Cleaning Up Youtube Videos on Your Site
Embedding a youtube video in a website is easy enough, youtube gives you a handy little embed code for videos that looks something like this:
<iframe width=”560” height=”315” src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/4eyWmhcjgzU” frameborder=”0” allowfullscreen></iframe>
Unfortunately the video has a lot of visual clutter on it. The name of the video appears at the top in a transparent overlay, the controls appear at the bottom (play, pause, timeline, etc), and related videos show up when the video is over. There’s also issues in some browsers (Chrome) where the video will appear over top of any element of the page.
There’s a quick and easy way to clean all of this up to make videos more visually appealing. By adding this tag to the end of the embed URL:
?rel=0&showinfo=0&controls=0&wmode=transparent
- rel=0 - stops the related videos from displaying at the end of the video
- showinfo=0 - stops the title from appearing at the top of the video
- controls=0 - takes away the playback controls at the bottom of the video
- wmode=transparent - this is handy if you use lightboxes or dropdown menu boxes. Often in Chrome the youtube video will appear over these elements without using this tag.
You can use as many or as little of these tags as you need, and in doing so should clean up videos embedded on your website.
In the end your embed code would look something like this:
<iframe width=”560” height=”315” src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/4eyWmhcjgzU?rel=0&showinfo=0&controls=0&wmode=transparent” frameborder=”0” allowfullscreen></iframe>
This song has been stuck in my head for weeks now.
Source: SoundCloud / M83
Pretty much sums it up.
How to Remove the Wikipedia SOPA / PIPA Blackout Screen
While I strongly endorse Wikipedia’s cause to bring attention to the seriously flawed SOPA / PIPA legislation that the United States congress is trying to pass, there are those out there who simply can’t live without our online collective brain. For those people, I’ve found a fairly simple way to get past the SOPA/PIPA blackout screen.
Access the console of any browser (you can use the Firebug add-on in Firefox, or the built-in Console feature in Chrome “View -> Developer -> Javascript Console”).
Run the following jQuery command in console, after navigating to the specific page of information you need to access:
$(‘div’).show();
$(‘#mw-sopaOverlay’).hide();
This will remove the blackout overlay, and show the content underneath it, since Wikipedia is only covering up the content and not actually removing it. You will need to do this on each individual page, and anytime you reload the page.
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend reading about the SOPA / PIPA legislation and how it has the potential to destroy the internet as we know it.
How to Sync iPhoto on Multiple Macs with Dropbox
I was frustrated when I learned of the limitations of the iCloud Photo Stream, which isn’t quite the same thing as having iPhoto synced between multiple devices. Luckily I found a rather simple workaround using Dropbox. You will need the following to proceed:
- Mac computers with the same version of iPhoto
- Dropbox installed and configured, with a Dropbox account
- Access to an Administrator account and password on the Macs you are using.
Step 1: Get Dropbox
If you haven’t already, signup at Dropbox for a free 2GB storage account. https://www.dropbox.com/
Step 2: Create Folder for iPhoto Library
Once you have Dropbox setup, you’ll need to create a new folder in your Dropbox root folder called “Pictures”.
Step 3: Move iPhoto Library to Dropbox Pictures Folder
Make sure your iPhoto isn’t open before continuing. Your iPhoto Library should be located in the “/Users/Dave/Pictures/” folder (replacing Dave with your own username of course. Move the file “iPhoto Library” to the new folder you created in Dropbox.
Step 4: Delete Pictures Folder
Once your ‘iPhoto Library” has finished moving to the Dropbox folder, you can delete the /Users/Dave/Pictures/ folder. To do this you’ll need to open Terminal (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal). Once you’ve opened Terminal, you should already be in your user folder at the prompt (it should say your name followed by a $). If you don’t see this, navigate to your user folder (/Users/YourName/) then run the following command: sudo rm -fr Pictures It will prompt you for your password, this is the same password you use to login to your user on the computer. This will remove your Pictures folder and everything in it, so make sure you successfully copied the Library to your Dropbox folder before executing.
Step 5: Create Symbolic Link to New Pictures Folder
Next run the following command to create a symbolic link to your new Dropbox folder (it’s like a shortcut) sudo ln -s /Users/Dave/Dropbox/Pictures /Users/Dave/Pictures Note: If your Dropbox folder is located somewhere other than the User root folder, change the first parameter of the command to the full path of your Dropbox folder.
Step 6: Opening iPhoto
Depending on the size of your photo library, it may take a while for your iPhoto Library to sync across the computers. DO NOT open iPhoto until the file has completed syncing. Once completed you should be able to open iPhoto on either computer and it should now keep all of your photos synced. Hope this helps, leave any questions or difficulties in the comments and I’ll try to help.
The CRTC and Usage-Based Billing
I’ve taken the recent publicity surrounding the CRTC and Usage-Based Billing as an opportunity to revive my blog. I’ve been highly vocal against the CRTC and its policies for a while now, and have recently become involved with OpenMedia.ca, the organization behind the popular “Stop the Meter” petition that has reached nearly 400,000 signatures.
In response to the public outrage towards Usage-Based Billing (UBB), the CRTC has responded in defense of its position, stating that UBB is needed due to “greedy or excessive” users of the internet, and believes that “ordinary users should not be forced to subsidize heavy users”
To label early adopters of new technologies in communications, such as Netflix and Cloud Computing services, as “greedy or excessive” shows largely how out of touch CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein is with the industry he regulates. Bandwidth usage has increased with the availability of applications such as streaming high definition video, and applications hosted in the Cloud, and the Canadian telecommunications industry needs to adapt to these changes, not attempt to halt their growth. The second statement that “ordinary users should not be forced to subsidize heavy users” suggests that big telecom, BCE and Rogers, are losing money from the heavy internet users and the light internet users are covering the cost. According to Michael Geist, One gigabyte (GB) or 1024 megabytes (MB) of data costs Bell approximately 3 cents. This means that if a user were to download 200 gigabytes worth of data, which would be considered a “heavy user” it would cost Bell $6. Bell currently charges overage fees of $2-3 per extra gigabyte, which is nearly 50 to 100 times markup on their costs.
What concerns me more than consumers having to pay more money for internet, is how will Canada be an attractive place for innovative service providers in the future, when it costs too much for Canadians to utilize those services. Companies like Netflix are already questioning the future of their service in this country. We simply cannot support this kind of gauging of our internet services in Canada, or it will destroy all internet based innovation, and much of our internet-based talent will leave this country for countries that have Net Neutrality and fair pricing.
The time has come to dissolve the CRTC. Under Konrad von Finckenstein the CRTC has passed policies such as usage-based billing, legalizing falsified news, and preventing fair competition in the Canadian telecommunications industry. It is an organization paid for with tax dollars to regulate the telecommunications industry with the interest of Canadians in mind, but instead has consistently shown that it is out of touch with what Canadians need, and instead has fallen into the lap of the big telecommunication companies, Bell (BCE) and Rogers. Their policies have no benefit to consumers and businesses alike, except to bulk up the pockets of Bell and Rogers, both companies posting huge profits at the expense of the Canadian consumer. Consumers and businesses in Canada would be much better served if the CRTC was no longer in-charge of regulating the industry.
New OCRI Site Launched
OAK is proud to announce its most recent enterprise project, OCRI’s new WordPress based website. Please visit the website at:www.ocri.ca
This was a significant project for us, not just because OCRI is such a big name in Ottawa but also because OCRI’s web needs were distinctively unique. OCRI’s reason for migrating to WordPress was to leverage WordPress’s powerful CMS abilities to pull information from its many different web presences representing different OCRI initiatives while presenting it all in a clean, organized, and highly automated fashion.
OCRI needed an enterprise solution that would give its web marketing executives the ability to aggregate and conslolidate the OCRI web presences around a CMS platform while providing customized web layouts to each department and each individual departmental page having its own customized sidebar. Each department had very specific and different needs, from different banner images and colour schemes, to custom widgets and feeds on their sidebars and hence the scope of the project from a design and layout point of view was immense. Each department’s landing pages had different content requirements and multiple content sources – for example community event feeds, internal articles, external blogs, identified syndicated feeds, partner and stakeholder websites etc.
The bulk of the OCRI solution is highly customized and leverages WordPress 3.0 capabilities. The solution leverages the core capabilities of WordPress such custom fields, custom tags etc and it is also supported by a couple of custom plugins that were specifically coded to address identified needs. These include the calendar in the sidebars, the events calendar, and custom plugins that import events from identified feeds after parsing the feed. On top, the solution has a hige number of custom widgets that were created to replicate the key elements of look and feel of the old OCRI website. Besides, the solution is rich in its Social Media capabilities and any article while being published can be pushed to twitter while assigning hashtags from within the backend. Standard Social Media capabilities such as on the fly video, flickr feeds, RSS aggregators etc can all be easily employed from within the system and can be employed in multiple different ways to keep the look and feel of the solution. This high level of customization is a requirement, since each department needed the ability to customize their pages on the fly, without having to go beyond the basic WordPress backend.
In summary, the four month project while being demanding was well worth the effort put into it. We learnt a lot, and we are very proud of the end result. Dave Hunt from OAK was the principal architect and developer on this project, and he worked closely with Jeff Elyea from OCRI who provided all the design directives and project management as well as stellar testing and deployment support from within OCRI. This was a big endeavour, and we look forward to re-creating this magic for another organization like OCRI.
Building Global Partnerships
Yesterday I had the privilege of attending my first TiE event, where Hari Venkatacharya delivered a keynote speech on the importance for Canadian businesses to build strong global relationships, specifically with regards to opportunities in India.
Hari Venkatacharya is a seasoned entrepreneur with years of experience in building businesses in Canada and India. He has held leadership positions in numerous companies including Quantum International, Kozgro and The Banyan Tree. Formerly the president of Karthika Technologies, Senior V.P. of Kasten Chase and CEO of Cyrca, Mr. Venkatacharya is the immediate past president of TiE Toronto. Focused on building companies in the areas of IT security, compliance and records management, his range of expertise includes operations, sponsorship development, marketing and strategic planning.
Hari discussed the fact that while Canadian businesses excel in terms of their ideas, technologies, and research and development, their primary weakness lies in the building of companies. He attributes this weakness to the over investment in technology and research and development in Canada, and the lack of focus on building good management, sales, and marketing teams. Often Canadian companies believe that their great technology is what will allow them to sell globally; however, Hari argues that it is far more important to construct and maintain strong relationships rather than just having good technology. He maintains that a company with a strong team and average technology will always win over a company with an average team and great technology.
Hari also blamed Canadian businesses for being “lazy” due to the close proximity of the United States. The lack of proactive business innovation [p2] that results from this proximity causes Canadian businesses to miss out on incredible global opportunities in India and China.
One of the points of Hari’s talk that I found particularly interesting was his suggestion of approaching the board of directors with your proposal, rather than just a CEO. Hari explained that this departure from the traditional Canadian business process would be helpful when dealing with Indian businesses. In his past dealings in Indian business Hari found that the board of directors tended to be much more engaged than a CEO. Making a strong commitment to face time in India, as well as pro-actively following up on business leads, is also very important since “all of the world’s companies are at India’s doorstep right now.”
Overall I found it to be a very interesting talk, in highlighting and emphasizing the importance of Canadian businesses to build partnerships globally. The models we’ve been using for years for international business are no longer relevant and emerging business superpowers, such as India and China, are the ones who dictate the new “rules of engagement” for business. Hari believes there is currently a two year window for Canadian businesses to take advantage of the openness in the Indian market before the global relationships are forged and it becomes too late for Canadian companies. Canadian businesses need to conform to these model changes, or we could miss the boat.
