snag it - i'm impressed

Tuesday night, I stayed up way too late trying to figure out how to capture flash video that wasn't contained on a page with a URL. I needed to capture a flash video that I made with JibJab's new Starring You applet for a project I was working on. I downloaded two programs, Replay Media Catcher and FLV Recorder, but neither would capture the video with our faces instead of the JibJab actors.

The reason I stayed up so late was because I knew there was a way to do it because I saw some of these videos on YouTube. It really drives me nuts when I know there's a way to do something and I can't figure it out. So, I left a comment on one of the YouTube videos to ask what program they were able to capture the video with then went to bed.

The next morning, I checked my email and had a reply to my comment; the guy used a shareware program called Snag It. I anxiously downloaded the program which is about 13 MB and ran it. It has a GUI user-friendly interface and did exactly what I needed. I was able to window in on the region I wanted to record and the quality of the AVI video output was much better than I expected it to be.

I was really impressed with the program - it's simple to use and simple to save your capture. The program also offers an editing feature which I haven't yet tried, but probably will in the future. The software offers a free 30-day trial and from what I could tell, you get to use the program without limitations. It's only $39.95 to buy and register, so it's affordable as well. I'm goin to play around some more with Snag It during my 30-day free trial; especially the capture editing features, and plan to buy the software after my trial ends.

get your photos back!

I haven't had this happen to me [knock on wood], but I've read about others who've experienced memory card failure losing all their pictures stored on the device. I know some people who have large memory cards and don't always download their photos to their PC or back them up which can be dangerous.

I read about a photographer who returned from a shoot and found he had a corrupt memory card. He actually used the program to recover the photos [all of them]. Sweet! I thought I'd share this useful information since so many people use these devices now. The photo recovery program is called PhotoRescue and was designed to undelete, unerase and recover pictures, images, photos and files lost on corrupted, erased or damaged compact flash, smartmedia, memory sticks, mmd, XD, multimedia or secure digital memory cards when other solutions fail. And, it's available for the PC and Mac OS X.

I take a lot of pictures and hope this won't happen to me, but this is very good to know and hopefully it will help someone else recover their priceless memories...

Sales Leads Database

My ex-boss at work who used to be in Quality (and had a hand in everything else), is now in Sales and has decided to take on the task of creating a sales lead database for all the customer service and tech reps to keep track of calls. He decided not to use some of the existing software that the company had purchased, but to make his own. Jimmy may have to use this database, so I'm sure I'll be hearing about it from him and the others - I'll let you know how it's working...

Achieve Planner

I am a list-maker. I have at least 5 lists of "Things to Do" somewhere on, or in, my desk at home and work right now. There are things I want to blog about, stuff I need to do at home, things I need to take care of at work, grocery lists, stuff to gather to do our taxes, and the lists go on and on. Sometimes, I make so many lists, I think I need to make a list to keep track of my lists. If I spent less time making and looking for my lists, I would have more time to get things marked off my lists. Today, I read about some time management software that might help get rid of my lists, or at least make them electronic. With the Achieve Planner, you can capture, organize, and manage your projects and tasks, plan your week with the weekly schedule, and manage contacts. And, you can even set, plan, manage, and track your dreams & goals with the Goal Setting features.

Norton 2007 Site

I have a friend who recently bought an HP for her daughter mainly for school, but you know how teenagers are, or at least I do. I found out the critical importance of installing antivirus software and keeping it up to date years ago when I was on dial-up and was struck with a virus that kept rebooting my PC. The PC that Amy bought runs Norton 2007, and she's been asking a few questions about the antivirus and included security programs. I stumbled upon a site that has loads of helpful information including screenshots and help and support forums. Take it from me, if you surf the web or read email, you need antivirus software and you need to keep it up to date!

Netsimplicity Scheduling Software

Meeting-Crasher Syndrome: Have you ever walked into a conference room to attend a meeting and realized that there was already a meeting in progress which you weren't invited?

Ball-Dropper Syndrome: Have you ever forgotten to do an important task because you
jotted it down on a sticky note, then it fell off what you stuck it to?

If you've suffered from either of these conditions, you need to check out Scheduling Software from NetSimplicity. NetSimplicity offers software that will help you overcome Ball-Dropper and Meeting-Crasher Syndrom by simplifying the not-so-simple day-to-day office administration tasks by offering management and scheduling of rooms, equipment, and resources. They even offer a free 30-Day product trial.

***This post sponsored by netsimplicity.com***