I love my Mac. I’ve been using a Mac of some kind or another for years, since at least 2002 or so. I’ve never had it be unable to do things for me as far as the OS goes. My most recent mac was a huge purchase for me in 2006. My mac now has no warranty and while I’m not afraid of that my video card is starting to show its age.
So I’ve been saving my money and at the end of the month my six month savings plan comes to fruition. Read the remainder of this entry »
YouTube with all of the sizzle but none of the Flash: “
Filed under: Multimedia
[Our regular Sunday night Talkcast is cancelled due to a sick host. Sorry, and we'll see you next week. -Ed.]
Let’s face it: Flash on the Mac is a dog. Actually, that’s an insult to dogs, which are known for running fast. Flash for Mac is such a an unoptimized beast that you can expect it will suck up as much CPU as possible, even for the simplest of videos.
My first line of defense is ClickToFlash (which I’ve mentioned before), but the folks over at NeoSmart have another solution, at least for YouTube: HTML5.
By using the newest version of HTML, they have devised a system to send YouTube videos directly to any MP4 decoder on your computer. Simply go to their custom web page and paste the YouTube URL into the field. In a moment you will be presented with a clean window showing you the video, as well as a download link for the MP4 version.
They also have a Greasemonkey/UserScript available which will add a link to all YouTube pages. That’s nice, but what I was really looking for was a bookmarklet I could keep in my Bookmarks Bar and just click on when I was on a YouTube page. I didn’t find one, so I made one. Drag (don’t click!) this link to your Bookmarks Bar: FlashFree YouTube and you can easily access the NeoSmart/HTML5 version.
How does it work? Superbly well. I tested it using Safari, and watching a YouTube video through NeoSmart had no noticeable impact on my CPU at all.
I’ve nearly given up hope for a version of Flash for Mac that doesn’t stink. Until then, ClickToFlash and NeoSmart’s HTML5 YouTube are a great combination to make your web surfing more enjoyable.
TUAWYouTube with all of the sizzle but none of the Flash originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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So I mentioned the lack of performing as described on my HP MediaSmart server however while it doesn’t work for me I’m sure it’ll work for one of the many users out there. So I put the thing on eBay.
It sold on saturday, and the person paid like expected and I’m all ready to pay for shipping and send it on it’s merry way. Then I get this thing that says my ‘funds are on hold’
Come to find out, sometime in the past eBay decided to fight scamming you screw your long term customers. PayPal is in complete collusion with them too, acting like there’s nothing they can do until eBay says so. That’s like the Bank saying your employer after depositing your check called em up and say to hold it. Read the remainder of this entry »
I’m a happy customer when it comes to Amazon. I’ve basically bought books there for years, and a few other things now and then.
I keep a wish list that basically is my ‘when you have some extra money’ that consists of paperbacks that I collect and what not. Recently, I screwed up and ordered two of the same book. It has happened to me a few times now when I make a 7 – 10 book order, I don’t realize, or accidentally click add to cart twice.
It’s pretty annoying when it happens because if you screw up, you rightfully pay for return postage usually about $3.99 which when buying a book for $7.99 or less it’s a PITA. So this time I wrote a ‘feature request’ email about maybe highlighting when you add something already in your cart, and explained how I do it on accident from time to time.
They thanked me, and gave me a free return slip. Pretty cool.
So my main computer has been slowly backing up the 760 some GB that needed to be backed up. It’s been rather amusing to watch it go over the wireless connection (802.11n).
I did receive my WD 2TB hard drive and got that in so I’m now fully up and protected for 1.8TB of storage. That should last me a bit. I feel exposed though while I wait for the data to get backed up, as I had to nuke a backup in order to reset everything the way I wanted.
My HP MediasSmart seems to be selling for a reasonable amount on eBay so that will be nice. Looks like I’ll break even on the Drobo purchase.
That little jingle was written for the TWIT network and has been something I’ve heard for at least a year or so since the Drobo first came out.
Granted, it’s the second generation model which sports a few more external ports (Firewire 800 vs. USB 2.0 Only) but I finally took the plunge as my old solution wasn’t cutting it.
What are my first impression so far? Read the remainder of this entry »
In the professional world I’m seeing a lot of discussion around ‘cloud’ computing. There’s lots of excitement around it and lots of opportunities for business to make some money and for people to change the way they do things. There’s also a growing trend of issues for the regular home user. More and more things are moving to the ‘digital’ side and more things that are very important to an individual are going to somewhere that they could go ‘poof’ a lot easier than their physical counterpart.
The big examples today are Music, Video, and photographs. Those pictures of your new bouncing baby girl, or the pictures of your hedonistic trip to Cozumel, your videos of those first few baby steps, or that collection of music you purchased online that can easily represent hundreds, or thousands of dollars. All of them stored on a device that cost only $100 or less, and is the engineering equivalent of a 747 doing Mach five three feet above the surface of the water.
Sometimes, I really really wonder about the ‘MacWorld Product of the Year’ awards or ‘Best of Show’
You have to wonder if they used the damn thing.
Particularly the 2009 ‘Best of Show’ winner the HP MediaSmart Server.
I’ve noted my recent struggles with the Time Capsule and decided to get a ‘real’ solution that wasn’t geared towards a business user with thousands of dollars of servers, or something I hacked together.
This little gem brags all sorts of features on their MediaSmart Server home page including such wonderful series as Macintosh support, support for the Time Machine backup functions, iTunes Media Server, many many neato features including one that really looked appearling – one that scanned all your computer & downloaded the digital media onto them so that you could share it everywhere.
Oh, and recently added, iPhone streaming.
Sounds like a dream right? Oh, it’s missing some big *** here and there about disclaimers, some that can really kick a Mac user in the teeth.
One of my favorite features of the iTunes music store is their ‘free single of the week’
I’ve been picking these up over the years as long as they fit close to my taste in anyway and have discovered quite a few gems. It’s a great way to learn about new music without having to suffer through the radio, or to find something you’d never have heard of.
I had to travel for work reasons recently, and I was gone for about a week. When I got home and was saying hello to my little ones I realized something.
With Erin born on the 18th of August, and I leaving on the 30th of August only to just return on the 3rd, I had been gone almost half her life, in a nerdy sort of way.
I’ve since discovered I won’t be leaving town next week like expected so I can’t say I’m upset because then I’d have been gone 2/3rd her life.
I don’t mind the travel, and this is an anomaly to be gone a few weeks in a row I just found it amusing in a nerdy sort of way.
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