Useful Internet Based Tools

Google: Contacts Manager
Users can share contacts with ease between different services, without having to be Gmail users. Contacts can be imported and exported from other sources like Outlook, Yahoo, or Hotmail.

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Google: Latitude Locations
Users can share their locations with other people who are not using the with two new applications. The first application makes visible the location of your chat status and location. The other application allows you to place a sticker on your Myspace or facebook profile that shows precisely where you are at.

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Firefox: Desktop
Desktop is a Firefox application that allows users to create their own start page with access to some of their bookmarks. With this program you get complete control over the layout of the page.

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Flipping Typical
A program that allows people to preview different fonts. The user types in text and the program will show you how it looks in each font. The site also updates in real time to reflect changes.

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IngBoo
A new and easy-to-use web program that's lets you find and monitor information that's important to you. Users can choose what time of the day they want to be alerted and also set aside times when they don't want to be disturbed.

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BumpTop

BumpTop software is a program for desktops. BumpTop sets up the items on your desktop to make it look more like real life objects.

You can fling folders and icons around. Items can be grouped into levels of importance. The more you use an item the faster it will grow. The items can be viewed like the pages in a book by stacking them into groups, spread out along paths, or they can be viewed in square grids. Everything on the interface stays upright. Items are selected by drawing circles around them. The icons also have the ability to fly, change sizes, and flip around.

This is an interesting interface for a desktop, but at the same time it is kind of unnecessary. I guess if you are into toys or game-like stuff you might like it.

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If walls could talk...

There are new flat, flexible speakers that can be hung on the walls like posters and make announcements. These new loudspeakers are actually less than a quarter of a millimeter thick. The speakers also have the ability of being placed inside ceiling tiles or car interiors.

This product were developed by Warwick Audio Technologies. FLL uses thin conducting and insulating materials, this results in it becoming a flexible laminate. Public spaces will definitely appreciate the FLL speakers because the sound will project farther then traditional speakers, which will produce a better sound quality.

It is amazing how technology keeps advancing into so many different things. Technology truly affects everything around us, even the walls.

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Video game playing improves vision

According to a study, playing action video games may actually prove to be beneficial to adults with eyesight problems. After a video-game training program, people noticed an improvement in their contrast sensitivity. This ability can greatly impact people with amblyopia (lazy eye) and those who have problems driving at night.

During a nine-week course, two groups played video games for 50 hours. Action games "Call of Duty 2" and "Unreal Tournament 2004" was played by one group. Non-action games like "Sims 2" was played by another group. The action games showed increased enhanced contrast sensitivity ranging from 43 percent of 50 percent.

I think that video-game training could be a fun and inexpensive way of correcting a vision problem but there are also of negative outcomes that are associated with playing video games especially the action packed ones that contains multiple scenes of violence.

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Spark Nano

A new GPS tracking device has been developed called the Spark Nano. The device is about the same size as a battery that fits in a smoke detector(9 volts). However, the Spark Nano is very durable and also waterproof.

With its tiny size you can easily attach it on any object that needs tracking. A panic button, a feature of the Spark Nano, can be used by the wearer to alert someone if he or she are danger. From home, people can track the device in real time via a Web site through a computer or smartphone.

This device contains a built-in rechargeable battery that can power it for up to five continuous days with a full charge.

I think that this device can be put to good use. At $299.95 and a required service plan starting at $45 month may be a bit costly but some people I can imagine it would be worth it.

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Just 10 Seconds

Scientists have created a cell phone charger that can recharge in 10 seconds instead of several hours. This battery can be used with laptops, iPods, and digital cameras s well.

A group of engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology created this based on conventional lithium ion rechargeable batteries and altering the surface of an conventional electrode. Thus making the ions release absorb 100 times faster than normal. Using these new materials will keep the battery from having to be repeatedly charged and recharged, which could lead to faster batteries lasting between two or three years.

This new technology could also lead the way for electric cars. With a bigger battery, it could take up to five minutes rather than eight hours to charge a car. People would be able to ride their cars long distances and then stop to a service station an charge up their battery in just a few minutes.

I think this a great invention. We live in world where everything is fast paced. Waiting is a thing of the past so this creation will definitely be well appreciated for most people.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1161274/Scientists-develop-mobile-phone-battery-charged-just-10-seconds.html

WriteOnIt

There is a service on the Internet that lets you caption and manipulate uploaded photos. The uploaded photos can then be stuck onto a magazine cover. There are also options for inserting the images into coffee mugs, billboards, and art easels onto ready- made photos.

Things like transparency, placement, and cropping tools are not present, but despite those elements the program will still be able to publish something that could fool any viewing audience. After your creation is done you can save it to your hard drive or send it to a friend through email or through Myspace, Facebook, and Windows Live Spaces. WriteOnIt users can also vote on which photos looked the best.

I think this is a fun and safe service that I would definitely like to try out one day.

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