Friday, December 28, 2007

Download your favorite Youtube!

An online service at http://www.vixy.net allows you to download any video on YouTube. You simply need to enter the URL of the video page into the Vixy service, tell it what kind of file you would like and then send it on its way.

Although this process has worked well in tests for me there is one side effect that I have noticed. Files downloaded to an mp3 format result in the file thinking it is 30+ minutes long. The good news is it plays correctly in iTunes and Windows Media Player so no worries!

So check the site out.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Screenshot How To!

Hello again trusty Internet users!

I asked a someone to send me a screenshot the other day and they said "How do I do that?" So I told them. After I told them they said "How do I do that?" So I told them again.

Here is a handy guide on how to take screenshots:

The first and only step in taking a screenshot is to press the "Prnt Scrn" or Print Screen button on your PC. Taking a screenshot on a Mac is quite different and I am sure Googling "Mac screenshot" will be of great use!

After you have pressed the "Prnt Scrn" button an image of what your screen looks like will be stored in Window's clipboard ready to be pasted into any application that will accept it. These applications can include Microsoft Paint (from your start menu --> Accessories) or Microsoft Word.

My favorite is Microsoft Word because I can quickly type in a some notes and details and send them to just about anyone. So, to paste your image into Microsoft Word follow these steps:

Open Microsoft Word
Click Edit
Click Paste

If you do not want to click Edit then Paste you can press "Ctrl-V" on your keyboard and be done with it.

This will paste the contents of the clipboard (which should be the image of your screen) into Microsoft Word.

"Advanced Screenshot"
You can take a screenshot of just the application you are working in by using the "Alt-Prnt Scrn" combination of keys. This will store an image of just the program that you are in. For example, if you have an error message on your screen you can click on that message and then press the "Alt" and "Prnt Scrn" keys to capture just that error window in the screenshot.

There are also plenty of free programs out there to assist you in taking even more "advanced" screenshots such as Screenhunter or to capture video of your desktop you can use FRAPS or Quick Screen Recorder.