Animoto- Slide Presentation Software

I've been trying for a couple of months now to find a way to take a PowerPoint presentation and save it as a slide show video that I can post on my website. I thought I found the perfect, inexpensive, easy-to-use solution with Animoto. I was wrong.

I found Animoto doing a Google search and I read this article about it.  The article makes the application sound pretty good.  But, read the comments below.  In spite of the reviews, I tried Animoto. If you're considering it and haven't bought it yet, I have one word for you- DON'T!!! Or at least try the free version more than I did before you plunk your money down.  I did a quick test of Animoto a few weeks ago and it seemed decent.  In theory, Animoto should have been perfect for what I needed to do.  I just wanted to put a few slides down with some royalty free music and have some cool transitions.  I chose Animoto rather than doing it myself in iMovie because of the ability to use their music tracks and cool transitions. I knew I'd need more than 30 seconds so I ponied up the $30.00 to upgrade my account to Plus for a year. I exported my slides from PowerPoint to jpgs (just like their tutorial said to do). I can view the slides fine on my Mac. But, Animoto takes FOREVER to upload them even though the file sizes are less than 100K each. And that's if it uploads them at all. Of the 10 slides I'm trying to upload the most I ever get uploaded is 3 at a time. The others simply disappear.

Animoto's support is via email only. They have been responsive, but not helpful. They are getting back to me.  But, they are telling me to try things I've already tried. I saved the files again using PhotoShop Elements. I tried them as gifs. I even took a screenshot and converted that to a jpg. I tried uploading some other jpgs. Really small ones upload perfectly and immediately.  Larger ones go into the black hole my PowerPoint slides have fallen into.   Great promise. Lousy delivery. I have asked for a refund of my one year subscription.

iCloud Backup Keeps Asking to Verify Password (over and over again)

Image via Wikipedia

After having an issue where the "Other" storage on my iPhone grew to over 5 GB and doing a restore to fix that problem I had another problem with my iPhone where the automated backup to iCloud stopped working.  I'd plug in my phone to charge and when I picked it up later, I'd have a notice saying something like "iCloud backup requires that you verify your password".  I'd enter my password and it would be accepted fine.  But, apparently the backup was never happening.  The really weird thing is iTunes was showing my phone was last backed up this morning.  But, the iPhone was showing it was last backed up last week (when I did the restore).  I don't know which was true.  After a week of this and not finding any answers by Googling the problem, I got fed up.

I called Apple Support and I did some research on steps to take.  I then did a better Google search and found a couple of simpler steps I could have tried first.  Here are the steps that have worked for other people and the one Apple Support gave me.  They are in order of easiest to hardest first (Apple started me with the hardest).  None are very hard and after doing this your phone should be running backups smoothly again.

First

1.) Go to Settings-->iCloud-->Storage and Backup

2.) Click on Back Up Now to force a backup from your phone.  This seems to work for many people and is simply forcing a manual backup from your phone.

Second

If that doesn't work do step 1 above and turn off and then back on "iCloud Backup".  This might be enough to reset the iCloud backup app.

Last ditch effort (this is what Apple Support had me do)

If that doesnt work go to Settings-->iCloud and then Delete your account. Before doing this make sure you remember your ID and password because you'll have to re-enter them.  Choose the option to leave the data on your phone.

Then, add your iCloud account back.  Again go to Settings-->iCloud.  When prompted, you'll choose the option to merge your data with iCloud.  You'll have to go back in and turn Backup on again and turn PhotoStream back on again (assuming you want PhotoStream on). After doing this I forced a manual backup (see First above) and now my iPhone and iTunes both show the same time for the last backup to iCloud.

How to delete the "other" storage from your iPhone

I was syncing my iPhone yesterday and noticed the "Other" storage showing in iTunes had grown from a few MB to just about 5 GB.  I did some research and found many other people had this same problem. I found several fixes many of which didn't work and some I just wasn't going to try.  I then found a great fix that should work for you if you're having this problem.

A search of the Apple Support Boards turned up a way of backing up and restoring your iPhone which seemed to work for many people who tried it. The problem is it doesn't work for everyone and it takes a LONG time because you have back up your phone, restore it to factory settings and then do a complete restore from backup.  This method seems to get rid of corrupted files which can often make up several GB of "Other" storage on your iPhone.

I did this and found it did not work for me.  So, I was off to find another method and came across a method that uses a product called DiskAid.  The iPhone' file system is completely closed to you the user.  Other than some really crude tools in the phone itself and the bar in iTunes, you don't know how much storage is being used for what.  And, you certainly don't know what files are on the phone or how big they are.  

Here are the steps I took:

Step 1: Back up your iPhone.

Before you go messing around withe the file system in your iPhone, make sure you have a current backup.  Plug your phone into your computer, go to iTunes, click on the iPhone's icon in the left column (under Devices) and under the "Summary" tab back up  your phone. This way, worst case, if you really screw something up you can at least restore your phone back to the way it was.

Step 2: Turn of sync music in iTunes

Now go to the Music tab and uncheck "Sync Music".  This will delete all the music from your iPhone (synced from iTunes) on the next sync.  Don't worry. You've already backed up your phone.  

Step 2: Install DiskAid on your PC/Mac

DiskAid is a fantastic product that allows you to actually see the files installed in your iPhone.  You can then add or delete files just like you do on your computer. I was able to do everything I needed to do with the free version which was really, really easy to use.  No hacking and no jail breaking necessary Several fixes I saw required me to me to jail break my phone.  I am NOT going to jailbreak my phone.

Make sure your iPhone is connected with the USB when you open up DiskAid. You'll see a file system structure of your iPhone. Be careful when messing around in here because I believe DiskAid shows all files, including ones needed to operate your iPhone.  You'll want to go to the File System part then the folder that says Media.  

Step 3: Go into iTunes Control folder and then the Music folder

In the Media folder, you'll see "iTunes_Control" and under "iTunes_Control" you'll "Music".  In music you'll see several folders all starting with "f".  I see a total of 50 every time I open this up.  You'll delete all of of those folder.  You can select the first one, hit and hold "shift" and select the last one.  Then, delete them.   

note: when I did this the first time it got rid of about 2 GB of the "Other" I had been seeing in iTunes.  Additional steps were necessary to clean all of the other out.  This step should work for most people.

Step 4: Open iTunes and sync your iPhone

With the “music sync” still turned off in iTunes, sync your iPhone.  You should have been warned when you turned off music sync the the next sync would delete all the music from your phone.  It will. 

Step 5: Unplug iPhone and reboot it

After the sync has completed, unplug your iPhone.  Now, hold the power button at the top and the Home button on the front of your phone until you get the option to shut down the phone.   Completely power it down by sliding the switch that will appear.  Now turn the phone back on using the power button on the top.

Step 6: Reconnect your iPhone to iTunes and recheck “sync music”

This will sync your music back onto your iPhone.  Check "sync music" and just sync your phone again.

Step 7: Additional Steps May Be Required

Reading through the blog where I found the tip on DiskAid, I got the feeling this one step works for most people.  But, it didn't work for many others. For me, this got rid of a bunch of the "Other" taking up valuable space on my iPhone- about 2GB. But, I still had about 3 GB of other.  I tried the procedure again this time unchecking the "movies" from the sync.  To do that, I just did the same thing but instead of looking for the "music" tab under iTunes, I looked for "movies".  That took off about another 1 GB.  Then, I tried the same thing with Photos.  That didn't actually do anything.   

One cool thing about DiskAid is that if you right click on a file or a folder you can click on "Get Info" and see how big it is. I did this on all of the folders in the Media folder and realized the "Recordings" folder was 2 GB.  I looked inside there and found dozens of Voice Memo recordings I had done.  I had deleted these recordings from iTunes and iTunes told me it was deleting them from my iPhone. That turned out not to be true.  I deleted them using DiskAid and my "Other" was now down from 5 GB to under 1 GB. The strange thing is some of these recordings continue to pop back onto my iPhone and I have no idea where they're coming from. But, now I know how to get rid of them.

Kirkland (Costco) Marinara Sauce Review

I just wrote a product review of Dave's Gourmet Heirloom Tomato Organic Pasta Sauce, which is wonderful stuff.  On my previous trip to Costco, I was excited to discover Kirkland Marinara Sauce because just about everything Costco makes under the Kirkland name is fantastic in both price and quality.  Unfortunately, this sauce left me feeling flat.

I wouldn't describe it as horrible.  It's a pretty decent marinara sauce.  It just didn't have the deepness and richness of flavor I like in a marinara sauce.  For my spaghetti, I actually prefer the Prego Heart Smart sauce that Costco also sells and is on the shelf right next to the Kirkland Marinara.  It just doesn't live up to the Costco Kirkland reputation, IMO.  Oh well, I guess they can't be perfect.

Volume Control on iPhone headphones not working

I got a set of headphones to review for Amazon.com and they included a volume control on the cord.  While I was checking them out with my iPhone, I found the volume control wouldn't control my iPhone.  Odd behavior for a brand new set of headphones I thought.  When I tried them with my daughter's iPod, they worked fine.  So, I realized I had a problem with my iPhone.  I did a quick Google search and found the problem.

I carry my iPhone in my pocket and have for years. After all that time, a lint ball had formed in the socket where the headphones plug in.  My earphones worked just fine. But, the lint ball was keeping the plug from making contact so that the volume control worked.  The solution was extremely simple.  I used a bobby pin, as you can see in the picture.  But, you could use a toothpick.  Be careful digging around inside your iPhone.  I was a little nervous.  But, I gently removed a major wad of lint.  And, voila!  The volume control on the headphones worked perfectly.

Dave's Gourmeet Red Heirloom Organic Pasta Sauce Review

Our family is pretty picky when it comes to pasta sauces.  I like to make my own.  But, since linguine or spaghetti is one of those things we have on nights when there's no time to make dinner, it's good to have a good pasta sauce in the pantry. We have tried everything from Ragu to gourmet sauces and have found a few that we really like.  They are often quite expensive.  At Costco the other day we saw Dave's Gourmet Red Heirloom Organic Pasta Sauce and had to try it.  At $6.99 for two 25.5 ounce jars it wasn't as expensive as some we had tried and, after having seen the prices for it on-line, we are going to stock up on it while Costco has it in stock.

The sauce has a nice fresh taste and is slightly lighter and sweeter than other tomato sauces that we've really liked. I usually like a lot of tomato paste in my sauce giving it a rich, deep taste.  This sauce isn't like that though. The blend of herbs in it are just right and it has enough garlic without having too much.  I often jazz up the jar sauces we buy adding extra herbs to give them some punch. But, this sauce is balanced just right right out of the jar. The ingredients list lists things you'd put into your own tomato sauce, no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or any unpronounceable ingredients.  So, it's healthy, tasty and (if you get it at Costco) doesn't bust the wallet.

How to completely wipe your iPhone

 

Image by reticulating via Flickr

Since Apple comes out with a new iPhone every year or so and since their phones are generally sold with pretty restrictive contracts, there is a market for used iPhones as us geeks who want to stay on the bleeding edge upgrade to the newest shiny device and those who don't want to be locked into exorbitant data plans seek to find an iPhone free of contract.  But, before you sell your iPhone, you want to make sure you wipe it clean so the next guy doesn't get all of your information.  This tip will show you how to reset your iPhone quickly and easily.

I was told the best way to do this was through iTunes and restoring the phone to factory settings. I realized that is not the fastest or the easiest way as I tried to walk my senior uncle through wiping his phone. He somehow ended up spending hours because instead of just doing a restore to factory settings, he somehow managed to have the phone backup update to the latest release of iOS and restore all his data- completely defeating the purose and costing him a lot of time.

It turns out there is a fast and simple way to do this.  Simply turn on your phone, go to Settings-->General-->(scroll all the way down to) Reset-->Erase All Content and Settings  

You'll get a series of warnings that you are about to wipe all of the data from your iPhone and you will need your iPhone PIN to proceed.  It does take a while (it took my phone no where near an hour- nor did it take my uncle's that long).  But, after doing this your phone will be as fresh as the day you took it out of the box.