Making Your System Lean and Mean for AVCHD Editing with Adobe Premiere Elements
December 1, 2009
Recently I have been playing around with Adobe Premiere Elements. I have been trying to edit AVCHD files in Pre Elements. Though I have a Core 2 Quad and 4 GB memory, AVCHD + Premiere elements were stressing the system.
So I decided to get the machine to be lean and mean by disabling as many services and processes as possible. To this end, I used the following resources:
Creating multiple Hardware profiles with different services enabled/disabled
Deciding on which services to disable
I created a "Super Tweak" profile with all the unnecessary services disabled. In addition, I unchecked some of the entries from "Startup" in msconfig.
Speed up tricks from Black Viper
To top it all off, once the system booted up, I used EnditAll to stop any other useless stuff. By that I mean processes and services not required for Premiere Elements.
It would be a good idea to "EnditAll" your anti-virus software for the time you are using the system solely for AVCHD editing.
One issue that I faced was that my boot time suddenly seemed to increase. I was able to narrow it down to "Shell Hardware Detection" service. Disabling the service seem to increase the boot time considerably. So I left it enabled in my "Super Tweak" hardware profile.
Keep in mind that "FLEXnet Licensing Service" needs to be running for Adobe Premiere Elements to run.
Posted by liveit at 2:41 AM
I Hate The DOCOMO Train Ad
October 31, 2009
There is nothing more to say about the DOCOMO Train Ad. It is just plain disgusting.
Comment (12/26/2009 8:32 PM) :
i ****** hate every docomo ad, and its music.every now and then it comes and i feel like breaking off my tv
Posted by liveit at 2:07 AM
Yahoos Bad Partner Sites List
June 13, 2008
Here is a list of bad partner sites of Yahoo Search Marketing (YSM). The first set is that which I analyzed from my server log file. The second part I gathered from others list on the internet. Yahoos bad parnters is the reason why you will notice low click through rate (CTR) on Yahoo Panama when compared to Google Adwords. This is not an exhaustive list. After banning these sites, I saw some improvement in my CTR. However, it is still not anywhere near that I get at Google.
Fist set (from my server log analysis):
toseeka.com
angelinajoliewatch.com
bestyellowpages.com
challengethisdeal.com
codesheaven.com
forallcouponcodes.info
k-live.com
localpages.com
metacrawler.com
onlinecouponall.info
rr.com
superfreshgrocery.com
tlc-ceramics-and-gifts.com
webcrawler.com
usfreebie.com
grocercoupons.com
shoppingessentials.com
mypoints.com
freecoupon-s.net
mywebsearch.com
nexplore.com
parkingspa.com
pantone-music.com
searchnut.com
direct-us.net
couponmoms.com
shortcut.com
cuponsonline.com
optimum.net
burrocacao.net
bradslist.com
smartsourcecoupons.biz
couponbook.com
shopica.com
wwwfreebieforce.com
Second set (from sources on internet):
LoanForSmallBusiness.info
nuseek.com
creditcard1024.info
instafinder.com
instantcreditcardproviders.com
creditcarduk.com
center.us.com
yourcreditcards.org
frequentflyer.com
www-creditcards.us
globalcreditcard.com
www-creditcard.biz
www-creditcard.info
wealthygeek.com
moneysearch.com
creditcardclub.com
cards.com
creditcard4you.info
goodsearch.com
loanspersonal.info
boakwon.com
findstuff.com
starware.com
dalsemi.org
avantfind.com
cencoinc.com
personalweb.com
credituniondirectory.info
equestbiz.com
unsecuredcredit.com
br11.com
alsaunders.com
janicevidal.com
ebay.com
bankcard.com
gascreditcardsinfo.com
creditcaard.net
consumerratings.com
flowersland.com
checking-accounts-101.com
cheapcreditcards.com
yoursearchfinder.com
avotv.com
unsecuredloandirectory.com
banks.com
cardfind.com
evahuang.com
homeloansafterbankruptcy.net
wrenkeasler.com
loan-bad-credit.com
credit-card.sc
unionworkercredit.com
surveynetworks.com
applyforacreditcards.net
pages.us.com
techbuyer.com
searchcreditcards.com
moneyorder.com
radiofreecash.com
acreditcard.org
acceptcreditcardonlineguide.info
ezfinda.com
wwwcreditcards.com
etctv.com
look-up-results.com
vcd1688.com
apersonalloan.net
mysmallbusinessloan.info
personalonloans.com
mojizu.com
the-personal-loan.com
onlinepersonalloans.info
bad-personal-loan-cash.com
loanscalculators.net
onlinepersonalloan.info
onlypersonalloans.com
personal-loans-101.info
loanportal.biz
personalsloans.info
peoplepc.com
gocoole.net
l-o-a-ns.org
loansz.com
badcredit-yesloan.com
creditloanpoor.com
chemeketa.edu
dpxmldsl.verizon.net
zerodown.com
www-personalloans.info
waumucards.com
loanaloan.com
collateralnow.com
lighthousefinancial.com
bankruptcyamerica.net
exciteher.com
personalonloan.com
tastefulfindings.com
allbestloan.com
tsp.com
cardltd.com
firstcommonwealth.com
mortgagesportal.net
bestpersonalloans.us
armeniaweek.com
picks-finder.com
ownloanpro.com
homebusinessmag.com
unsecuredbusinessloansusa.com
quackloan.com
Posted by liveit at 9:27 PM
The best way to Burn MCE DVRMS files to DVD
January 24, 2008
After experimenting with many different ways of converting Windows XP Media Center (.dvrms) files to DVD, I arrived at a solution that gives highly satisfactory results. As I know that there are people out there looking for a similar solution, i thought of documenting the process for their benefit.
I have the recording quality on my Windows MCE kept to the best available option. With this option an hour of recording usually comes to be dvrms file of about 4GB size.
The first step in my process is to use DCut to edit out the unwanted commercials and buffers at the beginning and end of the file. DCut is an easy to use program that is controlled with the MCE remote. I do not use the "compress" option only the "cut" option. The compress option converts the dvrms file to wmv. However I find that the resulting wmv file quality is quite bad.
The cut option of Dcut takes out the unwanted portions of the program and re-saves the file as a dvrms file. Those who do not want to cut out commercials can skip this first step.
The next step is to convert the dvrms file to wmv file using Windows Movie Maker. By default WMM does not take in dvrms files. However, this post explains how to work around this problem.
I import the dvrms file into windows movie maker and then drag it onto the story line. Note that while importing the file uncheck the option of creating clips. If this option is set, it will take a long time to import the file.
Then I save it out to the computer and use settings of 2Mbps for the output file option. Windows movie maker takes a while to save the file. On my computer, it take about 1 hour to save out a 1 hour program.
Once Windows Movie Maker has done its job, you have a wmv file ready to be burnt onto DVD. To burn the file, I use DVDFlick. It is a free (open source project) DVD authoring tool and it supports many formats. I find it to be very reliable. It has option of manually adjusting the bit rate if required.
DVDFlick also takes a while to do its job. Once it is finished, you have your DVD ready. Store it away in your DVD album case and you can now delete the huge dvrms files and also the intermediate wmv file.
Hope this description has helped you with your problem of converting dvrms files to WMV and then to DVD. If it has, I really appreciate it if you could leave a comment.
Posted by liveit at 2:41 AM
My Experiments with Media Center (HTPC) - Shopping list
June 7, 2007
While in the US, I bought the following from Fry's:
1. OS - Windows Media Center Edition 2005 (I was able to buy MCE 2005 by itself - this was the last piece that they had)
2. Motherboard - Intel D975XBX2 codenamed Bad Axe 2
3. Processor - Intel Core2Duo E6300 1.86GHz, 1066FSB, 2MB Cacahe - retail box
4. Memory - Two of DDR2 1GB PC6400 800MHz CAS 4-5-4 (2GB)
5. HDD - ST3500641AS 7200RPM, 16MB Buffer (350GB)
6. Video Card - ATI X1650 Pro 512MB PCIe (PCI Express)
7. DVD Drive - Pioneer 18x18 Double Layer 8x Dual
8. BTC Wireless Keyboard & optical mouse
9. TV Tuner cards - Two Hauppauge WinTV 150 MCE
10. Atech Flash 11 in 1 Internal Card Reader
11. Case - Silverstone SST-LC17-B
12. CPU Cooler Fan - Zalman CNPS9500AT 775
13. Power Supply - Seasonic S12 650W, 120mm Fan
14. AirPace Wireless Network Card WiFi (802.11g) PCIe
15. Custom cooler fan & kit for ATI video card - I guess this was from Arctic cooling
Posted by liveit at 4:23 AM
My Experiments with Media Center PC (HTPC) - Introduction
After staving off the temptation of getting myself a Media Center PC for a quite a few months, I finally decided to take the plunge. Till date I was managing my digital content with a SMC EZ Wireless Media Receiver. This was a WiFi (802.11ag) box that streams content from a PC. With this I was able to listen music, see photos and watch video at my entertainment center when the files were stored on my PC in a different room. The SMC media receiver was good for music and ok for photos. However for video it did not live up to my expectations.
The main functionality that I wanted to add to my setup was the DVR (digital video recording) capability. I also wanted to add the ability to watch movies downloaded (legally) over the internet. As more and more companies (iTunes, Netflix, Amazon Unbox, Cinemanow to name a few) were moving rapidly into the area of legal downloadable movies, I wanted to be prepared for the emerging scenario.
The other motive that I had in being prepared for internet movies was that I live in India where renting a good quality DVD can be a real challenge. More often than not, the DVDs that you rent from the DVD/VCD rental shops are scratched all over and midway through the movie you realize that you are not destined to know the full story. DVD after DVD, myself and my wife have been frustrated with this issue.
In addition, most of the VCDs (Video CDs) available for rent are either pirated versions or of very poor quality (often called "camera print" - guess what that is). For the uninitiated, "camera print" refers to the process of recording a film with a video camera while it is being played in the movie theater. You can often hear people laughing or making all sorts of noises and shadows moving here and there.
Once I decided to go for a home theater PC, I had two options - 1. Buy a branded HTPC (in India they are available from HCL) or 2. To build one myself. As I was to visit the US for a few weeks, I decided on the latter option all the while drooling on the prospect of spending endless hours at Frys. I knew that it would be impossible to build, assemble and make it all functional in the short period that I was in the US - this not being the main purpose of my visit to the US. So I decided to buy as many components as I can and to assemble it as best as I could and leave the main configuration and set up for when I was back in India.
Posted by liveit at 3:57 AM
Microsoft AdCenter Slow Buggy Unstable
September 19, 2006
Microsoft has for sometime kept their Adcenter in beta. They have now removed the beta tag, but the product is still a very much unfinished one. Main complaints: 1. Slow (really slow) 2. Buggy - sometimes somethings work other times not. 3. Inefficient - just try to import a few keywords and ads and you will realize how bad it is.
Just wondering if Microsoft tested it at all!
On an average, it takes about 4 times as much time for you to accomplish a work on Adcenter when compared to Google Adwords.
Posted by liveit at 4:56 AM
Mazu Business Pack - Useless
September 12, 2006
Mazu Business Pack Review - I've wasted money on it
Do not spend money on it - the information is pretty much useless and all of it you can find easily on the web with searches. The main contents of the pack are information on sports betting aribitrage, currency trading and some manuals on how to make money. All this is just information, if you need to try something you need to spend even more money. For example if you want to try sports betting arbitrage, you have to subscribe for another service.
Hope you've got the idea
Spend the money on something else or save it!
Posted by liveit at 8:31 PM
Dual wan routers for fail over and load balancing (inbound & outbound)
May 31, 2006
I was looking for dual wan routers. My aim was to find one that allows me to use my two ISP connections - one DSL and the other cable. I wanted to use the two WAN connections as fail over and also for load balancing. The dual wan routers I considered were:
1. Xincom XC - DPG 602 - yet to evaluate fully, but currently my favourite.
2. SonicWall TZ 170 with Enhanced OS - Does not support inbound load balancing
3. HotBricks LB-2 - Does not support inbound load balancing
4. Edimax BR-6524
5. Linksys RV042 - No SMTP binding
6. Peplink Balance 200
7. Netgear FVS 124G
You need to be careful while choosing a dual wan router. It is often very difficult to find out whether the device supports both inbound and outbound load balancing. For example, for the SonicWall TZ170, I really had to dig and find the fine print in order to ascertain that the device does NOT support inbound load balancing.
Update:
Here's a review that I found helpful:
http://www.amdpower.com/sections.php4?op=viewarticle&artid=103
Posted by liveit at 10:10 PM
