Chaos Laboratory

Tim Berners Lee, the inventor of the web talks about his visions for the next generation web where all raw units of data (and not just textual information or pictures and video) are linked together. This could very well make way for a new paradigm on how data is retrieved and used.

If you haven’t got the slightest clue on what he’s talking about, take a look at Wolfram Alpha – they’ve pretty much achieved the goal. However, what’s been done here in a single web-site (drawing from it’s own in-house data store), Tim envisions for the entire web.

A look at this side-by-side comparison of a conventional search vs. a search on Wolfram Alpha should help clarify it further.

Dec 17th by miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG

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Have you ever felt the need of backing-up your flash drive entirely? I mean keeping a backup of the stuff you’ve got on your USB Disk maybe as easy as just copying it all off to a folder on your hard drive – but how about a nicely compressed single-file image… something similar to the partition backup images created by Norton Ghost, Acronis TrueImage and the likes?

Here’s this tiny (97KB compressed) freeware utility named USB Image Tool that lets you do just that – minus the bulk and complexities of the above mentioned programs. The tool helps you create exact images of your USB memory sticks or MP3 Players (which are mounted as USB drives). Talking of MP3 Players – think of the ability to alternate between pre-defined sets (images) of music with the help of this tool.

Here’s a quick run-down of the features…

• Create image files of USB drives
• Restore images of USB drives
• Compressed image file format (using XZip 1.3 routines)
• Display USB Device information
• Maintain a list of your favourtie images
• Single click backups and restores through an extremely simple interface

The tool requires .NET Framework 2.0 to operate  – so make you sure have it installed.

Incidentally, if you are still in the habit of using those frail little floppy disks, you can very well take the help of DiskXS – a similar tool by the same author, to create backup images of your disks before they decide to give up on you.

Get USB Image Tool here.

Jun 29th by miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG

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This seems to be the era of online graphics tools. As computing power and  coding paradigms (read software capabilities) evolve, online tasks that were earlier deemed next to impossible are being delivered right to your doorsteps – most of them at the single click of your mouse. Just last week, I had reviewed this online tool named beFunky, that helps you cartoonize any given still picture and video. Today I came across another one called Dumpr – that adds a horde of PhotoShop like filters (effects) to your toolbox.

Generating any of the effects is a 3 step process.

1. You select the desired effect (some of which are reserved for the paid Premium Membership level) from a pretty large library.
2. Upload your image & specify the effect variation you want (if applicable). You can also pull in images directly from other URLs and a couple of Social Networking / Image Sharing sites like MySpace, flickr, Picasa, Zoomr etc.
3. This is the step – where you are handed out the final image (with the effect applied). You can either download the image or use the provided code to embed it in other sites or even re-upload a whole range of Social Networks.

Here are a couple of examples (different effects applied on the same starting image)…

Pretty slick, eh? The coolest part is that if you decide to sign-up for the service (registration is FREE), all the resultant images are automatically saved in the space allocated to your profile. The only thing I found lacking in their service is the ability to re-use these saved pictures for application of a different effect (you need to manually re-upload the image again). That would have covered all the aspects.

If you decide to opt-in for the Pro / Premium Membership – which, at $3.99 / month is quite cheap – you get added benefits…

1. A larger selection of effects are made available to you.
2. You get to be the first one to be able to use any new introductions (effects).
3. All advertisements are taken-off your account.

Found via: JeetBlog

Jun 19th by miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG

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Here’s a quick pointer. If you want an CD/DVD ISO Image Creator that does just what it’s intended to do, you should try this fantastic freeware named LC ISO Creator.

It’s this incredibly tiny download (14kb compressed) and runs straight out of box – i.e. no installation is required. It doesn’t require any crappy driver installation either. This can make it an invaluable addition to the PortableApps Suite.

The interface is very minimalistic and doesn’t sport any Settings or Options dialog. It took me around 9 minutes to convert a 3GB DVD into it’s ISO counterpart – pretty good for such compact coding. It even support Unicode. Your only qualm might be that it cannot handle copy-protected disks. Who cares! There are plenty of specialised tools for that.

This one’s headed straight for my PortableApps folder on my USB key.

Jun 16th by miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG

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I can’t live for long without re-installing my Windows. It stems out of this habit of downloading all the junk in the world and trying them out. Of course, this is quite necessary for me to be able to write decent reviews of the various cool tools that I keep mentioning every so often. The end result is that my system bogs down to a crawling pace at an exponential rate due to all the residual junk. Besides, I love the feel of a freshly installed copy of Windows. So there…

On some of these re-installation phases I’ve come up against hard brick walls, namely, scratched installation disks rendering them unbootable. Or at times I’ve rendered my hard-drive unbootable while trying to do (and learn) some low-level editing of the MBR (Master Boot Record) which was further compounded by that unbootable Windows installer disk. Whatever be the case, one always needs to be able to access the Windows partition to backup certain crucial configuration files and data prior to the clean install. Trust me, there’s always a need for that. And having access to the boot partition is quite necessary for this.

That is where AllBootDisks come in handy. If you’re in dire need of a Windows boot disk, this is the perfect place to look for one. They’ve got ready-to-download-and-burn ISO images of all possible versions & variations of Windows starting from WIndows 95 and even for MS-DOS. Windows 98, 2000, ME, NT, XP Home, XP Pro – to name a few. All you need is access to a friend’s computer with a CD burner and a net connection. You’ll have your boot CD up and running in a jiffy.

So, now you know where to look for if you’re suffering from booting horrors. Simply chant AllBootDisks.

Jun 14th by miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG

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Here’s the latest addition to the Web 2.0 bandwagon – befunky – a quick & dirty way to cartoonize your favourite snaps in a jiffy.

The site sports a simple flash interface that allows you to upload your snaps (either from your Desktop or by direct capture through a webcam) and convert them to cartoon caricatures. There are a couple of easy-to-understand parameters like Sketch, Colour, Warp and Goodies which can produce widely varying end-results. You can crop or rotate the picture once you’ve uploaded it, adjust the brightness & colour levels, apply different warp brush sizes as well as do a multiple variations of flipping & layering. You can even add frames, modify facial features (hair, lips, eyes etc.), throw in accessories like jewelry, eyeware & hats and top it up with some custom funky text. The resultant pictures are really cool! Here’s a simple example with the most basic effect applied.

Soon to come is a new feature that’ll allow you to transcend the boundaries of static pictures and apply the same effects to videos as well. Oh Yes! Full-length running videos. Ain’t that awesome?

The site sports a comprehensive Tips & Tricks section which gives you creative tips on how to best utilise the toons you’ve just created, which range from personally branded merchandise to e-cards and ways to spice-up your costume parties. All in all a very easy-to-use and useful web-application that can find a large audience – specially in graphically challenged people, like me Can prove to be a viable option for those who don’t have access to Adobe Photoshop and it’s plethora of filters.

Found via: System Hacks

Jun 07th by miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG

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Here’s a video compilation of some of the coolest optical illusions. Can you spot the double images in each slide?

Best Optical Illusions – video powered by Metacafe

Sep 26th by miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG

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Ever felt like giving your site’s theme a cool, striped look but didn’t know how to go about it? Are the graphics tutorials on stripes too complex for you to follow? Here’s you quick and dirty way out. Stripemania is a free online tool that generates striped background images for use with your site’s theme in just a couple of quick, easy steps.

The interface is pretty simple. To get your desired stripe, you choose the width of the stripes, the distance between each stripe, orientation and a couple of colours and hit refresh. Thats it! Your custom stripe is ready to download. If you don’t like vanilla stripes (alternating coloured stripes) – you can choose multiple gradients for the stripes and get some pretty snazzy effects. There’s a quick full-screen preview option that lets you test your background out even before you download it.

Stripemania falls within the recent Web 2.0 genre of online graphics design tools and is one of the better designed tools in this category and pretty much devoid of the ubiquitous AJAX timeout errors. It’s a must-add in any aspiring web-designer’s toolbox.

Sep 19th by miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG

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