Lee Mathews
The Pas, MB, Canada - http://
Steam's THQ game pack: get $400 worth of games for 50 bucks
by Lee Mathews Nov 25th 2009
It's loaded with excellent titles like Red Faction, Warhammer, and Company of Heroes - 18 titles in all. If you bought them separately, it'd run you just shy of $400. Right now, however, you can score the whole bundle for $49.99.
$2.77 per game? Come on, the energy drinks you down while staying awake for an all-night session will cost you more than that.
Don't want to shell out the fifty bones yourself? Email a subtle hint to your pals and maybe one of them will gift you the pack. Chances are good they'll end up buying for themselves, but you never know.
Filed under: Text, Utilities, Windows
Automatically disable your touchpad while you type with TouchFreeze
by Lee Mathews Nov 25th 2009
One thing about laptops that drives a lot of my customers nuts is the touchpad. If I had a nickel for every time someone brought a laptop in complaining that their mouse pointer suddenly jumped somewhere else on the screen and messed up their typing, I'd have at least $10.15. Hey, I'm in a small town - that would nearly count as an epidemic.
TouchFreeze is a tiny, open source program designed to fix this problem once and for all. Once you install it, TouchFreeze sits your in your system tray and waits for you to begin typing. When you do, it temporarily disables input from your touchpad.
Be forewarned: TouchFreeze may not work with your laptop's touchpad. It worked on my two Acer test systems just fine, but certain brands may be a bit less cooperative.
You can download TouchFreeze over at Google Code.
[via Addictive Tips]
Filed under: OS Updates, Google
Chrome OS security will make Google's ads inescapable
One feature of Chrome OS that has been praised is its "totally new" approach to security. Chrome OS is going to self-heal, we're told. If the OS detects something malicious, a reboot simply restores files to their previous state as if nothing ever happened.
Now, this raises an interesting point. It's Google's OS, so obviously they'll be making the call as to what is or isn't malicious. Suppose they decide that includes anything which interferes with the delivery of Google-powered content. Things like the AdBlock or AdSweep extensions for the Chrome browser, for example.
Filed under: Mozilla, Browsers
Locationbar² adds breadcrumbs, domain emphasis to your Firefox address bar
Firefox's Awesome Bar is definitely a more powerful tool than it used to be. It's still got room for improvement and tweaking, though - and fortunately there are plenty of nifty add-ons available to do just that.
One worth checking out is Locationbar². You can see one of the add-on's features in my screenshot. Hold down your control, shift, or alt key and directories in the URL become clickable. While it's not useful everywhere, it does come in handy when browsing many download and shopping sites (especially those with poorly-designed navigation).
Locationbar² also adds emphasis to the current domain name. It's a good way to make sure you're not being spoofed by a deceptive link - to a fake Facebook or Hotmail login page, for example.
Head to the options screen to customize the color used and set the text to bold if you choose. While there, you can also optionally hide protocol prefixes (like http://. https://, ftp://. and file://), tweak the linkification settings, and more.
One worth checking out is Locationbar². You can see one of the add-on's features in my screenshot. Hold down your control, shift, or alt key and directories in the URL become clickable. While it's not useful everywhere, it does come in handy when browsing many download and shopping sites (especially those with poorly-designed navigation).
Locationbar² also adds emphasis to the current domain name. It's a good way to make sure you're not being spoofed by a deceptive link - to a fake Facebook or Hotmail login page, for example.
Head to the options screen to customize the color used and set the text to bold if you choose. While there, you can also optionally hide protocol prefixes (like http://. https://, ftp://. and file://), tweak the linkification settings, and more.
Filed under: Google, Beta, Browsers
Chrome Extensions gallery taking shape, landing page now invites devs
If you're trying to get an extension gallery for your web browser off the ground, it's important reach out to developers. After all, they're the ones who will be creating the snazzy addons you plan to showcase.
So it's not surprising to see the change which took place in the Chromium nightly build recently. When you visit your extensions page and click the link to browse the gallery, you won't see the "coming soon" puzzle piece anymore.
Instead, you'll be asked to sign in with your Google account and then whisked over to the developer dashboard. Google offers the following explanation to clarify what you're looking at:
So it's not surprising to see the change which took place in the Chromium nightly build recently. When you visit your extensions page and click the link to browse the gallery, you won't see the "coming soon" puzzle piece anymore.
Instead, you'll be asked to sign in with your Google account and then whisked over to the developer dashboard. Google offers the following explanation to clarify what you're looking at:
Are you a developer? If so, the add button will allow you to upload your project. The developer agreement offers a few words about the gallery itself:The Google Chrome Extensions gallery is currently in limited beta release to allow developers to upload their extensions. If you are a developer, you can upload your extension here. If you are looking to find and install extensions, please check back here soon!
Most of the agreement is pretty standard redistribution/liability/takedown-related policy, though it does reveal that Chrome users will be allowed to rate extensions on the Gallery site. I think we expected that, since you can do it on the Firefox add-ons site.The Gallery is a publicly available site on which Developers can publish Products for distribution and use in connection with Google Chrome. In order to publish Products on the Gallery, you must acquire and maintain a valid Google account.
The full gallery policies are available on this page in case you plan on submitting an extension.
It's apparent that the push is on - it's just a matter of time before the Chrome Extensions Gallery opens its doors to the public.
AdSense on your desktop: Google starts embedding ads in Google Earth
by Lee Mathews Nov 23rd 2009 {3 comments}
Everyone cringed when Microsoft announced that Office 2010 Starter would be partially ad-supported, and it looks as though advertising in desktop apps may be something we'll just have to get used to. As Amit Agarwal at Digital Inspiration found out, Google Earth is now showcasing sponsored links as you search for destinations.
While the ads aren't all that intrusive, they're still there. ...Auslogics Disk Defrag buffs up, adds disk optimization in v3
by Lee Mathews Nov 20th 2009 {3 comments}
Defragmentation (like backing up) is one of those chores I don't think about doing all that often. And I really should, since my desktop at work is a cluttered mess of downloads, screenshots, temp files, and other digital flotsam. When Auslogics mentioned they've got a new version of their Disk Defrag tool available for download, I figured why not take it for a spin? My drive could use the TLC, ...Firefox Army clashes with IE in Central Europe, wins browser share crown
The Firefox army is hundreds of millions of soldiers strong. After successfully taking the southernmost continent on the globe, the Mozilla Militia continues to run full speed ahead across Europe. Today's battlefront: the central region.
As you can see in the header image, Firefox and IE recently crossed paths. The chart shows data gathered from nine countries - Czech Republic, Bulgaria, ...Fishbowl is a kick-ass Facebook client for Windows 7
by Lee Mathews Nov 20th 2009 {14 comments}
When Microsoft introduced us to Silverlight 4 the other day, they also demoed a slick Facebook application. It's called Fishbowl, and it's now available for download. Not only does Fishbowl provide a nice, clean display of your stream (read: free of sidebar annoyances), but it's packed with excellent features, responsive, and extremely intuitive to use.
It's also ready to add some sizzle to ...Ask DLS: Now that you've seen Chrome OS do you still care?
So Google finally let loose with a real glimpse at Chrome OS today, unveiling it at an event in Mountain View today. It's pretty much what we've thought all along: a bootable browser with an affinity for web apps - especially Google's.
As you'd expect from a "browser OS," Google pretty much admits that Chrome OS isn't really intended for offline use. They see devices running Chrome as a ...
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
