Call me stuck in the past, but AIM 5.9.6089 is still my instant messenger of choice. I don’t look for a lot when I’m instant messaging, and AIM 5.9 is very lightweight and gets the job done just as I expect it. We’re in the age of Skype though, which has quickly taken over as the world’s most popular and used platform. Our younger readers may not even know what the hell AIM is anymore, actually.

AOL seems to recognize that sentiment and they’ve recently and unofficially dropped AIM 1.0.0.3 on us, dubbed “AIM Preview“. It looks like Skype, it chats like Skype, and it weighs like Skype. But it’s AOL Instant Messenger.

As you can see, I haven’t put much use to it as I’m not a very big fan. First thing you’re going to notice is that AIM has been completely redesigned. It looks nothing like it did in versions 5, 6, or 7. It’s nice and fat now, just like Skype. We’ve got a lot going on here.

1. Lifestream (which is your “status updates” of the AIM world) has been stripped away with and, well, replaced with real status updates (the Facebook kind). AIM updates still exist, they’re just a little more useless now.
2. As aforementioned, Facebook has now become integrated with your AIM experience.
3. Your buddy list has been transformed in a way that mingles Facebook buddies, contacts, and recent chats. It’s another overhaul that has AIM looking a lot more like Skype.
4. Along with Facebook, you can chat with Google Talk buddies through AIM. This already existed if you didn’t know about it.
5. Photos and videos are synced inline on the client. Chat histories are now stored remotely (rather than locally), which enables seamless synchronization between devices (at the expense of your security).
6. There’s a news feed, where AIM promoted their Huffington Post. Not much more to say here.
7. One-on-one video chatting and group messaging (more features pulled from Skype) are now with AIM. I guess this is what they decided to do with AV?

Nothing too unique or exciting is going on here. Maybe it was AOL jumping the gun on Microsoft acquiring Skype, maybe it’s AOL trying to salvage their last true-to-the-company web property that is still used daily by thousands of people.

In any event, it’s a breath of fresh air to a near-dead messenger and that’s about it. If you’ve instant messaged at all in the past couple years, this isn’t bringing anything new to the table. I can’t think of any real compliment here, though it seems as if this preview version isn’t as riddled with ads as others. You can get rid of ads in older versions of AIM quite easily, though.

It’s not worth your time, guys. Stick with Skype and let’s consider AIM an afterthought unless you, like me, need a barebones solution to IM-ing (in which case, I again recommend a much older version of AIM). Anyone else suddenly feeling nostalgic and missing those days when AOL was relevant? I can hear the modem dialing up now.

I’m not trying to beat up on poor old AIM. This is only a “preview” release, after all. Again, you can pick it up here: http://preview.aim.com/
Luckily, it doesn’t install over your old version of AIM and will write to a new directory, so there’s really no risk in at least giving it a shot.

It’s out on every platform: desktop, mobile, and web. You can get it on your iPhone or Android. I was really looking for AIM to be the first IM client that picks up the ball and adapts to the mobile world with a new release. I know you can send SMS messages from AIM, but adopting a more “permanent” solution like Textfree’s method would have been cooler.

Let me know if you guys find anything interesting with the new version that I may have skipped out on. I gave it a quick whirl after reading a few reviews and came to a pretty quick decision. Nothing new here!

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/creeperface1.jpg" alt="" />Gamers have been playing and enjoying href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-play-minecraft-multiplayer-server-gaming/">Minecraft for nearly 2 years now, but the version offered until now was not, in fact, the full game. It was instead Minecraft Beta, an evolving piece of software with new features added (almost) every month.

As of November 18th, however, the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/beta/">beta officially ends and version 1.0 of the game becomes available. It will include completed versions of features that debuted in the href="http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/09/13/minecraft-adventure-update-impressions/">Adventure Update and a huge variety of small enhancements such as new blocks, new monsters, and new achievements.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/enderdragon.jpg" alt="" width="560" height="316" />

Perhaps the most important new feature, however, is an end to the game. A new dimension called The Ender, which was first added to beta in October, will be accessible by players. Inside it, players will find the Enderdragon, a mythical beast of great power. Players who manage to defeat it will be given “The End” href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/share-awards-acheivements-online-scorely/">achievement and be treated to an end-game sequence.

Although the official release of version 1.0 occurs on the 18th, to coincide with MineCon, players can already href="http://twitter.com/#!/jeb_/status/135018767620112385">download the final pre-release beta, which has all the features of the full release.

If you’ve been on the fence about Minecraft, now would be a good time to buy it. The game is 25% off during beta, so you have only a few more days until that discount goes away.

Source: href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/11/11/closure-for-steve-minecrafts-finale/" rel="nofollow">Rock Paper Shotgun

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/preview-thumbnails.jpg" alt="preview image thumbnail"/>Browsing image search engines has been the major source of inspiration to me. It is amazing how much creative work is stored and searched online.

This post will hopefully make your web image searching and browsing even more fun: the three addons listed will let you easily zoom the image thumbnails in to quicker choose one from search results.

Let’s see how we can quickly preview thumbnails in search results, download any image in its original size and preview your contacts’ Facebook photos right from your dashboard:

Thumbnail Zoom

href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/thumbnail-zoom/">Thumbnail Zoom is a fun addon that lets href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/preview/">preview thumbnail pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Google Picasa, DeviantART, PhotoBucket, Flickr, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, YouTube, Google Images and a few other popular services Any supported site can be enabled or disabled using the toolbar menu and the addon settings dialog.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/preview-thumbnails-04.jpg" alt="preview image thumbnail" width="550" height="333" />

The addon also adds an extra context right-click menu item that allows to download the enlarged image without ever opening it.

The options panel lets you disable any of the supported services as well as set the delay before displaying the image and its opacity:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/preview-thumbnails-05.jpg" alt="firefox preview images" width="550" height="488" />

Cool Previews

href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/coolpreviews/">CoolPreviews is the multi-feature FireFox addon that lets you preview any linked content including images. The image preview panel enables you to:

• Zoom the image in or out;
• Open the linked image in the separate tab;
• Email the current link;
• Play all the images on the page in the slideshow (works especially well for popular image search services like Flickr, Google Images, etc)

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/preview-thumbnails-01.jpg" alt="firefox preview images" width="550" height="435" />

You can also turn previews on/off on specific sites anytime by clicking the icon on the status bar (or for those who have no status bar in FireFox 4, the same settings can be accessed in Tools -> Addons). CoolPreviews will memorize your settings.

The “Settings” dialog lets you customize your image previewing experience in many ways:

• Set when you want the preview panel to appear: on mouse-over, on clicking the CoolPreviews icon, on mouse-over + CTRL key;
• Set the location of the preview panel (relative to the cursor or the link);
• Control the speed (how fast you want the preview panel to appear)
• Set the theme (dark or ice);

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/preview-thumbnails-02.jpg" alt="firefox preview images" width="400" height="459" />

Additional fun features:

• Temporarily bookmark images to the right column with “stacks” feature;
• Scroll Google Image search results on an “infinite 3D Wall” (Cooliris addon required).
• Preview multiple thumbnails simultaneously without (mouse over subsequent images on a page while the preview window is open or pinned).

Obviously, there’s no point in using the above two addons simultaneously, so you should pick one.

Facebook PhotoZoom

href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-photozoom/">Facebook PhotoZoom only works for Facebook, but I am sure most of the readers frequent the site, so they’ll find the addon very useful. The tool works as a magnifier for Facebook thumbnails (both profile pictures and album photos): when you hover over a thumbnail, a tooltip will appear with the bigger image in it.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/preview-thumbnails-03.jpg" alt="preview image thumbnail" width="309" height="377" />

They have a few reported issues (some people experience problems making it work on Windows), but I’ve had no such issues.

Do you have any more tips for better thumbnail preview in href="www.makeuseof.com/tags/firefox/">FireFox? Are you aware of any similar tools for other browsers? />
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More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/browsing/" title="browsing" rel="tag">browsing, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/browsing-tools/" title="browsing tools" rel="tag">browsing tools, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/firefox/" title="firefox" rel="tag">firefox, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/firefox-addons/" title="firefox addons" rel="tag">firefox addons, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/firefox-tips/" title="firefox tips" rel="tag">firefox tips, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/image/" title="image" rel="tag">image, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/image-viewer/" title="image viewer" rel="tag">image viewer, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/images/" title="images" rel="tag">images, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/mozilla/" title="Mozilla" rel="tag">Mozilla, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/preview/" title="preview" rel="tag">preview, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/thumbnails/" title="thumbnails" rel="tag">thumbnails />

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class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/preview-search-results.jpg" alt="google search preview" width="250" height="204" />Browser tabs have been a genius invention. I can’t live without them and I can’t imagine me opening search results in new windows (I still remember the time when I had to!). But sometimes class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/toomanytabs-turns-firefox-task-management-powerhouse/">too many tabs may become a problem as well. With plenty of tabs open you feel lost and your browser feels slow.

So while previously I was sharing mostly tips on class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-ways-productive-firefox-tabs/">getting productive with tabs, today’s tip will hopefully help you to reduce the number of open tabs by showing you how you can split the browser screen and load search results on the same page but in a separate sidebar panel. This way you will able to quickly click through search results without getting distracted by multiple active tabs.

id="more-64001">

Search Results In A Separate Sidebar Panel: Firefox

class="vt-p" href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/all-in-one-sidebar/">All-in-one Sidebar is one of the class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/11-firefox-3-extensions-that-i-cant-live-without/">addons that many Firefox users can’t live without. It lets you open various windows as sidebar panels, and quickly switch between them. The addon is very flexible and can be also used to preview any search results as well.

For Google, you’ll need to do the following:

1. Perform a Google search in the main window;
2. Set the “MultiPanel” mode (click on “Page” in the sidebar menus and select “MultiPanel”);
3. Use the icon in the sidebar to load the current tab in the sidebar;
4. Click search results in the sidebar to load them in the main window.

OK, this is really much easier to do than to describe the process:

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/preview-search-results-01.jpg" alt="google search preview" width="558" height="350" />

And now step 4:

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/preview-search-results-02.jpg" alt="Preview Google Search results with All-in-One Sidebar (FireFox)" width="540" height="344" />

The only inconvenience is that because of the new Google search sidebar; you will always have to scroll a bit to see the search results in the sidebar:

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/preview-search-results-03.jpg" alt="Preview Google search " width="394" height="356" />

If you plan to use All-in-One Sidebar often to load search results in the sidebar panel, you may consider hiding Google’s options using class="vt-p" href="http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/76127">this user script.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/preview-search-results-04.jpg" alt="Hide Google options sidebar" width="540" height="305" />

Note: another inconvenience is that any link will be loaded in the sidebar: even the paging link. So you will either need to click the All-in-One icon each time (to load the next page of results in the sidebar panel), or you will have to set Google to show at least 100 results per page (in which case you won’t need paging at all). To do the latter, you’ll need to class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/permanently-disable-google-instant-google-suggest/">disable Google Instant first.

Search Results In A Separate Sidebar Panel: SweetSearch

Unlike All-in-One Sidebar class="vt-p" href="https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mfjodhmlnpfonlpoogocnckjbnmaknim">Sweet Search is designed specifically for Google Search (therefore it has some fun additional options we’ll see below). The extension allows you to keep your Google search results on the left while loading the pages you click on the same page in the right sidebar.

With the extension installed you can do the following:

1. Click search results to open webpages in the right part of the screen;
2. Click an arrow icon next to any search result to open a new separate tab with the webpage;

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/preview-search-results-05.jpg" alt="SweetSearch" width="550" height="408" />

Also notice that it gets rid of Google’s search options sidebar on its own, so you don’t need any additional tricks.

The extension is easily turned off from the toolbar icon:

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/preview-search-results-06.jpg" alt="google search preview" width="335" height="200" />

Note: Unlike All-in-One Sidebar that loads any links you click in the sidebar panel, this one is designed to work only for Google search result listing titles (linked titles of the pages you normally click to land on the actual page). If you click any other links within search results (like Cached link, Related link, etc), the page will load in the full-screen mode.

Do you think it’s a great way to browse (Google) search results? Please share your thoughts! />
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style="border: 0px none;margin-left:20px;float:right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/intro1.jpg" alt="open source facebook"/>For a project that received $10,000 funding within the first 12 days of its announcement, href="http://joindiaspora.com">Diaspora has quite a lot to live up to. When you factor in that the funding href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196017994/diaspora-the-personally-controlled-do-it-all-distr">eventually reached $200,641 and donors to the project include Facebook frontman Mark Zuckerburg (describing it as a “cool idea”) then this href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-5-best-open-source-social-networking-software/">open-source social network venture starts to sound quite exciting.

The word diaspora originated from the Greek meaning “a scattering of seeds”, an apt name for any decentralised social network. In modern usage, a diaspora is defined as a group migration, but will the promise of tighter security and an open source attitude be enough to tempt people away from social media giants like href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/is-facebook-safer-than-myspace/">Facebook or MySpace?

id="more-54237">

What’s It For?

Diaspora came about when a group of New York University students from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Science were inspired by a speech about freedom and privacy online. Columbia University law professor Eben Moglen described centralised social networks as “spying for free” and the developers came up with Diaspora.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/diaspofficial.jpg" alt="open source facebook"/>

On April 24 2010, the project was announced on href="http://www.kickstarter.com">Kickstarter. Within a few weeks the team had a few hundred thou’ in the bank, a goal to aim for and the open-source world on their side.

The developers aim to create an alternative social network, with the added option of choosing where your data is stored rather than have it sit on the same centralised server. They’re also pretty big on keeping work and play separate, so your boss remains oblivious to what you get up to on a Friday night.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/workmates.jpg" alt="open source facebook"/>

The project’s main “opposition” (for want of a better word) is undoubtedly Facebook, which has been making headlines for a while over security lapses and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-complete-guide-to-facebook-privacy/">privacy boo-boos. Even if the project isn’t a massive success, Diaspora’s direct approach with privacy and data security will hopefully further encourage Facebook and pals to improve things on their side.

So How Does It Work?

Users are able to set up their own servers (known as “seeds”) to store their data, these seeds can then interact with other seeds to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/review-of-5-online-photo-sharing-sites-as-free-alternatives-to-flickr/">share photos, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/openbook-search-facebook-status-updates/">status updates and everything else the internet likes to do.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/status.jpg" alt="open source facebook alternative"/>

Not everybody needs to set up a seed, but through having these separate “hubs” you are able to choose where your data is hosted – rather than putting it straight on someone else’s servers. Your data remains on the seed you choose, and you have control over what is done with it.

Data migration has also been addressed and developers have said that if a user would like to move data to another seed, Diaspora will support seamless migration from one seed to another and still work afterwards.

Diaspora is still somewhat of a business, much like Facebook. When the platform is finally launched there are plans from the developers to offer paid hosting for seeds, complete with support. Those of you interested in this thinking “No thanks, I’ve got hosting” probably don’t care, as long as you’ve got support for Ruby in your hosting package.

Apart from that, it all reads a bit Facebook really. The main Diaspora interface looks like Facebook though the current version isn’t exactly full of features and consumer-friendly.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/aspects.jpg" alt="open source facebook alternative"/>

The ability to separate your work life and social life is a nice touch, and highly customizable. Diaspora refers to groups of people as “aspects”, and contacts are added to these as required. When you post an update online you can then choose to only post to work, family or even just your drinking buddies.

What State Is It In?

The current build is a developer preview, with a consumer alpha due in October. There’s undoubtedly still a long way to go, but the open-source nature of the project should help move things along.

At the moment you can post status updates, upload photos, add contacts and edit your profile. The current build is also chock-full of security holes, but that’s no surprise as it’s still pre-alpha.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/addfriend.jpg" alt="open source facebook alternative"/>

Developers have promised a “battery of add-on modules” are making their way to Diaspora, and these are intended to enable “any type of communication”. They are also planning their own href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-security-tips-to-protect-yourself-from-instant-messenger-hacks/">instant messenger (because you haven’t got enough of those already) and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/technology-explained-how-does-skype-work/">VoIP integration.

Also on the to-do list is integration with href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/openid-overview-and-four-awesome-providers/">OpenID, to facilitate logging in and the distribution of encrypted backups between seeds. It all sounds great, it’s just not built yet.

Can I Have A Go?

If you do want a play with the current development build then you can register on href="http://openspora.com">Openspora and take a look around. Remember – don’t go adding too many personal details and your wedding photos. This is still a preview!

Those of you who want something a little more stable and actually usable will have wait for that consumer alpha coming in October.

Diaspora is still in its infancy yet already receiving a lot of interest. If you’re concerned about privacy, data protection and what Facebook are planning next then it is probably worth keeping an eye on this one. Whether it’s going to be a real contender for the social networking crown remains to be seen. />
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style="border: 0px none;margin-left:20px;float:right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/preview-links.jpg" alt="preview url before clicking"/>We’ve seen quite a few tools that allow you to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/page-preview-time-saving-browser-add-onsfirefox-ie-flock-safari/">preview the linked page without clicking the link including href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/cooliris/">Cooliris, “ href="http://www.coolpreviews.com/index.php">Cool Previews” and others. The one I am going to give a closer look at today is an old one: it received a great deal of attention back in 2007. It is still supported though and I have just recently discovered and fallen in love with it.

href="http://interclue.com/">Interclue is a fun addon for FireFox. Actually it gives so much info on the preview that sometimes it seems too much (luckily, plenty of its behavior can be controlled via the tool options).

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How Interclue Works: The Basics

After you have it installed, hover over any link and notice the linked domain favicon pops up nearby. Just hover over the icon and you will be able to preview URL page contents before clicking:

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/preview-links-01.jpg" alt="preview url before clicking"/>

Control this feature from the tool options:

Navigate to: Tools -> Interclue options -> Linkclue activation

You can set the time delay before a Linkclue icon appears, when the icon disappears (if you use it) and if it should fade away. You can also specify if you want the icon to appear for internal links or external only.

In the same dialog, you can also customize the size of the preview window.

What’s in a Preview?

The preview pop-up includes:

• The linked page text;
• The linked page thumbnail (upper-right corner);
• “Meta clues” that provide further info on the linked page.

The latter is actually pretty useful feature (but probably that’s what I call “too much”). The meta clues can include:

• Delicious saves and tags;
• The number of downloadable files on the target page;
• Page date, etc

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/preview-links-04.jpg" alt="link image preview"/>

Meta clues can be disabled using the [x] next to the feature, or in the Interclue options panel.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/preview-links-03.jpg" alt="link image preview"/>

Control this feature from the tool options:

Navigate to: Tools -> Interclue options -> and from there:

• -> Page summaries: to adjust the font of the page text in the preview pop-up;
• -> Meta clues: to set the additional information you want to be collected in the preview window;

Different Types of Links

Besides favicons (displayed for “normal” links), other types of icons may appear upon mouse-over in some cases – these icons can signal:

1. HTML anchors (or “named” anchors):

This will usually work for “Comments”, “Read more”, links from the blog home page, for example. The preview window will show exactly the part of the page where the link anchors to:

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/preview-links-05.jpg" alt="link image preview"/>

2. Redirected links

See the redirect icon and learn the ultimate link target upon hover:

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/preview-links-02.jpg" alt="link preview"/>

3. Image links:

The preview window lets you see a larger version of the linked image and some additional information:

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/preview-links-06.jpg" alt="link preview"/>

4. Other type of links:

• Malware or phishing sites;
• Dead / broken links;
• Non-HTML links (.pdf, .doc, .swf);
• Shortened URLs;
• etc

Control this feature from the tool options:

Navigate to: Tools -> Interclue options -> Hover Cues -> “Adjust Hoverclue settings for different types of links…”

Preview Window Additional Actions

The preview pop-up speeds up quite a few browsing tasks. By default, you are able to instantly:

• Preview the next/previous similar link in the same window (for example, for MakeUseOf home page, you can load the preview of each post one by one in the same dialog);
• Bookmark the link;
• Open the page in a new background tab;
• Email the preview window content;
• Copy the preview window content;
• Access your tools options.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/preview-links-08.jpg" alt="link preview"/>

Control this feature from the tools options:

Navigate to: Tools -> Interclue options -> Buttons

From there, you are able to see the full list of buttons, learn how to interpret them and enable/disable any of them:

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/preview-links-07.jpg" alt="preview url before clicking"/>

I was very impressed by the variety of features and options that href="http://interclue.com/">Interclue offers. What about you? />
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One of Windows 7’s most exciting new features was the redesigned task bar. Apart from bigger icons, open windows were now grouped per program, and sometimes expanded in so-called preview tabs upon mouse-over.

By now, this feature has been added to all major browsers. There’s but one catch. Not everyone enjoys it.

Whether it’s due to hardware restrictions, or simply because they’re used to a different user interface, “Try to keep up”, and “you’ll get used to it” aren’t valid solutions. In software, too, the customer is king. Below is how you can disable the feature in Firefox 4, Google Chrome, Opera and Internet Explorer 8.

In Google Chrome

The feature was only added to Google Chrome a couple of months ago. Since you can’t disable it in the preferences, here’s a nifty little workaround.

First, browse to C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\ – where ‘C’ is the drive of your Windows 7 install. Right-click on chrome.exe and open the properties pane.

In the compatibility tab, check the box next to ‘Run this program in compatibility mode for:‘, and select Windows Vista (Service Pack 2) from the drop-down menu. Click OK.

Google Chrome will now run like it would on Windows Vista. That is, without those preview tabs. Alternatively, you can also append these changes in the properties pane of a Google Chrome shortcut. If you ever want to re-enable the preview tabs, simply turn compatibility mode off.

In Mozilla Firefox

Open up Firefox, type “about:config” in the address bar (without quotation marks), and hit enter. This will open a screen with advanced settings. Please refrain from changing anything else that you don’t understand. In the filter field, at the top of the screen, type browser.taskbar.previews

This will take you to the relevant settings. Double-click browser.taskbar.previews.enable, so that its value changes to False.

If you ever want to revert these changes, simply visit these settings again, and return browser.taskbar.previews.enable to True.

In Opera

Turning off the preview tabs in Opera is mighty similar to the Firefox method.

First, open your browser, and direct your browser towards “opera:config” (without quotation marks). Go to User Prefs, and look for the “Use Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnails” setting. Make sure this box is unchecked.

To re-enable the preview tabs at a later point in time, simply tick that box again.

In Internet Explorer 8

Ok, nerds aren’t too big a fan of Internet Explorer 8, but as the standard browser on the world’s most popular operation system, a lot of people are still using it. Being a Microsoft product as well, this browser was the first to support the preview tabs feature. Here’s how you go about disabling it.

Disabling this option is probably easiest in Internet Explorer 8. Start by opening up your browser.

Go to Tools -> Internet Options and open the settings pane for ‘Tabs’. At the top, you should be able to find ‘Show previews for individual tabs in the taskbar’, a box ticked by default. Simply uncheck it, save the changes, and you’re done.

Do you know an easier way to disable the preview tabs in any of these, or even a whole-together different browser? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!

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Welcome to the Official MeowMix Guide. This is another addition to the series of MeowMix Video Tutorials for editing and modifying Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Team MeowMix (teammeowmix.co.cc) is a dedicated team at modifying brawl to look good so you can enjoy yourself. Today’s lesson covers 3DS Max 2009 and 2010, a method for viewing your character in 3DS Max in order to preview your textures that you may be creating for characters. This is useful if you want to savor your Wii’s lifespan, or just don’t have the time to boot up your Wii everytime you make a tiny subtle change on your texture. Before you begin, be sure you have measured up to the following — You need 3DS Max 2009 or 2010 (2008 may work, untested). Required Downloads for the 3DS Max Guide can be found at the Meowmix Boards within the “Download Everything” thread. (You’ll need to sign up, but that takes 3 seconds, and it’s free): teammeowmix.proboards.com .::WHAT YOU NEED OFF THAT PAGE::. -Character DAEs for 3ds Max/Blender -ASH_3me + Collada Max Plugin** **This is optional. If you’re a windows XP user, you MIGHT need to download that Collada Max Plugin, and install it in order to view your model in 3DS Max. I haven’t needed it when I worked on XP, but only as long as I followed the steps in the video. ISSUES, QUESTIONS, OR PROBLEMS NEED TO BE DISCUESSED HERE (that way the whole team from MeowMix can assist you): teammeowmix.proboards.com -Jack H. Team MeowMix – meowmix.co.cc MeowMix Boards – http …

www.lynda.com Use external storage devices to bump up your computer’s memory and improve overall performance. Windows 7, the new operating system from Microsoft, promises to be a giant step forward for users. In Windows 7 RC Preview, experienced instructor David Rivers tours through the features of the release candidate for Windows 7, highlighting important new features and improvements. He explores changes to the user interface, uses the improved toolbar, navigates accessibility features, and sets up a homegroup for home networking. He also explores local-aware printing and how to access Windows XP mode for older, non-compatible applications.

This is a preview/demonstration of The Sims 3, released on the 2nd of June 2009. It shows the game style of a house, build options, sim customisation and creation of sims. All content was made by me. *Note that I know the town isn’t called Pleasant View, It’s called Sunset Valley, my mistake.* SIMS 3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:: kotaku.com Sims 3/2 content comparison: sims2to3.webs.com Computer Spec’s used for video: Windows XP Motherboard: Asus M3N-HD SLI – Nforce 750a Chipset Graphics: Nvidia 8800GT 512mb Alpha Dog Edition. Processor/CPU: AMD 6400+ (6.4ghz, 2 cores) RAM: 4gb of 800mhz (only 3gb usable) Monitor: 20″ widescreen running at 1680×1050. HDD: Hitachi 71010 – 1TB, 16mb cache (3.0Gb/s) @ 7200rpm. Sound card: X-Fi Pro Titanium linked to 7.2 sound (Sims 3 so far only supports 5.1 sound). Proving the game will run great even on mid-spec gaming rigs like mine. I get about 130fps with the highest graphics at 1680×1050 resolution around the house in the video and about 40fps getting a panoramic look at the town-centre during day, even with fraps recording 16GB of data in 7 minutes I could still play fine on the highest settings [just].

This is a preview/demonstration of The Sims 3, released on the 2nd of June 2009. It shows the game style of a house, build options, sim customisation and creation of sims. All content was made by me. *Note that I know the town isn’t called Pleasant View, It’s called Sunset Valley, my mistake.* SIMS 3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:: kotaku.com Sims 3/2 content comparison: sims2to3.webs.com Computer Spec’s used for video: Windows XP Motherboard: Asus M3N-HD SLI – Nforce 750a Chipset Graphics: Nvidia 8800GT 512mb Alpha Dog Edition. Processor/CPU: AMD 6400+ (6.4ghz, 2 cores) RAM: 4gb of 800mhz (only 3gb usable) Monitor: 20″ widescreen running at 1680×1050. HDD: Hitachi 71010 – 1TB, 16mb cache (3.0Gb/s) @ 7200rpm. Sound card: X-Fi Pro Titanium linked to 7.2 sound (Sims 3 so far only supports 5.1 sound). Proving the game will run great even on mid-spec gaming rigs like mine. I get about 130fps with the highest graphics at 1680×1050 resolution around the house in the video and about 40fps getting a panoramic look at the town-centre during day, even with fraps recording 16GB of data in 7 minutes I could still play fine on the highest settings [just].

Twitter: twitter.com

Hi everyone, this is a video to show you how well is performing ReactOS 0.3.10, I’ve tested just a few programs, everything virtualized inside VirtualBox. The changes since 0.3.9 have been too many, to name a few: Initial support for USB keyboards and mice, support for SATA drives and more network cards, several graphic glitches fixed, among many many others, for a full list of them see www.reactos.org . Thanks for watching! Soundtrack, see credits at the end of the video.

In this video I demonstrate some of the new features of iTunes 8.1 available for windows and mac. I preview the iTunes DJ feature acompanyied with iTunes Remote on the iPhone. Please comment, rate, and subscribe. Thanks Visit my blog TheCheapGeek.org Follow me on Twitter http

Der Nachfolger von Windows Vista nimmt schärfere Konturen an. CHIP Online hat eine erste Vorabversion installiert und stellt die Highlights vor. Mehr unter: www.chip.de