Software3000

Batch Html to Image

2011-04-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

Convert web page to image by one click - Save the long web page as JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIF, WMF and EMF image in batch

Capture whole HTML web page to the image file, even if it scrolls off-screen.
Tutorial: How to convert HTML to picture

Convert HTML web page, .MHT, and .TXT to image on the fly.
Convert HTML web page to various image formats like JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, WMF and EMF.
Tutorial: How to convert web page to TIFF image

Tutorial: How to convert web page to JPG/JPEG image

Generate thumbnails of HTML web pages.
Works in multi-threaded batch-processing mode.
Supports for auto naming the image file, the filename templates includes name file with URL full path, increased number, time stamp etc.
Supports for importing/exporting the URLs list.
Supports for setting the timeout/delay time values.
Supports for enable/disable JavaScript, Java and ActiveX.

Photo Batch Resizer

2011-04-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for a fast, reliable, and free way to convert many images at once, look no further than Photo Batch Resizer. The program outputs files in the most popular formats, including TIFF, GIF, JPEG, and BMP. Besides its batch-conversion skills, the application also can rename pictures in bulk. This program lacks any sort of fancy image effects, but you can make basic tweaks, including cropping, rotating, resizing, and adjusting certain aspects of an image's color. You'll even find a tool for stamping shots with a watermark.
This utility demonstrated speedy performance in our tests, and we appreciate that its main window can be gussied up with several skins. And since it doesn't cost a dime, we have no problem recommending Photo Batch Resizer to anyone who often works with large bundles of image files.

What's New of Photo Batch Resizer

Version 2.1.4.16 released (Updated on April 25, 2011)
Update interface of Photo Batch Resizer
Upgrade installation package

Microsoft and Nokia announce Office coming to Symbian

2009-08-15T04:47:00.003-07:00

We didn't expect too many fireworks from
Microsoft and Nokia's joint teleconference this morning, and,
well, we didn't get any. As expected, Office Mobile is coming to
Symbian, along with Office Communicator Mobile, SharePoint, and
Microsoft System Center, and the two companies also said they'll be
working on "future user experiences" for Nokia customers. Don't get
too worked up about that, though -- Nokia said it was "deeply
committed to Symbian," and that "there are no such plans" to work
on a Windows Mobile device. So much for that. We did ask whether
this partnership would affect Nokia's
rumored Maemo plans, and we were told that development is
Symbian-focused for now, but that there might be "other business
opportunities" in the future, so at least that door remains open a
hair -- but for the most part this is all about Microsoft and Nokia
trying to stake out a stronger enterprise position, not anything
else. Video after the break, if you're having a hard time taking
that nap.

China Unicom finally bringing iPhone to world's most populous country?

2009-07-29T14:15:00.003-07:00

Is it really happening? Is the world's most thickly settled nation

finally getting the iPhone in earnest? If a bold (albeit
woolly) report from China's own national news agency is to be
believed, China Unicom has just
locked down a deal that'll grant it exclusive rights to sell
Apple's heralded smartphone in mainland China for three whole
years. Unfortunately, most of the nitty-gritty details are absent,
but we are led to believe that this will be the first-ever iPhone
sold with any branding at all outside of logos splashed on at
Cupertino. The "Wo" icon you see just below the speaker
signifies that this here device is
ready to rock on the carrier's 3G network, though we still
can't say with any amount of certainty if said image is fully
legitimate. We're also waiting to hear whether it'll be the iPhone
3G or 3GS (or both) that's sold, and we're particular curious as to
whether or not these handsets will
include WiFi modules.

In related news, it does sound as if China Unicom bent over
backwards a bit to make this all come together, with the article
stating that it
signed on to move between one and two million units per year
regardless of how many consumers actually show up to buy one. If
you'll recall, an eerily similar agreement has Russian operators in

a world of financial hurt, but we get the feeling the reception
in China will be quite a bit warmer. At any rate, it's noted that
Unicom will be snapping up the devices from Apple at a cost of
around 3,000 Chinese yuan apiece ($439), with end users being asked
to pay an undisclosed lesser amount on contract. If all goes well,
the units could hit Chinese shops as early as September, though
only time will tell how everything shakes out. Oh, and considering
that Apple can
hardly keep up with iPhone 3GS demand as it is, we suspect
it'll want to wait a few months anyway before stressing its supply
channels further.

Update: A China Unicom spokeswoman has now been
quoted as
saying that "we have made progress but there are still some
problems to be resolved." Really? Another round of this?

Google Voice iPhone app rejected, current GV apps lose connection with iTunes

2009-07-29T14:15:00.001-07:00

Perhaps the big G spoke too soon when it said its new
Google Voice service was coming to iPhone. First, GV Mobile
developer Sean Kovacs relays a phone call he had with Apple where
he was notified of his app being removed from the iTunes store for
duplicating built-in iPhone features -- an app that was originally
and purportedly approved by Phil Schiller himself. Next out the
door was GVdialer, and if you thought that was all bad, now comes
word that Google's official Voice app was flat-out rejected by
Cupertino. Now it's hard to say with certainty who's to blame for
these app rejections, but a good many fingers are pointing to the
cellular carriers -- and given
AT&T's previous statements about the SlingPlayer app, it's
hard to argue with that. For its part, the company hinted at
finding a workaround via web apps, much like they did when Apple
gave
Latitude a cold shoulder -- but doesn't that
feel just a little 2007?

Read - Official Google Voice App Blocked from App Store

Read - GV Mobile is getting pulled from App Store

Read
- Sean Kovac's Twitter status on Schiller

Windows 95 on iPhone: the worst Parallels installation you've ever seen

2009-07-29T13:59:00.001-07:00

href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMmDQpfCcMs">src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadgetmobile.com/media/2009/07/iphone-win95.jpg" />

Give a guy an iPhone, a jailbreak, and an open-source,
cross-platform x86 emulator, and it's just a matter of time before
hilarity ensues. In this case, said hilarity involves getting
Windows 95 to boot on an iPhone 3G, a
process that takes 5-10 minutes worth of pure boot time only to
yield an environment useless for... well, actual use. In the video,
we see the hack demonstrated both on an actual iPhone and within
the Mac-based emulator, which we reckon is just about the most
terrifying Parallels / VMware replacement we've ever encountered.
Apparently, XP emulation and 3GS tests
are up next -- the 3GS should perform marginally better on account
of its faster core and more capacious RAM -- but that still won't
cure the sting of being
handily beaten to the milestone by the N95, will it? Follow the
break for video of the mind-twisting Microsoft-on-Apple-on-Apple
emulation in action.

[Via: Engadgetmobile ]
[Tag: ]

Windows Marketplace taking app submissions on July 27, coming to WinMo 6.0 and 6.1 later this year

2009-07-29T13:33:00.003-07:00

href="http://www.digitalwpc.com/">src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/07/windows-marketplace-ofc-03.jpg" />

Windows Mobile devs should start dotting their I's and crossing
their T's, because Microsoft's going to be ready to take a good,
hard look at their latest and greatest apps come the 27th of this
month when the company finally swings open the doors to the
submission processes for inclusion in the Windows
Marketplace. The announcement has been made at Microsoft's
Worldwide Partner Conference this week as it gears up for an
onslaught of devices running WinMo 6.5 at retail later this year,
though the retail channel might not be where much of the action
lies; unlike the Apple App Store, the Android Market, Palm's App
Catalog and others, Microsoft is putting major emphasis on a
segment of Windows Marketplace it's calling the Business Center
where corporate-focused apps and utilities will have a place to
live. Boring, yes -- but probably also very profitable in the
business fleet market segment where WinMo tends to thrive.

Though the company had previously indicated that Windows
Marketplace would be a 6.5 exclusive, we've got great news for
legacy device owners who don't expect to get an upgrade: Microsoft
has also announced today that the Marketplace will be coming to
WinMo 6.0 and 6.1 before the year's out. Considering that 6.5 won't
be hitting the street until fall, that's not too bad of a wait; now
all it needs is a
rich catalog of great software to go along with the great
hardware some of its partners are producing, right?

[Via: Engadgetmobile ]
[Tag: ]

Google: we're cool with Exchange on Google-branded Android phones

2009-07-15T09:14:00.001-07:00

src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/07/android-eats-exchange-nom-rm-eng.jpg" />

Okay, this gets a bit confusing, so bear with us. Back when HTC
first unveiled the Magic, the company said that any Android device
with a customized build -- and that includes adding support for
Microsoft Exchange --
has to drop the "with Google" logo as per Google's rules.
Indeed, that notion seemed to be validated by the all the
international Android phones that had Exchange but no branding.
Cut to present day and the T-Mobile's myTouch 3G, which
looks to have both the
"with Google" backing and
Exchange support, contrary to previous assertions. Did the
search engine giant soften its policy? We spoke with a company
representative who told us, surprisingly, that it has "never been
Google's policy" to deprive its branded devices of Exchange
support, and that if another phone maker wants to add it and keep
that logo plastered on the phone, that's A-OK. In all honesty, we
never really put too much stock into the Google logo on the phone,
but if it's really just been one huge misunderstanding that's
prevented our G1 from having Exchange, well, we're gonna be quite
nonplussed for many weeks to come.

[Via: Engadgetmobile ]
[Tag: ]

iPhone 3GS prototype scooped up at airport, now on eBay

2009-07-03T10:06:00.001-07:00

href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320389513212&viewitem=&afsrc=1&salenotsupported">
src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/07/apple-iphone-3gs-prototype.jpg" />

Seriously folks, what's up with these
prototype iPhones falling out of nondescript white vans and
ending up on eBay in the shadiest of manners? Just months after we
saw an
original iPhone prototype (ancient OS included) pop up on The
'Bay, now we've got one of the world's first iPhone 3GSs on there
as well. According to the highly ranked eBay seller, the "guy" he
"got it from" actually stumbled upon it at an airport, and rather
than doing the nonsensical thing of hitting up lost and found, he
decided to make the most of the sudden opportunity. According to
the new owner, an Apple Genius has confirmed that it is an iPhone 3GS, but
due to its prototype nature, they can't help him get past the
"Connect to iTunes" screen. In other words, it's an incredibly rare
brick. If that sounds like just the thing to complete your
collection, you can visit the road to overpaying through the read
link below.

[Via: Engadgetmobile ]
[Tag: ]

Pwnage Tool for iPhone OS 3.0 now live, ultrasn0w still on standby

2009-06-24T07:06:00.001-07:00

src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/06/ultrasn0w-proof-rm-eng.jpg" />

That iPhone OS 3.0 jailbreak we saw the iPhone Dev-Team
pull off earlier this week? It's out now, or at least, part of
it is. Pwnage Tool is now flooding torrents, but there's lots of
caveats here. Most importantly, this isn't Ultrasn0w, which
means if you're wanting to use your toy on T-Mobile or another
unofficial carrier, be patient -- it's also worth noting that the
jailbreak doesn't jibe with yellowsn0w, so those who rely on it
should stay away for the time being. No compatibility with the 3G
S, or at least, it probably hasn't been tested... we wouldn't
recommend anyone setting the precedent here. You'll need Mac OS X
to run it, with QuickPwn for Mac and Windows coming further down
the line. Ultrasn0w is also due out at some indeterminate future,
so that all said, if you're just needing right now a jailbroken
device with spotlight functionality, hit up the read link for all
the pertinent details. It should goes without saying, but they're
might a few negative side effects to it, and one of the big ones we
heard is that YouTube might be fubar'd at the moment.

href="http://blog.iphone-dev.org/post/126465561/trois-drei-h-rom">Read
- trois, drei, три, három! (Pwnage Tool
released)

href="http://www.ismashphone.com/2009/06/no-youtube-on-jailbroken-iphone-30.html">
Read - No YouTube On Jailbroken iPhone 3.0?

[Via: Engadgetmobile ]
[Tag: ]

Flash 10 for smartphone beta coming this October

2009-06-24T07:05:00.001-07:00

href="http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/invrelations/09q2analyst/"> src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/06/flash-smartphone-10-rm-eng.jpg" />

It's been a while since we've heard a peep about Adobe's Flash 10 for
smartphone initiative, but according to a slide from its Q2 Fiscal
Year 2009 earnings presentation, the platform's on track for a beta
release this October at the company's MAX conference. Prime mobile
OS candidates for the beta include those from Adobe's Open Screen
Project, which at last count included
Nokia,
Palm, Google, and Microsoft -- and unless there's been some
behind closed doors meetings, the two glaring omissions on that list
are still gonna be bugging you come this Halloween.

[Via: Engadgetmobile ]
[Tag: ]

BlackBerry Curve 8520 with T-Mobile branding walks in front of a camera

2009-06-17T08:16:00.001-07:00

href="http://crackberry.com/spotted-t-mobile-blackberry-curve-8520s">
src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/06/8520-white-trackball-itw-rm-eng.jpg" />

A BlackBerry 8520 bound for T-Mobile? Really, we're not surprised,
having heard
whispers not too long ago, and while not yet official, some
gung ho Crackberry forum members have posted some shots of
the branded phone in the wild, with just a dash of Mr. Blurrycam
stylings for good effect. No indication of a release date here, but
if you're really jonesing for a new 2.5G BlackBerry, last we heard
it was coming fourth quarter of this year.

Update: That white trackpad isn't quite what it
seems. According to the href="http://forums.crackberry.com/f14/wts-new-blackberry-gemini-t-mobile-247737/#post2804901">
original poster, it's just a plastic covering. We hate to
disappoint anyone who actually dug the new shade.

[Via: Engadgetmobile ]
[Tag: ]

Sources: Windows 7 moving toward 2009 release

2009-02-12T10:26:00.001-08:00

Microsoft is moving forward with plans to launch Windows 7 this year, although the company still refuses to publicly commit to that goal. PC industry sources in Asia and the U.S. tell CNET News that they have heard things are on track to launch by this year's holiday shopping season, which has been Microsoft's internal target for some time. Microsoft is also putting the finishing touches on a program to offer Vista buyers a free or low-cost update to Windows 7. That program could kick off as early as July, sources said. The company has run such "technology guarantee" programs in the past, typically allowing each PC maker to set the exact rules, but essentially offering buyers after a certain time to get a free upgrade to the next version. In an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Microsoft senior VP Bill Veghte cautioned that the release still could be pushed into 2010, depending on customer feedback. "I'm telling them that it could go either way," Veghte said in that January interview. "We will ship it when the quality is right, and earlier is always better, but not at the cost of ecosystem support and not at the cost of quality." That remains the company's official position, although the wheels are spinning toward a release in time for Windows 7 machines to be sold this holiday season, PC industry sources tell CNET News. The response to test versions of Windows 7 has been in stark contrast with the issues that dogged Windows Vista, which was a much more fundamental update to the operating system. Although Windows 7 adds things like an improved taskbar and snappier performance, the operating system shares most of the same underpinnings as Windows Vista. Microsoft has reiterated that it plans just a single beta for Windows 7. That beta launched in January and Microsoft this week stopped offering downloads of the test version. The company has said it will have a near-final "release candidate" version, but has not said when that will come.

Earlier this month, Microsoft confirmed that it plans to sell at least six distinct versions of Windows 7, although it also said it will focus its efforts around two editions--Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional. (By way of comparison, Microsoft announced the different versions of Vista in February 2006 before ultimately making the code available to business customers in November 2006). For those that can read Chinese, here is ZDNet Taiwan's earlier report on the subject. ZDNet Taiwan's Agnes Kuang contributed to this report.

[Via: cnet.com ]
[Tag: ]

Mozilla to weigh in on EU's Microsoft case

2009-02-10T09:31:00.001-08:00

Mozilla has been granted a seat at the table in the European Commission's antitrust case against Microsoft, an EC source said Tuesday. Last week, Mozilla requested and was granted "third-party status," which entitles the organization behind the popular Firefox browser to receive access to confidential documents in the case and the ability to voice objections, the source noted. The Commission, which is the European Union's executive arm, in mid-January formally put Microsoft on notice, objecting to the bundling of the Internet Explorer browser with its operating system. The case, which initially stemmed from a complaint filed by browser maker Opera, gives Microsoft two months to respond to the allegations, as well as opens it up to third parties weighing in. Mozilla was not immediately available to comment, but its chairwoman posted comments on her blog. Mitchell Baker, Mozilla chairwoman, agrees with the Commission's allegations that tying IE to the Windows operating system harms competition between Web browsers and reduces consumer choice. She also noted:

There are separate questions of whether there is a good remedy, and what that remedy might be. But questions regarding an appropriate remedy do not change the essential fact. Microsoft's business practices have fundamentally diminished (in fact, came very close to eliminating) competition, choice and innovation in how people access the Internet.

One potential remedy that the European Commission is considering: a requirement that Microsoft include rival browsers with its operating system. Baker further notes in her blog:

I'll be paying close attention to the EC's activities, both personally and on behalf of Mozilla. Mozilla has enormous expertise in this area. It's an extremely complex area, involving browsers, user experience, the OEM and other distribution channels, and the foundations for ongoing innovation. An effective remedy would be a watershed event; a poorly constructed remedy could cause unfortunate damage. I'd like to offer Mozilla's expertise as a resource to the EC as it considers what an effective remedy would entail. I'll be reaching out to people I know with particular history, expertise and ideas regarding these topics. If you've got specific ideas or concerns please feel free to contact me. I'll post more as the discussion develops.

[Via: cnet.com ]
[Tag: ]

Time's running out to download your (legal) Windows 7 beta

2009-02-10T09:30:00.001-08:00

If you've already registered for the Windows 7 beta but haven't downloaded the installation disc image yet, you'd better hurry up. Microsoft is turning off the spigot on Thursday morning at 9:00AM PST.
In order to register your copy of Windows 7 once you download and install it, you'll have to have already signed up for the beta. The cutoff took place last night. While Thursday might seem like a long time from now, it could take a while to download the disc image, which weighs in at about 2.5GB.
Of course, this doesn't mean you won't be able to find Windows 7 download links in the future. Just don't expect to find them from publicly accessible portions of the Microsoft web site.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: windows-7, windows-7-beta ]

Need for speed spurs Opera JavaScript overhaul

2009-02-05T08:25:00.001-08:00

With Web applications imposing new demands on Web browsers, a previously behind-the-scenes programming technology called JavaScript is getting new visibility, and Opera is the latest case in point. The Norwegian browser maker announced a new JavaScript engine project called Carakan on Wednesday that the company. Carakan runs JavaScript code about 2.5 times as fast as the Futhark engine in the alpha version of Opera 10, said programmer Lars Erik Bolstad in an Opera blog post. Opera's main business is browsers for mobile phones, and its current JavaScript engine is optimized for minimum memory demands, but now performance is the priority, Bolstad said. "The Web is a changing environment however, and tomorrow's advanced web applications will require faster ECMAScript execution, so we have now taken on the challenge to once again develop the fastest ECMAScript engine on the market," he said. ECMAScript is a standard group's official name for JavaScript. JavaScript isn't the only way to build Web applications, but it's increasingly widely used. It's the foundation for Google Docs and Gmail, for example, and enables Yahoo Mail users to drag-and-drop messages into folders. Speed is particularly important because JavaScript is used for interactive aspects of Web pages, where fast response or annoying lags are noticeable by people controlling the application. But it's also widely used for many more mundane aspects of Web pages, so JavaScript speedup helps improve Web browsing performance broadly. Opera isn't alone here with a fancy name for its JavaScript engine. Mozilla's Firefox has TraceMonkey, Google's Chrome has V8, and WebKit, the rendering engine used by Apple's Safari, has Squirrelfix Extreme. (Chrome uses Webkit for some other tasks in displaying Web pages, but not its JavaScript engine.) For details on Opera's improvements--register-based bytecode, native code generation, and automatic object classification--check the blog post about Carakan.

[Via: cnet.com ]
[Tag: ]

Track task times in your Google Calendar with a Gadget

2009-02-04T10:57:00.001-08:00

There aren't many gadgets on my Vista or Windows 7 desktops yet. I have a hard time finding any that are compelling enough to keep installed. This handy little one from Raneri Web Design, however, is firmly lodged in the sidebar of my workbench computer.
The gCalTasks gadget is a slick desktop timer that integrates with your Google Calendars. Enter your credential and choose the calendar to track your times on - I decided to set up a brand new one specifically for tracking.
Enter a tag line for your task, click start, and then click stop when you're done. Information is automatically sent to your calendar, where the agenda view provides a nice recap of your activities. It's a simple, low-resource way to keep tabs on your time.
Thanks, Ricardo!

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: billing, google-calendar, tasks, time-tracking, timer ]

The many faces of Windows 7

2009-02-03T18:36:00.001-08:00

Not that this should come as a huge shock to anybody, but Microsoft doesn't plan to make Windows 7 available in a one size fits all package. As we've previously reported, there's been evidence of multiple SKUs for a while. But now Microsoft has come out and confirmed that there will be 6 different versions of Windows 7.
Here's the rundown:

Windows 7 Starter Edition - for netbooks and developing markets, only runs 3 apps at a time
Windows 7 Home Basic - also for emerging markets
Windows 7 Home Premium - this version gets you Windows Media Center and other home use features
Windows 7 Professional - the equivalent of Windows Vista Business, with extra security features
Windows 7 Enterprise - this version will be sold in volume licenses for businesses
Windows 7 Ultimate - has most of the features of the Enterprise version, but will be sold to end users

Microsoft will probably charge a different price for each version. One thing that's interesting to note is that the Starter Edition is intended for netbooks, even though Windows 7 Ultimate beta has been widely reported to run just fine on low cost mini-laptops like the Asus Eee PC. The problem is that Microsoft can't ask computer makers to pay full price for an operating system that will be sold with a $300 laptop. So the company created an intentionally crippled Starter Edition which will sell for a lower price.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: windows-7 ]

Google delays stock option exchange program

2009-01-30T10:31:00.001-08:00

Googlers who want to revalue their underwater stock options will have to wait until Tuesday for the voluntary employee option exchange program to launch, Google said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday that did not explain why. The program--which allows allow employees to exchange all or some of their existing stock options for the same number of new options--was scheduled to launch Thursday and end on March 3. Employees were notified of the change in an e-mail sent Wednesday by Laszlo Bock, vice president of People Operations at Google, and which was included in the filing. "We will send you an e-mail no later than next Tuesday to confirm the new program time line," the e-mail said. "We will be sharing a comprehensive FAQ with you on the date of launch. We understand this delay will raise questions. For regulatory reasons, it is simply not possible to answer all of your questions before the launch, but please know we remain committed to offering this program." Google announced the one-for-one stock option exchange program last week when it posted its fourth quarter results, which included a decline in earnings from a year ago that were impacted by stock option expenses. The program is intended to create more incentives for employees to remain at the company. Given that Google stock rose to greater than $700 a share in late 2007 and now trades around $340 a share, many employees would otherwise find themselves holding worthless options. Google said last week that the new options were expected to have an exercise price equal to the closing per-share price on March 2 and that stock options with exercise prices above that would be eligible for exchange. The company also said it expected to take a stock-based compensation charge of $460 million in the first quarter as a result of the program.

[Via: cnet.com ]
[Tag: ]

Who needs instant on? Moblin boots in about 15 seconds

2009-01-30T10:09:00.001-08:00

I've read about moblin before, but when it resurfaced in my newsreader this morning I decided it was time to take a look at the project a bit more closely. The moblin OS is built on Linux and optimized for Intel-based notebooks, netbooks, and MIDs. It is currently in alpha testing, but already looks very promising.
Most of the other Linux distributions I've tested on my MSI Wind were "customized" for netbooks, but they ultimately ended up feeling like a standard desktop distribution with an interface tweaked for small displays.
One thing immediately sets moblin apart from the others.
After installing it to the hard drive and rebooting my system, it took a mere 16 seconds to get from the Grub menu to the XFCE desktop. Holy boot times, Batman! That's impressive.
I'm aware that users have gotten times like this before with distros like Arch, but Moblin will be easier to deal with for most netbook users.
The pre-installed applications are kept to a minimum - Firefox is included and you'll be able to enjoy your music and videos with Movie Player. There are also lightweight GTD apps for managing contacts, tasks, and a calendar. You can, of course, add whatever other packages you like through yum or add/remove software.
If you want to take moblin for a test drive you can download an iso file, or a virtual machine for VMware or KVM. Keep in mind this is an alpha release. Moblin's finished form may look nothing like this, but it's an intriguing project even at this stage of the game.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: linux, mid, moblin, netbook ]

Digg hires new sales chief from Yahoo

2009-01-28T07:45:00.001-08:00

Social media site Digg.com announced Tuesday that it has hired one of Yahoo's top salesmen to be its new head of sales. Tom Shin, who had been at the Web search pioneer for seven years, will be responsible for developing Digg's advertising sales strategy and managing strategic relationships, including Microsoft, the company said. At Yahoo, Shin oversaw product marketing for My Yahoo and Messenger, and was credited with helping Yahoo Mail's annual revenue grow from $20 million to more than $300 million. Digg CEO Jay Adelson announced Thursday that the company would be hiring a new direct sales force and head of sales to drive the company to profitability this year. He also said the partnership Digg has with Microsoft to sell standard advertising units will continue. But Digg will be rolling out higher-profile advertising programs, and features on the site to support them, that his internal sales force will be pitching. The company, which raised new capital and doubled in size in 2008, also announced layoffs last week, but Adelson said Digg's engineering and core development group wouldn't be affected by the layoffs. The cuts will come in areas "not core to our function. We'll be shifting some of that cost to a sales force," he said. Shin is expected to join Digg in mid-February.

[Via: cnet.com ]
[Tag: ]

Apple issues critical QuickTime security update

2009-01-23T08:22:00.001-08:00

Apple issued a critical QuickTime security update, aimed at resolving vulnerabilities in its media player that could potentially allow a malicious attacker to take control of a users computer, according to an Apple advisory released this week. Users running QuickTime 7 for Windows, or OSX, are affected, as well as those who are using Mac OS X 10.4 or Mac OS X 10.5, according to Apple. Apple is advising users to update to QuickTime 7.6, with QuickTime 7.6 for Windows, or QuickTime 7.6 for Leopard, or QuickTime 7.6 for Tiger. The update seeks to address QuickTime security flaws which could potentially allow a malicious attacker to launch a buffer overflow and execute arbitrary code on a user's system. The attack could potentially occur via a maliciously crafted movie file, AVI movie file, QTVR movie fileor an RTSP URL, according to Apple. Security researcher Secunia, in its security advisory on Thursday, noted the vulnerabilities are considered "highly critical."

[Via: cnet.com ]
[Tag: ]

Sirtet puts a new twist on Tetris - Time-Waster

2009-01-22T05:55:00.003-08:00

David Friedman has a habit of posting clever ideas and concepts to his blog, Ironic Sans. Every once in a while, someone will take one of them and build a working model. That's what happened with Sirtet, a new kind of Tetris that's played one square at a time. It's an interesting idea, and it turns out it's a pretty good game, too.
If you're familiar with Tetris, you should have no trouble catching onto Sirtet. The object is to position your blocks so that you have 4 (but no more than 4) squares of a single color touching one another. Instead of building lines, as in Tetris, you're building Tetris pieces! When you connect 4, those blocks disappear and you get points. If you connect 5 or more, though, they turn to stone and become stuck on the board. That definitely adds a new level of challenge to the game, If you're a Tetris junkie, and the original version has gotten stale for you, give Sirtet a whirl.

[Via: Ironic Sans ]
[Tag: game, Sirtet, Tetris, time-waster ]

Sirtet puts a new twist on Tetris - Time-Waster

2009-01-22T05:55:00.001-08:00

Sirtet puts a new twist on Tetris - Time-Waster

2009-01-22T05:54:00.003-08:00

Sirtet puts a new twist on Tetris - Time-Waster

2009-01-22T05:54:00.001-08:00

Sirtet puts a new twist on Tetris - Time-Waster

2009-01-22T05:53:00.003-08:00

Sirtet puts a new twist on Tetris - Time-Waster

2009-01-22T05:53:00.001-08:00

Sirtet puts a new twist on Tetris - Time-Waster

2009-01-22T05:52:00.003-08:00

Sirtet puts a new twist on Tetris - Time-Waster

2009-01-22T05:52:00.001-08:00

Windows Mobile 6.5 coming mid-year?

2009-01-22T05:33:00.001-08:00

Microsoft may begin offering Windows Mobile 6.5 to mobile device manufacturers by the middle of 2009, which means we could see cellphones running the operating system start showing up in the second half of the year.
DigiTimes reports that sources at Taiwanese companies that make handsets expect Microsoft to introduce the updated operating system at Mobile World Congress next month.
There's not a ton of information available about Windows Mobile 6.5. As we reported a few months ago, this will be a bit of an incremental upgrade to hold cellphone makers and customers over until Windows Mobile 7 is ready. But based on the leaked screenshots we've seen, Microsoft certainly has made some changes to the user interface. Will it be enough to keep Windows Mobile devices competitive with the iPhone and mobile devices running Palm's new WebOS, Google Android, or Symbian? We'll have to get back to you on that one.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: windows-mobile, windows-mobile-6.5 ]

Nortel files for bankruptcy

2009-01-14T08:27:00.001-08:00

Nortel Networks, once a high-flying telecommunications equipment maker, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday. Nortel has been recent credit crunch may end up as the death knell for the company, making it difficult for Nortel to fund its operations. At the same time, customers have also pulled back drastically on spending for the company's voice-only equipment. For the past several months, Nortel's management team has been trying to cut spending. The company has also put some of its assets up for sale in an attempt to survive. But mounting debt payments and a steep drop in revenue appears to have caught up with the company. The most pressing issue for the Toronto, Ontario-based company is paying the interest on its $3.8 billion in bond debt. Nortel faced a $107 million bond interest payment this week, The Wall Street Journal reported. While bankruptcy protection doesn't always mean the end for a company, in today's economic climate, it could prove disastrous as the already-struggling company may find it even more difficult to convince customers to buy its gear. Carmakers used this argument recently when seeking a bailout from Congress. They said that customers would be unwilling to buy cars from companies that they feared would not be around to service them. Nortel has about $2.6 billion in cash, which some analysts have said could help it stay afloat until at least 2010. But as the company sinks deeper into trouble, many experts believe that Nortel will likely be broken apart during a Chapter 11 restructuring with individual businesses sold off one by one, wiping out shareholders. In December, the New York Stock Exchange warned it would delist Nortel's stock if it couldn't get its stock to trade above $1 minimum. Nortel is currently trading at 32 cents. Nortel's fall from grace was a result of a series of strategic missteps over the years that chipped away at the company's value. In 2000, Nortel was worth about $250 billion. The company now has a market value of about $275 million. Mike Zafirovski came on board as chief executive three years ago to help turn around the company. Initially, he had some success building profits from selling wireless gear to U.S. operators. Under his leadership Nortel invested in new technology, and the company was preparing for the next wave of wireless networks. But then the economy tanked, and phone companies started to pull back on spending, which resulted in a sharp revenue drop for Nortel. In September, Nortel announced more cost-cutting and said it would sell some of its business units. But the company was unable to find a buyer. Nortel isn't the only big telecommunications equipment maker to struggle. Alcatel Lucent, which has also struggled to get back on track after the telecommunications boom, has also struggled and announced it is restructuring its business. Nortel is also expected to seek bankruptcy protection against creditors in its home country of Canada.
[Via: cnet.com ][Tag: ]

Adobe downgraded; ex-Yahoo added to board

2009-01-14T08:24:00.001-08:00

Shares of Adobe Systems fell 7 percent Tuesday after a market analyst downgraded the company's stock from "market perform" to "underperform." Share closed at $22.10, down $1.66, after FBR Research analyst David Hilal said in a research note that he cut his rating on Adobe's stock because the "shares have risen to a point where the risk-reward profile is unfavorable." Hilal also said Adobe depends too much on new unit sales and lacks recurring revenue from existing customers. In other news, Adobe announced that former Yahoo executive Dan Rosensweig had joined the company's board of directors. Rosensweig, who served as Yahoo's chief operating officer for nearly five years before departing in 2006, was previously president of CNET Networks, publisher of CNET News.. Adobe also announced that board members Colleen Pouliot and Delbert Yocam would retire, effective March 31. Pouliot has served on the board since 2001, and Yocam has served for 18 years, Adobe said.
[Via: cnet.com ][Tag: ]

Microsoft starts testing Office 14

2009-01-14T08:20:00.001-08:00

Microsoft said Tuesday that it has begun early outside testing of some of the server products that will make up the next version of Office. The software maker did not offer details or say when a test version of the software, code-named Office 14, will be made more broadly available. "Today Microsoft provided a select group of customers early access to an Alpha version of Office server technologies," the software maker said in a statement. "However, Microsoft is not disclosing information about the timing for a Beta version at this time." Microsoft has also begun testing for the next version of Exchange, code-named E14. News of Office 14 testing was reported earlier Tuesday by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley.
[Via: cnet.com ][Tag: ]

Windows 7 Beta gets official this Friday

2009-01-08T04:35:00.001-08:00

During his keynote address at CES tonight, Steve Ballmer made it official. The Windows 7 public beta will be made available for download on Friday, January 9th, 2009.If you've been leary of downloading the version that's been all over the torrent trackers since last week, get your download manager ready and keep your browser tuned to Microsoft's Windows 7 page for the genuine article. Technet, MSDN, and TechBeta members have already been given access.I've had my share of problems with the leaked version and am hoping that the official release is either a slightly newer build or at least free of the issues that I've had so far. Internet Eplorer 8 hasn't been working 100%, and Explorer itself has stopped responding repeatedly when I've tried to extract large zip archive or move multiple large files onto my flash drive.
[Via: Download Squad ][Tag: beta, CES, windows, windows-7 ]

bitRipper offers one-click DVD ripping

2009-01-02T11:54:00.001-08:00

Want to convert your DVD into a video file that you can play on any computer, but don't feel like fussing with complicated DVD ripping software? It doesn't get much simpler than bitRipper. All you need to do is pop a DVD into your optical disc drive, fire up bitRipper, and click the Start ripping button. That's it.
Of course, you can click the settings tab to access more advanced features. For instance, you can change the audio or video codecs or adjust the bit rate, aspect ratio, or video resolution. At the very least, I'd recommend configuring the audio. The default settings use a ridiculously low bitrate that sounds just awful.
For some reason, when I tried ripping a video using the LAME audio codec, the audio and video were out of sync, but when I tried again using the Fraunhofer codec all was right with the world.
[Via: MakeUseOf ][Tag: bitripper, dvd, dvd-ripper ]

Minimize windows to the system tray with Minime

2008-12-22T18:29:00.001-08:00

Tired of looking at icons in your Windows taskbar representing for every running program, including ones you don't click on very often? Minime is a little Windows utility that lets you minimize applications to the system tray. But unlike Trayconizer and TrayEverything, Minime doesn't replace a dozen taskbar icons with a dozen system tray icons. Instead minimized programs are hidden behind a single Minime button.
You can minimize any program using a customizable hotkey, and you can find the hidden apps by clicking the Minime icon in the system tray. It's worth pointing out that when programs are minimized to Minime they don't show up in the Alt+Tab menu, so you'll only want to hide apps that you don't need to access very often. For example you might want to minimize your music player since it can keep the tunes going in the background without your intervention.
Minime is a single executable file that doesn't require installation. In other words, you can throw it on a USB flash drive and carry it with you for use on any PC.

[Via: TechnoSpot ][Tag: minime, minimize, trayconizer, trayeverything ]

Gwibber brings Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and more to Linux desktops

2008-12-22T18:21:00.001-08:00

Now that Adobe AIR is officially available for Linux, you can run plenty of popular desktop clients for Twitter in Linux. Twhirl, Alert Thingy, and TweetDeck all run on Adobe AIR. But if you're looking for a native Linux application that can handle Twitter status updates and much more, there's Gwibber.
Like Twhirl and other desktop Twitter apps, Gwibber will show you a list of the most recent updates from your contacts and let you respond with short messages. In addition to Twitter, Gwibber supports updates from Digg, Jaiku, Facebook, Flickr, Indenti.ca and the now defunct Pownce.
One thing that's a bit confusing is that Gwibber doesn't provide a clear way to tell which messages are coming from which services. ~~For instance, I added my Twitter and Flickr accounts to Gwibber and the only way I could tell that some of the updates were from Flickr was because they were accompanied by thumbnail photos.~~ Update: You can adjust the colors for each account in the preferences.
Gwibber packages are available for Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, and Fedora.
[Via: MakeUseOf ][Tag: facebook, gwibber, twitter ]

Voila for Mac is a full-featured screenshot app

2008-12-22T09:22:00.001-08:00

Now that I've finally gotten my hands on a Mac, I've got to start looking for apps that provide the same functionality I'm accustomed to in Windows. First on my list: a good, free screenshot program that provides basic editing functions.
Yes, OSX's Grab tool is a good starting point, but I like to be able to crop, edit, add arrows and callouts, and perform other similar chores without having to launch something like Photoshop or GIMP.
Voila provides all the features I'm after. Apart from full screen, window, region, and menu capturing, it also offers an array of editing and notation functions. Arrows, callouts, shapes, and text are easy to add - and text can be edited after it's placed unlike a lot of similar applications. It also supports one-click exporting to iPhoto and Mail.
One glaring omission is resizing. It's something I use all the time, so its absence is a bit of an inconvenience.
The beta version is currently free, though the FAQ states that Voila will indeed become a commercial app. I'm just getting started on my Mac, so if you've got a better free alternative share it in the comments!
[Via: Download Squad ][Tag: capture, screenshot ]

Yahoo unveils new webmail, toolbar apps

2008-12-16T10:10:00.001-08:00

Yahoo has given their webmail app and their toolbar each a facelift, incorporating many new features into the apps which today must compete with the integration-rich Gmail. Yahoo's tactics are, of course, to include more integration, and the new version provides that with built-in support for things like Yahoo Music, Yahoo TV and more.

On the mailbox side, Yahoo is offering what it calls a “smarter inbox”, a welcome page combined with a prioritization system. It also includes integration with multiple Yahoo services, as well as the ability to provide instant access to third-party services as well. The latter is probably the most important part, and where Yahoo expects to see the most feature-richness come from. They want to see users accessing things like Flickr accounts, blogs and more through their mail account. They're also including Yahoo Updates along with the new mail package.

On the toolbar side they've provided new email features, personalized searching and other functionality. The company, ailing as they are, has a massive user base with which to help them recover.
[Via: Justin Mann ][Tag: ]

WordPress 2.7 is released

2008-12-16T07:15:00.001-08:00

I'll give Brad a pass on being a tad premature with the WordPress 2.7's announcement, because I know that he -- like many of us who use WordPress to power our self-hosted blogs -- was just super-excited about the new release. Well, the wait is over and the official release for WordPress 2.7 is now available from WordPress.org.
WordPress 2.7, named "Coltrane" in honor of the Jazz legend, is a pretty significant step forward in WordPress's history. As Brad noted in his first look at the 2.7 beta, most of these changes are on the backend, but they are designed to greatly enhance your productivity and speed in maintaining your blog. On the front-end side, threaded comment support and support for "sticky" posts make it easier for readers to communicate with one another and access important information.
You can check out the WordPress Codex for 2.7 to see some of the technical details behind the new changes. I had a chance to talk to Mark Jaquith, one of the lead developers for WordPress .org, about the new release and some of his favorite features.
radical change from WordPress 2.5/2.6 and the 2.x series before it. What went into the development and what are some of your favorite UI features?
Mark Jaquith: We did a series of user tests on the 2.5/2.6 admin as well as on an experimental branch nicknamed "Crazyhorse." It involved eye tracking and timing and other nerdy goodies. We got a ton of data from this, as well as a new UI resource in the form of Jane Wells, now an Automattic employee. Jane came in with a lot of UI and usability knowhow, but relative unfamiliarity with WordPress, at least compared to the core developers.
That turned out to be a really good combination, as she challenged a lot of things that we had just sort of taken for granted, or written off as too difficult to fix properly. She was able to tell us exactly why those things needed to be fixed, and back it up with real data. This was a huge change from before, where we'd do things based on instinct or bow to the loudest voices shouting about a problem they were having. I found myself looking at UI issues from new perspectives, and I think the quality of our UI work improved measurably. Everyone seemed really excited about 2.7 development. We had over 150 people contribute code to the release, and many in the core team put in long hours sweating the details together.
My favorite UI features are the customizable post screen and the menu system. I'm especially proud of the new Publish module on the post screen. It's a small thing, but it's an essential and powerful area. I spent a lot of time on that, figuring out ways to make it more intuitive. One example: if you set a post date to a time in the
future, the "Publish" button changes to "Schedule," on the fly. That way you're absolutely certain of what happens when you press that button.
DLS: What are your favorite WordPress 2.7 features or additions?
Mark: My number one favorite feature is the comment moderation keyboard shortcuts. Dealing with comments has always been tedious. Anyone who has ever moderated more than ten comments in one sitting has gotten
mouse fatigue trying to click those "Spam" and "Approve" and "Delete" links over and over. Now, you can moderate comments -- even reply to them -- all without touching the mouse. It's fast, it's efficient, and anyone who gets more than ten comments a day is going to fall in love with it.
My second favorite feature is probably the built-in core upgrades. Too many people are running old versions of WordPress, and a big reason for that is not lack of knowledge, but fear of the upgrade process. This makes upgrading really fast, and really simple. I hope it means that more people will be keeping their WordPress site up to date!
DLS: Auto-updating of the WordPress core is a huge, huge addition. Is there anything (that you know of) that users need to check with their host or server configurations to use this feature?
Mark: The WordPress documentation has a list of compatible hosts
(http://codex.wordpress.org/Core_Update_Host_Compatibility) but there
are certainly things you can do to make things go smoothly. They're a little geeky, but once you get them sorted out, you should be good from then on.
There are two upgrade methods:
The first, and the fastest, is the direct method. This happens only if the server has the ability to overwrite your WordPress files. You'll have to check the "ownership" of the files as well as their permissions. Check with your host about these settings.
The second method is FTP, which is slower, but the only option for many people. For this, you'll usually want the "owner" of the files to be your FTP username. If you can edit your WordPress files via FTP, you're probably good to go here. With this method, you'll get asked for your FTP information.
We hope that web hosts will help their users get any initial permissions tweaks done -- it's in their interest to keep WordPress installs on their server secure and up-to-date!
DLS: Are there any backend code changes you guys are especially proud of or happy with?
Mark: The bulk of the effort was focused on the admin UI, but some backend
stuff was changed. The number one "hidden" backend change was the addition of the comments API. Wouldn't it be cool if you could moderate your comments from your iPhone or from your desktop blogging application? Stay tuned!
DLS: Is there anything for users upgrading to be aware of in advance?
Mark: Any plugin that modifies the administration interface (like custom admin themes) is certainly going to break, but that's to be expected. The good news is that while a lot changed visually, not that much
changed as far as API functions and core WordPress functions. Fewer things are going to break that you'd expect.
Remember that 2.6.5 is still secure -- so if you want to wait a few days to see if your favorite plugins come out with updated versions, you could. Of course, we'll all be partying without you!
--
I'd like to thank Mark for taking the time to talk to me about WordPress 2.7. WordPress 2.7 is free and available from WordPress.org. If you're hesitant about the upgrade (mine went perfectly from 2.6.5 to 2.7), check out these plugin, theme and host from the WordPress Codex.
And check out our gallery of WordPress 2.7 screenshots that highlight some of our favorite features![Via: Download Squad ][Tag: blogging, interview, interviews, mark jaquith, MarkJaquith, wordpress, wordpress-2.7 ]

Text messaging returns to Gmail

2008-12-14T02:38:00.001-08:00

A few weeks back, Google began rolling out a Gmail Labs feature that enabled people to send text messages to cell phones within the US, but had to pull it back when a showstopper bug related to message transmission was found. Google hopes the second time will be a charm, though, and has finally brought back the SMS feature for their web-based email service.

To use it, one must first enable it through Gmail Labs and then simply input the contact’s 10 digit US cell phone number into the chat box on the left. Those who receive SMS messages from the service will get a unique return phone number from the 406 area code to which they can respond. According to Google, messages from the same person will always come from the same number, so you can even bookmark it in your phone and be sure messages will be delivered to the right person.

Of course, many cell phone users in the US get charged on a per-message-received basis, so if you want to avoid hefty bills just reply “block” or “stop” to either block a specific contact from texting you or stop the service altogether.
[Via: Jose Vilches ][Tag: ]

Ozh Admin Drop Down plugin now works with WordPress 2.7

2008-12-13T07:02:00.003-08:00

WordPress 2.7 was officially released last night after several months in development. The new version of the popular blogging client features a ton of behind the scenes changes, allowing bloggers to more easily install plugins and customize the look and feel of the blogging interface.
One of the most useful improvements was the decision to move most of the site navigation features to a sidebar where you can expand or collapse the sections you need rather than clicking a link and waiting for the page to reload as you did with earlier version of WordPress. But the problem with the sidebar navigation is that it takes up more screen real estate, giving you less room for writing or managing your blog posts.
Enter Ozh' Admin Drop Down Menu. Long before the WordPress team realized the value of drop down menus, this plugin offered bloggers the ability to convert the site navigation links into drop down menus which cut back on the number of page loads you need to wait through to get from the main page to the plugin page, post page, or other pages.
I had been a bit concerned that the developer would stop updating the plugin now that WordPress includes a collapsible menu. But just a few hours after WordPress 2.7 was released, Ozh" Admin Drop Down Menu 3.0 was released with support for the latest version of WordPress. It removes all the navigation links that show up on the left side of the WordPress 2.7 dashboard and replaces them with drop down menus near the top of your screen. The net effect is that you regain a ton of screen real estate.
We'll have a more in-depth look at WordPress 2.7 later today.
[Via: Download Squad ][Tag: ozh-admin-drop-down-menu, plugins, wordpress, wordpress-2.7, wordpress-plugins ]

BitLoot helps turn ideas into Open Source software

2008-12-13T07:02:00.001-08:00

I've written about plenty of great software, but I'll probably never create any on my own. I'm no programmer, unless you count the projects I used to cobble together on our Commodore 64 and Apple IIe when I was in middle school.
That's why I like the idea of bitloot. It's a simple concept. Submit your idea for an application and it's added to bitloot's listings. Once some financial contributions are made, a developer is selected and creates the code.
Developers that think they've got a cool idea and would like a way to gather some donations can submit an idea and select "me" as the developer.
It's a terrific idea. You get a custom-made program, the developer gets a little compensation for his or her efforts, and the community gets both a new application and open source code to play with.
Bitloot is still fairly new, so why not help get things rolling? Visit the site and submit some ideas, or donate a few bucks to a worthy project!
[Via: Download Squad ][Tag: coding, development, FOSS, open-source ]

Amarok 2.0 Linux music player released

2008-12-13T06:59:00.001-08:00

Open source music player Amarok 2 was released this week. The latest version of the popular KDE-based application features a completely retooled user interface, integration with online services like Shoutcast, Magnatune, and Jamendo, and support for the KDE 4 desktop environment.
That last bit is important, because if you try to install Amarok 2 on a system running KDE 3.5 you'll probably need to download a whole slew of other updates in order to get the music player working.
There are Windows and OS X ports of Amarok, but right now online Linux distributions (including Kubuntu, OpenSUSE, Fedora, Debian, and PCLinuxOS) are officially supported.
[Via: Ubuntu Unleashed ][Tag: amarok-2, kde, linux, music ]

Blackbird Web Browser: Because Firefox is Too Navajo for Black Web Surfers [Internet]

2008-12-09T18:41:00.001-08:00

Wait, why do I need a special web browser? I mean, I get there's been a long standing digital divide between black America and the technological world (controlled by The Man). But do I really need a repackaged piece of software whose name evokes the Jim Crow era? Last time I checked, I don't physically browse the internet any different than anyone else—evidenced by the fact that Blackbird UI looks exactly like Firefox (both are based around Mozilla), except, you know, with a black color scheme. And great, it comes preloaded with a bunch of bookmarks that might be of interest to the black community. But I'm pretty sure the same thing can be accomplished with an effectively marketed website (black people DO know how to use Google, after all. Shocker!). Maybe 40A, Inc. meant well with Blackbird, but it comes off as a lazy marketing ploy that plays on the emotions of people who are (admittedly) still marginalized when it comes to the online world. And playing along with the notion that blacks and whites (or anyone, for that matter) can't enjoy any of the same things, is the same retarded line of antiquated, ethno-centric thinking that the internet is supposed to destroy. Blah. [Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ][Tag: ]

Drawminos: domino knockdown simulator! - Time Waster

2008-12-02T18:17:00.001-08:00

If you're like me, you rarely played dominos properly as a kid. Instead, you just built elaborate chains and knocked them down, Domino Rally style. Drawminos is a site that lets you virtually relive those fun times, building and saving different domino setups, so you can watch them fall whenever you want. The best part? You don't have to set the dominos back up when you're done.
If I have a complaint about Drawminos, it's that it's tedious to pick up a new domino every time you want to place one. It would be fun to have a domino tool you could just hold down and drag. I guess that part of the simulation is a bit too realistic for me. On the other hand, you won't run out dominos like you would in real life.
[Via: Download Squad ][Tag: dominos, drawminos, game ]

Mailplane 2.0: desktop Gmail client now supports Gmail video chat

2008-11-26T06:19:00.005-08:00

If you use Gmail on a Mac, you should definitely know about Mailplane. It's basically a really fancy site-specific browser for Gmail, getting Gmail out of your browser tab and adding a lot of features you'd demand in a desktop email client. You can drag and drop attachments and sign in multiple accounts at once, just to name a couple. Plus, a release candidate for Mailplane 2.0 just came out, and it adds 37 new features.
You can do anything in Mailplane that you can do in Gmail, including the new video chat feature. The new gmail themes are also supported, and you can add your own custom stylesheet. It feels strange to use Gmail in a browser again after playing with Mailplane. Customizable keyboard shortcuts, dragging and dropping, and iPhoto integration are just a few of the handy features that make Mailplane a joy to use. It also supports one of my personal favorite things, Growl notifications
[Via: Download Squad ][Tag: gmail, gmail-2.0, mailplane, video-chat ]

BitPim: Bluetooth syncing for CDMA phones

2008-11-26T06:19:00.003-08:00

BitPim isn't a new app, but I've been using it for quite a while, and I thought I'd share. We write a fair amount about the iPhone here at Download Squad, but some of us are stuck with less-than-smart phones that are over a year old, on CDMA networks. Not that I'm bitter, or anything, but how are you supposed to get data like contacts and ringtones onto (and off of) these things? BitPim!
Bitpim is an an open source app that lets you access your phone's data via Bluetooth. I use it to get custom mp3 ringtones onto my junky Samsung dumbphone, and it works phenomenally well. There's a list of compatible phones on the Bitpim site, but chances are that yours will work. Be aware that Bitpim could potentially mess up your phone, although I haven't any issues with it personally.
[Via: Download Squad ][Tag: bluetooth, CDMA, open-source, phone, ringtone, sync ]

5 disposable email services with RSS support

2008-11-26T06:19:00.001-08:00

If you're looking for a little anonymity and security when signing up for download links or invite codes, a disposable email service is a good option. Instead of providing one of your working email addresses, just grab a meaningless temporary one from any of these sites and keep your identity hidden.
These five sites all provide RSS feeds for your address, which is handy. No need to return to the site after registration, just subcribe with your favorite newsreader.
MailCatch - Choose your own address or roll the dice. MailCatch also provides an iGoogle gadget and creates a subdomain (using your address) for quick access to your web inbox. MailCatch also provides temporary forwards, and they've got an FAQ and forums.
MyTrashMail - Offers password protected temporary accounts in addition to the traditional public variety. Note that the Firefox "toolbar" they offer requires you have the Google toolbar installed first. FAQ and about links are prominently displayed.

FilzMail - Sports a clean interface featuring puffy, web 2.0 images. Create your own address or generate a random one and messages are available for 24 hours (which can be extended).

Incognito Mail - The option for minimalists. Choose or generate your address, and it's valid for 60 minutes. No FAQ or TOS is posted. There are a number of other services that look very similar to Incognito Mail, offering different time limits.

DodgeIt - Ok, maybe this is the one for minimalists. You pick the address (no random generator), you check for messages - they're deleted after seven days.

Do you use a different service? Share it with us, but stay on topic - make sure it supports RSS!
[Via: Download Squad ][Tag: anonymity, anonymous, disposable, mail, privacy ]

5 Fun, casual Steam games you can give for under $20

2008-11-26T06:15:00.001-08:00

If you're a gamer, chances are good you've bought something from Steam - Valve's "Nexus of PC Gaming." If not, it's a great place to purchase some inexpensive and extremely fun games. Steam, of course, offers a gift purchase option, making it an ideal spot to find a nice, cheap gift for that special someone on your list.
Steam has tons of casual, fun games in its library - here's my list of five titles under $20 that are sure to provide some maddeningly addictive fun. Hardware requirements for these are fairly light, so they should run on just about anyone's desktop or laptop (provided they're running Windows).

World of Goo ($19.99). Sure, its cartoonish 2d graphics are cute, but this is one seriously smart physics puzzle game. Stack the little goo balls to build structures and reach the goal - it sounds easy, but World of Goo is as challenging as it is whimsical. Finessing your structures into doing what you want takes patience and requires some serious thinking at times. This one's a great choice for anyone who enjoys a good challenge.

Audiosurf ($9.99). This is one ridiculously cool racing game. Audiosurf dynamically creates courses based upon the music you're listening to while you're playing. There's definite cool factor in seeing your favorite tracks rendered as, well, tracks. Race to your favorite song, then see how your score measures up to other players online. The game includes the Orange Box soundtrack - which features Companion Cube's stirring rendition of Still Alive.

Eets ($9.99). An oldie but a goodie, this one gets referred to as a sort of Lemmings/Incredible Machine hybrid. Lead your Eets on the correct path to win levels and alter his mood (and reactions) by feeding him marshmallows. Like World of Goo, don't be deceived by the cuteness - Eets' puzzles get complex and can be extremely challenging. There are also 200 additional player-created levels to download to extend gameplay.

Mr. Robot ($9.99). HEL-9000, the computer brain in charge of the starship Eidolon, has gone evil, and it's up to Asimov to save the day. The game combines puzzle and RPG elements into a enjoyable but not frustratingly difficult package. Mr. Robot has received tons of praise for providing a simple, vintage-style gaming experience (think C64 and Atari) and stunning visuals. While it might not be overly complicated, it's 200-plus levels will provide plenty of game play.

Bookworm Adventures Deluxe ($9.99). Almost two years old, Bookworm is still a killer word game. In this edition, Lex is on a mythical journey and he can earn power ups to boost his word-powered attacks. It's a little bit of strategy and a lot of Boggle/Scrabble word building skill. Coping with time limits and still coming up with high-powered words can actually get very intense. There are three mini games and a survival mode to play as well.
Have another recomendation I missed? Share it with our readers in the comments!
[Via: Download Squad ][Tag: games, gifts, hgg, holiday-gift-guide, steam ]

Melt Mail provides free, disposable email forwarding

2008-11-26T06:14:00.001-08:00

We've looked at other disposable email services (like my list of 5 with RSS support) before. Melt Mail is a nice alternative to other disposable account services.
Many require you return to their site to check for messages, but Melt Mail lets you work with any real email address.
Melt Mail works with your existing email, setting up a temporary forward @meltmail.com. You've got four time periods to choose from - three, six, 12, or 24 hours. After that, your address expires and forwards from it to your real account cease.
Once your address has been created, you can choose to pop up a small reminder window that displays your address and an expiration countdown.
One source of concern I have with the service is the lack of a privacy statement. If you're going to use Melt Mail (or a service like this), check for one before signing up. Who's to say your real address won't end up on someone's mailing list.
Melt Mail is a slick service, I'll just stick to using it with my "registration" gMail account.
[Via: Download Squad ][Tag: disposable, email, forward, privacy ]

Apple overtakes RIM in smartphone market

2008-11-09T18:19:00.001-08:00

Apple is now the second largest smartphone vendor globally, according to figures from research firm Canalys. Being a newcomer to the market, the company managed to ship a total of 6.9 million iPhone devices, grabbing 17.3 percent of the market while vaulting past RIM and Motorola at the same time.

Nokia is still the leading vendor by a comfortable margin, holding 38.9 percent of the market – but that margin was even more comfortable last year at over 50 percent. Despite being pushed into second place, BlackBerry shipments still grew by over 80 per cent, with RIM claiming a 15.2 percent share of the market, while Motorola ended a distant fourth at 5.8 percent.

On the software side of things, Canalys predicts that Symbian will remain the dominant platform due to its close association with Nokia. Apple and RIM obviously saw strong gains in that department as well – their OS is proprietary and tied to their hardware – whereas Microsoft increased the number of Windows Mobile handsets shipped by 42 percent.
[Via: Jose Vilches ][Tag: ]

The Google Android user interfaces that didn't make the cut

2008-11-02T07:13:00.001-08:00

In case you haven't heard, the T-Mobile G1, or the first mobile phone to run the Google Android operating system, is now available. As we've discussed before, Android has an interesting user interface, that's something of a cross between the iPhone UI and a Windows desktop. But have you ever wondered what design choices Google rejected?
Software design team TAT, which helped create the Google Android interface has posted a page showing a bunch of concept designs that didn't make the final cut. Some of the designs, like "Asia Cute" were obviously a bit too niche to be considered seriously. Others, like "Windows Mobile Homescreen" just seem too busy to me. But the "Browser Concept" view for the web browser is pretty attractive, if not particularly useful. And the "History Lane" interface for the music player could have given Apple's CoverFlow a run for the money.
The nice thing about Google Android is that it's not locked down like the iPhone operating system. And that means there's nothing preventing third party developers from taking some of these design ideas and running with them. Or coming up with something else entirely. We've already seen third party skins for Windows Mobile, and that's a closed source OS. With an open source OS like Android, the sky's the limit.
We'll have more Google Android updates for you throughout the day.
[Via: Download Squad ][Tag: ]

Googleholic for May 20, 2008

2008-05-22T05:05:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google! In this edition:

Google gets a new office in Taipei
Third party advertising tags on Google
Google China mourns to commemorate earthquake victims
FeedFlare now available for Blogger comments

Google gets a new office in Taipei
Having been in Taiwan for two years, Google decided it needed to move the office from their 37th floor location in the landmark Taipei 101. The new location? Still the Taipei 101, except now on the 73rd floor. Now Google employees in Taiwan can enjoy their amenity-laden workdays a whole 36 floors higher than before.

Third party advertising tags on Google
Now accepting: third party advertising tags on Google's content network. In North America anyway. Google has established a procedure for reviewing third party ad tags that comply with their standards and policies which allows them to implement this feature. If this prospect thrills you, check out the three part video that explains it all in luscious detail.

Google China mourns to commemorate earthquake victims
As China mourns the 50,000 earthquake victims, Google China has changed its look to a dark theme and features a link to a special search engine designed to find sites that include information about missing people. Google is also donating $2 million to help with relief efforts, $1.7 million of which will come from Google.org.

FeedFlare now available for Blogger comments

Google owned FeedBurner's FeedFlare is finally available for Blogger, allowing Blogger users to show comment counts on their RSS feeds. The comment count links to the Blogger's comment page, allowing readers of the feed to quickly reply to a post and see whether a post is a comment magnet. Which is a good thing, if not just convenient.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Techmeme adds search, becomes useful to the general public

2008-05-20T18:03:00.003-07:00

Over the last few years, technology news site Techmeme has gotten a lot of attention in the technology blogosphere. That's because it's a tool for tracking conversations and hot topics in the tech blogosphere. Yes, part of the reason we as tech bloggers pay so much attention to Techmeme is because we're self absorbed. But the site has also been a great source of news. Want to know what today's biggest stories are? Techmeme will tell you.

But Techmeme has historically done a pretty lousy job of telling you yesterday's big stories. Or last week's. Or last years. Because the site has lacked any sort of a search function. But today, Techmeme founder Gabe Rivera finally added a search box to the site.

Only the top stories are indexed. And by default only the fist few sentences from each story. So Techmeme isn't exactly a Google News killer. You won't find every article ever written about a topic. But what you will find are some of the top stories (or at least the most discussed/blogged about stories) written about a topic. Or if you want to find every article from a certain source that made it onto Techmeme, you can just search for a URL. For example sourceurl:"http://www.downloadsquad.com" brings up a list of Download Squad stories that have been featured on the site.

The launch of the search tool actually makes Techmeme a site worth visiting if you're not just trying to figure out which stories Download Squad, TechCrunch, CNET, ReadWriteWeb, and Engadget are covering today.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Hulu: People are actually watching us

2008-05-20T18:03:00.001-07:00

Much to everyone's amazement, Hulu doesn't suck. Seriously. When Fox and NBC first announced plans to get into the online video streaming business, a lot of commenters spent a lot of time talking about how silly it would be to take on YouTube. And then Hulu started showing full length movies and TV shows with minimal advertisements. The video quality is fairly good, and the content library includes things you might actually want to watch. Now, just two months after publicly launching, Hulu reports that:

The site has served up more than 63 million video streams
The average Hulu user watches 2 hours of Hulu video each month
Hulu is now the top network video site

Hulu has also launched a distribution deal with TV.com today, and plans to start streaming video through TVGuide.com, Break.com, Zap2it, BuddyTV, Flixter, and MyYearbook in the next few weeks.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Bicycle powered Google Earth flight simulator

2008-05-20T18:02:00.011-07:00

Sure Google added a flight simulator to Google Earth last year. But what fun is a flight simulator if you have to use your mouse and keyboard to navigate? Well, some. But not as much fun as flying through Google Earth while riding a bicycle, E.T.-style.

Want to build your own bike-powered Google Earth flight sim? Here's what you need:

A programmable SunSpot wireless sensor

A bunch of corresponding sensors

A bike or other unit that you want to use for navigation/exercise

Way too much free time on your hands

The flight simulator lets you know what it would be like to pedal your bike through the sky. Or you could just take your bike outside and figure out what it's like to pedal through your neighborhood.

[Via: Hackszine ]
[Tag: ]

Redlasso offering bloggers TV/radio searchable database

2008-05-20T18:02:00.009-07:00

Redlasso is a database stuffed with the latest TV and radio programming, allowing registered users to search for and "lasso" out clips in order to imbed them on other sites. Although the company is currently negotiating deals with several content partners, Redlasso says "virtually all media" (TV, Radio, streaming internet programming, podcasts) is indexed in almost real-time.
Much of TV and radio has so far been unsearchable in any truly convenient way. Until now, finding and embedding a TV clip often ends requires the use of less-than-legal services and practices. This is the hole Redlasso is trying to fill, though, it's hard to foresee the sight's success (or failure.
The accounts are monitored to make sure no one's watching extended amounts of programming. This makes it an inconvenient tool for media pirates, but it is intended solely for bloggers and other web publishers only. As a result, expect some type of application process when requesting an account. As for us, we're waiting on our acceptance emails.

Although the service is free, it is currently in closed beta, meaning its unavailable to the general public.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Opera: There's a good chance you've visited Facebook on your phone

2008-05-20T18:02:00.007-07:00

Opera has released a report on the state of the mobile web. And considering the company claims more than 44 million users for its Opera Mini cellphone web browser, Opera's in as good a position as any company to report on mobile web usage.

There are two trends that are particularly noteworthy. First, 77% of all traffic was to full web pages, not stripped down mobile pages. This probably shouldn't be that surprising, since Opera Mini renders full pages pretty quickly and lets users zoom in and out to read the fine print. And while WAP might have been pretty exciting a few years ago when there wasn't as much rich media content on the web, and when mobile internet connections were significantly slower, those days are long gone.

The second trend is a bit more surprising. 40% of worldwide traffic was directed to social networks. In some countries including the US, South Africa, and Indonesia, that number was as high as 60%. Now, it's not like we didn't know that social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, and Bebo were popular. We just didn't figure people would be spending half of their mobile web browsing time visiting them.

What sites do you visit regularly with your mobile web browser?

[Via: VentureBeat ]
[Tag: ]

Lycos launches Webon web site builder

2008-05-20T18:02:00.005-07:00

Lycos has launched a new web page builder called Webon. The service appears to be the latest salvo in Lycos's mission to remind people that the once powerful web portal still exists. A few weeks ago Lycos also updated its Lycos Cinema media player to allow users to chat in real time while watching movies together over the web.

Webon is sort of like a cross between Google Page Creator and Google's Blogger. There are a variety of templates for creating several different types of web page. You can make a standard home page, create and update a blog, a photo album, a travelogue, or a wedding web site. No HTML knowledge is necessary. You just pick a template and start adding content. You can customize the look and feel of your site by adding widgets or custom HTML code.

You can try out Webon without signing up for the service, which is a nice touch. But if you want to publish your page for the rest of the world to see, you're going to need to register for a free or paid account. Free sites are hosted at username.webon.com, while you can register a custom URL (username.com) for $8.95/month. While that might seem a bit steep, the Webon personal plan also lets users upload an unlimited number of images. Yeah, it still seems kind of steep.

[Via: WebWare ]
[Tag: ]

Flipping the Linux switch: Switching, literally, with Ulteo Virtual Desktop

2008-05-20T18:02:00.003-07:00

We are a little bit disturbed. Not in a "We just watched a David Lynch movie" sort of way, but still, it is a little unnerving to think that our last post on Ulteo hinted at a world domination plot... and now it seems that goal is within their reach.
It is also a little unsettling to eat our words. We read about Ulteo's Virtual Desktop and its claims to run Linux apps quickly and smoothly under Windows. And we thought, "Yeah, right." We've used embedded Linux on Windows before. It works in a pinch, but it's not terribly responsive. It's also a little disorienting to be working in Linux, and then need to manually perform some key combination or mouse gesture to get to a Windows application.
Like andLinux, Ulteo's Virtual Desktop (often referred to with the rather misfortunate name UlteoVD) runs off a coLinux base. There is no virtualization software involved. But we'd especially recommend UlteoVD for those pondering whether a Linux switch could work for them, for a number of reasons.We'd recommend UlteoVD first to people who are currently using or could see themselves using their previous services. Ulteo started by offering OpenOffice.org in a browser, coupled with syncing services. Nice, for sure. They then offered an installable Ulteo disk, which felt a lot like Ubuntu in many ways, with the noticeable difference of automatic updates (as in, no user interaction) and syncing with the browser based services.
If you are into those previously listed offerings, that's great. We'd venture to say, though, those aren't the most appealing ways to ease into Linux or learn about Linux applications. Usually applications in browsers are slow, and jumping headfirst into a new operating system install (especially one clearly marked "beta") is (understandably) terror-inducing.
This is a great middle-of-the-road approach. Once UlteoVD is installed, you have access to essentially all the programs you'd find on most popular Linux distros. You also have simultaneous access to your Windows applications, and Desktop and My Documents files. UlteoVD lets you see if the Linux environment and applications are right for you without needing to dual boot, or even reboot.
UlteoVD is a large download, and does take up quite a bit of disk space (approximately 4 gb). It is easy to install, though there were some agonizingly long waits at certain stages of the installation. We'd advise anyone installing (especially on older, or underpowered machines) to be really patient with the install, and the first launch of the virtual desktop. The first dig at the desktop took an inordinately long time to actually launch. Subsequent virtual desktop launches aren't nearly as lengthy. Launching applications from the virtual desktop is just as fast (or faster) than launching a native Windows app.
We noticed as UlteoVD was launching that it did a few potentially scary things. We lost our network connection, for instance. We assume that it was because UlteoVD was accessing the network, and we were a little nervous that we wouldn't be able to access the internet except through the Linux application side of things.
This isn't the case. We were just as able to fire up IE as we were the UlteoVD-installed instance of Firefox. Not particularly sure how often we'd have need to do that, but it all worked smoothly.

One of the reasons we think UlteoVD would be a great choice for potential switchers is the reasonably familiar interface. It's not quite as sparse as some of the "Kicker" options on andLinux, and but still manages to stay out of the way. The menu options are presented in a way that's similar to a standard KDE desktop install on Linux, and we feel that the layout and file navigation options that Ulteo has given the virtual desktop not only makes things easier on the Windows-integration side of things, but should quell some of the butterflies that occur when a new user logs into the Linux /home directory for the first time.

We were curious about how updates were handled and how packages could be added. It seems as though it might be a bit trickier to install a more off-the-beaten-path sort of program from the Ulteo repositories, but it is quite easy to install their generic desktop and game applications, as well as language support.
Ulteo also gave us the option of trying their default (stable), edge, or testing repositories. We tried both stable and edge with no catastrophic events. We did have UlteoVD crash once, and promptly relaunch. Considering that is still a beta, and that we were having issues with a native Windows photo editing application at the time, it wasn't particularly surprising.

Seriously, though, this is the best news of all for those of you wondering if Linux might be something to explore further. You get to play with the Linux applications and see if they suit your needs without having to worry about system support in a larger sense. Because of the way UlteoVD is set up to run, it's less likely you'll have the peculiar hiccups that might arise on a new Linux install. With this sort of scenario, you'll become familiar with the overall way the Linux applications work, instead of getting lost in configuration minutiae.
We were really tickled we could use Amarok on Windows XP now without the fun of compiling and tweaking for limited results. (We love to tweak with Linux, but somehow Windows seems to kill the joy in it.)

UlteoVD is available as a beta for both Windows XP and Vista 32-bit releases. We strongly recommend it for people thinking of trying out Linux, as well as those who prefer Linux and its native applications who can't always use a Linux machine.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

IE7Pro 2.3 adds prefetching, session management to Internet Explorer

2008-05-20T18:02:00.001-07:00

IE7Pro is a plugin for Internet Explorer 7 and 8 that brings some of the best features of Firefox and other web browsers to Microsoft's browser. Yes, we know many folks would suggest just using Firefox or Opera, but if you need to use IE for one reason or another (perhaps there are some web sites you visit regularly which aren't rendered properly by other browsers), IE7Pro can make your browsing experience much more pleasant.

IE7Pro 2.3 was released today, with a handful of bug fixes and new features, including:

FasterIE module with support for prefetching, which should speed up your browsing experience
Session Manager which allows you to save open tabs when closing your browser and reopen those tabs next time you login.
The MiniDM download manager now supports drag & drop and multiple links

You can check out a complete list of updates in the IE7Pro 2.3 changelog.

[Via: CyberNet ]
[Tag: ]

Backup your Firefox, Flock, or Thunderbird profiles with MozBackup 1.4.8

2008-05-20T18:01:00.001-07:00

Last time we checked in on Firefox backup utility MozBackup, the developer had just added support for Firefox 3 beta. Apparently it's been a busy half year over at MozBackup HQ, because this week MozBackup 1.4.8 was released, with the following new features:

Create automatic backups via command line
New Installer
Supports backup of unknown files from user profiles
Backup profiles and settings for: Firefox 2/3, Flock, SeaMonkey, Netscape Navigator 9.0, Netscape Messenger 9.0, Thunderbird, Spicebird, Firefox Portable, and Thunderbird Portable

If you're just looking or a quick way to backup your Firefox extensions, bookmarks, and other settings, you can always check out the FEBE and CLEO Firefox add-ons. But MozBackup looks like a nice all-in-on tool if you have several Mozilla-based programs that you want to backup.

MozBackup is available for Windows 98 through Vista.

[Via: CyberNet ]
[Tag: ]

Opera Mobile 9.5 Reviewed (Verdict: Even Better Than Safari Mobile)

2008-05-20T07:27:00.001-07:00

Matthew Miller from ZDNet loaded up Opera Mobile 9.5 on his HTC Advantage, a Windows Mobile device, and thinks it's even better than the iPhone's Safari browser. Why? Because he can select text, copy and paste, save passwords and even email individual images from a page. He says it's the best mobile browser he's ever used (even though Google Docs doesn't work correctly). It's definitely even more like a desktop browser than Apple's offering. You don't need to take his word for it—you can see for yourself in his video.
[Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
[Tag: ]

AOL completes take-over of Bebo

2008-05-20T05:59:00.005-07:00

AOL completed its acquisition of social networking site Bebo today. You may remember that AOL announced it would buy Bebo for $850 million back in March. According to InformationWeek Bebo will be the center of AOL's new People Network business unit. Heading up this business unit is Joanna Shields who will serve as president. This "People Network" will consist of three AOL services: AIM, ICQ, and now Bebo.
While Bebo is most popular in the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand, AOL is hoping grow this upcoming social network in the US. Silicon Alley Insider seems to think AOL will layoff employees working in the AIM/ICQ division due to the restructuring process.
What do you think? Did AOL make a good decision? Do you think this acquisition puts AIM at risk? Be sure to voice your opinion in the comments!
[Via: InformationWeek ]
[Tag: ]

AOL gives out $100,000 in prizes to AIM plugin coders

2008-05-20T05:59:00.003-07:00

AOL is getting serious about opening up its popular instant messenger application. A few months ago the company launched the Open AIM initiative, making available the APIs and documentation developers need to add AIM features to third party applications or to develop third party plugins for AIM. Now AOL, which happens to be this blog's parent company, has announced the winners of a $100,000 design competition. Winning entries included applications that let you:

Instantly translate messages from one language to another
Preview an URL in an IM by hovering your mouse over it
Manage your RSS feeds from within AIM
Share your desktop with another AIM user
Convert text-based instant messages to speech

Nine winners scored $10,000, while 20 more winners got $500 prizes. You can check out a list of winner and see all the submissions at the TopCoder contest page.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

mooColorFinder finds web colors

2008-05-20T05:59:00.001-07:00

If you're in the business of pirating colors from websites, then mooColorFinder is here to help you. Just type in a web address (say, your favorite blog) and mooColorFinder will return the colors used on that website. The colors are display as little tiles of color; which you can then mouse over to get the hex color.

Now, we should note that this web service doesn't seem to always work correctly on certain websites. We believe it has to do with the way in which the site was coded.

If you prefer desktop applications to web apps, you could always use DigitalColor Meter.app (Mac; found in /Applications/Utilities/) or Instant Eyedropper for Windows.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

MyGads remembers your wife's birthday

2008-05-20T05:58:00.007-07:00

Besides having a funny name, MyGads allows you to remember things that you might not always have the answer to. This web 2.0 service allows you to input information that you want to remember later, then when you need the information, you can either send the service an instant message or text message from your phone with a keyword to retrieve the information.
For instance, if you want to remember "My Birthday," then you could create a statement similar to "My Birthday - 12/06." You could then text or IM MyGads to retrieve the birthday. This service has unlimited uses and might just get you out of a sticky situation, say, remembering your anniversary or wife's birthday.
[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Opera Mobile 9.5: Coming soon, and probably worth the wait

2008-05-20T05:58:00.005-07:00

It's been a few months since Opera announced the company was working on a version of Opera 9.5 for Windows Mobile devices. And while Opera has historically been kind enough to offer public beta versions of their commercial software for download, Opera Mobile 9.5 has been pretty elusive so far. But ZDNet's Matt Miller managed to get his hands on a Windows Mobile device with Opera 9.5 preloaded, and suffice it to say he's pretty impressed. Here are some of the highlights from his review:

Smooth scrolling and panning with your finger (no stylus needed)
Context-sensitive zooming
Tabbed browsing (this has been available in every version of Opera Mobile that we're aware of)
Save pages for offline viewing
Quick page rendering
Flash Lite 3 support
Supports text selection, copy, and paste
Password manager
Save or send web images

There were some problems. Miller says he could open Google Docs spreadsheets for viewing, but not Word documents. This isn't surprising, since Opera's desktop browser has had compatibility issues with Google Docs and other Google services for a long time.

No word on when Opera will be ready to release Opera Mobile 9.5 for general use. It looks like you may be able to get purchase a phone with the software preinstalled in the not too distant future. But what we're really waiting for is the day when you can download the software and install it on any device. Opera Mobile 8.65 currently has a $24 price tag. We're assuming Opera 9.5 will eventually be available for $30 or less.

[Via: jkOnTheRun ]
[Tag: ]

eBay eliminates negative feedback from sellers

2008-05-20T05:58:00.003-07:00

As expected, eBay has banned sellers from leaving negative or neutral feedback. Earlier this ear the auction site announced plans to change its feedback policy in order to discourage sellers from leaving negative feedback in retribution for negative comments from buyers.

On the one hand, this seems like a reasonable measure to prevent sellers from abusing the feedback system. On the other hand, there really are bad buyers out there. Some people bid on auctions and then back out either because they misread the item descriptions or never had any intention of paying in the first place. And while sellers can request a refund for transaction fees from eBay, they then have to either offer the item to another bidder for a lower price or re-list the item.

It would probably make a lot more sense for eBay to allow sellers to leave negative feedback -- but only before buyers leave feedback. That way there's no way to leave a nasty comment in response to negative feedback. Or perhaps eBay could allow negative feedback only after a reasonable period of time has passed, like 14 days or a month. That way buyers and sellers should have plenty of time to resolve their differences before leaving feedback.

[Via: Wired ]
[Tag: ]

Folder View adds recent and favorite folders to Windows Explorer

2008-05-20T05:58:00.001-07:00

Folder View is a free Windows utility that gives you quick access to the folders you use most often in Windows Explorer. You can add shortcuts for every folder in My Documents, or choose custom folders to add to the toolbar. We'd advise against selecting an entire drive, since you'll wind up with a toolbar several rows deep filled with folders. It sort of defeats the purpose of having shortcuts when it takes you five minutes to find the one you're looking for.

As Martin at gHacks points out, one of the most useful features of Folder View is the recent folders toolbar. If you've accidentally closed a folder that you want to recover, this feature can be a life saver. It's not quite as magical as the recover closed tab feature in Firefox, but it's actually more useful since you can also use the Recent folders button to access your most frequently used folders in a snap.

Folder View also shows up in your Windows download and upload dialog boxes, making it easy to keep your files organized if you like to store your downloaded files in several different directories.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Is Twitter Down? Yes or No

2008-05-20T05:57:00.003-07:00

Twitter may be addictive, popular with the geek crowd, and possibly even the next Facebook. But the service sure goes down pretty frequently. You'd think Twitter's frequent downtime/outages would present an opportunity for another micro-blogging service like Pownce or Jaiku to swoop in and steal the site's user base. But once you've got a few hundred followers, you're pretty much locked in to the service.

So what's a Twitter addict to do when they can't login to the service? Well, the first thing you should do is check and see if you're the only one having the problem. And since you can't send out a tweet asking your followers for help, you can turn to Is Twitter Down. This web site makes Down for Everyone or Just Me look feature-rich. While that site will actually spit out a sentence letting you know if the web page you enter is down or not, Is Twitter Down gives you a monosyllabic answer to just one question: Is Twitter down.

The site does have one more trick up its sleeve. Click on Yes or No and you get taken to an Amazon product page for a rather appropriate item.

Oh, and in related news, Down for Everyone or Just Me is down today. There's a nice message on the site letting us know it will be back soon though.

Thanks deathwombat!

[Via: ouroboros ]
[Tag: ]

Hungarian student throws eggs at Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

2008-05-20T05:57:00.001-07:00

OK let's be honest. Who hasn't wanted to throw eggs at Steve Ballmer at some point. You know, you're up late at night trying to finish some report, and suddenly your computer crashes and you lose three hours worth of work (never mind the fact that this could have all been avoided if you hit the save button every now and again), and you turn to the sky and scream BALLMER!!!!

Well, maybe it's not as bad as all that. But when Ballmer spoke at the Hungarian University of Economy today, one student started throwing eggs at the Microsoft CEO. According to Valleywag, the act was meant to protest the millions of dollars Hungary's government spends to license Microsoft software at universities. While he's mostly yelling in Hungarian, you can make out a bit of English when he not-so-politely asks Ballmer to give the money back to the taxpayers.

The whole thing was caught on video. Note that Steve Ballmer was not harmed in the making of this video, but several eggs lost their shells.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Galeon: It's like Firefox for Spartans

2008-05-19T18:03:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we looked at K-Meleon, a light-weight browser for Windows that uses the same rendering engine as Firefox 2. The result is a browser that loads any page you can open in Firefox, which uses significantly less RAM than Firefox. There's also no support for add-ons or many of the other bells and whistles that make Firefox tick.
Galeon pretty much the same thing, except it runs on Linux, not Windows. In our tests, the browser eats about half the RAM of Firefox 3, and renders pages using the same engine as Firefox 2, which means that some pages that look funny in Firefox 3 look better in Galeon, making the browser excellent companion piece of software.
Like K-Meleon, Galeon does not support add-ons, or Greasemonkey scripts. And it doesn't have some of the more useful features you can find in Firefox 3 like full page zoom.
There's no shortage of light weight web browser for Linux. But since Galeon can render any web page Firefox can, the browser is far more useful than other browsers such as Dillo or Konqueror.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Study: Digital divide is alive and well in the US

2008-05-18T17:56:00.003-07:00

You know that blank stare you got from your parents the first time you gave them your email address? Apparently you're not alone. According to a new survey from Park Associates, nearly one fifth of all heads of household in the US have never used email. And 20 million households are without internet access. That's about 18% of American households.Here are a few more fun facts:

Only 7 percent of those 20 million households plants to sign up for internet service within the next year.
Almost 33 % of heads of household have never created a document on a computer
Half of the folks who say they've never used email are over 65
More than half of those who haven't ever used email have no post-secondary education

The study did find some good news (if you count the fact that more and more people are spending their days in front of a computer screen good news). The number of "disconnected" households dropped from 29 percent in 2006.

[Via: CNET ]
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Tweak your Windows animations with Lebendig

2008-05-18T17:56:00.001-07:00

Lebendig is a free Windows utility that adds a bit of eye candy to your window transitions. When you launch or close a window you can have it fade in or out, scroll down from the top of the screen, up from the bottom, or move from left to right or vice versa. Overall there are about 15 transitions to choose from, although to be honest, some of them looked pretty much identical to us.

You can adjust just how windows look when they launch, or when they close or specify which types of windows you'd like to be affected. For example, if you want program windows to use the default Windows animations while Explorer windows fade in and out, you can do that.

Lebendig comes from the developer of DExposE2, an Expose clone for Windows. And while Lebendig certainly isn't the only tool that adds a bit of eye candy to Windows XP, it's worth checking out for its low memory footprint. It tends to use 8MB of RAM or less.

[Via: Lifehacker ]
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MP3-Check examines your music collection, tells you what's wrong with it

2008-05-18T08:45:00.001-07:00

Got a few thousand MP3s in your music collection with missing or incorrect ID3 tags? MP3-Check won't fix them for you, but it will let you know what's missing. It's a light weight utility that can process large amounts of information quickly and let you know if your MP3 files:

Are missing ID3 tags
Don't meet your bit rate or sample rate requirements
Are stereo or mono
Meet a specified volume threshold

MP3-Check also lets you choose third party tools to associate with the program so that, for example, when you find an MP3 with no ID3 information you can right click on it to launch your favorite ID3 tag editor. If your ID3 tags aren't just missing, but are actually wrong, you might want to check out a tool like MusicBrainz which will compare your files with an online database and try to find the correct metadata.

[Via: GHacks ]
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Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 Now Available

2008-05-17T20:29:00.001-07:00

Go kick the tires and light the fires of Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1, which is now available for download at the Mozilla Firefox site. The update delivers a few aesthetic changes, as well as what Mozilla is calling major security enhancements. Users should also expect increased performance and stability for applications like Google Mail. There's an exhaustive list of known bugs to squash too, but that's par for the course with any software.

[Firefox 3 RC1]

[Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
[Tag: ]

2008-05-17T20:27:00.001-07:00

Conde Nast Publications (which owns Wired, Wired.com, and a whole bunch of major magazines) has agreed to purchase Ars Technica for an undisclosed sum.

According to TechCrunch, Ars will be placed under the Wired Digital umbrella under CondeNet, which was made whole with the 2006 acquisition of Wired.com, and may be combined with Wired and Wired.com. The sale will be announced some time in the next week, Mashable has confirmed.

Ars looks to be a good fit for Wired and Wired.com, especially given the similar styles of tech reporting available on on both networks. Both include traditional professional feature style reporting on technology and trends. Wired will benefit from the addition of the new writing staff and Ars will gain a new outlet from its reporting. We wouldn't be surprised to see their work appearing in other publications across the Conde Nast house. The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and even GQ (all Conde Nast publications) could stand to benefit from Gear and Gadgets and some of the other ongoing reporting from Ars Technica.

But, what will happen to the majority of the web only content on Wired.com? Since Wired.com seems to feature reposts of articles from the magazine starting a few days after publication and a number of blogs on technology related subjects, we have to wonder if some of the content that duplicates the work of Ars will just disappear or move to Ars completely. The other side of the coin is whether Ars will find itself slowly transitioning into just another department at Wired and whether this was just a way to bring a number of good writers into a major mainstream media outlet in one swoop.

Of course all of this may be moot (and is definitely pure speculation), since many think nothing will change at Ars Technica because Conde Nast hasn't changed any of its other recent acquisitions.

On a side note, this merger/acquisition is very similar to CBS/CNET (which went down earlier this week). CBS is an old school mainstream media house that was looking to expand into the net in an educated way by taking over another network. That network was basically CBS for the web, i.e. one of the original major outlets to helped get real content into a new form of communication. Of course CNET was started as almost a TV network, so they will fit well together. Here we also have two similar media outlets, one a major magazine network with award winning reporting, the other a major web site with magazine style reporting that is only a level of understanding away from winning a Pulitzer (understanding on the part of the Pulitzer committee). Heck you could even compare this to the AOL/Weblogs, Inc acquisition of 2005 (DownloadSquad is part of Weblogs, Inc of AOL). In all three cases you had a larger party who definitely needed the content of the smaller party and a smaller party who would definitely benefit from the resources of the larger party.

via Techmeme

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Oh, cheer up! Just push the red button ...

2008-05-17T20:26:00.001-07:00

We've noticed a meme traveling around Twitter lately that seems to be making people's days at the office a little more fun. Or, depending on how you look at it, making their coworkers' days just a little more annoying. What is this life-changing trend? Old-school sound effects buttons.
If you need a drummer to punctuate all your snappy remarks, like some kind of quirky late-night talk show host, visit Instant Rim Shot. If something doesn't quite go as planned for you or someone in the room with you, go to Sad Trombone. These are perhaps the two most indispensable sound effects in any jokester's repertoire.
Safari users, take note: this is where you finally get some use out of that Web Clip feature, so you can keep these in your Dashboard for the appropriate occasion. We hope you enjoy them -- or loathe them -- as much as we do.
Thanks to Jim Ray for the Web Clip idea!

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

OLPC Sugar OS takes on a life of its own, will anybody care?

2008-05-17T20:25:00.007-07:00

The OLPC team yesterday announced plans to load Windows XP on XO Laptops in a handful of countries in June as part of a limited trial. By September, Windows could be available to any developing nation placing orders for XO Laptops. And today, Walter Bender, the former president of software for the OLPC Foundation says the unique software interface that was designed for the XO Laptop will live on. Maybe.

Here's a little background. The XO Laptop was designed to be a cheap laptop that could be distributed in developing nations to help bridge the digital divide. The original plan for the XO was to use Linux as an operating system because it's cheap, works well on low-powered devices, and because it's open source anyone could write software for it easily. A unique desktop environment called Sugar was built to make Linux more user-friendly. But many governments have been reluctant to place orders for the laptops because they don't run Windows, which is the desktop operating system used by most of the rest of the world. So the OLPC Foundation has been working with Microsoft to bring a low cost version of Windows XP to the XO.

But what does that mean for Sugar? Walter Bender says Sugar Labs, a new non-profit will develop new versions of the software. The goal is to continue developing open source software for the XO so that children in developing nations will be exposed to open source applications and ideals as they learn about computing. The question is, if Windows XP is available for just $3 more than Linux, will anybody buy the Linux/Sugar version? Yes, we know that many Download Squad readers would be more interested in the Linux models, but if the goal is to give school-age children in your country computer literacy, wouldn't you want them to use the same software that most students in countries like the US are using?

[Via: Download Squad ]
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Sociagami adds Twitter support, status updates

2008-05-17T20:25:00.005-07:00

Desktop social networking client Sociagami has added two features that were noticeably absent from earlier builds: Twitter integration and support for updating your status from the application. When we first looked at Sociagami a few months ago, the software provided an attractive (but RAM-heavy) tool for interacting with your Facebook and MySpace contacts. You could see all of the latest status updaes in one place, navigate through your friend list in a slick browser, or view the latest photos uploaded by your contacts.

But without the ability to update your own status, Sociagami wasn't nearly as useful as other desktop social networking tools like Digsby. The latest version includes a handy status update tool that lets you post to Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter simultaneously. If you only want to update one service, just uncheck two of the boxes.

The new Twitter client works pretty much exactly as you'd expect. You get a list of recent messages from your contacts in one window, and you can sift through your contact list in the browser. One thing that sets Sociagami apart from Digsby is the fact that you can see all of your latest Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook messages in a single window.

But while Digsby already has a reputation as a RAM-heavy application, at least that utility also gives you email notification alerts and an instant messenger application, two features that Sociagami lacks. Still, we're happy to report that Sociagami continues to get a bit better with each release, so we're not ready to give up on this application just yet.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Video-Tabs: Learn to play guitar the YouTube way

2008-05-17T20:25:00.003-07:00

A few month ago we checked out iVideoSongs, a web site that lets you buy music lessons from experts like Rush's Alex Lifeson, or Graham Nash from Crosby, Stills & Nash. The video quality is excellent, the lessons are top notch, and you can find lessons for beginners, intermediate, and advanced musicians. But only some of the lessons are free. For many you'll have to pull out your wallet.

Or you could just resort to the thousands of music lessons uploaded to YouTube and other video sharing sites for free. But who wants to sift through videos from every dude who thinks he's the next Jimi Hendrix in order to find the most worthwhile lessons? That's where Video-Tabs comes in. The site is basically a blog that features user generated guitar lessons, which are sometimes punctuated with actual guitar tabs.

Some of the lessons are excellent and easy to follow. Others not so much. But for the most part, the tutorials that we checked out seemed to feature people who actually knew how to play the songs they were teaching. If you're a visual learner, the site is definitely worth checking out.

[Via: listio ]
[Tag: ]

Instan-T: Voice, video and text chat client for Google, AOL, MSN, and Yahoo!

2008-05-17T20:25:00.001-07:00

Your co-workers use MSN Messenger, your family is partial to AOL Instant Messenger, and your friends use Google Talk. There are plenty of utilities that let you keep in touch with all of your contacts regardless of the IM platform they're using. But while we love Digsby, Trillian, Pidgin, and Adium most of the time, there are a few features missing from those apps:

Support for voice and video chats
The ability to invite friends from different IM networks into a single chat room

And that's where Instan-T comes in. This multi-protocol chat client for Windows supports AOL, Google, Yahoo!, and MSN Messengers. It also supports voice and video chat across each network, although we've found that feature to be a bit finnicky. When we tested out a voice chat, we were able to the person speaking on the other end, but she couldn't hear us. We'll chalk that up to a hardware problem.

Probably the most interesting thing about Instan-T is that it lets you set up a chat room that you can invite contacts from any service to participate in. Just click on a contact name and select multi-person chat. They'll receive an invitation with a URL to click on that will open up a Flash-based chat room, which also features voice and video support.

We'll be honest. The Instan-T interface is a little cluttered and confusing when compared with other multi-protocol chat clients. But the application definitely shows promise. If you want to try the service without downloading and installing anything, you Instan-T also has a Meebo-like web based instant messenger. The web client supports Internet Explorer and Firefox, which means you should be able to access the service whether you're using Windows, Linux or OS X.

[Via: TechnoBuzz ]
[Tag: ]

Things GTD app expires, causes stir amongst users

2008-05-16T21:14:00.001-07:00

Things, the popular personal organization application from Cultured Code, is still in testing, but it already has a large userbase that is thoroughly addicted to its attractive to-do list features. It's no surprise, then, that when the clock turned to midnight in Australia and Things suddenly expired, users were up in arms. Hours later, users in the US experienced the same problem. Several people congregated on the official Things help forum, which had nearly 50 postings on the problem as of 2:30 this morning.

Cultured Code hasn't yet responded with an explanation of why Things was set to expire. The application is still free, but users have already come to rely on it, with more than one person posting that they would gladly pay the $49 pricetag Cultured Code will charge for the 1.0 release to continue using Things right now. Why the expiration, though? We expect to see either a quick fix or an update pushed out this morning -- as the app is currently at version .9.1.1, the highly anticipated 1.0 release is possible, but not likely.
If you're a Things user, visit the help forum for some unofficial ways of resolving the problem. So far, most people are either setting their computers' dates back or using a hex editor to change the expiration date. Despite all the fuss, this could end up working in favor of Cultured Code. Our take: any publicity is good publicity when people are this frantic about your product.

Update: Version 0.9.1.2 is now available.

[Via: Duncan Riley ]
[Tag: ]

More acquisitions: Comcast buys Plaxo, Ask.com buys Dictionary.com

2008-05-15T21:56:00.009-07:00

There must be something in the water this week. While the biggest new media acquisition story of the day has to be CBS buying CNET for $1.8 billion, big companies are swallowing up smaller ones left and right. Media company Comcast is buying social networking site Plaxo for something like $150 million, while Ask.com is shelling out an undisclosed sum for Lexico, the company that runs Dictionary.com.

While there's been a lot of speculation recently that someone was going to buy Plaxo, Comcast wasn't the first company that sprung to mind. We figured a company that already has ties to the social networking space like Google or Facebook would have made more sense. In a blog post on the subject, Plaxo CEO Ben Golub says Comcast has plans to "bring the social media experience to mainstream consumers." That means using Plaxo's technology to connect with your contacts across multiple devices. And since Comcast is already in the TV, phone, and ISP business, it should be interesting to see how this plays out. Perhaps your TV viewing habits will automatically be added to your social networking profile? Yeah, we hope not.

The Ask.com/Lexico deal seems like a more natural fit. We doubt Lexico's popular web sites like Dictionary.com will disappear. Rather, Ask will be able to increase its overall web traffic by bringing the new sites into the fold.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Splashtop Linux interface coming soon to every Asus motherboard

2008-05-15T21:56:00.007-07:00

Want an instant-on PC? Good luck with that. But just because it takes 2 minutes to boot up your desktop doesn't mean that you can't start surfing the web within a few seconds of hitting the power button. Last year Asus began adding the Splashtop embedded Linux operating system to some of its high end motherboards. The OS boots almost instantly, and lets you access a handful of applications like Firefox and Skype without waiting for Windows, Ubuntu, or another full desktop environment to load.

Now DeviceVM, the company behind Splashtop, says Asus has committed to adding the software to every Asus motherboard, which means the company will be putting out 1 million motherboards a month with the Splashtop interface. The companies won't be going all out right away. But Asus has already brought its number of motherboard models with Splashtop up to 12 by adding the software to its new P5Q line.

[Via: Engadget ]
[Tag: ]

OpenSolaris 2008.05, and other places the sun don't shine

2008-05-15T21:56:00.005-07:00

Way back in the dark ages of 1993, we were introduced to this thing called email. Email in the olden days was not like email now. All the packets traveled uphill no matter where they were going, and usually there was a good three or four feet of snow on the internet backbone. We used these big hulking things called VAX/VMS nodes that were attached to some pretty sweet fourteen inch monochrome VT 100 terminals. There were also these machines that ran something called UNIX, which sounded to us like something that should have been found in the college health center, not the computer lab.
Eons passed, and things changed. Though there were many more email packets flying around, plate tectonics had changed the course of things so that now they traveled downhill, really really fast. The internet backbone became a series of tubes. All the VT 100 terminals banded together and created an archipelago in the South Pacific. And UNIX...
UNIX evolved. Mutated. It trickled down into various UNIX brands and distributions. There were things like BSD UNIX, HP-UX, and AT&T Bell Labs UNIX. There were other branches, too, rogue sprouts on the evolutionary tree: FreeBSD, and OpenBSD. Slightly alien but vaguely reminiscent life forms injected their DNA into the gene pool: Linux, and this weird little UNIX-esque animal called Solaris.
Sun recently let Solaris go open source. OpenSolaris is more a traditional UNIX environment than a Linux type environment, but the appeal of taking a peek at the 2008.05 OpenSolaris release was too great for us to resist. The folks at OpenSolaris knew this, and baked some goodies into the OS that no Linux user could refuse.
We were given a no-strings attached liveCD, so our Linux install would never know we cheated. We had a bash shell, and the GNOME desktop environment, so our eye candy and commands would feel familiar and easy.
Sometimes, though, evolution goes horribly, horribly wrong.We eagerly booted into our OpenSolaris environment on our Athlon64 X2 system. We selected our keyboard layout and language, and OpenSolaris graciously presented us with the X server and GNOME. It was pretty, and we could even activate Compiz, of all things. Yes, it was very pretty. And for a reason we'll discuss a little later, we thought it would be really beneficial to stop what we were doing with the liveCD, and reboot.

OpenSolaris had other ideas. It just didn't want to tell us what those other ideas were.
GRUB would launch, and we could select the standard OpenSolaris boot option. The splash screen showed its mug, and we'd be dumped on to a screen with the standard trademark and legal disclaimers. And the cursor would blink, and blink, and blink. We waited. Patiently.
But it was clear that the optical drive was no longer reading, and the hard drive was inactive. Keyboard presses did nothing. Trying the whole process again with a text console GRUB selection played out the same way.
Certain things disturb us much more than they probably should. Humanoid puppets, hyper-intelligent birds, and when our computers behave irrationally for no apparent reason are the big three. OpenSolaris had thrown down the first gauntlet, and by honor, we could not walk away. We had to know not only why it booted once, but why it didn't seem to want to again.
The condensed version of the next 21,600 seconds (six hours, for those not wanting to do the math) went something like this:
It's a 64-bit versus 32-bit problem. We'll edit our GRUB boot lines so we boot into 64-bit no matter what.
It's a 64-bit versus 32-bit problem. We'll edit our GRUB boot lines so we boot into 32-bit no matter what, then.
Does this piece of crap have an issue with SATA drives? How can it? That makes no sense!
Take out a stick of RAM? Are they kidding? This is based on Solaris. How can it freak at 2 gigs of RAM?
Let's disable PnP in the BIOS. Oh. It already is.
Let's mess with our memory timing. Reduce by half, they say. We laugh in the face of unstable systems.
We have got to be crazy. We've got to. Why is it so damn important if this thing ever boots again?
Why is our IDE controller on in the BIOS anyway? We don't have any IDE drives. Not that it affects anything anyway.
Let's try every ACPI setting there is. Twice. Let's disable ACPI APIC. Let's enable it again.
Who would realistically ever go through this to boot an operating system? What is wrong with us?
Oh, hey, there is a switch for kernel debugging and a verbose switch in GRUB! Edit kernel line with -k -v and boot.
At the six hour mark, we approached the solution:
ehci is having an issue. That's... USB stuff? Why does it say it is ignoring the error? Duh. Obviously it isn't.
Hey, BIOS! It's us again. Bye, auto legacy support.
That didn't work. Do we have any USB devices even attached? The printer. The printer isn't on. Or plugged in.
Let's boot with -k -v again. There, it's talking about the keyboard, and then ehci freezes--
They have got to be kidding. Seriously. Our mouse? It is a USB mouse. Fine. We'll put a PS/2 adapter on it. If this works, we will renounce the idea that technology operates on any sort of logic. Let's reboot 'er.
Dear readers, all that technology you see on the desk in front of you today? Apparently, it is a collection of happy accidents. Putting a PS/2 adapter on our mouse allowed us to reliably boot into OpenSolaris.
This confounds us on a few levels. Solaris is a UNIX derivative. UNIX is (at heart) a command line that has the ability to run a GUI. It doesn't have to. We could have booted without a mouse. But booting with a mouse that wasn't necessarily fully recognized as such is apparently disastrous. Is it an input device issue? A USB issue?
Linux, which is also at heart a command line that is able to run a GUI, does on occasion have issues with various mouse types. USB support on Linux has also been historically buggy, though it is much better than it was even two years ago. However, we've never had a Linux machine hang indefinitely because the pointer device was somewhere the OS didn't want it. We've had plenty of experiences with non-working mice.
Non-working mice are a lot easier to troubleshoot than non-working systems.
We tried out a Zen outlook (we've learned so much through this agonizing enlightening process!) and began playing with OpenSolaris in earnest.
Remember the history of email we touched on at the beginning of this post? Slow, uphill both ways? Snow on the backbone? Migraine inducing VT100 terminals? They are all still more effective than trying to connect an OpenSolaris machine to the internet.
We admit that Linux has a long way to go with wireless support. However, we can not remember the last time we had a modern, full-bodied distribution have any real issues with a wired connection. The most we might have to do in Linux is activate the appropriate device, or point it at the right gateway.

OpenSolaris does have this nice Device Driver Utility. Utility is a bit of a misnomer. Unless you write device drivers, it doesn't really do much, except tell where on the system the device driver is located and whether the driver is supported and working.
Our ethernet connection is located at nge0 (as opposed to the Linux eth0). Good to know. Our driver is working for the ethernet card. Awesome. Er, so why can't we get online?

We can't reconfigure our card. OpenSolaris knows best. It uses this little Network Auto-Magic daemon. It thinks it is connected. It clearly isn't. Disabling the Magic is just different enough for a seasoned Linux user to feel a bit like they're in a bizarro universe, but at least the command line concepts between UNIX and Linux aren't horribly different.

On a liveCD such as OpenSolaris, manually configuring the ethernet device isn't a walk in the park either. There's that whole root password thing. Where it seemed we should be able to manually enter nameserver information, and our gateway, and all sorts of things, it didn't let us. We are not root, or remotely worthy.
We finally dug up the "pfexec su" command, and tried to get online that way. We could add our nameservers, and gateway, and we could activate it all, now that we were disguised as root. Apparently, though, OpenSolaris has a problem with our router, and the way it assigns various addresses. We may be activated. We are not connected. Where is VAX/VMS when you need it?
We'd just spent six hours getting OpenSolaris to boot. To hell with the internet connection. We are determined to the point of amazing stupidity, but even stupidity has limits. At least ours does.
Don't get us entirely wrong, there are some nice things about OpenSolaris. It is very light on pre-installed applications. There are the applications that come with GNOME, like gedit, some games, and system administration tools. There are a few multimedia apps, GIMP, and gtkam. That's about it. It's a nice way to build a system that does exactly what you'd like. (We are puzzled by the inclusion of Compiz, frankly, because it's a feature that doesn't contribute a whole lot of function to the desktop. It seems illogical to be there by default given what else is and isn't included.)
Despite our USB mouse woes, flash drives mount automatically and work as expected. Our audio drivers exist and supposedly function, but they've gone to ground with our network connection. So system sounds won't play through GNOME's esd. Because there are some gstreamer plugins that require installation via the packaging system, we couldn't try out any media files.
If we were hardcore software developers with a keen interest in UNIX-type environments, we'd go ahead and install OpenSolaris on our computers. We'd just rely heavily on the ol' VAX/VMS set up and the cutting edge Mosaic browser for our networking needs.
For the desktop Linux user who is simply curious about UNIX derivatives, we'd have to advise taking a pass on this release, anyway. We'd probably tell you to check out OpenBSD, or FreeBSD, for a shot at a more successful change of pace.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

NewsGator releases FeedDemon 2.7: Desktop RSS reader

2008-05-15T21:56:00.003-07:00

NewsGator has released an updated version of FeedDemon, the company's desktop RSS reader for Windows. FeedDemon 2.7 features a ton of bug fixes, a handful of new features, and best of all, it's still free. NewsGator used to charge for its desktop reader, but starting with FeedDemon 2.6 and NetNewsWire 3.1 for Mac the company started offering desktop clients for free.

Here are just a few of the changes in FeedDemon 2.7:

Quicker navigation of the subscription tree
Subscribe to multiple feeds at once from the "find feeds" menu
Copy a multi-line URL into the address bar and it will be shortened to one line
Support for multiple enclosures in a single post

Note that the FeedDemon home page still says the latest version is 2.6. But if you click the download link you should get FeedDemon 2.7.

[Via: Digital Inspiration ]
[Tag: ]

Add Google Reader to your Firefox Sidebar

2008-05-15T21:56:00.001-07:00

Google rolled out an improved iPhone interface for Google Reader this week, and here's something neat you can do with it: Add it to your Firefox sidebar. While you can open practically any web site in a Firefox sidebar, some web pages are better suited to the sidebar than others. And the iPhone version of Google Reader fits the bill because unlike the full version of Reader, it's designed for small, narrow screens. And fortunately, you don't need an iPhone to access the new interface.

So here's how to add Google Reader to your sidebar:

Create a new bookmark in your bookmark manager, or by right-clicking on your bookmark toolbar.
Use http://www.google.com/reader/i for the location.
Make sure to check the box that says "Load this bookmark in the sidebar."

And that's it. Click on your bookmark and you should see the iPhone version of Google Reader. Bear in mind that while it's easier to navigate the new iPhone interface than the old one, Google Reader does still look best in full screen.

[Via: Download Squad ]
[Tag: ]

Discover clev.er domain nam.es with DomainFinder

2008-05-15T21:55:00.011-07:00

Jealous of folks who have managed to snag international domain names consisting of nothing but their names? Engadget founder Peter Rojas has roj.as. And WordPress founder Matt Mullenwag has ma.tt. But unless you have an encyclopedic knowledge of domain naming conventions, you might have a hard time coming up with a domain name for your name.

DomainFinder can help. Just enter your name or any other phrase you like, and the web site will spit out possible domain names. You can't currently register your name through the site, or even figure out what country has the rights to a domain. But once you've found the domain name of your dreams, figuring out how to buy it shouldn't be too hard. Unless someone else has already registered downlo.ad.

[Via: Digital Inspiration ]
[Tag: ]

Amazon to collect taxes in NY while fighting NY in court

2008-05-15T21:55:00.009-07:00

While Amazon plans to fight New York's recent decision to start collecting, the company has updated its tax collection page to let NY customers know that it will begin collecting tax on June 1st.

The state of New York recently passed legislation which requires any company with affiliates in the state to collect taxes on any items sold in New York. That covers companies like Amazon which allow individual bloggers and web site operators to add links to Amazon products on their web sites. Amazon doesn't actually have any warehouses or business offices in New York. But thousands of New Yorkers who blog who run part time businesses from their home are considered representatives of the company under the state law, which means Amazon has to collect taxes.

Yesterday, Overstock.com decided that the easiest way to avoid paying taxes was to temporarily suspend its relationships with New York-based affiliates. But Amazon, which has already vowed to fight the new law in court, must be making a fair amount of money from New York based affiliates, because the company will instead collect taxes until the issue is resolved, even if that discourages some New Yorkers from buying products through Amazon.

[Via: CNET ]
[Tag: ]

Googleholic for May 13, 2008

2008-05-15T21:55:00.007-07:00

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google!

In this edition:

Search for real estate on Google Maps
Faces getting blurred in Street View
Gmail gets slight loading speed boost
Wikipedia comes to Google Maps

Search for real estate on Google Maps

Google Maps continues to get more useful, having made available a new search feature allowing users to browse and look for real estate. To access the feature, select "show search options" next to the search bar, giving you a drop down box from which you can select "Real Estate." After plugging in your query, you can order results according to price, bedrooms, and bathrooms. If you see something that catches your eye, you can then view an indexed property's original listing. This would probably come in really handy if you are prospecting some property in a particular area or just feel like sampling the prices of homes in a given neighborhood - Or looking for another way to play around with Google Maps.

Faces getting blurred in Street View

If you've been cruising through Google Maps with Street View and happened to find that you have been captured by Google's eye on ground zero, there is good news (or bad news if you liked the publicity): Google is experimenting with technology that allows them to blur faces in Street View. At this stage the blurring experiment is limited to Street View in Manhattan - but if all goes as planned all of Street View will be anonymous before long.

Gmail gets slight loading speed boost

It looks like the boys and girls at Gmail have been busy making the best even better by making the already short load time for Gmail even shorter. By measuring every transaction that occurs between the web browser and Google's servers, and then finding ways of reducing the number of requests as well as making them more cacheable, Gmail's initial load time has been reduced to four requests between "sign in" and the Inbox.

Wikipedia comes to Google Maps

And just when you thought Google Maps couldn't have more updates. There is a new button next to Street View called "More" which allows users to check out geo-tagged Wikipedia articles and photos from Panoramio. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a massive influx of additional databases getting geographically tied to Google Maps - because truly, can you ever have enough information on your map?

[Via: Google Operating System ]
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SomethingStore: Buy something for $10

2008-05-15T21:55:00.005-07:00

Got $10 burning a hole in your pocket, but don't know what to spend it on? No problem. Just visit SomethingStore, place an order, and within 7 days the company will ship something to your door. You won't know what it is, and you may hate it. But hey, shipping is free.

The concept reminds us a lot of the random bag of crap that often concludes Woot-Offs. For some reason, that random bag of goodies is one of the most popular items you can buy, even if you don't know what's in it. We chalk it up to the hope that you could get something worth far more than the price you paid. But the element of surprise also makes the whole thing a little more exciting.

If you'd rather know exactly what you're getting for your money, make sure to check out Wants for Sale tomorrow. Artists Justin Gignac and Christine Santora use the site to sell paintings of things they want - for the price of the actual items. Buy a picture of a piece of pizza or a Nintendo Wii and Gignac and Santora will use the money to buy the item. They'll have a fresh batch of paintings available Friday. And this time they're going with a theme - Vegas. You'll be able to help them fund a trip to Vegas by purchasing art.

Or you could just save your money for retirement, your kids' college fund, or to buy things you actually want for yourself. But what's the fun in that?

[Via: Download Squad ]
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Microsoft releases Virtual PC 2007 SP1

2008-05-15T21:55:00.003-07:00

Microsoft has released a new version of its free virtualization sotware with support for the latest Microsoft operating system updates. Virtual PC 2007 SP1 includes support for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3 as host and guest operating systems. That means you can run the virtualization environment if you're using those operating systems, or if you want to emulate them. Microsoft also threw in Windows Server 2008 Standard for good measure.

Like its predecessor, Virtual PC 2007 SP1 does not officially support Windows XP Home Edition or Windows Vista Home Premium or Home Basic. But for the most part, it will run just fine on those operating systems. You will, however, get a warning message telling you that you're using an unsupported OS when you install the software.

[Via: WinBeta ]
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Flash Player 10 beta available now

2008-05-15T21:55:00.001-07:00

Adobe has just made the prerelease version of Flash Player 10 available for download. Almost as impressive as the player itself is the fact that the beta is available for Windows, OS X AND Linux (including Ubuntu support)!
For the full list of features and known issues, check out the release notes, but some of the highlights are:

New text engine
Ubuntu OS support
Custom filters and effects
Large bitmap support

Adobe's demo page for Flash Player 10 is pretty impressive; we especially liked the inverse kinematic and native 3D demos.
Adobe recommends uninstalling previous versions of Flash Player before installing 10 beta. Downloads are available here.

[Via: Download Squad ]
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YouTube flagging videos of content owners

2008-05-15T21:54:00.003-07:00

YouTube has been linking copyrighted videos uploaded by third parties to their respective content owners. This occurred with a Modest Mouse video, which YouTube linked to the official Modest Mouse page. The link says "Contains Content From: Sony BMG," and it may be YouTube's way of preventing content owners from removing videos uploaded by fans.
Up until now, YouTube has said it shouldn't be held responsible for the copyright violations performed by its members, but it has also been very cooperative in removing copyrighted material when asked. Last year Google announced a video identification system, permitting content owners to identify (and choose how to share or remove) their content, so it seems this is what's at play here.
We're sure YouTube doesn't like to remove member videos. It's bad for business: a site with unhappy members typically means a site that eventually has no members. But if YouTube's just linking videos instead of removing them, it must be a positive step for consumers in the ongoing Copyright war.

[Via: Valleywag ]
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How I met your Download.com: CBS buys CNET

2008-05-15T21:54:00.001-07:00

CBS is buying CNET. For $1.8 billion in cash. While that might seem like a drop in the bucket compared to some buyout offers we've seen recently, that's still a lot of cash flowing from an old media company to a new one.

CBS is no stranger to new media. The company purchased the internet radio service Last.fm last year. But according to a press release put out by CBS this morning, this acquisition will make CBS "one of the 10 most popular Internet companies in the United States."

CNET Networks owns a whole slew of internet sites, including ZDNet, GameSpot, TV.com, MP3.com, Download.com, and of course, CNET and News.com.

[Via: Brian Alvey ]
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FunPidgin: The result of an open source instant messaging spat

2008-05-13T18:44:00.005-07:00

So a funny thing happened on the way to Pidgin 2.4.1. The developers of the open source, cross-platform, multi-chat protocol client recently implemented a new feature. When you're typing in a text box, it will start out just large enough for a few lines of text. And if your message gets longer, it will automatically resize. Pretty cool, right?

But the developers decided to eliminate the ability to change the text box manually. And that led to a rather intense debate in the Pidgin community. And the result is that there are now two branches of Pidgin. There's the "official" build which lacks image resizing because the developers didn't want to back down or even offer the option of changing the default behavior with a plugin. And there's the new Funpidgin build which has the same default text box behavior as Pidgin, but allows you to manually change text box sizes via a plugin.

We're going to ignore the question of which version is actually more "fun," and just point out that Funpidgin can basically do everything that Pidgin can, plus you can resize the text box manually. Funpidgin also has a few other features that Pidgin lacks, like the ability to adjust buddy icon display sizes.

[Via: Ubuntu Unleashed ]
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