Google Gears - Offline Functionality for Web Apps

Web applications bring your data online and make it available anywhere there's an Internet connection. But happens when you're on a plane or when you can't find a WiFi hotspot?

Google launched an open source browser extension for IE and Firefox called Google Gears that enables web applications to be available offline.

"Gears is an incremental improvement to the web as it is today. It adds just enough to AJAX to make current web applications work offline. Gears today covers what we think is the minimal set of primitives required for offline apps. It is still a bit rough and in need of polish, but we are releasing it early because we think the best way to make Gears really useful is to evolve it into an open standard. We are releasing Gears as an open source project and we are working with Adobe, Mozilla and Opera and other industry partners to make sure that Gears is the right solution for everyone," explains Google.

Once you install the extension, every Gears-enabled web application will ask your permission before storing data offline.


Depending on the functionality implemented in the application, Google Gears caches resource files so they're available offline, stores data in a SQLite database that has powerful search features and synchronizes data in the background.

Google Gears will enable you to read the most recent messages from Gmail while offline or to edit your documents in Google Docs even without a network connection.

Google Reader is the first Google application powered by Gears. To enter the offline mode, just click on the small arrow and all the recent feed items are downloaded to your computer. You can disconnect from the Internet or click on "work offline" in your browser and you will still be able to read your favorite feeds in Google Reader. Like in any feed reader installed on your computer. Well, almost, because Google Reader doesn't download images or other multimedia files embedded in the posts.




You can even close Google Reader's tab and try to load the site again: it will instantly show the cached data. Try to add tags to a post or star it; once you go back online, Google Reader will synchronize the data.


P.S.: Another nice update in Google Reader is that you can see the exact number of unread posts for each feed. Google Reader learned to count beyond 100.

Found on http://googlesystem.blogspot.com

52 Ways to Speed Up OS X

After Apple recently announced a delay to OS X 10.5 Leopard I had to delay my iMac upgrade until the Autumn. This led me to thinking about how to speed up Tiger to get the most out of my ageing G5.

This is what I came up with:

General System

1. Repair Disk Permissions
Navigate to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select your Macintosh HD and select Verify Disk Permissions. If needed you can then Repair Disk Permissions.

2. Clear out login items
Its good to check that unwanted programs are not starting up when you login to your Mac. This can be done from System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items.

3. Clear out unwanted applications
Go through your applications folder and see if you can save yourself some disk space by removing any applications you no longer use.

4. Clear out unused system preferences
Check in your system preferences if there are any unused system preferences tabs that can be removed. If you do find something you don’t use you can either disable it within its menu or remove it from ‘~/Library/PreferencePanes’. You may have to reboot or do a force empty trash (see #38).

5. Clear Desktop
Its been reported numerous times that having a clear desktop can increase the speed of your Mac. So either put your junk in folders or delete it!

6. Empty Trash (if it wont empty see #38)
I’m always amazed when I’m looking on someone’s Mac and they haven’t ever emptied the trash! Check what’s in there then save yourself some space and empty it.

7. Turn off Universal Access (if not used)
Navigate to System Preferences > Universal Access and turn off anything you’re not using.

8. Turn off Bluetooth (if not used)
Navigate to System Preferences > Bluetooth.

9. Turn off speech recognition (if not used)
Navigate to System Preferences > Speech Recognition.

10. Turn off internet sharing (if not used)
Navigate to System Preferences > Sharing > Internet

11. Check there is plenty of disk space on the boot drive.
Your Mac uses some of your hard drive space as virtual memory when there is not enough actual memory available. Its good to always keep 10% of your hard drive free for such activity.

12. Remove Unwanted Language Packs
OS X contains hundreds of languages that you most likely wont use. Monolingual is a free program that can root out these languages and remove them saving you some extra disk space.

*Edit: Warning people have experienced problems with Monolingual so becareful what you remove. Only a reinstall will put the languages back so decide weather you really need the extra space by removing them.

13. Remove any desktop changing programs
Until recently I had a nice program that would put a different babe on my desktop each month. It looked great but once I started looking in activity monitor it was taking up lots of memory and processor time.

14. Check dock for unwanted apps.
Your dock should only contain your most used applications so take a look through to see if there is anything you can remove or uninstall.

15. Choose suitable applications for files
Be sensible when choosing what applications open by default - think do you really need Photoshop to open just to view an image when preview will work fine? Right click on a file then select Get Info.

16. Check Software Build
If you have an Intel Mac then check the build of the software is universal - it might be that the application is still running through Rosetta and that a universal update is available.

Eye Candy

17. Remove dock animation
Navigate to System Preferences > Dock then un-tick Animate Opening Applications.

18. Avoid animated desktops
Navigate to System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver then un-tick Change picture.

Dashboard

19. Remove unused widgets.
Each widget takes some memory and processor power even when you’re not using the dashboard so only enable the ones you use. Alternatively you can disable the dashboard - see #23.

20. Check to see how much processing power and memory each widget uses.
Some widgets are more intensive than others, if there is one that is particularly demanding see if there is one with similar functionality on the Apple website. To do this run Activity Monitor - Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor.

As you can see the widgets I have running are all using an acceptable amount of Real Memory.

Tinkertool

Tinkertool is a utility that gives you access to additional settings within OS X.

21. Remove animation effects.
The animation effects are the eye candy that make OS X look nice but they are not really needed, you can turn them off from the Finder pane within Tinkertool.

22. Disable Dock shadow.
From the Dock pane un-tick Enable Dock shadow.

23. Disable Dashboard.
If you don’t use the Dashboard you can deactivate it from the General pane.

24. Skip checksum verifications when opening DMG files.
This will speed up the loading of disk images when opening. This can be found in the Applications pane.

25. Remove or deactivate unwanted login items from the Login Items pane.
You might already have done this in #2.

26. Reduce delay time for display of loading pages in Safari.
This should speed up your web browsing experience, found within the Safari Pane.

OnyX

OynX is similar to Tinkertool however has many more options and preferences.You may have already done some of these in previous tips.

Parameters

27. Un-tick Graphic Effects (Finder tab).
You may already have done this with Tinkertool #21.

28. Un-tick Animate ‘Opening applications’ and ‘When alert in background’ (Dock tab).

29. Disable Dashboard (Dashboard and Expose tab).
You may already have done this with Tinkertool #23.

30. Set Safari speed of web page display to fast (Safari Tab).
You may already have done this in #26.

Maintenance

31. Repair Disk Permissions.
You may already have done this in #1.

32. Run Maintenance Scripts.

33. Reset Spotlight Index (it may take over a day to rebuild the index afterwards).

34. Run complete system optimization.

Cleaning

35. Clear Internet Settings.

36. Clear User and Font Caches.

37. Clear unused logs.

38. Force Empty Trash

Automation

39. Check settings - The default settings should be fine here. Click Execute.

10 Intermediate Ways To Speed Up Windows

Given how successful my Simple Guide to Tweaking Windows XP has been I’ve decided to post some more complex tweaks. The effectiveness of each of these tweaks will vary from machine to machine. I’ve tried to focus on tweaks that I’m confident can be made on any XP machine regardless of the individual setup. Please do not make any of these changes if you are not sure what you are doing, and remember to make backups first and good luck!

1. Disable Unnecessary Services
Because Windows XP has to be all things to all people it has many services running that take up system resources that you will never need. Below is a list of services that can be disabled on most machines:

• Alerter
• Clipbook
• Computer Browser
• Distributed Link Tracking Client
• Fast User Switching
• Help and Support - (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)
• Human Interface Access Devices
• Indexing Service
• IPSEC Services
• Messenger
• Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)
• Portable Media Serial Number
• Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)
• Remote Procedure Call Locator
• Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)
• Remote Registry Service
• Secondary Logon
• Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)
• Server
• SSDP Discovery Service - (Unplug n’ Pray will disable this)
• Telnet
• TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
• Upload Manager
• Universal Plug and Play Device Host
• Windows Time
• Wireless Zero Configuration (Do not disable if you use a wireless network)
• Workstation

To disable these services:

1. Go to Start and then Run and type “services.msc”
2. Doubleclick on the service you want to change
3. Change the startup type to ‘Disable”

2. Turn Off System Restore

System Restore can be a useful if your computer is having problems, however storing all the restore points can literally take up Gigabytes of space on your hard drive. To turn off System Restore:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Click on Performance and Maintenance
3. Click on System
4. Click on the System Restore tab
5. Tick ‘Turn off System Restore on All Drives’
6. Click ‘Ok’

3. Defragment Your Pagefile

Keeping your pagefile defragmented can provide a major performance boost. One of the best ways of doing this is to creat a separate partition on your hard drive just for your page file, so that it doesn’t get impacted by normal disk usage. Another way of keeping your pagefile defragmented is to run PageDefrag. This cool little app can be used to defrag your pagefile, and can also be set to defrag the pagefile everytime your PC starts. To install:

1. Download and Run PageDefrag
2. Tick “Defrag at next Reboot”,
3. Click “Ok”
4. Reboot

4. Speedup Folder Access - Disable Last Access Update

If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.

1. Go to Start and then Run and type “regedit”
2. Click through the file system until you get to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem”
3. Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select ‘DWORD Value’
4. Create a new DWORD Value called ‘NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate’
5. Then Right click on the new value and select ‘Modify’
6. Change the Value Data to ‘1′
7. Click ‘OK’

5.Disable System Sounds

Surprisingly, the beeps that your computer makes for various system sounds can slow it down, particularly at startup and shut-down. To fix this turn off the system sounds:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Click Sounds and Audio Devices
3. Check Place volume icon in taskbar
4. Click Sounds Tab
5. Choose “No Sounds” for the Sound Scheme
6. Click “No”
7. Click “Apply”
8. Click “OK”

6. Improve Boot Times

A great new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This places all boot files next to each other on the disk to allow for faster booting. By default this option in enables but on some builds it is not so below is how to turn it on.

1. Go to Start Menu and Click Run
2. Type in “Regedit” then click ok
3. Find “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOpt imizeFunction”
4. Select “Enable” from the list on the right
5. Right on it and select “Modify”
6. Change the value to “Y to enable”
7. Reboot

7. Improve Swapfile Performance

If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.

1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type “msconfig.exe” then ok
3. Click on the System.ini tab
4. Expand the 386enh tab by clicking on the plus sign
5. Click on new then in the blank box type”ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1″
6. Click OK
7. Restart PC

8. Make Your Menus Load Faster

This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will ‘feel’. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.

1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ then click ‘Ok’
3. Find “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop”
4. Select “MenuShowDelay”
5. Right click and select “Modify’
6. Reduce the number to around “100″

This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to “0″ but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood

9. Make Programs Load Faster

This little tweak tends to work for most programs. If your program doesn’t load properly just undo the change. For any program:

1. Right-click on the icon/shortcut you use to launch the program
2. Select properties
3. In the ‘target’ box, add ‘ /prefetch:1′ at the end of the line.
4. Click “Ok”

Voila - your programs will now load faster.

10. Improve XP Shutdown Speed

This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.

1. Go to Start then select Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ and click ok
3. Find ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop’Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
4. Right click and select ‘Modify’
5. Change the value to ‘1000′
6. Click ‘OK’
7. Now select ‘HungAppTimeout’
8. Right click and select ‘Modify’
9. Change the value to ‘1000′
10. Click ‘OK’
11. Now find ‘HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop’
12. Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
13. Right click and select ‘Modify’
14. Change the value to ‘1000′
15. Click ‘OK’
16. Now find ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control’
17. Select ‘WaitToKillServiceTimeout’
18. Right click and select ‘Modify’
19. Change the value to ‘1000′
20. Click ‘OK’

That’s it. I hope you find these tips useful - you should now see a noticeable speed improvement if you make all of these changes correctly. Hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

I found all of this on the following site and I suggest you pay it a visit to read the comments. I think it’s a great, GREAT compilation of tricks and although I’m not gutsy enough to try all of them I did do most and had no problems just great results. I love my computer again. Yay! Here’s the URL.

http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk/2005/12/05/10-intermediate-ways-to-speed-up-windows/1/

Batch Upload Files to Google Docs

You'd think that Google considered Docs & Spreadsheets important enough to make it easy to import files. Or to export files. You can do that one file at a time, but it becomes tiresome if you have a lot of files.

Fortunately, the latest version of Google Toolbar for Firefox has a feature that lets you drag and drop files to your browser and they are automatically uploaded to Google Docs. To upload more files at a time, go to Windows Explorer or other file manager, select your files and drag them in Firefox.

To activate the feature, to go to Google Docs & Spreadsheets after installing the toolbar. You'll get a prompt that asks you if you want to enable the feature. Alternatively, click on Settings / Options and enable "Docs & Spreadsheets".

Found on googlesystem.blogspot.com

Filehippo's Software Update Checker

I was complaining in a post from January that Google Pack could be a very cool package if it had an API that allows it to check a wide variety of software for updates. Google Pack only includes Google's software and a small list of other free applications like Firefox, Adobe Reader, RealPlayer.

Filehippo, one of the best sites where you can download high-quality software, launched Update Checker, a small utility that scans your computer for installed software and displays a list of updates. While the software doesn't require installation, it doesn't check for updates periodically and must be manually launched. Another inconvenient is that you have to manually download and install the updates.

The software is in beta, so it wouldn't surprise if it adds these features in the next versions.

- googlesystem.blogspot.com

Top 10 Firefox Extensions to Improve your Productivity

Firefox is the browser of dreams for many people (myself included). One of the great perks of Firefox is that there are tons of extensions that enhance the functionality of the browser. With over 1500 extensions in existence, there are many that can be used to improve your productivity. The following is my take on the top 10 extensions that will keep you focused, reduce distractions, streamline your daily work flow, and improve your productivity.

1. Customize Google

Customize Google is a very robust extension that lets you customize many features of the services provided by Google. Customize Google lets you block advertisements on pretty much any Google page (including Gmail). It remaps Google Images search results to point directly at the images (no longer will you need to click through the originating site). Customize Google lets you add links from other search engines directly into your search results. It can also block Google click tracking and allows you to connect to Google Calendar and Gmail securely (https). Give it a try, you won’t be sorry.

2. Gspace

Gspace is a content management extension that lets you turn your Gmail account into an online mass storage device. Gspace integrates nicely into your browser and lets you drag and drop files into Gmail for backup or storage purposes without interrupting your work flow. If you use Gspace, I recommend adding a tag in Gmail to your files so they can be filtered and accessed quickly. The following is the description of Gspace from its homepage: “Gspace turns the 2GB of your Gmail account into free online storage. With Gspace you can manage unlimited Gmail accounts to store all type of files within its simple, user friendly interface. Listen to your favorite stored music directly from your Gspace, view your collections of pictures and manage your Gdrive files as well. Download Gspace now and transfer files between your computer and Gspace at anytime, from everywhere!”

3. Flashgot/DownThemAll
The default download manager built into Firefox is very handy; however, there are many occasions that you’ll find that you need more flexibility with your downloads. This is where Flashgot or DownThemAll comes in handy. The features of Flashgot and DownThemAll have their differences; however, they generally provide finer-grained control of your downloads. My personal preference is Flashgot. I recommend trying at least one of them.

4. Greasemonkey + Stylish + Ad blocking per Gozer
Greasemonkey is an extension that lets you add scripts that alter the web pages you visit. Using Greasemonkey and Stylish and Ad blocking per Gozer together will block pretty much every advertisement from any Web site you visit.

5. Flashblock

The Flashblock extension by default blocks flash from playing when a Web page is first opened. Most (distracting) advertisements are written using flash. Flashblock is particularly useful because it replaces the flash from a Web site with a “play” button so you can watch the flash if it something useful (like a video at Youtube) and leave it blocked if it is an advertisement.

6. Download Statusbar

Download Statusbar manages your downloads in the status bar instead of the Firefox Download Manager. I find that the download manager that comes with Firefox to be very intrusive. Download manager tucks your download progress bars into the generally unused status bar of Firefox. This lets you download care-free without the Firefox Download Manager popping up and interrupting you.

7. URL Fixer
URL fixer will replace the common typos you enter when typing a Web site into the URL bar (i.e., http://www.lifehack.rog, htp://lifehack.org). The auto correct feature of URL fixer is very helpful. “[URL Fixer] will correct common misspellings of .com, .net, .org, .edu, .gov, and .mil, as well as the protocol (http:, https:). It will also correct errors in country code TLDS such as .com.XX, .net.XX, and .org.XX.”

8. Tab Mix Plus
Many of the features of Tab Mix Plus were incorporated into the release of Firefox 2. However, Tab Mix Plus allows you to add finer-grained control of your tabs. The following is a description of Tab Mix Plus: “Tab Mix Plus enhances Firefox’s tab browsing capabilities. It includes such features as duplicating tabs, controlling tab focus, tab clicking options, undo closed tabs and windows, plus much more. It also includes a full-featured session manager with crash recovery that can save and restore combinations of opened tabs and windows.”

9. Scrapbook
Scrapbook is extremely useful for researchers and students. Scrapbook saves blurbs from Web pages to your hard drive along with the URL of the originating Web site. It allows you to organize and categorize your blurbs in a format similar to your bookmarks so that when it comes to creating a bibliography or works cited, you won’t waste any time.

10. IE Tab

I find myself using this extension less and less as more Web developers code their Web sites following standards. However, occasionally you will find it necessary to open a Web site using Internet Explorer in order for it to render correctly. Rather than taking the time to launch a separate browser, just choose “View Page in IE tab” and an Internet Explorer tab opens in Firefox. This is very useful if you like to have multiple Gmail accounts open and active on one computer.

That’s my take on the extensions that will improve your productivity. Like I previously mentioned, there are tons of Firefox extensions. What extension didn’t I mention that you can’t live without? Please tell us about your favorite productivity-enhancing Firefox extension in the comments.

- found on www.lifehack.org

Free, High-Quality T.V Shows and Movies!

I have found THE COOLEST SITE EVER! This site lets you stream T.V Shows and Movies and the quality is nothing to complain about. Check out 8 Mile and tell me if you have any complaints. This is better then many DVD rips I've downloaded.

The site's FAQ answers any questions you may have and I've pasted it below.

• Who are you?
  Commoners.
  
  
• Is this site legal? Don't make me call my lawyer.
  We provide links, nothing is wrong with that.
  
  
• Money? Register?
  Nope.
  
  
• I want to download an episode or two (or ten), tell me WHERE!
  We do NOT support downloading - do NOT ask us for it, do NOT mention it.
  
  
• The move gets stuck in the middle!! You erroneous bastards!
  Sometimes random errors (usually caused by heavy load on the hosting site may occur while loading a video. This can usually be solved by closing the video and opening it again (preferably out of peak hours).
  
  
• When do you usually update?
  Every day!
  
  
• I want a link for THAT show, what can I do about it?
  Well, you could ask us, but better yet, ask at the forums!
  
  
• How did you choose your slogan?
  I'm glad you askwed! :-) We actually had a lot of rejected slogans before eventually finding the right one.
  
  
• I have found a broken link! Damn you all! emmm... what's next?
  Please let us know, and we will handle it as soon as possible.
  
  
• Hot damn! The movie loads slowly.
  Rush hours, be patient.
  
  
• Can I join you guys? Pretty please with sugar on top?
  For now, you can help us by reporting broken links, giving us ideas for improvement and by adding missing episodes.
  
  
• The site's design, how can I put it softly..? SUCKS - change it, NOW!
  Just kidding - no one has ever said such a thing.
  
  
• Can you add MULTI language support for the site?
  This English is not page for one contemporary interest. Alas! why do we even bother, they can't read the FAQ anyways.
  
  
• UBeR l33t HaxoR n00bie, LOLLAASSDAROFL OMFG00DNess? FTW!!!
  What?
  
  
• Hey, the screen is too wide, the movie stretches on it!
  Resize your window, and make it smaller.
  
  
• The question I'm looking for is not here or/and I want to nag you.
  You are welcome to send us an e-mail. We try to answer each and every letter we get.
  
  
• Who designed the website Look and Feel
  NARK, Niraj Paul on nirajpaul@hotmail.co.uk. Very nice work, Highly recommended
  

This site friggin rocks! Check it out here.

Rumor-based Mac Buying Guide Keeps Fanboys Guessing

Still wondering whether you should buy that new MacBook or Mac Pro? The gang at MacRumors has compiled the ultimate Mac-buying guide based on product refresh cycles and Internet rumblings.

Take the Mac Pro for instance. MR recommends you skip it cause it's been 234 days since its last refresh. What's 100 percent safe to buy? According to MR, only the Shuffle. Obviously you shouldn't live or die by these rules, but savvy shoppers could save a buck or two if they at least hold off for Leopard. – Louis Ramirez

Mac Buyer's Guide [Mac Rumors via Crave]

found on Gizmodo

Some highlights of the Mac Buyer's Guide can be seen below and were not found on Gizmodo, but were found by myself.

Mac mini

Main article: Mac mini Buyer's Guide

The Mac mini is Apple's low end desktop.

Product Mac mini Recommendation: Don't Buy - Updates soon Last Release September 06, 2006 Days Since Update 204 (Avg = 151)

iMac

Main article: iMac Buyer's Guide

The iMac is Apple's all-in-one form factor desktop.

Product iMac Recommendation: Don't Buy - Updates soon Last Release September 06, 2006 Days Since Update 204 (Avg = 168)

MacBook

Main article: MacBook Buyer's Guide

The MacBook is Apple's consumer laptop; it was formerly known as the iBook.

Product MacBook Recommendation: Neutral - Mid product cycle Last Release November 08, 2006 Days Since Update 141 (Avg = 204)

MacBook Pro

Main article: MacBook Pro Buyer's Guide

The MacBook Pro is Apple's professional laptop, it was formerly known as the PowerBook.

Product MacBook Pro Recommendation: Buy only if you need it - Approaching the end of a cycle Last Release October 24, 2006 Days Since Update 156 (Avg = 182)

$10 Sub-Pocket Sized SD Card Readers!

These mini card readers from Brando are easily the most handy keychains ever made; forget about your Swiss army knife and forget about your keychain flashlight because if you’re reading this blog you’re a nerd like me and the only use for those two keychains are when they’re use as tools to open up your tower and have a look around. This day and age is all about portability. I fortunately am blessed with a build in card reader in my sexy, glossy Presario V6000, but I thought this might just interest a couple good souls out there. The mini card readers come in three different versions that accommodate your choice of T-Flash/MicroSD memory cards, M2 or miniSD cards, and all three can read SIM cards from your cellphone.

Transfer files to the PC, or slide in your SIM card from your cellphone and back up all your contacts and other information. Handy? I think so and best of all it’s only $10, not too shabby.

Gmail Drive

Gmail Drive is a great (FREE) program I just so happen to have come across and I think it's great! It makes a sort of artificial drive on your computer and then if you copy files to the drive, it emails them to your Gmail address. Very cool, and very handy.
***********************************************************************

GMail Drive is a free namespace extension ("add-on") for Microsoft Windows. It allows a user to access a virtual drive stored in a Gmail e-mail account by causing the contents of the Gmail account to appear as a new network share on the user's workstation. In order to use this add-on, the user needs a Gmail e-mail account. The add-on enables the user to use the standard Windows desktop file copy and paste commands to transfer files to and from the Gmail account as if it was a drive on the user's computer. - Wikipedia
************************************************************************
GMail Drive is a Shell Namespace Extension that creates a virtual filesystem around your Google GMail account, allowing you to use GMail as a storage medium.

GMail Drive creates a virtual filesystem on top of your Google GMail account and enables you to save and retrieve files stored on your GMail account directly from inside Windows Explorer.

GMail Drive literally adds a new drive to your computer under the My Computer folder, where you can create new folders, copy and drag'n'drop files to.GMail Drive shell extension is a tool that creates a virtual filesystem.

Ever since Google started to offer users a GMail e-mail account, which includes storage space of a 1000 megabytes, you have had plenty of storage space but not a lot to fill it up with.

With GMail Drive you can easily copy files to your GMail account and retrieve them again. When you create a new file using GMail Drive, it generates an e-mail and posts it to your account.

The e-mail appears in your normal Inbox folder, and the file is attached as an e-mail attachment. GMail Drive periodically checks your mail account (using the GMail search function) to see if new files have arrived and to rebuild the directory structures.

But basically GMail Drive acts as any other hard-drive installed on your computer.
You can copy files to and from the GMail Drive folder simply by using drag'n'drop like you're used to with the normal Explorer folders.

Because the GMail files will clutter up your Inbox folder, you may wish to create a filter in GMail to automatically move the files (prefixed with the GMAILFS letters) to your archived mail folder.

Please note that GMail Drive is still an experimental tool. There's still a number of limitations of the file-system (such as total filename size must be less than 40 characters), and it doesn't make full use of the secure internet protocols available.

You can try Xmail alternative for portability. - Softpedia

Google Earth - A Must Have

Jessica Pfund, a Google employee, talks about a program you may have heard about: Google Earth. The one-hour video takes you "through some of the most powerful, yet overlooked, features of this program and how people are using it".



Some notes:

* Google Maps is a 2D view of the world, while Google Earth is a 3D view of the world.

* Google Earth shortcuts: double click to zoom in, double right-click to zoom out. Double click on the zoom in button to zoom in to the maximum. Press N to recenter the view.

* Google Earth is a geobrowser, like Firefox is a browser for the web. It's also a way to search the world.

* Google Local is included in Google Earth. You can get local results by searching for a businesses or by enabling some of the layers (for example, the lodging layer).

* If you click on the pop-ups that describe a place, you'll find links to web search, images search, news. The search results pages open inside Google Earth.

* You can hide the left sidebar by clicking on a button from the toolbar or by typing Ctrl-Alt-B.

* Layers are displayed on top of the imagery and bring meaning to what you see in Google Earth. You can see the name of the populated places, the railroads or videos from different places.

* Create your own map: add pushpins, choose an icon and type HTML code in the description. Then post it at Google Earth Community, Google hosts it for you. Enable the Google Earth Community layer to see what people say about different places in the world.

* Content layers - provided by authoritative organizations, hand-picked. You'll find them in "featured content".

* KML files (XMLs used to display geographic data), network KMLs (link to external data that is dynamically generated).

* Create models in SketchUp, build KML files and share them in the 3D Warehouse. You can view models from the 3D Warehouse in Google Earth. The latest version of Google Earth (v4) added the ability to view texturized models.

* 1/3 of the world covered by high-resolution imagery.

* Google Earth is used for urban planning, education, disaster response and awareness, environmental activism, to share vacation photos. [Notes found on googlesystem.blogspot.com]

How To Replace Your iPod's Battery

Most of our readers are surely aware that an iPod's battery, like any rechargeable battery, will lose its ability to hold a charge over time. If a given iPod happens to be your trusty companion long enough to start exhibiting this inevitability, you need not fear its utter demise. The time to replace its battery has arrived.

Many squeamish iPod users are frightened by the notion of performing iPod surgery and replacing the diminished lithium-polymer battery with a new part. The truth is, it's not such a bad procedure. Have a look at ifixipodfast.com's page of how-to videos for most every model of iPod to see how it's done. Beyond just battery replacement, the site's videos cover replacement of LCD screens, hard drives, logic boards, click wheels, and more. Handy how-to guides.

Found on iPod Hacks

Google Sets? What the hell is that?

Google Sets is the oldest Google product that never graduated Google Labs. Using Google Sets, you can create sets of items from a few examples. With this very interesting tool you can type in the names of 3 or more major cities and google will show you the names of a bunch of other major cities. Or you can type in the names on a few cars like bmw, honda, and mercedes benz and google will display Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Audi, Volvo, Jaguar, Mitsubishi, Chrysler, Lexus, and etc. Great tool for making lists. It's a simple tool, but it's pretty nice and not very well known at all.

Other little known google pages include:

Google WiFi
Google provides free WiFi in Mountain View through Google Secure Access, a client that makes the WiFi connection more secure.

and..

Google Newsletter
You knew Google has a blog, but you didn't know they have a newsletter called Google Friends. You can read the full archive.

But there are so many Google Pages that most people don't even know about. Check out this link to see a whole big list of them and be sure to click "more strange google pages at the bottom of that post cuz there's some interesting stuff.

Let's have a Picnik!

What's Picnik you say?

With Picnik you can quickly edit all your online photos from one place. It's the easiest way on the Web to fix underexposed photos, remove red-eye, or apply effects to your photos.
It's fast, easy, and fun.

NO INSTALL NECESSARY!!! Easily edit your photos online on any computer!

• One-click photo fixing or in-depth tweaking
• Crop, rotate, and resize in real-time
• Tons of special effects, from artsy to fun
• Amazingly fast

• Works directly with many photo sharing sites
• No download required, nothing to install!
• Works on Mac, Windows, even Linux
• Free and premium versions

Try it Now!!!

Honestly the best online photo editor I've seen yet!

Instant Productivity - Get IMified

Imified is the answer to all our prayers! Not only does it provide easy access to all your favorite services such as blogger, basecamp, google calendar, backpack, etc. but it does so without making you launch a single browser. View all you favorite services in a single user interface. Imified is an instant messaging buddy that runs on all majorIM networks and offers access to an ever growing number of web apps and tools.



Best of all, IMified is 100% FREE!!!!



I guess the only question left is ...

HOW DO I SIGNUP?

Signing up is easy. Just send a message to the imified buddy on your favorite network to create an account:

AIM: IMified



Yahoo: IMified



MSN: imified@imified.com



Google Talk/Jabber: imified@gmail.comI will personally be getting IMified this evening and report back about everything that blows my mind. So stay tuned internetters.

Free Movies & TV Shows!!!

Wanna watch practically any main stream TV Show and many many movies FOR FREE? I found THE COOLEST SITE!!!

So, have I gotten your attention? Well I found this site that gives you a SUPER long list of movies and TV shows to choose from. The movies and tv shows are mostly on you tube, but with this site's list you don't have to search for them AND I promise you you'll find some stuff that you DID NOT think would be on you tube so you probably didn't even bother searching for them. Click here and check out this AWESOME site!

Log Me In

Control your PC from your laptop, your laptop from your pc; your work computer from your home computer, your home computer from your work computer. This includes file sharing, access to programs, EVERYTHING you would normally be able to do! Click here to try it out for yourself! This program is am

Access & Control Your PC from Anywhere

For you, success means finding the perfect balance between work and life. You work hard, and play hard. And LogMeIn Pro gives you the edge you need: in the office, on the road, or wherever you choose to go.

Gain seamless access to your home or office PC from any other computer with an Internet connection. It's the fastest, easiest, most reliable remote access solution available.

Advantages of LogMeIn Pro

» Remote access Powerful remote control - from anywhere » File Transfer Move files quickly between PCs » Remote Printing Automatically print remote files locally » File Share Easily share large files, without uploads » Guest Invite Share your desktop for remote collaboration » File Sync Synchronize files & folders in seconds » Security 256-bit SSL encryption anchors powerful security Get Free Trial »

-inclusive — no hidden costs

totalXP.com

Tweaks

Windows Boot-Up & Shutdown:

• Automatically end tasks at Windows shutdown
• Speed-Up the Shutdown process of Windows XP
• Search for network folders and printers
• Disable the Windows XP boot screen
• Automatically Logon

Disc Space & HDD Performace:

• Enable the DMA transfer mode for all IDE devices
• Disabling the Hibernation feature to free disk space
• Disable Windows WBEM logging

RAM & Virtual Memory:

• Clearing the Pagefile at Windows shutdown
• Optimizing the Windows XP Prefetcher
• Disable the disk Indexing Service

Visual Style & General Performance:

• Decrease the time for Menus to slide out
• Enhance the readability of text by enabling ClearType
• Show the extensions of known file types
• Show the Drive Letters first

Home

8 Tips to Improve Apple iPod’s Battery Performance (Life)

Apple iPod the world’s best digital audio player is liked and owned by many music lovers. In this post I am writing some tips that helped me get most out of my 30GB video iPod’s (5G) battery. Apple claims that 30GB 5G video iPods give about 12-14 hour of listening experience but in reality it is much lower as these tests are done in standard test conditions which are far different from real conditions, by using these tips you will able to get those claimed figures.

Pre-requisite:

iTunes 7.0 or later. Get the latest iTunes from here.Update the your iPod’s firmware to Version 1.2 Apple iPod ofcourse is needed.

Tips to get most out of your 30GB Apple video iPod (5G) battery
1. Always update your iPod software (firmware) to latest available
The latest firmware for 30GB iPod (5G) is version 1.2 which gives you better power management features which the latest 5.5G iPod come pre-loaded.

2. Use the Brightness Control Setting
Once you update to the latest firmware i.e Ver.1.2 then you should be able to access brightness control for you iPod’s screen, brightness control can be accessed by “iPod menu>Settings>Brightness”. The screen brightness is one of the main power draining factors, reduce the brightness of your screen when you are only listening to songs. I have set my screen brightness to the minimum possible level when I am listening to songs, that saves lot of battery power. When watching videos in a dark environment you can set the screen brightness to 50% that will boost your video playback to great extent. Given below are some photos which show screen brightness control.

Click on the images to enlarge

iPod screen brightness at max

iPod screen brightness at around 30% of max setting

3. Set the Backlight Timer to Minimum
Set the backlight timer to minimum as this will reduce the time that your iPod takes to switch of the backlight for the screen. The backlight timer setting can be accessed from “iPod’s menu>Settings>Backlight Timer”. I have set it to 2 seconds that means my iPod’s backlight will switch off after two seconds of inactivity. I usually set the backlight to OFF state when I am using the iPod in bright areas where there is enough light that makes iPod screen readable even with backlight switched OFF.

4. Use the Hold Switch
Always enable the hold switch which is provided in the top left corner of iPod which prevents the accidental switching ON of your backlight when buttons are pressed. Whenever you are not using iPod always enable the hold switch so that iPod does not wake up from its sleep if any of the buttons are pressed accidentally.

5. Avoid Frequent Change of Tracks
The iPod’s advanced cache mechanism always reads ahead the upcoming tracks and stores them in its memory so that it need not spin up the hard drive thus saving battery power, so if you keep on changing tracks frequently iPod’s hard drive will be spinning frequently there by reducing the battery life. Create playlists that can help you from this trouble.

6. Always put iPod to sleep when not using it.
Always put iPod to sleep mode when you are not planning to use it, this can be done by pressing the play/pause button continuously. Don’t forget to enable the hold switch.

7. Disable the Equalizer
If the equalizer of your iPod is ON then it forces the iPod’s processors to process the songs so that the desired sound effect is achieved there by decreasing the battery life. I personally don’t use this tip as I love the sound equalizer but I am giving this tip for those people who are contended with the default setting. The equalizer setting can be accessed by “iPod Menu>Settings>EQ”.

8. Use smaller size files for your tracks
iPod’s advanced caching mechanism works best when the track size is less than 9MB, so if you got a large track then try to compress it or split it into smaller chunks so as to make best use of iPod’s caching mechanism.
The Apple iPod uses lithium ion batteries to prolong your lithium ion battery’s life I highly recommend you to read this article written by Isidor Buchmann.

Some tips suggested by Isidor Buchmann for improving lithium ion battery’s life

Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.Batteries with fuel gauge (laptops) should be calibrated by applying a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges. Running the pack down in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate and in some cases cut off the device prematurely.Keep the lithium-ion battery cool. Avoid a hot car. For prolonged storage, keep the battery at a 40% charge level.Consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)Avoid purchasing spare lithium-ion batteries for later use. Observe manufacturing dates. Do not buy old stock, even if sold at clearance prices.If you have a spare lithium-ion battery, use one to the fullest and keep the other cool by placing it in the refrigerator. Do not freeze the battery. For best results, store the battery at 40% state-of-charge. What measures do you take to improve your iPod’s battery life? If you feel that I have left out some tip then please feel free to let me know via comments.

From shivaranjan.com

Scratched CDs? No Problem!

We’ve
all been there, bought a preowned game, put it excitedly into the
console, then shouted “OMFGz0rWTF!?!?” as the console wouldn’t
recognise the game. Or perhaps you have a CD which contains important
data, and M$ Windoze gives you a “Cyclic Redundancy Check” error (fancy
way of saying ‘Your disc is bloody SCRATCHED’).

Whatever your problem is, it’s caused by the same thing: A scratch. A scratched CD or DVD is just annoying!

So I took it upon myself to perform an experiment, to determine the very best
way of dealing with a scratched disc. The limit I set myself, though,
was that whatever I did it with must be somewhere in my house, and
can’t take longer than 5 minutes, including waiting time for things to
dry, etc.

I thought of three main ways to cope with scratches:

1. Use an oily substance, or a gel, to fill in the scratch so that the
   laser goes straight through. This is the easiest option of the three.
2. Use a mild abrasive to round the edges of the scratches so that the
   laser doesn’t get scattered as much. This is probably the most feasible
   option of the three.
3. Somehow take off a thin layer of plastic, removing the scratches
   altogether. This is the hardest, and probably impossible in 5 minutes
   with household items.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST AND FIND OUT HOW HAIR GEL WILL SAVE YOUR CD's!

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