Tech news for geeks.

Free Dreamweaver Tools for Google Inserts Maps, Checkout and Search

2006-11-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

WebAssist is making it easier to plug Google apps into your Web sites.
The San Diego-based Web development shop is announcing today a free extension for Adobe Dreamweaver that lets you plug Google Maps, Google Checkout and Google search into your site designs.

read more | digg story

Official Google Blog: Eureka! Your own search engine has landed!

2006-10-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

Official Google Blog: Eureka! Your own search engine has landed!

Wouldn't it be cool if you could easily build a search engine on your blog or website tailored to the topics and areas you know and love the most?

Today we are launching the Google Custom Search Engine. As you might imagine, it's a simple and straightforward product to use and understand. In a matter of minutes you can create a search engine that reflects your knowledge and interests; looks and feels like your own; and, if you choose, you can make money from the traffic you receive through Google's AdSense program. You can even invite your friends and trusted community members to add to and help build your search engine.

Try Google's Updated Design Experiment

2006-09-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Google has updated their experimental design of the search result pages, that shows the services in a left sidebar.

read more | digg story

Hacktivsmo Releases Torpark for Anonymous, Portable Web Browsing

2006-09-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

Hacktivismo, an international group of computer security experts and human rights workers, just released Torpark, an anonymous, fully portable Web browser based on Mozilla Firefox. Torpark comes pre-configured, requires no installation, can run off a USB memory stick, and leaves no tracks behind in the browser or computer.
http://torpark.nfshost.com/download.html

read more | digg story

Choose How Often Google Crawls Your Site

2006-09-19T06:53:00.000-07:00

Google Operating System:

Choose How Often Google Crawls Your Site

Bigmouthmedia reports that Google Sitemaps has a new feature that allows you to choose how often Googlebot crawls your site. You can select from 5 values, from slowest to fastest, but you must know that a faster crawl uses more bandwidth. For the moment, this feature is still experimental, so you may not find it in your Google Sitemaps account.

'We are testing an alpha version of our new tool with a small percentage of webmasters who use Sitemaps. You should leave this control at the Normal setting unless you are having trouble with the speed at which Googlebot is crawling your server.

Simply select the rate at which you would like the Googlebot to crawl your server and click save. During this stage of testing, we will evaluate requests to determine the best way of using this data and providing this tool to everyone.'

Google Sitemaps, recently rebranded as Google Webmaster Central, is a control panel for webmasters, where they can find statistics about searches, crawling errors and submit sitemaps so that Google finds their pages faster.

Picasa goes online, gets new features too

2006-09-19T06:51:00.000-07:00

Official Google Blog: Picasa goes online, gets new features too

9/18/2006 08:38:00 PM
Posted by Michael Herf, Picasa Engineer

I have 80,000 photos in Picasa, Google's free photo organizer, but most of my friends haven't had a chance to see them yet. That's why I'm so excited about the new version of Picasa that came out today. It has a feature called Picasa Web Albums that lets you post and share your photos online for free with just one click. You can show the world (or just your friends and family) what kinds of pictures you've been taking. And best of all, you can even download your friends' online photos right back to Picasa.

I run around at parties and take photos of people, and now my friends can see the pictures online as soon as I post them. Rather than bugging me all the time to email them around (which I'm too lazy to do), now they're asking to have the bad shots deleted instead. Some of them even add online comments right to the photos themselves.

We've also fixed a whole bunch of things in Picasa. Folders finally work as you'd expect, so people who've kept their photos meticulously organized in folders and subfolders can see them displayed the same way in Picasa. And we've added a shiny new feature to photo-editing: Save. Your Picasa edits can now be preserved when using other programs. The save feature is even undoable, so you never lose your original files.

And there's more -- you can import into any folder you like, make time-lapse sequences into movies, search by color, create a screensaver with beautiful visual effects, and even re-arrange Picasa's buttons. Oh, and we also made Picasa work with Google Earth, so you can put information about where you went on vacation into the photos themselves, and then, view your shots on a 3-D globe. Try it all out for yourself at picasa.google.com.

Google Home Tabs!

2006-09-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

Google

Finally the wait is over and Google in it's infinite wisdom has put tabs on the personalized homepage. Now you can easily ad and rename tabs to stash more content 'modules'.

Picasa 2.5 Out Of Beta

2006-09-14T05:21:00.000-07:00

Picasa 2.5 Out Of Beta:

The new version of Picasa, that includes the ability to create web albums and geotag your photos is out of beta. Although Picasa's homepage doesn't mention anything about that, their release notes talk about Picasa 2.5 Build 32.91, September 12, 2006. The last beta version was Beta 3, Build 32.71.

So if you have Picasa 2 and the auto-update feature enabled, you'll have a nice surprise soon. For those who already have Picasa 2.5 Beta, it will be just a minor update.

In addition to the features already mentioned, here are the rest of the new features in Picasa 2.5:

* Nested Folder View. Now you can choose how to display folders in Picasa, whether they're nested or sorted by date.

* Larger thumbnails. The thumbnails are slightly larger, so images are clearer.

* New RAW features. Picasa supports more cameras and RAW formats (including the Canon 30D, Nikon D200, and DNG).

* Save edits to disk. When you edit photos in Picasa, you can choose to save those edits as you go, replacing the original photos with your newly edited versions.

* Screensaver. Show starred photos in a collage, or pan and zoom your Web Album photos. Choose between four presentation options to display your best shots."

Dynamically Generated Pages, a Bad Idea for Blogger?

2006-09-14T05:18:00.000-07:00

Dynamically Generated Pages, a Bad Idea for Blogger?

The most important feature of the new Blogger Beta is dynamic pages. "In the new version, adding a new post simply updates your information in our database. Then, when someone wants to see any of the pages on your blog, those pages are created for them dynamically, on the fly."

When I heard about this change, I was unsure if it's a good thing. I know it's very hard to edit the template and wait until Blogger updates all the blog posts, but the dynamic pages could lead to serious problems.

Use Gmail Generate Unlimited E-mail Addresses

2006-09-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

Gmail has an interesting quirk where you can add a plus sign (+) after your Gmail address, and it'll still get to your inbox. It's called plus-addressing, and it essentially gives you an unlimited number of e-mail addresses to play with.

read more | digg story

Google Operating System: Sandbox for Windows Applications

2006-09-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Sandbox for Windows Applications:

Sandboxie is a small program that lets you run any application in a sandbox. What does it mean? Instead of writing files to the normal location, the applications writes files to a sandbox, a temporary storage area. 'Data flows in both directions between programs and the sandbox. During read operations, data may flow from the hard disk into the sandbox. But data never flows back from the sandbox into the hard disk.'

If you launch an application in the sandbox, it won't be able to write configuration files, edit the Registry, edit files on your hard-disk. For example, if you launch Internet Explorer in the sandbox, you won't be able to install plug-ins or ActiveX controls, so it's useful to launch the browser in the sandbox if you visit potentially dangerous sites.

The application is also useful if you want to test programs you don't trust or if you want to run programs from your USB drive without leaving traces. You can then explore the sandbox, delete its content or recover files.

Sandboxie is not extremely stable, but it's a good solution for a small sandbox environment if you don't want to install a virtualization tool like VMWare.

[ Windows 2000/XP/2003, 242 KB, Freeware ]

Google Operating System: 10 Great Uses For Google Desktop

2006-09-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

Google Operating System: 10 Great Uses For Google Desktop

Google Desktop lets you search your computer and have tiny bits of information at your fingertips if you use Google Gadgets. Everybody knows that. But Google Desktop can have other interesting uses.

1. Program launcher

If a program has a shortcut in the Start Menu, type the first letters of the program name and you can launch it.

2. Control Panel replacement

Do you want to change your mouse settings or the network setings? Type 'mouse' or 'network' and you can open the configuration tool without using Control Panel.

3. Address bar

Open files, folders and Internet addresses.

4. Browser history

Your browser can keep the sites you visit for a limited period (a week or more). Google Desktop keeps them indefinitely and makes your history searchable.

5. Browser cache

Google Desktop keeps all the versions of the pages you see in your browser, so you can use it for reference if you want to see how a page has changed.

6. File recovery

If you delete a document, Google Desktop keeps it in its cache, so you'll still be able to recover the content.

7. File versioning

You can use Google Desktop to revert to a previous version of a document (text file, Office document, HTML file). Google Desktop keeps all the versions of a file, so it may be useful if you don't backup your files.

8. Most recent documents

Google Desktop has a timeline that lets you the files created or modified recently.

9. Office / PDF viewer

If you don't have Microsoft Office or Adobe Reader, Google Desktop lets you see a text version for PDF, DOC, XLS, PPT files. It doesn't look great, but it's useful as a text preview.

10. Gmail replacement

Gmail is down or your internet connection is down. You don't use a desktop mail client, but you need to find an important mail. Fortunately, Google Desktop indexes your mail (if you want to), so you can search your messages and read them offline. The attachments aren't saved on your PC.

For most of these features, you need to enable in Google Desktop the indexing for web history, most file types, disable "remove deleted items", enable Gmail and "launch programs/files by default" in quick find.

If you don't like the sidebar, you can disable it in Preferences / Display by choosing Deskbar, Floating Deskbar or None. You can use the "Quick Search Box" (the one from the first screenshot) by hitting Ctrl twice."

ErrorZilla - A Better HTTP Error Page

2006-09-05T05:29:00.000-07:00

ErrorZilla is a Firefox extension that replaces the standard 'server not found' page and similar page errors with something more useful. ErrorZilla adds a reload button, Google Cache, Web archive, and three buttons for: ping, trace and whois. The most useful is the 'Google Cache' button that lets you view the page even if the server is down, assuming that the page has been indexed by Google.

Firefox 2.0 Beta 2 Will Launch Thursday

2006-08-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

Barring more bugs, Firefox Beta 2 will release Thursday, Mozilla Corp. developers reported after a weekly status meeting held Tuesday.

read more | digg story

Electric Mini: 0-60 in 4 Seconds: It Has Motors In Its Wheels

2006-08-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

A British engineering firm has put together a high-performance hybrid version of BMW's Mini Cooper. The PML Mini QED has a top speed of 150 mph, a 0-60 mph time of 4.5 seconds. The car uses a small gasoline engine with four 160 horsepower electric motors — one on each wheel. The car has been designed to run for four hours of combined urban/extra urban driving, powered only by a battery and bank of ultra capacitors. The QED supports an all-electric range of 200-250 miles and has a total range of about 932 miles (1,500 km). For longer journeys at higher speeds, a small conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) is used to re-charge the battery. In this hybrid mode, fuel economies of up to 80mpg can be achieved.

Comcast DVR 30 second skip hack.

2006-08-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

Comcast DVR 30 second skip hack.

"First of all having a remote programmed with the 30 second skip is critical when using a DVR so you can blow through commercials (commercials are 30 seconds long).

Follow these step in order to progam your remote:

1. Press the 'Cable' button at the top of the remote to put it into Cable Box control mode.

2. Press and hold the 'Setup' button until the 'Cable' button blinks twice.

3. Type in the code 994. The 'Cable' button will blink twice

4. Press (do not hold) the 'Setup' button

5. Type in the code 00173 (for 30 second Skip)

6. Press whatever button you want to map the skip or swap function to. (HD Zoom is a good one)

Enjoy!"

Slashdot | Google Releasing an Office Suite

2006-08-28T05:22:00.000-07:00

Slashdot | Google Releasing an Office Suite:

"Google Apps for Your Domain is Google's entrance into the office productivity world, but contrary to popular expectations, the company is not shipping word processor or spreadsheet for corporate use just yet. Google, Inc. bundled e-mail client (Gmail), shared calendaring environment (Google Calendar), instant messaging client (GTalk) and HTML page generator (Google Page Creator) to be used across specific domains. The service will be ad-supported, reports the Associated Press.'

From that article:
'The free edition of Apps for Your Domain is, like Google's main site, supported with ads. By the end of the year, the company also plans to launch a paid version that will offer more storage, some degree of support, and likely, no ads. A price for this edition hasn't been set. Providing e-mail and other applications for businesses moves Google closer into what has traditionally been turf occupied by Microsoft Corp. Earlier this year, Google released a program that builds simple Excel-type spreadsheets but lets users access them on the Web.'"

Learning to love a cable (phone) guy

2006-08-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

The growing competition is prompting changes in both the cable and phone industries. Verizon technicians who normally work outdoors splicing cables and the like are being trained to work on PCs so when they install high-speed data lines, they can fix associated problems on customers' computers, like viruses.

read more | digg story

Who Needs A Web Anonymizer? Google Does It For Free!

2006-08-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

One of the unrecognized side benefits to using Google Web Accelerator is that it allows you to surf anonymously by substituting your IP address with a Google one.

read more | digg story

Move over Firefox, Thunderbird does tricks too

2006-08-24T05:31:00.000-07:00

All the focus these days seems to be on Firefox extensions. Web Developer this, FlashGot that. But what about Mozilla Thunderbird? Here are five super extensions for the open source email client.

read more | digg story

Naughty Google Suggest

2006-08-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

Naughty Google Suggest

When you enter ple into Google Suggest, the top suggestion is a little, well... unexpected.

It certainly made me laugh.

Google Talk Adds Voice, File Transfer

2006-08-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

Google Talk is almost a year old, and the company has released a new version sporting voicemail, file transfer, and music status sharing features.

read more | digg story

ITS CONFIRMED! Microsoft to offer Vista upgrade coupons in October!

2006-08-18T05:48:00.000-07:00

Because of Microsoft's delay of Windows Vista, they will be offering free Windows Vista upgrade coupons for any computer bought after October. This is to help kick off the holiday PC season. Will this affect any of you into buying a computer this Holiday season?

read more | digg story

Federal judge orders halt to NSA spy program

2006-08-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

The warrantless Internet and telephone surveillance program authorized by the Bush administration violates the U.S. Constitution and must cease immediately, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

read more | digg story

I'm back....

2006-08-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

Three days ago my blog was flagged as spam by blogger's automatic spam detector. Shitty. Now what? My blog isn't spam.

The notification email from blogger instructed me to submit for a review by a human to verify my blog is not spam and unlock my account. It stated the review would take place within 24 hours, well I waited 24 hours and nothing happened. So, I once again submitted the request for review and continued to wait. By this point I was really starting to miss posting news, so I emailed blogger help and explained the situation. A day later (3 days after the initial request for review) my account has finally been restored.

This probably all happened because I like to use the 'blog this!' link on Digg, leaving the impression of Spam due to automatic post submission. So, be cautious of using 'blog this' or any other means of automatic post submission when using blogger.....you could be flagged as spam.

How to Crack a Website - XSS, Cookies, Sessions

2006-08-14T05:15:00.000-07:00

"Informit.com provides an insiders look at a real life XSS attack and how it was used to bypass the authentication scheme of an online web application, leading to "shell" access, and admin account, and more. XSS attacks are often discussed in theory - this walk through illustrates just how dangerous these types of attacks can be in reality.

read more | digg story

1/3 of the U.S. Population Does Not Believe In Evolution....idiots.

2006-08-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

What is wrong with people?? After years of debate, about one-third of the U.S. population does not believe in evolution, a figure that is the highest in the world's developed countries, a study published Friday on the journal Science said.

read more | digg story

RockXP 4.0 is out !

2006-08-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

The new version of RockXP is out !
This software allow you to get all Microsoft Software Serials, change your XP key, save you XP activation, retrieve you Internet connection parameters (like passwords), retrieve MSN login and password,r etrieve XP login and HASH password, display system password (LSA), generate randoms password, and other more

read more | digg story

RIAA to grieving family: We depose your children in 60 days

2006-08-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

The RIAA brought a file-sharing lawsuit against a guy who died; they offered the departed's family a 60-day grieving period before they began to depose his children for the suit against his estate

read more | digg story

Internet Explorer Loses More Ground to Firefox: Firefox 13.71% July

2006-08-13T06:04:00.000-07:00

While Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser has lost further market share this year, there has been a significant slowdown in the acceptance of its largest competitor, the open source Firefox browser, according to a white paper released by Janco Associates on Aug. 11.

read more | digg story

Why Is YouTube More Popular Than Google Video?

2006-08-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

YouTube, a video site created by three former PayPal employees in 2005, accounts for more than 60% of all videos watched online in the US. Google Video has a such a small share that it's not even worth mentioning. Why is that?

read more | digg story

How To: Search for Secret Google Services

2006-08-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

here's a quick guide to just some of the many different ways you could use to try and find new services that Google are working on

read more | digg story

Free Rapidshare Premium Account Notifier, Rapidchek

2006-08-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

Rapidshare often gives away their free rapidshare premium accounts, but you may not know when the free rapidshare premium accounts are really available.

read more | digg story

So You Wanna Change Your Default Browser In Vista?

2006-08-11T08:20:00.001-07:00

Microsoft has designed the User Account Control (UAC) to work so perfectly that it will be difficult for the average person to switch the default browser.

read more | digg story

Expiring TiVO content

2006-08-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

"...Macrovision's flagging TiVo content to expire within 24 hours of its first viewing once recorded to your TiVo in a totally legit manner...."

read more | digg story

Cool photo of an orbital sunrise

2006-08-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

As seen from the International Space Station.

read more | digg story

New links in Gmail

2006-08-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

People have noticed some new links at the top of their Gmail as of yesterday. This link bar used to only have links to Google, Gmail, and Google Calendar now it has added "Photos" and "Spreadsheets" and changed "more >>" to "all my services >>".

read more | digg story

Asus WL-700gE WiFi Router: Built-In 160GB Drive, iTunes, and Bittorrent

2006-08-11T05:39:00.000-07:00

"It has a built in network iTunes client, so it'll show up as an iTunes client to your PCs. And it has a BitTorrent client that can rip down 7 streams automatically (and 10 FTP or web streams at the same time.) That's with your PC off, all downloads handled by the router. And there's a lot more. Too much more to share before the jump."

read more | digg story

First Look at a New Web OS : Desktoptwo

2006-08-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

Desktoptwo is an online web based desktop built in Flash.
OS online that feel and functionality of a local PC.

read more | digg story

MP3 player + Energy Drink = Plane Bomb

2006-08-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

Terrorists planned to use MP3 players and energy drinks to blow up as many as 10 jetliners bound for the United States, authorities said Thursday.

read more | digg story

OSU students to make massive Firefox crop circle this weekend

2006-08-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Eight Oregon State University Linux Users Group (OSULUG) students are celebrating Firefox's 200 millionth download with a 45,000-square foot crop circle in Willamette Valley, which, incidentally, was the winning location in Oregon Trail! This is the same group that painted the OSU quad at 50M and launched the Firefox hot air balloon at 100M.

read more | digg story

Is the US finally fixing its patent system?

2006-08-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

Two US Senators introduced a bill on August 3 designed to change some fundamental features of the US patent system and bring the regime into step with the rest of the world.

read more | digg story

The Google Proxy - Free Tunneling Service

2006-08-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

A blogger has found a innovative way to use Google's website as a proxy to tunnel through to websites. Users no longer have to use other websites to access blocked pages. This tunnels directly through Google's homepage so it can't be blocked.

read more | digg story

eBay sellers beg Google to open an on-line auction

2006-08-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

Recent fee hikes and a number of other issues have eBay sellers begging Google to open up an on-line auction system to compete with eBay.

read more | digg story

Google Partner Page on the way?

2006-08-10T13:31:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago Google registered some new domains that could hint at a new service they are worked on a Google Partner Page. Could this be an implementation of the Personalized Homepage (iGoogle) for any company who wishes to partner with Google?

read more | digg story

Gmail coming out of Beta?

2006-08-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

Australian and New Zealand residents are the first in the world to be able sign up for Gmail without having to scrounge for invites from existing users.
As of today, users can sign-up to Google's Web-based e-mail program by simply registering on the site www.gmail.com

read more | digg story

Microsoft to Tighten the Genuine Advantage Screws

2006-08-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

"Come this fall Microsoft is planning to turn up the Genuine Advantage heat in two ways: by baking more Genuine Advantage checks directly into Windows Vista, and by taking aim at PC makers, system builders, Internet cafes and other sources of potentially pirated software."

read more | digg story

HOW-TO: Replace your car stereo with a Computer

2006-08-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

This is a really cool guide, it's basically telling you how to replace your car stereo with a PC designed specifically for the car. It's got sleep mode, hibernate mode, a touch-screen LCD, Internet access, FM radio, 100GB of MP3 storage (upgradeable), and best of all there's no proprietary components so you could build it all yourself. Nice.

read more | digg story

Real-Time Airport Plane Visualization - Gizmodo

2006-08-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

Just go to the site, pick an airport, and see a real-time display on planes flying in and out of your local hub. So far only major airports like Boston Logan International, LaGuardia, LAX, and my local San Jose International airport have plane tracking up. Pretty sweet app nonetheless.
Link: http://www.java.com/en/everywhere/airportmonitor.jsp

read more | digg story

Google: the Godfather of Open Source?

2006-08-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

It's well known that Google runs its vast array of servers using a custom version of GNU/Linux. But this is only one aspect of its support for free software. Others include its Summer of Code, now well established as an incubator of both coding talent and projects, and more recently its open source code repository.

read more | digg story

Man dies opening grenade with sledgehammer - Natural selection at it's finest

2006-08-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

A Brazilian man died on Tuesday when he tried to open what police believe was a rocket propelled grenade with a sledgehammer in a mechanical workshop on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Another man who was in the workshop at the time of the explosion was rushed to a hospital with severe burns, a police officer told Reuters.

read more | digg story

Growing cannabis no worse than growing tomatoes, according to judge

2006-08-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

Judge Harris said: "If you are Sherlock Holmes and you go back to Baker Street and inject yourself with cocaine, as he did, you cannot be called a nuisance. So quietly smoking cannabis at home, not that it is to be encouraged, I'm not sure at all it constitutes a nuisance."

read more | digg story

Every Pink Floyd fan should have one of these shirts.

2006-08-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

Wear this shirt near streaming music and watch the fun begin. The red and yellow lights change positions, mimicking an equalizer, keeping time to the tunes.

read more | digg story

Makes you wonder what they'll be doing for the half-time show

2006-08-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

This is a great video of a giant dust devil forming on a soccer field out of nowhere.
Makes you wonder what they'll be doing for the half-time show

I-Hacked.com Taking Advantage Of Technology - Homemade Throwies: Using crap you already have

2006-08-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

I-Hacked.com Taking Advantage Of Technology - Homemade Throwies: Using crap you already have:

I thought this would make a nice companion to my previous post. Not that there are many uses, but these little things are an interesting little project.

LED Throwies

2006-08-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

Graffiti Research Lab » LED Throwies:

"LED Throwies are an inexpensive way to add color to any ferromagnetic surface in your neighborhood. A Throwie consists of a lithium battery, a 10mm diffused LED and a rare-earth magnet taped together. Throw it up high and in quantity to impress your friends and city officials."

Big Spanish Castle

2006-08-08T11:24:00.000-07:00

Big Spanish Castle:

This is a really good optical illusion. You stare at a false color photo then mouse over to switch to the black and white version...but your eyes see it in color!

Explore Shakespeare with Google

2006-08-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

Explore Shakespeare with Google:
"The complete plays of Shakespeare. Now at your fingertips."

As if Google doesn't make kids homework easy enough already, now Google has launched a website devoted to the works of William Shakespeare. The new site serves as a place to search and study the writer's entire collection of sonnets and plays.

Developing Traffic

2006-08-08T10:20:00.000-07:00

Developing traffic is a fine art on the web. Sometimes we get lost in the fact that just because it is easy to build a website it does not mean that it will be easy for people to find it. The question then becomes how does one go about developing traffic for their website?

read more | digg story

IE7 not CSS compliant - argh, Here we go again!

2006-08-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

Interesting Slashdot thread started by Jeff Reifman, in which he claimed that IE7 was basically non-compliant with CSS web standards: he measured it as IE 52% compliance vs. Firefox 93%. In fact in his article he notes that the IE7 compliance is only marginally better than IE6 (54% for IE7 and 52% for IE6).

read more | digg story

Free anonymous surfing via Flash drive.

2006-08-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

Worried about broadcasting your portable hard drive contents to the world? Check out Torpark, a free download that encrypts your Internet connection courtesy of a USB Flash drive.

read more | digg story

The return of perks at work

2006-08-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

Companies from Microsoft to General Mills are beefing up on-site benefits to keep workers happy -- and on the job.
This sure isn't happening where I work...

read more | digg story

As Flash turns 10, Adobe looks ahead

2006-08-08T06:08:00.001-07:00

Now, according to company executives, Adobe is trying to make Flash more of a general-purpose application development platform, one that focuses on video delivery, applications for mobile devices, and Web applications that run outside the browser.

read more | digg story

Microsoft Drops The Ball (again) On IE7 Standards Compliance...

2006-08-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

"Microsoft often says it's pro-standards - but typically, they'd rather own a proprietary interface or protocol than build a compatible system."

read more | digg story

Giant Robot Imprisons Parked Cars

2006-08-08T05:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is too cool ... The Hoboken Municipal Gov't doesn't renew the software license on their automated parking garage, and the system just stops working. Everyone's parked car is now held with no way to get it out. How's that for getting people to cough up licensing fees for software renewal? Awesome!

read more | digg story

Improvements to Google Co-Op Coming Soon

2006-08-08T05:46:00.000-07:00

Google Watch : Improvements to Google Co-Op Coming Soon:
"A Googler said that the company would be making several incremental improvements in Google's social search platform in the coming weeks.

Shashi Seth, product lead search, said that Google Co-Op would offer tools that allow you to see how your Co-Op contributions are performing, and who the top contributors are.

'Look for it in the next few weeks,' Seth said.

Co-Op is Google's social search product that allows users to contribute topical expertise by labeling pages. Those pages are revealed and credited to the author when a user refines a search through Co-Op.

'Google Co-Op is still very much in beta and we're still learning more about it,' Seth said. 'We're treading carefully.'

Asked if the Co-Op platform could be extended to other Google products, Seth said that Co-Op currently powers Google Accessible search, and that future applications of the platform could include areas such as news.

'We want to make sure it does work before applying it anywhere else. But if it does work, absolutely, [news] is a direction to go in. It's definitely something that's been brought up several times before.'"

Google Pays to Become MySpace Search Engine

2006-08-08T05:44:00.000-07:00

Google will become the search engine for the social networking site and others after paying News Corp. $900 million for the privilege.

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JitterBugs could turn your keyboard against you

2006-08-08T05:40:00.000-07:00

Researchers warn against an entirely new threat to computer security: peripheral devices such as keyboards which could be physically bugged in an attempt to steal data. A class of devices that could covertly transmit data across an existing network connection without the user's knowledge has been identified. They are called JitterBugs.

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Torrentspy Redesign Preview

2006-08-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

Torrentspy, still one of the most popular torrent sites on the web, is about to undergo a change of appearance. It seems like they're hopping on the web2.0 bandwagon. It looks neat though, have a look.

Lets start with a

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Google tests video distribution model with MTV, Microsoft's URGE partner

2006-08-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

Google has reached a deal with MTV Networks - whose name has been cropping up quite a bit in the digital realm recently - that could end up enabling clips from MTV programming to be integrated into AdSense content that appears alongside user search pages.

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Google Mapping Weather System

2006-08-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

The Search and Go Design team have finally released the online weather system that utilizes Google maps API. It is an extensive system that covers every region and country in the world with up-to-the-minute weather reports. What differs from other systems that it is quite user friendly and with a few more tweaks should meet accessibility guiedeline

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Plenty of Earths await discovery

2006-08-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

British researchers are more confident than ever that there are "Earths" out there waiting to be discovered.

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Google Testing New Layout For Videos - Try It Yourself

2006-08-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

See the new Google Video Layout (Still in Testing) for Yourself! If you Find that won't let you digg it, just check out the video xP

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Legalizing Marijuana - A New Republican Strategy?

2006-08-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Republican Party has a new voter registration project in Fresno. It involves luring people to sign a LEGALIZE MARIJUANA petition and then re-registering them as Republicans.

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Simple Key Mod Makes Most All Current Locks Obsolete

2006-08-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

The most fundamental security device in the world has been hacked in a way so simply and quickly, this could be considered the biggest hack in history.

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X-rays Reveal Archimedes' Hidden Writings

2006-08-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

Previously hidden writings of the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes are being uncovered with powerful X-ray beams nearly 800 years after a Christian monk scrubbed off the text and wrote over it with prayers.

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New Protocol To Boost BitTorrent Speeds

2006-08-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

BitTorrent, a San Francisco-based peer-to-peer networking start-up is working with Cachelogic of Cambridge, UK on a new protocol called the Cache Discovery Protocol or CDP, which supposedly will act like DHCP for peer to peer networks.

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Awesome lightning pic

2006-08-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

This was taken from someone's kitchen window in Ontario

A Subwoofer You Have NEVER Seen Before! NO CONE! It Looks Like A Table Fan!

2006-08-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

Want to hear what 5Hz sounds like? A new woofer technology unlike any other and a new product category for home audio. This is the first home audio woofer delivering true response to DC. The Thigpen rotary woofer is the worlds first true infrasonic home audio or home theater woofer. Conventional subwoofers roll off rapidly below 20Hz.

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Learn How to Develop Firefox Extensions!! - A step-by-step Tutorial

2006-08-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

What is your dream firefox extension? Don't wait, Do-it yourself!! This tutorial has been created for individuals wanting to develop full-featured extensions for the Mozilla Firefox browser. The tutorial has been constructed as a step-by-step guide providing many examples, explanations

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Gallery of intricate crop circles.

2006-08-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

Some of these are just awe inspiring.

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Transparent Windows in XP and 2000

2006-08-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

This neat app makes Windows XP and 2000 windows transparent. There's been others like this submitted to Digg, but this one is the best I've found. First of all, It is only 89Kb in size and runs without an install. Secondly, it runs over networks or removable devices too, basically anywhere you put it.

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AOL to provide 5GB of online storage for FREE

2006-08-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

AOL is leading the industry by providing 5GB of online storage FREE for all web users.

I wouldn't trust AOL to be my isp and I definitely wouldn't trust them with any useful data. Forget privacy, there's truecrypt for that. I'm talking about assurance that every time I attempt to access my data that it will be available. That's why I shy away from using the gdrive software for gmail, because there's no guarantee that I will be able to get to it in the future.

I'm holding out for Google's infinite storage with the ability to synchronize across pc's that I can actually trust enough for backups and maybe someday essential data.

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What's Next for Sysinternals?

2006-08-02T19:05:00.000-07:00

Besides being in charge of his toolset, Russinovich will be working with the Windows Vista performance team. He'll be both analyzing and addressing performance issues in the new OS. Without taking any credit away from Vista's team, it's reassuring to know that Russinovich is looking at ways to enhance Vista's overall performance...

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Thunderbird 2.0 preview

2006-08-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

I addition to the front-page attractions, Thunderbird provides several improvements to the existing features. The new mail notification area has undergone extensive revision -- this is the pop-up transient window that appears when Thunderbird finds new mail on the server during a routine background mail-check...

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Mozilla releases Firefox 1.5.0.6

2006-08-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

Quickly after 1.5.0.5 was released it was reported that Windows MediaPlayer plugin stopped working on specific website. Mozilla has hit back with its latest release, 1.5.0.6. Lets hope they have fixed the problem.

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Official Google Blog: It's all about the photos...on a Mac

2006-08-02T12:56:00.000-07:00

Official Google Blog: It's all about the photos...on a Mac: "It's all about the photos...on a Mac

8/02/2006 11:57:00 AM
Posted by Ted Bonkenburg, Software Engineer, Infrastructure

I'm happy to tell you about the release of Picasa Web Albums Uploaders (beta, of course) for Mac OS X. Picasa Web Albums makes it simple to share photos with friends and family, and now we've made it even easier on the Mac. This new download comes with two handy tools for uploading photos: There's a plug-in for uploading your pics within iPhoto. If you don't use iPhoto, or just want to upload the occasional picture, just drag your photos into the provided standalone app and click Upload. Either way, I can't wait for my fellow Mac users to showcase their talents.

Normally I work on search engine infrastructure. I love my work on web search, but as a change of pace I decided to use my 20 percent time to make Picasa Web Albums better for Mac users. Fortunately, I was not alone. The Picasa and Mac development teams embraced the project and provided great assistance. Greg Robbins, a co-conspirator in the famous graphing calculator story, worked to refine the user interface. Later, another one of our Mac engineers, Mike Morton (I’m OK, mentor), took over as project lead, made quick work of creating the iPhoto export plug-in, and became the one responsible for"

Man faces jail time for writing a curse word on a check

2006-08-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

The parking fine was $10. But the comment Robert Militzer added to the check could land him in jail for 30 days.

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Get a Free HDTV Forever?

2006-08-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

Buy a HDTV at Costco and return it in a year or two.

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Social Networking Website Leads To Discovery Of 2,000 Pot Plants.

2006-08-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Sherburne Sheriff's Department destroyed more than 2,000 marijuana plants as a result of an investigation that rose out of information gathered from a social networking Web site.The departments drug task force gathered enough information off the Web site to execute a warrant after a juvenile girl indicated there was pot growing at her house.

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Tax imposed to fund Spanish-American War in 1898 finally ends

2006-08-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

The Spanish-American War has been over for more than 100 years, and now so is the tax imposed back in 1898 to help fund it.

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Incredible 3D Animations made with a Pen Light

2006-08-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

A Digital Camera and a Pen Light were all the tools used to make these incredible animations.

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How Google Earth Is Changing Science

2006-08-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

Biologists, epidemiologists and disaster control experts are discovering Google Earth as a powerful tool in their work. The success of the digital globe has reawakened interest in computer mapping models.

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digg - Solar system made from JavaScript

2006-08-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

digg - Solar system made from JavaScript:
"Here's a universe for you to zoom around in. In just this solar system they have all man-made and natural satellites as they are in real time (or at any time you enter in) - and the planets of course. http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

If you don't want to leave your browser, here's a flash planetarium:
http://www.neave.com/lab/planetarium/

And a very slick downloadable planetarium
http://stellarium.sourceforge.net/ "

Google Watch : What's on Google's Gaydar?

2006-08-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

Google Watch : What's on Google's Gaydar?:

Google's translation product provides a derogatory translation for the word 'gay' in Arabic, according to a recent article in pinknews.co.uk. The article claims that when a user enters the word 'gay' into Google Translate, 'luti' is returned, which means 'sodomite' in Arabic.

The translation upset the administrator of the Gay Middle East Journal, who wrote an open letter to Google about the problem. When Google returned a form letter, the admin accused Google of not caring about how it's software offends homosexuals.

According to pinknews, Google has since said it would fix the problem.

Metallica, Playing 'For Whom The Bells Toll'

2006-07-31T12:31:00.000-07:00


Nothing like some good 'ol 1985 drunk and agry Metallica to brighten up your day. Metallica playing For Whom The Bells Toll, in 1985

New RemoveWGA version 1.2 is out

2006-07-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

RemoveWGA now uses 3 different WGA removal methods, depending of the WGA version installed on your computer. The last one (BSOD) should not be used, except may be for futur WGA versions if the clean removal methods fail. If it happens, RemoveWGA will popup a warning and will ask you before trying anything.

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75 Boston Police officers Have failed drug tests since 1999.

2006-07-31T06:32:00.000-07:00

Since Boston police started annual drug testing in 1999, 75 officers out of the city's 2,000 have failed the tests, and 26 of them flunked a second test and were fired, newly released statistics show. Of the 75, 61 tested positive for cocaine, 14 for marijuana, two for ecstasy, and one for heroin, according to the figures, obtained by the Globe.

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How to Bypass Most Firewall Restrictions and Access the Internet Privately

2006-07-31T06:24:00.000-07:00

Want to surf at work but can't because of a firewall? This is a complete resource of literally EVERYTHING you need to know when it comes to getting around pesky work firewalls. If your technically inclined you should have little trouble understand most of the material on this site. Enjoy.

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Google GDrive Draws Near

2006-07-31T06:23:00.000-07:00

When launching new products and services, Google lets users do the work of translating phrases into other languages. One phrase recently delivered to a translator hints at GDrive. The phrase: "from today we are starting our infinite storage plan."

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