Video DownloadHelper helpfully helps you download helpful videos. Helpfully.
November 4, 2009
How often have you seen a great discussion-provoking video on the web and thought, “If only I could grab this video and try and work it into a topic I want to discuss,” then you hear the internet laugh at you as you try to save it? How do you use this without having to send people to a web page? Or what happens if this page constantly rotates its content like at CNN.com?
Well, for users of Firefox, the task just became very simple. The fine folks at Video DownloadHelper have created a plug-in for Firefox that makes video downloading as simple as pressing a button. It works like this: whenever you’re at a webpage that contains video content, you press the drop-down arrow on the Video DownloadHelper button (three rotating spheres of red, blue, and yellow just to the left of the URL area) and it asks you which video you want to download (in case there are multiple videos on the page). Then presto, the trusty “Save As” box pops up, you name the file, and it’s saved to your hard drive. No longer do you have to send people to URLs full of advertisements and pop ups just to share a video, which you can attach to an email like any other file. Imagine the immeasurable joy of being able to see the Dramatic Chipmunk as many times as you want, even when you don’t have access to the internet.
Now, a warning. VDH might not be the best extension to share with students. If you press the Video DownloadHelper menu button, it will bring up a dialog box that shows the sites where VDH will look for videos. It also includes a check box that says, “Show sites with directly accessible adult content.” While such searches are turned off by default, there’s no sense in inviting temptation here.
This plug-in works with virtually all popular video file types and even has conversion abilities built in to aid when you’re trying to use the content in an application that may only support a few video file types.
Related stuff:
How to cope when your school blocks YouTube
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