MakeUseOf.com: “DOWNLOAD Picture Perfect: Set Up Your Own Photoblog” plus 11 more |  |
- DOWNLOAD Picture Perfect: Set Up Your Own Photoblog
- Cool Websites and Tools [May 19th]
- 5 More Top Quality Free To Play Online Multiplayer Games [Windows]
- Get Over 100 Portable Freeware Utilities With NirLauncher [Windows]
- SwipePad – A Stylish Quick-Launch Utility For Your Android Phone
- How To Download MP3′s & Control Grooveshark From Firefox
- Hot Tech Deals – XtremeMac InCharge Portable Charger for Apple iPod/iPhone $10.97 + more
- America’s National Jukebox Showcasing Early Musical Recordings
- How To Update Ticker Content On Your Website From Your Mobile Phone
- Transform Windows 7 Into Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal With Ubuntu Skin Pack
- Feature The Latest Posts Of Your Blog As An Interactive Slideshow Video Using Wibbitz
- Why Apple’s New Thunderbolt Port Is Awesome [Technology Explained]
| DOWNLOAD Picture Perfect: Set Up Your Own Photoblog Posted: 20 May 2011 06:31 AM PDT
The main emphasis on any photoblog should be the photography. While an aesthetically pleasing theme is always a plus, the focus should be on the photography itself. Many photoblogs do away with any frills, and instead give most if not all, of the screen real estate to the photographs. This manual breaks down the main tools you can use to set up a photoblog, including ones you can host on your domain and ones you can quickly use free of charge. You’ll see examples of photoblogging done well, and step-by-step instructions for getting started. DOWNLOAD Picture Perfect: Set Up Your Own Photoblog
This guide outlines:
DOWNLOAD Picture Perfect: Set Up Your Own Photoblog Please take a moment and share this guide with friends on Facebook and Twitter using the social network sharing buttons below. SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use. Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| Cool Websites and Tools [May 19th] Posted: 19 May 2011 08:31 PM PDT
These are just half of the websites that we discovered in the last couple of days. If you want us to send you daily round-ups of all cool websites we come across, leave your email here. Or follow us via RSS feed. SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use. Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| 5 More Top Quality Free To Play Online Multiplayer Games [Windows] Posted: 19 May 2011 06:31 PM PDT
Don’t forget to check out the minimum system requirements before downloading and getting disappointed. All of the games listed are free to download and play, though don’t be surprised when you’re asked to pay for additional in-game content (they’ve got to fill up the coffers somehow, after all). League of LegendsOriginally based on a Warcraft III: Frozen Throne map called Defense of the Ancients, League of Legends is a session-based 5 on 5 multiplayer battle. Each team starts at opposite ends of the map, next to their "Nexus", which they must defend. The winner is the team who destroys the enemy’s Nexus, simple as that. At the start of the game each player chooses a champion (of which there are currently 76 in total), though your choice will be limited based on your progress, or willingness to pay to unlock further characters. There are two game modes, Normal and Ranked, with Ranked introducing tougher restrictions and a Level 30 requirement to play. Getting started is as easy as registering a free account, downloading the client and logging in. Before jumping into battle and failing miserably you’ll be walked through a tutorial, and given a basic introduction to controls, items and spells. Then you’re free to take on the world for guts, gold and glory. Battlefield Play4FreeDo you enjoy shooting things? How about driving and flying whilst shooting things? Then the case is clear – you need to play Battlefield. Dating back to September 2002 when Battlefield 1942 was originally released, the Battlefield franchise has gone from strength to strength over the years and this free offering might stave off the hunger before Battlefield 3 lands. Incorporating heavily team-based capture and attack/defend game modes along with vehicle-driven warfare, your average match can be explosive to say the least. With tanks, planes, air strikes and fully destructible buildings there’s plenty of eye candy and action to keep even the most seasoned players happy. Certainly one to revisit if you remember the frantic, laggy yet golden days of BF1942 and Road to Rome. VindictusVindictus is a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) with some brutal hack-n-slash gameplay. Running on Valve’s fantastic Source engine, the game is visually pleasing even by today’s standards. The in-game objects can be interacted with, destroyed and picked up to be wielded as weapons. There are currently 3 classes to choose from (though 5 are planned) and regardless of class, teamwork is essential if you’re to advance the game and beat Vindictus’ 6 story-based episodes. Combat ArmsTaking its cues from classics like Counter-Strike and the Call of Duty franchise, Combat Arms is a jam-packed free first person shooter from South Korean developer Doobic Studios. The game features a levelling system, with the player earning Gamer Points to spend on additional weapons and customization. There are a ton of game modes to enjoy, including capture the flag, co-op play and various objective based game modes. Of course there’s always the option of flashing your cash, and this will allow you to buy unlocks with NX (the publisher’s credit system, which requires real money). Combat Arms also features an integrated clan system and gaming leagues, making it quite a competitive corner of the web. MapleStoryThe final game on our list isn’t quite as meaty as the previous two, but may suit younger and casual online gamers. MapleStory is a side-scrolling MMORPG with simple controls and plenty of bright colours. The game follows the typical RPG setup, with your character venturing into dungeons to defeat monsters, meeting fellow warriors, levelling up abilities and collecting in-game currency known as "Mesos". In addition to developing the ultimate warrior, players can also form guilds, get married and even form families. Unsurprisingly, MapleStory is huge in South Korea where it was initially developed. Honorary Mention: Duty CallsWar. War never changes. Oops, it just did! Not strictly a multiplayer game (well, it’s not strictly a game at all) Duty Calls is a Call of Duty parody released alongside the recent Bulletstorm as a marketing ploy. If you’ve played Modern Warfare (or any Call of Duty game since) then you’ll be giggling like a school girl for the most part. ConclusionHopefully there’s enough multiplayer carnage here to at least whet a few appetites. The fact that these games are free to play at least gives you the ability to fully evaluate them before deciding to splash out on some upgrades. Then again, you might never feel the need to pay a penny and enjoy some quality games for the sweetest price of all. Do any of these free online multiplayer games tickle your fancy? Have you got any other suggestions for us? We love to hear what you think, give us the low-down in the comments below. Intro image: Shutterstock SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use. Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| Get Over 100 Portable Freeware Utilities With NirLauncher [Windows] Posted: 19 May 2011 04:31 PM PDT
Although NirLauncher is designed for portable use on your USB flash drive, you can of course install it on your local hard drive for everyday use. The applications have been developed by NirSoft and are also available individually through the NirSoft homepage. What’s In It For Me?The tool contains over 100 portable freeware utilities. If you are not familiar with utilities from NirSoft, you may not recognize these tools. However, not only are the apps sorted into categories by function in NirLauncher, you can also view a short description that explains what the respective tool does.
It’s impossible to list and cover all the utilities in the scope of this article, but you can view all of them in the Utilities List. Below is a short list of utilities I found interesting or useful:
How Does It work?Download the NirLauncher ZIP file and unpack it to your flash drive or local hard drive. The ZIP file is only 9.4 MB large and unpacks to a folder of 14.1 MB. Considering that it contains over 100 utilities this size is impressively small. Note that your anti-virus program may detect and report some of the applications while you are installing NirLauncher. In my case AntiVir wanted to move iepv.exe, dialupass.exe, chromepass.exe, and some other tools to quarantine. Checking the detection code, however, didn’t yield results, meaning this specific app was not reported to be a virus, but it was detected based on malware-typical behavior. The false positive detection is a known issue and NirSoft openly discusses it in the following post on the NirBlog: Antivirus companies cause a big headache to small developers. Once unpacked, you can run the NirLauncher.exe and browse the tools by categories. To launch a utility, highlight it (click it once) and click on > Run in the bottom left of NirLauncher.
Several tools require Administrator privileges to function. In this case you can either right-click the utility and select > Run As Administrator from the menu or click > Advanced Run.
Advanced Run gives you more options, for example to run the utility in full-screen mode or run with custom environment variables.
Many utilities are available in a 64-bit version. If you’re running NirLauncher on a 64-bit Windows, the respective utility version will load automatically when selected to run. You can also launch apps from the NirSoft folder within the package folder. Simply double-click the respective .exe file. You will note that for every .exe file there also is a .chm file. This is a help file, but even though there appears to be one for every utility, I didn’t find a single one where it worked, neither launching through NirLauncher, nor through the folder. Can I Customize NirLauncher?Yes you can! As mentioned above you can access all applications individually through the NirSoft folder. If you want to remove a utility, simply delete it from this folder. Likewise you can add portable tools. However, you need to (remove or) make an entry in the respective group, so that the tool is (no longer) accessible via NirLauncher. Edits need to be made to the nirsoft.nlp file, which is also located within the NirSoft folder. This is a regular text file that you can open with Notepad. Simply remove or add the required information, save the file, restart NirLauncher and see whether your changes were successful.
Additional utility packages can be found on the NirSoft Download page, for example the sysinternals2.nlp, which adds the SysInternals Suite to NirLauncher. ConclusionTaken together this is a super handy tool with many useful utilities that takes up astonishingly little space and should thus fit on any portable drive. In addition, you can customize it to contain only your favorite portable apps, which may make it even more compact and useful. We have previously covered NirLauncher here. If you are interested in portable apps in general, check out these resources:
What utilities do you find are missing from this extensive collection and which ones are your favorites? Image credits: -dal- Hey Facebookers, make sure to join MakeUseOf on Facebook and get access to some exclusve stuff. Over 105,000 fans already! Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| SwipePad – A Stylish Quick-Launch Utility For Your Android Phone Posted: 19 May 2011 03:31 PM PDT
Sure, you could always just drag a bunch of icons onto your homescreen, and go back to the homescreen whenever you want to run a new application. But you probably have more than one homescreen (most launchers start you off with five or more), and then it’s a matter of scrolling around until you find the icon you need. In short, it can be a bit of a hassle, especially for those few applications you tend to use constantly. Another concern is that launchers sometimes crash. I won’t name names, but I’ve recently had a fairly catastrophic launcher meltdown, where I ended up having to use the search button to launch voice search, use it to access the browser, use the browser to access the market, and finally set up a new launcher through the market. That wasn’t much fun, and that’s exactly the type of thing SwipePad would have helped me avoid. So, what’s this SwipePad thing, anyway? In its simplest form, it’s a quick-launch pad (for Android 2.1 and above). It constantly runs in the background (and takes up a line in your notification area). When you touch one of the edges of your screen (configurable), it pops up a grid of twelve buttons that looks like this:
That circle you see at the bottom is my finger. The white space (or rather “black” space) at the edges is very useful, because it gives you a spot where you can rest your finger while looking for the icon you need. Then, once you find the icon, just slide your finger over to it, and it turns blue:
If you let go at that point, the app simply launches. But if you keep your finger on that button for two seconds, it turns orange:
At which point you can let go and get the following menu:
Quite straightforward, really. The first two options let you set an application or a shortcut for that slot. The third, AppLauncher, is an “extra” (paid) add-on that is supposed to allow you to launch even more apps. To me, that defeats the purpose of the app – what I like about Quick Launch is that it’s simple and minimalistic. The fourth option, Tasking, lets you bind the button to a “recent task” switcher, which also costs a modest sum. I did buy this add-on, and we’ll have a quick look at it later on. Last but not least, “Hide” is an interesting option which lets you completely remove that button from your grid, in case you keep activating it by mistake. Here’s what the grid looks like with a hidden button:
Next, let’s look at the preferences:
Note the two red strips lining the screen. That’s not a bug: it’s a graphical display of the “swipe areas”. Touching those areas in any app would activate SwipePad. On my phone, the right area is bound to SwipePad itself, while the left launches the Tasking add-on to quickly switch between recent tasks. But you’re not limited to just these two areas:
As you can see, they covered pretty much every possible area. In fact, after I originally wrote this review, they released a new version including “bottom half” options (both for the right and left edge). “Top edge” probably had to be omitted because on most devices, that opens the notification area. Next, let’s take a quick look at the paid add-ons:
Kudos to the developer for using this business model; the app is completely ad-free and nag-free, and works well without any add-ons. But if you want to show your support (and get a bit more out of the app), getting an add-on is the thing to do. I felt the first two add-ons, AppLauncher and MoreSpace, might complicate the app. So I went with Tasking, which looks like this:
I love the bold typography at the bottom-left. As I mentioned, I invoke it by swiping from the top-left edge of my screen, and it works just like the launcher but with a different context menu:
This is what you get when you long-press an app in the Recent Tasks list. Carefully-picked options, and quite powerful. Using SwipePad becomes faster with time, thanks to muscle memory. You only need to memorize the position of twelve apps, and swiping from the edge of the screen to one of the twelve buttons quickly becomes a single, intuitive motion that you can do without even pausing to see what icon you’re pressing, kind of like touch-typing. With skilled use, SwipePad is pretty much the fastest way to launch an app on your phone, short of binding it to a hardware button. SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use. Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| How To Download MP3′s & Control Grooveshark From Firefox Posted: 19 May 2011 02:31 PM PDT
Today we’ve got two of these nifty tools to show you. One is an easy way to download the MP3 files directly from Grooveshark as you use it, while the other is a neat way to control Grooveshark playlists from within Firefox. With these two tools up your sleeve, we’re sure you’ll be pretty pleased.
Groove Shredder Add-On For MP3 DownloadsGroove Shredder is a new MP3 downloader for Grooveshark. It’s a Firefox extension which makes MP3 downloading simple, by opening a dedicated toolbar button which you can toggle on and off, then downloading MP3′s to your computer when activated. When using Grooveshark, all you need to do is double-click to activate Groove Shredder. Search for a tune you like and double-click the result. Grooveshark will instantly ask you where you’d like to save it and what name to give the MP3 file. When the download finishes the song will play normally.
Groove Shredder will also activate when you’re playing playlists, so you can easily download the tracks as they come up. Obviously, if you just want to listen to the tunes, you should disable Groove Shredder while you relax. Just click on the Groove Shredder toolbar button to toggle the downloading ability on and off. GrooveShark Remote Control — Firefox Control for GroovesharkGrooveShark Remote Control is a new playlist manager for Firefox users running Grooveshark. This allows you to play, pause and shuffle tracks from Firefox instead of switching tabs to stay in control. It also features track information in your taskbar (now known as the add-on bar in Firefox 4), allowing you to know about what you’re listening to and control all the important stuff without leaving your current tab.
GrooveShark Remote Control will pop up a Growl window when the track changes in order to let you know the new track details. The remote control also disappears when it’s not in use, which is really good if you’re low on space in your taskbar. More Grooveshark ToolsIf these two useful additions to your Grooveshark set-up aren’t enough, take a look at some of our previous articles on Grooveshark and some other useful add-ons we’ve previously featured:
What are your favourite tools for using Grooveshark? What’s your ideal Firefox-Grooveshark setup? Let us know in the comments! Image Credit: ShutterStock SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use. Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| Hot Tech Deals – XtremeMac InCharge Portable Charger for Apple iPod/iPhone $10.97 + more Posted: 19 May 2011 01:30 PM PDT
For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.
Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras. Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| America’s National Jukebox Showcasing Early Musical Recordings Posted: 19 May 2011 12:31 PM PDT
There was recorded music before the 1950′s, but you wouldn’t think it based on what’s reflected in popular culture. Sure, the occasional movie will take place in the 1930′s and feature a brass band, but for the most part any music made before the early days of rock and roll is rarely heard. Interested in what early popular music sounded like? You’re in luck. America’s National Jukebox is a great place to browse for music from the early 1900′s all the way to the late 1920′s. Whether you’re into classical recordings or ragtime, you’ll find something to listen to here. The quality is, as should be expected, not exactly Dolby surround. Recording technology at the turn of the century was primitive to put it best. Still, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing of value here. What It IsEvery recording found on this site was, previously, not found anywhere online. Employees at the Library of Congress spent a great deal of time taking old records and digitizing them. You can see a slideshow outlining the undertaking, if you’re interested. It seems that none of the recordings can be downloaded, but they can all be streamed for free. Finding RecordingsHead on over to the National Jukebox and you can start browsing. There’s a search bar of course, and a browsing feature that allows you to look for music by category.
Find music you want to listen to and you can do so. Playing an individual track is simple:
Or if you prefer, you can add tracks to a playlist and have them play in any succession you prefer. All you need to do is click the “Add To Playlist” button seen beside every track listing; a new window will pop up, and every track you add will be queued here.
There are a few pre-set playlists, of course. The Victor Book Of The Opera is a good one for opera buffs to check out and is supplemented with an interactive book. There’s also a collection of other playlists to browse. Highlights include: ConclusionBlogger and columnist Chris Weigant argued that the national jukebox is a good example of tax dollars spent well. I’m inclined to agree; sharing our cultural legacy with the world is a good idea all around. What do you think? Is this endeavor a cool one, or a waste of resources? Let us know in the comments below, or just complain about how modern music is better than century-old stuff. Whatever you think is constructive. Looking for music that’s a touch more contemporary? You can always listen to music on Grooveshark, or check out our many Sound Sunday posts to download lots of free music. Image Credit : williamcho SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use. Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| How To Update Ticker Content On Your Website From Your Mobile Phone Posted: 19 May 2011 11:31 AM PDT
One approach that I’ve seen large, mainstream news organizations like CNN use is to publish a scrolling “breaking news” banner across the top of the web page. This allows editors to publish a news headline even before the writer is finished researching and publishing the article. When you’re writing about breaking news, being first to print is really important, and having a ticker content like this can give you an advantage. The one problem with banners like this is that traditionally you had to go in and edit the web page in order to update the banner content. I wanted to implement this on my own website, but I thought it would be really cool to have the ability to upload the updates directly from my mobile phone so that it automatically updates the scrolling banner. I developed a very simple ticker content management approach to doing this using PHP and a free Android FTP client called AndFTP. Although, you can also use just about any FTP client for this approach, such as the USB ones Aibek listed, or even the web-based FTP clients I wrote about for when you’re on the road. Wherever you can FTP, you can update the banner. Installing the Banner on Your WebsiteMany of you that are familiar with basic HTML will recognize the old Marquee code that initiates the scrolling text along the top of your webpage. The code looks like this: <div align="center"><FONT color="#F00000" size="+1"> <MARQUEE bgcolor="#FFCC33" direction="left" loop="20" width="75%"> <STRONG>THIS IS A TEST</STRONG> </MARQUEE></FONT></DIV> You’ll need to edit the background and text color, and font styles to match your website and to give it a professional look and feel. I quickly chose colors that sort of match my website format, but it could use some tweaking – as an example, it will do! In its simplest form, the Marquee scrolls the text that you’ve typed into the code. As you can see above, my script has a bold “THIS IS A TEST” in it, so that’s exactly what gets displayed.
This would require you to edit that code snippet in your page in order to update the scrolling text. To automate this, I replaced the text with a PHP include, and had the PHP script pull text right out of a text file that I called “test.txt”, stored in a subdirectory on the public HTML folder of my web account. This is what that PHP include looks like. <div align="center"><FONT color="#F00000" size="+1"><MARQUEE bgcolor="#FFCC33" direction="left" loop="20" width="75%"> <STRONG><?php include("/ftpdocs/test.txt"); ?></STRONG> </MARQUEE></FONT></DIV>Now, instead of static text stored on your webpage, you’ve got PHP pulling the content of a file stored on your web server. That means that any time the file content changes, your website banner text will also change. This is great – but again, I don’t want to have to be at my home PC to update the banner text. So, using a text editor on my mobile phone, I created a text file and saved it with the same name as the file stored on my web server. The text file will contain the latest news updates.
Any time you make changes to the text file on your mobile device, just fire up your mobile FTP client, such as AndFTP, and upload the new file to the subdirectory on the server where you pointed the PHP include.
The old file gets written over, and the new text gets displayed on your website. Now, to update the scrolling banner on your site, just change the text stored in the file on your mobile phone, upload it to your web server, and you’ll see the new text show up.
There are a few more ways you could improve the functionality of this approach, such as syncing a DropBox directory to your web server, and then just dropping the new file to DropBox will update the Marquee. This approach is a little more complicated though, and requires some configuration changes on the web server that you may not have permissions to make. This solution is fast and easy, and it gives you the freedom to update scrolling text on your site from any location that you have access to FTP and a text editor. Updating your site with the latest news really couldn’t get much easier than that. Did you try this approach, and did it work on your website? How would you improve the process – is there any way to improve the PHP script? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Image Credit: Wally Gobetz SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use. Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| Transform Windows 7 Into Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal With Ubuntu Skin Pack Posted: 19 May 2011 10:31 AM PDT
Let’s say that you are a Windows user because all of your programs work with it, but you like how the new release of Ubuntu, 11.04 “Natty Narwhal” looks. What can you do about that? The Solution To Your ProblemMay I introduce to you the Ubuntu Skin Pack. This handy program will install (and even download other necessary components) in order to make your desktop look and operate more like Ubuntu. Although it is not perfect (show me some kind of transformation pack that is!), it does do a great job of recreating the experience and theme. The best way for you to enjoy it is to install the pack! Please note that this works only in Windows 7. InstallationFirst off, you should download the setup file to a place where you can easily find it. Once the download completes, head on over to that folder and double-click the setup file to launch it. The setup itself is easy and doesn’t really have any hidden items with it. Just click through it, making sure that everything is selected in order to get the full experience. While the setup is doing its thing, it’ll eventually poke you about installing a component that it needs for smooth operation. Go ahead and click yes so that it’ll automatically install and download that component for you as well. When the entire setup completes, go ahead and restart your machine. Features
In case you use a password on your account, or have multiple accounts on your machine, you may notice some changes. At the bottom, “Windows 7″ is now replaced with “Ubuntu 11.04″. The background should have also changed, but in my installation that did not happen. Not sure what went wrong, but there’s enough hacks out on the Internet to be able to change the login background if you want to.
Once you get to your desktop, you’ll see that it looks very similar to the Ubuntu desktop. The Ubuntu icon is in the top-left corner, which is now your new place to launch the re-themed start menu. The dock on the left side (created by a program called Rainmeter) also recreates a nice visual theme of the actual Unity dock. Don’t try to do a lot of things with it that are featured in Unity, because there isn’t very much you can do to mess around with it, aside from poking around in the configuration file. Speaking of which, Rainmeter may bug you about a misplaced configuration file. Just follow its instructions and it should go away.
There’s not a whole lot else to it. You can have virtual desktops thanks to VirtualWin. Many windows should fit right in with the theme, as long as they’re not those notoriously famous programs that decide to create their own complete theme that stick out from the rest. For everything else, I’ll let the screenshots do the talking.
Even Firefox plays nice! ConclusionOverall, the Ubuntu Skin Pack is a great way to get that Ubuntu feel when using Windows. Although it’s not completely free of kinks, I hope that the developer can continue working on it so that it’ll feel like an A+ solid product. That being said, it’s already a great product as it is. Most themes or transformation packs rarely come close to this. What do you think about the idea of the Ubuntu Skin Pack? If you’re an Ubuntu-loving Windows user, will you be installing this on your machine? What other packs could you suggest? Let us know in the comments below! SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use. Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| Feature The Latest Posts Of Your Blog As An Interactive Slideshow Video Using Wibbitz Posted: 19 May 2011 09:31 AM PDT
One trick is to display your posts at the top of your main page, so they will be instantly accessible. One of the tools that you can use to do this is Wibbitz, a web service that will help you feature the latest contents of your blog as an interactive blog posts slideshow. Building The PlayerBasically, Wibbitz will help you collect your blog posts (either using RSS or direct links), and then compile them as a slideshow video. Similar to other web services, you should register before you can start building your slideshow player. After registering, you can build as many players as you need. Then you can continue customizing the player. Start by naming your player with something that you can remember easily. If you want to create more than one player for your blog, it’s advisable to name the players similar to the blog name.
Other details that you need to fill in are the website’s URL, the text that you want to appear on the launcher, and also the theme. There are several themes (color combinations) available on the list. Choose one that you like and click “OK” to save.
You can also set the language, upload a logo and item image, and choose the background music.
Click “Next” to move on to the “Content” addition process. You can use your blog’s RSS feed URL, or you can use the direct links of the articles. The advantage of using an RSS feed is that the content of your slideshow will always be updated with your latest posts. But static links can also be useful if you want to keep certain posts always visible.
In the next step, you’ll get a script that you can put in your website to embed the slideshow player. This script is intended for general websites.
If you want to install the script on a blog, Wibbitz provides users with a more customized setup. Go to the lower parts of the page and choose the type of blog that you use. For WordPress, the basic setup is downloading and installing the plugin, then putting the script’s URL path into the plugin’s settings.
After you save your settings, you will be brought to your Dashboard. There are three panes there: “My players“, “Analytics“, and “What’s New“.
The “My Players” pane is the place where all of your players are listed. You can edit the player’s settings, view the statistics, refresh the code, or share the players via Facebook. You can also add more players here.
Adding The Slideshow Player To A WordPress BlogI’ll use WordPress as an example since I only have a WordPress blog. To add the slideshow player to a WordPress blog, you have to download the plugin from Wibbitz and upload it to your blog(s). Since the downloaded plugin is a .rar file, you have to extract the contents and recompress it into a .zip file. You can use almost any compression utility. One recommended free compression application is 7Zip.
The next step is to upload the plugin to your blog. Go to the “Install Plugins” menu and choose the “Upload” tab. Choose the file and click “Install Now“.
After installation, you will find “Wibbitz Configuration” in the side menu.
Enable the plugin by checking the box, fill in the “Wibbitz Player Path” with the script’s URL, and click the “Update Wibbitz Player” button.
After that a small “Play” button will appear on the left side of your blog. When you hover your mouse over it, the button will slide out with your launcher text written on it.
Clicking on the play button will open the Slideshow Player. The player will show articles from your blog. The article’s title will be written at the bottom of the frame, while the article’s main image is moving in the background. If the article has no main image, the background will display Wibbitz’ image.
The plugin only allows one RSS feed per blog, but that doesn’t mean that it should be the feed from the same blog. You can put feeds from one of your blogs into another blog’s slideshow player to cross-promote the content.
If you want to give your visitors some exposure to the articles that they might’ve missed, Wibbitz’ slideshow player is a good way to do so. Moreover, the player will not disturb your visitors as it hides silently at the side until your visitors choose to open it. Try to build one for your blog and tell us what you think about it using the comments below. If you want more permanent-style exposure, you could try SlideDeck. SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use. Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| Why Apple’s New Thunderbolt Port Is Awesome [Technology Explained] Posted: 19 May 2011 08:31 AM PDT
Still, ports are important. As the interface between your computer and everything else, your ports determine what you can do, and how quickly you can do it. Try buying an old keyboard with a USB 1.1 port at a yard sale and transferring some MP3 files through it. It will feel like it’s taking years. Now Apple and Intel have released an entirely new port called Thunderbolt. What does it do, and what does it mean for modern and future computers? Hey, You Look Familiar
One of the strangest elements of the new Thunderbolt port is the fact that it technically doesn't use a new port at all. It instead uses a mini-DisplayPort connection, the proprietary video port Apple has used for years. The idea of adapting a video port for I/O seems odd at first, but it makes perfect sense for Thunderbolt because, unlike USB 3.0, Thunderbolt is meant to do more than just transfer data. The use of mini-DisplayPort also means there is already a (small) install base of compatible devices on the market, which will make the growing pains felt by all new technologies easier to tolerate. Breakneck Speed, Courtesy of Intel
Although Thunderbolt debuted on Apple computers, the engineers at Cupertino were not responsible for its creation. The technology was actually researched by Intel, which was working on the project under the code name Light Peak. Intel's goal – which they met – was the creation of an all-purpose port capable of transferring data at speeds of 10 Gbps per channel – and Thunderbolt has two channels. Initially, Intel thought this would require fiber optic cables for devices rather than copper ones, which is why the project had the code name of Light Peak. After much testing however, Intel found that they could achieve 10 Gbit/s even with copper wire (which is less expensive), resulting in the birth of Thunderbolt. Just to give you some perspective, here are the current maximum transfer rates of other popular connections.
Thunderbolt has them all beat, and by no small margin. One Port To Rule Them All
There is more to Thunderbolt than the transfer speeds, however. What's also exciting about Thunderbolt is the fact that it supports both the PCI Express and DisplayPort protocol. What does this mean? It means that almost any peripheral imaginable could be hooked up via Thunderbolt including not only storage drives and data devices but also external video cards and even Ethernet. With the proper adapter, Thunderbolt should be able to connect with virtually every peripheral on the market today without causing degradation in performance. It gets better. Apple Thunderbolt supports daisy-chain connections, which means that the single Thunderbolt port on a MacBook could theoretically support numerous devices including displays, storage devices and more. The maximum number of devices supported on a chain is seven, and up to two of those devices can be high-resolution DisplayPort monitors. ConclusionHonestly, there's nothing bad that can be said about Thunderbolt. It's an amazing I/O technology that absolutely crushes every other port out at the moment. Apple's inclusion of the port on its new MacBooks and iMacs gives these products a definite advantage over similar computers that lack the new technology. Of course, Intel didn't just develop Thunderbolt for Apple. As is always the case with new tech, it will take time for Thunderbolt to trickle through the market. It looks like that this new port is relatively expensive to implement relative to USB 3.0. What remains to be seen is how that impacts adoption. FireWire was superior to USB for some time, but FireWire lost that battle because it cost more to implement than USB, among other reasons. The future's always difficult to predict, but Thunderbolt should make new high-speed peripherals possible. It will be interesting to see what comes to market. SuperTinTin – Skype Video Call Recorder Record and save your audio and video conversations on Skype or MSN. Easy to use. Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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