Cook the Book: My New Orleans: kaitiay, Brad E, reposado, cookiekelly, and BeccaBlack. Winners have been notified by email and also appear on our Contest Winners page. Thanks to all who entered.
iPhone/iPod touch: If you're a Comcast DVR user, you just got one very good reason to download the Comcast Mobile App for your iPhone: The free app manages your DVR recordings so you can add that last-minute recording from anywhere.
The app also offers easy access to your Comcast email and other services most people probably don't use, but the remote DVR access is a killer feature. The remote DVR functionality isn't available everywhere just yet, but according to the app's description in iTunes, myDVR Manager functionality is "expected to be available to most markets by summer 2010."
Comcast Mobile App is a free download for the iPhone and iPod touch.
I’ve compiled 10 of the very best and free Photoshop tutorials for objects you see laying around a typical office. Everyone can learn from the simplest of tutorials. You never know when you will use any tutorials so every collection can be of use to all graphic designers.
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Pencil Tutorial
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Flash Drive Tutorial
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Lock Tutorial
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Jaguar Folder Tutorial
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TextEdit Tutorial
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Portable Speaker Tutorial
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Address Book Tutorial
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Inkpad Tutorial
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Headphones Tutorial
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Chinese Food
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Last week a story made its way around the blogosphere that Steve Jobs answered an email. Our pals at TiPb covered the iPad tethering question, originally from 9to5Mac:
First, the question from Jezper Söderlund:
Will the wifi-only version [of the iPad] somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?
And the answer?
No.
Sent from my iPhone
We thought it might be appropriate to send another email:
Dear Steve:
Will the wifi-only version [of the iPad] somehow support tethering through Mobile Hotspot on the Palm Pre Plus? Wait, don't answer that, we already know that it will.
Love, PreCentral
...of course, we'll be paying $40 per month for the privilege, but hey, it's there. While we're on the subject, we'll note that webOS 1.4 seems to have busted up the hack to get the Verizon-only Mobile Hotspot app working on Sprint - the hackery required now is epic, to say the least. Win some, lose some - but for Verizon Palm Pre Plus owners thinking about the iPad, we'll chalk it up as a win.
Just wait a minute. If Quicksilver was one of the must-have free Mac apps then why this giveaway? If you’re a die-hard QS fan, then I have 2 very good reasons for you.
One; Quicksilver is no longer is active development. In other words, it’s an abandoned project with no support. Two; LaunchBar is an actively progressing platform and is welcoming QS switchers with open arms. Those two reasons good enough for ya?
So that’s why we’ve got 10 LaunchBar licenses worth $330 to giveaway to 10 fortunate productivists. Will you be one of them?
If I were to list down the complete list of things that LaunchBar is capable of, this article would turn into a novel. The truth is, I haven’t even explored every inch of the application. And like all productivity apps, there is a learning curve. The good news is, using LaunchBar comes quite naturally.
But first, a short introduction (for those who aren’t familiar) about what LaunchBar is. From its name, you would probably have guessed that it’s a launcher of some sort. However, it may surprise you to know that it is actually way more than just that. It’s a productivity tool that will help you in so many ways you wouldn’t have thought possible. Let’s take a quick look.
Invoke LaunchBar by pressing a defined hotkey and you’ll get an unobtrusive bar at the top of your screen that’s ready for a command. What command? Well, just about anything works. It’s pretty smart in the sense that it learns your habits. Type “saf” and Safari returns as the first result. So, that’s the application launcher aspect of LaunchBar. What about other things?
LaunchBar can also be used to open a URL in the default browser, even if the browser isn’t already running.
It can help you invoke a “Compose new message” window without having to click on Mail; all from the keyboard.
Heck, if you want, you can even write up the entire email in LaunchBar.
What I really like about LaunchBar is the fact that it can retrieve data from within applications without launching them. This save a lot of time. For example, if I needed some contact information of a friend of mine; I’d invoke Launchbar using the hotkey and start typing the person’s name.
LaunchBar finds it and boom, instant results.
But let’s say I forgot his or her name — I’d type “AB” to summon Address Book and browse my contacts right from LaunchBar.
If you’re just starting out, it’s a good idea to check out everything LaunchBar is capable of by going to its Index where you can view the possible actions and services.
A few more examples of useful LaunchBar features is automatically creating archives of files and folders.
And one that I regularly use — automatically resizing images by preset percentages.
Like I said, it isn’t easy listing every possible feature LaunchBar has to offer. The trial version of LaunchBar is unrestricted for 30 days. Download it and try it free for a month.
Are you a believer now?
All you need to do is;
Join our Facebook page by clicking on the Become a fan button below.
If you can’t see the fanbox above, click on this link.
To seal the deal, click on the Facebook Share button below the article to spread the news to your friends. Then in comments section of this article, post a link to your Facebook profile (be sure to enter your real email address so that we can contact you if you win!). Existing fans only need to share the article and post a link to their Facebook profile in the comments section below.
This giveaway ends tomorrow, just before the next one starts. Between now and then, you can share this post or comment as many times as you want! The more you interact, the higher your chances of winning.
Let the giveaway begin! Have fun! Want to know what else we’re giving away? Check out this post 15 Must-Have Free Apps For Your Mac & Giveaway.
MakeUseOf would like to thank Norbert and Objective Development for their generosity while participating in this giveaway. Interesting in sponsoring? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us via email.
em>Got Tech Questions? Ask Them on MakeUseOf Answers!
Two weeks after Cryptome.com had the plug pulled temporarily on it by host Network Solutions, it seems the site has run into more problems--only this time, with someone else. The site's current frenemy is eBay, who has suspended Cryptome's PayPal account and all donations received since February 24, around the time that Cryptome ran into problems with Microsoft, following publication of the software giant's guide to online surveillance.
John Young, the New York-based architect who has run the site since 1996, has put details of his correspondence with the online payment firm on the site under the headline Cryptome Suspected of Money Laundering or Worse, and has asked his supporters to donate money by other means.
Although it is not clear what precipitated PayPal's actions (although Cryptome has published a couple of the eBay subsidiary's lawful spying docs in the past) it seems that the company is preparing a Suspicious Activity Report on the Web site. All they would say to Young via email was, "We have observed activity in your account that is unusual or potentially high risk."
[Via The Register and Cryptome]
The great thing about autopluralism is there's room for retro, urban camo, and even Atari styling. What's your favorite custom car aesthetic?
Though it changes daily, we've been nursing a fascination with rat rodding as it combines the best aspects of traditional tuning with a grungier flair and an appetite for unique applications. Plus, anything looks great in primer or rusty colors with white wall tires. There's also the subtle use of chrome and other accents in a style tuners would do well to pay attention to. SUBTLE. Most importantly, all the effort made to look it seem effortless helps hide things like a Viper V10 engine swap.
You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but its probably okay to judge a car by its cover this time. What's your favorite custom car aesthetic?
(QOTD is your chance to answer the day's most pressing automotive questions and experience the opinions of the insightful insiders, practicing pundits and gleeful gearheads that make up the Jalopnik commentariat. If you've got a suggestion for a good "Question Of the Day" send an email to tips at jalopnik dot com.)
Mac users are missing out on cheap (read: free), social customer relationship management. Windows users have xobni, a simple tool that integrates with Outlook, and Microsoft will also be releasing a solution in Office 2010 called Outlook Social Connector. But what if you have a Mac? Xobni doesn’t support Entourage or Mail.app, and who knows when Entourage will receive features its cousin on Windows has.
Now there’s a solution for the Mac: Rapportive. It takes over the advertisements area in Gmail, and provides basic information about your email correspondents: occupation, Twitter/Flickr/LinkedIn links, age, location and custom notes. Yes, it supports Google Apps accounts, and the preview version of Mailplane now has an option to view Rapportive data. The experience definitely feels like a beta, with occasional inaccurate or missing information, but it’s great having so much additional context inside my email.
The problem? Rapportive so far only works in Google Chrome and Firefox as an extension. Safari is missing out since it doesn’t support simple extension development. Now that Chrome has overtaken Safari in market share, Apple needs to step up its game in terms of features. Both Safari and Mail.app need extension support to integrate all of these new social products. I am aware that some important extensions like Evernote and 1Password exist for Safari, but there is no official Apple documentation or support on how to build extensions. This needs to change. Unfortunately for Apple, Google and Mozilla already have thousands of extensions available.
Five Bad Ways to Ask for a Link
By Joseph Parish
Anyone familiar with SEO principles quickly realizes how valuable link backs are, however, in the same sense one must fully understand that there are certain mistakes that should never be made when requesting them.
1. The number one mistake which I continually see from the many requests I receive is that the link back fails to match the subject content of my site. I would be doing my readers a grave injustice if I linked to a site with a different type of category then what my sites major concern was. As an example, If I have a survival site, I certainly would not feel comfortable linking to a website which contains adult centered material. As an SEO professional do your homework before making your request. Keep the topics relevant to the site.
2. Always address the request to a person. As an example if I receive a request for a link back addressed to webmaster my first thoughts are that this person has mass produced this email and sent it to a considerable number of people. When requesting links keep it personal and address the email appropriately.
3. Avoid being picky and don’t force a desired anchor down my throat. Don’t demand a front page link. Let’s face it you are asking me for something for free therefore do not be so demanding. If you want me to provide a link to your site don’t dictate to me the text to be employed for I have a right to word it as I see fit. On the other hand, if you are willing to pay for this link then by all means feel free to specify a particular page or location as well as how you want it to appear in the listing.
4. Never include trite statements such as “Please don’t let me down!” or similar expression. When I see one of these lines in an email I start to roll on the floor from laughter. In cases such as these I deliberately try to let the person down with a large “No thank you – I am not interested” type of reply.
5. Prior to sending your email out at least run a spell checker over it. Spelling and grammatical errors tend to detract greatly from the overall effect of your message. These appear very unprofessional and let’s face it why would I want to send my visitors to a website that would reflect unfavorably on me. Proofread your work several times before you click on that send button as it will save both of us from an embarrassing situation.
When I receive requests containing errors such as those above my first thoughts are that this person should never be involved in the SEO business in the first place. It is obvious that he does not know the first thing about building back links to a site.
Would I give people who commit these mistakes a link from my site? No, I would not. So if you want a link beware of making certain mistakes when you request this service from a webmaster of a site. Treat the person with respect, be polite and above all keep your attitude professional. Isn’t that exactly how you would want to be treated?
Copyright @2010 Joseph Parish
www.wordwriter.info
Swype for Android is now available to a limited users for a public beta. Earlier, it was only available to some users as a private beta, but Android users can get a public beta from Swype website.
Swype provides a faster and easier way to input text on any screen. With one continuous finger or stylus motion across the screen keyboard, the patented technology enables users to input words faster and easier than other data input methods—at over 50 words per minute.
Here are some details for the Swype for Android beta:
To get the Swype for Android beta, go to the Swybe Beta website and register. You will get an email then with the download instructions.
Post from: Sizzled Core
Lab Notes Is the email program dead? Did the whole world just migrate away from Hotmail over to Facebook when we weren't looking? Does anyone else care?…
Your BlackBerry address book is boring. It just lists your contacts in alphabetical order, like every other address book on the planet. Wouldn’t it make sense to have different organization options? I’d like, for instance, to have my address book by default sort my contacts by the frequency with which I contact them. That would make things a little easier. If you’re among those who don’t think that is a trivial functionality, you can check out SwooshContact. It’s a new application that gives you greater control over your address book.
Every time you contact someone in your address book, SwooshContact takes note. Then, when you go to your address book and choose to sort by activity, your contacts will be listed in order of how frequently you call, email, or text them. You can keep it in this mode, allowing you quick access, or you can choose other sorting options. These include date, name, company, or rank.
On that last item, you can manually add ratings to your contacts. Since it’s based on a star system, I was thinking about doing it like my iTunes library. Five stars are reserved for the untouchables — in this case, the people I’ll be calling when I’m 60. The four stars are the solids, the people I call when I’m in town or otherwise want to invite somewhere. Then the three stars are the average ones. Anyone two starts and below gets cut.
My only gripe with SwooshContacts is the price. You can get it for $4.99. It seems a little steep for an application like these, especially when VersaTool runs at the same price.
Hat tip to BlackBerry OS.
This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.
Better organize your BlackBerry contacts with SwooshContact
This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.
Better organize your BlackBerry contacts with SwooshContact
In February, Google acquired the iPhone mail search app reMail, and promptly removed it from the App Store. On Friday, reMail developer Gabor Csell announced that the reMail codebase is now open source.
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Despite the fact the Oscars has shown off a few extra features this year, like The League of Extraordinary Dancers and a performance from James Taylor, nothing has been as big a shock as seeing Steve Jobs walking the red carpet. The co-founder of the Cupertino=based company was found walking amongst the stars of Hollywood, managing to only stand out a little bit. At least to one person.
One blogger in particular spotted Jobs as he made his way into the Oscars. Wayne Sutton was the only member of the press shouting for Jobs’ attention, probably making him stand out more than anything else. Sutton responded to MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka by email regarding the picture you see here. He told Kafka that he was the only one yelling from his section of the bleachers, and that people were staring not only at him, but also Jobs, but only because they were confused why anyone would want to speak to someone not in a movie. Of course, there’s all sorts of reasons to want to speak to Steve Jobs, and we’re hoping Sutton was happy enough just seeing him.
So, why’s Jobs making an appearance at the Oscars? Well, he sold Pixar to Disney back in 2006, and the company is up for quite a few awards tonight. Of course, it’d be better if he was ready to hand out some iPads (right, Sutton?), but that’s probably not the case. Then again, if you didn’t see the iPad advertisement at the beginning of the big night, go ahead and head on over here to sneak a peak.
[via MediaMemo]
Relevant Entries on SlashGear
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Filed under: iPad
Talk about big premieres. Like it did with the iPhone and its "Hello" ad, Apple used the Oscars as the platform to debut its iPad commercial. The ad, set to the background of The Blue Van's "There Goes My Love," shows the iPad being used in a variety of ways: viewing a movie, reading an eBook, displaying photos, editing an iWork document and viewing email among them. The ad follows Apple's recent announcement that pre-orders for the device will be accepted beginning March 12, with shipments slated for April 3.
Here's a link to the ad at Apple's site. The ad is also embedded in the second half of this post.
As we noted on Twitter earlier, Apple chairman Steve Jobs was spotted on the red carpet before the awards... maybe he brought his iPad with him.
TUAWLike iPhone, iPad ad premieres at Oscars originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: iPad
Talk about big premieres. Like it did with the iPhone and its "Hello" ad, Apple used the Oscars as the platform to debut its iPad commercial. The ad, set to the background of The Blue Van's "There Goes My Love," shows the iPad being used in a variety of ways: viewing a movie, reading an eBook, displaying photos, editing an iWork document and viewing email among them. The ad follows Apple's recent announcement that pre-orders for the device will be accepted beginning March 12, with shipments slated for April 3.
Here's a link to the ad at Apple's site. The ad is also embedded in the second half of this post.
As we noted on Twitter earlier, Apple chairman Steve Jobs was spotted on the red carpet before the awards... maybe he brought his iPad with him.
TUAWLike iPhone, iPad ad premieres at Oscars originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
