Multimedia
Free movies on the Web
Although there are very popular commercial services like Netflix that provide movies for downloading or streaming, there are also sites with free movies. MakeUseOf recently reviewed three sites:
Internet Archive
Classic Cinema Online
Archive Classic Movies
MakeUseOf also has a free PDF, The Internet Guide for the Movie Addict:
This entirely free PDF production will show you anything you’ve ever [...]
More evidence against multitasking
Here’s some more evidence to add to previous studies showing that multitasking is not so efficient after all. eWeek reports:
Our increasingly media- and technology-saturated world is leading people to a state of constant multitasking that puts the human cognition system in a disruptive state. So claims an article published in the latest edition of [...]
Getting you to watch more YouTube
Google, owner of YouTube, is trying to figure out how to make more money out of it. One way is to get you to watch more. The Wall Street Journal reports:
More than 100 million U.S. users watch an average of 68 videos each on YouTube every month, according to comScore. How can YouTube get them [...]
Video search engines
You can use Google or one of the other general search engines to look for specific video clips but you may have better luck with one of the specialized services. CNET describes some of the search engines devoted to cataloging video clips:
If you’re having trouble finding the right video online, video search engines are a [...]
The Web will show you how to do almost anything
Video clips of the how-to type have proliferated on the Web with numerous sites now having collections demonstrating how to do all sorts of things. The growth of these sites is important enough that the New York Times Sunday business section had a lede story on a new startup called Howcast:
Sometimes — and this is [...]
The future of movie-watching
More and more, people who are movie fans are doing their watching at home using the PC. In an email, my colleague Sol Libes writes:
The entertainment business is changing rapidly. Netflix, with its steaming movies over the Internet, is trying to keep up with movie competition from Apple, Amazon, Redbox, Comcast, Verizon FIOS, satellite, [...]
Microsoft DirectX security problem
DirectX, which Windows uses in displaying multimedia, has a security hole that is being attacked. Details are given by Ryan Naraine at ZDNet.
Addendum: Microsoft has a temporary work-around at this link.
Second addendum: I should have mentioned that the security problem does not apply to Windows Vista.
Guide to video encoding
As I have mentioned several times, video encoding is a mishmash of different codecs and formats. A recent series of introductory posts on the subject by Google staff member Mark Pilgrim can help shed light on the subject.
Via AppScout
Videos, movies, and TV on the Web
My SeniorNet colleague and personal computing pioneer Sol Libes is an avid watcher of TV and video on his PC. He even watches over-the-air HDTV programs on his PC. He has prepared a Web page Videos, Movies, and TV on the Web that lists many interesting Web sites. It’ll greatly expand your horizons for [...]
YouTube false virus alarm
Rumors are spreading about a YouTube virus infection. However, it may be a false alarm. Valleywag reports:
Some people viewing YouTube videos have gotten an alert saying antivirus software has detected a computer virus called Actns/Swif.T. That virus is real enough; it redirects people to a website which then installs a piece of hostile software deceivingly [...]
How to play any video file
Video clips now have a large presence on the Internet. Also, more home PC users are making and distributing videos. Although many files are in the common formats like Flash, AVI, WMV, QuickTime, and RealMedia, there are still many variations and formats and it is not uncommon to find that you need yet another player [...]