Last night, Google officially launched a new VoIP telephony service called GMail Calls. The service, which lives inside Google’s Email service, GMail, can be used to call landlines and mobile phones directly within Gmail, simply by clicking the new “Call Phone” icon. The service is currently only available for American users, but Google says they will roll it out to other countries as soon as they can.
It seems the service has got a significant early interest and may well prove to be a good move by Google, because in a statement released today, Google claims to have logged one million calls in the first 24 hours of the service being launched! Google is obviously pleased about this and is calling this a very successful launch, and who can blame them? Google confirmed the news in a Tweet, although it didn’t give information on where the callers were placed.
Just a few hours ago I saw this headline appear in the news. Since it’s attracted some interest in tech circles I’m a part of, I thought I’d repost it myself.
(This post was updated 20:35 BST with updated information about the deal. I’d like to thank The Register for their report of the news, which acted as the main source for these updates)
Intel has announced it is buying software-security company McAfee. The chip maker has offered $48 a share in cash for the anti-virus firm, a 62 per cent premium of McAfee’s Wednesday closing price of $29.93 a share. The total value of the acquisition, $7.68 billion, is Read the rest of this entry »
Remember that post I made about three weeks ago about why deleting a file on a computer doesn’t actually delete it? In it I made quite a big deal as to how the fact that files kept without you knowing can be a huge privacy and security risk, especially if they are of a sensitive nature. However, there’s another side to the story as well. Files that haven’t been permanently deleted can actually be a GOOD thing. Confused? Well, let me explain.
Stop me if you’re familiar with this scenario. Your friend/work associate/person you know needs a favour from you and asks you to create a document for them. You, being a particularly helpful person, get the task done quickly and send him a copy. He says “thanks” and walks away with a copy of the work you just gave him. Satisfied that you won’t need your copy any more, you delete the file. Then later you decide to empty your Recycle Bin, and the file completely disappears from your computer. Suddenly, your friend/work associate/person you know contacts you to tell you he’s lost his copy and needs another, but you don’t have the original work any more because you deleted it!
If you’ve ever had such a scenario, you probably know just what a nightmare it can be. And you’ve probably wished you could undo your foolishness and “un-delete” the file you just deleted. Well, I’m pleased to say you can stop freaking out and start relaxing, because you can! Read the rest of this entry »
It’s become apparent to me lately that a glitch in my web host’s FTP services has led to the disappearance of some images used by both the main Technically Motivated blog and the associated Forums. I believe I have fixed the issues, but if you happen to notice that there is a missing image anywhere within TM, please report it to me through a Forum PM or as a comment on this post so I can check it out and correct it.
On Friday 13 August, 2010, v3.co.uk ran a promotion lasting 24 hours, allowing users to get a 1 year license of BitDefender AntiVirus 2010 for free. Here was the official word from them:
We’ve given you some of the very best full applications in the past and we’re back again with four full exclusive promos through August. The first is our exclusive BitDefender Antivirus 2010 [1-PC, 1-Year], worth $24.95/£16.99, available free of charge for everyone, for 24 hours, between miday CEST Friday 13 August to midday CEST Saturday 14 of August.
Where can you download your exclusively free BitDefender Antivirus 2010? From the V3.co.uk Software Store: http://store.v3.co.uk
Promotional information will be available on Friday, so keep checking the store. With this promo, you can download your software build on Friday, grab your serial code, then install or use at any time. Strictly one serial code per user, however.
Better still, with BitDefender 2011 due soon, you’ll be able to upgrade from the free 2010 to 2011! BitDefender are also offering you an exclusive upgrade promo to the full security suite, BitDefender Internet Security. More information on Friday.
This freebie has unfortunately now expired and is no longer available. However, as a testament to the history of Technically Motivated’s Freebies section, this topic shall remain at least for now.
I’ve updated the Freebie section of the Forums with a simple way of keeping track of the status of Freebies. Now, all topics on the Freebie sections will have a quick mark showing whether the freebie mentioned inside is actually available, so you can see whether or not to pay attention to a Freebie topic.
By default, all new posts in any Freebie section will be automatically marked “Available”, as we assume you’re not going to talk about a freebie we can’t get any more. However, if the freebie is put on hold or expires, someone with the ability can change the status to reflect such – the other choices are “No Longer Available”, “Coming Soon”, and “Status Unknown” for ones we aren’t sure about. Easy!
I’m looking to start doing software reviews as a regular feature of TM, but there’s some things I’m looking for before I start in order to make the reviews truly professional.
One of the things I’d like to do is a “scoring system”. My idea is to have several categories that each review will cover, such as “Ease of Use”, “Value for Money” etc; and for each category I will give a score of 1-10; then the scores should be totalled and the final score shown at the bottom.
Unfortunately, I can’t find a feature to draw tables or add a scoring system anywhere in WordPress. So, I wondered if anyone knew of, or could design a good Add-On I could add to the site to give me a Scoring System like what I described, or at least will allow me to design simple table templates to do it myself.
If you know of an existing add-on or can design one for me, please let me know in the comments, or leave a reply on the Forum Topic I just created about this – it’d be a HUGE help!
I read this news earlier in the week, but I decided not to talk about it because I didn’t trust the source and thought it may be a joke. However, with the story now being picked up by wider media, I think it’s safe now to mention it.
Starting from August 1st, Google has reportedly been rolling out a new feature that allows users to sign into multiple Google accounts in the same browser. According to a post on the unofficial Google Operating System blog, a Multiple Sign-In option is beginning to appear in the Personal Settings area of your Google Accounts page — and if it’s not there yet, it will be soon.
The feature gives you the option to sign into another Google Account after you’ve already signed in to one, and then use a link switch to quickly switch between the two (or more). Obviously it’s ideal for people who have multiple GMail inboxes, because you can sign in to every account and then switch between all your boxes with two clicks, if you so wanted. It is also supported in six other Google products: App Engine, Code, Calendar, Reader, Sites, and Voice. Sadly, no other Google property allows for multiple logins yet, although Docs is listed as “coming soon”. When you sign in to a property that does not support it, the first email address you signed in to will be used.
Now Google is quick to point out that this is a work-in-progress, and not everything will work smoothly just yet. Indeed, some issues have already been discovered, such as use you cannot use offline calendars or mail while signed in to multiple accounts, and some Google gadgets break or mess up. You also can’t use it on the Mobile versions at the moment. Even so, this is a very useful feature that some are already praising Google for.
But what do you all think? Leave your comments below or on the Forums. And if you want to know more about this new feature, you can find more info on Google’s Getting Started: Enabling Multiple Sign-In help page.
I’m pleased to announce that with everything now tested; at least half of the sections now created; and some basic Rules and Regulations written up, today – August 1, 2010 – marks the official opening of Technically Motivated Forums to the general public.
The Forums will be empty for a short while as I’m the only one who’s been able to make topics there until now and I’ve been busy, but feel free to fill it up with any thoughts you all may have. Oh, and if you think there’s a serious lack of categories and sections to post in, don’t worry – more will come soon, and I’m open to suggestions too.