iSquint.org offers a program (iSquint) to convert video files to other formats, most notably iPod format. I learned of it from Jesse David Hollington‘s column titled “The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)” at iLounge.com. An interesting (and accurate in my observation) point that Mr. Hollington makes is that while QuickTime Pro can convert just any format to another, it does so very slowly. iSquint is much faster and has excellent defaults. It will even quietly convert a DiVX .avi (such as one might find via BitTorrent somewhere) to an even smaller iPod-ready MPEG-4 (.mp4) file.iSquint will graciously drop the new file into iTunes (in Movies) ready to be pushed over to an iPod with video smarts. It can also conveniently accept a drag’n’drop pile of files to be converted while you sleep. (Allegedly, ffmpegX can do this job well, too, but it requires that you install the Linux-grown (?) utilities such as ffmpeg separately. iSquint seems to be a very easy all-in-one solution.)
You Can Pick Your Friends…
From CuteOverload.com. Hopefully, this crow is helping remove some Bot Fly eggs from the sheep’s nose.
Lincoln by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson
Abraham Lincoln,
An Account of His Personal Life,
Especially of Its Springs of Action as
Revealed and Deepened by the Ordeal of War
The Gettysburg Address (mp3)
The Gettysburg Address (MP3) from the Great Speeches in History Podcast from LearnOutLoud.com
Lincoln’s Letters: The Private Man and the Warrior (Audiobook)
This collection of Lincoln’s letters gives us a glimpse into the inner self of a great American president. After a brief autobiography, the letters appear chronologically, beginning with his courtship and early political life and continuing into the presidency. In these letters, Lincoln reveals his private side. His letter to Mrs. Orville Browning is a parody of his rejected proposal. In the letter to John T. Stuart, he reveals his depression at breaking his engagement with Mary Todd, with whom he is later reconciled and eventually marries. In letters to his friend, Joshua Speed, he laments the loss of resolve, the “chief gem” of his character. The letters to generals and statesmen give us insight into Lincoln as a commander and deepen our understanding of the Civil War. Beautifully performed by George Vail, this program provides a unique insight into the man, the times, and the making of this country.
Lincoln may have had facial defect
(Link to Yahoo)
By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Artists, sculptors and photographers knew Abraham Lincoln’s face had a good side. Now it’s confirmed by science. Laser scans of two life masks, made from plaster casts of Lincoln’s face, reveal the 16th president’s unusual degree of facial asymmetry, according to a new study.
In Cambridge loft, Web junkies meet for coffee and the next big thing
CAMBRIDGE — With an Xbox that projects onto the wall, beer in the fridge, and a caffeinated techno soundtrack playing in the background as burgers sizzle on the grill outside, a dozen entrepreneurs are hard at work building Boston’s next Web start-ups in a Central Square loft dubbed Betahouse.
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Abe
Honest Abe cloisonné label pin. Wear it with pride. From Shopshin’s General Store in NY.
2008 Sheepshearing Festival @ Gore Place, Waltham
2008 Sheepshearing Festival
Saturday, April 26th,
10am-4pm, Rain or Shine
52 Gore Street
Waltham MA
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The Traneumentary
This is a fixed-episode-count podcast (they just put out the final episode) about John Coltrane and his music and his impact on jazz.
Most episodes are pretty short (~10 mins) and involve either interviews/commentary with experts on John Coltrane (or the quartet) or with people who played with him, such as McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Cobb, Charles Tolliver, Steve Kuhn.
A few episodes dive pretty deeply into the kinds of music things that Coltrane did that were so revolutionary. I found every episode to be extremely fascinating (and educational!).