Download YouTube HQ22 HQ37 HQ38

08.Mar 2015 important information!
Download Helper 4.x is no longer working with Firefox since its version 36! Download Helper 5 ist still being developed - you can read about it here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/video-downloadhelper-5  Currently I'm trying the Beta http://www.downloadhelper.net/install-beta.php?version=5.0.0b1

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I often download a YouTube video ...  to extract a soundtrack and save it as mp3 or to save a short film for offline viewing, so the kids can watch stuff in the train and so on.
There are many documented methods out there but still some people aren't aware, that all web videos actually can be saved. I use three different tools to get the best results:

• the Firefox Add-On Download Helper  or use keepvid.com (no add-on needed 08. Mar 2015)
• and Handbrake to convert the videos to the size and format that best suits my needs
• AudioCoder for all audio related tasks with full control (aka Mediacoder Audio Edition)

Before you start grabbing videos you need to know just one important thing:
>> YouTube offers most videos in different resolutions

Let me give you an example: If you're an audiophile type, then you certainly want to know that higher quality streams also offer better audio encoding. It might be essential to the music grabber to understand the different quality levels available, since Download Helper offers you to choose the desired encoding and size level. If you haven't heard about that, you gonna end up with lower quality than expected.

[Update 03. Aug 2014]  >  Important: A lot of time has passed since I wrote this up in 2010. Meanwhile all cell phones and portable devices became real media powerhouses. 90% of the readers can stop reading here because you will be perfectly happy, if you just get download Helper for Firefox and always grab the HQ22 / 720p  youtube video stream or use keepvid.com (no add-on needed 08. Mar 2015) . You then have a clean MP4 video with good resolution and decent file size which will suit almost all your needs. Just trust me on this. [/end]


This list gives you an overview of common YouTube formats
(for a complete listing check the wikipedia link below)

Type	Resolution	Ratio	Format	Audio (quality)	Name	video bit rate
[HQ6]	480x360	4:3	FLV	mono	HQ6
[HQ18]	480x360	4:3	MP4	stereo	add &fmt=18 to url
[HQ35]	854x480	16:9	FLV	44.1 kHz stereo AAC 102kps	480p
[HQ22]	1280x720	16:9	MP4	44.1 khz stereo AAC LC 128kps	720p	~730kbps @30fps
[HQ13]	176x144	4:3	3GP	mono	HQ13
[HQ17]	176x144	4:3	3GP	stereo	QCIF Mobile
[HQ34]	640x360	16:9	FLV	stereo	360p
[HQ37] nov, 2009	1920x1080	16:9	MP4	stereo	1080p
[HQ38]	3840x2160 ( was 4096x 2304) also 2048x1152	16:9	MP4 AVC1 high @L5.0	44.1kHz stereo AAC 151Kbps /VBR)	4k  or  4096p or “original” or 2k, 2160p (old 2048p)	4k ~??? 2k ~1570 kbps @30fps
[HQ5]	400x226	16:9	FLV	stereo	240p

DASH video streams:

[HQ137]	1920x1080	16:9	MP4	AAC	1080p

[discontinued formats are greyed out]

25.05.2014: Since November 2013 HQ37 / 1080p streams can't be easily saved anymore. YouTube began using the protocol DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) to stream 1080p videos. Current YouTube download programs can't handle DASH.  Dash or mpeg-dash are breaking the content into a sequence of small HTTP-based file segments, conventional web servers can then send those segments.
To download 1080p youtube DASH streams try the firefox addon Easy Youtube Video Download Expess - works fine for me. Not as comfortable as download helper but it just works.
Or use keepvid.com to grab 4k video streams, no audio though (no add-on needed).

(04 Aug 2014 update forget the add wares I mentioned in May - although Freemake is the only known option to me for downloading 4k Videos from youtube)  MassTube - adware alert! - adfree version @Softpedia works fine for me. Also the AdWare Freemake works - MAKE SURE you don't use express installations! I've warned you.

05.02.2014: interestingly some of my format observations differ from the table at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube


In some cases you then want to convert the downloaded stuff:
>> Handbrake is very easy to use and delivers fantastic results.

• Open the video you want to convert (the source video)
• choose one of the predefined profiles
• edit the settings (resolution) to your likings
• choose the destination for the converted file
• go!

Looking for an easy way to create MP3 Files from the grabbed video? Usually it takes only two to three clicks to extract the sound. I suggest using AudioCoder. (Beacause of LAME.exe problems and drag&drop you should download the 32bit version only.) I convert because I prefer how perfectly mp3 is treated by all devices out there - I'm talking about skipping tracks, embedding cover art, embedding meta data etc.
You lose a bit of quality while converting AAC to let's say mp3 "cbr 164kb/s" because both are lossy compression formats but I couldn't care less about that, while being in a crowded airport or a TGV...   phreaks just shouldn't convert.

[09.08.2011 - please note, that I'm checking on alternatives to MediaCoder products because - they violate GPL for not properly informing about the ffmpeg licence, not to mention the absence of source code providing since 2008. Chinese product - open source first - closed source since 2008? It's wrong. BTW Same problem with Freemake - with freemake I'm even more sceptic because they hide all their intentions and sources.]

>>  If you want to deal with the original AAC audio stream only,  you might want to try the small tool Yamb >> developer site, "editing" / "extract streams"to split/demux the AAC audio stream from the video stream.

Nvidia GTX 460 released

Finally the Nvidia DX11 product we've been waiting for has arrived. Placed at the $200 limit (digitec CHF 230.-) and with very low idle power consumption.

- decent performance
- very quiet
- very cheap! (768MB version, FPS per $ already at first day of release)



Read techpowerup's conclusion for an overview. If you want a really quiet GTX 460 then make sure that you'll get yourself Nvidia's reference board design!

You might also want to check out the benchmarks at Anandtech. While I tend to disagree with their rather pessimistic conclusion (768 vs. 1024 MB), it's still a good thing to check out figures from a different source.

Update Sep/2010: GTX 460 and GTS 450 With the release of driver 260.63 the audio formats DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD can now be transmitted through HDMI (compressed). With every driver release functions are being added. While you don't need most of the new features you're certainly interested in the game's performance gain (5 to 15%), so keep the drivers up to date regularly.

HTC Desire review

It all began with the SE t39 - then through the last 9 years I owned Sony Ericsson cell phones only, product design and ease of use were always superb. Everyone I introduced to the brand was surprised by its usability and photo quality. Finally time has come to try something new.
With the release of Android 2.1 I decided go for an Android Phone.

Update: Android 2.2 / Froyo update? is available since July 31st. Adding Video 720p recording and all 2.2 features! cool thing. and yes! also Thai font support ;-)

I chose the HTC Desire: the specs are impressive and very important to me, it comes with a FM radio receiver whereas the great looking SE Xperia X10 doesn't. The phone is slim, looks good and has a fantastic screen and a headphone jack - I won't write anything else about the hardware, because hey: it's just good and it's all there.


So? I'm totally amazed how very complete this device is! Never did my Android mates tell me about the extreme freedom of use ... simply because they were not really exploring it's capabilities. I also love the concept that (thanks to linux' good memory handling) most Android Apps stay open and available much longer than on other phone OSes - jumping back into a previous task is very practical! Feels like true multitasking.

There are many lengthy HTC Desire reviews (one more) posted everywhere, but they are about facts and technical issues. I prefer to give you a glimpse at why I think I'm currently using one of the best cell phone there is. More pictures, less text.

First of all the home screens > true eye catchers

7 screens, center one see above
totally customizable - fully animated wallpaper available

Drag around the widgets, add whatever you like...
download animated wallpapers, everything for free

Get apps and widgets in the Android Market and elsewhere (google),

still not so much around, this will change with time.

What are apps? Who needs such a crap?
In the screenshots you see, how the app FREEdi YouTube Download Helper
saves a music video as mp3, after that you trim it with the default music player,
then set it as a ringtone - all done with just a few 'clicks'
(now go on searching for your iphone custom ringtone tutorial)

Besides games, there are all sort of apps out there, mainly they
process information to suit the small display and become finger friendly.
some examples:
Astro File Manager or AndroZip File Manager (adding zip support)
toppreise.ch - quick settings - soccer app - zebra paint


Writing email, texting and mms, copy & paste goes very very easily,

keep the key pressed to access the special characters.

Word suggestion works almost flawlessly!

MS Exchange Users attention! No full exchange profiles support in Android 2.1!

(certificate handling is special > read why > then how to import)
update: click here to see how ActiveSync works on Desire with Android 2.2

No surprises when it comes to calling functions and using address book.
There's an annoying bug when syncing with google contacts though,
all your contact pictures get shrunk to something like 60x60 pixels.
We hope this gets fixed soon.

Now! browsing and playing back media works much better than I dared to imagine:

(I use mp3tag to add cover art)

Look at the phenomenal video resolution - one will hardly believe when seen live
on the HTC Desire's screen: 800 x 480 - zero judder.
(convert all movies flv, divx, xvid, mp4, mkv with handbrake)

Internet browsing works great too, the high display resolution
turns out to add positively to the reading experience , fonts are very smooth.

The flash and html5 discussions are useless, in 2012 all devices out there
will render html5, but in 2010? Many sites still use flash
and the Desire renders it quite acceptable!
That's because HTC installed a beta version of flash 10.1 (flash lite plugin).

The integrated youtube app now offers HQ mode, compare the screenshots.
While there are better youtube apps available out there,
this still proves to be practical enough.

Last but least - two things I like very much about this phone:

there's a minimal fm tuner available, works as desired (RDS only with 2.2),
plus the notifications in the top left corner are very practical in everyday use.
Dragging down the notification window is very smooth, allows direct jump to app.

Conclusion:

• Openness! the Android experience is nothing short of fantastic
• the phone is very cheap
  (toppreise.ch CHF 550.- / €420  / iphone4 no sim-lock CHF 900.- / €645)
• superb connectivity and media experience
• looks and usability of home screens can be tweaked to please every taste
• great display with multitouch (but amoled displays become rare!)
• GPS, motion sensors and so on - all common 2010 functions included
• fair: 5mp camera has fast autofocus and LED flash
• Android 2.2 aka Froyo will come to the phone soon and add:
  better MS Exchange security profiles support, WiFi access point functionality,
  mobile flash 10.1 support

So what's the downside to all this greatness?

• no xenon flash
• no thai fonts solved
• no 720p video recording solved
• no hdmi out
• battery life is limited
  max 3 days very low use, 1 day when everything is used to the max
• no Skype support yet Skype is available since 5 October 2010
• the speaker is medicore
• no voice dialing solved
• because of its success > always sold out! (Better since SLCDs were introduced)

I very believe that over time much less iphones will be sold. while the hardware and the connection to itunes apply to most? I think apples money leaching and anti flash practices will bring themselves to a halt soon.

Android? While connection to pc software will never be as tight, the whole package is more flexible. The hardware already surpassed the iphone for half the price. Also check out the specs of this impressive Motorola announcement. Intel is also readying an Android core for x86 hardware, which will add to the spreading...

good vid from phonearena:

Nvidia GTX 480 and 470 reviews

oh boy 6 months late, the cards are finally available. Reviews are posted all over the net as of now... results are rather disappointing! GTX 480 to hot, to loud. Oh damn according to anandtech even the GTX 470 seems to be hotter and louder than any 5800 ATI out there. Update June 2010: at least in europe prices for GTX 470 dropped a lot. They cost only about 10% more than ATI's 5850. Also check out the GTX 460!

Some facts:

• GTX 480 is currently the fastest single GPU solution available, beating ATI 5870 performance by about 10-15%
• GTX 470 is just around 5% faster than a ATI 5850 but also costs a bit more more
• GTX 480 ($499) an is about 25% faster than GTX 470 (around $350)
• relevant to me, DX10 Modern Warfare 2 at 1920*1200 with 4xAA > well here the difference is 20-30% in favor for the Nvidia products. That's not bad! (uuh in other reviews the cards are on par...)

Reviews: GTX 480 and 470 Anandtech and at tomshardware, GTX 480 at techpowerup, GTX 480 at Golem.de und heise.de

Preise in Deutschland
Preise in der Schweiz: GTX 470 > vorher CHF 450.- Juni 2010: akzeptable CHF 400  /  GTX 480 > kranke CHF 600.-

Since ATI demands are still said to be very high, their prices won't drop fast either. I guess I'm looking forward to something like GTX 485 and GTX 475 where some of the problems might have been addressed? For people playing in lower resolution than 1920*1200 or without turning all details to the max, the GTX 460 seems to be a good solution at prices around CHF 225.-

1min Video demonstrating gtx 480 loudness lmao

Windows Phone 7 UI and silverlight

There's this cool 20 Min video from Mix 2010 where Microsoft's Joe Belfiore shows more from Windows Phone 7's user interface. In the end he also presents a nice news app created using silverlight.
I'm no MS freak, just have to admit that I really like what I'm seeing!

Logitech mouse click not working

After years we all faced the following problems with all our Logitech mice...

• double click not working anymore
• left click hardly ever working
• click-dragging resulting in unpredictable results
• single mouse click registered as double click
• etc.

In most cases we just have to clean the inside of the micro-switch and all problems vanish. My 6 yrs old son helped me out this time:

important: read the comments before you disassemble anything.
sometimes you solve the situation by just blowing into the mouse.
or by following these Logitech instructions:  trapped static energy

also: you will void your warranty by going through this.
In my case? ...couldn't care less, the pictured mouse is from 2007.

I'd say the pictures are self-explanatory, some of you might want to remove the battery as the starting step.
Richard has some more information posted here, plus there's another site with similar info and more pictures. I hope this was useful...

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Logitech Set Point 6 released

By the end of February Logitech released Set Point 6. Still a 00 release but it already seems to work quite fine at my place.
It now implements the drivers "Productivity" and the "Gamer" branch under one hood and has a modular update system.

Also in the new release my Performance MX mouse buttons 6 and 9 can't be assigned custom functions. But once again we're lucky enough and Richard's uberoptions adds the value we desire. (Update June 2010: currently I'm not able to apply uberoptions to a fresh windows 7 setup. So I also had to revert back to Setpoint 4.8 - tiresome)

Just take note, that after having installed uberoptions the new OSDs won't fully work yet (volume and font).
During uberoptions installation you have to make sure to feed the installer with the new Setpoint paths. For Windows 7 32bit & 64bit those are
C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPointP
C:\ProgramData\LogiShrd\SetPointP\Devices

(old vs new notification area icon)

In general v6 looks really good and seems to head into the right direction. Important to some: the new release currently features less wheel options! Some KB/Mouse combos are not fully supported yet.

In their forum you'll find the release notes and some comments. But before you download anything - make sure to save your current configuration user.xml found in %appdata%\Logitech\SetPoint\ it might be helpful in the process.


some facts:

• New Driver Version for Productivity branch is 4.90.80 / up till now we used the fine 4.82.11. Driver Version for Gamer branch is 5.3 (old drivers can be found on Logitech's ftp server)
  
• new install file: 24 MB / old install package: 67 MB
• I never cared much about the huge installer, the memory footprint is more important and in my case I can't report anything really bad. With SetPoint v6, just the mouse, I read khalmnpr.exe 4.8 MB, Setpoint.exe 4.8 MB
• In the new release OSD functionality was cut > now only displays volume, mute, play/pause, caps on/off but no longer application names

some screenshots:

Above's screenshot shows the new App Override dialog. Basically works like the previous one.
Below: the new OSD looks much better:

Gamers might be interested in this Logitech Forum Thread.

Changes from earlier versions of SetPoint:

• The download size has been reduced by approximately 60%. This has been achieved by streamlining the code and removing device pictures from the download package. SetPoint will automatically download pictures in the background for devices that are connected to your system.
• SetPoint 6.0 includes the control panels for standard mice and keyboards (previously supported in SetPoint 4.x) and gaming mice (previously supported in SetPoint 5.x). This reduces duplication of system components, resulting in a smaller overall installation size.
• The SetPoint control panel for standard mice and keyboards has been updated with a new appearance.
• Numerous bug fixes and stability enhancements have been made in SetPoint 6.0

Porsche 918 Spyder at Geneva 2010

Update May 17 2012:  Spy shots are widely spread online since yesterday!
just one example

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It's been forever that I've visited the official Porsche page. I go on typing http://www.porsche.com/ and go "WHAT THE HECK IS THIS???" This car looks faaaantastic!

Porsche 918 Spyder Concept

2x 135hp electric motors, 580hp V8 for a total of , 0-100/0-62 in 3.2s, predicted Nordschleife under 7:27.

10 hours ago I decided to go to the Geneva Motorshow this friday. Now I realize that an hour ago the following media was released.

(high resolution)

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[2x E 109hp & 500hp back on march 1st when it was announced]