Arduino, iPod touch turns an LCD into a browser-based sketch pad (video)

Of all the Arduino projects we’ve seen ’round here, this is certainly one of them! Using nothing but a Graphics LCD, an Arduino, and a WebSocket server he wrote using Python / Tornado, this young engineer created a system that allows him to connect to the server with his iPod touch (or any browser, we suppose — although he’s apparently only tested this with Chrome on his desktop PC) and draw a design on the web browser. In turn, his movements are recreated on the LCD. Pretty mean feat, if you ask us. If you’d like to marvel at his code — or even try it out for yourself — hit up the source link. If not, be sure to at least check out the thing in action. Video after the break.

Continue reading Arduino, iPod touch turns an LCD into a browser-based sketch pad (video)

Arduino, iPod touch turns an LCD into a browser-based sketch pad (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Dec 2010 01:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Safari Browser Stats for March are…

This article was written on April 01, 2008 by CyberNet.

safari scared …not as good as I thought they would be. Apple brought Safari 3.1 out of Beta in the middle of March, and shortly after that they started to push Safari out to all of the Windows users who already had iTunes or QuickTime installed. Well, as we roll our way into April I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of bump Safari got in usage by using their rather questionable method of distribution.

Overall in February Safari had a market share of 5.70%, and in March it climbed to 5.82%. The disappointing news is that Safari already had 5.82% of the market share in January, and so the small jump that they had in March merely got the browser back up to its peak.

As you might recall from our last coverage on the browser stats Safari 3.0 was capturing a majority of the Safari browser market share. Here’s a breakdown of Safari’s March stats showing how the four most popular versions differ from February:

  • Safari 3.0: 3.96% [down 0.60%]
  • Safari 3.1: 0.82% [up 0.82%]
  • Safari 41: 0.58% [down 0.12%]
  • Safari 31: 0.30% [down 0.03%]

As you can see a majority of the people using Safari 3.1 are those that have likely upgraded from previous versions. It will be interesting to see what the stats are like for April since Safari 3.1 will have had a full month to incubate on the computers. But it doesn’t look like the overall market share for Safari will not likely soar because of Apple installing the browser onto millions of ill-informed Windows computers. You can, however, bet the bank that Apple will be boasting how many computers it has been installed on.

[stats via Net Applications]

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Ajax Spell Checker in Opera Supports 27 Languages

This article was written on March 30, 2007 by CyberNet.

Firefox is known for having its inline spell checker that underlines misspelled words as you type them. I truly believe that this feature in Firefox has helped the Internet as a whole become more readable by reducing the number of misspellings in even the simplest things, like comments.

Mozilla does provide multiple languages for their dictionaries, but Opera also gets some of its own Ajaxy goodness with a script that has been made up to support spell checking in 27 different languages. Here is everything the script has to offer:

  • It’s blazing fast since JavaScript is stored locally
  • Inline and dynamic
  • AJAX is used to send and receive data
  • Support for 27 languages
  • Ability to switch language dynamically

If it sounds like something you would like to use just follow these simple steps:

  1. Download the files here and put them in a folder such as My Documents/OperaScripts.
  2. In Opera go to Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Content > JavaScript Options > Choose… and select the folder from Step 1.
  3. Click OK, and then load a page with a text field in it. Click in that field and you should see the spell checker button similar to what is pictured below.

I had it installed in my Opera within 10 or 15 seconds, and at first I was wondering where the heck the spell checker was. Of course, being a computer geek I never feel like reading instructions or anything so I kept trying to figure out why the spell checker wasn’t showing up! Ahh, then I realized that you have to click in a text field and then a little tab will show up below that field, and clicking on the two-way arrow initiates the spell check:

Opera Spell Check

It is still nice to have the inline spell check in Firefox, but this is definitely a step in the right direction for current Opera users. There is also a preferences file that you can download and use with the script so that you can choose to use the spell checker from Gmail (you have to be logged in), Orangoo, or fearphage. Also, if you only enable one language in the preferences then the drop-down box will be completely removed. That way it doesn’t take up quite so much room.

Maybe when Opera 10 rolls around it too will have inline spell check built-in, but until that time this is one script that I will definitely keep installed! Hopefully Opera 10 will also have a management screen for scripts that you currently have installed. :)

Source: Opera Watch

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uTorrent Now on your Mobile Device

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

My favorite dedicated BitTorrent client has always been uTorrent, and with the new uTorrent mUI you’ll be able to control your Torrent downloads no matter where you are at. It is optimized for mobile devices, and works great on Opera Mini or on the iPhone. When you pull it up you’ll quickly be able to gain access to all of the important information regarding your current Torrents:

uTorrent mUI

While using uTorrent mUI you’ll be able to start, pause, stop and monitor your downloads. It also offers some additional info about every Torrent and a couple of settings you can change.

So how do you access it? You’ll need to have the WebUI plugin installed in uTorrent so that it is all setup for remote access. Then all you have to do is point your mobile browser to utorrentmui.com and you should see a login screen similar to the one pictured above.

It doesn’t require any installation on your mobile phone, but remember that this can only be used for tracking Torrents that you have already started to download. You can’t specify the link to a torrent and have it start, but I’m sure that will be a feature for a future version.

If you want to see what this is like, and whether it is going to work for you, head on over to this Opera Mini demo where you can login to your uTorrent and give it a shot.

uTorrent mUI Homepage

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Chrome for a Cause results tabulated: good will all around (but mostly for vaccinations)

Did you join in Chrome for a Cause? The $1 million tab-heavy campaign has come and gone (with a 250 tab per day maximum, much to our click-frenzied dismay), and Google’s tallied up the final scores. Of the nearly 60.6 million tabs “donated”, 16.2m went for vaccinations, 14.8m tabs for trees, 14.1m for water… 8.6m for books and 6.8m for shelter. Bit of an interesting disparity, there. Were those two not as well presented in the contribution menu? Did the return (0.4 square feet per day at most) not seem as great as the number of trees you could plant? Google eBooks? It’s all still a good chunk of change for each of the five partnering charities. Full breakdown at the Chrome blog — and don’t deactivate that extension if you want to maximize your Reddit addiction for the next charitable go-around.

Chrome for a Cause results tabulated: good will all around (but mostly for vaccinations) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CyberNotes: Top 10 Sidebar Sites

This article was written on August 29, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Web Browser Wednesday

I’ve been addicted to sidebars ever since I bought my first widescreen monitor. Sidebars have the ability to provide a lot of information inside a very small space, and it wasn’t until recently that I fully started to utilize them. It all started when I put the Tab-Bar on the side in both my Firefox and Opera installations (video on customizing Opera), and then seeing how Start++ handled the implementation of mobile sites capped it off.

So what I’m going to show you today is my top 10 favorite sites to put in your browser’s sidebar. Most of the sites mentioned were created for mobile devices, which means they load at least twice as fast as the normal site. This makes it even more appealing to me.

Both Opera and Firefox support this kind of feature, so I’ll get started by showing you how to do it in each of those browsers.

–Firefox–

Having a site open in the sidebar is pretty easy in Firefox:

  1. Right-click on one of the URL’s that we provide below, and then bookmark it.
    Firefox Sidebar Instructions
  2. After you have saved the bookmark, go back to the Bookmarks Menu and right-click on the bookmark. Choose the Properties option.
    Firefox Sidebar Instructions
  3. Now check the box that says Load this bookmark in the sidebar:
    Firefox Sidebar Instructions
  4. The next time you open that bookmark it will popup in the sidebar!

–Opera–

Opera is actually a little easier when it comes to placing sites in the sidebar, and they have more features as well. One thing that you should know is that Opera refers to the sidebar as “panels,” and here is how you add a bookmark to a panel:

  1. Right-click on a URL to bookmark it. Then click the button labeled Details, and then check the box that says Show in panel:
    Opera Sidebar Instructions
  2. Now you’ll notice that the bookmark was also added to your list of panels. Note: If the Panel’s bar takes up too much room read our tutorial on making it smaller.

Opera’s additional sidebar features come in handy for displaying sites. When you’re viewing a site in one of the panels, you can adjust the zoom so that the text is bigger or smaller, or you can have the site optimized for small screen display (removes most images, etc…). I recommend that you try out the small screen rendering on all of the sites, and you’ll notice that some of them look better that way:

Opera Sidebar Instructions

–Top 10 Sidebar Sites–

Alright, on to the sites! I’ve gone through dozens of different mobile sites (including ones made for the iPhone) and were able to pick 10 of them that look and work well in the sidebar. So without further ado, here are my favorites in no particular order:

Tip: The site titles are hyperlinked to their mobile sites, and all you have to do is follow the instructions given above for bookmarking them in your browser.

  1. Weather Underground
    What you’ll want to do with this site is visit the URL in your browser first, enter in your Zipcode, and then bookmark that address. Then you won’t have to worry about putting in that information each time. If you’re using Opera I recommend enabling the small screen rendering that I mentioned above.
    Weather in the Sidebar
  2. goMovies
    Just like the previous one, you’ll want to visit the URL, enter in your Zipcode, and then bookmark that address. Then each time you pull up your movie listings, it will automatically retrieve them for the theaters in your area. Opera users should probably set the zoom a little lower (I use about 80%).
    Movies in the Sidebar
  3. Gmail
    The mobile Gmail site not only looks good, but gives you fast access to all of your emails. Using it you can read and compose emails, which makes it an amazing time saver! I’ve been using this for most of my mail needs since it is so much faster than the actual Gmail interface.
  4. Google Calendar
    This gives you a quick overview of your upcoming events, but the best part is that you add items to your calendar from here.
    Google Calendar in the Sidebar
  5. Remember the Milk
    My favorite task manager now has the ability to sit inside of my sidebar. You can add new tasks and see what’s due. I’ve found myself using the service a lot more now that it is so condensed and easily accessible.
  6. Google Notebook
    You can manage your entire Google Notebook from your sidebar.
  7. Digg
    If you’re a Digg addict then I think this is a must. The mobile version of the Digg site gives you a fast-loading alternative to view the news. It’s nice when it only takes a second to load instead of 30-seconds like the normal site does sometimes!
    Digg in the Sidebar
  8. Google Talk
    Chat it up with all your friends with this handy little Flash app.
  9. Facebook
    I know that a lot of you are addicted to Facebook, and so I thought this would fit right in. It displays recent events from your news feed, upcoming events, and lets you change your status.
    Facebook in the Sidebar
  10. Twitter
    This is a really handy site for anyone that uses Twitter. You can update your status, and view recent entries from your friends. The small screen rendering in Opera is also really nice for this one.
    Twitter in the Sidebar

–Overview–

I’m finding myself using sites in the sidebar more and more these days, especially since they often reduce the number of extensions you need to install. If you come across any sites that work well in the sidebar, let us know in the comments below. I’m sure there are a bunch of great ones out there, and I just wanted to get the ball rolling by listing off my top 10!

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Google body browser now getting down and you know it’s crush grooving

We got a brief glimpse of Google’s body browser at the Chrome event earlier this month, and wouldn’t ya know it, the violation of privacy simulator / learning tool is hanging out in Google labs. A browser with WebGL support is required, which means Firefox 4 and Chrome 9 betas (or Chrome 8 if you enable it in the “about:flags” menu). The visualization options are interesting and the search tool works like a charm, so… why not? Exactly.

Continue reading Google body browser now getting down and you know it’s crush grooving

Google body browser now getting down and you know it’s crush grooving originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Switched  |  sourceGoogle body browser  | Email this | Comments

Google body browser now getting down and you know it’s you know it’s crush grooving

We got a brief glimpse of Google’s body browser at the Chrome event earlier this month, and wouldn’t ya know it, the violation of privacy simulator / learning tool is hanging out in Google labs. A browser with WebGL support is required, which means Firefox 4 and Chrome 9 betas (or Chrome 8 if you enable it in the “about:flags” menu). The visualization options are interesting and the search tool works like a charm, so… why not? Exactly.

Continue reading Google body browser now getting down and you know it’s you know it’s crush grooving

Google body browser now getting down and you know it’s you know it’s crush grooving originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Switched  |  sourceGoogle body browser  | Email this | Comments

Microsoft releases H.264 video plug-in for Windows 7 Firefox users

We’re assuming it would still prefer you use Internet Explorer for all your web browsing needs, but Microsoft is now lending something of a helping hand to Windows 7 users that insist on using Firefox for one reason or another. It’s just released a plug-in that gets around Firefox’s current limitations in handling H.264-encoded videos on HTML5 pages by taking advantage of the H.264 support built into Windows 7. On a more technical level, that means the plug-in parses HTML5 pages and replaces the Video tags with a call to the Windows Media Player plug-in, which then allows the content to be played right in the browser. Sound like just what you’ve been waiting for? Hit up the link below to download the add-on and try it yourself.

Microsoft releases H.264 video plug-in for Windows 7 Firefox users originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  sourceMicrosoft Interoperability Bridges and Labs Center  | Email this | Comments

IE7Pro Bringing Speed Dial to Internet Explorer

This article was written on July 18, 2007 by CyberNet.

I think the Opera development team should be proud of their Speed Dial idea because it is now available for most major browsers, and even as a standalone website. Firefox was the second browser to get it via an extension, and now with the Beta version of IE7Pro you can get it in Internet Explorer 7!

Instead of blatantly calling the feature Speed Dial, IE7Pro has opted for the name "Easy Homepage". You’ll find the option in the right-click menu of the IE7Pro icon in the Status Bar, and after that you can bookmark the address if you want it as your true homepage.

IE7 Easy Homepage

That’s not all that the new Beta entails though:

  1. EasyHome added
  2. Hotkey full customizable now.
  3. Single IE instance support
  4. Tab session restore function added
  5. Can use hotkey to dupliate tabs.
  6. Plugin system improved
  7. Plugin auto-install support
  8. DEP problem solved
  9. Inline search improved
  10. PRO_setValue/PRO_getValue problem solved

Those are a lot of great improvements, but that’s not even half of what IE7Pro does. It can also do inline spell checking, add the current weather to the Status Bar, restore your tab session, and much more. I don’t think that I would ever use Internet Explorer without IE7Pro because it adds a lot of features that make the browser a lot more functional.

Download IE7Pro 1.0.1 Beta and leave your feedback [MajorGeeks has a download mirror]

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