Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on March 31, 2008 by CyberNet.

When Apple announced the  iPhone last year at MacWorld, it seemed as though their goal was to introduce something new and fresh which they successfully accomplished. The phone itself is an incredible device with revolutionary new features. The fact that the iPhone is touch-screen showed that Apple wanted to get away from buttons or a stylus like what we’ve seen in phones and PDA’s for quite a while now, and offer something different. The whole touch-screen method has gone over well for them which is why we’re a little confused at a job that they recently posted on their site.

The job was posted on March 14th on Apple.com, and the title is “Handwriting Recognition Engineer.” When you read the description, you learn that they’re looking for someone to advance Apple’s handwriting recognition technology for Mac OS X. This makes sense if they’re hoping to launch a tablet computer like what has been rumored for a while now but what doesn’t make sense is the last sentence in the description.  It reads, “The recognition technology you create may extend beyond Mac OS X to other applications and the iPhone.” Yes, it says the iPhone. Does this mean that if they were able to perfect the handwriting recognition technology, that they would try to incorporate it into the iPhone? If so, does that mean we might be seeing a stylus with a future generation iPhone?

Of course we have to think outside of the box and think about other ways in which Apple could use handwriting recognition technology on the iPhone.   An Engadget commenter (VganTN T) makes this point and says:

Maybe the recognition isn’t for user input…

What about writing on a piece of paper, taking a photo of it, and having any recognized text be put into the notes app?

Ready for editing or emailing.

We really can’t see Apple selling an iPhone with a stylus, so it’ll be interesting to see what comes of this, if anything. Apple could have just thrown that line in the job description about the iPhone to get people talking, who knows! Any thoughts?

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on October 25, 2006 by CyberNet.

I have been using Paint.NET for months now and it is one of the free programs that I use the most. I have actually received several emails in the last week regarding their Alpha 1 release and now there is actually a newer Alpha 2 available.

After you download and install the program you will quickly realize how much like Photoshop it actually is. It has many of the same tools but Photoshop power users will find that it lacks some of the more advanced features. Honestly, it is so nice (and simple) that anyone who has a hard time understanding Photoshop should find this to be absolutely perfect!

Here are the newest features in this release:

• New: Gradient Tool supports linear, radial, diamond, and conical gradient modes
• New: Merge Layer Down command in Layers menu and Layers window
• Changed: A version of the Unsaved Changes dialog is now also shown when closing just 1 unsaved image, instead of the old fashioned Yes/No/Cancel MessageBox
• Changed: Alpha Blending and Anti-aliasing buttons are now split-buttons, with different icon and some descriptive text
• Changed: Shortcut key to open the MDI overflow list is now Ctrl+Q, instead of Ctrl+Space
• If an important installation file is missing, Paint.NET will try to repair the installation instead of crashing
• 256×256 icon format is now compressed, dropping EXE size by 150K
• Fixed: a bunch of crashes that users were reporting
• Fixed: “Load from toolbar” in Choose Defaults dialog did not pick up the active tool

There is finally a gradient tool! Thank goodness because that was something I use all of the time to add transparency effects to images. Here is a quick clip of what the gradient can do:

One thing that is definitely easier to do in Paint.NET compared to Photoshop is drawing curved lines. In Photoshop you either have to set paths (which is very hard to get used to) or apply the wave filter to a straight line. With Paint.NET, however, a line is given several points that you can grab and drag to add waves or curves to a line.

The one thing that I do miss from Photoshop though is the long list of filters and the right-click menu that I took for granted. The right-click menu is pretty important to me and it speeds up the process of editing images, but Paint.NET is yet to get this feature…hopefully they are working on it.

Note: Paint.NET 3 Alpha 2 expires on November 23, 2006 because there will be a newer version available before then. I assume that they are doing this to ensure that people upgrade.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on January 01, 2007 by CyberNet.

So we are just weeks away from the Windows Vista consumer launch but the excitement doesn’t seem to be nearly what I would expect it to be. Why? Having used Vista for several months I find a lot of great things that make using Windows a more smooth operation. It is quite disappointing that I can’t get the Aero Glass on my laptop (with an integrated Intel 915 graphics card) because without it I can’t use things like Flip-3D or see thumbnail images when hovering over Taskbar items.

In fact using Vista RC2 on my laptop has been quite troublesome and slow lately. I install and uninstall applications all of the time and I know that isn’t good for keeping a PC clean, but the performance hit on Vista has been much more drastic than it ever was on XP. At this rate I would be reformatting my computer every month compared to every 3 to 4 months that I reformat an XP machine. This is probably a story for another day though…I’ll get back on topic now.

Windows Fiji is the codename for what will become an update or service pack to Windows Vista and is slated for a release in 2008. This release should have features that didn’t make it in time for the Windows Vista launch which should mean that it will be free (*crosses fingers*). Here are the rumored features for this release according to Wikipedia:

• The user interface will be updated with things that were originally promised for Vista, along with a more powerful sidebar, which will be more than just a dock for widgets
• .Net Framework will be updated to 3.5 or 4
• WinFS will be applied over NTFS to give us Virtual Folders
• All bundled application will be updated to newer versions
• Tighter integration with Windows Live. Probably through ‘Codename Nemo’, a media center application that’s integrated with Messenger, Spaces, and probably lots of other Windows Live Services
• We might see Monaco, a music authoring tool, similar to Apple’s Garageband
• Default playback of HD-DVD, Vista currently identifies these disks but cannot play them without an external decoder
• A more advanced speech recognition software
• The system will be made more secure
• New themes, icons, wallpapers, games, and minor tweaks to almost everything

Those features sound nice but the only one of interest to me is WinFS (Windows Future Storage). That is the new file system that is supposed to allow better searching and break away from the barriers that folders create by organizing data in relationships:

• Integrated storage – One example scenario is the Integrated Storage Conception that helps to reuse data. This feature will be of great use for businesses, by allowing it to automatically aggregate data from different departments.
• Full text search – A second possible scenario is a full-text search that works with items fields – the rich filters feature. By making use of the fact that any application’s data files can be used by any other application, searches can be made to encompass the contents of the file as well, rather than just its attributes.
• Advanced search and data aggregation – WinFS provides an opportunity to create rich and custom made search queries, such as to find “all persons whom I called last weekend”.
• Data mining – WinFS can also give more information about data, by using data mining techniques and applying rules to the data, thus helping to uncover new information. This scenario is intended to use in development of expert systems.

There is still no guarantees that WinFS will make it out in time for Windows Fiji, but I would sure hope it will.

Windows Vienna (expected in 2010) is really supposed to break the mold that Windows 95 established with a Start Menu, Taskbar, and an Explorer shell. Actually, Vista was supposed to do this but the amount of time it would take to develop such a system was greatly underestimated. Other details about what to expect in Vienna are pretty scarce but crawling around the Web I have been able to find some mockups of what people think it will be like (images below taken from this forum).

This screenshot obviously favors transparency and combines the Taskbar with a sidebar, which would take up a large amount of screen space. I also think the glowing edges are way too much:

Next up is a replacement for the Flip-3D feature that can be found in Vista…and I actually really like this. It exposes more of each window so that you can see more of the content but at the same time it is easy to see which window is currently selected. I would love to see a Windows XP/Vista application do something like this:

To break away from the Taskbars and Start Menu Microsoft has been investigating the use of “pie menus.” A pie menu offers the options in a circular fashion around the mouse, and therefore reducing the distance that the mouse has to travel in order to get to the desired option. I’ll explain how the Firefox extension works that does the same thing since it is a real example that everyone can try:

The Firefox extension replaces the standard right-click menu with a pie menu, as pictured above. When I right-clicked on the image at the top of our website it noticed that it was hyperlinked so the options it provided me with were mostly related to hyperlinks. Selecting any of the options takes hardly any effort at all since they are all right next to the mouse.

I would love to see Windows go to a pie menu solution like this, but it just seems like there are so many options that have to be crammed in such a small space. Sure the circle could be made bigger than the one shown above, but that would almost defeat the purpose. I’m sure this can be effectively accomplished, but Microsoft will have to spend a lot of time and money in research to get it done right.

Here is a small mockup of how the pie menu(s) might be displayed in Vienna:

That’s really everything I know about what’s coming after Windows Vista. It might not be as detailed as you would like, but information is hard to come by right now. Heck, Microsoft probably isn’t even sure what kind of features can be made ready in the next 3 years, and time seems to be their worst enemy.

News Source: Slashdot

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on October 25, 2007 by CyberNet.

I’m sure there have been programs who’s windows just won’t retain the size that you want them to. Or maybe you want a program to automatically be minimized or maximized at startup, but it never seems to listen. Sound familiar? One option that you have is to right-click on the applications shortcut, and choose Properties. There you will see a “Run” drop-down menu where you can designate the startup behavior of the application (normal, maximized, or minimized).

Sometimes that just doesn’t work, and in a case like that you’ll need something a bit more advanced. That’s where AutoSizer comes to the rescue. With it you can specify a window according to the title, or by the class it belongs in.

Tip: Normally you’ll want to have it identify the windows according to class because that will almost always pinpoint the application correctly.

The great thing about AutoSizer is that it can be configured to maximize, minimize, restore, center, or resize windows according to either the title or the class it belongs to. If you use the resize option, which lets you specify a height and width for the window, you can also set the starting position on the screen:

Click to Enlarge

AutoSizer is a free program that runs in your System Tray, and has an option to startup with Windows. The simple configuration screen shows a list of all your running programs, and you’ll have rules created for your favorite programs in no time at all.

AutoSizer Homepage

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Amazon will now sync your reading position for personal documents

A somewhat innocuous update for the Kindle looks like it’s not even worth a press release, but a closer look reveals it to be a pretty big deal. Kindle Keyboard Software update v3.3 brings Whispersync and cloud storage to personal documents.

While some might frame this as an answer to Apple’s iCloud, it seems like an obvious move for Amazon. Right now, you can redownload any purchased content — like ebooks, music, movies — from Amazon any time you like. This update (already included in the new Kindle and Kindle Touch) does the same for any content you add yourself.

If you e-mail documents to your Kindle, or add them via USB, they’ll now show up on the personal documents section your Kindle management pages at Amazon. From there, you can delete them or send them to one of your devices. You get 5GB of space, which should be more than enough, even counting PDFs

What’s more, if the file is in “Kindle format” then your reading progress will be synced between devices. Thus you can read a converted ebook on the Kindle in bed, and switch to the Kindle app on your phone when you’re waiting in line at the store.

Or you will. The new services only work with the actual Kindles right now. Updates are coming soon for the various Kindle apps.

There are two more new features in this update. You now get local deals included in ads if you own a Special Offer Kindle, and the Voice Guide can now be started by pressing the shift and space keys together. I tried this last one and it seems buggy at best. I could only get it to work once.

The update is free, and don’t panic if your Kindle seems to go into an endless loop of restarts. It will end eventually. I promise.

Kindle Keyboard Software Update Version 3.3 [Amazon]

See Also:

• A Map for the Kindle 2's Whispernet Coverage
• Amazon Shows Off Kindle for iPad
• Kindle Software Update Adds Twitter, PDF Zoom, Sharper Fonts …
• Amazon Adds Real Page Numbers to Kindle
• Amazon Promises Kindle Update for Better Content Organization …