Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on March 04, 2008 by CyberNet.

Time Saving Tuesday

Sometimes it is astounding the collection of DVD’s, CD’s, games, and books people have. For some individuals it gets to the point where they don’t even remember what they have anymore. In fact, I’ve known some people who would find themselves purchasing the same movies over again simply because their collection was so vast that they couldn’t remember if they owned it already.

To solve problems like that you need to turn to a full media organizer, and luckily there’s a free one available which we’ve received several emails about over the last few months. It’s called Libra, and is capable of managing books, CD’s, movies, games, and DVD’s on Windows.

–Managing Collections–

Libra is available for both Windows XP and Vista, but the interface for Vista does have a bit more eye candy. Beyond the beauty also lies a lot of functionality. The size of the thumbnails on the virtual bookshelves can be adjusted so that you can see more or less at any one given time. This is done by using the slider in the upper-right corner.

(Click to Enlarge)

It’s also possible to change how the media is sorted on the bookshelves. By default everything is grouped by type (books, games, movies, etc…), and are sorted by the title. Anything can be sorted in about a dozen different ways, which ultimately puts the control in your hands.

–Adding Media–

Obviously a program like this is only great if it makes adding media from your library a piece of cake. I would have to say that Libra is pretty simple from that standpoint because it uses Amazon’s vast database of information to grab details and box art for all of your media.

(Click to Enlarge)

Searching can be done according to the type of media that you’re looking for (books, games, movies, etc…), and then results can be shown from Amazon’s United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France, or Canada sites.

Naturally you’ll probably start searching for your media according to the names, but that will probably take awhile in the end. What I recommend doing is searching according the ISBN/EAN number, or even by the UPC. Don’t feel like entering in the UPC? If you have a webcam hooked up to your computer that’s not a problem. Just hit the webcam button and focus in on the UPC. Libra will read the UPC and scour Amazon looking for a match:

I mean really, could you ask for any more?

–Loaning to Friends–

Anytime you’ve got a good collection of media going it likely means that you’ll have friends crawling to your doorstep looking to borrow items at no cost. No problem, right? You lend a movie to one friend, a game to another, and a couple more movies to a few more friends. You eventually get to the point where you are relying on them returning it at some point in the future, but as many of us have experienced your friends need a few reminders.

Libra to the rescue! There is a loan feature in Libra so that you can keep track of who has what. Just find the movie that you want to lend out, click the “Loan” tab, select who is borrowing it, and pick a date that you would like it returned by:

You’ll want to create a profile for each one of your friends and family that borrow movies from you, but after that it takes just a few clicks here and there to keep track of who has what:

(Click to Enlarge)

–Overview–

As you can tell this is an extremely powerful application for the media gurus out there. There’s a lot more that you can do with Libra, and we would love to hear from some of the people who have experience with the application. Shoot us your feedback in the comments below.

Download Libra for Windows

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We’ve recently seen Google crack down on rogue apps and patch some server-side security issues, but let’s not forget Android does have a small measure of built-in security: app permissions. But as with those pesky EULAs, many users tend to breeze through the permissions screen. And Android forces even the most attentive readers to accept or deny all permissions requested by an app. But the newest nightly builds of the CyanogenMod custom ROM include a clever patch allowing users to grant and revoke permissions individually — something like the TISSA security manager we’re still awaiting. Obviously playing God with permissions can crash your applications: with great power comes great responsibility. But we figure if you’re running aftermarket firmware on a rooted phone, you’re comfortable experimenting. See how it works in the video after the break, then hit the source link to download.

Continue reading New CyanogenMod lets you rule Android app permissions with an iron fist

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

New CyanogenMod lets you rule Android app permissions with an iron fist originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 13:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re done listening, it’s time to start doing. Microsoft had a number of Windows Phone Mango devices scattered about after this morning’s intimate event concluded. So we grabbed one, went somewhere quiet, and got a little more intimate with the operating system itself, checking out the new hubs, groups, and Bing Vision search that should make cross-shopping a whole lot easier. Join us, won’t you, to see what Mango is — and what it isn’t.

Continue reading Windows Phone Mango and Bing Vision hands-on

Windows Phone Mango and Bing Vision hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The application, which formerly streamed 3D movie trailers, now offers full-length TV shows, educational programming, and other content. Paid content is also on the way.

Originally posted at The Digital Home