Feb 27
Google has just announced the 2.0 of their Hangouts app for iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch. Sporting a new look and feel as well as big new features, this version … Continue reading
Feb 27
If you’ve become fond of the convenience that comes with going hands-free (and you’re a Chrome browser user), Google’s latest announcement is right up your alley: hands-free voice search in … Continue reading
Feb 27
This article was written on December 04, 2007 by CyberNet.
When it comes to Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) Microsoft is doing two things that almost counteract each other. First off Microsoft is easing up on the “Reduced Functionality Mode” for those users who don’t pass the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) test. As of right now if you don’t pass WGA Vista will disable premium features such as Aero Glass, ReadyBoost, games, and BitLocker. More annoyingly, however, is that it will log you out of Windows after just one hour of use.
From the standpoint of cracking down on piracy this might have been a good thing, especially since Microsoft is reporting the the Vista piracy rate is half of what it was with XP. The Reduced Functionality Mode, however, came at a cost for Microsoft. Some genuine Windows users have found themselves sitting at a computer that suddenly becomes pirated in Microsoft’s eyes, and when that happens they only have an hour at a time to work before they get logged out. In Vista SP1 when users are classified as non-genuine they will just see a notification in the System Tray as well as an image on the desktop background. It’s obviously still annoying, but at least if you’re on your way to give a presentation you don’t have to worry about your computer logging off every hour!
On the other hand Microsoft is cracking down on the Vista hacks available around the Internet. One method in particular, using purely software, is able to emulate an OEM BIOS. That is significant because users hacking Vista in this way will appear to be genuine to Microsoft. When emulating an OEM BIOS Microsoft can’t simply blacklist a serial number, and trying to flag non-genuine users would probably result in many genuine users falsely getting flagged as well.
Microsoft said that cracks like these will no longer work in Vista SP1, but that should be clarified a bit. In their current state Vista OEM BIOS cracks won’t work in SP1, but hackers will have developed a new method probably by the time SP1 is even released. You can’t blame Microsoft for trying though.
[via Ed Bott]
Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com
Feb 27
Today Google has made clear their intent on joining the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, a worldwide organization dedicated to standards, policies, and technology for the greater good of … Continue reading
Feb 27
This article was written on September 28, 2007 by CyberNet.
I can’t believe that I’m actually saying this, but I may have stumbled across a text editor that is better than Notepad++! In yesterday’s Daily Downloads I included a free program called PSPad, which sounded like a nice text and code editor. The reason that I had come across it is that they recently released a new Beta version of the software, and so I decided to try it out.
It had the features that I was already familiar with in Notepad++, such as syntax highlighting, but it also had some more unique things. One of the things I quickly fell in love with was the built-in FTP connection manager which would let me browse a remote FTP, open files, edit them, and then save the changes. All of that is done from within PSPad, and I found that to be tremendously useful.
Another thing that I liked was the more advances syntax highlighting that it includes. For example, when you’re in an HTML file and you place your cursor in the middle of a tag, the matching open/close tag is highlighted. I do quite a bit HTML development, and I have quickly become accustomed to this new feature.
Here’s a list of other things that PSPad has to offer:
- Manage projects
- FTP client – edit files directly from the web (stores login information, too)
- Text difference with color-coded differences highlighted
- Syntax highlighting according to file type
- Auto correction
- Intelligent internal HTML preview using IE and Mozilla
- integrated TiDy library for formatting and checking HTML code, conversion to CSS, XML, XHTML
- Reformat and compress HTML code, tag character case change
- ASCII chart with HTML entities
- Code explorer for Pascal, C/C++, INI, HTML, XML, PHP and more in development
- Spell checker
- Matching bracket highlighting
There are also some PSPad extensions available to add more features, syntax highlighting for obscure languages, and many other things. Even if you are content with Notepad++ or another text editor I think you should give this a whirl…remember, it doesn’t cost a dime!
Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com
Feb 27
This article was written on September 02, 2008 by CyberNet.
Google kicked off Labor Day yesterday with a huge announcement. They gave everyone a heads up that sometime today the Google Chrome web browser would be launched for the first time. Needless to say there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the pending release, but will it be able to live up to the hype?
The browser will include Google Gears and will be based on Webkit, which is the same rendering engine that powers the Safari web browser. That’s basically saying that if a website doesn’t work right in Safari there’s a good chance that it won’t work in Google Chrome either.
One of the most acclaimed features for Google Chrome is that it treats each individual tab as its own process on your computer. That way you’ll be able to see which tabs are eating up your memory, and when one of them crashes it won’t bring the entire browser down with it. That is definitely a welcomed feature.
Google’s browser has also taken a few cues from Opera. The more obvious example of this would be the “new tab” page that displays nine of your most visited sites (see screenshot above). It’s pretty clear that they took the idea of Opera’s Speed Dial, and then put their own little twist on it by displaying the user’s most visited sites instead of user-defined entries. They’ve also decided to place the tabs above the address bar, which is something very few browsers do besides Opera.
The question that’s burning in everyone’s mind is whether Google Chrome will be the browser that takes the world by storm. Personally, I don’t think so. I believe existing Firefox users will give it a shot, but probably won’t like not being able to customize it through the use of extensions. After all, Opera’s always criticized for not being extensible despite the fact that it ships with a robust amount of customization options. Google will probably have to target Internet Explorer users, and they’ll likely do that using a massive Adsense advertising campaign.
Google Chrome will be released for only Windows at first, but Google says Mac and Linux versions are on the way. Just hold on a little longer… today’s the day we get to see how Google envisions a browser.
Google Chrome Announcment
Screenshot Source
Thanks to everyone who sent in the tip!
Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com
Feb 26
This article was written on November 10, 2010 by CyberNet.
I’ve been getting into using Google Voice more and more these days since I’m able to send text messages to any phone number without having to pay for an outrageously priced SMS plan. With my iPhone I can use an app like Notifo to get free push notifications for SMS messages that I receive, and then there are several apps to choose from for sending messages using your account (or even Google’s free mobile-optimized site).
The even bigger benefit, however, is that I’m also able to respond to any messages right from my computer. With GVNotifier sending and receiving SMS messages with Google Voice doesn’t seem any more difficult than sending an instant message. If you receive a text message it will popup on the screen, and you can instantly respond from within that window.
Keep in mind that the app also handles calls and voicemails, and Windows 7 users will appreciate the jumplist support that provides quick access to your favorite contacts. At times GVNotifier still feels a bit rough around the edges, but from a functionality aspect it gets the job done.
Here are some frequently asked questions, and some answers provided by the developer:
- Can I change the polling rate?
Yes. Edit %localappdata%\GVNotifierWPF\settings.xml. Look for UpdateFreq, which is in seconds. Using a zero-value will disable updating completely. - Can I invoke a manual check?
Yes. Call GVNotifier.net.exe /check. (Other arguments include: /signout, /quit and /update_contacts) - Can I change the notification sound?
Yes. Edit %localappdata%\GVNotifierWPF\new.wav - Can I dial a number that isn’t in my contacts?
Yes. Type the number into contacts search. - What hotkeys does GVNotifier support?
While on the message window, Ctrl+N will clear the message log, Ctrl+R will check for new messages immediately. Ctrl+Enter will insert a new line, Escape will close the window. You may also middle-click the tray icon to check for new messages immediately. - Is GVNotifier portable?
Yes, copy the application files from the GVNotifier install loction. Create a blank text file named settings.xml in the same directory as GVNotifier.net.exe. GVNotifier will then store all preferences and cached contact photos in the same directory.
Unfortunately the developer hasn’t released an update since June 2010, but for the most part it already does everything I want it to. The only thing I’d like to see at this point is an easy way to display the phone number associated with each contact. I have a few contacts that have multiple phone numbers assigned to them, and I have to double-click to open each of their contact entries to find the correct one. That’s just a minor annoyance, and definitely won’t keep me from using the app.
Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com
Feb 26
I’m sure that you have been sitting in the office or at home, at some point and decided to order up some take out for lunch. The problem with many eateries at lunch time is that they are so busy you end up waiting forever for someone to pick up the phone, only to be greeted by a harried worker that often messes up your order. That’s where Square Pickup comes in.
Square Pickup is an app that is currently in development for iOS and Android devices. The app allows any restaurant that participates in Square payments to enable their entire menu to be ordered and paid for directly from the app. The upside for the restaurant is that no one has to take an order. The upside for the person ordering is that they can choose what they want and pay without having to wait for someone to pick up the phone. The orderer also doesn’t have to wait to checkout since they pay with the app, all they need to do is get their bag and walk out.
There are other services out there that offer similar capabilities – like GrubHub – but so many restaurants are already using Square for payments now that this could be a good alternative.
The app is currently in a limited preview mode, so you’ll have to wait before you can use it unless you’re fortunate enough to have received an invitation code.
[via Priceonomics]
Feb 26
IBM is throwing open the cognitive computing power of Watson to mobile developers, setting up a new challenge to create apps that take advantage of the supercomputer’s natural language processing, … Continue reading
Feb 26
CyberNotes: Update Your Status on Twitter (and more) from Opera’s Address Bar
Posted in: Today's ChiliThis article was written on July 30, 2008 by CyberNet.
Web Browser Wednesday
A few weeks ago we wrote about a Firefox extension that could post to Twitter right from the address bar, and it impressed me to say the least. One commenter, who goes by the name lilmoder, cleverly pointed out that you can do the same thing in Opera using its keyword search functionality. I was rather amazed with how the whole thing worked, and then I started to think about the possibilities it had.
Why this is Opera-only: Opera has “POST” capabilities for keyword searches, which Firefox isn’t capable of doing. For that reason the trick I’m about to show you only works in Opera.
After I found out about the trick I decided to see if I could update the status of multiple social networks simultaneously, and after a little digging I found just what I was looking for. Using a single keyword “search” in Opera I’ve managed to update Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce, Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, LinkedIn, Identica, Friendfeed, and several more social services simultaneously. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
So how do you do all of this? It’s actually simpler than you might think. We’re going to make use of a free service called HelloTxt that will do all of the dirty work for us. Here’s what you need to do:
- Create and configure a free HelloTxt account. To configure your account go to the settings, and enter in your credentials for each of the services you want to update the status on. Part of the configuration screen should look something like this:
- Pull up the mobile version of HelloTxt by visiting m.hellotxt.com. You must visit the mobile version in order for the trick to work. Make sure all of the services you want to use are checked. If they aren’t you may need to go back to the HelloTxt settings and configure your services.
- Right-click in the text field where you would normally type your post, and choose the Create Search option.
- Enter in a keyword that you want to use to post your messages. I’m going to use the keyword “post”, and you should take a look at the next step to see how the keywords work if you’re not familiar with them. I recommend going with a keyword that is 4 letters or less so that it is simple to use.
- Now it’s time to enjoy the simultaneous posting to all of your favorite social networks. In Opera’s address bar type your keyword followed by your status update, and then press Enter to submit it to all of your social networks!
- Look, it really worked:
So that’s how you can do some quick and easy posting to your favorite social networks right from the Opera address bar. One thing that you’ll probably notice is that every time you do post an update you’ll be taken to the HelloTxt page that tells you whether the posting was successful for each of your services. That might not be optimal for those of you wanting it to happen transparently, but it is nice knowing that each status update was done successfully.
–Adding/Removing Services–
If you ever decide that you want to add more services you’ll need to go through each of the steps (starting at step 2) again. This is because the submission URL changes depending on which services you have enabled at HelloTxt, and the easiest way to grab the updated URL is by recreating the keyword “search”. Before doing this you’ll need to delete the existing keyword search for HelloTxt by going to Tools -> Preferences -> Search, and then deleting the corresponding entry. I’m guessing you won’t be doing this too often because you probably won’t be adding/removing services all the time.
–Overview–
Opera might not be as extensible as Firefox is, but that doesn’t mean it falls short in functionality. After seeing this work in Opera I’m actually wishing that I could do the same thing in Firefox, but unfortunately Firefox’s keywords don’t have “POST” functionality with them.
Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com
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