Microsoft has been making a big push lately to secure their dominance in the field of small, Internet-based or Internet-enhancing utilities and applications. It started with MSN Messenger oh so long ago and has grown with the recent refocusing on the Windows Live brand, centered largely around the online services at Live.com One of the areas little explored in the online services arena, surprisingly enough, is that of Blogging. On the whole, most blogs require you to travel to a ...
Ok, the results of last week's poll have been previously posted and discussed, so this week we dive straight into the new poll... How Much Time Do You Spent at WinCustomize in the Summer? The summer months are lean months for most websites it seems. For some strange reason people would rather be outside in the sun, having fun, traveling etc than spending their time visiting their favorite web sites and forums. Now, that's mostly the general anonymous browsing crowd, not you,...
After the moderator and public voting, we're ready to announce the winner for the ObjectDock Background Contest, sponsored by community member WebGizmos! We had 9 outstanding entries in the contest to pick from and it really came down to the wire with the final moderator vote breaking the tie between our #1 and #2 entries. These are all outstanding docks that everyone who has ObjectDock should take a look at. The 1st place entry and winner of a copy of ObjectDock Plus, and one premi...
Cult-leader Steve Jobs and Destroyer of Competitors Bill Gates, long-time bitter rivals in the PC industry, are going to be doing something very interesting this week. They'll be sharing the stage at the D5 Conference in California to talk about the history and future of the digital revolution. The most interesting part? The session is going to be completely unscripted and led by Wall Street Journal writers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, the co-producers for the D5 conference....
It's Friday, so that means another tour of what's new and cool in the community with our own professional forum crawler, Island Dog! Like always, he tries to pick out the best of what the community was able to put up in the past week, perhaps exposing you to something new and interesting that you might have missed. This week, we have a cursor pack, a dream animated wallpaper, an icon pack and a WindowBlinds skin. Check it out and share what your picks would have been!
So you're an employee at Microsoft, more specifically the Zune division, the people responsible for Microsoft's entry into the MP3/mobile video player market. You are a good, loyal employee who puts in their hours, does a good job and in general works very hard to help make sure the product is a success. There's only one problem. You own an iPod. You try and disguise your treachery by keeping the device in your pocket as you work through the day, you've even purchased a pair o...
Every day, millions of people turn to Google to find the answers to life's burning questions; What did Paris Hilton do last night? What's the best chili recipe? How much wood, could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? And so on. So as we query the search engine for these bits of knowledge, we largely do so separated from everyone else on the Internet. The world's largest virtual gathering point essentially treats each user as the only person in the world....
Students at WPI have created a new take on the standard PC mouse with a device they're calling "MagicMouse". The undergraduate student team built a wireless mouse that you wear like a ring, using the natural gestures of your hand to control the cursor on the screen. This little doodad works by using a number of receivers placed around the user that track the motion of the tiny ultrasonic transmitter the user wears on their finger. The super-cool part about this? It's done w...
It's been a few months since it was lasted updated, so this week I went digging around the brains of our developers and consulted the Oracle of Product Releases to try and build a new list of Stardock apps that are currently, or will soon be, Vista-compatible. The full list is linked below, complete with estimated release dates and some additional info on testing status. Below is just a quick-reference chart that covers the high-points without any of the detail IMPORTANT NOTE: LogonStudio V...
Google does a lot of really nifty stuff, from searching websites, to maps, to telephone directories and more. However, there are a lot of nifty little featured buried deep in the search engine that you might not know about. These little tricks help make Google a quick and easy go-to tool for any number of tasks. Lifehack.org has an article up detailing just a few of these little-known secrets. A few examples: Google Search as a Calculator Take notes on websites with...
For two weeks we've run a poll trying to get a feel for the community interest in a live Internet radio show centered around the WinCustomize community and the world of skinning. The results were largely positive with two thirds of you saying you'd be interested in the podcast in one way or another, either as a listener or as a call-in. And thankfully only a small handful of you regarded it as the worst idea ever conceived Here's the visual break-down, as always... &n...
When I say "Desktop Gadget" I mean an actual gadget that sits on your physical desktop. Engadget has word today that at long last, you can keep a cool, frosty beverage on-hand at your desk whenever you want with a very cool little gadget from a company called Brando. The mini-fridge is powered entirely by a USB connection to your PC and can hold one 12oz can of your favorite beverage, so it's cold and ready to go when you most need it. No more walking the 10' to the fridge in t...
A few weeks ago, I posted a story from Lifehacker about really cool monitor setups. We've chatted here at length many times before on who has the sweetest setup, the desk with the best toys and tech, the most blinking lights etc. Some of you have some great setups at home and at work, but while they may be stylish, are they well organized? Personally, my desk both at home and at the office ends up being a mess of cables, keyboards, mice, speakers, CD cases and manuals. Or...
Another week, another skin round-up by the ever-vigilant Island Dog. The past week has been a pretty good one for submissions as we have everything ranging from a new, free Dream from Stardock Design, to a brand new WindowBlinds skin by BoXXi. Also in the mix are some cursors, a few dock backgrounds and a very nice wallpaper pack. Click the link below to see what you might have missed this week!
Last week, we talked a bit about the possibility of a live Internet radio show for the WinCustomize community, and the response was fairly positive with a few people being down-right excited about it. well, internally we think it's a cool idea that could be a lot of fun to experiment with and are getting our ducks in a row so to speak to try and give the idea a shot. However, before we do the real, full show, we need to do a dry-run, figure out the gotchas and iron out as many pr...