TuneCrank lets you listen to independent music and rank it

TuneCrank is another crack at a familiar problem: How do you make people listen to unfamiliar independent artists, and help the good stuff float to the top?

Uvumi tries to do this, and so does Bandcamp in a completely different take. TuneCrank is yet another attempt, with a stress on bare-bones simplicity and minimalism. It's basically just a player with "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" buttons, and a third button that looks like the ever popular "rock hands." There are no genre tags; the playlist at the front page has hip-hop, indie, elecronica, and more - it's a whole mush of styles. The most voted tracks float to the top.

I like the visual simplicity - it's reminiscent of Muxtape, but sadly, not as chic.

You can filter by artist, and the service appears to have around 150 artists or so. It's not the best online music experience by a long shot (not for the artist, nor for the listener), but who knows - you might find something you like right on the front page.

Filed under: Audio

TuneCrank lets you listen to independent music and rank it originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/23/tunecrank-lets-you-listen-to-independent-music-and-rank-it/

TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE SYNTEL SYNTAX-BRILLIAN SYNOPSYS

Tip of My Tongue helps you find that word you're looking for

It sometimes happens that a certain word eludes me. I know it exists, I even know what it sounds like or how it begins or ends -- but for the life of me, I can't recall what the exact word is. For situations like these, Tip of My Tongue can come in very handy. To find the word "download," I only had to tell it that it starts and ends with D, has W somewhere in the middle, and means "transfer."

The search is very fast, done on-the-fly, as you type. You can search by word parts (beginning, middle, end), by certain letters which it must have or can't have, or by its meaning (you get to specify up to three synonyms). You can then refine the search by specifying a minimum and maximum length, and even what the word sounds like (i.e, what it rhymes with).

To me, this seems to cover all bases. Even a vague notion of what a certain word is should be enough to hone in on that word using Tip of My Tongue. This is definitely one for any writer's toolbox.

Filed under: web 2.0, Education

Tip of My Tongue helps you find that word you're looking for originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/26/tip-of-my-tongue-helps-you-find-that-word-youre-looking-for/

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When it comes to smartphone loyalty, Apple?s iPhone wins

According to Gfk’s recent survey, iPhone users remain the most satisfied and claim they’ll stick with their iPhones instead of jumping ship to another smartphone platform. Out of all the users surveyed, only 25% of them plan to stay loyal to their current smartphone platform while 56% of those surveyed plan to keep their options [...]

When it comes to smartphone loyalty, Apple’s iPhone wins is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/vqtfKFOMMLA/

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Win This Year?s Ultimate Wish List Gift Bag

Gadgets should be powerful yet utterly simple. We picked our favorites and put them in this gadget fit bag that covers it all, from productivity to recreation to style.

Source: http://www.wired.com/reviews/2010/11/pr_wishlist2010_gadgetbag/

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Google rumored to have bought Groupon for $2.5 billion

It seems, if unnamed insider sources and some speculation from TechCrunch are to be believed, that Google has just bought Groupon, the deal-of-the-day website, for $2.5 billion.

Yahoo tried, and failed, to buy Groupon for over $3 billion earlier this year, but little is known about why the deal fell apart. That Google has now apparently bought them for 'only' $2.5 billion would suggest that Groupon's management team would prefer a future as part of Google instead of Yahoo.

As far as what Google stands to gain from the deal, other than raw cash -- Groupon is rather profitable -- we will probably see extensive integration between Groupon and Google's Places and Shopping products. When searching for Places, coupons for local businesses could be shown. When looking for the lowest prices with Shopping, coupons could be worked into the results.

Ultimately, though, I just hope that this merger will result in a site called Goopon.

Google rumored to have bought Groupon for $2.5 billion originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/29/google-rumored-to-have-bought-groupon-for-2-5-billion/

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RSS Live Links for Chrome lets you monitor news feeds in real-time

Not everyone uses Google Reader; some people (a dying breed, perhaps) like to consume their RSS feeds locally, using a desktop feed reader. Firefox has long had a Live Bookmarks feature that gave it some of those "desktop feed reader" powers: Live Bookmarks understands RSS, and it can always show you a list of a website's most recent headlines.

RSS Live Links brings just that sort of functionality to Google Chrome, along with a nice extra feature: instant notifications.

Whenever one of the feeds you've subscribed to updates, you get a nice sound effect (a human voice going "Boing!"), the icon shakes, and an unread count appears. When you then click the icon, you can see a list of the unread items in each feed, and hover over them to see a preview. Naturally, clicking an item opens it in a new tab.

This is a powerful add-on; it has a very rich configuration interface, with no less than 20 different options (I counted!). You can also configure the color scheme, select one of several different notification sounds, and customize it in a myriad other ways. Slick!

Filed under: web 2.0, Browsers

RSS Live Links for Chrome lets you monitor news feeds in real-time originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/17/rss-live-links-for-chrome-lets-you-monitor-news-feeds-in-real-ti/

FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SVCS. FISERV GOOGLE GRUPO IUSACELL

100 Perfect Gifts Whether You?ve Been Naughty or Nice: 11 to 20

Wired has scouted out 100 breathtaking, badass, and beautiful gifts for the geek you thought had everything.

Source: http://www.wired.com/reviews/2010/11/pr_wishlist2010_2/

MOBILE TELESYSTEMS NANYA TECHNOLOGY NII HOLDINGS NIKON

An early look at Winamp for Android's SHOUTcast integration

This morning, I was fortunate enough to get a sneak peek at an alpha version of Winamp for Android. The beta version currently available from the Android Market is already a lot better than other media players, but judging by what I've seen today, it's going to get even better.

For this alpha build, Nullsoft has focused on SHOUTcast integration. The implementation is still a little rough around the edges, but it works -- it works really well. You can browse the top stations, and browse by genre or search term. Click a station to listen to it, or push-and-hold to add it to your favourites for easy access in the future. Presumably, if you listen to one station enough, it might be automatically added to your favorites, too. Rounding up the changes, there's 'My recent stations', which is exactly what it sounds like. For more details, check the gallery below.

Streaming radio for Android isn't exactly new, but this is by far the most easy-to-use and functional implementation that I've seen. You might point to Pandora, but not only is it only available to American users, it's simply not in the same league as SHOUTcast. At the time of writing there are 44,454 free SHOUTcast radio stations, and the Android app can listen to any single one of them. If you're not excited by that, let me know: I'll send some goons around to forcibly remove your smartphone.

[Download Squad and Nullsoft, the developers of Winamp, are both owned by AOL.]

Gallery: Winamp for Android, now with SHOUTcast integration

Filed under: Audio, AOL, Android

An early look at Winamp for Android's SHOUTcast integration originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/16/winamp-android-shoutcast-radio/

VERIFONE HOLDINGS VEECO INSTRUMENTS UNITED ONLINE UNISYS

WidgetBlock for Chrome blocks annoying social widgets, makes Web faster

The Web is all about being social these days. When you take this "social" buzzword and reduce it down to brass tacks, you often end up with a bunch of widgets, buttons and other annoyances crowded around the content you're actually interested in reading.

WidgetBlock is a Chrome add-on that makes short work of a whole bunch of common widgets and buttons for social services. In one fell swoop it eradicates the presence of Facebook, Twitter, Meebo, Digg, Buzz, and a ton of other omnipresent Web 2.0 services. Of course, if you happen to like some of these you can switch them on selectively.

When I tested WidgetBlock, it made the site I was trying to load noticeably faster (about two or three times as fast, in fact). It also makes the Web feel a tad "cleaner", at least for me. Definitely recommended.

Filed under: Google

WidgetBlock for Chrome blocks annoying social widgets, makes Web faster originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/26/widgetblock-for-chrome-blocks-annoying-widgets-makes-web-faster/

FAIR ISAAC FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS F5 NETWORKS EPICOR SOFTWARE

iPad 2 rumored to bring a Retina Display, more docks, and a camera

Now that iOS developers are rolling out plenty of iPad optimized versions of their apps, they may soon need to create yet more variants for the next generation iPad. Reports out of Taiwan are now saying that Apple will utilize a Retina Display, but if they do, resolution will have to increase from the current 1,024 x 768 and 132 pixels per inch to somewhere well north of 2,048 x 1,536.

Other changes that might arrive in iPad 2 include a USB port, a second dock connector to allow landscape use in the keyboard dock and dual (or at least front facing) cameras for FaceTime. Jonny Ive and the crew will probably find a way to make iPad 2 slimmer and lighter than the original as well.

A newer version of the tablet sounds great (and is practically guaranteed, even if not all of these features are). But a full-sized Retina Display could be a tough thing to pull off, and would likely provide some more supply issues for Apple. On the other hand, it's always possible that Jobs could simply redefine the meaning of Retina Display, trending downward from the 300+ ppi he touted when the iPhone 4 was revealed last June. Since doing anything other than simply quadrupling the resolution the way that the iPhone did would make scaling more problematic, it seems probable that the iPad 2 display will keep the current resolution while perhaps getting other improvements like less glare and better viewing angles. As for the other features, we'll have to wait and see what shows up on stage with Steve at the next event.

iPad 2 rumored to bring a Retina Display, more docks, and a camera originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/11/26/ipad-2-rumored-to-bring-a-retina-display-more-docks-and-a-came/

ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL APPLE COMPUTER APPLIED MATERIALS ARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT

Firefox Friday: a round-up of this week's Firefox releases and news

Stop! Stop your Friday afternoon it's-only-two-hours-until-weekend procrastination! Focus on this tab for just a moment because I have a lot to tell you. We've covered so much Firefox news this week that you can't possibly have read it all. You need this round-up like you need a Friday beer.

Enough waffling... let's rock.

Firefox 4 Beta 7 has been released for Windows, Mac and Linux

Almost two months late, Mozilla finally squeezed out the first feature-complete Firefox 4 Beta. Beyond the fact that FF4 has a staggering number of new features, it's not clear why the browser is slipping so behind schedule. Still, if everything goes to plan, we should see three more beta releases followed by a release candidate around February or March.

If you haven't yet tried out Firefox 4, now's the time to take it for a spin. There are still plenty of rough edges, but my guide should walk you through most of the cool new features. Most importantly, thanks to the inclusion of a suped-up JavaScript engine in this new build, you'll quickly notice that FF4 is now as fast as Google Chrome.

Continue reading Firefox Friday: a round-up of this week's Firefox releases and news

Filed under: Mozilla, Browsers

Firefox Friday: a round-up of this week's Firefox releases and news originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/12/firefox-friday-a-round-up-of-this-weeks-firefox-releases-and-news/

RADISYS RACKABLE SYSTEMS QUEST SOFTWARE QUANTUM

AutoCorrect for English harnesses the power of AutoHotkey for typo-free text

There are certain words in English that are very easy to get wrong, like aggravate, exaggerate, and acquainted (as you see in the screenshot). AutoCorrect for English (ACE) is a fantastic script for correcting exactly those type of mistakes, and it does so seamlessly, quickly, and across your entire system.

ACE is very easy to overlook it, because it hasn't been updated since 2007, it doesn't have its own Web page, and it's just a lowly script (not even an application). However, if you do any sort of writing, you really owe it to yourself to try it out.

The script corrects about 4,700 common misspellings (including the word "mispelling") based on lists from Wikipedia, MS Word, and other sources. Correction is very fast - it is done via AutoHotkey's "hotstring" mechanism, which means that it often happens before you even notice you've made a mistake.

Adding new words is easy: simply highlight the word you've just misspelled and hit Win+H. A small window will pop up that shows the word and asks for the correct spelling. Once you enter the correct spelling and hit OK, that's it - you will never make that typo again.

The script is lightweight, free, fast, and easily configurable. What more could you want?

Filed under: Text, Windows

AutoCorrect for English harnesses the power of AutoHotkey for typo-free text originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/12/autocorrect-for-english-harnesses-the-power-of-autohotkey-for-ty/

SIEMENS ZORAN ZIONS BAN YAHOO!

Multitasking on your iPad: a quick guide

iOS 4.2 finally introduced multitasking to the iPad, boosting its usefulness significantly. Here's a brief overview of how it works and what you can expect from this exciting new feature.

The Multitask Bar

The iOS keeps a running tally of recently-used apps for you and displays them in the Multitask Bar. To bring it up, just double-tap the iPad's home button as you do on the iPhone. The main screen slides out of the way to reveal the list. There are two main differences between the Multitask Bar on the iPad and the iPhone.

First, the iPad lists the six most recently-used apps while in portrait orientation and seven while in landscape. The iPhone always lists four, regardless of orientation. Also, swipe all the way to the right on the iPhone to bring up the orientation lock button, iPod controls (back, play/pause and skip) plus the iPod app icon. The iPad displays those, too, as well as a brightness slider and a volume slider.

New transition

This is minor but still fun. The animation that the iPad uses when fast-switching between apps is slightly different than what the iPhone uses.

Gallery: Multitasking on the iPad

Continue reading Multitasking on your iPad: a quick guide

Multitasking on your iPad: a quick guide originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/11/24/multitasking-on-your-ipad-a-quick-guide/

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Rage HD for iPad- app review

YouTube Link When I saw John Carmack show off Rage on the iPhone a few months back, I was rather excited. The promise of real console-like graphics were in our grasp. Then, the game finally came out and I was initially blown away, but then… Rage HD on iPad is set in a post-apocalyptic future. Typical of [...]

Rage HD for iPad- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/KeqEvPRRThc/

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Happy 25th birthday, Windows!

25 years ago today, Microsoft released the very first version of the operating system which now powers around 90% of the personal computers in the world. Even with the sweet analog clock to the word processing might of Write (and truly useful features like running multiple applications and a shared clipboard), Windows 1.0 failed to generate much excitement.

It would take five more years -- when version 3.0 launched -- for Windows to become a force to be reckoned with on the desktop. Sure, there have been bumps along the way like Windows ME and Vista, but Microsoft keeps on rolling. Most of our readers are now happily running Windows 7, Microsoft's customer satisfaction rate is at an all-time high, and things are generally looking good for the crew in Redmond.

This is actually the time of year when my family brought home our first Windows PC -- a sleek (for then) little unit from Magnavox complete with caveman overclocking. Oh turbo button, how I loved you...

Filed under: Microsoft

Happy 25th birthday, Windows! originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 20 Nov 2010 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/20/happy-25th-birthday-windows/

PLANAR SYSTEMS PEROT SYSTEMS PALM OSI SYSTEMS

Orbox B is a fast, tricky Time-Waster

Orbox B is a puzzle, but it's one with a very frenetic pace. Each level is composed of a "field" of blocks that are carefully arranged. You control a single block and the object is to get it to the exit. Here's the tricky part: once your block starts moving, it won't stop unless it hits something. And if it falls off the board, you lose. When you do hit another block, you stop -- and then it's time to figure out your next move. Which block should you hit now?

Short-term planning will only get you so far, though. As you progress, planning your moves carefully becomes more important. You must hit the other blocks in the exact sequence needed to eventually make your way to the end. The higher levels also introduce other block types that can disappear after you hit them, snap shut, or do all sorts of other tricks.

It's a minimalistic game, and it's very fast. There is no background music and restarting is instantaneous. Orbox B is also begging for an Android port - in fact, if you know of one, let me know in the comments.

Filed under: Fun, Games, Time-Wasters

Orbox B is a fast, tricky Time-Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/15/orbox-b-is-a-fast-tricky-time-waster/

RED HAT RADISYS RACKABLE SYSTEMS QUEST SOFTWARE

wunderlist is a cross-platform free to-do list manager

wunderlist is a minimalistic, pretty to-do list manager. Here's a quick rundown of what it can and can't do:

Pros:

• Looks: It looks quite pretty. You can change the background, and it's generally just lovely.
• Simplicity: That can also be considered a bad thing, I guess, but wunderlist is very simple. There are no nested tasks, for example.
• Multiple lists: You can easily create extra lists for different contexts and move items between lists.
• Fast search: Search is "live" and updates as you type. It's very snappy, but I only tested it with a tiny list.
• Quick filtering: There are quick links to see tasks due today, tomorrow, within the next seven days, etc. You can also filter by "starred" tasks.
• Online sync: When you save the file, it's automatically synced to wunderlist's online server. Then you can run wunderlist on another computer and keep working on the same task list. I love this feature.
• Cross-platform: It works with OS X and Windows at this point. The Windows version doesn't feel "native" at all, though - it feels like a Mac app running in a Windows window.

Cons:

• Simplicity: There's no smart text processing. If I tell it "Buy food tomorrow," it doesn't realize "tomorrow" is a deadline. It's the same for "Talk to Josh @work" - it doesn't make a list with "@work" (or add to it if it exists).
• No documentation: I know people never read it, but come on, technical writers have to earn a living somehow! Seriously though, I would expect at least an HTML page (other than the "Features" page, which is marketing).
• No mobile app (yet): An iOS app is coming, but there's no talk of Android yet.
• No global hotkey: And that's the deal-breaker for me; as I've said elsewhere, quickly capturing ideas and to-do items is crucial for me. There is currently no way to bring up wunderlist's window with a hotkey.

Bottom line: It's nice, if you like pretty software, and it shows a great deal of promise for the future (if the "cons" above are addressed).

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh

wunderlist is a cross-platform free to-do list manager originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/22/wunderlist-is-a-cross-platform-free-to-do-list-manager/

NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS MOTOROLA MOODY’S

Russia to spend $2B to clean up orbiting space junk

You can take one look at the picture here that shows how much junk is orbiting the Earth and see that it’s really crowded up there. Moreover, we keep putting up new satellites all the time. It’s not only working satellites cluttering up the space around Earth, we also have all manner of trash and [...]

Source: http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/EEBqVOFuvLo/

MCAFEE MAXIMUS MANTECH INTERNATIONAL MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES

Google branches out into machine-curated high-fashion with Boutiques.com

Representing its first chic service, Google has just launched Boutiques.com. In true Google style, Boutiques parses hundreds of thousands of products to produce a personalized shopping experience that's tailored just for you. Interestingly, there's no sign of an accompanying Android app -- only an iPad app [iTunes].

Boutiques uses 'fashion rules' garnered from high-fashion taste-makers -- designers, fashion bloggers, stylists and celebrities -- to produce a wardrobe of clothes just for you. Have a quick step through the Stylyzer to discover your favorite style of clothes -- or take a look at the wondrous array of dress styles that you can choose from.

Of course, the ultimate goal is to shoehorn you into buying merchandise. Once you're done filling in your loved (and hated) styles of dress, top, bottom and shoes, you're shown to your storefront, which is full of perfectly-picked items of clothing with all the right accessories. Take a look at my storefront, if you can't be bothered to sign up and click through each of the steps.

Sadly, Boutiques only offers female clothes at the moment -- and the products it lists are all from American stores. Still, it's early days -- I'm sure Google has lots more in store.

Filed under: Google, web 2.0

Google branches out into machine-curated high-fashion with Boutiques.com originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/17/google-branches-out-into-machine-curated-high-fashion-with-bouti/

INFORMATICA INFOCUS IMS HEALTH IMATION

Rumor: iBooks update to bring Collections, PDF emailing and printing

Update: So much for rumors. Readers have let us know about two German websites pointing to explicit discussion of iBooks collections in the iOS 4.2 documentation, of all places. We can expect to see collection support in the next version of the iBooks app, which can be updated independently of the main OS releases.

Steve himself has hinted at improvements "coming" soon to iBooks, and 9to5Mac claims to have nabbed some internal Apple documents that lay out those improvements. The biggest feature is called "Collections," and it sounds like it works the same as Folders in the rest of iOS -- you can combine items in iBooks however you like, and the collections you've got in iBooks can be viewed right on your bookshelf in the main screen. Sounds handy, if not all that revolutionary.

Second, PDF users will get some nice additions -- PDFs will be able to be shared via email as well as printed off with AirPrint directly from the iBooks app. That functionality won't work for actual book files, obviously, given that if you want to read one of those, you'll have to buy it. But if this document is legit, it should make things a little easier for people who want to share and print PDFs from iBooks itself.

We don't know yet when these features will actually come to iBooks, but presumably we wouldn't need to wait until an iOS update -- Apple could update the iBooks app. We'll keep an eye out for that soon.

Rumor: iBooks update to bring Collections, PDF emailing and printing originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2010/11/26/rumor-ibooks-update-to-bring-collections-pdf-emailing-and-prin/

ARROW ELECTRONICS ASML HOLDING ASUSTEK COMPUTER AT&T

Speed up Firefox page loading time without using a RAM disk

Yesterday we wrote about moving the cache of Firefox or Chrome onto a RAM disk. Instead of loading cached images and data from the hard drive, it loads from memory, which is a lot faster. It turns out, though, that Firefox can do this without using a RAM disk -- you can simply do it with about:config.

Just follow these instructions -- and don't worry, if you mess it up, you won't break anything.

• Type about:config into the address bar
• Type browser.cache into the Filter field
• Set browser.cache.disk.enable to false (double click it)
• Set browser.cache.memory.enable to true (double click it)
• Right click > New > Integer; type browser.cache.memory.capacity; press OK
• Type in 100000 (this is equivalent to 100 megabytes); press OK
• Close all Firefox tabs and windows, and then restart the browser

If you want more than 100 megabytes of cache -- if you have lots of spare memory, or you're prone to mammoth browsing sessions -- type in 500000 instead for 500 megabytes of cache. To confirm everything is working, visit about:cache and you should see some 'Memory cache device' information.

I'm currently unable to benchmark this change (Firebug doesn't work with FF4 Beta 7!) but in theory it should be just as fast or faster than the RAM disk approach.. Lee has been using it for a few hours and he says page loads are much faster. If you use Firefox, try it out and let us know whether it feels faster or not!

Thanks to commenter danielkza for the tip!

Filed under: Browsers

Speed up Firefox page loading time without using a RAM disk originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/11/speed-up-firefox-page-loading-time-without-using-a-ram-disk/

RF MICRO DEVICES RED HAT RADISYS RACKABLE SYSTEMS

SVG-edit is a surprisingly powerful in-browser vector image editor

Watch out, Inkscape! As Web browsers become increasingly powerful, it is only a matter of time until a free browser-based vector graphics editor pops up that is powerful enough to compete with a desktop application -- and SVG-edit may well become that editor. Currently in version 2.5, this open-source project was surprisingly responsive and powerful on my aging Firefox 3.6.8.

The one thing I couldn't get it to do was curves. The feature list does say that it supports "curved paths," but I couldn't figure it out, despite previously having worked with Inkscape, CorelDRAW, and Illustrator. Other than that, SVG-Edit gracefully handled just about anything that I could come up with. You can change opacity, set the fill or the outline to any solid color or gradient, align items on the canvas, shift Z-order (bring items to the foreground or send them to the background), and lots of other functions. In case you're wondering, that screenshot isn't blurry -- it's showcasing SVG-edit's built-in Gaussian blur functionality.

SVG-edit also supports layers and imports SVG files that were created in other applications. The whole thing is powered by HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, and your compatible browser's SVG functionality. It all runs in the browser itself, too - there's no server-side component.

One neat thing that you can do with SVG-edit that you can't do with other apps is resize the UI. When you use your browser's zoom functionality, the whole thing grows, including the buttons. And it all stays crisp, because the buttons use SVG icons. It's beautiful work.

Filed under: Design, Browsers

SVG-edit is a surprisingly powerful in-browser vector image editor originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/15/svg-edit-is-a-surprisingly-powerful-in-browser-vector-image-edit/

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Voogle brings Google Voice to webOS

Been waiting for a solid Google Voice app you can use on your webOS smartphone? Check out Voogle, which has just landed in the App Catalog at the bargain price of $1.99.

Voogle supports all the important Google Voice features you'd expect. You can make voice calls, send text messages, playing recorded calls, and check voice mail. If you so desire, you can even use Voogle to replace your carrier's built-in voicemail with your own from Google Voice (slick!). Future plans include the addition of MMS support and real-time notifications.

If you're a Google Voice fan and you own a Pre or Pixi, Voogle is a must-have app.

[via PreCentral]

Filed under: VoIP, webOS

Voogle brings Google Voice to webOS originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/19/voogle-brings-google-voice-to-webos/

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TopWinPrio gives a priority boost to your focused application window

TopWinPrio's function is mashed right into its name. Once you launch the app, it hides in your system tray and automatically bumps the process priority of your foreground window. If you're focused on an app and working in it, it might as well have dibs on available CPU time, right?

Head to the options window, and you can set TopWinPrio to run at startup, boost Explorer processes, and change the update interval. You can also switch the default process priority from AboveNormal to High or Realtime (danger, Will Robinson!) Your mileage will may vary, of course, though I've found TopWinPrio to provide a nice shot in the arm for my Atom 270 netbook.

On my desktop and full-size laptop, however, I don't see myself switching from Process Lasso. It's much more configurable and offers a slew of additional features.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows

TopWinPrio gives a priority boost to your focused application window originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/22/topwinprio-gives-a-priority-boost-to-your-focused-application-window/

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Run for your life in Tetravalanche -- a Tetris-themed Time Waster

I know what you're thinking; Tetris? Top-down action? How can these be combined into any sort of coherent time waster?

Well, Tetravalanche shows us they can be combined. You're Upman, and you're trapped inside a Tetris game. Bricks are falling from the sky, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The real problem is Mr. "Monster-From-The-Deep" (their name, not mine). That's a scary blue monster that rises from the bottom of the screen, slowly but surely.

You must run, jump and punch your way up the ever-growing pile of bricks faster than the Monster-From-The-Deep rises. Because if it catches up with you... well, I guess you already know what happens. Use the arrow keys for running and jumping, and Ctrl for punching through bricks. If you happen to jump up right into a falling brick, that's bad: you will be propelled down with lots of force, enough to break through several levels of bricks on your descent... and find yourself ever closer to the monster.

The soundtrack is pretty cute, but leaves a bit to be desired. All in all, it's a good way to burn off a few extra minutes, and that's what time-wasters are for, right?

Filed under: Fun, Games, Time-Wasters

Run for your life in Tetravalanche -- a Tetris-themed Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/26/run-for-your-life-in-tetravalanche-a-tetris-themed-time-waste/

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Firefox is 6 years old today

On this day, November 9, way back in 2004, Firefox 1.0 launched. On that day, the Internet changed for ever, its makeup indelibly altered. Firefox made the Web more secure, faster, standards-compliant -- and, most importantly, it made the Web open.

Before Firefox there was only Internet Explorer and Netscape -- a war that had no winners and many scrolling marquee losers. Firefox changed everything with its radically different, 'build a better browser and they will come' approach. And today, with some 30% of the market and the richest feature set of any browser, that approach has paid off.

If you have a little time, take a look at the Firefox 1.0 release notes -- it's a fun trip down memory lane. How fast the Internet moves -- it seems like only yesterday that I was holding a Firefox 1.0 launch party in my university bar. We had a banner and everything!

[via OMG! Ubuntu!]

Filed under: Mozilla, Browsers

Firefox is 6 years old today originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/09/firefox-is-6-years-old-today/

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Find Big Mail lets you quickly free space on your Gmail account

Filed under: E-mail, Google

My free Google Apps Gmail account has about 7.5GB of storage space, total. That's extremely generous on Google's part, but that amount of space does eventually fill up - especially if you have people sending you huge PowerPoint presentations, videos of their baby's first steps, or hilarious kitten photos in full resolution (because they have no idea what "resolution" means, much less how to reduce it).

What I find perplexing is that Google never included an option to sort or filter messages by size. I have no doubt that this is a business decision, because implementing such a feature would be trivial for the Gmail team. To speak bluntly, I think Google wouldn't mind it so much if I ran out of free space on my Google Apps account; then I'd have to get some more space, and this time it would cost money.

If I actually needed more space, or even if Google was simply upfront about its reluctance to provide such an option, I'd be fine with this. As things stand now, I feel that Google is being uncharacteristically stingy.

This is where Find Big Mail comes into play. While Google does not provide a way to filter by size, it does provide IMAP access. Find Big Mail accesses your Gmail account via IMAP, and it catalogs all of your messages by size. It creates three labels - one for messages larger than 2MB, one for messages larger than 500KB, and the last is for messages larger than 100KB.

Once it completed scanning my account, I simply clicked the label that said FindBigMail > 2mb, selected all messages, and clicked Delete. I then went to the trash folder and emptied that. Voilà - I dropped from 64 percent occupied space to 36 percent. How awesome is that?

Find Big Mail's free option scans only a third of your total mailbox, but it was enough for me. For $5 it will scan your whole Gmail account. You don't have to provide it with your password - only authorize it via Google's own access control. Once it's done, you can revoke its access from your Google account page. I highly recommend it!

Find Big Mail lets you quickly free space on your Gmail account originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/11/17/find-big-mail-lets-you-quickly-free-space-on-your-gmail-account/

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Sleek, user-friendly Linux Mint 10 released

Filed under: Linux

Ubuntu certainly gets the lion's share of attention when it comes to Linux distributions, but Linux Mint has been offering a sleek, simplified Ubuntu/Debian experience for years. With the release of Linux Mint 10, a boatload of new features and a shiny new default theme make it well worth checking out if you've been searching for a new distro to try.

Like Ubuntu 10.10, Mint now makes it easy to get common multimedia codecs working after you finish your install -- just click the "Add" button on the welcome screen. Mint's signature Menu system has been improved, and makes finding, launching, and installing apps an absolute breeze. The Software and Update managers have been tweaked as well, with better categorical organization and the option to permanently hide updates for specific packages.

Mint 10 still offers a wide array of popular apps from the get-go, including Firefox, Pidgin, Gwibber, Transmission, and many more. The Mint Web server seems to be struggling a bit this morning, so if you need direct links to the official DVD torrents, here they are:

Linux Mint 10 x86 or Linux Mint 10 amd64

Check the official release announcement for full details.

Sleek, user-friendly Linux Mint 10 released originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/11/12/sleek-user-friendly-linux-mint-10-released/

EARTHLINK

Confirmed: Kin One and Two are returning to Verizon. Wait, what?

Unbelievably, against all odds and better judgment, we are able to independently confirm that Microsoft's short-lived Kin One and Kin Two are coming back for an encore performance on Verizon, possibly as soon as this quarter -- but it won't quite be the same product you remember from earlier this year. The phones were famously bashed for the unrealistic plan pricing model that put them head-to-head with actual, full-fledged smartphones -- despite the fact that the devices were targeted squarely at tweens, teens, and twentysomethings -- and we're hearing that the revised phones will be totally, completely debundled from data services. Data-centric features like the Loop "are out," we're told -- but the good news is that you'll still be able to use one of the product's most redeeming qualities, Zune Pass, over WiFi if you're not signed up for a proper data plan. Of course, the value proposition of a Kin without... well, without its only value proposition is questionable at best, so we're thinking this might just be a way to clear huge backlogs of hardware inventory before pulling the plug on the program. Seriously, who wants a Kin without the unlimited photo uploads?

Confirmed: Kin One and Two are returning to Verizon. Wait, what? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/WUPcGCBs66g/

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