Today, a new version of Wordpress came out. Version 2.1, named Ella after the famous jazz singer, comes with a truckload of new features that will eventually make even the most die hard non-upgraders want to take the plunge. Aside from fixing over 550 bugs, here’s a quick rundown of the new features that we feel are important.
- Autosave.
- Tabbed editor to go from WYSIWYG to HTML editing easily.
- The ability to set any “page” to be the front page of the site, making it easier to use WP as a CMS.
- New upload manager.
- New version of anti-spam king Akismet.
There’s a bunch more stuff, of course, so head on down there and grab yourself a copy. Or, wait a little to see what everyone is saying about it, then upgrade. Just to be safe. That’s what we’re going to do; the ole wait-and-see.
If there’s anything more fun than riding a roller coaster, it’s watching a roller coaster plow through a large crowd, at high speed. Trust us.
Now, we’re not homicidal maniacs. No worries. We’re talking about virtual roller coasters, of course. Just watch this video, and witness the hilarity of creating a roller coaster massacre in Roller Coaster Tycoon.
Yeah, so it’s a YouTube day. But, hey, listen, if you wanna impress your dinner party guests with your freaky Minesweeper skillz, you’ve got to watch this video. I tried it. It works. Holy crap, it works. It’s not like it’s the end of the world there, but still, it’s nice to see MS coders inserting some easter eggs, or whatnot.
It’s pretty amazing just how quick the hacking community can get its act together and come out with cool stuff. In barely two weeks since the Wii launch, comes news of an updated version of GlovePIE, functional software that would allegedly allow anyone to use their WiiMote as an input device to control PC games and applications. GlovePIE (which stands for Glove Programmable Input Emulator) is software that was originally created to control applications through the use of Virtual Gloves, but it’s been recently updated to include support for the WiiMote:
With GlovePIE you can now play any game, or control any software or MIDI devices, using whatever controls you want. This includes joysticks, gamepads, mice, keyboards, MIDI input devices, HMDs, Wiimotes, trackers, and of course, Virtual Reality Gloves!
I haven’t tested this myself, as I’m still Wii-less, but maybe Andrew can give it a look when he gets back. Or, even more fun, you people can try it out and let us know how it went in the comments. Either way, there you have it: using the Wiimote on a PC. Fun stuff.
I can’t imagine that Microsoft was too pleased when the infamous blue screen that would appear in the event of a system crash became known as the ‘Blue Screen Of Death.‘ I think ‘Blue Screen Of Inconvenience‘ or ‘Blue Screen Of I’ll Need To Update That Driver‘ would have worked just as well but it was the association to death that really stuck.
So I was kind of surprised to find out that this screen saver that humorously mimics a BSOD crash was actually created by Microsoft themselves. While no one really needs a screen saver anymore I’m sure many pranksters will find this one irresistible… for their friend’s systems that is. BlueScreen as it’s called will cycle between different blue screens and system boot screens every 15 seconds and almost all the info shown on the BSOD is taken right from the actual system including loaded drivers and OS build number. There’s even a ‘fake disk activity’ option in the screen saver’s settings when you’re trying to fool the truly tech-savvy.
You can download the Bluescreen screen saver for free from Microsoft TechNet.
Whether it’s the result of a CNN induced institutional paranoia or the consequence of real tangible threats, most people these days are concerned with protecting their privacy. And one of the devices that holds the most personal data is a cellphone, so it stands to reason that some people would take to locking their phone with a password. Passwords however are so Mobile 1.0. All the rage these days is with biometrics, and a company called Oki Electric has announced the development of iris recognition technology that uses a cellphone’s regular camera, as opposed to the company’s previous offerings, which required an IR camera.
They plan to release their product in March 2007, and once installed on a compatible phone, should allow the users to unlock the device only when in the presence of the right set of eyes. The technology is allegedly very accurate, with error rates of 1 in 100,000. It is also able to distinguish between real eyes, and photographs. However, rather than seeking a better way to secure the data on phone, the company is looking to boost the security of phone based payment systems, which, if you ask us, is as good a reason as any.
Being horizontally challenged is not easy. I’d know. I had to lose 50 pounds, once. It was less fun than watching dry paint get dryer. But you know something? I’m glad I lost it; I didn’t just give up and give in to the sweet, sweet call of delicious fried chicken. And to me, there seems to be something oddly fatalistic about HP’s new “Slimming” feature found in some digital camera models; it’s something that says “Can’t lose weight? Take the digital way out!” You know you’ve lost control over a part of your life when you start finding features, in gadgets, that help you deal with it.
But anyway, it works like this.
You take a picture, and then, right from the camera, you can apply some post-processing. Among the many options, like “Vintage”, “Soft Glow” and such, you can find one that says “Slimming”. Select that, and then proceed to squash your subject. You can control the degree of distortion, presumably so you don’t end up looking like an unnatural spaghetti.
The feature is available on 7 different models, like the M628 and M527.
If you fancy the day of bringing every Windoze app with you on the road, Ceedo 2.0 along with InstallAnything will make your dream come true… sorta. The two cost some $70 together, and let you run .exe install files on a Ceedo platform, running on a USB flash drive. If you are lucky to get them to work, the programs are for you to run anywhere. Everything USB has a newbie guide on this U3 contender.
One of the most compelling features of Ceedo is the fact that it maintains its own file structure that matches right up to Windows. There are the Program Files and Windows folders, the All Users and %userprofile% directories, and even a registry. Ceedo uses these by capturing and changing file calls to their respective cloned folders on the portable drive, and even makes it so that clicking Desktop or My Documents in the Save As dialog boxes will redirect to the respective folders located on the flash drive. With such advanced capabilities under the hood, it’s not unreasonable to think that Ceedo could run practically any program.
Capitalizing on this idea, Ceedo has released InstallAnything, a $30 add-on that allows you to run any .exe setup file to install a program to Ceedo. How well it works is a different matter, which is why I’m glad that there’s a 45 day free trial for users to determine whether or not it’s worth it to them.
The endless possibilities for Microsoft jokes have caused a serious case of writer’s block. I believe it senseless that I should have spent the best part of a quarter hour looking for something smart to say about this. So, I’ll say nothing more than this: here you have a picture of someone, unidentified, who likes Microsoft Windows so much… he went and added a Windows theme to his house. Yes, we’re aware the picture was in this month’s PC Mag, but we didn’t read it, and we don’t know who this fellow is.
This is an amazing piece of software for your pocket PC or Palm that promises to improve your typing speed severalfold. It uses a clever combination of predictive text input, and six large buttons, each containing a portion of the alphabet, all arranged QWERTY style. Simple as that. Simply press each button that contains the letter you want once, and type in your word. Having six large buttons means your accuracy is improved, and consequently your typing speed.
How fast can you type? Well, if you come inside, you can watch a somewhat freaky video of a Japanse Singaporean/Malaysian (my apologies) lady typing at 72wpm.
The best part? It’s free! The company also offers an enhanced version (nicer UI, more words in the dictionary), which goes between $13 and $25 depending on the device you’ll use it on.
By David Ponce
Related Tags: Software, Todays-Top-Tech
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By Andrew Liszewski
By David Ponce
If you fancy the day of bringing every Windoze app with you on the road, 
By David Ponce