replying on my ipad

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I “lost” my iPad two days before Thanksgiving. I went to mentor at Stuyvesant High School and forgot it there. I knew exactly where it was (in the teacher’s closet), but wasn’t going 9 days to retrieve it. This meant I didn’t have an iPad for a little over a week. It was interesting to see what I missed it for.

2 factor
This was the big one. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to log into something without a big hassle due to not having Google Authenticator on my app. I have an alternate factor set up for some services, but not all. Luckily, many services remember you on the same computer.  It wasn’t bad at all:

  • Amazon: I wanted to set up two factor on Amazon now that they offer it. Not a big deal. I just did it now that I have my iPad back.
  • Github: I was going to look up something in the browser, but needed the second factor. I was able to get the info at the command line though so it was ok.

Reading on the couch

I usually use my iPad when I want internet on the couch. Especially for reading RSS feeds; which I decided to wait until I had my iPad back. This is something I only do once or twice a week anyway.

Note taking
If I had my iPad, I would have used it to take notes at the JavaSIG. Not a big deal. It is easy enough to replace this step with paper.

There are other things I use it for. Luckily none of them came up in the week.

two factor on amazon

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I enabled two factor on many sites last year. Amazon is a bit late to the party, but they finally have two factor support. While they waited a long time, they did a good job with it.

Sign up was easy. They give you a choice of an authenticator app including scanning with your device to connect. Or you can use a mobile phone number for voice or text. Or you can use a landline with voice. You can set a second of these options as a backup. I like that there were choices.

You are also asked if the current device is trusted. Which is good as you don’t get prompted repeatedly from your main/home computer.

I also took this opportunity to check on twofactorauth.org to see if any other sites I use have added support. I was disappointed by how many banks don’t support two factor. I tweeted at four of them with the link on the page. (I don’t have accounts at all four).

cropping video fast for dummies on a mac (updated for 2015)

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I don’t edit video often, which means it feels different each time I try. I last wrote about cropping on a Mac in 2012. It felt different (but easier) this time.

Downloading the file from youtube

I entered the original youtube URL into http://en.savefrom.net. Then I downloaded the mp4 file.

Opening the video in iMovie

  1. Open iMovie
  2. New Project
  3. No theme
  4. Name project
  5. Import Media > navigate to the mp4

Crop the video

  1. In the thumbnails view, select the beginning of where you wan the video to start.
  2. Drag to where you want the video to end.
  3. Adjust as needed
  4. Play the video in the preview to ensure it is right.

Export the video

  1. File
  2. Share > File
  3. Next
  4. Save to location
  5. Wait until Mac pops up message that export was successful