Chrome 20 might be the most unreliable browser to use on Ubuntu.

I'm a big fan of Google's products, and of course that this includes Chrome, but Google's lightweight browser is not worth being considered as the best one from all the available ones, at least on Linux. Ubuntu (because that's the OS I use most of the time) comes with Firefox for this: even though it is not as fast as Chrome, it is rocket-stable and fully usable (free of bugs). But Chrome has been having bugs since a long time ago and it has some even now. And what's worse, Chrome 20 "features" more bugs than ever.

First of all, there are huge issues with Flash. Most of the content from YouTube still uses Flash (please note that YouTube is also owned by Google), and one of the most used ways make a video start again is to refresh the page. And I have to do this because I simply can't click on anything that's Flash related, for I-don't-know-what reason. Moreover, Samsung's Chromebook computer, which runs on Chrome (there's nothing else to choose) has the same problems with Flash.

Then, there is the Blogger platform. You can write everything you want (just like I do now), but you can't put a title in the article (note: the article is going to have a title put on Firefox, just because Chrome can't do it for a reason or another). And here we are talking about two Google products. Blogger, a Google product, can't be properly used on Chrome, Google's browser. I am sorry, but this is something incredible, and Google should have taken action long time ago on this subject.

And there are other, not so serious, but still annoying bugs. On 9gag, portions of the bar from the top of the screen spread across the entire screen while scrolling. On YouTube, the same thing happens with the bar located just below the videos. And more that this, while watching something, you can't see what you type when you search for something else (on YouTube), it just displays what was searched before (it still searches, if you write something and tap enter you'll see it will return what you wanted, but it's annoying).

Of course that these aren't the only bugs, but with these I have to deal day by day. My girlfriend complains that she can't enter full screen while watching some TV series on the internet (don't know whether it's Flash or not), but there clearly are some issues Google have to take care about.

I can't simply give up using Chrome because, as I've told, I'm a big fan of Google's products, and I have more computers, so I need sync across all of them (bookmarks and stuff). Owning a Galaxy Nexus is also a strong reason for using Google's products. And I don't even want to give up using them, because they make the life a lot easier (Gmail, Picasa, Drive, Contacts, Calendar, Maps etc), I use them a lot and they help me everyday, but the idea is that some of the bugs really have to be fixed sooner or later.

I don't know if they are present only on Linux, because I rarely use Windows, and when I do it, I don't usually have a lot of time to spend on YouTube, 9gag or such websites. 

New YouTube mobile interface.

YouTube launched a new interface for their mobile site, one which is more complex and more touch-friendly, making it easier and faster to access both videos and all other stuff (subscribes, favorites, like and unlike for comments, and even a possibility to play videos in HQ). The interface is designed to bring users a very similar experience compared to the desktop version of YouTube.

Here is a video from YouTube showing the features of the mobile version (I don't know what was in their mind when they put the Nexus One and the iPhone together).


This website surely is a fresh breath of air for the iPhone users, but is it worth on the Android? I mean, YouTube says that it is fast and with many options, but the YouTube app from Android is just the same. Moreover, the app looks better on the dark interface.

Which one are you going to use? m.youtube.com or YouTube app from your device?

Has YouTube player been changed or not?

This is the question to which anybody tries to find an answer. Some users reported that their player changed in a way, others that it changed in another way, so it's a very confusing situation. I found that it has been changed for everybody in a way, but some videos do actually have another, much cooler interface. The second one looks something like this below.

I didn't find anywhere an explanation for this, but I suppose it might be because the player is not yet adapted for some resolutions or qualities of the videos. Anyway, it gives a fresh look to YouTube, but I really don't know why they're still working on Flash, as the HTML 5 is coming strongly behind.

Download anything from YouTube.

YouDDL is probably the best YouTube downloader on internet, because you can download videos in any resolution available. You can even download them in HD ( either in .flv format or in MP4). But you need a video player capable of playing these formats, or a video converter, in order to get them in a playable format. It's free: http://www.youddl.com/

And, I am NOT responsible for anything you download by using this method, including copyrighted content. Use it at your own risk !

A completely useless button from YouTube.

I have observed on the left corner of a video from YouTube (played in HTML 5) a little button, just near the play button. I wanted to see what it does, so I moved the mouse over it, and a bar with a tortoise on left and a rabbit on right appeared. So, I slid left and right, and the video slowed down and accelerated. A really useless button, in my opinion. Who wants to do something like that? It only makes the video...uninteresting.

You can try it while viewing this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYFEIw8OLQs. (make sure you have HTML 5 activated; verify or activate here: http://www.youtube.com/html5)

View YouTube videos into a dark environment, like in a cinema.

Another good extension for Chrome is, again, made for YouTube. It will make the white area from the browser darken, so you will have the sensation that you're in a cinema. I really like the feature. Try it by searching "Turn Off the Lights" in extensions (extensions homepage is here) and selecting the second result (Mac users goes here). It has a button, on the right part of the address bar.

Here's a screenshot of how it looks like:

Chrome extension for viewing YouTube always in HTML5.

You have probably read my article about the new feature from YouTube, that one related to HTML 5 content (if not, go here). The extension I'm now telling you about, will try to deliver you the content from YouTube into HTML 5, instead of Flash Player. It is available for all platforms (Mac users goes here), and has no button, it only does what I've told you (in the background). It's an interesting extension, because you will know anytime that the content is viewed through HTML 5, if available.

Search it through extensions (https://chrome.google.com/extensions?hl=en-US) with the following name: YouTube HTML5-ifier .

YouTube turns to HTML 5 (no flash needed anymore).

If you want to view YouTube video content, you don't need anymore Flash Player. And this is because the videos from YouTube can now be played on HTML 5, which runs the h.264 video codec. This plays the content faster and uses less resources, compared to the older way (with Flash). YouTube says that it's just an experiment, and from what I've already seen, the videos are running on the whole black area (which makes, because of the bigger image, its quality lower), and are playing faster than before. And I like the idea.

What do you need : Chrome, Safari or Internet Explorer with Chrome Frame installed (Download Chrome Frame here). Anything else you need to know is that there is no fullscreen viewer and some videos that have ads can't be currently played using HTML 5.

Join HTML5 Beta from here: http://www.youtube.com/html5

Adding background music to your blogspot blog.

You probably thought if it is possible to add music background to your blog. And yes, it is. But the way I know to do, it is only partially possible. I'm telling you that, because this method works only on Safari, Opera and Chrome, but not on Internet Explorer 8 or on Firefox. So, the only way I can share you the code is by putting it into a .txt file, and giving you the link. I've told you in a previous article, my blog is going to run the code automatically if I put it over here, and you won't be able to see the code, only it's effect. I'm really sorry for that !

Let's continue. Because it's really hard to find a way on which the sharing would be possible only by a link, the service we are going to use is Youtube. Now go to Youtube, choose a video (you'll have only the sound from it), and on the right side, you should see the "URL" (it is in the box where are some details about the publisher). Let that window/tab opened, because now we are going to work with the code. In the .txt file you have the code, which must be copied and pasted into a HTML/JavaScript Gadget (Dashboard -> Layout -> Add Gadget -> HTML/JavaScript), but where it says "URL of the video", please paste the URL which you just saw on the Youtube window/tab. Leave the quotes how they are, and paste that link between them.

Now you should be having music on your blog. If not, please try again, and if you can't get it working, please leave a comment, and I'll try to help you.

Here's the link for the .txt file: (it's safe, don't worry) http://www.4shared.com/file/182233947/6ae0a1d2/musicblogspot.html