Checking multiple sites for updated information is a hassle. FeedStitch combines not just multiple RSS feeds, but data feeds from popular social networking services to make keeping an eye on things easy. After signing up for a free account (or using your Twitter, Google, AOL, Yahoo, Facebook, or open ID login) you can start entering in RSS feeds and the usernames of Twitter, Flickr, Delicious, GitHub, and Tumblr you want to keep an eye on. You can then group various feeds and usernames into subsets, creating a new RSS feed or JSON file to track just the items you have specified. FeedStitch [via MakeUseOf]
Showing posts with label Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tips. Show all posts
Meebo adds Facebook and Myspace chat.
Meebo is a web-based chat client that lets you keep up with your AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk, and Windows Live Messenger contacts. Now Meebo has rolled out support for two more chat clients: Facebook and MySpace.
Gmail Offers Always-Secure Option
Gmail just made it easier for the coffee shop set and security-conscious types to always connect through https://. Gmail Mobile app users should note this glitch before doing so. [via]
How to Find Clever Web Domains Like del.icio.us
Are you stuck with a choice of good domain name ? Paris Hilton might have all the .com, .org., info(?), etc domains taken for her. What would she do to get a cool domain name for her ?
She should head over to domainfinder.geekfg.net and type a word or even a phrase. For instance, if she typed "Paris Hilton", it will suggestion parish.il/ton. Somehow, I could not get this thing to work on Firefox.
Via - Digital Inspiration
Technorati Tags: Domain Names, Hack
Disable Extension Install Delay in Firefox.
Whenever you install an extension, Firefox will show the above message box. Initially the Install button will be grayed out for 3 seconds, during which you have to sit there, watching the timer ticking down. Even though there are very good reasons why such a delay is put in force, still some of us have felt the need to remove that. How do you do that ?
- Type
about:configinto the Firefox address bar and hit enter. - Click on "I'll be careful, I promise!" button.
- Enter
security.dialog_enable_delayinto the Filter text box. Double click on that preference value and change the value to0
Enable Proxy Support for Prism.
We talked about Mozilla's Prism earlier. Prism is built on Firefox engine but has none of the Firefox bells and whistles.. There is no way you can directly change any settings. I am behind a proxy most of the time so I tried to figure out a way to setup the proxy for Prism. The method is not very intuitive but here it is.
- Run prism. The following dialog should pop up.
Typeabout:configinto the URL field. Give it a name like config and enable the check box Desktop to create a desktop icon. Click OK. - Once the above steps are done, an icon named config would have been created on your Desktop.
Double click that shortcut to see the following window.
Click "I'll be careful, I promise!" button to show the main configuration screen. - Type network.proxy into the Filter field.
- Double click on network.proxy.type and give it anyone of the following values:
0 - Direct connection, no proxy. (Default)
1 - Manual proxy configuration. (If in doubt, select this)
2 - Proxy auto-configuration (PAC).
4 - Auto-detect proxy settings.
5 - Use system proxy settings (Default in Linux). - Double click on network.proxy.http and enter the IP Address of your proxy server.
- Double click on network.proxy.http_port and enter the port of your proxy server.
- Repeat the above two steps for network.proxy.ssl and network.proxy.ssl_port
For your information, this is how my values look:
network.proxy.type = 1
network.proxy.http = 192.168.0.1
network.proxy.http_port = 8080
network.proxy.ssl = 192.168.0.1
network.proxy.ssl_port = 8080
That's all. You can now close the about:config window. Now prism should start working over the proxy.
Check Your Email Account for Impostors
If you've ever had suspicions that someone may be reading your email but you've never seen proof, weblog MakeUseOf details how to set up an "electronic tripwire" in your email account to keep you aware of email break-ins. The trick uses a web utility called OneStatFree to track file requests, and depends on the email snoop reading this email. Since OneStatFree will let you know if anyone tries downloading the file (and will log the time, IP address, and approximate location of the snoop), you'll know the snoop was there even if the he tries covering his tracks by marking the message as unread.
Are you Sure your Email isn't being Hacked? [MakeUseOf]
Get Translations in to GTalk
Google has integrated translation tools into its Google Talk and GChat interfaces through the use of chat bots. To have a line translated from English to French, for instance, invite en2fr@bot.talk.google.com to chat, then simply chat the line you want to see translated. The bots use Google Translate as their back end, which, as one Blogoscoped commenter notes, has quite a few languages in rough beta, so this tool should mainly be used for casual or on-point word or line translations. For more translation tools and tips, try Wendy's guide to translation sites.
Create Your Own iGoogle Theme with igThemer
Google's personalized start page iGoogle has opened the theme directory, but not everybody can dig through XML and JavaScript APIs and come up with a working, themed page. The igThemer web application makes it easy to change every detail of your iGoogle page and save the theme for your own use or listing on the directory. The big drawback is that you can't create a page that changes with the time of day, but it leaves you with a lot fewer nits to pick if you wanted to explore the API to find out how to do that, and it's an overall handy way to customize your start page experience.
Get the Most Out of Gmail with These Power Tips
Matt Cutts, an engineer at Google, asked his blog readers for tips on how to improve Gmail—and he then compiled his responses on how to maximize your Gmail experience. If you want to only read unread email in your inbox, you can perform a search for label:unread label:inbox. If you're looking to compile an email but want to compose your message in a new window, hit the "C" button (whereas lowercase "c" allows you to compile the email without opening a new window). Have your own Gmail tips? Let's hear them in the comments.
11 Power Tips for Gmail [Matt Cutts]
Get GNU Tools on Windows with UnixUtils
So you keep typing ls at the Windows command line instead of dir? Miss grep, wget, and tar on your PC? The open source UnixUtils project offers ports of "the most important" GNU command line utilities, including those listed as well as over 100 others. Usually we recommend using the Unix emulator Cygwin to get *nix command line goodness in Windows, but UnixUtils doesn't depend on the whole Cygwin layer to run—they're tried and true Windows executables. UnixUtils is a free download for Windows only. Thanks, Vijay!
UnixUtils [SourceForge]
Use Yahoo Mail as Document Storage
Two features Yahoo Mail has that Gmail does not (officially, anyway)—unlimited storage and "AddressGuard" disposable addresses—make it the ideal solution for keeping an online repository of important documents. Blogger Bert Webb does just that. He scans paperwork like birth certificates, warranties, copies of insurance cards and tax documents emails them to a disposable Yahoo Mail address set up to automatically filters them into a "Docs" folder in his email account. Of course, using Gmail's "plus sign" trick and its virtually unlimited storage, you could do the same there, too.
Turn your Yahoo Mail Into a Document Storage Lockbox! [via : Lifehacker - Open Loops]
How to add recent comments to your Blogspot blog
If your blog client of choice is Google's Blogger, odds are you've banged your head against a wall at least a few times wondering why Blogger can't be a bit more like WordPress or TypePad. While Blogger is incredibly easy to use, it's a bit more difficult to customize. But with a bit of work, you can tweak your Blogger site to near-perfection.
For example, while Google doesn't offer a "recent comments" widget, Blogger buster has created a simple widget generator that lets you build and add a recent comments section to your sidebar. You can customize how comments appear by choosing how many comments to display, whether to show the date or post titles, and how many characters to include in the preview.
[via MakeUseOf]
Set Up and Control Your Anonymous Browsing with Vidalia
Vidalia, a free, open-source, cross-platform application, makes setting up and configuring Web Proxy Tool TOR a snap, allowing you to surf the internet anonymously with a turn on/turn off utility. VIdalia sets up your system and helps you connect to, and monitor, Tor relays around the world, even letting you see the route your browsing is taking at the moment. You can also monitor bandwith usage and set up your own Tor relay if you want to contribute, but Vidalia's main appeal is the bundling of software and configuration tools that make Tor easy enough for anyone to use. Vidalia is a free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.
Vidalia [via Lifehacker]
Fixing the IE7 'Run Once' Problem
Go to Start > Run > and type "gpedit.msc", press enter.
"User Configuration" - > "Administrative Templates" - > "Internet Explorer->"Prevent performance of First Run Customize settings".
Open that option and change the settings to "Enabled" -> "Go Directly to your homepage".
Group Policy Editor might not have any effect on the computers that has disabled it. You can use this registry hack to disable the runonce annoyance.
"User Configuration" - > "Administrative Templates" - > "Internet Explorer->"Prevent performance of First Run Customize settings".
Open that option and change the settings to "Enabled" -> "Go Directly to your homepage".
Group Policy Editor might not have any effect on the computers that has disabled it. You can use this registry hack to disable the runonce annoyance.
Start regedit.exe from Start --> Run and find the key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
Change the "RunOnceHasShown" on the right to: 1
Beware of this GMail Security Vulnerability.
Gmail users might want to check your filters to ensure your account hasn't been hacked like this designer's. Google has fixed the vulnerability, but if you were exposed before the fix the filter could still exist in your Gmail account.
Make Your Windows Look Like A Mac !
FlyakiteOSX created a really easy way to transform your desktop into an OS X look & feel without a lot of trouble. Note: This installation will change a lot of files and install a whole bunch of utilities, so proceed with caution if you aren't prepared to deal with any problems that might happen. When you launch the setup you'll eventually get to this screen, where you should check the box for "Create System Restore Point", along with whichever options you want.
After installation and rebooting your computer, you'll be presented with a desktop that looks very much like OS X.
It even updates your shutdown screen… And the login screen… There's an included "System Preferences" application that looks just like the one in OS X, but works differently… when you click on the icons it will launch the relevant Windows settings panel.
If you have problems trying to remove this, remember that you setup a Restore point during setup. You can always return everything back to normal by using System Restore if you need to.
5 Firefox Tips You May Not Know About.
For Firefox, it seems that the finest tweaks are the most difficult to find. The browser is full of excellent shortcuts but its upto the user to find the most effective ones. Some of these very cool tips will make your browsing life easier...
1. Quick search - without going to a search engine first.
Are you reading a website and you subsequently discover a word or phrase that you want to put into a search engine? Up until now, I would just open a new tab, type in the URL for Google and manually type the word or phrase in. But it seems there is a faster easier way.
Just highlight the word or phrase with your mouse’s left-click button. Then drag the highlighted text into the address bar in the browser. Then press “enter”. Firefox will now perform a “Are you feeling lucky?” Google search for you.
2. Delete visited URL’s
When you drop down the box underneath the address bar, you can see your recent browsing history. But what if you want to remove one URL from that list? How to delete those ? Just drop down the URL box, highlight the URL you want to zap then press the “delete” button on your keyboard. The URL will then be removed from the list.
3. Navigate to browser tabs using the keyboard
Instead of using the mouse to click on a tab, why not use the keyboard instead? Pressing CTRL + TAB together will bounce you from tab to tab, starting from the one in the far left and working its way along. Or if you want to go to a specifc tab straight away, you can do that too. CTRL + 2 will take you directly to the second tab from the left. CTRL + 5 will take you to the fifth tab from the left.
4. Start downloads instantly
Instead of right-clicking on a download link, choosing “save to target” and pressing enter, just drag the download link to the “downloads icon” in the toolbar. The download will start automatically.
5. Grab files off webpages, even protected webpages
Have you ever wanted a picture, file or video off a webpage but you can’t, because it’s been protected? Just right-click on the page, choose “View Page Info” then the “media” tab. Find the file you’re looking for from the list and click on “save”. (note : this doesn’t work for everything but I have still had a pretty high success rate nonetheless).
Download ringtones/wallpapers to your mobile for free.
MyxerTones is directory with thousands of user contributed ringtones and wallpapers for your mobile. While some require payment most of them are free. Additionally, you’re provided with toolset to make your own ringtones and wallpapers from files on your computer.
MyxerTones Features:
- Browse catalog of free ringtones (over 150.000) or create one from existing music track
- Ringtones/Wallpapers sent to your phone for FREE
- Upload to-be-converted song/image from PC or indicate it’s web address.
- Browse ringtones by most popular, by artist, by category (Pop/Rock, Hip-Hop/R&B, Country, Latin, Christian, Gospel, Dance, Electronic, Classical, Jazz, Comedy)
- Browse wallpapers by popularity or category
- More Questions ? 1 - See if your phone is compatible, 2- How to request ringtones/wallpapers from outside US, 3 -FAQ section
- User Testimonial: “Great! The tones I have downloaded have all come out great, starting at good parts in the song and ending usually after a full verse. good job!“
Check out MyxerTones @ (www.myxertones.com)
Lets MIDI
This guide will show the different methods you can use to connect your MIDI Keyboard to your computer.
First a bit about MIDI...
MIDI data is not the same as sound data. What is transmitted over the wire is information on how to play a song, not the physical sound data itself. MIDI can be thought of better as a player-piano roll than a compact disk: just as the piano-roll instructs the player-piano to create the sounds, MIDI data tells a MIDI device which notes to play, patches (instruments) to use, and other information to help the instrument recreate the song. When you listen to a MIDI file, you're hearing an actual 'performance' by the instrument, not a 'recording' of a past performance.
MIDI was not designed to be used with personal computers, but since it is a digital interface, they actually work very well together. Combining at least one MIDI instrument with a personal computer and a MIDI interface (a device that allows the computer to "speak" MIDI) allows for many interesting applications.
Notation Software
With a music notation software, such as Sibelius, music can be played on a music keyboard or other MIDI instrument, and immediately be displayed on the computer screen. Mistakes can be corrected, and other musical symbols, such as dynamic markings, tempo changes, and even lyrics, can be entered to make a complete score. In effect, you have a music "word processor", and the advantages parallel those of using a word processor over a typewriter.
Sequencers
Another very popular piece of software is the MIDI Sequencer. This software allows you to create songs one "track" at a time, similar to a multi-track tape player, using a MIDI device. The difference is the sequencer doesn't record the sound but the actual "notes" and other MIDI information. Therefore, if a performer makes a few mistakes in an otherwise great performance, s/he can correct the wrong notes via the computer and all is well!
So, how do I connect a MIDI keyboard to my computer?
The first thing to do is to make sure that your MIDI keyboard has MIDI ports on the back. It is very rare to find a modern midi keyboard with out MIDI ports.
Here are your options:
- USB to USB
- MIDI to MIDI
- MIDI to USB port
- MIDI to soundcard gameport
USB to USB
MIDI to MIDI
Some of the audio interfaces combine Audio & MIDI I/O enabling your to connect your keyboard directly to your sound card.
MIDI to USB port
If your sound card doesn't have MIDI connections and your keyboard doesn't have USB then the next best option is a USB to MIDI interface.
These devices come equipped with a USB connection for your computer, and a 1 In/ 1 Out 16 channel MIDI connection to your MIDI keyboard. However if you had more than one MIDI device to connect such as a second keyboard or a sound module then multi port options are available.
MIDI to soundcard gameport
If you are using a standard computer sound rather that a music sound card then it may have a joystick port.
If you have a joystick port then all you need is a cable that has a on the other. 15 pin 'D' connector at one end and MIDI connectors
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