wma conversion for voice recorder

2.3: proj.addn/wma conversion for voice recorder:

. on the mac I have vista running in a vmware;
I don't like to give it much access,
so there's a single folder esp'ly for vista jobs .
. I'm noticing I have wma's waiting for conversion;
these are [win'media audio].files from the voice recorder .
. there's also a converter program
but I'm assuming that's the one that turned out to be nagware;
I need to find some openware;
and the first thing I find is the WMA-Into-MP3 page:
"(

You can convert WMA files (at least, those without DRM protection)
into the more universally-portable MP3 format using the free,
open-source MPlayer and lame packages.
These are available for many platforms,
particularly the "big 3": Windows, Mac OS/X, and GNU/Linux.

1. http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html
Install the above-mentioned software onto your computer,
using either the source or precompiled binaries for your platform.
2
Convert the WMA files into an intermediate format,
the space-wasting but lossless WAV (wave) standard:
mplayer -vo null -vc dummy -af resample=44100 -ao pcm "Song 1.wma"
3
Now convert the result of the previous command
(stored as audiodump.wav by default) into MP3:
lame audiodump.wav "Song 1.mp3"
4
That's it! Continue the process for each file you wish to convert.
See Tips for some ways to streamline and/or improve this method.
5
When complete, each directory you visited
will have the last file converted still stored as audiodump.wav.
You will probably want to delete these obsolete files
to conserve space using the rm (Unix) or del (Windows) command.
6
You may also want to delete the original wma files,
after verifying that the quality of the resulting mp3 songs is acceptable.
edit Tips
You can write a script to enable searching your entire hard drive for wma files
and converting them automatically.
See the source article for examples.
This one was written (on Windows/Cygwin) for the best space savings,
using the lowest possible quality setting for the MP3 output:

#!/bin/bash
for file in "$@"; do mplayer \
-vo null \
-vc dummy \
-af resample=44100 \
-ao pcm:file="${file%%.[Ww][Mm][Aa]}.wav" \
"$file"
lame -V9 "${file%%.[Ww][Mm][Aa]}.wav" "${file%%.[Ww][Mm][Aa]}.mp3"
rm -f "${file%%.[Ww][Mm][Aa]}.wav"
done

)
. I was concerned that the mplayer doc's
didn't seem to agree with wikihow's suggested param's:
"( -vo null -vc dummy -af resample=44100 -ao pcm ) .

. the mac download has the player wrapped in a gui
and not only doesn't the gui map to every function,
but the location of the program is not obvious .
. it has this advice:
"(

Using the command line MPlayer
. to use the command line version of mplayer
without any hussle,
we suggest you create a link to the binary file
contained in the MPlayer OSX.app bundle.
. just type the following into your terminal:
ln -s /Applications/MPlayer OSX.app/Contents/Resources/External_Binaries/mplayer.app/Contents/MacOS/mplayer
/usr/local/bin/mplayer
This will create a symlink to the mplayer command line binary,
and place it into /usr/local/bin.

)
. however this didn't seem to work;
-- at least it's open
http://mplayerosx.sttz.ch/
To get a copy, issue following command in the terminal:
svn co svn://mplayerosx.sttz.ch/mplayerosx/trunk/ mplayerosx

. so then I'm looking for more openware:

Dave's Answer:
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/convert_mac_wma_audio_files_to_mp3.html

"( under Mac OS X, there is Music Man and Sound Grinder,
but my favorite tool is the Australian-produced Switch,
http://www.nch.com.au/switch/
which also has a Windows version available.)

. I tried that (wma to ogg(qual'level=1) )
and it quit unexpectedly .

. finally, I double-checked the converter I had waiting for vista:
and found it's not that old nagware
but the openware" winFF:
http://code.google.com/p/winff/

. this is doing well on vista:
letting you graphically select batches
and then converting them to mp3 or ogg .
. its prefered output.folder is vista`user`doc's
rather than source folder .

. I'm going back to the wikihow.com page,
and update it with my better solution .
[@] co.net/wikihow.com/Convert-Unprotected-WMA-Files-Into-MP3-Files

. help is in the [forums] and a pdf .
http://www.biggmatt.com/forums/

. booking for how to halve size of output:
http://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-doc.html#SEC11

# To have a constant quality (but a variable bitrate),
use the option '-qscale n'
when 'n' is between 1 (excellent quality) and 31 (worst quality)
-qscale 16

no I need to
lower 160 kb/s, or 44,100 hz
mp3 does work
try audio bitrate 64

todo:
. something about -qscale 16 didn't change anything .
I started trying the next param but had to quit .

dead earbud was just oil-clogged

2.27: proj.gear/ear bud/left side is dead:
. the left side is dead ?
no, you can barely hear it though;
so, check inside the sound canal:
it's packed with foam that had gotten
totally saturated with oil
(the anti-bacterial ointment oil)
-- I thought that stuff was just drying up!
. the foam tips I got have a screen that will not keep oil out,
but that screen will hold in a piece of foam;
and, the more of that there is
the safer things are from oil penetration .

computerized with sticky brakes

2.26: sci.gear/cars/computerized with sticky brakes:
. crosstalk sept 2009 quoting pc today 2005
predicted that accidents like brake malfunctions
could be caused by net-based malware
through rfid - programmable embedded computers in cars .

Does the New Generation of Computerized Cars Pose a Security Threat?
PC Today 10. Oct. 2005

"([Some] automotive communication networks have access to
crucial components of the vehicle, like brakes, ... ) .

overhead book holder for recliner

proj.gear/overhead book holder for recliner:
2.25:
. hey! just what I was looking for,
just hanging around:
. an acrylic sheet sized to shelve an open book
so I could lay down with a hanging laptop
typing in notes and ideas from book .
. I'd been using the sheet as a roof finish for the sanctum
it was also heavy and would weigh down curtain rods
-- phone books will do that now .
. after cleaning it's still a bit fogged from scratches,
I think I found it in the yard, has some cracks too .
. the rest is easy:
having grilled shelves for an earthquake sanctum
is making it easy to position rope
for hanging gear around me as I lay in my cot
with the keyboard warm inside my sleepingbag .
2.26:
try shifting it closer to laptop screen,
rearrange it to minimize in-view scratches,

security door

2.18: tech.gear/security door:
. when a door opens toward an attacker,
one method of attack is to crowbar near the hinge .
. have the door built thick,
and then over lapping on the hinge side
so then can't have hinges popped by crow bar .

tree.saw repair

proj.gear/tree.saw/repair:
2.14:
. see if saw fits bolts,
saw does fit new nadle,
bolt will fit saw but not handle it came with .
2.15: breaks again:
. the inside of the handle has a plastic support
that fits a slot in the blades meant for that handle,
and it does seem to be supporting the new tree.saw blade
... but later I would find that the support would break off .
2.15: reinforced:
. what the tree.saw was designed to have for stability
was a duel screw system rather than a tab&slot .
. so I drilled a hole in the adopted handle
and found a screw to fit from a bike light kit .

cusion for trice Q seat

proj.gear/trike`seat/foam:


2.5: trike`seat/pipe`foam idea:
. looking through the mesh you can see the frame;
mark the inner edges of frame on mesh with cheap thread,
and then hand sew foam scraps to seat mesh
starting from thread guides
outward for as long as it takes foam to
do a 180 around frame .

2.19: proj.gear/trike`seat/foam:
. modified the co.trice idea of foaming seat frame
by sewing the foam to the fabric
instead of taping the foam to the frame .
. got the foam from trimming what's being used on the cot:
a backpack roll for under sleeping bag,
it's open-cell with a wavy pattern on one side,
I used 2 pieces together, so the both sides of product are smooth .
added 4 sets of stitches on either side
with carpet thread .
mis:
. see picts for how foam mis.migrated;
need to compensate the location to avoid that .

2.26: gear/trike/seat`foam/sheathing system:
. sewing the foam in place must be done by hand
and it must be done repeatedly if the foam gets flat;
hence, the need for a sheathing system:
. the sheath can be machine sewed, is reusable,
and old foam is quickly replaced .
. the sewing will also reinforce the binding of the straps
to the existing fabric .

shopping for velo' security chains locks

gear/trike/security

2.23 ... 2.24: