Saturday, October 18, 2008
Work
Test-Drive Mobile Firefox Alpha 1 On Your Desktop
8:27AM Gina Trapani | All platforms (Mac/Windows/Linux): You caught a glimpse of the new Mobile Firefox alpha running on a Windows Mobile device last week, but today you can check out the alpha from the comfort of your desktop. Codenamed Fennec, the Mobile Firefox alpha 1 build gives you a neat look at what’s to come on your smartphone and other handheld devices from Mozilla. As the welcome screen instructs, click and drag right to see tabs, and click and drag left to tinker with the software’s controls. Fennec is only alpha, and it does show, but it’s a promising look at Firefox’s take on mobile browsing. Fennec M9 (user experience alpha) for Maemo release notes [via Download Squad] More »
Work
TaskExplorer Is Attractive, Powerful Task Manager
8:00AM Adam Pash | Windows only: Free application MKN TaskExplorer is a Windows Task Manager replacement packed with options, system information, and pretty graphs. We’ve highlighted tons of alternative task managers in the past, but TaskExplorer still manages to stand out with a great, uncluttered interface and easy to read stats. MKN TaskExplorer is freeware, Windows only. MKN TaskExplorer [via Download Squad] More »
Fix
iGoogle Sidebar Collapse Removes The New iGoogle Sidebar
7:00AM Adam Pash | Firefox with Greasemonkey: The iGoogle Sidebar Collapse Greasemonkey script toggles the visibility of the new iGoogle sidebar with the click of your mouse or with a user-defined keyboard shortcut. We gave you a closer look at the new iGoogle with canvas view yesterday, but many people aren’t happy with it. You main complaint: The new sidebar eats up a substantial chunk of screen real estate. iGoogle Sidebar Collapse reclaims that stolen space, collapsing and expanding the sidebar at your will. Thanks Nicholas! Rockmaster’s iGoogle Sidebar Collapse [Userscripts.org] More »
Design
Shock Desktop 3D Is Like BumpTop But Available Now
6:01AM Adam Pash | Windows only: Like the look of BumpTop but not part of the invite-only beta? Free application Shock Desktop 3D is a lightweight BumpTop alternative that turns your Windows desktop into a 3D environment where you can interact with your documents in a physical space. The video above—put together by reader y0himba< —demonstrates some of Shock Desktop 3D's interface in action. If you like the look of BumpTop, Shock Desktop 3D looks like a nice alternative. With either option you'll need a decent video card and be willing to sacrifice a little memory (Shock Desktop 3D eats about 35MB on my system), but if the 3D desktop seems more intuitive to you (or you just want to have a little weekend fun), it might be worth a try. Thanks y0himba! Shock Desktop 3D More »
Fix
Dust Your Keys With A Keyboard Brush
5:00AM Gina Trapani | When a can of compressed air is overkill for getting that light layer of dust and crumbs off your keyboard, you might just want a keyboard brush. You can pick up one of these soft brushes with long fibers that get between your keys without pressing them for about five bucks at an office supplies store. I scored one as a freebie at an event, and it’s the perfect thing for someone who’s anal about a dusty keyboard—especially a black keyboard that shows off all the dust particles living on it—but doesn’t want to bust out the compressed air once a week. Staples Keyboard Brush [Staples] More »
Work
Chrome Speeds Up, Zips Ahead Of Firefox
4:45AM Adam Pash | The browser speed wars continue, and this time Chrome’s throwing down the gauntlet once again. According to CNET, the latest developer build of Chrome outpaces Firefox 3.1 beta in the SunSpider Speed test, while Safari and IE 8 continue to lag behind. Be sure to check our most recent browser speed tests for a fuller picture of performance differences. More »
Work
ConceptDraw Mind Mapping Software Free For A Limited Time
2:00AM Adam Pash | Windows/Mac OS X only: The robust mind mapping and brainstorming application from ConceptDraw—normally a whopping $US200—is free for a limited time. The app is packed with features, making it a great standalone, but it also plays nice with Microsoft Office apps. If our guide to mind mapping piqued your interest but you weren’t keen on the tools we used, ConceptDraw’s excellent solution is worth a download. I’m having a tough time determining whether this offer is for the both the Mac and Windows version or just one, but I’ll update when I get to the bottom of it. Update: The free licence key works on both Windows and Mac versions of ConceptDraw MindMap, but there’s a trick to it. More »
Design
Xtranormal Makes You The Director Of A 3D Clip
1:00AM Kevin Purdy | Xtranormal, a free 3D animation creation and sharing tool, is a seriously addictive sandbox for crafting miniature dramas, comedies, or whatever you can tell your little actors to do. The clip editor works like a storyboard that you drag story changes onto. So in one “scene,” for example, you can have the camera switch to a close-up view, have your character wink and then recite some decent text-to-speech dialogue, then have them cross their arms and make the camera go for an overhead shot. You can add another character, change the backdrops, turn the camera positioning to automatic, and generally spend way too much time being an online Hitchcock (or Scorcese, or Tarantino, or any other name you care to drop). Building the movies takes a good chunk of time, and sometimes fails entirely, though that might be due to early-discovery traffic. Xtranormal is free to use, requires a sign-up to save your clips for later editing. Feel free to share links to your own mini-epics in the comments. Xtranormal [via TechCrunch] More »
Fix
