How to save Youtube Files and Convert them

Reading the title makes me think I am some kind of evangelist. I seriously get annoyed when we do a google search for something like that and get no step-by-step information for this. Me being technical can figure it out if I really want to. But wonder how much trouble someone less associated with the computer's million types of configurations.

Ok, so this old friend of mine has her assignment and part of it is to submit a video file which was on youtube. How to save them:

1. Make sure you are using Firefox to watch the video. Get it from here - http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ . There is a reason for this IE downloads your video twice.
2. Copy the link of the video (e.g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkTpUxh8Vxc) from the address bar of Firefox.
   
3. Paste the link in this site http://www.youtubex.com and click on download. Now if you were using Firefox to watch the video and then click on download the download is instantaneous. But if you were using Internet Explorer the video downloads again. It has downloaded before when you were watching it.
   
4. Once the file is downloaded, rename it with .flv extension.
   
5. There are quite a few softwares to convert a flv file to mpeg or other video formats, but I found Total Video Converter good for this. Get it at http://www.effectmatrix.com/ and install it.
   
6. Once you got the software it is very easy to select as it is very user friendly to select source and destination files.
   
7. Don't forget to ask for favours from your friend in return..
   

Hope that helps.

Free music downloads coming soon

According to this report in The Age Free music downloads is on the cards from Spiral Frog. While this is great news for all of us music buffs, it is just available in US and Canada for starters. The service has not started yet though. But it sounds too good to be true.

This site will be an advertising supported service. While popular sites make loads of money on the internet, I think this site is too good to be true. I always thought that the best way to make some illegal (non-serious, like illegal music downloads) operations stop is to make them legal and let the authorities deal with real problems.

Hopefully this will start a new trend for music lovers across the world. As for now only music from Universal Music Group will be available.

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Ganapati Bappa!

"Please wait till 12.30, today is Ganesha's birthday no, we give free food to everyone.", quipped the lady in the temple. Now this made me fill with happiness, the operative words 'free' and 'food' made me feel so very good. Also the fact that today is Ganesha's birthday keeps me in good spirits, he being my favourite god. I am not religious at all, but have certain very good memories of this festival.

I had to pay for the south Indian breakfast elsewhere, could not wait till 12.30. Have a happy Ganesh Chaturthi.

Welcome to my personal blog!

Ah! Well! So many thoughts, so few avenues to let them out. I always keep a low profile in general, I am the quietest at work (bad), noisiest at home (bad again) and inanimate when discussing something, which is no good as well. All of these actions get reversed when I am drunk, no I don't drink at work.

I started a blog with gung-ho, look at Desi in Golden Land if you really are interested (Look at that blog.. pleaaase!). I thought that blog's name was brilliant. I thought that kinda name will bring me fame and a bit of fortune on the side. But it didn't. Besides that is more of a travel blog rather than a personal blog.

So, here it is, yet another personal blog! Hopefully it will be entertaining for all those who read this blog of mine, It will certainly be entertaining for me while I am writing it.