Tag Archives: left-image340

Manually Refresh POP Mail Fetching in Gmail [Gmail Labs]

Gmail uses a common timing algorithm to fetch messages from POP accounts, one you can somewhat game , but sometimes you want to get at a message you know has arrived. A new Labs feature adds a manual refresh button for POP grabbing. Head to your Labs settings and enable the "Refresh POP accounts" lab, then hit "Save changes" at the bottom or top of the page. From then on, you'll see a "Refresh" link to the right of your inbox buttons. Hit it and Gmail will poll any email accounts you've set it up to fetch from. Want to get started importing your other mail accounts into Gmail? Check out Gina's guide . New in Labs: Refresh POP accounts [Official Gmail Blog]
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AutoPatcher Keeps Windows 7 Systems Up to Date [Updates]

Windows: AutoPatcher, the small but powerful utility that makes it easy to install Windows updates while offline, and on multiple systems, has added support for Windows 7, giving users more control over when and how they update their systems. We've previously offered big props for AutoPatcher , because for people with slow connections, big jobs to pull off, or quite a few systems to keep updated, it's far more convenient than going the official Microsoft Updates route. To use this version, you'll download the package, run "apup," then let AutoPatcher build its own program from the most recent updates. Once that's done, run AutoPatcher from your initial downloaded folder, and tell it which updates you want to download and, optionally, install. Because it's a portable application, those updates you grab can be brought to any other Windows 7 system, and you can grab updates for XP, Vista, and other editions as well. AutoPatcher is a free download for Windows systems only. AutoPatcher 5.6.0.100 and ApUp 1.3 [AutoPatcher Blog]
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Use Dropbox to Sync Custom Dictionaries [Dropbox]

From the files of the What Can't Dropbox Handle Dept.: the web-based file syncing service makes it easy to keep custom dictionaries in Word, or most any other app, available and synchronized between computers, as commenter caryo points out . Image via eHow . From the "Spelling and Grammar" tab in Microsoft Word's options, you can choose where your custom dictionary—with all your custom words for the spell checker not to catch—should reside, and export it somewhere else. Move it into your Dropbox folder, and set up other computers to pull their custom dictionaries from there, too. When you add a word into one system, it gets updated on others. Browsers and other apps also keep custom spelling dictionaries (here's where Firefox keeps its own ), so Dropbox, and other instant file-syncing services, can be very handy indeed. Got a similar clever use to tip us to? Drop it in the comments and add #tags somewhere in your text.
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What a Difference 21 Years Makes [Image Cache]

Yep, this about sums it up. There will always be Lloyd Doblers , they just keep getting new tools. [ Hoop Dreams via Unicornology via Zach Linder ]
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Strobeshnik: As Close as Hard Drive Clocks Get to Harley-Davidson [Mods]

This hard drive clock by Russian designer Viacheslav Slavinsky feels like it could fly off its hinge at any moment, impaling onlookers shuriken-style...which is exactly why the video is so entrancing. To craft the device, Slavinsky stripped back the hard drive to just one platter, which was ground down and etched with digits. Combined with an immaculately timed LED backlight rig (synced through IR), you get this: As Slavinsky explains, "This is an awesome piece of hackage that tends to impress people. Unfortunately it fails at being quiet and reliable, which is a very important quality of a useful timepiece. Strobeshnik makes an awesome exhibition item however and can be classified as art." We're inclined to agree—to silence the Strobeshnik would be as sinful as welding an effective muffler on a Harley. [ Strobeshnik via MAKE via DVICE ]
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Xbox 360 Data Migration Kit Sold On Its Own, Hello Knockoffs [Xbox 360]

That annoying, proprietary cord that you need to duplicate/upgrade your Xbox 360 hard drive used to be bundled exclusively with Microsoft's overpriced drives. Now it's being sold on its own for $15, making eBay drives attractive. [ Blast Magazine via Kotaku ]
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Robot Pokemon: Kojiro Would Destroy Asimo with Musculoskeletal Jujitsu [Robots]

Kojiro here is the work of Tokyo's JSK Robotics Laboratory. With his 60 degrees of motion, provided by a network of Super Effective! artificial muscles and tendons, he'll utterly destroy Asimo in the inevitable slow-motion robot battle in their future. I say slow motion because, I mean, look at this thing. He's getting more hand holding help than grandpa at the retirement home. Hell, even grandpa doesn't need someone fiddling with an original PlayStation controller and a UI to get him to perform basic tasks. Like turning at the waist (see video). Geezer speed aside, it's the musculature that's the takeaway here. Modeled after human muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments, the system is incredibly flexible for a robot, and its 60 degrees of motion bests the aforementioned Asimo by a good 26 degrees. It's also lighter than your traditional humanoid robot, which designers content will make it more friendly when humans have to interact with it. Mental note: Lighter materials also mean one can chuck it farther, perhaps off a cliff, should "more friendly" actually be "more deadly" if and when it goes haywire. [ IEEE Spectrum via Engadget ]
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Build a Portable Flash Tripod Out of Tent Poles [Photography]

If you'd like to experiment with studio flash configurations but you're short on the space or money to buy heavy-duty flash stands, this video tutorial details how to make portable flash stands using lightweight tent poles. The design relies on sturdy but lightweight tent poles to provide support for your flashes and/or flashes with a soft box. The creator of the design, Peter Karlsson, put together two videos demonstrating first how the stand functions and then how it is constructed: The end product is smaller, lighter, and less expensive than a traditional light stand. It does have shortcomings, though mostly due to the lightness. You can put a flash on it, for example, but you couldn't safely put a strobe on it. It's also, as he notes in the video, a poor match for an outside shoot on a windy day. For portability and ease of packing, though, it's a great stand for flash-based photography. Homegrown Ultralight Lightstands [Svarteld Form & Foto via Hack a Day ]
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Office 2007 Users Get Free Upgrade to Office 2010 [Upgrades]

If you need to buy a new copy of Microsoft Office but don't want an instantly outdated suite when Office 2010 is released later this year, you're in luck: If you buy Office 2007 any time between March 5 and September 30 of this year, you automatically qualify for a free upgrade to Office 2010 when it's released. [ Microsoft via Digital Inspiration ]
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Office 2007 Users Get Free Upgrade to Office 2010 [Upgrades]

If you need to buy a new copy of Microsoft Office but don't want an instantly outdated suite when Office 2010 is released later this year, you're in luck: If you buy Office 2007 any time between March 5 and September 30 of this year, you automatically qualify for a free upgrade to Office 2010 when it's released. [ Microsoft via Digital Inspiration ]
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment