Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
Media Files
How To Download YouTube Videos
Mar 6th
Sometimes you need a video clip that’s available online for offline use – like using it as an example for a class or workshop.
Other times, you may want to be able to play it offline for your own review at a later time when it’s more convenient for you, or when you know you won’ t have internet access (like on a plane).
There’s definitely a bunch of sites available now that let you download videos from YouTube and other video sharing sites out there.
Usually all you have to do is copy/paste the video page URL from Youtube, MetaCafe or other video site into the form on the video download site and you’re all set to go.
But once in awhile, your favorite Youtube video grabber site can’t download the video file. That’s when you have to go looking for other options.
Other than Kisstube and Vixy, I found another favorite that seems to work for me . . .
SaveVid.com works just the same. This site does give a couple of download options including flv format, mp4 as well as HD video which YouTube presents sometimes.
SaveVid.com also shares some of the videos that others have used the site to download so you can get a sense of what people are watching and downloading.
Do you have any other favorite sites to download videos from online video platforms? Please add them in the comments below.
All Things Digital on Your iPhone
Jul 22nd
Walt Mossberg is one of the writers that I try to read first when I pick-up the Wall Street Journal.
His reviews and columns on tech are informative, easy to understand and usually about very practical things relevant to today.
Mossberg runs a WSJ conference called “All Things D” (D for digital!) which brings in the heavyweights (Gates!) and other speakers that talk about all the latest goodies in tech.
The AllThingsD.com website has become a hub for Mossberg/WSJ’s tech stuff. A great place to land when you want to enjoy some practical tech / tip content.
Now, you can take it with you on the go with a new iPhone app that can be used on the Apple iPhone or the Apple iPod Touch.
They built it right, allowing you to tap the social media sites in the ways that you should be able to. For example, you can post links direction from the app to Twitter. Facebook can be peppered with articles and reviews that you find on AllThingsD.com
Features:
•Daily columns, blogs and video
•Product reviews and analysis
•Breaking Silicon Valley news
•Galleries of D conference videos and photos
Tools:
•Post links directly to Twitter
•Share on Facebook
•Email blogs and video links
Content:
•Walt Mossberg’s Personal Technology, Mossberg’s Mailbox and Mossblog
•Kara Swisher’s BoomTown
•John Paczkowski’s Digital Daily
•Peter Kafka’s MediaMemo
•Katherine Boehret’s Mossberg Solution
•Voices links to compelling stories from around the Web
How to Load mp3 Music Onto Your Apple iPod Touch or iPod Nano
Jul 22nd
It’s easy as pie to go to the iTunes store on your iPod Nano or iPod Touch and download music directly onto your device.
But a lot of your music might be on your computer, and you want to load your iPod with the mp3 music you already have.
One you learn how to do this, you’ll have the freedom to take any music you have in the house or on your computer with you on the go on your iPod Touch or any other iPod device.
The Apple iPhone has a very similar process to load mp3 music onto the mp3 player device part of the phone.
Downloading music onto your iPod is a simple process if you’ve seen it before. Here’s a video that walks you through the whole process:
How To Send A Fax Via Internet For Free
Jun 25th
There’s tons of free incoming e-fax services out there.
Personally, I have been using k7.net unified messaging lately which gives me free inbound faxes and voicemail.
However when you want to SEND A FAX, that’s a completely different story. This is where the online faxing companies make their money.
TrustFax.com, efax.com, faxaway.com all charge different rates for outbound faxing capabilities – per page, per minute of transmission, monthly fees, etc.
S
ince I don’t send faxes often, the two services I use are www.faxzero.com and now www.myfax.com — as you guessed, both are free faxing services.
But one of these two internet faxing services is the clear winner. Here’s why: Read the rest of this entry »
Sewing PDF Documents Together
Jan 4th
Whether you are a guy or a gal, old or young, one of life’s most useful skills to learning to sew a button.
If you know how to use a needle and thread life becomes just a little bit easier here and there.
The some thing holds for e-life. Knowing how to splice and dice PDF documents is a handy trick to know about and keep in your toolbox until those times when you really need it.
Here’s how I solve the urge to merge PDF documents with a free service that’s easy to learn and use online. Read the rest of this entry »
How To Remove The “X’s” That Are Hindering Your Life
Sep 29th
It seems that “NEW & IMPROVED” is shouted from the mountain tops of every product marketing campaign these days.
Microsoft product marketing is no exception. Every couple of years, we are coerced into upgrading to the “latest and greatest” bloatware.
This time around, it has been the old stand-by, Microsoft Office. On the PC, we are moving to Microsoft Office 2007. Whether it’s the pared down Home and Student Office version or the Office 2007 Ultimate Suite with a whopping 10 applications included, everyone is basically upgrading now or later. On the Mac side it’s a fresh “Mac Office 2008“.
These new versions bring with it all kinds of bells and whistles. A by product of this is that there’s a brand new file format in town. Instead of the .doc file format for Word docs, or .ppt for Powerpoint files, etc, now we have the “new and improved version” with an “X” at the end. Thus the new Microsoft Word files now get saved in .docx format. Powerpoint 2007 files are saved as .pptx.
If you have an older version of Microsoft Word, you can still open and edit the newer file formats, although you might loose some of the new functionality. BUT, you have to download and install a free patch to make your older version of Office compatible with the new file formats — there’s one for both Mac and PC.
But of course, Microsoft isn’t all that benevolent. They want everyone to upgrade at some point of course (cha ching cha ching, pay Bill more money for basically the same product!). So NOT ALL older versions of Microsoft Office are allowed to use this patch to allow compatibility.
What’s the alternative to giving in and sending more cashola to Bill Gates & Co if you have an older version of Microsoft Office that cannot take the upgrade patch??
Here’s an interim solution that will do the trick and avoid the upgrade if everything else seems to be working just fine. Afterall, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Must-Know Free CD-Burner Back-up Utilities
Aug 22nd
The past month, I’ve been asked a couple of times about how to make a simple back-up copy of CD’s.
For some it was a simple audio music CD’s for others, it was multi-media CD-ROM’s. And for another it was a CD of photos they wanted to pass along to family members.
Although Windows has a built-in CD-Writer feature, making copies of CD’s sometimes is easier with a simple dedicated CD burning application. Here are a couple for you to download and try (without any piracy guilt because they are free, unlike the EXPENSIVE but good NERO program):
Read the rest of this entry »