Over the weekend, the folks over at Windows Phone New Zealand discovered the “Mango Friends and Family Bundle: Pre-Cleanup” — the first in a series of two refreshes that promise to clear away any beta updates ahead of Mango‘s long-awaited rollout. At the time, it seemed like this tool would allow developers to upgrade to the RTM build of the OS, without rolling back to NoDo and losing all of their text messages or app data. Now, Redmond’s own Brandon Watson has confirmed via Twitter that this is indeed the case, adding that the update (available in Zune) only offers support to devs who used the Windows Phone beta program. Still, that’s pretty reassuring news for all those who jumped on the Mango train a little bit early.
This article was written on April 02, 2008 by CyberNet.
Web Browser Wednesday
One of the things that I’ve always enjoyed in Safari 3 is the inline search interface, and just the other day I thought I would peruse around the Internet trying to find a way to do the same thing in Firefox. Why is searching special in Safari? Because it dims the background of the page that you’re on, and highlights the matching results as you type. The result that you currently have highlighted bounces up and down to catch your eye, and the whole experience is overall visually appealing.
When searching around for an extension I didn’t come up empty handed. I found one called XUL/Migemo that did exactly what I was looking for, but the problem was that the extension does a few other things that I don’t really need (nor wanted). After a little more searching I came across this post in the MozillaZine forums which talks about how you can set it up yourself. After testing it I can verify that it does work on both Firefox 2 and Firefox 3.
Note: There is a video demonstration at the end of the article that shows what the end result looks like.
–Setup–
The setup process consists of three pretty easy steps. You’ll have it done in just a minute or two:
Download this package that I’ve assembled which includes the four files you’ll need.
There are three JavaScript files (userChrome, SafariHighlight.uc, and ucjs_findbar.uc) that need to be placed in your profile’s chrome folder. Use this table to find your browser’s profile:
After you’ve found the profile folder just copy the three JavaScript files (userChrome, SafariHighlight.uc, and ucjs_findbar.uc) into the chrome folder located within your profile. If the UserChrome file already exists you may want to back it up before overwriting it.
Now you’ll need to install the extension which I’ve included in the download from the first step (here’s its homepage in case you’re curious). I’ve cleverly named the extension DragMeIntoFirefox because that’s exactly what you need to do… drag the file into the Firefox window. Then proceed with installing it, and restart the browser when it’s done. If you don’t want to drag the extension into the Firefox window just go to File -> Open File and browse for the extension.
–Using the New Search Feature–
When you go to perform a search for the first time you may not think that it’s working, but I’m confident that you’ve followed the three steps accurately. The reason why you may not be seeing the dimmed background and nice highlighting is that you need to click the Highlight All button on the Find bar. Immediately after doing that you’ll see the effects go into play.
Alternatively you can just hit the Next button (or the keyboard shortcut Control+G) to go to the next result. After pressing that the Highlight All feature will automatically be enabled. Those of you with the automatic find-as-you-type enabled will want to use the Control+G keyboard shortcut to move on to the next result if you want to see the special effects.
–Demonstration–
Is it worth the work? I think it’s a really nice feature to have, but you be the judge:
–Overview–
So that’s how you can get a Safari-styled search interface in Firefox 2 or Firefox 3. After setting this up I have fallen in love with it, but it would be nice if this was bundled into its own extension.
This article was written on September 15, 2010 by CyberNet.
Windows only If you’ve ever wanted to do something on a computer without leaving a trace you’ll definitely want to check out the free and portable DemocraKeyX. It is the epitome of anonymity, and includes a variety of tools that you can carry with you to do everything from surfing the web to editing documents in a secure and private way.
What is bundled with DemocraKeyX? Here’s a list of the five various apps along with a description as to how each will help in protecting your anonymity:
Tor Browser (powered by Firefox) – For anonymous web browsing without using an insecure anonymous proxy
Clamwin Portable – To check the host computer for viruses, and to clean before surfing anonymously
Thunderbird Portable – Send anonymous email or encrypted email with Enigmail and GnuPGP
TrueCrypt – Create hidden volumes and encrypt your files so they are unreadable
Abiword – View and Edit Documents from your secured directories
After you’ve downloaded DemocraKeyX you can throw it on your USB drive so that you can safely accomplish any of these tasks regardless of what machine you’re on. Plus if you put DemocraKeyX at the root of the drive it will automatically start whenever you throw the USB key in a computer. Pretty nice.
UPDATE: Bad timing on this one guys – they started charging for this software right as our post went live. You can still download the freeware version here.
This article was written on June 01, 2007 by CyberNet.
Economist.com recently posted about the current state of piracy around the world according to the Business Software Alliance, which is a trade body. As you can imagine, it’s really not too good. No information was given about how they got the numbers that they did, but the calculation that was reported was based upon the number of computers in each country, and the dollar amount of pirated software per computer.
In terms of dollar amount and total losses, the United States tops that list at $7.2 billion, and China was next with $5.4 billion. But because this report focused on the amount per computer, The United States didn’t make the list. Topping the list was Azerbaijan with over $250 of pirated software per computer, and following behind was Iceland with over $200 of pirated software per computer. In total, the cost of piracy in Iceland was $32 million, however that’s divided among few computers in comparison to the $7.2 billion divided among all computers in the United States.
The report stated that piracy cost the software industry $39.6 billion dollars, as in lost revenue, however those that choose to pirate probably wouldn’t ever purchase the software in the first place if pirating wasn’t an option. Can it really be considered lost revenue then?
This article was written on September 27, 2006 by CyberNet.
A new version of Windows Live Writer was just released and it has quite a long list of changes. I have been using Windows Live Writer ever since it was opened to the public and I couldn’t imagine not writing with it now.
Here is a list of the new features:
Tagging support
Support for Blogger Beta
Categories are sorted by name and support scrolling, plus improved support for reading categories from your blog
Improved startup performance
Paste is enabled for Title region and TAB/SHIFT+TAB navigation between title and body supported
Insert hyperlink added to context menu when text is selected
Title attribute in Insert Link dialog
Custom date support for Community Server
Improved keyboard shortcuts for switching views
Change spell-check shortcut key to F7
Add ‘png’ to insert image dialog file type filter
More robust image posting to Live Spaces
Improved style detection for blogs
Fixed issues with pasting URLs and links
Remember last window size and position when opening a new post
Open post dialog retrieves more than 25 old posts
The biggest problem that I still have is that Windows Live Writer doesn’t support nested categories. However, the category list now has a scrollbar, a refresh button, and is now alphabetized by category name. That means I will still upload a post as a draft in order to ensure all categories and information are correct before the article gets published.
There are also six plugins available for those who are looking to add new features that Windows Live Writer currently doesn’t offer:
Blog This For Firefox – The “Blog This” Firefox button launch Windows Live Writer prepopulated with content from the current web page. Use it to quickly blog about interesting content you find while browsing the web.
Blog This For Internet Explorer – The Blog This for Internet Explorer adds a button to IE which starts a new Windows Live Writer blog post prepopulated with content and title from the current web page. Blog the whole page, or just selected snippets. Interacts with other registered plugins to parse and structure web content where appropriate. Blog quickly when you find something of interest on the web.
Event Plugin – Create your own events or find existing events through intergrated search of the Eventful.com website. Format the event, add a picture, edit the description, customize what data is displayed. The published post included correct hCalendar microformatting. The plugin also enables pastes of Live Clipboard copied events and Blog This of events from the Eventful.com website.
Flickr4Writer – Flickr4Writer is a plugin that enables interaction with the Flickr(tm) services. You can browse by tags, photosets, or a simple photostream. After browsing, the plugin enables inserting the image reference into a post. A Flickr(tm) account is required. See http://www.flickr4writer.com for more information and screenshots.
Acronyms Plugin – This plugin lets you search for an acronym description and insert it the acronym with the description in the blog post.
Insert Spaces Emoticon – This plugin allows you to select one of the many Live Spaces emoticons and put them onto your blog. The best thing about this plugin is it’s not limited to just Live Spaces. You can use this plugin for any type of blog and still have the Spaces’ emoticons on it.
I think that Windows Live Writer is really starting to come along nicely. They still have some work ahead of them but it is definitely evolving into a nice piece of software.
This article was written on October 02, 2007 by CyberNet.
There have been tools in the past that monitor programs on your computer for updates, but none is like the new UpdateStar. This free app claims to check for updates on upwards of 80,000 titles including freeware, shareware and commercial software products. That’s quite a database it has got built up!
Here’s a quick list of some features it offers:
Once program updates are available, UpdateStar lets you know and offers you information and download options as well as licensing links in the case of a commercial product or update.
Acts as a replacement for the well known “Add or Remove Programs” within your Windows Control Panel.
You can let it deliver information regarding your complete software setup, or you may also choose to just let UpdateStar look for available update information regarding pre-selected programs you consider important.
The database is maintained by the users, for the users. Thousands of voluntary users help us to keep our database with tens of thousand of software products up-to-date. If you find an update that UpdateStar does not recognize, you can help updating the database by using the “Send Update” link in the product’s details section within the program.
Informs you about available upgrades for your installed programs. By default an icon will appear in your system tray and inform you, when an update for you is available. Simply click on the icon to learn more about the available update(s). To change the settings, please open the “Preferences” tab in your UpdateStar.
I would undoubtedly say that this is the best application available for providing update information, but there was still a large majority of my applications that it couldn’t retrieve info for. Here are some of the more prominent ones that I was shocked to not see included:
It didn’t have version information for some common programs like Live Writer, GIMP, Notepad++, and 7-Zip.
The screenshot at the beginning of the article is what it looks like when you first run UpdateStar. It gives you an overview of how many programs you have installed on your computer (not how many it is able to actually track), and how many program updates are available. There is also a more detailed product list available where you can see what the current version is for each of the applications it does have info for. The ones that can’t be tracked will say “Unknown” in the current version column:
Another great way to stay up-to-date on your programs is to follow our Daily Downloads that are posted each weekday. Did you not expect us to do any shameless self promotion?
This article was written on October 07, 2006 by CyberNet.
App-A-Day just released what I think is the best program yet. The Jedi Window Dock will let you remove any window from the Taskbar and place it into a tabbed interface, which means this could definitely help reduce some clutter.
Once you download the program and have it running you just need to open the “Tab Controls” tab and select which open windows you want placed in a tab. If you don’t see some of your applications listed you may need to refresh the window list. Click on the application that you want to remove from the Taskbar and hit “Add To Tab.” Bam! That’s all!
It appears to work very well for me and I haven’t come across any programs that it doesn’t work with. The only feature that I would like to see now is the option to right-click on a Taskbar item and select the “Add To Tab” option. If you could do that then this is almost like a virtual desktop to me.
You can also right-click on any of the tabs to pop-out the window and place it back in the Taskbar. If you accidentally close Jedi Window Dock, which I did, it takes all of your windows and puts them in the Taskbar…so you don’t have to worry about losing your work.
This is pretty awesome. Thanks to “Nate The Great” for the tip!
This article was written on June 30, 2010 by CyberNet.
Windows only Are you a big fan of having images of Earth set as your desktop wallpaper? If so then Desktop Earth is definitely something you’ll want to checkout. This free app will rotate your desktop wallpaper on an interval that you specify, and things such as the sunlight will be reflected across the map based upon the time of day.
The program uses maps provided by NASA as the source, and it includes several different viewing options:
Adjust the amount of cloud cover
View city lights (regular or “abundant”)
Moonlit surfaces
Simple shadows (basically no city lights)
It’s nothing extravagant, but is pretty darn cool. The best part may be that it only uses about 3MB when running… so you can get a cool dynamic wallpaper without compromising a lot of system resources.
This article was written on November 16, 2006 by CyberNet.
John Haller from PortableApps.com just posted requesting some Beta testers for all kinds of software before it officially gets released. If you feel up to the job head on over to the forums and you’ll find the following programs eagerly awaiting your tests:
These versions should work well with Windows Vista along with several other kinks that he has worked out. I have been playing with the Firefox Portable 2 and I was very impressed with the initial “setup” screen when I started the program for the first time. It prompted me to accept Mozilla’s license agreement before continuing and it actually looked exactly like a window from the normal installation. Well done John!
Your smartphone and / or tablet is justbeggingto get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout attips at engadget dawt comand let us know. Enjoy!
Official Android updates
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with LTE is now getting some very minor plastic surgery, with what appears to be a simple maintenance update. [Droid-Life]
Not the biggest fan of your buggy keyboard, Motorola Droid X users? The latest bug fix update, eloquently called 4.5.605, resolves keyboard stability and usability issues that have affected a large number of users. [Droid-Life]
Owners of the HTC Sensation on O2 should be enjoying an enhancement to Android 2.3.4 soon, as the rollout has already begun. [Pocket-Lint]
How ’bout that Motorola Xoom WiFi? Android 3.2.1 (aka build HTK55D) is rolling out to devices now; we imagine the update’s a minor bug fix of some kind, but we haven’t seen any change log on it yet. [Droid-Life]
The HTC Droid Incredible 2 is now on the receiving end of build 4.08.605.3, a minor refresh that improves server connections for email sync, enhances Visual Voicemail stability as well as other minor bug fixes. [Droid-Life]
Rogers customers are now reporting that the Samsung Captivate is now seeing an upgrade to Gingerbread. [MobileSyrup]
The Sony Tablet S came shipped with Android 3.1, but it’s already getting the bump to 3.2. [AndroidCentral]
Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery
Remember Android 2.3.6? You know, the update that blocked tethering on the Samsung Nexus S? It appears that the Nexus One is due for the infamous build. If you don’t care to wait for the refresh to pop up OTA, you can download and install it on your own. No word on if tethering is blocked on this update as well, but we can’t imagine it being different from the Nexus S. [Redmond Pie]
Android 2.3.5 has leaked for the Samsung Infuse 4G in the form of build I997UCKI4. Such a leak causes us to suspect the official rollout should be heading our way in the near future. [AndroidCentral]
XDA’s rooted the Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, and has published a full tutorial on exactly how you can do it. It’s no SuperOneClick, of course, but it’s certainly bound to get you to the same destination — as long as you follow the instructions precisely. [XDA-dev]
An early preview version of CM7.1 for the LG Optimus Black is available for download. Keep in mind that it’s a test build, and won’t be completely polished. [AndroidCentral]
The first deodexed ROM for the Motorola Droid Bionic is now downloadable. Follow the link to get the full set of instructions. [Droid-Life]
If you desperately want to have Gingerbread on your HTC Thunderbolt, a RUU for build 2.11.605.2 is all yours. [Android Police]
Other platforms
SFR France indicated this week that they’re ready to push the Mango update out to the HTC 7 Trophy, though it didn’t specify exactly when it will begin. Vodafone Romania and Telus (Canada) also let it slip that they’d be rolling out the update to their phones to Mango by the end of this current month. No date for the latest version has been officially set.
The Nokia N950 is a bit of a rarity as it is, but that doesn’t mean it can’t receive continued support. The MeeGo-run device just received a beta of its latest firmware boost, and appears to be available for download. [NokiaHD blog]
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Windows only 
Did you not expect us to do any shameless self promotion?
John Haller from PortableApps.com 
