Microsoft Adds URL Shortener to SkyDrive
Last Updated on Thursday, 17 May 2012 08:57 Written by Alan Thursday, 17 May 2012 08:57
SkyDrive, which received a long-anticipated update from Microsoft just a couple of weeks ago, got another new feature today – URL shortening. Microsoft has positioned their cloud storage service to be a great way to share files like photos and documents. This can be done via email, which is great for photos since it provides thumbnails of the images, or by sending a direct link to a file.
Sending a link has been popular, as Microsoft claims more than 13 million have been created since the introduction last year. Popular enough that Microsoft has decided to improve the process by building in a link-shortening service. These links can not only be emailed, but posted to services like Facebook and Twitter.
- We’ve shortened our regular URLs by 40%. Our previous URLs didn’t even fit inside a Tweet! Oh the shame!
- You can shorten them even further thanks to our new partnership with bitly and the new domain for shortened SkyDrive URLs: http://sdrv.ms
- We’ve added OpenGraph support to our URLs so that when you paste them into places like Facebook, a nice thumbnail preview gets generated
Two of our favorite features are that you can get stats on the links you send out so you can see how much traffic a link gets and you can also get QR Codes for your links.
To get the full details you can read the announcement over at Inside Windows Live blog.
New Details Emerge on Windows 8 Release Preview Apps
Last Updated on Thursday, 17 May 2012 12:21 Written by Alan Thursday, 17 May 2012 12:21
If you have been using the Consumer Preview version of Windows 8 then you have probably discovered that some of the apps are available only in a preview mode. That will change in a couple of weeks when the Release Preview version of the operating system is released in early June.
Paul Thurrott over at WinSupersite has released some information regarding some of the key apps for Windows 8 – Reader, Photos, Mail, Calendar, People, and Messaging. The information isn’t so much a leak, but was published by Microsoft themselves on their Windows Store Preview web site (NOTE: it seems to have been take down now). The mail, calendar, people, and messaging apps are lumped into a single category labeled as “communications”.
One of the key features in the new Photos app will be the close integration with SkyDrive that will bring access to pictures and video stored on other PC’s. The new Calendar app will allow the ability to turn on or off individual calendars, as well as customize a specific color for each calendar, much the same as it’s Windows Phone counterpart. The People app’s Live Tile is actually “live” now showing a grid of contact’s display pictures.
For more detailed information head over to Paul’s site. The next version of Windows 8 is currently scheduled for relase during the first week of June.
Organize Your Music Collection with MP3 Rename
Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 11:36 Written by Alan Thursday, 17 May 2012 07:00
Organizing my music collection seems to be a never-ending task. I have literally worked on it off and on for a couple of years, although I admit it’s much more off than on. That’s mostly because there just isn’t any easy way to do it, despite trying many different software programs. Recently I stumbled across another program that I wanted to try out. This one is called MP3 Rename, but it’s a lot more powerful than the simple name implies.
MP3 Rename is an absolutely free program and it doesn’t come with any little extras like browser toolbars. It’s also a very small, lightweight program, as evidenced by its 130 KB download size.
The main interface isn’t necessarily simple, but most experienced users shouldn’t have any problem finding their way around. You can drag and drop files and folders straight to the top pane of the app, or browse your network for the music files you want to fix.
Once you have added your files you will need to figure out how you would like to structure the renaming. This is where the program gets a bit complicated. This will come down to the file information you have and what you prefer. In most cases I prefer to use the ID3 Tag info. The Rename files tab lets you use ID3 info from the file. You can also enable Force extension to .mp3 on the renamed file option, and unpack and rename compressed files in music folder.
There are other tabs to choose from that give you many features, some of them very advanced. I could spend a long time going through them and still not be able to explain everything. This app is definitely for more advanced users, but those users will reslish the control they can get with it. Even better, it’s completely free. MP3 Rename is available for Windows XP, Vista, and 7. You can download it from Nodesoft.
