Gnash 0.8.8 Released, claims 100% of all YouTube videos now work

The latest version of open-source flash player ‘Gnash’ boasts that ‘100% of all YouTube videos’ should now work using it.

Gnash can be run as a standalone application or as a plugin for most popular web browsers including Chrome & Firefox.

Other improvements cited on the release page include: -

• Gnash can switch at runtime between the Cairo, OpenGL,
  and AGG renderers.
• Gnash can switch media handlers at runtime, too, between
  FFmpeg and Gstreamer,
• Gnash can now decode video quickly on hardware compatible
  with the VAAPI library (a few NVidia, ATI, and Intel
  graphics processors)
• Gnash now compiles faster due to reduced internal
  dependencies.
• Scriptable Plugin support so Javascript in the browser can
  work with ActionScript in Gnash.
• Improved input device handling when using a raw
  framebuffer.

Install

Gnash 0.8.8 can be installed in Ubuntu via the getgnash repo. Add the respective source line to your Software Sources (system > preferences > software sources > third party > add)

• deb http://www.getgnash.org/debs/ubuntu maverick main
• deb http://www.getgnash.org/debs/ubuntu lucid main
• deb http://www.getgnash.org/debs/ubuntu karmic main

Then update and install gnash.

If Gnash is a project you really dig, why not help the guys out with a donation?

Tip | RyanT

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Canonical licenses H.264 – Theora out for the count? [Updated]

Canonical are currently the only Linux company to license H.264/AVC, the patented non-free technology used to compress video and favoured by companies such as Apple & Microsoft for HTML5 Video.

Neither RedHat, makers of Fedora, or Novell, makers of Suse, appear on the list of over 800 licensee's.

What’s interesting is that the rival, if you will, to H.264 is the free and open codec Ogg Theroa which one would naturally assume would be the favoured choice for a Linux distribution’s parent to support.

With Canonical putting their weight behind H.264 and already having the most popular desktop Linux distribution this might tip the scales to H264 adoption for HTML5 video on the web.

And does this mean Ubuntu 10.04 LTS users are covered and can install H.264 to their systems without worrying about patent issues?

Update
Mark Shuttleworth has helped clarify the issue: "I believe the licenses he's referring are purely in support of OEMs in specific cases"

Many, many thanks to Paul who wrote half of this!
Source | theregister

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A quick look at some new features in Banshee 1.5.5

Banshee will be releasing yet another version of itself very shortly (supposedly today) bringing some new features to the party.

• Gapless playback? Check.
• Wikipedia integration? Check.
• YouTube suggestions?! Check!

Demo

gnomeuser from the Ubuntu forums has kindly made a video showing off some of these features which you can view below.

In view: YouTube Plug-in

The YouTube plug-in uses the context pane area to suggest videos related to your currently playing song.

In the screenshots below I'm listening to some awesome Aussie Pop-Punk by a band (formerly) called 52 Flicks. What does the YouTube plug-in suggest? Other videos featuring 52 Flicks.

Right clicking the arrow adjacent to the video thumbnails gives you the option of watching the video in your browser or in Banshee itself.

If you choose to watch it in Banshee the application switches to the ‘Now Playing’ tab and plays the video. You can pause, seek, or go full screen (see screenshot below).

Banshee playing a YouTube video full screen

Try it out

You can install the current 1.5.5 build via the Banshee Daily PPA but be aware that the PPA is named ‘Daily’ and not ‘Stable’ for a reason!

• sudo add-apt-repository ppa:banshee-team/banshee-daily
• sudo apt-get update

and then either run update manager if you already have Banshee installed or use

• sudo apt-get install banshee

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How To Download YouTube Video's In Ubuntu Without Addons, apps, terminal etc

If you use Firefox or Chrome and want to "download" a YouTube video in Ubuntu you don't need to bother installing extensions, addons or 3rd party applications.

1. Go to the YouTube page of the video you want to download in Firefox
2. Let it load completely (be sure to select HQ/HD if you want best quality)
3. Do NOT close the browser OR the page
4. Open Nautilus and navigate to /tmp
5. Drag the file named "Flash" (followed by letters and numbers) to your desktop and rename it.
6. That's it!

If you use Google Chrome you will find the .flv's inside your ~./cache/google-chrome/Media Cache folder. 

You can play .flv's in VLC or you can now convert the file to a different format using your preferred method. Handbrake is pretty good!

Thanks to FRUMMAGE @ Ubuntuforums

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In Awe Of Dockys' "Panel Painting"

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Watch YouTube Video's Without Flash In Your Browser!

If you want to watch YouTube videos without using Flash you can - thanks to neosmart.
Available as both a webpage AND as an extension for Chromium (and shortly to work on Chrome), Firefox and any other borwser that supports UserScripts.

Simple go to http://neosmart.net/YouTube5/ and enter the URL of the video you want to watch and it will load in glorious HTML5 playback. (working buttons!!)

If you choose to install the extension you will see a link when navigating YouTube offering to load it in HTML5 via the sit above. Nice!

Extension

Google Chromium on Linux now supports the installation of greasemonkey/userscripts AS extensions. SO click on this and you'll be prompted to install it.

{via Slashdot}

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