Hasta La Gadget!

Are you a Windows user in need of yet another cloud storage option? Lucky for you, after a long-running beta, Canonical’s Ubuntu One client has officially debuted on Microsoft’s platform. First introduced with Ubuntu 10.10, the service offers 5GB of free storage, with file syncing across multiple machines, ala Dropbox. Android and iOS clients are already available. If you need more space, how about 20GB for $29.99 a year or $2.99 a month? And if portable tunes is your game, you can have that same 20GB along with music streaming apps (similar to Google Music Beta) for $39.99 a year or $3.99 a month. Click the source link to engage in some cross-platform storage.

Filed under: Storage, Networking

‘Humanity toward others’ extended to Windows with Ubuntu One cloud storage originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 04:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember all that iPhone tracking hubbub back in April? Sure you do — you probably also recall Apple’s denial, the subsequent Senate hearing, and the rest of the fiasco’s dramatic fallout. Amid the ballyhoo, Microsoft stepped out to admit that its Windows Phone also collected location data, but quickly promised to knock it off following the next scheduled update. According to ChevronWP7 collaborator Rafael Rivera, Windows Phone 7.5 cinches it: Mango “no longer sends location data prior to being granted permission to do so.” Redmond previously told the US House of Representatives that it only collected location data if a user expressly allowed an application to send it along — a claim which Rivera debunked last week, noting that simply launching the camera application captured and transmitted “pin-point accurate positioning information.” The big M maintains that the collected location data was anonymous, and that it shouldn’t have been sent at all unless the user allowed it. Either way, Microsoft’s chapter in the big location tracking blunder of 2011 seems to be at a close, squaring the firm with Congress, its developers, and hopefully its customers.

Mango kills Microsoft’s always-on location tracking, makes good on letter to House of Representatives originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 02:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on February 23, 2007 by CyberNet.

I was just reading a post by Brandon Paddock regarding a new (free) tool called Start++ that he made for Windows Vista. He works on the search technology over at Microsoft, and sticking with his area of expertise he has gone and made an awesome application. It reminds me of the keyword search in Firefox and Opera where you can designate a single letter or phrase to performing a search. The example search pictured above would do a Google search for “CyberNet News” in my default browser.

The thing that I really like about Start++ is that you can assign both keyword searches that open in your default web browser, or you can have it open a program/file. The only catch is that right now there is no “Browse” command to browse for the program or file that you want to open. I also noticed that it doesn’t support spaces in the file path even if you put quotes around it, and looking through the comments I see that someone else was having a similar problem. Brandon said that he should be able to work on it this weekend so I’ll be anxiously awaiting a new version.

It is probably important for me to mention that this does not work with Vista’s “global search field” and only works with things entered in Vista’s Start Menu search box. Initially I was bummed about that, but I don’t think I would ever use it anywhere but the Start Menu.

While you’re waiting along with me for the new release you can still take advantage of performing a quick search for your favorite sites. I can’t wait for this to work with spaces in document names and applications because it will become really useful to me then. Thanks for a great tool Brandon!

Vista tip: If you didn’t notice, as soon as you click on the Start Orb the search box is focused. I didn’t realize that initially and found myself clicking in the search field before I started typing, when in reality all I had to do was click the Start Orb (or press the Windows Key) and start typing. Props to Microsoft for thinking about focusing on the search box!

Download Start++

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

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This article was written on July 24, 2007 by CyberNet.

The next Windows milestone, currently dubbed Windows 7, could very well be sporting a huge user interface overhaul. Now what makes me think that? Julie Larsen-Green (pictured to the right) is leading the Windows 7 area that is focused on "end-user interaction design and overall experience." You may not have heard of Julie before, but she is the one who pushed for the Office 2007 interface redesign which was a drastic move away from the menus and toolbars we had been familiar with for nearly 20-years.

I think that Microsoft would be smart for making a big change in the Windows user interface because Linux is quickly catching up. It’s just like how OpenOffice was on the verge of being a clone of Microsoft Office, but when Office 2007 was released there was a strong difference established between the interface of the two office suites. As users become more familiar with how Office 2007 operates it will be increasingly difficult for people to switch to the free OpenOffice.

So what could Microsoft do to drastically distinguish themselves from competing products? I’ve been wondering that for awhile now, and I’m sure Julie has some great ideas up her sleeve. One thing that I would really like to see is an efficient an customizable implementation of pie menus. I’ve talked about this before, but I think that using pie menus would offer increased productivity over the traditional right-click menu.

The other idea that is floating around the Internet is that the Taskbar will be replaced with a sidebar. This is seen in almost all of the Windows 7 concepts drawn up including the nice set by OSBeta. Here is a preview of one of their concepts:

It’s actually kind of fun to see what people come up with, but in the end it is Microsoft’s decision as to what the consumers will receive. Do you think Microsoft’s vision of Windows in 2010 is a little far fetched from where we currently stand? Is it time to ditch the Taskbar?

Source: APC

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

Details On Office 2007 For Mac EmergeWindows Live.com User Interface Update!Switching from a PC to a Mac…No, not Me.Bringing Back Classic Menus and Toolbars to Office 2007?Skype 3 Beta Released With A New Interface

Continue reading MadCatz now shipping Tritton Detonator headset, official Xbox 360 stereo sound for $80

MadCatz now shipping Tritton Detonator headset, official Xbox 360 stereo sound for $80 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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