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Latest Gear Live Videos
Skitch: review of OS X’s hottest new information sharing tool
Posted by Sparky Categories: Apple, Internet, Misc. Tech, Product Reviews, Software,
The concept of screen capture has been around almost as long as the graphical user interface, but only recently has it truly evolved. OS X has featured the Grab utility for a while which made capturing a screenshot, selection, or single window easy, but once you have the capture, what do you do with it? Plasq solves this problem with Skitch, the evolution (or perhaps revolution) of screen capture to the Mac. The program blew us away when we first got our hands on it, we even wrote a quick post of our Skitch impressions after five minutes of use. Now we have an in-depth review of the Skitch beta, and a chance for you to win one of two Skitch beta invites Gear Live has to offer.
Click to continue reading Skitch: review of OS X’s hottest new information sharing tool
Read More 
| Skitch by Plasq
Gallery: Skitch: review of OS X’s hottest new information sharing tool
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No More Instant-Edit on Wikipedia
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Smart Home, Internet,
It seems that Wikipedia is finally getting wise to those who would slant articles. The Vatican and Disney were sited as examples of organizations who did just that. “Ordinary” users will no longer be able to edit for instant changes, but instead will be checked out by “trusted editors,” those who “have proven their commitment to Wikipedia by posting 30 reliable changes within 30 days.”
Wait, there’s more. Apparently the CIA has found altered information on former presidents such as Nixon and Reagan. The changes will begin in the German version which supposedly has a higher accuracy rating, and will move on from there.
Read More | The Telegraph
Gallery: No More Instant-Edit on Wikipedia
For all the blue-collar workers in the world, have we got a site for you. Self-described as appealing to “redneck workers,” the newly established Redneck Jobs features opportunities for plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and nurses, and includes construction foremen and business owners, among others. Founder Art Fyvolen claims that Redneck Jobs may be the “single largest market share of any niche,” at least in the South and Southwest. Post a job, put up a resume, receive job alerts, or search for a gig or potential employee in any U.S. state and parts of Canada.
Read More | Redneck Jobs
Gallery: Only Rednecks Need Apply
Worried about a possible NYC tie-up with all the taxi problems of late? Rideamigos helps you carpool when in the big city once or 3 times a week, or for special occasions such as sporting events, airport transportation, or concerts. Pick your time and place online, then search for your amigo/amiga to share the ride. You can save time, money and reduce pollution at the same time. The service is also available in San Francisco, Chicago and LA.
Read More | Rideamigos
Gallery: Rideamigos Saves Time and Money
The Starbucks iTunes WiFi music store reviewed
Posted by Sparky Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Internet, PC / Laptop, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews, Software, Wireless / WiFi,
As promised Apple and Starbucks started their rollout of the Starbucks WiFi Music Store in select cities. Gear Live is lucky enough to be in Seattle, the first city to get the special version of the iTunes Music Store in our Starbucks. The service allows laptops, iPhones, and the iPod Touch users to connect for free to the iTunes store while sipping lattes without having to pay for for a T-Mobile Hotspot account. Click through for our full impressions on Apple’s new partnership with the coffee mega-store Starbucks.
Click to continue reading The Starbucks iTunes WiFi music store reviewed
Gallery: The Starbucks iTunes WiFi music store reviewed
We all know the feeling - you submit a search to a service like Google, and the result you get back are mostly horrible. A lot of it can be considered spam, and it is just impossible to sift through the 3,480,000 results that have just been returned. This is where the new search service Mahalo comes in. They have a large team whose main goal is to put together quality search results by organizing the best links for common search terms. So you get all the good stuff, and none of the spam or other atrocities that have become the status quo. So, the tricky part - people are so used to Google and Yahoo!, so how do you get them to switch over to your service? This is where the new Mahalo Follow plug-in comes in. After installing it, you continue doing your searches in your normal search engine. However, when Mahalo has a result for the search, their results are displayed in a pane alongside them. This allows you to compare the quality of their results with those of your traditional search engine.
We’ve been using Mahalo Follow for a couple of days now, and while we weren’t sure we’d like it at first, it’s grown on us. If you are using Firefox, we suggest you give Mahalo Follow a try. If you do, hit us back in the comments and let us know what you think.
Read More | Download Mahalo Follow
Gallery: Firefox Plugin Spotlight: Mahalo Follow
Citing claims of privacy invasion and terrorisim, a one Dylan Jayne has filed a (handwritten) suit against Google. Mr. Jayne (who gives one of our favorite Firefly characters a bad name) seems a bit off his rocker on this one. He states that not only has Google failed to fight terrorisim, but they also seem to have invaded his privacy as indicated by the following statement: “I, Dylan Stephen Jayne, plaintiff, has [sic] a social security number that when the social security number is turned upside down in its entirety it is a scrambled code that does spell the name Google®.”
Last time I checked Google’s business model didn’t seem to cover stopping terrorism, leaving that job to the ‘professionals’ over at Homeland Security. His claims of privacy invasion also seem a little far fetched - it’s hard to think a fortune 100 company would pick it’s name based soley on the Social Security number of a lone loser from Pennsylvania.
In a way it’s a sad statement about the United States legal system that a case like this will even be heard by a judge. If Mr. Jayne can’t even be bothered to type up his Complaint can he really be considered compentent enough with computers to really even understand what exactly it is that Google does? Check out the Ars Technica article for more information on this weird little case and keep your eyes peeled here late breaking news as it percolates through the Justice system.
Read More | Ars Technica
Gallery: Man files $5 billion suit against Google
Most modern operating systems, including Microsoft Windows and OS X by Apple, feature technology to turn off internal devices and manage power to be more environmentally friendly and squeeze every last drop of juice out of batteries on portable computers. Unfortunately many Linux distributions don’t offer these features built in quite yet.
Enter Less Watts, a site dedicated to configuring Linux systems and machines to consume less power. Featuring tips and tricks for reducing power consumption in Linux, and links to a number of projects aimed at bringing these technologies to more and more distributions soon. The site looks to be fairly new, but has a great mailing list which looks like a great resource for anyone trying to reign in their power use on Linux boxes.
Read More | Less Watts
Gallery: Tips for saving power on Linux
LUG To Hold Auction With Nerds
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Misc. Tech, PC / Laptop,
The University of Washington LUG (Linux User Group) was told that they needed more females among their ranks to attract them into the WSU’s computer science programs. The nerds came up with a plan to auction themselves off. They suggested that the delegated male students can fix the females’ computers, help with homework, or act as dinner partners.
LUG President Ben Ford says that he and a selected sorority sister will host the event, which he hopes will become a YouTube extravaganza. Unfortunately, although the club has contacted many of the sororities on campus, there have been no takers thusfar. We suspect that any female who is using Linux is already intelligent enough to fix her own computer and can do her homework by herself, thank you very much.
Read More | CNN
Gallery: LUG To Hold Auction With Nerds
Armani Opens Boutique in Second Life
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Wearables, Corporate News, Design, Internet,
Giorgio Armani has certainly been active of late. He has just teamed with Samsung, and now he has opened a virtual shop on Second Life. Modeled after his showplace in Milan, he will be sending an avatar of himself during its grand opening. Users of the site will be able to buy his wares with Linden Dollars or can connect to his Emporia Armani. The designer had this to say about the concept, “Finally, I can really be in two places at once.”
Read More | Reuters
