Hasta La Gadget!

Aug 27

WrapUp: Windows 7 Release Date, FeedDemon Supports Google Reader, and More

This article was written on May 04, 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–

Windows 7 Coming October 23rd?
Acer has confirmed that Windows 7 will be released on October 23rd, and that anyone who purchases a computer 30-days prior to that will be eligible for Microsoft’s free upgrade program. Now you have an idea how long you have to wait if you want to get Windows 7 for free with a new computer purchase.

Google Search Results in Gmail
The Gmail team has thought up a really handy Labs feature that lets you retrieve Google search results without needing to leave the comfort of your Inbox. It’s so well designed that they actually make it super easy to insert into an email only the URL from one of the results if you want. I’ll be making good use of this.

Android 1.5 Pushed to Some Users
T-Mobile has started pushing out the Android 1.5 update to existing G1 owners. It’s more of a slow rollout from what I’ve read around the web, so it may take a little while for everyone to get their hands on it.

Vista SP2 Goes RTM
Microsoft has announced that Vista SP2 has been sent to manufacturing, and that they are targeting a Q2 2009 date for public availability. SP2 offers faster searching, native Blu-ray recording support, a Bluetooth update, and more.

70 Themes for Google Docs Forms
Have you used the Google Docs forms capability yet? If not this might be enough to make you consider it. They now let you choose from over 70 themes to make your forms/surveys look a little more professional.

FeedDemon Supports Google Reader Synchronization
A Beta version of FeedDemon 3.0 is showing off an awesome new feature. It is now capable of syncing your feeds with Google Reader, one of Newsgator’s online competitors. I’m a bit surprised that they’ve chosen to go this route, and hopefully they’ll add similar functionality to the rest of their products.

–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

Shrink Gmail Navigation with Greasemonkey Script
This nifty little Greasemonkey script will let you condense down the Gmail side navigation to only two rows of icons, which gives more room for other sidebar items. Hopefully Google will add something like this to their Labs because it can be really handy for someone with a netbook that has a small screen.

Windows 7 Benchmarks
Now that Windows 7 has hit RC1 status Gizmodo has decided to compare the performance between Windows 7 and Vista to see how they stack up. The numbers say that the two OS’s are actually pretty close to each other, but they say that generally Windows 7 feels snappier.

Kill All Non-Responsive Apps
If you have a problem with applications becoming non-responsive you may want to look into this shortcut you can create that will kill all the programs that are currently frozen.

Binary Clock on Your Desktop
This clock/alarm clock combo app is something real geeks will probably enjoy. Once installed it will show a binary clock on your desktop, but it will also display the digital representation underneath it. If you get good at reading the binary you can go ahead and remove the digital numbers and stick to purely binary.

Free Motion Detection Program
Want to know what’s going on at your home when you’re not there? Just hookup a webcam to your PC, grab this free app, and let it keep an eye out for any motion. When it detects movement it will start capturing images, which can then be uploaded to an FTP location.