No Avoiding Converting DVD's :(

We are back from holidays!  Lots of blog posts to come!  Tried to get this out before we left but it didn't happen.  Nevermind, here it is :)

Further to my previous post here I have encountered various issues attempting to transfer DVD files in their native format to GoodPlayer to be played.  I had hoped that GoodPlayer would be the answer, but sadly it isn't :(  It seems there is no choice but to CONVERT the files.

On the up side GoodPlayer does an awesome job of dealing with downloaded content from youTube.

Here are some good links to read through which tell you exactly what to do to get a DVD from the disc onto your iPad.

How to Play DVDs in an iPad, iPhone or iPod

Play DVD on iPad

Essentially their information is the same.  Download an open source program called Handbrake, which is free, download VLC media player, again free, then convert and transfer through iTunes.

I tried it out and it worked like a dream on my Mac.  I've converted several movies now and have them on the iPad and iTouches.  Whilst on holidays i tried it out for my friend on her PC and sadly we couldn't get it to work at all :(

Just so you know, you can now purchase DVD's which have various file formats which don't require conversion.  It will say so on the back of the DVD.

Hope that helps
Amber

More iPad Apps we are LOVING!

Penultimate
For quite some time i have been looking for an app where you could write just like you would in a notebook, you could turn the page and keep on writing, even draw a picture and have it all saved into a neat little notebook.  I stumbled across Penultimate and it is everything i was looking for.  I've now got several notebooks set up, eg, Flossy's Spelling.  In this notebook she can write all her spelling words and sentences and it's all saved there for later.  Previously we had been using Whiteboard Pro for spelling words, but there was no 'neat' way of saving all of the work.  As we are moderated by our state it is important to me to keep a record of the work we are completing.

GoodPlayer
Last year i tried ripping some DVD's onto the kids iTouches, what a time consuming process, ripping, converting, transferring etc.  I eventually gave up, i think i only did 3!  I was speaking to my sister over the Christmas break and she suggested taking a look at Good Player.  It plays the files in their native format, no converting required!  Brilliant!  I've now downloaded a bunch of Magic School Bus movies from You Tube now to transfer lots of the DVD's we have in our library.

Drawing Box
Want an app that lets you feel like you are drawing on paper?  This is the one, don't skimp, pay the dollars, you wont be disappointed.  It has a wide variety of media to choose from, from paint rollers to calligraphy pens.  Our favourite function is the mirror image feature where it will mirror exactly what you draw.  LOTS of fun and is inspiring lots of creativity on paper too :)

Downloading You Tube movies in Safari

If your on a Mac and your using Safari then there is an easy way to download your favorite You Tube movies to watch time and time again without the hassle of downloading each time.  Better yet, if you've got an iPad then you can pop them onto your iPad and use a viewer like Good Player to view wherever you are, whenever you like!

So first up open the You Tube page with the movie and let it begin playing.  Next press command-option-A which will bring up an activity window.  Find the You Tube heading and click on the arrow to show details of what is being loaded.  Somewhere in that list there will be a large file, typically over 5MB.  Double click on it and Safari will begin downloading it.  Once the download is completed you can find the file in the download folder via Finder, it will be a .flv file and have a generic name which I suggest you change so that it's easier to recognize.

If your using Good Reader you can transfer the file to your iPad via iTunes.  If you'd like to view on your Mac then you will need another media player like VLC.

Fav HS Programs

I have found a useful bunch of programs that I am using as HS tools and thought I would share :)

Anki - FREE memory system software, we are just getting started with this

Planbook - lesson planning software, LOVE this

Delicious Library 2 - library catalogue system, can't believe I didn't know about this one sooner

A new purchase = a big challenge!

Last Friday I finally purchased an Airport Extreme so that I could use my printer and external hard drive wirelessly. What should have been a simple plug in and set up turned into a 3 day saga, but I got there in the end :)

For anyone who cares about the hiccups I encountered here is what happened.

I connected the printer and hard drive to the Airport and then plugged it in to the power. I then followed the set up instructions and created my network. So far so good. I re-routed my printer address in my settings and tried the printer, all good. Then I tried transferring and accessing a file to the hard drive, again good. Then I tried connecting to the internet and it was a no go. Disconnected Airport and I could get on the net but I couldn't do both at once. Spent quite sometime looking for a solution on the net, changed a pile of settings. Managed to get on the net with Airport on only I lost access to the hard drive. So I had to reset the Airport and then I decided to upgrade my Mac OSX to Snow Leopard which I had but hadn't installed yet in the hope that would change things up. Well it did. I successfully managed to loose all access to my internet as the dongle software isn't compatible with Snow Leopard! So more internet searching and a trip back to the Mac Shop and I managed to manually configure my dongle and get onto the net. It was Airport or the net again but a few more tweaks and FINALLY I can access both the internet and Airport at the same time. Phew, lots of work but worth it!