GeekSugar

Website of the Day: Multicolr Search Lab

GeekSugar — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:03:34 -0700

I've been getting an urge to repaint my kitchen a bright color since Summer hit, but I'm having a hard time deciding on what colors to use. Casa suggested that I start browsing through photos to help me decide on a color palette, but I quickly found out how time consuming that can be. Thankfully, I found the Multicolr Search Lab by Indee, Inc., and in one search, I had decided on my colors, and got to see some really interesting photographs that I may not have seen otherwise.

Similar to ColourLovers but with photos, Multicolr Search sifts through over three million "interesting" Flickr photos, and zeroes in on up to 10 colors of your choice. You want to see photos with purple and brown? Then select those colors from the Multicolr palette, and the Search Lab will bring you 30 photos at a time to drool over. Now all I have to do is carve out some time to actually paint my kitchen!

CNN's New iPhone App Allows Easy Customization, iReporting

GeekSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:32:33 -0700

CNN launched its new iPhone application this morning, featuring breaking news, video, personalization options, and, most notably, an interactive iReport feature.

The application allows you to search for and follow topics of interest to create a personalized "MyCNN" news feed - from breaking stories about your home state to gossip about your favorite celebrity. Tapping any news story from the main screen leads to two summary bullet points, the main story, and any relevant video. An additional tap on the share button allows you to email the story, choose to follow the topic, or save it to read later. The app also pinpoints your current location to provide weather, traffic, and breaking news near you.

Its most interesting and unique feature is the iReport function, based on CNN's popular citizen journalism feature. Users are encouraged to capture photos and video of breaking news and upload it to CNN directly from the application.

The app is available now at CNN.com, and the iTunes App Store for $2. And if you were to ask me, it's well worth the $2.

The Rachel Zoe Project Tech Quiz!

GeekSugar — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:50:54 -0700

After watching this week's episode of The Rachel Zoe Project, I thought - wait a minute, this show is not only about the fashion, it's about the tech treats too! We already know that Microsoft's search engine Bing is a sponsor of the show (hence, all of the RZ Bing commercials), and I've already made my gadget suggestions for what I think Rachel should add to her tech collection, but what tech has actually popped up on the show? Have you been paying attention, because it's now time for the tech quiz!

Photo courtesy of Bravo

Take the quiz

Which Star Causes the Most Virus and Spyware Infections?

GeekSugar — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:50:56 -0700

You don't want to think that looking up photos of your favorite celebrities will cause your computer to (gasp!) get infected, but apparently, according to McAfee Inc., there is one starlet whose search causes more viruses and spyware infections than any other celebrity. Do you know who it is?

Take the quiz

Confusing Technology Doesn't Pass in Post Grad

GeekSugar — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 03:50:37 -0700

I just saw the college graduation comedy Post Grad starring Alexis Bledel and like Buzz, I thought the movie was also quirky and cute, but I had a few quibbles with the technology.

First, there must have been some sort of MySpace deal for placement, because it opens with Bledel's character Ryden posting a video blog getting live video comments on a very fancy-looking MySpace UI. I haven't been on the 'Space for a while now, but I'm pretty sure this is not the latest redesign. Speaking of UIs, though Ryden uses an Apple laptop in the movie, it's not the OS X interface either, but another fake Hollywood OS. What's wrong with existing UIs?

That's not even my biggest tech problem with this movie - to see what it is, just read more.

My greatest objection by far was Ryden's job hunt - she searches out leads in the newspaper! Not Craigslist? Not monster.com or the other millions of job-hunting websites that a bright college grad would certainly know about? The movie's website itself even opens up with a face Craigslist page. Definitely a huge "what were they thinking" moment, but it's an otherwise fun movie.

Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight

Website of the Day: Bingle

GeekSugar — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:25:44 -0700

Want to really put the competition between Bing and Google into perspective? Check out Bingle.

Type your search term into Bingle, and it'll produce both Google and Bing's results, presented in a side-by-side comparison.

That's really what we care about as users, right? It's fun to see how the outcomes differ, and it's useful if you're not finding what you're looking for on one engine.

Found a useful website you'd like to share? To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

I know that this long list looks scary, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it'll be a snap the second time around.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click the pink "Share" menu on the top left side of the page.
Choose "Blog" and "Regular Post."
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Click "Next."
Choose the audience for your story to "Website of the Day" in the dropdown menu.
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Website of the Day").
Change channel to "Technology and Gadgets."
Fill in tag field with relevant tags.
Click "I’m done" to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the geeksugar homepage!

Ask a Geek Girl: Which Is the Best Free Online Photo Editor?

GeekSugar — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:05:25 -0700

We all want to have perfectly cropped and edited photos to post to our Flickr accounts, but how can you do that if you are working without some reliable software? Take it online that's how. We received this question from TeamSugar member bluespirit who wanted to know more about free photo editing software:

"I've wanted a free photo editing program for awhile now but can't afford something like Photoshop. A simple Google search turned up quite a few results, but which is the best free photo editing program out there?"

Good news for you, my photo-loving friend, because I have posted a ton of suggestions for amazing (and free!) online photo-editing sites here already. But to see my suggestion for you, and to find out which site is my current obsession, just read more.

Since you mentioned you'd love to get your hands on Photoshop, but can't afford the price tag, you should check out Photoshop Express. It contains most of the tools you'll find in the full-scale version, but it's online and free! That's right, free.

The photo-editing site that's rocking my boat right now is Flauntr. Flauntr lets you edit like you're in Photoshop or iPhoto, plus it helps get your photos out of your computer and into the hands of friends and family all in one stop.

What is your favorite free online photo-editing site? Share with the group in the comments!

Daily Tech: The Jawbone Makes a Cameo on Entourage

GeekSugar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:02:35 -0700

Johnny Drama showed off a hot bluetooth Jawbone headset on this week's episode of Entourage - Engadget
Google Image gets some more search options for efficient photo browsing - TechCrunch
RIM could be debuting a BlackBerry with a front-facing camera as early as next year - Gizmodo
Find out how you can redesign and customize your YouTube channel page - Mashable
Google's Eric Schmidt steps down from Apple's board of directors - The Silicon Alley Insider
A city in the United Kingdom may name a road after Lara Croft - Kotaku

A Whole New World: My Fave Things About the iPhone 3.0 OS

GeekSugar — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:56:05 -0700

Since downloading the iPhone's new 3.0 OS, I've had a chance to try out pretty much everything and decide what I love and what I like (so far, nothing to hate).

I will say this: the copious changes are like having a whole new iPhone - I definitely felt like I had a new device, the experience is so different. What do I like the most? To see my favorites, just read more.

Spotlight: I have to say, Spotlight is definitely my favorite thing to have on the iPhone, as simple as it is. It's probably because I keep swiping my main screen to the right and accidentally going into the search, so that does take some getting used to. I'm still impressed, though, that Spotlight searches everything: apps, contacts, songs, and video. I like it best for apps since I've downloaded so many and they're not organized in any fashion at all.
Email Search: Sense a trend? I'm a simple girl. Having gotten used to Google and Gmail, I simply need to be able to search efficiently and get extremely frustrated when I can't. But the new search changes all that - before, if you wanted to use Gmail's great search function, you had to sign in to your account from Safari, which was such a hassle, I just wouldn't use search unless it was an emergency. Now that the mail app has search, I can finally hunt for stuff in my mail without going anywhere. But beware: this is not Gmail search. You can't search your chat records like you can in Gmail, but you do have access to your entire inbox. And it's pretty freakin' fast.
Find My iPhone: The one feature I hope I never have to use! Since I have MobileMe, I get to use Find My iPhone and tested out pushing a message on my phone. Take that, would-be thieves!
MMS: Not having the multimedia messaging functionality was the one thing that drove me nuts. It wasn't even that I loved being able to receive MMS, but getting a message saying I had one and could check it only online with some crazy username and password just meant that I never ever saw those videos or photos. I'm still looking forward to it though - soon, please, AT&T?
Copy/Paste: Sure, I'm psyched to get copy/paste, but it's not an everyday feature that I need like search. But still, knowing I can cut, copy, and paste is certainly comforting.

Of course, there are a ton more new features - an improved camera, Voice Memos, a landscape keyboard, but the above features have already made a big difference for me. What's your favorite thing about OS 3.0?

Website of the Day: Twilight Google

GeekSugar — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:25:10 -0700

Usually, the website of the day is something useful and practical, but in honor of all the Twilight madness at Comic-Con, I bring you the hottest Google mashup of the Summer: Twilight Google.

Googling Michael Jackson videos? Way more fun when you're looking at Edward. Searching for a currency converter? Loads more entertaining when you're looking at Edward.

To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

I know that this long list looks scary, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it'll be a snap the second time around.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click the pink "Share" menu on the top left side of the page.
Choose "Blog" and "Regular Post."
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Click "Next."
Choose the audience for your story to "Website of the Day" in the dropdown menu.
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Website of the Day").
Change channel to "Technology and Gadgets."
Fill in tag field with relevant tags.
Click "I’m done" to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the geeksugar homepage!