Jake Ludington's Digital Lifestyle

Solving Mac External Display Problems

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:11:13 -0800

Dave writes, "I have an old PowerBook G4 laptop with a broken monitor (it just displays vertical lines). I connected it to my HDTV using an HDMI cable and a DVI to HDMI adapter and all I got on my TV was a blue screen. I had the TV set to the right input. Any ideas?"

Connecting an external display to a MacBook or PowerBook, as you did when you connected your HDTV, typically causes the Mac to extend the desktop to the external display. Sometimes this doesn't happen automatically, which means you need to make manual changes. In your case, the Mac shouldn't try to use the built-in laptop screen because it's broken, but the Mac probably can't detect that. Fortunately there's a relatively simply solution to the external display problem you are having.

This American Life for iPad and iPhone

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:11:26 -0800

This American Life is my favorite radio program. It finds real people doing interesting things and tells their story in a compelling way within the confines of a one hour weekly broadcast. The producers build the story against a compelling infusion of music always perfectly suited for the events unfolding throughout the course of the hour and there's always a sense of identity that makes you care about the story being told, even if the point of view isn't something you identify with.

Or in the words of the show's creators, "It's a weekly show. It's an hour. Its mission is to document everyday life in this country. We sometimes think of it as a documentary show for people who normally hate documentaries. A public radio show for people who don't necessarily care for public radio."

I almost never remember to tune in when the show airs, because the timing doesn't fit my schedule. Having the option to subscribe is perfect, because it supports the show and I get it on demand.

Mercalli Easy Image Stabilizer Review

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:06:21 -0800

Shaky camera angles are occasionally used for cinematic effect, as seen in upping the fear factor of movies like Cloverfied and Blair Witch Project. These artistic decisions are the exception, not the norm. For most of us, a shaky camera is something we'd like to avoid, because most of our video is a reminder of special moments in our lives, not some freakish fictional adventure.

I can't count the number of times I've wished for family members to use a tripod or invest in a camcorder with image stabilization. When they don't you end up with something that can be nausea inducing. Smartphone cameras are even worse, because they don't have room for the optical image stabilization that camcorders support. Thankfully, you can find a software solution to many of these shaky camera problems.

PowerCam Camera App for iPhone

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:15:19 -0800

With every new iPhone model, I find myself saying that the camera is the best smartphone camera I've ever used. The iPhone 4S camera is so great it outperforms many low end point-and-shoot digital cameras. What Apple still needs is better software controls natively available in iOS. Thankfully there's an app for that.

I was recently asked by Wondershare, makers of many great desktop video apps, to take their iPhone app, PowerCam, for a test drive. PowerCam successfully combines some important basic enhancements to your iPhone camera with some amazing special effects.

CaseSmpl iPad and Kindle Fire Case Review

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:57:01 -0800

For those of us who own a tablet computer, a case is a necessity you can't be without. Sure the iPad Smart Cover offers a clever solution for protecting the screen, but it doesn't do anything to protect the rest of your iPad. Seven inch tablets, like the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet need protective cases too.

After trying a bunch of different cases along the way, I wound up using the CaseSmpl eReader ballistic nylon case for my Kindle Fire. The case goes beyond the simple protective cover and offers additional storage for many of the things I keep with me all the time. The iPad case offers similar protection and even more additional storage because of the size difference between the Kindle Fire and iPad.

Liquid Image Ego WiFi Mountable Camera

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:16:03 -0800

I'm a hack as a snowboarder and a very casual cyclist, so the idea of attempting to recording myself doing any extreme sports is laughable. I do appreciate the snowboarding videos put out by companies like Burton to generate excitement around their new product line and have even attended a couple snowboarding movie debuts. My real interest in wearable cameras is in the area of life logging, where you record anything in your field of view. When done properly, wearing a camera can also be a good way to put an otherwise nervous interviewee at ease when recording a conversation (with permission, of course).

The new Liquid Image Ego, which includes WiFi and the ability to stream back to a WiFi connected source looks like a great middle ground for both types of activities. While the company isn't billing the Ego as a wearable camera, it is most definitely a mountable camera for mountain bikers, car enthusiasts, and motorcyclists. It can also be mounted on a helmet, but I think the company would prefer you buy one of their other models instead. For life logging, with the right attachment, you could easily wear one of the cameras with you anywhere and not find it too distracting.

Lenovo IdeaPad YOGA Bends Over Backwards

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:30:00 -0800

Lenovo's classic boxy ThinkPad design hasn't ever been something destined to win design awards, but the company is challenging laptop design conventions with the IdeaPad YOGA. Part Ultrabook and part Windows 8-powered tablet PC, the IdeaPad YOGA combines the Ultrabook form factor with a functional tablet implementation that makes touch computing make sense on a product with a keyboard.

While the IdeaPad YOGA unit I saw at Digital Experience is still a protype that was heavier than the promised 3.1 pounds of the shipping model, it still felt far lighter than the competing Envy 14 I examined at HP's booth. The 13.3-inch screen displayed the Windows 8 touch interface with what they say is a 1600x900 screen, though we weren't allowed to interact with Windows 8 for some reason, so I couldn't verify the screen specs. The real fascination for me is the way the screen folds over on itself.

Titan II Brings Giant Screen, LTE and Mango to AT&T

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:04:09 -0800

When a phone form factor looks like it's better suited for the side pocket of my cargo pants, I'm fairly likely to dismiss the device based on size. That said, the HTC Titan II, which will soon be available from AT&T has a fairly amazing looking 4.7-inch screen that almost makes me want one. The Titan II is running Windows Phone 7 Mango, comes with a 16-megapixel camera, 4G LTE radio, and a 1,730mAh battery to power that enormous screen. Just how big is a phone with a 4.7-inch screen? Check out some of the photos I took comparing the size of the Titan II to an iPhone 4.

Here's the front view of the Titan II in my hand:

Here is the Titan II compared to the iPhone 4:

A side view of the Titan II and iPhone 4:

And here is the back of the Titan II:

The design reminds me of something like the HTC Thunderbolt or a giant sized version of my old Google Nexus One. I don't have very large hands and holding the Titan II made me think I'd need to use it with two hands for most functions, rather than the one-handed navigation I'm frequently able to do with my current myTouch 4G or with an iPhone 4.

Protecting Personal Data in Windows

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 11:17:08 -0800

I want to protect my laptop data from being accessed if my computer is stolen. What can I do to protect my laptop running Windows?

Before you non-laptop owners blaze by this because you think it might not apply to you, read on - protecting your personal information stored in Windows requires a similar procedure whether your computer is a laptop, desktop, tablet, or any other form factor. Portable computers are more likely to be stolen than their desktop counterparts because we take them in public and are easier to transport quickly.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't protect yourself if your computer sits under a desk. At the very minimum, disabling Windows autologon, forcing you to type in a password each time you login to Windows will slow down novice data thieves. I talked about disk encryption when I featured TrueCrypt awhile ago. Recognizing encryption as a valuable safety mechanism is a good first step, but you also need to be aware of what you should encrypt. Beyond encryption, you need to be aware of all the places Windows leaves your personal information exposed, so you can have a comprehensive protection strategy.

According to Time Magazine, 591,000 laptops were reported stolen in 2001. I haven't been able to find an updated report, but latop and tablet sales continuing to grow, tt's safe to assume that number went up over the past 10 year. In December 2004, Margita Thompson, Press Secretary to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, had a laptop stolen from her home. More recently, a laptop containing Social Security numbers and personal information of 98,369 UCal Berkeley alums was stolen. While I cite two high profile thefts here, presumably most of the 591k people from the Time article are normal people like you and me. There are ways, including the drive encryption I mentioned earler, to protect yourself.

How to Fix Error: Automation server can't create object

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:48:51 -0800

Windows Media Player is causing me problems. I added some unrecognized songs to my music library. I attempted to use the Find Album Info feature of Windows Media Player to rename the files, find the album art, and do all the other basic stuff to get track info for my new songs. Instead of finding the names and info for my songs, WMP gives me an error message instead. No matter what I do I can't make the error go away. Not sure if this helps, but the error says:

An Error has occured in the script on this page

Line: 1
Char: 243
Error: Automation server can't create object
Code: 0
URL: http://fai.music.metaservices.microsoft.com/FAI/scripts/default.js

Do you want to continue running scripts on this page?

How can I fix this? I tried removing Windows Media Player and adding it back. I checked to see if Windows had any updates. Nothing seems to work.

You certainly tried the most obvious solutions to the problem, but the likely cause of the error is something in Internet Explorer, which isn't as obvious. Read on for the steps you need to fix your automation server can't create object error.

Import AVCHD to Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:12:30 -0800

AVCHD camcorders have become the norm for most camcorder manufacturers, including Canon, Sony and Panasonic. I currently use a Canon AVCHD camcorder for most of my video recording needs. When I recently used the latest version of Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD to edit one of my videos, I realized I had no idea how to import the files from my AVCHD camcorder into Movie Studio HD. The list of import options under the Project menu does not include one for AVCHD. Instead of throwing my computer out the window in frustration, I dug around until I found the solution.

How to Convert WMA to MP3 Audio Files

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:50:32 -0800

Brian writes, "I have a problem that I need help with. After years of ripping my CDs with Windows Media Player, I recently acquired a new iPhone. From what I can tell, my iPhone will not allow me to play the WMA files created when I used Windows Media Player. Is there anything I can do to convert WMA to MP3 or M4A? I really don't want to have to re-rip more than 600 CDs."

I personally prefer to avoid converting a compressed audio format like WMA to another compressed audio format like MP3, because both formats throw some audio data away when you create the file. When you ripped your CD to WMA format, you lost some of the audio in the process. When you convert an audio file from WMA to MP3, you take a file that already had some missing information, interpret it as a new file format, and potentially lose even more information. In theory, the audio information you lose is inaudible to humans, but sometimes making that generational transition from one format to another causes the changes to be audible. If you have the original CD, you'll get a better sounding MP3 file by re-ripping the tracks. I do understand that ripping 600 CDs (or even 100) sounds like a daunting task best to be avoided. What's the best way to convert WMA files to MP3?

SnagIt - Still My Favorite Screen Capture App

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:26:56 -0800

Screen capture is a fundamental part of Windows dating back to the earliest days of the operating system. You can capture everything on your screen simply by pressing the PrtSc key, or single out the window you are currently viewing by using the Alt+PrtSc key combination. Both of these keyboard actions grab a bitmap image of the screen and make it available to the clipboard. You can then paste your screen capture into a Word document, Evernote Note, or open Paint and create an editable graphics file by pasting the contents of your clipboard. You can repurpose that image data in just about anything that accepts bitmap input. If this powerful functionality is built in, why would you ever spend money on screen capture software?

Which Digital Media Converter is right for you?

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:55:54 -0800

It's been more than seven years since I first wrote about Digital Media Converter as a video conversion solution. The product has evolved nicely over time and adapted to various changes in video formats, adding features as customers and power users like me requested them. What started out as a simple way to batch convert your DivX AVI files and MPG files into something you could play on an iPod has become a great video conversion suite with two distinct versions, depending on your specific needs. The original version does batch processing and converts most common file formats, but lacks some of the more advanced features. Digital Media Converter Pro fills in the rest of the gaps. So how do you know which version of Digital Media Converter is right for you?

Mail Attachment Downloader

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:52:41 -0800

I frequently rely on my Gmail inbox as a backup for any attachments I send or receive via email. Gmail and most alternatives offer virtually unlimited storage, so deleting those messages simply isn't necessary. What if you want to download a bunch of those email attachments all at once? It isn't practical to click and download repeatedly. Mail Attachment Downloader solves this problem by offering the ability to download attachments from Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, or AOL, without impacting other aspects of your inbox.