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Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
TechBite's columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the technology products he loves, the strategies for getting the most out of them, and the gotchas that can cause computing misery.
Deleting Fonts, Ripping Music, Hiding Files
Dump extra fonts, talk on a Jabra headset, hide and encrypt files, and Internet Cleaning Day. Plus the usual batch of time wasters.
In This Issue
Hassle Central
Too Many Fonts
Ripping Music from YouTube
Internet Cleaning Day
Tool of the Week: SafeHouse Explorer
Tech Tip of the Week
Product of the Week: Jabra's Nifty Headset
Time Wasters
Protect Yourself
Hassle Central
You have problems, I have answers, and that's what I'm tackling in this week's newsletter: Three of your gnarly issues.
I can see you now, quickly composing a message with your long-repressed computing crisis. Don't start hyperventilating. I gave up answering e-mailed PC troubleshooting questions years ago. However, some computing hassles, aka kvetches, are broad enough to benefit everyone seeing the solution. BTW, if you do write, I'll definitely read the missive. Worst case, you'll get my best personalized boilerplate response (an oxymoron if I've ever heard one).
Boilerplate aside: Take a look at Gmail's nifty new Autopilot service. It sure looks useful and it may even make me dump Eudora and make the Gmail switch.
Enough sidetracking -- on to the problems.
Too Many Fonts
The Hassle: I have more fonts than I know what to do with. I don't know where they came from and want to erase some. Also, won't too many fonts slow down my computer?
The Fix: You're been downloading those all-you-can-eat font programs, haven't you? Or maybe you installed Print Artist and were gullible enough to think you'd one day need a couple of thousand extra fonts.
The best way not to install extra fonts on your system is to pay attention whenever you install an app that offers you extra fonts. For instance, as Microsoft Publisher's installation offers to dole out its extra fonts, take a judicious attitude and install as few extras as you can stand. Unfortunately, as Kim, my copy editors says, "my test laptop also gets loaded with fonts because many free and shareware photo editors and graphics programs install fonts as well--without asking. Yet I haven't noticed any performance issues."
Now the skinny on fonts: Win 98 and ME users suffer from an agonizingly slow boot with systems having lots of fonts (the limit for those operating systems is 500 fonts).
However, there's controversy about XP and Vista systems choking on excessive fonts when booting. I can find plenty articles saying too many fonts bog down booting. OTOH, just as many experts say XP/Vista font handling is improved, and with adequate RAM -- like 2GB -- you can have any number of fonts. And both XP and Vista have no font limitation, so you could install millions of them. (Please stick with just one font when sending me e-mail. Thanks.)
You say you still want to delete fonts? I say don't do it. But if you're stubborn (and I know you are), be very careful what you dump. And don't come running to me if the next time you start your PC there's gibberish on your screen or the fonts in your browser look weird. That's because there are some fonts you absolutely must have (such as those Windows needs -- Arial, Courier, MS Sans, and others), fonts that are necessary for specific programs (Intuit products, Outlook, and art programs, for instance), and a bunch of fonts for viewing Web pages. Deciding which are keepers is a tough job.
Still gung ho, even after all my admonitions? You can delete fonts from Control Panel, Fonts. Right-click each font, and click Delete. But an easier and safer way to experiment with removing fonts is with FontFrenzy. The freebie gives you a way to delete extra fonts, keep what it thinks are essential ones, and restore them if you're not happy with the results. It's a nice enough tool, and if you're an experienced user, go for it. Otherwise, my advice is to suffer the indignities of having too many fonts (just don't tell anyone, okay?).
Ripping Music from YouTube
The Hassle: I watched a YouTube video and heard some music I'd like to keep. How can I turn it into an MP3?
The Fix: There are a few ways to do it; your decision will depend on how much you want to fiddle with the sound files.
There's also a squirrelly issue: You'll have to make a moral decision about how the copyright laws may apply. My attorney, Bernie, from Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe, says that re-recording a broadcast for later listening may be okay; at the same time, he contends that downloading any copyrighted content, even for personal use, may land you in a tub of hot water. You decide.
Each step takes just a few seconds. [Thanks to GG for this terrific tutorial.]
Go to YouTube and find the music video. For instance, here's a lovely Billy Taylor and Ramsey Lewis duet. Or an Eliane Elias Trio concert.
Copy and paste the YouTube link to Video2mp3, a handy site that rips the audio and converts it to an MP3.
If the Video2mp3 site ever disappears, here's another method for you to tuck away for later.
Copy the YouTube URL to KeepVid, a site that will save the video to your drive. Right-click the "high quality/MP4" link and save the file to your PC. Be aware that some videos are big; the "duet" example above is 25MB.
Download and install M4a to MP3 Converter, drag and drop the video file to this sweet freebie, and in a flash you'll have an MP3. If you're more ambitious, try the Quick Media Converter. It's also free and does even more conversions, including SWF, MKV, DivX, and iPod video formats.
M4a to MP3 Converter in action
Internet Cleaning Day
The Hassle: I heard that once a year, the Internet gets a thorough cleaning. Is there anything I need to worry about, like deleting my browser's cache?
The Fix: The year the so-called Internet Cleaning Day begins on March 31, at 23:59 pm (GMT) and lasts exactly 24 hours. And the quick answer: cleaning your Internet cache won't be necessary.But read on...
Internet Cleaning Day Memo: As many of you know, each year the Internet must be shut down for 24 hours in order to allow us to clean it. [Oh, that would explain why my connectivity was really spotty last night. Must have already started cleaning in Asia. --Editor]
The cleaning process, which eliminates dead e-mail and inactive FTP, WWW, and Gopher sites, allows for a better-working and faster Internet.
During that 24-hour period, five powerful Internet-crawling robots situated around the world search the Internet and delete any extraneous data that they find.
In order to protect your valuable data from deletion, we ask that you do the following:
Disconnect all terminals and local area networks from their Internet connections.
Shut down all Internet servers, or disconnect them from the Internet.
Disconnect all disks and hard drives from any connections to the Internet.
Refrain from connecting any computer to the Internet in any way.
If you've already logged into the Internet during the cleaning period, you must not disconnect from the Internet until the end of cleaning.
We understand the inconvenience that this may cause some Internet users, and we apologize. However, we are certain that any inconveniences will be more than made up for by the increased speed and efficiency of the Internet, once it has been cleared of electronic flotsam and jetsam.
We thank you for your cooperation.
Tool of the Week: SafeHouse Explorer
Have something you need to hide? You know what I mean: Your Quicken files, maybe a video from your honeymoon, or your super-secret Word doc with that prenuptial agreement? Use SafeHouse Explorer to lock and hide files or folders on your system's hard drive, an external drive, a burned DVD, your portable thumb drive or memory stick, or for that matter, your MP3 player.
SafeHouse takes no extraordinary skill to operate. Just download and install the tool, create a SafeHouse virtual drive, drag and drop files or folders into it, and dream up a password. The drive is invisible until you make it appear by opening the program and using your password. Once available, you can access any of the files from within SafeHouse. The tool is free; a pro version has more features. Have questions? Read the user's guide.
Tech Tip of the Week
Every so often I need a show an image to people on a YahooGroup or Google group. Attaching or embedding the image in the message isn't always allowed, so I post the image on one of a dozen spots on the Web. Most are one-shot, post-and-forget sites. Sites like these come and go, so I use them as temporary spots for people to see the image; I won't post anything I'm concerned about keeping or updating. For instance, Kay Erland sent me a link to check out a photo her friend posted to show off her newly baked loaf of bread. Three sites that I've used, and have been around a while, are Fapomatic, [Um, you post a lot of "adult images," huh? -Editor] PicFont, Photobucket, and Pixcentral.
Product of the Week: Jabra's Nifty Headset
Click: Make a landline call. Click: Make a Skype call. It's that easy with Jabra's dual-function wireless headset (GN9350e), the perfect tool if you're using both a traditional landline phone and an Internet/VoIP service, such as Skype.
I'll admit that the headset's expensive -- about $250 discounted on Amazon. Yet if you're in business, it's worth the price for two reasons. First, using a headset instead of a traditional handset scrunched between your neck and shoulder definitely reduces muscle strain (take it from me). Second, you can do away with a second headset for VoIP calls. Also: The headset's lightweight and it has an amazing range (I can walk around the house, even into the backyard, all while holding a couple of cold ones).
Time Wasters
"Boys with their toys" videos, two games to keep you out of trouble, and a master magician.
Repeat after me: "Always check your equipment before heading off to the races."
Whaddya think, are you game for a little craziness? How about zipping up an almost 90 degree hill in a 4x4? Here's one guy that almost did it. Here's another video of the driver who made it.
Is this guy a master magician -- or just a whiz at creating videos?
Savage: The Battle for Newerth is a first-person shooter and real-time strategy game. It's free and been around since '07 (it started as a commercial venture, but apparently didn't sell well). Playing as a Warrior or a Commander, you collect resources, build structures and buildings, and protect your stuff. I just started and it's a rich, fairly complicated game that might take me years to complete.
You say Savage isn't your cup of tea? I offer you WhizWords, a comforting game for the intellectuals in the crowd. Like Scrabble, you construct words from letters and count up your score. Here's a strategy: Instead of trying for big words, use a rat-a-tat style with easy three-letter words.
How many words can you get?
Protect Yourself
I have some quick, easy, and simple advice for protecting yourself from just about anything that ails you or your PC. Just forward my newsletter to a couple of friends. You'll feel better and be completely protected. Try it and let me know if it worked (ha!). The link's just a few spaces ahead... http://www.techbite.com
Steve Bass is the publisher and self-appointed Chief Content Officer at TechBite; he continues to experience the cool feeling having of his own newsletter. Send him your feedback at TechBite. To sign up for TechBite's free Steve Bass Technology newsletter, head for our signup page.
Steve's also the author of "PC Annoyances, 2nd Edition: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer," available on Amazon. Buy a couple of copies today. And again tomorrow.
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