Notes from a YouTube lecture
The lecture is on YouTube, the slides flash past in the player, and pausing every page by hand is not studying. Open the video on youtube.com and let the extension capture the pages as they appear, then start Spoken notes on the audio already playing in that tab. The result is one chaptered handout with notes on every page.
The extension captures the pages from the open youtube.com tab while the lecture plays.
The extension reads the pages already showing in the tab. For extraction, the YouTube video is not uploaded. Starting notes uploads the audio and, when the job has pages, the page images.
0:53The speaker introduces herself as Maya and frames the talk around how free/libre and open source software (floss) meets social science research. She opens with the quote often attributed to Henry Ford—"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses"—used to illustrate users' inability to convey their needs to innovators. She notes this is the opposite of how open source development and open research grow and improve: by valuing and promoting user feedback to reach community-oriented goals.
Summary
Maya introduces her talk on how free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) meets social science research, opening with the quote often attributed to Henry Ford—"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses"—to illustrate users' inability to convey their needs to innovators. She notes this is the opposite of how open source development and open research grow: by valuing and promoting user feedback toward community-oriented goals.
From the FOSDEM 2021 demo talk (CC BY 2.0 BE): a page with the note written from the stretch where it was on screen.
- Pages captured while the video plays
- One chaptered handout
- 3 free runs
From the lecture to the handout
Capture the pages
With the lecture open on youtube.com, run the extension and let it play. Each page the player shows is kept with the time it appeared. There is no paste-a-link box anywhere on this site.
Run Spoken notes on the audio
The notes are written from what was said. The extension can capture the audio already playing in the tab; starting notes uploads that audio and, when the job has pages, the page images. The YouTube video file is not downloaded. If a protected player blocks capture, you can still use a file you have the right to process.
Read and export
Study mode puts each note next to its page. Export the handout as Markdown, Word or PDF, with the transcript as .txt or .srt.
Know before you start
- There is no paste-a-link box and no downloader on this site, and the API rejects YouTube links by design.
- The extension can capture the audio already playing in the tab. A protected or silent player may block that; then you can use a file you have the right to process, or keep the pages without notes.
- Only process lectures you have permission to take notes from; the extension reads what is already showing in a tab you are watching.
Pricing
- Spoken notes cost $0.01 per started audio minute, charged only when the run finishes.
- 3 free completed runs per account, each up to 30 minutes and 60 pages.
- Monthly $9.99 with $10 of credit a month; one-year pass $29; Lifetime $49. Prices include tax.
Questions
- Can I paste a YouTube link and get notes?
- No. There is no paste-a-link box on this site and no downloader. Open the lecture on youtube.com and use the extension: it reads the pages and can capture the audio already playing in that tab.
- How is this different from the YouTube slides page?
- /tools/youtube-to-ppt ends at the deck: the pages as PowerPoint or PDF. This page continues to the notes, which are written from what was said.
- Does the video get uploaded?
- No. Pages are read from the tab in your browser. Starting Spoken notes uploads the captured tab audio (or a file you provide) and, when the job has pages, the page images. The YouTube video file is not downloaded.
- What if I only have the YouTube link?
- A link alone is not enough — there is no paste box. Open the lecture on youtube.com, run the extension, and start Spoken notes; it can use the audio already playing in the tab. If the player blocks audio capture, you keep the pages and can still use a file you have the right to process.
- What do I get for free?
- The first 30 minutes of slide extraction on every video, and 3 completed Spoken notes runs per account, each up to 30 minutes and 60 pages.