Converting a Video File Format

Had a challenge today with a video file I took with my digital camera. It records in the MOV format, which is fine for uploading to YouTube. However, I did not hit the off button soon enough and ended up with an extra two plus minutes at the end of the floor, ceiling, and me talking that just did not belong. Easy solution was to open in Windows Move Maker and cut out the ending. But, WMM does not read MOV formatted files. So off to Google I go.

I found a cloud app that did the trick. http://www.convertfiles.com. It was simple to use. I uploaded my MOV file, chose the destination format I wanted as WMV, and in a minute or two it gave me a link to download the file.

That is not the only input or output file format it accepts. And best of all, it is free.

Securing a Text File

Do you have some data you would like to keep on your computer, but you want to hide it from prying eyes? Perhaps things like bank account numbers, passwords, safe combinations, or more. Here is a neat little app that you can use to create a locked text file. Yes, I said text. All the data is in text form just like you were using the Notepad app that comes with Windows.

Download it for free at http://locknote.steganos.com/

Open locknote.exe and type or paste text into the open window. SaveAs to give it a name and then you will be asked for the password needed to unlock the file. The file is saved as an EXE with the name you keyed. To reopen, simply double-click the file you created. You will be asked to provide the password and then you are back into it to view or change the data. If you change the data, the only save option is SaveAs. You can use the same name to replace the original file.