closings

YouTube launches CaptionTube: A caption editor

YouTube on Thursday released a new Web-based application called CaptionTube that lets users add text captions to their videos.

The video service has had support for captioning in its videos since August of last year, but until now, you've been stuck having to do it with time codes and captions uploaded as a separate .sub file. This new system, which will be a part of YouTube's TestTube labs section, lets you add captions right in your browser using a time line-based system that looks and feels like a video editor.

The tool lets you grab one of your videos from your YouTube upload section or from its public-interface URL. You can then start adding captions in a similar fashion to YouTube's on-screen annotation editor, selecting how long you want each caption to appear by picking specific beginning and end points. You can also create and edit multiple languages of captions at the same time, which show up as separate tracks in the time line.

What's really interesting here is that when you're done adding subtitles, you can export your work out of the editor to use elsewhere. It exports your captions as a .sub file that can be worked on in a separate text editor or sent out with the source video to be viewed locally with the captions in something like the VLC player.

More importantly, this could signal that YouTube is indeed at work on a Web-based video editor that would let users edit their clips in the browser instead of relying on third-party software. The company has long encouraged users to simply edit their videos before uploading, but between this new editor and the service's AudioSwap feature, the one thing that's missing is the option to make cuts and rearrange what's already been uploaded.

Videos on how to use the tool are embedded after the jump. … Read more

Is open source becoming like Microsoft?

Talking with Microsoft officials last week, I was surprised to hear a key reason for the company getting involved with things like optimizing Windows for PHP: it was the only way to ensure products like PHP work with Microsoft technology at all.

Even as traffic is up to Microsoft's open-source code hosting site, CodePlex, and even as it starts to release code under standard open-source licenses like Apache and openly include open-source code in its products like Powerset, the open-source world seems to be closing off somewhat.

WordPress? Written for MySQL. PHP? Same. The list goes on.

While I'… Read more

Intel to close plants, up to 6,000 workers affected

Updated at 3:00 p.m. PST with comments from an Intel spokesperson.

Intel said on Wednesday it will close chip plants to align its manufacturing capacity to current market conditions. Between 5,000 and 6,000 employees will be affected.

The world's largest chipmaker will halt production at five "older" factories.

The company plans to close two existing assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia, and one in Cavite, Philippines, and will halt production at Fab 20, an older 200mm wafer fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Ore., Intel said. Additionally, wafer production operations will end at the D2 … Read more

Featured Freeware: SmartClose

It's deceptively simple, but this application quickly and cleanly closes all programs, and just as easily restores them. SmartClose's five-icon interface smartly uses tooltips to quickly and adequately explain program operation. Intermediate to advanced users should be able to install and use the program with no further instruction.

SmartClose's primary function leads the user through a wizard to close all programs except for critical Windows functions. Listed options are well-explained as the program advances. Before closing anything, the application takes a quick system snapshot; storing it to reset your computer to that same state at a later … Read more

Don't just close an app--SmartClose

It's deceptively simple, but this application quickly and cleanly closes all programs, and just as easily restores them. SmartClose's five-icon interface smartly uses tooltips to quickly and adequately explain program operation. Intermediate to advanced users will install and operate the program with no further instruction.

SmartClose's primary function leads the user through a wizard to close all programs except for critical Windows functions. Listed options are well explained as the program advances. Before closing anything, the application takes a quick system snapshot; storing it to reset your computer to that same state at a later date. During … Read more

YouTube now autotranslates subtitled vids

Over the weekend, YouTube introduced a new feature to help make captioned or subtitled videos more accessible to international users. The new system uses machine translation to convert any of these videos into your language of choice in real time.

To access this feature, users simply need to turn it on from the lower-right corner of the player. From there, they can use a simple drop-down menu to pick which language into which they want the video translated. Unfortunately, YouTube won't remember a user's translation choices from one video to the next, but this seems like a feature … Read more

Featured Freeware: One Click App Killer

This tiny app quickly closes frozen programs, but clicking too fast or in the wrong spot could cause problems. One Click App Killer doesn't have a standard interface, as it simply turns your mouse pointer into a bull's-eye. Click anywhere on the frozen application's interface to quickly eliminate it from your screen and memory.

It is possible to click too fast and eliminate the wrong program, so proceed with a bit of caution. Also, clicking outside the frozen program's interface could close Windows. Thankfully, those problems are rare and can be avoided as long as you'… Read more

YouTube gets closed captioning support

In a move to make videos easier to understand without volume or for the hard of hearing, YouTube has given users the option of embedding closed captions that show up as semitransparent overlays. Caption files that have text dialogue synced up to the proper timestamps can be uploaded during the time of upload or afterwards, and YouTube has provided multiple language support to let viewers swap between different languages of a single video without having to leave playback.

Videos with closed captioning have it as an option in the lower right-hand corner menu; a part of the user interface that … Read more

The 404 124: Where Fox News is giving us something good to talk about

In a follow-up to our newest "It came from Fox News" segment, actual Fox news anchor Clayton Morris drops by the studio today and dishes out his views on digital privacy in the workplace, making the switch, the perpetual woes of iPhone ineptitude, and the ancient practice of group shaving. If that isn't enough, we also conclusively prove that living well is the best revenge. EPISODE 124 Download today's podcast

Report: Set-top box maker Akimbo shuts down

Akimbo, a set-top box company, has seemingly closed down for good, according to reports.

On Friday, VentureBeat reported the San Mateo, Calif.-based company let go of what was remaining of its staff except for three people who will help oversee the closure.

Attempts to sell the company weren't fruitful, according to VentureBeat. Akimbo's demise has been a long time coming. A year ago, it abandoned its original business model--providing set-top boxes that enabled owners to download movies via the Web.

Akimbo's business model never took off with consumers and it's easy to understand why.

The … Read more