I was recently faced with the task of converting an old home movie into a series of YouTube-esque clips for use on the site Geni.com. Back when I was considering a small video game review blog I had played around with video conversion and editing but ultimately let it slip by due to lack of time. The challenge of converting these old home movies was just enough to push me back to learning the process.

After having the VHS transferred to DVD (something I realized I can probably do at home with my DVD recorder and some creative cable work) I set out on the task of finding the right clip and putting together the first video.

I'm not going to go too in-depth and instead just provide a quick walk through of the process.

The DVD transfer wasn't protected the way most commercial DVDs are so I was able to just browse through the DVD contents in Windows and select the .VOB files that make up the movie. In all there were four so I copied them to my hard drive and then set about researching the conversion process.

Because Windows Movie Maker doesn't accept the VOB files (even when renamed to MPEGs) I had to get them converted to .AVI first. This is where a quick lifehacker search and several downloads came in.

Ultimately I found Any Video Converter to be the best option for making the conversions. It's got a drag and drop interface and allows you to simply set it and forget it. After selecting the four VOB files taken from the DVD I set Any Video Converter to convert to AVI and took a little break. In my case it took about 30m per video to get the conversion done which didn't seem to bad.

For those wondering about cost Any Video Converter is offered in both a free and paid version. I'm using the free version which works just fine.

Once the video's were converted I opened up Windows Movie Maker and just went from there. Movie Maker is a pretty simple tool to use and is included in all versions of Windows. Just import your video and everything else is pretty self explanatory.

Yesterday in my Hotlinking section I mentioned the Compact Calendar put together by David Seah. One of the things I love about the Compact Calendar is how easily it fits into my Moleskine and how nicely it acts as a display calendar in the half dozen places I have them stashed.

Today on Lifehacker I spotted a new pocket of calendar called the "Thumb Calendar." The Thumb Calendar, by Adam Sporka, is an incredibly neat little design that looks ideal for popping into your wallet, hipster PDA or even your Moleskine.

All the way through college I never drank coffee. I tried once or twice but I just couldn't convince myself it was worth it.

When I started working full time (7am to 5pm) that changed. While I still don't drink hot coffee I find it absolutely necessary to have an iced-coffee every morning. Of course that creates a lot of problems.

I have not found a good way to make iced-coffee using hot brewing methods. Brew a pot of coffee - through it in the fridge and invariably you're unhappy. Buying an iced coffee every morning is even more trouble partly because of the money involved and partly because I end up buying a donut (or two) to go with it.

If you figure $4 a morning (for coffee, breakfast and a tip) times 365 days that's over $1400 a year at Dunkin Donuts!

I realized this just recently and immediately cringed at the wasted money. The good thing is it got me looking for a new way to fuel my morning coffee fix. What I found is called "Cold Brewed Coffee" and it's an incredible money saver for hot and cold coffee drinkers alike.

The system I bought (Toddy Cafe Cold Brew Coffee System) is extremely easy to use and makes a more consistent cup of coffee than any of my local Dunkin Donuts. If you're a coffee drinker looking to save money this year be sure to check it out!

I carry a Moleskine Notebook everywhere I go. In my own modified version of GTD I use it to keep track of all my projects and "to do's" and it doubles as a solid capture device. Along with my Space Pen my Moleskine is an indispensables part of my daily routine.

Besides my pocket reporter I also keep a couple of Large Moleskine Notebooks for other purposes as well. The most recent addition is my Moleskine Weekly planner - it's a great way to track all your major events and a solid way to keep a paper backup of your Online calendar.

One major problem with Moleskine Planners? They sell out fast. If you're looking to get a hold of one of these great notebooks now's a good time to grab them as there are many available on Amazon. Wait too long and you may not be able to get them until early next year!

Links to all the products are available above.

If you're a Lifehacker reader you may already be hip to this great Firefox extension. Better GMail is a collection of Greasemonkey scripts brought together as a standalone extension. While you can certainly install the scripts individually the extension offers a one stop supply which will work even without Greasemonkey.

Among the additions made by the extension are the ability to create folders in GMail (the one thing I really miss about traditional eMail), a status bar showing the current state of your GMail storage, and the ability to incorporate both Google Calendar and Google Reader into the GMail interface.

Head on over to Lifehacker and grab the extension to see what I mean.