[Download Squad] 6 New Entries: Google Reader gets a new look

Google Reader gets a new look

Filed under: Design, Internet, Google, Web

A few weeks ago Google updated Gmail to allow users to choose colorful themes for their email service. The move left some of us wondering when Google Reader was going to get a similar facelift. Apparently today is the day, but the change isn't exactly what I had expected.

Google has rolled out a new look for its RSS reader. There's a lot more white space, and a lot less blue. But there's no way to customize the color scheme.

Probably the best part of the new design is that you can collapse different sections in your sidebar to save space. Don't care what items your friends have shared? Just select the "hide unread counts" button. Hate the fact that every time you log into your account you're greeted with a reminder that you have over 1000 unread items to catch up on? You can collapse that section too.

I happened to have Google Reader open when the changeover occurred, so I was able to grab the screenshot above showing the old new design on the left and the old Google Reader interface on the left. Honestly, found the old version familiar and comforting like a favorite blanket. But I'm sure I'll get used to the new version soon. Getting rid of that 1000+ unread item count will certainly help.

thanks Stuart!

Google Reader gets a new look originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Interpret your dreams online with DreamCrowd

Filed under: Fun, Web services, web 2.0

I don't often have dreams, but when I do they tend to be a bit on the Eraserhead / Andalusian Dog side of things. Thankfully, DreamCrowd provides me a way to stumble out of bed and try to get a quick handle on what exactly my subconscious mind was trying to tell me.

Submit your text on DreamCrowd's home page and enter your text, title and tag your dream, and enter the spam-prevention code characters. Hopefully it'll work a bit better for you - I had to try four times even though I matched the code every time.

Still, once it does work and your dream is submitted, DreamCrowd does a good job of picking out key terms and provides Dream Interpretation 101-esque descriptions of their significance. The site is no replacement for a professional opinion, but it's an amusing and useful way to gain some insight.

Interpret your dreams online with DreamCrowd originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GetIt combines the power of three Windows apt-style updaters

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Web services, Freeware, Open Source

As I've mentioned before, I'm a fan of apt-get. It's an extremely easy way to get tons of new applications installed on a new Linux installation. Plenty of similar options exist for Windows, but one stands out.

GetIt combines the power of three Windows implementations of the system - AppSnap, AppUpdater, and Win-Get. Once you've got all your engines installed, use Get-it's GUI to set them up (just click the buton) and you're ready to install.

More than four hundred apps are currently supported, including Avast, AVG, CDBurnerXP, Firefox, AutoHotKey, uTorrent, VLC, OpenOffice, and Handbrake.

Applications can be installed a number of ways. When GetIt checks your repositories for updates, it creates installer files in its Install folder. After that, you can:

• Browse to the folder and double-click an installer
• Use the GetIt Gui or command line
• Index the folder and launch installers from Find and Run Robot (or your favorite launcher)

Installs run without user input, and GetIt also supports checking for updates to your apps. I'd like to see the GUI support multiple selections and would prefer not having to "press any key to continue" following an install, but those are minor gripes. For the average user, category listings would be a helpful addition.

GetIt is a simple, powerful way to download and install tons of great software and keep it up to date on your Windows PC.

GetIt combines the power of three Windows apt-style updaters originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google finally lets you make Picasa Web Albums truly private

Filed under: Photo, Web services, Google, Web

Online photo sharing sites like Flickr, Photobucket and Picasa Web Albums provide a great way to share a set of images with friends, family, or the whole world. But what happens when you only want a select group of people to be able to see your photos?

Many sites allow you to hide or block photos from anyone who you haven't explicitly granted access to. But up until recently, if you wanted to hide images uploaded to Picasa from the general public, the best you could do was mark them as "unlisted," which meant that they wouldn't show up in public searches of Picasa Web Albums. But anyone who had the correct URL could still access those images.

Now Google has added the ability to restrict access to the people you've chosen to share an album with. You can set the permissions for a web album either when you're uploading images or after you've already created an album. Just click the edit menu, select album properties, and scroll down to the bottom of the screen where you'll find an option to mark photos as public, unlisted, or "sign-in required."

[via Google Operating System]

Google finally lets you make Picasa Web Albums truly private originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Opera 10 Alpha 1 web browser passes the Acid3 test

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Freeware, Browsers

The latest version of the Opera web browser gets a perfect score on the Acid3 web standards test, which is pretty impressive until you realize that Firefox and Internet Explorer fall short of that score. And if the two most popular web browsers on the face of the earth don't fully meet these web standards, what good are they exactly?

That said, Opera 10 Alpha 1 includes a number of other tweaks that make this web browser worth checking out:

• Inline spell checking
• Automatic updates
• Updated Presto 2.2 rendering engine

Opera Mail has also been improved, as has the Opera Widget engine for the Linux version of the cross-platform web browser.

Opera 10 Alpha 1 web browser passes the Acid3 test originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iKnow! launches open learning platform

Filed under: Web services, web 2.0, Education

Having knowledge of more than one language (and to be clear, this is about spoken and written languages, not programming languages) is an increasingly important and valuable skill. The problem is of course, the older we get, the harder it can be to pick up another language.

This is why the Internet is so awesome. It can make the challenge of learning a new language or even picking up a few key phrases much easier and more intuitive.

In that vein, last week, Tokyo-based Cerego launched content creation tools for its open language platform, iKnow! to the public. These tools allow users to create learning modules in 188 languages of study and then collaborate with other users to make corrections, add additional items and discuss the process.

iKnow! isn't just about lists of words and phrases, flash card style. It also leverages the semantic web and lets you "remix" the web. You can add content from Google, Flickr and YouTube to supplement the items you are studying -- a picture from Flickr to represent a term, a video from YouTube to help show something in use -- making the process more engaging. There is also text to speech translation, so you can hear how something sounds and then select the correct context and usage.

There are also courses, although right now they are limited to English and Japanese, that let you study terms. You select what level language you are and what format you want to use and a number of items to study. The web app will then show you words, let you hear them, define them and then move on. After a few words, you will be asked if you "know" a word and you are quizzed and asked to choose what a word means and what it means in the context of a sentence. Very cool stuff.

Continue reading iKnow! launches open learning platform

iKnow! launches open learning platform originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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