Opera 9.5 web browser gets a new look

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Browser Tips, Unix

It's been a few years since the Opera web browser's interface got a major overhaul. But now the Opera Desktop Team has posted an updated version of Opera 9.5 beta which features a shiny new theme.

The new theme is a bit closer to what you'll find on Opera's non-desktop browsers, including Opera 9.5 for Windows Mobile and Opera for the Nintendo Wii. Aside from a darker look, there are a few nice features, like an animated stop/refresh button that turns red when a page is loading, and green when it's finished.

There's also a new settings icon in the main toolbar that lets you open the side panel to launch the Opera Widget engine, bookmark sidebar and other tools.

The updated version of Opera 9.5 beta is a development snapshot, so there are some known issues. But there's an option to install this version side by side with an existing version of Opera so you don't lose your settings.

Opera 9.5 web browser gets a new look originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wine 1.0 pops the cork: Run Windows apps on Linux

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Linux, Open Source, Unix

It may have taken 15 years, but the developers behind Wine have finally decided the Windows emulation layer for Linux and Unix-based systems is stable enough to wear a 1.0 label. Now, don't get too excited. That doesn't mean every last Windows app will run on Linux under Wine. But it does mean that Wine's more stable than ever, and thousands of Windows applications have been reported to work.

Wine 1.0 installation instructions are available for a whole slew of distributions, including Fedora, Red Hat, SUSE, Mandriva, Slackware, Ubuntu, Debian, FreeBSD and Solaris. Or if you wait a few days there's a good chance the latest version of Wine will be added to your distro's official repositories.

To be perfectly honest, you might not notice a ton of changes from previous versions of Wine. But the latest build does include a ton of fixes for specific applications including WinRAR, Skype, Dragon Naturally Speaking, and video games like Call of Duty 1.0

[via Digg]

Wine 1.0 pops the cork: Run Windows apps on Linux originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Beeswax: command-line productivity app

Filed under: Text, Utilities, Linux, Productivity, Freeware, Unix

One of the longest ongoing debates in the productivity/Getting Things Done crowd is about which app works best for keeping tasks in order. Different factions support everything from power tools like OmniFocus to good old pen and paper. Apparently, though, some people miss classic command-line productivity apps like Lotus Agenda. If you're running a Unix-like OS, and you need a solid GTD system, you might find Beeswax, a free, Agenda-inspired app, worth a look.

It's a little tricky to explain how this works, so you might need to check it out for yourself, but we'll do our best. Basically, you have to-do items, and you have categories. If you assign sub-items to an item -- you know, something that takes multiple steps to do -- it's treated like a category. Items can be assigned to multiple categories, so everything is flexible. If you're someone who hates anything that requires a mouse, this is right up your alley.

[via 43Folders]

Beeswax: command-line productivity app originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Speed up browsing on low-speed connections with Toonel.net

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Productivity, Web services, Freeware, How-Tos, Unix, Browsers

If you frequently find yourself browsing on a low-bandwidth connection, you can potentially speed up your browsing experience by using the compressing proxy server at Toonel.net. The concept is simple: install their application on your computer (versions are available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Sun Solaris, and even Windows Mobile and Symbian), then set your proxy settings to point to your localhost IP address on port 8080 (127.0.0.1:8080). Once you do, all of your web traffic is routed through Toonel.net's server, which compresses it before it gets to you.

The compression used is lossless, which is required to ensure the pages show up as expected, though there are image-specific options that allow you to change the compression that is applied to JPEG and GIF images. This is likely only worthwhile on a very slow network, since it takes the server a bit of time to recompress images before your browser can download them, but could be handy on a struggling network.

I wouldn't recommend running Toonel.net full-time, or even at all if you're always on a broadband connection, but if you find yourself struggling with a lack of bandwidth, this is a great trick to have in your back pocket.

[via TechRadar]

Speed up browsing on low-speed connections with Toonel.net originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Retro Video: UNIX on The Computer Chronicles

Filed under: Video, Unix

In honor of UNIX time displaying 1234567890 tomorrow, here's the episode about UNIX on Computer Chronicles from 1985. Notice: they didn't warn us about the temporal rift!

If you aren't familiar with the Computer Chronicles series, click as fast as you can to the Internet Archive and check it out. Good times, great oldies.

Retro Video: UNIX on The Computer Chronicles originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Command-line Fu is a good reference for *nix terminal newbies

Filed under: Linux, Web services, Social Software, Unix, Education

Regardless of what operating system you happen to be running, it's always a good idea to be conversant with the command line. For new (or should that be Gnu?) Linux and Unix users, Command-line Fu is a site that deserves a spot in your bookmarks.

It's designed to be a social resource for terminal commands. Submit a command, describe it, and the community votes it up or down. Sign up for an account or log in with your OpenID to add commands to your favorites. Most submissions are tagged which allows you to easily find, for example, all the grep or ssh entries.

Command-line Fu also provides two handy ways to stay on top of new additions. All entries are tweeted to @commandlinefu and there's an RSS feed available as well.

I do have one very small gripe with the site: I wish it worked better in Lynx.

Command-line Fu is a good reference for *nix terminal newbies originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to block ads in Google Chrome with AdSweep

Filed under: Google, Freeware, Open Source, How-Tos, Beta, Browsers

Whenever a post goes up about Google Chrome on Download Squad, Firefox users that would like to make the switch usually have two gripes. First, the lack of extensions. Second, the lack of one extension in particular: AdBlock Plus.

Chrome users don't have to put up with ads if they don't want to, though. If a proxy-based blocker isn't your thing, then why not install AdSweep - either as a Userscript or a Chrome extension. They're essentially the same thing right now, since extensions are basically Userscripts in a wrapper. Whichever way you want to install AdSweep, here's what to do.

Since it's available as a Userscript, users of other browsers can take advantage of AdSweep, too - just check on the homepage for instructions. Now, let's get it working in Chrome.

Continue reading How to block ads in Google Chrome with AdSweep

How to block ads in Google Chrome with AdSweep originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stupid Windows 7 / Vista trick: who needs Hawkscope?

Filed under: Windows, Microsoft, How-Tos, Windows x64

Hawkscope is an interesting app. It's got some good features (especially if you install the GMail or Twitter plugins), but I really don't like the fact that it kills Aero Glass on my Windows 7 machine. The same is likely true for Vista, but it's been so long since I tested the app that I can't quite recall.

At any rate, one of the key features of Hawkscope is that it allows you to "access all your partitions from the system tray." Wait a tic - haven't we been able to do that as far back as Windows 98 (possibly even 95, but again, memory fails me)?

Right click your taskbar, choose toolbars -> new toolbar and browse to My Computer. Press select folder, and you're done. Even your removable drives will show up when they're plugged in since the toolbar updates the same way the My Computer window does.

Now you've got the best of both worlds - fast access to your drives and Aero Glass!

Stupid Windows 7 / Vista trick: who needs Hawkscope? originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Reader - Send To buttons for Instapaper and Evernote

Filed under: Internet, News, Google, How-Tos, web 2.0, Web

One of our favorite people evar, Jordan Running, former lead blogger at Download Squad sent us this great tip as a follow up to yesterday's Google Reader post about sharing stories to social networks and creating custom links.

Jordan created a Send To link for Instapaper, a web app that allows you to save web pages for reading later. While he was at it, he made one for Evernote too. Here's the skinny.

Instapaper Send To link for Google Reader
1. Copy the following URL to your text editor

https://www.instapaper.com/api/add?url=${url}&title=${title}&username=USERNAME&password=PASSWORD

2. Replace USERNAME (in caps) with your Instapaper username and replace your Instapaper password with PASSWORD. If you don't have a password, just delete everything after your USERNAME.

3. Go to the Settings tab in Google Reader and click on Send To. Then scroll down to Create custom link.

Continue reading Google Reader - Send To buttons for Instapaper and Evernote

Google Reader - Send To buttons for Instapaper and Evernote originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to fix Flash video performance in Firefox

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Browser Tips, How-Tos, Troubleshooting

Do YouTube and other Flash-based videos stutter when you view them in Firefox, but work fine in other browsers like Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Safari? This appears to be a problem that affects both the Windows and Mac versions of Firefox, and the problem (surprisingly enough) turns out not to be Flash - it's Firefox's session restore feature.

Lifehacker has a post based on information that one of their readers wrote in with. Basically, Firefox takes a snapshot of all of your open tabs every ten seconds, so that if you close your browser, you can open it to where you left off. Though you wouldn't think grabbing the plain text URL of a few webpages would be such an arduous task for the browser that it causes video to stutter, for some reason it is.

So what's the solution? Well, if you want to throw the baby out with the bath water, you can turn off the session restore feature altogether. A more sane solution is to simply lengthen the period of time between snapshots. To do this, type about:config into Firefox's address bar, then in the filter box enter browser.sessionstore.interval. The default value is 10000, which is the number of milliseconds between snapshots. Setting the number to 120000 lengthens the period to two minutes, a more reasonable but still useful period. Of course, you can set it to whatever you want, as long as you keep in mind that you're dealing with milliseconds.

I can't tell you how happy I am with this little hack - it has already prevented me from cursing Firefox a few times today.

How to fix Flash video performance in Firefox originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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