PC Doctor December 3, 2009
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Dear PC Doctor,
When I'm sharing YouTube videos via FaceBook, MySpace, or email; I often wish I could set the video to start for my friends at a specific spot. This would be helpful, especially on longer videos, where the actual content that I want to share is stuck in the middle of the video. For example, I would like to share my daughter's piano recital with some relatives. But rather then having them watch the complete 30-minute long video, it would be nice when posting the video to FaceBook, MySpace or when linking an e-mail, to have the video start right at my daughter's performance. How can I do this? Thanks!
Lauren
Dear Lauren,
That's good thinking, and you are right. There is a way to do this, and it's relatively quick and easy. First visit the video you are linking. Next find the spot you wish to set the video to start, and then take down the time-in up to that point. With that time you’re going to add it to the end of the video's url found in the upper browser box. Here's an example of a YouTube url: youtube.com/watch?v=a1b2c3d55. Now add the following: #t =[number minutes]m[number seconds]s. So after all is said and done, the url is going to look something like this: youtube.com/watch?v=a1b2c3d55#t=1m15s. Notice the link is the same up until the (#) pound key. The pound key and forward is going to be your addition to the link. Next copy the newly edited link, and presto! You can now share your daughter's performance. Enjoy!
PC Doctor
That's good thinking, and you are right. There is a way to do this, and it's relatively quick and easy. First visit the video you are linking. Next find the spot you wish to set the video to start, and then take down the time-in up to that point. With that time you’re going to add it to the end of the video's url found in the upper browser box. Here's an example of a YouTube url: youtube.com/watch?v=a1b2c3d55. Now add the following: #t =[number minutes]m[number seconds]s. So after all is said and done, the url is going to look something like this: youtube.com/watch?v=a1b2c3d55#t=1m15s. Notice the link is the same up until the (#) pound key. The pound key and forward is going to be your addition to the link. Next copy the newly edited link, and presto! You can now share your daughter's performance. Enjoy!
PC Doctor
PC Doctor's Tip of the Week: Converting PDF files
If you ever spent much time on the internet, viewing and downloading documents, then you've most likely run across PDF files. And you probably know that PDF (Portable Document Format) files are for the most part very difficult to edit or to add to. There are few reasons for this. One is that a lot of PDFs out there are basically images created by a computer scanner. Since it's an image there's no way to edit or add text. If the document was formatted as a PDF by an application, then it is possible for it to be edited. But it's a complicated process and you often need specific software or applications. So what are we to do with these PDFs? Wouldn't it be easier if we could just use a Word editor, such as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice? Well, we can. We just need to convert the PDF to a .doc file.
The easiest way to convert a PDF is to use a file conversion website. A good one to use can be found at: www.freepdfconvert.com/. All you need to do is to upload the file or provide the web address. From there you can either directly download the new file or have it e-mailed to an e-mail address. Keep in mind though; some PDFs may be encrypted with a password. If that is the case, you will need to enter the password at the conversion website in order for the PDF to be decrypted.
PC Doctor
Until next time… happy computing!
