In this age of convergence, where no one gadget does just a single task, it is often intriguing to find devices that disobey this phenomenon. Tempo Tags is one such example. It is for people who don’t really like to wear a wrist watch and well, who don’t even have a mobile phone. But even if you don’t fit in this criteria, you could actually find a use for it, could…

Tempo Tags are small chip sized clocks with a clip that you can tug around your clothes, baggage or just keep in a pocket. These tiny clips are small, made of stainless steel and are powered by replaceable watch batteries.

Vessel Inc, the company that makes these, doesn’t want to sell you one of these, but rather they stress that you’ll need many.

It’s about time. When you’re no longer tied to your wrist watch, you’ll probably want a little glimpse of time everywhere else… one for your bag, one for your coat, one for your friend that’s always late.

In $18, you’ll get a pair of two Tempo Time Tags; one with a clip on the right and the other with a clip on the left. There’s also a similar Tempo Thermo Tag that tells the temperature, but it’s not available yet.

Nevertheless, get it if you want, it’s just a matter of time.

Tempo Tags [Thanks to Oh Gizmo for telling us about them!]

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Firefox has a lot of configuration settings to tweak and mod. Though, ‘about:config’ lands you to this screen first.

about-config

When was the last time you planned on changing some settings on your Firefox and got scared away by this screen?

Well, Firefox is a totally customizable browser and these options are there for a reason. The build available for download has many settings set to a basic level for all system types, but if your hardware can take it, I recommend tweaking Firefox.

about-config-settings

However, Firefox tweaks and settings found on the ‘about:config’ make little or no-sense to first time visitors to the page unless of course, you are really smart.

Configuration Mania is a Firefox add-on to make things easy.

configuration-mania

Configuration Mania allows us to change settings in an organized manner. The different settings from ‘about:config’ have been divided into five easy sections namely: Browser, Security, Network, UI and Debug. Each section has sub sections and drop-down menus to make almost all the ‘about:config’ settings self-explanatory.

Techie Buzz Verdict

The add-on makes configuring Firefox much easier and a lot more comprehensive than before. It does not override any ‘about:config’ behavior which is still completely accessible. With a wide range of settings to play around with, the add-on will let Firefox beginners tweak Firefox easily and in an enhanced way. This add-on will also enlighten the user about the changes being made to the browser, unlike changing settings with ‘about:config. Although, all those tutorials giving out ways to speed up Firefox will not be completely applicable through the add-on, it will always be possible through ‘about:config’.

Techie Buzz Rating : 4.5/5 ( Excellent )

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The Mozilla blog recently announced the release of the Jetpack Gallery. Add-on developers can now host and promote their add-ons at the Jetpack gallery. On the other hand, add-on users can easily browse through the add-ons in development and can use those add-ons, right from the Jetpack gallery.

Jetpack-Gallery

According to the Jetpack website, :

The Jetpack Gallery is a community for developers and add-on users: Users get innovative add-ons that add functionality to Firefox, while developers receive valuable feedback and visibility in the Jetpack community.

The Jetpak gallery features a properly customized and organized add-on gallery where add-ons are tagged and categorized by author, reviews, popularity and alike. Also, Jetpack featured add-ons will install without a browser restart.

The site includes a Jetpack search and sections like popular tags ratings and bar indicators, top downloads, top contributors and similar ones. A section at the end offers developers an easy way to upload their creations as well. Mozilla Jetpack has made Firefox add-on development easier. The launch of the Jetpack Gallery narrows the bridge between the Jetpack developers and add-on users.

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If you have used Firefox the Firefox 3.6 beta, you have probably noticed that Mozilla has introduced support for Windows 7 taskbar thumbnails. Firefox 3.6 allows you to directly select a tab from the taskbar. This is similar to how Internet Explorer 8 behaves in Windows 7. Some people love this behaviour while others find it annoying. I happen to belong to the latter group. I am a heavy multi-tasker and often have dozens of open tabs organised into multiple windows. Taskbar tab previews doesn’t make any distinction between tabs from different windows and is a major productivity bump.

If you find taskbar tab previews irritating, here is a quick way to get rid of them.

• Type about:config in the awesome bar (address bar). Ignore the caution message and proceed.
• Type browser.taskbar.previews.enable in the filter bar.



• Now, you will be displayed a single entry whose current value is True. Double click on the entry to change its value to False.

That’s it. Firefox should instantly stop displaying tab previews in the taskbar.

via Tweaking With Vishal

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ScreenFix.net is a handy web-resource which helps computer users get the most out of their monitors. It not only allows you to diagnose common problems but also suggests optimal settings and provides quick fixes.

ScreenFix consists of four checkers (diagnostic tools) and two fixers (repair tools). They are as follows:

• TN Monitor Check: Many of the present day monitors utilize TN (Twisted Nematic) panels as they are inexpensive. However, TN panels have a significant disadvantage. Their color reproduction isn’t consistent and depends on the viewing angle. TN Monitor Check is a quick test to determine whether your monitor uses TN Technology.
• Gamma Checker: Gamma settings affect an object’s perceived brightness and contrast. Correctly configuring your monitor’s gamma settings is essential if you are playing a game with dark environments. Gamma Checker assists you in calibrating your monitor’s Gamma level.
• Phasing Checker: Incorrect clock/phase settings can lead to blurry and shimmering images. Phasing Checker helps you in figuring out whether your phase settings are incorrect.
• Brightness Checker: The importance of having correct brightness settings cannot be over emphasized. It affects color reproduction and hence the quality of the displayed image. Brightness Checker helps you in calibrating your monitor’s brightness settings.
• Flicker Fixer: Just as the name suggests, the Flicker Fixer attempts to solve flickering problems.
• Dead Pixel Fixer: Dead Pixels are something nobody wants. Yet, they are one of the most common and annoying problems with LCD Monitors. There is no guaranteed way to fix dead pixels, but ScreenFix claims that their solution works in more than 50% of the cases.

Techie Buzz Verdict

ScreenFix is an extremely nifty website. It brings together a set of particularly useful tools and presents them in a simple yet efficient manner. Although it can’t compete with professional display calibration utilities, it is exceedingly useful in its own way.

Techie Buzz Rating: 4/5 (Excellent)

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Linux Mint is the best Linux distro for those switching over from Windows. It is easy to use and has extra GUIs for common tasks.

Linux_Helena

Mint is a Ubuntu based distro and has a release cycle in sync with that of Ubuntu. Linux Mint 8 – Helena, which is based on Ubuntu 9.10 made an RC release. This latest version of Mint has many new features.

• With Linux Mint 8, we can create our own custom places like Music, Documents, E-Books, Downloads etc. The places already present include Computer, Trash, Network, Home Folder and alike.
• Package updates are easier as there is no need to manually refresh the package database. Whenever new packages are available, the user is notified through the Update Manager.
• The software manager features a multiple selection whereby we can select multiple applications for addition or removal.
• The Update manager uses Synaptics to refresh the information and shows detailed progress information.
• The addition to the distribution software list includes an Upload Manager. This Upload Manager sits in the system tray and supports multiple uploads and drag-drop style uploads.
• ‘Gnome-Do’, which was initially added to make people aware of the project, is not available as one of the per-installed software. Though, it can be added back into the distro.

Mint is a user friendly Linux and is perfect for those who are new to GUI based Linux. It keeps getting better with each release and has gained a wide attention from Linux users. It has moved up Distrowatch rankings fast and is currently ranked #3 in the world.

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Google is a company which keeps redefining speed. Speed of information flow, speed of browsing, speed in its innovation, Google is truly all about speed. With this obsession, Google finally has thoughts of a faster Internet.

SPDY, as defined by the Chromium blog:

SPDY is at its core an application-layer protocol for transporting content over the web. It is designed specifically for minimizing latency through features such as multiplexed streams, request prioritization and HTTP header compression.

The Chomium blog says it came up with new ideas of web-browser and server interactions, in an attempt to speed up the browsing experience. The SPDY protocol delivers faster than HTTP and delivered 55% faster under test conditions at the labs. SPDY developers tested this by downloading the top 25 websites.

SPDY has been developed as a Google Code project and is Open Source. Google expects the Open Source community to respond to the project. HTTP was widely implemented around 10 years back. SPDY, built today will understand the need of the present day websites, which are significantly different from those that existed a decade ago.

Detailed technical information can be seen at this white-paper release.

Significant improvements in SPDY include,

• A slash of 50% in page load time.
• Communication from server end if the client needs resources and server can provide them.
• Use of SSL as the underlying protocol, providing a secure web.
• Use of header compression.
• Allowing concurrent HTTP requests in a single TCP session.

Apart from this, SPDY also aims at making the switchover from HTTP to SPDY hassle free for web-authors. This will save them from making any significant changes in their websites for using SPDY.

SPDY, is just another of the innovations to create a faster web. There are other projects running parallel to SPDY and all aim at speeding up the Internet. Though, SPDY raises some concerns about making web-browsing more resource hungry for the client end. The client end will be forced to use SSL, which is not required more often. Google also claims that SPDY is not a HTTP replacement. Did they mean from the technical aspect or from an implementation point of view?

With the release of Google Chrome OS due this week, Chrome browser getting faster each day and now a Google application layer protocol for web-servers from which my favorite websites might be served, Google search being a primary resource for my research, Gmail being my primary mail client, I see Google taking up the whole of my computer usage. Should I be worried?

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A few weeks ago, a new application, called “Connectify”, appeared on the net. It made use of an unfinished feature in Win7 to make it easy to create personal wifi connections that can be shared with others. Please note that this application only works in Windows 7.

Recently, Connectify has been updated so that you can name the wifi connection that you create. Here’s how it works.

● Download the Connectify client
● Install it
● Look for the Connectify icon in the system tray

● Click on the icon once to open it

● Set the wifi name
● Set a password of 8 characters or more
● Select either Local or Wireless in the pull down
● Click the “Start Hotspot” button

As you can see, I’ve created a wifi hotspot named “Sky.net”. In this case, I’m fairly sure it won’t become super-intelligent and try to destroy humanity. (see wikipedia about skynet)

Once it’s live, anyone with your password can connect to your hotspot. Connectify even identifies PCs and devices that are connected to it. You can see them in the window labeled “Connected Clients”. If you double click on a connected client, you can change the little icon next to it to make it easier to identify at a glance.

Techie-Buzz Verdict: If you would like to share your internet connection wirelessly in your home or on the road, you could not ask for an easier way to do it. I have no problems giving this app a hearty recommendation.

Techie-Buzz Rating: 4/5

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We have previously mentioned different applications to share your media on Twitter. For example we told you about chir.ps to share your audio files on Twitter and mentioned a number of apps to share music and videos. However, the exercise of going to a different application for different type of media can be really time-consuming. What is you could do all this using a single app?

Tvider is a Twitter application that lets you share pictures, audio and video files on Twitter. Simply sign in using your Twitter credentials and browse to the file that you want to share.After that, just type a message and click update to attach the file to your status update.

The best part is that you can record a video directly from your webcam and share on Twitter. The maximum file size is 10 MB.You can always see your tweet history with Tvider and browse through a number of public tweets.

Techie-Buzz Verdict:

Tvider is a great app since it eliminates the hassle to deal with 2 or 3 different apps for your different media needs. The webcam feature allows you to record something quickly and share it on Twitter without the need of going to a 3rd party software.

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A lot of 3D, high-definition graphic games are now available on Linux. Urban Terror, Sauerbraten, Alien Arena, America’s Army, Tremulous, TORCS, etc. are just some of them.

Most of these games are either action or racing games.Broadly put, all the better 3D games available in Linux have been in the “Adventure/Action” category.

Gamerizon has released the first of it’s kind Puzzle Game for Linux called Quantz. Quantz is an addictive Puzzle Game with a slight difference. It runs on the venerated OpenGL engine. As a result, it has stupendous graphics and 3D action , provided of course, that you are running it on a machine with a good graphics cards and enough RAM.

The Gamerizon website currently has only the trial version free for Windows and MAC, while the full version is available for $13.

For all Linux users, Gamerizon has made the Beta version of the game available for free. They have posted an announcement about the same on the Reddit website, from where you will be able to download either the .DEB package for Debian-based Distros like Ubuntu, Kubuntu , etc., or the .RPM package for Distributions like Fedora, CentOS, Mandriva, etc., or the tarball (.TAR.GZ image) containing a Distribution-agnostic binary version.

Quantz has amazing 3D graphics and the complete feel of the game is very smooth, thanks to the OpenGL backend.

The game itself reminds you of  “Same GNOME“, a free Game which is usually present by default in most Linux Distributions. However, Quantz is much more challenging, fun and addictive to play.

It can be played in three modes. In the “Action” mode, there is a lot of bubbles “popping” and catching fire. However, the word “action” is a misnomer as there is no blood-bath and for any respectable gamer, that’s no action! The second mode is “Strategy” in which the user has to spend time thinking as well as depend on his dexterity for “popping” the bubbles. Finally the “Puzzle” mode has stages in which bubbles are “popped” in increasing levels of difficulty.

People who might not be into games big time but enjoy challenging puzzle games, should definitely give this one a go. Added to this, the whole look and feel of an OpenGL based 3D games, makes Quantz a pleasurable experience altogether.

Just one warning : This game can get addictive, especially if you have been a fan of  “Same GNOME” !

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