Rip

Over the years, we've worked hard to cover products and services as they've launched and well into their successes and failures. And like any business venture, there's risk involved.

The Web is no different, leaving many sites to close up shop--sometimes just a few months after what their creators had hoped would be a successful launch. In other cases, it's a slow death march, stretched out with the occasional change in strategy, or a last-ditch re-branding effort.

2010 brought the closure of quite a few sites. Some names on this list you'll recognize right away. … Read more

"Stoopid Andy"--not as stupid as his name implies (TM)--joins us on the show today along with MTI, otherwise known as Mark Licea, to fill in for Justin, who again is enamored by a printer.

You may not realize this, but Stoopid Andy is a bit of a computer genius. We spend a good portion of the first half of the show talking about how he transcodes Blu-ray movies that he owns over to an MKV file in H.264 using a variety of pieces of hardware and software. He does this just so that he can watch his movies in HD and Dolby Digital surround sound anywhere in his house. Kind of cool. But I think most consumers would rather just watch it on Netflix or rent it from iTunes.

Speaking of iTunes, Apple has changed the home page of its Web site with a mysterious message that reads: "Tomorrow is just another day. That you'll never forget. Check back here tomorrow for an exciting announcement from iTunes." As much of a fanboy as Wilson is, he's got nothing when it comes to speculation other than the rumors that have already been floating around the Web. We're hoping for iTunes music subscriptions or more streaming-media services from the cloud. We're going to be really disappointed if it is just the already announced iOS 4.2 download or the iTunes 10.1 download.

Facebook's new messaging service press conference started just right after the show was over today, so we don't have much feedback on that, except that tweens will certainly embrace it. We also mention that Wal-Mart will be offering free shipping to all its orders between now and December 22, but it's a little odd for everyone in the studio because there isn't a Wal-Mart within New York City!

Finally, we don't have time to get to the voice mails, but Wilson does point out that Jeff is dearly missed, and will hopefully be making his return tomorrow! *fingers crossed* He may have just decided to stay in sunny Hawaii and finish playing Call of Duty: Black Ops. You can leave him a message by calling 1-866-404-CNET (2638) or e-mail us at the usual address. Oh! And tell your friends about the show!

I've taken my iPad on a few road trips this summer, and I can say without reservation that it absolutely rocks for watching movies.

Of course, I'm not about to pay iTunes' ridiculous prices to watch movies and TV shows I already own on DVD. Instead, I'll just rip those discs to an iPad-friendly format.

If you're interested in doing likewise, check out Daniusoft's DVD to iPad Converter. Normally $29.95, it's available for free when you "like" Daniusoft on Facebook.

The software works like most other DVD rippers I've used. … Read more

Freemake Video Converter promises to be to Windows users what Handbrake is to Mac users. This free app is built using Microsoft's .NET Framework 4, which is a programming model that allows developers to provide software with interfaces that are easy to use and visually-appealing. Certainly, both are true when it comes to Freemake, which offers a Mac-like window with rounded edges and large, explicit function buttons.

Downloading and installing Freemake Video Converter is a painless process, and the app takes up a moderate amount of space (30MB) on your hard drive. As noted, the main window is very … Read more

Diving is a great sport. But once you go deeper than 65 feet, it can get really cold even in tropical waters. Wearing a thicker wetsuit may help, but this causes buoyancy adjustments and, frankly, isn't really all that effective. One trick I learned from experienced divers (and which I stumbled upon purely by accident and a lack of bladder control) is that pee is a great way to instantly warm yourself. Sure, you stink when you get out of the water, but think of all that nitrogen you are returning to the underwater ecosystem. Just be sure not … Read more

For the most part, media players don't impress us; we've seen a ton of them, and few of them offer much in the way of advantages over ubiquitous programs like Windows Media Player. Every now and then, however, we come across one we really like. Spider Player is a sleek, full-featured audio player that allows users to perform a variety of tasks with their audio files. We were quite impressed with both the variety of the program's features and its attractive design.

The program's interface is nice to look at, with a color scheme that is … Read more

I own J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" reboot. The DVD's bought and paid for. Needless to say, I'm not about to give Apple another $14.99 so I can watch the movie on my iPhone or iPod Touch. That's as ludicrous as buying the MP3s of an album I already purchased on CD.

Alas, though it's easy to turn a CD into iPod-friendly digital media--iTunes can do it, as can Windows Media Player--ripping a DVD requires a bit more muscle. That's why I tested the latest versions of two popular products: WinX DVD Ripper Platinum ($29.95) and Wondershare DVD Ripper Platinum ($39.95). (Apparently platinum is the, um, gold standard when it comes to ripping utilities.)

Basically, I wanted to see how well the two tools handled a new release like "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and an older one like "Back to the Future." Again, these are movies I own; I believe creating a digital copy constitutes fair use, same as ripping a CD does.

For these fairly informal tests, I opted for medium-quality MPEG-4 conversion using preselected "iPhone" profiles. Also, my system has a quad-core AMD processor with 6GB of RAM, so performance results will undoubtedly vary unless you have similar hardware.

From a feature standpoint, the two programs are pretty similar. Both give you an abundance of conversion options, meaning you can rip your DVDs for viewing on devices other than just the iPhone and iPod (everything from Apple TV to Zune).… Read more

We approached Express Rip warily after a morning of reviewing some absolutely dreadful audio software. Would this be yet another semifunctional, poor quality application? Fortunately for us (and you), Express Rip is a refreshingly functional and well-designed piece of software.

The program's interface is attractive and intuitive, with graphical buttons representing its major features. We inserted a CD and the program immediately connected to the MusicBrainz database and grabbed the track names and other album information. Ripping the CD was as easy and choosing a destination folder and choosing from among 21 output formats. The program quickly ripped the … Read more

Giveaway of the Day is a site that offers a different software freebie every day of the week. It may sound too good to be true, but trust me, I've grabbed some real gems over the years.

Today's giveaway is an app for anyone looking to archive their DVDs or convert them to a mobile format. The aptly named DiscRipper normally sells for $29.95, but if you download and install it today, it's free.

Let me repeat that: The only catch is that you have to download and install the program before 12:00 PST tonight.… Read more