p2pnet view P2P | Freedom:- “The copywrong forces are once again pushing to try and get government to handle their problems. It?s cheaper on them if the taxpayers pay the bill.”
That’s the first sentence in a p2pnet Reader’s Write to our post on an online petition launched to help Brian McCarthy [...]
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Change the Default Thumbnail/Overview of a Video
Today's entry builds upon the previous post, Screen Cap/Grab/Thumbnails Of Movies, in short I am going to show you a quick way to combine the preview image that is created in ScreenGrabber and attach this as the image icon, alternatively you can use this trick if you have an alternate frame/image you want to use as a replacement. This trick is useful if you browse your video in thumbnail mode. If the thumbnails are quite large you can have an entire overview of the movie. Pretty useful and easy to implement.
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Change the Default Thumbnail/Overview of a Video
Mac Tricks And Tips
$900 gets developer first spot in NYC iPad 2 line, lots of publicity
The person who was the "real" first in line, 20 year-old college student Amanda Foote, fully expected to sell her enviable place in line. When an app developer with a keen eye for publicity meets a college student who needs money, great things happen. Both Amanda and Hazem received their 15 minutes of fame, and Hazem was able to get the word out about AskLocal after being interviewed by Fortune, the Wall Street Journal and Business Insider, as well as other media outlets.
Hazem is no stranger to TUAW; he's visited with us at the TUAW booth at Macworld Expo for several years, and we used AskLocal to invite readers to our meetup this year. The app is unique in that it allows users to communicate by location rather than by name, and Hazem noted that the app was being heavily used by people in line at several of the Apple Stores to communicate tips about line length, expected numbers of iPads and people cutting in line.
As for Amanda, she wasn't interested in buying an iPad 2. Instead, she's using her $900 to "go see Lady GaGa in concert."
[via Business Insider, The Wall Street Journal]
$900 gets developer first spot in NYC iPad 2 line, lots of publicity originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
iPad 2 already installed in Ford F-150 truck
It's been a while since we've seen an iDevice embedded in a vehicle, but the wait was worth it -- the guys at SoundMan Car Audio have placed a brand new iPad 2 in the dashboard of a new Ford truck, and it's pretty glorious. You can see the whole process after the break -- they set up the dashboard first, and then after bringing home the iPad itself, slide it in and install the whole thing.
It's pretty groovy. They can browse Maps, of course, do a FaceTime call (one hopes that they don't try it in motion), and even run Pandora straight from the iPad. There's a dock connector hooked up to the car for charging while driving, and while it doesn't seem like they have audio connected, that seems easy enough to do as well (you could go through the dock connector or just use the headphone jack out).
If you want them to do the same thing to your car, the YouTube page says it would run about $800-$900 to push the dashboard mod in (which doesn't include the iPad 2 itself). So, it's not cheap, but having a place to store and use your iPad in the car like that just might be worth it.
Continue reading iPad 2 already installed in Ford F-150 truck
iPad 2 already installed in Ford F-150 truck originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
10 cool things you didn't know you Mac could do... until now!
Have you seen the great feature '10 cool things you didn't know you Mac could do... until now!' in issue 230 of MacFormat? If not, then here's a quick sneak preview.
Not only does it feature some of the MacFormat team's favourite tips and tricks that they've picked up over the years, it also features the artistic talents of illustrator supreme The Boy Fitz Hammond. As well as creating this fantastic image of the MacFormat office he also did these fantastic caricatures of the entire MacFormat team which you can see below.�
In case you didn't know who these usual suspects are, then here's the lowdown on this motley line-up (from top left to bottom right): Editor, Graham Barlow;�Deputy Editor, Christopher Phin;�Reviews Editor, Ian Osborne;��Art Editor, Alex Thomas; Staff Writer, Laurence Cable and last, but by no means least,�Production Editor, Tim Hardwick.�
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Monday, March 14, 2011
Exclusive: Microsoft explains third-party tracking decision
Microsoft has explained its thinking behind the Tracking Protection in IE9 ? a feature that will "identify and block many forms of undesired tracking" ? but admits that it does not want to become involved in creating a blocked list itself.
With privacy an increasingly vital topic when it comes to browser choice. Microsoft is keen to ensure that it is giving consumers options to stop sites from picking up information from them if they do not want to give it.
However, presumably due to concern that any list that it creates will lead to criticism, Microsoft will allow third parties to create lists ? a decision that is likely to also cause alarm, not least in the advertising world.
"The privacy thing has been something we've been thinking about for a while," UK Internet Explorer lead Julia Owen told TechRadar. "It's a new thing for us.
"Essentially there's an increasing groundswell of worry about privacy on internet. It's partly to do with how people have started to get more social and we share all sorts of things with social networks.
"If you go to a site like Facebook, there is stuff coming from third parties and going back out with third parties and I think most people are not aware of that going on and that there is data being collected about what they are doing on that website."
Blocking
So Microsoft believes that people should know exactly what information they are sharing through things like cookies, and decide if they should block certain sites and advertising tracking.
"We think what we ought to do is give you the power, added Owen. "Some people are fine. They want to live their lives...in public, others are completely private and don't want to share anything and the rest of us are somewhere in the middle.
"So [we added] Tracking Protection as a feature in IE9. We're at the moment partnering with number of site including eTrust and they have created a list for us."
The list is essentially a block list of sites that can or can't follow you, and companies or individuals can create their own versions that Microsoft could host in its 'gallery'.
Concerns
There are obvious worries about the power of a dominant list; which could reap havoc on the current online advertising model, for instance, or act as a barrier for some sites' business.
"I think that actually if [Microsoft] created the list you would [question] Microsoft creating the list," said Owen.
"This is a matter of public debate at the moment. We're not saying we have the answer, we are saying we care about it a great deal.
"We think this is one way to address this issue. There are organisations that will help make the decision [of who to block] for you if you don't feel comfortable making those decisions for yourself.
"There will be a lot of debate about who to block and one of the reasons why it ought to be not us that creates that list is that it needs that debate and needs to be decided in public."
Microsoft insists that it is not passing the buck on tracking ? which is already a hot issue in the EU ? but it remains to be seen if giving the decision making to third parties becomes an issue that could shake up content provision on the internet as a whole.
Not an ad-blocker
Microsoft also provided TechRadar with their official explanation for the Tracking Protection, explaining that it is 'not designed as an ad blocker'.
"Tracking Protection is designed to give users more control of the amount of information they share with third party sites," said a Microsoft spokesperson.
"There is no impact on advertising behavior for sites the user has not explicitly placed on a Tracking Protection List. While not designed as an ad blocker, it is possible some content served by blocked third parties (that may include ad distributors) will not display.
"Anyone can create a Tracking Protection List, including advertisers and ad trade groups. As such we believe that Internet Explorer 9's new set of privacy features attempts to provide a balance between customer choice, customer control and ad industry needs.
"Tracking Protection was made available in IE9 RC. We are committed to receiving feedback as we build IE9 and we look forward to feedback from consumers, publishers, advertisers and the industry as whole."
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Review: Nova Media UberMask
UberMask keeps private files and folders safe from prying eyes. By pressing user configured key combinations, you can instantly hide or reveal selected files.
Hidden files are invisible to Finder and Spotlight, and wherever possible, erased from recently used lists.
Any file managed by UberMask is hidden when you shut down your Mac ? this feature can?t be changed. It?s great for preserving your privacy.
Sensitive material can be concealed from others who use your Mac, or from casual observers who might spot it over your shoulder ? just the thing if you?re using your Mac in public or at work. It?s also a boon for screencasting or desktop captures; you can quickly and easily hide icons.
Compared to its main rival, MacPaw?s MacHider, UberMask offers better convenience but isn?t as versatile when managing hidden files. And a few glaring omissions keep it from fulfilling its potential.
Unlike MacHider, it can only hide files stored on the boot volume, and although it demands a password on launch, you can?t password-protect the app itself.
Also, like MacHider, UberMask hides files by adding a full stop to the start of filenames. But this isn?t very secure; some apps let you see these files. So, UberMask is a welcome means of hiding sensitive files, but it won?t stop a clued-in hacker.
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GE kicks off EV Experience Tour, promises WattStations for all
Last week, GE kicked off its EV Experience Tour in San Francisco, to "bring GE experts together with local businesses, industry leaders, and public sector stakeholders for educational workshops, test drives, and dialogue on the business case for EV ecosystems." The Yves Behar-designed GE WattStation EV charger was on display at the event in both mock-up and ice sculpture form. We spent some time chatting with Luis Ramirez, CEO of GE Energy Industrial Solutions, and Clarence Nunn, President and CEO of GE Capital Fleet Services about the future of EV charging. We discussed efforts like PlugShare and the recent addition to EV charging stations to Google Maps, concepts like smart parking spots with embedded inductive charging, as well as ways to accommodate folks without garages who park their vehicles on city streets. They both assured us that GE is committed to providing an EV charging infrastructure for all, starting with the installation of a bunch of WattStations in San Francisco soon -- though they didn't say exactly how "soon". In the meantime, remember that EV charging is always just an outlet away. Take a look at our gallery below and jump past the break for the press release.
Continue reading GE kicks off EV Experience Tour, promises WattStations for all
Filed under: Transportation
GE kicks off EV Experience Tour, promises WattStations for all originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsAnother amazing app bundle
Denver-based BundlesForMac has unveiled another interesting collection of Mac apps, sold at a bargain price. The January 2011 MiniBundle, on sale until 8th February, offers four OS X applications for just $12.99 (around �8.50), saving approximately 90% of their full cost.
The applications on offer are:
Data Backup 3
This powerful utility allows you to back up, restore and synchronise your data with minimal effort. It's designed for both the novice and the more experienced Mac user, combining power, features and flexibility with ease of use.
Elmedia Player Pro
Elmedia Player Pro is a media player for Mac OS X, which supports playback of various video formats and can download online videos from the web. You can watch videos in full-screen mode, keep the player window on top of other open applications and make screenshots of your favorite movies.
Caboodle
Everyone comes across information that they want to refer to later. Maybe gifts you've received or sent, product serial numbers, recipes, directions to someone's house, a photo of your pet, or anything else. Caboodle is a tool to help store and organise such varied bits of information.
Label Printer Pro 7
This one helps you save time and money by designing and printing your own return address labels. They look professional, and no advanced design knowledge is required - just drag and drop. You can also use Label Printer Pro 7 to create business cards, disc labels and more.
For more information, check out www.bundlesformac.com.
Tutorial: 15 handy Windows XP tips and tricks
We've all got a loyal old PC knocking around in a dark corner at home - one that's a bit of an old dog: arthritic and rather ponderous, but unwaveringly dependable if you can't use your main PC for any reason.
That old machine will almost certainly be running Windows XP. Who not give it a bit of TLC and make it useful again? Here are our Windows XP tips to breathe new life into that machine.
1. Remove the Recycle Bin
If you prefer to work with a completely clear desktop, you can hide the Recycle Bin with a little Registry hack. You can still use the [Shift] + [Delete] shortcut to access the Bin when you need it.
Choose 'Start | Run' and type Regedit in the 'Open' bar. Click 'OK'. Now browse to the following location:
'HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\HideDesktop Icons\NewStartPanel\'
Create a new DWORD value and give it the following name:
'{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}'
Double-click this and change its value to '1'. Quit Registry Editor, then right-click an empty space somewhere on your desktop and choose 'Refresh'. The Recycle Bin icon will magically disappear from the desktop. You can get it back again at any time by changing the value back to '0'.
2. Create your own toolbar
You can turn a folder into a toolbar for quick and easy access to its contents. Right-click the taskbar and choose 'Toolbars | New toolbar' from the menu. This launches the 'New toolbar' dialog.
Select the item that you want to use as a toolbar. If necessary, browse through 'My Documents' or 'My Computer' to find the folder you want. Alternatively, click 'Make new folder' to create a custom one. Click 'OK'. Your new toolbar will appear as a button on the taskbar.
Click this to see an expanding menu of its contents. Subfolders become their own expanding menus. Select a file to open it in its associated application.
3. Use Group Policy Editor
Windows XP Professional Edition includes the Group Policy Editor, which is a very powerful tool that enables you to configure what permissions and access each account has. This isn't available in the Home Edition.
To launch it, Choose 'Start | Run' and enter gpedit. msc in the 'Open' bar. Click 'OK'. Expand 'User Configuration' in the left-hand pane. You'll see subfolders for 'Software settings', 'Windows settings' and 'Administrative templates'.
By expanding these, you can find a range of options to configure. Expand 'Administrative templates', followed by 'Control panel'. Here you can alter what appears in the user's control panel.
One particularly useful setting is the one that prohibits access so you can stop other users changing your settings. Double-click 'Prohibit access to the control panel' in the right-hand pane. This opens a dialog. Select 'Enabled' and click 'OK'. Choose the 'Explain' tab to find out more about this setting.
Each setting listed here has three options for configuration. 'Not configured' means you'll make no change to the current setup. 'Enabled' turns the setting on, and 'Disabled' turns it off again. It's worth exploring the various configurations you can make, but make sure you're fully backed up before you do so.
4. Cut the Start menu delay
There's a slight delay built into the Start menu to give you thinking time. If you know your way around, you can shorten it with a Registry edit.
Open the Registry Editor by choosing 'Start | Run' and entering Regedit in the 'Open' bar, then clicking 'OK'.
Now go to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop'. Double-click the 'MenuShowDelay' value and change it from the default 400 to a lower number of your choice.
5. Disable autorun for discs
Put a disc in your CD/DVD drive and you'll notice an appreciable lag as it spins up, even if you're not just about to use it. If you don't always need your CDs and DVDs to launch automatically when you insert them, the needless spinning up of the discs can slow your machine down.
You can disable CD autorun by modifying this registry key:
'HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SYSTEM\Current ControlSet\Services\Cdrom'. Double-click the 'AutoRun Dword' value and set it to '0'. Change it to '1' to restore it.
6. Disable menu animation
You can turn off animated menus in Windows XP for faster navigation. In Regedit, open the key 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop' and create the string value 'MinAnimate'. Give it a '0' value. To restore menu animations, delete this string value.
7. Reduce hanging time
By default, Windows waits for five seconds to allow time for any hung applications to be closed properly as you shut down your computer. You can change this hanging time with a registry edit.
Browse to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop' and select the string entry called 'HungApp Timeout'. If you're using Vista, you'll need to create this entry. Right-click this and choose 'Modify'.
The number is in milliseconds, so the default of 5,000 is a wait of five seconds. Simply choose a lower number to shorten the wait time.
8. Remove text from icons
You can improve the general look of your PC's desktop by removing the names of shortcuts, leaving the icons to speak for themselves. If you try renaming a desktop shortcut to a single space, Windows XP won't let you.
However, you can force it to accept a space as the name by holding down [Alt] and typing 255 on the number pad. If you want multiple shortcuts to have blank names, you'll need to give each one a different number of spaces to avoid them having identical names.
9. Create a mute shortcut
You can make a custom shortcut that mutes and unmutes your PC's sound by downloading a small utility called Nircmd, which you can get from www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html.
Download and extract the file contents to 'My Documents'. Next, right-click the desktop and choose 'New | Shortcut'. Enter the following for the shortcut location:
"C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\nircmd\nircmd.exe" mutesysvolume 2.
Ensure that the path points to the location where you extracted the 'Nircmd.exe' file. Name the shortcut 'mute_ unmute'. Double-click it to mute your speakers and do so again to turn them back on.
10. Remove programs from the 'Open With' list
Stop programs appearing on the 'Open with' list when you're trying to open an unrecognised file.
Open Regedit and browse to HKEY_ CLASSES_ROOT\Applications', and you'll see a list of programs that are installed on your PC as subkeys in the left-hand pane. To remove an unwanted program from this list, select it and right-click in the right hand pane.
Choose 'New | String value'. Name it 'NoOpenWith'. Repeat for each application that you want to remove from this list.
11. Correct file sorting
By default, a file named '2.jpg' will be sorted after one called '20.jpg'. Many people work around this by starting single-digit numbers in file names with a leading zero, but you can change this behaviour by making a Registry edit.
Browse to the Registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explore.
Create a new DWORD value and name it 'NoStrCmpLogical'. Right click and modify its value to '1'.
12. Add new 'Copy to' key
Add a 'Copy to folder' option to the right-click context menu so that you can quickly copy a file by right-clicking it.
In the Registry Editor, browse to 'HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers' and create a new key called 'Copy to'. Change its default value to '{C2FBB630-2971-11d1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}' and check it works in Windows.
You can also add a 'Move to folder' option in this way. From the same 'ContextMenuHandlers' key, simply create a new key called 'Move to' and then change its default value to '{C2FBB631-2971-11d1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}' to do this.
13. Skip welcome screen
You can choose to log into Windows automatically and bypass the welcome screen by making a simple tweak. To do this, choose 'Start | Run' and enter control userpasswords2 into the 'Open' bar. Click 'OK' to see a dialog showing each user installed on the PC.
Clear the box marked 'Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer'. Click 'OK'. Now restart your PC and you should go directly to your desktop.
14. Display shortcut keys
When you open a menu or My Computer window in XP, you can see what shortcut keys are available by pressing [Alt] once - underlined letters will appear, and pressing that letter will trigger the appropriate shortcut, whether it's ticking a box or selecting a button.
You can make these underlined letters appear automatically from the 'Appearance' tab under the 'Desktop' control panel. Click the 'Effects' button and remove the tick next to the box marked 'Hide underlined letters for keyboard navigation until I press the Alt key'. Click 'OK' twice.
15. Say 'No to all' requests
When you're copying or moving a group of files, you'll sometimes be prompted to provide a 'Yes' or a 'Yes to all' response - if you need to give permission for a process to to overwrite existing files, for example.
Choose the latter option and similar files that prompt the same question will be ignored in future. But what if you want 'No to all' instead? There's no visible option, but you can select 'No to all' by simply holding the [Shift] key as you click 'No'.
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The Naked and Famous: Passive Me, Aggressive You ? review
(Fiction)
This New Zealand band are named after some words in a Tricky song that, they've said, sum up "everything that's brilliant and stupid about music culture". Something which, as an enthusiastically hyped band who tick every modish box going, they should be well attuned to. There are boy-girl vocals, there are euphoric, ravey synths offset by stormy Nine Inch Nails guitars, and there are huge, festival-friendly choruses that will outdo MGMT's most persistent summer anthems. In other words, there is an awful lot going on and the result is both a bit brilliant and a bit stupid.
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