YouTube – Another Wonderful Internet Thang
YouTube is a great, fun web site. It sports thousands of videos and hundreds of hours are being uploaded every minute. It is mind-boggling when you consider that it works at all!
There may be a few features of the YouTube site that you are not aware of. Here are but a few cool, free things you can do:
Link a Video at a Specific Time
What if you just watched a one hour video on YouTube but there was a special spot that you particularly liked. All you really want to do is send that point in time to your friend so she can enjoy it, too.
All you have to do is pause the video clip and Right-Click your mouse. A menu will appear where you can choose to Copy video URL at Current Time. Once you have that, you can paste it just about anywhere.
HTML5 Support
Hate Adobe Flash? You’re not alone in them thar hills. HTML5 is the latest and greatest when it comes to displaying video clips within your browser. Thank goodness ‘flash’ is on the way out. It is system-intensive and crashes a lot. I, for one, am happy to see it fade away.
A big part of YouTube is being converted to HTML5 and, providing your browser supports it, you can tell YouTube to make it your default choice. Head over to this HTML Settings Page to help end the Flash Fiasco.
Free Main Stream Movies
YouTube has lots of surprises. One of them is that you can watch full-length movies for free! There are tons of them and if you take the time to dig through the huge list, you will find lots of free ones to watch. Head on over to this Movies List to find them.
Note: The above image shows movies that will cost you a small amount, however, there are many free ones, too. You just have to hunt through the list to find the nuggets.
Live Shows
Want to see live shows streaming on your computer? You can do it on YouTube. Check out the Live Stream section of YouTube and find just about anything and everything. If watching live content is your addiction, then this is probably where you’ll want to go.
How About a Video Reporting Tool?
It makes perfect sense, and should come as no surprise, that ISPs throttle bandwidth. This is especially true when it comes to YouTube videos, although it is not limited to our favorite video clip purveyor. Would you like to find out how your ISP is behaving along these lines? If “Yes” is your answer, then head over to the cool TestTube area.
Sign up to be a tester. You’ll be able to “participate in user experience research studies and get rewarded for your time.”
Final Thoughts
YouTube is a phenomenal site. It has changed the way people interact. It has given anyone with an ounce of talent, or not, to show themselves off. It really sets an equal ground for all of us to participate in the world. All this, without the greedy corporate power that normally stultifies the common man by necessitating a huge amount of cash.
The Internet, and the World Wide Web, has been a boon to mankind. I personally believe it should be left to its own devices and not be interfered with by the power-hungry governments that would do it in. They seem to take offense to our knowing things– how about that,
Richard
After reading this article I need to get back on YouTube and check these out. Thanks for bringing this to everyone’s attention Richard. I like that YouTube is going away from Adobe Flash. Looking forward to seeing what Movies they offer . Why do i still pay for cable? So I guess I’m off to YouTube.
Hi Jason,
Have fun!! 🙂
Richard