Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/29/asrock-readying-three-ion-powered-nettops-one-with-a-bd-drive/
Filed under: Desktops
ASRock readying three Ion-powered nettops, one with a BD drive originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/29/digital-camera-inventor-steve-sasson-collects-honorary-phd-econ/
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Digital camera inventor Steve Sasson collects honorary PhD, Economist award originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/29/samsung-shows-off-color-e-paper-prototype-pvi-might-beat-it-to/
Filed under: Handhelds
Samsung shows off color e-paper prototype, PVI might beat it to market in 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/29/ubuntu-9-10-karmic-koala-launching-today-could-decide-your-fu/
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Ubuntu 9.10 'Karmic Koala' released, could decide your OS fate originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/29/best-buy-offering-droid-pre-orders-as-of-today-automates-the-ma/
Filed under: Cellphones
Best Buy offering DROID pre-orders as of today, automates the mail-in rebate originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/29/qooq-recipe-and-cooking-tablet-pc-launched-for-french-speakers-o/
Filed under: Handhelds, Household
Qooq recipe and cooking tablet pc launched for French speakers only originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Yep, you can use GazoPa's simple drawing tool to roughly outline the type of image you're looking for, and GazoPa will use its search prowess to find, well, something akin to what you scribbled. As you can see from the test result below, it knows the basic shapes and color tones you're going for, but we don't have to worry about CyberNet overtaking collective human intelligence just yet.
For images you're passing on a URL or upload for, GazoPa seems a lot more serious and useful. Hover over an image to get a good deal of info, or to perform another similar search for that picture. The Flickr integration is very useful, allowing for Creative Commons licensing filters, and video search worked for a quick Google demonstration frame I uploaded.
GazoPa is free to use, no sign-up required.
Just like on a mobile browser, Voice's interface is surprisingly spry for such a pared-down site, but it's also lightning fast running on a desktop or laptop. The app allows you to play and pause voicemail messages through your system's audio, set up calls with your hooked-up phones, and run through your contacts and search your SMS and transcription history. With Google Voice no longer requiring a new number, this little app might be a nice introduction to the service for those who don't want to commit to keeping a browser tab open all day.
Google Voice Desktop is a free download, works on any system with Adobe AIR installed.
iPhone only: Whether you've found yourself in a foreign land or you just need a little help with a foreign-language menu, snap a pic with PicTranslator and let it translate for you on the fly.
As you can see in the demo video, it works about how you'd hope. You just take a picture of the text you want translated, choose the language you want to translate from, and let PicTranslator work its magic. Once you know the (hopefully correct) translation, you can even ask PicTranslator to help you pronounce the foreign-language version.
By default you get one language with the $1 purchase of the app, but you can also purchase other language packs inside the application for roughly $1 each. I tested out the app with a Spanish menu, and the translation was fast and impressively accurate, especially when I narrowed it down to specific items.
PicTranlsator will set you back $1 in the iTunes App Store, works with the iPhone only.
I've been aching to run Aero and other nice Windows 7 eye candy in my Windows 7 virtual machine for a while now, so upgrading to Fusion 3 has been a nice improvement to what was already a really nice 2.0 release
The catch, of course, is that VMware Fusion isn't cheap. You can try it for free, but if you decide you want to keep using it, it'll set you back $80 new, $40 if you're upgrading. It's up to you to determine whether that's worth it to get Windows 7 up and running on your Mac in all its full Aero glory.
Update: Reader Chris points out that Aero support is only offered with a minimum graphics card of the NVIDIA 8800 GT, so unfortunately it's still not for everyone.
Once you've installed the application and selected photo folders to add to the gallery, you can choose from a number of PhotoToys, which are just desktop widgets that show off your photos in various ways, you can activate a collage of photos on your desktop, or you can choose from one of the screensavers to show off your photos while you are away from your PC. You can browse through the web site and find more collages, widgets, and screensavers if the ones that are built in don't appeal to you. PhotoJoy is a free download for Windows only.
Now that the air is properly cleared, we're here to announce PortableApps as the winning portable application suite, followed by Liberkey, which in turn is followed portable Linux. Check out the full Hive Five for additional information on all the contenders.
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/K1TQiPz2vYc/google-images-adds-similar-search-function
From a cursory few searches, Google's own similar image search seems to perform a bit more accurately when it comes to hunting down real-life images that look like other captured images. You can't upload or draw your image basis, as with GazoPa, but then you get greater results filtering with Google as well—exact dimensions, color saturation, file type, and more.
Both sites are worth keeping bookmarked if you're often digging around for something just a little different than what you're working with.
AccidentSketch uses a simple template system. Cars, road segments, signs, pedestrians, and more all snap to the grid and in the case of small objects like signs can be moved from there. You can change the colors of things, zoom in and out to get as close or wide as you need, and even assign information to parties involved like the license plate numbers of the cars in the accident.
Once you create a diagram you can also generate a text-based report to fill in details that can't be easily conveyed by the picture. When you're done you've got a tidy accident sketch and report to submit to the interested parties. The service is free and requires no registration.
Have a handy tool and tidbit for dealing with insurance companies and life after a fender-bender? Let's hear about it in the comments.
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/FqqeciFsi5E/trick-out-google-apps-for-your-domain
What the what? Sometimes we refer to all of Google's regular, free, public products as "Google Apps," but today we're referring to the product formerly known as "Google Apps for Your Domain" as just plain "Google Apps." (Note to Google: Come up with a clearer naming convention.) Give this flavor of Google Apps a domain name you own—like yourfamily.org or example.com—and it puts Google services behind it. If you've got a regular Google Account and you@gmail.com email address, that's cool—you can forward mail for you@yourdomain.com address to and from it. But Google Apps lets you create and manage several users associated with your domain and enable various services for them. Google Apps (for your domain) comes in several flavors: Standard Edition (free for individuals and non-affiliated groups, what we're going to cover here), Premier Edition (for businesses), Non-Profit Edition, Education Edition, and Government Edition.
The two key advantages to using Google Apps this way are: 1.) you get a custom you@yourdomain.com email address that you can take with you to another email provider if Gmail goes away or you want to transfer it. Your regular @gmail.com address is married to Google's service, so you can never use it with another provider. 2.) You get system administrator-level capabilities for setting up your workgroup's IT needs with Google's easy interface. We've already done an overview of what Google Apps can do; if you haven't already, here's how to get it set up with your domain.
If you're not using Google Apps but you're interested, know that it takes a low level set of system administrator skills to get it up and running. You'll need to configure domain settings, such as your email MX record for your domain at your registrar. It depends on who you used (I recommend NameCheap), but most likely your registrar offers a settings panel to configure these things. You'll also have to verify your domain by adding files to the web site, most likely via FTP or another method.
With me? Good. Take a look at some of the gems buried in Google Apps' administrative interface. Access it at google.com/a/yourdomain.com, replacing the "you! rdomain. com" part with, well, your domain name.
Google Apps give you the option to give your domain a human-readable label beyond just example.com. For fun and an inflated sense of self-importance, I called mine "Gina Trapani Enterprises," which you'll see in many of the screenshots here. You can set up your domain's name in the Google Apps Dashboard, under Domain Settings>General. You and your domain users will see this name in your apps tab titles, and when you sign into any service.
If you click on the "More Services" link, you'll see more (less popular) services, like Contacts (for accessing your contacts list outside Gmail in Calendar and Docs), Sites (which appears to be a simple intranet application), custom applications hosted on Google App Engine, and even Labs services that include a URL shortener and Google Moderator. I haven't used any other services extensively besides Gmail, GCal, and GDocs in my Apps account, but the more adventurous should dive right in.
(While you're there, it can't hurt to check off "Enable SSL" box in the section below that to encrypt your users' sessions automatically for a higher level of security.)
Essentially, Google Apps Standard Edition gives you IT director-level administrative control over your workgroup's domain, for free. For more adventures in Google Apps migrations, see Scott Hanselman's thorough writeup on how he switched his family from Outlook and Thunderbird to Google Apps.
This article only scratches the surface of what you can configure Google Apps to do. GApps users, what are your favorite tips and settings? Give 'em up in the comments.
Gina Trapani, Lifehacker's foundi! ng edito r, likes her GApps goodness and a portable domain name, too. Her weekly feature, Smarterware, appears every Wednesday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Smarterware tag feed to get new installments in your newsreader.
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