Well, I was wrong. The xBox 360 did not support the mts/m2ts file format that Canon HD camcorder was recording the videos into.

So I began searching the internet for a solution to this problem. I did find a solution… eventually…

I really wanted an automated solution to this problem. Meaning that I copy the files onto my home server somewhere. The Canon mts/m2ts files are automatically converted, and appear on my xBox 360 menu.

Eventually, after weeks of on and off attempts, I got what I wanted. I wrote up a somewhat detailed page about what was needed for me to convert the mts (m2ts / hdavc / h264) files into a format that the xBox 360 can understand, and could then play them. After some more time, I should have them playable over my small home network via a Upnp server.

You can read the full detailed write-up here:
How To: Convert mts files for playback on an xBox 360

So years later after buying this domain name (hellalame.com), I am finally putting it to a little bit of use.

And I bring you the first Hellalame Picture of the Day*

*Disclaimer: by ‘day’ I really mean a general time period, like a day/week/month/year. There probably won’t be a new picture I post here everyday.

A little bit of background / history can probably go here, continue reading if you want my take on the history of these kind of pictures online…

I guess I can start with the fact that I have owned a digital camera for over 12 years now. When I bought my first camera, I started taking pictures of everything, and I mean everything. If it was something cool, I took a picture. If it was something ridiculously lame, I took a picture of it too. Besides, it wasn’t like I had to pay to develop the pictures… I just needed storage space, which I had tons of.

As a result of that, I have a TON of “hellalame” (fail) pictures. Originally I started writing a web app for this domain to post a new picture every day or so. I started that in 2004. Obviously it was never finished. Since then these kinds of pictures have become pretty popular. Mostly in the form attachments in mass forwarded emails… etc.

Then someone pointed me to look at http://failblog.org

That site is now awesome. Good kind of catchy name too. At first, they only had 1 new picture every couple of days, and they seemed mostly about “failboats” (still my favorite fail image). Now, failblog is posting 4-5 new pictures & videos every single day. And they are getting people to submit all of their own fail pictures. So nice work to them. I now have to live with the fact that the basis for my idea I had over 5 years ago has turned into a very big thing (done by someone else). I enjoy reading that website almost everyday though

Now, I won’t be posting publicly submitted pictures. I will just be posting my own, most of which I have taken over the past 10+ years. And it won’t be everyday either. I will try for at least every week, but it depends on how much spare time I have. Besides, this blog is about “random stuff”. I will be posting many other things as well.