Tech N Life

More Details And Pics Of The Dell Mini 5 Tablet – The Streak!

2010-03-10T10:44:53Z

Recently we looked a little at the pending release of the Dell mini 3. Here is its big brother the Mini 5 or possible release name of the Streak. Here is a little more detail from apparently “leaked” documents. Either way there are some pictures to get you motivated.

Current Specs We Know Of

5-inch WVGA (800 x 480) touchscreen,
5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash,
capacitive touch front buttons,
front-facing VGA camera (for video chatting)
the 30-pin docking connector
Colours to choose from
launch with an Amazon content partnership

So if it does launch with all this loveliness and along with a built Amazon MP3 and eBook store then it is sure to fly. No price or date yet.

via Engadget

Sub $200 7″ Tablet From Freescale – Made For My Kitchen Wall

2010-03-10T10:31:01Z

I saw over on Engadget this new tablet made by Freescale. It is capable of running Android, Chromium OS and Linux. This screenshot isn’t really a great example cause the colour is UGGGLY!!!

Specs

7 inch Screen
Multi-OS compatibility
ARM Processor
$200

But the other colours are fine. I am so putting one of these on the kitchen wall. How cool is that? Anyway there is a geeky video for you to watch, to see it in action showing “not the most rehearsed” presentation, but still you’ll get the idea. The biggest concern is that in the video it demonstrates a resistive touch screen in stead of the normal Android friendly capacitive touch screen. This may mean the Android version may be more expensive.

Cook Your Own Roms For Android – RelentlessAppz ROM Roaster Review

2010-03-10T10:25:05Z

I recently told you about RelentlessAppz and their fantastic software called Relentless Command Centre. Well shortly after that was released, Sean Marsh contacted me about his newest “invention”. I have been playing with it for a couple of weeks. Its called RelentlessAppz ROM Roaster. Cool name, huh?

The idea is really simple. If like me, you are constantly on the look out for a decent ROM for your Android handset. You will find that every ROM you try is almost right. Just not exactly how you like. For example, being in Ireland, it always annoys me that I have to re-enter my APNs to get my data connection going whilst most others have them preset. Or when I reflash, the most essential app for me is Titanium Backup. Some chefs add them, some don’t.

Well, if you relate to all that and feel like having a little fun, then this is for you.

Relentless Appz ROM Roaster

This is a review of the software. Later I will write, not so much a how to as its pretty simple, but more of a tips and tricks of the software. Whilst Sean doesn’t get a gold star for his Photoshop skills , he does get bonus stars for making something that is usually out of the reach of the everyday user in to a simple click click affair.

Features

Add your own APN list
Add a custom boot screen and Launcher
Add your own fonts
Enable APPS2SD
Choose where apps get installed
Install specific keyboards
Add Social networks, Music apps and File sharing apps
Fine tune control over what apps get added at the beginning
Add superuser app
GREAT FUN!!!
32b Compatibility Mode -E.g Use a Hero ROM on a Dream/Magic

This is your control centre.

You need a base ROM to work with and load that into the interface. Then as you move along you add and remove features that not completely your liking. When you are done, you hit the turkey and flash your device.

If you need reminding on flashing devices just use the search button on this site.

PRICE: £4.99

Welcome To Our Latest Sponsor – Sunbelt Software

2010-03-09T11:53:30Z

____________________________________________

This is a quick to shout out to say thanks to Sunbelt Software who are advertising their anti-virus software called Vipre. Its thanks to these guys that make this blog happen and I’d like you guys(readers) to hit their link on the side to see what they are doing.

Also, later this week I will have a review article on the anti-virus software package they have and comparing it to Microsofts Security Essentials.

Vipre Antivirus

New Feature – Ask A Tech Question, Get An Answer

2010-03-09T11:01:07Z

Ok, I am back on track today after a small set back between me and my dental surgeon. . I have not been writing much this past week but I have been finishing some features on the site.

I want to let you know about a new feature that is in development and will hopefully be finished today. Either way, it is now useable by you and I am just going to tidy up the page.

Ask A Techie

You’ll see on the top menu, there is an option for Ask A Techie. This is how it works. You add a comment on that page and we will respond with an answer either in the comments or in a full blown article or guide. Completely free and unlimited. So have some fun, ask those questions you were to embarrassed to ask your IT guy.

You can ask anything from how do I turn on the the stupid computer? to how do I install a network?

This feature came from the amount of email Tech N Life gets with very specific questions, which we will always encourage.

Use Your Speakers/Mic For Sonar Controlled PC’s

2010-03-04T20:55:26Z

Windows/Linux: Sleeping your computer is a useful way to save energy, but free utility SonarPM takes power management an awesome step further: It puts your computer to sleep automatically when you walk away from your desk—using sonar.

Almost any computer with speakers and a microphone can take advantage of this software, so most laptops are good to go. It works by emitting an inaudible frequency from your speakers, and detecting echoes with your microphone, determining whether you are sitting at your desk or not. If you get up, your computer will see that you have done so and automatically put your computer to sleep. Sure, you could always just use a hotkey, but this requires literally no energy on your part—and it’s sure to be a heck of a conversation starter.

The program is open source, so if you’ve got some tinkering skills, you can make it do all sorts of things when you walk away (as described in the video above by Tinkernut). If you just want the sleep functionality, you can still download and install the package and use it as-is (if you’re a Windows user, that is—Linux users need to compile from source—check the instructions on the site if you need help doing this). It doesn’t necessarily work with every microphone and speaker equipped computer, so test it out to see if it does with yours—you may need to calibrate it a few times before it works well (it took me a few tries and a little bit of waiting afterward before it started working in Windows on my MacBook Pro).

Sonar Power Manager is a free download for Windows and Linux systems. Sleeping your computer whenever you walk away seems a little heavy handed (do I really want to put my computer to sleep when I’m going to get a glass of water?), but the possibilities are endless, and if you are interested in bending it to your will, Tinkernut’s guide is an excellent place to start.

Sonar Power Manager [via Tinkernut] [via Lifehacker]

Photostage – Simple Photo Slide Shows For The Novice

2010-03-02T12:19:41Z

Photostage Slideshow Software

Create your own photo slideshow movies for free.

Creating a slideshow from your digital photos has never been easier. Photostage brings your pictures, images and video to life and lets you share your favorite memories with family and friends in an interesting and portable way.

The brief – make a slideshow program so easy to use that your Grandma could do it.
The result – Photostage.

With incredibly powerful features at your fingertips, Photostage lets you set your photos to a soundtrack, record your own narrations and overlay text captions.

PhotoStage is completely free.

Designed to be very easy and intuitive to use, Photostage will have you up and running within minutes. Simply download now and install. We make this software free in the hope you will like it so much you will try our other related software.

Completely Free Slideshow Creator

Full of effects! Includes zoom, crop and fade effects
Cool panning and zooming effects brings your photos to life.
Easy to share! Burn and present on TV, PSP, Mobile Phone and more…
Burn your slideshow to DVD for playback on TV, or as a standalone video file for enjoying on web and portable devices.
Enhance your photos! Easy to use photo enhancements
Touch up or enhance your photos and videos with ease.
Vista compatible! Add up to 1000 photos
Create up to 1000 photos in a slideshow, and it is fully compatible with Windows 2000 / XP / Vista

Slideshow Features

Stunning Transition Effects Panning and zooming effects let you bring your photos to life. Fade transition effect gives your slideshow that professional touch. Preview the effects in real time. Customize the duration of the effect.
Complete Photo Optimization Fine tune brightness, saturation and color for photos and video. Add your favorite photos with a click of a button. Crop, rotate and flip photos easily and preview the changes in real time. Add text captions to individual slides. Add video clips for a complete slideshow presentation.
Amazing Audio Tools Add music tracks to your slideshow. Record narrations with the click of a button. Import pre-recorded narrations Mix multiple music tracks together using our powerful MixPad Audio File Mixer
Share With Your Family and Friends Burn to DVD and watch in your living room on TV. Show off your latest pics and clips on PSP, iPod, iPhone, 3GP mobile phone or Pocket PC. Explore the most advanced way to burn HD DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. Output video files and share your creation with more friends on computer or through Internet.

Supports Many Media Formats

Input Formats:
- Image: bmp, gif, jpg, jif, jiff, jpeg, exif, png, tif, tiff, psd, tga, pcx, jp2, wmf, ico
- Audio: wav, mp3, mp2, mpga, m4a, ogg, avi, mid, flac, aac, wma, dct, au, aiff, ogg, raw, msv, dvf, vox, cda, atrac, gsm, dss, sri, shn, dss, msv, wmv and many more.
- Video: avi, mpeg, wmv, divX, Xvid, mpeg1, mpeg2, mpeg4, mp4, mov, asf, vob, ogm, .3gp, H.264, RM and many more.
Output Formats:
- Disc export: DVD, CD, Blu-ray Discs, HD-DVD
- Video export: avi, wmv, asf, mpg, 3gp, mp4, mov, iPod, iPhone, PSP, Mobile Phone, Pocket PC

System Requirements

Works on Windows 7 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008

Download Photostage Slideshow Creator

Once download is complete run the file “pstagesetup.exe” to install Photostage. When the file has installed, please select Help to view (or print) the complete manual.

Are Cheaper Mobile Internet Bills On The Way? EU Says So!

2010-03-02T09:12:45Z

EU moves to prevent ’shock’ mobile internet bills

Brussels wants people to more happy to access the internet when abroad

A new Europe-wide rule to prevent mobile phone users from building up large bills for surfing the internet via their handset has come into force.

Customers can now require their phone firm to cut them off when their bill reaches a certain level after accessing the internet in other European nations.

If users do not put in place a limit by 1 July, it will automatically be set at 50 euros ($65; £45).

The phone firms will have to warn users when their bill hits 80% of the limit.

Accessing the internet via your mobile phone while abroad is called “data roaming”.

European Commissioner for Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, said: “Protection against data roaming bill shocks is a useful step towards building customers’ confidence to use mobile networks to surf the internet when travelling around Europe.

“Such confidence is essential if people and businesses are to use the internet to its full potential.”

The Commission added that if service providers did not honour people’s set spending limits, national regulators would deal with complaints and impose any necessary sanctions.

Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said the move was likely to reduce the cost of data roaming across Europe.

“This measure is likely to bring down the cost of data roaming, because if people stick to their own cash limits and find they don’t get much access to the internet for their money, the tendency will be to bring down prices so you get more surfing for your money,” he said.

Google Rolls Out New Gmail Features Today

2010-03-02T09:08:41Z

One of the lesser-known features of Gmail is its ability to help with multitasking. Frequently, I find that I need to find an old message while I’m composing an email. When this happens, I click on the “new window” icon to pop my compose area into its own window:

There’s only one problem — it’s been slow! Today, we’re rolling out a change that will fix this (reload your account to make sure you get this change). Now, popping out a window is much, much faster. No more “Loading…” progress bar.

There are a number of places you can pop up new windows in Gmail.

In chat, there’s the little upward arrow in the title bar:

When writing a message, hold the “Shift” key while you click on the Compose Mail, Reply, Reply All or Forward links and you’ll get a new window for your new message. (Holding the “Shift” key while typing the keyboard shortcut — in other words typing “C” “R” or “F” — has the same effect.)

When you’re reading your mail, hold the “Shift” key while you click on a message to open the conversation in a new window. (Same holds true for the “Shift” key and the “o” or “Enter” shortcuts.)

If you’re reading an email and want to save it for later, you can click the “New window” link in the upper-right hand corner of the conversation view:

Keep in mind that the popped out window does not outlive the closing of the original Gmail window, although we’re working on a way to make that better. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make this work in Internet Explorer, so to see the speed-up, you’ll need to be using Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, or Google Chrome.

Its Not You, Its Us – Playstation Network Down

2010-03-01T19:33:57Z

Sony PlayStation Network Outage Could Last 24 Hours

It may be some time until Sony PlayStation 3 owners can resume their usual online activities, according to a new blog post from Sony revealing it could take 24 hours to fix the glitch, which hit numerous users yesterday.

Sony has gone so far as to advise PS3 owners “do not use [their] PS3 system” until a fix has been issued.

News of the problem — which only affects owners of older PS3s — started to emerge yesterday. PlayStation has been keeping users updated via its Twitter feed.

“We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system,” explains Sony in the blog post.

As we’ve reported, the problems are related to the PlayStation Network, Sony’s online gaming service and store. As well as changing the PS3’s date, the bug signs users out of the PSN service, fails to display trophy data and also affects video playback.

“We are doing our best to resolve the issue and do apologize for any inconvenience cause,” says Sony. We will keep you updated with news on the fix.

How To Manage Your Child’s Geek Tendancies

2010-03-01T17:06:03Z

I have a daughter, aged 1.5 years. I guess watching me play with my phone, on my desktop clicking and tapping, on my laptop doing the same, all resulting in beeps and screen flashes captures a child’s interests and imaginations. So what can you do when they are this young but insist they need to use the PC. Lots, actually. And none of the solutions damage your settings or files. After all you want to encourage them as much as possible.

First up, BabySmash!

This is a program that gives them instant gratification for all their random and wild clicks on the mouse and taps on the keyboard. It takes up the full screen and locks them out of any of the desktop items.

Features

Smash on any keys
Draws letters, shapes, numbers
Keeps babies happy
Won’t harm your computer
New features added often

It offers a settings dialog so you can tune the “experience”. You may need to buy a new keyboard after a while though if your child is like mine. Or dig out an old one for them.

Its really good for hand-eye coordination. She is learning to control the mouse movement better and realize each key is different for a reason.

Soon she will be writing on the blog.

Its a free download and you can get it here – Baby Smash!

Secondly, Animal Sounds for Android

The desktop is only one part. So you need something for your phone too. I use Animal sounds to teach her the spellings, sounds and images of a particular animal. It doesn’t lock out the screen but has taught her what a touch screen is and how to use it with swipes.

Its an effective way of keeping her entertained and learning at the same time.

There is of course an options screen, again where you can fine tune things a little. Especially the sound control.

To get it, search for Animal Sounds on the market place and its free.

Here is their website – Linkedin Profile

Thirdly, Baby Go for Android and Blackberry

This one is good because it locks out your mobile screen so they can only learn and play. The creators website is fantastically designed. Below are the feature differences between the paid and free version. For me the free version is enough for now. I am sure she will grow out of it though and I will have to get the super version.

The site doesn’t indicate that its available for Android but a market search will show it up.

Feature	Baby Go – Free	Super Baby Go
	Download here
Cost	Free	7 day Free Trial $5.99 USD
Keeps your child entertained and engaged	Yes	Yes
Protects your phone by intercepting all keys	Yes	Yes
Sends incoming phone calls directly to voicemail	Yes	Yes
Letter blocks with spoken letter names	Yes	Yes
Letter blocks with spoken names in French		Yes
Alphabet Zoo (Animals with names)		Yes
Number blocks with number names in English		Yes
Number blocks with number names in French		Yes
Cartoon numbers with number names (English and French)		Yes
Additional activities regularly added		Yes

I hope these have been useful and if there are some better ones out there, let me know in the comments.

Two New Archos Tablets Coming Soon

2010-03-01T12:40:22Z

Archos has just announced its brand new 7- and 8-inch Home Tablets, which both run Android and cost €149 ($203). For that layout, you’ll get a 600MHz ARM 9 processor, which won’t be breaking any (positive) records, but the Archos 7 you see above is a very svelte 12mm thin and weighs only 350g, making it an ideal web reading device if not a particularly potent multimedia consumer. You also get WiFi, 2GB of integrated memory on the cheaper versions and a battery that will last for seven hours of video or 44 hours of audio playback. The Archos 8 (pictured after the break) comes with a huge old bezel, hinting at its ability to double up as a picture frame, while sharing the 7’s other features, including price and thickness. The smaller device will be coming out in Europe this April, to be followed by its larger sibling in May.

via Engadget

Support Sunday: Upgrade Windows 7 RC To The Release Version

2010-02-28T16:44:25Z

You are most likely reading this article because you’ve install Windows 7 RC way back when and now have one day left. If you’ve tried to install the full retail/oem version and failed with the message below, then this guide is for you.

The Problem

Windows 7 checks whether or not the current version you are running is a pre-release copy, and prevents you from upgrading further. For reference purposes, this is the error you’ll see when you try and upgrade.

The Solution

The solution is to edit a file inside the Windows 7 DVD—which you’ll have to extract to the hard drive to proceed.

If you are using an ISO image for the installation progress, you can use the awesome 7-Zip utility to extract the ISO to a folder on the drive.
If you are using an actual DVD, you can simply copy all of the files from the DVD to a folder on your hard drive.

Once you’ve extract the files, browse down into the “sources” folder to find the cversion.ini file.

Once you’ve opened up the cversion.ini file, you’ll notice that the MinClient line has a value of 7233.0, and since the Windows 7 RC release is build 7100, you can understand why it’s not working.

All you need to do is change the MinClient value to something less than the current build you are using. For the RC release, you can change it to 7000.

Now you can simply launch the setup.exe file from within the folder, and do the upgrade directly from the hard drive. Once you’ve started the setup, click Install now.

Once you get to the type of installation screen, choose to Upgrade the existing install.

Once you reach the Compatibility Report screen (if it doesn’t show up at all, be happy about it), you’ll see the list of applications that probably won’t work once you upgrade. Realistically most of these apps will work just fine, but the important thing is that you’ll be able to upgrade.

Note: You could always smooth the upgrade process by removing any apps that have compatibility problems, before you do the upgrade.

At this point, the upgrade should start working, and will take a rather long time.

Important Notes

There are a few important things to keep in mind when you are upgrading to the final version:

The Windows 7 beta or RC releases were Ultimate edition, so you’ll only be able to upgrade to the RTM (final) if you are installing Ultimate Edition.
Whenever possible, you should really backup your files and do a clean install. There are less headaches this way, and you get the benefit of a nice clean profile.

Happy upgrading!

VIA HowToGeek

“It’s Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Android” – Nokia’s New Interface

2010-02-26T16:29:09Z

….Or iPhone for that matter. Symbian S60 v4 will be here in the next six months with handsets being released in the Q3-Q4 of 2010. They have made the much needed changes to the interface and this is, in my opinion, Nokia’s last chance to wow us. Why? Well around the exact same time, Microsoft are releasing their flagship ground breaking OS. Or will it be?

That’s a lot of pressure for both companies, especially given the ground Apple and Android have gained so quickly. With that in mind, it will a regular feature to see both companies “leaking” videos of each stage of development to keep interest. Here are two videos.

How You Can Move Your iTunes Library From One PC To Another

2010-02-26T12:08:20Z

Backing up your iTunes library regularly is always a good thing to do, especially if you have a lot of music. Some people have several thousand songs. Imagine losing 2000+ songs because your hard drive failed… not good.

In many cases, 2000+ songs would mean $2000… down the drain. This tutorial will teach you three easy ways to backup your iTunes. Hopefully, one of them works for you.

For this tutorial, you will need:

- An external hard drive

- A high capacity flash drive

and/or

Another computer

*If you plan on transferring your iTunes to another computer, your hard drive or flash drive needs to be formatted correctly. If transferring to a Mac, the hard drive must be formatted as OS X Journaled. If transferring to a PC, the hard drive must be formatted as FAT 32.*

Backing up your iTunes library

1. Open up iTunes

2. Navigate to your iTunes preferences. If you are using a Mac, click the iTunes text in the top OS X navigation bar and select Preferences from the drop down menu.

If you are using Windows, select edit from the top toolbar of the iTunes window and select Preferences from the drop down menu.

3. Click on the advanced tab.

4. Check to assure that the option to Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library has a check mark next to it. If not, check it. Click the OK button when you are finished.

5. Click the File button located on the top OS X navigation bar on Macs, or the top Window menu in Windows. Hover your mouse over the Library link from the drop down menu and select Organize Library from the secondary sub menu.

6. From the Organize Library window, put a check next to the listing Consolidate Files. If you have the option, also put a check mark in the box that says Upgrade to iTunes Media organization. Click the OK button.

7. Close out of iTunes completely. If you are using a Mac, select iTunes from the top OS X navigation bar and select Quit iTunes. If you are using Windows, just click the X in the corner of the iTunes window to exit.

8. Connect your external hard drive or high capacity flash drive to your computer.

9. Navigate to your external hard drive or flash drive and open it. If you are using a Mac, it should auto mount and show up on the desktop. If you are using Windows, you may need to navigate to your My Computer and open it from there.

10. Find the location of your iTunes folder. By default, the location is Finder > Username > Music > iTunes on a Mac. The location is Start > Documents > Username > My Documents > My Music on a PC.

If your iTunes folder is not located in one of those locations, you can manually find it. Reopen iTunes. Use the path iTunes > Preferences on a Mac, or Edit > Preferences on a PC.

11. Click the Advanced tab. Look for the section labeled iTunes Media folder location. That is how you can get to your iTunes folder.

12. Click and drag your main iTunes folder into your external hard drive of flash drive.

That’s all there is to backing up your iTunes. You now have all of your music saved too your external hard drive or flash drive.

Restoring iTunes or adding iTunes to another computer (optional)

13. Make sure that you have iTunes installed on the other computer. If you do not, you can get iTunes here.

14. Connect your external hard drive of flash drive to the computer.

15. Launch iTunes.

16. Drag your iTunes folder from your external hard drive/flash drive into the iTunes Window.

17. Wait for all music to copy completely. This could take quite a while, depending on how many songs that you are copying. After that, you’re done.

Article via OnlineTechTips. Steps are almost identical for a PC.

Microsoft Uses It Strength To Destroy Spam Kings and How Spam Works

2010-02-26T08:42:37Z

Infected PCs are under the control of cyber criminals

Microsoft has won court approval to shut down a global network of computers which it says is responsible for more than 1.5bn spam messages every day.

A US judge granted the firm’s request to shut down 277 internet domains, which it said were used to “command and control” the so-called Waledac botnet.

A botnet is a network of infected computers under the control of hackers.

The firm said that closing the domains would mean that up to 90,000 PCs would stop receiving orders to send out spam.

A recent analysis by the firm found that between 3-21 December “approximately 651 million spam e-mails attributable to Waledac were directed to Hotmail accounts alone”.

STAYING SAFE ONLINE

Use anti-spyware and anti-virus programs

On at least a weekly basis update anti-virus and spyware products

Install a firewall and make sure it is switched on

Make sure updates to your operating system are installed

Take time to educate yourself and family about the risks

Monitor your computer and stay alert to threats

Hi-tech crime: A glossary

It said it was one of the 10 largest botnets in the US.

Machines in a botnet have usually been infected by a computer virus or worm. Typically, users do not know their machine has been hijacked.

Microsoft said that although it had effectively shut down the network, thousands of computers would still be infected with malware and advised people to run anti-virus software.

The court order was part of what was called “Operation b49″.

Along with intelligence organisation Shadowserver, the University of Washington and security firm Symantec, Microsoft managed to get a court in Alexandria, Virginia, to force Verisign, which manages the .com domain, to temporarily switch off the domains.

Microsoft said it was the result of months of investigation and described it as a legal first.

“This action has quickly and effectively cut off traffic to Waledac at the .com or domain registry level, severing the connection between the command and control centres of the botnet and most of its thousands of zombie computers around the world.”

via BBC World News

The Most Essential WHS Add In: Disk Management 1.1 for Windows Home Server

2010-02-21T21:37:04Z

I have been beta testing an add in for my Windows Home Server for what feels like ever!!! It’s an essential tool in managing your disks in Windows Home Server. It has seamless integration with WHS. When it is installed, you wonder how could Microsoft possible have left these features out of a server… Oh well, we ask that question enough anyway…

Here are the details and press release:

Tentacle Software is proud to announce the release of Disk Management 1.1, the next version of our very popular Windows Home Server Add-In. It has, as they say, been a long time coming.

We’ve kept this release under the radar, for the most part. We’ve talked about it in hushed whispers (through various threads on We Got Served, and teaser posts here) for at least a year and a half. Why did it take so long? We really, really wanted to get it right.

New Features

We re-architected the entire Add-In to use a Windows Service to do all the back-end heavy lifting. That’s given us the flexibility to add a bunch of functionality that you’ve all been asking for.

Everyone loves bullet points, so here are our new shinies in no particular order:

Significantly improved user interface (including a collapsible pane for the wireframe if you don’t use it)
Significantly improved performance, especially on multi-core CPUs
Charts for disk space statistics
Charts for disk space utilisation over time
Disk statistics logging to a file
More disk details, including the NTFS mount point for each disk
Real counting of the actual backup database size (for all you crazy kids with backup duplication enabled)
A detailed help file

The new UI is something we’re really proud of. No more pop-up windows to see detailed information about your disks, it’s all there in one display.

New Price

The other major change is that we’re going professional. Disk Management will no longer be free.

There are a number of reasons for us to do this, but mostly we believe that Disk Management is worth paying for, and moving to a paid model will help ensure that Disk Management is supported and maintained in the future.

Disk Management is available as a free 30-day trial, with no feature or functionality limitations. You can try it out with no risk and see how awesome the new version is. If you love it as much as we do, a license for v1.x will cost you US$10 per server.

New Website

The Tentacle Software website has had a major facelift. We’ve got a whole new style, and a new store. Have a look and tell us what you think; we would love to hear your feedback.

The Future

We’re very excited about this release, as I’m sure you can tell. We believe that Disk Management 1.1 is the start of something special for us, and we’ve got plans for all sorts of goodies for Windows Home Server that I’m sure you’ll love.

We want to sincerely thank all our beta testers, and everyone who has given us feedback. Disk Management and Tentacle Software are two years old and we couldn’t have made it this far without you.

Regain Control Of Your Social Networking And Blogging Life – Zooloo It!

2010-02-21T15:42:28Z

You may remember a while back, I covered Zooloo in the article -Imagine Not Having To Open All Your Websites and Log In – ZooLoo Imagines

They have recently added some new features and I thought you’d like to have a look. Zooloo is a unique place where you can bring your entire social life on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, etc., to one place. It is a fantastic place to set up a blog with your own unique domain name and unique or preset designs to keep it simple. It’s a place to pull all your feeds in one place and even your email accounts.

Do you use any of these?:

Social Networks – Facebook, My Space, TwitterEmail – Gmail or other
Feed Readers – Google Reader etc,
Private Messaging – Chat, Gtalk, MSN, etc
Photo Sharing
Private Family Connections

If you said yes to any one of them, then you will find Zooloo a godsend.

You really should give it a try if you use email and social networking. It saves time logging into all these sites and updating each one individually. It has a great cross-network update feature. Zooloo offers free and paid accounts.

ZooLoo is more than just a web site…it changes your life online.

Your Domain

Purchase a .com, .net, .info or .me domain or you can use a domain you already own.

Graffiti

ZooLoo makes it easier than ever to post and share text, photos, videos and more. Your posts are published to your site’s “Graffiti” page. You can also use check boxes to include your post on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other popular networks and services. Choose to follow anyone’s Graffiti and have their updates included in your social feed.

Social Integration

Easily access and update your favorite social networks including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter from one location. View your Facebook wall, friends status and photos side-by-side with your Twitter feed, lists, @reply, and direct messages. Customize ZooLoo’s social features to monitor all your interests from your domain.

Web Dashboard

Bring the best of the Web into one place on your personal dashboard using ZooLoo’s vast selection of widgets, custom tools and popular feeds. Create multiple dashboards to organize news, blogs, sports, entertainment and more to match your interests.

Privacy Manager

Simplicity is our key to our patent-pending privacy system. Drag a person’s name or the name of group you created directly onto the site page or the photo album you want them to have special permission to view. With our Privacy Manager, everything is private until you change it.

Custom Site Pages

Regardless of how tech savvy you are, expand your site using our drag-and-drop editing platform. Add pages, drag in content boxes, photos and widgets to build your web presence. Customize your theme, navigation, layout.

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ZooLoo Share Button

Post content from anywhere on the Web directly to your Graffiti or social sites with a simple click from your browser.

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Store and organize your photos easily. ZooLoo enables you to create and manage albums, tag pictures and seamlessly blend your shots into your site via the Photo Gallery or Graffiti.

Photo Gallery

Add a photo gallery to your site that is integrated with your privacy manager. Control what photos are displayed to specific individuals or groups.

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Remove Ads or Use Your Own

Completely remove all ads from your live site or circulate your own ads.

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ZooLoo integrates popular tracking tools including to help you analyze your site traffic.

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ZooLoo makes it simple for you to improve your site’s search engine visibility. Either do it yourself, or use the Geeks expertise to get ahead of the pack.

Theme Gallery

Choose from ZooLoo’s selection of backgrounds to customize both your private space and your site on your domain.

Custom Design

The ZooLoo Geeks build both custom personal and professional sites.

Private Messaging System

Send your contacts or groups that you have created private messages.

Storage Options

ZooLoo let’s you upgrade your storage space to manage all your online content.

Priority Email Support

The ZooLoo Geeks are always available and enthusiastic to help you get the most from your online experience.

ANY Android Market Paid App For Free!! A Glitch?

2010-02-20T22:30:31Z

I was doing some routine backup and restore of my apps in between flashing my HTC Hero rom using the awesome Titanium Backup app and came to realize something substantial. If you follow my Twitter feed, you would have noticed the other night I posted that I found a way to get market apps for free. A lot of people asked me how. This is how the other night went.

I thought to myself with my overly analytic brain, that surely if I follow these steps:

Buy an app from the Android Market
Install it
Use Titanium Backup to back it up
Uninstall & Refund it through the market
Restore the app with Titanium Backups restore function

I surely would have a paid app for free. ANY paid app I want. This got me thinking more and realized that it would only work if I used the restore “App Only” function and not replace the market entry.

A little further thought made me realize that this means you won’t get any of the apps updates and you can only do it once per app.

I am too afraid to try this as I don’t want to annoy Google or any developers as I firmly believe they deserve the usually small asking price for their hard work. So, I shot an email over to Joel, the Titanium Backup developer and asked him his opinion.

Here is what he said:

“while it indeed works perfectly, I do not encourage this practice – for obvious reasons. With great power comes great responsibility.”

My biggest concern here is that if you abuse this power then you are really hurting yourself long term. Developers will run and not come back. And I believe Google have the power and right to stop you buying from the market again.

Still, I think its fascinating and a serious oversight on Google’s part.

Rooting And Flashing An Android Phone – The Easiest Way So Far [RelentlessAppz]

2010-02-22T20:47:16Z

I have been playing around with a great app for rooting Android handsets. I have shown you before how to ‘root‘ and ‘un-root’ Android handsets, especially the HTC Hero. I came across an app made by RelentlessRooter. Its fairly clever in that it runs the necessary commands that Androids SDK ADB command line offers.

Relentless Command Centre

The idea is that you drop the recovery image files or the custom ROM files in to the necessary folders and then its a simple click and wait affair. In truth, it is really for those who don’t like typing commands or trying to remember them. In fact, in some cases, typing them wrong can be detrimental. It can also install, push and pull apps.

TIP: if you want to skip reading and jump to flashing the goodies click here

What’s Wrong With It?

I am going to get a criticism out of the way first. I much prefer an install that comes with a serial key. I am aware that Sean Marsh, who is behind the app is releasing a new version with some fantastic features and I hope this is one feature that gets added in. Either way, the app is very affordable and I don’t see why people shouldn’t want to support some great work.

The Good Stuff

When you get your download, which will most likely be called RelentessRooter.EXE, you simply run the installer. This will create a folder in your C drive called C:\ROOTING. All the necessary files are copied to here and anything you want installed will be dropped into this folder as well. Before you get started, from my experience, there are two tips you should follow. These are at the end of the post.

So, once you’ve installed it, you run Android.exe. You will see the following:

and then the goodies:

You will notice it is broken into individual needs and areas that you may be looking for. One thing I love is that there is no manual to read. There is a how to button under all items and there is only two or three lines to read. However, it will take a little playing to get the idea. In your screen, the boxes will be blank until you drop the files into the the C:\ROOTING folder. They won’t show up until you restart the app again. A refresh button would be nice here.

The application can do the following:

Designed for every Avid Android user that has ROOT
Most useful Fastboot & ADB commands in one centre.
Backing up of all your apps,
Restoring all of your apps,
Push single apps to your device in one click,
Format your EXT Partition,
Flash a new custom ROM to your device,
Fastboot a new ROM or Recovery Image to test it first- a bit of a try before you buy thing,
Flash a new Recovery Image
A host of rebooting options

Flash A Recovery Image To Your Android Handset

So for example, if you want to start flashing your Android device, then get yourself Amon Ra’s latest Recovery Image and drop it in the C:\ROOTING folder.

Load up the Command Centre and look here:

Click the how to box and it will remind you of an important step: Make sure you are at the normal home screen. In other words, the phone is on. The click Flash. AND WAIT!!! until it is finished.

How To Flash A Custom ROM

Its the exact same steps as the Recovery image flashing. Drop the custom rom into the C:\ROOTING folder and open Android.exe. Click on flash and wait til finished.

I feel that you should play a little with these till you get used to it. The rest of the features are pretty much self explanatory. If you run into trouble, come back here and I will help whatever way I can. However, Sean Marsh has been very helpful and responds to support requests promptly. So head to RelentlessAppz.com to get in touch.

TIP 1: After you run the installer, which you downloaded, there will be two files copied to where ever the installer was run from. Let me clarify: If you downloaded the installer to the desktop, then Android.exe and Project1.exe will e copied there. You run Android.exe to start the program. I recommend you copy/move these two files to the C:\ROOTING folder so they remain safe and not deleted by accident through either a desktop or downloads folder clean up.

TIP 2: If, like me, you have been playing with any of Sean’s older apps, you will already have a C:\ROOTING folder. I recommend you delete this folder or rename it like I did. They are older files and contain any messing I did before getting the new app. This may or may not apply to you, depending on how much you like breaking things.

TIP 3: GET IT NOW @**FIRST WEEK DISCOUNT PRICE**

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ANY Android Market Paid App For Free!! A Glitch?

Rooting And Flashing An Android Phone – The Easiest Way So Far [RelentlessAppz]

Relentless Command Centre

What’s Wrong With It?

The Good Stuff

Flash A Recovery Image To Your Android Handset

How To Flash A Custom ROM

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