THE COMPUTER THREAD

[Piobman]

Do you have a website like Piobman's to post your covers to see what they look like?

No specific website, but this public album on imagebb.com should work:

https://ibb.co/album/m1Htdv

The generated thumbnails cut off the sides.  Right click to see the full thing.  All of these are thinpak.

They're all pretty quick and dirty.  I use a basic template for the back with some banner image and the text from the page for each track.  Use the Rifftrax designed poster for the front.  They're all assembled in a program called "EZ CD and DVD Cover Creator".  I use the Rifftrax font "Laff Riot NF" for the spine text.  I use the decimal color code from some portion of the front to pick out the color for the spine and back.  If you wanna use them, I can E-Mail you a ZIP file.

I see their descriptions are still way too long! Half the time I had to rewrite the descriptions to shorten them so that I could fit more than just text on the back cover.

[Pastor of Muppets]

4 Tb drive arrived today.  I got it installed and it was surprisingly painless.  Installing a new hard drive isn't difficult, but I strongly expected something to go wrong anyway.  So it's in and ready to receive data.  4 Tb drive will be dedicated entirely to Rifftrax.

[CJones]

4 Tb drive arrived today.  I got it installed and it was surprisingly painless.  Installing a new hard drive isn't difficult, but I strongly expected something to go wrong anyway.  So it's in and ready to receive data.  4 Tb drive will be dedicated entirely to Rifftrax.

It is astounding the rate at which drive space depreciates. 6 or 7 years ago I got a 1TB drive. I couldn't believe that in just a few years I would be constantly deleting things to make room for more recent stuff. Last year I added a 500 GB SS Drive. That filled up in just a few days.

[RVR II]

4 Tb drive arrived today.  I got it installed and it was surprisingly painless.  Installing a new hard drive isn't difficult, but I strongly expected something to go wrong anyway.  So it's in and ready to receive data.  4 Tb drive will be dedicated entirely to Rifftrax.

It is astounding the rate at which drive space depreciates. 6 or 7 years ago I got a 1TB drive. I couldn't believe that in just a few years I would be constantly deleting things to make room for more recent stuff. Last year I added a 500 GB SS Drive. That filled up in just a few days.

I have 18TB's total in my dedicated home entertainment PC..
A 4TB dedicated to DVDs, a 6TB dedicated to TV shows, and a 8TB dedicated to BluRays and they're rapidly filling fast

[Pastor of Muppets]

4 Tb drive arrived today.  I got it installed and it was surprisingly painless.  Installing a new hard drive isn't difficult, but I strongly expected something to go wrong anyway.  So it's in and ready to receive data.  4 Tb drive will be dedicated entirely to Rifftrax.

It is astounding the rate at which drive space depreciates. 6 or 7 years ago I got a 1TB drive. I couldn't believe that in just a few years I would be constantly deleting things to make room for more recent stuff. Last year I added a 500 GB SS Drive. That filled up in just a few days.

I have 18TB's total in my dedicated home entertainment PC..
A 4TB dedicated to DVDs, a 6TB dedicated to TV shows, and a 8TB dedicated to BluRays and they're rapidly filling fast

Are you ripping all your physical media to hard drive?  That seems so excessive.  Why not just take the DVD or Blu-Ray and put it into the player when you need it?

I have a lot of DVDs, but don't back most of them up.  Actually the only ones ripped to hard drive are the ones assembled there.  The reason I bought this new hard drive was to keep an ISO of each Rifftrax project.  With about 300 projects at roughly 4.7 Gb per project, that's 1410 Gb.  Given that this represents 11 years of Rifftrax, I figure this hard drive is good until approximately 2033.  By which time I'll probably be able to upsize to like 20 Tb for 50 bucks....

[RVR II]

Are you ripping all your physical media to hard drive?  That seems so excessive.  Why not just take the DVD or Blu-Ray and put it into the player when you need it?

Yes.. It's not excessive at all. Why search my entire library for something to watch when I can now browse them on my computer with just a click of a mouse..

I have a lot of DVDs, but don't back most of them up.  Actually the only ones ripped to hard drive are the ones assembled there.  The reason I bought this new hard drive was to keep an ISO of each Rifftrax project.  With about 300 projects at roughly 4.7 Gb per project, that's 1410 Gb.  Given that this represents 11 years of Rifftrax, I figure this hard drive is good until approximately 2033.  By which time I'll probably be able to upsize to like 20 Tb for 50 bucks....

I used to do all that but compared to what you spend on media, burner replacements, ink, paper, covers, etc., ripping them to hard drive is much cheaper in my opinion..

[Pastor of Muppets]

Are you ripping all your physical media to hard drive?  That seems so excessive.  Why not just take the DVD or Blu-Ray and put it into the player when you need it?

Yes.. It's not excessive at all. Why search my entire library for something to watch when I can now browse them on my computer with just a click of a mouse..

Well I would say because it's gobbling up a spit load of hard drive space.

I have a lot of DVDs, but don't back most of them up.  Actually the only ones ripped to hard drive are the ones assembled there.  The reason I bought this new hard drive was to keep an ISO of each Rifftrax project.  With about 300 projects at roughly 4.7 Gb per project, that's 1410 Gb.  Given that this represents 11 years of Rifftrax, I figure this hard drive is good until approximately 2033.  By which time I'll probably be able to upsize to like 20 Tb for 50 bucks....

I used to do all that but compared to what you spend on media, burner replacements, ink, paper, covers, etc., ripping them to hard drive is much cheaper in my opinion..

You forgot to mention the time spent actually designing the covers, menus, and disc labels.  But it's a labor of love.  I greatly enjoy physical media.  Gives me a greater sense of ownership.

[RVR II]

Are you ripping all your physical media to hard drive?  That seems so excessive.  Why not just take the DVD or Blu-Ray and put it into the player when you need it?

Yes.. It's not excessive at all. Why search my entire library for something to watch when I can now browse them on my computer with just a click of a mouse..

Well I would say because it's gobbling up a spit load of hard drive space.

So...

I have a lot of DVDs, but don't back most of them up.  Actually the only ones ripped to hard drive are the ones assembled there.  The reason I bought this new hard drive was to keep an ISO of each Rifftrax project.  With about 300 projects at roughly 4.7 Gb per project, that's 1410 Gb.  Given that this represents 11 years of Rifftrax, I figure this hard drive is good until approximately 2033.  By which time I'll probably be able to upsize to like 20 Tb for 50 bucks....

I used to do all that but compared to what you spend on media, burner replacements, ink, paper, covers, etc., ripping them to hard drive is much cheaper in my opinion..

You forgot to mention the time spent actually designing the covers, menus, and disc labels.  But it's a labor of love.  I greatly enjoy physical media.  Gives me a greater sense of ownership.

That's part of the etc..

[Pastor of Muppets]

I'm a little surprised your computer can handle the physical number of hard drives you're cramming in there.  The space for the drive itself isn't much, but you need to have motherboard ports, plus a connection from the power supply.  I have 3 now, with the new one (320 Gb, 1 Tb, 4 Tb), and I think I'm out of connections.  If I ever wanted to add another, I'd have to toss one of the others. 

Well I guess you have the same number of drives as I do... but you're running low on space.  It may be time to consolidate and buy some bigger drives.  But with that kind of space demand, the drives start to cost a pretty penny.  A 12 Tb drive (the biggest available) cost as much as an entire computer...

I'm not trying to be too critical of your media storage strategy.  My father actually does about the same thing.  He has almost no physical media but since cancelling cable 2 years ago he has a lot of downloaded video.

[RVR II]

I'm a little surprised your computer can handle the physical number of hard drives you're cramming in there.  The space for the drive itself isn't much, but you need to have motherboard ports, plus a connection from the power supply.  I have 3 now, with the new one (320 Gb, 1 Tb, 4 Tb), and I think I'm out of connections.  If I ever wanted to add another, I'd have to toss one of the others. 

Well I guess you have the same number of drives as I do... but you're running low on space.  It may be time to consolidate and buy some bigger drives.  But with that kind of space demand, the drives start to cost a pretty penny.  A 12 Tb drive (the biggest available) cost as much as an entire computer...

I'm not trying to be too critical of your media storage strategy.  My father actually does about the same thing.  He has almost no physical media but since cancelling cable 2 years ago he has a lot of downloaded video.

I've never had a problem with multiple hard drives on any computer I've built.. My power supplies on my 2 most powerful computers are 1000 watts each. I also have multiple case fans to keep them cool.

Not running low on space yet but when I do, 10TB or 12TB will be my next purchase but I've still got a year or 2 before that becomes an issue..

Your father's a wise man as I agree it's the way to go nowadays. I can't stream because of our local ISP policing our data package and them charging extras for overages (and no there is no other ISP to switch too because our local ISP holds a monopoly here preventing other competitors from coming in currently) but I can also see the need to have a physical media library to stare at but that grows old over time and for me, kicking back on my couch and scrolling through my organized ripped media is just so much easier to do now.

[Pastor of Muppets]

I'm a little surprised your computer can handle the physical number of hard drives you're cramming in there.  The space for the drive itself isn't much, but you need to have motherboard ports, plus a connection from the power supply.  I have 3 now, with the new one (320 Gb, 1 Tb, 4 Tb), and I think I'm out of connections.  If I ever wanted to add another, I'd have to toss one of the others. 

Well I guess you have the same number of drives as I do... but you're running low on space.  It may be time to consolidate and buy some bigger drives.  But with that kind of space demand, the drives start to cost a pretty penny.  A 12 Tb drive (the biggest available) cost as much as an entire computer...

I'm not trying to be too critical of your media storage strategy.  My father actually does about the same thing.  He has almost no physical media but since cancelling cable 2 years ago he has a lot of downloaded video.

I've never had a problem with multiple hard drives on any computer I've built.. My power supplies on my 2 most powerful computers are 1000 watts each. I also have multiple case fans to keep them cool.

Not running low on space yet but when I do, 10TB or 12TB will be my next purchase but I've still got a year or 2 before that becomes an issue..

Your father's a wise man as I agree it's the way to go nowadays. I can't stream because of our local ISP policing our data package and them charging extras for overages (and no there is no other ISP to switch too because our local ISP holds a monopoly here preventing other competitors from coming in currently) but I can also see the need to have a physical media library to stare at but that grows old over time and for me, kicking back on my couch and scrolling through my organized ripped media is just so much easier to do now.

I don't mean that the power supply won't be able to handle the electrical demands.  Just mean that you run out of connections.  It's not like an AC outlet in your home where you have two outlets but can plug a power strip in and plug in like 12 devices.  Computer power supplies annoy me because there's just this spaghetti mess of wires vomiting out of a hole inside a sealed metal box.  And you get... whatever combination of wires the manufacturer decided to put in there.  Pretty sure I have 4 SATA power connections and that's about it.  Can't get no more, no way, no how.

I can't do the "cut the cord" thing.  I tried once.  The biggest problem is missing current shows.  You have to search really hard to find them.  You can get shows from the major networks on Hulu, but cable shows can be tougher.  Supernatural stopped streaming on Hulu last year.  It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Man Seeking Woman, and The Last Ship.... I couldn't find anywhere.

Also, I like not having to make a decision when I want to watch TV.  Sometimes I just want to lie down and see what happens to be on at the time.  Adult Swim and FXX's evening reruns of The Simpsons are pretty reliable on a weeknight.

[RVR II]

Pretty sure I have 4 SATA power connections and that's about it.  Can't get no more, no way, no how.

These come in real handy..
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812422786&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Cables+-+SATA+%2F+eSATA+Cables-_-N82E16812422786&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvabPBRD5ARIsAIwFXBmGObrmPxKv2GtSd-KxrhOnXa67h19nocN_YWGopISZwJHxL_DuxcAaAmhEEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[LucasM]

Pretty sure I have 4 SATA power connections and that's about it.  Can't get no more, no way, no how.

In addition to what RVR II linked to (for if you have the space in your computer case), there are THESE that are usable wherever you have shelf or desk space.

I have basically four of them (each from a different manufacturer) at my 'home' computer for backups and storage, and additional one-drive cases with different vids I'm likely to want to watch more often on them in my home theater room and 'sleep-inducing' riffings for my bedroom tv.


For me, I kinda' get the digital-copy approach for ease of access, as long as one keeps hard copies of it all.  All it takes is a power surge or crashed drive and the digital stuff is gone unless you have a power-supply-unconnected exact-duplicate copy of the drive.  Even if one has it all backed up to Blu-rays, if there is no exact-drive-copy, one drive crash and you are still spending HOURS loading another drive from discs.  Heck, I just did a drive-to-drive copy of my 'sleeping riffing' assortment drive, and it took just about 24 hours... from disc it'd likely be way more than that, plus having to be in attendance to change discs.

I used to have two 300-disc DVD changers that I had most of my DVDs loaded into, because it was nice to just sit on my butt and pick what to watch via remote (or, for the bedroom one, the option of continuous/sequential play of different MST episodes to sleep by without having to wake up to change discs).  But with tons of use, the two changers ended up both dying, only to find they were no longer manufactured.  Of course, by that time most of the vids I'd wanna' actually watch often I'd bought on Blu-ray, so not as big a deal the DVD changers were no longer available.  No such thing as a 300-disc Blu-ray changer, so I now choose films and TV on Blu by hand (how primitive! )

[RVR II]

Pretty sure I have 4 SATA power connections and that's about it.  Can't get no more, no way, no how.

In addition to what RVR II linked to (for if you have the space in your computer case), there are THESE that are usable wherever you have shelf or desk space.

I have basically four of them (each from a different manufacturer) at my 'home' computer for backups and storage, and additional one-drive cases with different vids I'm likely to want to watch more often on them in my home theater room and 'sleep-inducing' riffings for my bedroom tv.

That's cool!
I'll keep this option in mind for the future..

[LucasM]

Spoiler

Pretty sure I have 4 SATA power connections and that's about it.  Can't get no more, no way, no how.

In addition to what RVR II linked to (for if you have the space in your computer case), there are THESE that are usable wherever you have shelf or desk space.

I have basically four of them (each from a different manufacturer) at my 'home' computer for backups and storage, and additional one-drive cases with different vids I'm likely to want to watch more often on them in my home theater room and 'sleep-inducing' riffings for my bedroom tv.

That's cool!I'll keep this option in mind for the future..

Yeah, they are cool.  And it is easy to swap out drives from them (dismount the drive, turn off power, swap drive, turn power back on and you've got another however many TB as the swapped-in drive holds available to you.    I do think that one of the ones I have had a limit for how large the drive could be (I think one by Thermaltake could only handle up to 3TB drives).  Not sure on the one I linked to.

If I'm remembering correctly, it was MartyS (Gromit) who suggested them to me in this very thread a couple years back.  Possibly he suggested these (the above), as well as what I used as their predecessor, which was these (the below).  The predecessor was a lot messier, as for those (the below) each drive requires an adapter and a separate power supply, both of which are 'loose' cables, but they were all that was really available at the time first recommended, so worked well for what was needed:

picture is link
I actually have something like five sets of those (one inherited from my brother), two of which are not in use, though the three that do get used I have the drives housed in a drive bay with a fan, so they stay really cool while being used.  So, some benefits, despite the rather ugly appearance overall (and need for separate power supply mid-power-cord for each drive that way, vs. one supply built into the power plug for two drives with the bay in the previous).

I've got a crapload of drives is what the take-away from all this is (nine 'loose' outside my computer case, I think), though some are TINY by most standards (e.g. one 'loose' drive is only 150 GB - yes, 150 GB... one can get flash drives twice that big).  WAY TMI there, I'm sure (brain is 'off' today).