Download Squad http://www.downloadsquad.com Download Squad http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.downloadsquad.com/media/feedlogo.gif Download Squad http://www.downloadsquad.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Web Toolkit: Find out who else is on your web host with MyIPNeighbors]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/03/web-toolkit-find-out-who-else-is-on-your-web-host-with-myipneig/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/03/web-toolkit-find-out-who-else-is-on-your-web-host-with-myipneig/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/03/web-toolkit-find-out-who-else-is-on-your-web-host-with-myipneig/#commentsFiled under: , ,

myIPneighborIf you have a web site, you're probably using shared hosting. Shared hosting, for those unfamiliar with it, is when a company takes a single web server and hosts many web sites on it, sharing the web serving duties and making it possible for the company to make a profit while offering us $3.99/month hosting plans.

While it may be economical, sometimes shared hosting means your site is slow depending on whom you're sharing your site with. For example, if someone has a blog that is hosted on the same server your domain is hosted on and they have a really popular post (perhaps getting on Digg), the server will become slow under the heavy load. This heavy load can bog down the server and make it slow, sometimes unresponsive for everyone else being hosted on that server.

Enter myIPneighbors.com. By giving them a website's address or IP address, they report back with how many other websites are being hosted on the same server as yours. For example, my site is sharing it's web server with 191 sites. Yikes, that's a lot!

If you're having performance issues with your web site and you feel the server might be to blame, check out myIPneighbors and assess for yourself if you web host is spreading it's resources too thin. Depending on your analysis, a web host change might be in your future!

Web Toolkit: Find out who else is on your web host with MyIPNeighbors originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 03 Feb 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>myIPneighborsweb hostWebHostSun, 03 Feb 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[BBC's iPlayer adds support for Firefox]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/02/bbcs-iplayer-adds-support-for-firefox/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/02/bbcs-iplayer-adds-support-for-firefox/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/02/bbcs-iplayer-adds-support-for-firefox/#commentsiPlayer
Rumors have been swirling for months that the BBC was going to allow users of their iPlayer service to access the popular player on a computer or platform other than Internet Explorer for Windows. Well today British citizens are part way there as the BBC has announced their support for the Firefox browser. Mac and Linux fans are out of luck as iPlayer still demands Windows, only now you can view iPlayer content in the alternative Firefox Browser.

The popular iPlayer is a service that acts as an on-demand viewer of BBC content. Similar in functionality to a web based TiVo. The BBC is very happy with this new development and proclaimed, "It's good because it's the first real non-Microsoft thing we've been able to do with the download iPlayer".

What's the hold up with bringing iPlayer to Mac and Linux? None other than our old favorite acronym DRM. BBC's iPlayer relies upon Windows Media Player and it's related DRM to enforce the BBC's viewing policies.

Are there any Brits who have used iPlayer? What are your thoughts on the service? Please share in the comments.

[via Afterdawn]

BBC's iPlayer adds support for Firefox originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bbcdrmiplayerSat, 02 Feb 2008 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Clear your browser cache with these one-click solutions]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/02/clear-your-browser-cache-with-these-one-click-solutions/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/02/clear-your-browser-cache-with-these-one-click-solutions/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/02/clear-your-browser-cache-with-these-one-click-solutions/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Clear Cache Add-inIf you are a web designer or developer, one of the issues you probably face on a daily basis is browser cache. For those who are unaware of this issue, your browser - whether it be Firefox or Internet Explorer - captures all web pages and images when you browse and saves them in the browser cache. This is so that next time you go to a website, you can quickly access the saved files in your cache rather than re-download the image or related content.

This presents an issue for web designers when they make a change to a website, when their own browser uses the cached files rather than downloading the new version off the server. What web designers need is an easy way to empty their cache. We have two suggestions for this type of functionality:
  • For Firefox, check out the Clear Cache add-on. This fantastic extension will add a broom logo to your Firefox toolbar that will instantly clear your cache when you click it.
  • For Internet Explorer, we suggest you look at CachePal. Installing this will give you one-click access to the cache clearing functionality.
We hope these utilities will ease your web development duties. Check them out and let us know what you think in the comments.

[via NoHeat]

Clear your browser cache with these one-click solutions originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cacheFirefoxInternet ExplorerInternetExplorerSat, 02 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Web toolkit: find out a site's web host with WhoIsHostingThis]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/02/web-toolkit-find-out-a-sites-web-host-with-whoishostingthis/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/02/web-toolkit-find-out-a-sites-web-host-with-whoishostingthis/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/02/web-toolkit-find-out-a-sites-web-host-with-whoishostingthis/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

WhoIsHostingThis

For bloggers or anyone who wants their own website, a natural question always is - who should I choose for a web host? There are many guides and ways to get advice on this subject. But the fact is that choosing the cheapest isn't always the best. If you know someone who has a site and you're impressed with the speed and uptime of that site, it might be beneficial to know who their web host is.

Finding out is easy with a great website called WhoIsHostingThis. When you visit the site, there's a simple box where you type the name of any site, hit "Tell Me", and the web host is revealed. Very cool.

We appreciate that WhoIsHostingThis doesn't require registration. Additionally, there's no annoying Flash ads (yet) or any other factors that drive us nuts when browsing the web.

This is a very practical website to add to your web toolbox.

[via MakeUseOf]

Web toolkit: find out a site's web host with WhoIsHostingThis originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 02 Feb 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>toolkitweb hostsWebHostsSat, 02 Feb 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Egypt calls for bandwidth rationing after tubes get clogged]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/01/egypt-calls-for-bandwidth-rationing-after-tubes-get-clogged/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/01/egypt-calls-for-bandwidth-rationing-after-tubes-get-clogged/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/01/egypt-calls-for-bandwidth-rationing-after-tubes-get-clogged/#commentsFiled under: , ,

WiresIf you remember the late 70's, you probably remember gas rationing in the United States when OPEC cut oil production. This lead to pandemonium at the pumps and confusion for American citizens. Well to a lesser degree, having bandwidth cut off would also lead to having to make tough choices.

Perhaps this is why the Egyptian government has asked that all Internet users temporarily stop downloading movies, music, and other large files as a result of their Internet access being hampered earlier this week. Egypt's main cable link to Europe was inadvertently cut by a ship's anchor, causing widespread Internet bottlenecks to Egypt and the rest of the Arabian Peninsula.

Egypt's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has asked that consumer stop downloading large file so they don't affect "affect businesses who have more important things to do.'"

Ars Technica points out that this isn't the first time this type of event has occurred. Algeria, Taiwan, and Vietnam have all had their Internet access affected by similar circumstances. As the world becomes more and more dependent on the 'Net, we think it's alarming to see how fragile the infrastructure truly is.

So, in conclusion, if you're in Egypt and your downloading last nights Lost episode, knock it off! :)

[via Slashdot]

Egypt calls for bandwidth rationing after tubes get clogged originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bandwidthegypttubesFri, 01 Feb 2008 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[TweetStats displays your Twitter activity in graphical form]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/tweetstats-displays-your-twitter-activity-in-graphical-form/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/tweetstats-displays-your-twitter-activity-in-graphical-form/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/tweetstats-displays-your-twitter-activity-in-graphical-form/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

TweetStats

Earlier in the month, we told you about TwitterStats, a downloadable script that would graph your Twitter statistics. The author of TwitterStats, Damon Cortesi, thought it would be great to take TwitterStats to the next level. He did so by making TwitterStats into a Ruby application that you could run without having to download and run a script, a task perhaps only advanced users are capable of.

When you visit TweetStats for the first time, the website prompts you for your Twitter username. Another interesting piece to the front page is the graph that shows you the most popular Twitter apps. FYI, currently the web interface is the most popular at 46% followed by Twitterrific with 21%. After you enter in your username, TweetStats gives you a basic graph of your Twitter activity. As you can see by the screenshot above, my most active Twitter day is Wednesday.

We like TweetStat's simplicity and functionality. Being able to link back to the graph url is a nice feature for those who want to show their graph on their blog or website.

Thanks Damon for this addicting new Twitter tool! Now we stand to get even less done today as we play with TweetStats.

TweetStats displays your Twitter activity in graphical form originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>microbloggingTweetStatstwitterWed, 30 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Skype released for PSP]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/skype-released-for-psp/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/skype-released-for-psp/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/skype-released-for-psp/#commentsFiled under: , ,

PSPDuring CES, we reported that Skype was coming to Sony's PSP. Today, anxious PSP owners can jump for joy as Sony has released the new firmware with Skype loaded and ready to rock.

If you have a Sony PSP Slim or Lite model, load up version 3.90 to get Skype on your portable piece of gaming heaven. Once you have it loaded and signed in, you can easily make free calls to your Skype contacts as well as see who is online form your contact list. Skype IM doesn't work, obviously, due to the lack of a way to enter characters.

Additionally, if you have SkypeOut credits to landlines and mobiles for cheap rates. The current rates for calling US/Western European phones is just under 2 cents a minute.

Skype released for PSP originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>pspskypeWed, 30 Jan 2008 14:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Enhance Google Reader with the Better GReader Firefox add-on]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/enhance-google-reader-with-the-better-greader-firefox-add-on/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/enhance-google-reader-with-the-better-greader-firefox-add-on/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/enhance-google-reader-with-the-better-greader-firefox-add-on/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Better GReader
Google Reader is the RSS aggregator of choice for many a Download Squad reader, but everyone has an idea of how it could be improved in one way or another. There are some popular Greasemonkey scripts that enhance the experience, but what if these scripts could be rolled into one Firefox add-on?

Lifehacker has set out to do just that. A while back they released Better GReader, a Firefox add-on that collect some of the best Greasemonkey scripts for Google Reader. And this week they've update Better GReader with a few new skins and other tweaks. The add-on basically does three things:
  1. Institutes keyboard shortcuts
  2. Maximizes the viewing area
  3. Bypasses the Google's annoying default subscription mechanism

To get the Better GReader Firefox add-in, head over to Lifehacker's site and install it. After installing the add-in, you'll see the above preference pane in your add-ons menu allowing you to customize Better GReader to your hearts content.

Enhance Google Reader with the Better GReader Firefox add-on originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>google readerGoogleReaderlifehackerWed, 30 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Seesmic announces new features, much needed mobile support]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/seesmic-announces-new-features-much-needed-mobile-support/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/seesmic-announces-new-features-much-needed-mobile-support/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/30/seesmic-announces-new-features-much-needed-mobile-support/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Nokia N95Social video site Seesmic has announced some cool new features at DEMO08, a conference that showcases new software and web projects. Even though it's still in private beta, the so-called video Twitter now allows you to instantly see video responses to posts as an uninterrupted stream.

Now Seesmic also has a mobile application for Nokia's multi-talented N95 smartphone. Rather than being a live stream application such as like Qik, mobile Seesmic posts will be pre-recorded video snippets. You will also be able to view Seesmic videos on the mobile application.

While we're happy to see Seesmic branching out, we can't help but hope they touch more mobile phones than just the N95. Perhaps they can expand to additional Nokia handsets or even better yet, to Windows Mobile.

[via CNet]

Seesmic announces new features, much needed mobile support originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>n95nokiaseesmictwitterWed, 30 Jan 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Roll your own Twitter with Prologue]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/29/roll-your-own-twitter-with-prologue/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/29/roll-your-own-twitter-with-prologue/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/29/roll-your-own-twitter-with-prologue/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Prologue from WordPress
If you've used Twitter, you've probably wondered what it would take to have Twitter-like functionality either 1) on your own blog or website or 2) inside your own company or organization. If so, your wait is over.

Automattic, the company behind WordPress, has released Prologue, a smart theme for WordPress weblogs that allows you to roll your own Twitter. As you can see on the screenshot above, Prologue is structures much like Twitter with a basic window to allow you to enter in some text, along with a submit button and an option to tag your submission.

Automattic has wisely included RSS feeds for many aspects of Prologue including RSS for specific authors, comments, tag, or the entire prologue itself.

To get going with Prologue, download the theme files and apply the theme in your WordPress instance. If your blog is hosted on WordPress.com, simply specify Prologue as your blog theme of choice in the "Presentation" section of your WordPress options.

Prologue is perfect for organizations who would like to have their own Twitter-like conversations or for individuals who want the same!

Roll your own Twitter with Prologue originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>prologuetwitterwordpressTue, 29 Jan 2008 06:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Nokia makes a splash by acquiring TrollTech]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/28/nokia-makes-a-splash-by-acquiring-trolltech/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/28/nokia-makes-a-splash-by-acquiring-trolltech/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/28/nokia-makes-a-splash-by-acquiring-trolltech/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Nokia phoneThe largest mobile phone maker in the world, Finland's Nokia, has made a major move by acquiring TrollTech. You may not have heard of TrollTech, but you've probably used their software. They are the make of an application development framework called Qt. This framework is used for creating GUI programs and other programs that are used in applications. TrollTech's Qt is used in notable software packages such as Skype, Google Earth, and Opera, among others.

What does this mean for the average web/computer user? Basically Nokia's acquisition means in the future we will be able to enjoy awesome applications that work on our computers, Nokia mobile phones, and on the Internet. Current platforms that are similar to Qt include AIR, Flash, and Java.

The acquisition needs to be approved by TrollTech shareholders and regulatory, but it looks very probable that the acquisition will go off without a hitch.

[via Engadget]

Nokia makes a splash by acquiring TrollTech originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>flashnokiaqttrolltechMon, 28 Jan 2008 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Tweetmeme brings conversation tracking to Twitter]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/28/tweetmeme-brings-conversation-tracking-to-twitter/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/28/tweetmeme-brings-conversation-tracking-to-twitter/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/28/tweetmeme-brings-conversation-tracking-to-twitter/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Tweetmeme
There are many tools on the internet for tracking conversations that seem to be happening at the speed of light. For blogs we have tools like Technorati and TechMeme. But the quickest, most dynamic (and sometimes most interesting) conversation threads are happening on Twitter. If you want to track political news on Twitter, we've had Politweets, but what if you just want to track what's being said in general?

To solve this problem, we now have Tweetmeme. This fun little web site is from the creators of Fav.or.it, a soon to launch blog commenting system. Tweetmeme scrapes Twitter data, tracks conversations, and displays them for the world to see. If you are on Twitter, you know that there are many many urls that are passed around like candy at a parade. Tweetmeme wil attempt to provide some content for all this random Twitter activity.

Additionally, Tweetmeme provides an RSS feed for easy access. Also you can look at links categorized into blogs, images, videos, and audio. They have even made it possible to specify a timeframe of twitter activity with a start and end date.

[via TechCrunch]

Tweetmeme brings conversation tracking to Twitter originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>tweetmemetwitterMon, 28 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Installing OS X on a Hackintosh (PC) has become simpler]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/27/installing-os-x-on-a-hackintosh-pc-has-become-simpler/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/27/installing-os-x-on-a-hackintosh-pc-has-become-simpler/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/27/installing-os-x-on-a-hackintosh-pc-has-become-simpler/#commentsFiled under: , ,

HackintoshHave a decently equipped PC sitting in the corner of your room, gathering dust? Have you been dying to try OS X out?

It used to be that installing OS X on a "Hackintosh" (an Intel based PC running OS X) was an involved process that took hours and hours of hacking to get to work properly, sometimes with mixed results.

According to Lifehacker, you can now install Leopard on a cheap PC almost as easy as installing in an Apple device, sans the wicked command line hacking. Also, you can reportedly update your Leopard install without the fear of all your hard work falling down. It must be stated however, that installing OS X on a non-Apple product may be illegal, even if you have a legitimate installation disc. Proceed at your own risk.

The technique does not require a BIOS reflash, but just tweaking the BIOS settings to be friendly to the OS X install program. Next you download the DVD image and burn it to a DVD for use installing Leopard. We'd recommend actually buying Leopard if you're going to be using it for any amount of time. The final step involves booting the new DVD and running through the install process using the settings for your specific motherboard.

Have any experience with this install process and running OS X on a PC? We look forward to reading about them in the comments below.

[via Lifehacker]

Installing OS X on a Hackintosh (PC) has become simpler originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 27 Jan 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>hackintoshos xOsXSun, 27 Jan 2008 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Google Reader adds timestamp]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/26/google-reader-adds-timestamp/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/26/google-reader-adds-timestamp/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/26/google-reader-adds-timestamp/#commentsFiled under: ,

Google ReaderGoogle Reader, the preferred news reader of many Download Squaders and our readers, has added a little nugget of a feature that will allow you to finally see how long it took Google Reader to show you a post from your favorite blog or news source. You see, one criticism of Google Reader has been the lag between when an item is posted in an RSS feed and how long Google Reader shows it to it's users. Now with the timestamp, you can see for yourself exactly when the RSS item was posted.

In more minor news, it appears Google has changed the favicon of Google Reader. The new version is a tad more colorful than the last.

[via Google Operating System]

Google Reader adds timestamp originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 26 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>google readerGoogleReaderrssSat, 26 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Have many Flickr pictures to download? Try Flickr Mass Downloader]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/25/have-a-lot-of-flickr-pictures-to-download-try-flickr-mass-downl/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/25/have-a-lot-of-flickr-pictures-to-download-try-flickr-mass-downl/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/25/have-a-lot-of-flickr-pictures-to-download-try-flickr-mass-downl/#commentsFiled under: , ,

FlickrDown

If you've ever had your hard drive fail, you've dealt with the ordeal of trying to recover and find all your old files, notably your images. Enter FlickrDown, a utility that allows you to download images from Flickr quickly and easily. FlickrDown is only for Windows at this time and requires .Net 2.0 to be installed.

To get started download the install file and fire up the application. Next, specify a username, email address, tags, or group to find the intended photos on Flickr. Then hit the Download button and the process begins.

Happy Downloading!

Also, on a related note, if you want to upload images to Flickr, be sure to check out the flickr uploadr.

[via ghacks]

Have many Flickr pictures to download? Try Flickr Mass Downloader originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>flickrflickrdownyahooFri, 25 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Roost launches with full MLS real estate listings]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/24/roost-launches-with-full-mls-real-estate-listings/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/24/roost-launches-with-full-mls-real-estate-listings/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/24/roost-launches-with-full-mls-real-estate-listings/#commentsFiled under: ,

Roost

In the online real estate market, we already have Trulia and Zillow, but a new player is emerging that should be looked at. Roost is an easy to use, lean website that gives you easy access to real estate listings in specific markets. The site has forged agreements with various Multiple Listing Services (MLS) throughout the country to give users a high volume of listings to look through. What sets Roost apart is it's simplicity and easy to use map to nail down your intended geographic region.

At this time, a few of the the areas covered by Roost include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Washington, D.C, among others.

This approach of using MLS data is a new. Redfin is also a site that uses MLS data - information that used to be closed off from the web by the MLS providers. For those trying to avoid dealing with Realtors, for sale by owner properties are also displayed on Roost. Roost's easy to use interface includes the ability to quickly view photos, and easy sliders for filtering your list of homes based on price, bedroom count, square feet, etc.

If you're looking to buy or sell a home, add Roost to your list of web resources.

Roost launches with full MLS real estate listings originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>real estateRealEstateroosttruliazillowThu, 24 Jan 2008 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Microsoft gets pushy with IE7]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/24/microsoft-gets-pushy-decides-to-push-ie7-upon-you/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/24/microsoft-gets-pushy-decides-to-push-ie7-upon-you/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/24/microsoft-gets-pushy-decides-to-push-ie7-upon-you/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Internet ExplorerOn February 12, there might be some angry IT managers who aren't happy with Microsoft. This is because on the next "Patch Tuesday", Microsoft is going to include Internet Explorer 7 in the list of updates and patches being pushed out to Windows computers that:
  • Use WSUS 3.0 to manage updates in their organization
  • Have Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) that have Internet Explorer 6 installed
  • Have configured WSUS to auto-approve Update Rollups for installation

As Ars Technica is reporting, there is a lot of mis-information in the blogosphere about this issue.

People who have Windows computers at home will not get IE 7 put on their computer by Microsoft's updates.

The only group of people who need to be aware of what's happening are IT/Network administrators who have previously deployed the IE7 blocking toolkit to halt IE7 from being installed on computers within their network. These IT managers should closely read this knowledge base article.

There, you've been warned :)

Microsoft gets pushy with IE7 originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>IE7microsoftThu, 24 Jan 2008 15:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Wordpress.com gets influx of VC money, launches video publishing tool]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/23/wordpress-com-gets-influx-of-vc-money-launches-video-publishing/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/23/wordpress-com-gets-influx-of-vc-money-launches-video-publishing/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/23/wordpress-com-gets-influx-of-vc-money-launches-video-publishing/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

WordPressThe company behind the popular WordPress blogging platform and WordPress.com, Automattic, has received a large influx of cash from investors. The company has drawn $29.5 million in financing from four companies, including the New York Times Company. After last weeks' news of MySQL being acquired by Sun Microsystems, it appears if you have a great idea and a good business structure, open source is a viable business model.

Matt Mullenweg, the man behind Automattic, has said the company will use the money to build infrastructure, expand product offerings such as Gravatar and spam protection service Akismet, and offer new hosted solutions.

Looking at some of the new traffic metrics, WordPress.com will need to strengthen it's infrastructure. According to GigaOm, In the last 30 days Quantcast reports that Wordpress.com attracted 42 million unique U.S. page views, 114 million global uniques, and 492 million page views overall. WordPress.com is a very attractive option for individuals and organizations who want a blog but don't want to stress about the necessary infrastructure required.



Continue reading Wordpress.com gets influx of VC money, launches video publishing tool

Wordpress.com gets influx of VC money, launches video publishing tool originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bloggingwordpressWed, 23 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[RIM announces exciting new BlackBerry features]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/23/rim-announces-exciting-new-blackberry-features/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/23/rim-announces-exciting-new-blackberry-features/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/23/rim-announces-exciting-new-blackberry-features/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

BlackBerryResearch in Motion, the company behind the BlackBerry smartphone, announced many highly anticipated features recently at Lotusphere 2008 for BlackBerry Enterprise Server. What can die-hard BlackBerry users expect in the near future? Many features making it easier it easier to message your co-workers and collaborate including:

  • Download and edit Microsoft Office documents: BlackBerry users have been able to download and view Office documents, thanks to the Documents to Go suite, but soon BlackBerry users will be able to edit these attachments as well.
  • Free-busy calendar lookup: want to know if Sally is available for a conference call at 3:00 tomorrow? Simply fire up this new utility and find out, before sending a meeting request, that is :)
  • HTML and Rich Text Email rendering: Rich text emails will now maintain their formatting on the smartphone, including bold, italic, tables, bullets, or whatever formatting your co-workers throw at you.
  • Integration with corporate IM and Presence applications: By utilizing Lotus Sametime and Microsoft Live Communications Server, you can use the "click to call" feature to engage with co-workers and IM Session "convert to call" automatically takes an IM conversation and makes it a voice one.
We're excited to see RIM taking these steps to make their mobile phones more seamless in the corporate environment. Our Windows Mobile counterparts have been able to edit Office documents for a while, and the other new features are a great step forward as well, especially the integration with the corporate IM services.

Looks like RIM is going to have an impressive 2008.

RIM announces exciting new BlackBerry features originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blackberryblackberry enterprise serverBlackberryEnterpriseServerWed, 23 Jan 2008 13:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Study: Email access is still king on mobile phones]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/23/study-email-access-is-still-king-on-mobile-phones/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/23/study-email-access-is-still-king-on-mobile-phones/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/23/study-email-access-is-still-king-on-mobile-phones/#commentsFiled under: ,

SmartphoneAccording to Webcredible, a usability and accessibility consultancy, the most requested mobile service people wanted on their data-enabled mobile phones was email. 33% of respondents stated email was their most needed mobile utility. This may offer some explanation as to why the iPhone is the number 2 smartphone behind RIM. Business users, who still dominate the smartphone market, want access to email to get their business done.

Access to social networks came in a close second in requested features, taking 25% in survey results. This tells us that many mobile phone users like to hop on MySpace or Facebook in between sending all those emails. As adoption of social networks becomes more mainstream, we expect social networking will take over as the number one requested mobile feature.

As a last statistic, local information requests were third on the list at 20%. These requests consist of questions such as "what's around me?" With services such as Google Maps My Location, which tracks your location in a GPS-like service, local information requests a fantastic tool to have access to. With friends and you want to find the closest pizza place, with My Location you can easily look it up and get your pie eating on.

These mobile services add countless features to your daily working life, especially for nomadic mobile phone users. What is your favorite mobile service? We look forward to seeing the comments!

Study: Email access is still king on mobile phones originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>emailfacebookiphonemyspacesmartphoneWed, 23 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST