Have you ever wished you can save some of those YouTube videos for later viewing?  This is especially true if you plan on going somewhere with your laptop with no Internet access.

If your answer is yes, then read on…

There is a file conversion site–zamzar.com–that can actually convert YouTube video postings to any video format your computer can play.  All you need to do is open your browser to http://www.zamzar.com.  There make sure to do the following:

  1. In step 1, click the URL link so that you can provide the URL of the YouTube video you wish to get.
  2. In step 2, specify the video format your computer can play.  For windows computers, specifying “wmv”  should guarantee that your Media Player can play the resulting video file.
  3. In step 3, you will need to specify you e-mail address.  This is where Zamzar.com will send a download link for the converty video.
  4. In step 4, you just need to click the CONVERT button, and you are done.
  5. Now all you have to do is wait for an e-mail from Zamzar.com
  6. When you get the e-mail, you will find a download link for the YouTube video.  Click the link and download the video.  You can now play the video on your computer whether you have Internet access or not!

If you have several YouTube videos you wish to save for later viewing, repeat the above steps for each and everyone of them.

Have fun!

Warning:  Some videos are copyrighted.  Be careful not to contribute to such illegal activities.

This year we are looking to give aid to the Stockton community by helping the Emergency Food Bank (EFB) gain funds needed to help those less fortunate than us.

If you wish to help, please write your check out to EFB, and we will match what you donate–meaning that if you give $20, Koryo FTC will donate $20 also to match what you donate.

The last day we will collect donations is Tuesday, 29 Dec 2009.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

If you wish to know more about the Stockton EFB, feel free to visit their web site at http://www.stocktonfoodbank.org/about-us.htm.

One of my life’s goal is to run at least one marathon–a 26.2 mile run.  To that end, I’ve been reading about various information on how to do it.  One inspirational book I recently read was “50 50” by Dean Karnazes.  Dean is an endurance runner.  He set out to run a marathon everyday for 50 days; he achieved it!

This tells you what the human body can do if the mind is set to do it.

In his book he lays out a training plan for would be marathon runners who has never done one before.  I summarize it for you here:

Week Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
1 Rest walk 20 min Rest walk 20 min Rest walk 20 min walk 20 min
2 Rest 10X: walk 1 min, run 1
min
optional: walk 20 min 10X: walk 1 min, run 1
min
Rest 10X: walk 1 min, run 1
min
10X: walk 1 min, run 1
min
3 Rest 7X: walk 1 min, run 2 min optional: walk 20 min 7X: walk 1 min, run 2 min optional: walk 20 min 7X: walk 1 min, run 2 min 7X: walk 1 min, run 2 min
4 Rest 5X: walk 1 min, run 3 min optional: 10X: walk 1
min, run 1 min
5X: walk 1 min, run 3 min optional: 10X: walk 1
min, run 1 min
5X: walk 1 min, run 3 min 5X: walk 1 min, run 3 min
5 Rest 4X: walk 1 min, run 4 min optional: 10X: walk 1
min, run 1 min
4X: walk 1 min, run 4 min optional: 10X: walk 1
min, run 1 min
4X: walk 1 min, run 4 min 4X: walk 1 min, run 5 min
6 Rest run 2 miles optional: 7X: walk 1
min, run 2 min
run 2 miles run 2 miles Rest run 3 miles
7 Rest run 3 miles optional: run 2 miles run 2 miles run 3 miles optional: run 2 miles run 4 miles
8 Rest run 3 miles optional: run 3 miles run 3 miles run 3 miles optional: run 3 miles run 5 miles
9 Rest run 4 miles optional: run 3 miles run 4 miles run 3 miles optional: run 3 miles run 6 miles
10 Rest run 3 miles optional: run 3 miles run 3 miles run 3 miles Rest run 8 miles
11 Rest run 4 miles optional: run 4 miles run 4 miles run 4 miles optional: run 4 miles run 9 miles
12 Rest run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 4 miles run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 8 miles
13 Rest run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 5 miles run 5 miles optioanl: run 4 miles run 10 miles
14 Rest run 4 miles optional: run 4 miles run 5 miles run 4 miles optional: run 4 miles run 11 miles
15 Rest run 4 miles optional: run 4 miles run 4 miles run 4 miles optional: run 4 miles run 9 miles
16 Rest run 4 miles optional: run 4 miles run 6 miles run 4 miles optional: run 4 miles run 12 miles
17 Rest run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 4 miles run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 13 miles
18 Rest run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 6 miles run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 14 miles
19 Rest run 4 miles optional: run 4 miles run 5 miles run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run  9 miles
20 Rest run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 6 miles run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 15 miles
21 Rest run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 6 miles run 6 miles optional: run 4 miles run 16 miles
22 Rest run 4 miles optional: run 4 miles run 5 miles run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 10 miles
23 Rest run 6 miles optional: run 4 miles run 6 miles run 6 miles optional: run 4 miles run 18 miles
24 Rest run 6 miles optional: run 4 miles run 8 miles run 6 miles optional: run 4 miles run 20 miles
25 Rest run 5 miles optional: run 4 miles run 6 miles run 6 miles optional: run 4 miles run 12 miles
26 Rest run 7 miles optional: run 4 miles run 5 miles run 4 miles Rest MARATHON:  run
26.2 miles

Critical points to remember:

  • Make sure you are hydrated every 6 miles
  • Watch what you eat before a run
  • Get good shoes; any minor annoyance can become serious when extended for many miles; you can get blisters or irritate a knee or hip

To track your progress, think about signing up for an account on active.com.  There you can get a free account to help manage your training.  You can even map out running routes around the neighborhood.

Another site where you can track your progress is at nikerunning.nike.com.  There is you use a Nike + enabled shoe and a sensor, you can easily track your distance, calorie usage, time, and pace.  Information is logged on their site where they provide you with fancy looking graphs to see how you are doing.  And if you’ve gained around 1 year of experience, you can use their training plan there to achieve better marathon races.

From the factory, the Droid comes with the following built-in core applications:

  • Alarm Clock
  • Amazon MP3
  • Browser
  • Calculator
  • Calendar
  • Camera
  • Car Home
  • Contacts
  • Corporate Calendar
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Gallery
  • Gmail
  • Maps
  • Market
  • Messaging
  • Music
  • Phone
  • Settings
  • Talk
  • Visual VM
  • Voice Search
  • YouTube

The unit has 3 desktops you can fill with shortcuts to the above applications and other applications you may install at some point in the future.

The center desktop has the following preset shortcuts:

  • Messaging
  • Phone
  • Contacts
  • Browser
  • Maps
  • Market
  • Voice Search

All core applications are quickly explained below.

Alarm Clock

Provides a clock and alarming features which can be set in various ways.  You can add a single alarm, a periodic daily alarm, or an alarm that goes off on certain days of the week.

Amazon MP3

You can browse top music albums or tracks.  You can also browse by genre.  When you find what you like, you can purchase it.

Browser

This is the Internet browser.  The browser is location aware.  Through its GPS function, it knows where it is.

Calculator

Provides basic calculator functionality, including some advanced math functions like sin, cos, tan, ln, log, factorial, pi, exponential, power, and square root.

Calendar

Your Google calendar will show here.

Camera

Provides your basic camera function with still pictures and video capabilities.  The camera can shoot 5 megapixels pictures.

Car Home

The GPS Navigation system.  Has voice command capabilities so that if you wish to go to a particular address, you can say “directions to…”.  Aside from navigation, you can view contacts and the map here.

Contacts

Your contact list resides here.  Any accounts you synchronize with that contains contact information will go here.

Corporate Calendar

If you synch up with MS Exchange, your corporate calendar will show here.

Email

Provides access to e-mail accounts.

Facebook

This is a Facebook application to access your Facebook page on the web.  The interface is pretty straight forward.

Gallery

Provides a means to view pictures and videos in an easy to follow format.

Gmail

Application for Google’s web e-mail–gmail.

Maps

This is just like google maps, but it is location aware.  It will show the Droid’s present location on the map.

Market

This is just like the iPhone’s app store.  The market is where you can get free and paid for applications for the Droid.

Messaging

TEXTing application.

Music

Music playing application.

Phone

By the way, I forgot that the Droid is a phone too.

Settings

This is where most of the Droid customization and settings are done.

Talk

This is an application for Google’s IM called Talk.

Visual VM

Allows user to view voice mail and source of voice mail.  Voice mails can be managed through the application.  This service cost money to use.

Voice Search

Allows user to do searches on anything using voice commands.

YouTube

This is a Droid YouTube application.