IT News
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10 free ways to keep track of changes to any website, without an RSS reader8 February 2010, 1:00 pm
Filed under: Utilities, Features, Web services
Do you need to know about a new product release the minute it happens? Are you watching Amazon price changes like a hawk? Is your F5 key worn out from overuse? You might want to look into some automatic ways to monitor website changes. I know RSS is the trendy way to keep up with new posts on websites -- I use it all the time -- but some sites don't offer RSS feeds, and some people either don't know how to use RSS or don't like it.
That's where si...
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February Fifth Firefox Friday Five!5 February 2010, 2:00 pm
Filed under: Internet, Features, Mozilla, Browsers(Can you tell that I'm trying to spice things up around here?)
We've actually been discussing how to 'sass-up' Firefox Friday Five. Interviews with Mozilla developers? Add-on creators? Perhaps we could even get a perspective from competitors -- how does Microsoft intend to combat Firefox? With Chrome and Firefox both being open source and effectively having a shared code base, can either one of them ever be dominant?
Anyway, another quiet week ...
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Community mismanagement 101: TheSixtyOne alienates top users4 February 2010, 2:00 pm
Filed under: Audio, Features
So, music site TheSixtyOne underwent a massive redesign. Old news, right? I was thrilled, others less so.
Those disgruntled souls left plenty of comments sharing their feelings, and one of them was kind enough to set me up with a few of TheSixtyOne's top users. These are people who have been with the site for a year or two, day in, day out, and accumulated gazillions of "points". Amongst them is the top user on the site, SallySilvera, level 24 with over 130,000 rep...
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Twitter Tuesday - this week's Twitter news, apps and more2 February 2010, 11:30 am
Filed under: Features, Social Software, web 2.0
Welcome to Twitter Tuesday! Every week, I'll bring you the latest in new Twitter clients and services, sprinkled with a healthy dose of news and rumors. Twitter Tuesday - please, don't call it Twuesday - follows in the footsteps of Download Squad's other illustrious weekly roundups, Chrome Corner and Firefox Friday Five.
Let's jump right in and talk about what's happening on Twitter this week:
There's a new Android Twitter client in town: Handmar...
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Payvment lets you launch a storefront on Facebook26 January 2010, 1:00 pm
Filed under: Features, Social Software, Web
Finally, beyond the sale of virtual gifts like hugs and angel wings, Facebook has an app that allows you to open an ecommerce storefront via Payvment. Introduced in November 2009, Payvment uses a PayPal shopping cart for its app to work with Facebook Pages.
In addition to its Facebook app, Payvment has a shopping cart web service which allows you to add a shopping cart to any website by adding just a single line of code. Their Open Cart Network allo...
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Firefox Friday Five (3.6!!!)22 January 2010, 2:30 pm
Filed under: Internet, Features, Mozilla, BrowsersPhew! What a week for the Firefox!
With this flurry of activity things, you'd expect things to calm down for a little... but no! Mozilla will try to capitalize on their new fleet-footed approach to updates and minor revisions. With Chrome now barking at its heels and Microsoft's IE9 likely to arrive this year, it's never been more important for Firefox to keep its lead.
Let's start with the best one:
1. Government warnings about Internet Explo...
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Today Is National PC Cleanup Day, So Let's Tidy Up Your System8 February 2010, 5:00 pm
The Web Worker Daily blog reminds us that today is National Clean Out Your Computer Day. Want to do some serious PC cleaning but not sure where to start? We've got your back, so let's get with the purging.Photo by karindalziel.
Clean Out Your Inbox
One of the first places you'll probably find bogged down with a bunch of junk you don't need is your email inbox. If you use Gmail to manage your email, follow these simple steps to free up loads of space without losing important emails. Once you've w...
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Google Wave in Action: Real-World Use Case Studies8 February 2010, 2:30 pm
A week ago we asked readers to tell us how they're using Google Wave in their daily lives, and despite a bit of "ha! no one's using Wave!" snarking on the Twitter, we got lots of interesting responses.
Unsurprisingly, most Wavers use it as a real-time wiki, but some take advantage of features unique to Wave, like inline and private replies, public tags, and gadgets. I featured the most unique use cases I got in a brand new chapter just added to The Complete Guide to Google Wave. The following is...
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The Complete Guide to Windows System Restore (It's Better than You Remember)8 February 2010, 11:30 am
Most of us remember Windows System Restore as a lame-duck feature from Windows XP; when it seemed we might benefit from using it, it never quite worked how we expected. That's no longer the case.Windows System Restore is an awesome system recovery tool, and it's included with Windows for free. It's the ideal solution for rolling back bad drivers, fixing when buggy software breaks your PC, or simply rolling you back to a previous point in time. If you've still got a bad taste in your mouth from t...
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Data Crow is a Cross-Platform Manager of All Your Media8 February 2010, 10:00 am
Windows/Mac/Linux (Java): Data Crow doesn't just catalog your movies with IMDB look-ups, organize your MP3s and CDs with discographies, or handle pictures. It handles all three, plus contacts, software, books, and much more, and runs on any system.Data Crow is huge, and can be very intimidating on first boot-up—there are menus upon menus, and it's not immediately obvious how you drop your stuff into this app. Thankfully, there's a beginner's wizard that pops up on first using the app&mdash...
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Retire Sooner by Banking Labor, Not Just Income8 February 2010, 8:30 am
Nearly everyone has heard the glory of compound interest sung—how if we all saved from our first day in the workforce until our last we'd have an enormous nest egg. Get that egg faster by investing your labor, too.Photo by wili_hybrid.
Over at the aptly named Early Retirement Blog, they argue in favor of not just focusing on investing some of your income for retirement but also investing your time and labor. While they don't argue with the conventional wisdom that you should be socking awa...
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FollowUpThen Automates Email Follow Ups8 February 2010, 6:00 am
You're pinging somebody over email right now, but they'll probably need a reminder or follow-up in two days. CC twodays@followupthen.com, and if that person hasn't responded yet, they'll be automatically re-pinged 48 hours from now. It's a neat service, and it's free.That's the main way FollowUpThen works: CC a message that needs a second push to an address like 5hours, 2days, 1week, or even 10minutes@followupthen.com, and if your recipient doesn't reply (with FollowUpThen as one of the addresse...
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Goodnight, moon: What I learned from a space shuttle8 February 2010, 4:19 pm
By Carmi Levy, Betanews
Like many nighthawks across the continent, I found myself glued to more than one screen...all right, three. Plus my BlackBerry...as I watched this morning's launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. I observed the spectacle with a curious mixture of excitement and sadness because after the current STS-130 mission, the shuttle program has only four more scheduled flights before it's grounded for good.It's not the retirement that gets me. Every technology has its day, and it's...
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Netflix to FCC: NBCU + Comcast could bypass net neutrality8 February 2010, 2:02 pm
By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews
In a world where Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski's six principles for net neutrality are enforced, everyone who makes a living on the Internet could conceivably be "unburdened by the unnecessary intervention of network operators or government regulators." The exception would be when a pipeline provider such as Comcast merges with a content provider such as NBC Universal, to make certain classes of content viewable online only when i...
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Report: Streaming video drove 72% global increase in mobile data consumption8 February 2010, 11:27 am
By Tim Conneally, Betanews
A new study from subscriber management company Allot Communications today says that worldwide mobile broadband consumption increased approximately 72% in just the second half of 2009. Though the Federal Communications Commission is worried that there won't be enough bandwidth in the United States to support the growth in mobile broadband use, the Americas are actually being outpaced by both the Asia Pacific region (APAC) and the Europe/Middle East/Africa region (EMEA) ...
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Stymied by continuing Nexus One 3G issues, Google blames the environment8 February 2010, 10:59 am
By Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews
For the most part, last week's over-the-air software update to Google Nexus One phones, which was intended to address the 3G connectivity issues with certain versions of the phone's firmware (with a gift of added multitouch), appears unsuccessful for many commenters to Google's support forums. Very few customers reported improvement, and some who did in the early going are now saying their flip-flop problems between 3G and EDGE have returned.Meanwhile, although ...
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Microsoft Confessions: 'There were a ton of bozos'7 February 2010, 11:15 pm
By Joe Wilcox, Betanews
Do middling, middle managers run Microsoft? That's the consensus among the former Microsofties who shared their work stories with me over the last couple months. The new work week starts with another Microsoft Confessional -- the fourth in four days -- from 13-year company veteran Boris, which isn't his real name, of course. Boris was smart enough to see the end coming, and he made preparations in the days before his May 2009 layoff. He learned to read middle managers the...
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Microsoft Confessions: 'Poor worker bees'7 February 2010, 12:02 am
By Joe Wilcox, Betanews
Today's Microsoft Confession comes from a woman let go during the first round of layoffs, in January 2009. I'll call her Amanda, which, of course, isn't her real name. Amanda shared key elements of her story on deep background, but she also provided a reflective portion that she hopes will give deeper insight to anyone looking to work for Microsoft or to HR departments looking to hire former employees.By telling this story, Amanda wants to give some meaning to her layoff,...
Gadgets
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Android 2.1 update for the Motorola DROID rolling out this week8 February 2010, 10:31 pm
Motorola DROID users as a whole are a pretty happy bunch, but after finally getting their first taste of official multi-touch, we can’t help but blame them for wanting a whole lot more. The good news on this front is…...
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HTC Legend caught on film8 February 2010, 7:12 pm
Well, well, well, look what we have here: an actual HTC Legend. For those that don’t pay particularly close attention to the world of Android, the Legend can best be thought of (though by no means officially) as the successor…...
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Dev-Team releases PwnageTool for iPhone OS 3.1.38 February 2010, 4:01 pm
They’re back at it again. The iPhone dev-team has released an update to their popular jailbreaking software, PwnageTool, for Mac OS X. The new PwnageTool — version 3.1.5 — boasts the ability to properly jailbreak Apple’s recently released 3.1.3 iPhone/iPod…...
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RIM prevails over Motorola in UK patent case8 February 2010, 1:31 pm
Motorola has been going toe and toe with RIM over alleged patent infringement both here in the US and across the pond in the UK. Motorola’s UK case focused on BIS and BES technologies, claiming that the two messaging systems…...
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Barnes and Noble to roll out the Nook to retail stores starting this week8 February 2010, 12:22 pm
It has been a little over two months since the Barnes and Noble Nook first went on sale and the popular e-reader is finally ready to make its nationwide in-store debut. With Amazon and its Kindle under assault by the…...
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Verizon Wireless explicitly blocking 4chan?8 February 2010, 9:51 am
4chan, the internet message and image board known for its legion of anonymous users, has been explicitly blocked by Verizon Wireless. 4chan founder Christopher Poole said, “Over the past 72 hours, we’ve been receiving reports from Verizon Wireless customers having…...
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Next generation iPhone 4G front panel leaked8 February 2010, 11:23 pm
iPhone repair site iResQ has allegedly received a front panel component of the next generation iPhone 4G, which is expected for a release this summer. The several photos they’ve snapped for us to see indicate a few ways that new iPhone from Apple may just differ from its predecessors. More photos can be found after the break.
If confirmed, these pictures show a few newly implemented designs on the next generation iPhone, including:
1) The LCD appears to be factory glued to the digitizer ...
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Notion Ink Adam: Flash, iPad comparison & App Competition8 February 2010, 11:58 am
One of the most exciting products from CES 2010 last month was Notion Ink’s Adam tablet, the Android-based slate using the latest-gen NVIDIA Tegra chipset and Pixel Qi’s innovative low-power display. The company had brought along a prototype they could exclusively show us, and now they’ve sent over renders of what’s likely to be the final Adam design complete with some mockups of a SlashGear digital magazine. And, since Apple’s long-awaited entrant to the tablet...
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B&N nook in-store availability this week; “More In Store” content launching8 February 2010, 9:10 am
Now that the nook firmware v1.2 is out, Barnes & Noble’s ebook reader is a whole lot more tempting. So it’s a good thing that, starting this week, the retailer is aiming to get stock of the nook into all its bricks and mortar stores; B&N tell us that as of mid-week, the majority of stores will have the nook in.
Would-be buyers can check availability here before they travel. Barnes & Noble are also kicking off a new Valentine’s themed tie-in to try and shift a ...
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Canon PowerShot SX210 IS, SD3500 IS, SD1400 IS and SD1300 IS digicams drop8 February 2010, 9:01 am
Canon’s other new cameras of the morning aren’t quite as interesting as the Rebel T2i, but the four fresh PowerShot models are better suited to entry-level point and shoot users. Top of the range is the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS, a 14.1-megapixel shooter with 14x optical zoom, 28mm wide-angle lens and optical image stabilization, as well as a 3-inch LCD display and Eye-Fi compatibility, which will arrive in late March 2010 for $349.99.
Next in line is the Canon PowerShot SD3500 I...
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Canon Rebel T2i DSLR gets official8 February 2010, 8:50 am
Canon have outed their latest digital camera, the Canon Rebel T2i DSLR, the new flagship of their Rebel range. An 18.7-megapixel CMOS shooter with Full HD 1080p 30fps video capture, the Rebel T2i supports ISO ranges from 100 to 6400 and has a 63-zone Dual Layer Metering System together with Canon’s DIGIC 4 Imaging Processor.
As well as 1080p 30fps HD video the T2i can record 720p 60fps footage, and auto-focussing can be done both before and during shooting. 3.7fps still capture is po...
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Asus Eee 1005PE-H is a beefed up 1005PE8 February 2010, 8:28 am
Asus has a dizzying array of netbooks in its line and many of the machines are virtually identical. Asus seams dead set on having a netbook to meet each and every need of a user. The company has today unveiled a slightly beefed up version of that 1005PE netbook that we spied back in December called the Eee 1005PE-H.
The new machine is very similar to the 1005PE with a few nifty additions. The machine uses the Atom N450 but gets 2GB of RAM rather than the 1GB of the other machine. The H version...
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New iPhone (4G) – taller than the older iPhones?8 February 2010, 5:29 pm
We still don’t know the final name of Apple’s fourth generation iPhone (expected to be released in June or July), so until something official comes up, we’ll call it iPhone 4G.
Well, the iPhone 4G might be a bit different than the older iPhone models (including the 3G and 3GS), which all look about the same.
The [...]...
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Dalvik Turbo increases Android application performance by three times8 February 2010, 4:24 pm
Myriad Group, one of the founding members of the Open Handset Alliance, announced the Dalvik Turbo virtual machine for Android, which will replace the Dalvik engine that currently powers applications on Android phones.
According to Myriad, Dalvik Turbo can increase Android application execution speed by up to three times, without significantly increasing memory requirements. The new [...]...
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Samsung to announce Super AMOLED phone at MWC, maybe Bada-based?8 February 2010, 2:52 pm
We already know that Samsung will announce its first Bada phone at MWC 2010, and now it looks like the South Korean company has yet another surprise prepared for the show that’s set to debut next week.
SamsungHub has it that a Samsung phone with a Super AMOLED touchscreen display (possibly WVGA) will be unveiled at [...]...
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Nokia to launch phones priced at $10 in India8 February 2010, 1:22 pm
Although India is the world’s second largest mobile market, there are still more than 500 million Indian people who don’t have a cell phone. And perhaps that’s why Nokia is planning to launch phones that cost under 1,000 INR (about $20) in the country.
According to Economic Times India, among these phone there will be “a [...]...
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Huawei to preinstall Opera Mobile 10 on its phones for China8 February 2010, 5:23 am
Opera announced that Huawei (which shipped 30 million phones globally in 2009) has selected Opera Mobile 10 to be preinstalled on a variety of its phones that will be launched in China.
China has recently entered the 3G era (with China Mobile and China Unicom deploying TD-SCDMA and UMTS networks, respectively), so Huawei and Opera can [...]...
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Vodafone’s upcoming phones: Qisda QCM-330 with 1280 x 1024 pixels screen, LG GD880 and more8 February 2010, 4:16 am
Vodafone, the world’s second largest mobile operator, will soon launch lots of new phones (probably across Europe for the beginning), including its first handset with a 1280 x 1024 pixels touchscreen display (although the resolution could be 1280 x 600 or 1024 x 480).
Said handset is made by Taiwan-based Qisda (which could also make MIDs [...]...
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