Posted 11/03/09 at 04:30:00 PM by Florence Ion

As your library of Firefox Add-ons continues to grow, so does the worry that a system crash will wipe out your carefully assembled collection of extensions. To quell this fear, all you have to do is download just one additional add-on that will ensure your extensions say safely backed up in a folder on your computer or portable storage device. FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) is a worry-free backup system that will preserve your highly-customized Firefox settings in the case of a crash.

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Posted 10/28/09 at 06:30:59 PM by Florence Ion

Vectors marked the beginning of the evolution of graphics for the Web 2.0 generation. Almost every button and rendered image an Internet traveler sees on the web these days is a vector image drawn with expensive professional software like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw. For non-designers looking to venture into the vectorizing sphere of the World Wide Web, we suggest Inkscape, an open source vector graphics editor with the same tools and resources as other drawing applications.

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Posted 10/22/09 at 01:22:46 PM by Paul Lilly

With a lot of help from the University of Michigan, Hewlett Packard on Wednesday unveiled its beta BookPrep project, which seeks to make more than half a million rare books available through a print-on-demand system.

Using imaging and printing technology from HP Labs, HP is able to automatically scan rare books and then clean up, brighten, and align the text. As of this writing, there are exactly 472,509 books available for purchase, most of which were published before 1923.

"HP BookPrep technology allows publishers to extend the life cycle of their books, removes the cost and waste burdens of maintaining inventory, and uses a full spectrum of technologies to deliver convenient access to consumers," said Andrew Bolwell, HP's director of New Business Initiatives.

In addition to rare books, HP said it is also extending its BookPrep project to publishers and content owners who want to offer their full catalogs of titles online, The Inquirer reports.

BookPrep Link

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Posted 10/13/09 at 08:48:42 AM by Paul Lilly

The idea of dethroning Apple's iTunes service to lord over the domain of digital music downloads seems like a long shot at best, just don't tell that to BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster who has high hopes for its upcoming Sky Songs digital music service.

Perhaps rightfully so, as BSkyB has inked deals with several music suppliers, including EMI, Sony, Warner, and a bunch of independent labels. But unlike iTunes and its per-track business model, Sky Songs will be a subscription-based service charging subscribers a flat fee every month. This also differs from Spotify, which serves up free access to music but plays ads.

"[Sky Songs] will offer access to unlimited music as well as premium fan-oriented content, while ensuring our roster of artists are appropriately rewarded for their creativity," said Eric Daugan of Warner Music, Europe.

Sky Songs is expected to launch next week with two subscription options available. For £6.49, subscribers will be able to download and keep a single album or 10 songs but forgo unlimited streaming, while the £7.99 subscription ups the ante with unlimited streams and 15 individual downloads to keep.

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Posted 10/06/09 at 04:00:00 PM by Florence Ion

The history library of any browser can be the most convoluted maze to navigate, especially if you’re looking for a very specific URL. The interface is always austerely simple and clogged with duplicate links that seem to take up most of your history archive’s free space. If you oftentimes forget to bookmark important sites, or desire for a simpler way to sift through URL archives, then History Tree will make your Firefox history library easier to navigate by displaying it as a tree diagram.

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Posted 09/29/09 at 04:15:45 PM by Pulkit Chandna

After the USB Implementers Forum reprimanded Palm for using Apple’s USB Vendor ID to re-enable iTunes sync on the Pre – Apple had blocked Palm’s Vendor ID, Palm was left with little choice but to abandon the practice. With the release of webOS 1.2 for the Pre, Palm has grudgingly abandoned its fixation with iTunes and opted for Amazon in its stead. Users can now download their favorite tracks from the Amazon MP3 store using either WiFi or WAN. But iTunes aficionados, who own a Pre for some reason, can use third-party alternatives like double Twist and iTunes Agent to enable iTunes sync on their own.

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Posted 09/29/09 at 02:00:00 PM by Florence Ion

We hate to sound like a sales(wo)man, but this Firefox extension is so handy, it deserves its own infomercial-like introduction. Thus, have you ever had one of those instances where you really needed to open up a Word document, but didn’t want to fire up Microsoft Office and waste precious memory? Open IT Online makes it so you don't have to! This extension for Firefox (and, if you prefer, Internet Explorer) enables you to open and edit your document in the browser window, as opposed to downloading the file and opening it via an external application.

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Posted 09/29/09 at 01:30:20 PM by Paul Lilly

According to comScore, Internet users are spending a lot of time watching online videos, with 161 million users tuning in online during the month of August, which ranks as the largest audience ever recorded. And with 25 billion videos viewed, August also recorded its busiest month ever.

Google Sites continues to lead the charge, again taking the top spot, this time recording over 10 million videos viewed and claiming just shy of 40 percent market share. Not surprisingly, YouTube accounted for all but 1 percent of Google Sites' video views.

Microsoft came in second and claims 2.2 percent of the online video market, enough to edge out Viacom Digital at 2.1 percent and Hulu at 1.9 percent.

More stats here.

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