The pay wont be amazing, and it will be every 2 weeks.  To talk more with me get a hold of me on AIM “snipe genocide”.

Anyway in other news,

I’m working on a new game now, like the ones you see online like mafia wars, and drug king, and all those other lame web games, i’m working on a new visual basic game that will have a lot more information, a lot more detail, hopefully a little eyecandy here or there. I’m going to do my best on it and hopefully it will become a long term project that somone else can pick up.

I’m not going to release any details other than it will be a AARPG(Action Arcade Role Playing Game).

There will be no waiting, just a storyline to follow, more like a book, more will be explained later on.

This article explains how to play 3GP multimedia files on your computer. It presents several different options that should cover almost any 3GP file that you posses. 

What are 3GP files?

3GP is a container format for audio and video streams. This means that it stores streams of audio and video in a file,usually with a .3GP extension. As for the actual video inside, it is generally MPEG-4 Part 2, H.263 orH.264. AMR or AAC audio is used with 3GP. This multimedia container format is designed for, and primarily used with multimedia-capable mobile phones. Many mobile phones record and playback video using this format. 

Options for playing 3GP on a computer

Generally, to play back video files you need software that can “split” the files (support the container format) and also decoding software for the video and audio streams. Therefore, you may ask if you can play 3GP files in Windows Media Player? Technically you can yes, if you have the appropriate software to handle the files. So let’s look at some of the obvious choices for playing these files. 

VLC Media Player

VLC is presented as the easiest solution to playing back many of the common multimedia files that are available. However, while VLC does in fact support the 3GP format, it does not include software to decode AMR audio. If your files have AAC audio then technically, VLC should be able to play your 3GP files. 

You can get VLC for Windows from this URL.

Click File and click the Open File option.

Now, click the Browse button next to the first white line at the top of the window with title “Open..” and navigate through your hard drive for the video you wish to watch and select it. After you have selected the video, clickOK and VLC will start playing the video you chose. 

For other Operating Systems.. 

Mac: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/alternative_platforms/mac_software/vlc_for_mac.cfm 

Linux: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_players/vlc_linux.cfm 

Windows Media Player

DirectShow-based players such as Windows Media Player can technically play 3GP files, but you will need to install some extra software. Firstly, the 3GP container needs to be accessible and then you also need software that can decode the video and audio (H.263, H.264, AAC, AMR). Choices here are Haali Media Splitter and FFDShow. 

Haali Media Splitter 

Haali Media Splitter is freeware software that can be used with 3GP video and DirectShow players. The software is designed specifically for splitting MKV,MP4 and AVI. 3GP is basically a simplified version of the MP4 container that is designed to achieve its general goals.

Download and install it from: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/codecs_and_filters/haalimediasplitter.cfm 

FFDShow 

FFDShow is a directshow decoding filter for decoding many many different video and audio formats. It is, by far, a must have for anybody who will deal with video playback on a regular basis. It supports MPEG-4, H.263, H.264. AMR & AAC audio, so along with the capabilities to split 3GP video, a DirectShow player should be able to playback most 3GP videos you throw at it.

Download and install it from: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/codecs_and_filters/ffdshow.cfm 

Playing in DirectShow players

Now that you can split the 3GP files and have decoders installed for the video and audio found in 3GP files, test playing one in Windows Media Player or Media Player Classic or similar. Media Player Classic is a highly recommended freeware media player.

Download Media Player Classic from: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_players/media_player_classic.cfm 

Playing with mobile phones

Your mobile phone may be capable of playing back 3GP video files you transfer to it via a data cable, bluetooth or likewise. Refer to the documentation and any software you have received with your phone to find out if it is capable of playing these files and how to transfer them to it. If you don’t have documentation or software, then refer to our Mobile Phone database in our Hardware section and search for your mobile phone model and you might find some details there. 

http://www.afterdawn.com/hardware/category.cfm/mobile_phones 

Version History

v1.0 - 31st of July, 2007 by Dela 

Introduction & Requirements

Winamp —> Download and Install Winamp. 
ShnAmp —> This is a plug-in for Winamp to play Shorten audio files. Download it. 
WinRAR —> You will need WinRAR to extract the SHN plug-in. 

Download all of the above. The installation of WinAMP is briefly covered below the details of Shorten. 

What are SHN files?

SHN files contain compressed audio data. Shorten is what is known as a lossless compression; where the compressed audio can be completely restored to original quality later on. Shorten is no longer under development, yet there are still plenty of SHN files around the Internet for people to download and listen to. This article exists because SHN is still in use, and there are fewer ways of playing it nowadays. 

Winamp Installation

Run the Winamp installer. Select a Full installation when given the option, as seen in the picture. The installation is relatively standard for a Windows installation package. Click Next until you read the end.

Skins, File Associations and Feedback

When you launch Winamp you will have to select a Skin. This is totally up to you (I chose Classic to remind me of the old days). As for File Associations, if you already have a favorite player for Audio and Video files, you might want to deselect those options that are selected by default (except for Winamp Specific Files of course!). If you do not have File Associations for Winamp, you should also deselect Enable Winamp Agent. 

When you are done, click Finish.

Winamp Player

Winamp will now load and it’s appearance will be a result of what you chose as a skin.

Shnamp Plugin

Install WinRAR as instructed before and then download the ShnAmp Plugin for Winamp. Open the Plug-in with WinRAR (it is a ZIP file) and you will see one little in_shn.dllfile. Now you need to go to the Winamp Plug-ins folder. 

Open Windows Explorer or My Computer. Either way, Navigate to C:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins, as seen below. 

Winamp Plug-in’s Folder

In this folder, all of the audio Plug-ins for Winamp are stored. Now simply click the in_shn.dll file in WinRAR and drag it over this folder and then drop it in, as shown in the picture. 

Your plug-in is now installed. Re-start Winamp. 

Success?

Now attempt to play a .SHN file in Winamp and it should play perfectly. Opening files in WinAMP will depend on what Skin you chose for the program, usually you can simply drag and drop files into the application with most skins.

Finally

Hopefully now you will be able to listen to any SHN files you acquire from now on. Perhaps converting the SHN files to MP3 might also be a good idea. If you have any problems or need further assistance, please visit our Discussion Forums and ask for help. 

Version History

v1.0 — First Version Online – Dela (24/07/2008) 

Better understanding x264

Ok so now that we have seen that the term x264 refers actually to an encoder and not a format such as say MKV we should get a better understanding of what type of formats are actually contained when a file refers to x264. 

The most popular containers for AVC video are at this point are MKV, MP4, OGM and MOV and when you have a file that says x264 in the filename you will have one of those 4 previously mentioned formats as the video format. 

MKV

MKV- Matroska’s MKV “universal” Container is described by its developers as “the extensible open standard Audio/Video Container.” This translates to a multimedia Container designed to support practically any type of video or audio stream you might care to use. MKV stands for Matroska Video. The project itself is simply called Matroska. (Read More…)

MP4

MP4-MP4 is the official multimedia container for MPEG-4 video and audio. Although such video can be stored in a number of modern containers, including MPEG-2 PS/TS and Matroska, the development of MP4 is important because it gives hobbyists a replacement for the outdated AVI container which became the standard for MPEG-4 ASP (DivX, XviD, 3IVX, etc,…) video. (Read More…) 

MOV

MOV- MOV/.mov is a video Container format for QuickTime. The multimedia container file can hold multiple tracks, audio, video, effects or text files. Each Track, regardless of type, has its own digitally-encoded media stream using a specific Codec. QuickTime natively supports AIFF, WAV, DV, MP3, and MPEG-1. Including extensions, QT can also support Ogg, ASF, FLV, MKV, and DivX Media Format. (Read More…)

OGM

OGM- Ogg Media (OGM) is a video, audio and subtitle stream Container format. It was developed by Tobias Waldvogel and has features that common AVI formats cannot do. (Read More…) 

Containers, Codecs and Players

Many people who download a file with the extension MKV, MOV, MP4 or OGM will often try to play it back with video player software they have installed on their systems. Most of the time this doesn’t work (hence, the reason you are here). While a great selection of players support the playback of these types of files, often the proper decoders for the streams contained in the files are missing. 

MKV, MOV, MP4 and OGM files contain video and audio streams (many also contain subtitles). The streams are likely compressed and have been produced with an encoder. In order to play these streams a codec is required. Codec, as a word is an abbreviation of Coder / Decoder. The video stream located in the files has been “coded” by the source and now it must be “decoded” by the end user who wishes to play it. 

The Easiest Method (VLC)

With the VLC player you are actually getting two things; a fine player with support for all files that can be contained in x264-named files, and support for most video and audio streams you will find in an these files. This means that you most likely will not have to install any extra codecs or filters, depending on what your streams are. VLC has native support for files encoded using x264 so it is by far the easiest method. 

You can get VLC for Windows from this URL.

Click File and click the Open File option.

Now, click the Browse button next to the first white line at the top of the window with title “Open..” and navigate through your harddrive for the video you wish to watch and select it. After you have selected the video, clickOK and VLC will start playing the video you chose. 

For other Operating Systems… 

Mac: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/alternative_platforms/mac_software/vlc_for_mac.cfm 

Linux: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_players/vlc_linux.cfm 

Other options

There are a few other options however, if you do not want to use VLC or prefer other players such as MPC or WMP. 

Media Player Classic

Media Player Classic is a very powerful, lightweight player for Windows. It looks just like the good-oldMedia Player v6.4, but has lots of nice extra features. It also can play almost all formats just like VLC but for x264 you will need a little bit of help. 

If you already have MPC installed then download Haali Media Splitter and install it. Using the defaults is recommended here. After that is done, you can open the file in Media Player Classic and it will playback flawlessly. It is pertinent however, for you to un-check Mastroska from MPC’s internal filters, because it is outdated and may cause stability issues. To do so, open Media Player Classic and clickView –> Options. Select Internal Filters on the left as shown above and disable Matroska undersource filters. 

Download Media Player Classic here: Media Player Classic at Afterdawn 

Download Haali Media Splitter here: Haali Media Splitter at Afterdawn 

Windows Media Player

If you are a Windows user than you definitely have Windows Media Player installed. If you do not then you can download it here at Afterdawn.Windows Media Player at Afterdawn. 

However, before you can play x264 files you will need to have FFDshow installed and configured. Download FFDshow here at Afterdawn and follow this excellent guide to configure the filter. FFDshow install and configuration guide. At that point you should have no problem playing “x264″ files in Windows Media Player. 

Finishing up

If you have any questions or problems, please visit our Discussion Forums and post them there. We hope this article has been informative and will help you to play your files that have been encoded with x264 encoders. 

Version History

v1.0 — First Version Published– by DVDBack23 (31/08/2008) 

Only99Studios YouTube

German citizen Fritz Martin Gelowicz, center, is led away by police officers Sept. 5, 2007, after a hearing on charges that he and two other suspects — Daniel Martin Schneider and Adem Yilmaz — were members of a terrorist organization.

In a Frankfurt courtroom last week, authorities charged three German citizens with a plot to kill Americans, accusing them of targeting a dance club in Giessen favored by U.S. service members. The authorities said the plot had the potential to kill hundreds of people and that the men were inspired by the December 2002 attack on two discos in Bali, Indonesia, that left more than 200 dead.

For Western intelligence officials, the plot was not a run-of-the-mill conspiracy by disaffected young men wanting to join the jihad. The reason was twofold: Two of the three were ethnic Germans, and all three had been trained at jihadi training camps in Waziristan, the tribal area of Pakistan where al-Qaida and Taliban training camps are located.

More than anything else, it’s what one counterterrorism official calls “the white men of Waziristan” that worries officials — the increasing possibility that the next attacks in Europe or North America will be carried out not by those with Arab or South Asian passports, but by young Caucasian men from Germany, Great Britain, Australia, Canada or even the United States.

‘No bigger worry’
“There is no bigger worry for the U.S. counterterrorism community than young Caucasian men who have turned to al-Qaida,” said Roger Cressey, former National Security Council official in the Clinton and Bush administrations and now an NBC News consultant.

The most public expression of that concern was a little-noticed speech in mid-August by Ted Gistaro, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats at the National Directorate for Intelligence, created in 2004 to act as a clearinghouse for intelligence gathered by all U.S. agencies.  In short, Gistaro is the intelligence community’s strategic thinker on terrorism.

While Gistaro was careful to note that “we are not aware of any specific, credible al-Qaida plot to attack the U.S. homeland,” he added, “Al-Qaida is identifying, training and positioning operatives for attacks in the West, likely including in the United States. These operatives include North American and European citizens and legal residents with passports that allow them to travel to the United States without a U.S. visa.”

Gistaro was reiterating what CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said more colorfully when interviewed by Tim Russert on “Meet the Press” in March.

“It’s very clear to us that al-Qaida has been able, over the past 18 months or so, to establish a safe haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area that they have not enjoyed before, that they are bringing operatives into that region for training, operatives that … wouldn’t attract your attention if they were going through the customs line at Dulles with you when you’re coming back from overseas,” he said.

Asked by Russert if he meant that the operatives “look Western,” Hayden replied, “Look Western, (people) who … would be able to come into this country … without attracting the kind of attention that others might.”

White House also concerned
Cressey said the concern extends to the White House.

“In early August, the president had a joint (National Security Council/Homeland Security Council) meeting on current threats, and the single biggest concern is the training of people that Gistaro referenced … because they can’t be tracked and they’re not in anyone’s database,” he said.

The idea that Westerners have been training with al-Qaida has been among the nagging concerns of U.S. intelligence since shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

In 2004, former CIA Director George Tenet alluded to the perceived threat, saying in a speech that “what we are fighting has an Arab face, an African face, an Asian face and an American face — a face that exists in our hemisphere.”

There have been isolated examples of Americans working with al-Qaida or the Taliban — John Walker Lindh, the Californian who fought with the Taliban against U.S. forces in Afghanistan; Jose Padilla, the Illinois man convicted of conspiring to kill Americans overseas; and Adam Gadahn, the California video-gamer turned al-Qaida propagandist, who remains at large.

Ranks appear to be growing
What is different now, say intelligence officials and experts, is evidence that the ranks of Western converts are growing, including the arrest of the Germans in the plot to kill U.S. service members. While U.S. intelligence is not willing to detail its sourcing on the presence of Westerners in al-Qaida camps, NBC News has been told:

• Sources in Pakistan’s South Waziristan, home of the most active al-Qaida operations in the border region, have recently reported seeing “white men” among those being trained in the camps. The U.S. believes al-Qaida has dozens of such operatives trained for terrorist attacks.
• There has been an increase in the use of English in al-Qaida messages to stoke discontent and motivate homegrown extremists. A tape released by Ayman al Zawahiri, al-Qaida’s second-in-command, in August was his first in English. Although it was aimed at English speakers in Pakistan, it follows a general pattern. Gadahn, the Californian-turned-jihadi, has been featured in al-Qaida videos, although he has not been heard from since January. (U.S. officials do not believe he is dead but offer no explanation for his absence.)
• There is a thriving online jihadi community that often uses English to target disaffected Americans.
• Taliban officials have been boasting that they are training Westerners, claiming they have “several people from the West there in their training camps now.” The Taliban said people “are coming from all over the world,” especially from the U.S., United Kingdom, Germany and Australia, to get jihadi training in South Waziristan. Some of them later return to their home countries, while others stay and fight Western forces in Afghanistan, according to the Taliban officials. The U.S. believes the Westerners are in fact in Pakistan, other parts of South Asia and perhaps Europe. There’s no information that they have made it to the United States.
• Most recently, Taliban officials have contended that among foreign fighters “martyred” in a Predator attack near Wana in South Waziristan on Aug. 30 were “two Arabs of Canadian origin.” U.S. counterterrorism officials will neither confirm nor deny the claim.

Al-Qaida operating freely along border
Gistaro said al-Qaida also has been able to operate training camps along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border with increasing freedom.

“Al-Qaida has strengthened its safe haven in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas by deepening its alliances with Pakistani militants and pushing many elements of Pakistani government authority from the area,” he said. “It now has many of the operational and organizational advantages it once enjoyed across the border in Afghanistan, albeit on a smaller and less secure scale.”

Political instability in Pakistan and a sevenfold increase in suicide attacks in the past seven months have added to fears that the safe haven could expand. Intelligence officials agree there’s a nationwide campaign of intimidation, with attacks now taking place in both urban and tribal areas.

Could this resurgence be a precursor of new al-Qaida threats against the U.S.? 

“As the election nears, we expect to see an uptick in such threat reporting — of varying credibility — regarding possible attacks,” Gistaro said. “We also expect to see an increase in al-Qaida’s propaganda efforts, especially around the anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which has often been a hook for such propaganda statements.”

“In Osama bin Laden’s September 2007 address to the American people, he labeled the democratic system a failure,”  Gistaro said. He also called for Americans to convert to Islam and warned that the only other solution “is to continue to escalate the killing and fighting against you.”

That political philosophy is part of al-Qaida training, whether for Arabs or Americans, say officials.

Election likely a motivation
While al-Qaida has no preferred candidate, said a senior intelligence official, “they certainly want to be a topic of the election” as they were in 2004 when bin Laden’s first video in three years aired four days before voters went to the polls. Sen. John Kerry has said he believes the video turned the election to President Bush.

More recently, al-Qaida hasn’t been getting the attention it is used to. Media outlets that raced to post Zawahiri audios seven years ago are now ignoring them. That factors into the intelligence community’s assessment that we will likely hear from al-Qaida’s leadership before the election — through words, violence or both.

“Perhaps the most pressing security challenge for the next administration is how to deal with the al-Qaida safe haven in Pakistan,” said Cressey. “None of the options is ideal, but it’s clear that action will be required.”

- Your xbox will be able to boot unsigned code, and therefore you can install an alternate dashboard, install applications, use your xbox as a media center, install Xbox-Linux, backup games to the hard drive, play backed-up (burned) games on DVD, play DVDs without the DVD Playback Kit, and run Xbox emulators.

Mods
1. Modchip
2. TSOP Mod
3. Softmod
4. Hotswap

1. Modchip

By far the most popular mod, a modchip can either be a solder modchip or a solderless solution. If you have some soldering experience, or are brave enough, try a solder modchip, because they are cheaper and are more secure. If you have no soldering experience, and you still would rather want a chip, go for a solderless modchip. Remember to get a modchip that is supported by your xbox version. To check your xbox version, go to http://www.xbox-scene.com/versions.php.

Advantages:

+ Can be used in every version xbox (if you get the right chip)
+ Many chips have on/off switches so you can turn off the chip and get onto Xbox Live
+ Easy to update BIOS
+ Easy to upgrade Hard Drive

Disadvantages:

- Price
- Requires you to open your xbox and solder your chip in (solder modchips)
- Voids any warranty
- Solderless modchips may come loose from time to time and require readjustment

2. TSOP

A TSOP mod requires you to open up your xbox, solder a few points, then use an exploitable game and gamesave to flash your onboard TSOP chip with a bios. The soldering is easy and the flashing is easy.

Advantages:

+ Price (FREE)
+ Easy to solder ( just a couple points need to be bridged, and perhaps a wire or two)
+ Version 1.0 to 1.1 TSOP is 1 mb, so you can install a switch and use Xbox LIVE.
+ Easy to update BIOS
+ Easy to upgrade Hard Drive

Disadvantages:

- YOU CANNOT TSOP A VERSION 1.6 XBOX
- You can TSOP a version 1.2 – 1.5 xbox, but you would not be able to use Xbox LIVE
- You need an exploitable game
- You need a way of transferring a gamesave to your retail xbox (Action Replay, Homemade Action Replay, or Use a modded xbox and a memory card)

3. Softmod

By using an exploitable game and an exploitable gamesave, you can take advantage of “bugs” in the xbox dashboard to mod your xbox. While it may have more advantages than a TSOP mod, the major disadvantage is the difficulty of upgrading your hard drive.

Advantages:

+ Price (FREE)
+ Works on all xboxes now
+ You can coldboot xbox games and use Xbox LIVE
+ Newest softmods install virtual C drives and virtual eeproms, making it harder to “break” the softmod
+ Very easy to install

Disadvantages:

- You need an exploitable game
- You need a way of transferring a gamesave to your retail xbox (Action Replay, Homemade Action Replay, or Use a modded xbox and a memory card)
- Difficult to upgrade the hard drive (not impossible, but it is a lot easier with a chip or TSOP)
- Difficult to ugrade BIOS, but isn’t really necessary anyways

4. Hotswap

Moddng your Xbox through hotswapping is still considered a softmod. The only difference is you are opening up your Xbox and PC, then connecting your Xbox hard drive to your PC to transfer files to the hard drive. This way, you can softmod without needing an exploitable game or Action Replay.

Advantages:

+ Price (FREE)
+ Works on all xboxes now
+ You can coldboot xbox games and use Xbox LIVE
+ Newest softmods install virtual C drives and virtual eeproms, making it harder to “break” the softmod

Disadvantages:

[color=red] – Difficult to upgrade the hard drive (not impossible, but it is a lot easier with a chip or TSOP)
- Difficult to ugrade BIOS, but isn’t really necessary anyways

Brad

“My kids,” Pitt, 44, told PEOPLE at the Toronto International Film Festival gala screening Friday for his new Coen Brothers comedy also starring George Clooney.

Speaking of his kids with Angelina Jolie, newest additions, eight-week-old twins,Knox and Vivienne, are great, he added. 

“Everyone is healthy,” said Pitt. “No sleep though.” 

He added to reporters: “Sleep is something you long for, but it’s alright. We’ll get it.”

Despite the lack of shut eye, costar and Oscar winner Tilda Swinton advises Pitt not to worry. As a mother of twins herself – 11-year-old daughter Honor Byrne and son Xavier Byrne – she tells him: “It gets easier! And it’s true.” 

And what kind of dad does she think her movie star friend is? “He’s fantastic,” said Swinton. Costar John Malkovich chimed in: “He was very doting with his daughter during shooting on a couple of days I was there. He’s very much a present parent.” 

Pitt and Jolie have six kids total contributing to the giggles: Maddox, 7, Pax, 4, Zahara, 3, and Shiloh, 2.