12 Fun Hacks for Getting More Out of YouTube

CLICK to read article on Yahoo! News: "There's no doubt that plain old YouTube can be tons of fun, but when you get bored of watching clips the traditional way, there are a ton of sites that can help enhance the experience.

Whether you want to view a video with a far-away friend, compare two clips, or find more interesting ways of browsing and sharing, there are plenty of options out there. The web community is known for creating hacks that improve your surfing experience; now we've dug into some of those tools and hacks built around YouTube.

Have a look through our 10 choices and let us know of any other YouTube mashups, hacks, or similar sites and services you've used. We'd love to hear about them in the comments below.

1. TubeReplay

This site features a super-simple premise. TubeReply will play a YouTube video over and over again, until you stop it or go mad -- whichever happens first. Just enter the URL of the clip you want repeated and the site will do the rest.

2. DragonTape

DragonTape allows you to remix YouTube videos into a seamless mixtape. Search for the clips you want, drag and drop to set up the play order and then share the playlist with friends via an auto-generated URL, or embed it with the code provided.

3. YouTube Doubler

This 'mashup helper' exists 'because you have better things to do than work.' You can use it to compare two videos, or have fun mashing together two patently unsuitable videos. Simply enter the two URLs, decide on your VJ name, and you're off and away. You can share your video pairing via a generated URL.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

The first Windows Phone 7 apps you should grab

CLICK to read article on Technolog

"Today is when the first Windows Phone 7 models go on sale — the Samsung Focus at AT&T and the HTC HD7 at T-Mobile. As we've discussed, they're powerhouse phones with gorgeous screens and Microsoft's surprisingly nice 'glance and go' operating system designed in the age of Facebook. But what matters once you get the phone is what apps to download. There are currently about 1,600 apps in the Marketplace, most of them free or dirt cheap.

There's already a lot of cr'apps in there, the standard lineup of flashlights, tip calcs, stopwatches, unit converters, and of course fart emulators. And because you can read what system resources each app needs to access, you can spot some shady ones too. A 'simple and fun finger drawing tool' that needs access to 'owner identity' and 'phone calls'? I'm sure there's a plausible explanation, but I am gonna pass!

There are also a lot of things still missing. There's no Pandora. There's no Kindle, Nook or Kobo e-book readers. (Update: Amazon stated about a week ago that it would be first to WP7, available 'later this year.') There's just one instant messaging app, and it's for Windows Live Messenger. The cooking and wine categories are barren — no Epicurious or BigOven, and no wine reference databases. Kid entertainment — that is, edutainment — is totally missing. And I don't see Bank of America or any other leading American banks with apps, nor do I see Mint.com. (USAA and Geico have apps though.)

There are a ton of games, and we've reviewed many here: Windows Phone 7 games: The good, the bad and the weird

What I did was sift through most of the non-game apps, and put together a list of the ones you definitely need, plus a few premium ones that you may want to buy.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

iPhone is No. 1 phone, while Android is No. 1 OS

CLICK to read article on Technolog

"The best-selling phone in America is the iPhone, according to two different reports. But the same research shows Android is the top-selling OS, and it continues unimpeded in its march to worldwide domination. Meanwhile, BlackBerry's Research In Motion is getting stepped on, and dumb phones — those not blessed with any of the so-called 'smart phone' OSes — may well be headed for extinction. The question is, will Android keep it together at the top, or spread itself too thin?

Selling the top phone — not just smart phone but phonephone — should be good news for Apple. But compared to the quarter that ended a year ago, Apple's market share declined by 21 percent against Android. RIM's share drop is a lot worse, though: It's down 53 percent compared to a year ago.

'Much of Android's quarterly share growth came at the expense of RIM, rather than Apple,' said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD, in a press release. 'The HTC EVO 4G, Motorola Droid X and other new high-end Android devices have been gaining momentum at carriers that traditionally have been strong RIM distributors, and the recent introduction of the BlackBerry Torch has done little to stem the tide.'

With nobody excited about new BlackBerry products, the best thing RIM can do is lower prices on its older more venerated handsets. Its Curve series, the No. 2 selling phone in the U.S., is listed at several carriers for the low low price of ... free. At least, with a two-year contract.

The iPhone beat another free-ish phone, the LG Cosmos, a messaging phone. As the only non-'smart' phone in NPD's top 5, and one that only got there through heavy-duty subsidies, another message is clear: Dumb phones are dying. But that might just mean more Android-powered phones of modest IQ being handed out for free or next to nothing.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"