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MeeGo’s official user interface guidelines could easily end up determining whether the platform sinks or swims — no one wants a phone whose UI looks like junk, after all. The minions at Nokia and Intel’s little pet project have posted new OS shots as examples of how to properly implement the interface in third-party apps, and we’ve got to admit — things are looking a lot cleaner, prettier, and generally more modern than the first round of pictures we saw back in June, thanks in part to a demonstration of the platform’s comprehensive theming capability that can totally revamp how UI elements look. We’re definitely seeing shades of webOS in the task switcher (pictured above), but then again, Nokia’s no stranger to borrowing ideas it likes. That’s all well and good as long as it makes for a great platform… and obviously, we’d need some hardware to do that. O N9, where art thou?New official MeeGo screenshots show promise, influence originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink My Nokia Blog  |  MeeGo  | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Utilities, Windows
Want a way to put dozens of handy commands within two-click reach? Download FilerFrog and bolt it on to your context menu, and you’ll have a wide array of new tools available via your right mouse button as you browse your files and folders in Explorer.

Unlike some context menu multi-tools, FilerFrog installs only a single item on the top level of the context menu — everything else is tucked neatly into submenus. So what can FillerFrog do?

print directory contents
extract, split, and join files
move files up one level or to a recently accessed folder
copy the current path to the clipboard
resize images and swap formats
encrypt and decrypt files
quickly jump to favorite folders
perform bulk file renames

It’s a nice assortment of tools in a single package, and it’s not cluttering up my context menu the way some apps I’ve tested do. While I don’t need most of these commands on a regular basis, I do like knowing that they’re easy to get at when I do need them.

FilerFrog installers are available for both 32 and 64-bit Windows versions of Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

[via gHacks]FilerFrog adds loads of useful actions to your Windows context menu originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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We’re excited about the Boxee Box, and the new-look Apple TV is intriguing, but no single box is as good as a box that doesn’t exist yet does the same stuff. Confused? Sit down, let us explain. That’s the point Plex is making in announcing its new partnership with LG, which will integrate Plex software into its 2011 Netcast HDTVs and Blu-ray players. Plex enables the same sort of functionality as those smart little boxes mentioned above, letting you serve content from a machine running OS X and push it to your TV or to a mobile device (iPhone and iPad right now, Android coming). Plex also supports all the major online streamers, like Netflix, Hulu, and even the BBC iPlayer. Lack of PC support is something of a bummer, but a Windows version is said to be coming, so even your beige box can soon get in on the box-free fun.Continue reading Plex announces partnership with LG, pledges to beat Boxee Box and Apple TV for freePlex announces partnership with LG, pledges to beat Boxee Box and Apple TV for free originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Plex  | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Mozilla, Open Source, Browsers
“Tab Candy” has finally come into its own in this most recent iteration of Firefox, Beta 4. The feature is now called “Panorama”. Not all of Raskin’s envisioned features made it, but it’s still pretty dang cool.
Panorama now lets you group tabs and optionally name the groups. You can resize the groups, and when you shrink a group down to its smallest size, it becomes a “pile” and you can zoom into it by clicking a button next to it.
Another major addition is Firefox Sync. It works with its own accounts, “Firefox Sync accounts.” Interestingly, it prompts you for a pass phrase in addition to a password. It’s a service which syncs your history, open tabs, bookmarks, Awesomebar, etc. Sounds identical to what Google already does with Chrome, but now Firefox has it, too.
These are the two new major features in the Beta 4. The inclusion of Panorama is a big deal – it’s Firefox’s most innovative UI feature by far, and I think it signifies the release cycle rapidly moving to maturity for this version. You should definitely go give it a try, even if it’s not ready yet for use as a full-time browser (due to lack of add-ons).Firefox 4 Beta 4 is out, with Panorama and Sync originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Internet, Social Software
The new version of Digg, after a couple of months of beta testing, has today been released to the public.

If you missed my preview of it back in July, here’s the basic gist of new Digg: by virtue of a streamlined UI that requires less clicks, it’s faster; you now ‘follow’ news sources (and friends), which generates a personalised ‘My News’ page; and… well, that’s about it, really.

The new Digg is, mostly, about removing its one-page-to-rule-them-all focus. Digg wants to be your social news aggregator, rather than the plaything of power Digger demagogues. The ‘Top News’ section is still there, but the idea is that you can now tailor your own page to show sites and articles that come from your favourite news sources, or from your friends. Digg, which has had a flat growth graph for a while, is trying to attract a new, classier, social clientele.

It is, in essence, a Facebook-and-Twitter amalgam, but without the critical mass of users that has made both aforementioned services so damn useful. Digg has always been a bit of a knackered one-trick pony, and by watering down the efficacy of its front page traffic hose, I just wonder if Digg has enough clout to stand proud amongst the heavyweights.New version of Digg released; face-lifted, faster, but is it too little too late? originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Yesterday it was Corsair, today it’s the turn of Antec to step into the world of PC audio components. Best known for building cases and power supplies, the company’s aiming to make a splash in this unexplored pool with its all-new soundscience brand and first product, the rockus 3D|2.1 speakers. We’re guessing capital letters weren’t high on the priority list here, with Antec instead opting to focus on delivering “immersive 3D soundscapes,” the supposed aural equivalent of three-dimensional visuals. Beyond the marketing exaggerations, you’ll find anodized aluminum satellite speakers, both digital and analog input options, and that cute little control pod for adjusting volume and toggling between stereo and Antec’s proprietary 3Dsst mode. This rockus 2.1 set certainly looks stylish enough, but the asking price of $250 makes us think we’ll probably have to make do without one this fall.Continue reading Antec wants to rockus with its new soundscience 2.1 ’3D’ speakersAntec wants to rockus with its new soundscience 2.1 ’3D’ speakers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Google, Browsers
Chromium — Google Chrome’s open source cousin — recently debuted the new about:labs page which brings easier access to bleeding-edge features. The Labs page provides a simpler, GUI-based system for enabling things like side tabs which you previously had to activate via command line switches.

In the latest Chrome Canary update, Labs has arrived. That means Mac users can now enable tab overview (an Expose-like feature which shows all your open tabs) and Windows users can play around with side tabs — no switches required! Just enable the feature on about:labs and restart, and you’re good to go.

Remember, this has just hit Canary — but the dev channel shouldn’t be too far behind.

Hopefully Google will begin adding other features to the page now that it’s made the jump to Chrome. First on our wish list; hardware acceleration!

Thanks for the tip, Jim!About:labs lands in Google Chrome — brings tab overview to Mac, side tabs to Windows originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Google, Browsers

There are a lot of great extensions in the Chrome Gallery. However, as the Chrome APIs round out and extensions have increased access to things like your history, cookies, and file system you may want to take a closer look at what a particular extension can do before you install it.

Fortunately there’s a new extension which can do just that. What?! An extension to peek under the hood of other extensions? Yep. It’s called Extension Gallery Inspector, and it’s pretty slick.

Install the Inspector and head to the Chrome Extensions Gallery. When you browse an extension’s detail page, the lightning bolt icon will appear in your Omnibar. Click it, and Inspector will unpack the .CRX file and scan for API calls, permissions, and OAuth support. It also tells you the uncompressed size of the extension and whether or not it has an options page and browser action icon.
Still not enough info for you? Click the view files link and you can actually check out the extension’s source code, icons, and manifest file.

You’ll obviously need a bit of technical knowledge to benefit from Extension Gallery Inspector as it stands right now. Still, for power users who want to know what an extension has access to — or developers who are just curious how a particular extension works — Inspector is a must-have Google Chrome extension.See what Google Chrome extensions are up to before you install them originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Design Tips, web 2.0
I have recently been experimenting with CSS3 box properties for my own personal site. I was thrilled with how easy it was to create a box with rounded corners, some shading and a border – it was really trivial.
That was even before I found CSS3 Playground. Had I found this neat little tool before, I would not have had to hand-code a single line of text.
Like so many other showcases and playgrounds, it’s basically a canvas with a bunch of sliders. The sliders let you visually control a CSS div. You can set a ton of CSS3 properties, and watch how they affect the div in real time. Skew it, rotate, zoom in, play with borders and shadow, rounded corners – it’s all there, and it’s very accessible and fun to play with.
The bottom pane of the window has all of the style declarations you’ve visually set, both in JavaScript syntax and as CSS. You can just play with the sliders to get it to look just right and then copy/paste it into your own site. Neat!
[Thanks, Yaara!]CSS3 Playground lets you experiment with new CSS features and generates code originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Filed under: Utilities, Features, Op-Ed
What the Zuk is a (very) occasional feature, in which I review software that I have been using for many years, and which is instrumental for my work. These are the first tools I install on every new system, the reliable work-horse applications I turn to for every need. In every installment I will try to explain what makes this particular program special, and why I find it so vital for my computing experience.
Today’s What the Zuk is about Stickies, which is an utterly fantastic sticky note program which has been an essential part of my workflow for years. So, here we go:
Remember the Milk, Google Tasks, GQueues, Toodledo … I could go on. The number of ways I have tried to keep track of my sprawling to-do list over the years is truly massive. After all, trying to figure out what’s the best way to manage one’s tasks is an advanced form of procrastination. So I’ve ended up trying just about any task management system I was able to lay my hands on – some for just an hour or two, and some for weeks or even months.
And somehow, I always find myself going back to the cluttered simplicity of sticky notes. I don’t know – maybe it’s just me, but there’s something about the visual nature of sticky notes which works very well for me.
I have a dual-monitor setup. My secondary monitor usually carries at least 4-5 sticky notes, if not more. If a note becomes urgent, I can make the font larger. If I have a ton of notes and I want to make one stick out, I can change its color.
There’s something deceptive about a to-do list, for me. Sometimes the mere act of putting an item on a to-do list is almost like doing it. I mean, the list is so nice and orderly, and now that the item is there, it is “no longer bugging me”. It can rest in peace in the cozy nest of the list, until it’s completely forgotten.Conversely, there is something irritating about a sticky note taking up precious wallpaper space. It’s always right there, in front of me. I don’t have to look at the to-do list to see that it’s there – the task is calling out to me, “come on, get this over with already!”
After all, I usually don’t need reminders for the stuff I feel like doing. The tricky things are those I don’t really feel like doing, but have to do anyway. Hiding them in some to-do list which I have to actively look at is really not workable for me.
Okay, but so far I have only touched upon the concept of sticky notes and why use them. But there are numerous sticky notes programs on the market, some of them free. Why go for Stickies?
In a nutshell, this is an absolutely incredible sticky-note program. It does everything I could possibly wish for (save for just one thing — at the end of this post), and is very graceful. I won’t list all of its numerous features, just list those I personally use time and again, and find invaluable.

Lightweight and fast: Stickies is super-fast, despite being powerful. It never lags on me, no matter what I do. Creating a sticky note is instantaneous – I can create it just as soon as I think of it. Very responsive.
System-wide hotkeys: Again, speed is key in catching fleeting ideas or even jotting down tasks. Thanks to Stickies’ system-wide hotkeys, it’s so convenient to use I never want to switch to any other solution. Win+S creates a new sticky note in the middle of the primary monitor, no matter what window is currently active. So I just hit Win+S, type whatever I want, and I’m done with it. And if the screen is too cluttered and I want some peace and quiet, Win+Shift+S hides all of the stickies instantly. There are several other hotkeys, all configurable, but these are the two I use.
Sticky-specific hotkeys: Ctrl-D closes a sticky; Ctrl-Shift-A sets a reminder for later. Ctrl-T sets it to always-on-top … there are many others, but you get the picture. You almost never need the mouse. Again, the whole thing is optimized for speed.
Reminders: Ah, the cornerstone of my personal time management system. You can set a reminder as soon as you create the sticky, and optionally set the sticky to sleep until the time comes. It then vanishes from view, only to pop up right when you need it, with a very irritating (and effective) “vibrating” effect that simply cannot be ignored. Once it has popped up, you can right-click it and “snooze” it for ten minutes (configurable). You can set the reminders to a specific date and time, or set them for a certain interval (“in 10 minutes”). It even supports recurring reminders!
Keeps closed stickies: This is a very handy feature. When I close a sticky (Ctrl-D), it’s not gone for good. For quite some time after I closed it (30 days, I think, or more), I can still go into the Manage Stickies window and search for it. It’s all right there, and I can easily restore it. It keeps its original position, size, and formatting.
Sticky storage: This is a fairly rare use, but sometimes there’s a tidbit of information I just need to have on hand. Maybe it’s a tracking number I will need in a week, or anything else I just need to have handy but I don’t want cluttering my workspace. I can create a sticky note and then store it in any number of categories. Stored notes are never deleted, and are always searchable and accessible from the Manage Stickies window.
Rich Text and RTL support: RTL means Right-to-Left, the way Hebrew and Arabic go. Stickies handles Hebrew without a hitch, which is a nice bonus for me. Also, its support for rich text means I can make any text bold, italic, underlined etc. and play with font sizes so as to create the exact visual impact I wish to convey. It’s like making a bumper sticker for myself.
Support for Hyperlinks: Related, but somewhat different, is the fact Stickies support Web links. It makes them clickable. You can’t link to other Stickies like you do with Tomboy notes on Linux, but still, it’s a very handy feature.
Image Stickies: A few weeks ago, I had to remember a small range of cells in an Excel sheet. The whole table was the result of a calculation, and I wanted to keep it for a week or two. I just copied it, hit Win+S to create a new sticky, and pasted it. What got pasted was a screenshot of that range of cells in Excel! Beautiful, elegant and smart. Rather than messing about with OLE or trying to link into the Excel sheet, I just got a screenshot. Of course, when I copy/paste from Word or from the Web I get editable text. But it’s very handy to be able to paste an image right into a sticky.
Sticky titles: You can easily (Ctrl-Shift-T) set the title for any sticky you’re working with. Then you can double-click the sticky’s title bar to collapse it, and you’re left with just the title. The visual reminder is still there, but it’s not as obtrusive.
Sticky styles: What if I always mark my “urgent” stickies with a red background and a large font size, and my “personal” stickies with a light blue background? No problem! Stickies supports up to 9 visual styles, each with its own hotkey (1-9, I believe).

There’s a ton of other features I haven’t touched on, such as text highlighting (changing the background of just part of the text), other hotkeys (Ctrl + or Ctrl – to change font size), custom skins, setting per-sticky opacity … really, this is a powerhouse. But still, there was one feature I really needed, which was missing:

I work in several distinct “contexts” using the same machine. There’s the day job, there’s Download Squad, there are my own projects … so at any given time, at least several stickies taking up space on my monitor were reminding me to do things which are not relevant – things which I actually should not do right this minute.

I wrote Tom Revell, Stickies’ developer, and asked for his advice on this. Stickies has an open, powerful API, and I was looking for a way to only show a subset of stickies, appropriate for a given context.
In response, Tom released a great add-on called Scoop. It’s a utility which “scoops” stickies according to certain properties. As you can see on the screenshot, it lets you perform batch operations based on a number of sticky properties. It’s not just hide or show, either – you can roll them up or down, set their skin, etc. Want to hide all of your always-on-top stickies in one fell swoop? No problem!
When you run Scoop, one more thing happens: the context menu for each sticky gets a new entry, titled Set Category which does just that. There’s no category list or key-binding yet (remember, this is bleeding-edge stuff) but you can set a category and then hide/show all stickies in a given category, or do anything else you want to do with them. Beautiful!
Share TweetWhat the Zuk: Stickies is the best sticky-note application money can’t buy originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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