Tech Turtle Tip: DVD to Video iPod

Are you bored staring at strangers during your commute to work? Need something to do while waiting for an oil change for the Prius ? Well, then don't let your Video iPod go to waste. You can watch the Star Wars or the Devil Wears Prada DVD on your iPod. For PC users, go to videora.com, or iSquint. For Mac users, use Handbrake. Both freewares extract the MPEG2 video from DVDs, and convert it to MPEG4 which is the format playable on the 5th generation iPod. Note: It's is not legal to make DVD copies to sell them on the sidewalks of New York City... or anywhere else.

Update: Handbrake is now MediaFork. Different name, but still the same awesome-ness. You can download it from MacUpdate.

Comicon NY

Where No Man Has Gone Before

Are we on track with the Star Trek timeline? NASA made a 2-year agreement with the Virgin Galactic space-tourism company. (Yes, Virgin, as in Richard Branson's Virgin Records. The millionaire is creating a fleet based on the first privately-funded SpaceShipOne.) Together, they will work on new technologies that will include hybrid rockets. The goal is travel five-times the speed of sound. 2 years is actually an ambitious number to push travel that fast, but still a long way from the speed of light. According to ST: First Contact, we will have achieved warp technology by the year 2063. So don't forget to put that on your calendar.