Download YouTube Videos in Ubuntu Using UTube Ripper

Download YouTube Videos in Ubuntu Using UTube Ripper

UTube Ripper

UTube Ripper is an application written in Gambas, that works exclusively on Linux. With this free application, you can download YouTube videos in a simple and efficient way.

Using UTube Ripper, you can also convert YouTube videos, which are in flash format, to a non-flash format. Using the "Rip audio only" option within this application, you can extract audio from a YouTube video, and then convert it into MP3 format.

You can download the .deb package (debian package for Ubuntu) for UTube Ripper from here.

Google's Open-Source Manifesto Tells the Truth

Google's Open-Source Manifesto Tells the Truth - BusinessWeek

As with its Android platform, Google has flourished by sharing source code in ways that lure eyeballs. "The Meaning of Open" explains how and why

By Sebastian Rupley

Jonathan Rosenberg, senior vice-president of product management at Google (GOOG), put up on Dec. 21 what was more of a tome than a mere post on the company's blog. Entitled "The Meaning of Open," it was originally sent to Google employees as an e-mail, but it reads like a manifesto.

Arguments have raged for years about exactly what is entailed by an open-technology strategy, as opposed to a closed one. In the open-source community, the free software definition explicitly states that truly free software means "free as in speech, not free as in beer." It further explicitly states that freeware—software applications that you or I can use without paying—differs from true open-source software, whose source code we can view and change.

Rosenberg's open manifesto goes well beyond the concept of open-source software, however, in that he goes on to tackle open standards, the value of an open Internet, and the overall concept of open information. He writes: "To understand our position in more detail, it helps to start with the assertion that open systems win. This is counterintuitive to the traditionally trained MBA, who is taught to generate a sustainable competitive advantage by creating a closed system, making it popular, then milking it through the product life cycle. The conventional wisdom goes that companies should lock in customers to lock out competitors…Open systems are just the opposite."

"Open" doesn't mean altruistic

While Google is far from perfectly open in every aspect of its business, it is one of the largest contributors of free, open-source code and the company does indeed do transformative things through open efforts. The best, most recent example would be the enormous success that Google's open-source Android platform has become. There are nearly 20 Android handsets from major manufacturers, and the operating system is spreading to other devices.

Let's not get snookered here. Although Google has published Android's source code, the company wants Android and applications that run on top of it to steer as many users as possible to Google's lucrative search-and-ad ecosystems. Those ecosystems are not entirely open. Nor are the details on personal habits and information that Google collects entirely transparent.

One thing I really liked about Rosenberg's essay is that he confesses this. "Our commitment to open systems is not altruistic," he writes.

There you have it. I don't question Google's commitment to openness across many of its efforts. But I don't believe for a second that Google approaches the concept of openness without considering its self-interest. Make no mistake: Google preserves openness because openness serves Google.

Provided by GigaOm—

The 10 Coolest Open-Source Products Of 2009

The 10 Coolest Open-Source Products Of 2009

OLPC unveils slimline tablet PC

BBC News - OLPC unveils slimline tablet PC

By Jonathan Fildes Technology reporter, BBC News

In Pictures: Designing the OLPC

The group behind the $100 laptop has revealed the design for its latest computer aimed at connecting children in the developing world.

The XO-3, as it is known, is a slim-line touchscreen tablet PC.

One Laptop per Child (OLPC) said it would be "available in 2012" and would cost "well below $100".

The new design replaces the proposed XO-2, a foldable e-book that was first shown off in 2008 but has since been scrapped by the organisation.

The XO-3 will eventually replace the original XO laptop that first went into production in 2007.

The innovative machines, which have been designed for use in remote and harsh environments, were designed for use by school children and featured a sunlight readable display and open source software.

'Bigger appeal'

OLPC originally aimed to sell the low-cost laptops in lots of one million to governments in developing countries for $100 each.

However, the non-profit organisation had difficulty getting governments to commit to bulk orders. The machines - which are able to run both Linux and Microsoft Windows - are now offered in single units and cost around $200.

The XO-2 has been scrapped in favour of the XO-3

So far the XO has been distributed to more than 1.4 million children in 35 countries.

The high-price has not however put off all governments. Uruguay has bought a computer for every one of their school children.

Walter de Brouwer, CEO of OLPC Europe said that these "saturation projects" were the future of the organisation both in the developed and the developing world.

"I'm talking to three four countries in the EU at the moment," he told BBC News. "Once one says yes, the others can't say no."

The organisation believes the new design will cost significantly less.

Mr Brouwer said that because of the pace of technological change and the ever decreasing prices of electronics he could imagine the design selling for "50, 60 or 70 euros".

He said governments could pay this back over a number of years, allowing pupils to have a laptop for less than one euro per month.

"This is very realistic," he said.

The concept shows a touchscreen, a camera, induction charger, and a carrying ring on one of its corners.

Its inner workings - including a chip from UK firm ARM - will come from an interim design - the XO 1.75 - set for launch in 2011.

The 1.75 will merge elements of the current machines with technologies - such as a touchscreen - intended to be included in the XO-3.

OLPC recently said that the organisation would just focus on promoting its concepts and educational aims, rather than manufacturing laptops.

"We are not a laptop company," said Mr Brouwer. "Manufacturing a laptop is not such a big deal. The bigger appeal for us is deploying them and integrating them with education systems to transform a society."

Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of the group, said that he hoped that industry would now copy the design for the XO-3.