codec

Enjoy the show

Watch enough different kinds of videos in Windows and eventually you are bound to run into a codec problem. Codecs encode and decode digital data, and popular media viewers like Windows Media Player don't always have the codecs needed to view all types of videos. ALShow is an easy-to-use media player that comes equipped with plenty of codecs, and it's prepared to download more if needed.

ALShow's interface is plain but intuitive, with its features organized neatly in uncluttered menus. Users can play videos in AVI, MPG, MPEG, DAT, VOB, WMV, ASF, ASX, and many other formats, … Read more

Codecs codex

Greetings, Comrades! Free codecs for the people, thanks to the benevolent CCCP. Not the USSR but rather the Combined Community Codec Pack Project, a group dedicated to propagating Windows video codecs to achieve de facto standardization among competing anime formats, many of them developed and used by fan groups. Over time it's grown into a collection of useful codecs for playing just about any kind of video file you're likely to encounter online. The whole point of the CCCP is to provide a comprehensive set of codecs that will not only play common files but also uncommon ones.… Read more

Fast media player

All in One Media Codec Pack lets you play a variety of media types with one simple program. We were impressed that this program successfully took on the roles of a video viewer, a music player, and a picture viewer, and we were wowed by its quality.

The sparse, unattractive interface was definitely not the program's highlight. However, it was still simple to operate, and we never felt as if we needed the Help file's instructions. We were able to navigate a simple file-browsing tool to find the correct media file we wanted. We didn't find a … Read more

The 404 379: Where we have a ball with Steve Guttenberg

CNET official Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg guest hosts today's ball-busting show. Steve brings his usual brand of random topics to the table today that include the most bizarre festival you'll never want to visit and the world's largest ketchup bottle. We also introduce another awesome band in our Becks/Last.FM semiweekly audio draft!

Today's show is very important, for three reasons. First, we're stoked to welcome Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg who brings his expertise to answer all your high-end audio questions on the second half of the show, but not before introducing us to the most horrid festival that you'll never, ever want to visit. Let's just say that the subject matter of this food fair leaves room for plenty of punny jokes to be made, and we take that opportunity every chance we get (see:show title)--too funny!

Second, it's also a very important day because it's the first time we actually get a few bottles of Beck's Beer into the studio to sip on during the show! Don't worry though, we take things in moderation here at The 404 (yeah...), but no amount of self-control can prevent Wilson and me from getting the classic Asian glow.

Finally, all of us are caught offguard when Wilson Tang, infamous for literally feeling indifferent about any music made after 1791, makes an executive decision and chooses Grizzly Bear for today's Semi-Weekly Audio Draft Pick, sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM.

Grizzly Bear is a four-piece band out of Brooklyn here in New York that has been slowly gaining popularity for its dusty mix of folk piano and a mix of other instruments including whistles and an intermittent banjo. After releasing several albums in the past few years, Grizzly Bear just released a new one called "Veckatimest," which includes today's song, "Two Weeks." The album retains Grizzly Bear's unique low-fi sound--mixing airy vocals with refreshingly creative arrangements that are rare to find in today's soundstage. We hope you'll enjoy Grizzly Bear as much as we do!

(Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET News and Reviews.)

One more thing: We'd like to congratulate newlyweds Elizabeth and Ian for getting hitched recently. They're both avid 404 listeners and while we doubt that Elizabeth walked down the aisle to our theme music, we're swooning with you and wish you guys the best of love.

EPISODE 379 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Troubleshoot video, audio issues

With online video and audio becoming more popular every day, most have experienced the frustration of not getting a podcast or video to work because of codec issues. Fortunately, this little utility helps let you know what's installed on your machine.

InstalledCodec offers a basic functionality: It lists all the codec drivers and Direct Show filters currently installed on your system. The interface isn't flashy or ostentatiously designed, but simply a functional pane that lists items according to a variety of categories. These categories include the driver or filter's name, type, whether it's disabled, its install … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 845: BOL the vote

Hey, here's a thought: a free, open-source video codec that could be universally portable and playable. I'd vote for that, wouldn't you? In other news of the day, Dash stops making hardware to focus on software, Apple brings in an IBM guy to run the iPod division (other than Steve Jobs), and BlackBerry sneaks the Bold into stores today. Yeah, today. There's got to be something wrong with that thing.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

EPISODE 845

Apple’s iPod chief to step down http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10082065-37.html

Dash Navigation pulls the plug … Read more

Facebook worm feeds off Google's reputation

For most Facebook users, it's common to receive a message from a friend urging them to visit a page containing a video. But one video currently making the rounds appears on a Google page and will not play unless a new codec is downloaded and installed. The link provided on the Google page is not a video link, say researchers at Fortinet, but a link to a Trojan horse hosted on yet another server.

Guillaume Lovet, senior manager of Fortinet's security research team, told CNET News that Google sites were chosen because they have a well-regarded reputation and … Read more

Canonical chooses convenience in codecs, and rightly so

OStatic provides an excellent analysis of the dilemma facing Canonical and its Ubuntu distribution: to facilitate adoption of proprietary media codecs and, if so, how?

I have (incorrectly) criticized Canonical for including proprietary codecs in Ubuntu before, but others in the open-source world have been far more derogatory about any possible hint of proprietary software making its way into Ubuntu.

While I am sympathetic with the intent of such commentary, OStatic is absolutely correct to suggest that Canonical's decision to set up a for-fee way to add proprietary media codecs to Ubuntu is spot-on:

They could have taken the … Read more

Firefox to open up to video...but not (yet) the video you want

The good news is that Mozilla's popular Firefox browser is getting video support. The bad news is that you probably won't notice.

Why? Because the video codec that is coming to Firefox is not commonly used: Ogg Theora. Firefox will also be adding a new HTML tag to make embedding video easier - no more need to launch Javascript - but, again, the video codec is not the ubiquitous QuickTime, Windows Media, or Flash that people use.

This isn't Mozilla's fault, of course. It's not the one keeping the codecs under lock-and-key. And, of course, … Read more