taijuando wrote:

is there anything for macs that would help me extract the audio from dvds i've bought to listen to their dialogues on my ipod....fuaburisu...i just got one, too...easy for a technophobe like me to use

Check out MacTheRipper.

radical_tyro wrote:

taijuando wrote:

is there anything for macs that would help me extract the audio from dvds i've bought to listen to their dialogues on my ipod....fuaburisu...i just got one, too...easy for a technophobe like me to use

Check out MacTheRipper.

Didn't know MacTheRipper could do that. But you can use MacTheRipper to rip your DVDs to your hard-drive.

I use ffmpegX which can read almost anything you throw at it. You can drop in VIDEO_TS files (which you can create using MacTheRipper) then encode the audio to mp3.

Handbreak is another application that works like ffmpegX, I think. But my understanding is that ffmpegX is more versatile.

markl11 wrote:

If you are going to be watching a lot of dramas from D-Addicts then you might find the iPod Touch better in the long run - the screen is much bigger.

Thanks mark. I've been considering the iPod touch as well. But it's pricey. I don't plan to watch movies on it. For listening, it doesn't seem very practical as you have to watch the thing and pull it out of your bag/pocket to use the touch interface to be able to skip songs, play/pause/stop etc. I didn't try it for long at the store so maybe I missed something?

On the plus side, the iPod Touch has the Safari browser, so I could write applications through the browser I guess, maybe even test the site in it. I'm still not sure what the iPod nano uses, have to do some research...

BTW- not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but I think you can listen to NHK radio live on the Internet:

http://www.nhk.or.jp/rj/index_e.html

Just click on one of the buttons under the 'Live' section.



For a fee, you can also susbscribe to JSTV in Europe:

http://www.jstv.co.uk/english/index.html




Mark

Serge wrote:

I have never been able to have ffmpegX do it for me - I end up with empty audio files, no matter which channels I select.

I set the 'Target Format' to "movie audio to mp3" and that seems to do the trick for me. My source format is usually an .avi file.

EDIT: I use a Mac and found that my system language has to be set to English for ffmpegX to do its work.

Last edited by synewave (2008 March 10, 7:58 pm)

Wow.. awesome link!

thanks for the tv link, it's awesome!
but i wonder how much does it cost to the bandwidth *has limited GB per month*

Whoa!! Awesome!

I wish the sound was just a wee bit better... lots of noise here. I think I'm going to run this a lot in the background. Which makes me think, they could have a audio-only switch to save bandwidth. Worth suggesting maybe, hmm well I'll try a short Japanese email later on their contact form..

Only TV links I had before came from David Hallgren's page. Ahh, I see they are still there : David Hallgren's Japanese Page > Japanese TV. LFX, IIV Channel and Impress TV have a lot better quality video and audio last time I tried, but I have to connect before 1pm or so here in Belgium, at which point the programs are on hold during Japan night time (might be the same for KeyHole TV though?).

scout wrote:

@Jarvik7
That would certainly be an interesting experience.. how did you go about doing it?

The way I did it isn't easily repeatable for most I think (homestay in Japan and then living with a JP girlfriend/fiancee)

There are however other ways to accomplish it. You can check the Mixi communities for your city/country and see if anyone is looking for a roommate. Alternatively, if you have a spare room in your house/apartment you can offer it for free/rent to short/long term Japanese exchange students or to any Japanese people who happen to be moving in to the area. Mixi really is the best way to accomplish such things since (in my experience) like 80% of Japanese people under 40 have an account, even if they don't use it regularly. You could also try contacting the Japanese ex-pat community association (if any) in your area. If you have a lot of free time you could offer yourself up as a homestay yourself, although that would entail speaking more English/your-native-language than you'd probably want to.

-edit-
I just noticed that you're from North Carolina. A lot of exchange students from the university I went to in Japan go to that state and seek homestays. That might be your best bet.

Last edited by Jarvik7 (2008 March 11, 6:24 pm)

Hi Dragg, I spent 100 euros back then on a Sony one and no luck

It's a SONY ICF-SW35, it was among the cheapest world receiver when I bought it..

I guess I really need an external antenna..

Well I did a little research, and I found what looks like bad news.  According to an article I read online, Nhk has been cutting down on their worldwide shortwave broadcasts due mainly to the popularity of the Internet.  According to the Europe chart, they only broadcast to Europe two hours a day at several different frequencies.  Maybe this would explain your inability to find broadcasts.

www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/English/radioguide_e.html

Edit: can't get the link to work, but its there!

Last edited by Dragg (2008 March 12, 8:39 pm)

Fabrice, sell your shortwave radio and buy the Com One Phoenix IP radio instead!!  It seems to be a wi-fi radio that is portable and doesn't even need your computer to be turned on (at least as far as I can tell.)  you can have the switch-on convenience of radio combined with the versatility of the net.

www.wifiradioreview.com/news/119/Com_On … ience.html