Notes on what works with audio tag or embed, and what doesn't

Since I've been working with html audio and various sources for audio tag and embed, I think I've discovered what works and what doesn't. First of all, Chrome seems to be the best browser ofr this sort of thing. Firefox and Opera don't seem to always work, even after testing with Chrome and having it work.

That said, it seems that using the audio tag works better than an embed of audio in many cases. There are sites like bandcamp and others that seem to have worked out a way of getting audio to work all around, on any browser, but doing it yourself - it is likely best to use the audio tag rather than an embed code. Also, using Google Drive as a source only seems to work in the Google Chrome environment. As an aside, Chrome seems to look best on the web in general. What I mean by that is I had problems with the way a web page was designed and looked on Firefox and Opera, but it was fine in Chrome.

Of course, YouTube always seems to work in any browser, but that is mainly a video site that can be used for audio too, not strictly an embed of audio.

Conclusions so far? If one wants to do it the easiest way, use Youtube or Vimeo and create a simple video container for the audio. Or, just as well, use bandcamp. If one is like me, and wants to experiment a little and do it on one's own, then use a stable source like the internet archive, or perhaps if one is more adventurous, tindeck. I would however, avoid using an embed of Google Drive file. It simply doesn't work across all browsers. however, it is likely that browsers other than Chrome will sometimes have problems too. So, if one doesn't have Chrome, get it. The open source Chromium is good too. But the honest truth is, if one uses Windows instead of Linux, Chrome is easier to get and use.

Public DNS servers

To Expand on my post where I discovered there are other DNS servers besides the one your internet ISP provider sets up for you, I have found out that there are actually many public, free to use, DNS servers besides Google Public DNS which I covered in a previous post.

The reasons why a person might want a different DNS server than the one provided by the ISP internet provider vary. Perhaps, it is simply a matter of speed. In many cases, the standard resolver is too slow. Others might believe the internet is too insecure, and wish to prevent harmful sites from infecting their computer. Others might want to avoid the more adult oriented sites, as they want a family friendly experience.

It all depends on what you are looking for, partly based on your world view. For instance, DNS watch is a smaller free DNS that purports to be for those who value freedom and privacy. For the security minded there are many, such as Comodo DNS.  And those are just a few. There are at least several more that can be easily found online.

Some are more like a service on top of being a dns, like Open DNS.  This company offers more of a internet security service, along with other tools. They have a free plan and a paid one. Again, it all depends on what you want and how you see the world.

It isn't hard to do, depending on your system. It is simply a case of learning how to point your internet connection to the proper address, or to simplify, the right numbers that signify a certain server. Many of these sites explain the procedure to set up a device to use the particular DNS server.

Of course, if one is happy with the DNS they have, there is no reason to change it.

Something with Google html error message tonight

This is just a test post with some html in it, as I want to see if I did somehow disturb the code of my blog too much, or if that last post's html message was a fluke. The song is called, "Care" Something odd is going on with the html tag warning of Google tonight, but I hope it is just a temporary bug.

html, flash, and the tablets.

Most tablets, as far as I can tell, seem as if they are being designed not for use with Flash. Sometimes, there may be a special "app" that works to provide Flash, but generally the idea seems to be to get away from that, and perhaps use html audio and video. In fact, it looks as though some of the sites that might use Flash to present videos on a computer, are using an "app" to present it on a tablet.

So why do these same sites insist on using Flash for video on a computer screen? One would think Flash is a technology that is on the way out, yet there are some sites that rely on it, and do not even have separate apps for tablets and phones.

Flash uses too much resources, and often doesn't work well when used on a tablet, or sometimes even a computer. Html is lighter on resources, and works effortlessly (except when it doesn't load properly or a browser doesn't have the capability to play it).

Is it a commercial reason? Would it be harder to place ads with html in video? I don't know. I do know that Android is becoming a very popular operating system, not to mention Apple. I'm told Apple is very much opposed to using Flash on devices. So, the question remains, why isn't everyone using html?

HTML video and audio do not always work in tablet

Seems to be true. suppose I could go back and worry about all that, but I probably won't. In the future, I'll be able to test it out better, but if it doesn't work on a tablet, then it just doesn't work on a tablet. Update: Oh, my bad. I should take my own advice. You have to use Chrome (maybe Firefox) in a tablet too.

Really? Check your page and connection?

Update:  (See after the jump for what this update refers to.) Oh, my bad. Really, it might not have to do with Google at all. It might be a problem with the ISP if this ever happens to you. At least I learned some more stuff from this (likely stuff many others already knew quite well). There are options for getting around an ISP anyway, which I don't know if I'll do it. Although, both of these options claim to make the internet faster, but one seems more difficult than the other. One is run by Cisco, and is called, Open DSS.  The other is Google public DNS. This actually seems harder to set up. Google also offers something called, Cloud DNS. The information is on the same page as Google Public DNS. I don't know if I am technologically capable enough to venture into either one of these projects, but when I get DNS error messages, I'm inclined to do it.



People wonder why I am sometimes overly paranoid about security and avoiding malware on the internet. When I get a message telling me that I can't visit my own page because of DNS connection or some such thing......and being signed in too. Really Google? This happens even still with the Google in charge? Now, I'll be keeping track of things way too carefully just because Google is not as all mighty as one might think. Is it blogger? Is it all of Google? Is it really the internet in my location? Who knows.

And now, "An error occured while trying to save...." Really? Come on Google.