3 Fast and Easy Online Screen Capture Tools

3 Fast and Easy Online Screen Capture Tools: "

When you work on or with the web, you often have to take screenshots or videos of what you’re doing. You may need to make a copy of a website for your documents, capture a process for a presentation, or simply prepare images for an article you’re writing. Rather than installing yet another nifty tool, you can handle all your screenshot and screen recorder needs online.

Here are 3 different online screen capture services — 2 for still images and one for recording your screen.

1. Capture Full Page

The motto of the site is Take Screenshot on the Fly. There is no registration required.

The application allows you to select the dimension, size, and format after it captured the website for you. Since a full size screenshot is taken before you can downsize, the process takes a little longer. Once it’s done you will see the screenshot on the left and a menu on the right. The options for dimensions are top screen or full screen, the size can be anything from full to extra small, and the available output formats are JPEG (smaller file size) and PNG (better quality). Clicking > View will give you a preview in your browser and by selecting > Download you receive the file.

2. Super Screenshot

Super Screenshot is much faster than Capture Full Page, although it essentially works the same, minus the fancy layout.

After the screen was captured, you can select dimensions, size, and format. Before you view the screenshot you can also refresh it.

3. ScreenToaster

ScreenToaster is a free online screen recorder that allows you to capture videos of what’s happening on your monitor, independent of your operating system. Quite obviously, this tool is perfect for pre-recorded screencasts or tutorials. To use it you have to register. You also need to enable Java for whichever browser you’re going to use.

Once you’re logged in, click the > Start Recording button and the application will launch. You can then select which portion of the screen you want to capture and whether sound and webcam should be recorded as well. When you decide to make a screencast of only a small section of your screen, yo ucan drag a black rectangular to the desired location. Hit > Record to start. The key combination > [ALT] + [S] will both start and pause recording. This is useful when the website is in the background as you need to bring it to the foreground to stop the recording.

Here is an excellent YouTube review of ScreenToaster by iComputerHacker:

We have previously reviewed online screenshot and screencast services:

• ShrinkTheWeb: How To Add Thumbnails To Your Website With ShrinkTheWeb by Mark


• kwout: Take Screenshots From Your Browser with Kwout by Kyle


• Screenpresso: A Light Jing Alternative with Advanced Options by Jessica


• How to Create a Screencast Like a Pro with These 6 Online Tools by Jessica

Looking for more, maybe a Windows software or browser extension alternative? Please have a look at these articles:

• All You Need For Making Awesome Screenshots by Ann


• 4 Tools For Creating Screenshots and Screencasts by Ben


• 4 Cool Firefox Extensions To Capture Screens by Abhijeet


• Share Your Media and Screen Sessions with Screencast by Bakari


• How to Take Easy Screenshots with Lightscreen Portable by Tim


• Bug Shooting – Simple Screen Capturing Software That Works! by Tim


• Take A Screenshot Of A Web Page With WebSiteScreenShots by Karl


• A Thorough Look At CamStudio As An Effective Screencasting Tool by Tim

What is your favorite strategy for taking screenshots?

Image credits: hugama

We NEED Your Comments!!! Please do share your thoughts in article comments.

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Quick Tip: Google Fonts API: You’re Going to Love This

Quick Tip: Google Fonts API: You’re Going to Love This: "

Google have made two huge announcements today. One of these concerns the Google Fonts API. Simply by linking to a particular font, stored on Google’s servers (save on bandwidth + caching benefits), we now have access to a wide array of custom fonts. Quite literally, you can integrate these fonts into your project in about 20 seconds. It’s as simple as that. Further, due to the operations being performed behind the scenes, these custom fonts will even be recognized back to Internet Explorer 6. I, for one, and am extremely excited about the possibilities, and the font catalog is surely to continue expanding over the coming years.

Subscribe to our YouTube page to watch all of the video tutorials!

Prefer to watch this video on Screenr.com?

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One Step Only

To take advantage of the Google Fonts API, you only need to link to your desired font, and reference it within font-family. That’s it! When you find yourself integrating a custom font in less than 15 seconds, you’ll laugh with joy! For example:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">
<head>
 <meta charset="utf-8">
 <title>untitled</title>
<link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Yanone+Kaffeesatz' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'>
 <style>
 body { font-family: 'Yanone Kaffeesatz', serif; font-size: 100px; }
 </style>
</head>
<body>
    Hello World
</body>
</html>

Crazy, isn’t it!? You can refer here for the current list of available fonts. So what do you think?

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How To Repair Internet Explorer

How To Repair Internet Explorer: "

Internet Explorer is an essential part of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It usually is the first browser there is and even if users switch to third party browsers it remains installed on the computer system. Several third party applications use Internet Explorer’s rendering engine to display web contents in their interfaces which means that it is important to keep Internet Explorer up to date to avoid security and performance issues.

PC users who work with Internet Explorer might experience a situation where they need to repair Internet Explorer. The browser might feel sluggish, display error messages, crash outright or may not start at all.

The following tips may help users who want to repair Internet Explorer. The article concentrates on Internet Explorer 8 but most tips are also valid for previous versions of the web browser.

The first thing you want to do is to take note of the problem. Is the browser starting up? Is it crashing? Does it display an error message? Is it slow?

Malicious Software

You may want to start with a thorough scan of the computer system for malicious software. Suggested security software for this job are Dr. Web, Avast or AVG.

Make sure you perform a full system scan and clean any viruses, trojans and other malicious software from the system. Improperly configured security programs may slow down Internet Explorer, block it from accessing web contents or may be the cause for error messages that are displayed to the user. You may want to do something that is usually not suggested: Turn off the security software and test Internet Explorer afterwards. If the problems go away it is the software that is the culprit. You then need to configure the software to make it compatible with IE.

Internet Explorer toolbars and add-ons.

If you can open Internet Explorer you might want to check the installed add-ons and toolbars. Microsoft found out that Internet Explorer users run five to six add-ons on average. This can be attributed to software installations who often offer to install toolbars and browser plugins.

To manage the Internet Explorer add-ons open Tools > Manage Add-ons in Internet Explorer. This displays a new program window that lists all the installed add-ons in the browser.

The add-ons are categorized by type in the left sidebar. Toolbars and extensions is the category that is displayed by default. Take a look at the add-ons in the list. You can disable add-ons by right-clicking on them and selecting disable from the context menu or selecting them and clicking on the Disable button in the lower right corner of the screen.

You may want to start to disable add-ons that you do not recognize. A direct approach would be to disable all add-ons and see if that helped solve the problem. If it did you may return to that window and gradually activate add-ons again one by one until you find out which add-ons have been responsible for the issues.

You can also start Internet Explorer with all add-ons disabled:

Click the Start button Picture of the Start button, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and then click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons).

Update Internet Explorer

Chance is you may be running an old version of Internet Explorer. If you are running Internet Explorer 6 or Internet Explorer 7 you may consider upgrading to Internet Explorer 8 to see if this resolves the issues. Internet Explorer 8 can be downloaded directly from Microsoft.

Reset Internet Explorer settings

Resetting Internet Explorer’s settings may work to fix the issue as well. You do not need IE open for this. In Windows 7 open the Control Panel by clicking on the start orb in the lower left corner and selecting Control Panel in the start menu. Now click on Network and Internet and then Internet Options to open them. This menu can also be used to manage the browser add-ons of Internet Explorer.

Clicking on Internet Options opens a new window. Switch to the Advanced tab and press the Reset button at the bottom of the screen to reset all Internet Explorer settings to their default condition.

Microsoft Support Links

If the tips above did not solve the issue you are having with Internet Explorer you may want to follow the links below to Microsoft support pages that contain further information on how to repair Internet Explorer to resolve issues one has with the web browser.

• You receive a “Microsoft Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close (Pdm.dll)” error message [link]
• Fix Runtime Errors in Internet Explorer [link]
• You receive an error message in Internet Explorer: “Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage” [link]
• Why is my Internet connection so slow? [link]
• Internet Explorer stops responding, stops working, or restarts [link]
• You cannot view, access, or load some Web pages when you use Internet Explorer 8 [link]
• You cannot view a secure Web site in Internet Explorer 8 [link]
• When you use Internet Explorer 8, you cannot access your Webmail [link]
• Video freezes or crashes in Internet Explorer or Windows programs [link]
• Internet Explorer freezes or crashes [link]

Are you currently experiencing problems when working with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer? Or have you experienced problems in the past and managed to resolve them? Let us know in the comments.

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© Martin for gHacks technology news, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us, digg, facebook, reddit, twitter
Post tags: internet explorer 8, internet explorer repair, internet explorer troubleshooting, internet-explorer, repair internet explorer

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Route Planner

		Route Planner – Route Planner is an online planning tool that uses Google Maps to process the best route available, which also considers the number of vehicles, its capacity, and the amount of time needed to go from one point to another. The Viamente Route Planner is a web-based service that processes your list of locations and delivers optimized routes and schedules on-the-fly. It maximizes the efficiency of your transport resources while cutting down your planning time. Watch Video

"

Recharge your devices without batteries, while walking !

Recharge your devices without batteries, while walking !: "

How often have your call been disconnected while on a move, only to discover that your cell phone has run out of power?

Worry not… This time around it is Physics field of sciences, rather than technology, which has provided a kind of solution to this long pending problem of battery running out of power, be it related to your mobile, MP3 Player or iPod.

img source

The scientists from Georgia University have claimed to have developed a mechanism which can charge a battery of devices such as cell phone and laptops, while on a move (on foot). The device taps the power of motion and produce practical amounts of electricity which can generate voltages up to 1.26 volts or even more.

Yes… the new device is meant to charge your mobiles on the back of power or the potential generated which eventually gets generated into electricity.

This process in which the ability of the applied mechanical stress is transformed into generation of electric field is known as piezoelectronics.

This process of piezoelectronics enables your battery-charged electronic devices to self-power itself which converts power of motion into energy needed to keep them ticking. It becomes a significant discovery that aims to develop self-powered devices, which do not particularly require a power outlet.

In past, we have come across the devices powered by the phenomenon of piezoelectronics such as cell phones powered by sound waves or even solar energy. Many of such high-tech devices contain components that are measured in nanometers.

The report further says that the scientists have created the device by cramming 20000 nanowires into three square centimeters. Though the subject measured in nanowires is small, its impact could be huge.

Most of the cell phones are geared up to perform multi-functions which keep on consuming battery power and are enough to snap the power limit while on the move.

How perfectly the Ad slogan of Idea Cellular fits over here….

‘Walk when you talk!’ !

Related posts:

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   With Urban mobile subscriber base close to saturation point, most of the handset manufacturers are aggressively targeting the rural Indian...
   


2. Google spells doom to paid GPS services and devices !
   Google integrates their hugely popular Google Maps to Android Mobile OS – What comes out is plain awesomeness that has...
   


3. Now, A mobile software that keeps you safe while driving!
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   By now, I am sure you may learned about the new Email-Only mobile device – PEEK. It sure has some...
   

"

Bulk Youtube Video Downloader For Firefox

Bulk Youtube Video Downloader For Firefox: "

Most add-ons for Firefox that allow a user to download videos from the popular video hosting website offer to download one video at a time. This is most of the time the active video on the page. Some video downloaders even have the requirement to play the video for at least a second to recognize it before they offer the video download.

Bulk Youtube Downloader offers a different approach. The Firefox add-on can be used to snap all links that lead to Youtube videos from a specific page on the website. This works perfectly for instance on the Youtube homepage, channels, playlists and single video pages where not only the video that can be played but also the related videos are picked up.

The Youtube video page can be scanned by either right-clicking on the page and selecting the Bulk Youtube Video Downloader context menu entry or by running the add-on from the Tools menu in the Firefox web browser.

The add-on displays all Youtube videos in its interface. The configuration of the download takes place on the first screen. The user can select the videos to download by using the mouse or selecting them all with CTRL A. The video downloader will by default download the high quality versions of the videos if available and save them as FLV. Both of these options can be changed to download mp4 videos instead if available and to not download the hq versions if available.

The download destination can be selected and filters to filter out some of the videos. A click on the start button transfers all selected videos to the download queue of the web browser from where they will be downloaded to the local computer system.

Bulk Youtube video downloader displays a log window at this stage detailing failed and successful requests to queue the selected videos for download.

The Firefox add-on is especially useful for downloading playlists from Youtube but can also come in handy for channels and other themed video pages.

Bulk YouTube Video Downloader is available for all Firefox 3.x browsers. It can be downloaded from the Mozilla Firefox add-on repository.

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Map Spreadsheet Locations To Google Maps

Map Spreadsheet Locations To Google Maps: "

Batchgeo is a free online service that maps spreadsheet locations to Google Maps. This can be useful for several purposes including creating a store locator, creating a map, calculating distances, house or apartment buying, finding the best route to visit several locations and more.

All that needs to be done to map the locations is to paste the spreadsheet information into the form on the Batchgeo website. The online service will automatically use the first row as identifiers which means that users need to make sure that it contains those. Identifiers such as zip, address or city need to be linked to the right columns in case the automatic detection does not do that correctly.

Batchgeo creates a Google Map with the location of the spreadsheet displayed on the map. It is then possible to save, print and share the map that has been created, download Google Earth KML data or download the geocoding results again.

All Google Maps view modes are available (map, satellite, hybrid and terrain).

There does not seem to be an option to directly embed the mapped information on a website, only to create a static url on the batchgeo website. The blog mentioned a button to create the embed code but the button is nowhere to be found on the site.

Batchgeo can be a handy program, especially for users who need to create a map from location information stored in a spreadsheet.

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© Martin for gHacks technology news, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us, digg, facebook, reddit, twitter
Post tags: batchgeo, google maps, spreadsheet

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Upload Videos To Multiple Video Hosting Services

Upload Videos To Multiple Video Hosting Services: "

Many video content creators want to make sure that they videos reach the largest audience possible. To achieve this they upload their videos to multiple video hosting services such as Youtube, Dailymotion, Facebook or MSN Video. Doing that manually can take quite some time. It would involve accessing the service’s website, logging in, selecting the video, entering information like the title, description and tags and waiting for the upload to finish.

That’s a lot of work considering that the Internet is home to hundreds of video hosting services.

TubeMogul offers an alternative. The service can be used to upload a video directly to multiple video hosting sites.

This reduces the time spend on the task tremendously. TubeMogul offers a free – but limited – uploading account that can be used for 100 video deployments per month. The free service includes video transcoding, basic cross-site analytics and social networking integration. Sufficient for users who simply want to distribute their videos to several video hosting websites.

TubeMogul supports 25 video hosting sites. Among them heavyweights such as Youtube and Facebook but also lesser known sites such as Howcast and Streetfire.

The standard video uploader supports videos of a maximum file size of 100 Megabytes and various formats including avi, mpg, flv and wmv. A big file uploader is available as well that can process videos with a maximum size of 300 Megabytes.

The title, descriptions, tags and category need to be specified only once. Only a handful of all the supported sites are available for video uploading. It is possible to spread the videos to Youtube, Dailymotion, Yahoo, Myspace, Metaface, Blip.tv, Vimeo, Facebook and i2TV. The additional sites are only available after sending TubeMogul an application to do so.

The usernames and passwords of the sites need to be entered into the video upload form. That could be a security concern for some users who prefer not to part with their login information.

TubeMogul is an interesting service for users who need to upload videos regularly to multiple video hosting websites.

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© Martin for gHacks technology news, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us, digg, facebook, reddit, twitter
Post tags: dailymotion, tubemogul, upload videos, video hosting, video upload, youtube

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Access Websites As Google Bot

Access Websites As Google Bot: "

Google bot is the general term for Google’s automated web crawling service that is linked to the Google search engine. Google sends out requests to webpages that use a Google Bot user agent. This specific user agent is used for several purposes including identification and restrictions.

Webmasters can for instance filter out Google Bot from their website statistics to get a better picture of how many real users visit the site in a given time.

Some webmasters and services on the other hand try to cheat by allowing Google Bot access to all of their contents while they display a registration or buy page to users who want to access the same information.

That’s not allowed according to Google’s terms of use but some webmasters do it nevertheless.

Some users had now the idea to pose as Google Bot to access the information without buying or registering first.

Be The Bot is a website that simplifies the process. It contains a form where a web address can be entered. The user can also select to pose as Google Bot or Yahoo Bot. The requested url will then be displayed on the same screen.

Have you ever been googleing something, and you see exactly what you need in the preview, but when you click the link it doesnt show you what you want to see?
This is because the owners of the site are trying to trick you into buying something, or registering. It’s a common tactic on the internet. When Google visits the site, it gives something called a “Header”. This header tells the site who the visitor is. Google’s header is “Googlebot”. The programmers of the site check to see if the header says “Googlebot”, and if it does, it opens up all of its content for only googles eyes.

This works on all pages that allow Google Bot or Yahoo Bot complete access to their website but block visitors by asking them to register or buy first.

It works for instance on the Washington Post website which asks visitors to register before they can read the contents that are posted on the site. Copying the url from the website of the Post or opening washingtonpost.com in the url form at Be The Bot will provide unrestricted immediate access to the contents. (via Online Tech Tips)

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© Martin for gHacks technology news, 2010. | Permalink | Add to del.icio.us, digg, facebook, reddit, twitter
Post tags: be the bot, google bot, search engine, washington post, yahoo bot

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