Imagine if you liked a song on YouTube or any of the other video sharing sites. If you needed to download the song, then you need to download the video along with the song as well, and this may be unnecessary for you. Also, if you are on a slow connection, it would make sense to download only the audio while skipping the video. So, here are a few online tools that extract and let you download only the audios from the video files.

VID TO MP3

As the name states, using Vid To MP3 you can convert videos from several video sharing sites including YouTube and MegaVideo into MP3 files. Depending on the size of the file that is being converted, the conversion takes a certain amount of time. Also, if you simply enter the location of the video, the site auto locates the file and does the conversion. E.g. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1359390/mirzadinho_freestyle_reveal_2/

This site only works with files that are already online and also are of the .flv (Flash Video) file format. So, other video formats are not supported nor can you upload your own videos. But it does support a whole host of video sharing sites and that includes all the major ones.

FLV TO

The site FLV TO is pretty similar in terms of operation to Vid To MP3, however there are two major differences. The most important one is that this site accepts conversion of uploaded files as well. So, you can upload the flv files you’ve downloaded and get the MP3s from them. However, this would naturally take more time than giving the direct link to the video site itself.

The other feature or rather a problem with FLV TO is that it is completely plastered with ads. It looks like some kind of a cheap toplist site and it is pretty difficult to even locate the convert button among all the banners and other ads.

Vmeste

This seems to be the simplest and best of all the 3 sites reviewed here. This site includes the features of both the sites mentioned above (minus the ads) and also accepts video files of different formats to extract the audios from. The site accepts uploads of videos as well and the conversion is done pretty fast too depending on the size of the file.

The one disadvantage of this site is that it does not auto detect the exact location of the file for any video site except YouTube. So, you may need to give the link to the direct location of the file for it to work. However, this converter is efficient, simple and effective as well, so I would recommend this over the other ones.

These were 3 online converters that extract MP3 audio from video files including those in YouTube among other sites. Do let me know what you think of them and if you have any other suggestions regarding this. Thanks for reading!

Having a good and strong password will make it difficult for hackers to access your accounts easily. However, a strong password should also be something that you can remember as well. In case you keep forgetting your “strong” password, then there is no point in having one. Using symbols in a password would certainly ensure that your password is secure against brute forcing attacks. However, there are easier ways to make a password secure and easy to remember.

Password Bird is a online service that generates easy to remember but difficult to guess passwords. Basically, you need to enter a word and a name that is special to you, along with any memorable date. Password Bird combines this information and generates a secure password for you which is a combination of the data you entered earlier.

The service produces passwords of length of around 7 to 8 characters which is past the minimum requirement for most of the sites or forums. Since the password is a combination of some memorable words and numbers, you are able to remember it easily as well. You can generate a number of different passwords using the same information you’ve provided and use the one which you feel is easiest for you to remember. Do let me know what you think of this service. Thanks for reading!

Converting documents and other files on your computer to PDF is a job difficult in itself. However, with a variety of tools available, it has become considerably easier. But converting a web page to PDF is something that is not straight forward to do. You may need a software to do so most of the time.

Here is a service called Htm2PDF that converts any given web page to a PDF file in a matter of seconds. It is a free web based service that you can use to convert any web page into the Portable Document Format or PDF.

To use this service, all you need to do is enter the URL of the web page you need to convert into PDF and the service auto converts the entire web page and then provides you with a link to download the PDF file. You can download the file the usual way or open it via your browser and save a copy of it for later use.

An option is available to you to make any existing links “active”. By selecting this, you can make sure that the links on the web page are available on the PDF as links as well and not simply text.

The other option available to you is to include any flash movies that are present in the page in the PDF file as well. However I tried this with a video page from YouTube page and I got an error in displaying the video. This may however work with other flash videos.

Htm2Pdf also provides a bookmarklet to directly convert any page by simply selecting the link on the bookmarks part of your browser. This is an easier way to convert instead of visiting the site.

There are no mentions about how long the converted PDF file will be saved on their servers for you to download, however I am sure you’d have downloaded it by then. Do let me know if you know other similar services and if you found this one useful. Thanks for reading!

When I transfer files from my PC to my Mobile Phone, I make use of the Bluetooth feature on my phone. However, if I am not at home and I need to receive a file, I can’t depend on Bluetooth connectivity or even the availability of a PC. Also, if the file I want is only on my PC, then I’d probably have no access to it.

Beam It Up Scotty is here to solve that problem. This service is basically similar to YouSendIt or other such filesharing sites. You can send the file’s download link direct to your mobile phone. The process is pretty simple

• Upload your files to Beam It Up Scotty
• Compress or convert it, if needed
• Enter the Mobile Number and send the file

Once this is done a SMS containing the link to the file would be sent to the number provided. The user can then download from the link using GPRS or related service on his phone.
It is as easy as 1-2-3. However, there are a few things to keep in mind. When you send a file for the first time, you will be asked to enter your email ID. A confirmation email is then sent to that ID. Once you click the confirmation link, the message is sent. The second time onwards, as soon as you enter the email ID, the file is sent to the mobile phone instantly.

The other thing is that an user is able to send only 10 files every day and not more than that. This is probably to restrict spamming. The email ID that you used to login is also mentioned on every SMS that is sent.

Features

The most useful feature on Beam It Up is the compression/conversion feature. Once a file is uploaded it is auto analyzed and options are given for optimizing the file for mobile use. This reduces the size of the file to enable faster download. The service recognizes most file types, but if it doesn’t you can still compress or ZIP the file and send it.

Also, information is displayed on the uploaded file and the estimated time that it would take to download on various connections. All files are stored for 30 days atleast on their servers. The maximum size of a single file can be 100 Mb, which for a mobile device is too big anyway!

I tried using it and I received the download link everytime in around 5 seconds flat. That’s quite an amazingly fast turnaround time and I managed to download the file without problems as well. Oh and I forgot to mention that the service is totally free as well.

What more I am looking for

I am looking forward to the following features in this service

• Send files to multiple numbers at once instead of uploading every time
• A file manager for my uploads
• More messages per day (paid, perhaps?)
• A system to store and remember contacts

But, overall I would definitely recommend this service to anybody who wants to get quick access to their files. Do you find this service interesting? Do send in your comments! Thanks for reading!

Some of the times, the mails I receive are usually meant to be scanned and no detailed reading or replying may be necessary. But actually logging in everytime to the inbox to view such mails individually is an amazing waste of time. Also, viewing these mails in a email client like Outlook or Thunderbird would also mean a waste of time.

The easiest option to scan through articles or emails in this case is by making it a feed and reading them in your feedreader. It is because of the ease in reading blog posts, that I use Feedreaders for subscribing to most of my favorite blogs. Doing a similar thing for your emails can drastically reduce time in going through a bunch of them.

Mail Bucket offers such a simple and fast to implement service for your emails. And best of all, it is free to setup and use. There are 2 ways to use this service.

• Redirect your mail from one of your email addresses
• Setup a new email ID at Mail Bucket for this purpose

The process is very simple and all you need to do is

• If redirecting, simply redirect your mails to any email ID of your choice @mailbucket.org
• Even if you are setting up a new ID at mailbucket, the step is the same
• Le’s assume that the email ID is mymail@mailbucket.org
• All the mails received at the ID (at Mail Bucket) can be obtained as an XML Feed at the address http://www.mailbucket.org/mymail.xml

All you need to is subscribe to the feed at that address using any feedreader and you’ll get regular updates as usual. Also, you can get a HTML version of the feed by visiting the address http://www.mailbucket.org/simple/mymail

Before forwarding to a email ID at Mail Bucket, be sure to check that no other mail is being forwarded there. You can do that by visiting the feed address before forwarding the mail. If the page is empty, go ahead and set it up.

Redirecting is not the only option. You can simply send a new mail from any of your accounts and it will automatically appear as part of the feed.

The disadvantage with Mail Bucket is that all the feeds are publicly viewable and hence your mails will not have any security. So, make sure that you don’t redirect mails from a personal or professional ID to here. However, the address from which the mail was sent will not be visible in the feed.

Do let me know if you found this service interesting. Thanks for reading!