Speedtest.net overhauled with new look, new features

Speedtest.net is pretty much the go-to site for quickly figuring out how fast (or slow) your connection really is and comparing the numbers your ISP boasts with what it actually delivers. And now it's got a new coat of paint and a couple of neat features. In brief:

• New UI: The map widget is much improved; it actually looks like a map now, and it's easy to see where you are.
• Smart server selection: If there are several test servers nearby, Speedtest will now ping each to see which has the least latency and use that for the test. You can still specify servers manually, too.
• User accounts: You can sign up for a free account and aggregate results from several computers/connections.
• Speed Wave: This new feature lets you add your test results to the results of many other users, and get a nice composite view.

All in all, you get some nice, new functionality and a snazzier interface to boot. Nice!

Speedtest.net overhauled with new look, new features originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/07/speedtest-net-overhauled-with-new-look-new-features/

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Hide your valuables in plain sight

This wall clock acts as a wall safe for your small valuables.  It doesn’t have sophisticated locks or alarms, but it camouflages your items behind an actual working wall clock that could be found in any room.  The Embassy JB4985 Wall Clock With Hidden Safe is 10″ in diameter and 3″ deep, so it won’t hide [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/06/20/hide-your-valuables-in-plain-sight/

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This summer, Apple Camp turns 8-12 year olds into filmmakers

Apple is gearing up for another Apple Camp this summer at its retail stores in the United States. The program teaches kids ages 8-12 how to use Apple software. It's free.

This year's Apple Camp sessions aim to turn youngsters into filmmakers. Over the three day course (one and a half hours each day), campers learn how to shoot their own footage, create an original song using GarageBand on the iPad, then put it all together on the Mac using iMovie.

At the end, the campers show off their footage at the "Apple Camp Film Festival," where they can invite friends and family to watch their movies at the store (it's optional - shy kids can just go home with their finished movies at the end of day two, if they prefer).

Apple Camp provides all the tools necessary to participate, but Apple encourages kids to bring in their own Mac, digital camera and earphones if possible. Apple wants to help campers get familiar with their own hardware.

Because it's free, workshops tend to fill up quickly, and space is limited, so make sure to sign up if you're interested.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/M4YgWUggEUQ/story01.htm

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Facebook announces Cinema stabilization for Video on Instagram: iOS version only (update: more details)

If you somehow haven't heard, today's big Facebook announcement was Video on Instagram, and to accompany that news the team unveiled Cinema stabilization, meant to improve the quality (read: decrease the wobbliness) of your 15-second clips. Android users, take note: the feature is only available on the iPhone 5 and 4S, though we imagine it could it is slated to appear on Google's mobile OS later down the line. For now, it's iOS only due to the difficulties of dealing with Android device fragmentation

Instagram founder Kevin Systrom explained that the technology was created with input from "cinematic experts," and we definitely noticed the difference in the before-and-after demo on stage. In scenarios such as filming a kid riding a bike, the stabilization seemed to tamper the jerkiness that inevitably comes with moving shots. The feature is enabled by default, but pressing the camera icon (seen above) will turn it off. iOS users can try out the new functionality by clicking through to the App Store below.

Update: We just got done chatting with some of the Instagram engineers and got to learn a bit more about Cinema. Turns out, it took the work of four or five engineers to make the image stabilization feature a reality. According to CEO Kevin Systrom, Instagram already has one patent for the technology powering Cinema and there may be more IP to come out of the feature. Not surprisingly, that's why we couldn't get any more information about Cinema, but we were told that more will be revealed as the technology's legal protections are solidified. So, keep an eye out folks, as Cinema's secrets will eventually, some day, be revealed (we hope).

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Source: Instagram, App Store

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/4MCBLkip658/

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Engadget Mobile Podcast 183 - 06.20.13

Who cares how fast your phone is if it doesn't have PEZ? As far as Myriam is concerned, it can even have EDGE-only data and lack built-in GPS. The burning question, however, is whether Nokia will actually implement this cutting edge sugar-dispensing tech in its Lumia 420. Okay, we're not being totally serious, but that's a bit of conversation that totally, seriously happens during this episode of our podcast. Move your pointer to the player below to hear that and all the banter about this week's mobile news from Myriam and Brad.

Hosts: Myriam Joire (tnkgrl), Brad Molen

Producer: Joe Pollicino

Music: Tycho - Coastal Brake (Ghostly International)

Hear the podcast

Filed under: Podcasts, Mobile

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/kiH3PfP4uAo/

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LinkedIn Outage Due To Possible DNS Hijacking [Update: Fidelity.com Also Affected]

LinkedIn confirmed via Twitter that its site suffered an outage due to "a DNS issue."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Z2N49SVMllQ/

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IE9 and Firefox 4 post top marks in Web browser power use comparison

Over on the Internet Explorer Blog, Microsoft has posted results from an extensive comparison of the top five Web browsers. The goal: to determine whether Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 4, Chrome 10, Safari 5, or Opera 11 is able to squeeze the most life out of your laptop's battery.

A baseline was determined with test systems sitting idle, and then browsers were pointed at about:blank, a news site, the HTML5 Galactic demo, and the IE9 fish tank demo. Perhaps unsurprisingly, IE9 came out on top -- though Firefox 4 was a very close second on nearly every test. As you can see, the other browsers didn't necessarily fare quite as well, with Google Chrome, Safari, and Opera all posting significantly worse scores. In Opera 11's case, a laptop battery would last over one hour more with Internet Explorer 9 installed.

But what we'd really like to know is where did Microsoft find the dilithium crystals required to run a Galactic Total Power Consumption test...

IE9 and Firefox 4 post top marks in Web browser power use comparison originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/30/ie9-and-firefox-4-post-top-marks-in-pc-power-use-comparison/

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Microsoft reportedly neared deal for Nokia's device business, but talks broke down

It's often been rumored that Microsoft had an eye on Nokia's handset business. It made perfect sense for both companies -- one a struggling pioneer of the mobile industry and the other a struggling stalwart from the first wave of smartphones. According to the Wall Street Journal's sources, the two were actually quite close to striking a deal and were having "advanced talks" in London as recently as this month. But, according to the all-too-familiar "people familiar with the matter," those talks have broken down. Those same sources say it was Microsoft that walked away from the table over concerns about Nokia's asking price, especially in light of its continued failure to put a significant dent in Apple and Samsung's market share. Though it seems like dreams of a Microsoft-Nokia merger are dead for the moment, don't expect the disagreement to severely affect the duo's partnership. Nokia is still reliant on Microsoft's help to stand out in the market and Microsoft needs the Finnish manufacturer to keep pumping out flagship handsets with Windows Phone on them.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia

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Source: Wall Street Journal

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/19/microsoft-was-near-deal-for-nokia/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Banshee music player now works in Windows, supports Amazon MP3 downloads

A few moments ago, version 2 of the Banshee music player for Linux was released, bringing with it a whole slew of new features, and the addition of an official -- but alpha-quality -- Windows build. The Mac OS X build of version 2 is due later today.

The most notable new feature is support for the Amazon MP3 store -- you can buy and download music from within Banshee -- but unfortunately it's only available in the Linux build at the moment (OS X and Windows support are planned, however). There have also been some significant improvements to artist, album, and queue interactions -- and yes, you can finally right click a track, album or artist and select 'play after' to insert it into the queue.

Beyond actual playback, the user interface has been tidied up -- it now looks a whole lot smarter -- and the Ubuntu One Music Store and SoundMenu extensions have been made official. For a complete list of changes, additions and bug fixes, check the change log.

When Windows support initially appeared in February, we found it rough around the edges and fraught with stability issues. With version 2, Banshee for Windows is still a bit unstable, but it's shaping up to be a good alternative to Winamp, iTunes, or whatever other music library manager you use. It's almost as attractive as its GNOMEish brother, too!

Download Banshee 2 for Linux and Windows (Mac OS X coming soon)

Banshee music player now works in Windows, supports Amazon MP3 downloads originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/banshee-music-player-now-works-in-windows-supports-amazon-mp3-d/

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Konstruct for iOS creates generative augmented reality art with your voice

If you have an artistic temperament, but you weren't blessed with steady hands or an eye for color, Konstruct might be the app for you. Not only does the iPhone app let you produce generative art using words, warbles and whistles, but it also uses augmented reality to bring your artistic creation to life.

To get started, you first need to print out the Konstruct marker and place it wherever you'd like to create your AR sculpture -- it could be on your living room wall, or on the floor of your bathroom, it doesn't matter. Open the app, point your iPhone at the marker, and start making some noises! Once you're done, you can save your creation, or simply wipe the slate clean and start again.

The volume of your voice affects the size of the shapes that are drawn on the screen, and you can move your head around to alter the path of your 'brush' -- but to change the shape of your brush or modify the color palette you have to use a menu. Without knowledge of the app's internal workings, it's hard to say what the actual difference between whistling, talking and singing is -- and judging by the developer's affinity for whistling in the demo video (after the break), the app probably doesn't perform that much analysis on your input.

Still, Konstruct is just a prototype! A later version could do away with menus and rely entirely on the location, tonality, quality and amplitude of your voice -- and judging by the the words of the developer, James Alliban, there is definitely more in store for Konstruct: "The idea of transforming entire cities into user generated virtual art galleries really appeals to me. I see Konstruct as an early prototype that will hopefully be realised in this form in the future."

Download Konstruct for free from the App Store (iPhone 3GS and 4 only)

[Thanks to Richard for the tip!]

Gallery: Konstruct for iOS: create generative augmented art with your voice

Continue reading Konstruct for iOS creates generative augmented reality art with your voice

Konstruct for iOS creates generative augmented reality art with your voice originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/konstruct-for-ios-creates-generative-augmented-reality-art-with/

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Farragomate is a social fridge magnet game where you make up sentences

You know those fridge magnet kits composed of a whole bunch of words? The ones you put all over your fridge door and then try to arrange into all sorts of juvenile and/or amusing sentences. Well, Farragomate is the social, webby version of that very same pastime.

You get to play with a bunch of random strangers in real-time, and make up sentences out of a pre-set collection of words, including some fairly naughty ones, and all players' nicknames. As you can imagine, some of the results are not child-friendly.

There are ten rounds to a game. Once a round is done, players get to vote for their favorite sentence from that round. You can't vote for your own creation, of course. There's in-game chat, too.

I think the vocabulary could be made a bit more eclectic, but even as it is, it's a nice way to spend a few minutes and meet random strangers on the Internet (always a thrilling experience).

Farragomate is a social fridge magnet game where you make up sentences originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/25/farragomate-is-a-social-game-where-you-make-up-sentences/

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Add a pouring spout to make life easier in the kitchen

This little doodad can keep things neater while you’re working in the kitchen.  The Silpoura spout was the brainchild of  a couple who are avid campers and needed a way to dispose of cooking grease without dumping it in the woods.  Gail suggested there should be “a ‘Thing’. Like a spout. That you could clip [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/06/14/add-a-pouring-spout-to-make-life-easier-in-the-kitchen/

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The Kite-Borne Camera That Captured Post-Quake San Francisco in 1906

Drone photography is in the news this week, with protesters in Istanbul using unmanned cameras to document the events from above. Interestingly, the very first instance of remote aerial photography was devised to document an urban crisis, too: the 1906 earthquake that partially leveled San Francisco.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/1zn4pwCsaqs/the-kite-borne-camera-that-captured-post-quake-san-fran-514345937

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Interlocked is a three-dimensional brain teaser

Back when I was a kid, I used to love crafting ornate puzzle boxes out of Lego. There would be just one way to open the box, by carefully shifting and rotating a bunch of pieces. Well, either that, or breaking the box in frustration.

Interlocked takes that spirit and turns it into a beautiful Flash game. It's a good thing the soundtrack is soothing, because the game itself can get pretty frustrating.

At the start of each level, you're presented with a box built out of blocks in different colors. You can click and drag the mouse to rotate the box any which way. Once you decide you want to shift a part of the box, hit SPACE to switch into "move" mode. You can then click any part of the box and drag it. Of course, you can only move a part as long as nothing is in its way. So it becomes a matter of understanding how the box is built, and what parts you need to move around so you could eventually take the box apart.

It's a tricky, difficult game, but it's a great brain teaser -- and definitely a keeper.

Interlocked is a three-dimensional brain teaser originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/29/interlocked-is-a-three-dimensional-brain-teaser/

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What 802.11ac Networking Is, And Why You Want It

While we were all gushing over iOS 7 and the new Macs, it was easy to miss the relatively minor announcement that Apple has added support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi to two of its key hardware products: the MacBook Air and ...

Source: http://feeds.wired.com/c/35185/f/661457/s/2d645f31/l/0L0Swired0N0Cgadgetlab0C20A130C0A60C80A20E11ac0Eapple0Ewwdc0C/story01.htm

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