Useful Third Party Preference Panes for Mac #1

Tinkertool

TinkerTool is a PrefPane that opens up a bunch of “hidden” settings in your OS. With it, you can do things like mess around with Finder, disable the Dashboard or even add a stack of recent items to your dock. You can review all the settings it makes available here.

Even though the developer says that it is safe to use and nothing can go wrong with it, I’d rather not mess with shady settings that may slow down my machine even more or cause unexpected things to happen. But to each his own, and I might even try some of these myself!

Price: Free

Requirements: Mac OS X 10.6 or later

Developer: Marcel Bresink

10 of the Best Photo-Sharing Apps for Android

10 of the Best Photo-Sharing Apps for Android:

Photo-sharing is a booming market on mobile platforms, with all manner of services popping up almost on a weekly basis. Many such apps, especially on Android, are perhaps the ripples from the splash created by the iPhone photo-sharing titan Instagram. The good news is that Instagram plan an Android release in the future. However, until we see what they have to offer us Android users, there is still a huge interest in sharing pictures effectively.

This round-up aims to present an overview of arguably the best photo-sharing platforms available on Android. Now, this includes apps that focus most heavily on pictures, rather than the far larger social networks such as Google+, Facebook and Twitter which serve a wider purpose. These apps are more dedicated to sharing pictures, and make it as easy as possible to do so from your mobile phone. This round-up also doesn’t include purely photo-editing apps; apps like Pixlr-o-matic and BeFunky are very cool, but there is less focus on sharing and do not provide the same kind of platform to share pictures on.

Here you’ll see some big names, some new names, and some names you might not have heard of… until now. Read on for some truly excellent photo-sharing apps you’ll want to check out!

Lightbox

Lightbox

Lightbox is a relatively new photo sharing platform from former Google and YouTube product manager Thai Tran. Lightbox is a service with extremely rich UI and comes with a built-in camera. The app includes a host of cool filters and lets users post, not only to your Lightbox profile, but also Flickr, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and FourSquare.

The main draw for Lightbox is the UI. It’s rich, buttery, responsive and beautiful to use. A great stand-out feature lets you view users pictures from other social networks within the Lightbox app. Oddly you cannot yet share your Lightbox wall externally, but the app’s still in development so I expect the service to improve over time.

Price: Free

Requires: 2.1 and up

Market Link: Lightbox

Developer: Lightbox

EyeEm

EyeEm

EyeEm is a rather cute photo-sharing platform with phenomenally beautiful UI. It’s light, smooth and simple to use. You can also take photos from within the app itself and add cool filters. You can view live feeds, see what pictures have been taken around your location and share with other social networks.

The UI looks gorgeous in EyeEm but it needs some tweaking for it to be a finished product in my opinion. It virtually insists you put a title and location on your pictures which can be a bit annoying when you want to upload something on the go. It has bags of potential though so definitely worth a look.

Price: Free

Requires: 2.2 and up

Market Link: EyeEm

Developer: EyeEm

Flickr

Flickr

Flickr is arguably the biggest and best known of the photo-sharing platforms and its internet tenure totals nearly 7 years. Owned by Yahoo, the service has only quite recently released an official Android client. The app includes an alternative camera with filters and useful tagging functions. Flickr is both smooth and responsive and allows for a speedy turnaround from taking the picture to uploading.

I’m always quite impressed with the UI and functionality of Yahoo apps – their email client is also superb – and the Flickr app complements this. For someone who uses Flickr a great deal this would be an essential download, allowing access to pictures, albums and contacts in one easy-to-use app. For new users it offers the stability and support of an internet behemoth, although it still lacks a variety of features contained in other services.

Price: Free

Requires: 2.1 and up

Market Link: Flickr

Developer: Yahoo Inc.

LiveShare

LiveShare

LiveShare by Cooliris is another photo sharing network that has both a mobile and web service. Cooliris is well known for its rich web interfaces and while this is transferred to the LiveShare web service, the mobile offering is unfortunately quite basic. You can upload pictures quite easily, add friends, view streams etc but the app feels a little unfinished and lacks a genuine community feel. The app works quite well, but the UI is quite simplistic and feels veritably archaic compared to their web suite.

Being a creation of Cooliris, LiveShare should have lots of potential and will potentially pick up a lot of users, so on that basis it might be worth checking out if you’re thinking about engaging with a new photo-sharing service. However, as it stands, there are better apps out there.

Price: Free

Requires: 2.1 and up

Full Review: LiveShare

Market Link: LiveShare

Developer: Cooliris

Path

Path

Path should have been the ‘next big thing’. Lauded as such, the service was blogged about extensively and there was a genuine excitement about its release. The app lets you share photos with family and friends and interact around those pictures. This gives the pictures more meaning and interest and it’s a great way of securely sharing apps with the people you want to share with. However Path initially held off the release and then along came Google+. Path was launched two days after the search giant’s new social offering, and sadly it practically became irrelevant before it was released. If only they had released it a few weeks earlier!

The app still works fine, and for users who aren’t fussed with joining the Google+ revolution, the app is still a great way to share pictures with the people you care about. The UI and options are quite simple but work well and the app is stable, it just might feel like a bit of a let-down if you use Google+ for this purpose.

Price: Free

Requires: 2.1 and up

Market Link: Path

Developer: Path Inc.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket is another significant internet photo-sharing site who have released a Android client. The app allows you to upload pictures to the site or download pictures from it, as well as sharing them to the likes of Twitter and Facebook. The Photobucket Corporation have additionally released a separate application, called Snapbucket, which lets you edit and add filters and frames to your photos.

It’s perhaps natural for existing Photobucket users to migrate to the Android client. New users will note the rich UI the app offers and the ability to tag photos, which is superb if you have a lot of images. Viewing pictures is a genuinely pleasant experience on the app and there is an auto-upload feature – similar to that which is offered by the Google+ app. On that basis, if a user is looking for a no-fuss solution for storing and sharing apps, Photobucket has a stable web presence and functions well, making it well worth consideration.

Price: Free

Requires: 1.5 and up

Market Link: Photobucket

Developer: Photobucket Corporation

picplz

picplz

Picplz is a very popular Android photo-sharing service, and while it’s probably not the best I found far more of my friends using the service than others. With permissions, the app lets you see which of your Twitter followers already use the picplz, so you can quickly generate a number of people to share with who will already be familiar to you.

The app is simple to use, but lacks the kind of UI and editing options you see in other apps. However, it would seem you are more likely to find friends already subscribed to the service so it might be worth checking out if you aren’t keen on building a new set of followers/friends to share your pictures with.

Price: Free

Requires: 2.1 and up

Full Review: Picplz

Market Link: picplz

Developer: picplz.com

Snapr

Snapr

Snapr is a photosharing app with a strong community feel. You can upload pictures and share them across various social networks as well as the Snapr website itself. There is much emphasis on geographical location and sharing images from specific places. The website presents a rich geographical map of images which looks superb, it has a real next-gen feel about it.

With the popularity of services like FourSquare and Gowalla, services like Snapr seem to be another logical step. The UI is nice and the app is simple to use, and provides cool editing tools to finish your pictures off. The size of the Snapr community is relatively small as it is a newish service, but should grow with time.

Price: Free

Requires: 2.2 and up

Market Link: Snapr

Developer: Snapr

Streamzoo

Streamzoo

Streamzoo has a busy photo-sharing community which lets you ‘Like’ other users photos. Each like you receive wins you a point and they have daily, weekly and monthly leaderboards. On top of this the app lets you add filters, effects, frames and tilt-shifts to your pictures. All this is complimented by a great UI and the ability to share your creations with other social networks.

Of all these photo-sharing apps, I found Streamzoo to have probably the strongest community feel to it, and some genuinely brilliant photos too. Add the effects and filters, multi-platform support, leaderboards and UI, it’s a powerful way to share pictures on Android. The service is still relatively new, but if it maintains the momentum it has, I can see it growing to become a huge contender in the photo-sharing arena.

Price: Free

Requires: 2.1 and up

Market Link: Streamzoo

Developer: Phonezoo Communications Inc.

Trover

Trover

Trover is another photo-sharing app with emphasis on location. The app offers a rich UI and is multi-platform, so expect a fair few iPhone users on there too. The app feels incredibly polished and  intuitive to use. The service lets you ‘visually explore’ the areas around you which has a very localised and very real feel about it, making for an engaging user experience.

Trover might not be the kind of app you share or store personal family pictures from, but if you’re keen on travel and taking cool pictures on the go, this is a great way to share snaps and memories while you do so.

Price: Free

Requires: 2.1 and up

Market Link: Trover

Developer: Trover

In Conclusion…

There is a veritable smorgasbord of cool and useful photo-sharing apps in the Android Market; this is just a selection of the better ones available. Whether you want to share your pictures with the public or with a private group of friends, communicate your location, or store large number of your pics in the cloud, there are a number of apps worthy of your consideration. If you’re looking for a new photo-sharing service that is stable, fun and easy to use, you should definitely check these out. Happy snapping!

Supporting entrepreneurs around the world with Startup Weekend

Supporting entrepreneurs around the world with Startup Weekend: We recognize the transformative power of startups and the entrepreneurs behind them that have the passion and courage to pursue a dream; the impact they can make on society can be significant. Google was once a startup in a garage, and Google Ventures is a testament to our ongoing commitment to entrepreneurialism. As we head into Global Entrepreneurship Week, it’s clear that having a robust community of entrepreneurs, mentors and educational resources can be a key ingredient in a startup’s success, and we’re excited to be part of that.



Today, we’re announcing a partnership with Startup Weekend—a global organization committed to promoting real entrepreneurship in local communities. In more than 200 cities and across six continents, Startup Weekend holds 54-hour startup creation events, bringing together entrepreneurs from engineering, product, design, marketing and business backgrounds. Participants gather on Friday, and by Sunday afternoon, they launch a product.



This partnership will help Startup Weekend expand to dozens of additional cities around the world and launch new vertical competitions focused on specific themes such as education, health or gaming.



In addition, we’ll be working to bring in Google’s developer community in the form of Google Technology User Groups as an additional resource to Startup Weekend participants. Started in early 2008, there are now more than 280 GTUGs in 86 countries that bring tech enthusiasts together via hundreds of events each month. GTUG members will receive discounted registration for Startup Weekend events and will help run pre-weekend local bootcamps on Google’s developer platforms and tools (e.g., App Engine, Android, Chrome).



We’ll start rolling out our product training and community events at Startup Weekends in the coming weeks and months. To learn more or find the next event happening in your city, visit startupweekend.org/google. Hope to see you at a weekend event soon!



Posted by Mary Himinkool, Head of Global Entrepreneurship Outreach

How To Install OS X Lion On Your Hackintosh PC With UniBeast All-In-One Bootable USB Drive [The Easy Way]

How To Install OS X Lion On Your Hackintosh PC With UniBeast All-In-One Bootable USB Drive [The Easy Way]:

If you’ve ever attempted to install OS X Lion onto your PC (a process known as hackintosh), you will be aware that although the result is pretty good, the effort required to get you there is quite high in what is a rather tedious process.

You have to install Snow Leopard, and follow an upgrade process in order to enjoy Apple’s famed operating system on an ordinarily Windows-based PC. Hardware wiz tonymacx86 is renowned for developing the hackintosh project, and has now made the process a whole lot simpler by introducing UniBeast all-in-one bootable USB drive.

The new utility enables you to create a bootable Lion flash-based drive for hackintosh, and also eradicates the necessity of using an iBoot CD to boot. So unlike the previous method, no optical drive is needed for you to create your own hackintosh.

We’re going to demonstrate how you can install OS X Lion on your hackintosh, following these recent advances.

Firstly, you will need a copy of OS X Lion (downloadable from the Mac App Store or attainable via the official Lion USB flash drive), and a separate 8GB (or more) flash drive.

Additionally, you will need UniBeast, which can be downloaded from here.

Step 1: Firstly, you’ll need to create a bootable USB drive using UniBeast. Open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility and highlight your USB drive on your Mac.

Step 2: Next, click the Partition tab, then Current and opt for 1 Partition. Then, click Options and select Master Boot Record.

Step 3: Change Name to ‘USB’ (can use any name, but we’ll use USB for the benefit of this tut), and select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as your format. Once you’re done, select Apply followed by Partition.

NOTE: If you’re using the Install Mac OS X Lion Application, be sure to check that it’s been placed in the /Applications folder. If you’re instead using the OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive, plug it in.

Step 4: Download and run UniBeast. Continue through the first few steps.

Step 5: At Destination Select, click USB and then Continue.

Step 6: Select the package name of the method you’ll be using to install as depicted below. Laptop users will need to select the Laptop Support in addition. Once that’s done, hit Continue.

Step 7: Enter password and click Install. Depending on the speed of your system and the flash drive, it could take up to 15 minutes.

Step 8: Boot from your freshly prepared USB flash drive and install.

If you get stuck at any point along the way, head over to tonymac86′s forums and sign up there, where you’ll find a bunch of like-minded techies on hand to help you through your trials and tribulations!

If you liked this, then you may also like to check out:

• How to Install Chrome OS in Windows 7


• Chromium OS For MacBook Air Available, Here’s How You Can Install It Now! [Tutorial]


• How To Install Windows 8 In a VMware Virtual Machine On PC & Mac


• Install Windows 8 DP In VirtualBox Virtual Machine On Mac & Windows 7 [How-To Tutorial]


• How to Install OS X Snow Leopard in VMware Windows 7


• How to Install Mac OS X Snow Leopard in VirtualBox on Windows 7

You can follow us on Twitter or join our Facebook fanpage to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google and Apple.

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PayPal opens Malaysia office, plans to hire up to 500

PayPal opens Malaysia office, plans to hire up to 500:

Online payment giant PayPal has opened a Southeast Asia operations centre in Malaysia, reported the Business Times. With a 200-strong staff already on-site, they plan to hire 300 more by 2013.

The office will provide customer support to PayPal’s growing user base in Southeast Asia. Their services will be provided in English, with local Asian languages to be added soon.

PayPal senior vice president of global operations, John McCabe, said: “People are the most important asset and we are making a significant investment here in terms of hiring local talent, and providing them extensive training to better serve our customers around the world.”

The new center is located near PayPal’s international office in Singapore. The company also has another operations center in Shanghai. Their increased presence in Asia signals a growth in the mobile e-commerce sector in the region.

It also indicates that Malaysia is becoming a popular destination for tech companies as well, given that Google has also quite recently set up an office in the country.

I can relate to this comment on the extremely disappointing new Google Reader

"I've been using this new Google Reader for a full hour now and here are a few observations.  

Note that my background with Google Reader is that I read 312 feeds through it and do end my day with 0 unreads. This means that, on most month, I consume about 30,000 stories, seldom clicking away from the reader itself as I read mostly full feeds.  

The first thing that struck me is how much slower this reader is. There seems to be a refresh on every new move forward, which was less noticeable on the previous version, if at all. There also seems to be a substantially slower response time, on the order of a couple of seconds. This is particularly noticeable if you read the HN firehose feed and try to "N" through the entries. 

The left column is mostly OK and it does seem cleaner than the previous version.  

The top is dreadful, with a new line taking about 20% of the screen real-estate. While this gives a more "airy" feeling to the Reader, this is at the cost of displaying less content on the page. This is the first glaring UI problem but it's not the worse.  

For some odd reason, they seem to have decided to limit the flexibility of the content in the feeds, with text stopping at about 800 pixels and the left of the space on the right being left blank. This creates a substantial imbalance on the screen and makes the whole look feel incomplete. Furthermore, it reduces information density per entry displayed. 

Starred is now a sharper edged icons, which is substantially less rounded than the previous version. The presence of 2 stars (one next to the title and one in the toolbar) makes one wonder which one should be used. That's confusing.  

The absence of share is a major bummer. In my previous workflow, I would click share (1 click) when I found something interesting and move on. I had setup an RSS reader that would pick up my shared items and pass them on to Twitter, Facebook, and others. This meant that 1 click allowed me to share to social networks without leaving Google Reader. In order to reproduce the same process, I can now "Send to" a service. To do so, I first click "Send to" and then click on the appropriate service, which opens another window. In that service, I can then press a button and share things through that service. I then close that service window and click on the Google Reader tab to get back to my Reader workflow. This is a total of 5 clicks where there once was 1. Doesn't strike me as much of an improvement.  (same situation ! ndr)

All and all, I have to say, Google Reader may be a fine upgrade for people who don't use RSS readers. But for anyone who's serious about consuming content over RSS, Google has done a substantial disservice by taking what was once a great service for power users and driving it into the ditch.  

The net-net of all this is that Google Reader, a service where I spent most of my online reading time will soon end up being replaced by another RSS reader (at least one more suited to my usage) and Google will lose a substantial amount of my online time in the process. I'm sure they won't mind (or even notice) but I suspect they will be surprised when a Google Reader replacement service arises away from them and finds a dedicated following."

Original Discussion

The New version of Google Presentations

There's a new version of Google Presentations that has both a new interface and new features that bring it on par with the other Google Docs apps. To try the new version, go to the settings page, select the "editing" tab, enable "Create new presentations using the latest version of the presentation editor", go back to Google Docs and create a new presentation.

Google Presentations has an HTML5 rich-text editor created from the scratch by Google and initially available in Google's online word processor. The editor supports character-by-character collaboration, transitions and animations, rich tables with merged cells, drawing charts and diagrams within the presentation and using shapes to link to other sides. Google Presentations also includes some new themes.

"At this time, it's only possible to create new presentations in the new version of Google presentations. Older presentations will remain in the old format for the time being, and we'll eventually upgrade them to the new format to give you all of the benefits of using the new version. You can copy old presentations into the new version by using the import slides feature or by copying and pasting slides using the web clipboard," explains Google. "With today's launch, the Google Docs suite is now built on a single, solid foundation. Now that the groundwork is in place, you can expect more useful and collaborative features, delivered faster than ever before," promises Google.

{ Thanks, Andrew. }

New colours in Google Calendar

Google Calendar updated the color palette and you can now choose from 24 colors that match the new interface. "The color of each of your calendars has been updated to use the closest possible color from the new palette. The new colors will only be available in the web interface (for example, you won't see these colors if you're accessing Calendar via your mobile phone)," informs Google.

It's worth mentioning that the new colors are only available if you use Google Calendar's new UI. To switch to the new interface, click the Options menu in the navigation bar and select "Try the new look". You can always go back to the old UI from the same menu.

{ Thanks, Cougar, Ralph and Herin. }