mine: but I have a feeling there were timecode issues with the broadcast, as trying to edit the transport file — from a stick — AND the version I’d ripped from a DVD had timecode problems.

º I owe a big thank you to Jon Walker, who worked out how to do the change with VLC, and posted it onto the relevant forum for me. Jon … ? Thanking you, sir.

Format-shifting: now I’ve done it, where do I put it?

You know, I’ve got to confess, I’ve had something of a thought, the other day.

You’ve probably realised I’ve written the odd bit about technology, haven’t you?

Over the years, that is.

And, granted, I’m not Gizmodo, but I have tried to offer what I’ve learnt to help others do things I’ve found useful.

Whether those posts ARE helpful or not is a whole other matter, of course.

At any rate, there was something that occurred to me whilst I was writing two pieces on format-shifting. I’d told people — as best as I could — about what format-shifting was, and how to do it: it’s digital video conversion, so you know, so you can play a given file on different devices.

And it ALL came to a head when I was writing up a piece about Frank Herbert’s Dune.

I’d had all of that lot floating around my head, when it occurred to me.

I’ve just told people HOW to turn one type of video into ANOTHER type of video. And what software I happened to prefer doing this with.

But HADN’T told people EXACTLY where to put all these treasures, once they’d been doing their me-inspired jiggery pokery, had I … ?

No, I hadn’t.

And while I was writing up that Dune post, got to thinking I should make an attempt to remedy that.

Let’s get moving on, then, shall we … ?

Yes … LET’S!

»»·««

You see, if you, like me, have a bad habit of backing up your DVDs left right and centre, you’re — ultimately — going to be left with something of a question.

One that we’ve ALL been known to ask as our hard drives slowly fill up.

“All those DVD’s I’ve backed-up? And my iTunes library? Where on EARTH do I put them … ?”

Well, there’s an answer to that.

It helps if you know SOMETHING about — at least, in the very BASIC details — the rough workings of a home computer*.

Whether a desktop or laptop, it’ll have a central processorº that does all the work; it’ll have memory — RAM, as it’s called — that act’s as short-term memory; and a hard-drive, that’s the long-term storage.

There’s usually also connections for a mouse and keyboard, so we can tell our computers what to do. And a connection to a monitor. So we know when to swear at our computers when it DOESN’T do what we thought we just told it to do.

And for our purposes …?

It’s useful to think of the RAM as our desktop, where we put the things we’re using, right this minute.

And the hard=drive as the attic, where we keeping the things we either don’t need right now; or the files that application we ARE using only needs every-so-oftenª.

Now …

You can just tell I’m going to mention building a metaphorical extension to your house, can’t you?

»»·««

Well …

Sort of …

I’m actually going to suggest a garden shed, if you’ll excuse me extending a metaphor, by telling you to get hold of an external hard-drive.

You see, computer peripherals like hard-drives come in a few different flavours, depending on what you want to use them for, and how confident you feel about changing them.

Now, on my first modern Mac — a G4 tower — many of the internal components† were comparatively easy to replace; if you felt fairly confident: or knew someone who’d happily walk you through it.

On the OTHER hand, with Bruce, my ageing Mac Mini, the job’s a touch trickier to do: and involves a LOT of mechanical disembowelling I’m really not comfortable about doing.

Thankfully, if you’re ever in need the kind of we all find we need, you need …

An EXTERNAL HARD-DRIVE.

»»·««

Now, you’re probably thinking “An external hard drive … ?”

And wondering what the hell it is^.

Well, an external hard-drive is pretty much like the one you’ve already got built into your computer.

But where your internal drive is one of the basic parts of your computer, an external one literally is like the garden shed.

It’s storage, mostly for things you don’t need everyday: just to give you an example, I use my external drive for storing all my movies.

Where it get’s complicated, though, is whether you’ve attached your drive to your network or directly to your computer.

Obviously, there’s what’s called the Network Attached Drive.

Now I’ll happily admit that the Network Attached Drive is something I’m not familiar with.

But the basic idea — if I’ve understood it correctly — is fairly simple.

Most of us, these days, have both internet access: AND a router that allows us to connect to it.

AND multiple machines that connect to the router: not just computers, either, these days, we’re talking about everything form games consoles to fridge-freezers to TVs.

And, although I can’t swear to how complicated a job it is, the Network Attached Drive hooks up to our routers, so it’s accessible to all machines on our network. (WHY you’d want to watch a film on your fridge-freezer is a mystery to me. But feel free to let me know if Godzilla works well with the roast beef and frozen broccoli.)

Granted, we’d PROBABLY have to do extra fiddling to make it accessible to EVERYTHING on our network: but the heart of it is that simple.

»»·««

The easier way of building that shed is to get what’s called a Directly Attached Drive.

Which, for those of us who aren’t so technical, are a LOT easier to deal with!

Basically, most Directly Attached Drives are literally that.

They’re a form of external hard-drive much like a sort of giant flash-drive, and plug straight into our machines: show up much like those same flash-drive.

And as easy to use, I should stress.

Most of the time, one simply uses drag and drop take files from one folder — the file you want to copy — and drag it to where you want to put it.

It’s that simple.

What’s a pain … ?

Are all the different types of connections‡.

But, if you’re looking for simplicity, you normally can’t go far wrong with just a good old fashioned USB connection.

From my own experience USB’s very good at connecting a computer peripheral to a computer: mouse, keyboard, external drive, what have you. Where it loses, though, is if you daisy-chained USB devices, or plug them all through through a USB hub.

Personally, though, I tend to prefer using a FireWire connection, where possible: when it comes down to copying files, I’ve noticed that FireWire˜ tends to be a touch faster than the equivalent USB.

FireWire connected devices also seem happier about being daisy-chained. I know that — as I write — I’ve got Bruce hooked up to an exterior hard-drive through the onboard FireWire 400port, and the exterior hard drive to an external DVD burner drive: I’ve got to admit burning anything stored on the external hard-drive to the optical drive is pretty zippy.

»»·««

Now, there’s one more thing: storage isn’t the only use for an external hard-drive.

If you’re feeling adventurous, something you can do is partition your shiny new external drive.

Now, I’ve got to admit, I’ve got thing’s relatively easy on that front.

Ever since I’ve had a Mac, Mac OS X has come with a handy little app called Disk Utility: which, amongst other things, can partition a drive.

But those of us on Windows will have to do a bit of asking around on that front, to find the equivalent Windows software.

At any rate, once we’ve got that extra partition, is where we can get adventurous.

Like many of our Linux using brethren, we can — again, if we’re feeling adventurous — turn one of the partitions on our external drives into what’s called a bootable drive: and install an extra operating system onto it.

Something I know I’ve thought about trying, but haven’t had the resources to, for a while

If, on the other hand, we’re feeling cautious?

We can do something else.

We can make use of a back-up application: I personally favour the Mac’s on-board back-up utility, Time Machine.

And I’m assured — by a friend or two in the serious know — that Crash Plan is the version they’d recommended to Windows and Linux users: it’s very user friendly, the basic version is free, and that basic version allows you to back-up your computer …

To the very same partitioned external drive we’ve been talking about.

»»·««

Now, I don’t know if you’ve heard it, but there’s an old phrase I’ve come across.

‘You can never have too much shelf space’.

It’s true, isn’t it?

We ALWAY’S seem to be running out, aren’t we?

Well, in today’s digital age, internal and external hard drives are the digital equivalent of exactly that.

Shelf space.

And I’m thinking the old phrase is true.

Whatever form it takes. You can NEVER have too much: whether it’s on the wall …

Or in the shed!

* I’ve personally always preferred the term home computer to PC, or personal computer. You’ve probably worked out I’m a Mac fan, haven’t you … ? To me, the terms PC and personal computer very specifically refer to a PC: a home computer, in other words, that’s made in a particular way, and (usually) running a version of Microsoft Windows. The nearest I can compare it too? Is calling an Xbox 360 a Nintendo Wii. They’re both video games consoles: but very distinct ones, with — at least historically — very different features.

º There’s also a logic-board/motherboard, that the RAM, processor and hard-drive — along with all the other components — are connected to.

ª Metaphor … ? Metaphor what … ?

† Things like RAM, hard-drives and and upgraded graphics cards.

^ Much like the rest of the technical posts, here, I’m trying to explain fairly subjects that have some fairly technical aspects, from what’s a VERY limited layman’s understanding of the subject. I’m hoping one of my more technically gifted readers will be able to make a better job of clearing up my mess!

‡ SCSI, ATA, s-ATA, e-ATA, p-ATA, SAS, USB, FC-AL, KGB, RAC, AA, MiniPax, MiniTru, MiniLuv, MiniPlenty, EtAl …

˜ Generally speaking, USB1 and 1.1 are a lot slower than USB2, which in turn, is slower than USB3: likewise, FireWire 200 is slower than FireWire 400, which is slower than FireWire 800.

Format Shifting: An Second Thought …

You know, THAT’S sort of what I forgot to mention … !

You’ve PROBABLY already noticed I’ve put up a post about format shifting.

You didn’t … ?

You have now … !

But, at any rate, I also happened to mention three different bits of basic media software I use, when I need to convert and/or convert and edit, video files.

Quicktime X, the version of Quicktime that shipped with Snow Leopard.

VLC, the free and open source multimedia player.

And MPEG Streamclip the free video editor and converter.

But forgot to give much detail on HOW to convert video, as and when needed.

Hopefully, I’ll remedy that, with this post.

‹‹•››

Now, as you’ve possible worked out, over the years, I’m a Mac user.

And the version of QuickTime included with my version of OS X — QuickTime X — makes it relatively easy to trim and convert movies.

All we do is is open a given movie, press ⌘ and ‘T’ to launch the Trim function, jiggle around with the handlebars until the the clip we want is the required size, and then press the Trim button.

‹‹•››

The trouble with THAT, of course … ?

Is that many times, we either don’t have access to a Mac, or just don’t need to trim the clip in question.

If it’s the case that we just need to do a straight piece of conversion?

One option, is the venerable freeware media player, VLC.

VLC is possibly one of the best known and versatile media player’s around: not only does it play any thing you care to throw at it, it does screen grabs of whatever you happen to be watching, you don’t need to download any extra codec packages.

And what’s more, even if you don’t like it, and prefer to use whatever media player that ships with your operating system?

Keeping VLC comes in handy, as it lets you convert video files between formats.

All that you need to do, is open VLC’s streaming/exporting wizard, pick the file you want to convert, and tell VLC how and where you want the results put.

‹‹•››

Trouble is, of course, VLC and QuickTime X are fine for just conversion and basic trimming.

But if you need to do something MORE than that … ?

My usual choice is MPEG Streamclip, which is equally — I think — to use as an editing tool.

It comes in really handy as, once you’ve open a movie that you want to edit, you simply press I at the star of the clip you want, then O at the end, cut or copy as needed.

The handy bit … ?

Is that, along the way, not only can we specify the file format used for the new video file — as with VLC and QuickTime X — but also the codecs … AND the size of the file.

Handy that … !

Copyrght, Hargreaves … And stuff …

Oh, well, now …

It looks — LOOKS — like I can honestly turn around and say “Well, FINALLY” with both a certain amount of force.

And a certain amount of relief, as well.

Because, after a certain amount of consideration, Business Secretary, Vince Cable has announced the government’s response to the Hargreaves Report on Intellectual Property and Growth.

And it’s favourable.

»»·««

Just so you know, the report was published some time ago, and deals with the state of UK copyright law in the modern age: and, in part, how to deal with one or two of the anomalies of UK copyright law.

The bit of it that’s always struck me and many others as stupid, here … ?

Is the simple fact that in the UK, one cannot do what’s become known as format shifting.

In other words … ?

We can’t, legally, copy a CD or DVD we own from the original optical media, to our hard drive, and then to an iPod, MP3 player, flash drive*, external back up drive, home theatre computer … or the earlier models of Apple TV streaming device.

Ridiculous, really, isn’t it … ?

But, at ANY rate … ?

As you’ll have probably figured out, I’ve always thought that that was — speaking frankly — bloody stupid.

The law, in this sort of case, is not only an ass, but a bloody slow one, at that.

It’ll still be slow.

But if you’ve been watching the news, today, you’ll know that Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced the the coalition government will — in possibly the only good move I think they’ll make — be accepting those conclusions.

He also announced that the government will be dropping the web-site blocking aspects of the Digital Economy Act, that passed into law, just before the general election.

Mostly because of the legal moves afoot to force ISPs to block them: something I believe to be very dodgy ground. After all, it’s turning the people who provide you and me with access to the ’Net into policemen. And policemen I’d rather not have stomping around MY hard-drive, just on principle, thanking you … !

But, at ANY rate … ?

At any rate, this hopefully means that, now Mr Cable’s announced this … ?

It means we can all heave a collective sigh of relief.

Because we’re now no longer being made criminals, unintentionally.

»»·««

* I mention that as many modern models of DVD and Blu-Ray player/recorders, PVR and television set have USB ports on them, and happily play any correctly encoded video file on a USB flash drive.

The Library, Again: About those DVD’s

Hmmm …

Well …

There’s a thing.

I think I’ve finally managed to get a reply about the DVD’s …

I don’t know if you remember, but a while ago, I emailed Susan Carragher about the state of a couple of DVDs I’d booked out of Brentwood Library.

Mostly to be flattering about how good the staff were, about handing out freebie loans to make up for things.

But also to ask exactly what Essex Library Services position on providing an internal DVD and CD cleaning service.

After all, they’ve already admitted they’re going to be reducing the amount of new stock they buy in. It struck me that cleaning and maintaining the current stock would be a useful way of preserving it, and reducing the need for replacements.

Hmmm …

Here’s the reply Ms Carragher sent to me, today …

“Dear Mr Downie

With regard to your most recent complaint about the quality of recently borrowed DVD’s I am happy to confirm that staff acted correctly in offering you a replacement DVD free of charge.

We do have DVD cleaning equipment, however we do not find it cost effective to clean each returned DVD as a routine task. We do check and clean any which are reported to us as being faulty or if they are not up to standard following this we withdraw them from stock.

Best wishes”

Hmmm …

I like the bit about “Not being cost-effective … ”

You seen, I know, from having worked there, that Brentwood CeX keeps the industrial-grade optical disc cleaning kit on hand: mostly where they’ve usually found enough discs on a day-to-day basis to make it pay for itself. Mostly by providing a DVD cleaning service to other branches.

What I’m wondering right now, is whether that’s something they’ve looked at doing: having one library that does the disc-cleaning for the entire service.

Maybe I should ask …

Copyright, and Back-ups.

You know, you wouldn’t believe the amount of discussion a simple mention of something can cause.

Or possibly you would …

But I mentioned, the other day, that I have a new exterior drive.

Mostly to store backed up video files on.

And I’ve had a few people quietly mention that iffy legality of the practise.

Hmmmm …

Let me try and briefly summarise here, for you.

I’ve quite a few TV series and films on DVD.

And I keep back-up copies — mostly done with HandBrake, MacTheRipper or Fairmount — in case any of them get damaged: I should also add that none of them leave my exterior drive, for love nor money.

But from what I’ve been told, or able to find out … ?

That — with-in the UK — is illegal.

As is — as I and many others have sone — using iTunes to copy music from my CD collection to my iPod.

Although I believe there’s a set of government guidelines that allow for this.

However, those regulations don’t cover DVDs.

||⋘•⋙||

Now here’s where I’m possibly going to be contentious.

The law that states this is bloody stupid!

As I see it, I’ve paid you, the artist, some of my hard earned cash for a film, song or album you’ve made.

I believe that I, as the owner of that copy, have the moral — if not legal — right to watch or listen to that copy when I want, and how I want.

And more to the point, where I want.

I like to watch Dr Who when I’m writing the Teasers, for example: I find it a lot easier to do this with QuickTime, rather than on the TV.

I can also see myself upgrading to a video capable iPod, at some point: I’d like to watch them on that, and don’t see why I should pay double — by buying the episodes from the iTunes Store — for the privilege, when I’ve already bought the DVD versions.

||⋘•⋙||

Now, if you’re in the States, things are slightly easier: you can copy DVDs for personal use, so long as those don’t come from copy-protected DVDs.

Which sounds just as arse-about-tit, from where I’m sitting, given the amount of copy-protected DVDs there are, out there. Spain, as a counter example, allows you to back up any DVD you own, regardless of whether it’s copy-protected. Or even a legal copy.

||⋘•⋙||

So I’m hoping that those creatives out there won’t be annoyed — too much — if I put their work on my external drive, so I can watch it at my leisure.

The way I see it … ?

I’ve paid the piper.

I get to call the tunes …

Clash Of the Titans: Krakens, Gorgons, and TONS of CGI

You know, I am — quite possibly — going to seriously regret this in the morning.

But I, Kevin D and Movie Night Adrian, all happily got ourselves together for a film, tonight.

And, BOY, I think we are going to have …

Issues …

Or, at least, admit that we’ve seen a film that’s generated discussion.

Quite a bit of discussion, in fact.

Which is why I’ve STARTED this post about the 2010, Louis Leterrier, re-make of Clash of the Titans, at one in the morning … !

‹‹‹•›››

Did I tell you Kevin and Adrian like looking inconspicuous?

No?

Kevin and Adrian like looking inconspicuous.

So you know …

‹‹‹•›››

Boy, I’m tired …

At any rate, Adrian, Kevin and I had all got together, tonight, for our by-now-regular Saturday Night movie.

And, in case you’ve not worked out from the poster … ?

It was the newly released on video, 2010 Louis Leterrier, version of Clash of the Titans.

And I’ve got to admit, it is quite a visual spectacle.

Which caused quite a bit of discussion!

It sees Sam Worthington — he of Avatar and Terminator Salvation fame — as Ancient Greek hero, Perseus.

Who has something of a bad start in life, after his (human) father finds out that Perseus is really the son of Zeus: a Chief of the Gods played with a certain amount of gravitas by Liam Neeson.

Perseus is caught up in the war between the war between the Gods and the Greek kingdom of Argos when — as a result of the destruction of a statue of Zeus — his adoptive family are killed.

Leaving him at the Argos Royal Palace and being coerced into helping with the War and sent of a mission to kill the Kraken*: a creature originally created by Hades, to help he, and his brothers, Zeus, and Poseidon in their war against the Titans.

And a creature that the gods are threatening to unleash on the chief city of Argos, unless the Argosian royal Princess — Andromeda, played by Alexa Davalos — is sacrificed to the beast.

As you can possibly imagine, Clash of The Titans has BIG BUDGET BLOCKBUSTER written all over it …

Phew!

Actually, I mean ‘Phew’.

I’ve just had a look at the time: it’s getting on for 1:36. I’m going to get to bed, and finish this post, in the morning … !

‹‹‹•›››

8th August, 2010.

Whoah …

Right …

Now, as you can tell, it’s the day after. Which is when I’m going to be finishing this write-up. And to be frank, I’m not running on empty.

I’m getting by on caffeine and fumes … !

But let’s get back to what I was saying, shall we … ?

As you might gather, Kevin D, Movie Night Adrian and I managed to watch the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans.

And I think I’ve got to say that I, at least, was impressed.

Well …

That’s not strictly accurate.

I think I can say we were all impressed. Although I think it’s safe to say that Kevin, bless him, had … … …

Reservations …

Mostly where he felt that Clash of the Titans — and many other modern films — suffer from the over use of computer generated animation.

Which lead to a LOT of nattering from all three of us … !

Mostly where I know I disagreed.

Both myself and Adrian generally agreed that Clash of the Titans — and films like it — are, after all, fantasies: whether derived from Greek mythology or something more modern, like Lord of the Rings.

Which means that a film company needs to be able to knock out fantastical creatures. At a reasonable price …

Kevin, disagreed. At least on one front.

He felt that the film’s producers could well have — at little extra cost — could have used a mixture of CGI and animatronics to have achieved a much better effect, especially with the scenes featuring Medusaº.

Personally … ?

I’m still not convinced: although I felt some of the grain differences between the CGI Medusa in Clash of the Titans were noticeableª, but didn’t detract from my personal enjoyment of the film. I do take Kevin’s point about CGI created scenes of car-crashes in movies: however, it’s not something I’m consciously aware of. Even though I know I’ve seen the scene from Die Hard 4.0 that Kevin offered Adrian and I as an example.

‹‹‹•›››

But let’s get moving on, again, shall we … ?

Yes lets … !

As you can see, Clash of the Titans generated quite a bit of discussion.

Not all of it film related, actually …

One interesting little side discussion … ?

Was inevitably centred on technology.

Mostly as a result of Adrian and I’s gently — well … gentlyish — looking through the credits at the end.

With a joint interest in technology and a film that makes lavish use of it, I’m willing to bet you hadn’t maybe guessed …

Which lead Kevin, who’s thinking of investing in a new desktop, to raise the thorny issue of where to spend his money.

Now this is where thing’s got seriously passionate.

After all, I’m happy to admit to being a confirmed Mac FanBoy.

And Movie Night Adrian, former systems administrator that he is, is equally passionate about open-source software, regardless of the actual kit.

Which is where — possibly — where there’s going to be tons of arguments, both for and against.

One thing I know both myself and Adrian did agree on, for starters, is the simple fact that the average consumer really doesn’t have much real choice in terms of software.

If you walk into your average High Street computer store, you’ve a good choice of hardware: which will be running a version of Windoze, and nothing else.

A large part of the many flavours of both Linux and Unix Adrian has used, over the years is that they offer a degree of control — and customisation, from the kernel, upwards — that Windoze and Mac OS X don’t.

In addition to that, there’s also the simple matter of cost.

After all, one can turn a cheap PC into something of a monster, given the right operating system.

Now here’s where myself and Adrian start to disagree, again …

And not necessarily on software, either.

After all, I’ve currently got four computers, here.

• The 14-year-old Performa 6400/200, in me bedroom, running Mac OS 7.5. Which is slow, but still, at least for writing purposes.
• The G3 iMac, currently on display in my hallway, and running Xubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake.
• Archie: the ageing Dell laptop, running the current version of Arch Linux based on the 2.6 version of the Linux kernel.
• Plus, of course, Bruce, the name that my Late 2007 model Mac Mini — running Snow Leopard 10•6•4 — has been given.

Partly, we disagree on matters of both price and software …

Sort of …

Now one thing I do know is that Kevin’s main concern with investing in the Mac Mini he’d been eyeing up on Apple’s website was simply the matter of cost.

After all, Apple do charge something of a premium: contrasted with the prices for an equivalently specced PC.

And one can easily get hold of a Linux distro for nothing. (My personal recommendation would be a flavour of the extremely user-friendly Ubuntu. But, unlike Adrian, I’m a pure end-user: so I value its Mac OS X-like ease of use.)

However, a good counter argument I have from my own personal experience was my ex-girlfriend, Allison.

She had enough savings set aside — back in the day —to buy herself a laptop. And I — with a heck of a lot of persuasion — talk her into buying a MacBook.

And, while she’s had hiccups — as all owners of a new gadget do — the last time we spoke, she told me that she regarded the money she’d spent as one heck of a good, long term, investment.

One that meant she was part of a community — which includes getting helpful hints from both me, and her brother Richard, and practically anyone she meets who also has a Mac.

And one that means she has a brand of computer that’s famed for reliability.

‹‹‹•›››

Ultimately … ?

Phew …

I’m none to sure what Kevin will go for.

As I told him, last night … ?

With no choice, I’d go for a PC with a version of Ubuntu installed on it.

Given the choice, though … ?

I’d have another Mac.

‹‹‹•›››

Phew …

Big discussion, there, that lot … !!

But let’s go back a few paragraphs, shall we … ?

After all, I started this post intent on telling you about Clash of the Titans.

Admittedly, I’ve had a few more diversions than I thought I would.

Fun, eh … ?

But seeing Clash of the Titans?

I think I’m going to recommend it to you.

Granted, it may be a touch derivative of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, with nods towards Dune — the original Frank Herbert novel, rather than the David Lynch film, or the Sci Fi Channel’s miniseries — and Star Wars.

But Clash of the Titans is a visually spectacular treat for the eyes.

And very entertaining.

* It’s big. It’s got tentacles. And, possibly, halitosis. Need I say more … ?

º Traditionally, Medusa and the rest of the Gorgons, were depicted with serpents instead of hair. I’ve two words for you. Pubes and armpits …

ª Where those scenes weren’t properly colour-corrected. I can remember seeing a fascinating — to me — episode of Doctor Who Confidential that show the visually effects department doing exactly this in one of the Matt Smith episodes.