Open YouTube Links in Mobile Safari

If you install YouTube's app on an iPhone or iPad, all the YouTube links from Safari will open in the YouTube app. What if you want to open an YouTube video in Safari? Maybe you want to bookmark it or maybe you get a message like "YouTube video not available on mobile" and you need to switch to the desktop interface to watch it. Here's what you need to do:

1. long press the link (tap and hold)

2. select "copy"

3. open a new tab

4. paste the link

5. replace "www" with "m", so that "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=" becomes "http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=" and tap "go".

The explanation is that the links to the mobile YouTube site (m.youtube.com) aren't intercepted by the app.

Another option is to install a different browser like Chrome, which doesn't open the YouTube app when you click on a link to a YouTube video. You can also uninstall the official YouTube app and install a third-party app like McTube.

If you're using Android, this trick worked for me in both Chrome and the stock browser: long press the YouTube link and select "open in [new] incognito tab".

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Google Trusted Testers: From Betas to Campaigns

Google has a site for "trusted testers", but you need to be invited by a Google employee to test new Google services and new features before they're publicly available. "The Trusted Tester Program gives trusted Google users, friends and family members of Google employees a chance to test and share feedback on Google products or features that have yet to be released," explains Google.

It's interesting to compare the answers from a FAQ leaked in 2006 with the answers from a similar FAQ, which is available in the source code of the Trusted Tester site. For example, Google replaced "betas" with "campaigns".

2006: "You can then log on to the Trusted Tester website with a Google Account in order to access and test out betas of new Google products as they become available."

2013: "After joining, testers may be invited to Trusted Tester campaigns as they become available."

Who can participate?

2006: "the friends and family members of Google employees"

2013: "trusted Google users, friends and family members of Google employees"

When will you know if there is a new Google campaign to test?

2006: "Whenever a new Google beta is ready for testing, you'll receive an email letting you know. Then you can just log on to the Trusted Tester website with your Google Account and you'll see a link to that beta."

2013: "Whenever a new Google campaign that matches your profile is ready for testing, and you have been selected as a tester, you'll receive an email inviting you to participate. To increase your chances of being added to new campaigns, make sure your profile is complete and up-to-date!"

Google now uses profiles to determine the best trusted testers. Google even suggests to "make sure your profile is up to date so we can match you with tests for new Google products and services". There's more: "We select testers based on various demographics. The more information you provide in your profile, the better we can match you with appropriate products and services. Adding your mobile devices makes you eligible to participate in mobile tests, as well!"

How long is each Google campaign available for testing?

2006: "Google betas are usually only available for testing for around two weeks. After the testing period ends, we'll remove the link to the beta on the Trusted Tester website."

2013: "The length of the testing period will vary depending on the campaign."

{ Thanks, Florian. }

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YouTube's Harlem Shake Easter Egg

If you search YouTube for [do the Harlem Shake], the search results page will actually illustrate your query: the Harlem Shake song will start playing, YouTube's logo will start moving and the search results will "dance" chaotically.

It's an Easter Egg based on the Harlem Shake meme. "The Harlem Shake is an Internet meme in the form of a video of various groups of people performing a comedy sketch accompanied by a short excerpt from the song 'Harlem Shake'. As a meme, the video was replicated by many people, using the same concept, and this rapidly led to it becoming viral in early February 2013, with thousands of 'Harlem Shake' videos being made and uploaded to YouTube every day at the height of its popularity."

Gizmodo says that "YouTube puts the final meta nail in the Harlem Shake's coffin," but I think the Easter Egg will make the meme even more popular.

{ Thanks, Sterling. }

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The Shortest Google Search URL

What if you want to include a link to a Google search results page and the URL needs to be short? Instead of copying the URL from the address bar and including a lot of unnecessary parameters, you can manually build a simple URL:

http://www.google.com/search?q=test

Obviously, you should replace "test" with your query. If there are multiple keywords, replace space with "+" like this:

http://www.google.com/search?q=test+my+speed

You could drop "www." from the URL:

http://google.com/search?q=test

Google now uses AJAX to load search results, so you can replace "search?" with "#":

http://google.com/#q=test

You can even drop the slash after "google.com" and the URL works in most desktop browsers, but not in mobile browsers. You could also replace "google.com" with "google.ca" or other Google domains, but you'll get different results.

Fortunately, Google owns the googl.com domain and you can use this URL:

http://googl.com/#q=test

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Upcoming Google Translate Features

Google Translate has some cool features that aren't yet publicly released. They're disabled, according to the source code of the page.

The text-to-speech feature will allow you to select the dialect for languages like English, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese. It's nice to compare American English, British English and Australian English.

There's also a phrasebook feature that could help you learn some useful phrases and words in a variety of foreign languages. Another disabled feature is a dictionary view, but it's not clear if it only uses Google's dictionary data. Google could also monetize the service by including contextual ads.

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Drag and Drop Links to Google Translate

Google Translate has a quick way to translate pages: just drag and drop links to the Google Translate page. You'll see a big yellow box at the bottom of the page when you're about to drop the link. Instead of copying the URL, pasting the URL and clicking "Translate", you can translate the page using a simple drag and drop.

This feature would be even more useful if you could drag and drop pages that are already loaded in a different tab. I've tried to do that in Firefox, Opera and Chrome, but it only worked well in Chrome. The other browsers added some new characters to the URL and Google had to translate error pages. Chrome is already integrated with Google Translate, so you don't have to use this feature.

You could also select some text from a page and drag it to the input box (ignore the yellow box this time). If instant translation is enabled, you don't even need to click "Translate".

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Google Tests a New Navigation Interface

Google tests a new navigation menu that's more compact and includes fewer services. You need to click an icon that's placed next to the "sign in" button and you can access popular services like Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail, Google Drive and Google Calendar. For some reason, the menu includes a redundant icon for Google Search even when you're using Google's search engine.

The interface seems to be inspired by Chrome's app launcher, uses less space, but it's not very obvious. It's like a new version of the hidden navigation menu that was launched back in 2011 and removed after a few weeks.

{ Thanks, Maurice. }

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