FreddieFreeloader   Rantings of a paranoid computer hobbyist

Credit goes to fellow freenode#support-ph ninja Jucato for this. .

nocti@davis ~ $ eix racer-bin
[I] games-sports/racer-bin
Available versions: 0.5.0-r1
Installed versions: 0.5.0-r1(12:06:01 05/31/07)
Homepage: http://www.racer.nl/
Description: A car simulation game focusing on realism, in the style of Grand Prix Legends

nocti@davis ~ $ emerge racer-bin

It’s got amazing graphics. Only con I can think of right now is that it’s entirely controlled by the mouse. You shift gears via the mouse buttons (gear-up = left click, gear-down = right click), acceleration is by moving the mouse forward and deceleration/braking moving it backward. It’s not something anyone will get used to even after trying the game out for an hour. But the graphics… simply amazing.

How to have fun in linux ™

…
1001. `emerge epsxe`
…

Clean up your dusty PlayStation1 cds (or grab a torrent of your favorite game). Go play.

Somebody went to Baguio over the weekend.

I give no explanations. You can consult your man page for that. My aim is to write quick and dirty hacks, not an entire book on the topic.
We will be using 3 tools: transcode, mplayer’s mencoder and ffmpeg — all commandline tools. Anybody who has been keeping track of this journal should by now be aware that if I can, I avoid GUI point-n-click apps like the plague. Lastly, this mini howto is by no means exhaustive.

Basics
mencoder
-ovc codec for video output
-oac codec for audio output
-o outfile.avi

mencoder infile.avi -ovc lavc -oac lavc -o outfile.avi

transcode
-i input_filename.mpg
-y codec for audio/video output
-o output_filename.avi

transcode -i infile.mpg -o outfile.avi -y divx

ffmpeg

ffmpeg -i myfile.avi -target vcd /tmp/vcd.mpg

Video CD
ffmpeg -i infile.avi -target ntsc-vcd outfile.mpg

Flash Videos
ffmpeg -i infile.mpg -ab 256 outfile.flv

*note:

XviD
First, something about video bitrates.

1. Crummy youtube-like video is around 80-150.
2. VCD quality is around 400-500.
3. DVD quality is approx 800.
4. Default bitrate for mencoder is 687kbps.

mencoder infile.avi -ovc xvid -oac mp3lame -xvidencopts bitrate=687 -o outfile.avi

*notes:

-bitrate=-700000 - will give you a ~700mb avi file.

mencoder infile.wmv -ofps 23.976 -oac mp3lame -lameopts abr:br=92 -ovc xvid -xvidencopts pass=2:bitrate=150 -o audiofix-150bit-xvid.avi

mencoder infile.avi -ovc xvid -oac mp3lame -lameopts abr:br=256 -xvidencopts bitrate=800 -o outfile.avi

Microsoft media files (*.wmv, *.asf, *.wmx)
Just follow the howto for Xvid and replace the infile.avi with any M$.wmv file you have. There’s an issue regarding some players (Xine) not being able to play wmv->xvid files converted using mencoder. Just use the -ofps 23.976 switch for that.

DivX
transcode -i infile.mpg -o outfile.avi -y divx

DVD
ffmpeg -i infile.avi -target ntsc-dvd dvd.mpg

You can now use any of the hoardes of dvd authoring tools that your favorite distro has in its repository to make a dvd out of the output mpegs you create here.

That’s all for now. If I missed anything or something doesn’t work I’m just here.

This actually made me smile.

ihate.org.uk

Got tired of the darkish blue theme that I’ve been using for a few months.

Hot day, trying to recover from a nasty virus that hit me a couple of days ago. Loading some extra dose of Youtube old videos trying to remember what it was like being 10 years old in 1984. Most of these videos were made when most of the blogger generation weren’t even born yet. Some vids are (relatively) new though, like The Cult’s “Painted on My Heart” which was the theme song for Nick Cage’s “Gone in 60 Seconds”.

I’m turning 33 tomorrow and I’m a bit mellow now. This is for my generation. When I have kids I’d let them enjoy life. Tell them it’s okay to be good in school but don’t let it rule your life. I had fond memories of my elementary and highschool years in Marikina. I wasn’t a brainbox and I didn’t strive to be one, but I wasn’t a flunker either and my teachers thought I did quite good in school. Some of the friends I made in highschool are those that I still see today.

College in UST was a blur. Damn, I sound like I’m dying. “For a split second you felt the way it did back then.”

In no order whatsoever.

Dreams — Van Halen
[youtube=”http://youtube.com/watch?v=3Snf9oQ_ErM”]

Hot for Teacher — Van Halen
[youtube=”http://youtube.com/watch?v=b5t5GukrWOU”]

The Cult — Painted on My Heart
[youtube=”http://youtube.com/watch?v=owiJyI-E4LY”]

The Cult — Edie (Ciao Baby)
[youtube=”http://youtube.com/watch?v=zpkVt9XTdtg”]

Iron Maiden — Number of the Beast
[youtube=”http://youtube.com/watch?v=icAzyx8EsKU”]

Anthrax — In My World
[youtube=”http://youtube.com/watch?v=zZzkVqRZK_4″]

The Cure — A Night Like This (My Personal Favorite)
[youtube=”http://youtube.com/watch?v=5DrjnffvVSQ”]

U2 (Live at the Red Rocks) — October / New Year’s Day
[youtube=”http://youtube.com/watch?v=w9rbpiLTmhk”]

Tears For Fears — Everybody Wants to Rule the World
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfqao2mjbAY”]

Tears For Fears — Mad World
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NAPw8N5vM8″]

RUSH — Animate
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktV8DvdoO1Y”]

The Clash — Career Opportunities
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL7wzYvnKSw”]

Metallica — Disposable Heroes
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU1gpboHUV8″]

and lots lots more…

And with it, low temps and rain. Nice. Hope it’s not that destructive though. The first typhoon for 2007. PAG-ASA named it AMANG.

I’m currently in love with non-artsy repeating patterns of everyday objects. Don’t know why. Check out my recent flickr favorites for some of ‘em.