A Presentation on PALM VEIN Technology

How to set a fixed video volume on YouTube

by Martin Brinkmann on October 12, 2013 in Music and Video 3

I recently noticed a strange behavior on YouTube while playing videos in the Google Chrome web browser. While I was able to change the volume using the slider of the video player interface, I noticed that the volume change would not stick under certain circumstances.

While it remained set to the selected volume level for as long as I remained on the page -- which included playing other video that were linked on that page, for instance in the recommended section -- it would revert to a 100% volume setting the moment I'd leave that page.

I have tested this numerous times and the volume level would always reset itself, Even a page reload of the video that I was watching would reset it.

I tried resetting clearing cookies and other site related bits of data, but to no avail. When I switched web browsers, I noticed that other browsers were not behaving that way. YouTube remembered the volume setting in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

Fixing YouTube's video volume issue

The following explanation provides you with the fix for the issue that I was facing, and then later on with a general tip that allows you to set the volume independently on YouTube.

YouTube saves the volume information in a cookie, which means that the information are lost when the cookie gets deleted or replaced with a new one.

I noticed a cookie icon with a red x next to it in Chrome's address bar.

When you hover over it, you receive information that "this page was prevented from setting cookies".

I have configured Google Chrome to block third party cookies and site data, and the cookie that YouTube sets when you change the volume seems to fall in that category. I'm not 100% sure why it would, but after I disabled the option YouTube would remember the volume setting again.

You have two options to deal with the issue:

1. Allow all third-party cookies and site data.
2. Add YouTube to the exceptions list.

Both settings are configured on the chrome://settings/content page. Just load it in your web browser and locate the cookies settings.

Google Chrome cookie settings

Either uncheck "Block third-party cookies and site data" or, click on Manage exceptions here to add an exception. I would suggest you add an exception instead so that you can block third-party cookies on other sites.

cookie exceptions on YouTube

If you want to add an exception so that YouTube can set third-party cookies and site data, add [*.]youtube.com to the list of exceptions.

Second option

A userscript like YouTube Center can set the volume for videos on YouTube independently of cookie settings. Just install it in Google Chrome, click on the settings button on YouTube that it adds, and select Player > Volume to enable the volume control there and set a default volume that you want for all videos on the site.

You can install the extension by downloading it first, opening Chrome's extension page then (chrome://extensions/), and dragging & dropping the downloaded extension to it to start the installation dialog.

Desktop Customization Tool Rainmeter 3.0 released

by Martin Brinkmann on October 14, 2013 in Windows

The Windows operating system does not offer that many customization options natively. While you can modify the background image and color scheme, that is about as far as it goes, especially since Microsoft decided to retire the whole sidebar feature in Windows 8.

If you want additional options, you either unlock theme files on the system so that you can install third party themes that can modify additional screen elements, or use a third party software like Rainmeterinstead.

Rainmeter has been updated to version 3.0 today. If you have a previous version installed on your system you can simply install the new one over it to upgrade to it.

Probably the biggest change in the new version is the switch from GDI+ display rendering to Direct2D rendering, which should improve the font rendering noticeably. It needs to be noted that Direct2D will only be used on Windows 7 or newer versions of Windows -- provided that the latest updates are installed on it -- and that the application will fall back to using GDI+ on non-supported systems.

Tip: You can check under Manage Rainmeter > Settings whether Direct2D rendering is enabled.

Rainmeter 3.0

As far as other changes go, the release notes list the most important ones. The changes are mostly important to developers and theme designers, and not for end users. While end users will benefit from support in the long run, there is likely nothing listed here that they will get too excited about.

The first thing that you may want to do after installation is pick a skin that you'd like to use. A skin basically is a collection of tools and design modifications that you install on your desktop.

A good getting started page is the Discover page on the official Rainmeter website. Here you find three direct download links of skins that you can get started with, and web resources that offer hundreds of additional skin downloads.

You can install as many skins as you want, and switch between the installed ones using the System Tray icon of Rainmeter. Here you can also enable or disable modules that you want displayed or hide on the screen. Note that many skins display only select modules by default, and that you need to use the menu to display additional ones it makes available.

Note that you may need to load wallpapers and skin items manually, depending on how the skin pack is being made available. You find the installed skins and their files, including wallpapers and such, under My Documents/Rainmeter/ on your system.

Closing Words

If you like to customize your computer, and especially like the idea of gadgets or widgets being displayed on your desktop at all times, then you will certainly find Rainmeter appealing.

How to avoid saving images in webp format in Google Chrome

How to avoid saving images in webp format in Google Chrome

by Martin Brinkmann on October 15, 2013 in Tutorials 1

If you are using the Google Chrome browser you may have noticed that images on select websites, many Google properties like Google Play for example, display images in Google's webp format and not a standard format like jpg or png.

Google claims that webp reduces the size of images significantly in comparison to png and jpg. It reduces the file size in comparison to png images by up to 26%, and by up to 34% in comparison to jpg images.

If you are running Chrome, you get webp images exclusively on those websites, while Firefox or Internet Explorer users get the standard image formats instead. The websites in question check the browser you are connecting with and either deliver webp if supported, or fall back to jpg or png if it is not.

While that is not a big issue, since most modern image viewers support the webp format by now, it is still something that you may not like that much, depending on what you do with the images.

While you can view them in many programs by installing a codec on your Windows system, you may not be able to use them in other programs or make them your desktop wallpaper. If you try, you will notice that the format may not be supported.

Conversion comes to mind, and programs like XnConvert support the webp format so that you can convert the downloaded images into another image format.There are numerous online convertersavailable as well for that.

That's however only a solution for the occasional download, but if you need to download images regularly that are only offered in the webp format, you may not want to go down that route as it adds another unnecessary step to the process.

I'd like to present you with two options that you can use to avoid saving webp images and save them as png or jpg images instead.

How to not save webp images

1. Chrome Save as png

The first option is the Chrome extension Save Image As Png. It adds an option to the browser's right-click context menu to save any image that you hover over as png instead of the format it is supplied in.

While I cannot say exactly what is happening behind the scenes, the author notes that it converts the image on the fly. There is no mentioning of a remote service that it uses for that which means it is not really clear how the conversion is handled in the background.

2. Use a browser that does not support webp

Not all web browsers support the webp format, and most web services that use the webp format fall back to png or jpg images instead when such a browser is used.

You can run Firefox or Internet Explorer instead for all your image downloading needs, so that the images are automatically saved as png or jpg images.

If you rely on Chrome, try the User Agent Switcher extension instead which fakes the browser you are using. Select the user agent of a browser that does not support webp, and you should get the same png or jpg delivery that those browsers get.

VLC Launcher: configure individual launch parameters for files that you play in VLC Media Player

by Martin Brinkmann on October 15, 2013 in Music and Video 0

Most media players behave exactly the same way regardless of file you load into them. While you may be able to make a couple of adjustments based on the codec needed to play the files, there is no option to make other changes, like modifying the player's process priority based on file format, modifying the color management, or the language of the player interface.

While the latter may not be overly important in most cases, unless you live in a household where multiple languages are spoken and understood, the other options may come in handy at times.

VLC Launcher is a free program for the Windows operating system that provides you with the means to set individual launch parameters for video files that you load in the media player.

Note: The application requires that the Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 is installed on the system.

VLC Launcher

The program may not be the prettiest one on your computer system, but that is not really all that relevant as its functionality makes more than up for that.

It is still a beta product though and it lacks some features that would improve its usability further.

When you first start the application you are presented with a tabbed base program interface. Here you can define the startup parameters for a selected video file.

The Base tab for instance defines several parameters, including the volume of sound, the caching time, the VLC Media Player style, the media file that you want to play, and the process priority of the VLC process that you want to use.

The majority of tabs that remain let you modify certain aspects in greater detail. The screen tab for instance allows you to resize the video, change its aspect and crop ratio, or deinterlace settings.

The collection tab is special, as it enables you to save configurations that you have made in the application so that you can load them at a later time in a heartbeat.

As mentioned earlier, VLC Launcher lacks a couple of features that would improve its usability. It would for instance be very helpful if you could associate video or audio types with certain configurations so that all videos that match the selected file types are automatically using the saved custom configuration.

There does not seem to be an option to bulk select video files that you want to play using a configuration, a playlist of sorts if you will. It means that you will have to use the launcher for each video file individually, which can cost lots of time depending on the length of the video files that you want to play in VLC.

I may be wrong about some of the missing features, but the lack of a help file and the basic explanations on the project website were not helpful in confirming that.

Verdict

For now, it is a project to keep an eye on. It appears to be in active development which is a good sign. You may stumble upon smaller features that the developer has packed in the program, like the timer function, the ability to play or stream network files, or options to change HUE and Saturation values before launch.