Download Squad

International Kindle users: change your country to avoid additional fees

Erez Zukerman — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business

Okay, so my earlier story about how Amazon is messing with International Kindle users made a bit of a splash. Quite a few things came up in my investigations before and after the story, but the basic fact remains: Amazon will add a fixed $2.00 surcharge to most items (which may or may not be a "roaming charge") if you're an international customer, even if you're using a WiFi-only device.

But I've now discovered something interesting enough to warrant a follow-up: It turns out that if you go to Amazon's Manage My Kindle page, you can simply set your country.

I think you must specify a valid address in your destination country (I supplied a valid one in Canada), but Amazon then simply takes your word for it.

As soon as I switched my country from Israel to Canada, the extra $2.00 per book simply disappeared. I could also suddenly subscribe to the NYT. I didn't actually try to do it, but it appears to be possible. Another side-effect was that Michael Pollan's Food Rules was suddenly unavailable, whereas before I was actually to buy the title for $7.20 (when my location was listed as "Israel").

What's interesting is that in talking to four different Amazon reps, not a single one has mentioned this option. Also, Amazon can easily verify your actual location in two different ways - IP address or billing address. Yet, for some interesting reason, they choose to let you specify the address manually, and then take your word for it.

To me, this feels like a legal work-around they've had to take due to content restrictions and distributors insisting on various deals. Could it be that this shifts the legal responsibility to the customer rather than leave it with Amazon? Maybe I'm completely off-base here, but I think such weird complications are often lawyer-induced.

Note that I still don't have the device itself, so I can't fully guarantee that this works, and for all I know, they might plug this hole tomorrow. What I can tell you is that right now it does change the pricing and availability of many Kindle items.

International Kindle users: change your country to avoid additional fees originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon Kindle - Canada - Michael Pollan - Wi-Fi - Israel

5 great content discovery sites which aren't Digg

Sebastian Anthony — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Social Software, web 2.0, Lists

Despite what you may have heard in the last two weeks, Digg is not dead. It is, however, a very different service than when it started. What used to be a great place to find interesting links and hilarious commentary has become, for almost all intents and purposes, a Twitter clone.

Digg isn't about to shut its doors, but I do get the feeling that regular, loyal Diggers are looking to take their custom elsewhere. Judging by the 'Reddit incident' on Monday, where Digg users revolted in favor of Reddit, it looks like a mass exodus might already have begun.

So, if you're a disenfranchised Digger, or if you're just looking for the best of the rest when it comes to social news aggregators and content discovery, take a look at this list of alternatives!

StumbleUpon

In my opinion, StumbleUpon is actually the most similar service to Digg -- at least if you're an end-user, rather than a 'Power Digger'. StumbleUpon is, without a doubt, the best way to discover the Web's hidden gems. In any given 'stumbling' session you can (and will) discover innumerable sites and pictures that make you go 'ooooh'.

The other great thing about StumbleUpon is that it learns from your browsing habits. By simply filling in your interests, and by processing which sites you thumbs-up or thumbs-down, SU tailors what kind of sites you'll be shown while stumbling.

There's also commenting, though they take the form of 'reviews', and there's no meta moderation -- just a raw stream of how much users love or hate a given website.

I've heard tales of people losing whole days to stumbling sessions. It's a little too easy to pop open a new tab and hit the 'stumble' button on the toolbar.

Reddit

Ah, Reddit. It's almost like a rags-to-riches story, with Reddit playing the role of Cinderella and Digg the ugly step-sister. Both services launched around 2005, but Digg has always received all of the riches and glory. Digg's new overhaul could mark the end of its supremacy, but I don't think Reddit is the natural 'next stop' for Diggers.

Reddit is completely different from Digg, but in a good way. You will still find a lot of fun and cool links on its home page, but it's actually more of a forum than anything else. You can post pictures, links or simply begin a discussion thread. Just like Digg, meta moderation is a key aspect of Reddit posts and comments, so funny and insightful commentary always bubbles to the top.

What sets Reddit apart is its huge list of boards (or categories). Check the right-hand list -- and also note how you can tailor your front page to show only the categories you're interested in. I love how each category, no matter how esoteric, has an even mix of text-only discussion and fantastic website links. It's a bit like a meta moderated 4chan...

As a crowning cherry, Reddit is also incredibly lightweight in terms of layout and interface. Page load times are, as a result, very fast.

Slashdot

Many, many years ago I used to read Slashdot. I actually stopped because I couldn't keep up with the sheer volume of news, and the huge thread of comments that each item generated.

Slashdot is, in many ways, the father of all modern news aggregators, and is actually a blog. News is submitted by users, and then Slashdot's authors pick and choose which items make it onto the site itself, sometimes adding their own commentary. The comments are where things really kick off, though, with some stories seeing more than 10,000 comments -- and of course, there is meta moderation, so you can choose what kind of comments you want to see; funny, insightful, informative or interesting.

If you like a more 'curated' news source, Slashdot is definitely the one for you. It's often not as 'bleeding edge' as Digg or Reddit, but in many cases, who cares if you hear about a technology breakthrough a day or two later?

Twitter

Don't hurt me! Yes, really, Twitter is a fantastic alternative to Digg.

I think we can all agree that Twitter is by far the best option when it comes to timeliness, but how do you sort the cream from the cruft? Twitter lacks meta moderation, so your best bet is follow twitterers that have already done the filtering for you.

It's pretty damn hard to sort tweeters by quality, but with directories like WeFollow and the lists at Listorious you can hit the ground running. It will be a bit hit and miss, but having the ability to curate your own news stream made from excellent, insightful and timely tweets is unbeatable. Be brutal with your unfollowing -- and follow lots of new people too! -- and you should have a veritable Ganges of cool content to sift through.

And of course, with millions of potential commenters, Twitter can be a goldmine for contemporary commentary too.

Yahoo! Buzz

To finish, I'm including a service that is, basically, old Digg. Yahoo Buzz, launched in 2008 (well before Google Buzz!), is almost completely derived from Digg. From what I can tell, the only real difference is slight editorial control over what appears on the front page.

As you'd suspect from Yahoo, Buzz is slightly more mature than both Digg and Reddit. A lot of the story submitters are just random Yahoo users (and thus, many of the popular stories are written by Yahoo!), but there's plenty of content from across the World Wide Web. You won't find any funny cat pictures or infographics, however!

Yahoo Buzz also has an editor-maintained site called The Buzz Log, which provides a great overview of the world's most important and interesting news.

Finally, there are localized versions of Buzz, with the top stories from UK & Ireland, Brazil, Mexico and so on.

5 great content discovery sites which aren't Digg originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twitter - StumbleUpon - Digg - Reddit - Yahoo Buzz

Renewed hope for Steam on Linux: Valve job boards looking for engineer to port Windows games

Lee Mathews — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Games, Linux

If we're to believe this new job posting over at Valve, reports of Steam for Linux's death may have been greatly exaggerated. As you can see, Valve is on the hunt for a senior engineer who can port Windows games to Linux.

If you recall VP Doug Lombardi's actual words, he never said Steam for Linux was dead -- only that they weren't currently working on it. Maybe that's because they just hadn't found the right man or woman for the job yet. As Sebastian pointed out to me, this doesn't necessarily mean "Steam for desktop Linux" -- it could just as easily have to do with embedded gaming.

Whatever the case may be, the news is certainly a bit more encouraging than Lombardi's interview.

[via Tech Drive-In]

update: as Kaushik points out (as do a few of our friends at Reddit) this one's a tad on the old-and-moldy side. Linux gamers, return to your pining...

Renewed hope for Steam on Linux: Valve job boards looking for engineer to port Windows games originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linux - Steam - LinuxSteam - Valve Corporation - DougLombardi

ColorPix is a fast, free Windows color picker

Chris White — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Design

I recently went on a search to find a good color picker for Windows that was both portable and fast so that I could stop making the trip to Photoshop whenever I needed to find a color value.

After trying a number of different applications, I was delighted to find ColorPix (an app from ColorSchemer, who is the developer behind the previously mentioned ColorSchemer Studio 2).

ColorPix has an interesting lock and unlock mechanic for selecting the color that you want to find. While the application is active, hitting any key will unlock the picker, which you can then move anywhere on your screen. Once you've found the color, hitting any key again will lock it in so that you don't accidentally nudge the mouse while clicking to make your selection. It also includes a magnifier window to help with pixel precession at several different levels of zoom.

Once you've locked in a color, you can click anywhere on the RGB, HEX, HSB, or CMYK values and copy the individual color for the mode that you're working in directly to the clipboard. If you want the HEX value, you can use the Ctrl+C shortcut to get it even faster.

My typical workflow consists of hitting Alt+Tab (to make ColorPix active), hitting Space to unlock the picker, finding the color I want, hitting Space again to lock it in, using the Ctrl+C shortcut to copy the HEX value, and then pressing Alt+Tab again to go back to the application that I'm working in. The grand total of time that I'm using is usually less then 15 seconds.

The only two features that I'd love to see added would be support for the HSL color mode and an option to change the RGB scale from 0-255 to 0-1.

ColorPix weighs in at about 600 KB and doesn't require an installation; that makes it perfect for storing on Dropbox so that it is readily available whenever I need it.

Apps like ColorPix make my workflow a little faster and my life a little easier. It's become one of my favorite productivity boosters that I use any time I'm doing design work. If you do a lot with color, it's definitely worth a download.

ColorPix is a fast, free Windows color picker originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows - RGB color model - CMYK color model - Download Squad - Adobe Photoshop

ComicRack, eComic reader and library management

Sebastian Anthony — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Utilities, Windows

First, let me disclaim that I do not read comics, nor manga, and I'm not a huge fan of anime. In fact, the only drawn-art medium that I really like is hentai. But enough about me! Today I've had the pleasure of using ComicRack, an eComics reader and manager.

I don't have anything to compare it to, but according to my friends it's the best comic reader out there. I can't really tell you if it'll make your comics more exciting or enjoyable, but I can tell you that it's a joy to use. Just drag an archive of images into ComicRack, and off you go! It supports every popular archive format -- ZIP (CBZ), RAR (CBR), TAR (CBT), 7Z (CB7) -- and even PDFs, with a little hackery. If you prefer a more organized approach (and I'm pretty sure most comic collectors like to keep things organized), you can create a folder for each genre, or each series, or whatever ~~tentacles~~ tickles your fancy!

Once you've imported a few archives, it's time to read some comics. ComicRack's reader is truly lovely. You can view comics inside the main 'library' view, but really you want to use the full-screen viewer. Then it's just a matter of sitting back, scrolling your mouse wheel, and reading. There's a particularly nice page transition, too.

Best of all, ComicRack is free to download, has an active forum community -- and there are even add-ons!

ComicRack, eComic reader and library management originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Comics - ZIP - Download Squad - Comic Book Archive file - Arts

Digg exposes its monthly website traffic -- turns out Reddit might be bigger

Sebastian Anthony — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:10:00 EST

Filed under: Social Software, web 2.0

In a truly epic Reddit thread, kicked off by an infographic from its lead programmer Chris Slowe, it has emerged that Reddit actually serves more page views than Digg. Reddit, with over 300 million page views in August, would seem to dwarf Digg's '200+ million'.

Page views aren't everything, though. Reddit's 'forum' style (and lighter format) is conducive to fast, frantic communication -- not to mention, Reddit users are actually having a conversation. I'm sure Reddit users hammer F5 more than their Digg brethren, too. Still, all talk of Reddit being the stumpy runt of social news aggregation should probably cease.

In terms of unique visitors, I'm fairly sure Reddit is still some way behind Digg, but at the same time there's evidence to suggest that independent analysis of Digg's traffic isn't accurate. One thing's for sure, though: if the titanic feces-flinging storm that surrounds Digg V4 continues, Digg won't stay on top for long.

Digg exposes its monthly website traffic -- turns out Reddit might be bigger originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reddit - Digg - Chris Slowe - Download Squad - Social news

Google Chrome 6 goes stable, 2nd birthday celebration brings extension and autofill sync

Lee Mathews — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:38:00 EST

Filed under: Google, Browsers

It's Chrome's second birthday today, and in addition to posting some fancy-schmancy images to celebrate Google Chrome's stable channel has been bumped to version 6. For those of you still keeping tabs on version changes, it's only been four months since Chrome 5 went stable.

The update means that all Chrome users can now take advantage of extension and autofill sync -- both important parts of Google's desire to keep your 'browsing platform' uniform across all the computers you use.

Version 6 also brings the new consolidated menu, richer content settings (JavaScript, plug-ins, notifications, and the like), and the first-run search engine selection screen. There's also a faster V8 JavaScript engine under the hood.

No announcement yet from the Chrome Blog, but we'll add a link once their official post has gone live. In the meantime, the Chromium blog has a breakdown of some of the more important security updates and feature additions.

Google Chrome 6 goes stable, 2nd birthday celebration brings extension and autofill sync originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Chrome - Google - Browsers - search - Clients

Google's "Things to do" helps you show the power of Google to non-techies

Erez Zukerman — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business, Google, Education

For most people, "Google" has become synonymous with "search". Heck, Cambridge dictionary lists it as a verb.

But as we all know, Google can do lots more than just search. You've got Gmail, and YouTube, and Maps, and the calculator, and a whole bunch of other Web properties.

While Gmail is enormously popular, not all Google projects fare so well (cough Wave cough). Even most of the search operators for Google itself are confined to the geekier crowd.

One thing Google UK has done to make its service more accessible to the non-geeky crowd is create Things to do. There's no US version at Google.com, but the British one is lots of fun, especially for guys who don't know Google so well.

It's basically a long list of things a normal person might want to do online (no, porn is not represented ... but that doesn't mean you're not normal, don't worry). The lines are couched in informal British English, which makes it all the more amusing. Being a nerd, I knew I could personalize my YouTube channel, but I didn't know I could "glam it up".

The whole page is a JavaScript accordion: Each tip has a + sign next to it. Clicking the line (or the sign) opens up the line, and you get a short YouTube clip demonstrating the feature, or a Search box for the specific service (for example, Google Scholar).

Bottom line: This is a very nice resource for sending to clueless friends who are wondering what sort of things they could use Google for. Saves lots of explaining - and hey, you might even find something that's new for you!

Google's "Things to do" helps you show the power of Google to non-techies originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google - YouTube - search - Search Engines - Google Wave

August browser stats show Android, Chrome on the rise

Lee Mathews — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Browsers

It's the beginning of the month again, and that means it's time for the big analytics guns to release their browsing snapshots once again. While there's not a lot of movement to report on for August of 2010, Google is no doubt pleased with the way things played out.

Android made a fairly major jump last month, climbing more than a full point -- from 7.91 to 9.22%. That gain came mostly at the expense of iOS and Symbian, both of which slid about half a point. Blackberry OS also continued to rise, finishing August up .5%.

On the desktop, Google surged ahead almost a full point to finish at 10.76%. That's nearly three times Chrome's user base from this time last year, and it's the first time Chrome has crossed the 10% mark.

And yes, Internet Explorer slipped yet again. IE is still dominant, yet it's also now dangerously close to slipping below 50% share for the first time ever. Perhaps the IE9 beta will help stem the tide -- it's due to arrive in less than two weeks.

August browser stats show Android, Chrome on the rise originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google - Google Chrome - Internet Explorer - Download Squad - Web browser

iTunes 10 now available to download

Sebastian Anthony — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:47:00 EST

Filed under: Audio, Apple

Just a quick note to say that the wait is over: iTunes 10 is now available to download. If the iTunes page shows the old logo, hit Ctrl+F5 to refresh the page.

For more details, check Jay's post -- or indeed, just peruse the Apple site!

There seems to be a lot of fallout over the 99-cent TV episodes, and the complete lack of Facebook integration in iTunes Ping -- we'll try to cover it in more detail later today.

iTunes 10 now available to download originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple - Facebook - iTunes - Download Squad - Logo

Windows Phone 7 goes RTM

Lee Mathews — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:45:00 EST

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows Mobile

Sure, Apple's been stealing most of the blog headlines this afternoon, but Microsoft has some pretty big news of their own. Today, Windows Phone 7 was officially released to manufacturing -- and the boys in Redmond are pretty stoked about it.

Microsoft's Terry Myerson certainly sounds pumped in the official blog post. "We've had thousands of independent software vendors and early adopters testing our software and giving us great feedback. We are ready."

As the Engadget crew points out, devices are unquestionably on their way -- but we're more interested in seeing some kick-butt apps and games... Which are also no doubt just around the corner.

Windows Phone 7 goes RTM originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft - Operating system - Apple - Windows Phone 7 - Software release life cycle

AutoCAD finally arrives on Mac -- iPad and iPhone, too!

Jay Hathaway — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Macintosh, Productivity, iPhone

Mac-loving engineers and architects, get excited: AutoCAD is finally coming to the Mac, and iOS devices, too. The last time AutoCAD ran natively on a Mac was well before OS X, before iPhones, and possibly before time itself: 1992. Let's not revisit those dark times, though, let's think about what this means for the future: no more running Windows on Parallels or Boot Camp just so you can have your Mac at work!

The Mac interface will be the same familiar AutoCAD everyone is used to from the Windows version, but it's been Mac-fied with Cover Flow and Multi-Touch pan and zoom. It uses AutoCAD's standard DWG document format, too, so it will play nicely with the Windows version (and some other CAD software.) The iPad version could be pretty amazing for presentations or changing a design on the fly, though. I can see the iPad becoming a stable in many architects' offices.

AutoCAD finally arrives on Mac -- iPad and iPhone, too! originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone - AutoCAD - Apple - Mac - .dwg

iTunes 10 introduces Ping social network for music (and a new logo!)

Jay Hathaway — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:50:00 EST

Filed under: Audio, Web services, Apple, Social Software

Apple has finally unveiled iTunes 10, and it comes with Ping, a built-in social network for music. Based on Steve Jobs' demo, Ping looks just like a Facebook/Twitter hybrid. The social graph connects the same way Twitter's does -- with a "follow" system, and a single on-or-off privacy setting -- but the activity stream is very reminiscent of Facebook. Posting photos and comments and "liking" things are all part of the package.

The music side reminds me of a third social network: last.fm. It uses iTunes data to create custom charts based on the people you follow. Bands can have their own Ping accounts, too, where they can be followed and interact with fans. If you follow a band, you'll get alerts when they're playing shows near you, and you can click a button to indicate that you're going. Of course, it's all pulled off with Apple's typical visual slickness.

The new iTunes 10 logo might be the bigger topic of controversy amongst design nerds. We all knew it was time for the CD to go (iTunes downloads now outsell CDs, anyway), but what do we think of the new glowing blue circle?

iTunes 10 introduces Ping social network for music (and a new logo!) originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twitter - Facebook - Apple - Steve Jobs - Social network

Apple reveals iOS 4.1, with Game Center, HDR photos, and bug fixes

Jay Hathaway — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST

The software centerpiece of Apple's fall event today was iOS 4.1, available for free download next week. The new version of the OS delivers the expected fixes for problems with Bluetooth and the proximity sensor, along with speeding up performance on iPhone 3G (finally!). It also packs two major new features: Game Center and HDR photos.

Game Center allows you to compete against your friends in any compatible game, unlocking achievements and moving up the leaderboard. It also introduces the possibility of live player vs. player games on the iPhone, with Push-powered notifications when someone challenges you. You can add friends or let Apple match you up with opponents. Existing popular games will be compatible with Game Center, too: Steve Jobs showed a screenshot of a leaderboard for the bestselling Angry Birds.

Jobs also showed off the new HDR -- High Dynamic Range -- photo feature, which allows your phone to take three photos and combine their color ranges into one rich image. Apple didn't invent HDR, but the feature is way easy to use, and the test images Jobs showed off looked fantastic.

There's also a bit of news about iOS 4.2, which is due in November. It adds printing support and a new wireless music streaming feature called AirPlay, which replaces Apple's old, familiar AirTunes.

[via Engadget]

Apple reveals iOS 4.1, with Game Center, HDR photos, and bug fixes originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple - iPhone - Steve Jobs - Game Center - High dynamic range imaging

About:labs lands in Google Chrome -- brings tab overview to Mac, side tabs to Windows

Lee Mathews — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Google, Browsers

Chromium -- Google Chrome's open source cousin -- recently debuted the new about:labs page which brings easier access to bleeding-edge features. The Labs page provides a simpler, GUI-based system for enabling things like side tabs which you previously had to activate via command line switches.

In the latest Chrome Canary update, Labs has arrived. That means Mac users can now enable tab overview (an Expose-like feature which shows all your open tabs) and Windows users can play around with side tabs -- no switches required! Just enable the feature on about:labs and restart, and you're good to go.

Remember, this has just hit Canary -- but the dev channel shouldn't be too far behind.

Hopefully Google will begin adding other features to the page now that it's made the jump to Chrome. First on our wish list; hardware acceleration!

Thanks for the tip, Jim!

About:labs lands in Google Chrome -- brings tab overview to Mac, side tabs to Windows originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Chrome - Download Squad - Google - Browsers - Open source

Check out some awesome HTML5 audio demos with Firefox 4 (video)

Sebastian Anthony — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Audio, Mozilla, Browsers

With so much continued competition surrounding the HTML5 video and canvas tags, one of the other major additions to the HTML5 specification has been all but forgotten by the media: HTML5 audio. Fortunately, the bearded magicians at Mozilla have slightly more foresight than we blood-seeking bloggers, and as a result Firefox 4 has a very cool new addition: the Audio Data API.

If you don't have Firefox 4 installed, or if you just want a quick overview of what you can expect from the next generation of HTML5 Web apps, watch the video above. If you have a nightly build of Firefox 4, play with the demos yourself! The 'beat detectors' require WebGL, which is easy enough to install.

As I discuss in the video, HTML5 audio has some really exciting applications. Combined with WebGL, in-the-browser, standards-compliant (cross-browser!) games become a reality. We'll soon see a YouTube Web app that lets you edit both video and audio -- you'll be able to normalize sound, play with individual channels, cut, splice and so on. How about TV-to-the-browser, with the end-user retaining complete control over the audio stream and its playback? Or, best of all, volume normalization -- imagine an HTML5 add-on that simply turns down the volume on really noisy pages. Bliss.

Finally, if you're a developer, or if you just want to play around with HTML5 audio, Mozilla already has some JavaScript libraries that make the development process both easy and fast. If you need proof, right click and view the source code behind the demos -- most of them use just a few lines of code!

I can't believe we're now able to write music with JavaScript... what a crazy and wonderful world we live in.

Check out some awesome HTML5 audio demos with Firefox 4 (video) originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mozilla - Firefox 4 - Mozilla Firefox - HTML5 - WebGL

FilerFrog adds loads of useful actions to your Windows context menu

Lee Mathews — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Windows

Want a way to put dozens of handy commands within two-click reach? Download FilerFrog and bolt it on to your context menu, and you'll have a wide array of new tools available via your right mouse button as you browse your files and folders in Explorer.

Unlike some context menu multi-tools, FilerFrog installs only a single item on the top level of the context menu -- everything else is tucked neatly into submenus. So what can FillerFrog do?

print directory contents
extract, split, and join files
move files up one level or to a recently accessed folder
copy the current path to the clipboard
resize images and swap formats
encrypt and decrypt files
quickly jump to favorite folders
perform bulk file renames

It's a nice assortment of tools in a single package, and it's not cluttering up my context menu the way some apps I've tested do. While I don't need most of these commands on a regular basis, I do like knowing that they're easy to get at when I do need them.

FilerFrog installers are available for both 32 and 64-bit Windows versions of Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

[via gHacks]

FilerFrog adds loads of useful actions to your Windows context menu originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 7 - Windows XP - Microsoft Windows - Windows Explorer - Context menu

Play for the Cause; get games cheap and support Child's Play

Chris White — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Games

It's easy to get fixated on Steam when it comes to digital distribution of games, but they aren't the only option for Windows users.

Starting today (and running through September 10), Stardock is running Play for the Cause and is donating a portion of the proceeds from their Impulse platform to Child's Play. Child's Play is an awesome charity that donates video games, toys, and movies to hospitals with the intention to help young patients get their minds off of whatever has them in the hospital and improve their lives during a potentially bleak time.

While I have great faith in the altruism of Download Squad readers, Stardock isn't going to give up the chance to sweeten the deal with some great sales, which may help you find your way to the purchase button. At the moment, they have 132 games on sale, including a bunch of really good titles and bundles at 50% off.

A few of my personal "can't miss" items include the Dragon Age Origins Bundle and the THQ Ultimate Bundle. If those aren't your style, take a look at The Sims 3, the Unreal Pack, Hearts of Iron III - Semper Fi, or Gothic II Gold. Stardock's fantasy strategy title Elemental: War of Magic was also recently released (though not at a discounted price).

If you want to donate more, there is also a convenient link to do so right on their home page.

Play for the Cause; get games cheap and support Child's Play originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stardock - elemental-war-of-magic - Video game - Impulse - Sims 3

Microsoft bringing back three-license Windows 7 Family Pack

Lee Mathews — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Windows, Microsoft

People were pretty excited when Microsoft officially announced the Windows 7 Family Pack, and with licenses for three machines for $150, there was good reason for that excitement. Last year, the limited run was sold out within about six weeks -- leaving a lot of potential customers in the lurch.

Don't fret! Assuming you didn't already go out and buy three licenses for your machines, you're going to get a second shot at the Pack. Yes, Microsoft is bringing back the Windows 7 Family Pack to celebrate the first anniversary of the Windows 7 launch on October 22nd.

Better news: this time, the deal will be available outside the U.S. as well. The lucky countries include Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, and Australia. Microsoft is leaving the door open a bit; other countries may still be added to the list.

As before, it's going to be a limited run, so make sure you grab a Pack as soon as you can.

Microsoft bringing back three-license Windows 7 Family Pack originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft - Windows 7 - Canada - France - Germany

Microsoft had a 'priority email inbox' way before Google, and has patents to prove it

Sebastian Anthony — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, E-mail

Much has been said about Gmail's new priority inbox -- all of it good! -- but it turns out that Microsoft Research has been working on similar technology since the 1990s.

Not only is there a slew of research papers detailing how the technology works (it sounds very similar to Gmail's priority inbox), but Microsoft also has a bunch of well-targeted patents filed as far back as 1999!

Is this just another case of Microsoft being beaten to the market? Back in 2007 Microsoft Research released the Outlook Mobile Manager which seems to forward prioritized email to your mobile device. TechFlash also points out that some of the announced updates for Hotmail sound like they use the same Microsoft Research technology. I think this is more a case of Gmail simply being more nimble than Hotmail; a case of Google being less bogged down by bureaucracy and conservatism. I fully expect Hotmail will receive the same (or better) priority inbox technology in the next few months.

And once Hotmail has a priority inbox, I can't imagine Microsoft will continue to let Gmail use the same technology -- especially if Google offers the priority inbox to its business and enterprise Google Apps customers. But at the same time, I can't believe Google would spend time developing and implementing a service only to have it quashed by Microsoft. I wonder how this one will play out...

Microsoft had a 'priority email inbox' way before Google, and has patents to prove it originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google - Google Apps - Microsoft Research - Microsoft - Gmail