Just Gotta Share This

Free Video Downloaders

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:32:00 +0000

Cory likes to download videos once in a while and put them on his Zune. He had a couple programs he liked, but then suddenly they weren't free any more. Don't you hate when that happens? So, when I saw that today's Giveaway of the Day was a YouTube Music Downloader, I thought I'd check it out.

The reviews don't look too promising, but there were several suggestions for FREE video downloaders that he might be able to use:

Video Download Helper Firefox add-on - an easy way to download and convert Web videos from hundreds of YouTube-like sites. Also for audio and picture galleries.
MP4 YouTube Downloader - another Firefox add-on
YouTube Downloader from Biennesoft - allows you to download videos from YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, and many others and convert them to other video formats. Just specify the URL of the video you want to download and click OK.
Orbit Downloader - download videos, Flash games, and large batches of files.
ClipNabber online downloader - allows you to download video from a bunch of different sites, and if you just want the audio, try TuneNabber.
KeepVid - another online downloader - enter the URL of a video you want or add the bookmarklet to easily 'Keep It'

I'm not completely sure if all of these convert the downloaded videos to the format you want or not. If you need something else, you can use the Free Video Converter to convert to the format you need.

Hopefully there will be something here that Cory can use to get those videos onto his Zune. Let me know if you've tried any of these and what you think or if there are some others that should be mentioned. Thanks.

Be sure to check out that second Zemanta-suggested article, because Clipfinder HD sounds like it just might be the best of them all.

The Yak for Java

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:09:00 +0000

I found this today (Actually, I found a magazine page I had ripped out of a magazine ages ago that mentioned this, so I looked it up.

The Yak Java applet - free kit that allows you to create buttons and animations. It supports sound and up to 100 images per animation. It's supposed to be pretty simple, fast and light-weight. I haven't tried it out, but it sounds like it might just come in handy. (And I'm linking to it here so I can find it again - and I tossed the magazine page out)

Have any of you used the Yak? What do you think?

TV on Your Computer

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 01:00:00 +0000

A lot of people watch TV on their computers nowadays. It's really handy. If you miss a show and forgot to set the DVR, you can usually go online and watch it the next day. My son does it a lot. Today I found a site that looks like it will make it easy to keep up with all kinds of shows. You can find them all in one place instead of searching all over the Internet for them - viewing some shows on the network websites, some on Hulu, etc. This site pulls them all together.

It's called First on Mars. Why is it called that? I don't know, but it calls itself 'Your personal guide to network tv on the web' and there are a lot of shows available here. From the About Us page:

First on Mars' mission is to help you find, organize and share network TV shows available for free streaming across the web. You tell us what you feel like watching by selecting networks, shows or TV moods (dark, sexy, intense). We use that info to build you a personalized guide to your favorites which you can filter and change to make your own. You can always add networks, shows and moods using the drop down menus, heart icons or browse feature. We also offer a choice of six looks for the site which you can select using the skins button. Enjoy and let us know what you think!

You can browse through shows alphabetically or search by mood or by network. When you find shows you like, you can add them to your favorites so they're easy to find in the future. It looks like there are only a certain number of episodes available, probably whatever the network makes available, so you can't wait months to watch them, and it's not a good place to get caught up on a series you've never watched before, but to keep current with shows you like it looks great. First on Mars also lets you share shows with your friends and comment on the shows you watch.

I keep telling my husband that we don't need the satellite TV anymore - we could cancel that, watch everything online, and save a lot of money. So far he hasn't taken me up on that, but sites like this make it entirely feasible. And did I mention that First on Mars is FREE?

Free Fonts

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:09:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

My son Cory and his friend Travis had a great idea for a t-shirt, so Cory has been working on designing it. This afternoon he mentioned that he needed a fun font for it because he didn't like any of the fonts on his computer. (for the shirt, that is) Just yesterday I found a site full of fun free fonts, but then I closed my browser last night without saving it or sharing it. I hate when that happens! I really should know better.

Anyway, since I lost the site from yesterday, I just did a search for 'fun free fonts' and found this one - Font Freak. There are over 5000 free fonts, and you can either download them all at once or browse through and download the ones you like individually. I haven't actually gotten past the first page of the A's, but I've already found some I really like. A lot of them are available in both PC and Mac versions, which is really nice. Also, when you find a font you like, you can click on the author's name to see all the fonts by that author.

Dress Up Your Browser

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 02:55:00 +0000

Image via CrunchBase

I just installed Personas for Firefox last night. How long has this been around? I'm not sure, but I'm really loving it. Personas lets you dress up your browser with easy to install and easy to change 'skins' for Firefox.

watch a quick video demonstration:

Getting Started with Personas from Mozilla Labs on Vimeo.

Not only can you choose from the many 'skins' available on the site, you can even create your own. The instructions are right on the page. Here are some my brother, who found this first, has created - Personas by krayeg.

I had a little trouble getting this to work at first, I think because I had a theme installed. When I went back to the default firefox theme and restarted my browser, it worked just fine. The fun with Personas is that you can very easily change the look of your browser, and you don't have to restart your browser for the changes to take effect. You can even preview the look before you intall simply by mousing over the designs in the gallery. I'm having a lot of fun doing that, but you don't have to visit the Personas gallery. You can choose and change your selected Persona any time simply by clicking on the little fox mask in the lower left-hand corner of your browser window.

Free Blog Designs from Shabby Blogs

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:02:00 +0000

I came across another site for free Blogger templates tonight. It's called Shabby Blogs, and there are plenty of blog backgrounds and accessories to choose from. All of them are 100% free, and it looks like a lot of them are customizable, such as being able to add your own photos to the headers.

I haven't had time to browse through all of them, but there are some really cute backgrounds here, with headers and extras to complement them and help you put together your own custom blog. Did I mention it's free? Yes, yes I did! Free, cute blog backgrounds - and once again I'm tempted to change my blog design.

Good Deal on Sony Vegas

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:45:00 +0000

Cory has been wanting Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack for a while now. I found it today at Buy.com on sale for $89.99 with a $30 rebate, which is the best price we've seen so far - so I grabbed it. If you're looking for some good movie editing software, this is supposed to be really good.

I'm linking to this here, because searching for Sony Vegas on Buy.com doesn't bring this page up. Instead you get the software for $90-something with no rebate mentioned. I checked Pricegrabber to find the best price, and when I clicked the Buy.com link there, it got me this page with the sale and rebate. It's only good this week, so grab it now if you want it.

Organize Events and Sell Tickets Online

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:10:00 +0000

Image via CrunchBase

If you plan events and sell tickets for those events, TicketLeap looks like something you'll want to check out. TicketLeap is FREE for event organizers, and buyers can use all major credit cards.

It's quick, easy, and free to set up an account, and then you can start by creating an event. Enter all the event details: name, category, description, date & time, website, location, etc. Once that's done, you can set ticket prices, add pictures, and even invite people.

I don't have an actual event to plan right now, so I haven't gone through the whole event set-up process, but it looks really easy, and I can see so many uses for it. You can customize it in so many ways - setting ticket prices and ticket types, offering discount codes, even deciding who pays the convenience fees. Set the convenience fees to be paid by the buyer, and TicketLeap doesn't cost anything!

What if you're planning a free event? TicketLeap can handle that, too, and if the tickets are free, there is NO fee. Why use TicketLeap if your event is free? Because you get a list of everyone who registers - for planning purposes that is invaluable!

Once you've set everything up, you can send out invites so people can register for your event and/or buy tickets. TicketLeap also gives you the code so you can put 'Buy Tickets' or 'Register' buttons on your website. There's even a Facebook app so you can promote your event on Facebook. I'm sure there's more, but I've just begun to check it out.

Oh, I bet you're wondering how you collect the money for all those tickets. TicketLeap sends you a check the next business day after your event.

If you've used TicketLeap to organize an event and/or sell tickets online, please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear it!

A Picture a Day

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:32:00 +0000

Drew has been doing his Photo a Day for years now. My parents each decided to take a photo a day this year, and they've been doing a pretty good job. I take pictures quite regularly, but I wasn't ready to commit to taking one every day. In truth I probably do take at least one a day because I'm always grabbing the camera for something. My hold up was actually getting the pictures off the camera and onto the computer, but I'm doing better at that, too since I started using the camera cable and the software that came with my camera.

Anyway, I signed up for Shuttercal a while back because I thought it might get me more organized in the whole picture a day thing. The whole point of the site is to upload a picture a day, or at least take a picture every day and then upload them to the proper day. It all displays as a calendar, with your picture on the date you took it. Sounds cool, huh? The only problem is that I signed up for it and then never used it! Luckily today I got an email telling me that someone had friended me on Shuttercal. That reminded me that I want to try this, so I uploaded my first picture. Now we'll just have to see if I can keep up with it.

And the whole friend thing? It looks like you can add other users to your friends if you like their photos, and you can build a network of fellow photo a day people. I'm not sure why anyone would have added me to her friends, considering I hadn't uploaded any photos - not even a user pic - but I'm glad she did because it reminded me of My Shuttercal. And now you have the link so you can check up on me and see if I'm uploading any photos.

I should probably put this in my sidebar or something, but for now I'm putting it here - my latest photo: (it's supposed to change when I upload new ones - if it doesn't change you know I'm not uploading anything)

Free Help for All Things Web Related

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:47:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

I keep coming back to this site when searching for web design information. The tutorials and explanations are simple and easy to understand, at least the ones I've used so far. They have tutorials on basic html, javascript, CSS, and beyond. You can also find tutorials for using popular graphics programs to create some great effects, free online tools and resources, and a whole lot more.

No wonder I keep coming back - there is so much here! As they say:

EchoEcho.Com is your one stop free help site for all things web related.

I think it's definitely going to be my first stop.

Font Squirrel

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:02:00 +0000

Image by Stewf via Flickr

A question on twitter today led me to this site - Font Squirrel. It's an entire site full of free high quality fonts, all of them licensed for commercial use. That means you can use them for anything you need them for. I've already downloaded a couple I really like. I'm not sure what I'm going to use them for, but you can never have too many fonts, right?

Font Squirrel also provided a link to this cool What the Font tool. If you've seen a font somewhere but you don't know what it is, you can upload an image and they'll find the closest matches in their database. If that doesn't work, you can submit your image to the forum and have font geeks all over the world help you identify your font. This ought to come in very handy, because I'm really bad at recognizing fonts. They'll never confuse me with a font geek!

Circle the Cat

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:58:00 +0000

One of my friends just shared this little game on Facebook. It looks pretty simple at first glance. Just click the light green dots to turn them dark green and keep the cat from getting out. But, like the game says, he's a pretty smart cat. I had to keep trying it until I finally got him contained. I'm not sure exactly why it worked that time, so I'm sure I'll be wasting more time on this.

And if I'm wasting time, you might as well be too. See how long it takes you to Circle the Cat.

ebay!

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:39:00 +0000

The battery on my laptop has been quite dead for a while now. It's so dead that the computer shuts down immediately when it's unplugged. I figured I'd have to live with that because a new battery from Dell costs at least $150, and I just couldn't justify that. Then yesterday one of my friends on Facebook mentioned that she had just ordered a new battery for her laptop. We got to talking about it, and she said she had found one on ebay for $35 with free shipping. Ebay! Why hadn't I thought of that?

I've bought things from ebay before, but it's still not my first thought when I need something. I don't know why. You're probably way ahead of me on this and always check ebay first when you need something, but just in case you don't I thought I'd mention it. Check ebay first!

Because when I checked, I found batteries for my laptop starting at $30 with the free shipping. That's a huge savings over the cost at Dell. I wish I had thought of looking on ebay back when the battery started dying. I would have ordered one sooner. I ended up spending a little more than the $30 to get a better quality battery, but still saved significantly. I could never justify the $150 price tag, when I could just plug the computer in to use it, but $40? That I can justify.

Just had to share!

Now it's your turn - what kinds of things do you look for/buy on ebay? Is it the first place you look? What kinds of great deals have you gotten?

Looking for Online Storage

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:11:00 +0000

My favorite online storage and backup service, MyBloop, has disappeared recently. I did a little bit of searching to see if I could figure out what happened to it, but no one seems to know. If you do know something, please let me know.

Luckily, I saved this link to the Ultimate Review of Free Online Storage and Backup - so if I need to choose another site, this will be a great place to start. I think the best course of action is to choose at least two different sites and upload everything to both. It seems sort of redundant, but that way if one or the other server goes down, for any reason, there's always a backup. A backup of a backup, if you will.

Free eBooks

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:19:00 +0000

Image by brungrrl via Flickr

So many books, so little time! I say that all the time, because there are so many books I would like to read, but I just have a hard time getting to them. I have books of my own, and I'm always bringing books home from the library. I don't really need any more books, but that doesn't stop me from getting excited about another book source. This one is Manybooks.net, and it's a site full of free eBooks. They're for PDA, iPhone, ebook reader, or you can just read them on your computer. There are plenty of formats to choose from.

There are 23,963 eBooks available, and they're all free. You can browse by title or author, or look at most popular titles and reccommendations from readers.

Like I said - so many books, so little time!

beethov9.wma Is All Kinds of Problem

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:53:00 +0000

Earlier this week I was helping a friend of mine upgrade Windows XP to SP3. It shouldn't have been a big deal, but for some reason these Service Pack upgrades always seem to have their issues. I put off installing it on my own computer for a long time, and then when I finally did it - BSOD! - which led to having to reformat my hard drive and reinstall Windows completely.

This time things seemed to be going well. We backed up all the documents on the computer and began the install, which of course takes forever because Windows has to back everything up, just in case you need to go back to SP2. So, all the files are backed up, the install of SP3 begins, and partway through there's an error copying beethov9.wma - do we want to continue the install without copying it? Click yes and the install continues, until we get another error message telling us the same exact file cannot be copied. After multiple retries we hit cancel, which does not just cancel copying that file - it cancels the entire upgrade. That means everything that had been installed is uninstalled and all the backups are restored. And we went through this multiple times - first deleting the file because we thought it was a random file that was already on the computer. That didn't work so I tried downloading SP3 from Microsoft again, thinking maybe there was a problem with the file I had previously downloaded - except that one had worked just fine when I installed it on my computer - the 2nd time, after I had reformatted and re-installed.

Midway through the 3rd attempt, this storm rolled through, and I held my breath hoping the power wouldn't go out. It did flicker a few times, but thankfully we had the computer plugged into a battery backup. I still got the beethov9.wma error, but at least the install wasn't interrupted, and I didn't lose everything. That's when Mary Googled "beethov9.wma" to see if there was any info. Sure enough, we weren't the only ones having this problem. Basically, Windows was trying to copy this file into the Shared Documents folder - except that on this particular computer that folder had never been shared. It was just called Documents, and every time we tried to open it, we got an error message saying we didn't have permission to access that folder.

To fix this I right-clicked on the folder and chose 'Sharing and Security' (you can also choose Properties and go to the Sharing tab) - then I checked the boxes to share the folder on a network and allow users to change my files.

Reading the box, it looks like the Shared Documents folder was already supposed to be there and be shared with all users on the computer, but for some reason it wasn't. I ended up having to run the Network Setup Wizard first so that I could check those boxes, but the end result was that, after sharing the folder, the file did indeed copy, and the installation of SP3 was successful. Finally!

My question for Microsoft is - why does an update to my operating system that contains 'security updates, hotfixes, and select out-of-band releases' also need a music file? I'm pretty sure the computer would have operated just fine without it - and saved me a lot of frustration. A job that should have taken a couple hours ended up taking ALL DAY.

Free Images that You're Free to Use

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:09:00 +0000

Recently I've been using Flickr for the images I need, for websites and blogs. I use the Advanced Search and then, scrolling down to the bottom, choose 'Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content' and, under that, 'Find content to modify, adapt, or build upon.' That way, when I find an image I like, I know that the owner of that image has agreed to let me use it and modify it if I need to to meet my needs. Giving credit to the owner, with a link or a mention, of course. (the image at the left is linked to the original photo page on Flickr)

After reading the article below, I think I will start using Yahoo image search to find the photos I'm looking for on Flickr. It sounds like it will make the whole process just a bit easier.

The main idea is to find images that are free and legal to use, with no copyright infringements. Just because an image is out there on the Internet does not mean that you are free to do with it what you would like, and with so many available under the Creative Commons license, there is no need to. I personally make my photos on Flickr available under CC licensing, and I thank all of you photographers and artists who do the same.

PayPerPost v4 is Now Live

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:07:00 +0000

--This post sponsored by PayPerPost--

This is the first sponsored post I have ever done on this blog, but I've been working with PayPerPost for a while now, on my other blogs. Basically, PPP gives advertisers an avenue to start bloggers talking about their products, sites, and services. Bloggers get paid to research and write about an advertiser's product, and the advertisers get exposure on the Internet. It's been nice being able to write blog posts and get paid to do it, too, and I've found all kinds of sites, products, and services that I am genuinely interested in. I've even mentioned some of them on this site - for free.

Anyway, I'm very excited that a new version of PPP has just been released. In the old version, the one I've been using, Opportunities are released into the Marketplace, and bloggers take them on a first-come, first serve basis. What that means is that the bloggers who grab the opps fastest are the ones who write the posts. The advertisers can specify certain criteria for the blogs that can take their opps, but they don't have much control over it beyond that. With the new version of PPP, advertisers specify criteria such as location, price, ratings, and categories when they create an Opp. The advertiser is then matched with a list of blogs that meet that criteria, and the advertiser chooses which of these matched blogs get the opp. They can even add blogs to their list of favorites so they can use them in the future.

For bloggers, the new PPP means we no longer have to haunt the Marketplace hoping to get an Opp we want to write about, and being frustrated when all the good ones are gone. We can concentrate on doing a good job with our blogs, and when an advertisers wants us to take an opportunity, we get an email. No more fighting over Opps, an offer comes directly to our inbox. We then have 3 days to write the post. We set our asking price, categories, and even whether we want links that are 'follow' or 'no follow' so the opps that come our way should be something we'd want to take. If it isn't, we are free to turn it down. I, obviously, was happy to write about PayPerPost and agreed to write this post! (Note to Google: I'm only taking opps with no follow links on this blog, so don't get your panties in a bunch.)

PayPerPost v4.0 was first opened to just a few advertisers and bloggers so we could test it out, but now it is live and open to everyone. So far I am liking what I am seeing, though this is only my 4th opp taken through the new system. It would be nice to have more opportunities come through, and with it now open to everyone, I'm sure that's going to happen. Also, as we take more opps and give the advertisers what they want with quality posts, our ratings will improve, and we'll get more opps. At the same time, bloggers who don't do quality work will get fewer and fewer opps, leaving even more open for quality bloggers. I feel a lot more in control with this version of PPP, and I think the advertisers are going to be getting more of what they want.

Whether you're an advertiser looking for some exposure for your product or a blogger looking to make a little extra money, I would encourage you to check out PayPerPost v4.0. Read the FAQs if you'd like to learn more about how it can work for you.

The Fridge

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:32:00 +0000

I don't know about you, but I really love magnetic poetry - you know, those little words for your fridge. I'm not sure any of my creations qualify as poetry, but I'm addicted to moving those little words around to form interesting phrases. The other day I found The Fridge, so now I can play with those little word magnets online.

There are several wordsets you can choose from, or you can even add a bookmarklet to your browser so you can highlight words from any web page to use. Once you've composed the poem of the century, discard all the extra words, add a title and your preferred nom de plume , and save your poem. You'll be able to save the link or even embed it in your own web page or blog, like I did here.

I would suggest, if you're planning to embed it and have limited width like I do here, build your poem on the left-hand side instead of right in the middle of the space so it can be read without scrolling, but at least you get the idea. (I limited the width to fit my space. By default I think it comes in full size when you embed it, so feel free to place your words any where you want them)

This could definitely be addictive!

Free Sounds

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Sun, 10 May 2009 02:35:00 +0000

I was reading my dad's blog today, and he posted a link to a whip-poor-will call. He was talking about the difference between the whip-poor-will's call and the call of another bird, and it was very nice to be able to hear what he was talking about. While I was listening to the bird sound, I noticed that it was hosted on a site I hadn't seen before, so I had to check it out.

It's called soundboard, and there are all kinds of free sounds and sound effects - tens of thousands, they say. You can browse the site to find sounds you like, or that fit a particular blog post. Sound boards are organized by category, or you can search for the sound you need. You can download the sounds you want. Sign up for a free account and upload your own sounds, you get 125MB storage, or just add the sounds you like from other members' sound boards. You can even choose a specific sound and embed that into a blog post or website, like this:

(I'm watching a Star Trek special on the History Channel, so I thought this was appropriate)

I suppose my dad could have done the same thing with his whip-poor-will call, but then I wouldn't have had to visit soundboard! I just signed up for my free account because I think this site is going to come in handy.

BloggerStyles Free Blog Templates

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:37:00 +0000

Here's another source for blog templates.

BloggerStyles converts Wordpress themes into Blogger templates. There are some really nice looking templates here. All templates have been tested and rated, using criteria such as browser compatibility, proper display of images, links, comments, and more. There are 27 pages (as of now) of great-looking templates to browse, preview and download. Is your new template there?

Another Template Source

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:47:00 +0000

Falcon Hive - Wordpress themes Bloggerized. There are some really nice templates here. There is one that I especially love, and I'm tempted to start using it. Still thinking about it, but I definitely want to be able to find this site again. Check it out and see if you don't agree.

Free PhotoShop Brushes

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Image by Counteract.
via Flickr

This is a great site to get free Photoshop brushes. Filter by category or Photoshop version to find brushes you can use. I downloaded a bunch of them today, because they all look so neat. Then I found this tutorial in some of the comments, so I had to try it. I'm not completely happy with how it turned out on the first try, but I can see some potential here.

Now, if I can just remember that I have these tools to use.

Gone, Forever

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 03:42:00 +0000

Image via CrunchBase

Just a word of advice - if you haven't upgraded to a Pro account on Flickr, do not whatever you do mark an old photo that is no longer part of your photostream as 'private' or you will never see it again.

And since that was a really long sentence, let me explain. I don't upload enough photos to Flickr to justify a Pro account, so I've never upgraded. Instead, I just put the thumbnails on a webpage or in a blog post and link them to the photo page. Flickr makes it easy by providing the code. Then, should I ever want to use those photos for anything, I can still find them.

Yesterday Cory asked me to remove a picture in one of my blog posts. I thought I could just mark that photo as private, and I could still see it because it's my picture, but no one else could see it. Wrong. As soon as I marked it private, I was redirected to a page that said I didn't have permission to view that photo. I hit the back button on my browser and tried to change it back, but that didn't work. As far as I can tell, that photo is gone, forever.

Yes, I have it here on a DVD, but I can't find it on Flickr any more.

Another tip for people like me who haven't upgraded to the Pro account on Flickr: tag all of your photos with your username or something unique to you. Then, you can always search Flickr for photos with that tag, and your photos will be the ones that come up - all there, whether they're still part of your photostream or not. Unless, of course, they've been made private. :P

The End of YouTube as we Know it?

bcmomtoo@gmail.com (Anna) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:16:00 +0000

My son Cory has been complaining the last few days about the 'hulufication' of YouTube. I hadn't heard anything about it, because I guess I don't hang out on YouTube enough, but apparently there was a lot of discussion going on among YouTube users because YouTube plans to feature movies and television shows, like hulu. Most of these users are afraid that the focus will be on these featured movies, and user-generated content will be pushed to the side. My first inclination is that, since YouTube was built on that user-generated content and that's what it's known for, the user-generated content will continue to be very important.

This article I just read seems to say the same thing:

The launch of the premium content section of YouTube will come with a site redesign to highlight the changes while keeping YouTube's main focus on user-generated clips.

Or maybe I was just looking for that? The article also explains why YouTube has decided to go this direction - money! If providing premium content will help generate the ad revenue needed to keep YouTube running, and FREE, then it just may be the best choice in the long run. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, a video!