CloudingClarity

How to Watch iPod Movie’s on TV

Posted on 09. Oct, 2008 by Eric.

Did you know?
Do you have an iPod Video? If so, did you know that you are $10 away from using your iPod as a DVD player (kinda)? When I found out that I could display my iPod’s movies on the “big screen,” I was very surprised. This feature is not one of Apple’s main selling points for this device, in fact, most people I have met do not even know that it is a possibility. As I understand it, first generation iPod Video devices use the headphone jack to output the video to a TV. Newer ones, such as the 120GB iPod Video Classic, use the docking port on the bottom of the device to output the video. If you would like to purchase a cable, simply perform an Ebay search for “iPod Video AV cable.” Alternatively you can go to a Walmart or Radio Shack and they will likely have it, but not for under $10.

What do I have to do?
Once you have your cable, plug it into your iPod and TV. Then on your iPod go into your video settings and set TV to “ask.” Now whenever you play a movie it will ask you if you want to watch it on your iPod’s screen or the TV.

Don’t have anything worth watching?
Don’t have anything worth watching at your iPod? Give DVD Catalyst Free a download and backup your DVD collection to your iPod Video. This application rips your DVD to a file format which your iPod Video can read. Once you have the outputted file, drag it to your iPod library in iTunes and then you’re done! Now when you go on that trip to the in-law’s house, instead of being bored, you can spend your free time watching movies. The best part is that you won’t look like a jerk walking in their door lugging your DVD’s and player.

DVD Catalyst Free

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Custom Start Menu

Posted on 06. Oct, 2008 by Eric.

Disclaimer: Use at your own risk. All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. CloudingClarity makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Have you ever wanted to speed up your Windows XP or Vista classic start menu? Perhaps eliminate some entries that you do not use such as recent Documents, Search and Help and Support. These start menu tweaks are easy to accomplish and they can definitely speed things up. For each of the steps below, you will first need to open your start menu and then click on “Run.” Then type in “regedit.” Before making any changes to your computer’s registry, it is a good practice to back it up first. Learn how to backup your registry here.

Speed up start menu:
1. In the registry, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
2. Open “MenuShowDelay” and change the value from “400″ to “50″

Remove recent “Documents” from start menu:
1. In the registry, navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
2. Right click and select a new REG_DWORD
3. Name it “NoRecentDocsMenu”
4. Double click on the new entry and set the value for “1″ (display) instead of “0″ (remove)

Remove “Search” from start menu:
1. In the registry, navigate to: KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
2. Right click and select a new REG_DWORD
3. Name it “NoFind”
4. Double click on the new entry and set the value for “1″ instead of “0″

Remove “Help and Support” from start menu:
1. In the registry, navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USE \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
2. Right click and select a new REG_DWORD
3. Name it “NoStartMenuHelp”
4. Double click on the new entry and set the value for “1″ instead of “0″

Once you have completed one or all of these registry edits, close the “regedit” window and log off of your profile. Once you log back on, your new changes will take effect.

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BitTorrent

Posted on 06. Oct, 2008 by Eric.

Have you ever attempted to download a program, video, or song only to find out that you are unable to open it? Have you ever observed that the file downloaded unrealistically fast or that the file size was too small to be what you intended to download? This scenario happened to me once, some time back. I could not figure out for the life of me why I couldn’t open a program that I downloaded. After all, I downloaded it from a reliable source on the net. Also, I didn’t understand how an application that was supposed to be 20MB could fit into an installer that was only 51k! Before long I realized that the file’s name ended in “.TBP.bittorrent” which is a BitTorrent file, not the actual program or media I wanted. With a little research I learned that a BitTorrent file requires you to use an application called well….”BitTorrent” to download the actual file you wanted. What you initially download contains only information which the BitTorrent programneeds to locate the actual file that you intended to download in the first place. To get the application, simply navigate your browser HERE and download it. Then, once you have installed it, your desired file will be a quick download away through the BitTorrent application. The application can enable incredibly fast download speeds, which is one of the reasons that so many files require it now days. The reason for the quick speeds are because BitTorrent uses peer-to-peer sharing. Essentially this means that the file you download is being uploaded from multiple computers at one time. Hopefully after reading this, BitTorrent files will never again throw you for a loop.

BitTorrent

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Google Notebook

Posted on 30. Sep, 2008 by Eric.

Do you enjoy Bookmarking web pages so you will know right where to find them for future use? Do you ever find yourself scrolling through your list of Bookmarks looking for a specific one, only to find that there are too many to sift through? Do you ever think, “there has got to be a better way.” Well you are right, there is and it’s called Google Notebook. If you have read many of my posts, you have probably observed a trend. I enjoy the convenience of being able to access my documents and bookmarks wherever I may be. Google Notebook is no exception. You can even integrate Google Notebook into your web browser providing you use Mozilla Firefox. Google Notebook gives you two easy options for bookmarking. Your can either right click on a link and click “Notebook this” or open the Google Notebook extension of your browser and click on “Clip.” Immediately the page will be saved within Google Notebook and there you can create a title for the entry or even type in a description.
Google Notebook

UPDATE: Google Notebook has been abandoned. Google says they are no longer going to support it.  Very unfortunate!

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Google Docs: Forms

Posted on 29. Sep, 2008 by Eric.

Since the release of Google Docs, I have found it to be more convenient to use than Microsoft Office. The feature that I have come to appreciate the most is being able to access my documents and work on them anywhere. Recently I discovered a new feature that I am quickly falling in love with. Google Docs now allows you to create forms. For example, you can type in a question and then specify how your responder will answer. You can specify whether responses are paragraph, multiple choice, or on a scale of 1 to 10. Once your form is completed, Google Docs will publish it to a private web page. From there you can email a link to the form to whoever you like. Alternatively, Google Docs gives you HTML code which you can embed in your own web site. While everything I told you so far is fantastic, there is still one more feature which makes Google Docs Forms invaluable. Once your form has been completed by the recipients, Google Docs will automatically create a spreadsheet showing each response organized by recipients. You will find the spreadsheet in your Google Docs the next time you sign in. How amazing! So far I have used Google Docs to create several surveys. They took very little time to create and proved to be an efficient way to get answers. Give it a try and share your experience.

Google Docs

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