Megabytes

I’m taking a break from writing in this blog. Not a high priority passion right now!

Here’s an easy way to download a YouTube video to your local hard drive. Use KeepVid! It’s a website AND a bookmarklet.

From YouTube, copy the link of the video you want to keep. It will look something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzi0maowYws
It is located just above the EMBED link to the right of the video. If you don’t see it, click the MORE INFO link to reveal it.

Now that you have the link in your clipboard, browse to KeepVid, where you can paste the link and download your video.

Of course, there is an easier way, thanks to the KeepVid bookmarklet. Put the bookmarklet in your toolbar, then when you are on a YouTube page and you want to save the video you’re watching, click the “Keep It!” link. You’ll get a list of videos from the page and links marked ‘Download.’

Mr. Peabody’s Wayback Machine has been upgraded and now includes the internet. Do you remember the cartoon, Peabody and Sherman from the 1960s? In it, a dog named Mr. Peabody and his pet boy, Sherman, traveled throughout history helping major historical events turn out as history books tell us they did. They used one of Mr. Peabody’s inventions, The Wayback Machine.
Fast-forward to 1996, when The Internet Archive was founded to build an Internet library. Librarians are behind the idea of preserving society’s cultural artifacts and providing access to them. Civilization needs memory archives to learn from its successes and failures. The Internet Archive focuses on collections of digital artifacts, including texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages.
My friend and Virtual Assistant, Shane B. told me about The Wayback Machine, as the Internet Archive is called. As you might guess, many web developers and administrative assistants use the archive to look up an old web page. Perhaps your website has undergone 2-3 redesigns in its internet life. Travel back with the Wayback Machine and view its different looks. Or perhaps you want some important data that was removed from one of your web pages. You could find it here.

Just for fun, go to the Wayback Machine and type in “google.com” . Then, click on the very first entry, dated Nov 11, 1998. Wow! Google in Beta!

What could be better than recycling old cell phones? Why, reusing them, of course! Many non-profit organizations are part of a program that pays them for cell phones that are recycled in their name. But wouldn’t it be great if someone else could get some use out of our old phones? After all, it takes a lot of energy to bust up the old phone and sort out the reusable components; plastics and metals.
In my home town of Portland, Oregon, the Women’s Crisis Line accepts your donation of old cell phones. They distribute them to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Survivors are able to use these cell phones to call 911, allowing immediate help at the touch of a button.
Your city’s domestic violence shelter may have a program like this, too. If not, consider a Senior Center for similar reuse program.
When you upgrade to the latest and greatest cell phone, remember that your “old” phone can still be put to good use.

I was cleaning out one of our “everything-we-don’t-know-what-to-do-with” drawers the other day. We have a lot of unused electronics lying around. CLock radios, film cameras, and cell phones.

Mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia, knows that people would like an easy way to deal with their old phones. More than just an easy way, an environmentally-friendly way; like recycling.

At their website, you can print out a postage-paid label and ship your retired mobile unit to one of their recycling plants. Taking up a bit of room in that “everything” drawer were two different Nokia phones, their handsfree earphones, their chargers, and one owners manual. I’m shipping it all back to Nokia - free of charge.