Netbooks – Reduce YouTube Video Lag in Firefox

I love my Samsung NC10, but with the limited hardware available, watching YouTube videos can be frustrating (High Def unusable, Standard Def still not smooth) and so any solution to making a smooth experience is good for me.

As YouTube videos use Flash, it is possible the quality setting of that video (I used to do this when games were lagging back in 2004). Unfortunately with Flash 10, you do not have that option when watching a YouTube video.

If you have Firefox and Greasemonkey, a script was made by Oscar Sodani (with a tutorial HERE). This will default anything that uses Adobe Flash to low quality. You can download the Greasemonkey script >>>HERE<<<

You may think that the videos will probably look extremely poor, but I have found that there is minimal difference between that and normal quality (if anything it looks like Freeview signal on a 52” TV)

 

NOTE: With the NC10, I have noticed the YouTube Videos also skip when the HDD is working, so make sure there isn’t a scan happening in the background while you are watching.

Networx – Monitor Your Bandwidth Usage - Free Alternative to DUMeter

FreewareMission recently featured a program that allows you to monitor your bandwidth to make sure you don’t go over your caps that your ISP gives you either at home or on the road, or help you check to see if you are being Traffic Shaped.

The most common application that is usually recommended is DUMeter, however the program has a free 30 day trial, with a paid version of $24.95

Enter Networks, a tool that offers very similar functionality to DUMeter at the attractive price of $0. The tool can run in the system tray, as a “band” in the taskbar or as a floating window.

The program offers reports, speed tests, statistics and notifications for your network. A must have for those looking to keep an eye on bandwidth speeds.

 

Head over to the Networks Download Page to grab your copy.

4 Great Lists To Discover Free Software

Many forums have clubbed together to make lists of free software that you can download for Windows. Here is just a few of them (note that most are fairly old, and some links may be broken, but a Google Search should solve that):

• JCXP’s Recommended Freeware Programs (Shameless Plug)
• Neowin’s Freeware Alternative List
• NoteBookReview’s Ever-Growing Free Windows Software List
• Overclock’s Good Freeware list

Do you know of any up to date Forum Lists? Let me know in the comments and I will update this post.

How to get 35 icons on your Jailbroken iPhone’s Homescreen

UPDATE: Currently the following does not work on OS 3.0, both the 5 column springboard and Sixrows have not been updated for the new firmware. Five Icon dock DOES work at the moment.

I recently tweeted that my iPhones Homescreen looks like this:

CBoardkid from Twitter then asked me “How did you get it like that?” and the answer is very easily.

Firstly, go to Cydia and add the following sources:

• cy.sosiphone.com
• cydia.touch-mania.com

Then go to the search box of cydia and type in the following & install

• Five Icon Dock
• Five Column Springboard
• Winterboard

Start up winterboard and click “No Undocked Icon Labels” and head back to cydia & install:

• SixRows

Thats it! Press the home button and you will find 35 icons in total (including the dock) on your iPhone screen. Some people find it too cramped, but if you know what the icons do, why have labels for them?

Charge/Sync Your iPhone 3G/3GS on the go for £1

As we all know, the iPhone 3G (and most likely the 3GS) do not last very long on the battery, especially if you use the 3G network a lot like I do. Fortunately I have a netbook (a Samsung NC10) with quite long battery life, perfect for charging the phone while on the train.

When you buy the iPhone you are provided with a long USB cable, which also acts as a charger (with the AC adaptor - USB socket). However if you need to charge the phone through the laptop, you have to take your only cable with you. If you lose it, you can no longer charge your phone.

So you wander in to the apple store and look for a spare cable to take on the road, and look at the price tag of £15.00 and gasp.


Fortunately, the iPhones have the same connector as all the models of iPods, and a "retractable iPod Charger cable" can be found in Poundland for the price of....you guessed it...£1.


Not only will this save space with its retractable cable, but will also allow you to sync and charge your iPhone on the go (even if you take your adaptor with you). I have to thank my girlfriends father, John, for buying this by mistake and giving it to me!

The Beginning.....

So this is now my new Blog area. I got tired of messing around with Wordpress so I have decided to go with a hosted Blog, and Google seemed to be a good choice.

Lets see if I post here :)