Filed under: Internet, Video, Web services, web 2.0

Still reeling from DivX shutting down its Stage6 online video site? Vreel is here to help. Or it will be soon anyway. Vreel, or the Stage6 clone formerly known as DivXit, is preparing to launch a new online video sharing site featuring a high definition video player like the one formerly used at Stage6. Of course, we heard the same promises almost 2 months ago when Vreel was first announced. But now the team behind the site have released a super-short promotional video that seems to indicate that... well, not much really.

The How To Geek, on the other hand, has a more in-depth look at the new service and an interview with the site's founder. The new site uses the DivX Web Player and a decent looking site navigation. One nice feature is a pop-out button that lets you watch videos in a separate browser window.

Vreel is currently in private beta and accepting beta testers, with a full launch to follow once a few bugs have been worked out, including problems with files uploaded that don't have a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Internet, Google, Mozilla

If you've been waiting patiently for Google to update Google Browser Sync to run on Firefox 3, it looks like you can stop waiting. Lifehacker reports that the company has decided to discontinue development of the product.

Google Browser Sync provides Firefox 2 users a way to synchronize their bookmarks, history, cookies, and saved passwords across multiple browsers on multiple computers. In other words, you can use the program to make sure the settings on your home browser are identical to your settings on your browser at work.

According to a Google representative, the folks who had been working on the browser plugin had moved onto other projects. But honestly, we're not surprised to see that Google Browser Sync is no longer a priority for Google. Mozilla is now working on its own synchronization service called Weave, which lets you synchronize bookmarks and browser history across multiple computers.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Google, Googleholic, web 2.0

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google! In this edition:

• Upload PDFs to Google Docs
• Google I/O sessions now online
• Edit the Google Mobile page
• Easy way to export gCal ICS files
• Use Google Docs for Craigslist ads
• Google's agreement with Yahoo!

Continue reading Googleholic for June 13, 2008

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Windows, Freeware, Browser Tips

The makers of the Opera web browser don't officially make a portable version of the browser that can be run from a USB stick. But if you want to run the recently released Opera 9.5 browser without installing it or making any changes to your registry, one third party developer has got you covered with Opera 9.5 USB.

All you need to do to run Opera 9.5 USB is unzip the program folder to your hard drive or to a USB stick. You can run the program without affecting your current Opera versions or other web browser settings. And you won't leave any data on the host computer, so if you want to borrow a friend's computer without leaving access to your browser history behind, Opera 9.5 USB cold come in handy.

If you're more of a Firefox person, you can also grab a portable version of Firefox 2 or Firefox 3 RC2. Like Firefox Portable, Opera 9.5 USB is Windows only.

[via CyberNet]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Web services, Google, Social Software, AOL, web 2.0

Facebook has put out their chat service, Google has Google chat. There's no desktop app for Facebook, but there is one for Google chat.

Confusing, and annoying. It's also confusing and annoying to have to use those services in separate programs or multiple tabs in a web browser.

AIM is probably the most popular IM service known to man and woman, iChat for Mac...these are both desktop experiences.

Enter Gabtastik.

For Windows XP and Mac OS X, Gabtastik wants to take your browser chatting to the desktop where a lot us feels that it should stay. The program takes you to a page just like a web browser would to log in. It did seem a little slow to pull in Facebook data. That could be an issue.

You can switch back and forth between Facebook chat and Google, as well as change the opacity of the application itself so that it doesn't become an annoyance by overpowering your desktop. Make it invisible if that floats your boat.

This is a great way to not be tethered to either site via browser 24/7 and still be in contact with your friends who either are tethered or are cool enough to use something like Gabtastik. The downside is that you still have to have AIM or iChat up along with this if you use them too.

Gabtastik calls itself a "Site Specific Browser" for web chat services, so will other services be included as they pop up as well? Let's hope so!

Gabtastik is not the first to do pull these services away from their respective sites, Digsby handles it, and so does a sweet Firefox trick.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: OS Updates, Hardware, Macintosh, Apple, Commercial

Been thinking about trying to install OS X on your non-Macintosh PC, but don't feel like hacking a bunch of configuration files to get the system up and running? In another week or two, you may not have to. EFiX plans to release a bootable USB stick that is purported to have software that will let you install OS X on any PC, as long as you have a retail installation DVD.

Keep in mind, even though you will need to buy a legal copy of OS X to use this method, installing OS X on a non-Apple machine is still a violation of Apple's terms of use.

It's not entirely clear how the EFiX USB stick works, but it does appear to work -- under some circumstances at least. OSx86 contributor netkas got his hands on an early version and shot the video above showing what happens when he used the stick with an OS X restore disc and his Macbook. You won't be able to get your hands on one until the developers begin selling the USB sticks on June 23rd.

[via Hack A Day]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Mozilla, Beta

Sure, Mozilla is preparing to release the final version of Firefox 3.0 next week. But that doesn't mean the development team is going to take a break anytime soon. You can take an early look at some of the features that will be included in the next version of Firefox. Here are a few of the things planned for Firefox 3.1:

• A new visual tab switching feature will work like the Alt+Tab switching feature in Windows Vista (in other words, you can see thumbnails of open tabs). If you want to check out this feature before it's officially added to Firefox, you can download the Ctrl+Tab extension for Firefox 3.0 now.
• Download history will be added to Places.
• Support for bulk bookmark tagging and tag autocompletion
  

Firefox 3.1 alpha is scheduled for a mid-July release.

[via Mozilla Links]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Utilities, Features, Windows, Freeware

It happens to all of us. As we get older, we find it a bit harder to read the text on our computer screens, or make out fine details on digital images. OneLoupe can help. This tiny Windows utility (like, 22kb tiny), hangs out in your system tray until you need to zoom in on an area of your desktop. Then you just click the OneLoupe icon, move your mouse to the portion of the screen you want to zoom in on, and you too can see a highly pixelated version of any web page, picture, or other media.

The zoom window is resizeable. All you have to do is hit the up, down, right, or left arrow keys on your keyboard to stretch or shrink the window. And you can zoom in and out by hitting the plus or minus buttons or scrolling your mousewheel.

Want to save a zoomed image to your clipboard? Just hit B to save a bitmap and you can paste your image into any program.

[via gHacks]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Video, Macintosh, Linux, Open Source

There are plenty of media center suites designed to let you access photos, videos, and music stored on your PC or the web using a TV screen and remote control. But Boxee, which launches in private alpha on Monday is a bit different from Windows Media Center, MythTV, or other media center suites. That's because Boxee doesn't just let you access your media, it lets you share media and recommendations with other users. Eventually, the company plans to add Facebook integration so you can access your social networking data on a TV screen.

Boxee is based on the open source XBMC project. That means anyone can develop add-ons for the media center suite. Currently the software runs on Linux or Mac, with a Windows version coming later this year. Down the road, the company is hoping to bundle the software with set top boxes so you won't need to plug your PC into your TV to use Boxee.

The software supports a wide array of video formats and resolutions, including 1080p HDTV. But it does not support DRM, which means you won't be able to watch videos purchased from stores like iTunes or Amazon Unbox.

Boxee launches in private alpha on Monday, but you can sign up for an invitation on the company web site today.

[via NewTeeVee]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Design, Internet, Social Software, web 2.0

MySpace is set to roll out a major site redesign next week. Don't worry, MySpace will still be the flashy and obnoxious older sibling to more subdued social networks like Facebook and Orkut. But it'll be a bit easier to navigate, and it will be easier for users to customize their own pages without any HTML knowledge.

Users will be able to edit profiles by using a new sidebar utility that lets you pick a template and change the color scheme. MySpace will also be changing the way it displays search results by providing a series of tabs you can click on to see results from all of MySpace, the web, or just user profiles, videos, or music results.

While most of the changes won't be visible until next week, MySpace has already updated its video player. The new player features easier to use controls, and support for Flash 9, which means you can watch high resolution videos on MySpace TV.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments