Scribd is often referred to as the YouTube for documents. But unlike YouTube, Scribd does usually offer a direct option for users to download files.
But in case you aren't registered with Scribd or the uploader has disabled the download options you might not be able to download the file for offline purposes.
I came across one such file (Best Magazine Covers of 2008) and tried to figure out how to download the PDF file from Scribd. Tried the tried and tested browser cache trick, but it gave me only a .scb file - which I think contains all the relevant data - but was unable to convert it to a friendlier format.
So what do you do? Google. I did but that didn't help. Thought for a while and then Eureka!
You will only need to install and extra bit of software, that is if you don't already have it (any way such software are usually handy to have on your PC) - a PDF creator. There are quite a number of free PDF creators available online that do a decent job. Two of my preferred choices are: PDFCreator (Open Source) and PrimoPDF (it needs .Net Framework 2.0 to work).
Once you have downloaded and installed a PDF creator, click on the dropdown arrow besides the iPaper text on the Flash Player, and click on the Print option. On the Print dialog box choose the PDF creator software instead of your default printer (in case you have one). Then click the Print button and your file in a PDF form will be ready in a while (depending on the size of the document).
This trick should always work for downloading PDF files from Scribd because there doesn't seem to be an option availabe to an uploaders to disable the print functionality. And this way you can also download files without registering with Scribd.
An anonymous reader suggests:
For those receiving blank pages when PDFing:
Try changing the view mode to 'Book Mode' instead of 'List Mode'. I did that and it finally worked!
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Every year, just before and during the 10-day Durga Puja festivities, there is increased activity on this blog thanks to two posts releated to Mahalaya related downloads (there are direct MP3 download links).
Nowadays, I don't seem to put in as much emotion into my writing as I used too. Therefore some posts from the past to welcome this festive season.
2006: Advent of Autumn
2005: Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu...
In this somewhat related post you can find a Durga Puja dhak beat ringtone for download.
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USA - love it, hate it, but it always interests you and so does its politics. And therefore would Michael Moore's new film - Slacker Uprising - that "traces Michael Moore's 62-city tour of the swing states during the 2004 Presidential election and records the thrilling - and frightening - response he received across the country," would have a potential worldwide audience.
The film is perhaps the first major feature film to be released for free on the internet. But unfortunately the official download is available only to people residing in the United States or Canada.
This is what the message says when someone from outside the two countries try to download the film:
SORRY!
Unfortunately, the lawyers tell us we are only allowed to offer the film to people residing in the United States or Canada. The computers think you are someplace else right now, and that's why you are seeing this page. If you really are in the US or Canada and our computers are confused, you may try accessing the website from a different network, at a friends house, etc. We're very sorry for the inconvenience, and really want as many people to see the film as possible.
But you here in India (or for that matter in any country outside the US and Canada) wish to download Slacker Uprising.
It's easy. You don't even need to bypass the geographical restrictions. Someone would have already posted the video (expecially since that it is free) at a place online from where you can easlily download it.
The obvious suspect is torrent. And it is
available there (obviously unrestricted). But many people are not that comfortable with torrents and prefer direct downloads from the internet.
If you are one of the torrent wary types (there are many reasons to be) you can watch online or download Michael Moore's
Slacker Uprising even from outside US and Canda
here (someone has already done the good work for us). To download scroll to
the bottom of the page and look for the 'Download playing' link.
Alternatively you can also directly download Slacker Uprising (obviously for free) from the link below. It doesn't matter if your are a non-US downloader:
[MP4 648 MB 01:39:23]
Blip.tv is a partner in the distribution of the film, and there is a possibility that they might take it off.
Trailer:
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The T-Mobile G1 mobile phone manufactured by HTC is the first phone to be built using Google's Android platform.
I was getting irrititaed with all that overhype around the Apple iPhone. Thank god for competition. Now we have a G1 to hit Apple where it hurts the most.
The G1, as you would already know by now, is the first phone to be built using Google's Android platform. The manufacturer is HTC (who also have other cool phones on their portfolio) and it will be released in the US by T-Mobile on October 23.
The official press release doesn't mention any dates for an Asia release but it'll "be available in the United Kingdom beginning in November, and across Europe in the first quarter of 2009. Countries include Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and the Netherlands."
The US price for the phone is a cool $179, that translates to Rs 8,264 (as per today's conversion rate). But when a $199 iPhone costs Rs 31,000 intead of Rs 9,187 (via direct currency convertion), you don't know by how much the G1 would make an Indian consumer poorer.
Here are a couple of G1 videos. One from T-Mobile and the other from HTC.
T-Mobile:
Download video [00:01:08 FLV 1.33 MB]
Download hi-res video [00:01:08 MPG 9.4 MB]
HTC:
Download video [00:00:45 FLV 13.5 MB]
Download hi-res video [00:00:45 MPG 9.4 MB]
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(This is not to be confused with Google Adsense for Search) Google seems to have launched this new feature in their Adsense ad units. I didn't notice it earlier.
On this blog, between the search box and the first displayed post I have a line of Google Link Ads. A little while ago I noticed a small search box there (am not sure whether it would be there when you visit this page). It said, "View ads about". Your query would take you to a listing page of ads that match the keyword you have entered.
But I'm not impressed. First it looks bad. The arrows in the submit button are improperly aligned and it spoils the look of my blog. Having one search box below another is not my idea of monetisation.
This might be a part of the new Google endeavour to improve their ads.
Moreover, I don't expect people to actually search for ads. Yes, I know that they do, but that is in sites and blogs like Cutting the Chai and the purpose is entirely different.
Initially people would give it a try out of curiosity, but it would fade away as thhe novelty value wanes.
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