Jul 01

CyberNotes: HTML Signatures in Apple Mail

Posted in: CyberNotes, Email, Software, Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili

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

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

Now that I’m up and running on my Mac I decided to give the Apple Mail program a shot. It’s the built-in email solution that is bundled with Mac OS X, and also lets you do things like leave notes to yourself or manage a todo list. One thing that I quickly noticed was that it doesn’t directly include support for HTML signatures.

It’s kind of always boggled my mind as to why these email applications don’t support HTML signatures out-of-the-box. I don’t think that they need to make it all fancy, but they could at least let users enter a snippet of HTML code to use as a signature. I guess I was spoiled by Outlook’s rich text signature editor, and can’t help but compare Apple Mail’s signature abilities to it. Heck, even Mozilla’s Thunderbird lets you specify an HTML file that can then be used as a signature.

Anyhow, there is a method available for those of you who want to get an HTML signature in Apple Mail. It takes a little bit of work, but once it’s done you should be happy with the results.

  1. The first thing that you’ll want to do is create an HTML file that contains the code for your signature. You can do this using a fancy program like Dreamweaver, or something simple like Apple’s TextEdit. Preview your signature in a web browser to ensure it’s what you want, but you’ll be able to go back and make changes later if you want (it’s just not that easy to make changes).
  2. When you create a text signature in Apple Mail it doesn’t store it as an HTML file. Instead it uses a file storage type specific to Safari called WebArchive. To get around this you can open your signature in Safari, and go to File -> Save As. You’ll now be able to save your signature in the necessary WebArchive format.
    Safari.png
  3. Open Apple Mail’s preferences, and switch over to the Signatures tab. Click the plus sign located near the bottom to create a new signature, give it any name you would like (you can easily change this at any time), and put something in the content box:
    Signatures.png
  4. You’re almost there! Now what we have to do is replace our awesome HTML signature with the temporary place holder form the previous step. To do this copy the WebArchive file from Step 2, and paste it into the ~/Library/Mail/Signatures folder (note: the tilde represents your user folder). See that other WebArchive file with the obnoxiously long name consisting of letters, numbers, and hypens? Just rename your signature file to match that super long name and you’re all set:
    Signatures-2.png
  5. If you already have Apple Mail running you’ll need to restart it before seeing the changes. Then when you go to compose a message the new signature should automatically be attached. If you need to make changes you’ll essentially need to start back over at Step 1.

I’ve been asked several times what the point of using an HTML signature is since so many email services block them. There is typically some confusion in that area because email services don’t block HTML… they just block images, and even still the viewer can normally enable them. That means without any trouble you are able to use well formatted hyperlinks, style the text, and much more without using images. However, spare us all from turning your signature into a mini MySpace page. And no, everyone doesn’t love a banner of animated smiley faces. ;)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 27

Google Spreadsheets Now Allows Public Editing

Posted in: Features, Google, Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on May 15, 2008 by CyberNet.

google spreadsheets edit.png

Google actually made an interesting move yesterday in terms of how people can collaborate on the spreadsheets they create. If you take a look at the Share tab in one of your Google Spreadsheets you’ll notice a new option towards the bottom that’s new. With it you can share a spreadsheet that can be edited by anyone and everyone which, as Google OS points out, essentially makes this a wiki.

A feature like this is nice because users don’t need an account to collaborate on a spreadsheet. Unfortunately that also means that the URL for the document can easily be shared, and you could quickly start finding unwanted information popping up. I guess it’s fortunate that Google provides a rather extensive revision history so that in a single click you can go back to before the unwanted changes were made.

What I would really like to see from Google is a way to password protect a document without needing a username. That way you could distribute a password to, for example coworkers, without having to worry about the public stumbling across the document. And then you could also change the password at your own leisure. Now that would be perfect for some of the things that I’m working on.

Recent events make it seem as though Google has been showing some love to the Spreadsheets, because in the last few months they added offline support, introduced gadgets, and developed a sweet form system. I can’t wait to see what else they have in store for us!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 22

Helpful Tip: Add More Speed Dials in Opera 9.5

Posted in: Features, Newly Released, Opera, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on June 13, 2008 by CyberNet.

opera speed dial.jpg
(Click to Enlarge)

arrow Windows Win; Mac Mac; Linux Linux arrow
I never thought Opera was going to make this possible, but I’m pleased to say that in the new Opera 9.5 you can actually customize how many Speed Dial entries are shown at any one given time! They are so incredibly useful that I’ve found myself needing more than the nine that comes standard in the browser. I will say that the Opera team could have made it easier for users to customize how many Speed Dial entries are shown at a time, but I’m just grateful that in Opera 9.5 this can now be changed. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Note the path to the Opera Preferences (type about:opera into the address bar to find it). Also, make sure you have at least one site added to Speed Dial already.
  2. Close Opera. This is important to prevent Opera from modifying the configuration file we’re about to edit.
  3. Open speeddial.ini file in any text editor from the Opera Preferences directory that you found Step 1.
  4. Add the following lines (somewhere near the top is fine), and adjust number of rows & columns to meet your needs. I’ve got the speeddial.ini file open in the background in the screenshot above, and you can see that I set the number of rows and columns to 5.
    [Size]
    Rows=5
    Columns=5
  5. Start Opera.

You’ll need to play around with the number of rows and columns until you find something that fits your screen well. In my example I added five rows and five columns, but you’ll notice that some of the rows don’t show up. Opera requires a minimum size for each of the Speed Dial entries, and if they don’t all fit they will simply run off the screen. Once that happens there’s no way to access them since scrollbars aren’t shown.

Options like these would probably be better served in the opera:config advanced options area, but hey, I won’t complain. Speed Dial is Opera’s most useful feature for me, and having more of them makes it even better.

One thing that you should note is that Opera Link will keep your Speed Dials synchronized across multiple computers, but it will only do work for the first nine entries you have. So don’t expect to all 50 of your Speed Dial entries to appear on all of your computers running Opera. Sorry, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. ;)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 18

CyberNotes: Add Separators to Mac OS X Leopard Dock

Posted in: CyberNotes, Hacks, Mac, Screenshots, Software, Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili

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

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

arrow Mac Mac only arrow
One of the first things that I did when I got my new (and first) Mac is I started customizing different aspects of the Dock. There’s actually a decent number of things that you can customize with the Dock by default, and it didn’t take long for me to start finding out some tricks here and there. A favorite of mine would be the drag-to-resize feature when clicking on the application/document separator. And then Lifehacker showed how I could add recent items to the Dock.

One thing that Apple failed to include was a way to separate your icons into groups, which can make it a little easier to find your applications. I figured there had to be a way to do this, and after a little Google searching I came across this article by Mac OS X Hints. In the end you can add as many separators as you would like on either side of the Dock. It’s really just an blank gap, but they work well at serving as a separators.

mac leopard spacers.png

How do you do this? There are actually two different ways that I’m going to show you, and I’ll leave it up to you to decide which one you’d like to use. You must be running Mac OS X Leopard for this to work though.

–SuperDocker (Homepage)–

The SuperDocker application is probably the easiest option for adding separators to the Leopard Dock. After you download and run the application you’ll want to look for the “Add a separator” option on the Dock tab:

mac separators leopard.png

From there you just need to decide which side you would like the separator to appear on. Choosing the Application zone will place the separator on the left side of the Dock, and choosing the Documents zone puts the separator on the right side. Every time you click one of those buttons you’ll see your Dock restart itself so that the new separators appear.

–The Terminal–

Power users who like to get their hands a little bit dirty will probably prefer to use the terminal. That way the need for yet another third-party application on your computer is eliminated. Here are the three commands that you’ll need to use:

  1. To add a separator to the left side of the dock (the application side) enter this into the terminal:
     

    defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{tile-data={}; tile-type="spacer-tile";}'
     

    Repeat this step for each separator you would like, and make sure to press Enter each time to execute the command.

  2. To add a separator to the right side of the dock (the document side) enter this into the terminal:
     

    defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-others -array-add '{tile-data={}; tile-type="spacer-tile";}'
     

    Repeat this step for each separator you would like, and make sure to press Enter each time to execute the command.

  3. Now you need to reset the Dock, which can be done by entering this into the terminal:
    killall Dock

Here’s a screenshot from when I executed each of the steps listed above:

mac dock separator terminal-1.jpg

–Removing the Separators–

If you ever decide that you don’t want the separator(s) anymore there are two fast ways to get rid of them. Just like most other Dock items you can drag each one off the Dock to have them removed, or you can Ctrl+Click (a.k.a. right-click) on them and select the remove option.

–Overview–

Maybe in the next version of Mac OS X Apple will think to add some sort of separation option to the Dock, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for that. At least there are tricks like this one that are able to separate the dozens of icons hosted in your Dock.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 15

Download Vista SP2 Beta via Windows Update

Posted in: blu-ray, Features, Pre-Release, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on October 30, 2008 by CyberNet.

vista sp2.jpgIf you like to stay on the bleeding edge of technology (and you’re running Vista) you may want to consider modifying two registry keys on your system so that you can participate in the Vista SP2 Beta program. To join the program all you have to do is download this batch file, and run it on your Vista machine as an administrator. Then just check for available Windows Updates (it may take 30 minutes or so for it to show up in the Windows Updates).

Think carefully whether you want to do this or not. There will likely be some bugs that could cause problems with your system, but at the very least it will cause Vista to expire on 4/2/2010 (or around then). Plus it will place the “Evaluation copy” message on your desktop wallpaper. You can always uninstall Vista SP2 to remove the evaluation message and expiration date, but it’s important to know what you’re getting into before you try to install it.

So what’s new in Vista SP2? Here’s a brief rundown that the Vista blog provided last week:

  • Windows Vista SP2 adds Windows Search 4.0 for faster and improved relevancy in searches.
  • Windows Vista SP2 contains the Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack supporting the most recent specification for Bluetooth Technology.
  • Ability to record data on to Blu-Ray media natively in Windows Vista.
  • Adds Windows Connect Now (WCN) to simplify Wi-Fi Configuration.
  • Windows Vista SP2 enables the exFAT file system to support UTC timestamps, which allows correct file synchronization across time zones.

Windows Vista SP2 is expected to be released in final form sometime in the first half of 2009. Judging by the expiration date of Vista SP2 Beta I’d say that sounds about right.

[via WinFuture – English Translation]

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 13

CyberNotes: Extensions that Don’t Work with Firefox 3

Posted in: CyberNotes, Firefox 3, Firefox Extensions, Software, Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili

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

CyberNotes
Web Browser Wednesday

With the Firefox 3 release right around the corner I thought this would be a good time to look over the extensions available, and see which ones haven’t been updated. There’s actually a descent amount that still need to be updated before they will work with the final release, but if you look around many have pre-release versions that they are getting ready to roll out.

So what we’ve got for you today are instructions on downloading/installing extensions that aren’t officially compatible, a list of extensions that currently have Beta versions that work with Firefox 3, and finally a few extensions that already appear to be extinct. The lists are by no means comprehensive, but I also figured that everyone can chime in below with your own findings.

–Forcing Compatibility–

Using the trick we’re about to show you it’s possible to bypass any compatibility checking, which means you’ll be able to install (not necessarily run) any extension. This is obviously not recommended for everyone, and you should only use this as a last-ditch effort.

  1. In the Address Bar type about:config followed by the Enter key. Continue through the warning message if it’s shown.
  2. Right-click in the main area, and select New -> Boolean
    firefox new boolean.png
  3. Enter extensions.checkCompatibility into the box that appears, and click the OK button.
    firefox checkcompatibility.png
  4. Then choose false in the next window.
  5. Now you can install any extension, but remember that they are not guaranteed to work. I’ve seemed to have pretty good results with this though.

One problem that you might notice is that when you go to install an extension that’s not compatible with your version of Firefox the “Add to Firefox” button will be grayed out. This is quickly remedied by going to the “All Versions” page, and you’ll find a link to that following the description of the add-on:

firefox all versions.png

Once on that page you can download the most recent version of the add-on without the site checking what version of Firefox you’re running, but you’ll need to follow the steps outlined above before being able to actually install it.

–Currently in Development–

I know that some of you are waiting for certain extensions to get upgraded before you’ll make the jump to Firefox 3, and so I’ve assembled a list of eight rather popular ones that will definitely have new versions coming out. Each of these already have a pre-release version publicly available, which may persuade you to make the switch a little early. ;)

  • Sage [Homepage]
    This is the much beloved RSS feed reader, but it hasn’t been updated since January 2007. Someone else has begun reworking it to make it play nice with Firefox 3, and the new version can be downloaded here.
  • FEBE [Homepage]
    You can use this to backup your extensions, and for some people it’s a rather critical extension to have. They are currently working on the next milestone release, and the Beta version is available which works with Firefox 3.
  • FireFTP [Homepage]
    Ever want to have an FTP client in your browser? With FireFTP you can, but you’ll need to download the preview release if you want Firefox 3 compatibility.
  • FoxyTunes [Homepage]
    Controlling your media player has never been so easy, but Firefox 3 users were starting to get worried that this add-on wasn’t going to be updated. Despite not having released a new version in almost a year they do have FoxyTunes 3 Beta publicly available, which includes Firefox 3 support.
  • Firebug [Homepage]
    Most web developers absolutely love this extension, and the good news is that a version for Firefox 3 is right around the corner. If you’re a bit anxious you can hop on over and download Firebug 1.2 Beta.
  • ColorfulTabs [Homepage]
    Make your tabs more identifiable with this extension, and Firefox 3 users will find a Beta version here.
  • Tab Mix Plus [Homepage]
    It’s safe to say that this is the all-in-one solution for anything you want to do with tabs. And work for a Firefox 3 version is always going on.
  • Smart Bookmarks Bar [Homepage]
    Save some room on the Bookmarks toolbar by only showing icons. The latest release, available from here, is compatible with Firefox 3.

–All Good Things Must Come to an End–

There are a handful of extensions that I have come across which you shouldn’t hold out too much hope for. These three look like they will become extinct:

  • VideoDownloader [Homepage]
    With this extension you can download videos from 60+ movie sites, but it has been kicked back into the “experimental” stage (meaning you’ll need a Mozilla account to download it) even though it has an astounding 13 million downloads. It would likely be one of the most downloaded extensions right now, but it hasn’t seen an update in nearly 2 years. So don’t get your hopes up for this one.
  • MinimizeToTray [Homepage]
    A lot of people are going to be disappointed to hear that the MinimizeToTray extension doesn’t work with Firefox 3, and it doesn’t look like there are any plans to fix it. The last update was in October 2006 just in time for Firefox 2, and there’s been no mention of a new version being worked on. Yikes!
  • Tab Groups [Homepage]
    This project didn’t last very long, and that’s disappointing because it’s an extension that I really enjoyed. It’s only had one release, and there’s no sign that the developer is still working on it.

–Overview–

And now we turn the keyboard over to you, our trusty readers. Let us know in the comments below which extensions you’re holding out for, and which ones have pre-release versions that you’ve been tinkering with.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 12

Windows 7 Recovery Disc

Posted in: Software, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7

This article was written on October 19, 2009 by CyberNet.

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
I received a tip from Mark over the weekend that NeoSmart had posted their Windows 7 recovery disc ISO images just like they did when Vista was released. These discs are extremely handy to have especially if you didn’t receive any installation media with your new computer, which is a common occurrence when purchasing from a majority of manufacturers including Dell and HP.

Why are these recovery discs useful? They include the most important part of what you can find on the Windows 7 installation disc if you purchase a retail copy of the OS. These recovery discs strip away everything except for the recovery portion, which brings the size down to about 5% of what the normal disc weighs in at. With it you’ll able to do things like restore your computer from a backup, repair the startup, roll back to a System Restore point, run diagnostics, open the command prompt, and more.

I’ve used the Vista Recovery Disc numerous times to fix my own machine when the startup has become corrupt (namely because of installing and uninstalling several different Linux distributions). All I have to do is throw in the CD/DVD, run the Startup Repair, and Windows always manages to diagnose and fix the problem within minutes (example). This is something Microsoft got right in Vista… it’s a recovery tool that shockingly works, and the same functionality has been carried over into Windows 7.

windows 7 recovery disc-1.png

So what do you have to do? Well, you simply download the ISO image below, burn it to a disc, boot your computer with it, and begin the recovery process. Here’s the 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) versions of the recovery tool that I’ve uploaded to MultiUpload so that you don’t have to download them through a torrent:

If you want to download it through a torrent jump on over to NeoSmart where you’ll find the links you need. Thanks again to Mark for the tip!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 07

How to Upgrade to iOS 5 Today, Without Any Developer Account

Posted in: Apple, hack, ios 5, security, Today's Chili, top, video

One day and iOS 5 has been hacked already. Gizmodo reader and Apple lover Mert Erdir has discovered how to upgrade to iOS 5 without developer accounts, using a simple backdoor. Everyone can do it following these extremely simple instructions: More »

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Jun 06

Defraggler 2.0 Beta Offers Boot-Time Defragmenting

Posted in: free, Freeware, performance, Pre-Release, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on October 22, 2010 by CyberNet.

defrag computer.png

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
Earlier this week the first Beta release of Defraggler 2.0 was posted, which is a pretty big milestone for the software. This defragmentation utility is freely available, and this update serves as the first major milestone in nearly three years (Defraggler 1.0 Beta debuted back in November 2007). Interestingly enough the list of new features isn’t all that long, but when you’re talking about a Windows defragmenter program a lot of what you’ll want to see are things that happen behind-the-scenes.

The list of new features include:

  • Offering complete offline defrag during the boot process with full OS support
  • UI has been improved with a new Drive Map and customizations
  • Rearchitected the internal defrag processes to make it faster and more efficient

While that list is short the last bullet encompasses a pretty big overhaul, and I see the boot-time defragmenting as a nice feature since it can be set as a one-time thing or at every boot. If you choose to use that option your machine will defrag before you even login to your system, which may mean that it will be able to reorganize some of the files on your system that would have otherwise been unmovable.

I look forward to them polishing this up a bit more, but in my brief tests this Beta worked well. Keep in mind that they don’t have this packaged as a portable release yet like they offer for their latest stable version, which may mean that some of you will want to hold off a bit if you were wanting to throw this on a USB drive.

Defraggler 2.0 Beta Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Jun 03

VLC 0.9.0 Includes Last.FM Support

Posted in: Freeware, Linux, Mac, Music, Pre-Release, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

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

vlc 09.png
Click to Enlarge

arrow Windows Win; Mac Mac; Linux Linux arrow
VLC is one of the most well-known media players out there, and it’s been almost 4 years since they’ve released a major new version. VLC 0.9.0 is on the horizon, and it packs in 2 years of development… so you can expect some great things. There’s just one gotcha: Windows 98/ME and Mac OS X 10.3.9 are no longer supported operating systems.

So what’s new in this release? One of the biggest things would have to be the revamped interface seen in the screenshot above. The preferences have been drastically overhauled, and are now broken up into “simple” and advanced settings. That way new users aren’t overwhelmed by the number of things that can be configured.

Beauty is only skin deep though, and that’s why there’s much more than the flashy new interface that’s worth a look:

  • Improved playlist support: Shoutcast TV listings, Audioscrobbler/Last.FM support (in supported countries), album art, and more
  • Better tag support
  • Supports most types of subtitles
  • New and enhanced filters
  • Improved mouse gestures
  • Full support for meta data editing (ID3v2, Ogg/Vorbis, AAC, APEv1/2)
  • and more…

If you’re looking for the Last.FM support you’ll have to dig through the options (Tools -> Preferences). You’ll need to be in the “advanced” view by filling in the All bubble located in the lower-left corner. Then navigate to Interface -> Control Interfaces -> Audioscrobbler. From there you can enter in your Last.FM username and password. Then click on the Control Interfaces section, and check the “Submission of played songs to Last.FM” box. VLC will share your listening habits with Last.FM from there on out.

vlc last.fm.png

You can grab a pre-release version of VLC 0.9.0 (Windows installer), or you can wait for it to reach final form. From what I can tell this is shaping up to be a nice release.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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