New firefox plugin lets you "dislike"stories in face book.

We all have friends that post offensive, annoying or abusive comments and sadly Facebook doesn’t allow you to “dislike” a comment or any other stuff. All you can do is block/hide that person from your feed which is obviously not a good solution. There is a vast majority of  users that want Facebook to implement a “Dislike” button to allow them to show their disapproval but unfortunately for those users it is highly unlikely that facebook will ever add such a button.

Well, we just found out the next best thing to an actual “Dislike” button,the Facebook Dislike Firefox plugin. After you install the plugin you will notice a “Dislike” button on every item on your news feed placed in between the “Like” and “Similar posts” button. As per our current observation your friends will only be able to see that you have disliked a post if they have the plugin installed too which is bit of a problem at the moment as there have only been 1200 downloads of this plugin and not a lot of users are aware of this  yet. We expect this number to grow massively in the coming days and weeks keeping in view the recently growing demand of such a button by the users.

A preview of "Dislike" button using firefox plugin

The plugin is working perfectly and you can it  download it here. Just make sure not to misuse it or you might get your friend list cut short and you certainly don’t want that. Do you think it would be be a good addition to facebook if they make it official ? We are looking forward to your response.

Cloud-Generating 1900-Ship Armada to Sink Climate Change

The Copenhagen Consensus Centre—a respected European think tank which used to be skeptic on climate change—is now advising that we should spend $9 billion in building 1900 cloud-generating ships like the one above. Why? To cool down Earth:

When you spray saltwater into the air, you create nuclei that cloud condenses around, creating bigger and whiter clouds, thus bouncing more sunlight back into space.

That's what David Young, a member of the panel that created the report, says. The fully automated vessels will cross the oceans absorbing water and spraying it into the skies. They say this will help the formation of big, whiter clouds, which will make the sun light bounce, lowering temperatures.
The idea seems neat, but the concept of anyone in planet Earth claiming to understand how climate works to this extend blows my mind. We are still trying to grasp how a complex system like the weather works, but someone wants to put an idea like this in motion, without knowing about the ultimate consequences? Like we say in my home country: Do you experiments with pop soda.

Home screen Expose Concept by iPhone

We get the strangest e-mails in the MobileCrunch tips line. Sometimes people will write in to tell us about their day, using us as an archaic, vacuum-esque livejournal. Other times (and quite often), internet newbies fail to realize this isn’t a store, and ask us when we’ll have such and such item in stock. Less often, we’ll get random little gems of self-created goodness that I’m never quite sure what to do with; they’re not news, per se, but they’re still rather interesting.
Such is the case with this concept video (after the jump) from Swedish design house Ocean Observations. It looks rather flashy and neat, but I’m left wondering: would anyone use it?

It’s like OS X’s Expose feature, tweaked for iPhone app screens. Tap the home button, and up to 9 pages of homescreen are shown in a grid. Tapping any of the displayed pages will jump you directly to that page, allowing you to skip from page 1 to page 8 without swiping 7 times. If Apple provided this as one of the home button behavior alternatives, would you use this? It seems to me like the primary use would be launching a specific app; if that’s the case, why not just use search – which can already be tied to the home button?

 ◘ Source ►TechCrunch

How-to design a Web Page

A good web page design requires forethought, planning and a willingness to alter the initial strategy. Before writing even the first bit of code or setting the first icon on screen, it is necessary to know why the web page needs to be created, and that will often guide how to build the site. Secondly, using the reason for the page's creation as a guide, the writer must construct the page logically and must be aware of certain things that can trip up even an experienced web page designer

Knowing the Why Often Reveals the How

1. When building a website, the first thing to determine is the primary reason for the website. This should be something that can be answered in one sentence. For example, "The primary purpose of my website is to tell people about my business." Or, "I want my website to show off the Role Playing Game I made that I can't get anyone else to publish." The "why" will often reveal a great deal about the "how." For example, a business site should be an even split between selling the company's services and informing the public about the company. A web page detailing how to build a desk might put pictures next to the text describing how to do things to help the viewer understand the process.
   
   To sum up, let the website's reason for being guide how the page or pages are laid out.

The Keys to a Successful Design

2. The purpose of a web page is to communicate to the intended audience. Or put more simply, it's designed to tell the visitor some information or insight. When in doubt, keep it simple. While having 20 videos, a dozen links and a bunch of animated pictures may look cool to the creator, it takes the risk of distracting the visitor from the reason they came there in the first place. So, when in doubt, simplify.
   
   Also, consider how long it takes for the page to load. While bandwidth is much less of a problem than it was even a decade ago, it is still a consideration. The longer it takes for a page to load and be viewable, the less likely the viewer is to stay and see the page. Consider using multiple pages to contain and manage the information in question. This also allows for better organization and a better chance of conveying the information. A picture or video that is useful, but not critical to the page might be better linked to the page, rather than on the page itself.
   
   One HTML trick for faster loading is to define the size of the pictures or objects to be loaded on the page. Most browsers will stick a "placeholder" in that spot while the picture loads and will load the rest of the site in the meantime. Also, avoid using background pictures unless they are fairly small and simple, as they can clutter a web page and slow down the loading time of the page, neither of which is beneficial.
   
   Next, if the web page is part of a website (and most are), be sure there is a clear, obvious and easy-to-use index of the pages in the site, which can allow visitors to navigate to other pages within the site. This is especially critical in business-oriented sites. Fortunately, most web page building software packages include this feature.
   
   By the way, be aware of an HTML tag called the "anchor" (A NAME="anchorname"). This allows visiters to maneuver within the page itself. It is an independent tag that functions with a variation on the standard hyperlink (the format is A HREF="pagename#anchorname"). This can be very handy for the written portion of the page, allowing you to expand on key points without disrupting the flow of the web page, but keeping all the information on one page, and it can be used to link from other web pages. I personally use this feature regularly on the site I manage to link to current seminars our company has planned which appear midway down the seminar page, but which we "tease" on our main page. The anchor tag allows the visitor to go directly to the seminar details on the seminar page.
   
   If you are using javascript or vbasicscript with the page, be aware that not all browers support this, either because of the browser's age or because the owner decided to turn it off and leave it off. Be sure to use the NOSCRIPT tag to cover these circumstances.
   
   One other little trick that can help tremendously with layout is to use tables. Most web page building software can create them, and if set to a border of zero, they are invisible on the page, but allow for a much more flexible presentation of the information.
   
   In summation, a good web page should be kept as simple as possible without losing information, have an easy-to-use index if it is part of a website, and be well organized and linked, if necessary, within the page.

Conclusion

3. Good web page design is as much art as it is a science. A good web page is built for a reason, and focuses on that reason with every aspect of its design. It is not overly complicated for the sake of being fancy, and has a logical, easy-to-follow organization.

RegCleaner-4.3 -Tutorial

RegCleaner 4.3 is designed to clean the Windows registry of old and unneeded entries. RegCleaner 4.3 is the last version of the program that is available to use for free. You can use RegCleaner to remove not only registry entries but also shared files and shortcut files. Version 4.3 of the program is still available for download.

Installation

You can install RegCleaner 4.3 by first downloading the setup file to your desktop (see Resources). When you double-click on the file, the Installer window will appear. If you do not want a new start page or shortcuts added to your desktop, uncheck the top two boxes. The program unpacks the needed files and copies them to your system when you click the "Next" button after accepting the license agreement. When the files have been copied, you will see a shortcut on your desktop for RegCleaner.

Tabs

When the program is opened, you will see a row of tabs across the top of the program window. "Software," "Startup List" and "Uninstall Menu" are the three tabs that you will use the most. The Software tab lists all of the software currently installed on the system. Startup List displays all of the programs that load when Windows starts. Uninstall Menu displays all programs that can be removed through the "Add/Remove Programs" option in Windows. Items in the list can be removed manually by placing a check in the item and then clicking the "Remove Selected" button.

Cleaning Options

Within the Registry Cleanup selection there are various options that you can use to clean entries from the Windows registry. There are four options to choose from: "OLE Cleaner," "Orphan File Reference Finder," "Automatic Registry Cleaner" and "Do Them All." The "OLE Cleaner" option will clean unused and invalid object linking and embedding entries. The "Orphan File Reference Finder" option will remove registry entries that point to a file that no longer exists. The "Automatic Registry Cleaner" option will clean all registry entries that are possible to remove automatically. You can also select "Do Them All" to have the program automatically run each option.

Cleaning the Registry

You can clean the registry on your system by running the Automatic Registry Cleaner. This option is found by going to the Tools drop-down menu and then selecting the option for "Registry Cleanup." Click on "Automatic Registry Cleaner" to have the program scan and display a list of entries that you can delete. You can select items one at a time or go to the "Select" drop-down menu and choose "All" to select all items. Click the "Remove Selected" button to remove all checked items from the Windows registry.

Kid Who Sued Amazon Wins, Kindle Now Safer Place for Your Books

The kid who sued Amazon for eating his homework just won in court, to the tune of $150,000.

Yep, remember the kid who had his notes from George Orwell's 1984 deleted along with Amazon's mass eradication of the work from all Kindles? That little mofo just won in court, splitting a $150,000 settlement with a co-plaintiff and the law firm, which will be donating its portion to charity.

As much as this sounds like a Disney live action film from the 1990s (you can just see Jeff Bezos portrayed caricature-like by Paul Giamatti, can't you?), the real outcome is that Amazon no longer can just do what it wants to content on Kindles, just because it owns that content.

☼ Source ►Gizmodo

HTC-Leo or HTC HD 2 !

The buzz word in the portable space appears to be HD at the moment, with the latest bandwagon member being HTC and its HD 2 (formerly known as the HTC Leo, maybe).

The Leo—sorry, HD 2—if you'll remember, was that big and beautiful handset that was saw earlier this month. The 4.3-inch screen was impressive, but so too was HTC's ability to work around Windows Mobile's lack of support for multitouch capacitive screens.This latest reveal/leak allegedly shows that HTC had second thoughts about a mini-USB connector, as this version, if the real deal, now sports a micro-USB.

Battery life was rated at 1200Mha, and the name change for the phone, HD 2, was discovered while snooping around in the Bluetooth settings.

☼Source ►Gizmodo

Mystic Apple Tablet!

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Steve Jobs said people don't read any more. But Apple is talks with several media companies rooted in print, negotiating content for a "new device." And they're not just going for e-books and mags. They're aiming to redefine print. Several years ago, a modified version of OS X was presented to Steve Jobs, running on a multitouch tablet. When the question of "what would people do with this?" couldn't be answered, they shelved it. Long having established music, movie and TV content, Apple is working hard to load up iTunes with print content from several major publishing houses across several media.

Two people related to the NYTimes have separately told me that in June, paper was approached by Apple to talk about putting the paper on a "new device." The R&D labs have long worked on versions of the paper meant to be navigated without a keyboard or mouse, showing up on Windows tablets and on multiple formats using Adobe Air. The NYTimes, of course, also publishes via their iPhone application. Jobs has, during past keynotes, called the NYTimes the "best newspaper in the world."
A person close to a VP in textbook publishing mentioned to me in July that McGraw Hill and Oberlin Press are working with Apple to move textbooks to iTunes. There was no mention of any more detail than that, but it does link back to a private Apple intern idea competition held on campus, in their Town Hall meeting area in 2008, where the winning presentation selected by executives was one focused on textbook distribution through iTunes. The logic here is that textbooks are sold new at a few hundred dollars, and resold by local stores without any kickbacks to publishers. A DRM'd one-time-use book would not only be attractive because publishers would earn more money, but electronic text books would be able to be sold for a fraction of the cost, cutting out book stores and creating a landslide marketshare shift by means of that huge price differential. (If that device were a tablet, the savings on books could pay for the device, and save students a lot of back pain.)
Apple also recently had several executives from one of the largest magazine groups at their Cupertino's campus, where they were asked to present their ideas on the future of publishing. Several mockups of magazines were present in interactive form. It is presumed that more talks took place after the introduction and investigatory meeting. Some magazine company is also considering Adobe Air as a competing option for digital magazines, but without a revenue/distribution system that iTunes has, it seems unlikely.
I haven't heard anything about traditional book publishers being approached yet, but given the scope of the rest of the publishing industry's involvement, it's not hard to imagine they're on board as well. (If you know something, please drop me a line.)
Another source corroborates that the January announce date others have reported is correct within the month, with this information heard from a high level.
Some I've talked to believe the initial content will be mere translations of text to tablet form. But while the idea of print on the Tablet is enticing, it's nothing the Kindle or any E-Ink device couldn't do. The eventual goal is to have publishers create hybridized content that draws from audio, video, interactive graphics in books, magazines and newspapers, where paper layouts would be static. And with release dates for Microsoft's Courier set to be quite far away and Kindle stuck with relatively static e-ink, it appears that Apple is moving towards a pole position in distribution of this next-generation print content. First, it'll get its feet wet with more basic repurposing of the stuff found on dead trees today.

☼Article source ► Gizmodo

Courier:Microsoft secret tablet flashed.

We’ve waxed poetic about Apple’s mythical Tablet recently (and even seen some more evidence to support it). But Microsoft, too, has a rather attractive looking tablet-like device in the speculative stages as well: the Courier.

Now, a leaked video of the Courier’s user interface sheds more light on some of the design aesthetic behind this still unconfirmed device that appears to be part tablet and part digital planner, with a dual-screen hinged design and pen and finger controls.

In the video, unearthed by Gizmodo, we see a very fluid interface where any item can be drag and dropped easily. The overarching metaphor is apparently dubbed the “infinite journal,” where items can be clipped and stored from the web, annotated and highlighted, moved around, and modified with a palette of drawing and design tools.

An on-board camera handles bringing in visuals and documents from the physical world as well. Everything is searchable for later retrieval, with a Courier Pen handling text input duties. Of course the device overall is a touchscreen, and designed with finger control and gestures in mind as well.

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Easy Publishing, But No Apps?

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According to the video, publishing from your Infinite Journal is easy, with pages and sections exporting to Courier files, Powerpoint presentations, or PDFs. And according to Mary-Jo Foley, the device will run Windows 7 … but not be able to install Windows 7 applications. Say what?
Yep — apparently that’s because someone up high thinks the first generation of Microsoft Tablets failed because the apps weren’t specific to the form factor. There could be some truth in there but still — we hope for Microsoft’s sake they come up with a better alternative app store than what they’ve done with the Zune HD to-date.
Check out the video below and let us know what you think: are you sweating this device? Which interests you more: the mythical Apple Tablet, or the mythical Microsoft Courier?

Source ►TechCrunch   Image by ► Gizmodo  ☺☺☺

Xobni Brings Twitter To Your Inbox

Earlier tonight, Xobni quietly released, at least to some users, a new version of its Outlook plug-in that brings Twitter streams into your email in an intelligent way. Instead of acting like any other Twitter client and showing you the full stream of everyone you follow, it shows you only the recent Tweets of the person whose email you are reading, whether or not you follow them on Twitter. (A Xobni blog post went up briefly about it and then was taken down, but not before I was able to grab the screenshot at right).

Instead of replicating Twitter outright, it shows you the Tweets in the context of an email to help you learn more about the person with whom you are communicating. This is consistent with the way Xobni brings up similar information about a contact from Facebook or LinkedIn or Skype. If you don’t know the person, it gives you some more context. If you do, it gives you something personal to talk about. (Threadsy, which launched at this year’s TC50, also shows Tweets in context alongside emails).
With both the full Facebook stream and now Twitter built into the product, chances are you’ll see what each contact has been doing recently. Xobni also lets you reply via Twitter, and follow a contact from within its application.
One of Xobni’s investors is Vinod Khosla, who told me a few weeks ago that Xobni is getting “great traction.” I’ve since heard that the product is approaching 3 million downloads.

Source: TechCrunch

Microsoft Releases Free Anti-Virus Software

Alright Windows users, no more excuses for not having up-to-date anti-virus or anti-malware protection. Microsoft has released its new Security Essentials software that offers real-time protection against viruses, spyware, and other malicious programs. It’s also free.
Although there are lots of anti-virus and anti-malware programs available (many which are also free), perhaps the Microsoft name and easy integration into Windows can help users who might not be familiar with some of the available programs get and stay protected.

Microsoft says that Security Essentials is designed to run quietly in the background (no constant UAC alerts) and that it doesn’t hog CPU or memory usage. A constant complaint about some of the bigger name security suites is that they slow down the computer’s overall performance. Security Essentials also uses what Microsoft calls its Dynamic Signature Service, which is supposed to ensure that users are always protected and up-to-date, without having to wait for the next scheduled download.

Like any other standard security product, you can schedule full or quick system scans, exclude certain file types of processes from being scanned, and designate how you are alerted of various actions and what you want the default step to be.
Security Essentials is free — and no sign-up or registration is necessary — but you need to have a genuine copy of Windows XP SP2 or SP3, Windows VistaWindows Vista, or the upcoming Windows 7Windows 7. Security Essentials will also run in Windows XP mode in Windows 7 — so if you plan on running XP mode to keep compatibility with older stuff, your security won’t be compromised.
With viruses and malware a constant threat to Windows users all over the world, it’s about time Microsoft offered an actual security package. One note, however — if you already have an anti-virus or anti-malware program installed, make sure you uninstall it before installing Security Essentials.
What do you use to protect your computers against viruses?

Source-Mashable.com

Sony Ericsson MH907 "Motion Activated" Headphones

They won't change how we listen to music forever, but these earbuds are pretty cool. Listen to music normally with one in each ear, but pull one side out and music automatically pauses. Calls are received/ended in the same way.
You don't need to press any buttons, as the earphones use Sony Ericsson's 'SensMe' technology to sense your body. They come in chrome and yellow/white, and will be available worldwide this week for about $55 (39 Euros). The one bummer: you'll need a Sony Erisson phone with a "Fast port" connector. You can check for compatibility here:

New Asus E-Reader- Folds Like a Book

Computer maker Asus, known for its line of Eee PC netbooks, is working on an e-book reader that will have two touchscreens and when laid open will resemble a hardcover book.
Asus showed a prototype of the device at the CeBIT trade show in March. But now additional details have trickled out.
An Asus representative confirmed to Wired.com the company will probably show the device at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
Asus’ e-reader will likely have color touchscreens, a speaker, a webcam and a microphone, along with the capability to make inexpensive Skype calls. Despite all those features, Britain’s Sunday Times reports, somewhat unbelievably, that it may be priced lower than its competitors from Sony and Kindle.
The e-reader market is one of the hottest consumer product categories this year. Just the last few months have seen a slew of new product announcements. After introducing Kindle 2, the updated version of its e-reader, Amazon launched a broadsheet reading device called the Kindle DX. Last month Sony introduced a $400 wireless e-reader with a 7-inch screen and cut the price on its older models to offer the cheapest e-book reader in the market. Meanwhile, two other companies — iRex and Plastic Logic — plan to offer new large-screen readers later this year or early next year.
But all e-readers, available and planned, are black and white. Asus’ product will likely be the first to offer a color screen. The move, coupled with unexpected features such as speakers and mic, is the only way the company can stand out in a crowded market.
With dual screens, the new Eee e-reader could give readers a user experience similar to paper books. The device could also offer readers the option of using the second screen to browse a web page.  The best part about the device, though, would be the price tag, says the Times report. The cheapest version of the Asus Eee reader could lost about £100, equivalent to $165.
While Asus has a well-deserved reputation for making extremely inexpensive computers, that price may be too low for even it to match, given the promised feature set.
For Asus, getting this mix of features and price right is essential if it has to make a dent in the e-reader market at this stage.

Promote & Publicize Your Latest Blog Post With An Email Signature

If you are a blogger like me or even if you happen to like a blog post by another hand, using your email signature could be the easiest way to spread the word. There’s no promotion like self promotion. Quite logically, wouldn’t we like our first readers to be the ones we touch base with through emails? It should be the easiest job in the world to enlist their help to promote your blog. In the ‘Digg’ and boost world of the WWW, grabbing a few eyeballs is what counts. Think of the humble email signature as a no cost viral way to publicize your blog.
Adding a link to your latest blog post not only spreads the good word but also spices up your signature.  If you write about something specific, then a blog post signature link adds to your ‘brand’. In today’s ever changing world, an active signature could be like those 30 second filler adverts which play in staccato sequence. They grab our attention because they keep changing.
All it takes for a little bit of PR are these two ways and of course the habit of writing regular and relevant blog posts.

BlogSigs

BlogSigs attaches the link to your latest blog post in your email signature. This utility with a simple function works with a number of email clients like Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and Entourage.
Additionally, there’s also a Firefox add-on available which makes it the right fit when we send mails using the browser. The Firefox add-on, though free, comes with a BlogSigs promotion link in all emails. Purchasing a BlogSigs Registration Key removes the BlogSigs promotion link (note: the add-on is still not compatible with Firefox 3.5.2).
To get back to the Windows version, here’s how it runs from the system tray.

1. BlogSigs can be setup using the single configurable window.

   

1. 
   
2. On the first run, BlogSigs detects the signatures saved for your Outlook accounts. If not, create a signature from the Outlook Menu path – Tools – Options – Mail Format – Signatures.
3. In the BlogSigs options window, choose the accounts you want to use BlogSigs for.
4. Specify the RSS feed of the blog you want to use. BlogSigs pulls the latest post from the RSS link and sends the headline as a part of the signature.
5. Append an optional stylized text before the blog post. Set the update in days, hours or minutes for BlogSigs to update the link.

The little app worked well notwithstanding a few errors. BlogSigs is a 646KB download and compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista and Mac OS X.

WiseStamp Email Signature

This Firefox add-on nearly came head of the class in the brief review I did last year in my post on 5 Ways To Create Custom Multiple Signatures In Gmail. Just to refresh, WiseStamp lets you setup rich personalized signatures using a simple WYSIWYG Editor. The app supports Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL and Hotmail.
If you have come over from my earlier post, WiseStamp has added a few new features since then. Automatically sharing of blog posts is what caught my eye.
WiseStamp’s Feed tab allows us to easily include our favorite personalized feed and it automatically updates in our email signatures. Now we can share not only our latest blog posts but also bookmarks, videos, pictures, events and much more. This is a excellent way to promote your blog.

• Download and install the WiseStamp add-on.
  

  

• Access it from the browser’s Tools menu or right click on the little WiseStamp icon near the bottom right of the browser (Right Click – Edit signature).

• Design your signature in the WYSIWYG editor.

• Click on the RSS tab, enter a Feed title and the Feed URL. WiseStamp automatically validates the URL and OK’s it.

• You can preview the signature before clicking on Apply and OK.

• Open your email account to compose a new email. Right click on the little icon located on the formatting toolbar or the one at the bottom of the browser window to choose a signature (i.e. if you have more than one). The signature gets automatically inserted with the latest blog post.

Download the WiseStamp Firefox add-on for rich email signatures.
Familiarity may not breed contempt but it certainly lays the grounds for boredom. In a medium where it takes seconds to go from reading a mail to consigning it to the trash, an interesting link attached to the signature might just make someone pause. Who knows, following that link may make someone’s day a lot better.
There are of course many, many innovative ways to promote your blog post. Using your email signature to showcase your latest blog post is comparatively a modest one.

Free Ebooks-That don't suck!

If you’re a fervent reader and nerd like I am, you’ve probably encountered quite a lot of writing online. However, most of them are either absolute garbage or entirely illegal.
It’s hard to find good, legal reads online – unless you know where to look. There are several sites that offer classic out-of-copyright writing, or publishes new e-books online as promotions.
If you know where to look, you can feast on these completely free Ebooks for all the time you’ve got, and today is the day we’ll show you where to look.

Planet eBook

Planet eBook is a classy site that offers classic literature for free. These books, because they’re out-of-copyright, can be offered to you in an entirely legal fashion.

However, Planet eBook doesn’t just give you any piece of ‘free literature’. Right now, they offer about 60 books to their readers, all of which have been carefully selected. True, you won’t have the buffet of thousands that you’ll find on other sites, but you can be assured that each and every piece of writing on Planet eBook is of outstanding quality.
Furthermore, if you feel like a book is ‘missing’ from it’s collection, you put it up as a suggestion.

All books on Planet eBook can be read on the site, but can also be downloaded as a PDF, both in a 1-page and 2-page version.

ManyBooks

ManyBooks works in the same way as Planet eBook, they offer pieces of classic literature for free that are out-of-copyright. However, where Planet eBook presents a carefully selected array of literature, ManyBooks handles in bulk (as the name truthfully implies).

At the time of writing, there are 24,741 completely free eBooks available and although it might be true that not all of them will read your socks off, I’m sure you can find some good reads in the better part of them. To select a book, you can browse by author, title, category or language, or you can browse through the site’s recommendations.
Not only does the site offer an amazing number of books, it does so in an incredible number of formats. Although you might not be able to read it directly on the site, you can check out one of the mirrors or choose between a dazzling 25 different filetypes to read it on your desktop, mobile, or eBook device.

Classic Reader

Classic Reader takes a conceptual place in between Planet eBook and ManyBooks. It offers noticably more books than Planet eBook (3,629 titles at the time of writing), its material is still more selected (by a 1-man Canadian company) and controlled.

Perhaps the major distinction with the two previously mentioned sites is that there are no eBooks available for download. Alas no PDFs, ZIPs, or anythings — the eBooks are all meant to read online, on the site.
You can browse the author or title list, or filter content out by looking into a specific genre: fiction, non-fiction, young readers, poetry, short stories, drama or classical.

PublicBookshelf

Contrary to the three previously mentioned sites, PublicBookshelf is NOT filled with works of classic literature. Instead, PublicBookshelf relies completely on new, promising authors who publish online as a means of promoting their printed books. As such, you won’t be able to download the books, but will often find an Amazon link to support the author (who – with the books on this site – is often still alive).

PublicBookshelf – focusing entirely on romance novels – is a great site to sample the writing if you’re looking for something fresh, but it’s also a great site if you’re looking for a good read. Check out their top novels for reading directions, or venture off into the depths of the site and discover treasures of writing yourself.
I hope you’ve got 4 fresh bookmarks for completely free ebooks that will be able to satisfy the literacy-vampire that’s inside of you.  If they are not enough, check out where to get more romance e-books, 6 more e-book sites, where and how to read comic e-books, and how to make your own e-books from Wikipedia.
If you know of any other sites or have something to say about the ones discussed above, head for the comments section below.

10 Tips to Safeguard Your Facebook Privacy :D

Facebook statistics show that it has 250 million active users each with an average 120 friends. More than 1 billion photos are uploaded every month by its users, over 70% of whom use applications like games and quizzes in Facebook. Unfortunately, most users don’t know the implications of entering personal information, making friends, and playing games on Facebook.
This guide will show what you can (and cannot) do to safeguard your Facebook privacy.

1. Organize Friends in Lists

What do you do when your boss, mother-in-law, or a casual web acquaintance sends you a friend request on Facebook? Use Friend Lists. Friend Lists are the foundation of your Facebook privacy settings. Select Friends from the top menu, and use the Create link to create friend lists like Co-workers, Family, College Friends, etc. Your friends can’t see your lists, so you can name them whatever you like.

Tip: On your left sidebar, all your friend lists may not show up by default. Click More to see all of them, and drag and drop those you want above the separator.

2. Customize Profile Privacy

Click Settings > Privacy Settings > Profile. Select which parts of your profile will be seen by whom

If you choose Customize in the drop down, you can be more specific. This is where the Friend Lists you created before become really useful.

Also go to the Contact Information tab and choose how you want your contact information to be shared on the Internet.

3. Set Facebook Privacy Level of Photo Albums

On the Photos tab of your profile page, click Album Privacy. Here again, you can use your Friend Lists to set the privacy for each photo album.

Note that your profile pictures go into a special album that is always visible to ALL your friends.

4. Restrict Search Visibility

Click Privacy > Search to set your visibility when someone searches Facebook for people. This is an important way to safeguard your Facebook privacy.  You can also select what will be visible in the search results.

5. Control Automatic Wall Posts and News Feed Updates

Your actions in Facebook such as comments, likes, appear as highlights on ALL your friends’ home pages. You cannot use friend lists here, only turn them on or off.

Go to Privacy > News Feed and Wall and choose whether you want your boss or ex-girlfriend to know that you’re in a relationship.

6. Set Facebook Wall Privacy

Go to your profile page, click Options > Settings under the status box.

Here you can control whether your friends can post to your Wall, and who can see the posts made by your friends.

7. Avoid Appearing in Advertisements

Facebook has two types of advertisements: third-party and Facebook. Third-party advertisements are currently not allowed to use your pictures, but there is a setting to disallow it if it is allowed in the future.

Go to Privacy > News Feed and Wall > Facebook Ads tab to turn this off.

The Facebook ads shown to your friends are about ‘social actions’ like becoming a fan of something. You can turn this off at the bottom of the page.

8. Protect Yourself from Friends’ Applications

Go to Privacy > Applications, and click the Settings tab and uncheck all the boxes. These settings control what information about you is visible to applications installed by your friends. By default, these are set to visible. This means that your religious, sexual, and political preferences, pictures, etc. are readily available to one of the million worldwide Facebook application developers, each time any of your friends takes a quiz, plays a game, or runs any other Facebook app. This is obviously a Facebook privacy issue.

This is the most commonly misunderstood aspect of Facebook privacy. These settings control what applications installed by your friends can see about you, even if you don’t install the application yourself.
Why is this important? Because these settings will not change anything about what you are sharing with the applications you install yourself. For that, go to the next step.

9. Privacy from Your Applications

There is no way to control what applications see about you; it is an all-or-nothing affair. Take this quiz developed by the American Civil Liberties Union to check what anonymous application developers can know about you and your friends each time you take a quiz.
The Burton Group’s Identity Blog features the Facebook Privacy Mirror, an application that you can use to find out what applications know about you and your friends. If you really want to see exactly what profile data of each of your friends is visible to application developers, Privacy Mirror shows it in detail.
The only thing you can do is to authorize only those applications you require and trust. Go to Settings > Application Settings from the top menu. Change the drop-down from Recently Used to Authorized. Here you can see all the applications you have authorized to get access to ALL your profile information. Remove the ones you no longer need.

Also check the list of applications Allowed to Post and Granted Additional Permissions to remove unwanted ones.

10. Quitting Facebook? Delete, Don’t Just De-Activate Your Account

You can easily deactivate your account in Facebook from the Settings page. But deactivation will retain all your profile information within Facebook, including pictures, friends, etc. If you want to permanently delete your Facebook account, click here to submit a deletion request. Note that:

1. There is an unspecified delay between submitting your delete request and actual deletion.
2. If you login to Facebook, your deletion request is automatically cancelled.
3. There doesn’t seem to be any way to confirm that your request was completed.
4. Even after permanent deletion, Facebook says that copies of your photos may remain on their servers for technical reasons.

Also, note that once in a while, there is news of a Facebook hack or leak that can expose your information on the Internet. It is better to be safe than sorry by avoiding using Facebook for anything that may embarrass you.
I hope this article gives you a better understanding and insight into Facebook’s fragile privacy. Have any questions or concerns? Liked the post? Please tell us in the comments!

Acer Aspire Timeline AS5810T 8952 15 6 Inch Laptop 8 Hours Battery Life

Averaging more than 8 hours of battery life, the Acer Aspire Timeline notebook PC series makes “all day computing” a reality. You’ll be able to remain productive as you work remotely from 9 to 5 without ever stopping to plug in and recharge, or keep yourself entertained throughout an entire coast-to-coast flight without worrying whether you’ll make it to the end of your movie. The thin and light Timeline 5810 (model AS5810T-8952) is made for modern mobile work and play with its 5.3-pound weight and thin measurements–less than one-inch thin at its slimmest point and just over an inch at its thickest.

At its slimmest point, the Acer Timeline measures less than 1 inch thin and the AS5810 weighs just 5.3 pounds.

Averaging more than 8 hours of battery life, the Acer Timeline sets a new standard for value, mobility and productivity.

Glossy clean FineTip keyboard in water lily design offers new typing experience.

The high-definition, 15.6-inch CineCrystal LED backlit widescreen display (16:9 ratio) offers 33 percent more energy savings than traditional notebook screens. And it’s one of the first notebooks to feature the new Intel CULV Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 processor, which uses 1/6th the power of a regular mobile CPU–significantly increasing performance-per-watt over previous single-core processors. Additionally, the Timeline 5810 includes an 8x Super Multi optical drive with dual-layer burn support.
A Multi-Gesture Touchpad enables you to pinch, flick and swirl your fingers across the touchpad for more natural photo and video viewing as well as intuitive navigation of websites. The Multi-Gesture Touchpad allows you to scroll, zoom in and out and flip through web pages, photos, spreadsheets and more. An integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam delivers smooth video streaming and high quality images for online chats and business video conferences, even in low-light situations.
Providing an elegant, high-tech design, a stylish brushed aluminum finish provides solid protection to the display and internal components, and the system is also lead- and mercury-free–making it easier to recycle. In addition, Acer has incorporated Intel’s Laminar Wall Jet technology for the first time, directing air flow in parallel layers, to keep the notebook significantly cooler.

Key Features

• 15.6-inch LED-backlight widescreen display with 1366 x 768-pixel resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio and 200-nit high brightness (Learn more)
• Energy efficient 1.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 processor with ultra-low voltage for extended battery life (Learn more)
• 500 GB hard drive
• 4 GB of installed RAM with 1066 MHz speed
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with up to 1700 MB of shared video memory and support for DirectX 10 games (Learn more)
• Multi-gesture touchpad supporting circular-motion scrolling, pinch-action zoom, page flip (Learn more)
• Thermal-efficient cooling innovation ensures the notebook achieves comfortable skin temperature during use. (Learn more)
• Crystal Eye webcam supports Acer PrimaLite technology, which consists of a premium sensor, firmware and lenses to provide superior video performance under low-light conditions. A built-in digital microphone helps keep background noise levels low and minimizes echoes.
• 8x DVD Super Multi drive with double-layer support. (See speeds)
• Backup Manager software and easy launch backup key for scheduled and as-needed backups of your most important digital files. (Learn more)
• Draft-N Wi-Fi wireless networking (802.11a/b/g/n) with SignalUp technology for enhanced antenna efficiency
• Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000)
• 5-in-1 memory card reader
• HDMI (with HDCP) and VGA video output
• Stereo speakers with Dolby Sound Room audio enhancement transforms the experience of movies, music, and games.
• Energy-sipping laptop thanks to low-power components and efficient technologies. (Learn more)
• Windows Home Vista Premium operating system (Learn more)
• Up to 8 hours of battery life with Acer PowerSmart Manager enabled and depending on configuration
• Dimensions: 14.9 x 10.2 x 0.97/1.16 inches (WxDxH)
• Weight: 5.3 pounds
• Warranty: One-year parts and labor limited warranty with concurrent International Traveler’s Warranty

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
With its integrated Draft-N Wi-Fi networking capabilities, this laptop provides up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range using 802.11n-compatible routers as you would with 802.11g networks. It’s also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found at Wi-Fi hotspots and in older home routers) as well as 802.11a networks (which has a higher throughput, but more limited range–great for closed office environments). This notebook also provides ultra-fast Gigabit Ethernet networking (10/100/1000).

• 4 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players
• 1 HDMI output for connecting to a compatible HDTV or home theater receiver for uncompressed digital audio and video via a single cable
• Analog video output: 1 VGA
• 5-in-1 card reader compatible with MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card
• 1 headphone/line-out jack (with SPDIF digital audio support), 1 microphone jack
• 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet

What’s in the box
This package contains the Acer Aspire Timeline AS5810T-8952 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions
It also comes with the following software: McAfee Internet Security Suite (trial version); CyberLink PowerDVD; Google Desktop; Acer Backup Manager; Acer GridVista; Acer PowerSmart Manager

Learn More

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15.6-Inch Widescreen Display with True 16:9 Aspect Ratio

The 15.6-inch LED-backlit display (1366 x 768 pixels) presents true 16:9 aspect ratio with high-def resolution and fast 8ms (millisecond) response time for high-quality media playback as well as increased readability in low-light conditions. And the LED backlight technology is 33 percent more energy efficient than standard CCFL LCD screens.
Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD, which uses shared video memory (providing up to 1700 MB of video memory as allocated by the system memory). This graphics card is built with Intel Clear Video technology, which delivers clearer, more detailed images by eliminating many of the jagged edges and video artifacts seen when viewing interlaced content and features powerful color control to ensure videos are not too dark, overly bright, or washed out.

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Energy Efficient Intel Core 2 Solo Processor

Offering the latest in ultra-low voltage processing power, the single-core Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 processor has a has a power consumption rating of just 5.5 watts and a 1.4 GHz speed that’s paired with a fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB) and extra-large 3 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system’s performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)
Designed for use in ultra-thin laptops to balance the competing needs of high performance with battery consumption, the Core 2 Solo processor delivers enhanced performance for today’s demanding applications such as CAD tools, 3D and 2D modeling, video editing, digital music, digital photography and gaming. And Intel’s Smart Cache technology enables smarter, more efficient cache and bus design for enhanced performance, responsiveness and power savings.

Palm Centro Smartphone-Sold one million.

Palm announced that it has sold its one-millionth Palm Centro smartphone, demonstrating the $99 product's mass appeal to customers ready to get all the power of a smartphone at the price of a traditional mobile phone. Palm is now shipping Centro in 10 countries worldwide, including Hong Kong, Singapore, India, the UK, Germany, Spain, Ireland, France and Italy, and its already-rapid momentum is set to grow as Palm debuts the product in additional countries around the globe.
"The Palm Centro is flying off the shelves because users who want to step up to a smartphone see it as the perfect first choice," said Brodie Keast, senior vice president of marketing for Palm, Inc. "It has everything a person needs to stay organized and connected with everyone who is important to them. We're very excited about the Centro's near-instant popularity in the U.S. and think it's going to be a huge hit as it continues to make its way across the globe."
First introduced in the United States last September exclusively with Sprint, and more recently introduced on AT&T in February, the fully featured Centro smartphone is available from both carriers for $99.99.(1) Centro has reached more young adults and women, as well as a broader range of household income, than any prior Palm smartphone. It offers customers an affordable, simple and fun option for staying connected and doing more with their mobile phones.(2)
"Smartphones are certainly not new to business professionals; however, now more than ever we are seeing consumers migrate toward these types of devices as form factors have become more appealing and price points are now competing with traditional mobile phones," said Ryan Reith, senior research analyst with IDC. "Palm's Centro plays right into the hands of the consumer looking for a more robust experience on their mobile phone. We definitely expect to see this trend continue worldwide."
Increasingly, consumers are making the shift from traditional mobile phones to smartphones, motivated by the desire to do more with their phones and the arrival of lower-cost devices. Smartphones accounted for 11 percent of all mobile phone sales in 2007 in the United States, and this is expected to increase to 35 percent by 2011.(3) A recent Palm survey of Centro customers highlighted this trend, indicating that 70 percent are first-time smartphone users. When compared to other Palm smartphones, Centro also is reaching almost double the number of women, more than double the number of customers under age 35, and nearly three times as many customers with a household income of less than $75,000.
Centro's full QWERTY keyboard and color touch screen make it easy to quickly type text messages, respond to emails, start instant message conversations, browse the web and more. It offers all of the great organizer functionality for which Palm is renowned, such as a detailed and integrated contacts list and a simple and handy calendar for juggling business meetings and get-togethers with friends.

Palm Treo Pro

Palm introduced Treo Pro, an effortlessly usable smartphone for businesses that want to simplify their IT infrastructures and lower costs, and for users who want to stay on top of their professional and personal lives.

With its streamlined design and Palm® shortcuts layered on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Treo Pro is a unique combination of sleek simplicity and robust productivity -- including email, Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities(1) -- that meets the needs of businesses and end users alike.

Treo Pro, which will be available from Vodafone and O2 in Europe(2) and from Telstra in Australia, also will be available in an unlocked version in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.

“Businesses want the control and savings that Windows Mobile affords, in an innovative and elegant package that keeps their users happy. That’s where Palm comes in,” said Ed Colligan, president and chief executive officer, Palm, Inc. “Everything about Treo Pro -- from the hardware design to the packaging and accessories – embodies the elegant and simplified end-to-end experience that our customers expect from Palm.”
The Treo Pro smartphone lets IT managers support an increasingly mobile work force with the ease of use and robust feature set business professionals demand. Besides the benefits of lower costs and increased productivity, Treo Pro can deliver the increased security, easier device management and access to information on the corporate network that Windows Mobile 6.1 provides.
Users can quickly respond to business and personal email, access the web, stay on top of appointments and contacts, and use Wi-Fi or GPS on the go.(1) Treo Pro’s thin design blends a flush, high-resolution color touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard with a removable battery that packs up to five hours of talk time and enough strength for the business user’s needs, offering a powerful yet effortless mobile experience.
“I’m really happy with Treo Pro -- it’s a technology leap from a device design and capability standpoint, enhancing Palm’s presence in the Windows Mobile realm,” said Wasif Malik, senior systems consultant, Student Educational Services & Mobile Solutions, Ohio State University Medical Center. “It’s cleverly designed for Windows Mobile, with a large touch screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and all the productivity applications for Windows Mobile 6 in a much thinner design.”
Palm Experience on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
The Treo Pro smartphone, based on the popular Windows Mobile platform, helps optimize business processes by effortlessly mobilizing users with enhancements to the Windows Mobile 6.1 platform, including:
* One-touch Wi-Fi button -- Easy, fast Wi-Fi connection experience (802.11b/g).(1)
* Today screen enhancements -- Web search directly from the Today screen.
* Ringer switch -- Silences the device immediately.
* Screen saver -- Lets users know at a glance – without turning on the device – what time it is and whether they’ve missed a call or have a new SMS/MMS message.
* New voicemail indicator -- The center button flashes to let users know that a voicemail is waiting.(3)
* Dedicated email and calendar buttons -- Fast one-button access.
“Windows Mobile is delivering mobile solutions that help businesses address the changing competitive landscape,” said Andrew Lees, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business. “The Treo Pro smartphone brings together a powerful combination of Palm’s feature innovations and Windows Mobile 6.1, providing access to the information people need when away from the office.”
Lower Costs, Increased Productivity
With Treo Pro, businesses can quickly and easily deploy a secure, low-cost and compatible infrastructure for their mobile workforce by taking advantage of a tightly integrated Palm and Windows Mobile 6.1 solution, including:
* Microsoft Direct Push Technology(4) -- Direct connection to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or 2007 gives users up-to-date email, contacts and calendars.
* Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 -- With the deployment of Mobile Device Manager, the Treo Pro can deliver increased security, easier smartphone management, and access to information on the corporate network. IT professionals can confidently manage large Treo Pro deployments.
* Thousands of applications available for Windows Mobile -- Businesses can extend mobility beyond email to optimize business processes.
* World phone -- With high-speed UMTS/HSDPA network capabilities(5), Treo Pro is a sleek world phone that’s ideal for companies with an international work force.
* Integrated GPS -- Users can access maps, turn-by-turn directions and point-of-interest (POI) searches.(1)
* Support and training -- Palm shortcuts make Treo Pro so easy to use, businesses can spend less on training and support for their users. End-to-end enterprise support means companies can expand the scope of their mobile deployments without putting a strain on internal support personnel.
* Familiar Windows experience -- Users can browse the web with built-in Internet Explorer Mobile; open, view, and edit Word and Excel compatible files; review PowerPoint presentations and PDF files; and open ZIP files remotely.
Pricing and Availability
Treo Pro will be available in September in Europe(2) through Vodafone (from free to €399 with contract) and O2 (pricing is available from O2 direct sales and online business stores), and in Australia through Telstra (from free with contract). It will be available in the United States in the fall through the Palm online store (http://www.palm.com/store) as well as select Internet, retail and enterprise resellers for a suggested retail price of $549. The U.S. version is unlocked and unsubsidized, giving end users the flexibility to simply insert their existing active SIM card and immediately start using their Treo Pro without a new contract.
Detailed regional pricing is available from local resellers and distributors. Additional Treo Pro availability is scheduled to follow worldwide.
The Treo Pro smartphone comes with an international power charger, microUSB cable and a stereo headset (3.5mm). Other accessories designed exclusively for Treo Pro (sold separately) include a vehicle power charger, leather side case, travel microUSB cable, cradle, extra battery, TTY audio adapter, and replacement styli.
(1) Within wireless coverage area only. Wi-Fi within range of 802.11b/g Wi-Fi network. Some Wi-Fi hotspots require fee for usage. Email, web, and GPS require an account and data services at additional cost. GPS application not available from all carriers. Third-party software may be required. GPS coverage not available in all areas at all times.
(2) Treo Pro will be available from Vodafone in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, and from O2 in the UK and Ireland.
(3) Within wireless coverage area only. Not available by all mobile service providers.
(4) Microsoft Direct Push Technology requires Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 with SP2 or Exchange Server 2007. Additional fees and software may be needed to comply with corporate IT policy. VPN may be required.
(5) More than 860 GSM networks provide coverage in 220 regions worldwide. Within UMTS/HSDPA data coverage area only. Actual data speeds vary based on network capacity and application design. Requires data services at additional cost.