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Dim everything but media in Chrome or Firefox

Cinemas dim the lights during showings to help eliminate distractions, making it easier for you to focus on what you came to see. With media sites like YouTube, it's easy to become distracted by the other content on the page like the recommended videos or comments sections. And let's face it, not all videos look good in full-screen mode due to low resolutions. Wouldn't it be nice if you could dim the lights on the rest of the page to cut out the distractions? Well, there happens to be an add-on for Firefox and Chrome that does … Read more

Does silly new fitness device Free Flexor work?

There's a new fitness gadget making the rounds. Even more silly (not to mention sexual) than the good ol' Thigh Master and newcomer Shake Weight, the Free Flexor makes us giggle when it's in use.

Just watch the below commercial we found on YouTube, for starters. Within seconds, you will probably blush, laugh, and copy and paste the URL. We'd tell you why it makes us laugh, but we're too ashamed to get into it (no pun intended). Guaranteed, you will share it with your friends. Some of them might even buy it for novelty alone.

I'm not judging--I have a Shake Weight at home. I don't know if it really works, but it sure is a great conversation piece at house parties.

Now about the Free Flexor... We have yet to try it, so we couldn't tell you if it's effective or not. To get the lowdown, we turned to fitness experts for their opinions.… Read more

Orb Live streams tons of media

Meet Orb Live, a versatile media app that lets you stream free Hulu content, premium videos, and even your home media library right to your Android device. Since it requires no subscription fee, it's $9.99 download price may be a great deal for those wishing for more multimedia on the go.

Here's how it works. First, install Orb Caster on your PC or Mac (for free), and point the program to your multimedia folders so it knows which files to make available for streaming. You can also point it to your iTunes and have it stream everything … Read more

RealDownloader really downloads in just one click

RealDownloader is perhaps the quickest and simplest online video-downloader for Windows that we've seen. Unlike many of its competitors, when RealDownloader says one-click, it seriously means just one click.

When you install RealDownloader, it integrates with your browsers (Firefox, Chrome, and IE are supported), so you don't have to boot it up every time you want to use it. It just detects when you're on a supported site, and pops up whenever you roll over the top-right corner of a video. From there, all you have to do is click the small pop-up button that says "… Read more

How to delete your YouTube account

If you have multiple Gmail accounts, chances are you also have multiple YouTube accounts as well. This isn't very convenient when you're making favorite playlists, or uploading videos and have to keep paying attention to which account you're logged into. Now that you've moved the majority of your favorites, playlists and content to your other account, you might want to tie up some loose ends by removing the one you aren't using anymore. Follow these quick steps to completely remove a YouTube account and all of its related information:

Step 1: Log in to your&… Read more

iPad stars in 'Blush'-worthy animated music vid

The iPad is typically perceived as a device for consuming content--reading status updates on Facebook, listening to Lady Gaga, watching the latest episode of "Glee" or playing Angry Birds. But a new music video created entirely on the Apple tablet helps demonstrate the creative power of the device.

Animator Shawn Harris made an animated music video for pan-Asian girl band Blush using the iPad Brushes app to create colorful moving visuals for the band's debut single, "Undivided (feat. Snoop Dogg)."

In the video, watch two lips turn into the eyes of Snoop Dogg. Later, a strawberry covered in chocolate becomes Snoop Dogg's face. Stars form on the rapper's shades, which then turn into shooting stars in space. The seamless transformation between faces and abstractions makes the animation fun to watch.

The girls in the pop band are represented as shadows of pastel colors--pink, green, red, blue, and purple--but the unidentified bodies soon are filled in with a group portrait. It's not until the end of the video that the identities of the band members are revealed. The music video ends by zooming in on different colored eyes and ends with a big cheek that is, well, blushing.

YouTube Downloader does more than its name suggests

YouTube Downloader is a popular, free program that enables you to download and convert online videos (legal content, to which you have the rights) for later viewing on your desktop or mobile device. It can convert files to MOV, MP4, 3GP, WMV, AVI, or MP3.

The name "YouTube Downloader" is terribly misleading because the program, in fact, downloads a whole lot more than just YouTube videos. On the developer's site, you can find an extensive list of additional supported sites including Facebook and Vimeo. This wide net of support easily pushes YouTube Downloader to the top of … Read more

This Day in Tech: Twitter acquires TweetDeck, Google to offer mobile payments?

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Wednesday, May 25.

Twitter acquires popular client TweetDeck Twitter says it will use the desktop service to help commercial users track conversations across the social network, in a deal reportedly valued at about $40 million. More

Piper Jaffray: Now's a good time to own Apple stock A new analyst report says that despite Apple's "lagged" stock gains this year, now is a good time to pick up shares based on the company's estimated growth over … Read more

YouTube for Android

YouTube, the world's most popular video site, is available via an app for your Android mobile device. It comes preloaded on most (if not all) Android phones, and using it is much more convenient than navigating to the YouTube site in a browser.

If you don't find what you're looking for among the featured content on the home screen, the YouTube app allows you to search or browse for videos with ease. Browse by category, most viewed, top rated, most discussed, or top favorites. You can also filter your results by time. And if you don't … Read more

Upload Android videos to YouTube in five steps

Now that you've taken videos of family fun, playful pets, or other social situations, it's time to share the good times with others. The integrated YouTube uploading feature on your Android phone fits the process into five easy steps.

Step 1: After taking a video, select it in the Gallery and press the Menu button.

Step 2: Now select Share and then YouTube from the pop-up menu.

Step 3: Give the video a title before uploading, so that it's easy to find.

Step 4: Open the More details area. Make sure the privacy settings and account being … Read more