The Thomas Stories

November 12, 2018

How to get more disk space on my PS4?

Thomas has a PlayStation 4 with a 500GB hard drive. Recently, he installed Call of Duty: WWII and Gran Turismo, but he then got the error message that the hard-drive was full. To actually install the game, he had to uninstall FIFA 2018, Doom, and quite a lot of other games.

After this, Thomas decided that he wanted to get more disk-space on his PS4. Is there a way to fix this? Yes, there are in fact two ways. One option is to change the hard-drive inside the PS4, but Thomas didn’t want to do that. This would require him to buy a larger hard drive with the same size as the current one, and then replace it. Later he would have to install the PS4 operating system on the drive, and then it would work like normal afterward.

But, Thomas wanted to go for an easier solution…

The easy way to get more disk space on PS4

The easy solution to the problem is to buy an external hard-drive with USB 3 included. It is enough with 5400 RPM, but if you buy one with 7200 RPM, it is faster and better. After buying it, Thomas simply connected the external hard-drive to one of the USB plugs on the front of the PS4. The PlayStation immediately recognized the hard-drive, and he could start installing games to this disk-space. Easy and quick!

Now Thomas can install Doom, FIFA 2018, and the other games he uninstalled last week and easily play all the games!

He is happy, but he doesn’t have time to write more articles right now… he wants to play PS4!

November 7, 2018

What is the ideal thumnbail size for YouTube videos?

Thomas has uploaded quite a lot of videos to YouTube, but he hasn’t thought much about the look of the thumbnails. But, after thinking about it, the look of the thumbnail is actually very important.

If the thumbnail looks bad, nobody will actually watch the video. But, if it looks good and inviting, people will start watching the video!

But, what is the ideal thumbnail size for a YouTube video?

Thomas didn’t have to search a lot before finding the answer.

The ideal YouTube thumbnail size

The ideal size is 1280 x 720 pixels. It might be smaller, but the best is if it has this size!

Thomas is already producing some new thumbnails for his video, hoping that it will help his videos get more attention and more viewers on YouTube!

October 16, 2018October 8, 2018

Change language of Skype

Thomas just used a computer on which Skype was installed, but the application was running in a different language. How can he change the language of Skype?

Thomas likes to use Skype. He doesn’t only use it to send SMS messages, but he also uses it to keep in contact with colleagues and people he works with across the globe.

But, how can Thomas change the language of the Skype application?

Change Skype language

First, you have to click the three dots in the upper left corner of Skype, and then choose the first option (in English, Settings).

settings skype

Now you will see a new menu open, and here you have to choose General. If Skype is in a language you do not understand, the General option should be the second option from the top.

Once you have clicked the General option, choose the third option in the new window which should be the language option.

Choose General - Languages, to change language in Skype — Choose General – Languages, to change language in Skype

Once this is done, you will be presented with a list of all the languages available in Skype. Since these are presented in their own languages, you can simply scroll on until you find the language you are interested in.

Thomas has now been able to change the Skype language to English, and he is very happy. And that is why he has created this little article so that you can change the language of the Skype installation you are about to use as well.

Should you have any comments or questions, use the comment field!

October 15, 2018

Can I access Steemit RSS feeds?

Thomas wants to include a widget in his WordPress blog showing his latest Steemit posts. He has earlier managed to do this on Medium, but is there a way to include a Steemit RSS feed on his blog?

Thomas has been looking for a method for this quite some time, but he has only read about a tool that hasn’t been working for months, and thus, it hasn’t been any good option available. But, then, in the middle of October 2018, he suddenly discovered a tool that is working and that will let him access his Steemit RSS feed, which again makes it possible to show his latest posts on Steemit on other sites. He can also use the tool to access other people’s and user’s RSS feeds, making it even easier to see the latest blog posts on Steemit from his favorite writers.

Thomas has found a way to include his Steemit feed in his WordPress blog

Thomas finds his Steemit RSS feed

To get access to his RSS feed, Thomas has to visit www.steemrss.com. It is very important to include the “www” if not, the page isn’t working. There are two sorts of feeds you can access using this tool.

“www.steemrss.com/@<username>/feed”
This will show Thomas what is going on in the feed of username.
“www.steemrss.com/@<username>/blog”
This will show Thomas the latest posts from username.
“www.steemrss.com/new/ethereum”
This will show Thomas the latest posts in the category Ethereum.

This tool is working perfectly, and Thomas is really happy. And if you visit www.thethomasstories.com, you can see the widget in his sidebar showing the latest posts Thomas has made on Steemit.

Thomas is very thankful to @philipkoon for creating the tool, and of course to @doriitamar for contributing to the work!

October 14, 2018October 12, 2018

How to take a screenvideo of your computer activity?

Thomas has often made screenshots showing pictures of his computer screen with the PrtScr (Print Screen) button. But, is there a way for Thomas to make a screen video, that is, record a video showing his continuous activities on the computer which he can later broadcast on portals like YouTube?

If you follow The Thomas Stories on YouTube, you have probably seen that Thomas often create explainer videos and tutorials. But, sometimes it would be better to actually record what Thomas does on his computer instead of just posting screenshots and other pictures. How can it be done?

screencast your computer

Record your computer activity (create a screen video)

Unfortunately, there is no super-easy way to create a video of your computer activity that can be recorded and used for other purposes. There is no button you can press, and then automatically the recording will start.

In order to record the activity on your computer, you will need a third-party application, and Thomas has found one that he loves – Screencast o Matic.

This is a super-easy application that will let him record his monitor activity. He can record the full screen, or he can choose only to record a smaller window of the screen. He can use a microphone to record his voice while recording, or he can only record the activity on the screen. If he wants to, he can even record his own face and place it in the corner of the screen, so people can both see Thomas’ face, and his computer activity at the same time.

There is a free version of Screencast O Matic, but since it includes a watermark, Thomas purchased the Deluxe plan which only cost him 1,5USD per month.

Thomas can now record his computer monitor activity

Thomas can now record what he is doing on his computer, and it makes it much easier for him to create tutorials and explainer videos in which he shows what he is actually doing to solve different problems!

October 12, 2018

How to give a tip to someone on Steemit?

Thomas just read an article on Steemit that he really liked, and now he would like to bless the author with an extra tip.

The truth is, Thomas has already given the article an upvote. But, since he only has 50 SP it doesn’t even bless the author with 0,01 USD. So, what can Thomas do to bless the author with an extra tip in addition to his upvote?

There are a few ways in which it can be done.

Tip an author of an article on Steemit — How to give tip to an author on Steemit? – Pixabay

Giving someone a tip on Steemit

Thomas first tried to use a voting bot to upvote the article of the author. But, the money was returned, since voting bots will only let you pay for upvotes on your own articles. What is the solution then?

Manually transfer funds to the author

You can visit your very own wallet, and then click the arrow next to Steem or Steem Dollar. You can then pick transfer. Set the amount you want to send, type the name of the author, and write a message saying thank you for the article or something like that. It can look like this.

Manually transfer a tip to an author on Steemit

Use the TipU bot to send a tip

There is another method, and it is a really handy one. There is a voting bot named TipU, and with this, you can both pay for an upvote on your own articles, but also send a tip to other authors you like.

It works in a similar way as the transfer above, only this time you send the funds to @tipu, and in the memo, you include the URL of the article you want to bless.

Sending a tip to @adonisabril for his latest article on Steemit

Now it will take a few moments, and soon the article will receive an upvote from @tipu. Not only will it receive an upvote, but TipU will also add a comment since it has been sent as a blessing. In this case, the comment from Tipu to the article looked like this.

tip from thomasstories

Thomas has just sent his first tip on Steemit, and he is happy that he could support the work of a great author like this one. Maybe he will tip more authors in the future, and maybe he will receive a tip from someone who might like this or some other article in the future? Who knows!

October 10, 2018

Why does the Dollar value of upvotes change after the vote has been made?

Thomas is a big Steemit fan, but for a while, he had a hard time understanding one thing… why does the value of an upvote change after the vote has been made?

upvote value — After seven days, the value of your post will never change again!

Thomas is sometimes using voting-bots to give his articles more attention and a higher income. But, it was once when he paid for an upvote that he suddenly noticed that the upvote was worth 2,5 USD at first, and then the next time he watched, the value was only 2,40 USD. What happened? Why did the value of the upvote suddenly change?

Since then Thomas has also experienced the value change to a higher value. What is going on?

Thomas theory on the matter

There are for sure people in the Steemit community that knows this much better than Thomas but based on his studies, this is what you should know.

The value can only change during the first 7 days (before payout). After that, the value will be stuck and never change again.
The value of an upvote is based on the Steem price. In other words, if you get an upvote worth 2,5USD, but then the price of Steem drops within the coming minutes, hours, days, this will also impact the value of the upvote you received.

This is the answer Thomas gives to himself on this question. Have you asked the same question? Do you have the same answer, or do you have another answer to the same question?

Thank you for reading!

October 8, 2018October 8, 2018

How to send SMS with Skype?

A brand new version of Skype is out. How can I send SMS with Skype?

Thomas has used Skype to send his private SMS messages for a long time. But, then during spring 2018, a new version of Skype was released which had no support for this. It could be done, but it was very advanced and he first had to call the number, cancel the call, and only then he could send an SMS to the recipient.

But, a new version of Skype was released in the start of October 2018, and in this, it was much easier to send SMS. But, how can it be done?

This is how Thomas sends his SMS messages with Skype

Thomas first opens the Skype application, and he clicks the “Use Dialpad” button. Take a look at the screenshot beneath to see which button that is.

How to send SMS with Skype? Use the Dialpad!

You can use the voice call button, but it is much better to use the dialpad, next to the search skype field. Once you have clicked the dialpad, enter the number to which you want to send the SMS.

When you have typed the number, click the SEND SMS button in the lower left corner of the screen. Take a look at the image above to see which button it is.

Once you have clicked the Send SMS logo, you can start typing the message, and once you are ready to send, click enter.

You have now sent an SMS with Skype. Do not forget that you need to add Skype credit to your account in order to send SMS’s with Skype.

Thomas is happy because he doesn’t like typing SMS’s on his cell phone because it takes so much time. That is the reason why he rather writes messages with Skype, and that is why he is very happy right now.

Has Thomas been able to help you out as well? Please write a comment and let Thomas know!

October 5, 2018

How to create my own Powtoon template?

Thomas is using Powtoon to create videos and explainers for YouTube. He is quite fond of the tool, and he uses it frequently. But, he has been looking for a way to create his very own template for a long time.

When Thomas creates a YouTube video, he often includes his “traditional” intro. And, once he is finished explaining whatever he wants to, he often includes a last screen showing information about his website, and a reminder to follow him on YouTube. But, Thomas is sad that he has to create all these “permanent” sites over and over again. He spent some time looking for a way to create a template or a standard slide that can easily be added to any new movie, but he didn’t find one. But, then he suddenly bumped into the function!

Thomas finds out how to create standard slides/templates with Powtoon!

It was almost by a coincidence that Thomas discovered how he could save slides, and thus have a list of popular slides he uses frequently, which he can easily add to any Powtoon presentation he decides to create.

This is how it is done!

Create the Powtoon slide you want to save

Once it has been created, click the three dots in the right corner of the slide. Here you can decide to duplicate it, add a slide below, and then – Save this slide to ‘My Scenes’. This is what you have been looking for.

Now it is saved, and the next time you want to use it, simply click ‘Scenes’ in the right corner of Powtoon, and select the saved slide from ‘My Scenes.‘ It wasn’t that hard, was it? So now you can start saving your favorite scenes/slides and use them as templates, and easily add them to any new presentation you decide to create using Powtoon!

Find your saved Powtoon scenes and use them quickly

Are you happy? Thomas is very happy, and now he is even more eager to create new explainer-videos using Powtoon!

If you have tried this and it worked, please write a comment to say thanks. Should you have a question, write it down and Thomas will do his best to help you out!