TechSource: Best Firefox Add-ons for a Better YouTube Experience

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Best Firefox Add-ons for a Better YouTube Experience Posted: 26 Nov 2015 12:42 AM PST From blocked videos to annoying ads, there are many things about YouTube we don't like. These restrictions and distractions only dampen the amazing experience that the video-sharing website is meant to provide. If you are a Firefox user, however, you won't have to worry about such things. Firefox offers a variety of add-ons that let you fix pretty much any annoyance that YouTube has. Furthermore, they also let you download videos right to your desktop so that you can watch them whenever you want, even without a connection. So, without much ado, here are some of the best Firefox add-ons that help you have a better YouTube experience.  1-Click YouTube Video Downloader What makes this downloading app so special is purely its simplicity. Once installed, you'll find a small button below the video you are watching. This will let you choose the quality of the video you want to download, and then once you click it, the video starts downloading automatically. The add-on supports a wide variety of major formats like MP4, FLV, WebM, 3GP thus letting you watch the video later on any device you like. While it doesn't add any fancy functions to the mix, its simplicity is the only reason, which will probably make you start using it right away.   DOWNLOAD HERE Ageless for YouTube If you are over 18 but still find it annoying that you have to sign in to watch age-restricted videos, then this next add-on is just for you. Once installed, you won't have to sign in every time you watch an age-restricted video. This is great for people who don't have a YouTube account or don't want to sign up for one.   DOWNLOAD HERE CleanTube If you are someone annoyed by some of the unwanted elements on the YouTube page then this extension will come in handy. By simply a single click you can hide the comments section, the sidebar, ads, and other parts of YouTube that you find annoying. What gives this add-on the upper edge is that it lets you customize the look of your YouTube page the way you want it to. If you prefer, you can customize it till the only thing you see is your video and nothing else. It is really a great tool for minimalists.  DOWNLOAD HERE Download YouTube Videos as MP4 Much like the aforementioned 1-click YouTube Downloader, this one too puts a simple download button below your videos. What is great about this add-on is that it doesn't require you to restart the browser. As far as restrictions go, this one is limited to MP4s only. However, if all you do is watch videos on your desktop, this addon fits the bill. DOWNLOAD HERE YouTube Unblocker If you are not living in the United States, watching videos that are blocked in your country can be quite a trouble. Though there are many workarounds for that (like VPN), there isn't a convenient solution that just works. Thankfully, though there's a simple extension to remedy that problem. YouTube Unblocker does exactly what it says, it automatically unblocks disabled videos like VEVO by enabling proxy that directs to the US website. So instead of completely using YouTube with a proxy server, this addon intelligently queries the video so that you will be watching only the blocked videos through a proxy. There are no VPN or shady sites involved here. DOWNLOAD HERE YouTube Center If you are frequently annoyed by the cluttered design and slow loading of videos on the YouTube webpage then this next add on is just for you. Once installed, you will be able to download videos, remove ads, repeat the video, prevent buffering of videos, turn off the lights and much more. After installing, a small cog button will show up on the top right corner of your webpage. Clicking on it will take you to the YouTube Center settings page wherein you'd be able to modify different settings so that your videos look and feel just the way you want them to. Overall, YouTube Center is designed to give you much more control over the way you use YouTube. DOWNLOAD HERE

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TechSource: Windows 10: Is it Really Worth Ditching Linux for?

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Windows 10: Is it Really Worth Ditching Linux for? Posted: 17 Oct 2015 12:22 AM PDT For many years, Linux desktop held the bragging rights for being free as in free beer. It was going swell until Windows 10 came along. Microsoft's latest desktop offering, apart from being a move towards convergence, ushers in a new model of operating system licensing. In July 2015, the Redmond giant in what is considered a bold move, decided to upgrade every Windows 7 and 8 user to the latest and greatest version -- for free. What's more, the development of the operating system was more community-oriented and focused on taking valuable feedback from testers and implementing into the OS. The result was a perfect blend of the familiarity of the good ol' Windows 7 and the modernity of Windows 8.1.  Though we won't call Windows 10 the perfect desktop OS, it is certainly an eye-catching offering packed with features that are hard to resist, even for Mac users. The homely start menu, the sharp Cortana, and Linux-esque features like virtual desktops all blend in to provide a seamless desktop experience that, for the first time, matches up with the prowess of the Mac OS X desktop experience. While Ubuntu's growth remaining stagnant and no new 'big' announcements on the Linux front this year, many penguinian users are considering migrating to the dark side. While some have already crossed the threshold, others are reflecting on the pros and cons. For them the following article will shed light on some of the tempting features of the OS and how they compare to what Linux currently offers.  The Search Experience One of the biggest changes in Windows 10 is the integration of search with Cortana, local files, and content from the web. This combination makes search a powerful addition to the Windows 10 experience. With the ability to look through files, folders, and content on the web, the need for opening the web browser time and again becomes redundant.  The search experience on Linux, however, is still mediocre as compared to what Windows or Mac offers. On Ubuntu you can search through files; but searching on the web through the Dash is still flaky. If you are someone who wants a unified desktop and web experience and online search is a big deal for you, switching to Windows 10 might not be such a bad move. Otherwise, the good ol' Dash works perfectly for the normal desktop user. The Start Menu Yep, it's back. After hearing the complaints of millions of users from around the world, the Redmond giant finally decided to bring the Start menu back. Though it is not the same as what Windows XP and 7 had, it still retains the functionality of its predecessor. You can search, browse through programs, and even pin tiles to your start menu. This is a welcome change from the gaudy Windows 8 start screen that took up useful real estate. For Linux users, there has always been an equivalent of the start menu. In Mint for example, the start menu is reminiscent of the Windows 7 start menu and on Ubuntu we have the Dash, which is the right blend of modernity and functionality. If you are looking to ditch Linux for the Windows 10 start menu, unfortunately, it might not be worth it. Free as in Free Beer, but not Freedom Windows 10 is free. Yes, completely free. Well, almost. If you own a genuine copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8, you can upgrade to the latest desktop without paying a single penny. If you don't, you'll have to pay the retail price for a new copy of the operating system. So, if you are already on an earlier version of Windows, probably dual booting with your tux desktop, there are no reasons not to upgrade to Windows 10. However, it is essential that you backup your data before making the switch as the upgrade has been known to cause some issues.  Always Updated Both Linux and Windows rely on updates to provide a secure and up-to-date desktop experience. Windows, however, goes a step further with this process. Switching to a software-as-a-service model, the latest version of the desktop will deliver all future updates and upgrades online. This means no Windows 11 or 12 and every new feature or major change will be delivered to your desktop via a simple over-the-air update. The only problem, though, with this model is that you can't opt out of it. If you upgrade to Windows 10, there's no official way of disabling those updates. So, if you have a limited bandwidth, just think a couple of times before upgrading. Compared to Linux, this might feel like an intrusive move, but Microsoft plans to make money as a service rather than an operating system that is quite different from the way Linux operates. Privacy Issues Last, but not the least, one of the controversies surrounding Windows 10 is quite a biggie for Linux users and that is of privacy. Despite clarifications by Microsoft on this matter, Windows 10 is known to collect a huge amount of data that is quite unsettling for a desktop user. If there's one big deal breaker Linux users have to face while installing Windows 10 is this one. Even though you can tweak the settings, having complete control over your data is something only a Linux user can enjoy in its full glory. Conclusion So, is it worth ditching Linux for Windows 10? While it is a great update to Windows 8, the one that fixes it all, upgrade problems and privacy issues are main reasons Linux users should be wary of the upgrade. However, if you want the latest and greatest, it should be a no-brainer. Our advice is to wait till Microsoft settles the issues plaguing the OS and then give it a shot. Till then, penguins are always your friends. Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.

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TechSource: 5 Best Tools You Need To Create Your Next Big Android App

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5 Best Tools You Need To Create Your Next Big Android App Posted: 06 Oct 2015 02:24 AM PDT Creating a simple Android app that calculates the amount of tip you have to pay at a restaurant is easy. Creating a fully functional messaging app with third-party integration, not so. Android app development is such a big area that the possibilities for you are practically endless. You can create very basic apps that make you enough money to pay your rent and then you can create those big apps like Snapchat, which make you a billionaire. Android marketplace isn't just an app store anymore; it's a playground for showcasing your best abilities and creating something valuable for millions of mobile users. That said, good apps do need some extra effort, some manpower, and more importantly some solid tools that help speed up the process. That's why today we've listed some of the best tools out there for helping you create your next big Android app. These will help you get through some of the most common hurdles that show up when you create, deploy, and test your app.  Android Studio This is the most basic stuff you'll find in an Android developer's repertoire. Android Studio replaces Eclipse as the official IDE for Android and comes with all the libraries and developer tools that will help you create your app right from scratch. The whole bundle works across all major operating system platforms. The huge download also gives you access to a version of Android system image for the emulator. This means that you can write your app then test it right on your desktop. You won't even need an Android device at any stage of the development process. DOWNLOAD HERE Titanium SDK If you have strong aversion to Java and prefer coding in languages like HTML, PHP, JavaScript, Ruby and Python, this SDK is for you. Instead of sticking to a native SDK like Android SDK, you can develop apps for multiple platforms at the same time. In other words, you can create apps for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows from the same codebase. If you are a small business or a budding startup that needs to get apps up and running across multiple platforms, Titanium is a great choice. It has been used by many developers from around the world and many apps are created using it.  DOWNLOAD HERE Genymotion The default Android emulator, despite being distributed by Google, itself happens to be quite slow and buggy. Genymotion remedies that problem by providing a blazing fast Android emulator that does much more than what the default Android emulator does. Moreover, apart from providing an Android emulator, Genymotion also provides more than 10 virtual devices so that you can test your app across all the major platforms out there. If your app or game has special features that make use of the motion sensors or requires connecting to a big display, Genymotion handles that too by providing specialized features to test your app. If you are developing a small app, the default emulator is good enough. But for big apps that need to be deployed to millions of users (in case of startups, etc.), there's nothing better than Genymotion out there. Rhomobile Much like Titanium, Rhomobile lets you build apps for multiple platforms without requiring you to become a Java ninja. What makes it so special is that Rhomobile focuses more on enterprise clients. We've already written a lot about Enterprise apps on Android and if your next app is one then Rhomobile might come in handy. You can code in HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and Ruby yet be able to deploy a single app across multiple platforms. The basic suite is free but if you're a company then go for the Silver or Gold plan depending on your needs. DOWNLOAD HERE Ubertesters If you are building a big app that needs to be tested aggressively, Ubertester is a service that will definitely come in handy. It lets you organize and monitor your app's beta testing process much more efficiently. It doesn't matter if you have 4 or 400 testers Ubertester gives you a lot of flexibility, which the usual testing process doesn't allow. You can send OTA updates (much like Google does) to your testers and get quick feedback. Among other features, Ubertesters also allows you to do in-app bug editing which comes in very handy if you are reiterating on the go. Overall, it is a great service for testing and improving your Android app.

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TechSource: 5 Best Calendar Apps for Google Chrome

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5 Best Calendar Apps for Google Chrome Posted: 11 Sep 2015 01:15 AM PDT Managing time has become so important these days. You have a meeting at 10 am, then lunch at 2 pm, and a lot of things in between. It is hard to manage so many things in one day. Thankfully, these days we have so many time management apps that it is barely a hassle anymore. As humans, we should be grateful to the wonderful technology we have at our disposal. Technology, in many ways, has saved us from the hassle of being late to meetings, forgetting important birthdays, and missing out on some great parties. Be it an app, a web-based service, or a nifty command-line trick, never before has time management become so easy. One of the biggest proofs of this advancement is the way our calendars have been reinvented. From simple sheets of papers that we used to hang on the walls to the omnipresent "apps" we carry with us anywhere we go, Calendar has come a long way. If you're a person who lives in their browser, however, nothing comes more handy than these calendar apps.  So, if you are looking to ramp up your productivity this week, read on as we list some of the best calendar apps for Google Chrome: Google Calendar Undoubtedly the most popular web-based calendar service out there, Google Calendar's omnipresence is hard to deny. Be it a corporate meeting or a family gathering, this nifty service makes sure that punctuality will be the last thing you need to worry about. What's great about Google's calendar service is that it allows you to share your calendar with your coworkers and friends. This means that they won't have to call you up every time they want to schedule a meeting with you. They can simply add an event to a calendar and you can choose whether to accept or to deny the invite (much like Facebook events).  Another good thing about Google Calendar is that it syncs with most of your desktop applications thus helping you access it no matter where you go. This app for Chrome, though almost identical to the web app, lets you have a quick access to the service.  DOWNLOAD HERE Boomerang Calendar for Gmail While this might not be necessarily an app, it does give you some great functionality if you are someone who gets lost in a myriad of appointments and commitments to keep. Once installed, you'll be able to schedule your meetings with just one click. Whenever you get an invite, the extension goes through your schedule and checks for any available spots. If it finds any, it will let you book that spot in just one click. The add-on is pretty simple and straightforward and works quite well with Gmail.  DOWNLOAD HERE Zoho Calendar Zoho Calendar is part of the Zoho suite, a well-known competitor to Google Docs. While neither as popular or as feature rich as Google Calendar, Zoho seems like a perfect choice for those who want to unshackle themselves from Google's huge ecosystem. As far as the UI goes, the app looks pretty similar to Google Calendar, almost as if it is a clone. However, the fonts and many other UI elements do a good job at reminding you that this is a different application you are using. Also, Zoho allows you to embed your calendar on any website or blog. This can be very useful for bloggers who like putting out schedules and future post announcements on their site.  Apart from being a solid, Google Calendar alternative, Zoho makes itself stand apart from the web giant by allowing you to integrate the calendar with various CRM applications. DOWNLOAD HERE Memo Calendar This app stands apart from others on this list by focusing on simplicity rather than features. Memo Calendar acts and feels much like the memo calendars we used to (or still do) hang on our walls. On each date, you can stick a small note so that it could help you remember something important that you have to do that day. Be it a birthday, a meeting, or an award show, just write it down on the memo calendar and you'll be fine. If you are looking for a simple, clean alternative to Google Calendar, this is your pick. DOWNLOAD HERE Sunrise Calendar Compatible with the aforementioned Google Calendar as well as iCloud, Sunrise calendar is what Wunderlist is to a plain-old to-do list. Gorgeous design coupled with all the essential features you'd want from Google Calendar or any other calendar app, Sunrise is probably the best calendar app out there (Yes, it's even better than Google Calendar). What makes it so special is the fact that it integrates with many of the important services that have similar features built in. In other words, you don't have to open Facebook to check your distant cousin's birthday, Sunrise brings your Facebook Events and GCal events together thus removing the necessity for you to keep checking multiple sites at the same time. Much like Google Calendar, Sunrise works offline and allows you to add maps to a particular event. If you are already using Google Calendar, try this.  DOWNLOAD HERE

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TechSource: Using Android Apps for Keeping the Family Safe

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Using Android Apps for Keeping the Family Safe Posted: 20 Aug 2015 08:38 PM PDT If you have kids, you know how hard or fact impossible it is to wean them off their smartphones. Constant texting, calling, and selfie-snapping are essential elements of the modern youth lifestyle. And to challenge that, is a herculean task. But with every dark cloud there's a silver lining. Similarly, every smartphone brings with it a valuable tool that can assist a great deal in protecting your family. Thanks to the GPS technology many smartphones come built with, you can easily locate your family members on a map and reach them whenever they are in need of your help. This is also a great way to keep track of teenagers when they go out to a party late at night thus keeping you up worrying about them. Furthermore, even when you are in a supermarket or a mall, you can prevent your kids from getting lost by tracking them on a map. The aforementioned safety measures don't come built-in with a new smartphone, however, there are some really good apps that provide those features at a very low cost or for free. Following is a list of few such apps: Life360 - Family Locator  Life360 is a well-designed and useful family safety app that is great for small or even big families. Once installed, you can view your family members' locations on a private map along with their display pictures. What's good about Life360 is that it has a "Check-in" button like Foursquare that lets your kids or you punch in their current location. Also, if there is any trouble, you can push the "Alert" button and notify your parents. Among other features, this free app is great for chatting up with your family members while you are away.  DOWNLOAD HERE ZoeMob Family Locator Much like the aforementioned Life360, ZoeMob too serves as a GPS tracker for your family members. What is great about this app is that it comes with a GeoFence feature that lets you receive alerts whenever your family members arrive at school or at home. This is great for working moms who want to get notified once their kids get home from school. Furthermore, ZoeMob also features a family messenger app for chatting with other family members.  DOWNLOAD HERE Family Safe Family Safe is a GPS tracking system that can be used for tracking family members' locations. The application operates on 2 modes: Guardian profile and Protected profile. Under the Guardian profile (aimed at parents), you will be able to add your kids, elders, or any other relatives to your list and locate them on the map. If they're in trouble, you can quickly drive over to them using Google Navigate. There is also an option to call your relative right from the app. Under the protected profile (aimed at kids/elders), you're able to send a quick alert to a guardian signaling any emergency.   DOWNLOAD HERE Family Safety GPS Tracker If you want to track specific members of your family using their phone's GPS tracker, this app is worth a try. It has a unique functionality that gives you your relatives' GPS position at specific predefined intervals. This means that, you can get alerts about your kids' positions every one or two hours and not every minute (which can be quite annoying for both parties). Another good thing the app comes with is the emergency button. Just press the power key (even when your phone is in your pocket) four times and it will sound an emergency alarm. Also, if you want to know your child's location using SMS only (useful for older phones), you can simply send the SMS : REQUEST LOCATION and you'll get the location. Overall, a clean and simple app that does what it says on the tin.   DOWNLOAD HERE Family Locator - GPS Tracker Family Locator is another good app for locating your family members. What's unique about this app is that you can manually set safe or danger zones in the phone. This means that if your child goes into a particular part of the town (let's say the one that's more prone to violence, robbery etc) it will sound an alarm. Similarly, in a safe zone, when your kid leaves a particular zone, it will inform you. Apart from those features, the app has pretty much all the bells and whistles from other Family safety apps like messenger, maps, and real-time location.   DOWNLOAD HERE Written by: Abhishek, a regular TechSource contributor and a long-time FOSS advocate.

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