Naymz offers competition to LinkedIn

Filed under: Business, Web services, Commercial, Freeware, Social Software, Web

When you woke up this morning, I bet the first thing you said to yourself was, "gee, I wish there were more social networks I could join." Okay, probably not. But like it or not, they're popping up all over the web.

There's a new social network worth having a look at called Naymz, which is setting itself up to compete against LinkedIn in the career social networking market. It's going to be a tough uphill battle, given how entrenched LinkedIn already is.

Naymz has all the features you'd expect, like microblogging and identity aggregation, but it also brings a few new tricks to the table. Naymz has a reputation scoring system that is powered by assessments that your contacts fill out about you, and includes the ability to watch what is being said about you online that could be affecting your reputation.

The reputation system is the most compelling feature of Naymz, but also the most troublesome; will users risk using a professional social network that could potentially paint them in a not-so-good light? Will they use one that requires them to answer a questionnaire about everyone they connect with (albeit a brief one)? Will you?

Naymz offers competition to LinkedIn originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SPB Mobile Shell 5.0 now available for Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Symbian, Commercial, Mobile, Android

Mobile software maker SPB is launching SPB Shell 5.0. Like previous versions, SPB Shell basically replaces your phone's default user interface with a customizable "shell." What's new in version 5.0 is that SPB Shell ain't just for Windows Mobile anymore. It's also available for Symbian and Google Android phones.

SPB Shell 5.0 also has a new 3D engine, support for 3D widgets, and 3D applications for viewing photos, playing media, and viewing weather forecasts. It also features integration with social networks including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

The update also brings support for multitouch displays and haptic feedback which provides a tactile response when you press the screen.

If you're looking for a way to dress up your smartphone while waiting for Windows Phone 7 Series to hit the streets, SPB Shell 5.0 might tide you over. Or if you just can't stand the default UI for your Android or Symbian device.

The SPB web site doesn't feature download or purchase pages for SPB Shell 5.0 yet. But version 3.5 for Windows Mobile is available for $29.95. No word on the pricing for the new version.

SPB Mobile Shell 5.0 now available for Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TheMacSale and MacHeist bundles offer Mac users deep discounts

Filed under: Macintosh, Commercial

It's bundle time for Mac software lovers. If you're not familiar with them, there are a few companies out there that collect a bunch of great (and sometimes not-so-great) Mac software titles into a bundle, and sell them at a highly discounted rate. It's attractive to buyers because you can often get a few apps you really want for below retail, and attractive for software vendors because they get a lot of exposure, and typically only a fraction of the people who buy the bundle end up using your software, so you're getting paid (a highly discounted rate) for software that never gets installed.

A new bundle is available from TheMacSale, and though it's a decent offering, they must be a bit crazy, as TheMacSale chose to release their bundle against the king-of-the-hill bundle vendor, MacHeist.

If you haven't heard of MacHeist, you're probably living under a rock. Their marketing machine is a juggernaut, and I'm almost surprised they don't have people who bust into your room at night to tell you all about it. So how do the bundles compare?

TheMacSale

• Price: $49.99US
• App count: 10
• Retail value: $500.00US
• Gotta-have-it app count (IMHO): 3
• Apps: Pathfinder, Shovebox, Supercard, StoryMill, MiniOne Racing, Inkbook, VideoConverter Pro, Slideshow, MacGourmet Deluxe, Finance 6

MacHeist

• Price: $19.95US
• App count: 5 (+2)
• Retail value: $260.00US
• Gotta-have-it app count (IMHO): 3
• Apps: MacJournal, RipIt, Clips, CoverScout, Flow, Tales of Monkey Island *, RapidWeaver *

* Tales of Monkey Island and RapidWeaver are both unlocked when certain sales numbers are hit; historically MacHeist has hit these type of target numbers and apps are ultimately unlocked, but it's not guaranteed.

So, which one's better? Well, that's a matter of taste, and depends on which titles you already own. Which bundle appeals most to you?

TheMacSale and MacHeist bundles offer Mac users deep discounts originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DLS @ SXSW - Crowd Fusion

Filed under: Web services, Commercial, Open Source, sxsw

I spoke to Brian Alvey, co-founder of Weblogs, Inc. and the guy who built Blogsmith -- the same engine Download Squad, TUAW, Engadget and our other blogs use) about his newest creation: Crowd Fusion. There are quite a few CMS products to choose from out there, but Crowd Fusion is built to perform at scale while boasting an impressive feature set. That's because Brian knows a thing or two about scale! Having had the experience of watching Engadget and TUAW cover Steve Jobs keynotes and CES and Detroit Auto Show (Autoblog also uses Blogsmith), not to mention Brian's early gigs building industry-grade sites, the team at Crowd Fusion has experience when it comes to building rock-solid CMS tools that enable content programmers to do just about anything they can imagine. If it sounds like I'm gushing it's not because I used to work (somewhat indirectly) for Brian -- it's because I've seen what Crowd Fusion can do. You can see it too on this demo from TC50 last September. You can also join the open source beta program to test Crowd Fusion out for yourself.

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DLS @ SXSW - Crowd Fusion originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warner Bros. recruiting students for anti-piracy internship

Filed under: Business, Commercial, Search

TorrentFreak reports that Warner Brothers UK is now looking for computer-literate students in the university of Manchester for a 12-month paid internship (£17,500) that will allow them to be part of the glorious fight against online piracy!

Students will open and maintain accounts on torrent sites, hang around forums and IRC channels, maintain and develop link-scanning bots, and issue take-down notices for infringing material. They will also be expected to make "trap purchases," in order to gather intelligence on various filesharing enterprises. That sounds exciting!

Don't get me wrong; I do support copyrights, and I think it is actually an important topic. Artists should get paid for their work -- there is no argument about it. However, this is not the way. If it's made easier for people to buy this content (as opposed to the effort involved in copying it), I think that they will buy.

Warner Bros. recruiting students for anti-piracy internship originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony BMG takes Beyonce's official YouTube channel down for "copyright infringement"

Filed under: Business, Video, Commercial, Op-Ed

In an act of corporate insanity that reminds me of military behavior as described in Catch 22, Sony BMG removed the videos from Beyonce's official YouTube channel for "copyright infringement." It is her channel, and she is their artist. This is awesome! I mean, talk about caring for your musicians! Way to go, BMG!

This is just one example of the heights of madness that copyright "protection" has ascended to. And now that the super-secret ACTA negotiations appear to be well underway, we are drawing near to a day when ISPs will be held accountable whenever one of their users downloads infringing content.

Please, dear readers, convince me that I'm scare-mongering here. Tell me that ACTA will never happen, and that this is just a slight glitch on Sony's part and not an actual symptom.

As they ask over at motherboard.tv, how long will it be before Sony starts suing ladies who put a ring on it, or before Beyonce sues herself?

Sony BMG takes Beyonce's official YouTube channel down for "copyright infringement" originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ExtensionFM is the first killer extension for Google Chrome OS (and it's not even here yet)

Filed under: Audio, Google, Browsers

Dan Kantor knows the web, and he knows music. Better still, he knows how to make the two play nicely together. If you're not familiar with his work, Dan built Spinner -- AOL's popular music site -- when he was part of our family.

Now he's on his own, and he's got a new musical marvel to share: ExtensionFM. While using the extension inside Google Chrome is fun enough, it's easy to see just how cool it's going to be on the Google Chrome OS smartbooks and tablets that are due out later this year.

The concept behind ExntensionFM is a simple one: scan the webpages you browse for embedded MP3s and build a library of tunes inside your browser. You can also put together playlists, and the music will keep streaming in the background as you happily (or unhappily, depending on your modus operandi) surf the web.

ExtensionFM also provides listings of artists and albums in your library, and a list of the sites you've listened to -- which adds a whole 'nother layer of cool. Once you've grabbed a track from a particular site, ExtensionFM keeps tabs on it for you. We'll have more on this after the break, along with more screenshots and Dan's screencast!

Continue reading ExtensionFM is the first killer extension for Google Chrome OS (and it's not even here yet)

ExtensionFM is the first killer extension for Google Chrome OS (and it's not even here yet) originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Chrome Beta, Dev channels now support Windows 7 taskbar thumbnails

Filed under: Google, Beta, Browsers

Earlier today, Google pushed updates to both the Chrome beta and dev channels. The good news? Apart from other minor patches and fixes users of both testing versions on Windows 7 now see per-tab taskbar thumbnail previews.

If you haven't received the update yet, you can force a check by clicking the wrench menu and then "About Google Chrome." Downloads are also available from Google's early access channels page.

It's not without bugs, though. @keshav and I have both had a glitch which seems to occur when using win+d to show the desktop where tiny windows will appear along the top of your taskbar (pic after the jump).

Continue reading Google Chrome Beta, Dev channels now support Windows 7 taskbar thumbnails

Google Chrome Beta, Dev channels now support Windows 7 taskbar thumbnails originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Coming soon to Google Chrome: use your extensions in Incognito mode!

Filed under: Google, Browsers

Google Chrome's Incognito mode is a handy way to browse without leaving unwanted traces of your activitybehind. It comes with some minor sacrifices, of course -- your theme doesn't display and your extensions don't work, for example.

At least your extensions don't work for now.

Soon enough you'll have the ability to specify which extensions you want Google Chrome to allow while you browse Incognito. The change has landed in recent Chromium builds, and I have no doubt that we'll see this make the jump to Chrome's developer and beta channels fairly soon.

While it will be nice to have certain extensions available -- like LastPass (so I don't have to type in all my passwords) or ExtensionFM (so I can listen to my music library in the cloud) -- it's important to remember that some extensions may do things that you're trying to avoid during private browsing sessions. In fact, Chrome/Chromium will spawn an alert saying "Chromium cannot prevent this extension from recording your browsing data" when you place a check in the allow box.

For now, you'll need to download a build from the Chromium BuildBot stash to try this out. So far, so good. I haven't experienced any (additional) instability or crashing due to enabling a few extensions in Incognito mode.

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Coming soon to Google Chrome: use your extensions in Incognito mode! originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can't make a meeting? Google Calendar now has a Smart Rescheduler

Filed under: Utilities, Productivity, Google

If you're someone who has to take a lot of meetings, you've undoubtedly run into scheduling issues at some point and had to reschedule one . Google Calendar just added a new feature that you can enable in Labs to make the process a lot easier (if your company uses Google Calendar). Smart Rescheduler looks at other Google Calendars that have been shared with you and creates a ranked list of the best times to reschedule.

It's a great idea in theory -- it even deals with room conflicts! -- but what works for the Google Calendar team might not work for everyone. As you might expect, they all use Google Calendar. However, if the people you're meeting with are on some other calendar software, Smart Rescheduler won't have enough data to do its job. I really like the concept, though, and it adds to a growing stack of reasons to get on board with Google Calendar.

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Can't make a meeting? Google Calendar now has a Smart Rescheduler originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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