By Lambert V., The Awesomer – August 12, 2012 at 10:00AM
Even the world’s best athletes have bad days, but some of the commentators at the 2012 London Olympics are quite the perfectionists. These are some of the contenders for Best Worst Comments.
Olympic Sailing Explained
Olympic Screwdriver Relay
Happy Olympic Worker
Olympic Non-Events
Kickboxer: Just the Kicking
By Justin Pot, MakeUseOf – August 11, 2012 at 04:31PM
Download any YouTube video, playlist or channel with what is perhaps the best YouTube downloading tool ever. Direct YouTube Downloader is a Windows program that makes backing up your favorites for offline viewing easy.
Yes, there are other YouTube downloading tools out there, including more than a few web apps. Why pay any attention to this one? Its feature list. This program lets you download your choice of format direct from YouTube’s servers, and can also convert those videos to play on a number of different portable devices including the iPad, Android, iPhone and even the PSP.
But the main reason to use this program in place of the competition is the ability to download entire channels or playlists. If you want to catch up with all the episodes of a particular channel during your next trip, this is the tool you’re looking for.
Please remember though that YouTubers need you to visit their channel – their viewcounts determine their popularity and their pay – so don’t use this service for every video you watch. If you just want to take some YouTube videos with you for offline viewing, however, it’s hard to find a better tool for the job.
Like most YouTube downloading software the interface is simple at first glance. There’s a box where you can paste URLs to videos (by default any YouTube URL you copy will show automatically).
But as I said, this isn’t limited to videos. You can also download the entirety of a particular playlist or channel. Downloading a playlist is simple – just copy a link to the playlist. This can usually be found on a given channel’s page. For example: you could download Crash Course World History, one of the best shows on YouTube.
From here you can pick which videos to download or simply download them all. Again, YouTube users need views so watch videos online whenever possible.
To download an entire channel, simply type the username. For best results, type “cgpgrey”:
Seriously: if you’re not subscribed to CGP Grey on YouTube that needs to change. Immediately.
The software gives you control over the quality of the video you’re downloading. By default you’ll get the highest quality offered; change this if like.
The range of quality offered will very depending on video – a video uploaded in SD obviously won’t be available in HD. You can also convert the videos you’re downloading to formats for specific devices – a nice feature if you want to fill your iPad with videos for an upcoming trip.
I don’t own these devices, so I was unable to test, but if you do own them, please share your experience in the comments below.
There are a few settings you can tweak, including your downloads folder and whether or not the software should start at boot.
Why you’d want this to start at boot is a mystery, but hey, the option is there.
Ready to try this software out? Download Direct YouTube Downloader here. Be warned, there’s a couple of sneaky toolbars in this installer:
Remember, kids – pay attention when you’re installing Windows software or you might end up with toolbars. Knowledge is power!
There are no end of tools out there for downloading YouTube videos, but this one offers more features than most. I’d highly recommend checking it out. Of course if you know of something better you should point it out. Share your suggestions in the comments below.
By Casey Chan, Gizmodo – August 10, 2012 at 09:30PM
You’re going to watch this video and your jaw will drop. In fact, you’ll probably think it’s fake. Or CGI, at least. But nope, it’s completely real. A group of guys went fishing and dropped a GoPro Hero 2 camera inside a custom-made torpedo to record the ocean underneath them. What the camera recorded was the most amazing footage of dolphins you’ll ever see. More »
By Adam Dachis, Lifehacker – August 10, 2012 at 08:00PM
Your home is a place you want to keep secure, but getting all the high-end security gadgets and services available to help you do that is a pricey endeavor. This weekend, roll your own DIY security system. It’s more fun and it’ll save you some money.
There are many ways to secure your own on the cheap, from alarms to surveillance to clever tricks. A combination of all three should do the trick, so let’s take a look at your options.
There is no shortage of DIY alarms, so you really just have to decide how and why you want to be alerted. This aduino-based alarm is motion-based an will send you a text message if it detects an intruder. If you’ve got a Mac, you can use a clever app called SecureHome that detects noise levels and sounds an alarm if they reach a specified level. If you’re worried about specific items getting stolen and want to alarm them individually, you can’t go wrong with this $2 motion-detecting alarm. It requires some very minor soldering and a tilt switch, but it’s easy enough for just about anyone to create can hide just about anywhere. You can also use the source devices (impact alarms) with no modifications at all to secure your windows.
Security cameras are easy—you just need a webcam and (sometimes) a computer. We have a full guide on setting up a comprehensive video surveillance system that streams images from a webcam to your phone, a computer, your email, and several other options. You can even make a solar-powered option and give it motion-sensing capabilities.
When it comes to securing your home, it helps to think like a criminal and know how they might crack a padlock, combination lock, break into a safe, open your garage door from the outside, or simply break through your front door. When you know how someone might break in you can take measures to prevent it. But on top of that, appearances matter most. Don’t look like you have anything valuable to be stolen. Make your home look like you care about upkeep and security. If your home doesn’t look like an appealing target, burglars are less likely to try and break in. There’s no trick that will prevent theft, but you can take measures to make theft seem like an unattractive option.
By iMedicalApps Team, iMedicalApps – August 10, 2012 at 04:55PM
The patient.co.uk app uses the same information leaflets that your doctor gives out during consultations to help you find out more about your medical condition and treatment options.
By (author unknown), Core77 – August 10, 2012 at 05:00PM
And you thought you’d seen it all in ice cube making. Currently under consideration at Quirky is the Cube Tube, an ice tray designed to solve a specific problem: That annoying moment after you fill the tray at the sink and slowwwwly walk it over to the freezer, trying not to spill the water.
You fill the Cube Tube up, and close it, at the sink. There’s presumably a little Archimedes action when you slide the insert in, but once that’s done with you toss it in the freezer, spill-free.
The base is made out of silicone, so after it’s frozen you can hit it against the counter to loosen the cubes. Then you just pull the insert out—there’s draft angle, naturally—to dispense.
From what I can see, there’s nothing that would stop you from refilling it when partially empty, as well.
I realize those of you with ‘fridges that make their own ice don’t give a damn about objects like this, but it’s something an ice-tray-using peon like me could really use.
By (author unknown), MacOSXHints.com – August 10, 2012 at 10:30AM
If you’re running two Macs with iCloud support (Lion or Mountain Lion), then you can use iCloud’s network to remote SSH back into your home computer no matter where you are with just a few commands in Terminal.
The process is explained by the One Thing Well blog, but you need to set up a few things before you get started. First, you need to make sure Back to My Mac is enabled in iCloud (System Preferences > iCloud > Back to My Mac). Next, you need to set up your home computer for sharing if it isn’t already. Head to System Preferences > Sharing and turn on at least File Sharing and Remote Login. With everything set, you can now remotely log in to your home computer using iCloud’s network wherever you have internet access.
To start with, you need to do is find your Back to My Mac account number. In Terminal (Applications > Utilities), type:
dns-sd -E
The final nine digit …
By Dennis Crouch, Patent Law Blog (Patently-O) – August 10, 2012 at 07:52AM
Guest Post by Martin Goetz
In Dennis Crouch’s July 29, 2012 Patently-O essay “Ongoing Debate: Is Software Patentable?” he concludes by writing “It is simply ridiculous that after 40 years of debate, we still do not have an answer to the simple question of whether (or when) software is patentable”
One of the main reasons for this long debated argument about the patentability of software is that the wrong question is being debated. The current debate is mainly on the question “Should software be Patentable? And whether software, in the form of a computer program, is patentable subject matter?” Software is just a means to an end. The debate should be about the invention.
If the debate was on the question “Is an invention that is patentable in hardware, equally patentable if implemented in software?” there would be much less controversy. Hardware implemented inventions have been issued for well over a hundred years, long before the advent of the digital computer.
Back in October 2011 I wrote an article for a UK publication “Should software be patentable? That’s the wrong question to ask”. Because of the many comments to that article, many of which were critical of my arguments, I was asked for a follow up article “Pioneer Goetz rebuts software patent critics”. In these two articles I tried to stress that software (a computer program) is purely part of a proper disclosure
Article 29 of the US Patent Office’s application guidelines covering “Disclosure Obligations” states “…An applicant for an invention shall disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for the invention to be carried out by a person skilled in the art and may require the applicant to indicate the best mode for carrying out the invention….”
Clearly, if the best mode is a computer program, then that disclosure would be described through diagrams, flow charts, and descriptive text. In many inventions, the best mode is a combination of hardware and software. (Or if the best mode is not hardware and/or software but cams, pistons, and flywheels or water or wind power, so be it.)
If the Patent Office’s examiners focused on the invention, and not on how the invention was disclosed, it would reject many, if not most Software and Business Method Patents. Unfortunately, the Patent Office is bound by a plethora of confusing Supreme Court and lower courts decisions and opinions. Yet, the US Patent Office does have flexibility in how it interprets the US Supreme Court’s many rulings. This gets us back to the US Patent Office and its examiners who must be better trained to recognize true inventions. Easily said, and a gigantic challenge for the US Patent Office. But, unfortunately, that is where we are today.
Postscript: Back on November 30, 2009, Patently-O published my blog “In Defense of Software Patents” in response to the editorial “Abandoning Software Patents” by Ciaran O’Riordan, Director of End Software Patents (posted on Patently-O on November 6, 2009) which had as its premise that software companies are trying to protect “software ideas”. In that article I commented on the Bilski Opinion as well as gave some concrete examples of software-only patents as well as hardware/software patents. That article also received hundreds of comments, many being negative, and in response in September 2010 I had a follow up article “In Defense of Software Patents – Part 2”. Both those articles explained why software companies and other companies should not be denied patent protection on true inventions solely because part or all of the disclosure involves a computer and a computer program. It goes on to describe why many software companies are high technology companies that employ many highly educated people fully capable of inventing.
By info@innovationamerica.us (Administrator), InnovationDAILY for Syndication – Friday August 10, 2012
You can’t win as an entrepreneur working alone. You need to have business relationships with team members, investors, customers, and a myriad of other support people. That doesn’t mean you have to be a social butterfly to succeed, or introverts need not apply.
It does mean that you need to look, listen, and participate in the business world around you, and network through all available channels, like business-oriented social networks online (LinkedIn), local business organizations (Chamber of Commerce), and events or conferences in your domain.
By info@innovationamerica.us (Administrator), InnovationDAILY for Syndication – Friday August 10, 2012
Extroverts suck up all the energy in many work groups, but when it comes to generating innovating ideas introverts may be on par. They just need a way to get their ideas across, says Harvard Business Review.
The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org (www.hbr.org). Any opinions expressed are not endorsed by Reuters.
“New ideas are only valuable if they’re shared with others. If you’re an introvert, you may not feel comfortable talking about your creative ideas.