GeekwithEnvy

Richard Vincenti Jr

Featured App: GifBoom

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Animated GIF’s were one of the best things about the internet in 90’s and now it seems that they’re making a strong comeback. Websites like Tumblr frequently use animated GIF files for content and simply put, they look awesome. So how can you join in on the fun and create your own animated GIF files? There’s a simple solution and it’s GifBoom.

GifBoom ScreenShot

GifBoom is an app that helps you easily create your own unique animated GIF files by using your built-in camera or saved photos from your library. After you have chosen the photos you want to use you can then create your animated GIF, it’s really that simple. Once you make your new GIF you can then easily share it with your friends via Email, MMS or Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr. This app is really fun to use and your only limit is your own creativity. GifBoom is available for Free on the App Store and Google Play.

GifBoom Features:

  •  Create animated GIFs that you can share to anywhere from your camera or photos.
  •  Auto and Manual mode: Change speed of your auto timer in camera shooting or use “Manual” mode. You can control whatever speed you want to take photos.
  •  Import from Videos and Photos in Gallery
  •  One Tap Instant sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Email and MMS
  •  Save GIFs to camera gallery
  •  Change the speed of your GIF with live preview
  •  Rotate the GIFs with live preview
  •  Add Text to Your Gifs!

 

Another Cosmic Catastrophe Avoided

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Eros
Eros (Credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL)

It seems that we have survived several “end-of-the-world” scenarios but now you can add another reason to celebrate to your list. Another massive asteroid named ‘2011 AG5’ was expected to possibly hit Earth sometime around the year 2040. The asteroid was discovered early in 2011 and ever since we have been keeping track of it’s movement to see if it really could be a world-ender.

Space is a massive place and it can be truly difficult to pinpoint whether or not a single chunk of space rock will hit Earth, but University of Hawaii at Manoa astronomers along with the help of NASA, can safely say that the asteroid is not on a collision course with Earth.

It’s good to know that somebody is watching the skies above us. Now we can only hope that when we are in the path of a giant, we can do something about it. There are a few methods being drawn up about how to avoid an impact. Some of these ideas include crashing spacecraft into astroids to alter their course and steer them away from our planet. However, there are not any solid plans in place at this time to help avoid such impacts.

If there are any space projects that are going to be put together, you would hope that one of the top priority missions would include saving our planet. I would like to see missions that focus on landing on asteroids and studying them, with the ultimate goal being to understand how to alter their trajectory. It sounds simple enough but it takes a lot of force to move these giant and all of this would have to be controlled over long distances. Again, it’s a case of us knowing so much but knowing so little. For now it seems that we have a little more time to figure things out, let’s hope we do before we absolutely have to.

A Moment For Nostalgia, Netscape Navigator

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Ah yes, I remember it all so well, there was a time where Netscape Navigator dominated the web as the world’s number one web browser. During the 1990’s it seemed that no one could touch Netscape.Netscape Logo

Why was this web browser so popular and what happened to it? The internet has been around for decades and it can be traced back as far as the 1960’s, but it wasn’t until the 1990’s that the internet started to gain momentum in the family home.

There were a few good options for browsing the web but Netscape was by far the most popular. Netscape became popular due to it’s innovative features, many of which we still use today, like the cookie, and JavaScript. Another big feature of Netscape was having the ability to display page content before the entire page has loaded. This feature dramatically improved the user’s experience of using the internet.

Netscape Navigator
Netscape Navigator (source: Wikipedia)

Netscape continued to stay in firm control of browser usage over the next few years as they continued to improve their browser, but a shadow hung over the company. As sales of Microsoft Windows continued to rise so did the usage of Internet Explorer (IE) and Netscape wasn’t happy about it. They weren’t unhappy because of competition but because of the way Microsoft was getting users to make the switch. Internet Explorer was included with every copy of Windows and most users didn’t feel the need to use any other browser because they really didn’t ever have to make a choice, one was just provided. This obviously makes for a pretty unfair fight and it’s partially the reason why Netscape Navigator began to loose traction with consumers. Microsoft continued to push Internet Explorer out in front of users through other methods including working IE into internet service provider bundles, which greatly reduced the visibility of Netscape and eventually led to it’s demise.

Fortunately for us the “browser wars” still go on as Internet Explorer goes head-to-head with other great browsers like Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari. This competition drives innovation forward and at the very least offers some choices. Netscape Navigator was a beast in it’s day and it’s original release demands our respect. Netscape may never regain it’s throne, as it is now no longer supported, but it will always be remembered as an important part of internet history.

 

StarCraft II Heart of the Swarm Beta for Those Who Pre-Ordered

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Starcraft II Heart of the Swarm Logo

If you got onboard early with StarCraft II Heart of the Swarm and pre-ordered the game before December 18th, you will have access to test out the beta version of the game. Amazon will be sending out promotional beta key codes with actual physical pre-orders. That’s a pretty sweet deal. Blizzard Entertainment will be releasing StarCraft II Heart of the Swarm will launch 3-12-2012. You can get more information about the upcoming expansion from our earlier post here.

Update: PCGamesN.

Steven Sinofsky Gets a New Gig

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Steven Sinofsky was a Microsoft executive who ran the Windows division of the company for many years. Sinofsky had recently left Microsoft after not seeing eye-to-eye with other senior management at the company. One of those people included Steve Ballmer, the current CEO. Now, Sinofsky is heading to Harvard to teach product development, planning and more. Currently, is unclear how long Sinofsky will remain at Harvard.

A few days ago Sinofsky tweeted about heading to Harvard,

Steven_Sinofsky_at_BUILD
Steven Sinofsky at BUILD

“Excited to return to @HarvardHBS to teach again this spring!” Sinofsky wrote. “New perspectives, recharge, share experiences, write.”

Sinofsky is credited with restoring user’s faith in Windows by pushing out Windows 7, which has done quite well. He was also the main man behind Microsoft’s latest OS, Windows 8.