Open top menu
Showing posts with label Software. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Software. Show all posts
02 March 2012
Introducing a Service That Allows Non IPhone Users to Comment onInstagram Photos

I discovered a service recently that will be of interest to those on instagram and those who aren't. Instagram is one of the hottest social communities out there at the moment but only iPhone users can use it - until now! Webstagram aims to allow non iphone owners to comment on users photos. You can't upload photos yourself yet but you can comment via facebook comment system on the photos of your friends. This isn't the only reason it is a great service though. For instagram users who are bloggers it is a great way to connect with your readers even more as no matter what phone they use they can comment on your photos. You'll have noticed that I have added an instagram link to my sidebar. this links to the web version so now you'll be able to comment on mine but unfortunately you won't be able to follow me per se. BUT you can sign up to the RSS feed on there to be notified when I post photos. It is a great little service.



In other instagram news - you may remember that I blogged about a website called snapwidget that allows you to add your recent photos to your sidebar. well I've discovered another similar service called badgeplz. This service gives you more options for customising the look of your widget and that is why I am using it instead of snap widget. It also shows stats like number of followers and number of photos. As time goes on I fully expect that more services for instagram will be introduced as the service goes from strength to strength.

Webstagram can be found here.

Badge Plz can be found here.
Read more
17 February 2012
no image



 

Apple today released a developer preview of OS X Mountain Lion, the ninth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system, which brings popular apps and features from iPad to the Mac and accelerates the pace of OS X innovation. Mountain Lion introduces Messages, Notes, Reminders and Game Center to the Mac, as well as Notification Center, Share Sheets, Twitter integration and AirPlay Mirroring. Mountain Lion is the first OS X release built with iCloud in mind for easy setup and integration with apps. The developer preview of Mountain Lion also introduces Gatekeeper, a revolutionary security feature that helps keep you safe from malicious software by giving you complete control over what apps are installed on your Mac. The preview release of Mountain Lion is available to Mac Developer Program members starting today. Mac users will be able to upgrade to Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store in late summer 2012.

“The Mac is on a roll, growing faster than the PC for 23 straight quarters, and with Mountain Lion things get even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The developer preview of Mountain Lion comes just seven months after the incredibly successful release of Lion and sets a rapid pace of development for the world’s most advanced personal computer operating system.”

The developer preview of Mountain Lion features the all new Messages app which replaces iChat and allows you to send unlimited messages, high-quality photos and videos directly from your Mac to another Mac or iOS device. Messages will continue to support AIM, Jabber, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk. Starting today Lion users can download a beta of Messages from www.apple.com, and the final version will be available with Mountain Lion. Reminders and Notes help you create and track your to-dos across all your devices. Game Center lets you personalise your Mac gaming experience, find new games and challenge friends to play live multiplayer games, whether they’re on a Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Mountain Lion presents notifications in an elegant new way, and Notification Center provides easy access to alerts from Mail, Calendar, Messages, Reminders, system updates and third party apps. System-wide Share Sheets make it easy to share links, photos and videos directly from Apple and third party apps. Twitter is integrated throughout Mountain Lion so you can sign on once and tweet directly from Safari, Quick Look, Photo Booth, Preview and third party apps. Mountain Lion also introduces AirPlay Mirroring, an easy way to wirelessly send a secure 720p video stream of what's on your Mac to an HDTV using Apple TV.

More than 100 million users have iCloud accounts, and Mountain Lion makes it easier than ever to set up iCloud and access documents across your devices. Mountain Lion uses your Apple ID to automatically set up Contacts, Mail, Calendar, Messages, FaceTime and Find My Mac. The new iCloud Documents pushes any changes to all your devices so documents are always up to date, and a new API helps developers make document-based apps work with iCloud.

Gatekeeper is a revolutionary new security feature that gives you control over which apps can be downloaded and installed on your Mac. You can choose to install apps from any source, just as you do on a Mac today, or you can use the safer default setting to install apps from the Mac App Store, along with apps from developers that have a unique Developer ID from Apple. For maximum security, you can set Gatekeeper to only allow apps from the Mac App Store to be downloaded and installed.

Mountain Lion also has features specifically designed to support Chinese users, including significant enhancements to the Chinese input method and the option to select Baidu search in Safari. Mountain Lion makes it easy to set up Contacts, Mail and Calendar with top email service providers QQ, 126 and 163. Chinese users can also upload video via Share Sheets directly to leading video websites Youku and Tudou, and system-wide support for Sina weibo makes microblogging easy.

Hundreds of new APIs give developers access to new core technologies and enhanced features within OS X. The Game Kit APIs tap into the same services as Game Center on iOS, making it possible to create multiplayer games that work across Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. A new graphics infrastructure underpins OpenGL and OpenCL and implements GLKit, first introduced in iOS 5, to make it easier to create OpenGL apps. Using Core Animation in Cocoa apps is easier than ever, and new video APIs deliver modern 64-bit replacements for low-level QuickTime APIs. Enhanced Multi-Touch APIs give developers double-tap zoom support and access to the system-wide lookup gesture. Kernel ASLR improves security through enhanced mitigation against buffer overflow attacks.
Read more
15 February 2012
no image

Photoshop CS6 is coming. Adobe recently launched a video showing some of the features coming up in the update to their popular Photoshop software package. The biggest change is their new feature aware tool that will allow users to quickly and easily move portions of a photo around. The video below shows this new feature in action and is sure to be a big hit with users as the same process would take ages in past versions of Photoshop.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrlsnQ32YhY]We have no release date for the new version as of yet but I'll be sure to keep you updated when more details emerge.
Read more
31 January 2012
no image



Finally the news that web designers have been waiting for - Microsoft recently announced that it will start auto updating Internet Explorer. Chrome and Firefox have been auto updating its browser but IE was lagging behind its rivals in this respect. IE's old browsers are a real headache for designers as catering to old versions of IE means adding extra code to website stylesheets. Thus far auto update has only been rolled out in Australia & Brazil but more countries will be added in the near future. Microsoft aim to have all users running the latest version of IE as soon as possible. The web is safer when latest versions are used as security flaws are often dealt with in later versions. This move by Microsoft will allow people like me to use the latest coding techniques like HTML5 in our designs and will cut down the traffic coming from browsers like IE9. It isn't all good news though as Microsoft's latest version IE9 isn't compatible with Windows XP so those users will be limited to using IE8. But it is a good move forward for the software giant and I certainly look forward to being able to design in HTML5 as the markup is less messy and more advanced.
Read more
30 January 2012
no image

 

The beauty of Wordpress is the ability to use plugins to improve the functionality of your site. Of course the same tasks can be completed with advanced coding but plugins save a hell of a lot of time. I don't use tonnes of plugins on this blog but I do use a few. So today I'm going to share with you my favorite Wordpress plugins. So let's get started.

 

Socialize


 



Socialize is a lovely little plugin that allows you to add a call to action box at the bottom (or top) of your posts. It not only allows you to add a message for your readers but it also lets you add share buttons for a wide range of social networks.




Twitter Mentions as Comments




This plugin does exactly what it says on the tin - it looks for tweets mentioning your posts and then adds them as comments. A brilliant plugin for those of you who get a lot of tweets in relation to your posts.




Facebook Tab Manager


 



 

A plugin that allows you to create a landing page for your Facebook fan page directly from your Wordpress dashboard. Super simple to use and it will really make your Facebook page stand out. Brilliant idea and one I've used since the formation of this blog.

 

Fontific


 

Fontific provides a really easy way to add custom fonts to your site. You just choose your font, size and colour and then specify the css selector to tell the plugin which text to apply the font to. With this handy little plugin you have no need to fiddle with your theme's stylesheet.

 

Pinterest Plugin


 



 

This plugin adds the pin it button to the top or bottom of posts to allow readers to easily share your posts via pinterest. Pinterest is rapidly growing so it is key to give people a way of pinning items to it.

 

Akismet


 

This plugin is the big daddy in spam detection. I've used this for over a year and I've found it to detect 99.9% of all spam. It can detect spam trackbacks as well as comments.

 

Plugins make life so much easier and those are my favorite ones. Have you got a favorite that isn't mentioned here? Add it to the comments section!
Read more
28 January 2012
no image

  • 9:23 PM
  • 1


 

Say hello to the first handset to be released in a collaboration between Nokia and Microsoft - the Nokia Lumia 800. We first heard about this collaboration back in February and it really doesn't disappoint. So let us take a closer look at the newest Windows phone on the block

The Nokia Lumia is a stylish and sleek smartphone with a user interface that is easy to use and attractive and performs along the lines of Windows 8. It utilises ClearBack display whose super bright display makes it perfect for people on the move. This handset is perfect for keeping in touch with friends and family, listening to music, watching movies and surfing the web.

It is also a smartphone made for social media addicts.It comes pre-loaded with Twitter, Facebook and Linked In and you can pin contacts to the start screen to save time and enable ease of use. Perfect for conversing with your closest friends.

GPS is available out of the box as well as Nokia Maps so it is made for the male who'll never ask for directions. At least now he doesn't need to. Internet Explorer 9 ensures surfing the net is a breeze. You'll also have access to XBox Live, Nokia Mix and Mix Radio. So videos, games and music are easy to access.

It also has an extensive app library. It isn't quite as extensive as the Android App Library but they're getting there. This phone is also perfect for the businessperson on the go as it comes with Microsoft Office.

So what are the specs for this little beauty:


  • Seamless design


    Curved 3.7" AMOLED ClearBlack glass touchscreen display seamlessly integrated into a smooth one-piece body


  • People Hub


    Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, Chat, SMS


  • Internet


    Bing, Internet Explorer 9, HTML5, Wi-Fi


  • Camera


    8 MP Auto Focus with Carl Zeiss Optics, 2x LED Flash and HD Video


 

Overall

The Nokia and Windows collaboration have managed to produce an extremely beautiful and good quality handset. The WP UI experience is fully integrated with your apps. The camera produces great quality sharp photos and is very user friendly even allowing you to snap pics while the phone is locked. The video produces high quality HD video footage. This phone does pretty much everything you'd expect from a smartphone and more and it isn't overly expensive either. It isn't the lightest handset out there but its smooth curves make it a joy to hold. I think Nokia & Microsoft can be very proud of their first offering and if your after a smartphone that allows you to easily surf the net, take & store photos, play games, listen to music, watch videos & work on the go then this phone will be perfect for you.

 

 
Read more
27 January 2012
no image

Individual Google+ pages have been around for a while now but brand pages are a recent development. Creating a fan page is super easy and operates in much the same way as a Facebook fan page. So now I'm going to show you how to create one.

First of all navigate to https://plus.google.com/pages/create

You'll be faced with this page.



Select product or brand and fill in the details then press create.

Next you'll be taken to the screen below. Fill in a little information about your page and add a profile photo. Click continue.

 



Then press finish.



Fill in more details about your site on the about tab on your new profile page.

It really is worth your while having a Google+ as recent changes mean pages are searchable. So Google+ really can be a good source of traffic.

Now you'll want to let your readers know about your page by adding a badge to your site.

Go to https://developers.google.com/+/plugins/badge/config

Fill in your google+ page ID



You'll find your Google+ ID in the address bar of your page like below:



 

Adding the ID will generate a piece of code like this:

<!-- Place this tag in the <head> of your document -->
<link href="https://plus.google.com/115639686051747826824" rel="publisher" /><script type="text/javascript">
(function()
{var po = document.createElement("script");
po.type = "text/javascript"; po.async = true;po.src = "https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js";
var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s);
})();</script>

<!-- Place this tag where you want the badge to render -->
<g:plus href="https://plus.google.com/115639686051747826824" size="badge"></g:plus>

You'll need to add the first paragraph of code to the HTML page of your site (Dashboard>Template>Edit HTML>Proceed. Add the code just before the </head> tag.

Now add the second paragraph of code into a html widget if your on Blogger or in a text widget if you use wordpress.

That is all there is to it you have now created a Google+ page for your blog.

 
Read more
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)