How to post to Instagram from your PC in the browser

I do all my photo editing on the PC. But (by default), the Instagram web page doesn't let me post from the browser on the PC. However, there is a very simple work-around for this which I want to share here.

Step 1: Open the Instagram web page on your PC's browser & "Inspect"

I am using Chrome, but it should work for other browsers too. On the page do right-click with the mouse, and select "Inspect".

Step 2: Reload the page

Now, on the right side, you see the source code of the web page. Yes, it looks weird, but you can ignore this. On the left, you see the simulated view of an Android or Apple device - the specific device can be selected from the pull-down menu (but it does not really matter which one you pick). This view is, however, not yet complete (it's still missing the "+" button that you need to post). The trick is to "reload" the page.

Step 3: Post

After reloading the page, you find the menu buttons at the bottom, with the "+" button in the middle.

Click on this to open the file browser from which you select the image - the rest is just like on your cell phone or tablet: resize as desired, add text, and: post!

I hope this was helpful!

How to play Flash swf files in Ubuntu Linux (works also for Windows and Mac)

 A long time ago, I found a wonderful animation that was available as a flash .swf file. In those days, I was able to play this on my Linux computer in Firefox.

These days, however, Flash is no longer supported and my old instructions do not work anymore. It took me a while to find the solution. But it's really simple and I want to share it here.

A player for Adobe Flash content is still available at the Adobe web page. I just seems that they do not really promote it, but you find it here:  https://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/debug_downloads.html

What you need is the "Flash Player Projector content debugger". This is available or Windows, Mac, and, ... ,yes: Linux. It comes as a .tar.gz file. Now, you either already know what to do, or, if not, just follow these simple step-by-step instructions:

• Open a terminal, and create a new directory, maybe "flash", and enter it
  mkdir flash
  cd flash
• Copy your .swf file(s) into this directory (using command line or file browser) .
• Also copy the file that you downloaded from Adobe "flash_player_sa_linux_debug.x86_64.tar.gz" into this directory.
• Unpack the file
  tar -xf flash_player_sa_linux_debug.x86_64.tar.gz
  Or, from the file browser: right-click on the file, and "extract here".
  Now you have the unpacked file "flashplayerdebugger"
  
• Play your .swf file 
  ./flashplayerdebugger my-flash-file.swf
  (of course, replace "my-flash-file.swf" with the name if your .swf file).
  The "./" is needed! Otherwise the system will not find the executable.

And maybe you were wondering what file I wanted to play? It's still available on the web, here: https://7chan.org/fl/src/independent_woman.swf  (right-click, and "save as")

(yes, it's singing cats!)