Wow, it's been a long time since I have used this software but Blaze Media player used to be my media manager of choice. I have since moved on to other media managers but the ones I currently use just don't offer the same flexibility or all of the options that Blaze Media pro does so I decided it was time to revisit the software. They allow you to download a 15-day trial version over at the website, linked to below, so I decided I would check it out and see what Mystik Media has in store for us now with the latest version.

Here's some info from Mystik on Blaze Media Pro, then I can go on about my own review:

Formats supported for audio conversion include CD, MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG, MPEG-4, AIFF, M4A, AAC, AC3, FLAC, and ALAC, and two-way conversions among MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, WMV, ASF, Flash (SWF and FLV), iPod, PSP, 3GP, and MOV are available for video. MPEG options are available for VCD, SVCD, and DVD compliant output. DVD ripping, and audio compression functionality are also present. When converting from audio CD, track information can be dynamically downloaded from the CDDB and used to automatically name saved files.

Video editing is available for AVI (uncompressed), AVI (compressed using any available codec), MPEG-1, MPEG-2, WMV, and ASF. Comprehensive video editing operations are provided (delete frame, delete selection, crop, resize, rotate, mirror, flip, trim, text overlay, adjust audio volume, etc.). In addition, an extensive list of over 30 effects and color adjustment operations allow for powerful video enhancement and alternation. WAV, WMA, and MP3 audio files can be inserted into the video or extracted from the video; and BMP, GIF, JPG, PCX, PNG, RAS, PPM, TGA, and TIF are the supported image formats that can be inserted or extracted.

The download is only about 18 megs which is a snap if you are on a broadband connection. If not, what are you doing downloading software anyway?

Anyhow, the installation program is pretty straightforward...and quick, even on my laggy PC.

After the install it of course prompted me to run it or not, which I did. Here is the initial screen.

The program itself is even easier to use than I remember and they have added a ton of options as well. Blaze Media Pro is a converter, burner, includes audio and video editing software which support a ton of formats including MP3, WAV, OGG, AVI, WMA and MPEG-1 and 2 as well as WMV.

In addition to being an audio/video editor you can also convert to and from different formats and burn DVDs or CDs. It's a snap to use to convert DVD to AVI, MPG, WMV with Blaze. Since I like to save all of my movies to the hard drive for my HTPC converting the DVDs to a smaller size is a must-have and being able to use one piece of software instead of two or three to get the same required results is even better.

You can also use Blaze as a DVD burning software. Although I prefer to keep everything online I also like to have a hard copy offline in case something goes wrong or for when I build a new PC. It's not often that you can get a CD burning software in addition to all of the other stuff for a pretty low price.

All in all I like it so far. I will keep it around for another week or two and weigh it against the other products I have been using for DVD conversion such as Divx and see how it stacks up. So far so good though.

Image via Wikipedia

I've been an Object Desktop subscriber for several years now and while I haven't done any skinning in the last three or four I am still an avid user of their products. They are always very interested in feedback from the users so as to better improve their products as well.

While I certainly don't claim to be an expert on wines like my friends Denny and Steve I occasionally like a nice glass of wine during or after dinner. It certainly helps to ease the tension after work. I may have to go pour myself a glass when I'm finished typing as a matter of fact. Anyway, one of the things that I became interested in recently was joining a wine of the month club. Being able to try a new wine every month just seems really cool. When I go shopping I'm not that adventurous and I generally just stick with the tried and true but sometimes that tired and true :)

Anyone else belong to a wine of the month club? What do you think about it?

Now that my daughter is eleven it's always about cool gadgets. The thing is that most of her gadgets are completely different than what I think of as cool gadgets. Her's are all about usability and functionality. I guess that's not really a bad thing but hald of them are related in one way or another to fashion. I can see my wallet emptying already :)

The latest thing she wanted me to look at and was begging me for was a pink flat iron. Flat irons are used to straighten curly hair. Now her hair isn't really all that curly but if it's anything like mine was as a teenager, the older I got the curlier my hair got. It was weird. Anyway, she just had to have this pink flat iron and no other was going to suffice. I suppose it might make a good Christmas present since that time of year is coming up but I certainly won't buy it until then.

Along with the flat iron she's been asking for a new hair dryer, new clothes, jewelery, a new iPod. Man, kids are expensive. I had he make a list up of the most important things she wants because I can see getting one or two as gifts but if she wants more she is going to have to work more on completing chores around the house in order to earn the money to buy things. It's the same with me. I don't spend my bill money on gadgets. I only use extra money that I earn online to buy my new phones, etc.

Image via Wikipedia

While my days of strollers are long over and we don't plan on having any more children until we have GRAND-children, one of my favorite 'gadgets' has always been the Bob stroller. Those things are great and if you've never seen or used one you need to go over and check out the link to see what I am talking about. Most of the nice ones have a console to put your drinks, iPod and cell phone as well as just about any other gadget you might be carrying with you.

After a bit of downtime Skinartistry is back online. If you were a member you will have to sign back up, with your original screen name if possible). Quite a bit of their downloads have been lost so if you had work up you will have to upload it again if you want them to host it there.

Just who and what is Skinartistry 2?

SA2 is a growing community of artists, skinners, coders, programmers and just plain folks who really, really like customizing their desktops! SkinArtistry2 is the reincarnation of Skinartistry, a site devoted to skinning and learning how to skin developed by Bones 2112. Bones may have retired from running the site, but the spirit of community he inspired in all of us remains!

Do you have to be a skinner to be part of the SA2 Community?

Absolutely not! Our members come from all walks of life, and from everywhere around the globe. Some of us skin, others just love to use skins!

For those of us who do skin, our common desire to share ideas, to learn various applications , to make great skins and just have fun while doing it is not only what brought us all here - it is what keeps us here.

What can I find here that I can't at the larger sites?

What sets us apart is that we provide a community that not only provides top quality skins, wallpapers and the like, but also excells in mentoring in a constructive, positive manner. Mentoring at SA2 is not just via the fourms, but also thru our workshop where all skinners, beginners and experienced alike, can upload their work for testing, help and smoothing out the rough spots as well as encouraging learning by doing through participation in Community Projects.

CNET's Natali Del Conte shows off some of the innovative gadgets for the kids heading back to school this year.

I was just watching the trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince a couple of days ago when I ran across a story this evening that said that the release would be moved from November of this year until July of 2009 due to the writer's strike.

That sort of sucks. I enjoyed the Potter books and the girls and I go see each movie when it comes out, which is a big deal since I am only willing to pay for two or three movies a year.

Wanna see the short trailer? Not a lot to see yet but if you've read the books you already know what it's about.

...or any other mobile web browser for that matter.

Thanks to iPhoneFreak I have found a URL for those of us that are adamant about keeping up with the Olympics wherever we might be. I am actually not one of those but the wife is so I made sure to forward the URL to her.

Mippin is the name of the site and their coverage is fairly complete and all there in one place. Events, videos, results and more can be found over at http://m.mippin.com/mip/m/cat.jsp?&p=0&cat=Olympics and someone has been kind enough to set up a Tiny URL at http://tinyurl.com/2008oly.

If my sites only looked so good on a mobile browser...

I used to have a pretty cool computer desk. I like the look and feel of modern furniture but I find that as I get older I like older, stylish stuff even more. My parents are getting ready to move again and a while back my mom gave me her rolltop desk. It's beautiful heavy wood and pretty large. Large enough so that my monitor can fit in it and the top still shut. I love the desk.

My desk I ended up giving to my son, and then my daughter and now most of it is just stored in the basement. I had it for several years and it really came in handy when I was mainly just gaming but now that I spend most of my computer time working and researching I like having the extra nooks and crannies and drawer space.