Friday, July 10, 2009

it seems like everyone these days is ...

Excerpted from my daily rss feeds this item from the folks at Make Use of DOt COM



Free Web services for downloading videos from video-sharing sites


it seems like everyone these days is downloading, watching, and sharing videos from video-sharing sites like YouTube, Google Video, MetaCafe, DailyMotion, Veoh, Break, and a ton of other similar sites. Whether you want to watch the video on your iPod while working out, insert it into a PowerPoint presentation to add some spice, or simply download a video before it’s removed, it’s quite essential to know how to download, convert, and play these videos.

There are basically two ways to download videos off the Internet and that’s how I’ll split up this post: either via a web app or via a desktop application. Personally, I like the web applications better simply because you don’t have to clutter up and slow down your computer with all kinds of software!

UPDATE: MakeUseOf put together an excellent list of the best websites for watching movies, TV shows, documentaries and standups online. Download it here. Enjoy!

Free Web services for downloading videos from video-sharing sites

clipnabberClipNabber allows you to download videos from YouTube, Metacafe, etc by simply copying and pasting the URL. You’ll then get a link whereby you can download the file to your computer, iPod, iPhone, or any other media player. You’ll need to have an FLV player for the YouTube videos. Quick and very easy to use!
  
zamzarZamzar is a free online file conversion web application that can not only convert videos off the Internet to AVI, MPEG, 3GP, MP4, MOV, etc, but also converts between audio, image, and document formats. Paste the URL into Step 1 and then convert the file to your favorite format.
  
javimoyaVideoDownloader is a FireFox extension, but also allows you to paste in any URL from many sites such as Blip.TV, iFilm, and even social networking sites like MySpace. You can also download a free FLV player from their site to play the videos.
  
vixy.netVixy.net is another site that not only downloads online videos, but will also convert them AVI, MOV, MP4, 3GP, or MP3 (if you want to extract the audio from the file). Using this site, you don’t have to worry about downloading a FLV player as you can convert it to Windows format. (Same as Zamzar)
  
keepvidKeepVid also supports just about any video sharing site out there and the only difference about this site is that it also has a Top Videos section, so you can quickly download the most watched videos around the web.
  
mediaconverterMedia Converter is similar to ZamZar and vixy.net, but requires you to create an account and log in. Also, it seems like it only supports downloading and converting videos from YouTube. You can also download their video download program, but it only supports 5 sites.
  
heywatchHey! Watch is an online video encoding web service that encodes video into different formats including HD very quickly. The graphical interface is very nice and there are lots of features and options, such as the ability to transfer any video from the web directly to an FTP server or to online storage.
  
youtubexYoutubeX, as the name suggests, allows you to download videos from YouTube. Obviously, it only supports YouTube, but it has a couple of other features, such as the ability to play your video on the site and find popular videos quickly.
  
videoronkVideoRonk searches across multiple video-sharing sites such as Google Video, YouTube, MetaCafe and DailyMotion to find the most popular videos on each of them. You can either watch them on VideoRonk or download them to your computer in FLV format.
  
viddownloaderVidDownloader supports about 10 sites including the major ones and can download the videos in DivX AVI format. It’s very easy to use and can also extract only the audio from a video by choosing “Just Audio” on the download page. You don’t have to worry about having an FLV player since it converts the files to Windows format.
  
kcoolonlineAccording to their web site, they support more than 98 video sites including MySpace, CollegeHumor, iFilm, etc. You’ll have to rename the files you download from YouTube with the .FLV extension at the end.
  
download videosThis site is a foreign site, but is easy to use and supports most of the major sites. You can also download a free FLV player off their site to play videos from YouTube.
  
downthisvideoDownThisVideo has a nice tag cloud at the top that you can click on to find videos quickly. From what I could tell, this site is mostly used by Japanese because the popular videos are mostly Anime, etc. However, you can still use it to download any YouTube video.

Video Downloaders for your DeSktop

If you prefer to have a desktop application that can download videos for you, check out the following list:

1. Orbit Downloader – This is by far the best desktop application I have seen for downloading any type of social media off the Internet. It can download videos and music from MySpace, YouTube, Pandora, Rapidshare, and lots more. It has a great interface and carries a very small foot print.

2. VDownloader – A small little application that can download videos from many sites and converts them to AVI or MPG format.

3. VideoDownloader – A useful FireFox add-on that supports more than 60 video sharing sites. It can also download other objects on a web page, such as movies, MP3s, flash files, and Quicktime movies directly.

4. Ares Tube – Another popular video download application that is very small and very easy to use. You can download videos in batches by entering URLs into a queue and Ares Tube can convert them into different formats such as iPod, MP4, MPG, etc.

4. YouTubeGrabber – Not a very fancy program, it simply takes your URL and downloads the file. No conversion is done and you’ll need to install an FLV player to watch the videos.

5. KeepV – Downloads videos from YouTube, MySpace, and Google and converts them to either MOV, 3GP, AVI, iPod, or PSP format.

Hopefully, using one of the tools above, you can download the video you want! I’m sure the arsenal of web services and desktop apps will grow, so this list will be updated as needed.

(By) Aseem Kishore is an IT Systems Analyst and tech blogger. Check out his blog at Online-Tech-Tips.


Thursday, July 9, 2009

Excerpted from my daily RSS feed this...

Excerpted from my daily RSS feed this one from the folks at Make Use of Dot Com   Upside: Free Downside : 5 mb per image upload cap 

 Go2Convert is a universal image conversion tool lets you convert an image into more than 100 different image formats including popular formats like JPEG, PNG, GIF, PhotoCD, Postscript, SVG and others.

Simply upload an image from your computer, select the output image format and click “Convert and download” to get the direct download link of the converted image. No need to enter your email or sign up.

image conversion tool

Your image will be kept on their servers for up 10 days. Maximum image upload size is 5MB and you can optionally resize the output image for use as an avatar, as a thumbnail,  for message boards and other sizes.

Features:

  • Universal image converter.
  • Convert an image into more than 100 different image formats including DPX, EXR, GIF, JPEG,  PDF, PhotoCD, PNG, Postscript, SVG and others.
  • Convert images up to 5 MB in size.
  • Resize the output image for use as an avatar, as a thumbnail, for messages boards or other bigger sizes.
  • Free, no need to sign up or enter your email.
  • Similar services: ConvertfilesCometDocsMediaPirateYouConvertIt and Zamzar andseveral others.

Check out Go2Convert @ www.go2convert.com


Sunday, July 5, 2009

The New York Times Newsroom Navigator

About This Page

For more than 10 years, the Newsroom Navigator has been used by New York Times reporters and editors as the starting point for their forays onto the Web. Its primary intent is to give the news staff a solid starting point for a wide range of journalistic functions without forcing all of them to spend time wandering around to find a useful set of links of their own. The list is by its nature highly selective and constantly changing



.....additional comment by JPA: During my 22 years as a technology litigation paralegal
(IP: Trade Secrets, Patents,  Trademarks) this resource was an essential tool. 




Recent additions: The Politico is an ambitious and much-talked-about new entry on the political scene. . . . Metacritic gathers reviews of movies and DVDs, music and more. . . . The Center for Public Integrity tracks various aspects of public life and has useful research tools. . . . For those seeking an introduction to blogs, our Blogs 101 will give you a flavor. . . .


For business links, see Business Navigator; for politics, Politics Navigator; for health, Health Navigator

Searching the Net? Here Are Places to Start
Collections for Journalists

Government

Non-Government

The Reference Desk
Telephone & E-mail Directories
Publications on the Net

Breaking News & Daily Publications

Magazines & Features

Collections of Many Publications

Politics
The New York Region
Commerce
  • AddALL no-frills book price comparison service; AMusicArea for CD's; AMovieArea for DVD's
  • Amazon The online megastore. Books, music, videos, games, electronics, food, sporting goods -- and ever growing
  • Bankrate.com and E-loan can help find the best interest rates for a mortgage, auto, credit card or other loan
  • Bizrate lets you see how fellow consumers rate online merchants and compares prices
  • BizWeb: Internet commercial sites by category
  • Buy.com good prices and service on electronics, books, music and video.
  • Buyer's Index searches 19,000 Web sites and catalogs for the product you seek.
  • Consumer Search Reviews of products from a variety of publications
  • DeepDiscount.com has consistently low CD and DVD prices
  • Ebay The online auction house and storefront
  • Epinions has consumer reviews of many products, and price comparisons (now part of Shopping.com)
  • PriceGrabber, PriceScan and Shopping.com let compare prices for computer hardware and software, electronics, movies, books and other goods.
Travel

Reservations

  • Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz and CheapTickets have airline tickets, car rentals, hotel reservations, travel information
  • ITA Software Clear, well-organized listings of flights and fares, domestic and international, with booking codes.
  • Kayak and Sidestep search for travel fares and prices across multiple sites
  • Hotels.com Hotels, vacation rentals, packages
  • Quikbook Good rates for selected hotels in major destinations (mostly in the United States)
  • Hotwire can help you find travel bargains if you're flexible
  • Priceline lets you name your own price for travel (and mortgages), and see if anyone will bite.
  • Site 59 Big discounts on last-minute travel packages
  • Travelzoo collects special travel offers from many sites
  • SeatGuru will help you figure out where (and where not) sit on your next flight.
  • Hertz, Avis, National and Budget will rent you a car

Guides

Entertainment/Culture/Pastimes
Sports & Recreation
Demonstrations and Miscellany
About This Page

For more than 10 years, the Newsroom Navigator has been used by New York Times reporters and editors as the starting point for their forays onto the Web. Its primary intent is to give the news staff a solid starting point for a wide range of journalistic functions without forcing all of them to spend time wandering around to find a useful set of links of their own. The list is by its nature highly selective and constantly changin


The New York Times Newsroom Navigator

About This Page

For more than 10 years, the Newsroom Navigator has been used by New York Times reporters and editors as the starting point for their forays onto the Web. Its primary intent is to give the news staff a solid starting point for a wide range of journalistic functions without forcing all of them to spend time wandering around to find a useful set of links of their own. The list is by its nature highly selective and constantly changing



.....additional comment by JPA: During my 22 years as a technology litigation paralegal
(IP: Trade Secrets, Patents,  Trademarks) this resource was an essential tool. 




Recent additions: The Politico is an ambitious and much-talked-about new entry on the political scene. . . . Metacritic gathers reviews of movies and DVDs, music and more. . . . The Center for Public Integrity tracks various aspects of public life and has useful research tools. . . . For those seeking an introduction to blogs, our Blogs 101 will give you a flavor. . . .


For business links, see Business Navigator; for politics, Politics Navigator; for health, Health Navigator

Searching the Net? Here Are Places to Start
Collections for Journalists

Government

Non-Government

The Reference Desk
Telephone & E-mail Directories
Publications on the Net

Breaking News & Daily Publications

Magazines & Features

Collections of Many Publications

Politics
The New York Region
Commerce
  • AddALL no-frills book price comparison service; AMusicArea for CD's; AMovieArea for DVD's
  • Amazon The online megastore. Books, music, videos, games, electronics, food, sporting goods -- and ever growing
  • Bankrate.com and E-loan can help find the best interest rates for a mortgage, auto, credit card or other loan
  • Bizrate lets you see how fellow consumers rate online merchants and compares prices
  • BizWeb: Internet commercial sites by category
  • Buy.com good prices and service on electronics, books, music and video.
  • Buyer's Index searches 19,000 Web sites and catalogs for the product you seek.
  • Consumer Search Reviews of products from a variety of publications
  • DeepDiscount.com has consistently low CD and DVD prices
  • Ebay The online auction house and storefront
  • Epinions has consumer reviews of many products, and price comparisons (now part of Shopping.com)
  • PriceGrabber, PriceScan and Shopping.com let compare prices for computer hardware and software, electronics, movies, books and other goods.
Travel

Reservations

  • Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz and CheapTickets have airline tickets, car rentals, hotel reservations, travel information
  • ITA Software Clear, well-organized listings of flights and fares, domestic and international, with booking codes.
  • Kayak and Sidestep search for travel fares and prices across multiple sites
  • Hotels.com Hotels, vacation rentals, packages
  • Quikbook Good rates for selected hotels in major destinations (mostly in the United States)
  • Hotwire can help you find travel bargains if you're flexible
  • Priceline lets you name your own price for travel (and mortgages), and see if anyone will bite.
  • Site 59 Big discounts on last-minute travel packages
  • Travelzoo collects special travel offers from many sites
  • SeatGuru will help you figure out where (and where not) sit on your next flight.
  • Hertz, Avis, National and Budget will rent you a car

Guides

Entertainment/Culture/Pastimes
Sports & Recreation
Demonstrations and Miscellany
About This Page

For more than 10 years, the Newsroom Navigator has been used by New York Times reporters and editors as the starting point for their forays onto the Web. Its primary intent is to give the news staff a solid starting point for a wide range of journalistic functions without forcing all of them to spend time wandering around to find a useful set of links of their own. The list is by its nature highly selective and constantly changin