This doesn't come up that often, but sometimes when I receive email with some kinds of large image files included inline with the body text of the email, Gmail presents the image in actual size, rather than scaling it to fit on-screen. When the image is very large, the image can display at several times the width of the region of the Gmail window for viewing message. Worst of all, Gmail flows the text of the message to the width of the image, requiring the user to scroll left and right to read the message.
This free Chrome extension fixes that behavior, configuring Chrome to automatically scale images to fit in the current message pane (as Gmail should have been written in the first place. Gmail's built-in image viewer is still accessible by double-clicking the image, so the user still has access to the full resolution of the inline images.
Gmail Inline Image Fit
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Batch Extract Image Files from PowerPoint Presentations
After going through a lot of grief with alternate (and unsuccessful) methods to do this task, I ran across this incredibly simple solution for extracting image files from within PowerPoint presentations. (I'm repurposing decades-old PowerPoint presentations with hundreds of images on hundreds of pages, so hand-extracting the content image-by-image, page-by-page is tedious and even physically painful.)
The only minimum requirement is that the PowerPoint files be in .pptx file format (not just .ppt), or access to a version of PowerPoint from Office 2007 or later, which can write .pptx files.
This example is on a Mac, but the same principle works on Windows, all that is required for Windows is an un-ZIP utility.
SIMPLE!
The only minimum requirement is that the PowerPoint files be in .pptx file format (not just .ppt), or access to a version of PowerPoint from Office 2007 or later, which can write .pptx files.
This example is on a Mac, but the same principle works on Windows, all that is required for Windows is an un-ZIP utility.
The solution is SIMPLE. SIMPLE.
- If the PowerPoint file has a .ppt extension, open it in PowerPoint 2007+ and save it again as .pptx.
- PPTX files save presentation data as widely-supported XML data structures, compressed in a package using the venerable ZIP archive format.
- On a Mac, rename the .pptx extension to .zip. The Finder will ask if you’re sure. Click “Use .zip.”
- Double-click the resulting .zip file. The Finder will uncompress the file into a directory structure. Inside[folder with orig filename]:ppt:media are all the image files in their native formats.
SIMPLE!
Sunday, May 06, 2018
Quickly Rotate Google Photos with a Keyboard Shortcut
While it's possible to rotate an image in Google Photos by:
That's an incredibly tedious process, especially if several images need to be rotated.
There is a much simpler procedure. Click on an image in Google Photos, and press [shift]+[R] on the keyboard. The image will rotate 90 degrees counter-clockwise. Repeat the shortcut to rotate another 90 degrees as necessary. The change is committed with no further actions.
Pressing the [left arrow] and [right arrow] keys on you keyboard, you can advance to the previous and next images, and repeat the rotate operation. Thus, you can quickly rotate a number of images.
- clicking on the photo's "Edit" icon
- clicking the "Crop & Rotate" icon
- clicking the "Rotate" icon once for every 90 degrees clockwise
- click "Done"
- click "Done" (again)
That's an incredibly tedious process, especially if several images need to be rotated.
There is a much simpler procedure. Click on an image in Google Photos, and press [shift]+[R] on the keyboard. The image will rotate 90 degrees counter-clockwise. Repeat the shortcut to rotate another 90 degrees as necessary. The change is committed with no further actions.
Pressing the [left arrow] and [right arrow] keys on you keyboard, you can advance to the previous and next images, and repeat the rotate operation. Thus, you can quickly rotate a number of images.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
SOLVED: Harmony Ultimate Home no longer responds to some Google Home commands
THE PROBLEM
Beginning some time since February 10, 2018, we can no longer invoke many of the Activities our Harmony Ultimate Home via voice commands to our Google Home. When we say, “Me: “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on DVR3,” Harmony responds by voice that it does not know how to respond.(Learn how to configure your Google Home and Harmony hub-based remote to control your Harmony by voice commands at this Logitech Support page: Harmony experience with the Google Assistant.)
THE SHORT VERSION
I discovered through experimentation that for SOME Activities that I have created, Harmony no longer responds to the expression “tell Harmony.”
SOLUTION: Always say “ASK Harmony.” This has completely resolved my problem.
UPDATE 2/14/2018: My symptoms are entirely related to the presence of numerals in my Activity names. See more below.
Me: “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on DVR3.”
Harmony (via Google Home): “Sorry, I misunderstood your last statement.”
Other possible Harmony responses (which vary randomly):
Curiously, SOME of the Activities could still be invoked. Here is the list of failures and successes:
SOLUTION: Always say “ASK Harmony.” This has completely resolved my problem.
UPDATE 2/14/2018: My symptoms are entirely related to the presence of numerals in my Activity names. See more below.
THE SHORT DIAGNOSIS
Some time after 2/10/2018, some hub-based Harmony remote systems stopped responding to certain voice requests made through linked Google Home devices.
Experimentation reveals that Harmony responds with an error message if both of these conditions are true:
- The voice command uses the phrase "tell Harmony,"
- AND
- The Harmony Activity name contains a numeral or a word representing a number
Substituting "ask Harmony" for "tell Harmony" results in normal execution of the requested Activity.
Renaming the Activity to omit any numerical references also results in normal execution.
THE LONG VERSION
Around two days ago, (February 11, 2018), I discovered that SOME of the Activity requests sent to the Harmony Home Ultimate via our Google Home were no longer understood by the Harmony.Me: “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on DVR3.”
Harmony (via Google Home): “Sorry, I misunderstood your last statement.”
Other possible Harmony responses (which vary randomly):
- “Sorry, I don’t understand.” Ask Harmony for help to ask what I can respond to.”
- “Sorry, I’m not totally sure about that.”
- “Sorry, I don’t understand. Visit myharmony.com/google-assistant to learn what I can respond to.”
Curiously, SOME of the Activities could still be invoked. Here is the list of failures and successes:
- “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on DVR1.” FAIL
- “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on DVR2.” FAIL
- “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on DVR3.” FAIL
- “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on Apple TV.” SUCCESS
- “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on PS3.” FAIL
- “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on Chromecast.” SUCCESS
- “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn off.” SUCCESS
Rebooting and power-cycling the Harmony hub and the Google Home had no effect on the symptoms.
I tried altering the name of the Activity in a minor way: I changed “DVR3” to “DVR 3” and “DVr3” (noting that all the problem Activities were all-caps), but the problem persisted.
However, completely changing the name from “DVR3” to “Elephant” allowed me to invoke that Activity by saying “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on Elephant.” Changing the activity name BACK to the original “DVR3” reintroduced the problem (which is a great diagnostic clue).
Eventually, I tried a different verbal command. Instead of saying, “Hey Google, _tell_ Harmony to turn on [activity name],” I said, “Hey Google, _ask_ Harmony to turn on [activity name].” Success! Without making any changes whatsoever, simply changing what we say - using the polite “ask” rather than the imperative “tell” ALWAYS WORKS.
So something has changed. I’m certain that we’ve always said “tell Harmony” because since November 2017, we’ve had a hand-written sign on our AV cabinet which I wrote for my wife the first day I set up Google Home to work with the Harmony. The sign reads, “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on DVR3.”
I tried altering the name of the Activity in a minor way: I changed “DVR3” to “DVR 3” and “DVr3” (noting that all the problem Activities were all-caps), but the problem persisted.
However, completely changing the name from “DVR3” to “Elephant” allowed me to invoke that Activity by saying “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on Elephant.” Changing the activity name BACK to the original “DVR3” reintroduced the problem (which is a great diagnostic clue).
Eventually, I tried a different verbal command. Instead of saying, “Hey Google, _tell_ Harmony to turn on [activity name],” I said, “Hey Google, _ask_ Harmony to turn on [activity name].” Success! Without making any changes whatsoever, simply changing what we say - using the polite “ask” rather than the imperative “tell” ALWAYS WORKS.
So something has changed. I’m certain that we’ve always said “tell Harmony” because since November 2017, we’ve had a hand-written sign on our AV cabinet which I wrote for my wife the first day I set up Google Home to work with the Harmony. The sign reads, “Hey Google, tell Harmony to turn on DVR3.”
Even further and more absolute proof: Google Assistant keeps a log of all your activities:
Unclear is whether the change that’s taken place was by Harmony (Logitech) or Google.
For now, I’m happy to be back in business.
 |
| The same command which worked on February 10, 2018 fails on February 13. |
Unclear is whether the change that’s taken place was by Harmony (Logitech) or Google.
For now, I’m happy to be back in business.
UPDATE: IT'S THE NUMBERS, STUPID
Thanks to feedback from Logitech Harmony forum user "john_woo," I realized that I'd entirely missed a clue that I'd put in my list of SUCCESS/FAIL Activities above. All of the Activities that result in a Harmony error response when issuing the "tell Harmony to" command have a number in them. (And to reiterate, using "ask" instead of "tell" works even with a number in the Activity name.)
Interestingly, replacing the digit "3" with the word "three" doesn't help. The error persists. To test whether the prohibited terms were digits, I tried incorporating a "30" into an Activity name. So it appears that any use of a numerical reference in an Activity name will cause the request to fail if "tell Harmony to" is also in the voice command.
Something appears to have changed in either the Harmony (Logitech) or Google code which prohibits the use of a numerical value (whether expressed as numerals or written out as a word) in a Harmony Activity name, when used in conjunction with a "tell Harmony to" voice command.
“Hey Google, ask Harmony to turn on DVR3”
Interestingly, replacing the digit "3" with the word "three" doesn't help. The error persists. To test whether the prohibited terms were digits, I tried incorporating a "30" into an Activity name. So it appears that any use of a numerical reference in an Activity name will cause the request to fail if "tell Harmony to" is also in the voice command.
Something appears to have changed in either the Harmony (Logitech) or Google code which prohibits the use of a numerical value (whether expressed as numerals or written out as a word) in a Harmony Activity name, when used in conjunction with a "tell Harmony to" voice command.
FOR AN EVEN BETTER HARMONY EXPERIENCE: USE GOOGLE ASSISTANT SHORTCUTS
In the course of trying to find any information about this problem online (and since I just found a post from someone else from February 10, 2018, I’m guessing that this problem is too new for there to be any online information), I discovered that by using Google Assistant Shortcuts, we can eliminate having to say the “ask Harmony to” part altogether. By following the instructions starting in Section 4 of this Logitech Harmony Support page, you can shorten these commands from:“Hey Google, ask Harmony to turn on DVR3”
to
“Hey Google, watch TV”
...or whatever you’d like to say to start a Harmony Activity.
(If you really wanted to, you could use a Google Assistant Shortcut to still say “tell Harmony” and have Google pass along the more polite and functional “ask Harmony” instead.”)
“Hey Google, watch TV”
...or whatever you’d like to say to start a Harmony Activity.
(If you really wanted to, you could use a Google Assistant Shortcut to still say “tell Harmony” and have Google pass along the more polite and functional “ask Harmony” instead.”)
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Fixing Stuttering/Jumpy Cursor Problems on Mac Pro with Magic Mouse
I love the top tracking surface of my Apple Magic Mouse - to me, it's the best-ever solution for scrolling, even allowing simultaneous scrolling while moving the cursor.
However, on my Mac Pro 4,1 (2009), cursor control has been spastic, making use of the Magic Mouse frustrating. Concurrently connected Apple Bluetooth Trackpad and wired Mighty Mouse both work normally, thus suggesting that it wasn't either the cursor control subroutines or the Bluetooth system at fault. I've kept all of them connected for years, switching around for either better cursor control or better scrolling.
Periodically, I'd look for solutions to the oft-reported problem, but none of the fixes I attempted had any effect.
Then I found this blog entry: MAC PRO 2009 BLUETOOTH FIX
And was immediately convinced that this blog's author had identified the true culprit: that the Bluetooth antenna location inside the aluminum case of the Mac Pro made for very poor signal propagation (my mousing surface is 10" from the top-front corner of the Mac Pro, and perhaps 30" from the OEM Bluetooth antenna's location inside the case). I liked the sound of the author's "BLUETOOTH FIX USING ORIGINAL BLUETOOTH CARD" solution, which mounts an aftermarket antenna on the outside of the Mac Pro's case.
As of January 2018, I found that Amazon stocks a 2-pack of both the appropriate antennas and the prescribed "pigtail" antenna cables for only $10US:
However, on my Mac Pro 4,1 (2009), cursor control has been spastic, making use of the Magic Mouse frustrating. Concurrently connected Apple Bluetooth Trackpad and wired Mighty Mouse both work normally, thus suggesting that it wasn't either the cursor control subroutines or the Bluetooth system at fault. I've kept all of them connected for years, switching around for either better cursor control or better scrolling.
Periodically, I'd look for solutions to the oft-reported problem, but none of the fixes I attempted had any effect.
Then I found this blog entry: MAC PRO 2009 BLUETOOTH FIX
And was immediately convinced that this blog's author had identified the true culprit: that the Bluetooth antenna location inside the aluminum case of the Mac Pro made for very poor signal propagation (my mousing surface is 10" from the top-front corner of the Mac Pro, and perhaps 30" from the OEM Bluetooth antenna's location inside the case). I liked the sound of the author's "BLUETOOTH FIX USING ORIGINAL BLUETOOTH CARD" solution, which mounts an aftermarket antenna on the outside of the Mac Pro's case.
As of January 2018, I found that Amazon stocks a 2-pack of both the appropriate antennas and the prescribed "pigtail" antenna cables for only $10US:
- (2) 6dBi 2.4GHz/5GHz Dual-Band WiFi RP-SMA Antenna
- (2) 35cm U.fl / IPEX to RP-SMA Antenna WiFi Wireless WAN Pigtail Cable
The brand name listed is "Highfine."
The fix is somewhat involved, requiring removal of the Mac Pro's CPU daughterboard and graphics PCI card. The solution also requires some real estate on a PCI mounting plate - the blog article specifies drilling a hole in a blanking plate, but all my PCI slots were populated. I chose to remove an infrequently-used adapter card for a video-acquisition box, but if I were to re-install that, I'd probably add the antenna to a USB 3 adapter PCI card. Fishing the pigtail cable through to the Bluetooth card, and actually working with the tiny U.fl connector can be challenging.
RESULTS
Problem solved! The Magic Mouse now works like a . . . mouse! Performance is fluid and consistent. It was totally worth the effort.
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