Tech Hacks

Problem: I love music and hence wanted to save certain tunes, BGM, etc. for offline use which usually play from some sort of online platform & also to extract certain sounds from videos.

Method: I had an idea of capturing the data which any application would need to send to the system's soundcard for sound output, and with a few web searches I understood that using certain modules in Visual C# can make this work.

Solution: The idea was successfully implemented but the output format is a .wav (uncompressed) and to convert this to commonly used .mp3 I had to call VLC media player through this app for conversion. VLC uses FFMPEG libraries for audio manipulation. Further I'm trying to build a python script for automating this task and call it in the main app.

Problem: Those who are in continual usage of computers tend to maintain improper postures for long periods of time which ultimately results in ortho pains and stiffness. I sensed that I was also heading in the same direction and hence decided to work on it.

Method: I figured that a custom reminder where I can set the time interval and also personalized pop-ups to remind would do the job. This is meant to indicate that a certain time has passed and that I need to flex and exercise a bit.

Solution: Simple Win App with Visual C# which executes right at the startup of Windows and sports some time options to choose from. It runs a timer and reminds us at the right time with a pop-up and beep sounds. Interestingly, this app uses just 3 MB of RAM and is very efficient.

Problem: One of the Windows update for my laptop had crashed the Win Photos App and that made me think on making my own Photo Viewer.

Method: Visual C# was used to make Win Forms App with help from the new-age guru i.e. YouTube & a few Google searches.

Solution: The below image is the result which made simple photo viewing a breeze.