Tag: DVD

Is Hulu encouraging people to watch shows illegally?

Paul3 Replies

Hulu Walkthrough

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I’ve been scouring Hulu for the last few days and come up with some interesting observation.   I wanted to talk about Hulu’s commitment to its users.   I don’t say that lightly but just recently the distributors and the copyright holders only have been putting up a few episodes here and there on old shows like:

Some of the comments I’ve seen have been talking about watching the rest of the shows from other sources:

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Now let’s start off saying that it really isn’t Hulu’s fault, because they can only make available what the publishers says are available for the public.   Some of this suggest to me that the publishers are trying to make us go buy the DVD’s.  Hasn’t it been said that DVD sales are dead?   So why are the publishers doing this, they want the money and what they want usually happens unless we stand back and take a stand.    I am encouraging everyone to write Hulu and Tell them what you think.   I would like to see these shows come more quickly and be more available.   If not what other choices do the people have?

So here are a few links to better help you understand Hulu’s rights and why they do what they do sometimes:

Sesame Street DVD Deemed Adult-Only Entertainment

Paul

theodp writes
“The earliest episodes of Sesame Street are being made available on DVD, but the NYT notes Volumes 1 and 2 carry a rather strange warning: ‘These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.’ So why are they unsuitable for toddlers in 2007? Well, in the parody ‘Monsterpiece Theater,’ Alistair Cookie — played by Cookie Monster — used to appear with a pipe, which he later gobbled. ‘That modeled the wrong behavior,’ explained a Sesame Street executive producer, adding that ‘we might not be able to create a character like Oscar [the Grouch] now.'”

Oh Brother what is going on here, they should know better than that. I bet when they release 2007 in about 20 years it will be the same. Get over it and understand that KIDS will probably see this without a shrug from parents.

Top 10 Free Video Rippers, Encoders, and Converters

Paul

videoconverterheader.png
So many video file formats, so many handheld video players, so many online video sites, and so little time. To have your favorite clips how you want them—whether that’s on your DVR, iPod, PSP or desktop—you need the right utility to convert ’em into the format that works for you. Commercial video converter software’s aplenty, but there are several solid free utilities that can convert your video files on every operating system, or if you’ve just got a web browser and a quick clip. Put DVDs on your iPod, YouTube videos on DVD, or convert any video file with today’s top 10 free video rippers, encoders and converters.

10. VLC media player (Open source/All platforms)

vlc.png Ok, so VLC is a media player, not converter, but if you’re watching digital video, it’s a must-have—plus VLC can indeed rip DVD’s, as well as play ripped discs in ISO format (no actual optical media required.) VLC can also play FLV files downloaded from YouTube et al, no conversion to AVI required. Since there’s a portable version, VLC’s a nice choice for getting your DVD rips/saved YouTube video watching on wherever you go.

9. MediaCoder (Open source/Windows)

Batch convert audio and video compression formats with the open source Media Coder for Windows, which works with a long laundry lists of formats, including MP3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, AAC+, AAC+V2, MusePack, WMA, RealAudio, AVI, MPEG/VOB, Matroska, MP4, RealMedia, ASF/WMV, Quicktime, and OGM, to name a few.

8. Avi2Dvd (Freeware/Windows)

Make your video files burnable to a DVD with Avi2Dvd, a utility that converts Avi/Ogm/Mkv/Wmv/Dvd files to Dvd/Svcd/Vcd format. Avi2Dvd can also produce DVD menus with chapter, audio, and subtitle buttons.

7. Videora Converter (Freeware/Windows only)

Videora Converter is a set of programs, each designed to convert regular PC video files into a format tailored to your favorite video-playing handheld device. The Videora program list includes iPod Video Converter (for 5th gen iPods), iPod classic Video Converter (for 6th gen classic iPods), iPod nano Video Converter (for 3rd gen iPod nanos), iPod touch Video Converter, iPhone Video Converter, Videora Apple TV Converter, PSP Video 9, Videora Xbox360 Converter, Videora TiVo Converter, and Videora PMP Converter. Lifehacker alum Rick Broida used Videora in conjunction with DVD Decrypter to copy DVDs to his iPod.

Honorable Mention: Ares Tube for Windows converts YouTube and other online videos to iPod format.

I’ve only gave you a few there are more at the website!! Check them out!!

Samsung unveils Super-WriteMaster 16x DL DVD burner

Paul

Samsung has rolled out its fastest DVD burner yet, with the Super-WriteMaster (ha!) SH-S203N running at 20x for DVD±R discs, 16x for dual layer DVD+R variants, 12x for DVD-RAM, and progressively slower for other disc standards. It’s all kitted up with a SATA connection standard, and supports LightScribe burning so you know what the hell’s on that disc you just burnt. Samsung says this is the fastest dual layer DVD burner out there: we don’t know if that’s true, but we do know it’s faster than our crappy 8x DL burner. Pick it up anywhere from now for $79.99.

I hope they come up with the DVD Burner for the Laptop, that would be sweet!!

New Harry Potter DVD Comes Bundled With Portable Video

Paul

Warner Home Video announced today that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be the first DVD to come bundled with multiple video formats on a single disk. In addition to the regular DVD format, the disk will include versions for both home computer viewing and playback on portable media players. There has been no word on whether DRM could be part of the equation, but keep in mind that protection schemes are typical with Warner releases.

Warner execs also noted that they will soon roll out an on-demand form of DVD burning that will help bridge the gap between in-store purchases and downloading. Again, CSS copy protection will most likely be part of the equation, but they claim that these releases would not be platform specific. It may not be perfect, but it should help movie fans who have been ripping video save a little time. Order of the Phoenix is due on store shelves December 11th.[Electronista]

I wonder how good the quality is going to be and what will be able to use it?