Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on April 07, 2008 by CyberNet.

Google Apps users who have years (or just a few months worth) of emails stored in Outlook, Outlook Express or Thunderbird, now have a very simple way to upload those messages to a Google Apps mailbox (Gmail). Google just launched an open source desktop utility called Google Email Uploader that gets the job done. The best part is that the sent dates from all of your messages are kept in-tact and folders that you may have are converted to Gmail Labels. Not only is this utility for old email messages, it is also an uploader for all of your contacts.

Google describes the Email Uploader as:

The Google Email Uploader is a open source desktop utility for Microsoft Windows. It uploads email and contacts from desktop email programs (like Microsoft Outlook® ) into your Google Apps mailbox. It preserves information such as sent dates and sender/recipient data, as well as the folder structure used by email programs.

At this point there are a few downsides. The first is that it’s available only for Windows XP and Windows Vista.  The second is that this is something that isn’t available for the regular Gmail users. Google says that you must have a Google Apps Premier, Education, or Partner version of Google Apps in order to use this, however some people are reporting that this only works for Google Apps Premier subscribers. Google Operating System writes that you’ll receive an error message if you’re not a Premier subscriber (this is the paid version of Google Apps) which says, “you are not authorized to use this feature.”

Above is a screenshot of what you’d see if you downloaded the utility and started the process of uploading old messages. If you have Google Apps either the Education or Partner version and you try this out, be sure to let us know if you received the error message. It’s supposed to work for all Google Apps users but it may not work out that way and Google may have some tweaking they need to do.

Download the Google Email Uploader Here

Thanks for the tip Trip!

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on April 05, 2007 by CyberNet.

Tutorial Thursday

VLC Media Player has got to be one of the best video players available, and it doesn’t cost you a single penny. Why is it so great? Well, it is a combination of the extremely simple interface and the large number of codecs that are included to support almost any type of video. There is, however, one feature that many of you may have forgotten about…

Buried within the settings is an option that allows you set any video as a desktop wallpaper. This setting is similar to what Microsoft is offering as an “Extra” called Dreamscene in the Windows Vista Ultimate edition. Once you have enabled the option you’ll be able to set a video to play as your desktop background, have it repeat so that it continuously loops, and then you can minimize the VLC player to your System Tray so that it is out-of-sight.

1. Go to Settings -> Preferences -> Video -> Output Modules -> DirectX and in the bottom-right corner check the box labeled Advanced Options. Now you should see an option on the screen called Enable wallpaper mode, check that box.
   
2. If you want to be able to minimize the VLC Media Player to the System Tray you’ll have to enable that option in the Preferences as well. While in the Preferences go to Interface -> Main Interfaces -> wxWidgets. Uncheck the Taskbar option and then check the Systray icon option in order to show the program only in the System Tray while playing a video.
   
3. Now if you want to have the video continuously loop on your desktop just press Ctrl+P and choose whether you want to loop all videos in your playlist or just a single video:
   
4. Just start playing a video and go to the Video -> Wallpaper option and you should see the video being played as your desktop background.
   

VLC Media Player has had this feature for a long time and it works in more than just Windows Vista Ultimate edition, unlike the DreamScene add-on. The only problem that I have had with it so far is trying to get some videos to play full-size. That can be a little tricky because the full-screen mode in the video player does not seem to stretch the video to fit your desktop.

There are quite a few things that Vista offers that can be done using other applications, and this is a prime example of that. Of course, this is probably just one of those features that you would use to show a friend and say “look at how cool it is” and then you would never use it because it lacked any practical purpose. A little bragging here and there can be fun though. 🙂

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

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

If you’ve got a video recording device and two minutes to spare, you could end up with a $10,000 Digital Home Makeover, courtesy of Microsoft. They started a contest  to help celebrate the availability of several new Extenders for Windows Media Center. There are thousands of people out there with all kinds of digital media on multiple devices that don’t interact with one another (many of you can probably relate) who could benefit from such a makeover. Microsoft thinks all digital media should be shared across devices and so one lucky winner will receive a Windows Media Center PC along with Extenders to create a “connected entertainment center.”

How to enter: Create a two-minute video explaining why you need the experts to come to your house and set you up with an entertainment system. What do you do with your media currently, and what do you wish that you could do?

What they’re looking for in a video: Enthusiasm, show your current system, and give a story that will appeal to other digital home entertainment users. Contestants must upload their video to video.msn.com.

When the contest starts/ends: The contest started on March 21st, 2008 and runs until May 2, 2008, so you’ve got plenty of time to come up with something good.

At this point, we say that the Xbox 360 is still one of the best Media Center Extenders out there for the price, even though there is a whole selection of extenders available. One such extender (on the high-end) is the Niveus Media Extender which retails for a whopping $1,499! On the lower end is the Linksys DMA 2200 Media Center Extender which retails for around $300.

Unfortunately this contest is available only to those living in the United States. Oh, and don’t expect Microsoft to come in and remodel your home if you’re the winner. While reading the rules of the contest, I noticed the following statement: This prize does not include remodeling or redecorating the winner’s home to accommodate any new equipment awarded. It’s humorous the kinds of statements companies have to put into the rules of contests to protect themselves from lawsuits, isn’t it?

Source: Windows Vista Blog

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on August 08, 2007 by CyberNet.

Last week there were some updates leaked for Windows Vista. These updates promised to cure the problems that have plagued many Vista users, including the slow file transfer times and slow resuming from standby.

Microsoft must have decided that it would just be best if they released the updates to the public instead of holding them back any longer. So here are the links you’ll need to download these packages:

Windows Vista Performance Pack (KB938979):

• x86 Homepage (Direct Download) – 9.9MB
• x64 Homepage (Direct Download) – 14.1MB

Windows Vista Compatibility Pack (KB938194):

• x86 Homepage (Direct Download) – 2.1MB
• x64 Homepage (Direct Download) – 3.6MB

Note: You’ll notice that the direct download links still retrieve the files from Microsoft, but bypass the WGA check.

These updates are the same as the ones that were leaked, so if you had already installed those there is no need to download these. Microsoft also said that they will be distributing the patches via Windows Update, but did not give a date as to when. Many people are speculating that it will be happening next Tuesday, August 14th which is when Microsoft will unleash their Windows patches for the month.

I’ve been using these updates for almost a week now and I have to say that they make a tremendous difference in Vista’s performance. File transfer times are lightning fast, it doesn’t take forever for the "time remaining" to be calculated, resuming from standby is much more prompt, and a number of other things have been fixed. Microsoft is extremely smart for releasing these patches now and satisfying their current customers, rather than bundling the fixes with SP1 just so that they can boast a more powerful service pack.

Here’s a detailed list of what issues the individual packs address:

Windows Vista Performance Pack:

• You experience a long delay when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
• A memory leak occurs when you use the Windows Energy screen saver.
• If User Account Control is disabled on the computer, you cannot install a network printer successfully. This problem occurs if the network printer is hosted by a Windows XP-based or a Windows Server 2003-based computer.
• When you write data to an AVI file by using the AVIStreamWrite function, the file header of the AVI file is corrupted.
• When you copy or move a large file, the "estimated time remaining" takes a long time to be calculated and displayed.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, it takes a long time to display the logon screen.
• When you synchronize an offline file to a server, the offline file is corrupted.
• If you edit an image file that uses the RAW image format, data loss occurs in the image file.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, the computer loses its default gateway address.
• Poor memory management performance occurs.

Windows Vista Compatibility Pack:

• The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver.
• The computer stops responding, and you receive a "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" error message. You can restart the computer only by pressing the computer’s power button.
• The computer stops responding or restarts unexpectedly when you play video games or perform desktop operations.
• The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) stops responding when the computer is under heavy load or when very little memory is available. This problem prevents diagnostics from working.
• The screen goes blank after an external display device that is connected to the computer is turned off. For example, this problem may occur when a projector is turned off during a presentation.
• A computer that has NVIDIA G80 series graphic drivers installed stops responding.
• Visual appearance issues occur when you play graphics-intensive games.
• You experience poor playback quality when you play HD DVD disks or Blu-ray disks on a large monitor.
• Applications that load the Netcfgx.dll component exit unexpectedly.
• Windows Calendar exits unexpectedly after you create a new appointment, create a new task, and then restart the computer.
• Internet Connection Sharing stops responding after you upgrade a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista and then restart the computer.
• The Printer Spooler service stops unexpectedly.
• You receive a "Stop 0x0000009F" error when you put the computer to sleep while a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection is active.

Thanks for the tip CoryC!
Sources: All About Microsoft, Windows Now, and Ars Technica

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on May 12, 2008 by CyberNet.

Microsoft/Mac Monday

Today we’re taking a look at Apple’s Front Row vs. Windows Media Center. We’re not really sure if Front Row can be compared to Media Center because right now, they serve different purposes. Front Row is more of an interface for controlling the media already on your computer while Media Center will do that in addition to recording television shows. They’re both media hubs though, so we thought it would be interesting to see how they compared.

Before we dive in, we thought we’d first mention the fact that while we may be using MacBook Pro computers for our everyday use, we do have a PC dedicated to running Vista’s Media Center. It has 3 tuners and enables us to record 3 shows simultaneously, and was one of the best investments we’ve made.

Front Row Background

Front Row is an application for Apple computers that is similar in some aspects to Windows Media Center. The first time it was announced was back on October 12, 2005. It now comes shipped on all new Mac computers.

Media Center Background

Windows Media Center originally debuted in 2002 for Windows XP. Now it comes with Windows Vista Ultimate and Home Premium versions of Windows Vista.

Front Row Features

One thing that Apple did really well with Front Row is transitions. These transitions start the moment you open up Front Row because it nicely fades-in to display the menu. Their interface is nice, but I noticed it’s missing a few things. First I should say that a lot of people use the Apple Remote to navigate Front Row, but for people who don’t want to use the remote, they’re stuck using a keyboard. There’s not a way (that we know of) to use the mouse which is pretty inconvenient. Navigation with a keyboard is a little more difficult, and you’ll end up using the Escape key frequently.

The biggest downside to Front Row if we’re comparing it to Windows Media Center is that there is no way to watch or record live TV.

Content that you can access via Front Row include:

• Movies – view movies stored in your iTunes library or in a user’s movies folder/ also option to download and play movie trailers
• TV Shows – any you’ve download from iTunes will be displayed
• Music – music is pulled from your iTunes music library/ includes option to listen to a preview of the top songs on iTunes
• Podcasts – allows you to play podcasts that you are subscribed to, right from Front Row
• Photos – pulls in photos you have saved in your iPhoto library
• DVD (if there is a DVD in the drive)

Overall Front Row is nicest for watching movie trailers or maybe listening to your music but really it’s just a remote-friendly, fancy interface for iTunes. If they’d allow you to rent movies from iTunes via Front Row, that would be fantastic, but they don’t. They also don’t allow you to watch YouTube videos from there which is something that can be done on Media Center through an add-on, or even using Apple TV.

Media Center Features

One of Media Center’s best features is the interface. Microsoft really did a fantastic job here. Another thing they did a great job with is packing a lot of features in under the hood. Not only does it come loaded with a bunch of features, but there are many add-ons that give you even more features like commercial skip and WebGuide which we’ve mentioned before. To Apple’s defense, because they don’t provide a way to record and watch live TV, there’s really no need for add-ons like commercial skip.

Another awesome thing about Media Center is that they’ve got quite the community surrounding it. There’s a website at www.thegreenbutton.com where you’ll find thousands upon thousands of people who are there to post and answer questions. There are even members who work on the Media Center Team that will stop by to help answer questions. While Apple does have a developing community out there, a lot of them are for Mac computers in general and not specific to Front Row.

Features:

• Record and playback TV
• Music – listen to songs from your library
• Radio (some TV tuners support FM radio)
• Video – have videos on your computer? Watch them from Media Center
• Pictures – flip through your picture library
• Sports – keep up with games in progress or ones that have ended
• and more…

Unlike Front Row, users are able to navigate through Windows Media Center using a mouse, and in fact, when they use a mouse or a keyboard, other navigational buttons appear on screen to make it a little easier.

Conclusion

If we were asked to decide which was better, Front Row or Windows Media Center, without question we’d choose Windows Media Center. This is one of those things that Microsoft really has done a great job with in multiple aspects. Maybe Apple will “borrow” a few of their ideas to improve Front Row in the future?

While Windows Media Center may be superior, it also depends on what you’re looking to do. If you don’t have a tuner card and you don’t have any intentions of getting one for your computer, there’s no reason why you can’t get most of the same functionality out of Front Row as you would with Media Center.

Those of you looking for a nice way to manage your media, graphically both applications look nice and get the job done. If you’re looking to record TV, Media Center is the only way to go. So now our question for you is, do you think Apple will go the route of recording television, or will doing so distract people buying episodes of TV shows from iTunes which ends-up bringing in money?

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com