Trillian Eyes Meebo with a Web-Based Messenger

This article was written on March 10, 2007 by CyberNet.

Cerulean Studios is the creator of Trillian, a desktop instant messenger that lets you connect to multiple networks simultaneously, but they are looking to move into the world that Meebo has already well established themselves in. Personally I’m a huge fan of Meebo because of how easy they make it to connect to your friends no matter what computer you’re on, but looking at what Trillian has come up with could really give some competition to Meebo. Checkout this demo that Cerulean Studios put together to demonstrate how their web-based chat client would work:

That pretty much left me speechless. The look of their online chat service closely resembles what we have already seen in their upcoming Trillian Astra release. What really shocked me was being able to pop the chat client outside of the browser so that you can use it in a way that feels completely like a desktop application. You can even close the browser and the program will continue to run! That is something I would love to see in a web-based chat client.

Here are the things that Cerulean Studios had to say about the online service:

  • This technology, like Trillian Astra Web before it, requires Flash 9.
  • This is the real deal – with it, we can access the system tray, task bar, the local file system, dock the contact list, etc. The goal of this project is to emulate 99% of common Trillian functionality in something incredibly lightweight and easy to grab on-the-go. While we won’t likely be doing anything incredibly advanced here (that’s what Trillian “regular” is for), we will strive to do enough to make it worth your while.
  • This is currently internal technology and not available yet to anyone. It will be made available to our team of testers as soon as its ready, but at this point your feedback and suggestions would be great!

I was disappointed that they haven’t opened the service up to the public for testing, but it definitely does a good job of making you want to use it first hand. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one, and if Cerulean Studios decides to make this freely available (their professional version of their desktop chat program costs money) then Meebo will surely have some competition.

Source: Webware

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Test the New Live Search – Results Closer to Google

This article was written on September 27, 2007 by CyberNet.

New Live Search vs. Google
Click to Enlarge

The other day we wrote about the upcoming Live Search redesign, and last night Microsoft posted an official announcement on it. On the Live Search blog they said that they are rolling out the new design across the world right now, but I still don’t see the changes.

Luckily though you can modify the search URL to store the necessary cookie in your browser so that you immediately see the new design! All you have to do is change the “FORM=LIVSOP” to “FORM=PRESS” when performing a search. Alternatively you can click here to perform a search with that parameter already added. After that you should see the new design for every search you perform.

Here’s a look at what’s new:

  • Relevance, relevance, relevance.  We’ve quadrupled the size of our index, which means we can return the right results for your searches.  Improvements like enhanced ranking algorithms, auto-spell correction and better stop word handling help us return the best results. 
  • Speed.  Pages load much faster than before.
  • Streamlined look and feel.  We focused on the end-to-end experience from the homepage throughout the site.  For example, search results are now easier to read thanks to work on typography, contrast, colors and spacing.
  • More high-interest content.  You asked us for more in Entertainment, Shopping, Health, Local and Video search and we’re happy to deliver it.

As I’ve previously stated the new design bares a remarkable resemblance to Google, but I believe that’s a good thing. Live Search also sports a new search algorithm that, in my opinion, is extremely close to the results you would expect to see on Google (as the screenshot above shows). I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think it would be possible to switch from Google to Live Search now without experiencing the frustrations of poor results. Am I going to switch? I doubt it, but I’m saying that it actually seems more possible now than it ever was.

So Kudos to Microsoft for offering what I finally believe is a viable search engine, but why don’t you do a few searches and let us know what you think about the quality of the results.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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CyberNotes: Personalize Google.com with Groovle

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

CyberNotes
Weekend Website

Google gets both praise and criticism for having such a plain and simple search page. While I like the simple page with nothing other than a white background and a search box, others are looking for something more.  If you prefer to use Google as your primary search engine but you want to personalize the page, checkout Groovle.

–What is Groovle?–

Groovle allows you to create a custom Google search page specifically for your use.  You get to select the picture that you want in the background whether it’s one of their images, or one of your own. The creator of Groovle.com, Jacob Fuller says “For the past couple of years I wondered to myself why my homepage was so plain looking and why there wasn’t an option available to make it more alive” thus the reason he went on to create a search page that feels “alive.” Groovle is pretty new so there’s not much to it, but they say that they’ll be adding new features in the future.

–What I like–

It’s great that no registration is required, and that you can upload your own picture to use as the background image for your customized Google search page.  Keep in mind though, the image must be in JPG, GIF or PNG format.  The fact that you can use your own picture for the background is certainly a benefit because other personalized sites like iGoogle or NetVibes don’t allow you to upload your own image.  I also like that it functions exactly the same as a Google search because it’s powered by Google Custom Search. If you trust Google, you’ll have no reason not to trust Groovle.

groovle2

A few additional features I like:

  • Personalization!
  • There are many homepages already made for you to choose from if you don’t want to create your own.

–How to Create A Custom Page–

  1. Go to www.groovle.com and select the option to “create a unique homepage using your own images”
  2. Browse for the image that you want to use (size limit is 1.5 MB)
  3. Select whether you want the image to be displayed fullscreen, tiled, or framed
  4. If you want, enter in your email address so that your custom homepage URL can be sent to you. It’s a long address consisting of a bunch of letters and numbers, so you’ll want to have it emailed to you unless you bookmark it
  5. Your page will be created, and then you can drag the search bar wherever you’d like it

Below is a screenshot of the Groovle page that I put together:

groovle

–Background Categories–

Should you decide that you don’t want to upload your own image, there are many homepages already made with a variety of different backgrounds.  Backgrounds include:

  • Sports
  • Nature
  • Space
  • Celebrities
  • Athletes
  • Animals

–What I don’t like–

Groovle is simply a search page and not a whole lot more. I’m not fond of the fact that all you can do is search from the page which is something you can with tons of other sites. There’s nothing to really draw people in and keep them coming back.  I also think it would be a good idea if they allowed users to resize the photo that they upload.  As it stands, once you upload it, that’s it – there’s no altering the size.  If you decide to use this service, make sure that your image is the right size before you upload it.

–Suggestions–

Here are a few suggestions to make Groovle better!

  • Make it more customizable by allowing RSS feeds or the option to add “gadgets” to the page so that it feels more personal and serves an additional purpose other than just a customized search page
  • Give users more of a reason to come back – they can search anywhere and besides a picture, there’s not too much that’s unique only to Groovle.

–Wrapping it up–

While Groovle is… well.. nice, I can’t see myself using it often.  My fingers are just used to typing Google.com when I need to perform a search, and I’m sure most of you out of habit do the same thing whether it’s with Google, Yahoo, Ask, MSN, etc. This leaves me wondering if Groovle will be around for long, especially knowing that others have made similar services in the past and got shut-down by Google.

If you’re looking for a personalized homepage, Groovle isn’t what you are looking for.  However, if you’re looking for a way to spice up and personalize the Google search page, Groovle will do just that.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Free Online Favicon Generator

This article was written on November 28, 2007 by CyberNet.

Favicons can be used for a variety of purposes, including the little website icon that shows up in the address bar or even the icon for applications running on your computer. Favicons have the file extension ICO, and as we’ve seen before generating a favicon can be a rather tedious process.

A new site, called GenFavicon.com, is aiming to make the favicon process so simple a caveman could do it. It is loaded up with AJAX so that the page never has to be reloaded, which is the best aspect of the service if you ask me. There are just four simple steps to follow:

  1. Provide an image on your computer or one that is already located on the Internet (supports GIF, JPG, and PNG)
  2. Pick the portion of the image to use for the icon using a nifty box that you can drag around and resize
  3. Select the output size of the icon (16×16 is normally what’s used for website icons)
  4. Preview and download the final product

GenFavicon

As a web developer myself I can say that this almost surpasses all of the other favicon generators out there. The fact that you can use an image that is already on the Internet, and then crop it to use a specific portion of the image is fantastic. The only downside is that this does not support transparent icons, but hopefully that will come soon! It has still earned a place in my bookmarks.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Apple’s iTunes #1 Music Retailer in U.S.

This article was written on April 03, 2008 by CyberNet.

itunes number one Over the last year or so, we have watched as Apple’s iTunes has become an ever increasing influence in the music industry. It was just last June (2007) when they passed Amazon and took over the #3 position as largest music retailer in the United States. In February (2008), Apple announced that they had become the #2 music retailer and surpassed Best Buy which was another huge milestone for them (this was likely data from December that they were reporting on). Standing in their way of first place up until now has been discount department store Wal-Mart. News today is that for the first time ever, iTunes has passed Wal-Mart and they are now the number one retailer of music in the United States according to the NPD Music Watch Survey conducted by the NPD Group.

Ars Technica was the first to report on this saying that they received documents that had come from Apple. Apparently certain Apple employees received an email memo with charts showing their first place position, and one of them passed them on to Ars. The charts show that this data is for the month of January, and so clearly sales of gift cards around the holidays really helped them out. According to the latest survey, the stats are as follows:

  1. iTunes – 19%
  2. Wal-Mart (in-store and online sales) – 15%
  3. Best Buy – 13%
  4. Amazon – 6%

Other stores that make up the whole include Borders, Target, Circuit City, Barnes & Nobles, and a few others.

One thing that’s really going to help out Apple is that more and more people are learning about digital downloads and actually starting to use them. Physical sales of music are continuing to decrease while digital downloads are increasing. There are multiple music download sites out there, but iTunes remains one of, if not the most well-known site out there. Apple’s takeover of first place also means that the sales of full CDs will probably continue to decrease.  When people walk into a retail store to purchase their music, they really have no choice but to buy the whole CD.  When they purchase online, they can pick which songs they really want and most of the time, people don’t bother to get the whole album.

Now we’re just wondering if they will be able to hold on to the first place position in the months to come, or if it was the sales of thousands upon thousands of iTunes gift cards that helped push them into the #1 position.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Microsoft Releasing Windows Live Folders Soon?

This article was written on April 24, 2007 by CyberNet.

WLFoldersThere has been some news making its way out that Microsoft will soon be launching what everyone calls the “Live Drive.” The service will more than likely be called Windows Live Folders which is something Microsoft accidentally revealed on their online feedback site. A screenshot from the feedback site is pictured to the right, but the link has since been removed. For the time being you can still see it in this cached version which shows the Live Folders option pointing to this broken link).

When Microsoft first announced some information regarding the service last August they said that it would include around 2GB of free storage, but that is likely to increase since that is how much their email service offers now! By this point I think most email services provide more storage space than that, so I would guess that Microsoft will up it to 4GB or 5GB of free online storage. Much like their email service they will probably also have more advanced packages available for those who need more storage space.

Microsoft is also expected to make some announcements next week in Las Vegas as when their 3–day MIX event is going on. A lot of the speculation is that Microsoft will finally release the @Live.com email addresses, and maybe we’ll also see more information on the Windows Live Folders. Keep your eyes peeled next week as we see what Microsoft has in store for us!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Yahoo Maps Beta Adds Satellite Images

This article was written on April 12, 2006 by CyberNet.

Yahoo Maps Beta Adds Satellite Images

Yahoo, in hopes to rival their competition, has finally added satellite images to their mapping system. After using it for a little while (I had to install Flash first) I started to like how smooth it ran. They did a really nice job putting it together, however, I don’t believe that they did enough to pull people away from the already popular Google Maps.

You shouldn’t be surprised if they soon offer a “Yahoo Earth” which would be a software version of their satellite mapping. Google and MSN currently have this software available to their customers at no cost. Right now it appears that Yahoo is just struggling to keep up.

Yahoo Maps Beta
News Source: Unofficial Yahoo Weblog

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Online Electricity Calculators

This article was written on October 15, 2007 by CyberNet.

I’m sure I’m not the only one with an increasing electricity bill, so wouldn’t it be nice to be able to calculate an estimate of what your monthly electrical bill will be based upon the electric items in your home? There are two online usage calculators that I came across which are worth checking out. While they’re certainly not going to be exact, they will give you an idea of how much money you spend each month to pay for your dryer or dishwasher, or any of the other luxuries you have.

Consumers Power

The first site is www.consumerspower.org and they offer a really rough estimate of what your electricity bill will be each month. All you have to do is enter which items you run like a refrigerator or freezer. You’ll also enter in how many loads of laundry you do each week, and how many of those are washed with warm, hot, or cold water. I entered in all of my information and it calculated that my electricity bill would be about $114 each month. In reality, my bill is usually about $60-70 each month so it wasn’t quite right. What is good about it though is that it shows on average about how much money you spend each month for a certain item.  For example, on average, it costs $13.72 a month to run a refrigerator.  For a freezer it costs about $14.33 per month on average to run.

consumerpower

Generic Electrical Energy Cost Calculator

What I like about the Generic Electrical Energy Cost Calculator found here is that you can enter in how much time each of your items gets used.  This can make quite a difference in your energy bill! Using this calculator you can enter in specifics like how many watts your microwave is, and how many minutes it gets used in a month. It also has more items than the first calculator that we talked about like a vacuum cleaner, clock, radio, electric blanket, and more. If you take the time to fill it all out, you should have a pretty good idea of what your electric bill will be every month and where you could save energy by using something less.

electricity calculator

This article was written in part for Blog Action Day.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Google And Zoho Each Create “Office Suite”

This article was written on October 11, 2006 by CyberNet.

Google Docs

Google finally brought their online text editor, called Writely, into a Google branded page. In fact they combined Writely with Google Spreadsheets and have now renamed the service to Google Docs & Spreadsheets (clever, huh).

There really isn’t anything too impressive with the Google Docs service because no new features have been introduced. It does look much nicer utilizing Google’s “theme” compared to all of the green colors that Writely seemed to use though. Despite the two services being tied together into one location you still can’t do things like embed a spreadsheet into a text document, which is something that Zoho already offers. In my opinion Google is way behind Zoho and they should just whip out the checkbook and buy them like they did with YouTube. :)

Zoho definitely didn’t want to be left out of the news this week either because they are also bringing all of their products together into a central location and calling it Zoho Virtual Office. TechCrunch says that the new service is still in closed Beta but it will be launching today as a free service for non-corporate users. For those that haven’t experienced the products that Zoho offers then I think you will find some of them to be quite amazing compared to their competitors like Google.

Here is a screenshot of what the new Virtual Office will look like later today:

Zoho Virtual Office

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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YouTube Sued over Video: Fatal Crash at Great Egg Harbor

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

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) has decided to sue video sites, including YouTube and Break.com, for posting footage of a crash that happened on May 10, 2007. The crash is very intense as a car travels southbound on the New Jersey Turnpike at very high speeds, and then crashes into the Great Egg Harbor Toll Plaza. The car then bursts into flames killing the 52–year-old driver.

I hadn’t seen the video before I heard this announcement of the lawsuit, and searching for someone that still had it posted was quite a headache! All of the sites have removed it (as expected), but searching a little deeper led me to Blinx who listed some MySpace postings of the video (here and here).

YouTube removed the video “because it violated our terms of services. Because our removal also complied with our obligations under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, we see no legal basis for a claim,” according to a spokesperson at YouTube. It also doesn’t make sense to me why they are getting sued if it was promptly removed, but I guess it is all part of the crazy world we live in.

I have taken a still image of the accident in case those videos get pulled as well. It will spoil the video, so I only recommend looking at the image if the videos don’t work. Of course, I also point out some things that you may not have noticed:

Egg Harbor Crash

Source: eWeek [via Mashable]

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