Playing Google Videos on iPod, another tool for your transcoding toolbox

Although Google bought and YouTube, the Google Video service is still up and running and there are still a number of videos out there that don't seem to be on YouTube, but are on Google Video. Well, good ol' Google recognizes that people like to put videos on their iPod's and PSP's and so, on the right, when on video.google.com watching a video, there is a dropdown list and a download link on the right of the video you're watching. Just choose "Video iPod/Sony PSP" from the list and click the download link and tada, it hands you a download window to download the video in a compatible format for your viewing pleasure.

Till next time ...

Vixy.net - A video iPod owners dream!

Hey there, long time no entry. I've had a request for a post about vixy.net so here it is.

Picture this, you're on YouTube or some other site with flash based videos and you find one that you really really want to be able to put on your iPod so you can watch it again and again while traveling or whatever. Well, vixy.net is your solution. Fast, simple and straight-forward.



Here's the steps, and there aren't many of them:

Step 1: Go to youtube and find the "URL" to the video and copy it. It looks like this:


Step 2: browse to http://vixy.net (don't put the www on that url!). Paste the URL you got from youtube into the URL box on vixy's site.

Step 3: Choose "MP4 for iPod/PSP (MPEG4 + AAC)" from the drop down list.

Step 4: Click Start and wait ...
Notes: Be sure to stay on the page and let it finish. It'll take a little bit of time. Basically what is happening is vixy.net, on your behalf, goes to youtube and get's the video, then re-codes the video to the type that you selected in the drop down list, and then, when all that is done, it'll give you a download of the newly encoded video.

Step 5: When the download box is presented to you, save the file to your hard drive and then add it to iTunes as you would any other mp3 or video.

Step 6: Sync your iPod with iTunes and you're done!

Have fun!

OpenDNS

OpenDNS.com

This is a company that provides fast DNS lookup services. 

"Why do I care?"  you ask ...  Well, you don't really need to care unless, on a regular basis, when you click a bookmark or favorite or type in a web site URL and it takes a long time for the site to start to show in your browser.  What the problem could be is, your ISP (internet service provider) has slow DNS servers.  If you change to OpenDNS they will provide you much faster DNS services and if you type in a URL incorrectly like google.cmo.  then they will automatically fix your spelling and take you to google.com.  also, if you type in domain that doesn't exist, then instead of getting an error, they automatically do a google search for what you typed in and show you the results.

Their site will tell you everything you need to know to make the change or answer any other questions you may have ... like "What is DNS and what does it do?"