This article was written on August 16, 2006 by CyberNet.
Windows Live Writer came out with quite a bang the other day when it was released. It gives users the ability to preview their post on their site at the click of a button. I have never used any blogging software before that handles the way Windows Live Writer does.
Many people have already started to voice some their opinions on what they would like to see in future versions. Windows Live Writer is so great because you don’t have to wait for new versions in order to get new features…thanks to plug-ins!
Here are 5 plug-ins that are already starting to make an appearance:
Flickr (Homepage / Download Page) This plug-in is pretty self explanatory. It will let you easily add your Flickr photos to your posts.
Media Player Currently Listening (Homepage / Download Page) Adds a link to the sidebar that will let you insert the music you are currently listening to.
I am excited to see what other plug-ins people can come up with. Out of the five listed above the Flickr one would probably be the most useful to the normal user of Windows Live Writer.
This article was written on August 22, 2006 by CyberNet.
The Google Talk Blog posted today about how they listen when we request a feature. They proved that when they recently released a new version of Google Talk that incorporated sending/receiving files and voicemail capability. The most interesting part about the post is when they say “Now, we’re off to the next version. I can’t tell you what your #2 and 3 suggestions were, but I do know that they’re on the way.”
Here is the list of items from the survey (in no particular order):
Rich text for outgoing chats
Additional smilies or emoticons
User profiles
Friend groups
Multi-user-chats
Conference calls
Voicemail
Video conferencing
File sharing or transferring
Offline message delivery
Mac or Linux versions
Call and message encryption
Calls to landlines
Notification when friends come online
Okay, so out of that list they say there are two more features that they are working on but they do not say specifically which ones, other than they were voted #2 and #3. I would have to guess that video conferencing would be pretty high on the list because everyone has a Webcam these days. Being able to call landline phones would also be cool but I am not sure what they would charge…I’m sure if it was free then a lot of people would love to have that feature.
So what could the new features be that they are working on? Google just loves to leave people guessing.
This article was written on January 11, 2007 by CyberNet.
Microsoft is continuing to build-up to the launch of both Windows Vista and Office 2007! Part of this excitement is their Launch Event 2007 called ‘Ready for a New Day.’ So, how does the free copy come into play? Well, anyone who attends one of the launch events will be given a free copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2007 as well as Microsoft Office Groove 2007.
The launch event will give you the chance to experience Vista, Office, and Exchange server 2007 in action. These events are being held all across the United States, even in the states you’d least expect it! On their website for the launch event, they have all of the details including a clickable map so that you can find exact locations, dates and times. They have two different events, one being ‘Microsoft Across America,’ and the other being ‘Ready for a New Day”. Each have a different agenda which you can view on the web. When you go to sign up, you’ll either register to take the partner, developer, IT pro, small business, or the IT Executive and Manager track (each with a different agenda).
Now you have a chance to get in on a free copy of Office 2007!
Funny — we (almost) asked this same exact question in August of 2009, just after Snow Leopard had been loosed on the unsuspecting public. But as fate seems to have it, each and every OS overhaul brings gobs of issues, and regardless of how hard the problem finders in Cupertino work, there’s simply too many unchecked variables to squash each and every bug prior to release. And with that, we present to you just a handful of the biggest quirks that have cropped up since a cool million of you downloaded Lion. For one, you can kiss Rosetta support goodbye, and secondly, it seems as if 10.7 is seriously cramping third-party NAS support for Time Machine. We’ve also had numerous reports from folks that are having issues dragging application installs to their Applications folder, not to mention an uptick in Guest account crashes. Of course, there’s also the whole “I can’t get my free update to Lion!” thing, busted Windows partitions and a veritable plethora of dilemmas when looking at Pro Tools and Cubase. Hit the links below to join the misery party, or feel free to start your own in comments below. Oh, and if you’re furious that Lion and its incompatibilities have ruined your livelihood… well, welcome to the downside of early adoption. Here’s hoping a raft of updates cures whatever’s ailing you in the days and weeks to come.
This article was written on December 14, 2005 by CyberNet.
Microsoft released Exchange 12 today to 1,400 testers. This is going to be the next version of the mail/communication server to be released around the same time as Microsoft Office 12. The next beta will come in the second quarter of 2006 and the final release is expected in the third quarter of 2006. Of course any predictions by Microsoft are never very accurate so plan on the first quarter of 2007 at the earliest. New changes include five user selectable server roles and more unified inbox capabilities.
This article was written on February 15, 2007 by CyberNet.
Tutorial Thursday
The Flip-3D task switching in Windows Vista is probably one of its most notorious features. If you’re not familiar with it then the next time you get your hands on Windows Vista (with Aero enabled) make sure you press the Windows Key + Tab. It brings up a nifty application switcher that is sure to leave people in awe.
For those people who are like me and don’t completely see Flip-3D being a productive solution, you might want to checkout the two (free) pieces of software that I have come across. Setting them up to replace Vista’s Flip-3D is really a piece of cake so I’ll primarily be focusing on the features of the two applications.
Note: Both of these applications require that you are running Vista with Aero enabled.
Since I last wrote about it I am pleased to say that it has received some nice new features, including a more natural thumbnail placement, tray icon with configuration options, and compatibility with Windows Speech Recognition. The screenshot above is still from the old version that used the grid placement so the “natural placement” is definitely a welcomed change.
Now the developer hasn’t updated the code since November 2006, but don’t let that worry you. He just posted a few days ago saying that he was able to install Vista on his laptop so improvements to the program will be coming soon.
This is definitely the Flip-3D replacement that I was waiting for. Actually, it is really funny because this is the type of window switching application that I talked about in my Windows Fiji/Vienna post in which I showed a mockup of how it might work…and SmartFlip is right on the money.
It has a carousel-like appearance when shuffling through the open windows, and the window that is currently selected is prominently displayed in the front. By default the program is assigned to the F9 key, but it can always be changed in the Options along with several other features:
After downloading it I decided to give it a go because there was no installation required…I just had to extract and run the provided executable. It is important to note that this program, like the previous one, uses the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) which means it will only work on Vista running Aero.
I have created a mirror of the download so that you don’t have to take the time to register at Neowin (in case you’re not already a member of their forum). If you decide to give it a try yourself these are the shortcuts that you’ll want to know:
TAB – zoom next window
Shift-TAB – zoom previous window
Enter – select zoomed window
Left click – select window
Right click – zoom window
ESC – close SmartFlip and select
Shift+Right click – show only window created by the same program which created this window
I could try to explain every little detail about the program, but I figured this quick video demonstration by the author would show you just about everything that it can do:
–Overview–
If the Windows Flip-3D doesn’t exactly fit your taste then maybe one of the two applications I listed here will fill the gap. The SmartFlip was brilliantly designed and offers the productivity that I would have expected from Flip-3D. If you’ve got another app that you think is even better please be sure to let us know, or let us know what you would have liked to see in a task switcher.
For the record I should say that Microsoft did enhance the Alt-Tab task switcher in Windows Vista as well. If you have Aero enabled it will show you small thumbnails of all the windows you’re switching between, and I find myself still using Alt-Tab more than anything!
This article was written on April 11, 2008 by CyberNet.
Finally! Well over a year ago I wrote about how a Microsoft blog was outlining how to make a Vista “PowerToy” gadget. The gadget that they were using for their demonstration was a Vista Search Index controller where you could pause or start indexing on-demand. For one reason or another the gadget was never actually released… until now!
The gadget, which is pictured to the right, is pretty conservative in the amount of space it consumes. It will show how many items are currently being indexed, and has several features that Vista power users will surely love:
Monitor the current state of the indexer
See how many items need to be processed
View the total count of indexed items
Stop and start the indexing service
Open the Indexing Options control panel
View the installed Windows Search version number
Multiple backgrounds / color combinations
Windows Search 4 Preview only (review): “Index Now” functionality. This disables the “Back Off” functionality of the indexer for faster indexing.
I highly recommend using this gadget for any of the Vista users out there. Being able to pause the indexing is really nice for when you’re doing something computer-intensive like playing a game.
Back in April, when we put the PlayBook through its paces, we were disappointed to find it lacked the previously promised, and eventually teased, Android Player. Well, the time has finally come — at least for those of you, who don’t mind getting your hands, and tablet, dirty with leaked software. The folks over at n4bb snatched up a beta version of the program, which brings nearly 250,000 little-green-monster apps to the BB slab, but point out that it’s got its drawbacks. Aside from altogether lacking a back button, this build apparently has some lagging issues. If you’re the adventurous type, however, you can download and sideload the appropriate file by clicking on the source link below. But if your PlayBook gets covered in all sorts of leaky beta goo, don’t come running to us — it is unofficial after all.
This article was written on November 30, 2006 by CyberNet.
From the title of the article you are probably thinking that this is an extension that will add a feature to undo recently closed tabs. There’s no need for that because Firefox 2 already has that built-into the browser. The problem is that the feature isn’t very configurable and there is no easy way to quickly retrieve closed tabs.
The Undo Closed Tabs Button extension does a lot of things that Firefox should do by default. My favorite feature is that it will assign the keyboard shortcut Alt+Z to the undo function so that a quick press of those keys will open up your last closed tab. Firefox already uses the Ctrl+Z shortcut to undo other things which is why this extension uses Alt+Z.
It additionally has several other features that may interest you. For example, instead of having to go to the History Menu in order to get a listing of your “Recently Closed Tabs” this extension will also offer the ability to place a button right on your toolbar. In the options you can then choose how many closed tabs you want Firefox to remember but you probably don’t need to go beyond the default which is 10.
This is far from an extravagant extension but it is undoubtedly a time saver for me. I don’t think I even need to put this one in the “testing for usefulness” category (see the sidebar) because this one will be with me for a long time!
When we send out an embarrassing text message at 2am, at least we can — in the words of Jaime Foxx — blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol. Unfortunately for New Zealand mobile carrier 2degrees, pinning it on the Henney, just ain’t gonna cut it this time. Early Wednesday morning, a few unlucky users were greeted by an influx of hundreds of unsolicited text messages. A few of those affected took to the company’s Facebook page for answers, and were provided with the following response:
Early this morning, a software implementation problem caused a small number of people to receive texts not intended for them. Our network team quickly identified the problem and resolved it by 2:30am. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience this may have caused.
On second thought, judging from the reactions that apology received, the outfit might have been better off using the Blue Top as a scapegoat.
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.
The Google Talk Blog posted today about how they listen when we request a feature. They proved that when they 
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Finally! Well over a year ago I wrote about how a Microsoft blog was outlining 
