This article was written on June 19, 2006 by CyberNet.
Windows Live Messenger, the final version, is now available for millions of people to download and use. The Overview Page isn’t available yet but the download links are active. Here are the different languages currently available:
Here is the list of features for Windows Live Messenger:
Video Call – The free, synchronized audio and video service in Windows Live Messenger
Windows Live Call with Verizon Web Calling service.
Cordless phones designed exclusively for Windows Live Messenger – Uniden America Corp. and Philips recently introduced phones that make the Windows Live Call feature for Windows Live Messenger available in North America and Europe.
Microsoft LifeCams optimized for Windows Live Messenger – Microsoft Hardware and the Windows Live services group announced last week a line of webcams that are designed for use with Windows Live Messenger.
Sharing Folders – Now sharing is as easy as dragging and dropping a file. Customers can more easily share their files and personal photos with family, friends and colleagues on their Windows Live Messenger Contact List.
Windows Live Contacts – Contact information is always current with Windows Live Contacts in Windows Live Messenger.
Integration with Windows Live services – Windows Live Messenger integrates with other Windows Live services such as Windows Live Search, Windows Live Local, Windows Live Mail and MSN Spaces.
While the features list of Windows Live Messenger is pretty nice I really only use Google Talk to chat with my peers. I think that this is one piece of software I can do without. If I really needed to sign in to talk to someone on the MSN network then I would either use Windows Messenger real quick or just use the online Meebo. Let me know if anyone notices anything cool about Windows Live Messenger.
This article was written on March 27, 2008 by CyberNet.
As we pointed out yesterday in our Daily Downloads the new version of OpenOffice.org 2.4 has been released, and here’s an overview of the new features. In my opinion that is not the most exciting news though. To go along with the new release they’ve also revamped their website, and I have to say that they did an incredible job with it.
The screenshot above is what the homepage looks like now, and it is extremely straightforward. Instead of just providing links to support, downloads, and the other areas of the site they have created several different action items. When a user visits the site all they have to do is select what they want to do and they’ll be taken to the proper page.
Why is this so handy? If you were new to OpenOffice.org and saw the “Extend” tab would you click on it? It’s likely that you would have no idea that OpenOffice.org has extensions, and so maybe you would think this is an area just for developers. The same page in the action item list is called “I want to do more with my OpenOffice.org,” which will likely catch the eye of a lot more users than just saying “Extend.”
They still have the one-word navigation tags located near the top of the page, but these action items take the guessing game out of where the user should go depending on what they’re looking to do. From my perspective I would say that the OpenOffice.org team really hit this dead on.
This article was written on July 02, 2008 by CyberNet.
Web Browser Wednesday
Yesterday we announced the new Firefox extension that we launched called CyberSearch (our homepage for CyberSearch). It is based on the original version of AwesomeSearch (now called Searchery), and the reason I decided to create the extension was because I saw how it could make me more productive. Hopefully what I’ve come up with can be useful for you as well.
What is CyberSearch? It lets you perform various types of Google searches right from the address bar in Firefox 3. As you’re typing the extension will send your query to Google, grab the results, and then display them along side the history results that Firefox normally shows.
To make the extension even better we’ve supercharged it with a completely customizable keyword system. If you’re familiar with the built-in Firefox keywords understanding how to use these will be second nature for you. The video demonstration below will help put these in perspective, and show just how powerful they make the extension!
–Video Demonstration–
The best way to demonstrate how CyberSearch works is using a video, and so that’s what we’ve got for you. There are also a bunch of screenshots after the video.
–Features–
Supports Multiple Google Services You can perform searches and assign keywords to any of the following Google services: Web, Local, Videos, Blogs, News, Books, Images, and Patents.
Customizable Keywords Pick and choose the keywords that you can remember! You can have one keyword for doing a Google Web search, another for Google News search, and so on. The possibilities are endless!
Restrict Searches to a Site Using the keyword system you’ll be able to restrict a particular search to a certain site. For example, you can create one keyword that will only return results from Wikipedia while a different keyword will only show results from CyberNet News. Want results from multiple sites using just one keyword? No problem, just separate them by commas! Note: This feature is only available for Google Web, Blog, and Image searches.
Custom Icons Assign any icon to be shown next to the search results for a keyword.
Change the Appearance You can choose a customized background color for results that are retrieved from Google. That way you’ll know at a glance what’s coming from your history, and what’s coming from the extension.
Retrieve Multiple Pages of Results A customizable “keyword” is available so that you can even retrieve multiple pages of search results. Checkout the video for more information on how this works.
Hide Results when Using a Keyword You can optionally have Firefox hide the history results from the address bar when it recognizes that you’ve entered in a keyword. That way you see only the search results when using a keyword.
Doesn’t Interfere with Existing Firefox Keywords If you already have existing Firefox keywords setup this extension will not interfere with them. Our keyword system is completely separate from the one that is built-in to Firefox.
Here are some screenshots from the configuration section of the extension:
(Click to Enlarge)
One thing that we placed throughout the preferences are the small question marks, and you can hover over them at any point to have a feature explained to you.
–Supported Google Services–
Eight different Google services are supported in CyberSearch, and we’re sure you want to know what the results look like in the address bar for each of them. Here’s a screenshot for each of the different types of Google searches that we support:
Web Search – Your typical Google search. Opening a result will take you directly the site.
Local Search – Find the address and phone number for any business in seconds! Opening a result will take you to a Google Map that shows where the place is located.
Video Search – Search Google Video and Youtube. Opening a result will take you to that video.
Blog Search – Find blog articles that have been written. Opening a result will take you directly to the article.
News Search – Pull up news items. Opening a result will take you directly to the article.
Book Search – Find books. Opening a result will take you to the Google Book page for that particular selection.
Image Search – Searches for images, but isn’t all that useful since there is no image preview. Opening a result will take you directly to the image.
Patent Search – Search for patents. Opening a result will take you to the Google Patent page for that particular selection.
–Installing CyberSearch–
Like what you see? Then go ahead and download the CyberSearch extension from Mozilla. This extension is still experimental, which means you’ll need to login to the Mozilla site before being able to install it. If you don’t have a login you can use a generic one that I’ve created over at Mozilla:
Username: firefox@cybernetnews.com
Password: cybernetnews
Note: If someone decides to be funny and change the password just let us know. Since we have full control over the email address we can change the password back at anytime.
–Overview–
Hopefully this extension will be as useful to you as it has been for us over the last week. If you have any questions or recommendations feel free to drop them off in the comments, but as it stands right now this does just about everything we’d like it to. Our initial focus will be on fixing any bugs that people find.
Regarding CyberSearch for other countries: At this time CyberSearch only supports the use of Google.com. We are looking into expanding this extension to support Google services in other countries. We’ve researched this a little bit, and we don’t believe Google’s API permits the use of the varying country’s Google search engine (eg. google.co.uk).
This article was written on October 24, 2006 by CyberNet.
Microsoft has finally taken Windows Defender out of Beta and the free download is available. So if you are looking for a great anti-spyware solution this is one that I would highly recommend.
If you’re still using Windows Defender Beta 2 then you’ll have until December 31 to make the upgrade because it will expire then. There is no update available for Windows Vista users which sucks because Vista can be used up until June 2007 but your spyware protection is only good until the end of this year.
These are the improvements that Windows Defender has received since the previous release:
Enhanced performance through a new scanning engine.
Streamlined, simplified user interface and alerts.
Improved control over programs on your computer using enhanced Software Explorer.
Multiple language support with globalization and localization features.
Protection technologies for all users, whether or not they have administrator rights on the computer.
Support for assistive technology for individuals who have physical or cognitive difficulties, impairments, and disabilities.
Support for Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.
Automatic cleaning according to your settings during regularly scheduled scans.
This article was written on June 20, 2006 by CyberNet.
It looks like someone has developed Portable Opera 9 for those people who want to test out the latest version of Opera but aren’t sure if it is worth installing. I believe that it is worth installing it but this also lets people carry it around on a USB drive or on a CD.
Yes, you can put it on a CD because there is a one-time use version that does not need to save/write anything. Most people would want to choose the Personal version because it will save their settings, history, and other personal things. While using the Personal version it will store the settings and information on the computer but upon closing Opera it will pack everything into a single file and put it on the writable device. It erases the settings and information from the host machine and then overwrites the data in the location so that there is no trace of your information.
Now you can carry Opera around in your pocket or just use this to see if you like it. If you decide that you want to use it on a more permanent basis then you can download the installer from Opera.
This article was written on March 12, 2008 by CyberNet.
I was beginning to think that there was no real purpose to the Caps Lock key other than to annoy you when it’s accidentally turned on. Then Ghacks comes through and digs up an application called Capster (Windows only) that can really save you oodles of time with a concept that is so incredibly simple.
What you have to do is download the application and put it in a cozy spot on your computer. There’s no installation so the next thing you’ll need to do is fire it up. You should then see a window similar to the one pictured above where you can browse for the application that you want to start with Windows. In this example I chose Firefox, and I set it to only start if the Caps Lock key is on.
Then you’ll click the Create Shortcut button to have it place a shortcut on your computer. What you need to do now is put that shortcut in the Startup folder located in the Start Menu, and after that Capster will take care of the rest. The next time you start your computer it will try to run each application, but it will first check to see if the Caps Lock is on or off and proceed accordingly.
One of the reasons that I really love this application is that it is designed to have a minimal performance impact on your computer. Capster doesn’t have to stay running in the background thanks to the clever shortcut creator, and that’s something I really applaud the developer for. I highly recommend checking out this app if you’ve been yearning for a quick on/off switch for your startup applications.
This article was written on July 19, 2006 by CyberNet.
AOL is not going to try and take the corporate world by storm with the release of AIM Pro. This new instant messenger tries to make it easy for people to communicate with each other by providing WebEx integration.
AIM Pro does have a lot of great communication tools that will help those people looking for an all-in-one application. It definitely has more features than Windows Messenger which seems to be the current corporate messenger.
Seamless Integration with Microsoft Outlook Client Reduce clicking through multiple programs. Use one client for IMs, sending emails, and organizing your calendar.
Business Grade Security AIM Pro communications are encrypted for an added layer of security.
Enhanced Voice and Video Conferencing Conduct face-to-face meetings with clients and colleagues anytime, anyplace.
Present and Share Files Instantly with WebEx Meetings Take your customers through your proposal online or collaborate with that PowerPoint deck with your team member across the country it’s never been easier to travel!
Advanced Communication Tools That Save Money Make your budget go further with voice communications over the Internet.
This article was written on July 07, 2008 by CyberNet.
Last week we released the CyberSearch Firefox extension, and I can’t believe all of the great feedback we’ve received. Dozens of different sites have written about the extension already, and we’ve received over 2,100 downloads. If you like to follow stats as much as I do then you can head on over to CyberSearch’s statistics page that I’ve made publicly viewable. There you can see a pretty graph of the downloads, and it looks like they’ll periodically update how many active daily users there are. Right now there isn’t much data, but as the extension continues to grow it might be interesting to see things like what operating systems people are running it on.
We’ve already gotten over 60 emails with questions regarding bugs, compatibility issues, and recommendations to make the add-on even better. CyberSearch 0.9.6 addresses all of the bug reports that we’ve gotten up until now, and we appreciate everyone who has sent in quirks they’ve found. If you get a spare moment please stop by the review page and leave your thoughts on the add-on. Hopefully we’ll be able to get out of the experimental stage soon!
Also in this release we’ve incorporated the functionality that the Edit Middle extension offered, and part of the reason we decided to do so was because of a compatibility issue with it. What does this feature do? In Firefox 3 when you edit any text in the address bar it won’t show search results unless your cursor is at the end of the text. For example, if you type “cybernnet” into the address bar and go back to remove an “n” Firefox 3 wouldn’t show any results in the drop-down menu. With the Edit Middle extension (and now with CyberSearch) modifying any text in the address bar will trigger the drop-down menu to appear with matching results.
As far as the bug fixes go here’s a list of the most notable ones this release addresses:
Pressing the down arrow to select a result now works. This was a problem for those choosing not to have Google results intermingled with the history results.
The “unending” loading icon that some people were experiencing has been fixed.
There was a compatibility problem with some extensions, such as GooglePreview. CyberSearch should now play nice with all of the extensions. P.S. This wasn’t entirely the fault of our extension, but it was an easy fix.
If you choose to show history results even when a keyword is recognized the extension will now ignore the keyword for history results, too. I think this makes more sense, but I might make it an optional thing in a future release.
This article was written on December 09, 2007 by CyberNet.
Vista’s Flip3D is one of the most notable features, and something you frequently see in demonstrations of the operating system. It presents a unique way to flip between your open applications, and for the longest time I didn’t think it would ever make me more productive. I was proven wrong when Logitech launched a new version of their SetPoint software that gave their mice a quick way to launch Flip3D without needing a keyboard shortcut.
I ran into a problem, however, when I was using my laptop’s Touchpad mouse which didn’t have such capabilities. It left me yearning for a way to launch Flip3D from my Touchpad so that I wouldn’t have to touch the keyboard, and after thinking about it for a minute I got an idea! Using AutoHotKey I could doing something similar to my middle-click Touchpad script.
Note: Vista is required for this to work. It is not a Flip3D clone or anything of that nature!
So what do you need to get it working? Download Mouse Flip3D and run it. There’s nothing to install, and the only indication of it running will be a Vista-like Orb in the System Tray. Anytime you press and hold the left mouse button, and then press the right mouse button you should see Flip3D come up:
If you want the program to start with Vista just copy it into your Startup folder, and you should be all set! Here are a few pointers on why this is great and how exactly the script works:
One of the reasons that I never thought Flip3D was productive was because of how much time it takes to shuffle through all of the windows to find the one you want. With the mouse that is obsolete because you can click on any of the windows to bring it to the front! Go ahead and try it, and you’ll see just how fast it really is.
If you decide that you still want to flip through the windows just use the scroll wheel on your mouse or Touchpad. Alternatively you can hit the Tab key to shuffle through the windows, and use Enter key to select the foremost application.
You may not have realized it, but there are two different ways that you can launch Flip3D from the keyboard. The WinKey+Tab is the standard way that most people know about, but you can also launch it using Ctrl+WinKey+Tab. The difference between the two is that using the Control key makes Flip3D remain open until you click on one of the windows. That’s what we ended up using for the script. For the code junkies out there here is the entire AutoHotKey script for launching Flip3D with the mouse:
Some mouse gestures that you use, such as navigating forward in Opera, may not work because of the overlapping shortcut that is used for this script. Personally I’d rather have Flip3D at my finger tips than anything else, so I was willing to sacrifice that mouse shortcut.
This article was written on August 21, 2008 by CyberNet.
Tutorial Thursday
Windows; Mac One of the things that Apple hasn’t made easy for iPhone owners is providing a way to create custom ringtones in Windows. If you’re a Mac owner you can use GarageBand, but Apple doesn’t provide that application on Windows. Instead what they expect you to do is purchase a song for $0.99, and then convert it to a ringtone for another $0.99.
As it turns out in a few steps you can actually convert a DRM-free song into a ringtone using only iTunes in Windows. The trick also works for Mac users, but using GarageBand is a lot simpler so we’re focusing primarily on the Windows side.
Here’s what you need to do:
Start iTunes and find the [DRM-free] song you want to convert to a ringtone. Right-click on it and select the Get Info option.
On the Options tab locate the Start Time and End Time options. This is where you want to specify the portion of the song you wanted converted into a ringtone. Check both of the boxes, and make sure your ringtone is under 30-seconds. Press OK when finished.
Right-click on the song you just modified, and choose the Convert to AAC option. If you don’t see this in the context menu navigate to Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Importing, and make sure the AAC Encoder is selected in the Import Using menu.
Once the song has finished being converted to the new format it will appear in your music list, and the “Time” should reflect the correct duration of the ringtone (which should be less than 30-seconds). Now navigate to your iTunes music folder to find the converted song. Here’s an example of where my Green Day ringtone was located:
Make sure you’re able to see the file’s extension (.M4A) like in the screenshot above. If you don’t see the extension go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View (Organize -> Folder and Search Options on Vista), and uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types box. Then click OK.
Copy the music file (with the .M4A extension) to your desktop. Once you’ve done that rename the file’s extension to .M4R which will make iTunes recognize it as a ringtone. Make sure there are no symbols (underscores, hyphens, etc…) in the file name.
In iTunes go to File -> Add File to Library, and then browse for the file from step 6. Once you’ve selected it press the Open button. iTunes will place the ringtone in the respective section in your library:
Sync your iPhone with iTunes and your newly created ringtone should get transferred over. If it doesn’t be sure to check the Ringtones tab in the iPhone configuration section of iTunes to verify that it is setup to sync your ringtones.
–What is DRM?–
I’ve been getting all kinds of questions and emails from people asking what DRM is. An anonymous commenter below did a great job answering the question. Here is his response:
DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. In a nutshell, a song with DRM is meant to keep you from giving it to someone else. If you’re using Windows XP (and I’m sure there’s some equivalent for Vista), you can right-click on a song file, and choose Properties. Under the Summary tab, click the Advanced >> button if it’s there. Under the Origin heading, you will see an entry named ‘Protected’. If it says No, then the song does not have a DRM. If it says Yes, well, you may be able to pay Apple money to convert the song to an iTunes Plus track, which will be DRM-free. Hope this helps, best of luck!
That’s all there is to it. Now you can save yourself a bunch of money on ringtones. A big thanks to the Apple Blog who assembled the original instructions on how to do this for the Mac!
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
Yesterday we announced the new Firefox extension that we launched called 
Microsoft has finally taken Windows Defender out of Beta and 
Last week we released the 
Windows; 
Mac 
