Category: Tools

Use This Tool to Share Videos In a Kid-Safe Way

YouTube is an excellent learning tool for people of all ages. To make it profitable for the platform and content creators, videos often contain ads, suggested content, and comments from other users that may or may not be appropriate for sensitive users. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a tool that could strip that all away when you share a video? There is! And it’s legal.

Introducing VideoLink

VideoLink is a free service that “cleans” the extraneous clutter from a video to provide a distraction-free viewing experience. They do have paid tiers available for advanced sharing and saving an unlimited number of links, but for most purposes, the free version is enough.

If you want the sanitized links to last for longer than an hour, you will need to create a free account to save them.

Using VideoLink

To use VideoLink, paste a YouTube link into the entry field on their home page and click “generate link.”

After a moment, the page will redirect and you will see your YouTube video embedded in a VideoLink page. But you still have options to configure.

Below the video, there is an edit tab where you can change the title or description, make it a private video, hide buttons, or add it to a VideoList (like a YouTube playlist). When you are done editing, save and preview.

If you have not already, saving a link prompts you to create an account. When I tried this from the converted video screen, I kept getting a weird message about needing to allow third-party cookies in order to log in. I had to go back to the home page to successfully create an account. You may want to create yours before pasting your first link in.

To view your saved links and lists, click on your name in the upper right corner and select the option. This is also where your account settings live.

How Would You Use This Tool?

Does this tool have a use case for you? If so, let us know in the comments. We’d love to hear how you are using it.

Access 20+ Free Tools to Enhance Your Online Presence

If you create online content, whether for fun or profit, you know there are lots of tools out there to help you design and secure your creation. Some are free or low-cost, while others can be staggeringly expensive. While in search of free tools to help me with simple graphic design, I stumbled upon a treasure trove of them in a variety of categories.

Experte.com

When I needed one, I found a background remover for images on Experte.com’s design tools page. I found it so helpful, I blogged about it. That page also revealed some other tools I thought may be of use, such as an image cleaner that could help remove unwanted elements from an image. Of course, all of these tools are available in software like Photoshop and GIMP, but sometimes you just want a simple tool to do a simple job.

After finding the design gems, I poked around Experte.com to see what else was on their site. I was really impressed with the number of website tools on offer, and I have made use of several of them. Google, W3C, and other providers offer free tools for testing your site’s speed, validating your code, checking mobile compatibility, etc., but Experte.com has put several of these website tools on one page for easy access. Using these in conjunction with other, similar tools may help you get a more complete picture of how your website is functioning.

Experte.com also offers tools for IT security and business. To access any of the tools on this site, hover over a menu item (e.g., Design) and select the sub-item at the bottom of the list labeled “tools.” There is a page of tools for each top-level menu item (except About).

Summary

Lots of free tools exist from a variety of sources on the internet to assist online content creators in putting their best foot forward. Experte.com helpfully gathered many key tools in one place for their users. Have you tried any of the tools at Experte.com? Let us know what you thought in the comments.

How To Save a Slide As an Image

Have you ever had access to a slide deck that had a great slide you wish you could save as an image and use in another context? This happens to me all the time, and I used to use the snipping tool to create a targeted screenshot of the area. As it turns out, there is a much simpler way to accomplish this.

Saving a Slide in PowerPoint

Start by opening the presentation and clicking on the slide you want to save. Next, click “file” in the upper-left corner, then “save as.” In the “save as type” field, use the dropdown menu to select JPEG. Then click save.

Screenshot showing the Save As screen with the dropdown "save as type" menu displayed. Red arrows point to relevant menu entries
Image courtesy of Tech-Talk

You will be prompted to choose whether to convert all of the slides (as individual jpeg images) or just the current slide.

What About Google Slides?

If you use Google apps, they have a method for saving slides as images, too! To learn how, check out Tech-Talk’s article on saving slides as images.

ChatGPT Is the Latest in Artificial Intelligence

By now, most of us have encountered “bot” technology. In its simplest form, we encounter them in phone menus, where we are asked questions by the computer to help direct the call. Another place basic bots are used is on a website chat box. In either case, if the answers you give don’t fit what the bots are expecting, the “conversation” comes to a halt with a response that indicates you were not understood.

The next generation of artificially intelligent bots was much more impressive. Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are much better at understanding natural language and responding appropriately. Many of us have one of these digital assistants within reach for most of our day, and some rely on them heavily to manage tasks, appointments, home appliances, and more.

A Leap Forward

There is no doubt that today’s digital assistants are extremely capable. However, ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence created by OpenAI (the same firm that created Dall-E/Craiyon), is next level. Not only can you ask it questions and get detailed answers, it learns from your previous conversations.

There is one caveat, though. ChatGPT gets its information from the internet, which, as we know, is not always factual or correct. Like all AI models, it is only as good as the quality of information fed into it. Earlier AI models ended up revealing our racial biases, such as a racist HR bot or Microsoft’s Tay experiment. Even the Dall-E/Craiyon AI has equity issues. OpenAI is working to offset those issues, but many are skeptical that they can be overcome.

Trying ChatGPT

Currently, you need a free account to use ChatGPT. When you sign up, you are asked for your name and phone number, as well as the reason you want to use ChatGPT. I created one and took it for a spin to write this article. First I asked it what the best fiction book of 2022 was. The answer was a little disappointing.

Screenshot showing the AI responding that it can't access information about current events because it was trained in 2021.

So I asked about the best fiction book of 2021, and I thought this answer was great! Just like a librarian, it tried to remove the subjective “best” and provide titles popular with the general public. Although, a librarian would have asked about books you have liked in the past to personalize the recommendation.

Screenshot showing the AI stating opinions on literary quality can vary from person to person, and lists 8 popular titles.

Next, I asked a question that I didn’t think had an answer. As it turns out, ChatGPT had a pretty good answer.

Screenshot of a complicated answer about how there are many theories and beliefs and goes on to explain some. It concludes that the meaning can be different for each individual.

ChatGPT doesn’t just deal in facts. It can also make up stories, which is why some teachers are concerned.

ChatGPT created a detailed six-paragraph story about cats catching mice.

What Would You Ask ChatGPT?

Even though ChatGPT is not a mystical oracle that can guide us through life, it is a big step forward in the development of artificial intelligence technology. It’s not perfect, but it’s a work in progress. If you had access to ChatGPT, what would you talk to it about? Let us know in the comments.

Don’t Get Locked Out of Your Apple Account

If you’ve ever forgotten a password, you know how frustrating it can be if you don’t have a backup method to access your account. Luckily, Apple has set up a way to easily get back into your iCloud account if you forget your Apple ID password.

frustrated phone user with her hand on her forehead

Apple allows you to set up an account recovery contact. An account recovery contact is someone who can verify your identity and help you regain access to your account and all of your data if you ever get locked out or forget your password.

In order for someone to be your recovery contact, they will need to have iOS 15 or later on their iPhone, iPadOS 15 or later on their iPad, or macOS Monterey or later on their Mac. They will also need to meet other requirements.

When choosing an account recovery contact, pick someone you trust. Once you have set up a recovery contact, if you get locked out of your account or forget your Apple password, simply contact your contact. From there, you can give them instructions on how to generate a six-digit code that they can share with you. This code, along with other information the contact will verify, will allow you to reset your password and regain access to your account and your data.

For detailed instructions on how to set up a recovery contact, please follow the instructions on Apple’s website. Do you think you’ll use this feature? Let us know in the comments.