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Quick video downloader

Ares Tube is a simple tool for downloading online videos. While it has a directionless layout, its results are strong enough to earn a recommendation.

The program's interface is a bit frustrating to use, since it provides no Help file or instructions. Luckily, there are so few command options that some experimenting yielded a fairly solid understanding of its basic operation. The program looks like a typical Web browser, but with a built-in queue for downloading videos. Ares Tube claims to work with more than a dozen video sites, including some of the most popular ones, like YouTube and … Read more

How to downsize your social network portfolio

I'm as guilty as the next person for having a social network portfolio that's too big. Aside from my Twitter account, I belong to Plurk and Identi.ca, and although I use Facebook most often, I still have MySpace and Hi5 accounts.

But now that 2008 has passed and it's time for us to evaluate what we did last year and try to improve upon that for 2009, why don't we start by cleaning out our social network portfolio and start using only those services that we like best in each category? After all, spending more … Read more

So where's that Web video shakeout?

The predicted thinning of the herd of video-sharing start-ups launched in the last few years hasn't--at least so far--gone according to naysayers' projections.

Last month, Revver, the video-sharing site famous for splitting advertising revenue with videographers, was sold for pennies on the dollar. The same month, Stage6, the YouTube competitor started by video-technology maker, DivX, abruptly closed.

Other less well-known companies have folded, but it certainly hasn't been the bloodbath that many expected. Two years ago, pundits and executives alike predicted that YouTube would grab the lion's share of the sector's money, audience, and talent. Indeed, … Read more