Hasta La Gadget!

Regardless of industry, there are few brands more iconic than Porsche. And, of all the car shapes that have sprung from clay over the years, few are more evocative than the classic 911. It started in 1963 looking like a slightly stretched Beetle — which it wasn’t much bigger than. It’s considerably larger and heavier now, having lost much of its design purity in the ensuing 40-odd years. Still, its same basic shape and layout remain: bug eyes up front and boxer motor in the rear, slung between the back wheels.

Today’s 911, also known as the 997, has been around since 2005 and is about due to be replaced by a new model. This means it’s at the top of its game, available in a dizzying array of flavors that include the sporty Carrera, sunny-day cruisin’ Cabriolet, all-wheel drive powerhouse Turbo, all leading up to the mind-blowingly fast, twin-turbo 911 GT2. That car is as devoid of creature comforts as it is of apprehensions about sending you flying sideways into a tree. Screaming, probably.

These varying trim levels offer juicy bits of tech like active center differentials, launch control, and double-clutch gearboxes. Join us as we explore the race-ready bits of technology that make these cars faster and safer on the road and then take them for a spin around Barber Motorsports Park to see how it all comes together.

Continue reading The technology of the Porsche 911

The technology of the Porsche 911 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on May 23, 2008 by CyberNet.

Mac only
One of my favorite features in Google Calendar is the “Quick Add” feature that lets you use a more natural language for adding events to the calendar. Apple iCal users can get a similar feature thanks to the free QuickCal Widget. Once you’ve added the widget to your Dashboard you’ll instantly be able to add events to iCal using descriptive wording, such as:

• Dinner tomorrow at 6:00pm until 9pm
• Meet with Roger next Wednesday at 3:30 pm
• Jogging today at 6pm for 30 minutes
• Dad’s birthday on saturday
• Yoga class on 4/5 at noon
• todo – Clean golf clubs
• File taxes before 4/15/2008!!!
• Write novel –todo

You’ll notice that some of those examples include todo items, and that’s because the widget can also add tasks to your todo list. Here are some of the different things it uses to distinguish whether what you entered should be added to your todo list:

• Without due dates: start or end the text with “todo” (”todo – walk the dog”, “todo – renew domains”)
• With a due date: no need to use “todo”, just end your text with “due”, “due on”, “before”, “by” – with a date. (”file taxes before 4/15?, “electric bill due next tuesday”)
• You can assign importance to tasks by throwing bangs/exclamation marks after your text. The more you add, the more important it is. (”todo – sorta important!”, “todo – REALLY IMPORTANT!!!”)

And when it comes to reminders QuickCal will look at how far the scheduled event is, and add multiple reminders accordingly. This feature can be completely turned off if you want, or you can tweak it to your liking. By default this is how it works:

All events will have a reminder set to 15 minutes away. Events created more than a week in advance will notify you the day before, as well. And if you create something more than a month away, a reminder will be created two weeks before the event. (So, one distant event = 3 reminders)

This is a really handy widget that any iCal user will probably love. Once you get used to the syntax it can make adding events quick and painless.

QuickCal Widget for Mac

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on May 20, 2008 by CyberNet.

Time Saving Tuesday

I enjoy taking digital pictures, but the part that I don’t like is copying them over to the computer. The file names are always such a mess, and are typically along the lines of DSC000022.JPG which doesn’t help at all when trying to identify a photo. One of the first things that I do after transferring the photos over to the computer is rename them in bulk. After all, when you get back from a vacation you don’t want to rename hundreds of photos one at a time.

There are all kinds of different ways that you can do this on both a Windows or Mac computer. Both operating systems have ways to batch rename files, such as the F2 key in Windows or Automator on a Mac, but there are free apps out there that can make the task as simple as pointing and clicking. So today we’re going to show you four bulk file renaming programs (2 for Windows and 2 for Mac) that are all free, but pack some powerful features.

One thing I noticed when searching around for file renaming tools on a Mac was that there weren’t an abundance of free solutions available. The paid versions greatly overshadowed any of the free apps, and that is disappointing considering how nice some of the free ones actually are.

–ReNamer (Homepage / Full Review)–

Windows only
This is definitely my favorite renaming utility on Windows. I’m not quite sure why that’s the case considering the variety of free bulk renaming tools, but it has a sense of simplicity that I haven’t found in any other app. Maybe the fact that you can download a no-install version is what appeals the most to me, because I’m able to keep it on my USB drive for quick use.

Just don’t let the interface deceive you! On the outside it may look overly simple, but it has a wide variety of options for renaming files. If you really want to live on the edge you can use Regular Expressions or Pascal scripts to really customize how the files are renamed, but most users will probably never have to take it that far.

–Name Mangler (Homepage)–

Mac only
This tiny little app really takes the cake when it comes to bulk file renaming on a Mac. It has a slick and simple interface that shines well above any of the other file renaming programs that I’ve come across (even compared to those on Windows). The interface really threw me for a curve ball at first because I didn’t think there were many ways you could rename files in bulk, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Name Mangler supports Regular Expressions which is often a requirement for any renamer, but it even includes it’s own Name Conversion Description Language (NCDL). That’s a custom scripting language that any programmer will be able to pick up in seconds, and gives you the opportunity to create outrageously complex file renaming conditions if that’s what you need.

To make things even easier Name Mangler lets you create Droplets, which saves your renaming rules to a file. Then you can drag and drop files onto a Droplet to have them renamed accordingly.

–Flexible Renamer (Homepage / Full Review)–

Windows only
This is a slightly more complex file renamer for Windows, but one of the nice things is that it does include a live preview feature. With that you’ll be able to see what the resulting file names will look like as you make the changes, which can save some time in the long run.

At times the interface can feel a little cluttered, but I’m guessing that is due to the built-in file explorer which makes it a bit easier to navigate for the files you want to work with. Things can really start to get messy if you switch to the advanced interface, which adds even more configuration and customizability options. If you’re looking for sheer power and live previews, this is the Windows file renamer for you.

(Click to Enlarge)

–Filewrangler (Homepage)–

Mac only
This was the first free file renamer that I had come across for a Mac, and I was pretty excited to try it out. The interface is a little oversized, and I’m not so sure that all of the fields need to be displayed at all times. Granted some of the advanced features are tucked away at the bottom, and will slide out when needed.

Renaming the files seemed a little bit clunky, and all I was trying to do was numerically order them by adding an incremental number onto the end of the filename. The reason why I had such a problem was that the “Numbering” option was disabled until I enabled the “Suffix” option, which took me a minute to realize since they aren’t located next to each other. It might not be the most intuitive, but I was still able to get the job done.

(Click to Enlarge)

–Overview–

In the end my two favorite file renaming tools are ReNamer and Name Mangler, depending on which operating system I am using. Now I’d love to hear what you use to bulk rename your files!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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For a long time — a long, long time — Logitech and Gran Turismo have gone together like rubber and asphalt. Like carbon fiber and fender flares. Like drivers’ privates and their Nomex underpants. The two were tight, but with GT5 came a changing of the guard. Thrustmaster, a company world-renowned for its high-end flight controls and its giggle-inducing name, stepped in and bought the license. The purpose? To release the decidedly high-end T500 RS wheel, the controller designed to abolish memories of all the plasticy racing controllers that have come before from the company. Does it succeed, and is it worth the pucker-inducing price of $599? These questions and more answered below.

Continue reading Thrustmaster T500 RS review

Thrustmaster T500 RS review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on April 09, 2009 by CyberNet.

Windows only
At work I use Microsoft’s Robocopy command line tool almost everyday for copying files between multiple environments. Digital Inspiration dug up a real gem though, and it’s a tool Microsoft recently released called RichCopy. It not only has a nice graphical interface for copying files, but also comes packed with a few handy features.

Here’s what Microsoft has to say about the tool:

RichCopy is a free utility that comes to us from Ken Tamaru of Microsoft. The tool was first developed in 2001 and has been updated regularly to keep pace with evolving needs. Trust me when I tell you, this is the answer to all your file copying needs. What you’ll find most striking the first time you take RichCopy out for a spin is that it’s a multithreaded copying tool. That means that rather than copying one file at a time in serial order, RichCopy can open multiple threads simultaneously, allowing many files to be copied in parallel and cutting the total time required to complete the operation several times over. You can also pause and resume file copy operations, so if you lose network connectivity at any point, you can just pick up where you left off.

Some people may argue that there is already a GUI available for Robocopy, but this tool appears to contain all of the same features and then some. I definitely like what this has to offer, and I’ll be using this almost everyday at work now. Why can’t Microsoft release useful tools like this more often?

RichCopy Homepage

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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