The Bald and the Beautiful

A few years back I started to do backup of all the DVDs we bought for the kids. As most know DVDs tend to get busted in a matter of months, sometimes in just a few days if you’re really unlucky. The problem was not as much the backup itself, but the use of those files. Of course the backup was a bit of a hassle as you had to rip them and make sure you got everything in order to rebuild the DVD, but the reward was great as you did not have to buy the same DVD every second month.

A year back we bought ourself a backup solution (Synology diskstation) that is used for taking backup of documents, pictures and of course the movies. With that backup solution you can also play them out on all devices connected to your home network, or potentially stream them out on the Internet if you like. My ISP does not allow that of course, but anyway … it is poosible.

With this backup solution we can of course connect our TV and stream them from the disk station. Cool! Alas, not as cool as I first thought becuase you need software, either as middle ware or on the actual TV, that is able to read the DVD files. As we live in Norway, and my kids mostly speak Norwegian, I would of course like to select Norwegian as the preferred language for most of the movies we watch. Not possible! Truth be told, the TV does read the VOB files and audio is fine; however, it does not (from the remote) allow me to control the audio selection. Also, it does not make the separate VOB files in the folder into a logical compilation that is played out as one DVD.

So to the point. I figured out that I could stream MKV files from my disk station, and after a quick search I found I could use MakeMKV to rebuild the DVDs with Norwegian languange. Converting files to use the Matroska container, which word is actually is a play on the Russian word Matryoshka (doll within a doll) that refers to media within a form of media, is of course not a full solution as in some cases you would like to be able to switch to the original language (most often English). After all … as a grown up you most often want to watch Narnia or some other cool animation movie in the original language. Yes, I do watch them …

So, now my oldest is able to start all movies from the remote control … on TV or from a laptop or any other device connected to our disk station! How cool isn’t that!?

For more information:

• http://matroska.org/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroska
• http://www.makemkv.com/
• http://www.synology.com/
• http://www.samsung.com/

Fireplace

Autumn is here for sure as summer moved on, and now we are closing in on winter. All the winter clothes have been taken down from the attic, and the kids are already into their long woollen underwear. Even I have been wearing my cap for a month or so …

The last couple of weeks have been chilly as well; however, last night was the coldest day of them all as I woke up to frosty windows on all cars in the street. Glad we have a garage, and that a bus-stop just down the road from our house.

Autumn and winter time is also a time to sit back and relax in front of the fireplace! Watch a good movie with your dear one, and just get close … with nothing else on your mind than how to make the most of that warm cup of chocolate and snacks … whatever “snack” that might be!?

It’s time to drop “let it rain, let it rain” and give room for a new mantra … “let it snow, let it snow” …

BTW, it’s christmas soon as well … Aahh, damn I have to start to figure out what presents to buy for christmas!