FREE Zonet ZRC2011 USB 2.0 Starter Kit

Newegg is offering the Zonet ZRC2011 USB 2.0 Starter Kit for FREE after mail-in rebate.



[via Techbargains]

Tags: zonet, shopping, free

Firefox tip: Find as you type in links

Another tip for the keyboard power-user inside you, if you are using Firefox that is (if not, why aren't you?). I love the find as you type feature in Firefox. No muss, no fuss search at your fingertips. But did you also know that you can limit the find as you type searches to links within the page? If you didn't, then prepare to be enlightened.

Simply hit the ' (apostrophe) key before you begin typing the name of the link you are searching for and be dazzled. Try it now - hit the ' key and then type Tecnirvana on this page.

Bonus: Press the Enter key to open the link.

Bonus 2: Press F3 to find the next link (works on regular text too).

Tecnirvana
Tecnirvana
Tecnirvana
Tecnirvana
Tecnirvana
Tecnirvana

Tags: firefox

Firefox tip: Open URLs in a new tab without creating a new tab

Firefox 2 is out and my trustworthy Tab Mix Plus extension is no longer compatible. One of the features from Tab Mix Plus that I miss on a daily basis is its ability to open the URLs I type into the address bar in a tab by default. Ever since I have upgraded to Firefox 2, I have had to remember to create a new tab using the shortcut (Ctrl + T) or by clicking on the new tab toolbar icon when I want to browse to a new page. Every time I forgot to do this, the new page would open by overwriting my current tab. This got really annoying really quick.

I also upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 around the same time. Internet Explorer gives you some really good tips about working with tabs when you open a new (blank) tab. One of these tips educated me to using Alt+Enter from the address to open the page in a new tab. I was looking for something like this in Firefox, so, just out of curiosity, I decided to give it a try. Voila! A new tab opened without the muss and fuss of creating a new tab beforehand.

Bonus: Alt+Enter will also open results from the search bar in a new tab.

Tab Mix Plus - where art thou?



Tags: firefox

FREE Airnet Wireless Products

Newegg has Airnet AWR014G8 108 Mbps wireless router with 4-port switch, 802.11g wireless USB adapter, and 802.11g wireless PCMCIA card for FREE after mail in rebates.



[via Techbargains]

Tags: airnet, shopping, free

Publishing to Blogger beta using Google Docs & Spreadsheets

Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a fine tool for composing documents online. The advantages of using Google Docs & Spreadsheets is conversation for another day, but I will tell you this - how you can compose and publish your blog posts from Google Docs & Spreadsheets to Blogger beta. So the obvious question is why would you want to compose your posts in GD&S rather than using the built-in editor provided by Blogger beta?

• Auto save - You will not lose your post if you inadvertently close the tab/browser. GD&S constantly auto saves your document at regular intervals.
  
• Spell checking - The Blogger beta post editor provides no means to spell check your posts.
• More control - GD&S provides advanced options when inserting rich elements like images, links, and tables into your posts.
  
• Interface - The editing interface of GD&S is more akin to a full featured document editor.

Although GD&S does not support publishing to Blogger beta directly, I have successfully been able to configure GD&S to publish to Blogger beta. GD&S help center provides documentation on how to publish your documents on any blog, but these will generally not work for Blogger beta. To publish to Blogger beta using GD&S:

1. Click on "Settings" in the upper right corner of your GD&S home page.
2. In the "Documents" tab, select "edit info" in the "Blog settings" section.
3. In the "Blog Site Settings" dialog,
   1. Choose My own server / custom
   2. API: Blogger API
   3. URL: http://beta.blogger.com/api
   4. Enter your user name and password
   5. (Optional) Enter your Blog ID/Title
      1. If you host multiple blogs on Blogger beta, I strongly recommend entering the Blog ID/Title to ensure that your posts are published to the desired blog.
   6. Select any desired options

You are done!

Full Disclosure: Tecnirvana runs on Blogger beta. This post was published using Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

Update: I have discovered that publishing from GD&S does not provide a title to your post. This means that you will not get a permalink to your post. I have edited this post in Blogger beta editor to give it a title.

Tags: google, google docs, blogger beta

Unite against Protect DVD-Video

The Hollywood movie industry needs to wisen up. While I am for the protecting the rights of creators from unfair use, this is taking it a bit far. Protect DVD-Video is a DVD copy protection technology like Macrovision that prevents a DVD from being played on a Windows PC. The technology is used to create a non-standard Universal Disc Format (UDF) file system on the DVD such that the IFO file, used to store chapter, subtitles and track information, will appear to the PC as zero-length file.

ZDNET says,

The upshot of this is that if you have a DVD disc protected by Protect DVD-Video and you try to play the disc in a PC-based system using, say, Windows Media Player, the process will fail. Now, lets be clear here, we are taking about a genuine, legitimate DVD disc not working in a PC, not a pirated disc or a download via a torrent. Protect DVD-Video protects a DVD by basically making it un-playable in a DVD drive that's in a Windows-based PC (I've no information on whether this also locks out Linux users - I would imagine that it does).

So, if you recently bought yourself an expensive Media Center PC rig or are using your PC to watch DVDs (on, say, a flight), you are fresh out of luck. Even though the protection mechanism has been circumvented by Slysoft in their AnyDVD software, this is reflection of the hunger for profit by the suits in the movie business. As usual, a technology like this ends up hurting the paying consumer more than anyone else. I call all movie-goers to unite and boycott DVD purchases till these people get their heads out of the sand.

[via ZDNET]

Tags: dvd, protectdisc, macrovision

FREE Maruson SUG-B602 6 Outlet Surge Protector

SuperGoodDeal has Maruson SUG-B602 6 outlet surge protector for FREE after $13.99 mail-in-rebate. Use coupon code FREECDBAG at checkout to get a free CD wallet.



[via deals2buy]

Tags: maruson, shopping, free