VidCoder: easily convert your DVDs to video files

Posted by Samer on May 5, 2010 in , , | 7 Responses

VidCoder Screenshot 1VidCoder Screenshot 2

If you want an un-intimidating yet powerful software that can turn your DVDs to (much smaller) videos for your laptop, iPhone or other device, VidCoder will do the job beautifully.

VidCoder is a free program that can convert a DVD to video files in MP4 or MKV formats.It uses the Handbrake encoding engine but masks it in a much more user friendly interface. It also adds a handful of features such as instant source previews, batch encoding, and the ability to pause and resume the encoding process.

VidCoder can output files in MP4 or MKV formats, and can be used to convert not just DVDs but other video files to these formats as well, including AVI, which makes it a great tool for converting both DVDs as well as regular videos to iPhone/iPod formats. Continue reading ..

Zoofs: watch the most Twittered videos on the net

Posted by Samer on April 30, 2010 in , , | Tagged | 3 Responses

Zoofts screenshot

Zoofs is a brand new web service that tracks all the latest videos mentioned in Tweets across the internet and puts them in one place, accessible via a very cool interface.This web service, in other words, provides a way to track the meta-conversation that is taking place over Twitter visually, through the videos that are part of the conversation.

Browsing Zoofs videos is different from, say, browsing videos in YouTube in that you do not get the (self-perpetuating) most popular videos, no’r the latest videos, but rather the videos that happen to be most talked about right now. If you’re mining for viral videos as they are about to take off this might well be the place to be looking. Continue reading ..

Desktop Google Reader: brings Google Reader to the desktop, integrates with Read it Later, Instapaper, and Twitter

Posted by Samer on April 29, 2010 in , , | Tagged , | 8 Responses

Desktop Google Reader ScreenshotDesktop Google Reader is a free app that can launch your Google Reader feeds right on the desktop, including popup notifications for new posts in the system tray.

What’s interesting about this particular app is that it offers both "Read it Later" and "Instapaper" integration, allowing you to quickly add posts or items from your Google Reader account to any of these services (it also adds a Tweet button for quick broadcasting over Twitter as well as a quick "Email it" button). Continue reading ..

Twelve absolute must-have Google Chrome plugins

Posted by Samer on April 27, 2010 in , | Tagged | 39 Responses

12 Must Have Chrome ExtensionsThere’s somewhat of an explosion of Chrome plugins taking place at the moment. Which is great, because to be totally honest for me the biggest barrier to switching to Chrome was the collection of plugins that I used with other browsers and have come to depend on (e.g.#1, 2, and 4 below).

The following is a list of 12 plugins that you will absolutely want to have if you use Google Chrome: (1) LastPass, (2) Clip to Evernote, (3) Xmarks Bookmarks Sync, (4) Postponer (an unofficial Read-It-Later extension), (5) Click&Clean, (6) Shareaholic, (7) Feedly, (8) Join Tabs, (9) Inline Search and Lookup, (10) SEO Site Tools, (11) ChromeMailer, and (12) Chrome Link Checker.

If you link and/or find this post useful please share it via Stumble, Digg, or otherwise use your favorite bookmarking service. Thanks ;) Continue reading ..

TweetDeck: powerful, multi-platform, multi-device Twitter client

Posted by Guest author on April 26, 2010 in , , | Tagged | 2 Responses

Tweetdeck ScreenshotTweetDeck is a free Twitter client built on Adobe Air technology. It is multi-platform (runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, and any other environment that supports Adobe Air) and straddles multiple devices (both iPhone and iPad versions are available). TweedDeck is now the most popular Twitter app.

Built by Twitter-client Iain Dodsworth, TweetDeck’s “reason for being” was to bring order to Twitter chaos by putting Tweets into categorized columns. Dodsworth, an ardent Twitter follower, grew frustrated with trying to keep track of his tweets. He was missing what his friends were saying because there was too much disorganized buzz. In all the excitement and random noise, he was losing what he wanted to follow. And when he woke up in the morning (way over in the UK), he had just too many pages to scroll through on the Twitter site to catch up with his state-side friends.

[Editor’s note: this article was guest-written by Kate Mayo, a writer with a wide-ranging background. These days, she writes about online colleges for EarnmyDegree.com and the Education 3.0 blog] Continue reading ..

10 wallpaper selections, part 2

Posted by Samer on April 21, 2010 in , | Tagged | 14 Responses

10 wallpapers part2

This is the second installment of my “10 wallpaper selections” series. (See the first installment of wallpaper selections here).

I have a few rules that I use when making these selections: the images are not just pretty but will have to “work” as background images on the desktop. In most cases they will be straight photographs rather than illustrations, and if they are altered in any way it needs to be minimal (or at least the alterations have to be tastefully done and look plausibly real).

However, I may on occaison feature a “texture” wallpaper and the rare illustration, but you will not see images where people, animals, vehicles, or brands are the main subject matter; no’r will I feature any magical realism (i.e. unicorns, medieval castles, Avatar-style worlds, etc). You might be thinking: well, if you’re going to filter all of that crap out then you’re going to have a hard time finding a nice selection of cool images for these posts! And you would be right ;). Continue reading ..

Seven apps that work really well in the Windows 7 taskbar

Posted by Samer on April 18, 2010 in , , | Tagged , | 13 Responses

Windows 7 taskbar apps screenshot

So you’ve recently installed Windows 7 and become familiarized with the new Jumplist-enabled taksbar. If you are looking for Windows7 taskbar-friendly apps then read on; this posting will present 7 interesting (and free) selections that work really well with the Windows 7 taskbar.

Here’s the list:

(1) Dexpot with SevenDex plugin, (2) Standalone Stack 2, (3) JumpList Launcher, (4) Gmail Notifier Plus, (5) 7Stack, (6) HideDesktop Icons, and (7) MenuApp.

Note that not all of the programs presented below are Windows 7 specific; in fact three of them (2,6, and 7) will work on XP and Vista. Continue reading ..

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