YouTube to Your Desktop/Device

A friend at one of my schools asked me, because I'm a geek, whether I knew how to download videos from YouTube and then strip the video to be left with an mp3. At the time, I did not, but I flexed my Google-fu and figured it out in pretty short order. It was easy enough that I thought I'd share it with you all.

These instructions are for Mac-based downloading and stripping but the PC version is similarly straight forward so it should be easily adaptable.

1. Find the video you want to download on YouTube or other video sites (I've not tested it on Vimeo or other spots though so YMMV).
2. Copy the URL and paste it into the box at VideoDownloadX (warning, I got two pop ups on the page). Change the suffix on the to be downloaded file to flv (very important).
3. Download the appropriate application for your OS on Vixy. They do have an online converter but I wasn't able to get it to digest my paste URL properly.
4. Once you have the Vixy.net Converter Desktop application, open it up and browse to the downloaded flv file (you did remember to change the suffix, right?). Load it in, select the end product you want (mp4 for iPhone/Touch, mov for desktop or mp3 for just audio) and let it rip. You should end up with a clean file.
5. Import into iTunes or your player of choice and enjoy.

I tested this process out with a sweet video of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones song Kinder Words and it worked like a charm. Great song and a pretty good video too.

Note, in doing this you are almost certainly stepping across the ethical DRM divide with the exception possibly being live performances. So, do this at your own risk.

Like I Need Another Project

So I've got a new project that I'm starting to think about, how to convert a porsche 914 to electric.

I've always wanted a 914. I like the tiny body style and go-kart feel to the cars. I'm not a large man so the cars are very comfortable for me. But they aren't great on the performance side of things. Switching one to electric would solve several issues at once.

Electric is very, very quick. Electric is efficient. Electric is quiet. But its not a cheap process to convert a car to electric and the batteries would need to be replaced every few years.

But still, how bitchin' would it be to pull up next to some of the Fast & Furious wannabe's in my town in a dead silent 914 and then dust them off the line? I bet it would be more satisfying than shredding them on the motorcycle, which is still great fun and pretty efficient too.

So there's a new project I'm filing away until we have more space to start to engage some of these ideas. I need more space, a big, flat lawn and alot more free time to make them happen. Damnit, why can't I just buy the winning lottery ticket so I can get to the important and fun stuff?

Tags: electric vehicle, conversion, Porsche 914, commuter