Play with VLC Player

While Windows Media Player has raised its game in recent years, it’s still not able to play some popular kinds of music and video files. This is especially true for those still happily using Windows XP, where even watching a DVD can prove troublesome if you don’t have the necessary add-ons installed.

While some home PCs come with software that handles this particular problem, that’s barely the start of Windows’ dislike of media formats other than those made by Microsoft. However, there is an alternative. A free media player program called VLC will play nearly any type of music, audio and video file. In this Workshop we’ll explain how to download and install VLC and walk you through some of its best features.

Here’s a familiar sight for users of Windows XP. Windows Media Player has recognised that we’ve put a shop-bought DVD movie into the drive and has duly displayed the title and chapter headings down the side of the screen but refuses to play it. Why? Because it’s missing a DVD ‘decoder’, some software that works behind the scenes to play back DVDs. Click Web Help to find out more, buy a decoder from Microsoft, or run the company’s Decoder Checkup Utility. Alternatively, follow us to next Step.

Go to www.snipca.com/x344 to download this software. When the website loads, click the Windows link in the Download VLC section. At the next page, click one of the Download links (the faster ones are at the top) and then follow the instructions to get the program, ignoring any Windows security warnings along the way. When the program downloads, double-click the icon to install it; use the defaults and leave other settings as they are.

When the setup wizard completes, click the Finish button and then accept VLC’s privacy and networking policy by clicking the OK button. We’ll try again to watch that same DVD. This time, instead of loading and then refusing to play the film, Windows displays its Play dialogue box and there’s VLC, the program we just installed offering to play the DVD movie. Click on the entry once to select it and then click the OK button to play the movie.

VLC doesn’t look as flashy as Windows Media Player but as the screen shows, it has at least one clear advantage; it plays DVDs without you having to download, or buy, any additional software. Use the mouse to select any of the on-screen menu items, or use the controls along the bottom of the VLC window to play, pause, stop or otherwise navigate around the DVD; there’s a volume slider on the right that can be dragged left or right to alter the soundtrack level.

The VLC window can be resized, and using the menus it’s easy to navigate between chapters, set subtitles, return to the main chapter menu and so on. Alternatively, go to the video menu and choose Fullscreen. Afterwards, roll the mouse pointer to the middle of the screen and the player controls will disappear, leaving just the movie. While we’re about it, here’s something else Windows Media Player can’t do. Right-click anywhere on the screen and choose Video, and then when an attractive scene appears on screen, click Snapshot.

This copies a snapshot of whatever is on the screen to Windows’ My Pictures folder, which you can then use as wallpaper. In XP, right-click the desktop and select Properties before clicking the Display tab. Click Browse to locate the image. In Vista and Windows 7, you can just right-click the image, found in your My Pictures folder, and choose ‘Set as desktop background’. If you want to change the background colour of the desktop, you can do so from the Display tab (in Vista and Windows 7, right-click the desktop and choose Personalise to access these options). Here we’ve simply changed the colour of the Windows Desktop background to black to accommodate our fancy new wallpaper. Click OK to confirm any changes.

When it comes to video that Windows Media Player doesn’t fancy, it’s not just DVDs that VLC can play. Here, for example, we’ve started VLC a couple of times by clicking the shortcut on the Desktop and then opened an MPEG4 video of a TV show, as well as a video from the internet that’s been saved in the increasingly popular open-source OGG format. VLC player happily runs both kinds of video files and can also be used for MP3 songs and most other popular music formats.

Next, to the most popular video site on the internet ­ Youtube (www.youtube.com). Windows Media Player can’t handle the Youtube video format. Try to play one and it’ll just display an error message. Fortunately, VLC can play them, so find one to watch and then, click once in the Address or Location line (where all the http stuff is) and then right-click on it and choose Copy from the pop-up menu to put the address on the Windows Clipboard.

Switch back to VLC. The next step is to tell the program where the Youtube video is stored by giving it the web address just copied into the Clipboard, so click on the Media menu and then choose Open Network from the menu. When the dialogue box opens, click the Network tab and then right-click in the empty address box and choose Paste to add the address. Finish up by clicking the Play button at the bottom of the dialogue.

And here’s the Youtube video playing back on the Windows Desktop, inside a VLC program window. All the usual playback controls are available too ­ here we’re pausing the video ­ and the window can be resized easily by dragging on the corners with the mouse and the Youtube address added to the playlist so that it’s easy to watch again whenever you like. Of course, Youtube videos can get taken down at any time, so wouldn’t it be good if we could save it as well?

Although VLC doesn’t literally have a Save button, there is a way to use it to capture Youtube clips. With the Youtube video still loaded, go to the Tools menu and choose Media Information. When the dialogue box opens, make sure the General tab is selected and find the Location field at the bottom (if there’s nothing in this field, close the dialogue, run the Youtube video again for a moment, then stop it and come back). Double-click on the address that’s in the Location field and then right-click on it. Then choose Copy from the pop-up menu.

Next, open the Media menu again and choose Convert/Save. When the dialogue box opens, click the Network tab. Then highlight what’s in the Address field and hold down the Ctrl key and press V to paste in the address just copied from the Media Information dialogue (this contains additional info that VLC needs to save the Youtube video properly). Then click the Convert/Save button. This opens the Stream Output dialogue box. Put a tick next to Play locally and File, then click the Browse button. Give the file a name and click Save.

Back at the Stream Output dialogue box, open the dropdown menu next to Profile and choose a video format from the list of presets. Most popular ones are shown here and in this example we’ve chosen Windows’ own WMV format. (Alternatively, anyone who knows what they’re doing can use the tabs and controls underneath to specify particular audio and video settings to suit). Now VLC knows what to play as well as where to save it and in what format, click the Save button to begin.

Play the video all the way through to save it, then use VLC to open the newly created file. This time it’s not being streamed from the Youtube site in its original format but instead, it’s stored on the PC and is playing back in WMV video format. Although a little long-winded, playing and saving Youtube videos in this way works really well and you can use the program’s playlist features to organise libraries of video clips.

Start Free Internet Radio Station

If you're the kind of person who insists on handpicking a road-trip playlist rather than just setting your music player to shuffle, you were born for radio, baby. Fortunately, you don't have to let your daily life get in the way of your broadcasting fantasies. As long as you have a PC with a broadband connection, you have what it takes to inflict your talk-radio rants or musical taste on anyone who'll listen.

The Quick Way

For a quick and dirty way to stream music to your buddies, you can simply grab a male-to-male 3.5mm RCA audio cable, plug one end into the microphone jack and the other end into the headphone jack, and either start a Skype session or sign up for an account with a Web-based streaming service (Justin.tv or Ustream.tv, for example) to get going.

Your computer will feed your audio output (from the headphone jack) to the audio input (from the mic jack) and broadcast it to whoever is on your stream. All you have to do is open up your MP3 player of choice and you're ready to rock.

Justin.tv even supports Youtube playlists, so your listeners can stay on after you sign off.
Of course, if you want to set up something that gives your listeners a distinctly radio experience, you'll have to do a little more work than that.

Perform the steps below, and you'll have an online radio station that can stream to Icecast or Shoutcast servers like the big radio stations do.

Step 1: Get Your Gear

You don't need any special audio gear for this project aside from a mic, if you plan to say anything (song introductions, station identifications, or whatever). What you do need is a handful of different apps: one to play your music files, one to turn the audio feed into a streamable source, and one to act as a server for sharing your stream with the world.

You have plenty of options to choose from in all of the above categories, and each app has its own merits. In this tutorial, we'll use Winamp to play the music, Edcast (the Winamp plug-in, not the stand-alone version) to turn it into a stream, and Icecast2 to serve it up. The Edcast/Icecast2 pairing is unusually easy to configure for different types of radio servers and audio formats.

You'll also need to download a special .DLL file (lame_enc.dll) if you want to broadcast in an MP3 format (which is more compatible with older audio players): Download the zipped version, unzip it, and put lame_enc.dll in Winamp's root directory (it usually is located in C:/Program Files/Winamp).

Step 2: Set Up Your Server

Before you start streaming, you'll need to estimate the size of audience you expect (or want). Your capacity to stream music depends on your Internet connection's upstream speed the speed at which you can send data to other computers. At faster upstream speeds, you can accommodate more listeners with a higher level of audio quality.

Since both connection speeds and digital audio quality are measured in kilobits per second (kbps) not in kilobytes per second (KBps) you can figure out how much bandwidth you need to serve your radio station by plugging the numbers into this formula:

Simultaneous listeners x Audio bitrate = Required bandwidth

If you're hosting the station on a home PC with a typical cable or DSL connection, your upstream speeds probably aren't great. My home DSL's upstream speeds tops out at about 500 kbps (about 50 KBps), and a high-quality MP3 feed requires at least 192 kbps, so I'd be able to accommodate only two listeners and I'd barely be able to do anything with my Internet connection.

I could lower the quality of the feed to, say, 96 kbps, but then the audio quality of my stream would be significantly worse. For talk radio, it would probably be fine; but for music, it might sound as though songs were being transmitted over a phone.

Fortunately, the stream server doesn't have to live on the same PC as the audio source. You can use your PC to play the music with Winamp and to source it with Edcast, and then send the stream over the Internet to a dedicated radio stream server equipped with a high-bandwidth connection. If you use that approach, your broadband connection needs to strong enough to send out one stream to the dedicated server but it doesn't have to be any stronger. Also, you don't have to monopolize your Internet connection to keep up your radio station, since you're sending a single stream to the server, which then handles each listener with its own broadband connection.

Typically, you have to pay for a dedicated radio server; the rates start at about $6 per month and increase as your radio station's traffic grows. But some free Shoutcast radio servers rely on ads to pay the bills. One such server, FreeStreamHosting.org, invites you to broadcast a 128-kbps stream to up to 1000 users at no charge and the ads stay out of your audio stream (instead, they get displayed on the Web page you use to advertise your station).

I recommend signing up for a dedicated radio server: The cost is far less than what you'd pay for a home Internet connection (which for practical purposes you wouldn't be able to use for anything else), and such servers are slightly easier to configure.


If you opt for a dedicated streaming server, make sure that you know the host's IP address or URL, the correct port number, the stream password, the server type (usually it's either Shoutcast or Icecast2), and the maximum bitrate (if applicable) before moving on.

If you want to run your own server, download and install Icecast2, open the app, and select Edit Configuration from the Configuration menu. This will open a text document called 'icecast.xml', which you'll have to tweak a bit. From top to bottom:

* For the 'sources' tag, enter the maximum number of listeners you want your station to have.
* For the 'source-password' tag, enter the password you want to use for your stream app (Edcast).
* The 'relay-password' and 'admin-password' tags aren't important for this how-to, but change them from the default 'hackme' anyway.
* For the 'hostname' tag, enter your IP address. If you want to broadcast only to your network, use your internal network's IP address. Otherwise, you can find your outside IP address at WhatsMyIP.net.
* The 'port' tag refers to the port you'd like to use to stream the music. I left mine on the default 8000. Remember, you'll probably need to open this port in your firewall in order for your radio station to work.

Save the icecast.xml doc (in the root icecast2 directory, usually C:/Program Files/icecast2), and click Start Server in Icecast2's main window.

Step 3: Configure the Source App

Now that your stream server is running, you need to give it something to stream. That's where Edcast comes in. Grab the Edcast Winamp plugin, open Winamp, go to Options, Preferences, Plug-ins, DSP/Effect, select edcast DSP v3 [dsp_edcast.dll], and click Configure active plugin.

Here you can set Edcast to use either your microphone jack or your Winamp playlist. Just click the mic picture to enable or disable the mic; when the mic is disabled, Edcast will use Winamp for its input. You can test this yourself by clicking on the sound-level meter to activate it, playing some music through Winamp, and toggling the mic off and on to see whether each input is working.

Next, click Add Encoder to add a new entry (Vorbis: Quality 0/Stereo/44100) in the box below, and double-click the new entry to configure it. Here you'll need to plug in your server settings make sure that the server type is set to the right protocol (Shoutcast or Icecast2, depending on which server you chose in step 2), enter your server's IP in the Server IP field (if you're hosting the Icecast server on the same PC, it's your IP address), and enter the corresponding port and password.

You'll also want to set your encoder type here: AAC and MP3 tend to be the most widely compatible; AAC+ is optimized for lower-bitrate audio applications (perfect for streaming), but it sometimes doesn't sound as good; and Ogg Vorbis has fairly high audio quality at lower bitrates, but certain music player apps (iTunes, for example) don't natively support it.

If you're using Icecast2, note the 'mountpoint' entry in the Basic Settings tab. You'll need to put a path here depending on your encoder type: Ogg Vorbis streams can be called '/whatever.ogg'; AAC streams, '/whatever.aac'; and so on. This string will eventually appear at the end of your radio station's URL, as in 'http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:8000/whatever.aac'.

When you're satisfied with the way your station works, you'll want to click over to the YP Settings tab to configure your public listing information (station name, URL, genre, and so on), but for now you don't need to mess with it.

Step 4: Play That Funky Music

Icecast2 (or your dedicated radio server) is up, Edcast is configured, and your Winamp collection is ready to rock. So click Connect in the Edcast window to connect Edcast to your radio server, and start spinning away.

It's no fun if you don't have an audience, though. If you opted for a separate radio server, you'll probably have your own URL (something like http://s3.myradiostream.com/24212.htm) but if you're using Icecast2, the URL to access your radio stream will be http://(youripaddress):(port)/(mountpoint), without parentheses.

If your IP address is 192.168.0.1 and you are using port 8000 and you set the mountpoint to '/stream.ogg', your listeners can tune in by pointing their audio player of choice to http://192.168.0.1:8000/stream.ogg.

Linking your radio station URL to your IP address can be a pain particularly if you don't have a fixed IP address for your home broadband because your listeners will have to keep up with your IP changes. To avoid this complication, you can register your own domain name; but if you don't want to shell out the cash, you can sign up for a free DynDNS.com domain name instead.

Step 5: Don't Get Sued

The intricacies of broadcasting and copyright law are outside the scope of this how-to. Generally speaking, however, if you want to broadcast someone else's music legally, you need to obtain the permission of both the artist and the recording company that produced and distributes those recordings, which can cost a small-time broadcaster a lot of money and time.

Rather than play Russian roulette with the RIAA, consider acquiring licensing through a service such as Live365.com, the JPL program of the SWCast Network, or LoudCity. These organizations offer different ways to get your station appropriately licensed for a monthly fee based on factors such as how many listeners you have.

You also need to ensure that your radio station complies with the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) when you program your playlists. Live365.com has posted a summarized list of rules you must follow.

Alternatively, if you play your own music or if you get permission from independent bands that don't have a recording industry contract to play their music, you're all set. Music licensed under the Creative Commons can work, too, though it depends on the specific license that the artist uses: If you run advertisements on your station, you might not be able to use music licensed for noncommercial broadcasting only.

Computer can Lead to Stress

Komputer bagi sebagian besar Black Community bumi ini bukan lagi barang baru yang belum pernah dikenal sebelumnya. Komputer telah hadir mengisi tiap sisi kehidupan manusia. Perkantoran, rumah tangga, usaha jasa bahkan hampir tiap individu telah memiliki barang yang canggih ini. Beberapa tahun belakangan, kehadirannya kini amatlah penting. Tanpa komputer, dapat diibaratkan korek tanpa Djarum Black Slimz.

Apa iya...? Tergantung kebutuhan, lebih tepatnya dikatakan seperti itu. Karena ada pula Black Car Community maupun bagian tertentu di dunia ini yang tidak terlalu butuh dengannya. Mungkin saja butuh tapi tidak setiap saat.

Kita tinggalkan pihak yang tidak butuh untuk sementara waktu. Selanjutnya mari fokuskan pada pihak yang secara kontinue kebutuhannya benar-benar pasti. Betapa stres jadinya jikalau komputer yang menjadi pacar sejatinya dalam menyelesaikan pekerjaan, ternyata saat dibutuhkan justru tidak hadir alias ALPA. Mungkin juga komputernya ada, tapi ada beberapa masalah yang mengakibatkan ERROR pada benda pintar ini. Kondisi komputer yang bikin stres, antara lain :
1. Komputer masih dalam Box (belum dirakit)
2. Tidak ada sumber listrik untuk menghidupkannya
3. Belum diinstall salah satu Operation System (OS)
4. OS under DOS, si operator hanya menguasai Windows
5. Tidak dilengkapi dengan Mouse (bagi pengguna awam terhadap DOS)
6. Mati lampu karena perbuatan penguasa listrik
7. Not available Internet (target Blogger, Facebooker and other netter)
8. Ukuran monitor hanya 1 inci (kacamata terinjak Elephant)
9. Hard Disk is full with songs and videos but no player build in (putar pakai tangan biar ramah lingkungan)

Ya udah.........cukup sembilan sebagai pembuka Djarum Black...Jadinya khawatir kalau dicukupkan sepuluh karena masih banyak faktor lainnya yang akan membuat User jadi stres.

Streaming music from Windows 7

Listen to your favorite music without having to carry your laptop from the living room to the kitchen. Share your music library on a wireless network.

While this workshop shows you how to stream music from one laptop to another, digital media such as videos and pictures can be accessed using the same method.

Step 1

First we’ll connect the server laptop to a wireless home network. This laptop has Windows 7 with Media player 12 and it has all the music, videos and media that you want to share. Right-click on the Internet notification area and select ‘Open network and sharing center’. Now, click on ‘Connect to a network’ and from the list of networks, choose the preferred one and connect. Enter the secure network key when prompted.

Step 2

Let’s create a ‘HomeGroup’. From ‘Network and Sharing Center’, click ‘HomeGroup’ and then ‘What is a network location?’. You’ll see a window with three options. Select the first one that says ‘Home Network’. In the following window, select what you want to share and click ‘Next’. Follow the onscreen instructions and Click ‘Finish’.

Step 3

In ‘Network and Sharing Center’, click ‘Change Advanced Sharing Settings’ and make the changes. Then go to ‘Media Streaming Options’ and allow people you want access to your files. Open Windows Media Player, go to ‘Stream’ and click ‘Automatically allow devices to play my media’. The content you chose to share is now on this network.

Step 4

To access this content on a client PC or laptop, first connect the machine to the same wireless network as the server laptop, using the procedure in Step 1. Vista users can right click and directly select ‘Connect to network’. Assuming that both laptops are in the same network, open Windows Media Player and see of you can find the shared server laptop in the left pane.

Step 5

To find shared media on the network and to share media from the client PC, in WMP, right-click on Library and click ‘Media Sharing’. Here, you can allow or deny access to other PCs and find the media you’re looking for. Click ‘Ok’ when you're done. Now, the server PC will appear in WMP and other functionalities will remain same. You’re now ready to play the music which is stored on the server PC.

Will a Better Tomorrow...???

Conditions are increasingly concerned about the earth should encourage us to further notice. Global climate change, the earth's survival is threatened due to natural phenomena became bolder uncertain. What man ever had in the time that has passed within 10,000 years ago, it is not impossible to happen in the future. Maybe just in time, sooner or later, the analysis can speak, even as far as possible theory could be used as a reference. However, the wrath of the Creator is not unexpected if humans have worsened the situation due to the earth ulahnya.

A positive response can be applied by beings who care about the environment. Through creative touch nan, an event held at the propeller Restaurant and Café of Bonthain (Jl. Raya Lanto No. 1 Bantaeng). Princess Fatimah Nurdin daily nicknamed Princess Nurdin, in cooperation with several parties that include:
1. Ambae.exe
2. BGlobal Management
3. BGallery Band
4. SMA neg. 1 Bantaeng
5. SMA neg. 2 Bantaeng
6. SMK neg. 1 Bantaeng
7. Community Music / Band Bantaeng
8. And other parties are very concerned about the earth

Especially the role of the District Government Bantaeng, supporting every movement and nuance rescue activities, anticipation and prevention. Rather, dated March 27, 2009 from 19:30 o'clock last night Wita, the event was held with the theme Bantaeng Go Green. In the occasion that time, the Princess calls all parties to be present this morning in order to Planting Trees as preventive measures against the phenomenon of GLOBAL WARMING.

Activities coupled with Performance Music, also filled in some Quiz with prizes for audience satisfaction. This includes opening a Babakan the audience to express unek-uneknya of Bantaeng Development. Ambae.exe also participate in providing one-point proposal, namely Point Development Bantaeng Hotspot in the region in order to stimulate people's purchasing power as well as a learning arena overall Information Technology. While the other proposals in the form of utilization of the environment for the conservation of nature, cleanliness and beauty of the city Bantaeng.

Regent Bantaeng (HM Nurdin Abdullah) and his mother Chairman Team PKK (Nurdin F. Hj. Lies) who attended the occasion, welcomed the plan of planting trees that have been executed this morning.

Until the end of the night, the audience enthusiastically follow the explanation presented by the Princess Nurdin (Eldest Daughter of Mr. Regent Bantaeng). Furthermore, this morning along with hundreds of students of Senior High School in Bantaeng, Princess Nurdin, BGlobal Management Ambae.exe and implement tree planting around the Square Bawakaraeng, the Regent House Office Bantaeng.

After planting trees, the participants Bantaeng Go Green activities directed to listen to the exposure of the Princess Nurdin related to Global Warming events. Located in Building Pertiwi (Jl. Crow Bantaeng), the spirit of students from several high school after listening to the explanation of Bantaeng the princess, appears serious and focus of their faces.

And to complete the series of events, for the next time back to give some refresh Quiz as a forum to avoid monotony impressed. Some students and students are invited to provide views on Global Warming as long as they understand it. Surely in these activities, a 1.5-hour length movies, entitled The Day After Tomorrow is playing to be able to bring more information to think for the audience.

The story is about how the process and the effects that may result from Global Warming. Real life is considered good for this, it is not impossible that one day will vanish, and even a lost civilization swallowed by the earth at once.

After watching the film, the participants most of whom were high school students neg. 1 Bantaeng, SMA neg. 2 Bantaeng and Vocational neg. 1 Bantaeng, as if swept away by a story that flows in it. Then they woke up from his seriousness in the film is listening, as if awakened from a long dream and never imagined the havoc that can be fatal if from now people are not trying to preserve the earth.

So we all keep selayaknyalah this earth, never unmindful of the dangers that can be caused by actions that had been deemed not to damage because of the nature of selfishness, self-interest and indifference.

In order to address Global Warming, let's together think about the best step for the earth we live on. Coab refer to the message below. Read, consider, understand and implement with sincerity.

Indonesia Earth Hour Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 20.30-21.30. Turn off the lights 1 hour.
I, you, we can change the world. 1 hour the lights went out, each with 300 Megawatt, enough for 900 villages, reducing the electrical load 200 million, reducing the 284 Tons of CO2 emissions, saving 284 trees, produce clean air for 568 people!

SAVE THE EARTH, STOP GLOBAL WARMING!
1 hour that can improve the quality of the earth ...
Every 1 person who participated very meaningful to earth ...
Disclose to the other yach ...!!!