Yast offers ridiculously easy time tracking on the web originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I don't often need to send ultra-secure messages to people. There's just not all that much highly-sensitive information I need to communicate. If I did, though, Norbt would be a slick way to do it.

Norbt (not to be confused with Eddie Murphy's epic film character) uses client side, browser-based cryptography to secure your transmissions. Your recipient must correctly answer the secret question. Once they do, your note is decrypted and displayed for their eyes only.

You also need to provide a password when creating your Norbt - just in case you need to go back and change some of the details.

Even if you don't have a practical reason to use a service like Norbt, it's still a fun way for you and your pals to feel like you're part of some elite spy network.

This post will self destruct in ten seconds.

Send stealthy, encrypted missives via the web with Norbt originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google announces big price cuts on paid extra storage for GMail, Picasa Web originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Based on the success we've seen, we believe Caffeine is ready for a larger audience. Soon we will activate Caffeine more widely, beginning with one data center. This sandbox is no longer necessary and has been retired, but we appreciate the testing and positive input that webmasters and publishers have given. "

Google's next-gen search, aka Caffeine, may arrive soon originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

YouScrobble mashes up Last.fm and YouTube originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google to unveil a Wave-inspired, unified interface across its web apps originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Viewfinder brings powerful Flickr search to your Mac originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Google's new Dashboard sure would tie in nicely to Android, Chrome OS

Google's new Dashboard sure would tie in nicely to Android, Chrome OS originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google hates passwords, wants you to sign up for sites without them originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Finding a web designer is a terrifying proposition for many people. How do you find someone qualified? It's not like there's a directory out there that lets you quickly browse and compare examples of work from various web designers to narrow down your set of choices quickly, and can help you get in touch with the one you choose.

Well, actually, now there is. And if that sounds like a good idea, consider that last week 37signals released a new site called Haystack. 37signals is a well-known web development company that is responsible for the incredibly popular online project management software Basecamp, as well as a few other web properties you might know: Campfire, Basecamp, and Highrise, to name a few.

The thing is, 37signals wasn't always an online service provider; at one time they were a web design firm creating client sites, so they know the difficulty web designers go through to attract clients. 37signals also takes pains to understand the difficulties users face, and have applied that approach to building a directory to help clients easily find web designers (and web designers easily find clients).

Early reports seem to be positive, with designers reporting they are signing new clients in short order. So if you're looking to advertise your design abilities, or if you're looking for a designer, give Haystack a look.

Haystack helps web designers and clients find each other originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading 10 web apps you should be running on your Mac with Fluid

10 web apps you should be running on your Mac with Fluid originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

More Twitter List goodies: official list widgets! originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Clicky is a new web analytics package that is looking to give the current king of web analytics, Google Analytics, a run for its money. Like any site tracking service, you create an account, insert some code into your pages (or if you are using one of the popular blogging platforms, simply install the relevant plugin), and watch as Clicky gathers statistics for your site in real-time.

The service sets itself apart by being very well designed and easy to read, but also by including extra related features, like the ability to include your FeedBurner statistics, tracking Twitter statistics, and providing an integrated link shortening service based on its related domain name clicky.me.

The free version of Clicky is ad-supported, but a Pro version is also available.

A few of Clicky's more obscure features need a Pro account to use. For example, with a pro account you can set up Twitter searches for your brand name or URL, and then see how many mentions you are getting.

Clicky is Google Analytics all grown up originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Have you ever received a PDF file in an email that contained information you need in text form, but the PDF doesn't let you select the text? Sometimes this is due to access restrictions on the document, but more often it's because the person creating the PDF did so by simply scanning the document. This creates an image of the document, but does not embed the text information.

To extract the text, you need to use optical character recognition (OCR) software. Most scanners come with OCR software, but if you don't have ready access to it, you might consider using the Online OCR service.

Online OCR lets you upload a PDF file and it returns plain text that can then be copied directly into the word processing tool of your choice.

Obviously there are security concerns with uploading and storing copies of your documents on a 3rd party's site, but if that's not a concern to you, Online OCR might be just the trick to solve your OCR needs.

[via Lifehacker]

Online OCR extracts text from scans for free originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I hate making resumes.

If you're like me, you'll probably appreciate any tool that helps make creating a resume easier. Ceevee is just such a tool.

Ceevee is an online resume builder that allows you to fill in specific fields, and it spits out a very nicely designed resume for publication on the web or print. You have a choice of three themes, which are all essentially the same but with different typefaces.

Modern (the default) uses a sans-serif font, Classic uses a serif font, and Plain Text uses a monospaced font, though it still has formatting.

Once you've created your CeeVee, you can share it on your website by embedding code that will also show a CeeVee icon. If you make it public, you can also share your CeeVee using Twitter and Facebook.

[via WebWorkerDaily]

CeeVee makes creating your resume easier originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

WordPress has become a victim of its own popularity. The blogging-based content management system powers a huge amount of websites, and has become a target for hackers. Site hacks have been around for a long time, but recently they seem to have evolved.

In the past hackers would gain control of a site just to prove that could, then typically post a quasi-incoherent message on the site to prove their hacking prowess and illiteracy. Now hackers have become more advanced, and hacking has become financially motivated. Hacks include embedding links (some hidden, some not) for the purposes of gaming search engines, and instead of crowing about their conquest, hackers are now trying to hide and cover their tracks as much as possible.

This means that site owners are losing their confidence that their sites have not been compromised. With recent highly publicized exploits that allowed hackers to take control of out-of-date WordPress installations, it became even more important to make sure your site is clean.

If you're running a WordPress site on your own server, one step you can take to make sure that it is clean is to install and run the WordPress Exploit Scanner plugin. Beware, the exploit scanner is very thorough, and it will likely report a lot (and I mean a LOT) of false positives. It essentially reports any hiding behavior, which some of the plugins on your site might be doing for very normal reasons.

Even with the false-positives, the WordPress Exploit Scanner is a useful tool in any blogger's toolbox.

WordPress Exploit Scanner helps you keep your install clean originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Subscribe to Twitter's new lists as RSS feeds originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Confused about Google Wave? Now you can read the bleeping manual. originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Readability 2 makes webpages printable, pasteable and uncluttered originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

SkyDrive Explorer adds 25gb of free cloud storage to Windows Explorer originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.