Featured image: Image by 377053 from Pixabay
Hello all. Hope you are all looking forward for the weekend. Feels like it has come around really fast. All I have really been doing this week is reading up about JavaScript (not really even writing anything in it yet) but just taking a contextual and ground-up approach to it.
I feel like many resources and simulators that teach you JS fail to include such information as the origins of the language – how it has changed over time – and just explaining and going over little interesting details which help you remember things better.
It has been a lot of fun so far and I will make a post on it next week going over some interesting little facts and tidbits on JS – nothing major… just snappy and interesting.
I have also begun revising and studying for my ServiceNow CSA Exam which I shall be planning to take in the near future which should really jazz up my CV and help advance a future career.
Anyway… for this weekend I thought I’d give a few links to some little websites that can be handy and fun to play around with or use.
DISCLAIMER: I have not been asked or paid to promote any of these links or related organisations/companies. All of these are just personally what I have came across and found cool/useful. I am also not responsible for whatever people decide to use these resources for.
1 – Download Videos Directly from Twitter
Ever seen a video on Twitter that you have wanted to grab and send directly to your friends? Yeah you can link directly to the post itself but Twitter can be funny about playing videos through its embedded links and so many probably won’t bother to click-through if that happens.
Twitter itself does not provide a way to download videos but there is an application on a website called twdownload that will do it for you.
It’s very simple – just click on the post on Twitter that contains the video, grab the URL and then input it on to the input bar on the website and hit the download button – it’s that easy!
This is great for if you want to use another resource to turn it into a gif so you can have fun times with friends elsewhere. Or perhaps you just really liked the video in question and want to save it on your computer.
Now you should ask a person permission first before doing this – or at least credit the original source (particularly if you’re going to upload it elsewhere publicly) – but will you? Probably not (but I hope you do!). Just be wary that if you do not at least ask… well you could face a copyright claim.
Also it does not just end at Twitter – there are many websites out there that convert videos from other social media websites.
2 – Convert Videos to GIFs
Converting a video to a GIF can be as easy as it is to download a video off of Twitter using the above method. Plus GIFs are better for many social media aspects – especially comment sections, private/direct messages and chat rooms/channels.
So if you find a real funny short video (or you have clipped a part from a longer video) you can easily turn it into a GIF on ezgif. You can either pop the video file right in or use a video URL and once again click a button and BAM – it’s done.
Quick and easy. But naturally once again I am inclined to tell you to make sure you have permission to use content and so on and so forth. I am not responsible if you end up annoying the original creator.
And if you’re posting it publicly and they want credit – CREDIT THEM.
Oh yeah and some extra bits. The ezgif can do more than just create gifs it can also turn gifs back into mp4s (the best video format for social media) and has loads of built-in features for editing. (But again – please check any available licenses or ask permission first before recreating someone’s content).
3 – Streamable
Streamable is a platform that is often used to bypass upload limits for videos on certain social media websites such as Discord (such as if the server is not boosted to a high enough level to allow larger file uploads).
After creating an account – Streameable allows you to upload a video to it up to 250mb and up to 10 minutes long for free and that video will embed into places like Discord. It also includes a bunch of tools for basic editing of the videos.
Even cooler is the website lets you easily make clips from videos as well! So if you’re someone who struggles with using something like ffmpeg – give Streamable’s clipping feature a go.
Permission permission permission. Check licenses – be fair!
4 – OSINT Framework
If you’re into open source intelligence or just want to use tools to find information on or about pretty much anything then this is the treasure trove of a website for you.
It is STACKED with tools/applications that can help with research on usernames, emails, domains, images, videos, and IP addresses. It has tons of tools for research/tracking on various social media websites. Tools for business and public records – different search engines including ones with specialised focus – applications to obtain metadata – and tools that help keep you secure online through various activities.
Honestly far too much to lay it all out. Just go on the website and begin looking – it is all very well organised and easy to navigate the tree-like structure.
It should go without saying that these tools should be used ethically and responsibly. Many OSINT-based news accounts use them to research and dig deeper into current and breaking news topics for example – or to dispel fake news and misinformation such as by finding if old content is being re-shared as ‘new’.
Many investigative journalists also use these kinds of tools when digging into a company – person of interest – government – place and so on.
So please… don’t be THAT guy…
It is also entirely possible it contains some links I’ve already put on to this post.
5 – Twitter Advanced Search
This is one I found out about the other day and one that is probably on the list of tools of osintframework. But I am going to highlight it anyway because many people do not realise it exists.
It’s literally normal twitter search on steroids. It provides loads of advanced filtering options to dig deeper into the posting habits of any twitter account – which is really useful if you’re doing brand research and want to see how the most popular twitter accounts create popular twitter posts.
It’s likely employers may also use it to screen potential employees as well – I would not be surprised. It can bring up a lot and eliminates the need to waste lots of time trawling through post after post.
So filters it contains include filtering by specific words and phrases, by hashtags, in specific languages. It lets you narrow it down to specific twitter accounts, and even replies and mentions from specific to specific other acconts. You can filter by the number of likes, replies and retweets. And of course between specific dates.
It is really extensive and excellent for research on Twitter. You can do so much with it – just start tinkering about and see the magic.
Oh and if you’re wondering how to get to Twitter Advanced Search just simply input ‘Twitter Advanced Search’ into Google and it comes right up. Or you can enter a query into the Twitter search – select the dropdown menu on the left of the search bar (with the three dots) and select ‘advanced search’.
BONUS – Nobody Live
This is just one for if you are bored and do not know what else to do. It’s not really helpful. What it does is it shows streamers on Twitch.tv who do not currently have anyone watching their livestream.
So go ahead and give someone your support by watching them! Make them feel like their effort is worth it. Make someone’s day.
It can also be quite funny to see what some of them are up to. Everyone was amatuer at one time (even the biggest streamers of the day) and so you get a taste of that style here – and who knows maybe you’ll come across someone who’ll be big one day.
The world wide web has lots to offer – so many free tools and resources. This list barely scratches the surface. So if you ever want to do something but do not know exactly how – try searching it up on Google or elsewhere to find some kind of app or website that can quickly do it for you.
You could even be doing things in ways that take far longer and could be done much more simply and faster via some wed-based app.
There are actually lots of converters out there for example for file conversions – video conversions and so on.
But sometimes it can be fun to use other things like ffmpeg (basic video editor via cmd) and youtubedl (use cmd to download videos from youtube) which can seem difficult at first but are actually pretty simple once you get the initial hang of it.
Have a good weekend!
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