Bev's News

Filed under: Internet, News, P2P, Humor

Image via TorrentFreak (click image for full size).

In an ironic twist, The USCG seems to have been caught quite red-handed in an attempt to lazily steal code from a competitor's website. They didn't just take bits and pieces, either; the site they had "built" was a nearly complete reproduction of the original. To further deepen the irony of the incident, it was the crew at TorrentFreak who called them out on their shenanigans by posting screenshots of both sites and their source code.

You may remember the USCG for their mass-litigation back in May of this year over infringement of The Hurt Locker -- in which they began suing thousands of file-sharers on behalf of the film's makers.

After grabbing their screenshots, and no doubt having a good laugh at the USCG's expense, TorrentFreak contacted the Copyright Enforcement Group, to let them know that their settlements site had been ripped off by the competition. The CEG promptly replied that they had never authorized anyone to use their site's code, and that the USCG would be receiving a cease and desist letter from them. It didn't take long for the doppelganger-site to begin a quick metamorphosis into a completely different, bare-bones replacement page. Needless to say, the entire ordeal is pretty embarrassing for the USCG.

U.S. Copyright Group caught stealing competitor's code originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TorrentFreak - Hurt Locker - United States - Copyright - United States Coast Guard

Filed under: E-mail, Microsoft

Remove the ad banner from your Hotmail inbox originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft - GMail - Hotmail - Client - Safari

Filed under: Internet, News, Commercial, Freeware, iPhone, web 2.0

Openappmkt, which is apparently in subtle beta, is exactly what it sounds like: An open market for web apps. At the moment it seems to only be intended for iOS, and the selection of web apps currently inhabiting the market is minute compared to the actual App Store, but it definitely has potential.

The market is fairly slick and clean when viewed with a regular browser, but loading it on an iOS device is an entirely different experience. The market itself is a web app, and a nice one to boot. Navigating the categories is smooth and feels quite natural. If you decide to get an app, the experience is just as smooth as using the App Store to buy one, only instead of downloading a piece of software you simply add a bookmark to your home screen and continue about your business.

One thing I found to be a bit confusing about the "market" was that, since all its "wares" were nothing more than bookmarks, that it felt a bit odd to refer to anything in commercial jargon at all. After a bit of hunting I did manage to find a couple of apps that weren't free, but one of them appeared to be marginally useful (possibly added to test the checkout process?).

This of course made me think about the usual arguments both for and against the official App Store -- notably how real iOS apps are put through a gauntlet, and while complete scams do exist they're somewhat more rare in a walled garden. Fortunately, there's not much damage a web app can do, but that won't help the people who wind up getting taken for their money -- even if it is just $1.

My one real issue with the market at this point, is that Openappmkt itself is opened along with any web app that a user opens, if that app was acquired in the market. If apps were exclusively available on Openappmkt, then this wouldn't bother me so much (I might feel that the word "Open" ought to be left out of things, though). That's not the case here, the majority of web apps on the market are available elsewhere on the Internet. the Google Voice web app, for instance. The apps apparently load this way as a method to ensure that paid apps are being used by the person who bought them, but that doesn't make it any less off-putting for the free apps. If a web app is free and also freely available at their own site on the Web, then why on earth should Openappmkt open as a wrapper for that app just because the user found it listed there?

Maybe it's just a silly gripe, and it's definitely a minor one, but it's the biggest potential issue I could come up with. Overall, I think that this market, if not one just like it, could some day in the near future become a rival for the App Store itself as web apps take center stage in the iOS world. I think, however, I would just prefer to get my web apps from the source, not the middle-man.

iOS users should check and see for themselves; I think you may find that it's lacking quite a bit right now, but you might just agree that it could bloom into something much bigger in the months to come.

Openappmkt: An iOS web app for iOS web apps originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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App Store - iPhone - Download Squad - IPhone OS - Google

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, News, Productivity, web 2.0

Dropbox has quickly become a favorite tool for people on the go, but Blackberry users haven't been feeling much app-love. Yesterday, Dropbox announced on their forums that they had begun Dropbox for Blackberry Beta -- but only for the first 500 users to hit the site and request it.

It only took a few hours for the 500 slots to fill, so the Dropbox team upped the limit to 1,000 later in the evening (which is probably the only reason I was able to get one). There's a pretty big caveat for the beta, though: It's for OS 5.0 only. While I haven't yet installed OS 5.0 on my own Bold, I figured it wouldn't exactly hurt to see if it works on the previous stable release, and it does -- it's just so buggy that you're better off using the mobile web app.

On that note, until word of this beta broke out, I wasn't even aware that Dropbox mobile worked so well on Blackberry. In fact, it never occurred to me that there even was a mobile Dropbox to begin with. I wasn't entirely at fault there, either; when I go to Dropbox.com on my Bold, using the RIM browser, the site loads in standard format. I only saw the option for a mobile page once I scrolled down several inches worth of screen real-estate. Now that I've found it, used it, and compared the two, I'm honestly not sure if there are any advantages to using the standalone app aside from the slightly quicker access.

Either way, it's great that they're bringing BB users a bit more into the fold.

Dropbox app for Blackberry goes beta originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dropbox - BlackBerry - Download Squad - Smartphone - Handhelds

Filed under: Google, Browsers

Ahh, the thrill of running bleeding-edge software! It's not for the feint of heart, to be sure. Heck, it's not even for someone who has a perfectly strong heart but doesn't do well with watching features appear and disappear on a regular basis.

Take Chrome's nifty internal PDF plug-in. Just a few days ago, Google dropped the need for a command line switch to activate it, enabling it by default for users of the dev channel build. Today, however, another update was pushed and the plug-in has once again been switched off.

You can still enable the plug-in if you wish -- just visit chrome://plugins and click enable underneath the Chrome PDF Viewer.

It's likely that the Chrome team is just ironing out a few kinks prior to pushing the plug-in to the beta channel. With Chrome's accelerated release schedule, it probably won't be long before the PDF viewer joins the internal Flash plug-in on Chrome installs everywhere.

Google disables internal PDF plug-in in Chrome dev channel update originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Chrome - Google - Software release life cycle - Adobe Flash - Download Squad

Filed under: Kids, Video, Web services

When it comes to video chatting options, you've got the app for the tech-savvy (Skype) and the web app for talking to strangers (Charoulette).

But what if you need your privacy, and also don't want to install any desktop software? Gabble is a new web service from HP that tries to fill the void between Skype and Chatroulette.

Gabble has Chatroulette's simple web app setup, but with the privacy of Skype. You can set up groups or send a video to a single person. It also works on mobile devices, which is a nice perk. The downside is that Gabble isn't realtime chat, it's more like video messaging. I can see it catching on with parents and kids who like the privacy and ease of use, but more technically proficient video chatters won't see a reason to replace Skype.

HP Gabble is a private, family-friendly video message service originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skype - Privacy - Instant messaging - Download Squad - Security

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, P2P

uTorrent, one of the most popular BitTorrent clients around, just got an update so big that they renumbered the version from 2.1 to 3.0. What new features were that important? Streaming torrents, for one, and a web interface that works on iPad and Android, for another. uTorrent 3.0 is now in alpha and available for download.

To use the new web interface, download uTorrent 3.0 -- for Windows only, so far, sorry! -- and set a username and password in your preferences. Then you can log in at web.utorrent.com on your iPhone, iPad or Android device, and control your torrents on the go. Convenient!

As for streaming, there's a new protocol called Project Pheon that has been in the works for some time. It's not for streaming movies and TV shows from torrent files, though (that feature was added back in 2009). It's about live video broadcasts, a la Justin.TV or Ustream. Apparently, the latency is impressively low. Let me know if you have any luck testing out this new protocol.

uTorrent 3.0 features live streaming video and uTorrent Web, works with iPad and Android originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BitTorrent - ΜTorrent - iPhone - Filesharing - Ustream

Filed under: Video, Web services, Google

The time limit on YouTube videos for regular accounts has been expanded from 10 to 15 minutes, giving amateur directors a little more freedom to post short films. Of course, 15 minutes is also enough time to upload a big segment of a TV show or movie, but it sounds like YouTube now trusts its copy protection enough to give users that power.

To celebrate the extension to 15 minutes, YouTube is holding a 15 Minutes of Fame video contest. To enter, make a 15-minute video, and tag it "yt15minutes." YouTube will pick some entries to feature on the front page on August 4th. It could be an opportunity for some lesser-known creators to rack up some views!

One caveat from the YouTube blog, though: "if you're uploading a video that was previously rejected for being too long, you'll have to go into "My Videos" and delete it before attempting to upload it again."

What do you think the extra 5 minutes are going to be used for? Will this enable more interesting videos, or just longer versions of the same funny cat videos YouTube has always hosted?

YouTube extends videos to 15 minutes, launches 15 Minutes of Fame contest originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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YouTube - Google - 15 minutes of fame - Film - Uploading and downloading

Filed under: Fun, Blogging

It's that day again, Download Squad readers!

That day where all those clients you support finally read and follow your acceptable use guidelines, respect your busy schedule, and leave thank-you treats on your desk. Yes, it's the 11th annual SysAdmin day!

Just in case the people you're busy supporting somehow forgot this most important of days, know that all of us here at Download Squad appreciate all your hard work and endless patience. So shut off those smartphones at 5PM, kick up your heels, and give yourself a much-deserved pat on the back, admins!

And no, no one here knows about SysAdmin day either. That's ok, though, because I'll be celebrating it with myself later on today with a couple cold brews on the back porch.

Flickr awesomeness by margaretshear

Happy SysAdmin day! originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Download Squad - System administrator - Recreation - Holidays - History

Filed under: Google, Browsers

Not too long ago, Google moved the Chrome bookmarks manager from a separate application window into a tab. Recently, work began on moving Chrome's options menu into a tab as well. While it's still not totally functional, chrome://options has come a long way in a short amount of time.

For the most part, all the UI elements are now active. Certain sub-menus have yet to be activated (like font settings and sync), but I was surprised to see that features like settings import, content settings, and clear browsing data were now live -- just 8 days after tabbed options arrived on the Dev channel.

So why move everything into tabs, anyway? Once Google has everything sorted out and running in-tabs, future changes to Chrome's UI should be easier to implement across different platforms. Since it's Chrome itself rendering things, developers won't have to worry as much about a change looking good on Windows while breaking something on Mac, for example. The switch should also lead to a more consistent experience across Chrome's entire user base (pretty much the opposite of Apple's approach with Safari).

Curious to see tabbed options at work? Check out the video after the break (I recorded Chromium, but you can test in Chrome Dev and Canary as well -- just add --enable-tabbed-options)!

Video: a look at Google Chrome's upcoming in-tab options menu originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Chrome - Apple - Microsoft Windows - Download Squad - Safari