HD content the next best thing

Once there was BBS, and then Napster with great and free MP3 music. Emule was always there, SuperNova came and went with so many Divx movies and now the next best thing is HD content download. HD meaning High Definition (High Resolution) movies and shows.



Connecting a PC to a large, HD LCD or Plasma screen will allow you to play your games, suft the net but mostly watch high quality movies.



With the Matroska (.mkv) container format, getting HD content via the Bit torrent network is made easy, very easy.



A 720p movie (For HD ready TV sets) will make you download about 4.5GB per movie for a standard lenght movie. A 1080p will be 8GB or more.

This is much more than the usual Divx download, but quality is the main issue here. There is no point in buying a large HD screen only to see standard definition content... right ???



Where can you get HD content ?

There are a few Bittorent web sites for those find of files
The following article will show you which one you sould look into
http://filesharefreak.com/2008/03/05/specialized-private-bittorrent-websites-hd-video/

My favorite sites are http://www.hd-bits.ro/ and http://hd-torrents.org/ .
You need to provide upload capabilities for give back to the community, or just pay some money in exchange of upload ratio.



How can you play this content ?

HD content can be played using a computer (as long as it is strong enough), or by using a dedicated media streamer.
To play the HD content on your PC download a compatible codec pack such as k-lite http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_lite_codec_pack.htm

If you will like to keep your PC away from the screen or you have no intention of setting up an HTPC (Home Theatre PC) you can look at the following streamers which will allow Full HD 1080p support with HDMI connection, some with Fiber optic and/or coaxal audio connections, some may feature card readers and USB connections for external hard drive connections or for PC connection, LAN adater for Internet access, over the network file access (such as getting your music and video file from your PC) and very cool features such as Bittorent client and firmware and codec updates.

Have a look at those:



http://www.hdx1080.com/

http://www.popcornhour.com/

A place to live

We decided to take the next big step and buy an apartment.
Since we still got a place to live we figured out that for the next two years we will rent the property and have two years less to pay for it.

I placed ads in two popular web sites the same day we got the apartment keys so no time will be wasted finding our renters.
I was bombarded with phone calls. So many people came to see the place and rent it.Unfortunately there were cases where I wanted to rent the apartment but I was afraid that renting itto a person with a higher prospect of unemployment will leave me outside of my apartment without my money and with my monthly mortgage.I see it as a big problem in Israel not only to people wanting to rent their property but also to the peoplewho want to find a place to live in.Israel does not allow the property owner to evacuate the tenants without a long legal battle, especially when the tenants are poor, single woman with children, old etc.Just imagine how hard is it for one of those people to find a place to live, even if they are able to pay the monthly fee. Nobody in their right mind will give them a chance. Sadly, we could not either.

Skin deep

Shiri, my wife wanted us both to get tattoos. I always thought is was a bad idea. Tattoo are forever (at least for those of us who cannot afford tattoo removal). Lately I decided to reconsider, and today we took the kids with us and drove to Dizingof Center and had our tattoo.

Shiri's tattoos are for "Aviv" and Tomer in Japanese, and my tattoo is the renewed Transformers Autobot logo.
The making was painful. Especially the filling... but now it looks really well.

What do you think ?

More then meets the eye

This summer brings us the 21st century recreation of
another childhood favorite, Transformers the movie.
I remember almost a year ago how excited people were regarding the upcoming movie. Everyone wanted to get a glimps of the characters and all we got was a teaser with a shadow of a … something.As a real fan I was eager to see the movie, and I wasn't disappointed, as I did not expect too much. The movie was funny, action full and of course full of special effects.
The only thing which saddened me was the recreation of the characters. All the characters with no exception were created as very bulky bots, lacking the softer look of the cartoons and even the G1 style toys. Current movie toys look a lot like so many other Far East cheap toys, too much non relevant plastic, awful proportions between height and width.
No wonder G1 (First Generation) Transformers toys sell for a lot of money on Ebay.

One toy I did like is the new Optimesh Prime from Hasbro, the official
Transformers toy company. I was lucky to get one from a friend.
When I was younger, I traded many of my transformers collection for a stamp collection which was a very bad idea. However I still enjoy seeing my two boys playing with my old beheaded SoundWave. If you also miss the G1 transformers, Jeff Bryant's web site will remind you of the robos we all loved and enjoyed twenty something years ago.
Additional pictures on the eCybetron gallery.

Did not see the movie yet ? Roll OUT !!!!

Here we go ... again

I admit. I am a technical kinda guy, but blogging is a new concept to me.
I'm only 31 year old, but it really goes to show how new technologies and especially
social networks are coming to life with either publicists who found blogging a new
pulication platforms (just like sending they're articles to the paper) and youngsters.

Well, being 31 I'm not a youngster any more, but still trying to investigate this new form
of brain dumping technology.
Anyone reading my blog... enjoy.
If you are not enjoying yourself, I REALLY don't give a damn... just leave.

Liran Zamir
Sin city, Israel