Speed up XP in 15 minutes

Great procedure here...found via Lifehacker... ;)

.aa to .mp3 conversion

Okay, I've gone through this so you don't have to...Ricky Gervais, in his wisdom, has decided to release his podcasts in .aa format which my Sony PSP won't play, so in order to turn them back into regular .mp3 files you need to go through the following procedure -

Convert .aa to .mp3

1) Install the nonsense that is mandatory to play .aa files (you'll go through that bit when you register at Audible.com)
2) Go here and grab the free version of "Total Audio Converter", install it, choosing all the default options
3) Grab this file
4) Grab this file (put it in the same place as the .dll you grabbed in step 3) and then run it, hit "install" and then "close" (when it's done), then you can delete both the .dll and the .exe
5) Re-boot
6) Launch "Total Audio Converter", navigate to the .aa file in the central dialogue, hit "MP3" in the "Convert to" bar at the top, then hit the "finish" button, then hit the "continue" button - you *may* see another dialogue box appear asking you for a logon and password, if so insert the logon and password you specified when you registered for Audible.com
7) Wait a few seconds then enjoy your shiny new .mp3 on your non-.aa playing audio device of choice... ;)

Update - looks like they may have done something to cripple the larger file size transfer process, if you get a hang at about 50% just download one of the other quality offerings and try again...happened a couple of times now...

Update Update - Looks like you can also use Goldwave 5.12 to do the conversion easily enough, as my Total Audio Converter trial period just ended and we have at least one Ricky Gervais podcast on the way...it's very easy, just do "File", "Open" then choose a filetype of "All" from the dropdown menu, once it has imported, just do "File", "Save As", then choose MP3 and off you go...peasy... ;)

Update update update - Audible really are being selfish, cutting all links to files, so I suggest just going with the Goldwave solution for the time being (a$$h0l3z)...

A wise precaution...

..(if you are risking enjoying all the wonders that the internet holds) can be found here, it is in public alpha at the moment so you won't have to pay anything...nuff said I think...