(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET)

It's easy to get caught up in a personally curated YouTube video marathon. From a "G.I. Joe" PSA to sad cat diaries, there's no shortage of funny things to watch. Here's a collection of Chrome extensions that can do things like automatically crank up the quality of YouTube videos, or even pause them when you switch tabs.

AutoHD for YouTube YouTube has a setting that will choose the best quality for your connection and player size. The HD option can be forced to turn on for full screen, but doesn't apply to all regular-size videos. So instead of having to click the icon each time you open a video, try this extension that will shows videos only in 720p or 1080p, when available.

Turn Off the Lights When watching YouTube videos in anything but full screen, it can be hard to focus on actual video because of the related videos and ads that plague YouTube pages. This extension will dim out all the other junk and nicely frame the video you're watching, keeping your eyes from being so easily distracted.

... [Read more]

OS X 10.9 Mavericks is still in development, with Apple only weeks into having released its first preview of the new operating system to its developer and testing communities.

For people who want to install and manage Mavericks in virtual machine environments, Parallels has a new update available that will support the installation of Mavericks in a virtual machine, allowing for testing of code and the new operating system's features without potentially compromising the main operating system installation.

The update is about 325MB in size and can be installed by choosing "Check for Updates" in the Parallels Desktop application menu. Once installed, it should allow you to create a new virtual machine of OS X Mountain Lion and then update it to Mavericks from the Mac App Store within the VM (currently the installation of Mavericks in a freshly created virtual machine is unsupported).

While this update is available for anyone with Parallels installed, you will need a valid developer ID to access the preview build of Mavericks from the Mac App Store.

Questions? Comments? Have a fix? Post them below or document.write('e-mail us'); ! Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the ... [Read more]

The just-released version 3.0 of Aviary for Android sports a redesigned interface and comes with some important new features for beautifying your photos.

The most notable of the app's additions is the improved Enhance tool. Previously a single-tap tool for smart, automatic adjustments, Enhance now comes with three different settings: Hi-Def, Illuminate, and Color Fix. Each setting has a way of manipulating settings like contrast, sharpness, and brightness, and they all should help bring the best colors out of your photos.

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Another addition that should be popular with users is the Woodland Effects Pack. This set of filters is designed to enhance outdoor photos and has been available for iOS for some time.

Aviary also added stickers (installable through an in-app store), an improved Focus tool, and Color Splash to version 3.0.

As for the changes to the interface, us... [Read more]

Public Enemy's latest single comes with a remix contest via BitTorrent Bundle.

Way back in 2003, the rapper known as Chuck D got up in front of the U.S. Congress and told them exactly what "P2P" meant to him.

"P2P to me means power to the people," said the member of political rap superstars Public Enemy. The sentiment that peer-to-peer file-sharing can be good for musicians is still being debated, but at the time it was borderline revolutionary. Chuck D continued to say that he trusted "the consumer" far more than those "at the helm of these [record] companies."

Ten years and a consistent streak of publicly supporting file-sharing later, Chuck D and Public Enemy have put their money where their mouths are with a new Public Enemy BitTorrent Bundle (download) on Wednesday. The Bundle is a new tweak to existing torrent technology from BitTorrent that introduces the Holy Grail of missing torrent features: a torrent paywall.

Gary "G-Wiz" Rinaldo, Chuck D's manager and longtime producer who has worked with Public Enemy, Aerosmith, Run-DMC and other musicians, said that using BitTorrent technology was pre... [Read more]

On Wednesday Stardock announced an update to their Windows style and theme customization app, WindowBlinds. This update brings it to version 8 and comes with a handful of new changes, including a much more intuitive user interface, updated skin styles, and an improved preview window to see your adjustments before applying a new skin. WindowBlinds also comes with SkinStudio, a built-in tool that lets you customize specific parts of the Windows interface.

WindowBlinds is available at Download.com. Follow the link and grab the product here.

TripAdivsor has acquired a small mobile startup in the travel industry.

The travel company announced on Wednesday that it has acquired GateGuru, a mobile platform that provides a wide range of information for travelers, including details on itineraries, airports, and rental cars.

In a statement, TripAdvisor said that GateGuru will complement its other popular application, SeatGuru, which tells people the best spots to sit on a plane. TripAdvisor didn't announce the terms of its deal with GateGuru, but did say that the app maker will continue to operate its business out of its headquarters in New York City.