Tech
here.com – Cool 3D maps
August 30, 2013 | 
Author I just visited here.com to check online Nokia’s maps. I got impressed by the 3D view they offer for some cities.
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Skype – Your payment is rejected.. your subscription is terminated
I used to have the “Unlimited Europe” subscription with Skype, so that I can call to landlines in Europe for free. I believe I have had this subscription for the last 3+ years.
Some days ago my monthly payment for the unlimited Europe was rejected due to some issues with my card, so I received two emails:
- Your payment was rejected.
- Your subscription is terminated and will stop in 3 days.
Can you imagine that? They did not let me fix the issue, they just canceled my subscription. Their e-mail is entitled:
Your subscription has been successfully cancelled
Thank you! I am very proud I successfully managed to cancel it..
Today, with my credit card working, I tried to reissue the payment and get my subscription back…
Guess what? The lady at customer support let me know it is IMPOSSIBLE and that I have to buy the subscription again, 1.5 euros per month more expensive.
This is how you treat a 3 years+ loyal customer 🙂
Check if your Linkedin password was stolen
As you all probably heard, there were some stolen passwords from Linkedin this morning (announcement). A simple way to check if your password belongs to the ones stolen is by using the following script:
#!/bin/bash if [ ! -f 'combo_not.txt' ] then if [ ! -f 'combo_not.zip' ] then echo "Downloading the list of sha1s" wget http://wordpress.phobostechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/combo_not.zip fi echo "Unziping" unzip combo_not.zip fi mine=$(echo -n "$1" | sha1sum | cut -d' ' -f1); mine0="00000"${mine:5}; echo "checking "$mine echo " and "$mine0 echo "===found:" grep -e $mine -e $mine0 combo_not.txt |
Do chmod +x on the script and then run it placing a space in front, so that the command does not appear in the history of commands.
For example:
$ ./check.sh 123456 checking 7c4a8d09ca3762af61e59520943dc26494f8941b and 00000d09ca3762af61e59520943dc26494f8941b ===found: 00000d09ca3762af61e59520943dc26494f8941b |
PS. Yes, someone is using the password 123456!
Microsoft Translator Bot (TBot)
Have you ever heard of Microsoft’s Translator Bot, known as TBot? It is a bot that you can add as a contact in your Windows Live (msn) account and can be used for automated translation. You just need to add mtbot@hotmail.com as a friend. Read more here.
I post this because I was playing with TBot and I stepped into a very nice English to Greek Translation:
Everyone knows what “omg” stands for, right? Oh My God..
Well, “νεαρή κοπέλα” is “young girl” in Greek :-O.. Even TBot knows that:
Windows 7 “Advertisment” : Surf the web or surf Hawaii
I haven’t laughed that much for a long time!
Microsoft, in an effort to convince the users to buy a PC (running Windows 7) over a Mac, launched the following advertisement where it compares several Macs with Windows 7 based PCs.
In principal, I agree with the concept; why paying so much money for a Mac? But:
- Surf the web or surf Hawaii??? Using a Windows PC, aren’t you supposed to be able to surf the web also :-D? Maybe say “Surf the web, surf Hawaii, or both”!
- They could use PCs with the same (or more similar) CPU with the respective Mac in order to be more convincing..
Anyway, Microsoft is fun.. and desperate (??). Do the math.
Opera Dragonfly : Opera’s Web Development Tool
Some time ago Opera Software announced that they would open-source their web development tool, called Dragonly. On the 14th of March Opera Software announced the first beta version of Dragonly after it became open-source. This release came few days before the Opera 11.10 Beta Browser release. Dragonfly is a Firebug-like tool that aims to aid the web developer and designer on the development and debugging process.
Technologies
Dragonly provides support for the latest web technologies, such as HTML5 APIs and SVG files. I will present you the Dragonfly capabilities later on the screenshot tour.
Installation
Opera comes with Dragonly pre-installed. In order to use the beta version do the following:
- In the Opera’s address bar type
opera:config#DeveloperTools|DeveloperToolsURL, or else typeopera:configand search for the keyword “develop“. - Replace the “Developer Tools URL” with
https://dragonfly.opera.com/app/cutting-edge/(it washttps://dragonfly.opera.com/app/). - Use
Ctrl+Shift+Ito start Dragonfly. You can alternatively started byright click -> Inspect Elementon a page.
Screenshot Tour
Opera 11.10 Beta : A First Look
Today Opera released the Opera version 11.10 Beta version, codenamed Barracuda. I installed it and gave it a first look. Here I present you the new stuff that I recognized.
Redesigned Speedial
This looks as the biggest (and almost the only) change done regarding the user interface.
Opera 11.11 Beta Screenshot
Although it is an interesting redesign that gives the ability to have as many speedial shortcuts as wanted, I used to use a 3×3 speedial which now seems to fit a little worse in my screen.
An interesting ability is the one of changing the shortcuts’ positions by drag and drop.
Drag and Drop Shortcuts
Closed-Tabs Can Flashing
Whenever you close a tab in Opera it goes in the closed tabs can on the upper-right. You can use the can in order to reopen a closed tab, ability which is very very useful! Now, the can is flashing whenever a new tab is added (aka closed).
Visual “help”
I noticed that some visual aids for the “novice” users were added, in order to help them get accustomed with some more advanced capabilities of the browser. For example, when you first install the browser and type something in the address bar, you get a message that informs you that you can perform a search straight from the address bar.
Javascript Performance
Before installing Opera 11.10 Beta, I ran the SunSpider 0.91 Javascript benchmark (Opera 11.01 – Ubuntu). The total result I got was 726.7ms +/- 15.5%. With Opera 11.10, under the same conditions (same tabs open, no use while benchmarking, and same OS load) I got a total result of 1003.6ms +/- 0.5%. Probably it is because of some ongoing work being done on the Javascript engine.
Overall
I did not have the time to test the other “big” feature of Barracuda (the ability to install missing plugin, such as Adobe flash, easier), but, in my point of view, what I saw is not enough to explain a new release. I hope the final 11.10 release will have more surprises for Opera Browser’s users.