Downloading, streaming, or encoding music and movies.
Media
Can I set up my iPod to just play 30 second song clips?
Episode 1558
Travis fromTravis works out a lot and would like to grab 30 second snippets to work out by. Is there an app or function that will do that? Leo says that there is no function on the iPhone or iPod, but iOS12 has a feature called "Shortcuts," so he may be able to create a shortcut to play just 30 seconds of a song. Shortcuts works by daisy chaining tasks from apps. Some headphones have a skip button, where he'd tap the button twice to skip.
Are Macs easier to update?
Episode 1557
Shane fromShane works for the Schlage lock company and more people want the company to start using Macs. Leo says that volume licensing is not as complicated as microsoft, but Apple also doesn't have as good of enterprise level support either. But Apple will update the computer regularly. He doesn't have to install the updates — He could defer or even ignore them. It's not a good idea, though.
How can I upload my own music to the cloud?
Episode 1556
Mary fromMary wants to upload her own music to the cloud. What services would let her do it? Google Music and Spotify will both do that. Apple can also do this with iTunes Match. Once up in the cloud, she can then download the songs to her smartphone, or stream them directly. Amazon doesn't do that anymore, sadly.
How can I do a video podcast?
Episode 1555
Micah fromMicah is thinking about doing a video podcast and wants to know how to do that with his computer. Leo says it's probably better to just use his smartphone for the video. It's far easier and he can even live stream directly. The iPhone is really easy and he can even use iMovie or Clips to edit directly on the phone itself and then share it online.
What MP3 player should I buy?
Episode 1546
Charles fromCharles' CD player is dying, so he's thinking of getting an MP3 player. Leo says that physical media is fading away and going digital is a good idea. He can take all the CDs he owns and "rip" them into an mp3 format. But it's likely that everything he owns and wants to listen to are available now using music streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, or Apple Music. They're around $10 a month or $15 for a family plan.
What service should I use to digitize home movies?
Episode 1544
Stuart fromStuart inherited a box of old 8mm family films. He was thinking of digitizing it himself, but thought better of it. Now he's looking for an affordable and trustworthy service. Leo recommends ScanCafe. They will send him a box that he can stuff and send to them, and then they will not only scan them all, but they'll clean them as well. But the worry is shipping them. If the box gets lost, there goes a lifetime of memories. Leo says a big box store service gives better peace of mind because he isn't mailing them.
How can I capture my old Super 8 movies?
Episode 1533
Kevin fromKevin wants to know how to DIY capture his home super 8 movies. Leo says he'll need a projector. Then he can use a camcorder to record the image on the wall. That's the easiest. But there's also devices that will allow him to capture directly and digitize it, like the Wolverine. It's $300 and is highly reviewed. Kodak has a cheaper version, but it's not the Kodak everyone remembers, the name had been sold. He can also use a service like ScanCafe.
How can I watch movies from my phone while traveling?
Episode 1532
Dave fromDave travels to Mexico every year for a vacation but Vudu doesn't work overseas anymore. Leo says that Movies Anywhere will let him download his movies and he can just put them on his phone or tablet. That makes it a lot easier to travel. Netflix and Amazon Prime also will let him download movies to watch offline.
How can I remove distortion from an audio recording?
Episode 1527
Josh fromJosh has an audio recording that has a lot of distortion. How can he fix it? Leo says he can't, really. Distortion usually means the top end of the audio recording has "clipped" causing the audio to lose the upper end. But the chatroom says that Izotope is a plugin that can repair it somewhat. Since the caller is blind, however, Leo recommends a service called Auphonic. They have professional audio restoration tools that can do the job. There's a free tier and a pay tier.
Why won't my audio play on my other computer?
Episode 1525
Carl fromCarl transferred some podcast audio from one computer to another and it won't play on the other computer hard drive, just on the USB drive. Rich suspects a format issue. It sounds like it isn't a standard MP3 file, and as such, his Windows mp3 player is having issues playing it. Rich also says he may want to try converting the audio using VLC or Handbrake. Another possibility is that it requires some sort of "key" to play the audio. Or additional components.
