Yahoo! Partners with Six Apart to Distribute Movable Type

Yahoo! has agreed to provide Movable Type as the default blogging solution in its extensive small-business suite of services. The other hand will get washed as parent company Six Apart directs small-business traffic to Yahoo! for a complete ISP/merchant/blogging package. There's nothing new about Web-hosting accounts with Movable Type pre-installed; the Movable Type site has a recommendation page for such services, to which Yahoo! has not been added.

When I first glanced at the e-mail press release about this announcement, I expected to read that Yahoo! had acquired Six Apart-that would be an appropriate complement to Google's ownership of Blogger.com. Of course, Yahoo! provides a newbie-friendly blogging experience with Yahoo! 360, which could possibly be interpreted as competition to the much more established (and feature-rich) Blogger. But Six Apart's three platform levels (Movable Type, TypePad, and Live Journal) cover all the bases and could vault Yahoo! into a whole new position in the blogging wars.

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Apple sells unlocked iPhone 3G in Hong Kong

HONG KONG - Apple has begun selling unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong that can be used with any cell phone carrier. The move appears to depart from the company's previous strategy of selling the popular device capable of working with... Read More

Mac 101: Where'd my send button go?

Mac 101: Where'd my send button go?

Filed under: Mac 101

More Mac 101, TUAW's series for beginners. My mom called me up last week with this question about Mail: "Where did my send button go?"

Turns out she had mistakenly clicked the white chiclet (pictured) in the upper-right hand corner of her message's compose window, hiding her toolbar. When she clicked it once, Mail remembered her settings and hid the toolbar for other message windows, too.

So, just clicking that chiclet showed the toolbar again, and brought her send button back. Magic.

Also, you can hold down command and click the same chiclet to show and hide icons and text labels in the toolbar. Repeatedly clicking with the command key held down cycles through all your options.

Now that my mom is happily sending emails again, I can sleep well knowing all about the new Bob's Big Boy and the local woman who was on Survivor.

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Internet scammers target Kiwibank

Kiwibank customers have become the latest New Zealanders targeted by internet scammers trying to get their account information. A fake email has been sent out claiming $20,000 dollars has been deposited into a Kiwibank account. The... Read More

Feed Aggregation Made Easy by Google Reader API

Niall Kennedy has documented an API for Google Reader, beating Google to a public release of how developers can build their own feed-reading applications atop Google's engine. An update to Niall's original post reveals that the product manager of Google Reader confirmed the accuracy of Niall's work, and asserted that Google built the API first, then contstructed Google Reader as just one example of what could be done. The implication here is that Google might well develop new feed-reading applications--something to look forward to. Further, Google plans to release an official API before long, opening the doors to third-party applications.

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RSS and the academic library

Boy, it seems like there is a growing number of institutions working to implement RSS these days. Long-time readers will know all about my long-time admiration for UBC’s librarians. Yesterday was a notable new chapter in the saga, as 35 of our university’s finest information specialists (with more on a waiting list) packed into a lab [...]

Boy, it seems like there is a growing number of institutions working to implement RSS these days.

Long-time readers will know all about my long-time admiration for UBC’s librarians. Yesterday was a notable new chapter in the saga, as 35 of our university’s finest information specialists (with more on a waiting list) packed into a lab for a three hour workshop on RSS and academic libraries.

Much of the time was spent on the basics, though about half the attendees had at least set up a newsreader already. But the preparation for the more advanced and context-specific elements unearthed some useful and powerful resources that I thought I would pass on…

Electronic Journals and RSS - Librarians at my old school in Saskatchewan maintain a couple of valuable lists — electronic journals with an RSS feed and publishers and sources for academic RSS. The number of Table of Content updates through this means is still too small, but blogging librarians such as Steven Cohen are keeping up the pressure for more… I was pleasantly surprised to learn that ProQuest has begun to offer this service…. Source: Abject Learning

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MacBreak 09: Photoshop CS2 RAW

Leo and guest Mikkel Aaland discuss the advantages of shooting photos�in the RAW format and manipulating RAW images in Photoshop CS2. Read More

SmartQ TAO sports a swanky screen

SmartQ TAO sports a swanky screen

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

We're pleased to see some improvements in SmartQ's latest PMP. Screen size and resolution for the TAO weigh in at a staunchly 3.3-inches 480x320 HVGA with 262,000 colors. It hosts a decent lineup of multi-codec niceties like MP3, OGG, WMA, FLAC, APE, AAC, WAV (PCM, ADPCM), along with a 500mhz Blackfin processor -- not too shabby for soaking up video. Xvid and Divx AVI res hit 720x480 with RMVB topping that, and FLV, WMV, ASF, 3GP, MPEG, DAT, MP4 formats are also supported. If you're jetting over to China any time soon, you should be able to pick up a 4GB model for around 699RMB ($102.)

[Thanks, Nick]

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RSS and the academic library

Boy, it seems like there is a growing number of institutions working to implement RSS these days. Long-time readers will know all about my long-time admiration for UBC’s librarians. Yesterday was a notable new chapter in the saga, as 35 of our university’s finest information specialists (with more on a waiting list) packed into a lab [...]

Boy, it seems like there is a growing number of institutions working to implement RSS these days.

Long-time readers will know all about my long-time admiration for UBC’s librarians. Yesterday was a notable new chapter in the saga, as 35 of our university’s finest information specialists (with more on a waiting list) packed into a lab for a three hour workshop on RSS and academic libraries.

Much of the time was spent on the basics, though about half the attendees had at least set up a newsreader already. But the preparation for the more advanced and context-specific elements unearthed some useful and powerful resources that I thought I would pass on…

Electronic Journals and RSS - Librarians at my old school in Saskatchewan maintain a couple of valuable lists — electronic journals with an RSS feed and publishers and sources for academic RSS. The number of Table of Content updates through this means is still too small, but blogging librarians such as Steven Cohen are keeping up the pressure for more… I was pleasantly surprised to learn that ProQuest has begun to offer this service…. Source: Abject Learning

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RSS 2 PDF for Flickr Users

RSS 2 PDF for Flickr Users
Needing to convert RSS to PDF? Then I may have one good option for you. Check out RSS 2 PDF. It’s a Flickr requirement that your photos must be made PUBLIC. To return a PDF based on a Flickr Newsfeed, enter information for a particular user on Flickr (such as yourself) AND / OR optionally enter [...]

Needing to convert RSS to PDF? Then I may have one good option for you. Check out RSS 2 PDF.

It’s a Flickr requirement that your photos must be made PUBLIC. To return a PDF based on a Flickr Newsfeed, enter information for a particular user on Flickr (such as yourself) AND / OR optionally enter Tags separated by commas.

You can also leave the user fields blank and just enter keyword(s) in the Tag field to create a PDF from popular Flickr Tags !

The resulting PDFs are limited to 10 photos because the Flickr Newsfeeds themselves contain only ten photos. You can also visit any webpage on�Flickr.com offering a Newsfeed and use one of our RSS2PDF Bookmarklets…. Source: RSS 2 PDF

MacBreak 160: MacBreak: Foldit

iJustine and Dr. Kiki fold proteins and aim for the nobel prize with Foldit. Read More

Kiwi know-how, Microsoft muscle

Small Hamilton-based IT company NetValue expects a huge boost in international sales as a result of Microsoft taking an interest in its specialist high-performance search technology. After seeing NetValue's ground-breaking technology... Read More

Toshiba rolls out 256GB laptop SSD, 32GB flash modules for netbooks

Toshiba rolls out 256GB laptop SSD, 32GB flash modules for netbooks

Filed under: Storage

Get your flash here, red hot flash memory. Toshiba is now sampling its new 256GB SSD with a 120MB max read and 70MBps write via 3.0Gbps SATA interface -- not the fastest consumer SSD but not not bad. This 2.5-inch slab measures just 3.0-mm thick and targets laptops looking to shed the 9.5-mm constraint presented by standard hard disks. Like Samsung, Tosh also announced new 8GB, 16GB and 32GB SATA flash modules aimed directly at the booming netbook market with speeds topping-out at 80MBps for reads and 50MBps for writes. All the drives feature MLC-based NAND which accounts for the less-than blazing SSD speeds. On the other hand, that should help keep the costs low when these things ship in quantity later this year.

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O2 denies rumors of special MacBook deal

UK telecom company O2 has denied rumors of a special MacBook bundle, according to a new report. An industry magazine, Mobile, had suggested that the company wanted to exploit its partnership with Apple, which originated with the first-generation iPhone. O2 was allegedly in discussions to begin selling MacBooks bundled with some form of Internet access, whether fixed or cellular; the notebooks wo...

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MIT gurus dream up self-sustaining sensor network for preventing forest fires

MIT gurus dream up self-sustaining sensor network for preventing forest fires

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Thanks, MIT. Why don't you just make the rest of the world feel a little more useless. Every week or so, we're forced to stare at yet another amazing invention coming from your doors; to be frank, it's just downright unfair. All childish angst aside, the latest idea to come from the institution is one that could certainly be put to good use: a self-sustaining sensor network that taps into trees for power in order to continuously monitor forests for threats of fire. Moreover, the concept could be applied in other scenarios as well -- to detect potential threats such as smuggled contraband along a nation's borders, perhaps. Testing of the wireless sensor network (developed by the appropriately named Voltree Power) is scheduled to begin next spring, and we're hearing that pot-sniffing turtles may even be brought in to create a completely natural self-policing environment.

[Via Inhabitat]

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OnScreen DNA gets price reduced by $30

OnScreen Science has announced that OnScreen DNA will now be sold at a $30 price reduction. OnScreen DNA is designed to make the structure and workings of DNA accessible to students; this includes details which may be difficult to find in two-dimensional animations commonly found on the Internet. The software uses a 3D model to demonstrate DNA, including its double-helix geometry, as well as chemi...

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GBTV #0389 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

GBTV #0389 (small) | GeekBrief.TV
On Brief #374, I put out a call to action for an affordable live switching application that would work with services like Ustream.tv and Stickam. After that, we began working with Mike Versteeg, the developer of Vidblaster. Vidblaster has actually been around for two years, but in the past couple weeks, Mike has been working hard (and amazingly fast!) at making it accomplish what we were looking for. There's a growing need in the market for this application, and Mike is now offering it at an affordable price so churches, community groups, schools, and individuals can have access to software that gives us all a live TV studio at our fingertips.

Tech.Life.Blogged - Send me voice mail for free and how to get yours

So since when did Odeo decide to branch out from the RSS syndication business and into the voicemail racket? It must of been pretty recently because this is the first that I have heard of it. I’ve added a new link to the template (upper right) that lets you send me a voice mail. All you [...]

So since when did Odeo decide to branch out from the RSS syndication business and into the voicemail racket? It must of been pretty recently because this is the first that I have heard of it.

I’ve added a new link to the template (upper right) that lets you send me a voice mail. All you need is a microphone on your pc and the standard flash plug-in for your browser.
The service is provided through Odeo.When you leave a message I’ll get an email that lets me know there is new audio in my Odeo account and I can go retrieve it. Or I can subscribe to my Odeo in-box via RSS and find it that way.
If you are interested in this for your blog/website go to: Get you own voice mail on Odeo and they will walk you through what you need to do. Source: Scott Kingery/Tech.Life.Blogged

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Ads in RSS: Obnoxious Works

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for ads in RSS, and have said so for months. I have intuitively felt that inconspicuous ads would probably work best, if only because they would piss off readers less than big, loud ads. However, a study from Pheedo indicates the reverse is true, and it's two layers of bad news. First, ads run as separate RSS feed items are far more successful (generating about eight times the clickthroughs) as ads embedded in RSS items. Then, it turns out that blitzing the feed with ads in every other item is the most successful tactic of all. Of course, you might lose most of your readers, but the remaining ones will be clicking your ads.

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MacBreak 131: Macbreak Studio: Color

MacBreak 131: Macbreak Studio: Color
Alex invites Steve Martin to show the basics of color correction using Apple's Color.

Geek Brief Radio | Copy and Paste for iPhone

Interview with Zac White about bringing Copy and Paste to the iPhone via OpenClip.org Read More

MacBreak 05: There is a Need for Panic

MacBreak 05: There is a Need for Panic
Leo and Emery show you how to use Transmit, the award-winning FTP software from Panic Software.

RSS 2 PDF for Flickr Users

Needing to convert RSS to PDF? Then I may have one good option for you. Check out RSS 2 PDF. It’s a Flickr requirement that your photos must be made PUBLIC. To return a PDF based on a Flickr Newsfeed, enter information for a particular user on Flickr (such as yourself) AND / OR optionally enter [...]

Needing to convert RSS to PDF? Then I may have one good option for you. Check out RSS 2 PDF.

It’s a Flickr requirement that your photos must be made PUBLIC. To return a PDF based on a Flickr Newsfeed, enter information for a particular user on Flickr (such as yourself) AND / OR optionally enter Tags separated by commas.

You can also leave the user fields blank and just enter keyword(s) in the Tag field to create a PDF from popular Flickr Tags !

The resulting PDFs are limited to 10 photos because the Flickr Newsfeeds themselves contain only ten photos. You can also visit any webpage on�Flickr.com offering a Newsfeed and use one of our RSS2PDF Bookmarklets…. Source: RSS 2 PDF

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Robot rabbit reads RSS feeds out loud

Robot rabbit reads RSS feeds out loud
Truly, who can say no to a talking rabbit that not only undestands RSS, but shares it aloud with others? The Nabaztag Smart Rabbit wants to multiply in the U.S. The new device, introduced in June to the U.S. market, uses a Wi-Fi connection and text-to-speech software to read things like RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, e-mails [...]

Truly, who can say no to a talking rabbit that not only undestands RSS, but shares it aloud with others?

The Nabaztag Smart Rabbit wants to multiply in the U.S.

The new device, introduced in June to the U.S. market, uses a Wi-Fi connection and text-to-speech software to read things like RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, e-mails and weather reports out loud.

The creator of the plastic rabbit, Violet, seems to have taken the idea of the Ambient Orb and run with it. Instead of just changing colors in relation to the data fed into it, as the Orb does, the Nabaztag rabbit actually talks to you, becoming a verbal companion to your personalized Internet.

“We started three years ago…with a Wi-Fi lamp, but people seemed more interested in verbal information,” Olivier Mével, co-founder of Violet, said in an interview. “It meant for us this new kind of object connected to the Internet–not only an object that could display information, but also objects used to communicate with SMS (Short Message Service), phone and chat. It was also an emotional messenger. You can send love messages or whatever to whomever you want.”… Source: CNET

GBTV #418 (small) | CEDIA Expo #2

CEDIA Update #2 covers the CLO Systems T2:Tilt wall mount. It automatically tilts your TV down when you're ready to watch it so you don't get a glare. When you're done watching, it will automatically move back into an upright position. Read More

Big Bang on the backburner as LHC repairs drag

GENEVA - Scientists will have to wait until next year to use the world's largest particle collider for groundbreaking research because previously announced repairs will run into the normal winter shutdown, the operators said. Experts... Read More

Two Canadian Apple Stores set to open

Two Canadian Apple Stores set to open

Filed under: Retail, Apple

Rejoice, Apple-loving Canadians. Apple will open two new retail stores this weekend. One in Calgary, Alberta and the other in Toronto, Ontario.

Apple Store Market Mall will be the 2nd store in Alberta when it opens at 9:30 AM on Saturday, 27th. It's located between 32nd Avenue NW and 40th Avenue NW on the West side of Shaganappi Trail NW. You can find full travel directions here.

At the same time, Apple Store Fairview will open in Toronto at 1800 Sheppard Avenue East. Here are your travel directions. These will be the 8th and 9th stores to open in Canada. If you visit either location, please share your stories and photos. Have fun!

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Stone of Destiny; hidden-object gaming for iPhone

Voodoo Dimention has released an iPhone and iPod touch port of it's hidden-object game, The Stone of Destiny. In the game, players must use only a map, a book and a list of objects to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of their uncle. The Stone of Destiny takes players around the world searching for artifacts and magical runes that may reveal clues about their uncles whereabouts....

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GBTV #0354 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

Monday night, I thought gmail was down so I tweeted. I got plenty of responses from other gmail users that lead me to think I was the only single person on the interwebs having and issue. @quecojones shot me a link that I immediately bookmarked. The site, downforeveryoneorjustme.com, answers that very important question: Is [insert the name of a Web site here] having a major problem or am I delusional?

Page2rss.com is another recently bookmarked Web site that turns a non-RSS enabled Web page in to RSS enabled content. I tried it with a T-Shirt company I like. If it works, I should see an update in my feed reader when they add new shirts.

In prep for William the former Geek Brief Intern's 21st birthday, we were searching for Wii news and we came across MiiSculptures.com. You can upload a picture of your Mii and they'll turn it into a little sculpture for $75.

Wireless HDMI technology will soon be available in the Sharp X-Series of HDTVs. Japan will get them first. The rest of the world will have to wait.

Viewzi is a visual search engine that is really fun to use. The invitation code, "geekbrief" will get a couple hundred of us into the semi-public beta. I really like Viewzi, except for the Video x3 feature. I'd like to know what you think. Read More

Hasselblad bringing 60-megapixel H3DII-60 in April 2009

Hasselblad bringing 60-megapixel H3DII-60 in April 2009

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Hasselblad's doing a fine job of pimping its mildly fresh 50-megapixel H3DII-50 at Photokina 2008, but being that we're hardly ever satisfied with the here and now, we've latched onto a few juicy tidbits flowing from the lips of CEO Christian Poulsen. Reportedly, the exec made clear at the show that a 60-megapixel version of the camera (H3DII-60) would be made available in April of 2009, and while it would demand a £4,000 ($7,393) premium over the £14,750 ($27,261) H3DII-50, that increase would pay for a sensor that provides 94% full-frame coverage. It's okay, your D40 is still bombastic in its own right.

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MUO Polls: Do you Backup Important Files? How?

Time for another MakeUseOf Poll, and this time we want to know how do you backup important data. Are you using default Windows Backup Utility? Maybe some other desktop backup program to automatically backup selected files and folders to external hardrive or USB thumbdrive? Or do you prefer to have a fresh copy of important folders [...]

Time for another MakeUseOf Poll, and this time we want to know how do you backup important data.

Are you using default Windows Backup Utility? Maybe some other desktop backup program to automatically backup selected files and folders to external hardrive or USB thumbdrive? Or do you prefer to have a fresh copy of important folders online? Whatever it is, share it with us below.

Please Vote!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Download Links

• Comodo Backup
• SyncBack (MakeUseOf review)
• AceBackup (MakeUseOf review)
• Mozy (See MakeUseOf review incl. demo videos)
• DropBox (MakeUseOf review)
• Syncplicity (MakeUseOf review + special offer for our readers)
• BackUp To Email (MakeUseOf review)
• Windows Backup Utility (Start Menu -> Program - > Systme Tools -> …)

Let us know how you backup your data. Are you using something different from the above? What makes it better? Share it with us below… Thanks in advance.

More from MakeUseOf.com :

- MakeUseOf Directory : Read about up-to 5 truly useful web apps on a daily basis.
- MakeUseOf ‘Geeky Fun’: - Fun Geeky Pics, Cartoons and Videos.

(By) Aibek, the guy behind MakeUseOf.

Tags:backup, files, Polls, security

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Wearable airbags keep the elderly from hitting the ground so hard

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Elderly? Enfeebled? Just plain clumsy? Tokyo-based Prop has your back. Its newly announced personal, wearable airbag looks like a cool fanny-pack and weighs a mere 1.1 kilograms (2.4 pounds) -- but springs forth in one-tenth of a second when sensors detect you're headed for the floor, protecting your head and ass with two inflated bags that contain 3.9 gallons of gas each. Similar to the various airbag-equipped suits already used by some motorcyclists, the airbag is yours for a cool ¥148,000 ($1,400). Or you could just not fall down.

[Thanks, Steve]

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