HOWETechnical

Opera launches Opera Unite, brings the power of a web server to the Opera browser

// June 18th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Software, Tech, Videos

Earlier this month, Opera launched Opera 10 Beta, which brought email, RSS, and torrent tracking to the browser, and today they released Opera Unite, which brings the power of a web server to the Opera Browser. What does this mean? Well, if you download and install Opera Unite Alpha for Windows, Linux, or OS X from Opera Labs, you can host a chat room on your local computer, serve up a website from your computer, share photos, share media, and do basic file sharing all via the Opera browser. People connecting to all these services do so through a publicly available URL and they don’t have to have Opera installed on their machines. The services work through any modern browser, although you can only host your own Opera Unite services via your own Opera Browser running on your machine.

Another interesting bit about this technology is that you can install other Opera Unite “applications” within your browser to expand the functionality of this server. In order to get up and running, you have to sign up for a free Opera account. This seems to provide the handshake between remote users trying to access your Opera Unite applications and the applications themselves which are hosted in your browser on your local machine.

So far, I’ve been testing the file sharing and the chat. It’s definitely cool and I can see the future power of this, but it is also clearly in Alpha stage with a few bugs. Also, when accessing the shared files folder, clicking on the file names themselves works for opening or downloading the files, but clicking the actual download link consistently failed for me. It appears that the .png files that I was sharing from a folder on my computer were trying to download as .png.html files when using the download link, and therefore failed.

Make sure you visit Opera’s site dedicated to Opera Unite to see some instructional videos further explaining what it means to have a server in your browser. Here’s one of those videos that is a sort of commercial for the philosophy behind Opera Unite:

Microsoft to Donate Eight Meals for Every IE8 Download

// June 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // OS, Tech

OK, enough unfortunate or otherwise negative Microsoft news for today. Let’s instead focus on something good, like how the company is donating the equivalent of eight meals to the Feeding America Network for every completed download of Internet Explorer 8.

The program, called “Browser for the Better,” is connected to those wacky Dean Cain IE8 commercials that launched earlier this month.

And while the Dean Cain marketing effort will likely last forever thanks to the glorious wonder of the Internet, the charity portion of Browser for the Better only runs from June 10 to August 8. Don’t ask about the image. Apparently, for the meals to become viable, Microsoft had to truck in a bunch of artists so they could stack them into shapes resembling the Empire State Building and Golden Gate Bridge.

Bing - Microsoft’s New Decision Engine Done Right!

// May 30th, 2009 // 15 Comments » // Software, Tech, Videos

Let’s face it, in the recent years of search engine wars, Microsoft’s Live Search has fallen dramatically short of the “most used engine” prize against search giant Google, as well as even Yahoo!, despite the company’s steep decline in market share and credibility. Despite numerous promotions giving those who would switch to Live Search discounts on Ebay purchases, rewards products based on how many searches in a day you performed, and even double cash back rewards for participating sponsors (ex: Foot Locker and Lenovo), Live Search has been unable to make a dent in Google’s majority market share. Not for long, though. In an attempt to increase their presence in the online search engine business, Microsoft has developed an amazing new mashup-style engine that will not only give you intuitive search results, but also provide you with competitive rates on airfare, lodging, retail products, and more…all without leaving their site. This “decision engine”, as Microsoft calls it, has been named Bing, and I for one believe it will give Google a real run for it’s money, allowing that Microsoft improves their search algorithm to something greater than what Live Search has. Additionally, Microsoft has stated that it will not force Bing on anybody. Naturally it will be the default IE search engine in new Windows based computers starting this Christmas, however the default engine can be easily changed to that of an alternate engine, should the user prefer. Given the details at hand, I for one am proud of Microsoft for changing their methodologies of gaining market share from that of statistical manipulation and what would otherwise be unfair practices (if they were to succeed, that is, which they didn’t with Live Search), to more of a business oriented values based playing field.

Take a look at the below video to see more of what Bing promises to achieve.
Official Site: Microsoft Bing

The Internet: A 1993 Perspective

// May 21st, 2009 // No Comments » // Tech, Videos

Surfing for Seniors

// May 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Tech, Videos

Remember, “If it isn’t on the internet, you won’t be able to find it on the internet.”

Intel: We Are Rockstars!

// May 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // Tech, Videos

Advertisers have finally picked up on what we’ve known all along: nerds are the modern day rock stars.

The Real Hustle - Cash Machine Hustle

// May 6th, 2009 // No Comments » // Security, Tech, Videos

It is reported that hundreds of millions of dollars are stolen each and every year as a result of ATM machine fraud and hustling. Among the techniques used for such crimes is that of an unobtrusive device attached to the card reader of an ATM machine, gas pump card reader, or any other device that requires a card to be inserted, that reads and stores ATM card information for later retrieval. Additionally, these devices may be outfitted with a miniature surveillance camera to capture the video of a victim entering their personal identification number (PIN). This device in turn allows the perpetrator(s) to instantly produce a mimic of the victims ATM card (even on a hotel room card) and then withdraw the remaining finances available in the account.

The following video gives a real-world example of what to look for in order to avoid becoming a victim yourself. As a common practice, you should always try to jiggle the card reader slot (if protruding) to verify that it is securely attached to the machine.

How To: Wake on LAN / Wake on WAN

// October 15th, 2008 // No Comments » // Tech

[How To: Wake on LAN / Wake on WAN]
Excellent article on how to utilize WakeOnLan to remotely turn your computer on when you’re not at home, allowing access of your PC’s files anytime.
[WakeOnLan Configuration]

Artists See a Future With BitTorrent

// October 14th, 2008 // No Comments » // Software, Tech

Giving away music for free might not sound like a very solid business model to most people, but it is. Most artists make most money from concerts and merchandise, not so much album sales. Even more so, the key to success are the fans, and what better way to introduce people to your music by giving it away for free?

A whole new generation of artists, most of who grew up with Napster, Limewire and BitTorrent, are starting to utilize the power of filesharing networks. This year alone, thousands of albums were released online for free, and this number is growing at an increasing rate. The possibilities are endless. Some artists use sites like Jamendo, others go for mainstream BitTorrent sites like The Pirate Bay and Mininova, and yet another group prefers niche BitTorrent communities such as What.cd.

On What.cd, one of the larger music communities with over 60,000 members, artists have found a particularly successful outlet. In fact, the free albums are particularly popular, and often among the most downloaded. The music minded members, of which quite a few are artists themselves, are very appreciative of every new album. This August a compilation CD was released with tracks from 19 artists who uploaded their music to the site. This CD, titled “The What CD” is the most active torrent of all time on the tracker.

At TorrentFreak we have now reached a point where we can no longer mention all the artists that give away their music for free. While it was a rather exceptional thing to do three years ago, it has become mainstream today. It is, however, worth talking to one of these new generation of bands and artists who decide to share their music at no cost.

The Pragmatic is such a band. Today, the 5 member band, which was founded in 2006, has released the album ‘Circles’ on BitTorrent and Rapidshare. André, one of the band members, who plays an analog synthesizer from the early 80s, explained to us why they chose to give away their music for free.

“With this first release we really wanted to try out giving it out for free and just see what happens,” he said. “Bands like Radiohead and NIN come out and release stuff for free and have success, but that’s largely because of their already established careers. They’ve built that up the traditional way and they’ve reaped the rewards of that, but their success in file-sharing is more of a perk of that status.”

“Growing up, every musician dreamed of that big shiny record deal, but I don’t think it’s relevant anymore. Labels have had to sober up and re-think what their roles are. It used to be about music, and I think file-sharing has brought that to their attention. By releasing it for free, I guess we could be losing money, but in the long run I think we’re (hopefully) making fans.”

Similar to most other people, André is part of a generation that grew up with file-sharing. It is part of the music industry now, and it exposes people to more music than they would ever hear on mainstream radio. It is probably not what the RIAA wants to hear, or will ever admit, but music is more popular than ever thanks to file-sharing. André agrees, and told TorrentFreak:

“Fans go to shows, buy merch and support bands for all the right reasons. I think that our generation grew up with an almost insatiable need for more and more music. I know I did. I’ve downloaded lots of albums I loved and bought physical versions. I’ve downloaded plenty of albums I hated and deleted. I can’t begin to count how many bands I know and love because of Napster/Soulseek/Bittorrent. File-sharing was never really about stealing music, it was about finding music you loved.”

“Labels will complain and sue their very core audience just to make a dollar. I can’t blame them, it’s the way they’ve built their company. Change scares them, especially when they don’t control it. I honestly believe that I wouldn’t be a musician today if Napster hadn’t appeared. I think Napster fostered the incredible current musical culture and nobody gives them credit for it. I find it very hard for an upcoming artist to get any exposure without being willing to promote their music on p2p networks.”

The clash between artist and labels, and the ever increasing piracy statistics are forcing the big labels to rethink their business models. Nowadays, BitTorrent has the power to promote artists based on their music, not on the advertising budget. It is hard to deny that the music labels are in a crisis, however, music itself is more alive than ever before.