Howtos, Rants, and Reviews

How to Silence the Facebook Screaming - Hide unwanted posts and applications on Facebook

2010-03-10T20:26:00Z

My wife is always complaining to me “I can't stand reading this person's updates on Facebook”, or “I am so tired of people asking for help in Farmville”. So I thought that perhaps other people might find it useful to block those annoying post in the news stream, which is quite simple and I will show you how.

There are several things you can do in the news stream. You can block people which will prevent them from showing up in your news stream at all. This is handy for those people you still want to drop in on every once in a while but don't want to hear every little thing that's going on with them.

The other is hiding applications, which allows you to hide all posts by an application no matter who is posting through it, you won't have to read about it. This is great because once you start hiding applications your news stream starts to become useful again and full of actual posts and not nonsense game requests, and horoscopes.

To hide people or applications all you have to do is hit the little hide button next to the post. If the post is from an application you will be given a choice whether or not to hide the application or the person. If you choose the application you will not receive anymore post from that application no matter who posts them. If you choose the person no more of that person's post will appear in your news feed not just their application posts. If the post is not from an application Facebook will confirm that you want to hide that person's posts.

If at some point you want to unhide applications or people all you have to do is click the “Edit Options” button at the bottom of your news feed. It will show you a list of all your hidden applications and people and you can choose to add them back to your news feed.

You can always use Facebook lite which doesn't have any applications and is a simpler broken down version of Facebook. You can login to Facebook lite at lite.facebook.com

I hope this helps and I hope it brings a little bit of life back into your Facebook experience.

Google Maps Now Helps you Plan your Bike Route

2010-03-10T18:51:00Z

This has got to one of the most requested features of Google Maps, a full functioning bike layer for the popular Google Maps online map program. The Layer allows you to get directions to and from locations using bike friendly roads and bike trails. You can turn on the bike layer under the more menu and explore your local area for bike friendly streets and bike trails.

The ability to find and plan a bike routes on biker friendly roads comes in handy for the export and novice cyclist. I am not an avid biker but sometimes I like to take the old bike out for a ride and it's nice to know what roads near me have bike lanes or bike trails.

After checking out the new Google Maps new layer I discovered that there were a lot of cyclist friendly roads in my area. I even found a bike trail not far from my house. I was really excited and now I want to plan some routes and get out there and do them

Checkout the new Layer at Google Maps

iCalShare - Find Calendars of Holidays, Events, and More

2010-03-10T16:55:00Z

iCal is great for keeping your life on a schedule. There is so much you can do with ical including subscribing to calendars that can make you aware of events, holidays, and even your favorite sports teams schedules. The problem is where do you find these calendars so you don't have to manual input all those dates, times, and information.

Well one place you might want to look is iCalShare. It's a website that allows you to subscribe to different ical calendars. All the calendars are submitted by the user base and you can find calendars not on the site and upload them so everyone can benefit from them.

There are a lot of really useful calendars on the site and installing them is just a click away. If you don't find the calendar you want or need take the time to find it somewhere and add it to the site. It will make the site more useful and will benefit the community.

iCalShare VIA Macworld

AllMyapps - Get free and paid apps and install them all at once

2010-03-09T20:45:00Z

Allmyapps is a website that is going to be a kind of iTunes for applications. You make purchases and get free applications and then you can install and reinstall them all at once. It's a rather handy little website especially if you are a big fan of free software and do a lot of fresh windows installs.

The website is just starting out so most of there 200 software titles are all free anyway, but in the future you will be able to purchase software and have it in a central location so you can install it onto your computer.

All the downloads are malware-free and up-to-date and like a said most of them are free right now. Allmyapps does have some pretty cool features that some of their competitors don't have. Like the one click installing and the bundle download that allows you to install your apps offline with one install.

Allmyapps have a lot of slack to pickup from software download giants like CNET's Download.com, Ninite, and Softonic. I have a feeling that Allmyapps is going to do very well. I can see it being a one stop shop for installing software for fresh installs of Window and Linux. It would save you so much time going to all the different websites downloading and installing their applications. All you have to do is select the applications and hit the install button and the website takes care of the rest.

The new version of the website is in beta, which you can get into by going to Techcrunch's article and clicking the link and entering their invitation code.

AllMyApps

Superbar - Add status indicators to your Windows 7 Taskbar

2010-03-09T18:00:00Z

Here is something for all you Windows 7 people out there, it's status indicators for your various system resources. There are five of them showing you your, battery level, volume, disk space, CPU, and memory. They sit there right in the Windows taskbar informing you of there status.

The indicators will change color to indicate something is wrong or perhaps that your volume is muted. They also feature a progress bar like look to further notate the devices status.

These little apps are free and us about 6MB of memory each. Download them here.

VIA Download Squad

CrashPlan - Affordable Online Backup System

2010-03-09T16:57:00Z

I run an backup of all my files on to an external hard drive attached to my computer. What if you experienced some kind of natural disaster like a flood, earthquake, power surge, or fire. Then your computer and all your files would be ruined. There is also a possibility that both your computer and your backup could both die at the same time what would you do them? Well the simple answer is to backup all your files to a remote location. That way if anything were to happen to your computer or the structure that houses your computer all will not be lost.

There are many ways to backup your files online but I think CrashPlan is one of the simplest and most affordable ways of doing that. You have several options when it comes to CrashPlan. You can backup to a local drive, backup to a remote machine, or backup to their online servers. Backing up online is slow because of bandwidth issues, and could take weeks and restoring a large amount of data could take days. Backing up to a local drive is fast but it too could be affected by the same natural disaster as the original files. You can also backup to a remote machine that way the transfer is fast and both the computer and the backup are not in the same location.

The basic version of the software is free, but there pro version called CrashPlan+ for $60. The main difference is that the basic version backs up every hour and only stores the most recent version of the file where as CrashPlan+ will backup every 15 minutes if you want and store multiple version of the same file. The software is cross-platform and works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

The online backup plans are very affordable and offer unlimited storage. Individual unlimited plans for one year is $54, which is $4.50 a month, 2 years is $ 99, and 3 years is $125. The 3 year plan comes out at $3.47 a month which is hard to beat anywhere on the internet.

If you have been thinking about starting a backup system for your computer this is a great place to start. Checkout CrashPlan.

CrashPlan Online Backup

TotalFinder - Add Tabs and other features to Finder

2010-03-08T20:25:00Z

Finder is the application on the Mac used to find your files and folders on your computer. Though it's full of some great features it also is lacking in others. There have been many applications out there that have tried to replace finder or make finder better like Path Finder and the do a pretty good job of it. Though applications like Path finder are good, I am so cheap and don't want to spend the $40 on a license. So I found a little application called TotalFinder and it has some great features that make Finder just that much better.

The main feature that I like about TotalFinder is that you can have tabs in the native finder. TotalFinder will actually change the way Finder operates which allows you to use the native finder application rather than an alternative application like Path Finder. The tabs look much like google chrome tabs which can be opened and closed with keyboard shortcuts just like the browser. You can even drag a folder to the tab bar and have the folder come a new tab. Switching between tabs is natural with the same shortcuts as a web browser and they are spring loaded so if you drag a file and wait the tab will automatically be selected and brought to the front.

Other than the Tab mode you can also add a dual-panel mode, have a global Finder hot-key, stop finder from creating .DS_Store files, and show folders always on top. There are a couple of other interesting features like the ability to show hidden files among others.

TotalFinder is a free application that is currently in Alpha test. Because it actually changes the way your finder operates you might have to uninstall it if a Mac update breaks the application. Uninstalling it is easy so no harm done and is worth it to get those added features.

TotalFinder Website

Steam Rumored to come to Mac

2010-03-08T17:39:00Z

Steam, a popular online gaming website and platform, might be coming to Mac. Steam is a website where you can download and play all of Steams releases. You can join the steam community, and play and chat with friends, create and join matches all on steams dedicated servers. The rumor of Steam coming to Mac all started when a beta version of the Steam client had files in it for a Mac version. These files were mostly just icons and such that looked liked like Mac icons and had “osx” in the name. Pretty convincing evidence if you ask me.

Other than the Mac looking files it looks like the steam client has changed it;s stores rendering engine to Webkit, which is used in Safari, the Mac, and the iphone. So with all this evidence it's only a matter of time before we see an actual official announcement on the subject.

This could be huge for Mac users that want that Windows gaming experience without duel booting their computers. The only question is which titles will be available for Mac. It might be asking too much to have all their titles ported over to the Mac, but I think there will be at least a handful of them that will make it. Perhaps after it catches on we will see all future releases from Steam come to the Mac.

Get Thousands of Free AudioBooks at BooksShouldbeFree.com

2010-03-05T16:25:00Z

There are tons of places to get free audio books online, but most of them really don't want to give audiobooks away they want to lure you in with the idea of free audiobooks provide a couple and then sell you the others. BooksShouldbeFree.com allows you to access thousands of audiobooks that are in the public domain. It's great for long trips and times where you just don't feel like reading.

All the books are in the public domain so you can download a zip file with the recordings or you can access it through an iTunes podcast so you can download the book a chapter at a time as you progress through it. The website also provides a way to comment on the recordings so that you can gain insight into the recording's quality.

If you are in need of some free audiobooks checkout booksshouldbefree.com VIA LifeHacker

I want a Chameleon. Why? Because they are Awesome!

2010-03-04T22:52:00Z

I know this is a little bit out of the ordinary for this blog but I found this interesting so I thought you might as well. I was in a pet store the other day, which is always a bad thing because it gets you thinking you need another pet, and I saw that they had chameleons there. I was fascinated by these little guys hanging onto their branches with their three toed zygodactylous feet and looking around with their globular eyes.

I want one, but after reading about how much care they require I might be rethinking my pet choice. An adult Chameleon requires a 3 foot by 3 foot by 4 foot enclosure. That's a pretty big space for a caged pet. They also don't drink water from a bowl so you have to drip water into the cage or mist the cage twice daily so the Chameleon will have water. They eat crickets, meal worms, super worms, wax worms, wax moths, non infesting roaches and more. A website I read was saying that you need to dust the food with calcium and vitamin D supplements so that your Chameleon doesn't suffer from an overdose of vitamin A, which chameleons are prone too apparently.

The article was also saying that they require a source of UV light, and heated stones to lay on at different temperatures so they can properly regulate their body temperature. Something else that I didn't know was that chameleons can become stressed very easily and for this reason can't be handled unless necessary. If they become too stressed they could get sick or even die.

All in all I think it would be an awesome pet to have and most definitely something out of the ordinary. They are one of the more exotic reptile pets that you can own and come with a lot of responsibility. They are beautiful and interesting creatures and I would love to have own one at some point.

Let me know what you think about Chameleons and other Reptiles in the comment section below.

More About Chameleons

Puniz indexes music, download the video and add to iTunes = Free Music

2010-03-04T18:37:00Z

I wrote a post about how to record your system audio to get music for free and this is along the same lines. Puniz indexes music from all over the web. Most of the music is attached a video and all you have to do to add it to itunes is save the video as an MP3 and then add it to itunes. It's free music perfect for getting those popular singles and pop songs that you don't want to purchase the whole album for.

Puniz allows you to search by song, artist, or keyword to find the song you want. When you click on a song you are sent to a page where you can listen to the song and download the video. I downloaded some songs opened the video in quicktime and exported it as a AiFF file added it to itunes and then converted the song to an MP3. It's a quick and easy way of finding songs and with a little bit of work can get into a format that iTunes will be happy with.

Puniz Website VIA Lifehacker

Ripit can Compress Movies like Handbreak!

2010-03-03T19:22:00Z

I downloaded Ripit from the MacHeist this morning and realized that it was a different version than I already had. It has a new feature that allows you to compress movies into a video file either MP4, Apple TV, and iPhone/iPod Touch formats. The Ripit website allows you to download this version but makes no mention of the new feature. The button has a Beta tag on it so perhaps they are not done with it yet.

When I tried to compress a Movie with Ripit's new feature it told me I needed to download the components and the program starts to do that and the download and install window then disappears without doing anything. I also noticed that the update program option in the menu doesn't work either. Perhaps they are having some problems with their servers right now. I hope they fix it soon I want to try out their new feature.

LastPass – Password Management for any OS and any Browser

2010-03-03T16:54:00Z

How do you handle all your passwords? Do you use the same one for every account or do you use different ones? Well however you come up with your passwords i'm sure you could benefit from a little organization and storage. LastPass will provide a secure and simple way of storing your passwords at the same time allowing you to auto fill them for easy login.

The best thing about LastPass is that it works with Windows, Mac, and Linux as well as the most browsers like IE, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. If you aren't on your computer you can still get your passwords using the website and you can even use your phone as well.

LastPass has a lot of the same great feature that are offered by the 1Password app for Mac but LastPass is free to use. You can upgrade to a paid account which allows you to use the mobile apps and USB thumb drive storage for only $1 a month.

Features

LastPass has some great features and I thought I would go over them quickly. With LastPass you can Autofill forms with your real data or with another identity that you can use to protect your real information. LastPass also syncs your passwords across you different browser which is handy if you user different computers and browsers. The only password you will ever need to know is your LastPass password because it unlocks all your passwords and can let you auto fill you login credentials for all your sites. You can share passwords with friends easily and securely so you will never need to email logins again. LastPass comes with a password generator that will create secure passwords for you so you know they are safe. You also don't have to worry about phishing sites because LastPass will not auto fill your passwords into phishing website. These are just some of the great features of LastPass for more into check out their website.

I have started to use LastPass and I am beginning to really like it. Your information stays secure with all your passwords stored in an encrypted file, but at the same time allowing you to easily login to your sites with a click of a button. The ability to store your passwords offline with LastPass Pocket is a nice feature and if you have a premium account you can use sesame which adds another layer of protection for your passwords.

LastPass Website and Downloads

The Macheist – Get $266 in Mac Programs for $19.95

2010-03-03T15:17:00Z

The Macheist nanoBundle2 is here with a series of applications at discounted prices that benefit charities as well as promote some great indie software for Mac. I woke up this morning to an email that the Macheist was all ready to be sold and I went to the site to check it out. I saw that Ripit was one of the applications in the bundle which I was going to buy anyway. Ripit is one of the best DVD rippers I have ever used and sells for $20 anyways so the decision to purchase this bundle was a easy one.

There are seven applications in the NanoBundle2 all different and useful. Macjournal is a writing, journaling, blogging software that will let you keep your blogs organized and allow you to add any content to the page including picture and video. Ripit as a mentioned earlier is the best DVD ripper I have ever used and it alone is worth the $20 bucks. Clips is a clipboard manager that can store anything you put on the clipboard. So you don't have to worry about loosing or writing over anything in your clipboard. CoverScout goes out and finds all your missing cover art in itunes and Flow is a FTP program. Tales of Monkey Island is a adventure game for Mac and RapidWeaver is a website creation application.

For more info on the applications in the Macheist bundle checkout the website.

The Macheist

Netflix - Making a iPhone App? - We can only hope!

2010-03-02T16:54:00Z

Photo Credit (Hacking Netflix)

Netflix is testing out customer interest in an iphone app through a survey. The survey question asked "How likely would you or someone in your household be to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on your iPhone via a Wi-Fi network?" Of course my answer would be “Very likely”, but that shouldn't come as a surprise to people who know me.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has expressed that Netflix will come to the iPhone eventually, but who knows when that will be. Reed Hastings also has said that it's not huge on their list of priorities. If you are thinking a simple survey isn't enough to imply an upcoming feature know that for both the Wii and SP3 they asked about interest in surveys. Netflix is coming to both those devices so we can keep our fingers crossed when it comes to the Netflix on the iPhone.

Netflix coming to iPhone? VIA Gizmodo