While extending the Arthemia theme for a client (Community Hospital EMR, part of the EHR Group, Inc.) we ran into an issue around providing an appropriate abstract for posts which were really only a couple of lines of introduction and a YouTube link. Of course adding a video-thumbnail instantly gives the Featured abstract the instant context of being a video. However, we didn’t want to over-engineer the theme with logic to detect the presence of a YouTube object.

Our friend Google turned up a post by Bernie Zimmermann detailing how to extract a Dynamic YouTube Image Thumbnail.

We can amend the standard YouTube URL format, to deliver one of three image-thumbnails available for any YouTube video. When a video is uploaded to YouTube, three image thumbnails are automatically created, and the video author can elect one as they preferred thumbnail.

This top URL is the actual YouTube video

VIDEO URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNF_P281Uu4

IMAGE URL is http://img.youtube.com/vi/bNF_P281Uu4/2.jpg

This bottom URL is the thumbnail #2 for this video. Therefore we can play with the image URL to get the best image to place as a thumbnail for our article. These are images 1.jpg, 2.jpg (the best and most iconic for the video) and 3.jpg.

A little bit of additional digging reveals the default image used by the YouTube video window. This is image 0.jpg.

BlogEngine.NET, Featured BlogEngine.NET, Featured

While extending the Arthemia theme for a client (Community Hospital EMR, part of the EHR Group, Inc.) we ran into an issue around providing an appropriate abstract for posts which were really only a couple of lines of introduction and a YouTube link. Of course adding a video-thumbnail instantly gives the Featured abstract the instant context of being a video. However, we didn’t want to over-engineer the theme with logic to detect the presence of a YouTube object.

Our friend Google turned up a post by Bernie Zimmermann detailing how to extract a Dynamic YouTube Image Thumbnail.

We can amend the standard YouTube URL format, to deliver one of three image-thumbnails available for any YouTube video. When a video is uploaded to YouTube, three image thumbnails are automatically created, and the video author can elect one as they preferred thumbnail.

This top URL is the actual YouTube video

VIDEO URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNF_P281Uu4

IMAGE URL is http://img.youtube.com/vi/bNF_P281Uu4/2.jpg

This bottom URL is the thumbnail #2 for this video. Therefore we can play with the image URL to get the best image to place as a thumbnail for our article. These are images 1.jpg, 2.jpg (the best and most iconic for the video) and 3.jpg.

A little bit of additional digging reveals the default image used by the YouTube video window. This is image 0.jpg.

BlogEngine.NET, Featured BlogEngine.NET, Featured

Republished from November 2009 “Bytes” contribution to our local parish Newsletter.

What is RSS?

New content from your favourite web-sites can be delivered as a stream of rich-text, links & pictures, movies or even podcasts into an RSS reader. Instead of you having to visit all your usual News, Rugby or Hobby web-sites you can have them automatically deliver updated content into one place. The big efficiency saving is that you are just scrolling through the stories that interest you and skipping over those that don’t – instead of navigating to each website separately.

I started using RSS with Google’s free RSS reader (www.google.com/reader) which allows me to group or categorise my RSS feeds to suit its content. Using Google RSS both at home and work means that stuff that I’ve read at home, doesn’t reappear when viewing from work – so it keeps a track of unread RSS topics from wherever you’re reading.

You subscribe to an RSS feed by first finding its RSS feed. This is usually indicated by an orange symbol (shown above). Most internet browsers display an RSS icon in the address bar whenever a site has that facility.

An alternative to Google’s online RSS reader, most internet browsers have an RSS reader; Firefox, Flock, and Opera are good examples. Oh, just in case the question comes up at your local Quiz Night, RSS has a two meanings; really simple syndication and sometimes, rich site summary.

Alternatives to Microsoft Office

Whether at School, College or work, most of us are using Microsoft Office for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. But what can you use on your home-built PC or Dell PC bought online?

You can buy a discounted Educational License of Microsoft Office Ultimate for around £40.00. Search www.microsoft.com using “Ultimate Steal UK”. Incidentally they have a load of free resources for Parents and Kids including homework planners, clipart, templates and brainteasers. When I was young, we only had a paper school lesson timetable, and we were lucky! (See http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/school/)

You can try the next best free alternative to Microsoft Office called OpenOffice. This is a comprehensive collection of “Office” applications including word processor, spreadsheet, database, drawing package and presentation tools. All of these applications are compatible with Microsoft document formats, meaning you can open, amend and save files back to their original Microsoft file format.

If you’re frequently out of the office without a computer, you can resort to Google Docs (see docs.google.com) which has online versions of Calendar, Word Processor, Spreadsheet and a Forms Creator.

Nick

Local Local

Republished from November 2009 “Bytes” contribution to our local parish Newsletter.

What is RSS?

New content from your favourite web-sites can be delivered as a stream of rich-text, links & pictures, movies or even podcasts into an RSS reader. Instead of you having to visit all your usual News, Rugby or Hobby web-sites you can have them automatically deliver updated content into one place. The big efficiency saving is that you are just scrolling through the stories that interest you and skipping over those that don’t – instead of navigating to each website separately.

I started using RSS with Google’s free RSS reader (www.google.com/reader) which allows me to group or categorise my RSS feeds to suit its content. Using Google RSS both at home and work means that stuff that I’ve read at home, doesn’t reappear when viewing from work – so it keeps a track of unread RSS topics from wherever you’re reading.

You subscribe to an RSS feed by first finding its RSS feed. This is usually indicated by an orange symbol (shown above). Most internet browsers display an RSS icon in the address bar whenever a site has that facility.

An alternative to Google’s online RSS reader, most internet browsers have an RSS reader; Firefox, Flock, and Opera are good examples. Oh, just in case the question comes up at your local Quiz Night, RSS has a two meanings; really simple syndication and sometimes, rich site summary.

Alternatives to Microsoft Office

Whether at School, College or work, most of us are using Microsoft Office for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. But what can you use on your home-built PC or Dell PC bought online?

You can buy a discounted Educational License of Microsoft Office Ultimate for around £40.00. Search www.microsoft.com using “Ultimate Steal UK”. Incidentally they have a load of free resources for Parents and Kids including homework planners, clipart, templates and brainteasers. When I was young, we only had a paper school lesson timetable, and we were lucky! (See http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/school/)

You can try the next best free alternative to Microsoft Office called OpenOffice. This is a comprehensive collection of “Office” applications including word processor, spreadsheet, database, drawing package and presentation tools. All of these applications are compatible with Microsoft document formats, meaning you can open, amend and save files back to their original Microsoft file format.

If you’re frequently out of the office without a computer, you can resort to Google Docs (see docs.google.com) which has online versions of Calendar, Word Processor, Spreadsheet and a Forms Creator.

Nick

Local Local

This theme was released nearly a year ago, but we’ve only just got around to reviewing its Headline, Features & Categories for a new client community.

So, it may not be new, but it’s worth a few words!

Normally we think of Themes as simply how a website will look and feel – column layout, color schemes, font and style settings. Sometimes a theme provides a lot more than just style.

The Arthemia theme by OneSoft is an good example of where some additional features allow the blog owner to have Headline and Featured Items automatically placed and self-updating without any programming or HTML skills.

The following snapshot breaks down the blog into three parts:

Click the hyperlink below to read the whole of this post about the Arthemia theme.

More...

BlogEngine.NET, Headline BlogEngine.NET, Headline

This theme was released nearly a year ago, but we’ve only just got around to reviewing its Headline, Features & Categories for a new client community.

So, it may not be new, but it’s worth a few words!

Normally we think of Themes as simply how a website will look and feel – column layout, color schemes, font and style settings. Sometimes a theme provides a lot more than just style.

The Arthemia theme by OneSoft is an good example of where some additional features allow the blog owner to have Headline and Featured Items automatically placed and self-updating without any programming or HTML skills.

The following snapshot breaks down the blog into three parts:

Click the hyperlink below to read the whole of this post about the Arthemia theme.

More...

BlogEngine.NET, Headline BlogEngine.NET, Headline

Republished from October 2009 “Bytes” contribution to our local parish Newsletter.

1. Give your desktop a new look

If you bought your PC with Microsoft Windows XP in the UK it will probably have the default windows background called Bliss. This is actually a photo taken in Sonoma County, California, and then digitally enhanced. Microsoft give you a few others backgrounds, but they’re hardly inspiring!

www.interfacelift.com provides free desktop backgrounds of various styles and dimensions, usually releasing a new background every day. They also provide backgrounds for dual (triple & larger) displays and even for your iPhone or Nokia phone background. So go on, give your Windows Desktop something new.

To check your current screen resolution, check Control Panel > (Appearance & Themes) > Display > Settings tab, or visit www.screenresolution.org/. Download some backgrounds that you like to My Pictures. Then to set your Windows Desktop to one of your new backgrounds, Control Panel > (Appearance & Themes) > Display > click the Desktop tab, and click Browse to find your background in My Pictures.

2. Prevention is better than cure

It is far better to prevent infection of your computer, than to have to track and remove a problem after it has happened. Bytes have previously covered Firewalls and anti-virus programs, but there are other equally useful tools to add to the protection of your computer.

SpywareBlaster (www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html) is an excellent free utility for preventing your browser(s) from loading a suspect page. It prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware and other potentially unwanted programs. Blocks spying / tracking via browser cookies, and restricts the actions of potentially unwanted or dangerous web sites. If a friend or contact accidentally sends you a link to a suspicious web-site, SpywareBlaster prevents your browser from opening that page. At time of going to press, they hold about 13,000 suspicious web-sites in their database. They also have a $10.00 option for automatic updates, including a discounted Family Pack for all your home PCs.

3. Getting rid of Spyware

Fortunately there are a number of free resources to help you check for and then eradicate the devil that is Spyware. This isn’t a definitive list, but covers the ones I use and recommend.

I always recommend Spyware Search & Destroy (www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/) which will trawl through your PC checking for and reporting suspect stuff, with a summary of what’s been found, before your remove the miscreant from your PC. It also reports back any open firewall ports to alert you to possible firewall breaches. For example, Skype might use firewall port 443 or 61482, but what else is open?

Microsoft Windows Defender (Search “Defender” www.microsoft.com) provides both protection and detection/removal. It performs automatic updates from a Microsoft server and regularly prompts you to run a quick or full scan.

Microsoft OneCare also provides a Free PC Safety Scan (http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/) which will detect and remove malware. This is probably a teaser to sell you Microsoft OneCare as part of a complete anti-virus & anti-spyware package (See http://onecare.live.com for details) Cost is £38 per annum.

All images are © their respective owners.

By Nick Harrington

Tech Tech

Republished from October 2009 “Bytes” contribution to our local parish Newsletter.

1. Give your desktop a new look

If you bought your PC with Microsoft Windows XP in the UK it will probably have the default windows background called Bliss. This is actually a photo taken in Sonoma County, California, and then digitally enhanced. Microsoft give you a few others backgrounds, but they’re hardly inspiring!

www.interfacelift.com provides free desktop backgrounds of various styles and dimensions, usually releasing a new background every day. They also provide backgrounds for dual (triple & larger) displays and even for your iPhone or Nokia phone background. So go on, give your Windows Desktop something new.

To check your current screen resolution, check Control Panel > (Appearance & Themes) > Display > Settings tab, or visit www.screenresolution.org/. Download some backgrounds that you like to My Pictures. Then to set your Windows Desktop to one of your new backgrounds, Control Panel > (Appearance & Themes) > Display > click the Desktop tab, and click Browse to find your background in My Pictures.

2. Prevention is better than cure

It is far better to prevent infection of your computer, than to have to track and remove a problem after it has happened. Bytes have previously covered Firewalls and anti-virus programs, but there are other equally useful tools to add to the protection of your computer.

SpywareBlaster (www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html) is an excellent free utility for preventing your browser(s) from loading a suspect page. It prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware and other potentially unwanted programs. Blocks spying / tracking via browser cookies, and restricts the actions of potentially unwanted or dangerous web sites. If a friend or contact accidentally sends you a link to a suspicious web-site, SpywareBlaster prevents your browser from opening that page. At time of going to press, they hold about 13,000 suspicious web-sites in their database. They also have a $10.00 option for automatic updates, including a discounted Family Pack for all your home PCs.

3. Getting rid of Spyware

Fortunately there are a number of free resources to help you check for and then eradicate the devil that is Spyware. This isn’t a definitive list, but covers the ones I use and recommend.

I always recommend Spyware Search & Destroy (www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/) which will trawl through your PC checking for and reporting suspect stuff, with a summary of what’s been found, before your remove the miscreant from your PC. It also reports back any open firewall ports to alert you to possible firewall breaches. For example, Skype might use firewall port 443 or 61482, but what else is open?

Microsoft Windows Defender (Search “Defender” www.microsoft.com) provides both protection and detection/removal. It performs automatic updates from a Microsoft server and regularly prompts you to run a quick or full scan.

Microsoft OneCare also provides a Free PC Safety Scan (http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/) which will detect and remove malware. This is probably a teaser to sell you Microsoft OneCare as part of a complete anti-virus & anti-spyware package (See http://onecare.live.com for details) Cost is £38 per annum.

All images are © their respective owners.

By Nick Harrington

Tech Tech

Microsoft Security Essentials is now available providing free anti-virus and anti-malware protection for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 for both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

Microsoft Security Essentials offers Quick Scan, Full Scan with scheduling for a weekly run. Essentials also performs an automatic update before any scheduled scan, keeping up-to-date with the latest anti-virus definitions.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials here.

Software Software

Microsoft Security Essentials is now available providing free anti-virus and anti-malware protection for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 for both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

Microsoft Security Essentials offers Quick Scan, Full Scan with scheduling for a weekly run. Essentials also performs an automatic update before any scheduled scan, keeping up-to-date with the latest anti-virus definitions.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials here.

Software Software