Archive | May, 2008

Easy to Add RSS Widgets

May/05 in Online Apps, Web Development Tutorials

There is no doubt that there are many places to grab widgets of your RSS feed to display on other pages as a badge in flash or javascript form.  The newest resource to toss into this endless bucket would be WidgetEasy.  Playing a little ‘bit with the site this morning – I do have to say it is easy.  All you do is put in your RSS feed address into the box, they they spit back out a javascript box with all your links.

widget-easy

Then all you have to do is copy and paste the widget code onto any web page out there to display the widget on that specific web site.  Ranks high in the pretty neat category.  Doesn’t give a bad presentation.  I would give this one two freaky Mitchelaneous thumbs up.

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Rip MP3s from YouTube Vidoes

May/04 in Online Apps

Now it isn’t often that I want to take the audio track from a video on YouTube, but the other day I found a collection of wrestling themes I really like to have a few selections from.  So to take the music from the uploads, I found a tool that will get it done.

FLV to MP3!

The FLV to MP3 Online Converter is the tool you want to keep handy.  So far it is still fairly quick with it’s conversion and when it is done doing that voodoo that it does so well it will spit out a .mp3 file for you to save, edit and rename as your own.

As a bonus, also be sure to check out my post on Firefox Facts that covers ripping mp3 files from music shared on MuxTape.com.

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Stop WMP from Adding Files You Play to the Library

May/03 in Desktop, Personal

I am getting around to a few little tasks that I have missed out on through the week, launched Windows Media Player so I could listen to some tunes while doing so, and then I am reminded of that little flaw that has been bugging me. For some reason, WMP adds any file a play in there to the library. Usually I just delete the invalid ones and move on – but today I thought I would look for a fix.

Funny enough, I actually found the answer to this problem on Microsoft’s web site:

When you move digital media files on your computer, the file name and file path information remain unchanged in your library. Then when you select a file to play from its new location, a new entry is created in your library if the option to automatically add it to your library when it is played is selected. As a result of this, your library may quickly contain a large number of duplicate or invalid entries.

To prevent music files from being added automatically to your library

1. In Windows Media Player, on the Tools menu, click Options.

2. On the Player tab, clear the Add music files to library when played check box.

Now, when you play any music files on your computer or from the Internet, the file will not be added automatically to your library.

Now on with troubleshooting the rest of my day.

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Best of the Flash Video Players

May/02 in Online Apps, Web Development Tutorials

A few months back I did a round up of some of my favorite flash podcast players that are out there, but then I got people asking about the video podcasters out there.  What type of tools could they use other than going with a YouTube, Revver or another Online service?  Thanks to these downloads, you can get your own flash video player going for a relatively cheap price.

Flowplayer might be my favorite of the free flash video players out there.  It has multiple color schemes and skins you can use, as well as being lightweight and not overly obnoxious with the basic design.  If you want to upgrade you could also pick up the commercial license which would allow you to remove the Flowplayer logo when maximized, bug fixes and one month of support via e-mail. 

Flowplayer Video Player

JW FLV Media Player is another one you should check out if your looking for your own emendable flash video player.   It supports flv, mp3, h264, swf and more.  Also included is streaming support, RSS, play lists and accessibility features too.  Released under Creative Commons, it too is totally free to use too.

JW FLV Media Player

Wimpy Wasp is not a free download to try, but it is worth checking out.  This product too allows you to play flash video on your site by plugging and playing with the flash video player.  Makes the process of putting your own flash player out there a lot easier.  While you are on their site, you might also check out the Wimpy AV Player too.

Wimpy Wasp Video Player

Willing to pay for your player?  You can also get a lot of other flash video player projects over at FlashDen.  You may have to pay a little but they have a slew of downloads to browse through to see if they will fit into your current project or web site.  Have another favorite, let me know and leave a comment.

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3 Unique Visual Styles for Windows XP

May/01 in Desktop

planta_by_lassekongo83 vattna_by_lassekongo83 bruna_vs_by_lassekongo83

Was in search for a few new visual styles for my laptop computer, and ran across these the other day on Deviant Art. Now there are a lot of ugly visual styles out there meant to replace the candy coated Windows XP skin but these three are very sleek.

For help on getting them installed, check out my previous tutorial on installing your own visual styles on Windows XP. Also big thanks to the artist of all three of these themes, from lassekongo83 Deviant Art. Fabulous work!

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