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Learn languages via iTunes podcasts

If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is learning a new language, you can count on iTunes to lend you a hand.

The iTunes Store Podcast section includes a whole category dedicated to languages with quite an interesting selection of available options, such as Spanish, French, Italian or even Japanese. Just visit the Store, then head to Podcast – Education – Language Courses and make your choice.

Besides, most of them are free, so you have no excuse to begin babbling your first words in whichever language you choose. Amuse-toi bien!

Zudeo: Azureus goes legit

With the release of Zudeo, Azureus is jumping onto the legal torrent bandwagon. This application features the classic and extensive Azureus torrent client and adds to it an online platform from which you can download and submit legal audio and video content.

Zudeo’s interface is a complete shake-up to what Azureus users are used to. The bittorrent developer has decided to focus on online multimedia content and introduce user participation. The first thing the user sees is a list of thumbnails of the latest videos uploaded to Zudeo. You can browse these files by using the left side menu, divided in time, main channels and tags. The menu at the top also links to hot and new content. Zudeo takes the web 2.0 road and you’ll see that most of the files have tags. You can write out a comment and leave a rating. The program also makes it a no brainer to send a video by email and link to content directly from your blog or website. There’s also a little diggit tag for each file, to submit them to the ultra famous social news site. It’s still a shame that Azureus omitted all the other famous social networking sites like del.icio.us or reddit. Maybe in a few months?

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Find your way on the Silk Route

Love them or hate them, massive multiplayer online role playing games usually have this geeky aura of being extraordinarily difficult adventures, only intended for role-play lovers and heavy videogame players. If you share this idea, you should give a try to this game. SilkRoad Online is a good option to begin in MMORPGs, if you ever feel an interest in it.

The suitability of SilkRoad as an introduction for online role-playing games is due mainly to two facts: one, it’s absolutely free; and two, it’s really a very good RPG –that is, for a free RPG. So it’s a perfect choice for casual players who prefer not to get too involved, nor have to pay a monthly fee for playing.

However, if there’s something you’ll need to play SilkRoad, it’s patience. Loads of it. First, you’ll have to wait for the file to download, then for the EXE to be patched with the latest releases. After that, you’ll find yourself waiting to enter the over-populated servers and play. In fact, these lag issues are the main complaint of SilkRoad players.

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Beware security suites bearing gifts

Considering it’s the season of good will to all, some sneaky devils are adamant on spoiling it for everyone, according to Sunbelt software. The company is warning users of the rise of computer software masquerading as legitimate security software.

According to the firm, certain sites are able to trick users into paying for applications that are actually ineffective at securing their computer and could even contain malicious viruses or malware themselves. The company has seen incidences of bogus software (much of which comes from the same companies and is simply rebranded) increase in the run-up to Christmas and warn that it could represent a continued threat throughout the new year. Our advice is to stick to programs like Norton Internet Security, Panda Antivirus (or AVG if you’re on a tight budget) in order to tackle potential attacks

Keyboard Shortcuts to a More Productive Life

Keyboard shortcuts are one of those things that most people either use regularly or hardly use at all. I’m a mouse man most of the time because, by the time I’ve taken my hand off it to work out the correct shortcut, I could have done the same thing in half the time with my trusty mouse.

However, someone introduced me to a useful Windows keyboard shortcut yesterday that’s reinvigorated my interest in finding out how many other shortcuts there are out there.

Whenever Windows used to crash, I would bring up the task manager with “CTRL-ALT-DEL” so I could eliminate the process which was causing the problem. In fact, “CTRL-SHIFT-ESC” does the job a lot quicker by going directly to the running processes box rather than starting with the running applications dialogue box.

Anyway, you might be aware of some of them already but here is a selection of 45 shortcuts for Windows 10 that you may have never used. Are you a Mac user? Fear not: our Ultimate Guide to Mac Keyboard Shortcuts is just what you need.

Opera takes control in console wars

When it comes to taking on the might of Internet Explorer, the small, but perfectly formed Opera is a mere bit-part player in the battle for browser supremacy, with Firefox now firmly established as the mainly pretender to IE’s crown. Not to be deterred by its tiny share of this market, Opera has pulled off something of a masterstroke when it releases a beta version of its browser for the Nintendo Wii on December 22nd.

The console has received many plaudits for its innovative use of new technology, and in particular the motion-detecting joypad. It’s rather fitting then that Nintendo should team up with Opera, which is famed for its innovation (it was after all the first app to give tabbed web browsing and mouse gestures). The two firms have been mere also-rans in recent years, so it’s nice to see them working together to develop the first external web browser for a console.

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Google Toolbar: Google apps a click away

I’ve never been very fond of toolbars and other web browser add-ons, basically because the services they’re supposed to offer don’t make up for the amount of resources and space they use. But this toolbar has the Google trademark on it and that encouraged me to test it. If it’s Google, it can’t be that bad.

No sooner said than done. A two minute installation process and you’re ready to go with your brand-new browser companion. At first sight, Google Toolbar looks similar to other add-ons but a deeper look reveals quite interesting functions. Also, the toolbar allows a high level of customization, so you can really choose which buttons to show and which to hide. This is something you’ll be thankful for, especially if you care about the number of free pixels on your screen.

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The Firefox extensions how-to

New to Firefox? First of all, let us give you the warmest welcome to the best web browser in the world! Now we can go on to explain how to customize your Firefox by adding extensions in just a few easy steps.

First of all, some information: an extension is a small piece of software that can be installed in your web browser to either modify one of its built-in tools or add a completely new function.
Click on the link of the desired extension, usually an XPI file, and a software installation window will open.
Allow the installation and once it’s finished, restart the browser.
If you see a yellow bar on top of the page, don’t worry. It’s just a warning message in case the webpage is trying to install software on your PC without your consent. Just click on the Edit options button and include the current site in the list of allowed web pages.

There’s a huge amount of Firefox extensions available on the Internet. We recommend taking a look at our list and select the ones you like best. Also, if there’s one cool, handy extension you’re using and we don’t have it, do not hesitate to share it with us!

Top 10 Christmas screensavers

Unless you’re hiding in a bush in the desert then you would’ve probably noticed that it’s Christmas. If you’re not quite in the festive spirit then why not deck out your PC with some Christmas trimming to get you in the mood? We’re not talking about draping a bit of tinsel across your monitor or spraying fake snow over your keyboard (not recommended), but installing a seasonal screensaver to bring yuletide merriment to your home or office. We’ve got a sackful of them, and the Christmas number one at the moment is the Winter 3D screensaver, which whisks you away to a winter wonderland.

Here’s our top ten list of Christmas screensavers:

Checking links in Dreamweaver

There’s nothing that puts a visitor to your site off more than a string of broken links, missing graphics or files. To avoid this embarrassment and the consequent exodus from your site, Dreameaver has a neat tool that helps you make sure everything is working properly. Simply go to the ‘Site’ menu in the application and choose ‘Check Links Sitewide’. Adobe’s flagship web editor will then willingly generate a report of all broken links on your site.

To fix a link all you need do is click onto the broken link and browse to the correct file. Be warned though, if you need to view local file references you’ll need to change your Link Checker from ‘Show Broken Links’ to ‘Show External Links’. You can also use the app to find orphan files (i.e. files that aren’t in use) by altering your link report to ‘Show Orphaned Files’. If you’re a HTML puritan and don’t use a WYSIWYG editor then try Web Link Validator, which is more than adept at checking broken external links.