Finally an application that does everything that I want it to.  I subscribe to FileHippo’s updated RSS feed so I need all the programs that are updated daily.  MediaMonkey was one of them and it caught my eye that it finds and fixes missing album art.  So I figured I would try it to manage my music.

Wow! Amazing application within a few hours I updated all my missing music art and also corrected a bunch of mislabeled tags, deleted some duplicate music, and leveled the volume on a few tracks.  This software is amazing and is really easy to use.  What would have taken me like 5 applications I can do all in one.

It also will manage my phone and iTouch.  So no more working with iTunes to sync music and it is soo much easier to pick music and fill my iTouch and I can also have it automatically sync and fill based on music I listen to here and there on my PC.  It also links in streaming music and a few other things amazing!

There is a paid version of the application that gives you more robust usage of ripping music and managing your large music library.  The price is a modest $39.99 but so far I haven’t found a reason to upgrade past the free version.  One thing I like is the super light package this all comes in <10MB  This software is a must have!

Download MediaMonkey

Beta 3.1

These are really amazing and sum up 2008 very well

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Well not too sure that anyone will ever use this but something interesting that I found on the net none the less it is a whole bunch of clipart pictures that fall under the CC copywrite laws.

So if you are ever looking for those awsome corporate safe clip-arts to use in your presentation or document here you go!

WP Clipart

So tonight Laura needed to convert a WAV file to an MP3 file because she needed to send the file via email.  Well the WAV file was about 23mb while the mp3 came down to 2.5mb.  This application which is an open source application will convert any audio file type to mp3, ogg, FLAC and any other encoders you want to add.  This is a great utility to have.  It will also rip CD’s to that format.

Website: BonkEnc

Latest version: 1.09 Local Download

So I decided to buy a license for Playon as we pretty much have been using it everyday and my trail time ran out.  With the latest updates they now allow 420p HD streaming for Hulu which makes a big difference and its nice to finally watch some of our shows in HD as it looks a ton better.  Using it a lot I have come across a few lessons:

1) Disable the ‘Always Process Entire Video’ – this seems to cause some issues and may cause the application to freeze.  This was the case when we were watching Jumanji and it kept freezing every 20 minutes or so.  This was really annoying because it was a pain to have to scroll back to where the movie was when it lost its connection.

2) Set the video output to Max.  This will ensure that you receive the highest definition picture.

3) If watching multiple movies/shows from playon be sure to run something like CCleaner through before running the next show.  This will clear up a bunch of space that was taken up by the buffer while streaming from the computer to your PS3.

4) For smooth playback ensure you are not doing anything too intensive on the PC that is running Playon Desktop.  It is fairly resource intensive on your computer while it is streaming.

5) When streaming Netflix start the movie and then pause it for at least 10 minutes and then let it play.  This will keep you from running into jerkyness as you reach the end of the buffer.

6) Hardwire the PC with Playon Running as well as the PS3, this will ensure that you have the fastest connection speed

MediaMall is saying that they are planning a lot more upgrades for Playon including other applications to be included, I wonder if they are going to include Slingboxes new streaming website.  Also I would like to see all the networks HD streams available as CBS is the only network available and that isn’t an HD stream.  This is a huge step in the right direction for online TV and worth the $30

PlayOn bridges the gap between your laptop and your PS3 allowing you to stream Hulu, Netflix, CBS, YouTube and others straight on your TV

PlayOn brings Hulu streaming to PS3 and possibly Netflix in the future

Hulu has embedable episodes and is all web based, super easy to use with a clean interface

New Display Port shows up on some new Dell monitors.

New online music streaming service that lets you customize your playlists.