Customize Windows right-click menus with Easy Context Menu
Browse just about any Windows tips site and you’ll find tutorials on how to customize various Explorer right-click menus. Adding the ability to open the command prompt at a particular folder is a particular favorite; shutting down your system from the desktop right-click menu is another.
Applying this kind of tweak usually requires nothing more than a few quick Registry edits, but if you’re in a hurry then you might prefer to use Easy Context Menu. It’s a compact portable tool which makes it simple to apply 20+ common right-click tweaks, as well as adding a few small extras of its own.
Hulu teams with CBS to add more content
Netflix, Amazon, Redbox and Hulu -- it's become increasingly hard to keep track of the content you wish to watch. All of these services are working on announcing new agreements, hoping to bring the latest and greatest to the viewing audience. Of course, not every one gets each and every deal, and now Hulu is the company with something to announce.
Today the streaming service announces a new partnership with a major US TV network, or really more of an expanded agreement between the two entities. "Now, with the expansion of our partnership with CBS, new generations can watch this iconic show, and come to understand the epic saga between Jan and her sister 'Marcia, Marcia, Marcia'", state Hulu's Mike Hopkins. Yes, the Brady Bunch will be part of the deal.
Microsoft soars through the sky -- FAA authorizes Surface 2 for pilot use
Traveling on an airplane used to be quite the archaic experience. Sure, soaring above the clouds is great, but for many, using electronic devices for things like Flappy Bird is much more exciting. Sadly, for many years, electronic devices were banned from certain phases of flight, such as take-off. Luckily, last year, the FAA allowed electronic devices during all phases.
While that was great for passengers, what about the pilots? Surely these air-based navigators want to take advantage of cutting-edge technology too. Well, today is their lucky day, as the FAA grants authorization to Microsoft's Surface 2.
The Flappy Bird files: is the truth out there?
Death threats, inflated eBay auctions, clever marketing, lawsuits, app cloning, IP cloaking and bots -- the departure of Flappy Bird from app stores at the weekend has sparked an array of rumours, accusations and conspiracies.
A notoriously tricky and addictive game, Flappy Bird had been downloaded more than 50 million times since May 2013, and was the number one free game in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store charts.
Microsoft makes Windows 8 worse
On Sunday, Paul Thurrott asked (geez does this guy ever sleep) the question: "What the Heck is Happening to Windows?" The answer is hugely pertinent to the BetaNews reader community. Thurrott refers specially to Windows 8.1 development, and colleague Wayne Williams gives great overview of what to expect in Update 1, today.
The problem: What Windows is becoming, as Microsoft tries to satisfy its legacy customers while embracing future devices, particularly those using so-called NUIs, or new user interfaces, like touch and voice. Wayne smartly observes: "Maybe I’m just being overly negative here but with all the changes Microsoft has made along the way, Windows 8.x feels like it’s becoming a Frankenstein product stitched together with compromises".
Mark Zuckerberg is the most generous man in the US
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were the most generous US philanthropists last year. In 2013, the couple donated 18 million Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, amounting to some $992.2 million. The Chronicle of Philanthropy put together a list of the top fifty most generous donors in 2012, ranked according to the size of individual donations.
The list is concerned only with gifts and pledges of cash and stock to non-profit organizations and it might be surprising to find that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is not at the top spot -- in fact, it does not appear in the list at all. This is explained by the publication:
HTC posts disappointing Q4 earnings and shifts focus to cheaper handsets
HTC is a brand that has fallen from the lofty heights it enjoyed just a few years ago. Today, the company releases fourth quarter earnings and the figures do not make for particularly happy reading.
On the positive side of things, the results show HTC managed to break even -- this is good news having suffered losses throughout 2013. It's not great news as profits stand at just NT$0.31 billion, but it's certainly better than a loss.
Track hard drive activity in real time with Free Folder Monitor
Whether you need to know what a particular installation program is doing to your system, or you’re just wondering why your hard drive is busy all the time, being able to track disk activity can be very useful. It’s surprisingly easy, too, as Free Folder Monitor demonstrates.
There’s a selection of adware to avoid during installation, but get past that and Free Folder Monitor starts to work immediately, displaying current system drive activity as it happens. A table lists the date and time of the event, its type (Add, Modify, Rename or Remove), the file name, size and attributes.
Windows 8.1 Update 1 -- A Frankenstein product stitched together with compromises
Microsoft’s tiled operating system has always divided the Windows community. There are those who love or at least like it, and those who tolerate, or outright hate it. I tried really hard to like Windows 8, but never did. Windows 8.1 is much more usable for me, and I’m a fan of it now (even though I probably wouldn’t have switched in the first place if my job didn't require me to be running it). But let’s be honest here. "New Windows" was a massive gamble for Microsoft, and it’s one that simply hasn’t paid off.
The devices and services giant bet big on touch screen devices and Windows tablets flying off the shelves, and they haven’t. The PC market has imploded, users haven’t really taken to expensive touch enabled computers, and Windows tablets are nowhere near as popular as iPads or the numerous Android powered alternatives. Users are sticking firmly to older versions of Microsoft’s OS -- Windows 7 and even XP are showing more growth than Windows 8.x. With the forthcoming Windows 8.1 Update 1 Microsoft has rolled over and admitted defeat. Keyboard and mouse users are here to stay, and finally the tiled OS has something to offer them.
Microsoft Store now offers the ASUS VivoTab Note 8
Folks looking to purchase a small Windows 8.1 tablet now have one more option available to consider, as the ASUS VivoTab Note 8 just made its way to Microsoft's online store. The device can be had for $329 in the 32 GB storage trim, making it slightly more expensive compared to the $299 its maker had revealed it would cost at launch.
For the money, the VivoTab Note 8 packs an 8-inch IPS, five-point multi-touch display with a resolution of 1280 by 800. There is an Intel Atom Z3740 processor, running at 1.33 GHz (1.86 GHz on Turbo Boost), inside, backed by 2 GB of RAM and a one-cell battery that is rated at up to eight hours of use on a single charge.
Paint.NET 4 gets first beta release, adds commit button, choice of colour scheme
Less than two months after unveiling the first alpha, dotPDN LLC has released the first beta of Paint.NET 4.0. Version 4.0 comes with a rebuilt rendering engine, improvements to various tools and a tweaked user interface, and while the beta is primarily a bug-fix release it does introduce a couple of major tweaks.
The first change gives users a choice of color scheme -- light or blue -- via the program’s Settings dialog. The default depends on the version of Windows currently being run -- light in Windows 8, blue in Windows 7.
Putty lands on Windows Phone Store
IT professionals wanting to perform certain tasks on remote devices from their Windows Phone will be pleased to know they can now take advantage of a Putty client to log in and get the job done. The app just landed in Store, and is currently undergoing private testing. For those who may not be familiar with it, Putty allows users to connect via SSH and Telnet to other devices that have support enabled for the two previously mentioned protocols.
There is a very good chance that your router, which is a common device in Internet-connected households, supports SSH and Telnet connections. When one (or both) is enabled, it is possible to use such an app to, for instance, view stats and modify configurations remotely. But, a more popular use for Putty is remote access to servers, allowing administrators to keep a close eye on what is happening and intervene when needed, like in case of attacks.
SlideDog lets you create a multimedia presentation and share it online
There’s a lot of presentation software around, but the free SlideDog attracted our attention immediately with its claims of wide file format support. The program doesn’t just sequence images, the website boasts: you can also use videos, PowerPoint files, web pages, PDFs, Prezi presentations, and more.
While this sounds great, all isn’t quite as it seems. On installation, SlideDog points out that it doesn’t handle these file types itself, and instead depends on you having suitable viewers available (VLC Media Player for movies, PowerPoint or the PowerPoint viewer for PPT/ PPTX files, and so on).
Twitter needs to stand its ground over James Dean legal action
Legal threats on Twitter are nothing new, but it is usually Twitter users who are the subject of litigation. In the case of the @JamesDean account, however, it is Twitter itself found on the receiving end of legal action. Acting on behalf of the James Dean estate, celebrity licensing agency CMG Worldwide is attempting to wrestle control of the Twitter account -- which is currently being used to tweet quotes by and about the star -- from the hands of its current owner.
The complaint says that Twitter is breaching trademarks owned by James Dean Inc by placing "objectionable content" online. CMG Worldwide has been in touch with Twitter to ask that the account activity be stopped, and that contact details for the account owner be handed over. Twitter has refused both requests. It is hard to see how the James Dean estate could have suffered "immeasurable and irreparable" damage. It is also interesting to note that the complaint suggests that unless the account activity stops, then James Dean Inc "will continue to be irreparably harmed and suffer actual damages in an amount as yet undetermined". There is no suggestion of what irreparable damage has actually been caused.
Mozilla unveils Firefox Accounts -- sets sights on Google Chrome
Firefox is my favorite browser, but I don't use it. While that sounds crazy, and it sort of is, there is a method to my madness. You see, Google Chrome utilizes Google accounts, which makes my life easier.
By utilizing Google accounts, Chrome can sync across multiple devices -- that includes things like bookmarks and passwords. And so, the convenience of Chrome caused me to abandon my trusty Firefox. Luckily, Mozilla is looking to bring parity with all-new Firefox Accounts.
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