Software
Cooliris for iPhone: Sexying up image search
The iPhone Safari browser has to be on the top three mobile Web browsers available today -- it's fast and it renders full-size pages perfectly. But if you want your Web with an extra whack of wow-factor, iPhone fans, you can't look past Cooliris.
Some of you may already be familiar with the Cooliris add-on for Firefox, IE and Safari desktop browsers. Simply put, Cooliris searches image sites, such as Google Images or Flickr, and returns results to your search in rows of images in a faux 3D space. Continue reading...
Chris Anderson's Free is first free audiobook on Spotify
Chris Anderson is the editor of Wired magazine in the US. His latest book -- Free: The Future of a Radical Price -- dissects and discusses the effect no-cost products, notably those offered online, have on businesses. And to support his arguments, he's giving the downloadable versions of the book away for free. In the UK, it's also the first audiobook on streaming music service Spotify and is, of course, available completely free of charge.
Anderson's previous work -- 2006's The Long Tail -- was a critically acclaimed and influential tome on the subject of online economics, and relatively controversial. Previews of Free suggest it is likely to have a comparable impact. Continue reading...
Facebook embarks on major privacy cleanup
Facebook is gearing up for a major revamp of its privacy settings. The social network's privacy controls had become so sprawling that they were distributed across six separate pages and 40 different settings, according to a conference call the company held on Wednesday.
"These can add up and pile up and not be as clean as one would like," Facebook chief privacy officer Chris Kelly said on the call. Apparently, they'd become so complicated many members just ignored them altogether -- something Facebook certainly doesn't want as it encourages its 200-million-plus members to post and share even more content. Continue reading...
Firefox 3.5 benchmarked: Twice as fast as Firefox 3
2009 is the year of the Web browser. We've had the best version of Opera in history, the most impressive version of Safari, the beginnings of Google's Chrome on the Mac, and now a brand-new version of Firefox -- version 3.5, as we discussed this morning.
Three release candidates were released before the final version went public this week, and we've been using them for a couple of months. New features, all of which we've been testing, include an enormous speed boost, a private-browsing function to help keep sensitive data from prying eyes, and a feature that lets Firefox know where you're working from. But we'll come to those shortly, because we're going to talk about JavaScript first. Continue reading...
Best iPhone office apps 
Sure, you got an iPhone to look cool on the train on to work, but don't forget that it does more collect face grease and make amusing fart noises. So whether it's from the patio of your Tuscan villa or from your sweaty commuter-packed carriage, this collection of iPhone apps will transform your iPhone into an office. Some are paid for, but many are free, and all links will take you direct to the iTunes App Store. Continue reading...
Firefox 3.5 available for download
Firefox 3.5, Mozilla's attempt to "upgrade the Web", is now available to download for Windows and Mac.
The browser has a range of new features, including a new JavaScript engine for faster Web applications such as Google Docs, the ability to show video built into Web pages without plug-ins, a private browsing mode, fancy downloadable fonts and geolocation technology that can let Web sites know where you are. Continue reading...
Twitpic hackers tweet fake celeb deaths
Celebrities seem to be dropping like flies. After the deaths of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon last week, a wave of viral death notices went out on Twitter for Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, Jeff Goldblum and P Diddy. But all are safe and sound -- and it seems a bout of dastardly hacking was to blame.
"Britney has passed today," a bogus tweet announced on Sunday. "It is a sad day for everyone. More news to come." Continue reading...
The Pirate Bay apparently sold for £4.6m
The Pirate Bay has been sold for 60m krona (£4.6m) to Swedish Internet-gaming cafe operator Global Gaming Factory AB X. Bear with us here, this is all rather strange.
According to a press release (PDF) from GGF, "The Pirate Bay requires a new business model, which satisfies the requirements and needs of all parties, content providers, broadband operators, end users, and the judiciary." The key word there, of course, is 'judiciary', with the site's founders getting to grips with a massive £2.4m fine from their recent landmark court case. Continue reading...
Advanced iTunes: Smart Playlists and multiple libraries
Continuing our sporadically added-to series of iTunes guides, here's a collection of four more-than-just-the-basics tips for getting more out of the software -- multiple libraries on single machines, the best uses for Smart Playlists, getting true CD-quality rips from your CD, and tips for getting perfect album art. Continue reading...
Pirate Bay judge 'not biased', High Court rules
The judge in the Pirate Bay case, Tomas Norström, was not biased. That's the decision of the Swedish High Court of Justice, which investigated accusations made by the four defendants in the high-profile file-sharing case.
The accusations were based on Norström's membership in organisations such as the Swedish Copyright Association, which counts among its members lawyers who represented the plaintiffs during the trial. Continue reading...
