Make Websites More Readable

Looking at the latest Time magazine article on jobless claims, one of my main irritations is that only 13% of the page has anything to do with the actual article. The rest is unrelated junk. One way I’ve found to get only the article in a readable format is to use “Readability.” You set the  style, size and margin and then drag the Readability link to your browsers toolbar. Then when you get a site filled with junk, just click on the Readability icon and the page instantly is turned into a readable article.

The example above is from one of my websites and shows what Readability does to a web page.

Your Passwords – Are they Secure?

If you’re like me, your list of website passwords is growing to look like a small dictionary. Most security experts tell you to not have the same password for all your sites, so the bad guys don’t have access to everything if they get the password to one site. I now have 525 passwords.  I’ve been looking for an easy solution to keeping this list secure and think I’ve found a solution.

Steve and Leo, stars of the “Security Now” podcast gave a great tip on how to easily secure you giant list of passwords using LockNote from Steganos. Its a free application which is basically a text editor plus encryption. Copy and paste your list of passwords into LockNote and then save it with a filename. It will prompt you for a password. Then whenever you want to open that file again it will prompt you for the password. Now all your passwords are in one, encrypted file.

How to Install a Program – Try It Out – Then It’s Erased When You’re Done.

If you’re a techie, you like to try out new programs, but you’re constantly worried that the latest new program is going to screw-up your system, add some spyware, etc. One way to try out a program, but have it instantly erased when you’re done is to use Sandboxie. Sandboxie keeps everything you do in a virutal box. When you’re done, everything in the box is erased. How I use it with new programs is to download the program using my browser, which is under Sandboxies control. I then double-click on the downloaded program and install it. I then try it out, see what it does and decide if I want to keep it. When I close my browser everything is erased.

There are a few caveats – this won’t work with programs that need you to reboot. Also Sandboxie will not work with the 64 bit version of Windows 7.

Send Lots of Pictures Via Email

One of the problems with most recent cameras is that the files they create are enormous. While this is good for getting quality pictures, if you want to send them to friends, that creates a problem. My Yahoo account only allows you to send up to 20mb of pictures at one time. For large pictures, that might meant 5 pictures.

One way around this problem is to open each file in a photo editor, change the dpi to 72, resize the picture with a 640 width and then save the new picture in a new directory. That is a lot of time-consuming work – what you need is a program to do all the files at one time.

Photoshop does have this feature, but it’s expensive. IrFanView is a FREE editor which has a nice batch conversion feature, although it has its own quirks.

What I’ve found is that to do the batch conversion, you need to use the Advanced Options and change the dpi to 72  – click the Resize and set the new size to 640 – make sure the “Preserve aspect ratio” box is checked also. You then just choose your output directory. While it does have many more options, these are the ones I use. You can now send 200 files at one time instead of just five.

You Can’t Read Office 2007 Documents?

Since Microsoft seems to insist on changing file formats every few years it’s an aggravation when you can’t read a Word document sent by a friend. Here’s how to get around that problem. Microsoft has a “File Format Converter” which users of  Office 2003 can use to correctly read 2007 documents. They do recommend that you first install all high priority updates. Hopefully, you’re doing that as part of your regular Windows Updates. They even have ways for users of Office 2000 and 2002 to read the 2007 documents.

Free Web Hosting for Non-Profits

I came across this web-hosting site which offers free hosting for non- profits. Dream Host gives 501(C)(3) non-profit free web space. There are probably some restrictions, but you can’t beat FREE.

Level Out Your Audio

One quick and easy way to “level or normalize” your wav file is to drag and drop it onto “Levelator.“
It’s a free download and seems to work fairly well.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work with mp3 files.

This assumes your audio is pretty good in the first place.
The old rule of GIGO – Garbage In Garbage Out applies.
If you have a lot of background noise you may want to use a real audio editor to get rid of that first before you try Levelator. Audacity is a FREE editor which works pretty well.

Need Help – LogMeInExpress

While I’ve used the LogMeIn Free version and love it, they’ve got a new version they are calling – LogMeIn Express. It’s a bit easier. The helpee, the person needing help, clicks on the “SHARE” button to run a program to share computer screen. The helper is sent a 12 digit code to type in under the “VIEW” button.

Right now the program is free, but it’s only in Beta. They may start charging in the future.

Anyone need help? I’d be glad to try it with you.

Website Design – What Can Users See Without Scrolling

Google had an interesting article recently where they showed a graphic which shows what can people see without scrolling.  It turns out that if your important information is below the 575 pixel level, 30% of the viewers won’t see it without scrolling. To make sure 99% of your audience sees the important information, it needs to be in the top 600 x 340 pixels area. – not very large.

Editing HD Files

If you’ve bought a recent camera or camcorder, more than likely you’ll be able to record stunning high definition videos. The problem is that these type of files require major computer horsepower and specific software to edit those types of files. If you have neither, one solution is to convert those files over to a more computer friendly version. One program that handles that chore for FREE is Free HD Converter V1.4 While I still don’t have an HD camera, this is one solution I may be using in the future.

Note – they also have some other FREE video conversion tools which might work for you.