Duplicating DVD’s On Mac OSX
I found myself facing an interesting question today regarding DVD duplication on Mac OSX (I’m using Tiger). I have created many DVD’s using iDVD but I had yet to need to do this.
Is there an easy way to duplicate an existing DVD on Mac OSX?
The short answer is yes. The best part of this is that everything you need to be able to do this is built right into Mac OSX.
The first thing you need to do is put the DVD you wish to duplicate into your drive. It will probably try to open and play the DVD so make sure you exit out of the DVD Player application.
Create A Local Image Of The DVD
Open up the Disk Utility application. This can be found in your Applications/Utilties folder.
When this first opens, you’ll see the DVD drive list on the left side. Select the appropriate DVD drive for the source list and click the “New Image” button.
Enter the file name for the image and select the location you want to save it to. For the settings, select the follow:
- Image Format: DVD/CD master
- Encryption: none
Click the Save button and it will create an image of the DVD on your local hard drive.
Burn The DVD Image
Now that you have an image of the DVD on your hard drive, you can create as many copies of this disc as you need.
You should see the disc image file (.cdr) listed on the left side of the Disk Utility application. Select the image you would like to burn and click the “Burn” button.
Insert a blank DVD disk into the drive and click the “Burn” button.
Apple iPhone: Simplicity At Its Best
When I read the initial news about the Apple iPhone, I was excited to see what Apple had come up with.
I had no idea that I would be as impressed as I was after watching all of the iPhone demo videos.
Once again Apple has made all other related devices look like a complicated mess with their simple approach to user interfaces.
Apple has set a new bar for cell phone technology that all other companies are going to have to match. Even the most elegant of cell phones like the LG Chocolate series of phones looks obsolete next to the iPhone.
One thing I was tired of hearing about new cell phones on the market is how nice the built in cameras are and that being a key selling point for the phone. You will not see one mention of the built in camera in Apples demo because even though it is there, it is not the reason you should want the iPhone.
Apple has done what all other cell phone manufacturers should do and built a personal communications device instead of adding all sorts of useless features to the already over complicated devices that are out there. And especially recently with the approach of a “new” model being the same old phone in multiple colors.
The hardest part now is waiting until July when they are expected to be released. I am glad that I already am a Cingular customer. If this phone really lives up the expectations, it would be reason enough for anyone to switch to Cingular if necessary for the iPhone.
The Death of Outsourcing
I guarantee that you are doing more of the work for you business than you need to be doing.
There are two very important keys to running an efficient online business.
- Out-tasking (not outsourcing)
- Systematizing any repeating processes (we will cover this in a later article)
You should have noticed that I didn’t say outsourcing. That is very important. We’ve attempted to outsource entire projects multiple times and have had numerous problems every time.
The key to efficiently getting things done in your business is out-tasking.
Out-tasking
Out-tasking at its root is simply breaking down a larger more complex project into simple pieces that can be done by a specialized third party. We’ve been doing out-tasking for years but I typically called it outsourcing. It wasn’t until I read Rich Shefren’s Internet Marketing Business Manifesto that I learned that we had actually been doing what he called out-tasking not outsourcing.
When You Do Anything In Life, Make Sure You Are Playing To Win
I learned a valuable lesson this holiday season, and it was all done by watching college football.
It was a simple lesson that I’ve heard many times but until I saw it in action, I did not fully understand the power of it.
Play To Win
If you want to succeed at anything in life, make sure you approach it with an attitude that you a playing to win.
Expect the unexpected
Many of you may have missed it but the best college football bowl game may have been the least popular one. Boise State was not expected to be able to play with Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl this year. Not only did they play with them, they looked like a team that expected to win the game.
Even in the face of adversity as they were down by seven with 0:51 left in the game, they were playing like they came there to win no matter what it took. They ran some of the most impressive (and risky) plays but the most impressive move by the Boise State team didn’t happen during a play, it was a decision that was most likely made a few weeks ago.