Thanks to everyone for pointing in me in the right direction from my previous post for the right software to Rip CDs and tag them ID3s from a Database. I installed ExactAudioCopy since it had the right features I was looking for and I was mostly looking at the two items I mentioned previously, I don’t need it to do everything, I just need it to the things I want really well. From 10 CD it couldn’t identify only 2 CDs, it was surprising there were a few I wasn’t expecting but it got most of them and the ones it didn’t I updated the freedb with information from the disk cover which I inputed. I’m going to see if there is way to add to the Database or get information from another DB, if anyone has any ideas drop me a line.

In regards to the process you have to get EAC and LAME MP3 encoder and you unzip that LAME folder into the same fold you install EAC and then you configure EAC to use the LAME externel compress to produce the MP3s. With EAC you can configure it to have high quality or a mix of speed and quality, I opted for quality so it has slowed down the ripping process and a CD can take from 20 to 30 minutes. I don’t mind since I’m going to be able to archive the disk now once I’m done ripping all that I want.

I’m traveling to the US in a couple of weeks so I had a couple of questions pop up regarding my Passport and Visa. I sent the embassy an email regarding the question and they called back the next day to answer the question. I was surprised they didn’t write back, but then when I thought about it they just didn’t want anything written.

My passport expires in Dec of 2007, and my Visa is valid until Feb of 2008 but some countries won’t allow you to enter the country if there is only 6 months left on your passport. I know this happened to a friend that visited Thailand or Malaysia on his honeymoon and he only 4 months left so they wouldn’t let him in, that was a mess for them to deal with.
I knew about this issue before, but the process of getting a new passport only takes about 3-5 days, but getting a new US Visa could range from 2 weeks to 6 months. There is no set time and I didn’t want to take that chance even though I already have a valid Visa. First off if your going to the Embassy leave your mobile and camera in your car. Ask questions if you don’t know what your doing like me, there is always somebody to point you somewhere, at the gate they told me to take the golf cart to the front of the embassy which I did. Then your sitting outside in front of three counters and each one labeled for the type of business you have with them but sitting out in the heat felt like we were cattle.

I stepped up to the Visa window and asked the person at the window what is my situation regarding the passport and visa, he told me the only thing they care about is having a valid visa. If my Visa is valid then it doesn’t matter when my passport ends if I am entering the US and my duration. That is the same thing the person said after I sent my email, I really do hope that is the case since it would really be horrible to land in the US and they won’t let me enter the country. So if the visa and passport is valid for the duration of the trip then I would have no problems on the trip.

While I was London I had a few things in mind to pick up since I haven’t really spent much in a while and I didn’t mind spending on myself a bit this trip. I had a few things that I wanted to pick up for a while and a few other things that I just didn’t get around to while in Kuwait. I decided to get them all while I was in London and then submit the VAT for the more expensive items, basically anything for then 100 since 17% is a lot of money and adds up very quickly. I ended up getting a mix of things, books, DVDs, magazines, music, electronics, and a few bags. This is what women would call shopping therapy but for men, and this doesn’t happen too often. One thing is for sure, everyman loves gadgets and if they don’t then they are missing out.

I do buy CDs every once in a while, and some of these CDs have some very good songs that don’t go mainstream so I’m very happy to get my hands on them. But I have become lazy over the past few months. I have a lot of CDs, about 60 – 70 CDs that I want to rip to my PC but I don’t want to go through a tedious process. I already have Slysoft which is a program to remove all DRM properties of CD so that I can easily access the audio but I don’t have a program that can just rip the songs and add the correct ID3 tags. This is something that will help my digitizing process of my audio, those 60 – 70 CDs are only the new ones. I might easily have over 400 – 500 CDs in the storage that I will want to completely digitize but I haven’t gotten around to it. Any help with the software that can automate this process in a very simple, quick, and customizable manner?

Not iTunes!!!

I stayed at home with the family for this trip, its nice staying in my room since I made a few changes a couple of years back to suit my needs.

One of the things I made sure of was that our internet account was active and paid for with BT (British Telecom), and it was since I knew how much English companies love paperwork and going through a system. Once I got home and tried the internet it wasn’t working so I checked the router, I restarted it, reset it, and did everything else I knew to do, even though I knew the problem wasn’t from my side.

I called BT Support and to my pleasant surprise there are two different support, one for the connection and one for the hardware. They couldn’t find anyone who could understand both so they had to make two. Then I find out there is a technical fault support that could only be reach through the first line support who have to note everything down about the whole problem and everything I did. I was being very patient since I knew how these companies work, and I wanted to get some results. I asked them if there was a way to expedite the process they said no. So after the person spent 20 minutes writing down everything I did and everything he said I was told that I would be contacted the next day by the Technical Fault Support since I can’t call them directly and they decide if an engineer should come out.

The next day they call and I tell them everything again, and went through all the hoops. Then they tell me since its a Friday and at 10:00am its too late to send an engineer out, and they are already all scheduled for Saturday morning I will be contacted Monday to get an appointment as to when the engineer will come out.

Safe to say I didn’t have internet connectivity, and I found it funny the whole process went that way. And to my surprise as I was walking outside my home I found three BT vans and two were for Internet Connectivity support and nobody could come 20 meters down to figure out the problem. Really funny, you have to love the English system and their love of paperwork.

That was really a short trip, but a change of scenery was really needed. This really was one hell of a trip, I didn’t have time to sit down. I didn’t sleep much since I had a few early morning meetings on Friday, but I did get to sleep in a bit on Saturday. It was nice hanging out with family really late at night just chatting and watching some tv. When your in a different place you complete forget all the things you have to do at work or else where. I can remember all the things that I have to do at work now that I’m back, but while I was there I didn’t feel like thinking about it.

The plane ride back was decent, and I managed to watch some anime before taking a 3.5 hour nap which is just enough to get me through this work day. This trip wasn’t enough, I wanted to stay longer since the weather is amazing in London but it did me good. I did manage to get a lot of things done, but it was funny I was going to lunches and dinner with family everyday except for Friday I went out with a friend and his wife to the movies and then we went for a late night bite. We had a really good time at the movies and going out for the day, London is really fun to walk around in, and we managed to spend some time at the bookstores before going to the movies. All that done, and packing to take-off Saturday night and get into work by Sunday morning. This is going to be an interesting morning, I wonder when the sleep deprivation will kick in.

I got up early morning and went straight to the Airport on Thursday! I thought I was on time but I thought take off was at 8:30 am not 8:10 am so I was cutting it a bit close. As soon as I got the airport I was fast walking to the counter then I saw my friend who was also going to London which surprised me. After checking in I saw my cousin and his wife at the immigrations gate which was another surprise and he was going to LA through London, I thought he might be stopping over but it turned out he was going on vacation with his wife. After going through we went straight to the plane since it was already boarding, and as soon as I was on the plane I wanted to pass out.

This turned out to be a full flight and I was talking to my friend for a while before take off. As people were walking by I kept saying hello since I knew so many people on the plane. I said hello to about 5 people on the way back to my seat, and I even chatted with another friend. I thought I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep without saying hello to people! As soon as the plane took off I was asleep within 10 minutes, and I told them not to wake me up for breakfast or lunch since I already had a good sandwich before leaving home. I didn’t even get a chance to watch anything on TV since I was so tired.

I woke up about 5 hours later feeling a little refreshed and I filled out my landing card since I didn’t want to do that at the last minute. Then I popped out my laptop and started working on some spread sheets and listening to music. We started descending and so I packed up my laptop, and just kept the music going. The pilot had a few strong tilts to the left and right to adjust the plane decent, and his landing was a little rough but I was happy to have arrived in London. I left with my friend and we headed to immigrations, its funny how immigrations fast track is only open from 5:00am until 12:00pm and a lot of flights arrive after 12:00pm, I have never used Fast Track because its always closed when I arrive. That wasn’t really an issue since they are usually fast at immigrations.

We got to baggage claim and took a guess at which outlet the bags are going to come out of, and it was one lucky guess! We got our bags within minutes, and we headed out to go into London. We took the same car since it was only a 10 minute detour to drop him off. And the weather is just amazing in London.

This is a really short trip just to visit some family and finish a few things up.

I haven’t really packed much but I do the have the usual essentials:

• Cash
• Passport
• Tickets
• Laptop
• Mp3 player
• Camera
• Random Chargers

I don’t think I will be there long enough to remember if I forgot anything. I’m just going to enjoy the quick break but I know I have a lot of work to do so I’m going to keep checking my work email at the same time.

I honestly do enjoy longer flights then short flights because you have enough time to do a few things between take-off and landing, but in the short flights you don’t have enough time to do anything really.

Every once in a while I just go on this Torrent spree and this is one of them! I realized that I’m downloading close to 49 Gbs worth of Anime, TV series, and a few movies in a couple of days. Even though I have a lot of media in storage I’m still piling up and I have no clue when I will be watching but I will be watching them at some point.

Anime:

• Karas (Complete)
• Saiyuki Reload (Complete)
• Saiyuki Reload Gunlock (Complete)
• Paranoia Agent (Complete)
• Seirei no Moribito
• DGray-man

TV:

• Bionic Woman
• Greek
• Weeds
• Dexter

Movies:

• 300 HD-DVD
• TMNT HD-DVD

I’m going for a quick trip this weekend to go visit some family. Going to London for about two days and coming back right into the morning and going straight into work. I’m going to make sure that I get a lot of sleep on the plane since I’m only going to be there for 48 hours and then I come back to work. I have a vacation planned, but this to see some family.

It took me a week to get confirmation on the British Airways flight to London, and I got confirmation for the return ticket the same day without any issues. I wanted to avoid BA for trips over the next couple of weeks but I had no choice in this case. They seem to be losing bags and having problems, and a few people that have traveled on it recently have had some issues. I’m just hoping that since I’m stopping in London and have no connecting flight I won’t have any problems. For the vacation I have planned I am avoiding BA for my flight bookings.