Convert WMV to iPad compatible file

I like to combine digital photos with the movies that I take with my PureDigital Flip Camera and make them into slideshows using HP Memories Creator which came bundled with my HP printer.

Thought it would be nice to have a slideshow presentation like that on my iPad.

Well, I figured out how.  And I didn’t have to buy any new programs to do it - the necessary programs were free.

I got the Windows Live Movie Maker program free from Microsoft.
Get yours here.  It comes as part of the Live Essentials package. You have to have Windows 7 to run WLMM.

In Windows Live Movie Maker, I can combine photos, videos, music and have special effects and all kinds of cool stuff.  It generates a WMV file.  WMV files can be viewed in a Windows Media Player.

You cannot upload a WMV file to the iPad / iPodTouch. 

You will need to convert that WMV file into a MP4, which is compatible with the iPad and iPod Touch.  And to convert it, you need another free program - Any Video Converter.  Get the “Any Video Converter Free”.

Once you convert the WMV to MP4, you upload the MP4 through iTunes, the usual way. 

I’ve been looking for a WMV file convertor for a long time.  The ones I’ve seen cost $40 to $50.  Free is so much nicer!  And you can convert WMV to AVI, also.

And Microsoft has another nice free program that does a nice slideshow of zooming in, out and across photos – Photo Story.  It really makes a nice presentation of your quilts, with music.  Or make a slideshow of the construction of a particular quilt (or gift) for a special occasion.  It will generate a WMV file that you can convert to MP4 for iPad / iPodTouch.

Jenny of Elefantz (BOM)

In the current issue of Quilters Newsletter Magazine, there is an article, page 28, Stitchery from Down Under.  One of the quilters interviewed is Jenny Reynolds from Queensland, Australia.  QNM did not list Jenny’s website, but it was easy enuf to goggle her --http://www.elefantz.blogspot.com/

I just love the way she combines quilting and simple embroidery.  And she is so generous in giving away her designs for free.  She makes them available for a while and then you have to go to her Etsy shop to purchase some of the older designs. Her prices are very reasonable.

Jenny has a Block of the Month coming up – Daisy Do on July 1.  Her sneak peeks have got me hooked. 

I love doing embroidery every once in a while.  It calms the soul.

Many mini Projects from Angie

Are you running out of ideas for little gifts to make for Christmas?  Well, not Angie!  She has got a whole slew of projects that will be just the thing. 
http://ajpadilla.com/patterns/bom/christmas-all-year-round

Lots of the projects are free.  Look around her website – Angie is some talented lady!

Sign up for Angie’s newsletter and she will send an email each time she puts up something new --
http://ajpadilla.com/newsletter/subscriptions

PopEater on iPod Touch

OK, I admit it – I enjoy reading celebrity gossip & seeing the outrageous things that celebrities do and get away with.  Now, PopEater (that online deliverer of all things gossip) has an app for the iPhone/iPodTouch.

Go to popeater.com for the download and to read all about this new app or go to iTunes and search the app store for PopEater.

I can read the juicy little tidbits right on my iPod Touch if I’m in a WiFi area.  If I’m not, the app auto-saves the entries for me so that I can view them when I need to pass the time in a waiting room.

Oh – it’s a free app!  I refuse to pay for any celebrity gossip …

Urawaza

That’s how the article in today’s Sun-Sentinel newspaper started out. Urawaza is the Japanese word for simple, clever lifestyle fixes for difficult problems. Funny, I had just heard about how to dry out a cell phone by putting it into uncooked rice on today’s “Today Show with Kathie Lee & Hoda” and that hint was in the article.

The article said to go to LifeHacker for more low-cost remedies. I stayed a while at LifeHacker! I put that site into my Favs. Tons of things to find out about. Says it is a “geek” site, but I found a lot of useful stuff which I did not consider “geeky”.

I found out about Google Analytics which comes with high recommendations as a great Stat Counter for websites and blogs from LifeHacker.

And I also found out about “Windows Live Writer” which is what I am using right now to write this blog entry. It’s the #3 Tool on their list of http://lifehacker.com/5161867/top-10-tools-for-your-blog-or-web-site

I’ve put in the pic above to see how it’s gonna handle graphics and if it will put the hyperlink on the pic so that it can be viewed larger. I like that the pic is put in place where it will appear – not at the top of the post, like Blogger does which requires me to move it to where it should be. There were several options for the borders of the pic – I chose to round the corners.

I do appreciate the spell checker in the program!
There’s even “strike-through” = strike- through if ever you need it.

I think Windows Live Writer is Urawaza!

Free book

Have you heard about Suze Orman’s new book “2009 Action Plan – Keeping your Money Safe & Sound”? Oprah Winfrey’s show is offering a free download:
http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081119_tows_bookdownload
Offer expires Thursday Jan. 15, 2009. Thanx to Jill for the link.

I like listening to Suze. She has common sense. Common sense seems to be missing in a lot of people’s thinking today. And whatever happened to saving up your pennies ‘til you could afford to buy a new item? Why is it people feel they are entitled to every new toy and gadget that comes out on the market? And they end up charging the new toy/gadget. If not used wisely, credit cards can get you in a lot of trouble. I’ve heard that the credit card companies are now changing some people’s interest rates to 32%!!! Isn’t that called “loan sharking”?