Download Squad http://www.downloadsquad.com Download Squad http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.downloadsquad.com/media/feedlogo.gif Download Squad http://www.downloadsquad.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Back from the dead? Yahoo Upcoming gets some surprise feature love]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/22/back-from-the-dead-yahoo-upcoming/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/22/back-from-the-dead-yahoo-upcoming/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/22/back-from-the-dead-yahoo-upcoming/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

It's been a number of months (if not longer) since Yahoo showed any love to its Upcoming events service. Since acquiring the service in October 2005, the service has seen just one re-design - and few additional features since. However, in a largely-uncovered announcement earlier in the week, Upcoming now offers a new Jumpstart feature that scans your Pandora, last.fm and iTunes libraries and then follows your favourite artists on the service - alerting you to forthcoming gigs listed on Upcoming.

Whilst other services, including last.fm, allow you to easily view your favourite artists, it's an interesting addition to the Upcoming service - and hopefully means that Yahoo are now looking at ways to build on a largely unloved product.

Back from the dead? Yahoo Upcoming gets some surprise feature love originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>eventslast.fmupcomingyahooSun, 22 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Calling all WebOS Developers: Tell us about your Apps!]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/calling-all-webos-developers-tell-us-about-your-apps/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/calling-all-webos-developers-tell-us-about-your-apps/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/calling-all-webos-developers-tell-us-about-your-apps/#commentsFiled under:

In early December, Palm is set to launch its App Catalog to showcase third-party applications for its WebOS devices (the Pre and recently-launched Pixie). Whilst the App Catalog may be later to the party compared with Apple's all-conquering App Store, we're on the lookout for the latest and greatest WebOS applications for your Pre and Pixie handsets.

So, if you're a WebOS developer working on an application, we want to hear from you! To get in touch with us about your apps, simply drop us a note via our Tips form -- or send press releases to the address listed on our About page.

Calling all WebOS Developers: Tell us about your Apps! originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Palm PixiePalm PrePalmPixiePalmPreWebOSTue, 17 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Mobile Minute: Palm WebOS 1.3.1 is out!]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/mobile-minute-palm-webos-1-3-1-is-out/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/mobile-minute-palm-webos-1-3-1-is-out/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/16/mobile-minute-palm-webos-1-3-1-is-out/#commentsFiled under: , ,

If you're one of the folks sporting a Palm Pre, it's time to check for updates as you'll want to grab the WebOS 1.3.1 update that dropped over the weekend (at least for Sprint customers in the US).

Whilst there's no new applications, the update (which weighs in at 126MB) packs a tonne of features and improvements that you'll probably want add, including support for Yahoo! as a synchronization account.

That's not all, either, as PreCentral has discovered a list of extra undocumented changes that are included in release - and Facebook have launched an embarrassingly barebones application for the Pre that requires the 1.3.1 update.

If you're elsewhere in the world, the launch of the 1.3.1 update will depend on your carrier - in the UK, where I'm based, O2 are reported to be launching the update towards the end of the month.

[Via Engadget]

Mobile Minute: Palm WebOS 1.3.1 is out! originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Palm-PreWeb OS 1.3.1WebOSWebOs1.3.1Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Reeder for iPhone lets you read your Google Reader feeds in style]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/10/iphone-google-reader-app-reeder/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/10/iphone-google-reader-app-reeder/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/10/iphone-google-reader-app-reeder/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

For the last few weeks I've been looking for a suitable RSS reader application for my iPhone. I've found myself frustrated with long-time favourite NetNewsWire (which currently lacks any of the Google Reader sharing options) and the Google Reader web UI. Much like every Twitter client out there, I've bought my fair share of RSS readers for the iPhone and after much testing I have finally found a new favourite: Reeder.

Reeder [iTunes Link] has all the relevant sharing options I've craved in one place - and best of all is stylish as hell. There's plenty of applications with custom user interfaces on the iPhone - some more successful than others - but Reeder balances the familiar with custom elements, and as a result the interface looks great when browsing (and reading) content.

If I had any complaints about Reeder, it's that the application lacks the ability to view your friends' shared items within the application, but given the sheer style and speed of the application it's a small oversight. If you're looking to pick up a copy of Reeder, the developer has dropped the price to $0.99 until version 1.1 ships - and available now on the App Store.

Reeder for iPhone lets you read your Google Reader feeds in style originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Google ReaderGoogleReaderiPhone RSSIphoneRssRSSTue, 10 Nov 2009 10:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Viewfinder brings powerful Flickr search to your Mac]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/viewfinder-brings-powerful-flickr-search-to-your-mac/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/viewfinder-brings-powerful-flickr-search-to-your-mac/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/viewfinder-brings-powerful-flickr-search-to-your-mac/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Every now and then I find myself working on slides in Keynote and writing Download Squad posts - and struggling to find a suitable image. Of course, Flickr is the best way to find images - their clear licencing and Creative Commons support makes finding images fairly straight forward. However, getting the image into Keynote isn't entirely painless. The workflow of browsing search results, viewing the image and then finding it at a suitable size (if it exists) takes time - however that's where Viewfinder steps in.

A native Mac OS X application (requiring Mac OS X Snow Leopard), Viewfinder allows you to search Flickr from the desktop apply filters to show only Creative Commons images, and specify a particular image size. Then, once you select an image you can download the image, set it as your desktop background - and most importantly - send images straight to Keynote for your slides.

If you're a heavy keynote user (or blogger) who frequently needs to find Flickr images for your work Viewfinder is indispensible. I've been testing it since early September and found it an incredibly convenient tool to have at hand. A licence costs £15 (roughly $25) and a free demo is available for you try from the Viewfinder webpage.

Viewfinder brings powerful Flickr search to your Mac originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>FlickrImage SearchImageSearchMac OS XMacOsXSnow LeopardSnowLeopardFri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[So long, iTunes: DoubleTwist now syncs with iPhone and iPod Touch]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/19/windows-iphone-sync-without-itunes/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/19/windows-iphone-sync-without-itunes/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/19/windows-iphone-sync-without-itunes/#commentsFiled under: , ,

If you're searching for a free alternative for iTunes on Windows, DoubleTwist - the handy media player for Windows and OS X - just became even more attractive with today's launch of version 2.4 that includes support for iPhone and iPod touch syncing.

If you're not familiar with DoubleTwist, it's a company founded by 'DVD Jon' Lech Johansen - who reverse-engineered the encryption in DVDs and the iTunes store - that now offers a desktop media player for Mac and Windows.

DoubleTwist just recently announced their plans to add the Amazon MP3 store to their desktop software, and with today's announcement of iPhone & iPod touch support DoubleTwist is fast becoming a worthy - and highly competent - competitor to iTunes.

iTunes has long been an app we all love to hate. It looks like iPhone and iPod Touch users will now have a solid alternative that won't try to slip in a browser, codec, or who knows what else every time it updates.

[Via Lifehacker]

Update: We should also point out that, given Apple's cat-and-mouse game with Palm over the Pre syncing with iTunes, it's highly possible that Apple might break this functionality in a future update to the iPhone / iPod touch OS. Game on....

So long, iTunes: DoubleTwist now syncs with iPhone and iPod Touch originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>doubletwistiPhoneiTunesWindowsMon, 19 Oct 2009 16:45:00 EST<![CDATA[RSS and SimplePie makes for PHP developer heaven]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/rss-and-simplepie-makes-for-php-developer-heaven/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/rss-and-simplepie-makes-for-php-developer-heaven/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/rss-and-simplepie-makes-for-php-developer-heaven/#commentsFiled under: ,

This is definitely one for the developers amongst you, but if you're developing an application in PHP and need to handle the reading of RSS feeds, SimplePie is a god-send. Some folks will point you in the direction of PHP5's built-in SimpleXML module, however it's highly intolerant of malformed XML - and certainly doesn't have any extra features such as caching that you get with SimplePie.

If you're looking for an easy way to work with RSS or Atom feeds, SimplePie is both easy to implement - and thoroughly documented to help you build on it. I've used SimplePie in a number of projects in the last year - from multi-feed collation to simply showing a list of recent blog posts in a sidebar - and every time I use it I find myself grinning like a cheshire cat at the amount of time it has saved me.

SimplePie is available under the BSD licence for your hacking pleasure, and the developers are currently seeking feedback for version 2!

RSS and SimplePie makes for PHP developer heaven originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Open SourceOpenSourceRSSXMLSat, 10 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Tweetie for iPhone hits 2.0]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/tweetie-for-iphone-hits-2-0/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/tweetie-for-iphone-hits-2-0/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/tweetie-for-iphone-hits-2-0/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

We've covered iPhone Twitter clients to death here on Download Squad, but we simply couldn't help but post about Tweetie 2.0 which launched just yesterday. If you're not familiar with Tweetie - which won an Apple Design Award earlier in the year for version 1 - it's often touted as the best Twitter client for the iPhone platform, and this new version raises the bar in terms of features and experience.

There's a tonne of new features (and an all-new underlying core to the application) - so here's just a few of my favourites that I've noticed:
  • Searching within timelines - super-handy if you're trying to find that tweet without having to scroll back through your Twitter history
  • Swipe-to-refresh - if you're at the top of the list of tweets, Tweetie allows you to swipe up and hold momentarily to refresh without tapping a refresh button. It's a really smart touch (though, assumes that you've read all the updates that are in front of you).
  • More integration with location services and image services - If a tweet contains GPS data, or an image from the likes to Twitpic, Tweetie shows you a small preview of the information below the tweet.
  • Multiple-draft support - version 2.0 allows you to save multiple drafts for posting later, and also allows you to post all drafts, whether a tweet or direct message, with one tap.
  • More services - There's built-in links to the likes of Favrd, Favstar.fm and many other Twitter mashups when you're browsing user profiles.
Tweetie 2.0 also heads into uncharted territory by being the first iPhone app to have a paid upgrade. Whilst this has caused much bickering from certain "celebrities", given that a copy of Tweetie 2.0 is just $2.99 for all users it's not going to break the bank. You can pick up your copy on the App Store.

Tweetie for iPhone hits 2.0 originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>iPhoneTweetieTweetie 2Tweetie2TwitterSat, 10 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Facebook brings Latin back to life with new language option]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/04/facebook-brings-latin-back-to-life-with-new-language-option/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/04/facebook-brings-latin-back-to-life-with-new-language-option/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/04/facebook-brings-latin-back-to-life-with-new-language-option/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Facebook have always worked to make sure that the service is available in as many languages as possible - from French to Føroyskt, Polish to Pirate, the service is available in 70 languages for the site's worldwide audience. Yesterday, however, the Facebook team have rolled out a Latin localisation of the site to help students, noting that "the experience of studying Latin can frequently seem somewhat far and away".

As someone who studied Latin at school, it's nice to see a often-mocked-as-dead language rise from the ashes and brought to life on Facebook - though, I'll admit I won't be leaving the language as my default setting any time soon.

Facebook brings Latin back to life with new language option originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>FacebooklanguageSun, 04 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[WSJ taunts the NFL with couch-based live-blogging]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/04/wsj-taunts-the-nfl-with-couch-based-live-blogging/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/04/wsj-taunts-the-nfl-with-couch-based-live-blogging/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/04/wsj-taunts-the-nfl-with-couch-based-live-blogging/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

At the end of August, the NFL decided to institute a number of rules prohibiting the use of social media by teams and referees on match day - as well as rules that banned the media from providing live play-by-play coverage of matches.

As was pointed out at the time, the rules are easily imposed on officially-sanctioned media reps at matches - but what's to stop the average Joe in the stands updating Twitter or their blog as the match goes on, or mainstream media who want to provide play-by-play coverage online by sitting on their couch at home and blogging? That's exactly what the Wall Street Journal's Peter Sanders did in the recent New York Jets / Tennessee Titans match.

Of course, the NFL is simply working to protect its lucrative television revenue deals (and, ironically, the couch-based writer is part of that revenue stream), however the crackdown on live-blogging certainly seems futile given that only forces the hand of bonafide media at matches - and the NFL certainly can't control or crack down on every Twitter user sat watching a match and sharing scores...

[Via TechDirt]

WSJ taunts the NFL with couch-based live-blogging originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 04 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>live-bloggingsocial mediaSocialMediatwitterSun, 04 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Week in Review: 3rd October]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/03/week-in-review-3rd-october/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/03/week-in-review-3rd-october/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/03/week-in-review-3rd-october/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,

It's been quite a week here at Download Squad - and contrary to popular opinion there's been more than Google Wave in the news, so here's quick roundup of the news from the last seven days alongside some other stories that we simply didn't get a chance to cover.

Continue reading Week in Review: 3rd October

Week in Review: 3rd October originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>week-in-reviewSat, 03 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Find out GPS co-ordinates with Get Lat Lon]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/03/find-out-gps-co-ordinates-with-get-lat-lon/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/03/find-out-gps-co-ordinates-with-get-lat-lon/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/03/find-out-gps-co-ordinates-with-get-lat-lon/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

For the last few months I've been working on a small side-project away from Download Squad that requires the use of GPS co-ordinates. Whilst the system I'm using has some default co-ordinates built-in, I really needed a way to find out the latitude and longitude for a few other locations around the world to give my little project a test. After wrangling with Google Maps URLs, and trying to extract the GPS data from their URLs - admittedly a little unsuccessfully - I finally came across Get Lat Lon - a super-easy mash-up that lets you search for (or locate on a map) the place you're wanting the location data for.

It's arguably a niche tool - however if you're looking for a quick and easy way to find out the latitude or longitude of a place on the globe, Get Lat Lon is just the ticket.

Find out GPS co-ordinates with Get Lat Lon originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>GeolocationGoogle MapsGoogleMapsSat, 03 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Time-Waster: So you think you know Helvetica?]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/01/time-waster-so-you-think-you-know-helvetica/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/01/time-waster-so-you-think-you-know-helvetica/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/01/time-waster-so-you-think-you-know-helvetica/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Earlier in the month we covered Cheese or Font - a fantastic perpetually-running time-waster that challenges you to choose whether the name displayed refers to a cheese or a font. However, the web is buzzing (at least, in some circles) about a far more nerdy variant: Helvetica vs Arial in Ironic Sans' "So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica?" quiz.

You're shown 20 logos, each rendered in both Arial and Helvetica. All you have to do is correctly select the logo that was originally rendered in Helvetica. Of course, you shouldn't be referencing any materials during the test - though you'll have to fight temptation as there's some incredibly tricky logos in there, particularly later on when the test throws in a couple of full-capital logos that hide some of Helvetica's easily-identifiable characteristics.

If you're feeling brave, take the quiz and be sure to let us know your score in the comments!

Time-Waster: So you think you know Helvetica? originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>fontsnerderytypefacesThu, 01 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[ICANN drops its US Government affiliation]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/30/icann-drops-its-us-government-affiliation/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/30/icann-drops-its-us-government-affiliation/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/30/icann-drops-its-us-government-affiliation/#commentsFiled under: ,

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (otherwise known as ICANN) has, since its inception in 1998, enjoyed been strongly ties with the US Government's Department of Commerce - something that's irritated international governments who've wanted the body responsible for domain names and the entire Doman Name System to be more internationally-balanced. In particular, ICANN has been criticised for long-delaying the arrival of international domain names.

Today ICANN has signed a new 'Affirmation of Commitments' that allows it to break free from the US Government and be that long-sought-after international body. Whilst some US senators were concerned about the move to internationalise ICANN - and that ICANN will be overseen by more than just the US Government - the organisation has confirmed it will at least stay based in the United States.

There's been plenty of positive quotes about this change of status from the US Government, big Internet businesses such as Google as well as the likes of Vint Cerf - one of the co-inventors of the Internet - and ICANN is responding to its complaints about lacking internationalisation by supporting Chinese and Russian characters in Top Level Domain names next year.

[via Ars Technica]

ICANN drops its US Government affiliation originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ICANNWed, 30 Sep 2009 16:32:00 EST<![CDATA[Echofon (neé TwitterFon) heads to OS X]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/29/echofon-nee-twitterfon-heads-to-os-x/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/29/echofon-nee-twitterfon-heads-to-os-x/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/29/echofon-nee-twitterfon-heads-to-os-x/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

There's been plenty of iPhone Twitter clients released over the last 18 months, however the goldrush to develop for the mobile device has meant the OS X Twitter clients have seen just the arrival of Tweetie in the same time. Today however, naan studio the developers behind the popular Echofon (previously TwitterFon) iPhone client have launched a beta of their forthcoming desktop release.

One of my favourite features in the application is the inclusion of highlights - the ability to receive notifications based on search phrases - and if you're a big user of the iPhone version then you can also sync the read / unread status of tweets between the two Echofon applications. The desktop version of the Mac has all the bells and whistles you'd expect - multi-account support, Photo uploading - and certainly pretty stable despite being just a beta.

Echofon will, upon its release later this year, be a paid-for product - however it remains free in beta from the Echofon website.

Echofon (neé TwitterFon) heads to OS X originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>echofontweetietwittertwitterfontwitterrificTue, 29 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Clarke lets you update FireEagle from within OS X]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/29/clarke-lets-you-update-fireeagle-from-within-os-x/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/29/clarke-lets-you-update-fireeagle-from-within-os-x/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/29/clarke-lets-you-update-fireeagle-from-within-os-x/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Yahoo's FireEagle project has long been a great (albeit under-used) service to let you share your location with other websites. Services such as Dopplr, Brightkite and many others can all update & read your location and use the service to display location-based data.

On the iPhone, there's plenty of free applications that update FireEagle such as yofe, but what if you're working on a desktop or laptop computer? That's where Clarke comes in handy -- a small, open-source utility for OS X that runs in your menu bar, it'll figure out where you are based on the Wi-Fi networks around you.

In earlier versions of Clarke, the updates were based on Skyhook Wireless' database -- the same used by the original iPhone to triangulate your location -- however the utility was recently updated for Mac OS X Snow Leopard and now uses the OS' built-in Core Location system to figure out where you are when run on the newest big-cat.

A free download, developers can also grab the source code over at Github, and the application also lets you easily view nearby data from Flickr, Google Maps, OpenStreetMap and Yahoo Maps.

Clarke lets you update FireEagle from within OS X originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>core locationCoreLocationFireEaglelocationlocation servicesLocationServicesos xOsXservicesocialYahooTue, 29 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Tell DLS: What are your Top 10 Web Apps?]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/28/tell-dls-what-are-your-top-10-web-apps/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/28/tell-dls-what-are-your-top-10-web-apps/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/28/tell-dls-what-are-your-top-10-web-apps/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,

We're continuing our Tell DLS column by leaving the desktop and heading to the web. There's tonnes and tonnes of webapps out there -- however here's just 10 that I use day-in, day-out. If you're got any other favourites, be sure to leave them in the comments!

Continue reading Tell DLS: What are your Top 10 Web Apps?

Tell DLS: What are your Top 10 Web Apps? originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>basecampfacebookflickrinstapaperliststumblrupcomingweb-applicationsweb-appsMon, 28 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[De-clutter Google Reader with Absolutely Customisable]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/28/de-clutter-google-reader-with-absolutely-customisable/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/28/de-clutter-google-reader-with-absolutely-customisable/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/28/de-clutter-google-reader-with-absolutely-customisable/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

If you're not using Greasemonkey - the super-extensible way to customise sites as you visit them in Firefox - then you're missing out! There are a ton of Greasemonkey scripts available to customise plenty of your favourite web services, including Google Reader. This script to show the Unread count in Gmail, and this one to allow easy reblogging on Tumblr are just two of my favourites, however what if you've got the urge to finely tune the Reader interface? That's where Absolutely Customisable comes in handy.

Absolutely Customisable does exactly what you expect: customising absolutely almost everything in the Reader UI. From large sweeping changes like hiding the entire header area, to small things like hiding the chevrons in the UI, Absolutely Customisable is a great way to hide any excess and make the most of your browser window for reading news. If you've got your own pet niggle about the Reader UI you want to change, this is should be your starting point.

[Via Lifehacker]

De-clutter Google Reader with Absolutely Customisable originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Location-game showdown: Gowalla vs Foursquare]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/27/location-game-showdown-gowalla-vs-foursquare/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/27/location-game-showdown-gowalla-vs-foursquare/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/27/location-game-showdown-gowalla-vs-foursquare/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,

Whilst the iPhone wasn't the first phone with GPS, the arrival of Apple's handset - and its GPS-toting second iteration - has driven demand for location-based services quicker than any other device. Even the desktop OSes are seeing location services included: both Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Windows 7 contain location-awareness APIs for developers to use.

Out of this location-service boon, there's a couple of fun and interesting games available that allow you to make the most of your location to compete with friends (and others nearby) in game-based social networks. Today we're taking a look at two of the most talked-about: Gowalla and Foursquare.

Continue reading Location-game showdown: Gowalla vs Foursquare

Location-game showdown: Gowalla vs Foursquare originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>FoursquareGowallaSun, 27 Sep 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Week in Review: 26th September 2009]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/26/week-in-review-26th-september-2009/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/26/week-in-review-26th-september-2009/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/09/26/week-in-review-26th-september-2009/#comments

Continue reading Week in Review: 26th September 2009

Week in Review: 26th September 2009 originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST