Play most videos directly on a 360 these days, or if you don't need HD videos just get an old Xbox and run Xbox Media Center. Done. No conversion necessary.

A while back I was having frequent difficulty falling asleep. I started taking Melatonin and now have no problems. Yes, it is a pill but if you research it is safe, not bad for you, not habit forming, all that. In fact, it has some really beneficial things it does for you. I'm glad I found it, I never have problems…

I love Cygwin. I have used it on and off for years, but now it is my primary command-line under Windows and I couldn't be happier. I use it in combination with Console (from SourceForge) for a great combination, much better than just launching a "cmd.exe".

I used to believe in Raid-Mirroring, but then I had a controller that corrupted both drives, somehow. DOH! I am a big believer in RAID-5, but can't quite (mentally) afford it for home, but at work it has been a life-saver more than once. So, I currently use HandyBackup 5.x which I really love to backup to an external…

I will second using VLC over mucking with tons of Codecs... I find that VLC plays pretty much everything. Alternatively or additionally, watch movies using XBMC on an original Xbox.