Recently I read an article on a blog about someone who was desperately in need of a MS/Zune points converter, well, thanks to our friends over at mspconverter.com we have one.

With this handy little (albeit unofficial) tool one can simply input a points amount into the converter form and automatically receive a monetary value in the several different currencies, including USD, CAD, EURO, GBP, AUD, JPY, CHF and NOK.

Along with their neat converter they also list the current amounts being asked for across the Microsoft points network.

Zune Marketplace Content
One Zune Song - 79 MSP | 99 MSP

Game Marketplace Content - 431,848 MSP
One Arcade Game - 400 MSP | 800 MSP | 1200 MSP
All Full Games - 70,300 MSP
All Game Content - 89,585 MSP
All Gamer pictures - 95,735 MSP
All Themes - 161,820 MSP

Video Marketplace Content - 265,440 MSP
All Movies - 21,840 MSP
All TV Shows - 243,600 MSP

Be Cool my Babies…

Image via WikipediaI knew it was only a matter of time, and, that there were many out there whom would just love to get enough going to take another swipe at the Zune but c’mon? Almost every story I have read since information got out late this week about GameStop dropping the Zune from it’s lineup has been one to rattle the death ropes at our little mp3 player and to take more needless swipes at the player. Ridiculous!

I guessing 95% of these bloggers etc. have probably never even seen a Zune yet alone used one, if they have the reviews wouldn’t be this bad! That’s right I’m not only suggesting but I am guaranteeing that the majority of these idiots have never had a Zune with squirting distance.  And that these are just Apple Fanboys!

Image via WikipediaIn a recent announcement, GameStop reps have said:

“We have decided to exit the Zune category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated,” this according to a GameStop spokesperson. “It (also) did not fit with our product mix.”

Hmm… I don’t think this is going to really hurt the player much, if at all. I don’t really think many people associate the Zune or for that matter any other media player/MP3 player with the store. GameStop is about video games and even though the Zune has some great games coming it’s primarily an audio/video device but I digress. If that’s the way they want it they can go to h-e double hockey sticks for all I care!

Be Cool and shop somewhere other than GameStop (how about Best Buy?) my Babies…

Just as the title suggests, we found some wonderful software that will convert just about any audio or video file format to another. It’s called MediaCoder, and it’s free, of course!

It supports the following file formats:

MP3, Vorbis, AAC, AAC+, AAC+v2, MusePack, Speex, AMR, WMA, RealAudio, mp3PRO*
FLAC, WavPack, Monkey’s Audio, OptimFrog, AAC Lossless, TTA, WAV/PCM, Waveform
H.264, XviD, DivX, MPEG 1/2/4, Theora, Flash Video, Dirac, 3ivx*, RealVideo*, Windows Media Video
AVI, MPEG/VOB, Matroska, MP4, PMP, RealMedia*, ASF, Quicktime*, OGM*
CD, DVD, VCD, SVCD, CUESheet*, HTTP*, FTP*, RTSP*, UDP*

Pretty  impressive, huh? We think so too.  Enough so that we installed the software on our Windows XP machine and gave it a whirl. The file itself (we went with a the stable build not wanting to install any beta-esque builds) is relatively large at 16.9MB, compared to similar encoders but with all the formats supported it makes sense. Here’s a screencap of the installation screen. [more after the jump]

As you can see at start up you’re directed to a MediaCoder welcome page at SourceForge.net.

After you click on the “Start MediaCoder” button you’re taken to a “Please support MediaCoder!” page, we understand that this is free software but we still found this to be extremely annoying. However, this did allow us to find the forum for the software which looks pretty active and informative, so we joined. At this point we noticed that the software was already running, even though it was a bit clandestine as the program itself was not an active windows but rather an active icon in our taskbar, so we clicked it and the software was active and available. Here’s a screenshot of the interface. [more after the jump]

The interface looks pretty straight forward, now we’re going to get started. As we write this we’re getting going with our first conversion with the app. We’ll hopefully let you know how it went sometime in the near future with an update to this post. Here’s the direct link to the stable buil:

0.6.0.3905

You will be able to choose from the full pack installer, full pack 7-Zip archive or you can view the changelog from the link above.

As always, Be Cool my Babies…

Here for the first time, we will get to see what the Zune XNA team can do creating Zune games with their first release Alien Game! This is not only meant to be entertaining but also educational as there are many aspects of this game that you can use to incorporate into your own Zune games.

One the games download page there is a big push for downloaders to adopt the game for inspiration in developing their own titles:

Are you ready to start programming games for your Zune? All you need is the XNA Game Studio 3.0 CTP and any model of the Zune media device. Follow these instructions to get started with your first Zune game. Once you’ve done that, try our first Zune Mini-Game, Alien Game!

At the site, the Zune team has writing instructions walking potential programmers through the process for developing their own games for Zune.

As you can see from the photo up top, the game itself looks interesting and sports perhaps the best graphics we’ve seen a Zune game have thus far. You can download the game here.

As always, Be Cool my Babies…

Today Microsoft’s Cashback for Live Search page is up and running at http://search.live.com/cashback, what is it? Well, it’s Live Search but with a bonus. Every time you use it to search for products or deals and you click on a Live Search Cashback listing and make a qualifying purchase, you receive an email informing you of sour Cashback savings. When you savings reach $5, “you can claim your cold, hard cash”. [more after jump]

These Cashback listings are easily identified simply look for the Cashback coin (located at the top right of this page) and you’ll know that it’s a savings listing.

Here’s exactly what you need to do according to their “How to” page:

1 Search

Search for cashback deals at Live Search cashback. Each time you click a Live Search cashback listing, you’ll find great deals on the product you chose. Your results will clearly list the cashback savings you’ll receive off the store price, and your final bottom-line price that includes tax and shipping costs. Also look for this icon when you search for a product on Live Search to find great cashback deals.

2 Shop

Compare and sort products by the bottom-line price. Click the best deal to go to the store. Everything you buy during that store visit will be eligible for Live Search cashback. On your first time using Live Search cashback, we will ask you for an email address so we can tell you how to quickly set up your free cashback account.

3 Save

Keep saving money each time you use Live Search cashback. Every time you make a qualifying purchase, we’ll send you an email to confirm your Live Search cashback savings. When your cashback account reaches a balance of at least $5, you can claim your cold, hard cash.

I hope this is something my readers can use (perhaps to save on their new Zune), and as always, Be Cool my Babies…

In a recent article by iStartedSomething they wrote about a new Zune commercial brought to us by Stewart Hendler , it feature a boy walking through a bad part of town who comes across what would appear to be a deceased bird while listening to music on his Zune, he kneels down and places his headphones over the birds heart and withing a couple seconds the bird seems to reanimate and flies away. Emotional but not over the top, is the way I see this video. Here’s a look at the 35 second spot: [more after the jump]

The music behind this is hauntingly precise and to the point. Unlike many (who am I kidding all) Zune ads we’ve seen in the past this commercial actually allows those who have no idea what a Zune is to see that it’s actually an mp3 player, most other commercials are meant for us Zunies but not for mass, general consumption. Thus, I contend, this is by far the best and perhaps most effective Microsoft Zune commercial to date. I just hope Redmond makes this official and green lights it.

Bes Cool my Babies…

Microsoft certainly thinks so, says Xbox Live Arcade’s worldwide portfolio planner David Edery:

“I certainly think from an innovation perspective it’s going to help us leapfrog the competition, effectively until they find a way to duplicate it, assuming they ever do”

The hope is that eventually we will not only see these games hitting the Xbox 360 but also Zune, as Edery also revealed that games like Culture are soon to be hitting the XboxLive Arcade and the Zune.

The interview with David was done by Matt Martin for GameIndustry.biz, you can read the full interview here.

Be Cool my Babies…

This is not necessarily about free downloads but it’s news in regards to something us Zune people do quite often, copy copyrighted content on to our Zunes. The New York Times reported a couple of weeks ago that Microsoft had intended to setup measures to block copyrighted content from the Zune. Here’s a qoute from NYT and Ina Fried:

Adam Sohn as saying that the software maker is exploring antipiracy measures with NBC.

However, Microsoft quickly dispelled this as rubbish stating:

Microsoft has no plans or commitments to implement content filtering features in the Zune family of devices as part of our content distribution deal with NBC,” the software maker said in a statement.

And Adam Sohn himself had this to say:

We’ve agreed to work with these guys on a number of issues, but we have no plans or commitment to put filtering technology as part of this arrangement with NBC,” he told CNET News.com.

Thus, this has the appearance (IMHO) of either being a case of severely quoting out of context or grossly misquoting by the New York Times and or Ina Fried.

Anyway, the bottom line is that Microsoft seems to have taken a firm stand not to be the Copyright Cops. Thank you Redmond for coming through for us!

Be Cool my Babies…

This isn’t a freebie. so we thought it over for a few days before posting this. However, it is a pretty good value and thus we’re writing about it now. At Amazon.com you can get a free set of Premium Zune Earbud headphones (you can get these for free anyway if you call 1-877-Get-Zune and tell them your original pair is not working properly and let’s face it, they don’t work well at all, so you’re not telling a lie IMHO) with the purchase of any Flash Zune media player for as low as $119.99 (a bargain in it’s own right) with free shipping and handling.

Once you click on this link Zune flash You will see this beneath the ad:

Get a Set of Free Zune Premium Headphones with This Purchase!
You qualify for a free set of Zune Premium Headphones with the purchase of this Flash Zune from Amazon.com. Just add both items to your cart; you will not be charged for the headphones.

You will need to ad both of these to your cart and as they state, you should not be charged.

You can shop around for any Flash-based Zune you like, and you will still be eligible for the free set of earbud headphones.