Simplify OBS .flv video conversion to .mp4

If you use OBS to make your desktop recordings on your Mac, you’ll notice it creates .flv files by default. But .flv files aren’t playable in QuickTime.

There are ways to change the settings to create .mp4 files, but there are really good reasons to use .flv.

A better approach is to record in .flv and convert to .mp4 afterward using ffmpeg and a little shell script to make the commands easier.

By: phsymyst

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Install ffmpeg on a Mac

Installation instructions for getting ffmpeg on your Mac, which donn’t assume you know how to use Terminal or how to execute commands. Every step is outlined below with screenshots and some explanations of what the commands are, for the curious.

To convert video file formats on your Mac, you’re going to want a great piece of open source software called “ffmpeg”. But, once you have it, it may not be clear how to get it working in your Mac. Here are the steps to get ffmpeg downloaded, placed into a folder so your system can find them, and how to make them executable and usable.

By: GotCredit

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Disable iPhoto opening automatically

Every time I connected my iPhone or iPad to my Mac, iPhoto popped up with an import dialog. Then I figured it how to disable it for good.

Every time I connect my iPhone to my Mac, iPhoto pops up with an import dialog. I tried turning it off, but it keeps coming up every time my iPhone or iPad is connected. Then I figured it how to disable it for good.

iPhoto automatic import iPhone and iPad
By: Sean MacEntee

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How I took back my Facebook News Feed, part 2 of 2

I am seeing a lot of Facebook Page updates, but not much of it is interesting to me and I’m missing out on the stuff I want to see.

By: Joel Kramer

After I organized my friends and family into lists to control who’s updates I see most frequently, I still had a problem with the content that I am seeing from Pages.

Even though you and I may not share the same point of view, we probably both have similar experiences with Facebook posts being shared from Facebook Pages. Someone we actually know and/or care about is constantly sharing Facebook page posts about politics, religion and science news. There is probably a fair amount of ecards and lol cats, too.

Note: if you are that person, we know where you stand, already.

Additionally, chances are you’ve “liked” a few hundred Facebook Pages because you wanted to share your penchant for unrated films, tortured artists, and bands you used to listen to before they were cool. Maybe your friends asked you to like their Facebook business page for their photography, home business and hobby page. (I’m guilty!)

Now your Facebook News Feed is cluttered with updates from Facebook page managers trying to “engage” their community.

Facebook Page engagement

Not everyone is good at it.

There is probably a lot of junk you’ve “liked” which is just noise. Over 144 million people like Facebook. On Facebook.

Facebook is popular on Facebook
Facebook is popular on Facebook

Too much noise, not enough signal
I am seeing a lot of Pages updating, but not much of it is interesting to me and I’m missing out on the stuff I want to see.

Facebook is using algorithms to determine what to feed to you in your Facebook News Feed. The algorithm is secret, but you will see a mix of content based on what you like, and content based on what other people like. A post that is popular among other users may slide into your News Feed because it seems to be trendy or hot and you just might be interested. There is a good article on this at TechCrunch: The Filtered Feed Problem (TechCrunch).

Now you’re seeing self-promotion posts mixed in with content you’d like to see about the friends you’ve sorted into your Close Friends.

Unfollow noisy Pages
The easiest way to clean up the noise stream is to just unfollow the things that are not interesting. If you see something you keep visually skipping over, just unfollow the source, right from your News Feed.

There is a little grey down arrow in the upper right corner of the post. You can click the Unfollow option to stop receiving their updates in your News Feed.

Screen Shot 2014-03-25 at 1.41.08 PM

Unlike uninteresting Pages
Point your mouse at the Page title and a little preview will pop up. You can click the Like button to see an Unlike option.

Screen Shot 2014-03-25 at 1.39.15 PM

Get Notifications for important Pages
I have some pages that seem to get lost in the noise. If my favorite small venue has an update, it’s just not popular enough and doesn’t have the performance metrics for Facebook to feed it to me. So, I turn on Get Notifications.
Screen Shot 2014-03-25 at 1.40.05 PM

Now I see their updates in my Notifications area.
Facebook Get Notifications

Tell Facebook what you don’t want to see
Facebook allows you to flag content as annoying so that you can keep it out of your News Feed. Some of the most spammy pages, or the most emotionally charged political/religious/newsy stuff I see falls into this category. If you’ve read my previous post about how I manage my friends, you know that I don’t mind someone having a different point of view, I just don’t want a picket banner in my face when I’m just trying to congratulate them on their engagement or like their vacation photos. I use this feature to flag content from Facebook Pages that I think are just overbearing and divisive in their message and it affects my ability to just enjoy my friends life events.

Screen Shot 2014-03-25 at 1.52.11 PM

When you choose not to see the content. Facebook will replace it with this little grey box.

Screen Shot 2014-03-25 at 1.41.36 PM

You can add some reasons to why you’ve asked not to see it.
Screen Shot 2014-03-25 at 1.41.46 PM

Affect on my Facebook News Feed
By adding the most interesting pages to my Get Notifications list, and unliking the most noisy and uninteresting pages, I’ve managed to get a Facebook News Feed which I actually am interested in reading.

I still have a problem with my friends and family sharing things meant to annoy people they disagree with. This kind of content comes from so many places that it’s difficult to flag it all as “I don’t want to see this, it’s annoying or uninteresting.” As a result, I’ve moved those offenders (even family) into Acquaintances just to make my Facebook time less annoying.

Bulldogs! Fate based Sci-Fi character sheet for 5×8 cards

I made a sheet for the FATE based Bulldogs! RPG characters as a PDF, printable on a 5×8 index card.

I’ve been playing around with “Bulldogs! Sci-Fi That Kicks Ass” RPG, which uses the FATE system.

I have a thing for small character sheets, like 5×8 index card size. So, I made a sheet for Bulldogs! characters into a PDF. It should be printable on a 5×8 index card. I used the ones that are lined on one side, and I print on the blank side, so I can add notes to the lined side as needed.

Bulldogs! FATE Character Sheet 5x8BULLDOGS!5x8CharacterSheet2 (PDF)

More information about Bulldogs! Sci-fi that Kicks Ass (RPG Geek).

How I took back my Facebook News Feed, part 1 of 2

It seems that, for some of us, the privacy of our keyboard is like a confessional of our deepest held misanthropy.

By: Surian Soosay

Alexis Ohanian, a Reddit co-founder, shared a sentiment about Facebook that fits my own experience: “Facebook makes me hate the people I know…” Continue reading “How I took back my Facebook News Feed, part 1 of 2”

Microlite20 Character Sheet for 5×8 Index Cards

Recently, I shared the file and a link to a Lulu formatted version of the Microlite20 rules which we use for our role playing game.

Here is the character sheet we use for our Microlite20 characters. It prints well on the plain side of a 5×8 index card. The lined side can then be used for notes, or – if you use the “plain on both sides” kind – character profile drawings.

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