Hasta La Gadget!

If you had harsh feelings about having Google, Facebook, or any other massive company tracking your activity for their own gain, fret no more: Google is being tipped today to make with the rewards. According to a tip sent to Engadget, there’s a new app coming soon to Android and Apple’s iPhone devices, one that […]

Writing a decent story is hard enough, but taking that story and turning it into a watchable film is even more complicated. But new software called Plotagon aims to turn anyone into a one-man movie-making machine. It uses a simple menu-based interface that helps you build a script, which turns into a computer-animated video as you’re writing it. Is it perfect? Nope. Far from it. It looks really fun though.

As you can see in the image above, Plotagon is divided into two parts: on the left is where you’ll write your manuscript, and on the right is a video player that shows you what your movie looks like. You don’t need to know the proper format for a manuscript or even have a deep vocabulary, because Plotagon cheats.

Since it would take an insanely complex program to read your mind or even parse your paragraph and figure out what you’re describing, Plotagon instead has a bank of scenes, characters, actions and more. As you pick out each element, it appears on your manuscript and is visualized in the video player almost instantaneously. It’s a bit like playing The Sims.

The only thing you can’t pick from Plotagon’s stock is the dialogue, which your digital actors will speak in silly synthesized voices. I don’t know if it supports other languages besides English though.

Plotagon is currently in beta, and is available for both Windows and OS X. You can download a free trial version on its official website, where you can also see a few short films made with the program. Plotagon will make money from its store, which will sell more characters, settings, etc. Imagine a Marvel character pack or a Star Wars location bundle. In fact, Stan Lee is going to make four new superheroes just for Plotagon. Imagine sharing co-creating duties with Stan the Man himself!

[via Mashable]

I kind of like tracking all of my activities, especially since I tend to run alone so I need the motivation to stay on target. While apps like RunKeeper and others work well to track runs, a simple pedometer is something good to keep track of every single move you make in a day.

Moves is a simple app that works in the background of your phone’s OS. It will track your movements automatically. There’s no need for any external devices or plug-ins.

Unlike pedometers, or fitness tracker bands, the Moves app doesn’t require anything but a smartphone to make it work. The app will also track your movements in cars, motorcycles, and public transport. From time to time, it mislabels my movements on my motorcycle as cycling, but otherwise it’s been pretty awesome. Keep in mind that with Moves running in the background, it will consume some added battery, though its makers claim you can still get a full day of usage of your phone with the app enabled. Of course, your mileage may vary.

It can be quite motivating, at least in my experience, when you realize how much you can walk, run or cycle in a day.  I’ve found that I want to beat my previous day’s movements almost every single day, or at least keep it at the same level.

There’s an iOS version that’s been around a bit longer, and the Android version was released just a few weeks ago. The best part is that it’s free.

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

Time Saving Tuesday

One of the greatest features in Windows has always been the Run command. It’s such a simple concept, yet if exercised properly, can be a power user’s dream come true. What we’ve got in store for you today might be a little much to absorb all at one time, but rest assured that once you become accustomed to how the Run command works you’ll be thankful that it is at your beckon call.

For starters it is important to know how you can bring up the Run command. In any version of Windows it can be done by using the keyboard shortcut WinKey+R. The odds are pretty good that there will also be an option located in the Start Menu labeled Run, or if you’re using Vista the search box essentially serves as a Run box as well (clever, huh?). Now lets get going running…

The Run box has a lot of different elements to it. There is the box where you enter in your command, the OK and cancel buttons, and, oh, I guess that’s pretty much it. Don’t mistake the simplicity for weakness! 😉

Here are some of my favorite things you can do with the Run command:

Quick Tip: Capitalization is ignored in the Run box, so don’t worry about whether you accidentally capitalize a letter or not.

• Launch a program – If there is a program that you’ve installed, such as Firefox or Nero, you can launch them by simply typing in the name of their main executable file in the Run box pictured above. For example, to run Firefox simply type firefox into the box, or to run Nero type nero. This will only work for applications that have been installed on the computer.
• Open a Control Panel item – You can open every single Control Panel option from the Run command, assuming that you know the proper command needed. Each Control Panel command starts with the word control (which by itself will open the Control Panel), and is then followed by the name of the item that you want to open. For example, to open the Mouse properties type control mouse into the Run box, or control printers for the printer configuration. Microsoft has a helpful guide with some of the commonly used Control Panel options listed.
• Shutdown a remote computer – By using a command such as shutdown /r you can restart the computer you’re using, but that’s not where the command comes in real handy. Assuming that you know the name or IP of a computer on your network you can actually shutdown or restart it from your own Run box. Just type shutdown /m \\MACHINE /r where “MACHINE” is the name or IP address of the computer you want to restart. If you just want to shutdown the computer leave off the “/r” on the end. More information on using the shutdown command can be found here.
• Remote Desktop – We’ve showed you how to create a shortcut for some of your Remote Desktop destinations, but you can also use it with the Run box. To connect to a computer with the IP address 192.168.0.101 just enter mstsc /v:192.168.0.101 into the box. For a few more parameters that you can use consult our last article.
• Refresh your IP address – In the past I’ve had troubles with our ISP, and I would frequently have to get a new IP address in order for my Internet to continue working. That could simply be done by entering ipconfig /renew into the Run box, which disconnects the computer from the network and then reconnects it again. The ipconfig command can be used in a lot of other ways as well, all of which can be found here.

There are many other things that the Run command can be used for, but those are the things that make it useful for me. In doing my research I came across an extensive list of things that can be used in the Run box, but many of them only apply to Control Panel items.

We know that many of you are Run command guru’s, so let us know what you use it for in the comments below!

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This morning a lovely piece of video has surfaced showing the LG-made Nexus 5 from all angles, complete with an early version of KitKat called Key Lime Pie. This device appears to be working with KitKat, but as you’ll find in the menu pull-down the user attains right off the bat, he’ll be heading down […]