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Feb 23

Mac-Like Stacks in RocketDock

This article was written on May 28, 2009 by CyberNet.

rocketdock stacks.jpg RocketDock is definitely one of my favorite application launchers because of how well it is designed to mimic the functionality of the Mac Dock. It can also be extended with skins to change the appearance, or with docklets to add more features.

The most popular addon across all of the different categories is the Stacks Docklet with over 800,000 downloads! As you can see in the screenshot to the right this emulates the Mac version of Stacks very well, and it’s pretty hard to tell it apart from the Mac Dock if you’ve got the right skin.

The addon hasn’t been updated in a little while, but that doesn’t mean development has stopped. In fact the developer is currently working on rewriting the Stacks Docklet, and if you’re feeling adventurous you can jump in on a pre-release version.

Stacks Docklet Homepage
RocketDock Homepage

Feb 13

Microsoft Announces They Have No Plans for Major Vista Service Pack

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on April 06, 2007 by CyberNet.

Windowsvistasp1 Are you planning to purchase Vista after Service Pack 1 is released? Your plans might have just changed. Microsoft says that they don’t have any plans to issue a major service pack for Windows Vista like they did with Windows XP. This came from a senior Microsoft official who said that Vista was “high quality right out of the gate,” and in other words, is not needed.

When asked whether they would continue to have service packs, the corporate VP for Windows Marketing says that they will, however they won’t be as urgent, or as important as XP service packs were.

If you recall, Service Pack 1 for XP was around 30–134MB, and the second one was much larger at around 75–266 MB. SP1 patched security holes, but also added additional functionality like USB 2.0 support, and a “Set Program Access and Defaults Utility”. Within that service pack, Microsoft removed Java Virtual Machine which was a requirement after a lawsuit with Sun Microsystems.

One of the big differences with Vista is how users get updates. When Microsoft can add updates slowly over time using Windows Updates, there’s really no reason for one big update like a service pack. Which also means, to those who said that they were going to wait until the first service pack was released to make the upgrade, you’ll have to think of another reason to continue using your XP machine.

Source: CyberNet Forum (Thanks Richard) [via iTnews.com]

Feb 12

Selectively Backup Your Opera Profile

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on April 25, 2008 by CyberNet.

Microsoft Windows Vista-1.png

One thing that I’m always careful about backing up is my browser’s profile. There is a lot of information stored in there, and it would be a real shame if I lost it all. If you’re running Opera then you’re in for a real treat with this backup utility. OperaFly is a nifty little free program that runs on Windows. You can get a version that does or doesn’t require installation, and the beauty is that it takes what could be a daunting task and turns it into something that is very user friendly.

When you startup the program it will automatically find the files and folders that it needs to access. Then you can select what parts of your profile you would like to back as seen in the screenshot above, and this is where the true customization comes into play. If you were wanting to start with a clean profile this would be a quite handy tool to have. You can selectively backup the areas of your profile that would be difficult to replace (bookmarks, mail, etc…), wipe out the Opera profile (which OperaFly can also do), and then restore only the portions of the profile that you just backed up. It pretty much does it all from a single interface.

Yeah yeah, I know… the problem is remembering to backup your profile. OperaFly has got you covered there as well. It includes a tool called OperaFly Watch that will sit in your System Tray. From there you can create a backup on-demand, or you can have it automatically create a backup each time you close the browser. Just tell it the location on your PC where you want the backups stored, and it will make sure it gets done. This is automation at its finest!

Get OperaFly
Thanks for the tip Mark!

Feb 10

CyberNotes: Create a LightBox Photo Gallery

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on October 25, 2007 by CyberNet.

Tutorial Thursday

One of the hot new ways for viewing photos is using a JavaScript technique called LightBox. I’m sure you’ve seen it before on sites where you click on a thumbnail, and a fullsize version of the image is superimposed on the page that your viewing. It then grays out the background so that it’s easy for the viewer to focus on the image. Here’s a working example of LightBox that demonstrates the feature.

Personally I’ve never been a big fan of LightBox, but there are a lot of people who swear by it. When I came across a free program called LightBox Web Gallery Generator, I knew it would be an extremely handy tool for many of you.

What’s so great about it? Not only is it open source, but you also don’t have a thing to install. Once you download the LightBox Gallery Generator you can start working with it immediately!

–Basic Settings–

When you launch the app for the first time, you’ll notice that it’s extremely simple, and there isn’t much you can configure. It’s important to know that the LightBox Gallery Generator will only work with JPG images, but that’s the format that most cameras use so you shouldn’t have any problems.

LightBox Web Gallery Generator

You’ll want to select the folder with the images, and the folder that you want to output the gallery to. The program will generate thumbnails for all of the images and align them to a grid with however many columns and rows you specify. If you have more photos than can fit on the page it will show next/previous buttons on the generated site as well as page numbers.

The “Image” section in the program is used to specify what the dimensions are of the photos that are shown when the thumbnails are clicked on. By having them resized it helps cut back on the bandwidth needed especially when the original image is gigantic! You can always provide a link to the original image by checking the “Add link to hi-res image” option.

–Advanced Settings–

At first I didn’t really realize that the program had any advanced settings because the text links at the bottom looked like they were hyperlinks for a website. When I clicked on one of them it actually expanded the program’s window to show more settings that you can change to truly customize the look and feel of the gallery that is generated.

The “CSS” option is used to specify your own custom styles to the site. This is where you can customize border, background colors, font types, and more:

LightBox CSS

At the top of the gallery is a breadcrumb trail that visitors can use to navigate to other pages on your site. This is where you can specify your own custom homepage link or turn it off all together:

LightBox Link

The “Master Page” option is truly the heart and soul of the LightBox Gallery Generator. You can create your own custom HTML template to be used with the galleries that you generate. How’s that useful? It means you can put your own header, footer, and sidebars on the site with the gallery being placed in the center of it all.

LightBox Master Page

–The Result–

**drum roll** The end result is what you’ve worked so hard for, well, I use the term “work” loosely. The screenshots below are from a gallery that I generated in under a minute after starting the program up for the first time. The one on the left shows what the thumbnail gallery looks like complete with navigation links, and the one on the right is the “fullsize” image that visitors are shown when a thumbnail is clicked.

If you chose to include a link to the high resolution images you’ll see that next to the title of each photo:

LightBox Hi-Res

This program doesn’t quite stack up to the JAlbum software in terms of configuration options, but this is definitely the simplest gallery generator that I’ve ever used. If you need to quickly create a photo gallery with some pizzazz I don’t think there is a better option.

LightBox Web Gallery Generator

Feb 09

MyColors Caters to Sports & College Fanatics

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on April 24, 2008 by CyberNet.

(Click to Enlarge)

Stardock has released a new application called MyColors that will really appeal to college students/alumni and sports fanatics. The program itself is a free download, and it’s goal is to completely skin your Windows XP or Vista operating system. It changes the theme, background, icons, gadgets, media player, and more.

There are two themes that that you can get for free with MyColors: Diamond and Quest. Diamond appears to be their signature theme as it’s also bundled with WindowBlinds, and Quest is pretty sleek despite the overwhelming amount of gold. Since the program is also free those are the two themes that you can get without dropping a dime.

The really cool themes, however, will run you about $20 each. From the looks of it MyColors is really focused on themes for the NBA, NHL, and college teams. I was extremely pleased to see the university I attended, Iowa State, was in the list. A screenshot of what it looks like running on Vista can be seen above, and Stardock does a terrific job of providing high-quality screenshots of each theme so that you know what you’re getting.

A video demonstration of MyColors is available, but I recommend just diving in and start checking out all of the themes available. There are over 50 that are college-specific, 30 NBA, 30 NHL, and dozens more. Also, you’ll notice that some are easier on the eyes than others. 😉

Feb 09

FREE Anti-Spyware: Webroot Spy Sweeper

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on December 28, 2007 by CyberNet.

Here’s yet another opportunity to get more free software! For a limited time, you can get your hands on a copy of Webroot Spy Sweeper which will be good for a year. It’s a $29.95 value and will keep you protected from Spyware. It’s their latest version, 5.5, which PC Magazine has said is “easily the best choice for protecting PCs from spyware and for cleaning infected machines.”

As with the AVG offer the other day, we haven’t installed this software ourselves because we have a subscription to ESET Smart Security suite. From what I’ve read though, the process is simple. Here’s what you need to do:

Click here to sign-up to receive your unique registration number (all that’s needed is a name and email address)
Click here to download Spy Sweeper
Install the app using the registration information you received in step 1

Note: You’ll want to do the custom install otherwise you’ll get an unwanted toolbar installed.

The only other thing you need to note is that the software is for personal use only… not for use on business computers.

Source: Slick Deals

Feb 05

Vista Beta Tester? Good News! You get 3 Copies of Vista for $100.

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on February 01, 2007 by CyberNet.

There’s good news is you were a Vista Beta Tester! According to Windows-Now.com, the Ultimate Vista key that was issued for participating in the Beta will qualify you for the Vista Family Discount. Remember, the family discount means that with a purchase of Windows Vista Ultimate, you can purchase two copies of Windows Vista Home Premium for $49.99 each. Your Vista key counts as a retail copy which means your three copies of Vista will only cost you $100.00. Make sure to use your non-Beta key for your copy of Vista, because the Beta key will not work. I guess this is Microsoft’s way of saying thanks!

The Vista Family Discount is of course available to everybody with the difference being that if you weren’t a Beta tester, you will have to purchase Vista Ultimate at full price ($399.99) before you can get the discounted copies of Home Premium. Either way, it’s a reasonable discounted offer from Microsoft and will give multiple computer households the chance to upgrade more affordably.

Source: Windows-Now

–Extend the 30-day Windows Trial–

In our review on Vista, we mentioned the 30-day trial of Windows Vista that anybody is able to take advantage of. Because you could potentially be dishing out quite a bit of money for this new operating system, it’s nice that you have the option to ‘try before you buy.’ I’ve come across two different sources that explain how to extend the 30-day grace period to 120 days. They also say that no hacks are required, and that it’s supported by Microsoft.

All you have to do is start a command prompt as an Administrator and then issue this command:

slmgr -rearm

After you have issued the command, you’ll need to restart your computer for the extension to take effect. Now, this doesn’t extend you to 120 days, instead it gives you an additional 30 days. You’re able to issue the command 3 times which will give you 120 days to try it out. This gives you plenty of time to determine if it’s worth the money or not.

Source: Bink.nu

–Microsoft Confirms Vista Speech Recognition Remote Execution Flaw–

According to George Ou over at ZDNet, Microsoft has confirmed that a flaw with Vista Speech Recognition could allow an attacker to verbally execute commands using the speech recognition feature. The UAC wouldn’t give the attacker control over administrative level commands, but anything outside of that could potentially be at their disposal. A few things would have to be in line for an attacker to be able to do anything harmful.

First, you’d have to have a microphone and speakers connected to your system. Remember, this is a verbal attack. And secondly, you’d also need speech recognition to be configured. The odds of this actually happening are probably very slim, but the fact that it could potentially happen means that it’s something that Microsoft needs to address.

You can read more about this here and here.

Source: Thanks wlancowboy!

Feb 04

Official Service-Plan Pricing from Apple and AT&T

Posted in: Today's Chili

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

I think we’re going to be all iPhoned out by the time Friday gets here! The news today is that AT&T and Apple have FINALLY announced the service plans for the iPhone, and surprisingly, they’re much more reasonable than I ever expected.

Yesterday the speculation was that prices would run similar to those for BlackBerry users with a price range of $84.98 and $179.98. Fortunately for those of you who plan on getting an iPhone, the BlackBerry pricing isn’t even close to what iPhone users will be offered.

Besides being affordable, they’re also pretty simple because each plan is actually three plans bundled together. It’s simple. They all include unlimited data, visual voicemail, 200 SMS, and the standard roll-over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling that AT&T offers. So here it is, official prices straight from AT&T and Apple:

$59.99 for 450 minutes
$79.99 for 900 minutes
$99.99 for 1,350 minutes

The only other charge will be a fee of $36 to activate the phone, and family plans will also be an option.

See, I told you it’s affordable! I think that’s by far the best service plan I’ve seen that includes unlimited data (email, web), so way to go Apple and AT&T. While the phone isn’t exactly affordable for the majority, at least service plans are.

Regarding the service plans, Jobs is quoted as saying:

“We want to make choosing a service plan simple and easy, so every plan includes unlimited data with direct Internet access, along with Visual Voicemail and a host of other goodies.We think these three plans give customers the flexibility to experience all of iPhone’s revolutionary features at affordable and competitive prices.” And yes, he did say “Goodies.”

While I still won’t be seen standing in any iPhone line on Friday, I must say that they did a great job of coming up with simple plans and affordable prices. I guess the cheaper plans will help people justify spending so much on the phone itself? Remember, a two year contract is required, and you can activate your phone via iTunes. This ensures that you get the experience of un-boxing the phone instead of some AT&T rep. doing it for you. More info on that here.

Iphoneplans

Feb 03

Windows Vista Ultimate not 1st Choice for Consumers

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on February 09, 2007 by CyberNet.

Microsoft’s Windows Vista has been available to consumers now for 10 days. Results from the first five days of Vista sales are available with nothing really too surprising to reveal.

The first thing which the analysis report shows is that the sales of PC’s for the week ending February 3rd increased 173% which is certainly an impressive number. However, think about what that number could have been if Vista was launched before the holiday season.

It was all about Vista Home Premium for the first five days of sales. Home Premium alone made up 70% of sales for PCs with Vista. This of course does not factor in that many computers come with Home Premium as the pre-installed version. It is not know how many Home Premium sales came from upgrades.

Vista Home Basic, the simplest version that you can buy made up 22% of the sales, and Windows Vista Ultimate made up 1.2 percent of the sales. Microsoft is probably disappointed in the Ultimate number because this is obviously where they’re going to make the most profit.Samir Bhavnani who wrote the report says that “”You can expect over time that Ultimate will become a bigger part of the overall mix.”

Only time will tell how the sales of Vista Ultimate will play out. One of the biggest factors that will keep people from upgrading to the Ultimate version is price. When buying a computer with Vista Home Basic, you can upgrade to home-premium for just $50 more, but an upgrade to Vista Ultimate from Vista Basic would cost $150. Consumers are going to be much more willing to spend an extra $50 versus $150.

Also included in the report was the percentage of sales from PC Vendors. In the first week, Hewlett-Packard accounted for 54% of Vista Home premium sales and 53% of Vista Home Basic sales.

Clearly, Vista Ultimate is not a 1st choice for consumers. Home Premium appears to be the “go-to” version that will satisfy the needs of most people and comes in at a much more affordable price when compared to Vista Ultimate.

I’d be interested in knowing how many PC’s and copies of Vista were actually sold. The percentages give you some perspective to how Vista is doing, but if there was an overall number that these percentages were derived from, it would be much more insightful. It would also be interesting to see how many people are going for the much more affordable OEM edition.

Source: InfoWorld

Feb 03

Microsoft’s Bank-Busting $6 Billion Acquisition

Posted in: Today's Chili

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

News is buzzing around about Microsoft’s $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive! Yep, you read that right. Microsoft didn’t want to be left behind after Google bought the DoubleClick advertising firm for a whopping $3.1 billion, and Yahoo! quickly followed that up by purchasing Right Media for a mere $680 million. Now Microsoft is back in the advertising game thanks to their all-cash transaction of $6 billion for aQuantive!

It’s kinda funny though, because Microsoft was up-in-arms when Google announced that they were going to buy DoubleClick, now Microsoft went and purchased a company that is even larger (aQuantive has 2,600 employees while DoubleClick had just 1,200). Of course, it was expected that Microsoft was bidding on DoubleClick along with Google so when they lost the war they knew they had to do something. Instead of pushing harder against the Google/DoubleClick deal, it looks like Microsoft just decided to go bigger.

According to CNN Money, Microsoft said that they are happy with the price they paid for aQuantive, and that future acquisitions aren’t out of the question. At the end of last quarter Microsoft had $28.2 billion in cash, and in regards to other acquisitions Microsoft said “We certainly have the economic fire power if we decide to do more.”

I could definitely see Microsoft eyeing other companies to acquire, and the first that comes to mind is Zoho. They offer a wide variety of Office-like applications similar to the ones being developed by Google. Microsoft seems to be falling behind in that respect, so I would expect them to try and quickly catchup by making a few acquisitions. After all, the cool thing to do these days is to throw billions of dollars around!

Hasta La Gadget!

Mac-Like Stacks in RocketDock

Microsoft Announces They Have No Plans for Major Vista Service Pack

Selectively Backup Your Opera Profile