Automen is a free GUI for Mencoder that can perform video conversions across multiple formats and encoders. It supports XviD (for AVI encoding), FLV, X264 (MP4 for Ipod/PSP/PS3), WMV, MPEG4, MPEG2, and Huffyuv and is designed to be simple and straightforward for quick video conversion.

DVDnextCOPY iTurns Manager is a free program that can convert iTunes DRMS protected tracks to normal unprotected MP3s. It installs a virtual CD-writer driver and takes advantage of the option to burn tracks to CD in iTunes in order to capture and re-encode protected audio files to normal MP3s.

Mp3splt-gtk is a free multi-platform tool that can split large MP3 or OGG files without re-encoding. It offers a number of different ways to do this, including autodetecting silences, using a a local CDDB or CUE file, and downloading album and track length info from freedb.org . Other options include splitting by fixed time segments and unwrapping Albumwrap or MP3wrap files.

TubeMaster Plus is a free tool that can download streaming video and audio files from almost any media sharing site, including sites with anti-leeching protection. TubeMaster Plus also can convert downloaded videos to several formats, offers a video search function across multiple video sources, and offers a downloadble audio mp3 search function.

TED (Torrent Episode Downloader) is a free tool that can find episodes of almost any TV show for downloading using a torrent client. It’s database of torrent sources is updated periodically to include new shows, and the program allows users to search for and add any shows that are not listed.

Satsuki Decoder Pack auto-installs a collection of media decoders and filters on your system. It will allow you to view or open almost any media file or DVD using the enclosed Windows Media Player Classic or from within any other application. In order to avoid conflicts and clutter this pack does not include codecs, only decoders and filters.

RichFLV is a free Adobe Air tool that performs a number of operations on FLV video files, including merging files, extracting sections from larger FLVs, exporting audio as FLV or MP3, converting to SWF, extracting individual frames to image files, and defining cue-points and metadata. Operations can be performed on the whole video or user-defined sub-sections.

Totally Free Burner is a CD/DVD burner with a nice, minimalistic interface and an excellent range of features.

Debut Video Capture is a free video recording software that can capture video and audio from any USB device, and can also record anything that is displayed on-screen such as a video that is playing or a user’s visible on-screen activity. Supports a wide variety of output formats and encoders.

this posting will provide a number of mini-reviews for freeware programs written by the amazing Dirk Paehl: SimplyZip, DP MediaInfo, IndexMaker, and UPXG.

the new Radiohead music video for their song "House of Cards" was created using a technology that captures 3D images as data, without cameras or lights. A version of the video was released on the Google code page, which allows you to manipulate and move in or around the objects as the video is playing using a 3D viewer. You can also download and modify the data to come up with your own version of the video.

The KM Player is a free media player that supports a comprehensive range of media format, including broad DVD support using all internal filters and codecs. It is extremely feature-rich, offering a range of features such as applying filters during playback (sharpening, denoise, color effects, etc), excellent subtitles support, playing (and capturing) streaming media over the internet, playing incomplete files, bookmarking parts of videos, and others.