Although there exists a variety of browser video download extensions I find that simply using Keepvid.com is the easiest method of saving a youtube video to your local machine.  To use Keepvid.com all one needs to do is copy and past the youtube video URL into Keepvid’s url bar and then choose the format for downloading.  I recommend using the MP4 extension whenever possible as this format is compatible with most iPods, iPhones and iPads.

Here is a quick less than 5 minute Podcast on Using Keepvid.com and uploading content to a WordPress based Site.

Your Browser does not Support the Video Tag (Upgrade).

Share on Facebook

The original batch of aluminum intel based 20 inch iMac’s purchased in the district are approaching 5 years.  These units have functioned almost perfectly with only two (out of 70) have finally failed with a bad hard drive.  If you take close look at the iMac it looks like this machine is almost indestructible with only a small screw hole at the bottom where you can add/replace system memory.  It turns out that this machine is much easier to work on then it at first appears as the screen itself is held only with Magnets.  By using two suction cups and simply placing them against  the screen you can pull the screen and magnets away from the unit.  Then with a torx screwdriver set and a regular phillips that is all the tools that are necessary.

With the outside glass removed you can now easily access the torx screws needed to remove the front aluminum case and access system components.  In my case the machine simply needs a new drive so I remove all screens and then pull the metal fron of the case off the machine.

When removing the front case you need to remove a piece of tape and then disconnect the iSight camera.  With these pieces removed and by simply removing the screws holding the actual monitor screen to the unit you can now switch the drive.  In my case I did not remove the screen, carefully without touching the screen itself pulled it out about 8-10 inches so that you can see the hard drive bracket behind it and access the drive.   You can remove the bracket screws on top and remove the drive without dismantling anything further.

With a new drive machine hopefully get another 3-5 years.

Share on Facebook

In Open Directory on Leopard and Snow Leopard you may come across a situation where some of the users appear as members of Groups but do not show up in the general user list.  Further you are unable to search for these users using any of the criteria, ID, Name Contains, ect.  When I first ran across this problem I thought that perhaps this was an issue using a 10.6 workgroup manager GUI client on a 10.5 Leopard Server hosting Open Directory.  Not the case instead the issue is that sometime the auto generated ID number when creating a new user will be get set to – as the first character, for example -154322 instead of 154322.  So for the user ID starting with the hyphen -  you will be able to create and assign to a Group, but upon save this user will disappear.    You can easily find the user in terminal but to regain the ability to edit and adjust the user in the GUI you must first remove the negative from the ID number.

Easiest way to do this is to go to Workgroup Manager.  Click on the top of workgroup manager and choose View, then click Show System Records (Also appears as Show System Users and Groups on different versions of WGM).

.

I have not discovered why the autogenerated ID numbers in WGM sometimes put a hyphen and end up becoming hidden.  But it is good to know that the LDAP directory is not corrupt and that these accounts can be tracked down and fixed.

Share on Facebook

So right before Christmas I had two machine come to me with reported liquid damage.  Machines would boot normally just 80-90% of the keys did not work making the machine unusable (except via usb keyboard).   The machines are both 2009 MacBook Pro’s and the replacement part runs close to 100$ (Ebay around 85$ – apple 110$).  Interesting about this repair is that to replace the keyboard you should purchase the top case component (Part #661-5223 fo r13 inch model), I would advise not recommend buying the separate keyboard which you may find on Ebay, Apple only recommends repairing with pre-assembled top case.

So when looking at the tear down guide to swapping out this part – every single piece of the MacBook Pro needs to be removed.  The MacBook Pro’s case consists of two sheets of aluminum the bottom and the top,  all internal components are anchored to the machine via this top aluminum case.  You must remove first the battery, the memory,  the hard drive, then the disk drive, then the spearers (one speaker is glued – so will need to lightly pry), then cable brackets, the trackpad, then the Monitor (clamshell), the system fan, then the logic board and microphone (also glued).  Make sure to have a torax screwdriver set as well as a mini magnitized phillips and way to keep the screws organized.

The cables connecting to the logic board are small and held in with very small flip top brackets.  It is helpful to have tweezers or needle-nose pliers.  Also to remove the monitor cable you must peel back the tape prior to removal.

Good news is that my first run at this repair was successful – just keep in mind will likely need a full hour uninterrupted to get this job done, at least on the first go around.

(Removal - Track Pad, Memory, Logic Board)

(Battery, System Fan, Clamshell Monitor)

(New  Top Case Unit)

Share on Facebook

Apple, Google, and Microsoft continue to work hard to get you to store your media and information within each of their own respective cloud storage centers.  Recently Microsoft released Skydrive the iOS app.  Surprisingly this is a decent app that is pretty close to DropBox and offers 25 gigs of free storage compared to DropBox’s measly 2 gig’s free, or even iClouds 5 gigs free.  Yes that is correct Microsoft’s Skydrive is no cross platform, allows 25 free gigs of upload space and works well on iPad or iPhone.

Click the Picture to see the app in iTunes

I think the battle for attention and control of users data is really starting to heat up.  Ultimately this is probably a good move for Microsoft as it keeps its name and brand of products relevant in the mobile computing space where its flagship product has still yet to gain any momentum whatsoever.   Still at 25 free gigs of useable cloud storage space this may get a second look from a lot of users and may stop some of DropBoxes momentum.

Still despite it being a decent app there remains one major flaw,  Microsoft restricts an individual file size to be less than 100megs,  this limitation is not included in Dropbox and needs to be removed.  The truth is many users share and use files in the cloud over 100megs,  this restriction takes away from the huge allowance of 25 gigs in terms of overall functionality.  I must wonder why the restriction on file size at all with this cloud storage service?  It appears Microsoft wants to avoid movies and other large media files from being shared through its service which could be by design, perhaps for legal reasons, but overall it does take away from what looks like a very good product.

Microsoft also released an Photo panaroma app called Photosynth.  Again somewhat surprised but the app is really quite good and with a free price tag worth checking out.  Both apps currently are getting pretty good ratings in the iTunes store 4+.

Click the picture to see App in iTunes

Share on Facebook