Dr. Bill | The Computer Curmudgeon
Join Dr. Bill as he examines the wild and wacky world of the web, computers, and all things geeky! Hot Tech Tips, Tech News, and Geek Culture are examined… with plenty of good humor as well!
Yep, it is finally out! I went into Settings and installed the update last night. It looks nice! Although, I think that they mainly wanted to allow for bigger adverts! Oh well, it does looks nicer! I have updated the screens in my channels (that I develop) as well, but they won’t be “new style” until they are approved, only the “Beta Channels” update instantly.
Not too many of the Geek Software of the Weeks are a “paid for” product, but this one is. I needed a simple, clean, very cool email client. I had been using Thunderbird, but there were some things I didn’t like about it, and they have stopped development on it. So, I found Mailbox! It is only $10.00. And, it is nice, simple, and clean!
Postbox Email Client for IMAP, POP3, etc.
“Be focused, be organized, be awesome
Powerful, intuitive, and faster than a scalded monkey, the Postbox email client will help you stay on task, find information quickly and act, not react.
Conversation views give you the ‘big picture’
Postbox’s Conversation Views are powerful, actionable, and easy to use.
It works by gathering conversation fragments from multiple folders and presenting them in a unified view.
So the rumors are true, Postbox will actually make you smarter.
Powerful Tagging
Postbox Topics lets you organize your messages by keyword.
When you assign a topic to a message, it is also applied to other messages within the conversation, in addition to all future replies — a huge time saver.
Combine the use of Topics with the Focus Pane to attain a state of organizational bliss.
Awesome Gmail Support
Gmail Label support makes organizing easy.
Dedicated Important view for high-priority messages.
Send and Archive your messages in just one step.
Add detected dates to your Google Calendar.
Support for Gmail keyboard shortcuts for the power user.
Quick Reply
Quick Reply lets you reply to a message without the need to open a separate compose window, which is perfect for short, snappy responses.
It all happens within a message or conversation, so that you can get right back to what you were doing.
Use Quick Reply with Send and Archive to keep your Inbox tidy.
Send Dropbox links instead of large files
Drag files from your Dropbox folder to send them as links.
Messages send faster and you’ll save hard drive space.
Files can be updated outside of the email message.
You can also attach Dropbox files, but why would you?
Send emails with brains and beauty
Summarize in Compose creates a beautifully formatted who-said-what-when digest that cleans up messy email threads.
Format your replies with profile photos, or just text for business use.
Either way, you’ll look like a hero on each and every message send.
Track To-Dos within your Inbox
Our To-Do View lets you work on important tasks without distraction – within your Inbox!
Create new to-dos, annotate existing to-dos, and pin to-dos to the top of your message list so that they don’t fall out of sight/out of mind.
Combine the To-Do View with Unified Inboxes/Folders and the Focus Pane to crunch through your workload in record time.
Quickly find Documents and Images
Postbox gives you fast access to documents and images hiding within your email messages.
No more digging through email messages to find what you need!
It’s easy to save or send what you’ve found. Simply select a file or image, and click an action button.
Social connections add a personal touch
Auto-import profile photos from Facebook, LinkedIn, and Gravatar.
2Update your status on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
3Quick and easy links to sender’s profile pages.
Easy file searching within the Compose Window
The Compose Sidebar lets you search for documents and images while composing a message.
Open the Sidebar and start typing to begin your search. Then, drop what you’ve found into your message.
Reusing documents and images has never been easier!”
So, at least it will be a free upgrade. That’s good.
“Windows Blue will be called Windows 8.1 and will launch as a public preview on June 26, Microsoft revealed today. While the company remains mum about what exactly we can expect from Windows 8.1 (boot to desktop? the return of the Start menu?), Microsoft says that Windows 8.1 ‘will help [it] to deliver the next generation of PCs and tablets with our OEM partners and to deliver the experiences customers— both consumers and businesses alike —need and will just expect moving forward.’ The update will be available for Windows 8 and the ARM-based Windows RT.
June 26 marks the start of Microsoft’s Build developer conference in San Francisco, so the date is obviously not all that much of a surprise, given that Microsoft will want to get its developer ecosystem to start working with Windows 8.1 as soon as possible. The update, Microsoft says, will be delivered through the Windows Store.
Microsoft, the company’s CFO Tami Reller said at the JP Morgan Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in Boston today, wants to continually update Windows to create ‘a richer experience’ for its customers.
Today’s announcement comes after a few days of build-up, including pieces by Microsoft’s corporate VP of communications Frank X. Shaw about how Windows 8 has been doing far better than the pundits make it seem. This also caps off months of speculation around when we would see the first preview of Windows, though the first day of Build always seemed like a reasonable date.”
Amazon now has a PC version of it’s Cloud Player! Now, you don’t have to use your web browser to play your Amazon Cloud tunes!
Amazon Cloud Player for the PC
“As part of its mission to bring its music service ‘everywhere,’ Amazon announced the release of a dedicated Cloud Player app for desktop PCs Monday. The release comes less than a week after Amazon announced iOS compatibility with Ford Sync-enabled vehicles.
PC users could already access Cloud Player through their web browsers, but the primary benefit of the PC application is the ability to store music offline. Users can also scan their hard drives for music files that haven’t yet been uploaded to their storage locker.
Cloud Player allows users to stream music files they’ve purchased from Amazon or uploaded to to a cloud-based storage locker. An unlimited number of Amazon songs, plus 250 songs purchased outside of Amazon, can be uploaded to the cloud and streamed wirelessly using one of Amazon’s players for free. First launched on Android two years ago, the service is also available on iOS, Mac, Sonos, Roku and (as mentioned) Ford Sync vehicles.”
The link to download the PC Player is HERE!
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A demo and review of the GTMax 3.5mm FM Transmitter Car Kit (only $1.95!) The ‘Ender’s Game’ Trailer is out! More reasons NOT to use Microsoft Internet Explorer! The new Logitech C930e! Is Microsoft Windows 8 ‘the New Coke?’ GSotW: GPU-Z – GPU Utility!
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GPU-Z – GPU Test and Info Utility
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:24 — 25.1MB) | Embed
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A demo and review of the GTMax 3.5mm FM Transmitter Car Kit (only $1.95!) The ‘Ender’s Game’ Trailer is out! More reasons NOT to use Microsoft Internet Explorer! The new Logitech C930e! Is Microsoft Windows 8 ‘the New Coke?’ GSotW: GPU-Z – GPU Utility!
Links that pertain to this Netcast:
GPU-Z – GPU Test and Info Utility
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| Download M4V | Download WebM | Download MP3 | Download Ogg |
A neat utility to find out all that you need to know about your video card (GPU)! Cool!
GPU-Z – GPU Test and Info Utility
“Main Features
.. and yes, the author of CPU-Z has granted us permission to use a name similar to his product. Thanks Franck.”
Do you remember when “The New Coke” came out? I know. It was a long time ago. But, I remember running to the store to buy the real, original Coke, before it was all gone! New Coke was terrible… fortunately, Coke had the good sense to take New Coke away and go back the the real thing! Is that what Microsoft will do with THEIR “New Coke?”
Microsoft exec hits back at Windows 8 bashing, says OS is not like ‘a can of soda’
“Microsoft executive Frank Shaw is not happy with everyone who compared Windows 8 to New Coke this week. Shaw, who serves as Microsoft’s vice president of corporate communications, has written a blog post swiping back at media outlets who bashed the company’s latest operating system and said that comparing it to Coca Cola’s ill-fated attempt to rework its soft drink formula was completely ridiculous.
‘Unlike a can of soda, a computer operating system offers different experiences to different customers to meet different needs, while still moving the entire industry toward an exciting future of touch, mobility, and seamless, cross-device experiences,’ he wrote.
Shaw said that Microsoft’s acknowledgement that it needed to make some changes to Windows 8 should have been interpreted as a good sign because it was ‘listening to feedback and acting on it’ rather than simply sitting on its hands. He also defended Windows 8 as ‘a good product’ and said the company was going to ‘keep improving Windows 8, as we do with all our products, making what’s good even better.’
Shaw’s points about Microsoft deserving credit for listening to its user base is certainly fair. As we observed this week, bringing back some classic features from earlier Windows operating systems could go a long way toward bringing back some users who have been put off by the changes that Microsoft made with the new OS.”
This will be the successor to the amazing Logitech C920! Awesome!
The New Logitech C930e is Coming
“Logitech announced the Logitech Webcam C930e, it takes desktop video for business to the next level with industry-first features that include an extra-wide 90-degree field of view, support for the H.264 SVC and UVC 1.5 video encoding standards and high-definition digital pan-tilt-zoom.
The full 1080p high-definition Logitech C930e delivers enterprise-grade video collaboration with the widest field of view available in a desktop webcam for business, making it possible – for example – to show a full whiteboard on an office wall during a brainstorming session. The Carl Zeiss certified glass lens is engineered to avoid the “fish eye” distortion.
Optimized for Microsoft Lync, compatible with Cisco, Skype and most unified communications and videoconferencing applications, the Logitech C930e provides a digital pan-tilt-zoom feature that uniquely maintains a high-definition image at up to 4X magnification. This allows for smooth shifts in point of view during a video call, such as moving from a whiteboard to focus on a single individual.
Support for H.264 SVC and UVC 1.5 video encoding frees up PC bandwidth by processing video within the camera and automatically adjusting performance for maximum video-quality when bandwidth fluctuates. The Logitech C930e offers additional premium features including autofocus, an external privacy shutter and Logitech RightLight 2 technology, which intelligently adjusts the image to improve visual quality in low-light at multiple distances.
The Logitech Webcam C930e – compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8 and Mac OS X 10.7 or higher – is expected to be available worldwide in May 2013 for a suggested price of $109.99.”
Yes, it is vulnerable, and insecure, AND it doesn’t support web standards… PLEASE consider switching to Chrome, and tell your friends!
May’s Patch Tuesday to fix two critical flaws in Internet Explorer
“Next week, Microsoft will patch 33 vulnerabilities in 10 bulletins relating to Internet Explorer, with two bulletins rated ‘critical.’
While few details are given about the security issues, today’s advanced security bulletin outlined flaws in a range of other products, including Microsoft Office, .NET Framework, Microsoft Lync, and Windows Essentials.
Bulletin 1 relates to all versions of Internet Explorer 6 to 10, including Windows 8 and Windows RT devices. A patch will be released to fix issues discovered at two security conferences earlier this year.
Bulletin 2 relates to the recent Internet Explorer 8 zero-day flaw designed to target U.S. government workers. The software giant said it was ‘working’ to have a full patch ready for a critical zero-day flaw for Internet Explorer 8, in which the company issued an emergency out-of-band ‘Fix It’ patch on Thursday.
The other eight bulletins are considered ‘important.’
The remaining eight patches will address flaws that range from denial-of-service errors that can cause Windows to crash, to remote code exectution issues in Microsoft Office and Lync, an elevation of privileges that would allow an attacker to gain additional rights to the affected system, and information disclosure issues relating to Windows Essentials 2011 and 2012.
Included with the security patches, we can expect Microsoft to issue a number of non-security related fixes to its Surface Pro and Surface RT tablets, in line with previous months.
According to ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, the company has delivered 739 updates for Windows 8 and Windows RT in the nearly seven month period since the two versions were launched in October. These fixes included battery life improvements to additional driver support.
The security fixes will be released on May 14 through the usual update channels, such as Windows and Microsoft Update.”