Found some DVD movies, making digital videos

A funny thing related to my recent move to Palmer, Alaska is that last night as I was moving some boxes around, I lifted the lid of the boxes to see what exactly I was moving, and I laughed when I saw the contents.

Right before I moved to Palmer -- and I do mean right before I moved -- life found me in Anchorage, and whenever I'm in Anchorage I go to the big Title Wave used bookstore. On this particular trip I was interested in buying used movies, and that's exactly what I found in that box last night, the used DVDs I bought and forgot about.

The reason I mention this today is that these DVDs are now sitting on the desk next to me, and I'm about to convert them into digital video files I can watch on my iMac or iPhone. If you're a Mac user, there's a free piece of software named Handbrake that lets you convert DVD movies to digital movie files.

While that process is known as "ripping" a movie, which sounds illegal, I don't mention this to break the law. I mention it because it's a lot easier to watch a digital video file than it is to watch a DVD. I explain all that in my article, When ripping a DVD to a digital video file makes sense.

If you don't read that article, just know that I'm not interested in breaking the law, I'm just interested in making it easier for me to watch a movie I already bought. It's a lot easier to fire up a digital movie using iTunes, especially if you have a Mac speech recognition robot who's willing to help.

The movies I bought

In case you want to know anything more about me, here's a short list of the movies and tv shows I bought:

• i, Robot
• Minority Report
• Stigmata
• In Treatment (an HBO series)
• The Lake House
• Casablanca

I always get in trouble for admitting I like The Lake House, but hey, I like it. :) If you've never heard it, the Paul McCartney song they dance to at one point in the movie is excellent.