MKV plays with sound, but without video on media players

Have this problem, and yet its not all MKV behind as such? If so, you are in luck, because I have the solution for you here.

First, lets explain whats the problem. In order to save header space (who is not much point consider the MKV is like 8GB and you save 1MB on header...), MKV had implemented a new header compression function for the audio tracks which is default in some version of MKVmerge v4.1.0 (that's another good reason to hate Apple users). Because of this new implemented feature, it is practically forced down, without working out with the manufacturers of the media players.

More info:
http://www.matroska.org/news/compressed-headers.html

As such, we need a tool to undo this, or simply give up and play with PC. The original MKVtoolnix will work (it even has windows version):
http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/downloads.html

There is a batch file created to help make this simple with mkvtoolnix as well, which I had uploaded here:
http://www.fileserve.com/file/uUNGEY6
Just download it and put into same directory of mkv and run it.

But, I prefer to keep it simple and not install or configure too much to fix this. There is a specific tool for cleaning up the mess so that the file can be played by the media players.
http://www.matroska.org/downloads/mkclean.html

Hope this help you. If so, do leave me a comment so that I know it actually works for you guys!

Smart TV or Smart Zombie

I am sure we all had heard of the term Smart TV. Its the "in" thing now. A TV capable of delivering very rich content from youtube to porntube video all the way to streaming your downloaded avi or mkv from your PC. Sound good, doesn't it? It does. In addition, you can even make video call with it via a TV Camera through Skype or other services. Its almost a PC. In fact, its almost "infectable" as a PC.

Yes, you know what I am driving at. Specific trojans or worms that is targeted at Smart TV. Why? Because the OS is simple and not easily upgradable. Would you upgrade your Smart TV firmware? I think maybe once in a blue moon. But you would download new apps or install some "patched" apps which makes paying for them looks stupid. These are good channels for an attacker to hit the users. And even if a jailbreak is necessary, I won't think it would take too long.

And whats the benefit of hitting a Smart TV? Its not on all the time. BUT is the server on? Probably not. Then again, some people have the TV on ALL THE TIME. If the attacker installed a trojans, its very hard to remove because I do not forsee user would pay for an Antivirus for your Smart TV, if in the first place there is one. This makes the Smart TV a perfect candidate for a "Smart" zombie.

Moreover, there are added bonus of the TV Camera. Imagine if you could stream these out, its almost like installing a spy camera in the house. I am not interested at what the camera may capture, but I am sure many other noisy people will be. I do not suppose there is a firewall to block the Smart TV from sending streams to "spycam.badsite.com". Well, you heard me. There will probably not be a market for security software if users needs to pay a lot of it.

Well, at the point of time of this writing, there is still no KNOWN trojans for Smart TV. But who knows, there may already be some in work or even deployed. Thinking of getting a Smart TV. Be Smart! Get a dumb TV!

P.S. I am not against Smart TV, but I just want to express my views on potential danger and security risks involved in rolling out such technology without a good mechanism for defense. This is the reason why the bad guys always wins.

Playstation 3 CFW 3.55 KMEAW

Ever since Playstation decided to root out Linux, it got everyone pissed, which eventually lead to PS3 being jail broken. And today, I am going to tell you how to do it safely at home. I had tested many firmware and only recommend the most stable one here. Others varies.

Firstly, before you go ahead, check your system firmware. It has to be 3.55 or below. Currently, there is no publicly known way to downgrade from 3.56 onwards. Well, if you do have 3.41, you may want to consider sticking to it, but many games are coming out that soon require at least 3.5... So its only sooner or later you will be forced to do so.

I had chosen KMEAW's 3.55 CFW here. There is also a recently released call Varaques which enable you to reinstall your Linux back into the box. However, since it has 3.66 spoof installed, which in my opinion is not stable, I will not recommend it here. Of course, if PSN is a must for you, consider PS3ita's 3.55. They have a working spoof that enable the backdoor into PSN.

Right. So as before, I had packaged all the files into nice bundles for you. Just grab all the below files and I will explain as you are downloading...

3.55 OFW
http://www.fileserve.com/file/yAKcBbg
3.55 KMEAW CFW
http://www.fileserve.com/file/vgaMpu3
PS3 Utiltities
http://www.fileserve.com/file/M3cfATE
Steps:

1. 3.55 OFW is the original firmware. The most stable way to upgrade is to go into the original firmware first.Just pack it into you thumbdrive root. The directories are prepared for you.
2. OK, after flashign in 3.55 OFW, you will need to boot your PS3 into debug mode. To do so, shutdown your PS3 first. Hold on to your power button. And I mean it hold on. You should hear "beep" then another "beep" and it shut down. 
3. Continue to hold on, do not let go. PS3 will boot up and then it will "beep" then "beep beep". At "beep beep", release the button. Don't worry, if you missed it, it will just "beep" one more time and shutdown. You need to repeat step 3.
4. You will be prompt to connect your controller and press the Playstation button on the controller.
5. You should see a very different menu which has about 8 options, the last one is to flash the update. Make sure you have your 3.55 KMEAW CFW onto another thumbdrive (or same, but it should overwrite your OFW. I just think its not so complicated to use 2 thumbdrives). Plug the thumdrive in and choose the option to update firmware. This will take another round which is similar to the OFW update.
6. After reboot, you should be in 3.55 CFW. Now its time to roll in some ultilities.

PS3 Utilities Pack

First of all, I had chosen the basic stuff that you will need. There are many many others out there, you may want to explore and find then yourself. Unpack the files into the root of your thumbdrive and insert it into your PS3. Go to Games, install package and select them accordingly.

• multiMAN ver 02.02.00 (20110709-200500).pkg - MultiMan v2.02 for managing/launching your games
• BDEMU-355.pkg - BD-ROM Emulator
• LAST_GAME_355 - Mounts the last game you launched from multiMAN and returns you to XMB. Start the game from disc icon or /app_home
• BDROM-RESET - Removes path redirections, removes bd-mirror (restores usb to normal mode) and moves the last game played in bd-mirror mode back to its location. 
• openps3ftp.pkg - Open PS3 FTP for transfering your files into your PS3 directly. This is very useful for large files which will not fit onto your portable FAT32 HDD.
•  ComgenieAwesomeFilemanager355.pkg - A good file manager for the PS3

Emulator

I thought, why not? I include a emulator call FBAnext r486 here. 

fba-mm-ps3.pkg - Supports Capcom CPS-1 / Capcom CPS-2 / Capcom CPS-3 Cave / Neo Geo / Sega System 16 / Toaplan / Taito / Psikyo 68EC020 Plus Other Misc Great Arcade Systems

Grab it here:
http://www.fileserve.com/file/WnM3eqe

Comodo Internet Security 1 Year Trial

Comodo is pretty generous in giving away a 1 YEAR trial for their Internet Security Suite 2011. Comodo is one of the better FREE firewall around, so why not take a look at whats the paid version like?

Grab it via:

64 + 32 bits
http://download.comodo.com/cis/download/installs/1000/standalone/cispro_1year_installer.exe

x86 ONLY
http://download.comodo.com/cis/download/installs/1000/standalone/cispro_1year_installer_x86.exe

x64 ONLY
http://download.comodo.com/cis/download/installs/1000/standalone/cispro_1year_installer_x64.exe

Just install and you have 365 days of fully functional trial.

Shivers : Vanishing Hitchhiker Theme

I had created a theme using the build in wallpaper from the game Shivers : Vanishing Hitchhikers for people who would want to have it change every 30 minutes automatically in Windows 7 and Vista. Enjoy.

Download : http://www.fileserve.com/file/tqWSrcW

Remember. Copyright still goes to the original creator.