P.S. That GIF is actually of me. Glad you finally get to see what I look like. 

You stay (or get) smart by constantly learning. I don't think anyone can (or should) argue that. And what's the best (free) learning platform available to practically everyone with an internet connection? 

That's right. YouTube.

But one thing I've always wished for is the ability to take notes while on YouTube. And I don't mean switching back-and-forth between YouTube and Microsoft Word. We have way too much technology available to us for us to still not have a solution to this.

Unless...

P.S. Sharing today's tech-letter also helps with smartness. Try it.

Hopefully at some point you'll figure out that today's tech-letter isn't exclusive to learning, but literally for anything you can watch on YouTube.

TubersLab is a notepad extension (or app) that sits right next to your YouTube video, allowing you take all the notes you want. I'll go more into detail, but just know that this is not something extra you have to open up. It, quite literally, sits right next to the video.

Here's how it works.

While watching a video, the second you start taking notes, the video will pause. Your 'notepad' will then show you a timestamp of what second you started writing at, and (if you want) include a screenshot of that second for you to better remember in the future.

There is a lot going on here. So let's go over it.

You see the video I'm watching on the left, and my TubersLab notepad on the right. By the way, I didn't have to open it up manually. Once you install the Google Chrome/Firefox extension, it just shows up.

I went ahead and added 2 timestamped notes for you to see what it looks like with and without the option of a screenshot.

My first timestamped note is on second 0.17, "MKBHD is showing the iPhone 12". I didn't pause the video manually; it happened automatically as I started typing.

P.S. To play or pause the video at any time without using your mouse, simply hit the 'alt' key. So once you're done with your note, hit alt or press play to continue watching.

The second option, and my personal favourite, is using the alt and control buttons. 

As I already mentioned, alt plays/pauses the video. But control adds a screenshot, like in the image below.

Feel free to press alt and control at the same time to pause and screenshot together. Not that this does anything too different, but if I ever go through my notes in the future, it helps me to see what happened at X:XX timestamp.

So what else can you do with TubersLab? Sign up (for free) and save your notes so you can access them in the future. Image below shows the two notes I created for this tech-letter. 

You can make your notes public (for some reason) or leave them private. There's even a "summary mode" where you can write on your notepad without timestamps or the video constantly pausing. 

In the end, this is really convenient if you spend time on YouTube; whether it's for cooking recipes, workout videos, learning a new language, or whatever else. 

TubersLab is a free Google Chrome, Brave, and Firefox extension, and even available as an iOS and Android app (also free). 

*deal* *Deal* *DEAL*

I've already spoken to you about NordVPN, so there's nothing here you don't know already. 

But just in case you're wondering, this is the VPN I use that not only keeps me much safer online, but also lets me access content libraries from other countries that platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video refuse to show me.

NordVPN lets me change my location and encrypt my data, and they're currently running huge deals for November. 

If you purchase the 2-year deal right now ($3.71 a month), you immediately get either 1 more month, 1 more year, or 2 more years for free. It's random, but there's absolutely no way to lose here.

Price? Free ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Format? Extensions and apps ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐