For the spillover
September 30th, 2007 — web20
Search engines: they’re essential for getting your content noticed, but it’s a challenge to optimize your site if you don’t know what you’re doing. Here are 30+ resources to help out - feel free to add more in the comments.
Related: SOCIAL SEARCH GUIDE: 40+ Social Search Engines (more…)
Recommended: Hi5 Stuff at Mashcodes!
September 29th, 2007 — cool
Rsizr is a new Flash based photo editing site that works quickly and smoothly without even so much as a sign up. It also uses “seam carving”, a new image resizing algorithm that divides a photo into slices and removes uninteresting slices while keeping the highly detailed parts intact. Conversely, it can enlarge images by inserting slices that match the color and texture of the surrounding area. The method was pioneered by by Shai Avidan and Ariel Shamir, as shown in the video below.
Rsizr brings this technique to Flash-based editors: it can handle all of your .GIF, .JPG, and .PNG images with no problems.
Here’s a quick example: the first image below is extremely wide with interesting structures in the middle and at both ends. Ordinarily, resizing that image would mean the huge spaces are resized relative to the structures, which become “squished”. However, here you can hit the “preserve” button and turn those areas green to keep them. You can also select sections to remove. Then, when you resize, the interesting parts remain intact while the uninteresting parts are removed in a way that no one will notice. Other images, pulled from the Rsizr gallery, show how this can be used to completely remove objects from a picture.
We found the tools a little unintuitive to start: some kind of demo video for the Resizr tool itself (or a more detailed FAQ) would be appreciated.
Recommended: MySpace MP3 Player at Mashcodes!
September 29th, 2007 — iPhone
Only three days after Apple killed it, the JesusPhone walks again, but it doesn’t talk again: By downgrading your firmware from 1.1.1 to 1.0.2 using the method below, all iPhones can get use of third party apps, but If you have an unlocked iPhone, there’s still no way to dial. [UPDATED 09/30 1:19AM EDT: Check our demo video.]
• Make sure you have a copy of the 1.0.2 firmware
iPhone1,1_1.0.2_1C28_Restore.ipsw
stored in:
youruser/library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates
• Reboot iPhone holding the top button (power) and the home buttons.
• Release the top button 10 seconds after that, right after the screen goes dark. But keep the home (bottom) pressed for a while.
• The iPhone screen will appear to be off. Now start iTunes manually.
• iTunes will tell you it has found an iPhone in "restore mode."
• Press option key and then click the restore button.
• Select the 1.0.2 firmware .ipsw file from here:
youruser/library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates
• The phone will restart and there will be an error out at the end. Don't worry. It was bound to happen (if the iPhone returns to Restore Mode instead of Activation Mode, then you may have to restore the 1.1.1 firmware, wipe all information in the iPhone and then repeat from above. But first, try to restart the iPhone.)
• Shutdown iTunes.
• Launch the latest iNDpendence (Mac-only for now.)
• Activate the phone using a expanded 1.0.2 file (to do that, make a copy of the 1.0.2 ipsw file, then select "Open with…" from the Finder's action menu and use BOMArchiveHelper.app (it will appear in the menu.) The ipsw are really .zip files.
• It will flash all sorts of errors, but don't worry.
• Activate the phone.
• It will show the SIM error but now the iPhone will work again with your Wi-Fi and your apps.
No, the unlock won’t work and you won’t be able to call, but all the rest will work again. [Hacint0sh]
September 29th, 2007 — web20
2-Column website templates are easily the most popular, as well as the most common free templates available. Here are more than 80 of the best.
You may also want to check out the following: 40+ Free One-Column Website Templates, 50 More Beautiful Blogger Templates, 20 Wordpress 4-Column Themes (more…)
Recommended: Hi5 Layouts at Mashcodes!
September 28th, 2007 — web20
There only seem to be two types of people in the world when it comes to Java, The Lovers and The Haters, but there is no denying that Java is here to stay. We’ve got a toolbox of 20+ tools and tutorials to help out Java coders of all skill levels.
Related: 20+ Flash Tools, 20+ PHP Tools, 20+ AJAX Tools (more…)
Recommended: Hi5 Layouts at Mashcodes!
September 28th, 2007 — web20
Flash, if implemented correctly, can be a real benefit to your site, but if executed badly, you could lose visitors pretty quickly. We’ve gathered 20+ tools to help you make the best use of this powerful tool. Feel free to add more resources in the comments.
Related: 20+ Tools For Working With AJAX (more…)
Recommended: Hi5 Layouts at Mashcodes!
September 28th, 2007 — mac
| via: 123Macmini.com (drop this source) |
|
 |
|
 don’t show items like this
|
September 28th, 2007 — gear
That 20-inch Dell SP2008WFP LCD monitor we told you about has finally launched, complete with the 1680×1050 resolution, 2ms response speed, and a 2000:1 contrast ratio. The best part, besides the great display itself, is the built-in 2.0-megapixel webcam, which makes it pretty unnecessary to purchase another webcam. Unless of course you’re not happy with this current webcam a couple years down the line, in which case go right ahead. And instead of the $400 we guessed, this retails for just $289. Not bad for a 20-inch with these specs. [Dell via Laptop Logic]
September 28th, 2007 — ajax, web20
AJAX may be an overused buzzword, but it also has some incredibly cool uses within your websites. We’ve rounded up the best AJAX tools for your perusal - free feel to add more suggestions in the comments. (more…)
Recommended: MySpace News - MySpace Launching News Site
September 27th, 2007 — gear
Are you sneaky enough for the SIM Card Spy Gear Remote Listening Device? Just take your SIM card out of your cellphone and stick it in this mysterious black box that’s about the size of a bar of soap. Hide the $85 device in an inconspicuous location wherever you want to do your listening, and then when you call your cellphone number from another phone, you suddenly have ears in exactly the right places. Please, use this for amusement only, you busybody. [Brando, via OhGizmo]
