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  1. How to turn OverDrive books into useful mp3 files on Libraries Use DRM to Expire Audiobooks · · Score: 1

    Non-standard software needed: Nero 6 Ultra Edition, Exact Audio Copy (with LAME), and sox.

    Download the OverDrive audiobook.

    In the OverDrive Media Console, select the book and click Transfer/Burn. This will launch Windows Media Player.

    In Windows Media Player, choose File > Copy > Copy to Audio CD...

    Choose "Nero Fast CD-Burning Plug-in" as the destination disk.

    Choose the first part of the audiobook and click "Copy". When prompted, save the file as "Book Title - Part 1.nrg". Repeat this for the rest of the parts. This will take a lot of disk space (almost 1GB per part), but is the only task that needs to be done within the checkout period.

    Use Nero ImageDrive to create a virtual CD from the first .nrg file. Use Exact Audio Copy to create a .wav file from the virtual CD. Repeat this for each .nrg file. This will also take a lot of disk space, but you can delete each .nrg file after you have converted it to a .wav file.

    Using the MediaMarkers in the OverDrive Media Console, figure out the starting time and length of each "track" you want to split the file up into. For example:

    Track MediaMarker Starting Time Length
    1 04:24 0:00 4:24
    2 09:08 4:24 4:44
    3 14:01 9:08 4:53
    my apologies, I couldn't figure out how to post tabular data

    Use sox to split the large .wav files, like this:

    sox disc1.wav "Author - Title - Track 001.wav" trim 0:00 4:24
    sox disc1.wav "Author - Title - Track 002.wav" trim 4:24 4:44
    sox disc1.wav "Author - Title - Track 003.wav" trim 9:08 4:53

    In Exact Audio Copy, create an "Audiobook" profile. I prefer a user-defined encoder with lame.exe as the program, the command-line options "-a -h -V 9 -B %r %s %d", bit rate 64kBit/s, high quality. Save this profile to disk. Leave Exact Audio Copy open.

    Drag all your small .wav files onto Exact Audio Copy and let it do its magic, compressing them into mp3 files.

    Delete all the non-mp3 files. You're done!

  2. Re:Who will pay for this? on Anonymous Library Cards An Option? · · Score: 1

    Actually, it'll be fairly easy to implement in the software, since upcoming releases of library management software will support this.

    If a library already has cash cards for their copiers and/or printers, it's even easier to do this.

    Ben Ostrowsky

  3. But... but... on Cisco IOS Source Code Theft Story Continues · · Score: 1

    We have the right to create deep links... and this is some pretty deep stuff!

  4. Program as if users mattered. on Programming As If Performance Mattered · · Score: 1

    Screw performance -- that can be solved by hardware.

    No amount of hardware spending will make your program easy to use, easy to understand, and easy to adapt for new purposes.

    Program as if the user mattered. They ain't getting twice as smart every 18 months, but they sure are spending money on software.

  5. Choose your words carefully! on Ask the Robotic Psychiatrist · · Score: 1

    Dr. Pransky is clearly not "an undergraduate philosophy student", so she cannot answer your question as one.

    Human-level AIs will probably learn in conversations with people. Remember the implied lesson in SpaceCamp: be careful what you say!

  6. Ignore private-mailbox advice... on Getting A Laptop With The Low U.S. Dollar · · Score: 1

    ...if you're getting something shipped, just send it to the hotel where you'll be staying, marked HOLD FOR ARRIVAL.

  7. ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE on Europa's Acid Ice Fields · · Score: 4, Funny
    Looks like we got good advice:

    ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA
    ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE
    USE THEM TOGETHER
    USE THEM IN PEACE

    But do you think sending a metric shitload of baking soda and red food dye counts as attempting a landing? Because I, for one, would LOVE to use Europa as a gigantic science-fair volcano.
  8. How about a binaries feed? on Good Demo System For A High-Bandwidth Link? · · Score: 1

    Simultaneously downloading and displaying all of alt.binaries.* would be pretty impressive... ...or has a full feed grown beyond 2.5G/s already?

  9. Better than a mirror on Winamp 2 + Winamp 3 = Winamp 5! · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Well, if they won't let us download the free version from them, we'll just have to take what we can get...

  10. Coming soon to a cislunar area near you... on Australian Pilot Stranded In Antarctica · · Score: 1

    Australian Jon Johanson is currently stranded at Clarke Station at L1. He was attempting a dark-side flyaround when he encountered LEO debris that caused him to burn his one-gee landing fuel and divert to Clarke. Now both the North Americans and the Chinese there are refusing to sell him fuel.

    Oh, cruel Clarke Base! Why don't you just adjust your energy budgets until the next supply ship and use his *credits* to fuel your positioning thrusters?!

  11. Unorthodox bits from a job ad on Funny Things You've Seen on Resumes? · · Score: 2, Funny
    I was sick of seeing stupidly written job ads, so when it was time to hire a webmaster, I wrote a job ad with phrases like:
    • You will be told different things by different people...
    • Obviously, nobody has four years of experience with HTML 4.01, since the specification came out in 1999... [this was in 2002]
    In short, I wrote the sort of ad I'd want to read, and we found a great webmaster.
  12. Kissinger and Arafat won the Peace prize... on Funny Things You've Seen on Resumes? · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...so then there's hope for defense contractors, too!

  13. In the Dominican Republic, perhaps... on RIAA Sues the Wrong Person · · Score: 1

    hauling a 66 year old in front of a judge claiming she's a Little League player

    That's not as far-fetched as it sounds. Theoretically you can't play Little League after 12, but some people "give 110%"...

  14. Uh-oh, I think I owe SCO $699... on SCO Targets US Government, TiVo · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...because I said I'd pay their extortion demand the day Hell froze over, or a goatse.cx link was modded +5, whichever came first!

  15. Snappy comebacks on What Is The Real Cost of Spam? · · Score: 4, Funny
    "I got three spams this morning, can you do anything about it?"

    1. Not if you keep zeroing out the machete budget.
    2. Sure, why don't we trade accounts? I got sixty.
    3. Okay, I'll post your address on Usenet. You'll never wake up to three spams again.
  16. It's crowd-surfing. on High Speed Travelator · · Score: 1, Funny

    Now all we need is a crowd full of midgets stretching from Paris to Nice, and some really kick-ass midget music at either end to induce the crowd-surfing effect.

  17. I'd be proud to help on RAID for Zero-G? · · Score: 1

    I don't care what flag a human being brings to Mars, so long as one of us goes there. We've been squabbling down here long enough.

  18. Re:Snide-commenting? on The Bug · · Score: 4, Funny

    /*Yeah, sure, this code will work. *snicker*/

    Shouldn't that be /*Yeah, sure, this code will work. *snicker* */ ?

    There's your bug -- you never closed your snicker emote asterisk.

    Ben

  19. Re:It's about time on Apple Sued Over Unix Trademark · · Score: 1

    someone with clout

    YM "a decent-sized war chest and the ideological bent to spend every last cent of it". HTH. HAND.

  20. Re:Business Model on University Sponsored Music Services? · · Score: 1

    Not really the same thing. No matter who makes the PCs, they're pretty much the same. But try coding all night on a Coke campus (no Mountain Dew!) and see how far you get. Feh.

  21. Re:Business Model on University Sponsored Music Services? · · Score: 1

    It wouldn't be the first time. Ever try to find a college campus where you can buy both Coke and Pepsi products? Colleges take multi-million-dollar bribes to boot the competitors off campus.

    It wouldn't be so bad if not for the mandatory dining-hall plans many colleges subject their freshmen to.

  22. The $ETHNIC military uses an air gap too. on IT at the CIA · · Score: 1

    In fact, their entire network is airgapped -- it's all Wi-Fi. No cables, no hackers, no problem.

  23. Lonely Planet says Bhutan uses metric on The Changing Definition Of 'Kilogram' · · Score: 1
  24. Here are some places to buy silica gel on How Do You Store Your CDs? · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.preservesmart.com/products.htm

    http://www.jakesmp.com/CSD_Silica_Gel/CSD_Silica _0 01_M.html

  25. Microsoft security stance on P2P Meets Push · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Oh look," said the Microsoft [ mail | update | web ] client, "a rusted needle is sticking out of a pile of garbage bags!"

    "Needles," it reasoned, "often contain medicine."

    And, so reasoning, it jammed the rusty needle directly into its ass.

    Moral of the story:

    "Executable email messages are one of the worst ideas I've ever heard of. And that's saying something." -- Mark Wooding, in BUGTRAQ