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Beware: Phishing threat on Twitter!

Elena Santos — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:32:25 +0000

<p>Yesterday I logged on to my Twitter account and saw a couple of direct messages from one of my contacts. I found them quite odd from the moment I opened them, as they were not the kind of messages this person would send to me. Anyway I opened the link he included in those messages and immediately noticed the trick. These are not real DMs: they’re a phishing scam to obtain your Twitter password.

Luckily for us, the swindle is fairly easy to spot. First, double check every link before clicking on it, even if they come from people you trust. Also, make sure you’re on the actual Twitter Reset password service to create a new password and regain access to your Twitter account. Meanwhile, you can find more inmore information about the whole issue on Twitter’s official blog.

Make Songbird sing your tunes

Jon Riggall — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:51:56 +0000

You should be used to being told not to use Internet Explorer anymore – it may be the default for the majority of users, but the existence of three better competing browsers means there are no excuses anymore. We all get used to programs, and don’t always notice if our traditional choice has stopped being the sensible one. Is it time iTunes went the same way as Microsoft’s mess of a browsing application?

But what, I hear you say, could possibly be wrong with iTunes? Aren’t we supposed to love Apple? Well, maybe we are, but I for one feel iTunes is turning into a behemoth – excess feature fat without functionality. Take the Genius Bar – it slows down iTunes a ton, and it’s rubbish. Cover flow may be pretty, but it’s hardly the easiest way to browse your library.

This year saw the first proper release of the open source media player Songbird, which is starting to look like it could be to iTunes what Firefox is to IE. Like Firefox, songbird is highly customizable with lots of add-ons available, so you can make it work the way you want it to.

A bunch of add-ons are bundled with the installation, giving you iPod support, a concert search tool, a Last.fm scrobbler and more. Adding more is easy and can be done from within Songbird – it has a browser (and any time you visit a page that has MP3s, they’ll be listed in a pane at the bottom so you can easily listen to or download them). From the add-ons page you’ll find a host of interesting tools. Here are a few cool ones:

The Exorcist is something iTunes is seriously missing. Anyone with a big library is likely to have listings which no longer exist and duplicate files. As your library grows, sorting out this mess can become an insurmountable task of epic proportions. Luckily, The Exorcist will just list both for you, making cleaning your library a breeze.

Last.fm is a great resource for music info, so why not take advantage? Music Recommendations lifts similar artist ideas based on what you’re listening to, and if like me you don’t have much album art saved with your music, Last.fm Album Art will find the artwork for your albums as you play them and display them where you’d see them in iTunes. Incidentally, if you really do miss iTunes, you can download an iTunes style skin. Feel better?

You can integrate a lyrics bar with LyricMaster, which will find lyrics from the web and show them in the right-hand side bar. Now there’s no excuse not to entertain your workmates with your vocal talents. There is also a seeqpod add-on so you can easily search for tunes to download if you’re not too worried about the legal side of things…

There are some reasons to keep iTunes – it does integrate better with your iPod for instance, but give Songbird a try and you might find you migrate there for everyday listening purposes.

2008 top lists round-up

Elena Santos — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:31:20 +0000

Whenever New Year is around the corner, the Web is flooded with top 10s, best-of lists and all sorts of summaries and rankings that try to encapsulate a whole year in only a few lines. Web sites and blogs around the world create their own themed lists according to their main topic, so I thought it would be a good idea to create a meta-list; that is, a list with the most interesting lists you can find these days on the Internet. It’s certainly a good summary of the year that’s about to finish.

Most under-hyped apps
In this list published by Lifehacker, Gina Trapani includes a series of apps that she considers deserved more attention during the last twelve months. Songbird, Picasa 3, VLC Media Player and Opera are among them.

Best of Last.fm
The online music service has published a list with the most popular artists, albums and tracks of 2008, based entirely on users’ scrobblings. Coldplay has the most scrobbled song and album, while MGMT top the Artist ranking.

Top searches in Google Zeitgeist, a list of the most searched-for terms during 2008. The list varies from one country to another, but the global ranking is topped by Sarah Palin. Kudos to her!

Most downloaded iTunes apps
The App Store features a list where you can see the top downloaded apps of 2008. The list is organized in several categories: games, entertainment, utilities, social networking and music, all in free or paid versions.

Most beautiful icon sets
The design blog Noupe has gathered an impressive collection with the 50 most beautiful icon sets created during this year. You’ll find icons for blogs, for the iPhone, for social networks… and many of them for free.

Best photos of 2008
The top photos of 2008 in Flickr is being created by users themselves. Flickr has asked all Flickr users to choose the best photo they’ve taken this year and add it to the special group “Your best shot of 2008“. Really worth a look!

Top 10 Videogames
Published by the Time magazine, this list includes the top videogames of 2008, though I must say I don’t agree with most of it – except for GTA IV’s first place, that is. The wooden spoon award is for Spore.

Most Pirated PC Games
Funnily enough, Spore does reach number one in the Top Pirated PC games list published by Joystiq. Other games in this list are Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty 4 and Fallout 3. Not something to be specially proud of, I guess.

Apple Theme-Turn your phone into a Mac wonderland

Phones Latest software reviews (Phones): Softonic — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Personally, I reckon that the Mac is the coolest OS on the planet, and by installing this Apple Theme on your Series 60 phone, you can celebrate its beauty wherever you go.

The Apple Theme changes the appearance of a range of different interface elements. The first thing you’ll notice is the cool glowing Apple logo and blue luminous swirls that adorn the main screen. What’s curious is that this wallpaper changes when you access the main menu, to a giant Apple logo with a blue outline.

Other changes that the Apple Theme applies to your phone, include the addition of a cool Apple logo clock, plus a set of start page and main menu icons based on the logo. Text used on the main menu is a bright blue color which looks great against the black background.

Unfortunately, the Apple Theme doesn’t change all of the menu text, which remains black. And, as we know, black text against a black background equals one of the worst design mistakes you can make.

If you can live with the problem of not being able to see some of the menu text, then this Apple theme offers a good way to celebrate your love of Mac.

{t}Download{/t} Apple Theme in Softonic

Problems embedding video in WordPress?

admin — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:56:33 +0000

WordPress is the best blogging platform out there in my opinion. Nothing else comes close in terms of ease of use, sophistication, customisation and general all round elegance. You feel like you’re working with a professional tool and yet it’s all for free. However, one big downside is that WordPress can be notoriously fussy when it comes to embedding video. The reason, as Robin Good explains, is that:

Unless the embeddable code is specifically designed for WordPress, once you have placed and published the code, things tend to run havoc: when you edit the post the embedded code is not there anymore, the published page breaks up the layout, the first time is there but not the second one… you know well how it goes.

MSNBC is a good example. Although finally they now provide embedding code with their video clips, the code doesn’t work in WordPress – it simply disappears when you add it whether you’re in Visual or Code view. There are solutions to these problems but it depends on how your blog is hosted. If you have your own domain to host your blog e.g. “www.yourdomain name.com” you can download plugins for the problem and upload them to your plugins folder. However, if it’s hosted by WordPress e.g. “www.mydomain.wordpress.com” you can’t do this and you have to rely on external sites to provide a solution.

If you have your own hosting service then try EmbedIt. Once uploaded, the plugin allows you to create a custom tag HTML1 and paste the code you want to embed it. Just write [HTML1] in your post where you want to embed the code in Visual or Code view.

Another possibility is Video Embedder which provides video support fora far greater number of video sites than WordPress normally does such as Revver, DailyMotion and Break. Where you want to insert the video, simply type the name of the site in parenthesis with the ID of the video in between such as “[videosite]f19GKcZU1vg[/videosite]”. If it’s a Flash video that you’re having trouble embedding, and you know a little about XHTML but not enough ot fix it, then try XHTML Video Embed which also ensures videos posted to your site are XHTML validated cleanly and securely.

If your blog is hosted on WordPress, then your options are very limited. In fact, unless you know how to tinker with the HTML code until the video works, your best bet is probably Vodpod. Vodpod alows you to add a button to your browser tool bar that you can click whenever you find a site with video that you’d like to post to your blog.

It then translates the code into something WordPress friendly and sends it to your blog instantly in a separate post. From there you can copy it into the post you are writing or you can even publish directly onto your blog from Vodpod. It doesn’t work for all video players but it’s one of the few solutions that blogs hosted on WordPress can turn to.

Let’s hope that in the next major release of WordPress, the developers will finally address this issue so that WordPress becomes much more video friendly.

Make Firefox remember your Google preferences

admin — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:14:57 +0000

I’ll start off by saying that I’m very stuck in my ways when it comes to Google.com (although I’m in Spain, I hate the results that come up with a .es query); display 100 results per page; open results in a new tab.

As far as I’m concerned, these preferences are essential. So I was pretty annoyed a couple of months back when my Google preferences started to ‘disappear’ about once a week. This was happening in Firefox (pretty much the only browser I use for day-to-day work) and it was happening at work (Windows XP) and at home (OS X). For a while I wondered what could be causing the problem – I never tell Firefox to delete my cookies when ending a session – then I decided to look for a way of fixing this annoying bug so I’d never again have to go through the hassle of resetting my search preferences.

The best solution I found is the Firefox addon CustomizeGoogle which includes a feature aptly named ‘Sticky Google Preferences’. This feature allows you to ‘force’ Google to use your preferred language and locale, SafeSearch settings, number of results per page, opening results in a new window and query suggestions. Choose your optimal settings and you can then delete your Google cookies as often as you like without losing your configuration.

In addition, CustomizeGoogle lets you tinker with plenty of other Google tools and features, including optimising search results, hiding ads, forcing secure connections, custom site filters and much more. It’s a great add-on and well worth a look if you’re interested in honing your daily Google experience to perfection.

How to fax for free from your Mac

Nicholas Mead — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:04:12 +0000

One of the lesser known features of Mac OS is the ability to send and receive faxes for free over any internet connection. Using your Mac’s internal or external modem or an online faxing service such as eFax, jConnect and EasyLink, you can send Faxes via a small application called PageSender. PageSender presents a fully-functional fax service allowing you to easily send, receive and manage faxes.

It’s completely integrated with Address Book, Entourage and all Palm devices with Palm Desktop installed. It allows you to automate faxes via AppleScript and it has a handy cover page designer to help you create professional looking faxes. You can even attach PDF documents.

Using it is simple:

Select “Print” from the file menu in any application you’re using

In the print dialog that appears, make sure that “PageSender-Fax” is selected in both your printer and presets box.

3. If you want to add a cover page, click the Cover Page tab

Ares Galaxy 2.1.1.3035-100% P2P filesharing and nothing more

Windows Free (Windows): Softonic — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Bittorrent and Gnutella might be hogging the headlines of the peer to peer (P2P) world, but close behind comes Ares, a successful P2P application that boasts of having its own decentralized network and a simple, quick access interface. Ares spun-off from Gnutella in 2002, and since then has been building a strong and dedicated community of users.

Installing Ares only takes a few minutes and the interface is simple enough that anybody will feel comfortable with it. The new version has a very sleek and dark interface, not unlike that of WMP 11. When you start Ares, it lets you auto scan your PC to find files you might like to share on the network. Beginners will be relieved to know that there is no complex configuration process involved. Once Ares is installed, all you need to do is select the search tab and type the name of the file you want to download. Once it appears, double click on it to begin downloading. You’ll be able to check its progress in the transfer tab. The recent update adds bittorrent support, opening Ares up to loads of new content.

If you enjoy exchanging words with other users, click on the chat tab and connect to one of the thousands of channels available. You can pick up tips on how to use Ares better, ask which files other users recommend or just chit chat about your life in general. You can even insert emoticons into your conversation and keep a list of your favorite chat channels.

Of all the P2P programs, Ares probably features the widest preview screen. You can set it to fit to screen or adjust it to your preference. This is a great way of making sure you’re downloading the right movie or to get a sneak peak at your downloads.

Unlike WinMX or FileNavigator, the two other spin-off Gnutella projects, Ares did not drop into obscurity and unites a flourishing community of users. However, the same old problems usually seem to arise. According to many Ares users the application suffers from constant connectivity troubles making it difficult to properly search for a file or to successfully complete downloads. Others will worry that Ares is a much smaller network than the globally used Gnutella and does not offer quite as much download sources.

Ares is an ambitious project, and the fact that it still remains standing while eDonkey has fallen at the hands of the RIAA, is characteristic of its reliability. Thanks to a strong community of users, a simple interface, a great preview page and multichat service, Ares remains a P2P application of choice for anybody interested into sharing files over the internet.

Download Ares Galaxy 2.1.1.3035 in Softonic

Top 10 iPhone Christmas apps

James Thornton — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:01:09 +0000

If you’ve finished trimming the tree, decking the halls and washing your stockings, don’t assume that you’re ready for Christmas. Because, if you haven’t installed any festive applications on your iPhone yet, you’re drastically under-prepared. There are dozens of holiday-themed apps out there that allow you to decorate your Apple device, play yuletide-themed games and even manage your Christmas shopping. Here’s a run-down of our favourite 10, along with links to the program page on the iTunes App Store.

Sleeps to Christmas – Check how is left until the fat guy falls down your chimney

Christmas Spell Lite – Learn to spell phrases like “Please Mum I’d like a PlayStation 3″

Pocket Elf – Monitor all your holiday spending to ensure that no one goes without

Fuzzle Christmas – Join the colored baubles to score points!

Christmas Candy Recipes – Rustle up some festive treats with these guides

Call Santa – Speed dial access to Father Christmas himself. Sort of.

MyChristmas – Compendium of classic yuletide games and festive fun

Santa Meter – Unique app that lets you create your own naughty and nice lists

Quizmas – Find out how much you really know about Christmas

Christmas Tree Decorator – A festive virtual tree to light up your iPhone

Convert Flash files into AVI and most usable graphic formats.

Giveaway of the Day project team — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:00:06 +0000

SWF & FLV Toolbox offers conversion of Macromedia SWF or FLV to AVI video format using any codec installed in your system. It is a unique ability to create interaction or frame-by-frame video out of your SWF / FLV.

You can also convert any FLV to SWF file and watch it with all comfort, using additional controls you bundle the movie with during the conversion. Fast-forward, rewind, play, stop, pause, change volume – play with your movie any way you want.

SWF & FLV Toolbox overview:

Convert FLV files to handy SWF Player with cool playback controls

Convert SWF and FLV to AVI (mpeg codec), Projector EXE, animated GIF, frame-by-frame JPEG/GIF/BMP files

Convert Projector EXE files back into SWF

Convert SWF/Projector EXE files into screensavers (add your homepage address, e-mail address, title, etc. to its settings)

Capture interactive as well as non-interactive Flash movies in a single-click of a button

Turn your SWF files into thrilling stand-alone programs thanks to Advanced Projector feature

Modify Advanced Projector caption, icon, cursor, version information, window size and location, expiration date etc.

Convert FLV or SWF into AVI format

Unlock protected SWF files

Force Zlib compression to reduce your SWF files’ size as well as decompress the files, where Z-lib compression has been applied

Adjust optimization settings for JPEG, apply different color schemes and dithering for GIF and color depth for BMP

Protect your SWF files from being opened and viewed in Flash Studio

Convert SWF files one-by-one or in a batch

Quickly access “Temporary Internet Files” folder contents without necessity to connect to Internet

Problematic SWF files are now reported and you are offered with solutions to convert SWF files into various formats correctly

Full Drag-and-Drop support