posted Sep 20, 2009 1:42 PM by Joseph Schwenker
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updated Sep 20, 2009 2:30 PM
]
I recently acquired a Peek Pronto, after hearing about it from Ping.fm's website. The Peek Pronto is an email-and-texting-only smartphone, with unlimited data for $20 a month. I decided to give the little bugger a try, so here is its review! Performance The Peek Pronto starts up in about twelve seconds, and shuts down in about eight. It receives emails via push, so you can expect your email to arrive on the device faster than you can snap your fingers. There is a noticeable delay when scrolling through menus and lists, and navigating between screens. This delay is only annoying when scrolling through large lists. The compose screen opens in about one second, as all of the other screens do, except for Contacts and Peek manager which open in about two and three seconds, respectively. Emails are sent out very quickly, and there is no delay when typing on the Peek's keyboard. Compatibility The Peek Pronto can have up to five email accounts, and supports most popular email providers, such as AOL, Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, SBC, Comcast, MobileMe, EarthLink, Cox, Verizon Wireless, Exchange, and more! The Peek Pronto also supports IMAP, but does not support two-way syncing. The Peek supports PDFs, pictures, and DOCs as attachments. The Peek Pronto is currently only available with T-Mobile at this time. Texting is also supported to most popular cell phone networks Features The Peek Pronto is a fairly simplistic device, but offers a few features. There is no main menu on a Peek Pronto. Your inbox IS the main menu. You can access all of the different folders and functions on your Peek Pronto by clicking in the scroll wheel. The Peek Pronto comes with three themes, five sound notifications, vibrations, and three different volume levels. It also comes with three different energy modes, an airplane mode, a four-digit security lock, the ability to have all fonts displayed as bold, device search, contact management, support for DOCs, PDFs, and pictures, and up to five email accounts. The Peek Pronto also comes with a full QWERTY keyboard. You can navigate your Peek Pronto by either using the scroll wheel and back button, or by using keyboard shortcuts (c to compose, etc). The Peek Pronto also has a removable battery, so that you can replace it if it goes bad, or if it is out of juice. You can charge the battery by plugging the included charger into the charger slot on the side of the Peek Pronto. Simplicity The Peek Pronto was designed to keep things simple. It is very simplistic, and I have had almost no trouble in using it. Activation is also simple. User Interface
The Peek Pronto's interface is unique, and it very simple to navigate. You can choose from three different themes for the Peek Pronto: Slate, Tangerine, and Spring. The entire interface is navigated through a scroll wheel and back button, and the Peek Pronto's full QWERTY keyboard. Pricing The Peek Pronto is available for $60, but you can have its price discounted by using various promotional codes. The Peek Classic, the predecessor of the Peek Pronto, is available for $20, and has no hardware difference from the Peek Pronto. The Peek Classic does not have as many features as the Peek Pronto has, and can be upgraded to the Pronto firmware for $40. The Peek monthly service fee is $20, its quarterly is $16.66, and its yearly is $15, which gives you unlimited data and texting, although texting is only available on the Peek Pronto, and uses email SMS gateways. There are no activation or hidden fees. Power and Battery Life The Peek Pronto is powered by a non-standard removable battery that is replaceable. The Peek Pronto's battery life usually lasts a day or two. Durability The Peek Pronto has an aluminum backing, with a rubber keyboard and a glossy screen. The Peek Pronto's screen is very durable to scratches, and its keyboard is very durable. The Peek Pronto's aluminum backing has a textured surface so that you can easily grip the Peek Pronto without dropping it. Legal The Peek Pronto is completely free of contracts, so you do not have to make any commitments. However, after the first month of the quarterly or yearly fee, you will not be able to cancel and get any of the money spent back. Summary Overall, the Peek Pronto is a great device. Free of contracts, low monthly fees, no activations fees, and very affordable, is the closest thing to my perfect smartphone that I can find out on the market. However, the Peek Pronto IS NOT for major techies and geeks like myself. Geeks and techies will find the device to be incomplete, but that is what this device was designed as; a simple device for the average businessman or woman that wants to check their mail. This device is also not for people who do not have good T-Mobile coverage in their area. You will not be charged roaming fees by T-Mobile if there is little coverage in your area, but T-Mobile will be by AT&T. If you are an average user who really wants to be able to get their email on the go, then this device is for you. Go for it! Their service is great, and you can always call Peek Support, or ask on the Peek forums if you need help. Happy Peeking! |
posted Aug 10, 2009 4:29 PM by Joseph Schwenker
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updated Aug 13, 2009 1:01 PM
]
After reading an article telling how Apple had attempted to sue an open source project for making an application to let iPods sync with Linux, I decided to switch to a different music player, especially seeing as iTunes is not made for Linux, which I will be switching to shortly. I soon discovered a music player called Songbird, which is based off of a web browser: Firefox.
Performance
Songbird opens and is ready to run in about seven seconds. When open, it leaves a large memory footprint, about 50,000 KB. Of course, this will vary from system to system. Songbird is not a small, compact music player. When open, Sonbird is very responsive.
Compatibility
Songbird is available on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. It is also available, though unofficially, on OpenSolaris and other platforms. Through third party plugins, Songbird can work with MP3 players using MTP, protected WMA files, and iPods. If you use iTunes, Songbird will automatically import all of your songs from it, and even preserve ratings.
Features
Songbird offers very few features out of the box, but is very expandable through third party plugins. Aside from working with iPods and protected WMA files, Songbird can automatically get lyrics for your songs from the internet, let you scroll through all of your album artwork in an interface similar to Apple's Coverflow, and a lot more. Go to http://addons.songbirdnest.com/ to download more add-ons for Songbird. Another feature of Songbird's that made me go "WTF?!" at first was the fact that you can browse the internet through Songbird. This is because Songbird is based off of Firefox. This feature comes in very handy when installing add-ons. This also makes Songbird perfect the the Firefox-using music addict.
Simplicity
Songbird is fairly straightforward. If you have used iTunes before, Songbird will be a snap.
User Interface
Songbird's interface is fairly clean and unobtrusive. It is a neutral gray and white. In fact, the whole interface is black and white. Of course, if you do not like Songbird's neutral interface, you can always download custom skins and add-ons. You can even put add-ons into Songbird's built-in sidebars.
Legal
Songbird is open source, thus allowing you to use it for free. I have not been able to find Songbird's license agreement online.
Summary
Overall, Songbird is a great music player. However, if you are looking for a compact, simple music player, you should go somewhere else. Songbird is constantly being improved on by the community, and is not closed source. Songbird has made the switch from iTunes very easy.
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posted Jul 25, 2009 11:28 AM by Joseph Schwenker
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updated Aug 4, 2009 10:15 AM
]
After using Linux several times, I decided to download Pidgin, Linux's instant messaging client, for windows.
Performance
Pidgin opens very quickly. According to our tests, it opens in about five seconds. Once open, Pidgin performs without any lag, and is very responsive. Pidgin leaves a small memory an CPU footprint. In our tests, it only uses about twenty Megabytes of memory.
Compatibility
Pidgin is supported on Windows, CentOS / RHEL, Fedora Core, Mac OS X (Pidgin recommends using Adium for a more native experience), and Ubuntu. You can also compile the source code of Pidgin yourself. Pidgin also supports many instant messaging clients, such as AIM, ICQ, Google Talk, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, MySpace IM, and many more. Pidgin is also supported in many languages. You can find a full list of chat networks and languages supported here.
Features
Out of the box, Pidgin does not offer very many features except for support for many chat clients and languages, but is highly configurable, and is also expandable through third party plugins.
Simplicity
Although I had some trouble downloading Pidgin, once downloaded, it is very easy to use and install. You will, however, need to know things like ports and chat servers to configure some chat clients.
User Interface
Pidgin has a very simple, plain, and unobtrusive interface. You can customize Pidgin's interface through third party skins.
Legal
Unfortunately, I cannot find an online version of Pidgin's EULA, however, Pidgin is free to use for personal use.
Summary
Overall, Pidgin is a great piece of software for people who have friends on a lot of different chat networks. Unfortunately, audio and video chat are not yet supported, but you can expect them in the... er... FAR future.
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posted Jul 24, 2009 9:37 AM by Joseph Schwenker
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updated Jul 25, 2009 11:34 AM
]
A few days ago, I was looking around the web for a free calendar application. And there, I found it. Mozilla Sunbird. Yet another product from Mozilla.
Performance
Mozilla Sunbird starts up quickly, and is fully responsive once open. There is a slight delay when releasing the mouse button after dragging out the time for an event.
Compatibility
Mozilla Sunbird works on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux x86-64, Solaris (Intel and SPARC), and OS/2. Mozilla Sunbird supports several remote calendar formats, and is capable of syncing with Google Calendar, and two-way syncing with Google Calendar through an add-on.
Features
Out of the box, Mozilla Sunbird does not offer a wide variety of features. However, it does offer graphical event adding, support for multiple color coded calendars, tasks, Day, Week, Multiweek, and Month views, full calendar searching, and much more. You can also install plugins for it using the same way that you install plugins for Firefox and Thunderbird. It is also highly configurable.
Simplicity
Although syncing Mozilla Sunbird with remote calendars can be difficult, adding events to your calendar is fairly easy. You can find instructions for syncing Sunbird with your online calendar at online calendar provider's website. If you use Google Calendar, get the add-on, Provider for Google Calendar, for two way syncing.
User Interface
Mozilla Sunbird provides a clean, unobtrusive interface that is very customizable, and is also easy to use. Unfortunately, you cannot minimize Mozilla Sunbird to the system tray right out of the box. You will have to install an add-on, MinimizeToTray, from the Mozilla website.
Legal
Summary
Overall, Mozilla Sunbird is a must-have if you do not have any other calendar application. If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, and use Google Calendar, you will not need MobileMe to sync your calendar. Although Mozilla Sunbird is fairly new, we can all expect a lot from it in the future. |
posted Jul 3, 2009 11:20 AM by Unknown user
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updated Aug 13, 2009 12:55 PM by Joseph Schwenker
]
I used to stay up late at night, drawing layouts for Geek Reviews in my notebook. "If only I could do this on my computer!" I would always say. Sure, you could use Photoshop, but you always have to change tools, and what if you want others to input their ideas into yours? In real life, I didn't need to switch tools when drawing my website layouts. Shouldn't it be that way in the virtual world as well? Well, it is! With a free service called Dabbleboard, you can quickly illustrate ideas, collaborate with others, video and text chat, and save your ideas. So, just how good is Dabbleboard? Let's find out. Performance Dabbleboard loads and performs very quickly, and does not leave much of a footprint on your CPU. Compatibility Dabbleboard is a web application, and will work with any modern browser with Flash and Java. Features Dabbleboard is revolutionary in that it does not require you to change tools all the time. For instance, if you want to draw a circle, just draw a circle with your mouse, and it will automatically be converted to a circle. Dabbleboard also offers collaboration with others, and includes video chat that will appear on the side of the Dabbleboard window. If you want to save a graphic, just drag it to the sidebar on the left. You can also upgrade Dabbleboard, an pay a monthly fee for it. This is ideal for buisinesses, as upgrading Dabbleboard will make it encrypted. Simplicity Dabbleboard is very simple, and allows the user to jump right in and start working. Dabbleboard is designed to be simple to use, and you do not even need an account to use it! User Interface Dabbleboard's user interface is very clean and simple. You have a small toolbar at the top, a sidebar on the left, and a blank canvas takes up the majority of the page. If you decide to video chat, a small sidebar on the right will appear. Legal Dabbleboard's Terms of Use can be found here, and their Privacy Policy here.
Summary
Overall, Dabbleboard is a great service for many things. Some people use it for maps, website layouts, and charts, and some people just like to play around with it. Dabbleboard succeeeds at providing an easy to use drawing canvas, and also succeeds at making it available for people in all environments, whether work or personal. |
posted Jun 30, 2009 9:25 AM by Unknown user
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updated Aug 13, 2009 12:55 PM by Joseph Schwenker
]
"\~/ Half full glass" says AOL as you wait for AOL Mail to load. "Loading fakeemailaddress@gmail.com" says Gmail as you wait for your mail to load. Let's face it: you should not have to wait for your email client to open every time you need to read an email message. You need a desktop mail client! Windows comes with Outlook Express, Mac OS X comes with Mail, and Ubuntu comes with Eudora. Couldn't we just use the same desktop mail client on all of our operating systems?! The answer is yes. Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open-source, cross platform desktop mail client. If you already use Mozilla Firefox or Mozilla Prism, you know yourself how good Mozilla's products are. So, is Thunderbird an exception to this? Read on to find out!
Performance
Thunderbird performs very well on all platforms. It opens quickly, does not leave much of a memory footprint on your computer, and works very quickly as you use it.
Compatibility
Thunderbird is supported on all major operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It also works will most major mail clients. It works with POP and Imap for mail, but also supports RSS feeds, newsgroups, and even has a special option for Gmail accounts that will set your Gmail account up automatically. If you do not use Gmail for your email provider, just click on email account, and you will then have to enter the incoming and outgoing servers. This is unfortunate, as the average mail user does not know his or her mail service's incoming and outgoing servers.
Features
Thunderbird by itself offers a lot of customization. You can rearrange the buttons on the toolbar, and the options menu offers endless possibilities of mail configurations. However, the best thing about Thunderbird is its ability to expand. Just like Firefox, you can download plugins and skins from the Mozilla Website. Thunderbird is also open-source, which will lead to future developments for it.
Simplicity
With all of the options and settings to configure in Thunderbird, it may seem confusing at first. However, all of the configuration options are presented in a very user-friendly way. Setting up an email account is very easy if you are using Gmail, but if you use another provider, you will have to have it set to POP or IMAP, and then have the incoming and outgoing servers for it. Once you do, everything else is easy. Once you have an email account set up, everything works really easily. However, unless you want to have to archive two mail messages every time one comes in, you should set up a filter at your email service to archive and mark all incoming mail as read.
User Interface
Out of the box, Thunderbird's interface is good. It does not distract the user from his or her work, is not obtrusive, and blends in with your operating system's interface. If you don't like Thunderbird's interface, you can always download a new theme for it from the Mozilla website!
Legal
Mozilla Thunderbird is open-source, and, as the first line in the software license agreement states: "A SOURCE CODE VERSION OF CERTAIN THUNDERBIRD E-MAIL FUNCTIONALITY THAT YOU MAY USE, MODIFY AND DISTRIBUTE IS AVAILABLE TO YOU FREE-OF-CHARGE FROM WWW.MOZILLA.ORG UNDER THE MOZILLA PUBLIC LICENSE and other open source software licenses."
You can read the software license agreement for Mozilla Thunderbird here.
Summary
Mozilla Thunderbird is a great application, and although it requires a bit of knowledge to use if you do not use Gmail, it provides users of all operating systems with a fast, reliable mail client to use and expand upon. I am sure that we will see more exceptional software from Mozilla in the future!
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posted Jun 7, 2009 10:02 AM by Unknown user
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updated Aug 13, 2009 12:55 PM by Joseph Schwenker
]
You are probably using an online service to store your data. Maybe you used Oosah, MyBloop, Office Live, or some other web application. Why did you upload your files to those services? Maybe it was to back them up, or maybe it was to share them with your friends and access them anywhere in the world. Well, if you used Oosah, you will have noticed that you can no longer access your files stored there, as Oosah has been acquired. So, what if you need to access, share, and use your files from anywhere in the world without uploading them to a third party server? Sure, there are many services that will let you connect to your computer and see your screen through the internet, but they have their disadvantages. So, is there an open source, cross platform service that lets you access, use, and share you files from anywhere, without risking data loss? The answer is yes. Tonido, as it is called, is a relatively new service. You can find Tonido here. So, what is this seemingly amazing service like? Read on as Geek Reviews goes into depth about Tonido.
Performance
Tonido is a pretty fast application, it installs pretty quickly, and runs at a pretty fast rate. When connecting remotely, however, the speed of Tonido will vary depending on your current connection speed. Some applications, like Tonido Jukebox will allow you to change the quality of the data being streamed. You can also change the amount of data being streamed of of your computer so that Tonido doesn't hog all of your bandwidth. For most users, unlimited will be the best option. The applications themselves are very quick, and should not hog any of your resources. Overall, Tonido performs at a fast speed and does not hog a lot of resources.
Compatibility
Tonido is very compatible. It works with all modern web browsers, and the Tonido application is made for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. However, you can still browse your files stored in Tonido remotely from an operating system that Tonido is not made for. Tonido also supports all file formats. Seriously, it does! Although Tonido currently does not have applications to handle all file extensions (doc, docx, txt, avi), you can still download any file from your computer using Tonido, even if it has not been imported into a Tonido application. Overall, Tonido is a fairly compatible application, and we are all hoping that more applications will be developed for Tonido in the future!
Features
Tonido offers a wide variety of features. You can access any file from your computer remotely, as long as your computer it turned on. It is free of any kind of advertising, and has unlimited storage (well, as much as your hard drive can store). Of course, allowing you to access and use your files aren't the only things that Tonido can do. Tonido can also share files with others, and has social networking capabilities. You can send other Tonido users email messages using the Tonido peer to peer network, comment on photo albums, and even use Twitter! The current applications available for Tonido are Jukebox, Photos, Search, Thots, Webshare, and Workspace. These applications do the following:
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Tonido Jukebox: Listen and organize your music wherever you are
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Tonido Photos: Share high-resolution photos easily and securely
- Tonido Search: Search your desktop for any file and download it remotely
- Tonido Thots: Personal journal/blog with Twitter integration
- Tonido Webshare: Share files and photos directly from your desktop
- Tonido Workspace: Personal information manager and group collaboration application
Since Tonido is open source, we can expect more applications to come in the future; Tonido Torrent is already under development! Overall, Tonido offers many features, and can be expanded on freely, making more features imminent.
Simplicity
Tonido is fairly simple. Although it may take a while for you to understand how it works, it is really easy to install and use. The applications inside of it are very easy and fun to use, and if you don't like something, just recode it! It's open-source! Well, that's not so simple. That's programming languages for you! I would say that the hardest part about Tonido is setting up remote access. You need to enable port forwarding for your router, and to do that, you need to have a static IP Address. I found all of the information that I needed on portforward.com. Setting up the IP Address was fairly easy, however, to enable port forwarding, you will need to know your router's password. If you do not have one, the instructions on PortForward will tell you what the default username and password are. Once you are into your routers settings, enable port forwarding for the port 10001 for Tonido. You will also have to uncheck "block anonymous internet requests". After you have done all of that, Tonido will inform you that Tonido Remote Access is working, and you can then access your data from anywhere in the world. Just go to [username].tonidoid.com:10001. You will have to type both your password and your security question. After that, it's smooth sailing! Overall, Tonido is fairly simple, but can be a bit complex at some times. However, once you have configured port forwarding, everything is very simple.
User Interface
Tonido offers an attractive interface. It is not distracting, and is not ugly. Of course, interfaces will vary throughout the various applications that Tonido has and will have.
Legal
Tonido is licensed under the GNU license, and is open source. Meaning that, in the case that Tonido disappears, you can continue to use Tonido, and even develop applications for it. A lot of people think that there has to be a catch, but there is none. The only people who cannot use Tonido legally are people who are not old enough to bind a contract with CodeLathe, or people who are prevented from doing so by law. When you are signing up for Tonido, there will be a link to the Terms and Conditions. Read that, if you like. There are no outrageous terms in the contract.
Summary
Overall, Tonido is a truely amazing application. It works perfectly for where ever you are, and is open source, free, and cross platform. Try it out, so you can see it before everyone else finds out about it (several months later).
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posted May 24, 2009 12:11 PM by Unknown user
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updated Aug 13, 2009 12:55 PM by Joseph Schwenker
]
So, you have a whole bunch of state-of-the-art web applications, but need to run them on your desktop, and not in a web browser? Impossible? No! With Prism, a software from Mozilla, the same company that makes Firefox, the impossible is easy! Let's take a look at Prism now.
Performance Prism performs at a fast speed overall. To install, just drag the downloaded folder to where you want it, and then open prism.exe, or whatever file is relevant to your operating system. Prism opens relatively quickly, usually in two seconds or less. The configuration dialog box also performs quickly, and the web application running in Prism also opens and performs quickly, being based on Firefox. Prism is also very stable.
Compatibility Prism is currently available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Any web application that will run in Mozilla Firefox will run in Mozilla Prism. Features With Prism, you can use your web applications just like normal desktop applications. You can choose to start them with your OS, minimize them to the system tray, display badges on the web application's icon for new messages, and even use Prism with a Firefox plugin.
Simplicity Prism is fairly simple. To install Prism, download the file from the Prism website, and drag the extracted files to where you want them. I have yet to find where the Macintosh and Linux executable files are kept inside the downloaded file. The Prism application itself is very simple. Just enter the website, choose a name and logo, and where you want to put shortcuts for it, and click OK. To delete a web application, just delete the shortcut.
User Interface Prism has a simple interface, providing only what is needed. In the web application running through Prism, there is only a title bar and the web application. Overall, Prism provides a simple user interface. Legal There are no specific legal terms for Mozilla Prism, but Mozilla's legal notices and disclaimers can be found here. Summary Overall, Prism is a good application. Although it requires a bit of knowledge to install, it is a great application. Thanks for reading my article. |
posted May 16, 2009 11:01 AM by Unknown user
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updated Aug 13, 2009 12:56 PM by Joseph Schwenker
]
What are you doing? Seriously? Are you picking your nose, eating a delicious pizza, or listening to a new album? We have all asked this timeless question. So, how can you find out what someone is doing? Simple! Use the web service Twitter. Almost everyone in the world is on Twitter, making it a great way to interact with friends, participate in discussions, and even meet new people! So, let's see how Twitter scores with Geek Reviews. Performance Twitter performs at a very fast speed, updating your tweets almost instantly. Pages load very quickly, as Twitter maintains a certain level of simplicity between pages. Overall, Twitter is a fast web application.
Compatibility Twitter achieves near-universal compatability. Twitter works with almost any browser, although may occassionally encounter minor display problems with some browsers, such as the last letter in "Trending Topics" being cut off. Twitter is also compatible the Macintosh OS, as well as many distributions of Linux. In fact, any web browser that does not browse only text can use Twitter. Twitter is also available in the form of widgets and gadgets. There are Twitter gadgets and widgets for the iPhone, Google, Yahoo, and just about any other widget or gadget application. You can also send tweets from your mobile phone. Most web services (FaceBook, YouTube, etc) support Twitter. You can send a video link as an update to Twitter from YouTube, or use a bookmarklet to send a page to Twitter. Overall, Twitter is very compatible.
Features Twitter offers a wide variety of features. Twitter allows you to connect and communicate with other Twitter users via following them. On your profile, you have three information buttons telling you your number of updates, followers, and following. You can also view and send direct messages to people that you are following, as well as view your favorite tweets, either from you or someone else on Twitter. Overall, communicating with other users on Twitter is fairly easy. Your Twitter home page also is very easy to use, as well as very informative. You can see all of your recent tweets, as well as seeing any updates mentioning you by clicking on @{username}. Viewing direct messages, trending topics, subscribing to your RSS feed, and searching for tweets containing any keywords you type in, are also available for use. Twitter is also very customizable through its settings. You can use Twitter with your phone by simply entering your mobile phone number. Once entered, you can receive SMS's to your phone telling you what you opt to have sent to you, as well as update your twitter account. You can even have it set to send your phone a notification if you haven't updated Twitter in over 24 hours. Of course, if you don't have a mobile phone, you can still receive notifications through your email address. You can receive notifications on direct messages, followers, and things that Twitter is changing about itself. If you want people to know who you are for sure, you can upload a picture to your profile. Your picture can be a maximum of 700 kilobytes, and can be in JPG, GIF, or PNG. You can upload a background as well, that has to be less than 800 kilobytes and in JPG, PNG, or GIF, and is known to be a bit stubborn in letting you upload. Your profile theme and colors are also very customizable. Oh, and did I mention? It is available in both Japanese and English! Overall, Twitter is very rich in features.
Simplicity Twitter is a fairly simple web application. Once on the site, just click the big green button to join. You are only required to enter you full name, username, password, email, and the reCAPTCHA words. Once you have joined, you are not bombarded with additional things to do, you just set up your profile and start updating. In fact, you can start updating without configuring anything! The interface is very simple and easy to use, and you will get the hang of using Twitter right away. You can also click on "help" if you ever need help with anything. Overall, Twitter is a very simple service.
User Interface Twitter's interface is attractive. If you do not like Twitter's Interface, you can always change the colors, background, and other things in your settings. Twitter consists of two columns: one that contains all of your tweets, and one that shows your following, followers, number of updates, picture, etc. It is very simple to navigate Twitter, and you will hardly even be frustrated by its interface. Twitter also utilizes an informal writing style to communicate with the user. For instance: "Sorry, the account you were headed to has been suspended due to strange activity. Mosey along now, nothing to see here. ...or if you're curious as to why an account might be suspended, head over this way for the juicy details." Although some users may become frustrated by the informal writing style used by Twitter and Google Chrome, there is no easy way to disable this. Overall, Twitter has a very simple user interface.
Legal To use Twitter, you must be thirteen years of age or older and agree to the Terms of Service, which can be found here. Some of the terms you must agree to are listed below. Note: some of these terms have been shortened by Geek Reviews.
- You must be 13 years or older to use this site.
- You are responsible for any activity that occurs under your screen name.
- You must not abuse, harass, threaten, impersonate, or intimidate other Twitter users.
- You must not transmit any harmful code.
- You must not use Twitter for any illegal purposes.
- You are responsible for keeping your password safe.
- Twitter reserves the right to modify or terminate the Twitter.com service for any reason, without notice at any time.
- Twitter reserves the right to alter these Terms of use at any time.
- We reserve the right, in accordance with any applicable laws, to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time.
- The Twitter service makes it possible to post images and text hosted on Twitter to outside websites. This use is accepted (and even encouraged!). However, pages on other websites which display data hosted on Twitter.com must provide a link back to Twitter.
- We claim no intellectual property rights over the material you provide to the Twitter service. Your profile and materials uploaded remain yours. You can remove your profile at any time by deleting your account. This will also remove any text and images you have stored in the system.
Overall, the Terms of Service are reasonable.
Summary Overall, Twitter is a great service, and Geek Reviews recommends this service, but only for those that want to make the commitment to update Twitter more than once daily. If you do not have access to a computer daily, and you do not have any other way of updating your Twitter account, then it is not recommended by Geek Reviews that you use Twitter. But if you can update Twitter more than once daily, then use it! Your friends will find it useful, you will find it useful, and everyone you know will find it useful! |
posted Apr 13, 2009 5:09 PM by Unknown user
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updated Aug 13, 2009 12:56 PM by Joseph Schwenker
]
A while ago, Apple released Safari 4 Beta to the public for both Macintosh and Windows. This version added a lot of new things, having to do with the interface, navigation, etc. Take a look! Safari 4 for Windows introduced many new features, listed here:
- Cover Flow bookmarks and history
- Graphic "Top Sites"
- A "wow" intro video
- Tabs on the top of the browser window
- A long awaited "New Tab" button
- A "Page' and "Tools" menu instead of a menu bar
- A Windows UI
- Auto-scrolling
- Faster browser opening times
When I first looked at Safari 4 for Windows, the first word that came out of my mouth was "wow". That was the intro video. Then, I continued to say "wow", then followed by, "Wow, Apple really ripped Google off this time!" Yes. That is the truth. In my opinion, Apple envies Google. iPhoto '09: Faces. Google Picasa Web Albums: Face Recognition, iPhoto '09: Photo Places, Google Picasa Web Albums: Photo Places. Apple put Google Maps into their Maps application. It works beautifully. Do you get my drift? Now this rippoff? Well, although Apple did rip Google off, the interface is still very functional, and has many ideas of its own. The new tab button is something we all wanted, and now Windows users don't have to have the Apple Interface shoved down their throats. Instead, Apple uses the Windows interface. Overall, Apple really made Safari 4 a great browser. The coverflow view is great for looking through history, a bit like SearchMe, the visual search engine. Many users will enjoy the "Top Sites" eyecandy, but it also serves a lot of functionality. Google Chrome doesn't allow you to edit your top sites, while Apple lets you delete them, add them, and move them around, as well as increase or decrease the number of top sites. I also heard that Safari 4 Public Beta was the first browser to pass the Acid3 Test. In order to pass the test, the browser must be able to render a page smoothly and the final rendering has to look like this one. Safari also has a flashy intro video: http://www.apple.com/safari/welcome/, and graphical page and tool menus that replace the menu bar, although the menu bar can also be shown. Browser opening times have improved to be almost as fast as Google Chrome, making the browser a lot less frustrating to use. Auto-scrolling is exactly like in Chromium, with the same scrolling cursor and same scrolling rules. Safari also has its share of problems. For me, the whole browser seems a bit slow and sluggish. Remember, Apple, Windows computers aren't always built with quality in mind. Even though coverflow view works very smoothly in iTunes for me, coverflow view in Safari 4 Beta is a bit more slow than in iTunes. The "Top Sites" graphics also are a bit slow, even on the nVidia GeForce 8800 GT with 512 MB of Graphical Memory and 2 GB of RAM. (Sorry for the computer talk). If Apple wants more people to go with Safari 4, they need to increase performance. Whether it be rebuilding Safari from scratch for Windows, or making a "quality slider", Apple needs to make Safari faster and use less memory and fewer CPU cycles. Another thing would be to put the "Develop" menu into the graphical tools menu. They might also want to make the tabs buttons smalle r, so that you can click anywhere on the tab to move the tab around. The close button on the tab should be moved to the right, so that it is easier to access for Windows Users. Remember, Apple, you went with a Windows interface! If you don't move the close button, you could at least make the middle mouse button close the tabs. Overall, Safari is a good browser, but hopefully Apple will add the needed things to it before the final version is released. Although this feature isn't necessary, making Safari work with iTunes for those who like to listen to music while they browse would be genius! (No, not the "Genius" feature in iTunes, the word "genius".) |
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