- Fine-tuned the new default skin
- Saved images no longer recorded in the file transfer window
- Fixed an issue that could be used to display arbitrary code
- Fixed a stability issue with Yahoo! Mail
- 64 bit Linux package now available
Opera turns 9.51
Swurl brings all of your social networking activity together
Once upon a time, letting people know what you were up to online was simple. You'd just point your friends toward your blog, LiveJournal page, or MySpace where you posted all of your latest musing on life. But if you're an active netizen, odds are your social activity is spread out across a half dozen or more sites, ranging from YouTube to del.icio.us. Swurl is a new service that helps bring all of your status updates, bookmarks, watched videos and other activity together.
If Swurl sounds a bit like FriendFeed, it kind of is. Both services let you gather all of your social networking activity in one place. But Swurl is a lot prettier and more customizable. You can think of it almost as a meta-blog. If you have a blog on Blogger or WordPress, you can configure Swurl to display all of your latest posts in blog-like format. But it will also show your Twitter and Facebook status updates and other activity in chronological order. Or you can hit the search box to search all of your sites.
Anyone can comment on an item that shows up on your Swurl page just by hovering their mouse near the bottom of an update. And you can use Swurl as something of a start page by hitting the Friends tab to see what your contacts have been up to. There's also a nifty timeline view that shows your updates plotted out on a calendar.
Swurl was developed by Ryan Sit, the same guy who brought us Listpic, an awesome interface for browsing online classified sites.
If Swurl sounds a bit like FriendFeed, it kind of is. Both services let you gather all of your social networking activity in one place. But Swurl is a lot prettier and more customizable. You can think of it almost as a meta-blog. If you have a blog on Blogger or WordPress, you can configure Swurl to display all of your latest posts in blog-like format. But it will also show your Twitter and Facebook status updates and other activity in chronological order. Or you can hit the search box to search all of your sites.
Anyone can comment on an item that shows up on your Swurl page just by hovering their mouse near the bottom of an update. And you can use Swurl as something of a start page by hitting the Friends tab to see what your contacts have been up to. There's also a nifty timeline view that shows your updates plotted out on a calendar.
Swurl was developed by Ryan Sit, the same guy who brought us Listpic, an awesome interface for browsing online classified sites.
Xandros buys Linspire
Linspire started its life out as Lindows, and was designed to be as much like Windows as possible. The idea behind the Linux distribution was to make the transition from Windows to Linux nearly seamless. That never quite happened, but Microsoft still didn't take too kindly to Lindows and forced the company to change its name to Linspire a few years ago.
While Linspire (like any Linux distro) can run many Windows programs thanks to WINE, the company's primary advantage over other distros is its super-simple "Click'N'Run" (or CNR) repository system which allows users to download and install free and commercial applications.
Xandros has no plans to eliminte the Linspire (which costs $50) and Freespire (the free version of Linspire). But the acquisition will give Xandros access to Linspire's intellectual property like CNR, which means new versions of Xandros could be even easier to use than the version Asus is using for the Eee PC.
[via E-Commerce News]
Microsoft softens Windows XP restrictions
Microsoft may have ceased offering Windows XP to retail customers, but that doesn't mean you can't get your hands on the venerable operating system. The company is allowing PC makers to offer customers a "downgrade" option if they purchase a new computer with Windows Vista Business or Ultimate. And Microsoft has been trying to fend off the Linux threat (more of a mosquito than an alien invasion) posed by ultra-low-cost laptops like the Asus Eee PC by allowing some cheap laptop makers to use XP.Originally, Microsoft was only letting PC makers get away with that low-cost option if a PC met strict requirements. For example, it had to use 1GB of RAM or less, have a 10.2 inch or smaller display, and less than 80GB of storage capacity. Now IDG news is reporting that Microosft is easing off on some of those requirements.
Here's the new definition of an ULPC (Ultra Low Cost PC):
- Display: 14.1 inch or smaller
- Hard drive: 160GB or less
- CPU: Single Core, and no more than 1GHz (with exceptions for low-power processors like the 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU used by the Eee PC 901, Acer Aspire One, and MSI Wind)
- RAM: 1GB
Search YouTube for music by artist, album with Jogli
Jogli is basically a search engine and music video player. Search for an artist and Jogli will bring up a list of possible results. Click an artist name and you'll find a list of albums. Click an album and you'll be presented with a list of songs. In many cases not each song is clickable, but many are.
When you hit the play button, a YouTube video will start playing in the corner. But you can also queue up additional songs and even search for new songs without stopping your recording. Jogli is a lot like MyStrands, another site we covered earlier this year. But the way Jogli organizes songs by artist and album sets it apart from the competition.
Thanks Chen!
RealNetworks launches DRM-free Rhapsody music store
All songs will be encoded at 256kbps, and will be playable on any device that can handle MP3 audio. RealNetworks isn't killing off its DRM-restricted music service, but rather, plans to have the two services peacefully coexist. You can pay $12.99 a month to stream unlimited music to your computer, or you can pay per download to save songs that you can play forever.
RealNetworks is also rolling out a service that will let Verizon Wireless customers download music for their handsets. For $15 a month, users will be able to download an unlimited number of songs (with DRM) on a Windows PC and sync those songs with their cellphone. Currently seven handsets are supported, with several more coming soon.
The Rhapsody MP3 store is offering a $10 credit to the first 100,000 customers who purchase an album by July 4th. You need to sign up for an account and fork over your credit card information to qualify. But hey, free music, right?
[via CNet]
Change your Windows open/save dialogs with PlacesBar Editor
If you're worried about mucking up your system, you can take solace in the fact that PlacesBar Editor has a defaults button that will restore things to normal with the click of a button (two buttons, actually. You have to click defaults, and then save).
PlacesBar Editor also lets you add 5 additional folders or locations to the MS Office open/save dialog.
[via Lifehacker and Freeware Genius]
Download Squad Week in Review
We'd normally write something mildly clever in this spot, but to be honest, it's been a long week and we're just too tired to be clever. So umm, a man walks into a bar. He says ouch. See what we mean? Anyway, have some of our favorite posts from the last week:- Help! Windows cannot open this file
Ever download a shiny new file from the internet only to realize you have no idea how to open it, make it run, or do whatever it is it's supposed to do? We've compiled a roundup of some of the best Windows applications for opening pretty much any file type. Make sure to check out the comments, because it turns out y'all provided a veritable treasure trove of additional suggestions. - aTunes: Cross-platform open source media player
Looking for a media player capable of handling pretty much anything you can throw at it (except DRM)? aTunes might just fit the bill. And it's open soruce and cross-platform to boot. There's a native Windows version, but since the application is Java based, you can also run it on OS X and Unix/Linux. Oh, and did we mention it displays lyrics and has a karaoke mode? - PlanningWiz: Plan and share room layouts
Whether you're moving into a new place or trying to figure out how to better utilize the space you have, odds are PlanningWiz can save you an awful lot of time and graphing paper. This web-based app makes it easy to set your room dimensions and then start figuring out where to put the couch, table, entertainment system and missile silo. - Tofu makes on-screen reading actually bearable
Computer monitors are a lot better than they used to be, but let's face it, even though we spend all day staring at a computer screen we have a hard time reading large amounts of text on a computer screen. That pretty much rules out reading eBooks. But Tofu is a desktop app for Mac that takes large chunks of text and breaks them up into shorter, more easily digestable segments so you can tackle War and Peace without all the eye strain. - Inline PDF viewing for Firefox 3? There's a plugin for that
While the Safari web browser features support for inline PDF viewing, if you happen across a PDF online while using the Mac version of Firefox 3, you have two choices: download the PDF or install this plugin. Nuff said. - Sync your Google Reader, NewsGator feeds with RSS Bandit
There's a new alpha version of RSS Bandit, a desktop RSS reader for Windows that adds one killer new feature: Support for synchronization with online feed readers like Google Reader and NewsGator. In other words, you can configure RSS Bandit to not only import your feed list, but to mark items as read in your online reader once you've read them using the desktop reader, or vice versa.
Zenbe webmail client adds Twitter, GTalk integration
For example, you can now sign into Google Talk and Twitter in the Quick View area on the right side of the page. This lets you chat with your contacts without leaving the email/calendar client. You can update your twitter status or read updates from your contacts.
Zenbe has also created a new email notification script for Firefox, redesigned the task list, and added buttons for easily deleting all items in your deleted and spam folders. Zenbe also says it's working on adding a Gmail-style conversation e-mail view, and is working to add IMAP support.
On July 11th, Zenbe will also be launching an iPhone list application. This is described as the company's first foray into bringing Zenbe to a mobile platform, so we expect we'll see a full Zenbe client for the iPhone and other mobile devices in the future.
NFReader: Light weight RSS reader, perfect for flash drives
You won't find a ton of features in NFReader. There's no way to tag, star, or share items. You can just mark articles as read or unread. But you do to choose whether you want to use HTML or just read the plain text versions of each article.
Like any good RSS Reader, NFReader will let you import or export OPML files. So if you typically use an online RSS reader like Google Reader or Bloglines, but want to test out a desktop reader, you can export your web-based feed list and import it in a matter of moments.
[via Lux.Et.Umbra]
Yahoo! Mail's subject-o-matic provides endless stream of one-liners
Fortunately, Yahoo! has a hidden feature designed for the creativity-challenged. Can't come up with a clever or appropriate subject line for that email you're about to send? Just hit the subject button in the new version of Yahoo! Mail. Yahoo! will throw in a quote, funny phrase, or who knows what?
Here are just a few of the things that we found. Keep in mind, somebody must have taken the time to actually type these in there.
- Do you use them for good, or for awesome?
- I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.
- Hazards of storing plutonium in Tupperware
- Why does Chinese food always taste better in front of a computer?
- Fwd: Re: FW[2]: RE: re: [FWD] joke
Sumopaint: There's something familiar about this online image editor
The two web apps have extraordinarily similar user interfaces and you can apply a similar array of effects to images you upload. You can also import images from online various online accounts, although Splashup is the clear winner with the ability to import images from Flickr, Picasa, Facebook, and other web sites, while Sumopaint only supports Snap.
Check out an image of the two apps side by side after the jump and you be the judge. Separated at birth, or imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? After all, both look a bit like PhotoShop or the Gimp.
[via jkOnTheRun]
Continue reading Sumopaint: There's something familiar about this online image editor
WiX: Web page creation made simple, Flashy
While WiX might sound a lot like Google Page Creator or Weebly, WiX pages are entirely Flash-based. That means you can use the WiX editor not just to create standalone website, but also Flash objects that you can embed in other web sites. There's even a MySpace tab in the editor in case you want to be one of those people who make ridiculously flash (and Flashy) elements that show up on MySpace pages.
WiX offers a fair number of templates that you can modify, but you can also create web sites and other objects from scratch. When you're finished creating a site you can publish it online, but the URL will start with www.wix.com. You can also generate embed code that will let you include anything you create using WiX on another web site.
[via WebWare]
Pluribo reads Amazon product reviews so you don't have to
But who has time to sift through hundreds of reviews when you just want someone to tell you whether you should buy this digital camera or that one? That's where Pluribo comes in. This Firefox add-on will read through the user reviews in certain product categories and present you with a concise summary.
The plugin uses some artificial intelligence so you don't wind up with short, choppy, and unreadable reviews. Don't expect Shakespeare, but Pluribo will give you enough information that you might not need to read the individual reviews.
Right now, Pluribo doesn't work with products in every category. For example, digitial cameras seem to be covered, but video cameras aren't.
[via Digital Inspiration]
Acronym Finder helps you make sense of the senseless
Of course, knowing that AFL-CIO stands for American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations doesn't necessarily help you figure out exactly what the organization does.
And like any good internet tool, you don't have to use Acronym Finder for its intended purpose. You can type in your initials and see what organizations or technical terms share a set of letters with you. There are more than 4million acronyms and abbreviations in the database.
[via MakeUseOf]
