Continuing with our series of free web tools, I thought it would be nice to share a Google Gadget I’ve created a few months ago but never published. This time, I have created a Google Gadget that allows you to add round corners to images, with selectable background colors and optional image resizing. All this, within a simple-to-use Google Gadget.
The Gadget is pretty simple, with a color picker to select the background color to use for the corners, a slider bar control to select the corner size and 2 boxes for entering the final image size. You can also choose which corners should be drawn (so that you can draw only the ones you want).
To get your round-corner images, you simply select an image (up to 800×600 pixels), choose which corners you want on the image, pick corner size and color and you’re on your way! Enjoy the tool and leave your comments.
Search Engine Optimization is a big part of today’s Website Development. Almost every web directory has tools to show you this but… wouldn’t it be nice if you had a simple tool that did that for you, without the hassle of entering many sites?
Well, this is the tool for you, then. Add this Google Gadget to your iGoogle Page or your Google Desktop, enter an URL and within seconds, get your site’s Google PageRank and Alexa Ranking, and the number of backlinks to your site, as reported by Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Altavista and AllTheWeb.
Finding how popular your site is has never been easier. Just enter the URL and voila!
Build A Media Centre
It’s high time you moved your PC into the 21st Century by making it television-capable.
Let’s face it: most of us are missing a trick. Who here ignores traditional broadcast schedules, opting instead to catch up on TV shows via BBC iPlayer, ITV Player or 4oD? How many of us have downloaded a digital boxset from iTunes or spent hours slumped in front of the computer monitor browsing funny videos and clips on YouTube?
The way that we watch TV has changed – so why shouldn’t the way we access TV change along with it? Why watch web-delivered content on your widescreen laptop? You could be enjoying it on that lovely big TV in your sitting room.
If the thought of reclining in your chair and flicking with ease between live Freeview channels, a film on your hard drive and that program you’ve been meaning to catch up on with iPlayer doesn’t entice you, maybe the thought of your wallet will. When you buy a TV, you want to get a good few years use out of it before upgrading again. But entertainment technology is advancing quickly, and that large flatscreen you purchased a couple of years ago is already looking a bit old- fashioned because it’s not HD. If you want an HDTV, you’ll need to buy a whole new television. What happens when 3D models go mainstream? You’ll have to upgrade again. And let’s not forget the digital switchover, which is happening at the moment. If your set is incapable of receiving digital signals, you’ll have to upgrade, or at the very least buy a set-top box or two. Either way, your wallet suffers. But if you make a PC the centre of your home entertainment system, you can embrace new standards through software simply by upgrading a single component – which is far less expensive than replacing your whole set every time a new technology comes along.
You’re probably wondering where the catch is. If TV PCs are so wonderful, why doesn’t everyone have one? The answer is that PCs and the living room have had an awkward relationship over the years because of one thing: noise. But no more: new advancements in technology have produced quiet machines that still have the grunt needed to handle HD video streaming and more. If you’re not sure which components your ideal machine needs – or if you’re eager to build one to your own exacting standards – then you’re in luck. We’ve compiled a list of the best software that will bring it your PC to life. Trust us: you’re not going to look back.
Media Center
Windows 7 Media Center is one of the most polished 10-foot interfaces around, but in general the software has been slow to evolve. Ignoring the addition of native H.264 support in Windows 7, other improvements to the system have been mostly cosmetic: turbo scroll, faded menu overlays, a new album art display and a handy desktop gadget. Media Center could easily feel old-fashioned and behind the times, then, if it weren’t for the army of bedroom coders constantly beavering away to produce plug- ins that enhance the core features. Thanks to them, Media Center even has its own unofficial app store.
Another reason that many people still don’t take advantage of Media Center – despite the fact that it’s pre-installed on most XP, Vista and Windows 7 PCs – is that the software is at its best when you have a TV tuner and you’re using it as a fully fledged DVR. The app is hardly anyone’s first choice for general video playback (that’s usually Windows Media Player) or streaming video (most people prefer direct web browser access), so it gets forgotten about. Media Center has always done a great job of cataloguing the photos, music and video on your hard drive, and this could be handy for TV PC users – but its internet TV integration has been lightweight at best. Where Vista’s version had a poorly populated Online Media section, Windows 7’s Media Center just adds an Internet TV option supporting WMV, Silverlight and Flash video. US users have access to a range of internet TV streams from the likes of CBS, Zune, MSNBC and MSN; but UK users aren’t so well served on this front.
Touch makes Media Center more compelling, but don’t expect it on your TV PC
It’s not all bad news, though: you can watch iPlayer and even iTunes content in Media Center. Sky Player is also available as a plug-in, offering access to various Sky channels for subscribers, including Sky Movies and Sky Sports.
The suitability question
To do away with the hassle of having to navigate around your PC desktop before watching TV , you can get your system to boot directly into Media Center on startup. In Windows 7, select ‘Startup and Windows Behaviour’ on Media Center’s Settings menu. Simply check the box next to the ‘Start Windows Media Center when Windows starts’ option. Easy.
Of course, you could argue that Media Center is a little bloated for a system like this one – and the cost of a Windows 7 licence will add an extra £150. That’s a lot to pay, especially when you won’t even be using the bulk of the OS on a day-to-day basis. It’s worth considering lighter-weight alternatives such as Boxee or XBMC; these might be better suited to an Ion-based system.
Media Center Alternatives
Microsoft’s Media Center faces stiff competition these days thanks to freebie software like MythTV, Mediaportal, Boxee and XBMC. MythTV has been knocking around since 2002, and the software provides some good DVR support if you’re building a PC for heavy-duty TV recording. Numerous add-on modules can add photo browsing, RSS feeds, Netflix integration and Slingbox-style placeshifting. Mediaportal is unashamedly Media Center-esque, but it has a limited appeal for TV PCs since it only runs on Windows.
XBMC is otherwise known as Xbox Media Center. What started out as a clever hack for Microsoft’s games console has now evolved into an “open-source (GPL) software media player and entertainment hub for digital media”. There are versions for Linux, OS X and Windows. Using www.xbmc.org’s own guide, you can easily specify a minimal Ubuntu install before you add the software. XBMC can handle a huge array of video files, and playback can be accelerated using the Ion hardware. Usefully, XBMC can either launch a compatible player or function with a VDPAU (Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix) modification to the software. It’s all there in the XBMC wiki.
Out of the Boxee
Another Media Center alternative is Boxee. This freeware media centre solution was born out of the XBMC code base, and it brings a social-networking edge to things. Boxee does everything you expect – it catalogues photos, music and video on your PC’s hard disk and makes them accessible via a sofa- friendly UI. If you’ve titled DVD rips correctly, Boxee will pull in the background blurb from IMDB.
Boxee apps take things a step further, plugging you directly into third-party video-streaming services including Netflix, YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Last.fm, Flickr, Digg and CNN. Log into your account on the Boxee websiteand you can seek out people you know that are also using the software. Adding a friend to your list will show you what they’ve been watching or what they recommend.
Boxee offers plug-ins for all of the best video, music and photo-streaming services
Boxee is an ideal choice for an Ion-based TV PC, especially as the integrated media player supports hardware-assisted video decoding. Need a cutting-edge remote control to go with it? Type Boxee into the iTunes Store and you’ll find a Boxee Remote app that lets you control your Boxee-powered TV PC with an iPhone or iPod Touch. And if you don’t want a PC at all? At this year’s CES, D-Link announced the first Boxee Box, a dedicated hardware solution that runs the software silently.
Stream Your Video Elsewhere
Having a TV PC connected to your beautiful plasma TV is one thing; being able to watch it every time you want to is another. So what can you do when your partner wants to watch Glee or the kids are pestering you to switch over to Dora The Explorer? No, not go ahead and watch what you want anyway: instead, simply stream your videos to a more portable device. Yes, we know the whole point of a TV PC is to take away the pain of slumping in a hard chair – but it’s handy to be able to stream to a laptop should somebody else fancy watching something too. After all, not everything you watch needs to be viewed on a massive Full HD TV – and you can always take your laptop to bed for some comfort.
So consider the return of the portable TV. Not in the form of the 14in mini-telly of old, but in the shape of laptops, netbooks and Wi-Fi Internet tablets that you can cuddle up with on the sofa. For example, grab yourself an iPhone, iPod Touch or Apple iPad (when available) and, using the Air Video software from the App Store, you can stream videos stored on your TV PC to it. Family harmony maintained; entertainment still on tap.
