Recently I uploaded some footage to video sharing giant YouTube.com. Once uploaded, I found that, due to the video to flash conversion, the audio / visual sync was out.

When uploaded, YouTube takes the submitted video and transcodes it - it decodes the original data into raw format, and then re-encodes it into Flash Video Format (FLV). During this process, the loss in A/V sync becomes apparent. A symptom that has been experienced many times by YouTube users. Whilst there are ideas around to fix the fault from the flash side, they don’t prove useful for fixing the bug when submitting media to YouTube.

My original video was ripped from a DVD VOB file (a recording using a Sony DVD Recorder) and exported via Adobe Premiere as an MPEG-1, with a single video and single audio track. As mentioned, once uploaded, the A/V was found to be out of sync.

To correct the problem I took the MPEG-1 format video, and ran it through a number of conversions, with which I had no luck. My salvation came soon with Windows Movie Maker. Whilst not a favourite application of mine, I imported the MPEG-1 video into the Microsoft application, checked the A/V sync was intact, then exported the video as a Windows Media Video (WMV) file. After checking the A/V sync again, I uploaded the new video format to YouTube.

The process took a little longer then the previous attempts, but after about 20 minutes the video was ready for streaming. Loading the URL, I watched the video through and found that the A/V was once again in perfect synchronisation.

I’ve posted this in case anyone else should find any sync problems with Video - FLV conversions, in the hope that, given a try, might fix them.

On August 29, 2006 a patent request was made by Roger Detzler for an invention that instantaneously destroys the data contained on magnetic data storage media upon the occurrence of certain events.

Unauthorized access to data stored on magnetic media is prevented by destruction of the media with a reactant chemical. This approach may be initiated as a response to tampering or intentionally by using any one of several triggering interfaces rendering the data unrecoverable even to aggressive recovery procedures.

For the full document click here.

The good people over at Hackivismo have conjured up a new browser that allows users to surf the internet completely anonymously.

The open source program, named Torpark, utilises The Onion Router(TOR) network to constantly change where the user appears to be coming from. Along with an encryption method, Torpark provides end users with the means to scour the internet free of nosey ISPs.

“We live in a time where acquisition technologies are cherry picking and collating every aspect of our online lives - so it seems that it’s a browser attempting to redress that supposed imbalance.”
- said Oxblood Ruffin, founder of Hackivismo

Torpark is availabe as a free download from torpark.nfshost.com, and can be run from removable media, such as USB sticks, potentially turning any computer into an anonymous terminal.

Next month see’s the European launch of the much anticipated, Netgear SPH101 VoIP wireless phone. The Register reports that the handset is available via pre order to North American customers via Amazon.com with an expected availability date of 15th October 2006. However, Amazon.co.uk is currently listing the device as available and ready for shipping.

At £160, the SPH101 competes well with the current offerings, but given Netgears solid grounding and well known name, it is expected to grab a large proportion of the, rather limited, wireless VoIP handset market.

The SPH101 will connect straight to the Skype network using any 802.11b or 802.11g wireless network. The unit also provides all of the features that the common Skype software does. Whilst open networks are said to be hassle-free, secure wireless hotspots that require web based authentification might cause problems with the Netgear device.

A school, in the South of Wales, has recently began the implementation of a new scheme in which it aims to fingerprint the 1,400 attending pupils in a bid to automate class registrations.

Parents of the children that attend the school, in Porth County, were notified little more than a week before the scheme was put into practice. The headmaster of the school defends the decision, claiming that

“it wasn’t necessary for us to seek parental consent in this. It’s a system that has been approved by the DfES and it’s supported by Capita SIMS…..There are 1,400 students in the school and we had two phone calls…the parents were perfectly happy.”

The system, known as VeriCool, is developed by a sector of General Dynamics, and aims to provide biometric scanning for each classroom. General Dynamics is best known for specialising in producing systems for the military and intelligence services.

The move has met with much controversy, with parents and privacy advocates airing their concerns. David Clouter of leavethemkidsalone argued that taking the register was an important way for teachers to establish contact with each individual pupil at the start of a class and that its role would not substitute manual registers, for instance, in the case of a fire.

Your Response : The Register - Letters

Note: Interestingly, I was recently speaking to a driving instructor. I have been wondering, for some time now, why plastic ID card driving liscences have been introduced when drivers are still required to carry the paper counter-part. The instructor informed me that the common theory is that it is part of the initial phase of the governments biometric national ID card scheme. The idea being that we will put up less of a fight if we are already used to carry an ID card of sorts - a way of slowly introducing us to the idea of a full national ID scheme / database. Coupled with the reported incident of schools implementing fingerprint scanning systems, we clearly ARE slipping further towards that Orwellian society that we resent so much.

PC Pro is currently running an article on new Xerox technologies involving temporary prints via time limited print ink. From the article:

“Xerox has lifted the veil from some of its research and development work in the field of printing. The cutting-edge research highlighted at a press event involved current projects that are expected to see the commercial light of day within 18-months, including a twist on the theme of invisible ink….This offers the prospect of reusable paper in the sense that the content is automatically erased after a period of time, ready for fresh printing. Inspired by the fact that many print outs have a life-span of a few hours (think of the emails you may print out just to read, or the content you proof read on the train journey back home), the specially prepared paper will preserve its content for up to 16 hours.”

Read More : PC Pro - Xerox reveals transient documents

Anti-virus company F-Secure has posted details of a Windows virus which can use a Symbian handset to transport itself between systems. The Mobler worm infects a Windows system, hides the Windows folder and sets about copying itself into different directories and on to any removable media available.

It also creates a Symbian installation file which, if executed by an unwary user, installs a copy of the virus onto any removable media on the handset. Once there it depends on a curious user to execute it when attached to another computer.

In many ways this is a blast from the past in terms of virus design: when a virus would copy itself into an application and rely on that application being moved between systems. Indeed; on systems which have floppy drives Mobler will repeatedly attempt to copy itself onto a disk even if there isn’t one present, the sounds of which should present a clue that something is amiss. In these days when infection can follow opening a dodgy e-mail or just visiting the wrong web site, it’s harking back to simpler times to require the user to actually execute the infection themselves.

But apparently F-Secure received a copy of Mobler from an infected customer, so normal warnings apply: keep anti-virus software up to date, don’t open dodgy e-mails and, additionally, don’t run applications which suddenly appear on your removable media.

Source : The Register - Symbian phones targeted as carriers for Windows worm

Techworld reports that “There’s a new video codec out there that claims to offer ‘up to 40 percent better video quality’ but that resets your computer’s DNS settings — opening the way for Trojans, rootkits, or whatever. Techworld warns that zCodec looks professional enough, is widely available, and comes in at 100KB. What’s the bet the media companies are behind this somewhere?”

Mozilla released a second beta version of its upcoming Firefox 2.0 browser on Thursday. The release is targeted at developers and intended to generate more feedback while also incorporating a number of bug fixes contained in the Beta 1 version of the code, released in July.

Source : The Register - Firefox 2.0 Beta 2 unleashed
More Information : Firefox 2.0 Dev Page

Ever get annoyed when looking at photos and you just can’t remember where it was taken? Well soon that will be a thing of the past. It’s almost September, the second month of the year when Sony changes its product range. This September sees the release of the GPS-CS1, a 9cm GPS receiver. The idea behind the CS1 is to allow photographers to overlay their images onto the Google maps framework. It does this by synchronising the GPS log file with the timestamp found in your photo’s EXIF metadata.

Updating every 15 seconds, the CS1 records your position via GPS to a plain text log file. Using this data, the photograph’s timestamp and the bundled Picture Motion Browser web software, you can view the exact location where you took the picture, along with a thumbnail of the image itself. Example here: http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/Peripheral/GPS/GPS-CS1K/TryMapView/try.html (Internet Explorer Only)

Sony has guaranteed that the unit will work with all Sony cameras released after August, perhaps as the software will start to come in the box. However, providing your camera supports the EXIF 2.1 metadata standard, there is no reason that the software wouldn’t work with your camera.

Sony GPS-CS1 Specification

Of course there are certain privacy issues that come into play when dealing with GPS, and the CS1 is no exception. Get hold of one and you have a full history of where the owners been. Drop one in a bag and you have a relatively cheap surveillance device - perfect for stalking that desired girl or unfaithful partner. The software works with Google maps, meaning the data is being sent over the Internet and available for snoopers to get a hold of and if Google logs, then its trivial for the government to find out where you’ve been and at what time.