Dec 09

Glimpse at WordPress 2.5

Posted in: Screenshots, Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on January 08, 2008 by CyberNet.

WordPress 2.5
Click to Enlarge

The WordPress team has decided to skip version 2.4 and move right on to 2.5, which is now expected to be released in March. Once released the updated version will cover a big area that hasn’t received a lot of attention before: the admin screen.

WordPress 2.5 will sport a completely revamped admin screen that will have much of the same functionality, but it will look completely different. An example of what to expect can be seen in the screenshot above, and I’ll be the first to say that it is way easier on the eyes than the current WordPress admin area.

If you want to see what the rest of it looks like head on over to this demo. You can’t modify anything in the demo, but you can flip through the different tabs. Remember though, this is still a work in progress and is in no way finalized. So if you see something you don’t like there is still a chance that it will change by the time it hits the final form.

[via Quick Online Tips]

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Dec 08

Day Before Vista Launch Rundown

Posted in: Apple, Microsoft, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows Vista

This article was written on January 29, 2007 by CyberNet.

It’s the day before the official consumer launch of Vista, and as expected, there are a few Vista related items in the news. Here’s a quick rundown…

–New Windows Homepage Launched–

Microsoft is preparing themselves for the release of Vista by launching a new Windows homepage with a complete new look. This site also replaces the previous www.windowsvista.com site which was the place for all Vista related information.

They proudly display the new Vista Orb along with their slogan, “The “Wow” starts now.” You’ll notice glass effects, and a Windows Media player 11 -like main menu. You’ll also find a lot of helpful information there that will help you determine if Vista is right for you computer, and if so, which version you’d want. Helpful links:

Source: MsTechToday

–New Vista PCs with Backlit Orbs–

While this may seem a little ‘Appleish’ with the backlit orb proudly displayed on the casing, these custom built PCs were given to some of Microsoft partners (most likely execs) so that they could demonstrate all of the functionality and features of Windows Vista.

Microsoft partnered with ASUS for this one:

  • Widescreen tablet PC
  • Runs Vista Ultimate with Aero Glass
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Smart card reader for login
  • Intel Centrino and Core2Duo technology

While you won’t be finding these for sale anywhere, “it’s a nice example of what PC OEMs can do when motivated,” says Sean Alexander who works for Microsoft.

Source: Addicted to Digital Media [via I Started Something]

–Dell Selling Vista on all but two Machines–

 

Dell is currently selling Vista on all but two of their machines, and they’ll begin shipping them tomorrow.  If you go to Dell.com today to purchase a machine, Vista will be available on every computer except the XPS 710 ($1,999) and the XPS 710 H2C ($5,499).  Both of those computers are higher end, and Lionel Menchaca, the Digital Media Manager over at Direct2Dell says that they’re still doing some testing on the high-end graphics card drivers.They will be shipping Vista in English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese, and will be adding other languages over time.

 

Source: Thanks MetaMan!

–Bill Gates Live Webcast–

Today at 1:45 PST or 4:45 EST, Bill Gates will be hosting a live Webcast from Times Square in New York City. 

 ”The celebration pays tribute to the millions of Microsoft customers, partners and product testers around the world who provided input and feedback on these products — helping Microsoft transform the way people communicate, create and share content, and access information and entertainment in the new digital age.”

Additional information can be found here if you’re interested.

–CyberNet’s Vista Stuff–

We’ve been following Vista since forever now, so it’s only appropriate that we put together our own Vista Review/Guide.  Ryan and I spent a good portion of the weekend playing with Vista, and taking lots and lots of screenshots.  We’re going for a simple, but complete visual guide. Pictures are always more fun anyways :) So, expect that tomorrow.

And finally, as our own Vista Launch Day celebration, CyberNet will be giving away one copy of Microsoft Vista Ultimate, and one copy of Microsoft Office 2007 Professional. The contest will start tomorrow (Tuesday) and run until Friday… keep your eye out :)

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Dec 08

Aftervote (Formerly Younanimous) Customizes Your Search Experience

Posted in: Apple, Microsoft, Screenshots, search, Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on April 17, 2007 by CyberNet.

Aftervote

Less than a month ago I wrote about a new meta search engine called Younanimous that aggregated search results from Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. With each search result it would list the position on each particular search engine as well as the PageRank and Alexa Rank.

Younanimous has since been renamed to AfterVote and includes a lot of great customization options. In the upper-right you’ll see a “Settings” link that will give you a wealth of settings that you can configure to your liking. Among the options you’ll find things like creating your own whitelist/blacklist of URL’s and domains, add/remove plug-ins for various services, and even choose how to weight the three different search engines.

Aftervote

Above is a screenshot of what it looks like to choose the weights from the various search services. Since I prefer Google I put the weight of Yahoo! and MSN all the way down. I’m sure you’re asking yourself why I would even use this search engine if all I want to search is Google? Well, it is really nice being able to get the Alexa Ranks and PageRank for each search result without needing any additional tools to do so. There are also a bunch of other plug-ins that you can have AfterVote add to each search result:

Aftervote

This makes it really easy to, for example, bookmark a result on your Del.icio.us account or find out Whois information on the domain. People normally download extensions for Firefox in order to put these things in search engine results, but AfterVote incorporates them right into the site.

There is still one thing that is holding me back from using AfterVote more often. You can’t actually customize how many results show up on each page. On Google I have it setup to display 100 results per page which makes my browsing a lot more efficient. I don’t think AfterVote has to go as high as 100 because I typically look at a maximum of 50, but being able to see more than 10 results would definitely help.

Even if they did add that option I would still only use the service from time to time because of the few extra seconds it takes to load the results. I understand that it has to query Google, Yahoo!, and MSN to get the results and process them, but the few extra seconds makes a big difference when I’m looking to get an answer quickly.

AfterVote is on the right track for making the best meta search engine available, and I’m sure they will attract a pretty large number of visitors if they push to get the word out.

Thanks for the tip Chris!

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Dec 07

Opera 9.5 Gets a New Default Theme

Posted in: Freeware, Opera, Pre-Release, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on June 05, 2008 by CyberNet.

opera 9.5 new theme.png

The Opera browser has been prancing around with the same ol’ theme for several years now, which can easily be seen from our look back at older versions of popular browsers. Needless to say a makeover has been long overdue, and it’s now here! The new theme is dubbed Sharp, and is currently available in the latest snapshot release of Opera 9.5.

As you can tell from the screenshot above they decided to go with a more metallic look this time around. There are a few aspects that I find rather intriguing, most of which lie in the tab bar. The first thing that I’m sure you noticed is the shrunken close button that has been aligned near the upper-right corner of each tab. That’s unlike anything else we’ve seen in other browsers, but I’m left wondering whether it’s actually a little too small? And then there’s the new tab button that is always located after the very last tab… that’s probably my favorite part of the whole theme. It looks, well, sharp. ;)

I actually think that the entire theme is easy on the eyes, except for that darn refresh button. I know that they wanted to make it stand out, but that’s a little much if you ask me. When I asked Ashley what she thought of the button her response was “it looks like the recycling icon.” Come on Opera, make the refresh button look like the others. Consistency is important.

Post your thoughts on the new theme below. Is it too dark? Do they need to add more color? Is it something that will just appeal to geeks, or would a casual user find it attractive as well? What could they do to make it better?

Grab the latest Opera 9.5 snapshot and checkout the new theme yourself.

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Dec 06

The Best Free File Renamer!

Posted in: Freeware, Newly Released, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili

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

File Renamer

It had just occurred to me that I had never written about one of my favorite free file renamer applications for Windows. It’s called ReNamer, and I’ll warn you that it’s not a program for the weak at heart. It’s loaded with powerful features, and that’s one of the reasons I love it!

ReNamer lets you add a series of rules that it will follow for renaming files in bulk. I use this on a regular basis for renaming photos so that all of the file names don’t look like the generic DSC0000018.JPG or IMG0002388.JPG. With ReNamer I can sequentially rename the photos so that they all actually have a descriptive name.

This is the most powerful free file renamer that I’ve come across, and I’m sure you can find ways to rename just about anything using the different types of rules that are available:

File Renamer Rules

I had thought about putting together a guide on how to use the software, but I was already beaten to it. There is a Quick Start Guide (2 pages) and a Beginner’s Guide (27 pages) available in PDF format on the file ReNamer download page. The Beginner’s Guide covers just about everything you would want to know, and it has a bunch of screenshots to walk you through the all the steps.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention one of ReNamer’s best features. You can download it with an installer or as a standalone 2.3MB program. I’ve thrown this on my USB drive, and carry it around with me wherever I go!

Download File ReNamer

Windows Tip: You can sequentially rename files in Windows Explorer by highlighting the respect files and pressing the F2 key. While this is convenient it doesn’t offer any sort of customizability.

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Dec 04

50GB of Free Online Storage with ADrive

Posted in: Screenshots, Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on March 06, 2008 by CyberNet.

When we wrote about the new Windows Live SkyDrive a few weeks ago I was surprised to see them launch with 5GB of storage. It was anticipated that Microsoft would only deliver 2GB of storage, but they obviously changed their minds for the better. What shocked me even more, however, was a comment by Leland regarding a service called ADrive. They offer a whopping 50GB of storage at absolutely no cost!

I was thinking to myself that a service offering that much storage for free wouldn’t really be all that good, right? After I signed up I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was wrong. ADrive has an intuitive interface, some great features, and loads of storage.

For starters the first thing that you’ll want to do after uploading your files is manage them. You can organize all of your files into folders if you so desire, and you can perform operations (delete, move, etc…) on multiple files at the same time. Here’s what the interface for that looks like:

adrive manage files
(Click to Enlarge) 

With ADrive you’re able to make some of your files publicly available, but by default everything you upload is kept private. If you do decide to share a file it will be kept on a separate public interface where you’re also provided the URL that you need to hand out. If you want to see what the download page for a file looks like here is the Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 download for Vista that I’ve uploaded. The download interface interface is pretty clean, and the download will automatically start as soon as the page loads. That’s right, there’s no trying to hunt down a download button.

Here’s a screenshot of the interface for managing your public files:

adrive public files
(Click to Enlarge)

Since ADrive doesn’t offer any special tools for uploading files you’ll have to rely on their website quite a bit. They have a simple uploader available where you simply browse for the file you want to upload, or their more advanced uploader utilizes Java to make the process simpler. With the advanced uploader you can select entire folders to upload which makes uploading a ton of different files a breeze:

adrive upload

It all sounds too good to be true, right? I went looking for any sort of limitations they might have but for the most part I came up empty handed. You can’t upload files larger than 2GB, but I don’t really know anyone that would want to do that anyway. I couldn’t find anything saying that you’re limited to how much bandwidth you can use in a certain period of time, and you can upload any filetype.

The thing that I found a little odd was that they wouldn’t let you be logged in to the same account in two different browsers. You’ll receive an alert saying that the other account will be automatically be logged out before proceeding. It’s definitely not a deal killer though.

ADrive Homepage
Thanks for the tip Leland!

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Dec 03

Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google Stories Compared

Posted in: Apple, Google, Microsoft, Screenshots, Today's Chili, Yahoo

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

Fortune recently named Google as the #1 company to work for in 2007.  You’ve probably heard about all of the perks like free gourmet food all day long, snacks up the wahzoo, oil changes and car washes on site, and the list goes on. One Google employee took the liberty of creating a page on Flickr where they post pictures of the food they ate at work. How often do you take pictures of your food at work? Sounds silly, but people are intrigued with this. So how does working for Google stack up against Yahoo and Microsoft?

This question is easily answered with the help of this blog. The author has worked for all three in some fashion, and put together a comparison of his experiences which are also summed up on the graph below:

Googlecomparison

GooglecafeteriaHe started with Microsoft, and then moved onto Google for summer internships, and just recently ended up getting hired by Yahoo as a software engineer.

So, what does he have to say about Google?

The rumors about Google were mostly true: free gourmet food (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and kitchens with cereal and snacks nearby. The chefs would chat with you while you were filling your plate and answer any questions about the ingredients or cooking methods. Googlers are picky — I remember a > 100 email thread on the Mountain View misc mailing list discussing conspiracy theories about why our biodegradable recycled take-away food containers were replaced by cardboard ones. The variety of drinks was my favorite thing: you could get fresh squeezed juices of all kinds or whatever soft drink or tea you preferred. My chosen desk drink was Naked Juice at first, but eventually switched to Honest Tea for a lighter beverage. Before I worked there, photos of Googlers riding Segways in the hallways made me think that I would be doing the same. Unfortunately, there were no working Segways the whole summer I was there; we had scooters, but it was nearly impossible to take one out during the day.  The 3 in the building would already have their keys taken by the time I got to work. Apparently “Don’t be evil” doesn’t apply to scooters. Other cool things included famous people/authors coming in to give talks and giving us movie tickets or books they authored. There were so many great talks every day that I could have spent my whole day listening to interesting presentations by geek (and sometimes non-geek) celebrities.

MicrosoftinternAnd Microsoft?

Being an intern here was a blast and I was among good company with around 500 interns in Redmond. One memorable intern event was a barbecue at Bill Gate’s mansion by the bay. It was quite a palace and I couldn’t even see the entire house because it was 90% covered in trees. We munched on h’orderves and chatted with VPs while waiting for the BillG to come out. He finally made an entrance near the end of the evening and was immediately surrounded by interns shaking his hand and asking press questions like “How does Microsoft plan to position itself in the future?” During his informal talk, I was about 2 feet behind him and I wasn’t paying much attention to the speech but only noticed his shoes — they were actually slightly worn out normal looking shoes. I had always wondered what the richest man in the world wore and did not expect that.

Hey, Bill wears worn-out normal looking shoes! Who knew?

And now what about Yahoo?

I have to admit I have only worked here for a month so far, but it’s a pretty good place to work. I use my knowledge of operating systems, algorithms, and data structures to work with the massive amounts of data Yahoo gets. My favorite perk is an espresso bar downstairs where baristas serve your choice of caffeinated drinks as well as chai and chocolate milk. I miss the less bureaucracy at Google though: at Yahoo I have a manager, his manager, THREE directors above that manager, and then THREE VPs before the CEO. That’s right — I have 9 promotions to go before I’m at the top. And I have to confess that I still use Google for my internet-based needs.

I found all of this pretty interesting, especially the fact that he now works for Yahoo, yet he still uses Google for his Internet needs. Also interesting is how the perks like food and drinks appear to make a difference in the overall opinion of a company.

There probably aren’t many people who can say they’ve worked for Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google. His entire story is pretty long, but interesting, and you can find that here. If you’re wanting to get hired by one of these companies, he offers a few tips as well.

Source: My Microsoft Google Yahoo Stories [via Google Operating System]

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Dec 01

Apple and Cisco Finally See Eye to Eye with iPhone

Posted in: Apple, Gadgets, iPhone, Microsoft, Screenshots, Today's Chili

This article was written on February 22, 2007 by CyberNet.

CiscosiphoneAfter Steve Jobs wowed the crowed at Macworld in January by introducing the iPhone, he had some serious business to take care! The problem? Cisco had the name iPhone trademarked years ago, which left Apple dealing with a trademark-infringement lawsuit which was filed in federal court shortly after the Macworld announcement.

Long story short, Cisco and Apple decided to work together and share the name. Amazing huh? Speaking to the Associated Press, Zeus Kerravala who’s a network infrastructure analyst with Yankee Group says that there’s a possibility that the two could work together with Cisco’s Lynksys division creating a device where users could call in to record podcasts, and then they’d automatically be uploaded to iTunes.

“If the two actually can work together, then the combination of the two is obviously more powerful than the two butting heads,” says Kerravela. “There’s no company out there that understands network service like Cisco. And you could argue no other company understands user experience like Apple.”

Of course this is all speculation, and not a peep has been heard from Apple or Cisco over this deal, other than an announcement that they had agreed to “explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communication.”

So who came out on top with this one? Apple or Cisco? I say Cisco because they had the ball in their court, and I’m sure Apple was willing to do just about anything to get this settled.

Note: If you’re wanting to take a look at Cisco’s iPhone, click here for the product page.

News Source: The Associated Press [via Yahoo]

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Nov 29

Broken iPod? Useless iPod? Get $$ for it!

Posted in: Apple, Gadgets, ipod, Microsoft, Screenshots, Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on May 11, 2007 by CyberNet.

BuyipodMaybe you jumped on the bandwagon and purchased an iPod, only to find that you didn’t use it a few months later?  Maybe you’ve dropped your iPod just as many times as your cell phone, but your iPod didn’t survive?  Whatever your reason is, there’s a site that doesn’t mind whether it’s broken, or ya just don’t want it anymore.  They’ll give you cash for your iPod!

The site is BuyMyBrokeniPod.com, and all you have to do is enter in all of the information regarding the iPod, whether it’s a Nano, Video, 3rd generation, etc. Then enter in the condition, and whether or not you have the USB cable, charger, or box. From there you’ll get your quote on how much they’ll pay you for your iPod. You ship it to them via 1st class USPS mail, and upon delivery you’ll get your payment.

So for example, I’ve got a 4th generation 20GB iPod in 100% working order, it’s in OK condition, and it includes the USB cord and the charger.  I’d get $48 bucks back, and if it wasn’t working at all and I didn’t know why, I’d still get $18 back! If you have some idea what’s wrong with it, the value will probably go up. For example, if it had a cracked screen the value would go up to $21. Not bad if your iPod is sitting there broken, or collecting dust.

If you’re planning on purchasing another iPod, another alternative is the Apple Recycling Program that they offer at US Retail stores.  Whether it’s working or not, you can drop off your iPod and receive a 10 percent discount towards the purchase of a new iPod. Not a bad deal.

Submit your iPod at BuyMyBrokeniPod.com

Source:AppScout

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Nov 28

Total Commander 7: The Ultimate Windows Explorer Replacement?

Posted in: Apple, Microsoft, Newly Released, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili

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

Total Commander (formerly Windows Commander) is a Windows Explorer replacement that has just about all of the features you could ever want. Now after more than 7 months in the works version 7 has been released with a lot of great features, including a slightly new look.

Total Commander 7

First and foremost I would like to add that this is not a free application. It does cost $34, and for your money you’ll receive the latest version on CD along with a quick reference card that you can use to lookup some of the functions and keystrokes that make the software so popular. Then you get free lifetime updates to all future versions.

Now I don’t own a copy of this software, and to be honest today was the first time that I had installed it. However, I know a lot of people who swear by it because they have been using it for upwards of 10 years, which is why I wanted to write about it. Here are some of the most talked up features that Total Commander has:

  • Comparing files with the built-in text editor
  • Synchronize directories
  • Split/combine files
  • Search for duplicate files
  • Bulk rename files
  • Built-in FTP manager
  • Can ZIP files, and can unpack ZIP, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZ,CAB, RAR and ACE files.
  • Lots of addons/plugins available

So what’s new in version 7? Here’s a short version of the list that’s quite long:

  • Separate background color can be set for odd and even lines
  • Compare by content now allows to edit files, and to re-synchronize manually
  • File operation logging
  • Multi-rename-tool: Allow to edit target names
  • More options in copy overwrite dialog: Compare by content, Rename target, automatic rename, copy all smaller or all larger
  • Sort by additional columns, e.g. by size, then by date/time
  • Auto-complete path in command line, current directory, copy dialog etc.
  • Use Shift+Del to remove unwanted entries from various comboboxes: Command line,
  • Secure FTP over SSL/TLS.
  • Custom user-defined commands for main menu and hotkeys
  • Alias commands for the command line for internal commands or external programs
  • When a copy/move/delete/create directory operation fails due to insufficient rights, ask user whether he wants to copy as administrator. Also allow a user to read from an inaccessible directory if he knows the administrator password.
  • Search on FTP servers

So if you’ve used Total Commander before, or own it, let us know what you think about it. My experience is limited to about the 30-minutes that I played with it today so your personal opinion is highly welcomed. I’m just not sure if the application is worth the $34 considering that I have individual programs which can do much of what Total Commander includes (compare files, rename files, FTP, zipping files, etc…).

Total Commander Homepage

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