Tag: YouTube

How To Disable Annotations and Pop-Ups on YouTube Videos (with or without login)

Do you hate those overlays and annotations that appear on YouTube videos? Me, too! Here’s how to disable them. If you are logged into YouTube it is a simple procedure as described here:

How To Disable Annotations and Pop-Ups on YouTube Videos (Field Guide/Gizmodo)

But what if you don’t have a YouTube account or don’t want to login? Well that’s also easy, if you have the popular ad-blocking extension uBlock Origin installed (the link is to the addon’s Github site, but it should be available in the usual addon repositories for Firefox, Chrome, Chromium, and perhaps a couple of other browsers). All you need to do is this:

In the Addon manager (Firefox) or Extensions page (Chrome(ium)), click the button to go to the Preferences for the uBlock Origin addon, or click the Options link.

If a “Show Dashboard” button appears, click it.

Click on the “3rd-party filters” tab. Scroll to the bottom of the page, to the “Custom” section.

In the textbox you should see a line that looks like this (possibly the last line in the textbox:

! https://easylist-downloads.adblockplus.org/yt_annoyances_other.txt

Uncomment this line by removing the exclamation point and space character from the start, so it looks like this:

https://easylist-downloads.adblockplus.org/yt_annoyances_other.txt

Click the “Parse” button below the text box.  Now, just above the textbox, you should see a new entry that says:

https://easylist-downloads.adblockplus.org/yt_annoyances_other.txt‎ : 0 used out of ? [outdated]

Don’t worry about the word “outdated”, this isn’t a filter that needs to be changed frequently.  Now look for the “Apply Changes” button in the upper right hand corner of the page.  Click it.  The word “outdated” will change to a “purge cache” button.  Don’t click that.  Just close the tab or window.  You’re done.

If you use AdBlock rather than uBlock Origin you might want to consider switching, because in my experience uBlock Origin is more effective in blocking ads and other annoyances.  You can always switch back if you don’t think it’s a better blocker.

Link: How to Create YouTube Playlists without Logging In

There’s however a simple URL hack that will let you create “virtual” playlists on YouTube – they are like regular playlists except that they are not connected to any Google account and you can still add or remove videos on the fly.

Full article here:
How to Create YouTube Playlists without Logging In (Digital Inspiration)

Link: 7 YouTube Channels Where You Can Find Computer Help

Thanks to the Internet, a beginner doesn’t really need to seek anyone’s help anymore. This holds true for several things, and technology-related queries are certainly one of them. Some weird noise is coming out of your laptop? Getting slower network speed? Don’t like Windows 8′s start screen? Well, there are a gamut of communities waiting to help you out.

While there are several communities like StackOverflow where you can post your questions and have them appropriately addressed, if you find video content more gripping, the Internet has that covered well. In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the most reliable and well-known YouTube channels that you should look up when in need of some help with your computer woes.

Full article here:
7 YouTube Channels Where You Can Find Computer Help (Make Tech Easier)

Link: Force YouTube to buffer your entire video

 Back in the good old days, when you started watching a YouTube video, the entire thing would download (or “buffer”) in the background, thus ensuring a relatively smooth playback experience.

If you had a slow connection, you could simply pause the video until you saw the “buffer bar” complete its journey from left to right. But thanks to YouTube’s switch to a new protocol (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP, or DASH, if you’re interested), that trick no longer works.

Now, when you play a video, YouTube buffers only a small amount. And that can lead to stuttering, frequently interrupted playback.

Full article here:
Force YouTube to buffer your entire video (PCWorld)
Related:
How to Preload and Buffer Entire YouTube Videos By Disabling DASH Playback (TechNorms)
Go back to YouTube’s old buffering to skip without rebuffering (gHacks)
Preload Entire YouTube Videos By Disabling Dash Playback (Lifehacker)