How To Extract SWF Flash From Excel or Word

 

Besides watching Flash videos (FLV files), you should have seen or played some Flash animation game as well (SWF files, a.k.a. Shockwave flash).
And most of the time, you received SWF Flash animation in Microsoft Office document. Very likely, the SWF animation file is embedded in Office Excel.
The reason of embedding SWF animation file in Office document is probably that majority of users is running on Windows / MS Office, and MS Office can serve as a container to run or play the SWF file.
(If you received an un-embedded SWF file, you might able to open and play the SWF animation in web browser that installed with Shockwave Flash add-on)
While the SWF flash appears as an embedded file in Office Excel or Word, you might want to extract or retrieve the embedded SWF flash for your blog.
However, there is no intrinsic or built-in function to extract / retrieve embedded SWF Flash animation from Microsoft Office document files. This is definitely true, that you won’t able to find this wanted feature in Office 2007 as well!
So, how could you do that in case you’re really wanted to do so? OK, here we go:
How to extract SWF Flash animation from Office Excel?
A simple VBA program (a.k.a Visual Basic for Applications) can extract the embedded SWF Flash animation file in less than a minute or so.
The VBA / guide has been tested in Office 2003 Professional, and it should be working perfectly in any Office versions / editions too (e.g. the latest Office 2007), provided the Office system has installed the VBA components.

1. Open a new Microsoft Excel document,
2. Click the Tools menu, Marco, Visual Basic Editor. You can also press the ALT+ F11 hotkey to bring up the VBA editor,
3. While in MS Visual Basic editor, click the View Code icon on the upper-left panel,
   
4. Copy the VBA program source code at below here and paste it onto the VBA source code editor,
5. Press F5 to execute the VBA source code,
6. An Open File dialog box prompts you to select the Office Excel document that embed the SWF Flash animation file,
7. A message box appears shortly after the Excel file is selected, with a message that says where the extracted SWF Flash animation file is saved in local hard disk!

The extracted SWF Flash animation file ended with SWF file extension, and it can be open/play in a web browser with Shockwave Flash addon (e.g. Flash9e.ocx in IE7).
The VBA source code used to extract or retrieve SWF Flash animation files that embedded in Microsoft Office Excel or Word:

Sub ExtractFlash()

Dim tmpFileName As String
Dim FileNumber As Integer
Dim myFileId As Long
Dim MyFileLen As Long
Dim myIndex As Long
Dim swfFileLen As Long
Dim i As Long
Dim swfArr() As Byte
Dim myArr() As Byte

tmpFileName = Application.GetOpenFilename("MS Office File (*.doc;*.xls), *.doc;*.xls", , "Open MS Office file")

If tmpFileName = "False" Then Exit Sub

myFileId = FreeFile

Open tmpFileName For Binary As #myFileId

MyFileLen = LOF(myFileId)

ReDim myArr(MyFileLen - 1)

Get myFileId, , myArr()

Close myFileId

Application.ScreenUpdating = False

i = 0

Do While i < MyFileLen

   If myArr(i) = &H46 Then

      If myArr(i + 1) = &H57 And myArr(i + 2) = &H53 Then

         swfFileLen = CLng(&H1000000) * myArr(i + 7) + CLng(&H10000) * myArr(i + 6) + CLng(&H100) * myArr(i + 5) + myArr(i + 4)

         ReDim swfArr(swfFileLen - 1)

         For myIndex = 0 To swfFileLen - 1
            swfArr(myIndex) = myArr(i + myIndex)
            Next myIndex
         Exit Do

      Else
            i = i + 3
      End If

   Else
        i = i + 1
   End If

Loop

myFileId = FreeFile

tmpFileName = Left(tmpFileName, Len(tmpFileName) - 4) & ".swf"

Open tmpFileName For Binary As #myFileId

Put #myFileId, , swfArr

Close myFileId

MsgBox "Save the extracted SWF Flash as [ " & tmpFileName & " ]"

End Sub

Fix this Annoying Security Warning in IE 8

“Do you want to view only the webpage content that was delivered securely?”

If you open a secure web page inside Internet Explorer 8 (one that begins with https  like the Gmail web site or even Amazon.com), you might see a security warning dialog that says -- “This webpage contains content that will not be delivered using a secure HTTPS connection, which could compromise the security of the entire webpage.”

This is annoying because IE won’t remember your choice and the warning message will appear every time you visit that page or web site. It basically means that the secure (https) web page that you are trying to open contains images and other elements that are hosted on a non-https location. They call it mixed content.

Disable “Mixed Content” Warnings in IE

If you would like to disable this security warning forever, go to Tools -> Internet Options and select the Security tab. Make sure the “Internet” zone is selected and then click the “Custom Level” button. Scroll-down the list of options and set the “Display mixed content” setting from “Prompt” to “Enable.”

This video screencast explains the whole problem and the fix in detail. The mixed content issue can only be fixed by the web developer, you are only suppressing the warning in the browser.

Why Planning is important?

One Night 4 college students were playing till late night and could not study for the test which was scheduled for the next day.In the morning they thought of a plan. They made themselves look as dirty with grease and dirt.
They then went up to the Dean and said that they had gone out to a wedding last night and on their return the tyre of their car burst and they had to push the car all the way back and that they were in no condition to appear for the test.
So the Dean said they could have the re-test after 3 days. They thanked him and said they would be ready by that time.
On the third day they appeared before the Dean. The Dean said that as this was a Special Condition Test, all four were required to sit in separate classrooms for the test.
They all agreed as they had prepared well in the last 3 days.

The Test consisted of 2 questions with a total of 100 Marks.
See Below for the question Paper
Q.1. Your Name........ ......... ......... (2 MARKS)

Q.2. Which tyre burst? (98 MARKS)
          a) Front Left           b) Front Right
          c) Back Left            d) Back Right

Make a Screen Protector for your Cell Phone

Though Apple has officially stopped selling screen protector films for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, you may still want to have them in order to protect the screen of your expensive mobile device from scratches, dirt or even your own fingerprints.

Screen protectors are easily available for all popular mobile devices and they are pretty cheap, so much so that you may end up paying more for shipping than for the product itself.

That said, if you can’t find a good cover film that will exactly fit the screen of your current cell phone, you can easily build one on your own for free using material that is already available in your home.

Scratch Proof your Cell Phone Screen

All you need is a ruler (to measure the screen size of your gadget), some clear packing tape (that will act as the cover), a bowl of water with some soap and an old credit card to firm apply that homemade screen protector to your cell phone screen.

The video is produced by Howcast.com and it shares another very useful tip -- avoid putting your cell phone in the same pocket that has your keys and /or loose coins.

Make a Screen Protector for your Cell Phone

Easily Reduce Cable Clutter on your Desk

If you have USB cables, cell phone chargers and other connecters lying all around your desk, just get a couple of binder clips from your nearest stationery store and fix them to one edge of your table as shown in the picture.

De-clutter your Desk

The wire arms (or the handles) of the binder clip can act as “holders” to not only give you quick access to your most frequently used cables but they’ll also prevent the wires from falling off your computer table.

Binder Clips are available in many different sizes so if you are working on a thick desk, you may want to buy a larger version of the clip.