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Mar 25

CyberNotes: Netscape 9 Beta 1 Debuts

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

Web Browser Wednesday

Netscape is the browser that everyone has probably used at one point or another. Don’t try and block it from your memory, it’s okay, there is no arguing that Netscape Navigator was the hot browser of the 90’s.

Last October I took a look at what Netscape 8 had to offer, which included a lot of improvements over prior versions. The most notable feature was that it was based on the Firefox rendering engine. This was also the first time that they moved away from being an entire Internet Suite (browser, email, etc…) and focused solely on being a browser that people would respect.

Netscape 9.0 Beta 1 was just released last night, and they have decided to bring something back that hasn’t been around since version 6! When Netscape 7 launched they decided to remove “Navigator” from the name, but it returns in full glory in Netscape Navigator 9.

Netscape 9
Click to Enlarge

So I’ll give you a visual walk-through of a few new features in Netscape 9, some of which should be included in Firefox. Besides having all of the great Firefox 2 features (spell check, session restore, etc…) it also has all of this included:

–URL Correction–
It looks for common mistakes that you would make when typing in a URL. It can autocorrect up to 30 different mistakes, for example, typing “cybernetnewscom” will automatically get changed to “cybernetnews.com”.
Netscape 9

–Link Pad–
This is actually such a simple idea, yet incredibly useful because of how they implemented it. Link Pad is a simple sidebar item that will store hyperlinks you drag on to it (or on the icon in the bottom-left corner). It is essentially a bookmark system, yet it is kept separate from your bookmarks to keep things a little more organized. I look at it as a place for “disposable” URL’s that you’ll only visit one time. After you click on a URL, it will automatically be removed from the Link Pad…that’s the best part.

–Extension Compatibility–
All Firefox 2 extensions should now work perfectly in Netscape. Thank goodness! I tried both IE Tab and Tab Mix Plus, two very popular Firefox extensions, and each worked flawlessly. Kudos to the Netscape team for making sure people could still use their Firefox extensions.

–Sidebar Mini Browser–
You can right-click on any hyperlink and choose to open it in the sidebar. Then the sidebar is its own little browser with an address bar as well as back/forward buttons. Split-screen navigating isn’t such a chore now!

–Restart Netscape–
This is the feature I constantly say that Firefox should include! Restarting the browser is as simple as hitting the File Menu and clicking Restart Navigator. All of your tabs and windows are then instantly restored.

–Resizeable Textarea–
Don’t have enough room to type your thoughts? Then feel free to expand the text boxes at your leisure.
Netscape 9

–Tab History–
Okay, this feature is priceless. No, it is not the same thing as the History menu in Firefox, although Netscape does include that as well. Basically when you make a link open in a new tab, all of the backward browsing history is copied to that new tab. For example, let’s say you’re searching on Google and you Ctrl+click on one of the links so that it opens in a new tab — while in that new tab, you’ll still be able to go back to the Google search results. If you try the same thing in Firefox, the back button will be disabled because the new tab doesn’t have any “history” to it.

–Other “Okay” Features–

Some of the things in Netscape 9 pertain only to the Netscape.com site, or aren’t that revolutionary. Since I don’t use Netscape.com I thought these features were a little lame:

Sitemail Notification – This icon will sport an exclamation point when you have new Netscape.com sitemail messages waiting for you.
In-browser voting – Share your opinions with the world! The icons in the Navigator address bar let you share interesting stories you find and vote on stories shared by others.
Throbber – By popular demand, the Netscape 7-style throbber is back. Click on it any time to visit Netscape.com.
Combined Stop/Reload button – To save space in your toolbar, we’ve combined the stop and reload buttons. Because you never need both at the same time, the toolbar will only show the relevant half of the pair.
OPML Support – Netscape Navigator supports importing and exporting your bookmarks in OPML, a popular format for sharing lists of news feeds.
News Tracker – The Netscape Tracker sidebar lets you monitor breaking news as it happens, via Netscape.com.
Friends’ Activity Sidebar – If you are a member at Netscape.com, you can keep tabs on what your friends find interesting. This sidebar lets you view your friends latest votes, comments, and story submissions.
News Menu and Sidebar – The latest news is built right into the browser, under the News menu. Provided by Netscape.com, you can customize the menu to only contain the news sections you want to monitor. You can also open the News sidebar to always keep an eye on what’s happening.

Despite the overloaded integration with Netscape.com, I would have to say that the Netscape browser is a step ahead of Firefox. I guess it ultimately depends on how you look at it since a lot of the features they included are also offered as Firefox extensions, but they did a great job bringing some unique things into the browser as well. I can see myself using the Link Pad quite frequently, as well as the mini browser in the sidebar.

Netscape Navigator 9 is currently in Beta so you could run into a few bumps while using it, although it did work flawlessly for me. You’ll find the download links here if you’re interested in trying out the free browser (for Windows, Mac, and Linux).

Thanks for the tip Mohan!

Mar 24

CyberWare: WireNote – Sticky Notes on Steroids

Posted in: Today's Chili

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

Tracking Down Great Software For You!

WireNote is a free application that’s available which will manage your to-do list, sticky notes, reminders, and lots of other things. It has an overabundance of configuration options that are almost overwhelming at first, but you’ll come to grips with them.

After I got it up and running the first thing that I wanted to try out on it was the sticky note feature. It is unique because you can attach individual sticky notes to an application, and as you can see in the screenshot below doing so is just a click away. Attaching it to a certain program means that the note will only be displayed when that window is open, and if it isn’t attached to anything it just shows up on the desktop.

WireNote

One thing that I quickly noticed was that you can create a new note via a customizable hotkey or the System Tray icon. As soon as the new note window popped up it automatically inserted whatever text is on your clipboard, which is a nice touch. With that I can quickly create notes of things I find online.

If that sounds appetizing take a look at some of the other things this can do:

ToDos: You can prioritize your ToDos, calculate an exact time you spend for each ToDo, or can view a report with what was done during last few days.
Reminders: Reminder can start any program you want, play a sound, shutdown a computer, send a net message to other users, show ToDo or Note, or just show a small window with text.
Messages: WireNote can be used as LAN messenger application, instead of standard Windows messaging service for example.
Address book: Address book can hold information about other users – their nickname, computer name and additional info.
Links: This additional feature can be used for fast reaching different documents and locations. You can create any link (to the web-site or any document from your hard disk, for example) just by dragging file from any file manager or other program and dropping it near the corresponding ToDo or note (or independent "Links" folder) in main window.

This is a lot of stuff to manage, so WireNote includes a central Organizer that keeps tabs on everything for you:

WireNote

WireNote Homepage & Download
Thanks for the tip Radu!

Mar 23

CyberNotes: Setup an FTP Server in less than 30 Seconds

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on March 27, 2007 by CyberNet.

Time Saving Tuesday

I frequently get asked how people can setup their own FTP. Some of the current programs available always seem intimidating with the extensive list of configuration options when most people only want to access their own documents when they’re away from their PC.

In the past I have always recommended the free GuildFTPD, but getting it to work can be a hit or miss. So I started searching around for another tool that you could use, and I found just the thing!

The answer to your FTP server problem is the Quick ‘n Easy FTP Server Lite (Download Mirror). It is an easy-to-use FTP server application that you can setup in less than 30–seconds…no joke. The download weighs in at a measly 0.35MB and there is no installation necessary. Just run the executable file and start configuring your FTP server.

Once you get it running you’ll be greeted with a wizard to walk you through the necessary steps to complete the setup. As seen here, the only thing it really asks for is a username, password, a starting directory, and permissions for your server:

After the setup is complete just press the green “Start” button located on the toolbar. This will initiate your FTP server so that you can connect to it using Windows Explorer (by placing FTP:// in front of your IP address) or by using a free FTP client such as my favorite FileZilla.

After you get it all setup, there are a bunch of different things you can do with the program including viewing statistics or adding more users. With an interface that closely resembles Windows XP it should be a breeze for you to tinker around with what it has to offer:

The only thing that would probably prevent you from getting the FTP server setup in less than 30–seconds would be port forwarding. By default this program uses the default FTP port 21 which you may have to forward if you’re using a router at your home. This is pretty easy to do and your router’s documentation should explain how to do it.

I have never seen a program that makes it so easy to setup your own personal FTP, but this one does a very good job of it. They also have a Pro version available for $29.95, but I think you’ll be more than satisfied with what the free version has to offer.

Quick ‘n Easy FTP Server Lite Homepage (Download Mirror)

Mar 21

Need Some Tools For YouTube?

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on October 23, 2006 by CyberNet.

YouTube Video YouTube reminds me of an iPod because it is so popular that everyone wants to make software and accessories that work with it. Having such an abundant amount of tools makes it hard for users to find and choose the right one though.

That is why Quick Online Tips put together this guide on YouTube tools that are currently available. Right now there are more than 40 items in the list and it continues to expand as new tools emerge.

It is nicely organized because it breaks the tools up into multiple categories, such as downloading/saving YouTube videos and adding videos to your blog. The only tool from the list that I really use is KeepVid, which allows you to enter in the URL of a video and it will provide you with a direct download link. I have been using that for quite some time and it has not failed me, so that is really the only thing that I need.

Thanks for the tip Rahul!

Mar 20

Volume Level Indicator for Windows

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on August 07, 2012 by CyberNet.

Volume level indicator windows

Whenever I’m using my Windows laptop I frequently adjust the level of the volume depending on what I’m doing at the time. The problem with Windows is that there is no indication of the volume level as you change it aside from the tiny System Tray icon that only has a few bars to indicate what it’s set at. As a result most computer manufacturers such as Dell and Lenovo will make their own on-screen volume indicators, but they are often bundled with other things you don’t need.

If you want an on-screen volume level indicator I highly recommend taking a look at the free 3RVX tool. You can customize the appearance of the on-screen display by choosing from one of several themes that are bundled with it including the Mac-like one that you see above. Most of the themes are very polished, and I’m sure you’ll find one that suits your system well.

The thing I love the most about this app is that it doesn’t matter whether you’re adjusting the volume using dedicated keys on your machine or you’re using some sort of software that changes the system volume… either way 3RVX will pick up the volume change. You don’t need some special OEM software to do this.

3RVX Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)

Mar 18

Firefox 3.7 and Firefox 4.0 Interface Mockups

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on July 21, 2009 by CyberNet.

Mozilla just wrapped up the Firefox 3.5 release a few weeks ago, but they are already going to town on what they can do for future improvements. When they redesigned Firefox 3.0 I thought the new designs were okay, but they weren’t anything that seemed to be revolutionary.

What’s neat about Mozilla, however, is that they’re not afraid to show the world what they’re thinking about doing months or even years ahead of time. They aren’t afraid of the competition coming along and outdoing them, and as a result they can get a lot of quality feedback so that they can fine tune the various aspects of the browser before it gets shipped out to the world.

Keeping in that spirit Mozilla has released some rather polished mockups of the route they’re thinking about going for Firefox 3.7. There’s no word on when Firefox 3.7 is planned to be available, but the last I heard Firefox 3.6 is due out in mid-2010. I’m guessing that puts Firefox 3.7 somewhere in 2011. So don’t get too excited quite yet, because by the time that version is released these design styles may already be outdated.

Below you’ll find some of the various mockups for Firefox 3.7 on Windows, and then I also stumbled upon one Firefox 4.0 mockup that is more of the “hand drawn” style. Before I jump into the screenshots I wanted to pull a quote that I found on the MozillaWiki:

This is sometimes a hard area to explore. Windows applications are not known for their visual design savvy.

They then go on to reference Paint (the Windows 7 version), Zune Player software, and Postbox as being three applications that have nice interfaces. They also mention wanting to remove the Menu Bar, and making the entire interface a bit more streamlined. The screenshots show that they are doing just that:

Firefox 3.7 Mockups (click thumbnail to enlarge)

Firefox 4.0 Mockup (click thumbnail to enlarge)

So what do you think? Is Mozilla on the right track? By the time they actually get these out the door will they already be labeled as outdated?

via Mozilla Wiki [here and here]
Thanks Christian!

Mar 18

Quickly Edit Any Content on a Website

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on February 09, 2012 by CyberNet.

Chrome live webpage editing

There are times where you might want to change content on a site, but doing so with Chrome’s built-in web developer tools can sometimes be a pain. With the Live Page Editor Chrome extension, however, all that changes because you can directly edit content on a site without having to dig through the source code of a page. All you have to do is click the Live Page Editor icon in the Chrome toolbar, and then click anywhere on the page to start typing. You can even remove text that you don’t want there anymore.

Keep in mind that the changes you make on any site will not be persistent, which means as soon as you refresh the page they will be gone. So why is this useful then? Well, if you ever take screenshots of a website that has personal information on it then you’ll find an extension such as this one to be very useful. Instead of blurring or blacking out your personal information you can instead change it to something more generic so that your screenshots look a little cleaner.

Live Page Editor Extension for Chrome

Mar 16

Terminal Alternative for Mac

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on February 29, 2012 by CyberNet.

Terminal replacment

I spend quite a bit of time living in the terminal on my Mac, and so I was rightfully excited when I came across the free app called iTerm 2 that squashes some of the things I wanted the built-in app to offer. One of the things I really needed was a search feature to quickly find things from past commands I’ve run, and iTerm 2 does that very well.

Here is an overview of other features in iTerm 2:

Split Panes
Divide a tab up into multiple panes, each one of which shows a different session. You can slice vertically and horizontally and create any number of panes in any imaginable arrangement.
Search
iTerm2 comes with a robust find-on-page feature. The UI stays out of the way. All matches are immediately highlighted. Even regular expression support is offered!
Autocomplete
Just type the start of any word that has ever appeared in your window and then Cmd-; will pop open a window with suggestions. The word you’re looking for is usually on top of the list!
Paste History
Paste history lets you revisit recently copied or pasted text. You can even opt to have the history saved to disk so it will never be lost.
Instant Replay
Instant replay lets you travel back in time. It’s like TiVo for your terminal!
Full Screen
Work distraction-free with absolutely nothing on the screen but your terminal. The tab bar can be opened by holding down cmd.
Growl Support
Exposé Tabs
Like OS X’s Exposé feature, iTerm2 shows all your tabs on one screen. Better yet, you can search through them all at once. Go ahead and open as many tabs as you want–you can always find what you’re looking for.

When you stack those features on top of all the configuration options it has this becomes a must-have app for any geek living in a terminal window.

iTerm 2 Homepage (Mac only; Freeware)

Mar 14

Compiz Fusion Adds Cylinder Effect

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on April 10, 2008 by CyberNet.

compiz fusion cylinder

Compiz Fusion is quickly becoming an important part of many Linux distributions, and I don’t think that anyone would argue that the cube effect for switching between desktops is one of the most hyped features. Well, the cube could very well be on its way to retirement thanks to the cylinder effect that was just added.

As seen in the screenshot above the cylinder effect provides a pretty sweet looking way to switch between each of your virtual desktops. The thing that I’m left wondering is whether Compiz Fusion is becoming a little overwhelming? There’s just so much that you can do, and so many different effects that I fear it could be verging on bloated. Maybe I’m wrong, but the last time I actually used Compiz Fusion there were so many features and settings that it was intimidating. But I guess power users want the ability to control every aspect of features like this.

What do you think of Compiz Fusion? For those of you running Linux: is Compiz Fusion something you use often, or do you only have it to show off to your friends? Personally I fall into that latter category, which is disappointing since it took some extra work for me to get it functional in Ubuntu.

I’ve embedded a video below of the new cylinder effect in action. The video starts out demonstrating the cube, and then moves into the cylinder after about 1 minute and 45 seconds:

Compiz Fusion [via Digg]

Mar 11

CyberNotes: Stream Media from Your Home Computer

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on April 17, 2008 by CyberNet.

Tutorial Thursday

One of the questions that I get asked rather frequently is how people can take their media with them to places (normally work) without carrying a media player around. There are plenty of services out there that will let you upload, for example, your music so that it can be accessed from anywhere. But most of the time people want to stream it directly from their home machine.

Is it possible? Of course, it’s just a matter of finding the right tools for the job. If you’re trying to stream media (music, movies, images, documents, or television) from your home computer I recommend checking out the free Orb service. With it you download and install a small application that always runs on your computer. Then by logging into their website you can access nearly any type of media that has made its way onto your machine. Forget a file at home? No problem! Orb can not only stream media but will also let you download files directly from your home computer.

–Supported Media–

Orb handles a wide array of media including television, videos, photos, music, documents, and more. In the configuration options you can set the directories that you want Orb to snatch media from, which means the control is really in your hands.

You might be wondering how the streaming television works. It’s required that your computer have a supported tuner first of all. After that it takes just a few steps to configure the Orb software. You can also schedule shows to record so that you don’t miss them!

–Supported Devices–

The primary computer that hosts the media will need to be running Windows XP or Vista for Orb to work. Then when it comes to accessing the media all you really need is a computer with a browser and Internet connection. Or more specifically…

Any Windows, Linux or Mac OS-X laptop or desktop computer that has a broadband connection and a media player that can stream Windows, Real or 3GP media, such as Windows Media Player (v.9 or above), WinAmp, RealPlayer (v.9 or above) or Quicktime Player.
Any Pocket PC that has Microsoft Windows 2002, 2003 or Mobile 5 Pocket PC.
Any Palm OS device with the Kinoma Player 4 EX is compatible with Orb. Such devices include (but are not limited to) the Treo 650, 680, 700p, 750 and the Tungsten C.
Any cell phone with a Web browser and either Windows Media Player, TCPMP, RealPlayer, or 3GP Player.
All of the major gaming consoles so that you can stream all the digital content from your home PC and from the Web onto your TV screen in the living room! Orb works seamlessly with the Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation3 and Microsoft Xbox 360.

So it’s safe to say that you can stream media using Orb to a lot of different devices.

–Setup–

orb setup 1 I hadn’t used Orb prior to writing this article, and despite being a first-time user I had the software setup and running within a few minutes. Here’s what you have to do:

Download and install Orb. It’s available in a variety of different languages, and works with Windows XP or Vista.
Start going through the setup process. If you don’t already have an Orb account you’ll be able to create one from within the application. Note: You’ll need to verify your email address if you’re creating a new account.
Head on over to mycast.orb.com to start streaming media! There you’ll find a fully customizable homepage, but I recommend that you click the Open Application button to select what type of media you want to stream:

–Remotely Manage Media–

Now that you have Orb setup and understand how to navigate around the site it’s time to have some fun! You can create playlists of your favorite songs so that they are quickly accessible, and managing photos is a breeze. From within the Orb MyCast site you can do it all:

(Click to Enlarge)

And before you shrug this off as something you’ll never use there’s one very important aspect that has made this a valuable tool to me: downloads. Even if you don’t want to use Orb to stream your media it can still be used kind of like a personal FTP server. If you get to work and realize you forgot an important document at home just pull up Orb, find the file, and click the download button. To speed things up you can even have the file compressed before downloading it (if you’re downloading multiple files they’ll automatically be compressed before sending them):

orb download

–Overview–

There is a sense of reassurance that Orb isn’t storing any of my files on their servers, but at the same time they’ve got an amazing online interface that I can use to access any of my media located at home. Give it a whirl and I’m sure you’ll like it as well!

Orb Homepage

Hasta La Gadget!

CyberNotes: Netscape 9 Beta 1 Debuts

CyberWare: WireNote – Sticky Notes on Steroids

CyberNotes: Setup an FTP Server in less than 30 Seconds

Need Some Tools For YouTube?

Volume Level Indicator for Windows

Firefox 3.7 and Firefox 4.0 Interface Mockups

Quickly Edit Any Content on a Website

Terminal Alternative for Mac

Compiz Fusion Adds Cylinder Effect