The Zune Funding Bill is passed. The system goes on-line November 14, 2006.
Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Zune begins to learn
at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 12:00 Eastern Standard Time,
December 31st. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.

That is all. Happy new year!

Update: In related news, Here is how to fix this problem.

I use Ubuntu, so this tutorial won’t work on Windows. I have encoded the video into the H.264 format, left the original resolution at 848 x 480, and the framerate at 30 Hz. I use constant quality setting because then the video look very good even when the camera moves quickly, and it uses less bitrate when not needed. The disadvantage is that the required bitrate is uneven, so make sure youre buffer is large enough before you start playing.

Here is how to do this:

1. Encode your video with mencoder (click to install). It has to be x264 for video (0 or 1 bframes), and faac for audio.
2. Convert the result into an mp4 using mp4creator (click to install), as described here.
3. Now you have an mp4 file that can be played with JW player. Download it, have a look at the readme.html, and follow the example described there.
4. The player requires 20 pixels in height, so add this to the SWFObject creation.

I have written a small ruby script to convert any movie to a MP4 file. The first parameter is the input file, second parameter is the framerate. Save this file as e.g. convert2mp4.rb.

#!/usr/bin/ruby

# constant quality setting
if ARGV.size != 3
	puts "usage: #{__FILE__} <inputvideo> <framerate> <quality, 1.0-50.0>"
	exit
end

# set output filenames
input = ARGV[0]
rate = ARGV[1]
quality = ARGV[2]
noext = input.gsub(/\.\w*$/, "")

converted = '"' + noext + '_tmp.avi"'
aac = '"' + noext + '.aac"'
h264 = '"' + noext + '.h264"'
mp4 = '"' + noext + '.mp4"'

# encode
cmd = "mencoder \"#{input}\" -o #{converted}"
cmd += " -ovc x264 -x264encopts threads=auto:crf=#{quality}:subq=6:partitions=all:8x8dct:me=umh:frameref=5:bframes=1:b_pyramid:weight_b"
cmd += " -oac faac -faacopts br=192 -channels 2 -srate 48000"
puts cmd
system(cmd)

# convert to mp4
system("rm -f #{mp4}")
system("mplayer #{converted} -dumpaudio -dumpfile #{aac}")
system("mplayer #{converted} -dumpvideo -dumpfile #{h264}")
system("mp4creator -create=#{aac} #{mp4}")
system("mp4creator -create=#{h264} -rate #{rate} #{mp4}")
system("mp4creator -hint=1 #{mp4}")
system("mp4creator -hint=2 #{mp4}")
system("mp4creator -optimize #{mp4}")
system("rm -f #{aac} #{h264} #{converted}")

Have fun!

The via feretta is called Teufelsteig which translates to devli’s steep road.

Walking through difficult terrain, close to the peak

A view around to nearby peaks and chines

Finally, after about 4 hours hiking and climbing, we have reached the peak of 1822m and enjoy the view

I got a brand new Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, which is an absolutely excellent compact camera. It can record HDTV 16:9 videos, so I did what obviously everybody should do: mount it on a cycling helmet. The construction seems adventurous: I use the camera’s, one cut-off mini tripod, one rubber band, my cycling helmet, the camera’s wristband as a safety backup, and a healthy dose of good faith. That’s it! The whole construct may look a bit fragile, but simplicity is the key; it is actually very sturdy, because of the simple design there is almost nothing that can go wrong. The camera position is excellent too. Jürgen has made a really cool remix of the videos:

If you want the the videos in all their length and glory, I have encoded the clips with very high quality for your maximum viewing pleasure. You need a fast computer, an up-to-date flash player, and a fast internet connection (press play and then pause to start caching the whole clip if the connection is too slow.).

On the Damberg

Recorded at 15:29:57. Just riding uphill and discussions about how to best reach the top.

Right Before the Dambergwarte

Recorded at 16:11:31. A few meters before the Dambergwarte. This is the only time you see us standing around!

Speeding Past the Dambergwarte

Recorded at 16:13:11. Alex in the front, me right behind him. The track is fast, but partly muddy and bumpy. I almost hit a tree at 1:25, Alex looses his precious chocolate bar at 2:20.

Downhill to the Hertlerwiese

Recorded at 16:24:36. Following right behind Juu, carrying over a tree, down through the narrow forrest onto the beautiful Hertlerwiese. Amazing how Harald survived this with the citybike

Around the Schwarzberg

Recorded at 16:50:50. Gravel road round the Schwarzberg, going pretty fast.

Challenging Downhill from Schwarzberg Peak

Recorded at 17:49:39. This was the most demanding downhill track. Narrow bushes, very steep, lots of roots that have already built steps. Christoph in front of me, going fast.

From Wood to Grassland

Recorded at 18:00:18. A bumpy start, but on 1:38 we reach the grassland, which is really nice to drive. High speed! Christoph and me wait at 2:40 for the others.

Bumpy Ride and Christoph’s Not So Controlled Dismount

Recorded at 18:06:19. Ten seconds into the video Christoph decides to jump over the front of his bike, hehe The rest is somewhat difficult terrain, Juu in front of me after we cross the gravel road.

Slipstream Speeding on Tared Road

Recorded at 18:13:03. Slipstream riding behind Christoph, Juu, Harald. They got surprised when I zipped by them at 1:55, so they gave everything they could and overtook me at 2:20. Watch out Harald at 2:25, hehe Speeding all the way down.

That’s it. As you can see the head mounted camera was a huge success, the videos turned out to be really great. Its a bit shaky, but you can’t seriously expect anything else from downhill tracks like this.

How did I create the flash clips?

I use Ubuntu, so this is a little linux tutorial and won’t work on Windows. The clipse are encoded into the H.264 format, I left the original resolution at 848×480 and the framerate at 30 Hz. I use constant quality because then the clips look very good even when the camera moves very quickly, and it uses less bitrate when not needed. The disadvantage is that the bitrate can vary a lot, so make sure to cache a bit before you start playing.

1. Encode the movies with mencoder (click to install). It has to be x264 for video (0 or 1 bframes), and faac for audio.
2. Convert the result into an mp4 using mp4creator (click to install), as described here.
3. Now you have an mp4 file that can be played with JW player. Download it, have a look at the readme.html, and follow the example described there.
4. The player requires 20 pixels in height, so add this to the SWFObject creation.

I have written a small ruby script to convert any movie to a MP4 file. The first parameter is the input file, second parameter is the framerate. Save this file as e.g. convert2mp4.rb.

#!/usr/bin/ruby

# constant quality setting
quality = 30

if ARGV.size != 2
	puts "usage: #{__FILE__} <inputvideo> <framerate>"
	exit
end

# set output filenames
input = ARGV[0]
rate = ARGV[1]
noext = input.gsub(/\.\w*$/, "")

converted = '"' + noext + '_tmp.avi"'
aac = '"' + noext + '.aac"'
h264 = '"' + noext + '.h264"'
mp4 = '"' + noext + '.mp4"'

# encode
system("mencoder \"#{input}\" -o #{converted}
-x264encopts threads=auto:crf=#{quality}:subq=6:partitions=all:8x8dct:me=umh:frameref=5:bframes=1:b_pyramid:weight_b
-oac faac -faacopts br=192 -channels 2 -srate 48000")

# convert to mp4
system("rm -f #{mp4}")
system("mplayer #{converted} -dumpaudio -dumpfile #{aac}")
system("mplayer #{converted} -dumpvideo -dumpfile #{h264}")
system("mp4creator -create=#{aac} #{mp4}")
system("mp4creator -create=#{h264} -rate #{rate} #{mp4}")
system("mp4creator -hint=1 #{mp4}")
system("mp4creator -hint=2 #{mp4}")
system("mp4creator -optimize #{mp4}")
system("rm -f #{aac} #{h264} #{converted}")

Have fun!

What?

Dice-RPG is a free dice throwing program that can be used for role playing games. Although I have never played a RPG in my entire life, my brother forced me to write this tool for the good of mankind (actually, I wrote it because I did not have anything better to do, but don’t tell him).

Here is a screenshot:

How?

To use Dice-RPG,

1. Install the Ruby one-click installer from here if you don’t have it already. This is a runtime, like Java or C#.
2. Download Dice-RPG.rbw (right click and save the link) and doubleclick it.

Have fun!

Donnermandl

Start of the last stage of the fixed rope route, the “Donnermandl“, at 1920m height. This has difficulty C/D and is very exposed, but you are rewarded with fabulous views!

Donnerkogel Top

We reached the top, yay! The Big Donnerkogel has 2045m, and even though it is September already it was very warm.

Dachstein

Behind me (left guy) is the famous Dachstein, one of the most often photographed mountain from Austria.

Enjoy the View

It is beautiful on the top, it really is. You can sit there for hours and just watch and listen to nature.

This was one of my rare non-technical postings. Hope you enjoyed it!

1. Enthusiasm.
2. Disillusionment.
3. Panic.
4. The Search For The Guilty.
5. The Punishment of the Innocent.
6. Accolades for the Non-Participants.

After 4 years of software development experience, I can say with much confidence that this is highly accurate.