Pump up Windows context menus with Right Click Enhancer
Many people never truly take advantage of all the little shortcuts built into Windows, sometimes because they're not aware of them, but also because they don't find the options on offer suit their needs. The right-click menu is a case in point. It offers some useful shortcuts when you click a folder or file with the right mouse button, but often it's missing the kind of tweak you'd actually use.
Thankfully, there's a free tool in the shape of Right Click Enhancer that can give you a lot of functionality you need, enabling you to shape the right-click menu to your more precise needs. Also available as a standalone portable tool, Right Click Enhancer can do everything except remove existing context menu items -- for that you'll need a program like ShellView.
Software-based PogoPlug: this one can't catch on fire
Cloud Engines Inc. announced a new aspect to the Pogoplug media server solution, the software-only Pogoplug that gives users mobile access to photos, music, and movies that they have stored on their home computer.
"Our software-only product is a very natural expansion of the Pogoplug streaming service that started with our hardware," Daniel Putterman, CEO of Cloud Engines, Inc said in a statement Wednesday.
Are LulzSec hacktivists or cybercriminals? [poll]
I awoke this morning to find my wife watching "WarGames", the classic 1980s hacker movie. That got me to thinking about hacker group LulzSec Security, which has been mighty busy this month. Is it a group of stereotypical, mischievous hackers or dangerous cybercriminals? Under the law, the distinction is meaningless. But your answer means something to me and to other Betanews readers.
Please answer the simple poll below and respond in comments. I normally despise anonymous comments but understand if you feel the need to create a new Betanews account to respond. Or you can send email to joe at betanews dot com. Your identity or anonymity is probably safest with me. I don't give up sources.
Hulu Plus launches on just six Android smartphones, no tablets
Hulu Plus, the portable subscription-based streaming TV service from NBC Universal, Fox, and Disney-ABC has finally begun to roll out to Android-powered devices, starting with just a small fragment of the available devices, and adding more throughout the year.
Support is limited to only six phones: Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X and Motorola Atrix. The joint venture did not say why these phones were chosen or why the launch group was so small.
Opera Next clears clutter from the browser UI
The pace of browser development is quickening, with Firefox now being on a quarterly schedule. Software companies are now also much willing to release beta projects on an eager public, and we have become used to seeing endless Firefox updates pushed out. Opera is just as keen to give its users a preview of what to expect in future versions of the software and this is something that is highlighted by Opera 'Next' v11.50, also known as project Featherweight.
We've already seen a few previews of Opera's upcoming releases, but project Featherweight brings a fresh new look to the browser interface. The rather minimalist interface features a completely redesigned set of icons for the toolbar, which are more muted in style that in previous released. The result is a sophisticated look and feel that already feels polished.
You can text the globe with DeLorme inReach
I'm baffled why DeLorme sent me a press release, dated today, for a product announced weeks ago -- and after business hours on the East Coast, when there presumably is no one left in the office to talk about it. Buy, hey, I'm from Maine, and so is DeLorme. That's good enough for a quickie post.
If you're an athlegeek -- climber, hiker, sailer, snowboarder, surfer or any other wayfarer -- inReach could be for you. DeLorme describes the Satellite and GPS device as a "personal communicator" that delivers "truly global two-way satellite text messaging." DeLorme partnered with Iridium for satellite capabilities, providing communications to the many places where there is no cellular coverage and where satellite telephony is too costly, or simply unnecessary. So when you reach the summit, pull that core sample from Antarctic ice or rescue that child from the earthquake's ruble, you can text mom and tell her -- or anyone else.
Should I renew my Skype number?
While I was busy working and not paying attention to nag mail, my Skype number expired this week. I could reactivate and get another three months service for about 12 bucks after a 33-percent discount. But it's Whopper Wednesday. That $12 would feed the family, with enough change left over for some cool vanilla cones at the Rite Aid.
I've had a Skype number since April 2006 -- back when it cost just $38 a year. There's sentimental value having the number for so long, and it's the having not the number itself. The Skype # is not so memorable or well-known to be worth porting anywhere. My Skype is mostly used for calls I need to record, for reporting purposes. Oh, yeah, it buzzes the front gate to our apartment complex, too.
Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 Keyboard Dock is great (when it works)
On Tuesday, Samsung announced its accessory suite for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet, which includes a desktop dock, a keyboard dock, USB adaptors, and cases available immediately, and an SD Card and USB adaptor and bluetooth keyboard later this summer.
Our traffic numbers tell us that you guys are very interested in Android tablets, so I try to keep an eye out for as much tablet-related information as possible, and ran out to go pick up Samsung's $79 keyboard dock for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 so I could do a quick hands-on review of it.
Google becomes first site with a billion uniques
According to the monthly Media Metrix report from Internet market research firm comScore, Google in May became the first web property to pass one billion unique visitors worldwide.
Even as the most popular web property in the world, Google still managed to grow its audience by 8% between May 2010 and May 2011. According to comScore, this increase was common among all of the top web destinations, with Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Wikimedia sites all trending upward over the year.
My town government is kept offline and my taxes are kept up thanks to the dead tree lobby
I'm involved in local government in my town (Maplewood, NJ) and I'm always looking for ways for the town to save money in order to keep our outrageous property taxes under control. So I was heartened by a proposal for a state law permitting municipalities and individuals to publish legal notices on the town web site instead of in a local newspaper.
Legal notices are one of the main things keeping small, local newspapers in business. They're big, easy money. My dinky town has budgeted $20,000 for legal notices this year. The paper just has to reproduce the exact text provided to them; no sales, no editing, pretty much pure profit.
Will Kinect finally make us respond to interactive advertisements?
Microsoft's Kinect 3D motion controller has hit a harmonious chord among both game consumers and interface developers, selling over 10 million units since it launched last November, and inspiring a whole movement of amateur developers to devise innovative new uses for the peripheral. Though Kinect is being applied to everything from Augmented Reality to education, one of the main areas where Microsoft is hoping to inspire developers, consumers and investors is interactive television.
Yesterday at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, Microsoft unveiled Kinect NUads, an advertising platform that adds voice and gesture control to advertisements.
Is your website safe from hackers? Websecurify can tell you
Protecting a website from hackers is no easy task, as even big names like Sony and Sega will confirm. But making use of a vulnerability scanner like Websecurify may be able to help.
The idea is a simple one. Just point the program at your website, it'll scan it and then report on any security holes, so hopefully you can fix them before they're noticed by someone else.
The real reason Nokia can't beat Apple
Finnish-phone maker Nokia could learn something from director J.J. Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg. They deliberately released only a teaser trailer, short on information and long on suspense, for movie "Super 8". The cryptic title evoked mystery, too. Had the trailer told the story, the movie might not be as successful.
Nokia marketing is good to a fault. Product advertising and marketing is among the best in techdom. The adverts and promo videos are often clever, funny, provocative and moving. Nokia knows how to motivate people to buy its products, in part because the marketing is memorable or truly aspirational -- that buyers lives will be better for being this Nokia phone or that one.
Sony Ericsson's beach-friendly Android smartphone won't make it this summer
Sony Erricsson debuted two new mid-range Android smartphones at CommunicAsia 2011 in Singapore on Wednesday, the Xperia Ray and Xperia Active. Both devices feature touchscreens in the 3" range, utilize a 1GHz processor and run Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).
While Xperia Ray is designed for more typical smartphone use, Xperia Active takes a very different approach and targets the more athletic user. It includes a handful of unique features that make it stand out in the ever-growing Android crowd, especially as we enter the summer months.
LulzSec attacks Brazilian government sites
Brasil.gov.br and Presidencia.gov.br, two sites belonging to the government of Brazil, were the latest victims of anti-security hacker group LulzSec on Tuesday.
The now-familiar cry of "Tango Down!" came across Twitter from LulzSec and another account named LulzSecBrazil on Tuesday evening, signaling that the hacker group had successfully brought down another website. The group initiated a DDoS attack against the U.K.'s Serious Organized Crime Agency this week, and called for a rally to pillage government data stockpiles for secret information.
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