CyberNotes: Top 10 Most Useful RSS Feeds

This article was written on June 12, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Time Saving Tuesday

RSS ButtonRSS feeds are a wonderful thing that have revolutionized the way many people read news. If you use feeds to keep up with your news, think about how difficult it would be to follow all of the sites your subscribed to if there was no feed available.

I use FeedDemon (our review) to keep up on all of my news, and it was definitely worth the $30 I had to pay to get it. Keeping up with 400+ sites would be a huge chore if I didn’t have a great desktop application to use, which is why I’m grateful to have a program like FeedDemon. If I didn’t use FeedDemon I think the next best thing would be Google Reader.

Now you just have to find the feeds that will be the most beneficial to you, and that’s why we’re here. We’ve compiled a list of what we believe to be the top-10 most useful feeds. They’ll increase your knowledge, save you time, and they are just plain awesome. Check them out, and get your feed readers ready!

–This Day in History (Feed URL)–

We all like to get some interesting facts from time to time, but what about getting one each day? The Encyclopedia Britannica offers a cool RSS feed that tells you what interesting things have happened for each day. It reminds me of something you would see on one of those desktop calendars that you flip through.

–Amazon Price Monitor (Feed Generator)–

Seeing that Amazon guarantees the lowest price for up to 30-days after your purchase, it might be in your best interest to monitor for price changes. After you buy something, you probably never think to check the price again, but it can be greatly beneficial if you do.

If you’re skeptical of prices flucuating that much, just checkout the feed for the full version of Vista Ultimate. Since the beginning of March the price has dropped $60!

All you have to do is provide an Amazon URL or Wishlist to this feed generator service to monitor for price changes. Each time the price goes up or down you’ll receive a notification in your feed reader.

Amazon Feed

–Tracking Airfare (Feed Generator)–

With the rising cost of airfare we all want to make sure we’re getting the lowest price possible. Thanks to Farecast, it is possible to track the prices of airfare using your feed reader, and they will even tell you whether the price keeps going up or whether it has been going down.

Farecast

–BitTorrent Search Feed (Homepage)–

BitTorrent is a wonderful tool that is used by millions of people everyday, but have you ever been guilty of sitting around waiting for a torrent to get posted? You sit there refreshing, refreshing, and it just never pops up. Eventually you forget about it and check back a week later at which time you notice that it has already been available for a few days.

Don’t go looking for the torrents, instead let them come to you with an RSS feed! If you go to the BTJunkie.org homepage and perform a search there will be an orange RSS icon located at the top of the results. There’s your RSS feed, just subscribe to that and you’ll automatically be notified via the feed as soon as a new result is posted.

BTJunkie.org Feed

–Word of the Day (Feed URL)–

This is kind of like the “this day in history” feed in the sense that it provides knowledge that can actually make you smarter. Not only that, but it is also fun to impress your friends with big words. :)

–eBay Auctions (Homepage)–

At the bottom of every eBay search is a small discrete RSS button. It’s almost as if they didn’t want you to know that you can use RSS to monitor search results, but it works wonderfully. You can monitor for newly added items that match your search results…this is another great tool to hunt down deals!

eBay Feed

–DHL, FedEx, and UPS Package Tracking (Homepage)–

This is one of the most useful feeds that I have. The site offers package tracking for a variety of shipping services, including UPS and FedEx, and also provides an RSS feed for keeping up-to-date with the status of your package. In fact, I somehow get the status updates from the site before they are even available on the shipper’s website.

Package Tracker

–Weather (Homepage)–

We all want to know what the weather is like right now, as well as what to expect in the future. After all, that is probably the most used gadgets on computer desktops and personalized homepages. Now you can bring it to your feed reader! Just go to the Yahoo! Weather homepage, enter in your area, and click the RSS button.

Weather Feed

–Using Google Calendar for Cool Feeds (Homepage)–

You probably already realize that you can retrieve a feed for your Google Calendar, or for any calendar that you’re currently subscribed to. The usefulness of subscribing to your own calendar might not be apparent because after all, you can send yourself email reminders along with several other notification options. I, however, use it for other purposes.

For example, I subscribe to the Mozilla Developer Calendar so that I can see when they add anything new to it. After subscribing to an iCal calendar, all you have to do is go into the Google Calendar Settings -> Calendars and then click on whatever one you want to subscribe to. You’ll then be presented with an XML address which you can use with your RSS feed reader.

Mozilla Calendar

Apple has a nice list of iCal’s that you can subscribe to in Google Calendar. They include things like DVD and movie release dates as well as the top iTunes songs. By subscribing to these you’ll be one of the first to notice the new content.

–CyberNet News (Feed URL)–

If you’re not already subscribed to our feed, there has never been a better time! We are constantly providing cool tips on using Vista, Ubuntu, and a ton of freeware applications that are sure to save you some money. What, did you really think that we wouldn’t include our own feed? ;)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Googlebombs Have Been Defeated!

This article was written on January 26, 2007 by CyberNet.

Googlebomb: A prank where people attempt to cause someone else’s site to rank for an obscure or meaningless query. Also known as linkbomb.

Google has known about these “Googlebombs” for quite some time now, yet they felt that because the phrases were “well off the beaten path,” they haven’t been high priority to fix.  For example, previously by typing in failure, the first result was for the White House page on President Bush. It’s a way for a website to get ranked #1 on Google for any term.

On the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog they mention that it has become more of a priority for them simply because some people felt that Google had hand-coded those results, or that it was their opinion. One solution would be to go in and manually change the results for those Googlebombs; afterall, they say that there are under a hundred that are well-known.  But, we’re talking about Google here who use Algorithms for just about everything.  A few people at Google got together and created an Algorithm that will detect Googlebombs in different languages so that hopefully, most of them can be detected.

They’re not claiming that it’s the perfect solution and that it can handle any prank, but it catches most of them so that searches for terms like “failure” should be more relevant.

Source: Official Google Webmaster Central Blog [ via Tech Reads]

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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T-Mobile’s fall roadmap leaks, cornucopia of mobile goods on the horizon

It’s no back to school roadmap because, hey, you’re already there. Still, this leaked sales sheet from TmoNews shows Magenta stacking its shelves for an abundant fall mobile harvest. So, let’s dive right in as there’s a lot of two-year contracted bounty to cover. Starting things off on October 19th are a trio of high-end, 42Mbps-capable 4G handsets: the HTC “Ruby” or Amaze 4G at $259, Samsung Hercules (that would be this) at $229 and the Huawei Wayne at $99 (which comes pre-loaded with Spaghetti Westerns, we presume). Following just a week later, is Samsung’s Arnold tablet — a.k.a the Galaxy Tab 10.1 — which’ll run along the carrier’s faux-G and retail for $399. But the real wireless bonanza takes place on the 2nd of November, when six new phones will bow. LG’s Maxx QWERTY and Maxx Touch at $129 apiece are the sole 3G-only units in the bunch, leaving the HTC Omega (better known as the Radar) at $199, LG Flip II at $149, Huawei Tallsome slate at $199 and the low-end Samsung “Ancora” to surf along at 4G speeds. Making a late appearance to this Autumn party are the last two of the bunch: Samsung’s Robin (which looks to be the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus) at $299 and RIM’s Dumoine QWERTY slider. That enough options for you? We thought so.

T-Mobile’s fall roadmap leaks, cornucopia of mobile goods on the horizon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Says Farewell to Bill Gates Today

This article was written on June 27, 2008 by CyberNet.

Today is the day that Bill Gates walks away from his roll at Microsoft to move on to his philanthropic work. After 30 years, his final day at the company he founded is here. Microsoft has been planning his departure for the last two years and have done various things to celebrate Gates’ time with the company. Many of you have probably already seen the video shown at CES about Gates’s last day, but we thought it was worth showing again:

Once his day is over, he’ll be spending the evening with all of his pals from Microsoft who will be celebrating his work and time at the company at a gala dinner. The three men that have already taken over his various roles include Steve Ballmer (CEO), Ray Ozzie (Chief Software Architect), and Craig Mundie (chief research and strategy officer).

So what will Bill be doing over at the Foundation? Not leading, that’s for sure. According to the Associated Press, Gates has no intention of taking on a leadership roll, instead he plans on being involved with strategy and advocacy, and helping people become aware of the problems out there.

Farewell Bill, Microsoft and the CES Keynotes will not be the same without you!

Source

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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AT&T goes meta: your iPhone 4S upgrade is just an app away (update)

If you’re all hot and bothered by today’s announcement from Apple, there’ll be a new way for AT&T customers to snatch up the iPhone 4S. Later this evening, Ma Bell expects to introduce a gem into the App Store that lets users check their upgrade eligibility, and beginning Friday, October 7th, customers will be able to pre-order the A5-wielding beauty from the comfort of their current iPhone. Of course, we’ll be sure to provide an update as the final details become available. Who’d have thought your current handset would play such an active role in its own demise?

Update: As expected, AT&T’s Upgrader app is now live in the App Store. Just take a peek at the source link to get your download on.

Update 2: Apple giveth, and Apple taketh away — in other words, the download has been pulled. Better luck next time? In the meantime, all AT&T customers may check their upgrade eligibility at the carrier’s website.

AT&T goes meta: your iPhone 4S upgrade is just an app away (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quickly Search Through Text Files

This article was written on September 16, 2011 by CyberNet.

Text filter

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
Programs like Notepad++ are great because they provide powerful text file editing, but the searching can leave something to be desired. Text Filter is an app dedicated to searching through text files and it does a great job of it. It instantly highlights results as you type, and can optionally hide lines that don’t contain any matches.

Once you get past the fact that this is not a file editor you can start enjoying it for the things it’s good at:

  • Search as you type
    Text lines are instantly filtered as you type your search phrase, with all matched terms highlighted in a contrasting color.
  • Auto suggestion for search phrase
    While typing into the search box, the program lists searched phrases for you to choose from. This makes text search easier and faster.
  • Regular expressions
    You can do regex searching by checking Regex Query in Search menu.
  • Multiple query modes
    Besides regex query, you can also do Naive Query and Smart Query. Naive Query lets you search anywhere in the document for the entered text, while Smart Query allows for matches on word boundaries only.
  • Multiple filter modes
    You can choose to hide either matched or unmatched lines for an easier text view. If you prefer viewing the entire document, make sure the option Show All Lines is checked in Search menu.

If you’re looking for a Notepad replacement you’ll have to continue your search since this can’t be used to make changes to files, but if you’re looking for more powerful ways to search through text files this is just the app you need.

Text Filter Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Help for the lost: a fabric antenna to keep you from being a castaway


Doesn’t look like much, does it? But the next time you’re lost at sea, you just might be thankful you’ve got it. That little square of fabric is actually a flexible antenna designed for the Cospas-Sarsat distress signal network, a Cold War-era system built to help pinpoint missing ships, planes and people. Designed to be sewn into a life vest, the antenna broadcasts an emergency beacon at a low frequency for greater range; in field tests, that helped rescuers find it within minutes. It’s also tear- and water-resistant, which you’ll be grateful for when you’re being tossed around like a ragdoll in a sea of whitecaps. The technology was developed by the European Space Agency in partnership with a Finnish company. Next on their agenda? A round, floating companion for the marooned, codenamed Wilson.

Help for the lost: a fabric antenna to keep you from being a castaway originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba’s Energy Saving Eco Chip

A major focus of this years Ceatec Exhibition looked at new solutions in energy management with a number of brands displaying their latest innovative and leading edge “green” technologies. One product that caught our attention from Toshiba was their new “Eco Chip” displayed in their popular Regza LCD TV, which cuts power consumption in standby mode to zero watts.

Toshiba-Eco-Chip

The Eco Chip effectively means that the TV can be turned off by the remote control and achieve the same shut down as if being unplugged from the wall, drawing no power at all. This new technology therefore eliminates the “phantom load” drain, when appliances are still drawing a small amount of power when left plugged into the wall even though turned off. This “phantom load” can be as much as 10 to 15 watts per device and can make up nearly 10% of total residential energy consumption over a year.

The power conserving “Eco Chip” is a semiconductor that operates a mechanical relay between the AC (alternating-current) power cable and the power supply circuit inside the main body, and the Eco Chip is used to turn it on and off.

Toshiba-HEMS-System

The Eco Chip was part of Toshiba’s “Smart Community” showcase and their “Home Energy Management System” (HEMS) which displayed a smart home “as an integral part of a future smart community”. With various energy challenges over summer just past in Japan, this type of energy control through visualization of energy use has already proven effective. Train stations throughout Tokyo displayed the city’s energy usage on digital boards, keeping the need to conserve energy at the forefront of the public’s mind and avoided any blackouts during the period, cutting the capital city’s energy usage by 20%.

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ZTE V55 tablet shows off its derriere at the FCC, Sprint branding in tow

ZTE hasn’t made much of a splash stateside, seeing as how the OEM was content to churn out white label devices. All that’s changed now as part of the company’s strategy to dispense with the anonymity and join the wireless rat race. Making good on that promise is the outfit’s ZTE V55 tablet that just reared its touchscreen face over at the FCC. Back in July, a leaked Sprint roadmap had tipped us off to a possible 1st quarter 2012 bow for the slab, and with this unveiled Commission filing, that launch date seems likely. Aside from the de rigeur WiFi b /g and Bluetooth support, not much else can be gleaned from this mystery slate — apart from its apparent Android leanings. Curiously, the documents refer to ZTE’s device as a CDMA tablet and, sure enough, we couldn’t find any indication of a 4G radio. We’ll keep you posted should this pop up once again with additional bands — WiMAX or otherwise. Hit up the source below to peruse the federal findings for yourself.

ZTE V55 tablet shows off its derriere at the FCC, Sprint branding in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boogie Board Rip goes on pre-order, no more tearing through notepads

The Boogie Board Rip is now available to pre-order for all your digital sketching needs. The latest stylus-friendly writing tablet from Improv Electronics adds the ability to save notes and sketches, then port them across to your computer as PDFs. Its reflex LCD only uses power when it’s wiping the screen, meaning it should squeeze out a week of typical use between charges. You can reserve yours now from the maker in the US and Canada, but at $130, it’s pricier than previous storage-free Boogie Boards. Europeans longing for a digital sketch pad can lay a claim to one next week, with the scribbling slate set to ship on November 1st.

Continue reading Boogie Board Rip goes on pre-order, no more tearing through notepads

Boogie Board Rip goes on pre-order, no more tearing through notepads originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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