Day: February 27, 2009

VideoLAN

For the past month I’ve been using an opensource video player called VideoLAN that was developed as a student project in France. It is, in short, the single best piece of opensource code on my system and an incredibly capable video player — kicking the stuffing out of commercial offerings from the major OS players as well as third-parties. The bullshit of wrestling with QuickTime, Microsoft Media, RealPlayer, Intervideo, DivX blah blah blah are over.

Indeed, I’ve found that if I have a problem with a video file in say *.avi format playing in its native player, Quicktime, I can open it with VLAN and the problems vanish.

So, a plug for this nice piece of code. If you want to simplify your video viewing, here’s the solution.

Out of pocket

I am having minor surgery done on my right nostril/sinus/septum/schnoz today to fix a messed-up situation caused by the 2006 bike accident.

update: The septoplasty took three hours this afternoon- I have a  moustache bandage and two big black eyes. Not video was shot.

First rule in minor surgery: don’t be an all-knowing weenie and watch the procedure on YouTube. There are things that need not be known.

Second rule: unconsciousness is a good thing when chisels and silver hammers are involved. Do this in a tent — as Uncle Fester says — and welcome to the Civil War.

Third rule: any time you tell someone that you are about to have nose surgery the conclusion is either rhinoplastic vanity or a past problem with the devil’s dandruff.

Bottom line: I am going to be a vegetable the remainder of the weekend with 12 feet of gauze stuffed upside my head. By Monday I should be pawing at the ground and breathing through flared nostrils like a stallion.

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