Easily create icons from images or executables
Replacing a few of the standard Windows and application icons can be a great way to give your PC a fresh new look. Creating new icons can be more of a challenge, though, as the ICO format isn’t widely supported by graphics software.
There is an easy solution to this problem, though, and it’s called Quick Any2Ico. Point this compact free program at an image or executable file and it’ll convert or extract the required icon for you with a click.
Nokia Lumia 928 -- photographing the rainforest with Windows Phone 8
This weekend, I returned from a nine day cruise of the Caribbean. On this particular cruise, I went to Bermuda, St. Martin, Puerto Rico and Haiti. What I love about cruises, other than the food (yes, I’m a fat guy), is visiting multiple locations in a short time rather than being in one place for the entire trip. This allows me to take very eclectic photos and have memories that will last a lifetime.
I own a fairly nice point-and-shoot camera with the Nikon Coolpix AW100. The Nikon is my go-to camera when I am visiting beaches since it is waterproof. However, while in Puerto Rico, I was to tour El Yunque Rainforest -- a beautiful place to take photos where I would not be going swimming. And so, I decided to use a different camera instead -- the Nokia Lumia 928 on Verizon. Yup, I was trusting my vacation memories with a camera-phone!
Scammers are after the Apple ID I don't have
When I receive an email asking to validate my account info, it is an obvious alert that something is amiss. These frequently come in the guise of PayPal and even banks where I have no account -- a no brainer to hit the delete button. However, as I browsed through my messages while preparing for bed, one caught my attention, not because of variance from other email scams, but because it simply attempted to lure me to a trap I had not encountered previously.
While the likes of PayPal and CitiBank may trade between targets number one and two, this was the first time I had been asked to validate my Apple account -- the one I have never had.
Evernote Touch 2.0 for Windows 8 gets new hub page, improves editing
Evernote Corporation has released Evernote Touch 2.0, a major update of its touch-friendly Windows 8 app. The latest version's main new feature is a hub page providing a summary of the user’s account, while it also promises improved editing tools and support for Business accounts.
The major new highlight is undoubtedly the hub page, which is the first thing users will see when logging into the app. All of its core navigation items as well as an overview of the various parts of the user's account, including notes, notebooks, tags and shortcuts, can now be found here.
Move BeyondPod to Feedly, after Google killed Reader
By now you are likely sick of hearing all of the bemoaning over the death of Google Reader, but the fact is, this affected more things than it would seem on the surface. If you happen to have an Android device and listen to podcasts, then you will notice that popular app BeyondPod stopped updating on July 1.
BeyondPod used Google Listen for its backend, which, in turn, relied on Reader. When the latter died, it dragged the former down into the grave with it. Sadly BeyondPod was not able to get its update together in time for the RSS aggregator's demise. However, the company is testing the new version, and has elected to migrate to Feedly for its backend.
CyberLink Media Suite 11 Ultimate review
From watching movies to editing videos, organising photos or burning discs, everyone needs quality multimedia software. This can be very expensive, though, so you will probably only wish to purchase the bare minimum of tools, just the core essentials that you really need.
There is another option, though. Buying CyberLink Media Suite 11 Ultimate will get you 15 of software's best multimedia apps – playback tools, including audio, photo and video editors; disc authoring apps, media organisers, sharing tools and more.
Best Windows 8 apps this week
Thirty-six in a series. Microsoft confirmed this week that the total Windows Store app count crossed the 100,000 apps threshold. That's a big milestone for the company and users of the system.
These 100,000 apps are not available to all users though, as localization limits app availability somewhat. The US Windows Store for instance crossed the 70,000 apps mark this week which in turn means that about 30,000 apps are not available to users from the United States.
Jolidrive brings your personal cloud to iOS
With all of the cloud and social apps these days, our content becomes increasingly spread across vast reaches of the Internet. It is a modern-day problem that is less easy to solve than you may believe and accomplishing the feat has generated its own mini-industry within the tech world.
One service aiming to unify our vast web of data is Jolicloud, which uses its Jolidrive app to bring this sprawling mess together in a central location for customers to access. Now the service releases its iOS app, which is built for both iPhone and iPad and brings together much of your cloud-based life.
Aging desktop search tool Everything now receives major update
Five years have passed since the search tool Everything first appeared, and the program's amazing speed gets it fans ever since. It's easy to see why, too -- there's no fuss, no complexity, just enter part of a file or folder name and results appear just as quickly as you can type.
What is a little more surprising, though, is that the program's last stable release was back in March 2009. But there's no need to worry, Everything isn't dead, just "resting", and a series of betas released this year show that the developer is determined to make up for lost time.
Edward Snowden is a patriot
It's big news and rightly so. Whistleblower Edward Snowden is now the US government's number one enemy. He is called both a traitor and patriot by the public, press, and government officials. His story sparked a debate over where America's best interests lie, whether in freedom or in safety.
The Justice Department is gathering all the information it needs to press a criminal case against Snowden, who has leaked secret documents on the NSA's expansive surveillance programs. From Snowden's leaks, it appears that the agency is increasingly focused on regular American citizens rather than terrorists and suspected criminals.
Mega gets official Android app, iOS and Windows clients to follow
Cloud storage locker Mega has turned a blind eye to the ever increasing popularity of mobile devices, offering no official app for Android or iOS (let alone BlackBerry or Windows Phone) to complement its security-oriented service. Now, though, Mega looks to finally fix the oversight.
The cloud storage locker just introduced its first mobile app called Mega which, at least at the moment, is only available for Android devices. The offering, according to the changelog, was "acquired by MEGA and is now being maintainted [sic] by MEGA contractors". Let's take a look at the features.
Doug Engelbart, visionary
To most people who recognize his name Doug Engelbart was the inventor of the computer mouse but he was much, much more than that. In addition to the mouse and the accompanying chord keyboard, Doug invented computer time sharing, network computing, graphical computing, the graphical user interface and (with apologies to Ted Nelson) hypertext links. And he invented all these things -- if by inventing we mean envisioning how they would work and work together to create the computing environments we know today -- while driving to work one day in 1950.
Doug had a vision of modern computing back in the day when many computers were still mechanical and user interfaces did not even exist. He saw in a flash not only the way we do things today but also the long list of tasks that had to be completed to get from there to here. Now that's vision.
Microsoft opens up Xbox 360 update beta
Xbox One may be unveiled and on tap for release later this year, but that does not mean its aging predecessor is dead. Microsoft today announces the beta rollout of the upcoming Xbox 360 update, something that usually reaches RTM (Release To Manufacturing) status in the fall of each year.
"We're inviting Xbox Live members worldwide to participate in the 2013 Xbox Live Update for Xbox 360 Public Beta", says Xbox Live chief Larry Hryb (also known as Major Nelson). "It will include updates to improve overall performance and the ability to conduct transactions with local currency, as Microsoft Points will be retired later this year".
S-commerce -- Matching service buyers and sellers in a blur
The use of e-commerce sites has radically changed the way consumers buy day-to-day items. Now the blur Group is hoping to do the same for business services with an addition to its successful global services exchange.
The blur Group site provides an exchange which allows enterprises to list project requirements for services like design, content creation, legal and accounting services, experts can then pitch for the work. This type of social commerce (s-commerce) platform is proving increasingly popular as it allows SMEs to compete on a level playing field with larger businesses when looking for services. The launch of blurSense, an intelligent matching system which uses a clever algorithm to match pitches with projects, should allow businesses to further streamline the way they buy services.
8StartButton 2.0 gets radical revamp, adds support for Windows 8.1 Preview
TotalIdea Software has released 8StartButton 2.0, a major new version of its Start menu replacement tool for Windows 8. The latest variant, which adds full support for Windows 8.1 Preview, comes with new features and a revamped look.
In Windows 8.1, the tool can integrate itself into the new Start button rather than use its own custom design. Paid-for users can now also customize the background color of the button when choosing a custom design.
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