Mac OSX / Windows : How to create Streaming MP4 from MP4 movie, and SRT subtitles files?

I'm a total newbie at video technologies. So when i had this problem (See title), i looked for solutions and combined opinions from different people. This is thus far the best combo i can make out, all utilising only free tools.

What tools do you need?
Aegisub - http://www.aegisub.org/
Mkvtoolnix - http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/downloads.html
Handbrake - http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php

What files do i have?
Videos: AVI, MP4 or MKV
Subtitles: SRT or ASS

What should i do?
Subtitles
When we create streaming mp4, the subtitles should be hard-subbed. Meaning the subtitles are embedded into the video image, not as a separate external container. If this is not done, it cannot be guaranteed that the subtitles will show at the player. I tried this on Macs and IPads, true enough, the subtitles didn't appear.

That being said, we will need to get the subtitles into the ASS format if you don't already have.
Just open Aegisub and load your srt file. Then save as ass. Simple as that.

Video
In general, your source video can be in the form of the any above (avi, mp4, mkv).
What we are going to do next is to create a new mkv with the video and the ass subtitle as its content. This is where mkvtoolnix comes in.

At the input tab (Input files), simply add the video file and subtitle file (Must be ass format else the last step later won't work). Click the 'Start muxing' and a mkv file would be created. This mkv file contains the video and the subtitle information.

Converting to mp4
This is the last step. We will convert the mkv file into a http streamable mp4.
Open handbrake and then add the mkv file we just created as the source.
Select output setting to be mp4, check on 'Web Optimized'. This option will add Fast Start to the mp4 and thus the http stream can start almost immediately.
Select subtitles tab, make sure the track for the ass subtitle is selected.
Make sure the 'Burned in' option is chosen...most impt step here.
Start the encoding and when its done, you are all set.

Move home folder to another location (Mac OSX) Works for Maverick too.

Putting your user home folder in a separate partition away from your system partition always makes it easier for you when you are going to perform any overhauls.

The following are really good guides on how to do this.

http://chris.pirillo.com/how-to-move-the-home-folder-in-os-x-and-why/
http://macs.about.com/od/diyguidesprojects/qt/Move-Your-Home-Folder-To-A-New-Location.htm

OSX Chime

I always have this issue with the loud chime when OSX start up. Scripts generally involve muting the whole thing altogether which is not desired as the Chime is actually there for a good reason. So i found the following which fits into my scenario nicely.

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20120513121111656

MacOS Mountain Lion USB Tether with Android

I believe lots of us have had problems USB Tethering a Mountain Lion with Android. There's a kernel extension written by Joshua Wise which fixed this problem. Enjoy :) http://joshuawise.com/horndis

Xbox Foreign first screen

 If you ever see such foreign notice on your first Xbox boot, select the 2nd option.

Windows Administrative Tools

Question
What are the kinds of administrative tools i can use in windows?

Answer
Click Start -> Run.
Enter one of the following as desired and wala....

Command	Description
%windir%\system32\comexp.msc	Component Services
%windir%\system32\compmgmt.msc	Computer Management
%windir%\system32\odbcad32.exe	Data Sources (ODBC)
%windir%\system32\eventvwr.msc	Event Viewer
%windir%\system32\iscsicpl.exe	iSCSI Initiator
%windir%\system32\secpol.msc	Local Security Policy
%windir%\system32\perfmon.msc	Performance Monitor
%systemroot%\system32\printmanagement.msc	Print Management
%windir%\system32\nfsmgmt.msc	Services for (NFS)
%windir%\system32\services.msc	Services
%windir%\system32\msconfig.exe	System Configuration
%windir%\system32\taskschd.msc	Task Scheduler
%windir%\system32\WF.msc	Windows Firewall with Advanced Security
%windir%\system32\MdSched.exe	Windows Memory Diagnostic
%SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -NoExit -ImportSystemModules	Windows PowerShell Modules

HP computers show bad performance with Flash Player 10.x

Problem:
Some HP computers show very bad visualization performance with any flash enabled applications, especially from Flash 10 onwards.

Cause?
This is an inherent problem with several HP computers i have tried on. I have no idea why this is so.

Solution:
Follow this link to the solutions. It may not be for your series of desktops but it works.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=c02509418&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Altering BIOS setting

There's a specific issue with HP Desktops which happens with Flash Player 10.x, lots of users solve their FlashPlayer problem with this

"In order to have the issue resolved, the value "Idle Power Savings" from the system BIOS menu has to be modified (Press F10 at the time of reboot to access to the BIOS Menu, Power, OS Power Mgmt) from the default value "Extended" to the value "Normal". Then savings the changes into the BIOS menu and rebooting the machine. As soon as the unit is rebooted and the OS loaded, access the websites that are equipped with Adobe's Shockwave Flash plugin's, the issue will not be shown anymore."