Downloading, streaming, or encoding music and movies.

How can I watch blu-rays on my Mac?

Episode 1816

Anne from Laguna Woods, CA

Anne has a large collection of blu-ray discs that she'd like to watch on her MacBook. How can she do that? Leo says that the Mac doesn't support the copy protection scheme that blu-ray uses. What you can try though, is VLCMedia Client. You'll need to install a library called LibBluRay. It'll help you get beyond the copy protection barrier. You can install a program called MakeMKV after VLC. It'll decrypt the blu-ray. Also check out this iMore article.

How Can I Make My Video Open Source?


Episode 1811

Mark from Palm Springs, CA

Mark has a video on youtube about what pollutes more ... electric vehicles or gas?  He wants to make it available for anyone to distribute, re-edit, etc. Is that open source? Leo says no. It's actually "Creative Commons." That's the phrase he's looking for. Legally, copyright exists once one publishes their work. But what people can do with it can be anywhere from Public Domain to Strictly copyrighted.

How Can I Follow My Favorite Podcast?


Episode 1811

Jerry from Hatfield, PA

Jerry listens to podcasts on his cellphone, and sometimes they stop working. Leo says that RSS feeds are what makes a podcast distributable. And sometimes, they change. That's why Leo recommends subscribing or following podcasts through a favorite podcast player. Like iTunes. Then, when there is a change in the RSS feed, it'll be automatically adjusted in the app itself. Manually following a podcast is really not practical anymore. 

How Can I Curate My Music Favorites on Spotify?


Episode 1809

Michael from Los Angeles, CA

Mike is a big music fan and he uses Spotify to manage it. But it's not very good for that. Leo says that Spotify Playlists is the chief way to do it. But you're "renting" the music with a subscription, and that means a third-party app that can do it would be a challenge. Spotify is probably the best out there though, and that's not really saying much. But it's not really their business model either. It's more like a jukebox.   

There are plenty of apps for curating your personal mp3s out there, but that's not what Spotify is about.

Is Apple's Spatial Audio the Future of Music?


Episode 1808

Joey from San Diego, CA

Joey is a huge music fan and he thinks that Apple's new lossless high res audio is awesome. Leo says that 99% of the audience won't really be able to tell the difference, frankly. But those who can are enjoying it. Spatial Audio is Apple's version of surround sound, and it's been around for decades, steadily getting better and better. But it's never really taken off. The spatial component, however, really opens up the sound quality, to be sure, but users need to have an Apple device that supports it, though Apple claims it'll work with any headphones.

Scott Wilkinson ... Digging into it

Scott Wilkinson

Episode 1804

Scott joins Leo to talk about the new spatial and lossless audio that Apple is offering now. Leo thinks it's essentially remastered in Dolby Atmos. Scott says that there's a variety of different models of spatial audio now, and it's essentially surrounding music. It can be done really badly, but recently, audio engineers have learned to really do it well, and Scott likes it. But Leo says it doesn't sound all that great on Apple's Airpods.

Can I Hear Hi-Res Music Better With New Apple TV?

Apple TV

Episode 1801

Tom from New Hampshire

Tom recently picked up a new Apple TV. It's his third one. And since it supports Hi-res music, Tom wants to know how it will sound? Leo says that with good speakers or headphones, users with "golden ears" will definitely be able to tell the difference. The music also has to be mixed that way. And even then, those who listen to mp3s and don't really care may not. It all comes down to how he can listen to music. Hint - none of the AirPods will be able to. 

How Do I Transfer Photos From 1 Google Account to Another?


Episode 1801

Diane from Chicago, IL

Diane would like to transfer all her Google photos up to another Google account. Leo says that now is the time to do it because Google is about to eliminate unlimited photo storage in favor of a 15GB limit. There is a third-party service called Cloud Transfer or MultCloud that can do it. But Google has TakeOut, which would allow her to download all of them and then upload all of them.

How Can I Find My Music on an Old PC and Sync It to My Phone?


Episode 1799

Bob from Tulsa, OK

Bob wants to know where Windows Media Player stores his music files on his old computer. He has no idea. Leo says you can use the manage file memory command. Ideally, it'll be in the music folder. Then, to start using iTunes, you can add the folder into the iTunes Library. But make sure you check the "let me manage my music" option in iTunes settings. Once that's done, you can connect your phone via USB and then sync. You may also have to convert them to mp3 because your phone won't play WMA files. What's a lot easier is to use iMazing.