This took a while to figure out.

I wanted a generic command that would resize the video to 320x240, regardless of whether the source was in widescreen or not; and if widescreen, then crop only the middle section out.

Note that the original framerate is maintained. You could probably save some more space by dropping the framerate to 15 or 20 fps.

If you want to save more space, try dropping the audio bitrate, and adding :vbitrate=500 to lavcopts.

Most of you already know that I got a shiney new Nokia N85 last weekend. The dilemma I faced (similar to my Eudora escapades) was how to get my messages, contacts and calendar entries from my old phone to my new one.

Migrating from my 6610 to my E65 was a breeze. Use the latest PC Suite to take a backup of the old phone, and "restore" it on the new one.

i'm happy

Optus has gotten into a tizzy, because a journalist claimed that their network "sucks" in terms of speed and performance. Optus (and other mobile carriers) constantly make claims that mobile "broadband" is equivalent (or better!) than fixed-line broadband.

With the media doing minimal fact checking nowadays, getting published is easy. Here's a quick four-step guide:

Starting Paint Shop Pro 4 as a non-admin user under Windows XP yields the following message:

Failed to update the system registry,please try using REGEDIT.

Apparently similar results are experienced under Vista (because UAC essentially equates to running as a non-admin user).

The problem is fixed under PSP 12 -- but that doesn't help you if you're running an older version.

The Government's introducing a mandatory unit pricing system, to be in place by December this year. It's not an unusual idea: many countries already do this.

What what's unusual is the standard units they've chosen. When you think unit pricing, you'd probably assume the units would be the ones that are already commonly in use: per kg, and per litre.

Why? Your fresh fruit & veg are already priced per kilo. Similarly, when you buy soft drink or milk, it's measured in litres.

The Australian Music Industry has just launched a new way for consumers to buy music: USB flash drives. They're calling it "DDA" (who knows what that stands for). And here's why it's failed already:

Anyone who's traded stocks more than "infrequently" will know that the markets are open between 10AM and 4PM. Presumably these hours were selected many decades ago to allow stock brokers to arrive at a reasonable hour, and get some preparation done before the market open.