fixed : compress video for WhatsApp (or eMail)

Posted on 03-02-2020 by MacManus.nl

Question :

I would like to send a small piece of a video I just shot at a birthday party to a group of friends on WhatsApp, but it’s too big to upload.

How can I compress it for easy viewing on Whatsapp ?

Answer :

If you have shot the video on your iPhone you can send it right away, and iOS will do the compression for you.

However, if you already have the video on your Mac and you want to compress it before you send it using WhatsApp Desktop (for macOS), do this :

make sure you trim down the length of the video to a clip that only includes the most relevant part of the video
- you can do this in QuickTime Player (included in macOS for FREE)
use Smart Converter (FREE from Mac AppStore) and choose ‘for iPhone or iPod’, then click ‘Convert’ to convert
- this will convert to an .mp4 video with 1280×720 resolution at 30 frames per second and AAC sound (file size ca. 10MB per 10 seconds)
use Handbrake (FREE from handbrake.fr) and choose ‘Presets’ > ‘Gmail Large 3 minutes 720p30’, then click ‘Start’ to convert
- this will convert to an .mp4 video with 1280×720 resolution at 30 frames per second and AAC sound (file size ca. 2MB per 10 seconds)

Note : even though the frame rate and screen size are the same, the ‘Gmail’-ready file will be much smaller than the ‘iPhone’-ready file, even though (or rather ‘because’) this comes with the downside that quick-moving objects will blur in the ‘Gmail’-ready video (compared to the ‘iPhone’-ready video that hardly has any blur and is similar in size and quality to the ‘Fast 720p30’ preset in Handbrake)

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : “validator failed to load please check browser setting” error

Posted on 17-01-2020 by MacManus.nl

Question :

I am trying to validate my account on the NVidia GeForce website to start using the NVidia GeForce Now gaming graphics server to play games like Fortnite on my old MacBook.

But whenever I try to go through the online account validation process, I encounter this error : “Validator failed to load. Please check browser setting.”

What is wrong ? And how can I fix this ?

Answer :

What you are experiencing is that the ReCaptcha validation website add-on can’t load… this might occur because of various reasons, but it’s most likely because you are trying to access this webpage from within a restricted user-account on your Mac.

To by-pass this error, do this :

open the website
when prompted to do so, add all blocked websites that are being presented as blocked (you’ll have to typ your admin login & password for this)
if things seem to hang, quit the app and reopen it (each time you repeat this, you’ll make a tiny progression towards the final login process)
keep repeating these steps until the ReCaptcha “I’m not a robot” checkbox appears

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : Jaksta records .mp4 movies that QuickTime can’t play

Posted on 17-01-2020 by MacManus.nl

Question :

I have been using Jacksta Media Recorder for a long time now, and it has always worked marvelously for me when I need to download a video. Jaksta can download nearly any online video that I can watch in Safari.

But recently, Jaksta does download the exact videos I want, but the downloads turn out to be .mp4 files that QuickTime hangs on when trying to play them…

What can I do ?

Answer :

The exact reason for this is unknown, but it might have something to do with the fact that not all browsers play HTML5-videos using the same technology.

It turns out that your solution is to use the Google Chrome (or Firefox) web browser – instead of Safari – with Jaksta running in the background. That way, when you play the online video in Chrome (or Firefox), the file that Jaksta downloads will be a .mp4 video that QuickTime can play without any problems.

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : how to retrieve Safari Strong Password from iCloud

Posted on 16-01-2020 by MacManus.nl

Question :

I am setting up an app (ToDoist.app in this case) to work across my devices. I have set up the app (ToDoist.app) on my iPhone about a week ago, and now I am trying to set up the app on my Mac. The problem is I need to login to my ToDoist-account on my Mac, but since I have used the password that was automatically suggested I have no recollection of the password I have set…

Is there any way to retrieve the password from iCloud ?

Answer :

Yes, there is 😉

To make the actual password visible, do this :

make sure that both your iPhone and your Mac are logged in with the same iCloud-account
- on your iPhone, goto Settings.app > [your name] (listed on top) > iCloud
- on your Mac, goto System Preferences > Apple ID (grey tile with the white Apple logo, top right)
then, make sure that iCloud’s password backup is switched on
- on your iPhone, in Settings.app > [your name] (listed on top) > iCloud > “Apps using iCloud” > Keychain should be ON
- on your Mac, in System Preferences > Apple ID > “Apps on this Mac using iCloud” there should be a check-mark at “Keychain”
if it wasn’t, restart the app on your iPhone
then, on your Mac, goto Safari > Preferences > Passwords
then, login on the window that opens ( using your Mac’s screen unlock password )
in the next window, scroll down the list and select the appropriate website
then, left-click on the dotted-out password ( so the actual password will be shown )
then, right-click on the password and select “Copy Password” from the pop-up list
now, paste the password into the app’s login-window

…this will unlock the app 😉

enjoy !

fixed : easily generate a new random password in macOS

Posted on 16-01-2020 by MacManus.nl

Question :

I need to generate a random password for a new online account for an app, but for some reason, macOS doesn’t suggest a Strong Password as usual…

How can I easily generate a random strong password ?

Answer :

When using Safari on macOS, Safari will automatically suggest a Safari Strong Password (and backs it up to iCloud) whenever a field where you need to manually type a new password…

However : this feature is Safari-only (as the name Safari Strong Password suggests), so if you need to manually type a new password into an app (or anything outside of Safari) this automatic suggestion won’t kick into play…

Luckily, macOS has a Password Generator built-in… only tricky thing is it’s a little hard to access… there are 2 ways to get the Password Generator to start up (and an alternative in case you need extra features) :

– Option 1 –

Apple Menu > System Prefs > Users & Groups > Change Password > Key Icon
now Password Assistant opens in a separate window
Close previous window (that is now in the background) by clicking Cancel-button
Back to Password Generator window
set type of password you need
Generate password
Copy password
Close Password Generator window

– Option 2 –

User’s Home Folder > Applications > Utilities > KeychainAccess.app
now the Keychain window opens
click on the Plus-sign button ( or press the CMD + N key combo on your keyboard )
now a pulldown window opens
at “Password”, on the right, click the ‘black key’-button
now Password Assistant opens in a separate window
note : leave the Keychain Access window in the background, as trying to close it will also close the Password Assistant window
in the Password Assistant window, set the type of password you need
then, generate the new password
copy the password
switch to the window where you need to paste the new password
then, switch back to the Keychain Access window and close it

– Alternative option –

If macOS’ built-in Password Generator doesn’t allow you to get a random password that suits your needs, for example if you need a memorable password, you can get the StrongPassword.app for FREE from the Mac AppStore.

StrongPassword.app has 3 main options of automatic password generation :

“Basic”
“Advanced”
“Words”
note : all 3 come with the option of adding or omitting symbols like ! ? @ & * _ + =
The “Words” option comes closest to the (now obsolete) “Memorable” option that used to be built-in in macOSX and OSX

that’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : Strong Password that Safari suggests is not accepted for this web-account

Posted on 16-01-2020 by MacManus.nl

Question :

To get access to a website I need for school, I need to create a new account. While doing so, Safari suggests a Strong Password, but when I accept to use it, the website gives an error since the Safari Strong Password format does not comply with the rules that this website has for passwords : at least 8 digits, of which at least one undercast letter, one capital letter, one number and choice from only a very limited set of symbols. Unfortunately, the ‘minus’-symbol that is used in each Safari-generated Strong Password is not allowed for this website…

How can I generate a random password that will be accepted by this website ?

Answer :

Some websites do not allow the automatically-generated password format of Safari Strong Password, because they only allow capital and undercast letters, numbers and a limited array of symbols, in that case, Safari Strong Password cannot be used to automatically generate a strong password

Use the StrongPassword.app (FREE on the Mac AppStore)
StrongPassword.app has 3 main options of automatic password generation : “Basic”, “Advanced” and “Words”
Even in the “Basic” password generation setting it’s possible to have the password generation include exactly the Symbols, Punctuation marks and Brackets that are allowed in your particular case
what sets this app apart from nearly every other password generating app are 2 features :
- it has an option to generate a random memorable password : “Words” comes closest to the (now obsolete) “Memorable” option that used to be in macOSX and OSX
- on top of that : it’s a FREE app
when the password of your liking is generated, you can copy-paste it onto the website

enjoy 😉

fixed : how to unzip downloaded .zip-file that appears as .exe-file ?

Posted on 21-12-2019 by MacManus.nl

Question :

I have just downloaded some zipped archives from a support website, and even though most of them were .zip-files that were automatically unzipped by macOS, some are .exe-files which I can’t open or run on my Mac…

What can I do ?

Answer :

Sometimes, Windows computers create self-extracting Windows .exe-files instead of .zip-files or .rar-files when creating compressed archives to transport over the internet or using external drives or USB-sticks…

The built-in Unarchive.app in macOS cannot extract these kind of .exe-archives, but various other unzip-apps can.

Just go to the Mac AppStore, find TheUnarchiver.app, download it and use it for FREE ; the .exe-archives will now be extracted as if they were regular .zip-files or .rar-files

enjoy 😉

MacManus.nl

helping hundreds of happy Applers each day

Tag Archives: macOS

fixed : “validator failed to load please check browser setting” error

fixed : Jaksta records .mp4 movies that QuickTime can’t play

fixed : easily generate a new random password in macOS

fixed : Strong Password that Safari suggests is not accepted for this web-account

fixed : how to unzip downloaded .zip-file that appears as .exe-file ?

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: