product placement

I've been meaning to tell LJ about some various programs I've been using that are exciting me, particularly now that I've embarked on this whole thirtysomething archiving endeavor. Things I like, and perhaps you will like them too!

• GOM Player, which so far has pleased me even more than VLC, to the point where I had a couple files VLC wouldn't play that GOM handled effortlessly. When I first got Vista VLC didn't totally support it, so I had to search for another app, and GOM player plays everything, and comes with its own codecs. It's nice and light, and free, and I definitely recommend it, especially if you've had problems with VLC/Vista compatibility, or if you've got files even VLC won't play.
  
• AnyDVD and CloneDVD, which cost money (somewhere in the $40 range) but have proved totally worth it, especially because AnyDVD makes my DVD drive region-free, which is a feature I've enjoyed enormously. It also can strip ads and trailers, unlock copy-protection, and has a bunch of other useful customizations for dubbing DVDs. It can also burn a DVD with menus, etc, from .ISO files.
  
• Aimersoft DVD Ripper might be the best purchase yet. It cost $35, and is the most user-friendly DVD ripping software I've ever used. For example. I put in a thirtysomething DVD, and the software presents me with all four episodes, separated out, with drop down boxes for me to choose the converted file type (with sizes! .avi, 500mb, .mp4, 320mb) and rename the selected file. So I get four .avis individually renamed and saved to my harddrive, in, like, an hour and a half. Additionally, you can crop and color correct, etc, within the program, so, for example, one of these thirtysomething DVDs had three episodes in a single chapter, so they came up as only one episode in the DVD ripper interface. Using the tools, I was able to clip the chapter into three parts, individually rename them, and save them as three separate files. And I was able to adjust the contrast and resolution before ripping the file. Amazing stuff, I tell you!
  
• Megaupload and associated products, including the Megamanager download manager (I get speeds of, like, 400kb/s and can bring down hourlong episodes in about seven minutes sometimes) and the upload toolbar (though at the moment I can't figure out how to configure it to upload faster -- although I've used it before and had great success). A two month premium membership is like fourteen bucks, and considering how frequently I use it and how many files I download in a day, a month, whatever, it's absolutely been worth the money. Plus, now I've got a place to permanently store and access 30 gig of thirtysomething for posterity!
  
• Graboid -- amazing. Several months ago I downloaded the Veoh TV interface, and thought I was sitting pretty with selected CBS and NBC episodes and a ton of streaming horror movies. Then I got Graboid, which both streams and provides episodes for download, and seriously after three minutes of buffering I was watching 30 Rock fullscreen, in perfect resolution. Beats the hell out of the grainy 5-part TV episodes you find on youtube or alluc.org. And free free free! Well, 4000mb bandwidth limit free. I don't know if that's a day, a week, or what -- I've only just started using Graboid and haven't hit my limit yet.
  

Anything awesome you want to recommend to me?

Now, god willing and the creek don't rise, to sleep, to the dulcet quips of Tina Fey. And dudes, where's my 30 Rock icon??