This is one of my all-time favorite clips that I reference very often when working with video. This is especially true when working between PC and Mac platforms. It seems that there is never a good way to convert video coming from a PC and going onto a Mac.
Here is a video that shows how video can be converted, in this case, from Kodak Zi8 video to video that can be edited within Final Cut without having to waste your life away rendering. It uses an application called Mpeg Streamclip. Here is how you use it:
So if you are not using a Kodak Zi8, just take this info and mutate it to your own needs. There are a multitude of codecs supported here and it is a real time saver.
I can’t remember the last time that I saw an airshow here in Mankato where the Blue Angels performed. I believe for me it was the late 1970′s. I think they have been here since then, but I have not had the pleasure to see them since that time.
This weekend, June 9 and 10, the 2012 Minnesota Air Spectacular will be at the Mankato Airport. Since this is the only air show in the state this summer, especially since the Blue Angels are coming, there will be throngs of people coming from far and wide. There are estimates right now between 40, 000 to 60,000 people will attend over the weekend. Considering that the population of the Mankato/North Mankato area doesn’t even total that, this will be an interesting weekend for crowd control.
I will not be catching the air show this weekend due to other commitments, but I would love to take my camera and shoot some photos of the show. Maybe next time.
Recently I had to move several WordPress blogs from one host to another and I wanted to do it without disrupting service to our customers. We were using Host A and were not very happy with the service and downtime. Our customers blogs were getting hacked at a crazy rate. We secured a better quality host at Host B. Now the trick was to replicate the blog on Host B before moving the domain name over. When moving domain names it can take up to 48 hours for the change to propagate throughout the internet. By creating a duplicate blog on Host B, it would not matter when the propagation took place because both blogs were identical. Once the domain had completed its propagation, I could close out the old blog on Host A and no one would be interrupted.
I ran into some snags, but found Rob Cubbon’s blog with a solution to a problem that had arisen from this process. When I reinstalled the blog and database, I got a 404 error. Internal links within the blog were pointing to the old domain name. This was a problem because I wanted to make sure that the new blog was working completely before moving the domain name. In the video below, Rob shares how he did this:
The real trick was adding the following code to the wp_config.php file:
Of course the link in each line gets replaced with your new temporary URL on your new (Host B) account. Additionally, Rob mentioned the search and replace plugin to help find any hidden links that link back to the original blog on Host A.
For understanding how to backup and replace all your WordPress files, check out govnrDOTcom’s tutorial video on backing up and replacing your files and database. He does a great job of showing how simple it can be to restore a WordPress blog. Additionally, make sure to use the backupwordpress plugin to make a daily backup and save it to a file, email it somewhere, or archive it in another location. It works great and will save your butt in a jam.
Hope you found this helpful, let me know your thoughts.
VTubeTools.com is a great little utility that allows you to create a custom YouTube player and background. I recently did a web page that needed a small YouTube video embedded onto it. The page had a dark green background and the player background was white. Not very nice looking. By using VTubeTools.com I was able to customize the player so that it looked like an actual part of my site.
The best thing was that it was really easy to use and to change the code. Check it out and let me know what you think….
Here is a short post with some info that I just didn’t want to forget or lose. At my new job they use the Favorites folder in the Finder sidebar and I wanted to add this to my mac at home. So here it is,
Here is a great video tutorial for setting up IIS on a local box and also to access a remote server. I have generally been a PHP/Apache guy working on Linux, but my new boss is a die hard Windows/.asp fan. This is a great tutorial that I think will help anyone with setting up and configuring IIS on a local machine.
Here is a great solution for those of you out there that may need to style the drop down lists in a form. I found it today as I was looking to fix this in a form that I was building. Be sure to check it out if you need help
Here is the link to the original site, StackOverflow. Enjoy!
Here is a great quote from my professor that embodies what real communication is:
Here is a great quote:
“One can lack any of the qualities of an organizer – with one exception – and still be effective and successful. That exception is the art of communication. It does not matter what you know about anything if you cannot communicate to your people. In that event you are not even a failure. You’re just not there. Communication with others takes place when they understand what you’re trying to get across to them. If they don’t understand, then you are not communicating regardless of your words, pictures or anything else. People only understand things in terms of their experience, which means that you must get within their experience.” Saul Alinsky “Rules for Radicals”
People ask me what I will do with my communications degree when I graduate this year. I am always shocked because without good, effective communication, life is nothing but one frustration after another. If quality communication is developed, success and fulfillment are the inevitable result. That is something that can be used in any organization, anywhere I go. I have to ask you if that is a marketable skill?
Here is an excellent post on how to pin any folder to the task bar. I was having an issue getting a folder to pin to the task bar. It seems that everyone else wants to have you edit registry keys and mess with command line. This guy really put it together in a great way. Checkout How to Pin Any Folder to the Windows 7 Taskbar for some great tips.
In a recent Social Media Examiner post that I received in my email, I found this unique clip about Zappos and how their culture is helping to drive their business forward. It is amazing how the employees feel empowered to do what ever it takes to make the customer happy. I don’t find it surprising that people are flocking to Zappos to find employment. The biggest concern that most employees have with about 98% of jobs out there is that they can see how to make things better, but they cannot put them into effect.
It is no wonder to me that when people are given the freedom to think for themselves, work creatively, and have the tools needed, they can achieve great success. This success is a positive feedback loop where the employees are satisfied, customer’s are satisfied, and the business is satisfied because they are making money and have happy customer’s.
Check out the video below and let me know what you think about satisfaction in the workplace…
