My phone rings. It’s my wife. “The heating is on, but the living room is freezing. What do I do?”

I’m 500 kilometres away, trying to operate an oil boiler over the phone. A boiler I only understand because I’ve been cursing at it every autumn for years. “Do you see the orange thing? No, the other orange thing. There’s a dial …” Anyone who has ever had a call like this knows how it ends: both sides are exhausted, and the living room is still cold.

That’s exactly why our house now has house documentation. A digital manual for our home that explains how the heating, the pumps, the water softener, the network and everything else work. And above all: what to do when they don’t. I built the whole thing with BookStack, a free wiki software I host myself at home. And the best part comes at the end: QR codes stuck right on the devices.

The knowledge lives in my head. And my head isn’t always at home.

In IT there’s a term called the bus factor: how many people have to be hit by a bus before a project grinds to a halt? In many households, that number is exactly 1. In ours, it certainly was.

This isn’t just a business-trip problem. You can get sick, end up in hospital, or something more serious can happen. Nobody likes to think about that. But that’s precisely when your family shouldn’t also be standing in front of a heating system only you know how to operate.

It gets especially critical when you run your home the way many of us tech enthusiasts do:

• Docker containers for home automation, DNS, media servers, and things whose names nobody but me can pronounce
• Custom hardware: sensors, actuators, controllers, a Raspberry Pi hidden somewhere behind a cupboard
• Custom code: automations, scripts, and rules that are “actually perfectly logical” if you’re the one who wrote them
• Networking: VLANs, static IPs, router configurations

For me, it’s a hobby. For my wife, it’s a black box that occasionally refuses to turn on the lights. If you build something like this, you’re responsible for the people who live with it. A smart home that only one person understands is, in an emergency, dumber than a perfectly ordinary one.

BookStack: a wiki that feels like a bookshelf

BookStack is open-source documentation software. You host it yourself, it costs nothing, and it runs in the browser, on a PC just as well as on a phone.

What sets BookStack apart from many other wikis is its sense of order. Instead of an endless tangle of pages, it uses a structure everyone understands instantly, because it comes straight from the real world:

1. Shelves – the big topic areas, e.g. “Building Services”
2. Books – one device or topic, e.g. “Oil Heating”
3. Chapters – an optional way to split up a book
4. Pages – the actual instructions, e.g. “How-To: Oil Delivery”

My wife didn’t have to learn a new system first. Shelf, book, page: you know that from the library, from your living room, and, if all else fails, from the IKEA catalogue.

What BookStack can do, and why it’s a great fit for house documentation

Free and self-hosted. BookStack is open source and runs as a Docker container on my home server. The data stays in the house: no subscription, no cloud service that changes its pricing one day.

An editor anyone can use. You write pages in a WYSIWYG editor, just like in Word. If you prefer typing Markdown, you can do that too. Images go in via copy-and-paste or drag-and-drop. That matters, because a photo of the right switch replaces three paragraphs of description.

A search that actually finds things. Full-text search covers every shelf, book and page. Type “salt” and you land on the water softener. Type “cold” and, hopefully, you land on the heating troubleshooting page.

Tags. Pages and books can be tagged, for example with “heating”, “pump” or “maintenance”. That way you can find related content across shelves.

Revision history. Every change is saved. If I “improve” a guide at one in the morning and realise the next day that it was better before, the old version is just one click away.

Users, roles and permissions. My wife has her own account. I decide who can read and edit what, right down to individual pages. Not everyone needs to be able to change the network configuration.

Diagrams. The built-in draw.io editor lets you draw network plans or pipe layouts right into a page. Admittedly, I haven’t tried that myself yet.

Export. Every page and every book can be exported as PDF, HTML, Markdown or plain text. My tip: also print out the most important emergency guides and keep them next to the device. Because house documentation running on a server isn’t much help when the power is out.

Works on your phone. The interface adapts to small screens. Nobody takes a laptop down to the boiler room.

What our house documentation looks like

Our house documentation has three shelves:

• Building Services – heating, pumps, controllers, actuators, home automation, alarm system
• IT – internet connection, cabling, network services, configurations, troubleshooting
• Maintenance – things that need doing regularly throughout the year

Every shelf gets a real photo. Sounds like a gimmick, but it helps enormously: one look at the orange boiler and you know you’re on the right shelf.

On the Building Services shelf, every device has its own book: the rainwater pump, the water softener and, of course, the oil heating.

The descriptions are allowed to sound human. The water softener “descales drinking water and needs salt regularly”. That’s all you need to know at first. And the oil heating? “Converts oil into heat. Like Jesus.” Theologically daring, but you’ll remember it.

The Oil Heating book then holds the actual guides:

• How-To: Oil delivery (spoiler: switch the heating off completely before the tank is filled)
• How-To: WINTER – switching the heating to heating mode
• How-To: SUMMER – switching the heating to hot water only
• How-To: Checking that the heating works (flow and return temperatures)
• Troubleshooting: No or wrong room temperature even though the heating is running

The pages follow a simple pattern: How-To for things you do on a schedule. Troubleshooting for things that are broken right now. Troubleshooting pages always start with the symptom, meaning what you see or feel: “The heating is running, there’s no error message, but the rooms are still cold.” That’s exactly how my wife would describe the problem on the phone. So that’s exactly how it’s written in the docs.

Also worth having: “Where is…” pages. They answer time-critical questions in the very first line, with a photo. For example, “Where is the main water shut-off valve?” when a pipe has just burst somewhere.

The clever bit: QR codes right on the device

The best documentation is useless if you have to go looking for it. When you’re standing in front of a system in the basement, you don’t want to click through shelves. That’s why every documented device has a QR code stuck on it.

An example: in spring, my wife is standing in front of the rainwater pump in the big garage. She pulls out her phone, scans the code and lands straight on the page “Starting up the rainwater pump”. No searching, no phone call, no “Which pump do you mean?”.

Here’s how it works:

1. Every page and every book in BookStack has a fixed, human-readable URL.
2. I turn that URL into a QR code, using any QR code generator.
3. The code is printed out, ideally laminated or on a weatherproof label, and stuck somewhere clearly visible on the device.
4. Next to it, a short note says where it leads, e.g. “Guide: rainwater pump”.

A tip: link to the book rather than a single page. That way you land on all the guides for that device, and the code keeps working even if you rename pages or add new ones.

Important: our BookStack only runs on the home network. So the phone has to be on the Wi-Fi for the code to work. If your basement has no signal, check your Wi-Fi coverage before you start cursing the technology. And if you want access from outside, set it up properly through a VPN instead of simply opening a port.

Eight tips for house documentation people will actually use

1. Write for the person who’s going to read it. Not for yourself. “Check the flow temperature” is clear to me. For my wife, “The left thermometer on the boiler should show more than 50 degrees” is clearer.
2. Photos, photos, photos. Every switch, every valve, every display. A red arrow in a picture is worth more than the finest wording.
3. Think from the symptom. Nobody searches for “mixing valve position, heating circuit 1”. People search for “living room cold”.
4. Clear page types. How-To for planned tasks, Troubleshooting for faults. That makes the documentation predictable.
5. Document your contacts. Heating engineer, electrician, oil supplier, internet provider, with phone numbers and customer numbers. Sometimes the best instruction is: “Call this number.”
6. Document the tinkering too. Which container does what? Where does it run? How do you restart it? And what happens if you just leave it alone? The honest answer, “Then the lights still work, just not automatically”, is incredibly reassuring.
7. Test with your audience. Have the guides read by the people they’re meant for. Every spot where they ask a question needs rewriting. No review is more honest.
8. Docs for the mastermind, too. A central knowledge base doesn’t hurt for my own topics either: VLANs, routing, IP addresses, subnets, VPN configs. Better organised in BookStack than in 14 different Word and Excel files.

Conclusion: the best smart home project is the one that works without me

The house documentation wasn’t a weekend project you finish once. It grows with every device, every fault, and every “Oh, I really should have written that down”. But the effort is manageable, and BookStack makes it genuinely easy: one container, an intuitive structure, an editor with no learning curve.

The real payoff isn’t technical. It’s the good feeling on a business trip that nobody at home is standing helplessly in front of a cold radiator. And the even better feeling that my family will manage even if, one day, I can’t be reached at all.

If you run Docker containers, home-built hardware and self-written automations at home, I urge you: document it. Not for yourself, but for the people you live with. Your house may be smart. But only with good documentation is it family-proof.

And if the phone does ring after all: “Just scan the QR code on the boiler.” The best sentence I’ve ever said on a business trip.

Der Beitrag The House Now Has a Manual erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Fortunately, there is an open feature request on Microsoft’s User Voice forum to add a person picker function to Microsoft Forms. This feature would allow users to select the people they want to share their form with from a list of contacts, rather than having to manually type in each email address. This would make the process much more user-friendly and efficient, especially for users who need to share their forms with a large number of people.

The person picker feature would also be beneficial for users who are creating forms with sensitive information or confidential data. With the person picker, users can easily control who has access to their forms, without the risk of typos or accidental sharing.

It is important to note that Microsoft actively listens to the feedback from its users and has a history of implementing new features based on user requests. By voting for the person picker feature on Microsoft’s User Voice forum, users can help prioritize this feature and make it a reality.

Here is where to vote for it: https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/f43a5bf4-c2b2-ed11-a81b-000d3a0450e3

To vote for the person picker feature, simply visit the Microsoft Forms User Voice forum and search for the feature request. Once you find it, click on the “Vote” button and add any comments or suggestions you may have. Sharing the feature request with colleagues or on social media can also help garner more votes and increase the likelihood of it being implemented.

In conclusion, the person picker feature would be a valuable addition to Microsoft Forms, making it easier and more efficient for users to share their forms with others. By voting for the feature request, users can help Microsoft prioritize this feature and make it a reality.

Der Beitrag Vote for a people picker function for Microsoft Forms erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

From “GrabbeIT” there is a perfect Fritzbox mounting option for 19″ server and network cabinets * made of 1.5mm thick powder-coated sheet steel. Thanks to laser-cut openings on the bottom side, the cooling of the Fritzbox is also guaranteed. On the front side of the bracket there are cutouts for Keystone patch connectors, thus the connections of the Fritzbox can be routed to the front.

This mount is a universal mount for the following models:

• AVM Fritzbox 3490
• AVM Fritzbox 5490 FIBER
• AVM Fritzbox 5491 FIBER
• AVM Frittzbox 6490 Cable
• AVM Fritzbox 6660 Cable
• AVM Fritzbox 6890 LTE
• AVM Fritzbox 7490
• AVM Fritzbox 7590

GrabbeIT V2 Rackhalterung AVM Fritz!Box 7690, 7590, 5590 Fiber, 6890 LTE Black Edition*

• Wie verbessern unsere Produkte auf Kundenanregungen. Daher haben wir der neuen Halterung KeyStone kompatible Löcher gegeben, welche es...
• Passend ind Standard 19" Netzwerkschränke

Amazon

* All links marked with an asterisk are Amazon affiliate links. We receive a percentage of the purchases made through them. Nevertheless, our recommendations are honest and sincere.

Der Beitrag Mount Fritzbox in rack with Fritzbox Rackmount bracket erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

In 99% of cases, the problem can be solved by using a different browser. Chrome in particular is often susceptible here. I never thought I would say this, but: “For the first time, Internet Explorer has a raison d’être other than downloading other browsers”.

Der Beitrag Solved: DD-WRT upgrade failed erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Der Beitrag CSV is not an interface erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Tried many systems with moderate success

As a computer scientist, I have tried out a lot in the last few years to set up my home network professionally: Apple Airports, repeaters, LAN-over-Power, DD-WRT routers and combinations of these. I’ve spent a lot of money on these little experiments, only to find out time and again that something doesn’t work the way I imagined it would.

Yet I didn’t want much: reliable illumination of house and garden and real working roaming between the individual access points. I didn’t want the music playback from my smartphone on the terrace to stop just because I was moving through the garden and switched from the south AP to the north AP, or a download on my notebook to stop when I went down the stairs.

I was looking for a system that would allow me to covere two floors, the basement and the garden with fast WiFi and give me the freedom to connect the individual access points via cable or wireless mesh network.

I was also fed up with an unreliable system that suddenly stopped working properly after firmware updates or wireless repeaters that suddenly stopped working for no apparent reason. I reported on the disadvantages of normal, “stupid” WiFi repeaters in this article. I was looking for a system that simply works – after work I don’t have the time to deal with IT problems in my private life.

Setup with 5 access points and approx. 60 clients has been running stable and performant without ONE (!!!) failure. Reason enough to share this success story here.

What is a Software-Defined-Network (SDN)?

The first advantage of SDN is the ability to configure the home network in a single interface and then pass these settings on to any number of access points with the click of a mouse. In my previous attempts, I had to make time-consuming configuration changes on each individual access point. This not only cost time, but was also more error-prone if a setting was forgotten on one of the integrated devices.

Today, I configure the individual WiFis (productive network, guest network and a special network for parts of the home automation) in the web interface of my SDN controller and can then simply determine by assignment from which access points the radio networks are to be broadcasted.

However, the central administration is by far not the only advantage. The SDN controller is an active part of the installation: it knows which routes exist in the network between the individual access points and it intelligently controls the traffic through the network. In a classic (stupid) WiFi setup with WiFi repeaters, this is not always the case. In the classic setup, a client device logs into the strongest access point, sends its requests to it and, in the end, one hopes that the repeater will send these requests to the best next repeater or AP. In the worst case, the data traffic is transmitted via unnecessary intermediate relays and takes detours – which can result in routing errors and failures in the event of temporary connection restrictions.

In the SDN scenario, I use a mesh repeater in one corner of the garden and, thanks to the SDN controller, it knows exactly that it should forward its data traffic to the wired access point on the terrace – and not first to the mesh repeater in the garage and then from there to the AP in the living room.

Wireless mesh works reliably – but I am old-fashioned and prefer wired access points

With the help of an SDN, wireless mesh networks finally become performant and immune to interference. I tried this out in the garden, where I connected a seating area in the summer with the help of a mesh repeater. Nevertheless, it is clear to every experienced IT professional that nothing beats a stable, wired connection. Call me old-fashioned, but I still connect my access points to the home network by cable and leave nothing to chance. Perhaps my attitude to this topic will change over time as I continue to gain positive experience with wireless connections – but I still need some time for that.

Unifi offers more possibilities than just Software-Defined-Network

The Unifi Eco system not only offers SDN. A video surveillance solution and a security gateway solution can also be installed on some of the controllers.

The SDN controller can also be operated as a virtual machine, for example, or installed on a home server. But because I wanted to avoid dependencies on my own systems and hardware, I used dedicated hardware for the SDN controller right from the start. At first I used the Unifi CloudKey Gen2 Plus * for SDN and video surveillance. Later, I also flirted with the Security Gateway as a VPN server and firewall and therefore switched to the Dream Machine Pro, as all three services can be operated simultaneously on it.

Such a setup is much more expensive than a frickle solution with Fritzboxes, repeaters and self-configured DD-WRT routers – no question. But the possibilities are immense and not comparable with consumer products: VLANs, wireless mesh, packet firewall, real prioritisation, fibre optic uplinks, power supply via PoE. In the end, I wished I had bought the more expensive solution from the beginning, because before I had invested more money in the previous setups overall, as if I had once done everything right from the start. Times for hassle, configuration and interferences have to be added on top.

Ubiquiti Networks UniFi Cloud Key Gen2 Plus Server zur Netzwerküberwachung Gigabit Ethernet*

• System_Ram_Type: Unknown
• Hochwertige Material

Amazon

Ubiquiti Networks UniFi Dream Machine Pro All-in-One Gateway, UDM-Pro (All-in-One Gateway)*

• Herstellernummer: UDM-PRO
• EAN: 0817882027373

Amazon

Other infrastructure hardware (access points and switches)

I use the UniFi AP AC * as access points outdoors and the small UniFi AP AC Nano HD * indoors. Both are supplied with power via PoE, which is very convenient for me because I don’t have to worry about power supply outdoors. The uplink LAN cable also supplies the power, so I only have to drill once and lay only one cable.

Special offer

Ubiquiti UniFi AP AC Nanohd Wave2, PoE-Inj incl, dual band*

• Simultaneous 4x4 Multi-User MIMO
• Dedicated Security Radio with Persistent Threat Management 2.4GHz Speed: 300 Mbps/ 5GHz Speed: 1733 Mbps

−58,87 EUR 140,88 EUR

Amazon

Ubiquiti UAP-AC-M Wireless Access Point UniFi AP AC Mesh*

• Drahtlose Basisstation
• Formfaktor: Extern - außen, innen

Amazon

If you want to exploit the full potential of the security gateway, you also need suitable managed switches so that VLANs and prioritisation function ideally. Depending on the setup, it also makes sense to work directly with a PoE switch. A central PoE switch is more efficient in terms of energy consumption than 5 single PoE injectors.

I use the USW-PRO-24-POE UniFi Gen 2 switch * as my central switch, which I have connected to the Dream Machine Pro * via a fibre uplink.

Ubiquiti Networks UniFi USW-Pro-24-POE Gen 2, USW-PRO-24-POE*

• Herstellernummer: USW-PRO-24-POE
• EAN: 0817882027649

Amazon

Ubiquiti Networks UniFi Dream Machine Pro All-in-One Gateway, UDM-Pro (All-in-One Gateway)*

• Herstellernummer: UDM-PRO
• EAN: 0817882027373

Amazon

* All links marked with an asterisk are Amazon affiliate links. We receive a percentage of the purchases made through them. Our recommendations are nevertheless honest and sincere.

Der Beitrag THE solution for professional WiFi in the home network erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

How WiFi repeaters work

A WiFi repeater picks up an existing WiFi signal and sets up another network at its location. In this way, the area covered by the WiFi signal is increased, for example, in a flat or in the garden. In order for the end devices to be able to switch back and forth between the repeater’s WiFi and the base WiFi without any problems, the repeater copies almost all the settings of the base WiFi: network name (SSID) and network key are copied and also used for the repeater WiFi. From a purely technical point of view, however, the repeater uses a different channel in the background so that the channels of the base WiFi already in use are not overloaded. At least in theory.

However, the following points are not well thought through by many manufacturers in the consumer sector and the networks equipped with repeaters often drive users crazy.

Shit in – Shit out: Passing on bad WiFi via repeaters only makes bad WiFi receivable over a wider area.

The repeater can only transmit the signal that it receives from the base WiFi. If the repeater itself already has a weak, unstable or slow WiFi connection, for example to the Fritzbox router, then it will not be able to pass on a stable or faster connection. The repeater is not a cure-all at this point. It gets really bad when several repeaters are in use and one or more are temporarily unable to establish a connection to the base WiFi.

One or more repeaters without an uplink to the base WiFi: Data chaos begins!

The following scenario: I am sitting in the garden with my MacBook and suddenly no more Internet pages load. My smartphone tells me that there is probably no connection to the Internet. Strange, I have 3 bars of WiFi. Yes, that’s right – but only to my repeater. But it has no connection to the base WiFi of my router.

This scenario is particularly exciting when several repeaters are in use and then connect to each other and don’t even notice that none of them has a connection to the base WiFi. “Oh, another one of my repeater buddies will shurely have an uplink – I’ll pass on the request…”.

Poor performance due to unnoticed and unconsidered channel changes

Most repeaters are smart enough to orient themselves on the WiFi channels already in use in the immediate vicinity. If the base WiFi transmits on channel 1, the repeater transmits on – let’s say – channel 10. So far so good. However, there are enough cases where the base WiFi (or another repeater) spontaneously changes channels for whatever reason. There is no guarantee that all repeaters will notice this and if they do, that they will adjust their own channel. I know of installations where all access points (base WiFi and repeater) were hanging around on one and the same channel, although according to the settings they should have avoided this. For the user, this means higher latency and longer waiting times for requests or downloads.

Pro tip: Connect access points via cable and/or use SDN

Most solutions based on radio repeaters or mesh functions are by design susceptible to interference and unstable at some point. There is nothing wrong with multiple access points, but ideally they should be connected by cable to the main router, the WAN gateway. Because the cable connection rarely breaks and is always good in most cases.

With the help of an SDN solution, a software-defined network, the whole thing can be optimised and even radio mesh networks can be operated successfully. In this scenario, there is an SDN controller at one point in the network. This is the smart brain of the entire installation and tells the individual access points or repeaters exactly who is to connect to which other access point and which not. This controller knows the most reliable and fastest way to route my data packet from my MacBook in the garden through all access points to the Fritzbox, without shooting any data packet somewhere into nirvana.

Ubiquiti Unifi SDN und Ubiquiti Accesspoints

I have tried a lot in the last few years: Apple Airports, repeaters, LAN-over-Power, DD-WRT routers and have spent a lot of money on these little experiments only to find out again and again at one point or another that something doesn’t work.

Yet I didn’t want much: reliable coverage of the house and garden and real working roaming between the individual access points. I didn’t want the music playback from my smartphone on the terrace to stop just because I was moving through the garden and switching from the south AP to the north AP.

I found the first real working solution at Ubiquiti. The Cloud Key Gen2 Plus * runs the SDN controller (and integrated video surveillance). I have adapted and configured all the access points here.

I use the UniFi AP AC * as access points outdoors and the small UniFi AP AC Nano HD * indoors, all of which are connected by cable. However, just for fun, I have already played around with the wireless mesh functions without a cable connection for 3 weeks and have not been able to observe any of the typical repeater illnesses described above. The SDN simply does its job in this case as well. The solution has been running for two years with 5 access points and approx. 60 clients without ONE (!!!) failure.

The mobile app for quick configuration, network overview or analysis is also great:

Unifi hardware used for my home network

Ubiquiti Networks UniFi Cloud Key Gen2 Plus Server zur Netzwerküberwachung Gigabit Ethernet*

• System_Ram_Type: Unknown
• Hochwertige Material

Amazon

Special offer

Ubiquiti UniFi AP AC Nanohd Wave2, PoE-Inj incl, dual band*

• Simultaneous 4x4 Multi-User MIMO
• Dedicated Security Radio with Persistent Threat Management 2.4GHz Speed: 300 Mbps/ 5GHz Speed: 1733 Mbps

−58,87 EUR 140,88 EUR

Amazon

Ubiquiti UAP-AC-M Wireless Access Point UniFi AP AC Mesh*

• Drahtlose Basisstation
• Formfaktor: Extern - außen, innen

Amazon

All links marked with an asterisk are Amazon affiliate links. We receive a percentage of the purchases made through them. Our recommendations are nevertheless honest and sincere.

Der Beitrag Why WiFi repeaters often aren’t a good solution erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

Symptom:

With the roll-out of the current Outlook version, Microsoft is changing the look of the app. Beyond that, however, Microsoft also seems to want to change the way the popular mail client works and the types of servers it wants to communicate with.

After the update, some mail accounts (which previously worked without any problems) suddenly cannot retrieve mails or retrieve contents of mailboxes:

Root cause:

Under the following entry in the Microsoft Community we see a statement that in the new version (with a redesigned interface) the use of mail accounts based on the account types IMAP or POP should no longer be possible: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/site/completesignin?silent=True&returnUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fanswers.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Foutlook_com%2Fforum%2Fall%2Fnew-outlook-emails-not-supported%2F699a087c-79a8-4541-86ce-8b7e1d4dc258&wa=wsignin1.0

Presumably, Microsoft is trying to force users into using Microsoft Office 365. This may be the reason why self-hosted email addresses are no longer supported.

I have always said that Outlook is an extremely powerful tool, but only in conjunction with a Microsoft Exhange server. If you use another mail, calendar or groupware system, you are better off with another mail client. Microsoft has now backed up my opinion with facts.

Solve / Workaround:

However, there is still rescue. Through the menu, we can tell our Outlook app to restore to the previous default version.

Back in this old version, we can also use the IMAP/POP accounts again as usual. How long Microsoft will leave this escape option to the old version open for us is another story, though.

Der Beitrag We cannot migrate these accounts to the new Outlook erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

However, if you want to upload your video in the best possible quality, you should avoid quality-reducing encoding altogether.

No matter how you upload your video, Youtube will never say “Oh, that’s a great codec, I’ll keep that”. Because Youtube will always compress your video down as much as possible, so that it uses less memory in the data center and generates less traffic when you watch it.

But wait: Youtube itself says that you should upload all files in H.264 and MP4 format? Yes, exactly, because Youtube doesn’t see the point in accepting thousands of billions of cat videos in lossless format every day. That would cost Youtube a lot of money.

Fact is, it makes absolutely no sense to compress your video before uploading it. Youtube will do it again anyway and any compression process done in series will result in lower quality.

If there is a reason to compress before uploading, it is to shorten the upload time. If you have enough time, you should rather upload a video in HQ422 or ProRes or DNxHR that corresponds to the source in favor of the quality. Youtube can handle it – without problems and quality loss.

Therefore, do not change the bitrate, resolution or codec. Youtube will do what it wants with it later anyway.

Attention: If you upload videos with a higher resolution than 1080p, Youtube will automatically switch to the VP9 codec for all versions of the video, including 1080p. With this VP9 codec, better results are achieved for all resolutions. Therefore, it even makes sense to upscale 1080p video to 4K first and then upload it.

Der Beitrag The Youtube H.264 / mp4 lie. Forget the export madness! erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.

As of today, 10th February 2021, 2651 spotify customers requested a feature called „{iOS} Implement Native HomePod Support“.

But spotify doesn‘t care and does – nothing. First Spotify blamed this on Apple, but in the meantime since WWDC in June `20 Apple has opened the HomePod for third party streaming services like Spotify. The streaming service Pandora is since available on HomePod for example.

If you are missing to control Spotify on HomePod natively with Siri, just like you would control Apple Music, here is your chance. Make them hear our voices!

1. Visit the feature request page for native support of HomePod.
2. Login with your Spotify account.
3. Click on the gear or cog wheel icon to setup a forum username.
4. Go back to that feature request site and VOTE for this feature (attention, you can‘t vote without having a username, see step 3).

I personally also left them a comment, you might want to copy it:

Apple allows this to work. Spotify doesn‘t care. That is the problem.
Ignoring this feature request further on will bring me to cancel my Spotify subscription and changing to Apple Music.
For me there has never been a reason to do so, but now there is.

Daniel

Der Beitrag Native support for Spotify on Apple Homepod erschien zuerst auf Pixelfriedhof.