Apr 19

Microsoft Wisens Up to Windows 7 Cracks?

Posted in: leaked, Microsoft, Release Date, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7

This article was written on July 07, 2009 by CyberNet.

Over the weekend I decided to download Windows 7 Build 7264, which is the latest build to have been leaked. This was considered to be an RTM escrow build, which meant that this would have been the version that gets shipped given that Microsoft didn’t find any show-stopper bugs. If Wikipedia is anything to go by there have since been 4 other RTM escrow builds since 7264 (now at 7268), but none of those have leaked.

Before you rush to download the latest leaked builds it’s important to know that they no longer accept your free Beta/RC product keys. This actually started occurring about a month ago when build 7229 was leaked, and users who decided to install the build were left with a 30-day unactivated copy of Windows 7. Should you manage to get it activated by other means, like a crack, it still doesn’t bypass the March 1st, 2010 expiration date.

Once I managed to get Windows 7 Build 7264 installed I wanted to see if the one activation crack I saw floating around actually worked, because if it did Microsoft would have a hard time trying to block it in the next week or two before RTM. If that were the case we could probably be running fully activated copies of the final Windows 7 release by the end of the month. Of course I’m going off the fact that it took merely a few days for the RTM copy of Vista to leak after it was complete.

So how well does the crack work? What’s nice about this crack is that it’s a one-click solution that doesn’t even require a restart. It took about a minute to work its magic, and after that my System properties were showing that I was running a fully activated and genuine copy of Windows 7 Ultimate:

windos 7 crack-1.png

That’s great news for the pirates of the world, right? Not so fast. I played around with it for a little while and everything was working great. I installed a program or two, and thought it was time to reboot. When my computer was starting up Microsoft decided it would be a good time to tell me that they caught me trying to steal a cookie from the cookie jar:

windows 7 crack genuine.png

Man, that cryptic message is sure to scare some people. I think all that was missing from it was a line saying “the FBI has been notified. Do not run, we will find you.” It’s worth noting that you don’t have to actually “reinstall Windows.” You are still able to get into your machine by pressing the red “X” or clicking the Cancel button, but your computer is treated as though it’s not genuine. And now when you go to the System properties instead of it saying “Windows is Activated” it now says that the Product ID and Activation Status are “unavailable”.

Now I’m not saying that there won’t be a crack for Windows 7 available, but there’s a good chance it won’t be ready when the RTM copy is leaked. It’s inevitable that some sort of crack/patch will be released… it’s just a matter of time. Until then I wonder if Microsoft will be able to sway any pirates over to the legal side of Windows.

I can’t let you walk away without a party gift though. One thing I like in these recent builds is the new “Harmony” wallpaper. Here’s a 1920×1200 version of the wallpaper for those of you who want it.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apr 19

CyberNotes: How to add Breadcrumbs to Windows Explorer in XP

Posted in: CyberNotes, Freeware, Software, Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili, Windows XP

This article was written on June 14, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

One of the best features that I have found in Vista is the nicely designed Windows Explorer. It makes it easy to navigate through your folders, and allows you to put frequently used folders in the sidebar on the left side. Best of all is the great breadcrumb navigation that allows you to navigate backwards through folders with ease.

Vista’s Windows Explorer

Getting those breadcrumbs in Windows XP is actually very easy, thanks to a free application that was just released last week called QT Address Bar (Download Mirror). If the name sounds familiar, that’s because we previously wrote about a program they make called QT TabBar which puts tabs in Windows Explorer.

So now back to the breadcrumbs. I’ve only seen one other application (found on Lifehacker) that did something like this, but it didn’t take on the same appearance of Vista’s Windows Explorer. QT Address Bar is about as close as it gets, and here’s the simple steps needed to set it up:

  1. Download QT Address Bar (Download Mirror) and install it. The installation is a one-click process so it only takes a second. Oh, and the uninstallation is just as easy since all it really does is register a few things with the operating system, so you won’t find any folders in the Program Files.
    QT Address Bar
  2. Either logout of Windows XP and log back in, or restart the computer.
  3. After you’re back in Windows, open Windows Explorer. Don’t panic, you’re not supposed to see QT Address Bar yet! Right-click on a toolbar and select the QT Breadcrumbs Address Bar option from the menu:
    QT Address Bar
  4. Now that the QT Address Bar is visible and working, you should consider removing the normal address bar by right-clicking on a toolbar and unchecking the Address Bar option.
    QT Address Bar
  5. Now have fun with it! QT Address Bar actually goes one step beyond what Vista does by allowing you to deeply navigate folders from within the breadcrumbs. You can even right-click on a folder from within the breadcrumbs:
    QT Address Bar

There ya go, now everyone still using XP can benefit from one of my favorite things in Vista’s Windows Explorer. Let us know if you have any other tips on how you bring some of Vista’s features into Windows XP!

QT Address Bar (Download Mirror)

Thanks to the anonymous tipster for pointing out this program!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apr 18

CyberNotes: How to Change the Primary Monitor on a Laptop

Posted in: CyberNotes, Software, Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows Vista, Windows XP

This article was written on June 21, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

When hooking my laptop up to an external monitor, the first thing that I like to do is extend my desktop over to that monitor. That way I am able to use my main monitor, but I am also able to utilize the screen on my laptop which practically doubles the amount of screen space I have to work with.

The only problem is that Windows has never let me choose which monitor is the primary one, and by default it always sets my laptop to be the primary display. I don’t like this because I have my main monitor in front of me, and my laptop sits more off to the side. Despite there being an option to choose which monitor is the primary one in the Display Settings, it has always been grayed out for me. After several hours of messing around, I have finally been able to figure out a solution that should work for everyone who has that option grayed out.

Vista’s External Monitor Option Grayed Out

On Windows Vista, the grayed out option reads “This is my main monitor” while on XP it says “Use this device as the primary monitor.” The two options mean the same thing, but the wording has been changed in Vista.

The reason that the option is grayed out is because some graphics cards don’t support changing the primary monitor. Well, they do, it just takes a little trickery to get it done. It won’t take you long to do, and doesn’t require you to download any additional tools or hack the registry. I was actually surprised at how easy it is after I figured out how I could get around it:

  1. Here’s what I’m starting out with: the monitor on my laptop is enabled and my external monitor disabled:
    Vista External Monitor
  2. The first thing you need to do is to enable only the monitor that you want to be the primary one. This is done by pressing the Function (Fn) key on your laptop along with the “F” key that switches the display. There should be either a picture of a monitor on the “F” key or it should say something like “CRT/LCD”. For me the key combination is Fn+F8:
    External Monitor Keyboard Shortcut
  3. So right now I have my external monitor enabled, and my laptop screen is off:
    Vista External Monitor
  4. Now I open up the Windows Display Settings, click on the box with the number 2 in it, and choose the “Extend the desktop onto this monitor.” In this case the secondary monitor is your laptop and should be the one disabled:
    Vista External Monitor
  5. Now enjoy the bliss of having the Start Menu in front of you instead of off to the side:
    Vista External Monitor

Note: You can also reverse this process to have the Start menu show up on the laptop’s monitor instead of on the external monitor.

The cool thing is that Windows will remember this setting so that every time after setting this up, it will properly designate the primary monitor. As soon as you unplug the external monitor, Windows will then move the Start Menu back to the Laptop just like you would expect it to.

Hopefully this will help someone out there because I spent hours searching the Internet trying to figure it out before finally sitting down and trying to come up with a solution myself.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apr 16

CyberNotes: How to Print a Password Protected PDF

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

This article was written on May 31, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

When it comes to PDF documents I’m not really one that likes to read them online. If they’re only about 10 or 15 pages I’ll go ahead and print them out to read later on when I’m away from my computer. However, some people remove the ability to print a PDF when it is created.

I’m against that sort of thing because if I can open and read the PDF, then I should be able to print it for reference later on. When I received a PDF last week that was like this I was determined to find a way to get around it.

Some ways I found included taking a screenshot of the whole document and then printing out the image, but that seemed like way too much work for both me and my printer (printing an image is much more intensive than printing a PDF). Then I found the exact freeware application that I was looking for: PDF Unlocker!

Unfortunately the homepage was removed for this program, but I was still able to find it on Download.com (Download Mirror). It removes 40 or 128–bit passwords from a PDF, including the one preventing you from printing, but you must be able to view the PDF. By that I mean the whole PDF can’t be password protected.

Here is an example document that I created with a screenshot of Google’s homepage. The red boxes show that printing has been disabled and that the document is considered “secure”:

PDF Password Protection

After you get it setup here is what you want to do:

  1. Download and install PDF Unlocker.
  2. The installation should have created a shortcut on the desktop that has a key for an icon. Drag your protected PDF onto that icon:
    PDF Password Protection
  3. Now a screen will quickly flash, it doesn’t require any interaction on your part so just wait for the screen to disappear before proceeding:
    PDF Password Protection
  4. There will now be another PDF file in the same location as the protected one, and the only difference is the new one has “_no PW” attached on to the end of the filename. Double click on the new PDF to open it:
    PDF Password Protection
  5. Now enjoy all of the features that had been removed from the document, such as printing and page extraction (a.k.a. copy and paste functionality)!
    PDF Password Protection

Even though the process here is listed as being 5 steps, it will really only take a few seconds for you to complete it. This program has removed the burden and hassle of being able to only read certain PDF’s on my computer, so I thought that this was something that I had to share.

Of course, I guess I should say that you are not to use this in any illegal ways…yada yada. You know the drill.

Download the Freeware PDF Unlocker (visit the now deceased homepage of PDF Unlocker)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apr 15

Smart Defrag: Fast Defragmenter for Free

Posted in: Freeware, performance, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on July 01, 2010 by CyberNet.

smart defrag.png

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
For the longest time I’ve always been good about regularly defragmenting my hard drives. With Windows 7/Vista that has been a bit easier since it is set up to automatically defrag all drives every Wednesday, but I have to admit that Smart Defrag trumps many of the alternatives because of how fast it really is.

Smart Defrag is free for both personal and business use, and can be set up to automatically manage the fragmentation of your drives. According to the website this program has been designed with large-sized drives in mind, and I can vouch for it’s ability to defragment drives much faster than any other application I’ve tried. Plus it can be configured to automatically defragment your system drive or all drives after your computer has been idle for a given amount of time… definitely a nice feature.

Here are some highlights from their website:

  • Extremely Easy to Use – Its intuitive interface makes Smart Defrag the ideal utility for complete computer novice.
  • Exceptionally Efficient Defragmentation – Smart Defrag has the world’s fastest defragmenting engine. It’s been specially designed for modern, large hard drives, so it eliminates long waiting time.
  • Optimize Disk Performance – Smart Defrag doesn’t just use simple defragmentation. It also streamlines your file system, places the frequently used files and directories into the fastest area of the disk, enabling your computer to run at top speed with the most stability.
  • Always-on to Work Automatically – Smart Defrag works automatically and quietly in the background, so it continually and constantly keeps your computer fragment-free.
  • Data Safe and Reliability Guaranteed – Besides, unlike other “Automated” Defragmenters, Smart Defrag does NOT constantly perform analysis and defrag, which does damage your hard drive and shorten its life. Smart Defrag has a “Safe Intelligence” technology that can assure the health of your disk by deciding When and How to execute defragmentation.
  • Free Defragmenter Forever – Smart Defrag is 100% freeware. Download, use, and update it absolutely free for your personal computers, business or enterprise servers –– it won’t cost you a penny.

Smart Defrag Homepage (Windows only; 32/64-bit; Freeware)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apr 13

CyberNotes: Recover Lost Bookmarks in Firefox

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

This article was written on November 21, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Web Browser Wednesday

Has something ever happened to your Firefox bookmarks, and you were left wondering how you could get back the bookmarks that you lost? Some of you may be using a service such as Foxmarks (review) so that all of your bookmarks are also backed-up online, but often any change you make to your bookmarks will also be reflected in the service you’re synchronizing with. Therefore if half of your bookmarks get deleted on your computer, they will probably get deleted online as well.

There is actually an easy way for you to recover from such a catastrophe, but you only have a few days to act on it. In your Firefox profile there is a folder called bookmarkbackups, and in there you will see five days worth of bookmark backups. Ever since Firefox 1.5, the browser has created daily snapshots of your bookmarks in case anything ever happened to them, which can be imported back into Firefox to restore your bookmarks.

Firefox 3 Users: Follow this updated guide for information on restoring Firefox 3 bookmarks.

The first thing you need to do is located your Firefox profile folder:

Operating SystemProfile folder location(s)
Windows 95/98/Me

C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\

C:\Windows\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\

Windows NT 4.xC:\Winnt\Profiles\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\
Windows 2000 and XPC:\Documents and Settings\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\
Windows VistaC:\Users\<Windows login/user name>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\
Unix

~/.mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/

Mac OS X

~/Library/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/

~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/

Once you have found that, just look for the bookmarkbackups folder, which is pictured below. In it you should find at least 5 HTML files that are dated, each corresponding to a different day’s bookmark backup:

Firefox Bookmarks Backup

The best thing that you can do is copy that file somewhere else, such as your desktop, to ensure that it remains in tact. To import the bookmarks back into Firefox go to Bookmarks -> Organize (or Manage) Bookmarks -> File -> Import -> from File and browse for the HTML file that you just copied to your desktop. Firefox will then import the bookmarks back into the browser.

Alternatively you can copy the bookmark backup file, rename it to bookmarks.html, and replace your existing bookmarks.html file located in your profile folder. This will completely replace all of your existing bookmarks, which may or may not be what you want to do.

Firefox Export Bookmarks–On Demand Backups–

If you plan on doing something that could corrupt your bookmarks, or just for an added precaution, you can manually backup your Firefox bookmarks. Just go to Bookmarks -> Organize Bookmarks -> File -> Export, and choose a location to save the HTML file.

–Number of Backups–

As I mentioned earlier, Firefox only has bookmark backups for the last five days by default, but that can be changed. Here’s what you have to do:

  1. Start Firefox.
  2. In the Address Bar type about:config and press Enter.
  3. Find the option that is named browser.bookmarks.max_backups and double-click on it.
  4. Increase or decrease the value to whatever you would like. I changed mine to 10.
  5. That’s all!

Firefox Bookmarks Backup About Config

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apr 13

CyberNotes: Shortcuts to End Processes and Programs

Posted in: CyberNotes, Freeware, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on December 13, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

Over in the CyberNet forum, Pieter posted an awesome tip for Linux users where you can actually create a shortcut to forcefully terminate an application. This is handy in situations where a program, such as Firefox, freezes up and won’t shutdown. I figured there had to be a way to do this in Windows as well, and so I started searching around.

Almost every site that I found recommended using the taskkill (instructions) command line option, which is rather easy to create a shortcut for since it is built-in to Windows. Doing taskkill /f /im firefox.exe would be the command needed to “forcefully” close Firefox at a moments notice, but I found one flaw with it. Sometimes it is handy being able to forcefully close Firefox even when it’s not frozen, because then you know the next time you start the browser it will ask whether you want to restore your tabs and windows.

What I found with taskkill was that if a program wasn’t frozen it would gracefully close it. That might be nice in some cases, but when you use this with Firefox you won’t get the option to restore your session the next time you start the browser. Don’t worry, I wasn’t about to give up! With the help of a very small (just  6.5KB) free program it will take under a minute to setup.

Note: These instructions are written for Vista, but should be similar in all versions of Windows.

  1. You can download Taskill (note that it is only spelled with one “k”) from the developer’s homepage, but you’ll have to scroll down a ways to find it. Alternatively we are mirroring the file on our server to make it easier to download. Place the file in a location where you’ll easily know the path to it, such as at the root of the “C:\” drive.
  2. The program does have an GUI, but we aren’t going to be using it. Remember, our goal is to create a shortcut that takes advantage of it. Right-click on the Desktop and choose New -> Shortcut.
  3. When it asks for the location you need to type the path to Taskill, followed by the executable’s name that you want to forcefully close. It will look something like this:

    "C:\taskill.exe" firefox.exe

    Where the part in quotes is the location of taskill.exe, and then immediately after that you put the name of the executable program you want to close with the shortcut. Then click the Next button.

    (Click to Enlarge)
    Taskill Create Shortcut

  4. Name the shortcut whatever you would like. In this case we’re going to call it Kill Firefox.

    (Click to Enlarge)
    Taskill Name Shortcut

  5. Now you should have a pretty new icon that you can use to kill all instances of Firefox. You can put this on your desktop, in the Quick Launch bar, or even in the Start Menu.
    Taskill Firefox Shortcut
  6. Extra Credit: You can change the icon of the shortcut by right-clicking on it, selecting Properties, and then click the Change Icon button. While you’re in the Properties you should consider adding a keyboard shortcut if you plan on using it a lot!

This will probably only appeal to a small amount of people, but given the tiny application size and the fast execution I thought Taskill was pretty darn awesome. I use this with my Firefox so that I can shut it down at a moments notice!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apr 11

WrapUp: SearchTabs Enhances Your Google Results, Find Source Images for Desktop Wallpapers, and More

Posted in: Features, Firefox 3, Google, Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili, verizon, WrapUp

This article was written on October 15, 2009 by CyberNet.

Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, or just leave a comment on this page if you think you’ve got something we should include.

–News–

google shared docs.jpgShared Folders Now on Google Docs
Google has added a feature to Google Docs that I’m sure collaborators will love. They now let you share an entire folder of documents with a group of people instead of having to specify permissions on a per-document basis. That means you can have a folder of docs for co-workers, another for family members, and so on. This just got a lot more useful for me!


office 2010.jpgMicrosoft Ditches Works for Office 2010 Starter
Microsoft has decided to give the axe to MS Works, and replace it with Office 2010 Starter edition. This will included stripped-down ad-filled versions of both Word and Excel that will ship on many new PC’s… instead of the current 60-day trial solution that is getting included. I’m a bit torn as to whether this will be good or bad. In some ways I’m happy I won’t have to hear people say “why can’t I edit my documents in Office anymore?” I’m a bit concerned, however, as to what the quality of ads will be like, and what information Microsoft will be able to collect from users as a result of that.


verizon.jpgVerizon Promises Android Phones with Google Voice Support
Verizon and Google made a joint announcement that they will be working together to serve up some Android-powered phones this year. They also said that they will be including support for Google Voice, which was obviously a jab at Apple/AT&T considering the lack of support for the service from those two companies. This should definitely shine some more light on the Android platform, which will hopefully give Google the push they need to continually innovate in the mobile area.


–News in Brief–

walmart phone plan.jpgWalmart Offering $45 Unlimited Nationwide Cellphone Plan
The retail giant Walmart will begin offering a no-contract cellphone plan in the coming days that includes unlimited minutes, data, and messaging for a mere $45 per month.


gmail mean-1.jpgGmail Labs Introduces “Got the Wrong Bob?”
 Google can analyze the recipients that you have selected in an email composition, and see if you’ve likely chosen the correct people based on past email habits.


youtube details.jpgYouTube Shows Video Info
By right-clicking on a YouTube video you can now get information like bitrate, frame rate, and other details.


teen entrepreneur.jpgTen Teen Entrepreneurs to Watch
TechCrunch outlines 10 teens that you should keep an eye out for… because you’ll probably hear about them again in the future.


google sites.jpgGoogle Sites Gets More Features
When using Google Sites you can add things like documents, spreadsheets, calendars, and more.


schmidt.jpgGoogle’s (Lack of) Acquisition Process
 Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt admits that Larry and Sergey buy companies on a whim.


quickview.jpgQuickly View Formatted PDF’s in your Google Search Results
Google now includes a “Quick View” option next to PDF search results to make reading PDF’s less painful.


skipscreen.jpgMediaFire Pushes for a Firefox Extension to be Banned
MediaFire is urging Mozilla to remove a Firefox extension that is against their terms of service.


meebo.jpgMeebo Hits 90 Million Users
Congrats to Meebo for inching even closer to the huge 100 million user milestone!


pirate bay bunker.jpgPirate Bay Relocates to Nuclear Bunker
The Pirate Bay is protecting themselves from physical attacks by relocating to a nuclear warfare bunker.


–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

searchtabs.jpgSearchTabs Enhances Your Google Results
The SearchTabs Firefox extension is pretty cool because it leverages the data from Xmarks, which includes over one billion user bookmarks. SearchTabs looks at this data and displays stats next to the results letting you know how each one ranks in particular categories. This can definitely be helpful when trying to determine how reputable something is that you’re reading.


disk2vhd.jpgCreate a Virtual Machine Image From Your Hard Drive
Interestingly enough the Microsoft-owned Sysinternals company has created a free application that lets you turn the OS on your hard drive into a virtual machine image. The image that is generated can then be used in one of numerous virtual machine applications, or when you’re in Windows 7/Vista you can actually mount and browse the contents of the image without actually needing to fire it up.


photojoy.jpgCreate Dynamic Desktop Wallpapers
PhotoJoy is a free Windows app that lets you create dynamic wallpapers and screensavers from the photos you have stored on your computer. If you’re looking for a way to spice up your desktop this is an awesome way to do it. And, if you’re anything like me, you have plenty of photos on your computer for it to work with.


tineye.jpgFind Source Images for Desktop Wallpapers
I’m sure it’s happened to you before where you’ve seen an image or screenshot of an image that you really want to use as your wallpaper, but you’re not sure where the original high-res version can be found. That’s where TinEye comes in. Just upload the image, and it will try to locate some higher quality versions of the same photo that will hopefully be good enough to grace your desktop.


–Tips in Brief–

firefox 37 thumbnails.jpgFirefox 3.7 Starts Prepping for Windows 7
Firefox 3.7 is including Windows 7-specific features like jumplists and per-tab Taskbar thumbnails… it’s just disappointing that this final release won’t be available until next year.


doubletwist.jpgDoubleTwist: Another Media Player
This is a decent media player that supports a wide range of devices, including Android-powered gadgets.


wheresmycellphone.jpgWhere’s My Cell Phone Service Calls Your Phone
That’s right… you won’t have to ask one of your friends to call your phone the next time you can’t find it. Although that does require you to have it off of silent, and you have to be in the general vicinity if you want to hear it.


google homepage.jpgJoin the Minimalist Google Homepage Prototype
Google is testing a truly minimalist homepage with not much more than a search box and a few buttons. Just run a quick script and you’ll be able to join in the fun.


color code outlook.jpgColor Code Outlook for Easier Management
Make some of your emails stand out from the others by color coding them as they fly in.


default browser.jpgMake a Portable Browser Your Default
If you prefer to use a browser that is self-contained (a.k.a. portable) on your machine this is what you need to do to make it the default one.


windows mobile 65.jpgWindows Mobile 6.5 Review
Who would have thought… the reviews for Windows Mobile 6.5 aren’t looking too good. Gizmodo even goes as far as to say that the changes are barely noticeable.


tuberadio.jpgCreate Music Video Playlists with TubeRadio.fm
This website, which will remind you a lot of iTunes, lets you queue up a bunch of music videos that you want to watch.


–Downloads–

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apr 08

Backupify Automatically Creates Backups Of Your Online Belongings

Posted in: Today's Chili, twitter, Web Sites

This article was written on December 29, 2009 by CyberNet.

backupify.jpg

Over the last five years, there has been a huge increase in the amount of data we store online. We post pictures to Flickr, bookmark sites on Delicious, keep documents in Google Docs and tweet with Twitter. But unlike with offline data, backing up your online belongings requires a different approach. Luckily, Backupify has come to the rescue.

Backupify is an online cloud backup service. It currently supports the following sites, with more be added soon:

  • Flickr (photo sharing)
  • Twitter (microblogging)
  • Delicious (bookmarks sharing)
  • Zoho (office suite)
  • Google Docs (office suite)
  • WordPress (blogging)
  • Basecamp (project management)
  • Gmail (e-mail)
  • Facebook (social network)
  • FriendFeed (social network aggregation)
  • Blogger (blogging)
  • Hotmail (e-mail)

To have Backupify create a daily or weekly backup of these services, you have to provide your username and password to the site. For some services such as Flickr, Backupify uses safer ways to get access to your stuff so that you don’t have to supply your password. If you have multiple accounts with one service, you can enter all of them.

Once you’ve set up your services, the backups will start appearing under the Archives tab after they are made. That brings us to the bad news: Backupify can’t restore your data automatically yet. Still, this is better than having no data at all.

backupify archive.jpg

Backupify is completely free forever if you sign up before January 31st 2010, so get an account while you can!

Backupify Homepage

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apr 07

Get Twitter “Bubbles” on Your Desktop

Posted in: desktop, Freeware, Linux, Mac, Software, Today's Chili, twitter, Windows

This article was written on December 10, 2009 by CyberNet.

tweetbubbles.jpg
Click to Enlarge

arrow Windows Windows; Mac Mac; Linux Linux arrow
Twitter is taking the world by storm, and because of that we’re seeing a flood of third-party apps becoming available. One that recently caught my eye was the Adobe Air-powered TweetBubbles, which isn’t designed to be your typical Twitter client. In fact, you can’t even post to Twitter with it. How’s it useful then?

During presentations or events people tend to have a projector set up that will be used to go through some slides. Before the presentation starts the screen normally just sits there blank or maybe on the first slide, and the same thing happens again for intermissions. With TweetBubbles you can capture your audience’s attention by pulling in related Twitter posts by filtering according to keyword. When a match is found a chat-like bubble will appear around the edge of your desktop showing off the tweet that was recently posted.

There are some obvious flaws to this. The big one is probably that you don’t have much control over the contents of the tweets that show up. Once people at the conference see the keyword filter you’re using they could instantly post something that is inappropriate. The good thing is that you’d know who posted it… unless they prepared ahead of time by creating a Twitter account that doesn’t personally identify them.

As far as settings go you can only configure a handful of things like the keyword/hash you want to filter by, how transparent you want the bubbles to appear, and whether you want them to appear on the left, right, or both sides of the screen. That’s pretty much it.

So I’m not sure how many people will actually use an app like this, but I think the concept is awesome. It would surely keep your audience engaged even during “down time” in your presentation, which is something that could otherwise be difficult to do.

TweetBubbles Homepage (Freeware)
[via Technix]

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