class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/image24.png?54167" alt="android manager" />I love my smartphone. I think it’s an absolutely amazing device, and can’t wait to see where smartphone technology goes in three or five years. But there’s just one thing that scares me. What if someone steals it, or I lose it? My life is on that thing. It’s a treasure trove of personal information, with access to all of my contacts, Gmail correspondence, calendar, and even all the files on my Dropbox. Definitely not something I’d like to see fall into the wrong hands! If it ever does, class="vt-p" href="https://cirrusmanager.appspot.com/#home">Cirrus Manager will be the first site I turn to.

Like just about every other “find my device” solution ( class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-wipe-phone-remotely-android-lost/">Android Lost and friends), Cirrus Manager is an app-and-website combo. You install the app on your phone and configure it to talk to the website, and then use the website if the need ever arises. I have been testing Cirrus Manager for over a month before writing this post, so the app is already configured on my phone. When someone (hopefully me…) runs the app, the first thing they see is a password prompt:

class="aligncenter" style="border:1px solid black" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/image25.png?54167" border="0" alt="android manager" width="300" height="500" />

Once you enter the correct password, you get to the main menu:

class="aligncenter" style="border:1px solid black" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/image26.png?54167" border="0" alt="manage your android phone" width="300" height="500" />

This is not an “all or nothing” proposition. You can select how much control you wish to grant Cirrus Manager over your phone.

class="aligncenter" style="border:1px solid black" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/image27.png?54167" border="0" alt="manage your android phone" width="300" height="500" />

As you can see, I chose not to manage contacts, messages, and processes via the Web interface. If anyone ever steals my phone, I would be able to tell who they’re calling. More importantly, Cirrus Manager constantly sends location updates to the server, and you can even turn the GPS on remotely for better accuracy.

The security settings are quite comprehensive:

class="aligncenter" style="border:1px solid black" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/image28.png?54167" border="0" alt="manage your android phone" width="300" height="500" />

I recently got to test the “Lock on SIM change” feature, accidentally. I switched carriers, and upon inserting my new SIM card and booting my phone, Cirrus presented me with a password prompt. I then entered my password (correctly), and it just shut off. No matter how many times I did this, this kept happening. The only way to get it to work was to insert the original SIM, access the app, disable “Lock on SIM change” and then change the SIM. CirrusLabs (the developer) say this should not happen, but that was the case when I tested it.

Still, it was a good example of how effective the locking mechanism can be. I found no way to circumvent the lock when it happened, and I consider myself a fairly skilled Android user. If your device is rooted, someone can always plug it into a PC and use adb shell to uninstall whatever is locking your device – but this is true for all such security solutions (so you can only hope your device doesn’t fall into skilled hands, or that you’re faster than the thief).

The last feature in the main menu, Auto Update Interval, is only available for paid plans (I subscribed to the $3/mo. plan). But even if your device doesn’t auto-update the site, you can always poll it manually. Which brings us to the site itself:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/image29.png?54167" border="0" alt="android phone manager" width="580" height="431" />

In a word: slick. The site runs on Google App Engine, and you get to use your normal Google account to log in. The gorgeous interface is dominated by a side menu that opens as soon as you hover over the strip of icons:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/image30.png?54167" border="0" alt="android phone manager" width="330" height="500" />

The menu is fairly self-explanatory. The two most important features, for me, are geolocating your device and remotely wiping it in case you cannot retrieve it. Let’s look at geolocation first:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/image31.png?54167" border="0" alt="android phone manager" width="580" height="497" />

Yup, this is where I am. You may be wondering why I live in a country that has no streets. This is not an issue specific to Cirrus Manager. The Google Maps API simply does not support all countries and territories, and I’m unlucky enough to be located in such an unsupported country. Clicking the pin icon reveals the latitude and longitude coordinates reported by the device, which you can then search for on Google Maps or any other mapping solution. If you’re in a supported location (North America, for example), you won’t have to go through that extra step.

Another interesting option is visualizing the location history over time. This shows the routes the device made over time as red lines over the map, and while it can be a bit creepy, it’s also very interesting to see how your device has been moving all over town.

Next, let’s look at the “nuclear option”. If someone steals your device and you become convinced you can’t have it back, you really should wipe it remotely. This is what the Wipe Device option looks like:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/image32.png?54167" border="0" alt="android manager" width="580" height="350" />

Note the option to wipe the SD card as well. This is a crucial option. If you just wipe your device without wiping the SD card, any would-be thief would still have access to lots of personal information, and possibly complete copies of all of your apps and data (if you use class="vt-p" href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup&feature=search_result">Titanium Backup, which you really should). The SD wipe option is only available for paid plans, though (and is one of the key reasons I chose to pay for the service).

Bottom Line

Cirrus Manager has plenty of other features, including detailed hardware information for your device, SMS control (wipe your device using an SMS if it has no connectivity), and more. The free version is very good, but the paid version is even better. This is the security solution I chose for my own device – definitely recommended.  Let us know in the comments which security app you use to protect your Android phone.

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/close-watch-android-device-cirrus-manager-22/">Keep A Close Watch On Your Android Device With Cirrus Manager [2.2+] is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-10_004056.jpg?54167" alt="free full length movies" />I remember, just over a decade ago, I’d record all of the Backstreet Boys and ‘N SYNC’s MTV VMA performances on tape and watch them over and over. In just over 10 years now, no one uses VHS any longer, while class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/convert-video-files-to-dvd-mp4-vcd-mpeg-windows/">VCDs have pretty much gone and class="vt-p" href="http://techland.time.com/2011/05/04/dvd-sales-plunge-in-u-s-digital-sales-on-the-rise/">DVD sales have slowed down compared to digital rentals.

A prime example of this big switch is in the success of the class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/two-very-useful-web-apps-to-get-the-most-out-of-netflix/">streaming/DVD rental class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/two-very-useful-web-apps-to-get-the-most-out-of-netflix/">giant class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/9-tips-tricks-netflix-subscription/">Netflix. It has gained a lot of traction (and outrage) recently, which indicates a shift in how we watch movies and shows from physical discs to streaming lots of media. It’s just hard to depart from the convenience of online movie and TV show streaming. Nowadays, there are class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-movies-on-internet-youtube/">plenty of free, full length movies you can rent or you can catch on class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/movies">YouTube Movies, such as class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/movie/little-fockers">Little Fockers, class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/movie/the-kings-speech">The King’s Speech, etc. class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-neat-movies-youtube-cool-visual-special-effects/">Finding freebies on YouTube Movies isn’t hard, but finding good and recent ones may take a bit of time.

Here’s a list of 6 free Hollywood full length movies which have received generally favorable reviews and are fairly recent (oldest movie from this list was released in 1992, while the newest movie is from 2006). If you have some free time this summer, read on for some free, enjoyable goodies!

class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=x5g0J6keqig&feature=mv_sr">Men In Black

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-10_020353.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="free full length movies" width="580" height="658" />

Starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy movie, based on the comic book series of the same name. It was a critically and commercially successful, gaining a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, an Academy Award for Best Makeup with nominations in other categories, and grossing nearly 5 times what it cost to make the movie. It has spanned two sequels, the last of which will be released next year.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=uR4Jpd_mSa4&feature=mv_sr">Gridiron Gang

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-10_013436.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="full length movies" width="580" height="658" />

This 2006 film follows the story of a former American football player, portrayed by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who helps the teenagers at the juvenile detention center where he supervises to gain self-esteem by engaging in sports, particularly, football. This movie is actually loosely based on the true story of the Kilpatrick Mustangs, a football team consisted of juvenile detainees at Camp Kilpatrick in California.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=VfWFcT2waKE&feature=mv_sr">Dracula

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-10_005532.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="full length movies" width="580" height="651" />

This 1992 adaptation of the novel stars Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves and Anthony Hopkins. Oldman plays Count Dracula, who encounters a living image of his deceased wife in Winona Ryder’s character. The movie has gotten an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 3 Academy Awards for Best Makeup, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Costume Design. It was also a box office hit.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=gx3z-8mbqxQ&feature=mv_sr">The Patriot

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-10_032944.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="full length movies" width="580" height="657" />

In this 2000 film, Mel Gibson gives life to a war veteran who has renounced violence but still has to participate in the American Revolutionary War against the British, while his elder son, played by Heath Ledger, gladly joins the Continental Army. The movie received generally positive reviews and was nominated for 3 Academy Awards, including Best Sound, Best Cinematography and Best Original Music Score.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=Wz2WPBfE_Os&feature=mv_sr">Bad Boys

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-10_042930.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="watch full length movies" width="580" height="657" />

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence star in this hilarious 1995 action film about two Mami cops that need to protect a murder witness and investigate a case of stolen drugs. The flick, which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, became a box office hit, earning $140 million worldwide against a $10 million budget.

Bonus: class="vt-p" href="http://www.crackle.com/c/Jerry_Maguire">Jerry Maguire

This is technically not on Youtube Movies yet (as of 7/10/11), but considering it’s being shown on Crackle.com (which legally provides a lot of the full-length movies on this list on Youtube Movies), I’d say it’s bound to appear on Youtube soon.

src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-10_050744.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="free full length movies" width="576" height="498" />

Jerry Maguire is a romantic comedy-drama film from 1996 where Tom Cruise plays a successful sports agent who tries to rebuild his once-honorable career when he’s dismissed from his job, with the support of wide receiver Rod Tidwell, portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in an Oscar-winning performance, who happens to be Maguire’s most disgruntled client, and Renee Zellweger’s character, who is the only person from Maguire’s former job that believes in him.

Have you seen these films? If so, which ones did you enjoy? Know of any more noteworthy titles on Youtube Movies? Let us know in the comments!

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-free-full-length-hollywood-films-you-can-watch-on-youtube-movies-us-only/">6 Free Full-Length Hollywood Films You Can Watch On YouTube Movies [US Only] is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/tv-chrome.jpg?54167" alt="tv chrome channels" />I used to be a huge class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/tv">TV addict. Now because of the lack of time, I may only use it as background. But I am still watching it from time to time to relax and switch off from work. Therefore I was quite happy to discover this (quite old but not yet covered) tool.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.tv-chrome.com/">TV Chrome is a Google Chrome extension (it does have a Firefox version but it doesn’t seem to be compatible with Firefox 5.0) that tunes into live television feeds from across the world and lets you watch various international TV channels online.

I have found it great for various purposes:

• You can keep track of hot news or sports while at work with no TV;
• You can use watching TV as background noise (especially when you need to do some monotonous work and music makes you either too sleepy or two energetic);
• You can use it to relax and switch off from a hard task you have just completed;
• You can use it if you are learning a foreign language and need the constant stream of a foreign language speech in the background;
• You can use it like a regular TV no matter what you are using it for in your daily life.

Have it Installed

The tool is installed as a regular Google Chrome extension: just click the “Get TV-Chrome” link, install the app and use it right away.

You may need to install the Windows Media Player browser plugin and class="vt-p" href="http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95697">here are excellent instructions on doing it from Google Chrome:

• Download and install the plugin from class="vt-p" href="http://port25.technet.com/pages/windows-media-player-firefox-plugin-download.aspx">here;
• Click Run to start the Setup Wizard. Follow the instructions in the wizard to finish installing the plugin.
• Re-start Google Chrome and enjoy the TV Chrome experience!

Give It A Test Drive

The TV Chrome extension worked pretty smoothly with me. Immediately after installing it, you can find it in your toolbar. Click the icon to get a list of all available channels broken into categories by country and type (news, sports, entertainment, music, movies, etc):

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/tv-chrome-01.jpg?54167" alt="tv chrome channels" width="500" height="613" />

There are plenty of countries represented, though not every station is always online, obviously. Click any category link to have it expanded into the collecting of actual TV channels inside. Click any station to start the video in a media-player-like pop-up. You will need to give it a few seconds to tune in and buffer the video.

The quality of the video may vary but most of the channels you’ll come across will be at least decent quality.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/tv-chrome-02.jpg?54167" alt="tv chrome channels" width="412" height="419" />

You can double-click on the player to view the video full screen.

Drawbacks?

Nothing is perfect and this app does have a few inconveniences as well:

• You are likely to find some channels deny access, fail to respond or have moved (there’s an easy tool to report a broken channel, so let’s hope the database is cleaned up often);
• There are quite a few ads inside the player, but come on! The app is absolutely free! Besides, you can resize the player window to cover up any distractions.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel inclined to give the tool a try? Please share your opinions in the comments!

Other Fun Online TV Tips & Tools

• class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/reddit-tv-webs-videos-place/">Reddit TV – The Web’s Best Videos All In One Place
• class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/what-is-google-tv-and-why-do-i-want-it/">What is Google TV and why do I want it?
• class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-live-tv-news-online-livestation/">Watch Streaming Live TV News Online with Livestation

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href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-dozens-tv-channels-chrome-browser-tv-chrome/">Watch Dozens of TV Channels On Your Chrome Browser With TV Chrome is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/budgeticon1.png" alt="" />Any personal finance adviser will tell you that developing and maintaining a financial budget is the best way to meet monthly expenses, save for financial emergencies and plan for the future. Keeping a budget basically means totaling  your income for the month and subtracting the total of all your expenses. A budget calculator allows you to itemize your expenses so you can see where all your spending is going, especially for non-fixed discretionary items like groceries, music downloads, fast food, entertainment, computer software and the like that may be keeping you from paying off your credit debts or building a sufficient savings account.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-money-and-track-your-finances-with-mint/">Mint is one of the best free online budgeting systems, but if you don’t think you need something that elaborate, there are several other free sites for doing month-to-month budget calculations.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.thebudgetcalculator.com/budgetcalc/index.html">The Budget Calculator

This aptly named budget calculator is straightforward and includes expense boxes for many of the most typical types of fixed and non-fixed expenses—rent or mortgage, electricity, water, phone, Internet, etc. You need to input of course what applies to your personal finances.  It also contains boxes for monthly savings, IRA, and investments.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot701.png" border="0" alt="Screenshot701" width="444" height="371" />

After you enter the amounts and press “Calculate Budget” you can view and print out your budget for the month. As the site points out, “If the amount you get is a negative number check your expenses and savings to find out what is causing you to spend more than you make, and if you have money left over, put more money into savings or put it towards ‘Fun and Entertainment‘”.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.calculatorweb.com/calculators/budgetcalc/">Budget Calculator

This calculator is not as extensive as the one above, but if your expenses are limited to the basics – rent or mortgage, one or two credit cards, car loan, entertainment, etc – then this calculator is useful for quick results.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot702.png" border="0" alt="Screenshot702" width="481" height="361" />

class="vt-p" href="http://www.collegeloansite.com/student-loan-resources/budget-calculator.aspx">College Budgeting Calculator

If going to college is in your plans, the banking website, class="vt-p" href="http://www.chase.com">Chase.com, has a free student loan and budget calculator that computes your assets. This includes job income, scholarships, grants, parents/other, and your expenses – tuition, books and fees, room board, etc.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot7031.png" border="0" alt="Screenshot703" width="525" height="577" />

class="vt-p" href="http://www.free-financial-advice.net/">Free Financial Advice

Free Financial Advice also has a basic budget calculator, but it also features lots of short article advice for personal finance management and savings, including investing for beginners, ideas for earning extra money, saving gas, clothing, computer software, landscaping, paying off debts, etc.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot704.png" border="0" alt="Screenshot704" width="492" height="274" />

Free Financial Advice doesn’t require you to register or provide your email.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.debtsteps.com/budget-calculators.html">DebtSteps

DebtSteps has three extensive budget and loan calculators – Free Household Budget Form, Mortgage Payment Calculator, and a Credit Card Payoff Calculator.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot705.png" border="0" alt="Screenshot705" width="534" height="231" />

When you click on the household budget form, select the Print View option at the bottom of the page, and you will get a very extensive list for income and assets boxes, and numerous one for expenses – including unsecured debts, and gifts and donations.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.incharge.org/Credit_Counseling/Resources/Calculators/HomeBudget.aspx">Home Budget Calculator

Home Budget Calculator does what the above calculators do, but it includes two other unique features. It provides data boxes for you and your spouse’s income as well as more specific data, such as your tax withholdings, FICA, and retirement deductions or expenses.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot7071.png" border="0" alt="Screenshot707" width="569" height="373" />

The calculator also includes a visual pie chart that depicts your monthly expenses.

class="vt-p" href="http://frugalpig.com/budgetcalculator.html">Frugalpig

Frugalpig is a site dedicated to providing readers with tips and strategies for frugal living. It includes its own budget calculator for finding what the site calls “budget leaks”. If you need or want an old fashion pen and paper method for budgeting, you can also download the site’s free class="vt-p" href="http://www.frugalpig.com/frugallife/frugal-finance/budgets/family-budget-worksheet-online/">PDF family budget worksheet.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/screenshot708.png" border="0" alt="Screenshot708" width="519" height="327" />

Frugalpig also provides lots of tips about saving money on groceries, gas, home expenses, entertainment, and shopping in general.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.bankrate.com/calculators.aspx">Bankrate

When you get into the habit of creating and maintaining a budget, you will typically start looking for how you can tighten your budget to either meet monthly expenses, pay off a huge debt, or create emergency savings.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Screen-shot-2011-06-20-at-3.25.05-PM.png" border="0" alt="Screen shot 2011 06 20 at 3 25 05 PM" width="580" height="470" />

Bankrate has a budget calculator as well, but it also includes several other financial calculators for mortgages, auto loans, credit card transfers, and home equity calculations.

Also, check out these articles for other online and software tools about budget keeping:

class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/manage-your-money-safely-with-clearcheckbook/">Manage Your Money Safely with ClearCheckbook – Daniel /> class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-money-and-track-your-finances-with-mint/">Save Money and Track Your Finances with Mint – Karl /> class="l vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/mint-budget-spending-online/">How To Use Mint To Manage Your Budget & Spendings Online – Bakari

Let us know what you think of these sites and which online financial tools you have found useful for controlling your budget.

Image Credit: class="vt-p" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=77378893">Shutterstock />
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href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-spending-control-budget-8-free-budget-calculators/">Watch Your Spending & Control Your Budget With These 8 Free Budget Calculators is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/feature-youtube-3d.jpg" alt="youtube 3d content"/>Love it or hate it, 3D is here to stay. It’s a natural progression of visual displays, and I’m kind of bored of hearing it’s a fad. So let’s take this opportunity to look at something which is in fact, quite clearly a fad – yes, YouTube in 3D. Grab those red/blue specs, switch your TV to 3D mode, charge your active shutter glasses, or just go all crossed eyed while I introduce you to the world in 3D, via YouTube.

One the main arguments against 3D is that there simply isn’t enough content. In fact, half of the movies I’ve watched in the last 6 months have been in glorious 3D 1080p HD, so I’d hazard a guess that you’re just not looking the right places. There’s even a dedicated href="http://www.3dtorrents.org/index.php?page=torrents">3D torrent site now (registrations are currently open, by the way). And then we have YouTube – the ultimate media liberator of the people, a place where idiots can be become famous and nothing is kept secret – and right now the best place to find amateur 3D content.

The Technical Stuff:

Head over to YouTube dedicated href="http://www.youtube.com/select_3d_mode">3D viewing options page to choose first how you’d like to view 3D content. There’s actually quite a few options available.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/viewing-methods.jpg" alt="youtube 3d content" width="580" height="483"/>

Various colored filters for that old-school comic book 3D: This is pretty much the worst kind of 3D you can get and results in horrendous discoloration, but it’s good of them to allow all the combinations and not just traditional red/blue. You also buy an href="http://www.googlestore.com/You+Tube/Accessories/YouTube+3D+Paper+Glasses+-+Pack+of+10.axd">official set of YouTube 3D glasses if you like.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/red-blue.jpg" alt="youtube 3d videos" width="580" height="499" />

Interleaved, for some 3DTVs and Zalman passive filter viewing methods.

Side-by-Side, for Samsung TVs and people who like to go cross-eyed.

Any 3D video you view will have a little 3D menu in the bottom right where you can quickly access the 3D viewing method page, as well as switch the left/right if it’s reversed, and change the video to full/half width (if you regularly view 3DSBS BlueRay movies, those are run at half-width) /> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/3d-menu-button.png" alt="youtube 3d videos" width="212" height="204" />

How to Find 3D videos:

There’s three main ways to find 3D content on YouTube. Firstly, when the service was original launched, a special tag of “yt3D:enable=true” had to be applied to get the 3D button and functionality to appear. That’s not true anymore, but href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=yt3d%3Aenable%3Dtrue&aq=f">there’s an archive of stuff in there and some people are still tagging their videos like that, so it’s worth a look.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/yt3d_true.jpg" alt="youtube 3d videos" width="580" height="457"/>

Secondly, YouTube has href="http://www.youtube.com/user/3D">official 3D channel to highlight some of the better videos.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/3d-channel.jpg" alt="youtube 3d content" width="580" height="293" />

Thirdly, there’s a number of professional and affiliated channels producing fantastic 3D content, so here’s some of the best ones:

href="http://www.youtube.com/user/ExploreMediaGroup">ExploreMediaGroup: a good collection of quality content from various sources, mostly trailers and travel videos.

width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YJOVwdN5kts" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

href="http://www.youtube.com/user/S3DGamerZone">S3D Gamer Zone: My personal favourite, I could watch these game videos and walkthroughs all day. The great thing about game content in 3D is that it’s generally done well and high-res, with none of the bad camera movement and poor video quality that accompanies user-shot content.

width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WT7NsMtkjdg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

href="http://www.youtube.com/user/iwatch3d">iWatch3D: Just a regular guy based in London and into 3D, he films various events and locations.

Of course, just like the regular YouTube 2D the majority of 3D content is so bad I wouldn’t want to waste even a single minute of my life watching it – and those ads at the bottom of the video window are even *more* obnoxious when you’re trying to go cross-eyed. Okay, so maybe you’re not going to find anything to write home about – but it’s innovative, and I like that.

If you’re interested in YouTube, then be sure to check our href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/youtube/">full range of YouTube tagged articles, as well as these all time favourites:

• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-youtube-url-tricks-you-should-know-about/">10 YouTube tricks you should know about
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-12-sites-watch-videos-youtube/">12 Video sites that are better than YouTube (*gasp*)
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-quick-ways-to-download-youtube-videos-off-the-net/">4 Ways to Download YouTube videos

And for those into 3D, I wrote about href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/play-3d-games-pc-tight-budget/"> how to play games in 3D on your PC on a tight budget.

Do you know of any other online sources for great 3D video? I for one would love to hear about it, so let us know in the comment. />
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href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-watch-youtube-3d-content/">How To Find And Watch YouTube 3D content is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/intro11.png" alt="learn computer programming"/>For a lot of students, summer vacation has arrived and it’s an ideal time to stretch out and relax, or alternatively, catch up in your favorite hobbies and perfect your skills. With the advent and growth of YouTube and plenty of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-12-sites-watch-videos-youtube/">other high-quality video-sharing websites and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/teaching-fun-efficient-proprofs-educational-toolset/">tools like flashcard software, learning new things visually by yourself has never been easier. Even though YouTube is used regularly to share href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/my-top-ten-favourite-funniest-youtube-videos/">comedic href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-funny-youtube-video-channels-worth-keeping/">clips, it’s without a doubt, a rich pool of educational videos . You’ve seen many articles on our site listing some href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-amazing-youtube-channels-subscribe/">amazing YouTube channels to become more educated in href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/educational-youtube-channels/">a variety of general topics, to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-youtube-dance-lessons-learn-cool-dance-moves/">learn cool dance moves, even some channels for non-native speakers to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/youtube-channels-learn-speak-english/">learn and perfect their English, and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-youtube-channels-linux-enthusiasts-follow/">dedicated channels for Linux enthusiasts that learn about Linux news and issues.

Since it never hurts to learn something new, especially a skill set like computer programming in different languages, we will go over some of the best channels that will introduce you to the world of programming. Let’s look at which channels made the cut.

href="http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston">thenewboston

href="http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston">thenewboston is a truly great channel with an immense collection of programming tutorials. The href="http://www.thenewboston.com/">official website contains a list of all the tutorials made so far, which are well into the thousands (about 1500 videos as of this writing). Not only does it have tutorials for various programming languages, but it also has videos on href="http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston#grid/user/C315B2A086BA6AAF">building computers, tutorials for software like Dreamweaver and After Effects, as well as 3D-modeling software. The website now also has plans to present tutorials for a variety of other topics, like Math and Biology. Since all these tutorials are free, thenewboston is probably the greatest source of video tutorials for people interested in beginning programming languages. Bucky, the instructor behind most of the videos, explains concepts like a peer, so his tutorials are definitely very easy to follow and catch up to.

To jump into thenewboston’s tutorials for different computer programming languages, check out:

• href="http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston#grid/user/FE2CE09D83EE3E28">Playlist For Java Tutorials (87 videos) & href="http://www.youtube.com/user/thenewboston#grid/user/27BCE863B6A864E3">Playlist For Intermediate Java Tutorials (27 videos)

So you can get a taste of thenewboston’s teaching style, here’s a video from this Java series where Bucky explains href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymorphism_(computer_science)">polymorphism: