Blogger - How to publish a post directly from Google docs

1. Open http://www.google.com/ and at the top left corner click on “more – Documents”

2. Then login to GoogleDocs with your Gmail credentials and you should see the “All Items” section with your google documents listed.

3. Left click on the document you would like to publish on Blogger.

4. When the document opens go to the window’s top right corner and click on the Down arrow (next to the Share button) - “Publish  as web page” – “Post to blog (This document has not been published to your blog)”


*Note: The article that you publish to your blogspot directly from google docs should be a text document (.txt, .doc, .docx, etc.) 

How to watch videos restricted in your country using Tor and portable Firefox (explained for BBC iPlayer videos)

 If you try to open UK videos that are restricted for watching outside UK (the examples below) and you are not located in UK you will get a message that the videos are not available for watching in your country.

Examples of UK Videos restricted for other countries:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00x7cb3/What_Makes_Us_Clever_A_Horizon_Guide_to_Intelligence/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukoPXLLuZvM

Fortunately there is a solution for this issue, I have done some research on the Internet and found several articles, tested some options and wrote all the steps that should be followed.

1. Download the Tor Browser Bundle (portable package) on your computer

Go to http://www.torproject.org/download/download.html.en and download the latest stable version of Tor Browser Bundle to your computer. Run the executable: tor-browser-1.3.15_en-US.exe and then you should see a folder with a name Tor Browser located in the same folder where you have saved the .exe file.

In order to run the Tor portable software you should open the Tor Browser folder and click on "Start Tor Browser.exe" 

2. Change Tor settings for watching flash videos

Open Tor, then portable Firefox browser will start.
Click on Tools - Add-ons - Extensions tab - Torbutton - Options - Security settings tab - uncheck the box "Disable plugins during Tor usage". Click on OK.

3. Install the Adobe Flash Player on Firefox Portable (Tor)

3.1. If you already have Firefox and Flash installed on the computer

If you are using Windows 7 64-bit go to C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash
(for Windows 7 32-bit: C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash)

Copy the files:

flashplayer.xpt

NPSWF32.dll

and paste them into your portable Tor Firefox browser plugins folder (for me it is: C:\Users\encounter\Desktop\Tor Browser\FirefoxPortable\App\Firefox\plugins)

Restart the portable Firefox

3.2. If you don't have Adobe Flash installed on your computer (or if you want to install the latest flash version on the portable Firefox)

If you are using Firefox, right click on the link: http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/xpi/current/flashplayer-win.xpi and click on "Save Link As" (for IE: "Save Target As")
Then save the .xpi file on your computer.
 

Change the file extension from .xpi to .zip, create a new folder and extract the .zip file there. Copy the 2 files: 

flashplayer.xpt

NPSWF32.dll

into the Tor Portable Firefox plugins folder  (for me it is: C:\Users\encounter\Desktop\Tor Browser\FirefoxPortable\App\Firefox\plugins)

Restart the portable Firefox.

Now you are able to watch Flash videos in the Tor Portable Firefox browser

4. Settings for watching BBC iPlayer videos restricted in your country (Configure Tor to use UK as an exit node)

4.1. Find the UK exit nodes with the highest bandwidth

Start Tor (click on "~\Tor Browser\Start Tor Browser.exe", for me it is C:\Users\encounter\Desktop\Tor Browser\Start Tor Browser.exe)

In the Vidalia Shortcuts section click on View the Network. Sort the nodes according to their Country by left clicking in the cell above the flags column. Then scroll down, find the UK flag and highlight the first node (the first node for every country should have the highest bandwidth).

At the bottom right corner window you should see nodes details starting with its name and status (Online). Copy the name.

Follow the same procedure and copy the 2nd and 3rd UK node names in the list.

Save those names into a text document because we are going to need them for 4.2

4.2. Modify the Tor configuration file (torrc)

Open the "~\Tor Browser\Data\Tor\torrc" file with Notepad

(for me it is C:\Users\encounter\Desktop\Tor Browser\Data\Tor)

* You can also check the exact torrc file location by starting Tor, click on "Settings - Advanced tab" and then click on the Browse button next to the Tor configration file path. Copy the full path to the torrc file from the address bar and paste it into a new Windows Explorer. 

Add the 2 lines below at the bottom of the document:

ExitNodes server1, server2, server3

StrictExitNodes 1

Replace the server1, server2, server3 with the highest bandwidth UK nodes (the ones we have copied in 4.1)

Save the changes you made to the torrc file by clicking on File - Save.

Restart Tor, the portable Firefox browser will launch. Now you can go to the BBC iPlayer TV (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/tv) and watch some restricted for your country videos.  

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*Note: If you want to download some region restricted videos to your computer, you can install the Video DownloadHelper Firefox add-on (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006/)on the portable Tor Firefox browser. Unfortunately the DownloadHelper could not be used for BBC iPlayer videos, but it works for region restricted youtube videos. 

I tried to download one youtube restricted for my country video using the portable Firefox and RealPlayer plugin installed in a way similar to the Flash plugin installation in 3.1 , but received an error "Unable to download" even though the RealPlayer in my native Firefox (installed on the computer) was able to download videos from youtube.

Here are also the steps I have followed for the RealPlayer plugin installation on the portable Firefox browser:

For Windows 7 64-bit open the folder: 

C:\Program Files (x86)\Real\RealPlayer\Netscape6

Copy the file "nppl3260.xpt" and paste it into your portable Firefox components folder (for me it is: C:\Users\encounter\Desktop\Tor Browser\FirefoxPortable\App\Firefox\components)

Then copy the file "nppl3260.dll" and paste it into your portable Firefox plugins folder (for me it is: C:\Users\encounter\Desktop\Tor Browser\FirefoxPortable\App\Firefox\plugins)

Restart the portable Firefox browser and the realpayer plugin download window should appear when you play some videos (but probably you will not be able to download the videos with it)

How to access and download Zamunda.net torrents from abroad using Proxy

Note: This tutorial is for all of you guys that have Zamunda accounts and are living outside Bulgaria (I have written this article since the zamunda website is not accessible from abroad). 


1. Open any of the Bulgarian proxy websites below: 

http://www.bgproxy.com/

http://www.stranabg.com/upload/

, copy the Zamunda URL: http://zamunda.net/ in the empty box and press the Enter button on your keyboard.

Then the Zamunda website will open, you should log in, download the torrent file (.torrent) on your computer and open it with the default torrent client (for ex. uTorrent). If the download process does not start in 5-10 minutes (even there are many seeders listed on the website), please go to step 2. Otherwise, just wait for the torrent to be downloaded and then enjoy it.


2. Modify the torrent client (uTorrent) settings for downloading via Bulgarian proxy server.


From the websites below you should copy one of the free Bulgarian proxy servers IP Address (four set of numbers separated by dots) and port number (this is the number following the proxy IP address and the semicolon, most common ports are 8080 & 3128)

* I would suggest for you to look for anonymous proxy with the smallest average response time (latency) that has been updated most recently.
    

http://nntime.com/proxy-country/Bulgaria-01.htm

http://aliveproxy.com/proxy-list/proxies.aspx/Bulgaria-bg

http://www.xroxy.com/proxy-country-BG.htm

http://tinnhanh.ipvnn.com/free-proxy/Bulgaria_Proxy_List.ipvnn

Open the torrent client (uTorrent) and go to Options – Preferences – Connection

On the Proxy server section, click on the drop-down menu next to “Type” and choose HTTP. In the “Proxy” box enter the proxy server IP Address and in the “Port” box enter the proxy port number . You should also check “Use proxy for peer-to-peer connections”, then click on OK.

Voila!

Used Sources: 

http://www.demludi.com/?p=77

http://blog.bitcomet.com/post/21639/

Second Life - Use shortcut keys for easier navigation

Task: Use Second Life Shortcut Keys Required software: Second Life 1. Alt+Left (Right) Arrow key- when you hold the Alt key, point to an object (by mouse left-clicking on it) and press the Left (Right) Arrow key, then the video camera will start rotating arround this object Alt+Mouse Left Button+Left(Right) Moving the mouse - does the same thing as specified above 2. Alt+Up (Down) Arrow key - when you hold the Alt key, point to an object (by mouse left-clicking on it) and press the Up (Down) Arrow key, the camera will start zooming in (out) to (from) the object. Alt+Mouse Left Button+Mouse Move Forward (Backwards) - does the same thing as specified above *If you want to return to the default camera angle view just press the Left (Right) Arrow key or "C" key 3. Ctrl+Alt+Mouse Left Button+move mouse to the left / right - rotates camera to the left / right of the focused object horizontally (the distance between the camera and object stays fixed) Ctrl+Alt+Mouse Left Button+move mouse forward / backwards - rotates camera up / down (the distance between the camera and object stays fixed) 4. Ctrl+8 - Zoom out from the object that is on focus Ctrl+0 - Zoom in to the object that the camera is shooting at Ctrl+9 - switches to the default distance between the camera and the object in focus 5. By pressing the M key you will switch into Mouse view which means that the camera will be actually your eyesight view. In this view when you move the mouse to the sides or up/down your body will start turning to the sides or respectively your head will turn up/down (during this movements you don't see your avatar's body). 6. E (PgUp) key - Jump 7. F (Home) - Fly on / off *Note: Most basic keys: Left (Right) Arrow Key - turn left , turn right Up (Down) Arrow Key - move forward, move backwards References: - special thanks to Melissa - http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/All_keyboard_shortcut_keys - http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Help:Keyboard_shortcut_keys

Linux (Ubuntu) - Capture, convert and edit Second Life videos with glc and kdenlive

Task: Capture, edit and convert Second Life videos Operating System: Ubuntu Linux 10.04 LTS Used software: glc, kdenlive The 2nd video that I have captured in Second Life The Galaxy Night Club: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzJ_qV-HU-U Full instructions for Second Life videos capturing using Ubuntu Linux 10.04 and glc: Part A. Install glc and mencoder on your computer (running Ubuntu Linux) 1. Ubuntu (32-bit) users need following packages installed in order to compile glc: sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake libx11-dev libxxf86vm-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libasound2-dev libpng12-dev 2. Additionally on 64-bit systems following commands are necessary: sudo apt-get install gcc-multilib sudo ln -s /usr/lib32/libGL.so.1 /usr/lib32/libGL.so sudo ln -s /usr/lib32/libasound.so.2 /usr/lib32/libasound.so sudo ln -s /usr/lib32/libXxf86vm.so.1 /usr/lib32/libXxf86vm.so sudo ln -s /usr/lib32/libX11.so.6 /usr/lib32/libX11.so sudo ln -s /usr/lib32/libpng12.so.0 /usr/lib32/libpng.so Note: For some other Linux distributions, please follow the instructions on the link: http://nullkey.ath.cx/projects/glc/wiki/HowtoInstall 3. Install and compile glc from the Terminal wget http://nullkey.ath.cx/glc/scripts/glc-build.sh chmod a+x glc-build.sh ./glc-build.sh *while installing the package you will be prompted to choose from some options (yes / no) - please choose the default values and complete the installation 4. Install mencoder which is required in Part B, Step 6 for converting the .glc project file to .avi video Open Synaptics Package Manager and on the left side highlight All. In the search field type mencoder, mark the box (if it is not installed yet) and click on Apply Part B. 1. Download the Second Life Viewer for Linux from http://secondlife.com/support/downloads/?lang=en-US Then unarchive the .tar.bz2 file in a folder on your computer (for ex. on your Desktop): /home/username/Desktop/SecondLife-i686-2.1.1.208043/secondlife 2. Create a GLC Project folder where you will save your glc project file (.glc) and the converted .avi file: sudo mkdir /home/username/Desktop/glcvideos 3. In my specific case I get an error when I try to extract the audio from the raw .glc file and that is why I use the command that extracts only the video in order to avoid recording unreasonably large files. When you run the command below in the Terminal Second Life Viewer will launch and GLC will start capturing media from there: glc-capture -o /home/username/Desktop/glcvideos/test.glc -r 1 -l disable-audio -s /home/username/Desktop/SecondLife-i686-2.1.1.208043/secondlife If you want to use the resize option while recording (-r) and to have the audio capturing enabled, just type: glc-capture -o /home/username/Desktop/glcvideos/test.glc -r 0.5 -s /home/username/Desktop/SecondLife-i686-2.1.1.208043/secondlife * -r -- is a parameter specifying the resize level 4. While you have the Second Life window maximized, press Shift+F8 to stop capturing media 5. Go to the terminal and type the command below in order to play the already captured video from the created project file .glc saved in your GLC project folder: glc-play /home/username/Desktop/glcvideos/test.glc 6. Transcode the video from the .glc file into .avi file (without sound) *The glc audio compiling option explained on http://nullkey.ath.cx/projects/glc/wiki/HowtoEncode (Part 1: transcode audio to MP3) is not working for me with videos captured in Second Life (getting error "Warning: Unsupported audio format"), that is why I am applying only the command that compresses the video: glc-play /home/username/Desktop/glcvideos/test.glc -o - -y 1 | mencoder -demuxer y4m - -nosound -ovc x264 -x264encopts qp=18:pass=1 -of avi -o /home/username/Desktop/glcvideos/video.avi Part C. In this part I will show you how to add an audio track to the already captured video, how to add some effects and save the video in .mp4 format using Kdenlive ... coming soon References: http://nullkey.ath.cx/projects/glc http://nullkey.ath.cx/projects/glc/wiki/HowtoInstall http://nullkey.ath.cx/projects/glc/wiki/HowtoCapture http://nullkey.ath.cx/projects/glc/wiki/HowtoPlayback http://nullkey.ath.cx/projects/glc/wiki/HowtoEncode http://www.linux.com/community/blogs/Recording-your-3D-Games-Made-Easy.html http://primforge.com/2009-02-07/capturing-with-glc/ http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Render-Videos-in-Kdenlive-161784133 http://www.kdenlive.org/rendering-profiles http://www.kdenlive.org/youtube-1280x720-3000k-2-pass http://www.kdenlive.org/mlt-profiles Acknowledgements: *I would like to express my endless gratitude to the glc & kdenlive developers and contributors, also to the people that have written the amazing user guides and articles for these software packages. *Special thanks to my friend Pav for helping me out with my blog's web design and saving me a lot of time. Many kisses !!!