Adobe Demonstrating iPhone Applications Built Using Flash
My Clippings October 10th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
While Apple’s iPhone has notably been left out of Adobe’s new initiative with Flash Player 10.1 to bring an integrated Flash experience to browsers on smartphones and other platforms, TechCrunch notes that Adobe has also been using its Adobe MAX 2009…
Sysinternals Disk2vhd helps migrate physical desktops to virtual machines
My Clippings October 8th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Microsoft, Freeware
Just released on TechNet is Disk2vhd, which is designed to create .vhd image files from physical hard drives. Like many other Sysinternals apps, Disk2vhd is tiny, free, and fully portable. It’s also available on live.sysinternals.com so you can run it right over the internet should you forget your trusty flash drive at an inopportune time.
The tool is dead simple to use: launch the executable, browse for a destination, choose which physical drive you want to image, and click create. Disk2vhd creates a snapshot that you can then mount in Virtual PC or HyperV, or as a virtual hard drive on a Windows 7 system.
Disk2vhd is compatible with Windows XP SP2 or newer. One word of warning: images over 127GB are not bootable in Virtual PC, so keep under the limit if that happens to be in your plans.
Sysinternals Disk2vhd helps migrate physical desktops to virtual machines originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Windows 7 – Windows XP – Microsoft – Microsoft Windows – Virtual machine
Tags: cli, email, flash, Google, Inc., IO, ma, Mac, man, Microsoft, php, wind, XP
NirLauncher puts hundreds of Nirsoft and SysInternals apps in one tidy package
My Clippings October 7th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Filed under: Security, Utilities, Freeware, Troubleshooting
NirSoft has developed a truckload of useful little applications over the years, many of which you’re probably carting around on a USB flash drive if you do any admin work.
Now, thanks to the availability of the NirLauncher beta, Nir’s applications are easier to download and use than ever. Included with the NirLauncher executable are more than 100 applications including password viewers for various apps, command line utilities, web video tools, and loads more.
As Nir points out on his blog post, at least one of the apps in the suite is probably going to trigger a false positive from your antivirus app of choice.
Continue reading NirLauncher puts hundreds of Nirsoft and SysInternals apps in one tidy package
NirLauncher puts hundreds of Nirsoft and SysInternals apps in one tidy package originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Download Squad – NirSoft – USB flash drive – Freeware – Winternals
Tags: cli, command line, email, flash, Google, Inc., IO, ma, man, php, security, video
Adobe Flash CS5 converts Flash to iPhone apps
My Clippings October 6th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Filed under: Developer, Games, Adobe
Flash is coming to the iPhone! Well, sort of. Adobe is showing off a new feature of Flash CS5 Professional that will convert Flash/Actionscript into iPhone apps. The public beta of CS5 with Flash Platform is due out later this year, but for now, you can test out some iPhone games that were created with the new system. For comparison, check out the puzzle game Chroma Circuit on the web and then on the iPhone.
This is good news for Flash developers who want to get their games into the App Store without having to write iPhone-native apps themselves, especially because it allows them to reuse the same code on the web or on Flash-friendly mobile platforms. This might mean that we’ll see some of our favorite Flash time-wasters on the iPhone, too. There’s also the possibility that the App Store will be flooded with the same awful Flash games that plague the web now. Developing a lame Flash game for the web doesn’t have the same $99 pricetag that signing up for the iPhone developer program does, though, so that might keep the quality of iPhone game offerings from taking a huge dive.
Adobe Flash CS5 converts Flash to iPhone apps originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: Apple, cli, email, flash, Google, Inc., IO, ISO, ma, man, php, script
Memoriser Helps You Get Your Facts Straight [Download]
My Clippings, Windows September 30th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Windows only: Learning through repetition is a proven method for learning new information. Freeware application Memoriser brings that repetition to the screen you stare at all day with a digital approach to flash cards.
Memoriser pops up questions at predetermined intervals while you use your computer to quiz you on whatever you’re trying to memorize. Similar to previously mentioned Mac-only flash card application Genius, Memoriser tracks the questions you get wrong and quizzes you more often on the ones you have the most trouble with.
Questions can be grouped into categories and each question can be individually toggled on or off. The one-at-a-time method of entering questions can be a bit slow, but you can hand-edit the questions.ini file in the Memoriser install folder if you feel comfortable with plain text. Memoriser is freeware, Windows only.
Let us know your best tricks for getting the stuff you need to know into your brain in the comments.
10 Useful Usability Findings and Guidelines
My Clippings September 26th, 2009 by System
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Everyone would agree that usability is an important aspect of Web design. Whether you’re working on a portfolio website, online store or Web app, making your pages easy and enjoyable for your visitors to use is key. Many studies have been done over the years on various aspects of Web and interface design, and the findings are valuable in helping us improve our work. Here are 10 useful usability findings and guidelines that may help you improve the user experience on your websites.
Form Labels Work Best Above The Field
A study by UX Matters found that the ideal position for labels in forms is above the fields. On many forms, labels are put to the left of the fields, creating a two-column layout; while this looks good, it’s not the easiest layout to use. Why is that? Because forms are generally vertically oriented; i.e. users fill the form from top to bottom. Users scan the form downwards as they go along. And following the label to the field below is easier than finding the field to the right of the label.
Tumblr features a simple and elegant sign-up form that adheres to UX Matter’s recommendation.
Positioning labels on the left also poses another problem: do you left-align or right-align the labels? Left-aligning makes the form scannable but disconnects the labels from the fields, making it difficult to see which label applies to which field. Right-aligning does the reverses: it makes for a good-looking but less scannable form. Labels above fields work best in most circumstances. The study also found that labels should not be bold, although this recommendation is not conclusive.
Users Focus On Faces
People instinctively notice other people right away when they come into view. On Web pages, we tend to focus on people’s faces and eyes, which gives marketers a good technique for attracting attention. But our attraction to people’s faces and eyes is only the beginning; it turns out we actually glance in the direction the person in the image is looking in.
Eye-tracking heat map of a baby looking directly at us, from the UsableWorld study.
And now the baby is looking at the content. Notice the increase in people looking at the headline and text.
Tags: advertising, Apple, Build, cli, email, flash, Google, Guideline, Information, IO, ma, man, Microsoft, nano, php, quick, Shopping, video, way, XP
Chrome Frame presents a golden opportunity for malware authors
My Clippings September 26th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from Google Starred
Filed under: Security, Google, Microsoft, Browsers
Microsoft says “hey, that thing just give malware more attach points and makes our browser less secure” — which cause a lot of chuckling around the blogosphere. After all, Chrome is a pretty secure browser and was the only one not to fall at Pwn2Own this year.
However, as Sophos Labs’ Mike Wood points out, there’s one big, nasty side effect that hasn’t been talked about: social engineering malware.
Attacks offering fake AV codecs are still commonplace. Recently a fake Flash plugin for Firefox was spotted — and we’ve all seen the numerous fake antivirus apps for Windows floating around out there.
So how long will it be before someone decides to inject a bogus “you need Google Chrome Frame” popup on some compromised website? There was a time when attacks like this were mostly limited to porn and warez sites, but nowadays it could even occur on a legitimate one like the New York Times.
No, it won’t be long before this happens and people start being duped into a malicious install. And when the proverbial sh*t hits the fan, scores of users and technicians who don’t know better are gong to blame IE8 for not being secure enough and recommend a browser switch.
Whether or not Google planned it that way (I’m going to go with not), this could turn Chrome Frame into a much bigger kick in the nuts for Internet Explorer than first thought.
Chrome Frame presents a golden opportunity for malware authors originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: cli, email, flash, Google, Inc., IO, ma, man, Microsoft, php, security, way, wind, XP
Ben Heck’s Latest Atari 800 Laptop Could Be His Best Yet [Atari]
My Clippings September 13th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
With the help of a GameCube power supply and the malleable magic hands of master modder Ben Heck, one lucky client can now play Buck Rogers and other classics on a positively portable Atari 800 laptop.
As Ben notes in the video, it’s really the vintage Atari keyboard that sells this thing. The clickity clack is unmistakable, soothing and flashback inducing all in one—he even managed to get the thing to pop up at near the same angle as the original!
Some more specs, courtesy Ben’s web site:
- Base unit is Atari XEGS motherboard, as usual.
– XE 130 RAM expansion built-in.
– Uses MyIDE circuitry and custom OS ROM to use a 2.5? PATA hard drive. Very fast! You can check out Mr Atari’s site here.
– Large 15? screen, similar to the C64 laptop but this one is better looking and shinier (obviously important)
– Uses original, new-old-stock Atari 800 keyboard. This is probably the best keyboard in the history of computing, so it was worth including, despite the complications (see story)
– Flush-mount cartridge slot.
– Amazing old-school styling!
Oh, and there’s the classic Ballblazer too:
Tags: blockquote, flash, IO, video, XP
Facevsion’s FXexpress Pro brings 1080p video conferencing to the mass market
My Clippings September 13th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
Full HD video conferencing has been available for some time – provided you can afford to spend over $20,000 on a product like Cisco’s TelePresence 500. Until now that is. FaceVsion’s FXexpress Pro is an ExpressCard-based hardware accelerator with an HDMI input, capable of encoding and decoding 1080p H.264 video at 30 frames per second in real-time for 1080p video conferencing – and it’s available for under $200. Gizmag’s Tim Hanlon talked to Facevsion at IFA 2009 – click through for the video…
Tags: ExpressCard,
FaceVsion,
FXexpress,
HD,
HDMI,
IFA 2009,
Netbook,
Video Conferencing
Related Articles:
- Belkin HDMI 2-to-1 Video Switch
- Apple introduces iSight video conferencing camera
- Samsung’s all-in-one HD video conferencing monitor
- TANDBERG debuts 1080p telepresence system
- Apple’s peripheral merry-go-round: FireWire is back, ExpressCard is wack
- Sandisk launches new high-performance Flash memory cards
Bird Beats Broadband! Pigeon Flies 4GBs Faster than South African DSL [Broadband]
My Clippings September 10th, 2009 by System
Automatically pulled from My Clippings on NewsGator Online
South Africa‘s broadband has got to be feeling pretty ill-equipped today considering a real, wing-flapping pigeon beat its transfer speeds. No really, a company found out that sending a bird with a 4GB USB drive was faster than uploading.
That has got to hurt for Telkom, one of South Africa’s main ADSL providers, but damn is Winston the pigeon feeling like the man today. He is telling all the other pigeons, how it took him two hours to carry the strapped-to-his-back flash drive 60 miles to the company’s second office in Durban. In the same time the broadband service had only sent 4 percent of the data. You do the math but that is pretty damn slow upload speeds. No wonder the guys at Unlimited IT first joked that a bird could send files faster.
This is just the kind of story I want to read to children at night (I’m thinking the picture book is called “Winston and the Broadband”). Let’s hope South Africa gets those fiber optic lines installed soon or else a crap load of bird seed. [BBC]
Tags: flash
