BinaryWolf

Free Online File Conversion

Zamzar offers a good free online file conversion service. You upload the file to convert, select the output format, enter your email, and you’re done. Soon you’ll get an email with a unique link taking you to a page where you can download the converted file, which remains accessible for a day. You can also upload multiple files in a batch.

Zamzar converts to and from a variety of image, audio, and video file formats ranging from the common to the obscure. You don’t need an account to get Zamzar to convert files, although having one will get a file converted faster, will give you more online storage, a larger individual file capacity of up to 1GB and no banner ads.

If you work primarily with smaller files (up to 100mb), the free service is sufficient. You will most likely get email linking to your converted file usually within half an hour of submitting it. Viewing a few ads in exchange for the free conversion service is a sweet deal.

Keywords: document formats image formats music formats video formats compressed formats

Tags: free online file conversion, document formats, image formats, music formats, video formats, compressed formats

Twitter in Plain English

Follow at http://twitter.com/binarywolf

How to Run Google Talk in the Firefox Sidebar

Want bypass the firewalls of your office in order to to chat with your friends? Of course you would do this only on your lunch break.

The way to do this is by putting the Google Talk client in your Firefox sidebar so it always remains in the foreground.

Begin by adding Google Talk to your Firefox sidebar by bookmarking the following URL (right-click and select: bookmark this link).

talkgadget.google.com/talkgadget/client

Go to the bookmarks menu.
Find the bookmark you just created
Right click and choose properties.
Tick the checkbox that says: load this bookmark in the sidebar.
View > Sidebar > Bookmarks > Google Talk Gadget

Tags: Google Talk, Firefox

Add a Shop to Your Blog

Have you ever thought about adding your own shop to your blog or website?

Zlio helps you start your own online shop in 5 minutes! Even if you don’t have anything to sell. Zlio offers you a catalog of thousands of products without having to program anything. The key principal of Zlio is: Find, Add to your shop and Earn Commissions!

Zlio has characteristics similar to a blog, a comparison shopping service, and an e-commerce destination. You do not need technical expertise to launch your own ZlioShop, drive traffic to your ZlioShop, and earn commission through transactions generated at your ZlioShop.

The best way to get a handle on the features of Zlio Shops is to sign up and start experimenting. You can have a shop up and running in just a few minutes!

Tags: Zlio, comparison shopping, e-commerce

Converting Video Formats

Online Solutions

zamzar.com

Zamzar supports conversion between a wide variety of different file formats.

* Document formats
* Image formats
* Music formats
* Video formats

heywatch.com

Video. Many sources. From the web to your local HD, encode the videos you want.
Podcast. Subscribe to your own HW Podcast feed and get automatically your encoded videos.
Encoding. All formats and devices. A huge list of formats updated frequently (input and output).
Make your own. Create the format according to your needs on heywatch.com

blip.tv

You shouldn’t have to choose between great quality Flash video and compatibility with iTunes. Your videos should work everywhere, no question. That’s why blip.tv supports every video format under the sun, from Flash 8 (much higher quality than most Flash video) to Quicktime (for the all-important iTunes) to DivX and 3gp (we think cell phones are cool, too).

Desktop Solutions

SUPER, Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer. A GUI to ffmpeg, MEncoder, mplayer, x264, mppenc, ffmpeg2theora & the theora/vorbis RealProducer plugIn. If you need a simple, yet very efficient tool to convert (encode) or play any Multimedia file, without reading manuals or spending long hours training, then SUPER © is all you need. It is a Multimedia Encoder and a Multimedia Player, easy-to-use with 1 simple click.

On2 Flix for Flash Video. AVI, MPEG, QuickTime, DivX, Xvid, H.264, 3GPP–easily converts any video to the highest-quality On2 VP6 for Flash video FLV or SWF.

Google Talk Tips & Tricks

Google Talk is a downloadable Windows application that enables users to quickly and easily talk or send instant messages to their friends for free. Calls are made through your computer using the latest voice technology; all you need is an Internet connection, a microphone and a speaker.

Shortcuts

* CTRL + Mousewheel up/down over input textbox: Change the font size of the textbox.
* F9: Open Gmail to send an email to your friend
* F11: Start a call with your friend
* F12: Stop the current call
* ESC: Close the current window
* ALT + ESC: Minimize the current window
* TAB: Switch between multiple chat windows
* CTRL + I: Same as TAB
* SHIFT + TAB: Same as TAB but in reverse order
* CTRL + TAB: Same as SHIFT + TAB
* Windows + ESC: Open Google Talk (if it’s minimized, or in the tray)

Secret Startup Parameters

* /nomutex: allows you to open more than one instance of Google Talk
* /autostart: when Google Talk is run with this parameter, it will check the registry settings to see if it needs to be started or not. If the “Start automatically with Windows” option is unchecked, it won’t start.
* /forcestart: same as /autostart, but forces it to start no matter what option was set.
* /S upgrade: Used when upgrading Google Talk
* /register: registers Google Talk in the registry, includig the GMail Compose method.
* /checkupdate: check for newer versions
* /factoryreset: set settings back to default.
* /mailto email@host.com: send an email with Gmail
* /diag: start Google Talk in diagnostic mode
* /log: probably has something to do with the diagnostic logging

More from tips & tricks from Customize Talk.

Tags: Google Talk

Video Downloading Tips

Embedded video, progressive download, streamed video—you may have heard these terms before but what do they mean? Begin by understanding the difference between them and then reading the related posts that follow.

Flash Video Delivery Techniques at a Glance (via Adobe)

Embedded Video
Entire SWF file must be downloaded to the client and loaded into memory in order to play back video.

Progressive Download
FLV files are progressively downloaded, cached, and then played from the local disk. The entire video clip need not fit in memory.

Streaming Video
FLV files are streamed from Flash Communication Server, played on the client’s machine, and then discarded from memory in a play-as-you-go method.

Related Posts
How do I download streaming files?
Downloading saving and playing video from the internet Part 2
Downloading saving and playing video from the internet (Part 1)
Youtube download and save
Free audio and video codecs

The Flash Video Learning Guide provides an introduction to Flash video, including information on how to create and publish Flash video.