gBradhopkins.com

Fuller, Full-Screen For Web Video

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:16:52 -0500

Occasionally I'll watch Sunday night NFL games on the NBCSports.com website. The NBCSports.com video player allows you to watch video full-screen. The problem is that even when watching full-screen, you've got wasted space to allow for the different camera angles that they offer.

NFL on NBC Video Player Window - Full-screen

Here's two ways to increase the size of full-screen video using a built-in MacOS X shortcut.

Recovering Individual Files from Plesk Backup

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:29:45 -0500

If you host your website on a server that runs Plesk as the Control Panel, and you actually make back-ups of your server, then at some point you are probably going to want to access the files located on the Plesk generated back-up.

With some free software, it's easier than you think.

MacOS 10.5 Install - Crash, Burn, Recovery

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 06:28:30 -0500

Yesterday I wrote an article about my first impressions of MacOS 10.5 'Leopard'. Today, I have a slightly different perspective as for the first time ever, I've had a failure when installing a version of MacOS X.
In this article I'll provide a way for you to (hopefully) recover the files that are on your system in the event that the same thing happens to you.

MacOS 10.5 'Leopard' First Impressions

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:32:04 -0500

I received my copy of MacOS 10.5 'Leopard' yesterday via FedEx and promptly installed it on 3 of 5 computers that I have at home and in the office (a PowerBook G4, iMac (Intel) and a PowerMac Dual Processor G5). I also began an install on an iMac G5 which failed on the first installation attempt (and is currently in the process of installing - 2nd attempt). I thought I'd share my impressions of the new OS X (one - because I want to get in the habit of writing more and two - because I was hoping to get some feedback from other users).

To begin, I must admit that I am an unabashed fan of Apple products, and have been since working on my high school newspaper way back in 1992 - 1993. I've used MacOS X since day 1 (all the way back to the first release of the beta version of MacOS X) and feel that I have some insight into the evolution of an OS that is now in its sixth iteration. Below I've listed my first impressions of what I feel is 'The Good', 'The Bad' and 'The Ugly' of MacOS X Leopard.

Plugin Adds Support for Motorola V365 in iSync

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:02:43 -0500

The great thing about the internet is that if you have a problem, you can usually find a solution to that problem. The problem I had was that my wife got a new Motorola V365 cell phone and we needed to transfer all of her contacts to the new phone and I thought iSync (via Bluetooth) would be the easiest way to do it. WRONG!

iSync would not recognize the V365 (actually, it did recognize it - it just wouldn't support it).

Fortunately, a search provided a fast and easy solution to my problem.

Rip DVDs for iPod Video

Mon, 07 Nov 2005 22:47:07 -0500

In this Mac Tutorial, I'm going to show you how you can rip a DVD for playback on a new iPod (5th Generation - Video). To complete this we will need the "GPL'd multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter," HandBrake (version 0.7).

Apple DVD Player 4.6 Available

Thu, 19 May 2005 08:09:59 -0500

Among the software updates that were included in MacOS 10.4 (Tiger) was an update to the DVD Player (version 4.5) that is included with the OS. This was a welcome update, as the DVD Player was seriously lacking in some respects.

Today, Apple released the 4.6 version of the DVD player.

Increase Widget Security

Fri, 13 May 2005 15:14:51 -0500

With the addition of Widgets to MacOS 10.4 "Tiger" a potential security problem has arisen. This tutorial, provided by CJ Correnti of C2 Media Group will help increase the security of Widgets.

One simple solution, is obviously to turn off "Open Safe Files" in Safari, but that does make life a bit more difficult, so, for those who want to have their cake and eat it too (at least on this issue) I found it blindingly easy to add what I think should be closer to the default behavior - and it's not dependent on Safari.

iTunes 4.8 Upgrade Reveals the Future of iPod and Video

Tue, 10 May 2005 09:55:35 -0500

Apple quietly released a point (4.8) update to iTunes yesterday (5/9/05). This update has been viewed as relatively minor, especially for Windows users, by those who have downloaded it so far.

I also viewed this update as minor, until I went to purchase the Dave Matthews Band album that was released today. With a little bit of creative thinking, and dot connecting, you can almost see the future of not only the iPod, but also the way we carry video with us.

Planning and Executing a Smooth System Upgrade

Sun, 01 May 2005 10:58:47 -0500

With every major OS release, there is a plan that I follow to ensure that (1) no files are lost, (2) no applications are lost/forgotten, (3) a Clean Install is placed on my hard drive and (4) important files are archived to CD/DVD.

Now that the arrival of MacOS X (10.4) Tiger is imminent (according to UPS.com tracking), I'm in the process of performing another one of these upgrades. This tutorial will focus on upgrading a MacOS system, but many of the tips, if not the software involved, could be used for an upgrade or clean install of any operating system (OS).

MacDesign Magazine becomes Layers

Sat, 30 Apr 2005 14:30:30 -0500

MacDesign Magazine, one of the best you'll find for tips, tricks and tutorials on the applications that are near and dear to the heart (and wallet) of every web developer, graphic designer and video editor has changed names and focus (slightly).

QuickTime Pro 7 Available

Sat, 30 Apr 2005 10:32:54 -0500

Now that Tiger [MacOS 10.4] is in the wild, the new version of QuickTime is also available. QuickTime 7, currently only available on the Macintosh, offers a host of new features including the ability to view (and create with the Pro version) beautiful high definition video using the new H.264 codec.

For all those getting ready to upgrade, be warned… (that's called a tease)

NASCAR TrackPass Now Available for Macintosh

Wed, 16 Feb 2005 02:17:09 -0500

NASCAR, the fastest growing sport in America, has long offered exclusive access to premium live and on-demand content via its Nextel TrackPass subscription service for PC. That service is now available to users on the Macintosh platform.

MacOS 10.3.8 Upgrade Horror Story

Thu, 10 Feb 2005 04:25:31 -0500

Okay, so maybe horror story is a bit much. But, maybe not. Apple released an update to MacOS X Panther yesterday (10.3.8 - found here) and as usual, I installed it without hesitation. Unfortunately, that's where things went awry.

Use Quicktime Pro to rotate Movies

Thu, 03 Feb 2005 13:10:41 -0500

With many of the digital camera manufacturers adding the ability to record movies of various lengths and quality to their digital cameras, a recent problem has popped up. How to rotate a movie that you have taken with the digital camera? In this quick little tutorial, I'll show you how to use Quicktime Pro [$29.99 - Apple.com] to rotate any video clip.