Handbrake is a piece of software I use nearly every week. It’s a free program designed to efficiently rip DVDs to editable video files on your computer. Handbrake will also convert files of one format to another.

Download the Handbrake installer here [~5MB exe]. Run the installer with all the default settings and you’re ready to start ripping DVDs.

1) Choose the source using the “Source” button at the top left corner of the Handbrake window. There are options to choose a file or DVD.

2) Choose the destination for the out put in the main frame of the Handbrake window. I normally use the Desktop or the Videos folder in My Documents.

3) Choose your output settings using either a preset (right side frame) or customize using the tabs in the main section of the Handbrake window.

4) Click “Start” on the toolbar. You’ll see a DOS-looking window open with progress information. Wait until it’s done, then look at the destination folder for your new file.

Note: I offer this tip and software as a resource for professional and personal use. This software should not be used for illegal purposes, such as pirating movies.

Windows only: Image resizing tools are a dime a dozen, but free utility Shrink Pic is actually an extremely clever original: Instead of requiring manual processing, it runs in the background and automatically resizes images whenever you attach or upload them.

A perfect tool for frequent Facebook uploaders, for example, Shrink Pic works with a number of applications (most browsers, Outlook, Thunderbird, Skype, and MSN Messenger, to name just a few) to monitor when you upload, attach, or send pictures via IM. When you do, it automatically resizes the images in the background based on user-defined settings, then uploads the smaller image (so you don’t have to wait several minutes for an upload to complete just to have it severely compressed at its destination anyway). It can even resize multiple photos in the same upload. The speed at which it resizes and the quality of the compression are nothing to sneeze at, either.

Shrink Pic saves the resized images in a temporary directory, so your originals are never touched—just copied. You can use any kind of compression level you want, as well as choose from 5 different photo types to check for. If you want to disable it, all you need to do is uncheck an option in your system tray—and re-enabling it is just as easy. You can even install a portable version to a USB drive, so you never have to resize images again—not even at other computers.

Shrink Pic is a free download, Windows only.