Filed under: Internet, web 2.0

The folks at BaseKit think that the process of website creation is due for an overhaul -- and boy do I agree! The time for writing code in an editor, creating artwork in another app and uploading it all bit-by-bit is OVER. The folks at BaseKit pose a good question: why don't we make websites online, in the browser?

There are some nascent attempts, like the cheap-and-cheerful approach of Google Sites, but nothing that comes close to the simple, graceful beauty of BaseKit. For a start, you can import Photoshop PSD files! I can't begin to describe the pains I've been through, as a web designer, trying to implement PSDs in valid HTML and CSS -- but now BaseKit can do it for me, and the code it generates works in all modern browsers. It takes a little getting used to -- you need to name one of your layers 'Header', for example -- but overall, the process is very quick and very smooth. Check out the video on their homepage, if you want to see the PSD import in action.

Even if you don't want to import PSDs, there's lots of other shiny bits to lure you in. The interface is beautiful, like a marriage of everything good about Web 2.0. There is dragging and dropping, resizing, AJAX and widgets up the yin yang -- forms, date pickers, star ratings, imported Flickr and Twitter feeds -- it's all there. If you want to see what's possible, check out their showcase. You'll also notice there's no Flash (but they're working on including it... damn).

If I haven't won you over yet, I've saved the best, beardy-pleasing morsel for last: it generates W3C-compliant code!

Right now you have to sign up for a beta key -- and there are certainly some beta bugs that need ironing out -- but I will try to get some keys to hand out in the next few days over on our Facebook page!

BaseKit is a web app that generates websites from Photoshop PSD files originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BaseKit - Facebook - HTML - Twitter - Download Squad

Filed under: Internet, News, Mobile

Of all the sites a major mobile ISP could block, Verizon has probably picked the worst. Verizon mobile customers have found themselves unable to access 4Chan's infamous prank-filled, NSFW image board, /b/, and the ISP won't say why. 4Chan's founder, Moot, has even been unable to get a straight answer about the block. However, it's been confirmed that this was an intentional move by Verizon. At this point, it's only affecting Verizon's mobile customers, so you should still be able to see 4Chan using your home Internet connection.

This seems to be an utterly dumb move on Verizon's part. First, it opens them up to accusations of censorship. Why ban one specific site? There might be a reason, but Verizon's not giving it. Granted, 4Chan is known for occasional child pornography threads, but it tends to do a good job of self-policing those and deleting the offending materials ASAP. If that's the reason, Verizon isn't saying so.

The second reason an ISP might not want to mess with 4Chan is because bad (and sometimes hilarious) things tend to happen to those who do. There's an entire section of the 4Chan Wikipedia entry dedicated to 4Chan's various "Internet attacks." They might not be "hackers on steroids," despite one laughable TV news report to the contrary, but they're very good at posting porn in places you really don't expect to find it. It'll be interesting to see if there's any retaliation against Verizon, or if the block is peaceably lifted.

Update: Verizon will reportedly be unblocking 4Chan soon, if it hasn't happened already.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Verizon blocks 4Chan for mobile users, asks for trouble originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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4chan - Internet service provider - Child pornography - Verizon Wireless - Pornography

Filed under: Features, Productivity, Google, Social Software

This morning, Google finally pulled back the curtain on its rumored social networking product. It's called Google Buzz, and it's being billed as "a Google approach to sharing," in the same way Gmail was "a Google approach to email." In the 15-minute demo of Buzz, Google hit on 5 key features, plus an overview of the mobile version of Buzz.

Google Buzz will begin rolling out to the general public in just a few minutes, although it might take a few days before it's accessible to all users. Meawhile, you can check out the video announcement of Buzz.

Here are the five main features of the desktop version of Buzz, which will be built right into Gmail:

1. Auto-following

You don't need to build a new social graph from scratch on Buzz. It uses your Gmail social network, and automatically adds the people you email and chat with most often.

2. Rich, fast sharing

Buzz pulls in content your friends share on Flickr, Picasa, Twitter, Google Reader and YouTube, even if you don't use those sites. There's a special focus on video and photos, with a custom photo viewer that lets you navigate galleries in full screen. When you share a link, Buzz fetches the headlines and photos from the post you're sharing. The keyboard shortcuts you already use in Gmail all work the same way in your buzz stream.

3. Public and private sharing

Privacy settings allow you to share publicly (quickly indexed by Google, of course), privately, and with custom groups.

4. Inbox Integration

Buzz makes sure you don't miss new comments on the stuff you share. You don't get new email when someone comments, but your Buzz comments show up along with your email in your inbox. The comments show up in real time. Also, Buzz borrows Twitter's convention of @replies. You can type @ and a username and Buzz will autocomplete your contact and deliver your message to that user's Buzz.

5. Just the Good Stuff

Buzz has a recommendation system that brings in shared items from friends of friends, and learns from your feedback. You can collapse the stuff you don't care about, to make the filter better in the future. At the same time, if someone you're following posts something you don't care about, you can collapse that, too. Google says that Buzz will only get better at filtering over time, like Gmail has.


Plus, mobile features:

The mobile interface for Buzz goes beyond Gmail, and uses location as an additional tool to find relevant shared stuff. You can use Buzz from an Android phone or iPhone just by going to Google.com, and there's also a new web app at buzz.google.com. Clicking on the Buzz icon at Google.com will convert your latitude and longitude into a place name, so you can post a geotagged Buzz.

Buzz is also going to be integrated into place pages in Google Maps, so you can read people's comments about a location. Buzz will also have a "nearby" option, so you can see Buzz items from people near you, instead of just people you follow. Geotagged posts will now show up as word-bubble icons on Google maps, too.

Google's big announcement: Google Buzz is sharing, Gmail-style originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google - Twitter - YouTube - Google Reader - Google Maps

Filed under: Features, Social Software, web 2.0

Heya, Download Squad readers! I'm back again with the most thrilling Twitter developments of the past week. No protesters at Twitter HQ this week, but the Big T did roll out some neat new features. I'll tell you about all that and more -- with no horrible bird puns, guaranteed! -- in this week's Twitter Tuesday.

Let's go!


What's a hovercard? Are we in the future? Do you need a helmet? Relax, guys: hovercards are Twitter's new way of showing you information about a user without making you load up that user's profile page. Now all you have to do is hover over the person's name, and their basic profile information will show up in a tooltip. Maybe it's not as cool as a hoverCAR, but it's definitely cooler than having to open up a bunch of new tabs.
Sick of your job? Can't be bothered to tender your resignation in person? Do what Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz (aka@openjonathan) did: quit over Twitter! Last Wednesday, Schwartz posted a haiku explaining why he was leaving the company: "Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more." Of course, Jonathan has about 10,000 followers and worked for a major tech company. It might be a little harder to tweet your way out of delivering pizzas for the local Domino's.

In Twitter app news, the popular cross-platform Tweetdeck client just got a major update. The new version of Tweetdeck offers a column navigator to help manage all your custom searches, and it can also display YouTube videos and images from various photo sharing sites, right there in your stream. Is it just me, or are Twitter clients creeping closer to becoming browsers?

Twitter's been on TV more and more lately, with tweets scrolling on major news and entertainment channels. If media networks rely on hashtags, though, it's too easy for pranksters and profanity to get onscreen. (Personally, I love both pranks and profanity, but I'd hate it if I were on TV and subject to FCC fines). If you've ever wondered how media outlets deal with the issue, here's your answer: Curatorr. It's a commercial-grade filtering tool for Twitter searches that allows networks to be extra-choosy about which tweets they broadcast.

We've been talking a bit about the Twitter Reactions Chrome extension on Download Squad this week. It's a quick way to see who's tweeting about any given webpage, even when people use URL shorteners instead of the full link. Twitter Reactions is basically a natural extension of comments - or an entire comment system, for sites that don't have one already - where all it takes to comment is a Twitter account. . If you're not using Chrome, you can get some of the same features with a bookmarklet called TBuzz.


The Super Bowl dominated Twitter on Sunday, and if there's one guy who would know just how many tweets were flying during the big game, it's Tweetstats developer Damon Cortesi (aka @dacort). Damon tweeted out some choice stats on Sunday that had nothing to do with touchdowns or 2-point conversions: During 1 15-minute period, there were 85,000 tweets about the Saints alone, and there were 10,000 Saints tweets per minute just after the game ended. To put that into perspective, the Saints were getting more than 3 times as many tweets as Google near the end of the game.

That's what's new in Twitter this week! I'll be back next Twitter Tuesday with more news and apps you can use.

Twitter Tuesday - this week's Twitter news, apps and more originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twitter - Google - YouTube - Download Squad - Super Bowl

Filed under: Design, Windows, Open Source

The aptly-named Paint.Net PSD Plugin is one of those pieces of software which pretty much spells it all out right in the name. It's a plugin...for Paint.Net...(wait for it)...which lets you open files saved in Photoshop's PSD format.

Download the zip archive, dump the included PhotoShop.dll file into your Paint.Net FileTypes folder (usually c:\program files\Paint.Net\FileTypes), and you're ready to rock. Pretty well anything in the PSD for which Paint.Net has an implementation will load just fine. Saving is another story, so you'd best stick to Paint.Net's native .PDN file when you're done working.

If you don't have Photoshop, the plugin is a handy for looking at PSDs your friends might send you to look at. It's also a nice way to transition yourself to a free alternative if you no longer require Photoshop.

Thanks to FreePSD.com for the template I experimented with -- it's been so long since I used Photoshop on one of my systems that I can't even find any of my old PSDs...

Paint.Net plugin lets you view and edit Photoshop PSD files originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AdobePhotoshop - Download Squad - Paint.NET - Image editing - Graphics

Filed under: Text, Adobe, Freeware, Web

When I think about searching online, my first and often only thought is, "how can I do this with Google?" Well, Google's great at search, but that doesn't mean it's the best tool in every situation. Consider searching for PDFs containing specific information; wouldn't you like to see a nice clean list of PDF titles with links both to the PDF in question and an HTML version of it? PDF Search Tool offers exactly that functionality.

To be fair, Google can do this too, particularly if you use the search argument "filteype=pdf", but PDF Search Tool feels somehow more purpose-built. For those that are inclined, it's interesting to see what happens when you search for a well-known author's name; PDF Search Tool almost feels like a pirate ebook finder when used that way. Not that you would. Or should.

PDF Search Tool helps you find PDF files by content originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google - Adobe Systems - Portable Document Format - HTML - Download Squad

Filed under: Fun, Games, Kids, Time-Wasters, Web

I just spent way too long (about 10 minutes) blasting a polar bear on a sled into a bunch of penguins using bombs and land mines. Can you say that? Well, you can now. Check out Polar PWND, an online physics game where the aforementioned polar bear on a sled is essentially a bowling ball, and the penguins are your pins.

The game uses a left-to-right platform view, and though the control scheme for placing objects could be better, it's serviceable and doesn't get in the way of the game play too much.

Polar PWND is not a long game; there are only 10 levels to beat. I see that as a plus, actually. I hate it when a Time Waster consumes me and it has 80 freaking levels and I can't get anything done because I have to beat just one more level... you know how it is. Polar PWND on the other hand can be completed in one brief sitting.

Thanks to Javier for the tip.

Polar PWND - a beary good physics Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Download Squad - Physics - TimeWaster - Animals - Kids and Teens

Filed under: News

I never thought I'd be writing about Toyota, a major car manufacturer, here on Download Squad. While we've mentioned cars before, usually it's in the context of an on-board entertainment system or a goofy experiment.

But it turns out that the accelerator problem that has prompted a massive recall of Toyota vehicles could be related to the onboard software the car manufacturer employs in these cars. Computers have become more and more integral in modern vehicles, and Computerworld reports that some vehicles like the affected Toyota models are fly by wire. Fly-by-wire, if you're not familiar with the term, refers to the idea that the controls that the user manipulates like the gas and brake pedal are not physically connected to the throttle and brakes on the car, but rather are simply inputs into the car's computer, which then controls the throttle and brakes digitally.

A problem with the software on board the car's computer could certainly cause odd behavior, and we all know that software can be buggy. But given the importance of fly by wire software, I have to think that Toyota put it through an incredible level of testing. Though the investigation has turned to looking at the software as the culprit, I'm hoping that it turns out to be a red herring. Though I guess it's only a matter of time before we hear about some real-world big tragedy caused by a software malfunction.

Toyota's woes could be software related originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota - Automobile - Automobile pedal - Download Squad - Throttle

Filed under: Internet, Security, Features, Browsers

Today is Safer Internet Day, an annual event coordinated by the folks at InSafe -- who are all about promoting responsible Internet use. We've covered a number of great tools in the past that have the same aim, so what better day to take another look at them?

Web Of Trust (WOT, Pictured)
WOT is a community-powered trust and ratings system. With nearly 26 million sites rated to date, it's one of the most popular safe browsing tools you can find. Their browser add-on is available for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome. Once installed, you'll start seeing WOT's color coded ratings rings next to links to let you know if they're safe.

I have WOT installed in my browsers, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

McAfee Site Advisor and AVG Linkscanner
Name recognition matters to less technical users, and McAfee and AVG are two of the most recognized names in antivirus. Besides antivirus, both have also developed safe browsing tools like WOT to complement their internet security software. Both are free downloads and work with Firefox and Internet Explorer, and they're a great way to know if a link is safe before you click it.


LastPass, KeePass, 1Password, and RoboForm
One Internet safety issue which keeps popping up is the need for better passwords. These four tools all offer ways to securely store your passwords and also help you create strong passwords. You might not be able to handle 14 different passwords like @h1Pp0p0tMu5.bu770ck$@, but you don't have to. Choose one humdinger to protect your password tool of choice, and let it do the remembering for you!


NoVirusThanks
Not sure the file you're about to download is safe? Why not run it through a virus scan before you ever download it? Head over to NoVirusThanks and choose "scan web address." Copy and paste in the link to your file, and press submit! The scanner can only handle files up to 10Mb, but it's a good way to check small music and video downloads you're unsure about.


LongURL Please
One way scammers try to trick you is with shortened URLs (think tinyurl, bit.ly, is.gd, goo.gl, etc.). While some services that create short URLs have started checking for malicious links, many still don't. LongURL Please can help by un-shortening those links so you can see where they're trying to send you.

Long URL Please is offered as a Firefox add-on and a bookmarklet (which works in any web browser). Not sure what a bookmarklet is or how to use one? Check out Vic's post to learn all about them!


OpenDNS
One really good way to prevent Internet badness from creeping onto your computer is to head it off at the pass. By using OpenDNS on your system (or setting it up on your wireless router) you can take advantage of their massive blacklist which prevents your computer from accessing known bad sites.

It's easier to set up than you might think. OpenDNS provides instructions and video tutorials, and Windows users can download DNS Jumper -- a free tool which makes switching as easy as pressing a button!


Secunia Online Software Inspector
This tool examines Windows and a long list of popular programs to see where your system might be vulnerable. There's more to keeping your computer safe than automatic updates and virus protection, after all. When the Inspector finds a problematic program, it will display a download link so you can resolve the issue.


...and don't forget to check our list of free antivirus programs for Windows. With great apps like Avast 5, Microsoft Security Essentials, and Avira who needs to pay for antivirus software?

10+ great tools for safer web browsing originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows - Google Chrome - Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft - Internet Explorer

Filed under: Fun, Text, Freeware, Web

If you're looking or an easy way to increase your touch-typing speed, head over to Klava. Klava's a free, online touch-typing tester that delivers a never-ending stream of words in patterns that help you focus on the most troublesome letter combinations, increasing your overall typing speed.

The tool offers a few different word sets including standard and advanced English, and even a few programming languages for the software developers out there that would like to increase their speed.

As someone who taught himself to touch-type using an ancient piece of freeware on my Windows 3.1 computer, I can vouch for the effectiveness of this type of tool. Dedicate twenty minutes per day, and your typing speed will increase in no time.

[via Lifehacker]

Klava is a free online touch-typing speed tester and skill enhancer originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Typing - Touch typing - Freeware - Microsoft Windows - Educational