Burn video cd out of your favorite Youtube videos

Many of my clients were asking if it's possible to burn a vcd out of their favorite movie clips from Youtube. The answer is yes but there is no direct method of doing that. As far as I know in order to burn Youtube video it must be downloaded first into your local hard drive for it is stored somewhere in the internet. With regards to formats, videos are formatted in different ways, Youtube videos are encoded as FLV, you should convert it first to a video format that is acceptable before burning. Different tools are used to download video off the internet, one of them is DownloadHelper, a Firefox media download extension.

DownloadHelper is a tool for web content extraction. Its purpose is to capture video and image files from many sites. Just surf the Web as you are used to, when DownloadHelper detects it can do something for you, the icon gets animated and a menu allows you to download files by simply clicking an item.

If this extension is not currently installed in your browser you can download and install it by clicking on tools, addon, extensions, Get Extensions.

Next is convert the downloaded video into a videocd format prior to burning. Linux is very rich in multimedia applications contrary to the belief that it is limited in this area. I use ffmpeg, an open source command line audio/video editing tool, released under GPL license. If you are familiar with command line statements in Linux to let the computer to do a task, that's fine. Here's how you can convert flv file into mpg format.

ffmpeg -i mymovie.flv -target ntsc-vcd -sameq mymovie.mpg

Next is burn your favorite video to cd using burner available in Linux. I used K3b a cd/dvd burner

EPSON LX300+ printer works well with the Generic-IBM-Compatible_Dot_Matrix_Printer driver in your Kubuntu Desktop.

One of the most troublesome activities I encountered in fine tuning my Linux Desktop is finding the correct driver for my printer. My printer is Epson LX300+ and it is not currently fully supported by Ubuntu or Kubuntu. In short there is no entry for driver for this model in the printer database. I tried several other drivers for my dot matrix printer that are available in my Linux box. But the result was not very impressive and quite frustrating. I did not lost hope and keep on googling the net for weeks until I found one that closely matches my printer. I share this success of mine because I know there are people out there who are still struggling with the same problem I've met before. Sharing ideas with the open source community members in solving different problems that we've met I think is what makes Linux very interesting. Download this driver Generic-IBM-Compatible_Dot_Matrix_Printer-ibmpro.ppd from the internet by simply clicking this link www.linuxprinting.

Once the webpage is completely loaded in your browser follow the instructions for downloading the printer driver:
1. Click Drivers
2. Click ibmpro
3. Select Generic IBM-Compatible Dot Matrix Printer from the combo box
4. Select download radio button
5. Click Generate PPD file
6. Click Save File to save driver to your desktop

In installing the printer driver in your Linux box, just follow the instructions found in your distribution. For me I'm using Kubuntu 7.10, and it's quite easy and no hazzles. Here is the steps.
1. Click System Settings
2. Click Add Printer/Class
3. Click Next
4. Click Local printer, if you are connecting the printer in your local printer port.
5. Click Next
6. Click Other to select the saved ppd file from your hard drive.
7. Keep on navigating until the computer will ask for the name of your printer.
8. Then name the newly added printer, give its short description by typing in their assigned text boxes, then click Next, and click Finish button.

Genes M. Acenas Sr
Software Developer
Bato, Leyte
Philippines

I switched from Microsoft Windows to GNU Linux/FOSS not because it's free but because of "Freedom" around it.

I did several accounting software projects in our area using a pirated copy of Microsoft Visual Basic IDE. The last project I had was a database system (Student Records Management, Enrollment and Billing System) of the Bato Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) of Bato Leyte Philippines. I really felt it was an awesome and a successful project and I am very proud of it because until today the system is still in used by the company and the management of that company did not make any contact with me anymore asking favors for maintenance and upgrades. I am very happy to tell my friends for such a great job but truly inside me is a feeling of emptiness because I did it with the use of illegally acquired software. I really love Microsoft Visual Basic and Microsoft Office family of softwares because of their nice, user-friendly and easy to use capabilities and in fact Microsoft Visual Basic was my number one tool in developing customized applications and it's also my number subject when I used to teach computer programming in colleges and universities. But the world of computing in me using Windows has changed and came to an end by the time I received a letter from the office of NBI, CIDG, OMB Manila in compliance with the Republic Act 8293 (Intellectual Property Code in the Philippines) sometime in November 2007. I heard of GNU Linux long before but I did not pay too much attention to it because I thought Microsoft line of software products were the world's best and all the people in our community know nothing except Windows, until I received a compaign letter regarding software piracy from the authorities of the Philippine government. That happening, I consider it as an eye-opener experience for me because I never had a plan to use Linux then. Software piracy is very rampant in our area and it's against my conscience to continue to use illegally copied softwares. I searched in the internet regarding the open source technology and its implications and viability in business and I found a lot of good feedbacks and success stories from the communities who supported and keep the spirit and ideals of open source burning. So I never hesitated to gave Linux a chance. At first I tried Ubuntu, Mandriva, Linux Mint, Fedora 7 and many other distros and finally settled for Kubuntu Gutsy Gibon. And right now all PCs on my internet cafe are powered and run by 100% open source softwares. I used Kubuntu 7.10 for my desktops, OpenOffice for documents processing, Kino for video editing, K3b and Amarok for cd audio/video ripping and burning, Gimp and Inkspace for graphics editing and Audacity for my audio manipulation. With software development I use Netbeans, Gambas, KDevelop and Eclipse. I wish to expand my internet cafe business in the years to come with Edubuntu. Because of security features, flexibility, lower total cost of ownership and maintenance and most of all the "Freedom" that I've found and experienced within GNU Linux environment, I would encourage everybody to consider using this alternative platform. By now I can have a sound sleep at night and more productive in my business operation. At least today the day has come that everyone can exercise his freedom to express, use, modify, distribute, and participate in the developments for the benefits of mankind.

Genes M. Acenas Sr.
Software Developer
Bato, Leyte
Philippines