Extension Watch: Search Anonymously with Searchonymous for Firefox

May 20, 2014 GMT

Despite its somewhat awkward name, Searchonymous is a really neat Firefox add-on that anonymizes your Google searches. It does this transparently, leaving your search preferences intact and keeping you logged in to other Google services like Gmail and YouTube. According to the developer, the add-on does this by blocking certain Google cookies and generating randomized ones that can't be used for tracking. At the same time, the add-on keeps cookies that contain your search preferences. Searchonymous also disables cookies that display the ads on Google's main page. In addition to that, Searchonymous can be installed without restarting Firefox. So what's not to like?

Quickly Bookmark Locations on Android with Geo Bookmark

May 08, 2014 GMT

At first glance, Geo Bookmark looks like a rather pointless app. It adds a widget that lets you create geo bookmarks on the Home screen. You can then open the bookmarks using map apps like Google Maps or OsmAnd. But this one-trick pony can come in rather useful in many situations. On a trip, you can use Geo Bookmarks to save breadcrumbs for later reference. As a photographer, you can use the widget to track locations you've photographed. The app is available on Google Play Store and F-Droid. Once you've installed it, add the Geo Bookmark widget to the Home screen, and you are done. Next time you need to bookmark the current location, tap...

Prose: Text Editor for GitHub

Apr 30, 2014 GMT

The previous article described how you can use GitHub and Bitbucket for note-taking using the built-in text editors. In case GitHub's editor is not your cup of tea, you might want to give Prose a try. This web-based slick and lightweight Markdown text editor integrates nicely with GitHub. Once authorized, the editor gives you access to all your GitHub repositories, and you can open any text file for editing or create a new file from scratch. Being a Markdown editor, Prose supports Markdown syntax highlighting, and the editor's interface features a toolbar that gives quick access to all basic formatting options. The interface itself is void...

Using Bitbucket and GitHub for Note-Taking as Writing Tools

Apr 29, 2014 GMT

Both Bitbucket and GitHub feature built-in editors which can be used for creating and editing files. This feature can come in handy when you need to quickly jot down a note, draft an article, or save a text snippet. GitHub's editor is particularly suitable for writing and note-taking, as it supports soft wrap and the zen mode which provides a distraction-free writing environment. Bitbucket's editor doesn't offer any of these nice touches, but the service lets you maintain private repositories free of charge. So Bitbucket makes a better choice if you want to keep your scribbles private without spending money. Using GitHub's and Bitbucket's...

Laverna: Markdown Editor in Your Browser

Apr 18, 2014 GMT

While Laverna may look like yet another Markdown editor, it has several features that make it stand out from the crowd. For starters, there is nothing to install. Simply point your browser to Laverna's page , hit the Start using now button, and you are ready to go -- no registration required. To make it easier to keep tabs on your notes, Laverna allows you to organize them into notebooks. You can also mark individual notes as favorites for faster access. The editing interface supports all essential formatting features. The editor itself is split into two panes: the editing area for working with text and the preview pane which displays the final result in real time. ...

Instant Browser-Based File Sharing with ShareDrop

Apr 14, 2014 GMT

ShareDrop is a simple open source service that can come in handy when you need to quickly share files and documents with machines on the same network. What makes ShareDrop particularly appealing is the fact that it's ridiculously easy to use. To send a file to another machine, open the ShareDrop page on both systems, then drag and drop the file directly on the recipient's avatar. File transfer begins as soon as the recipient accepts the file. The service requires no registration, and you don't have to provide any information. But if you want other users to recognize you by your Gravatar and email address instead of a generic avatar and the current IP address, you can sign in to ShareDrop...

Clean up Whiteboard Snaps with the Whiteboard Picture Cleaner Script

Apr 08, 2014 GMT

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but ImageMagick is a pretty amazing toolset. And my latest GitHub find is yet another proof of that. Whiteboard Picture Cleaner is a nifty ImageMagick one-liner that can transform snapshots of whiteboard doodles and scribbles into cleaned up and legible images. Despite its simplicity, the one-liner is capable of producing rather impressive results. To make this script work on your Linux machine, you only need to install the ImageMagick package. Create then a new text file, and paste the following code into it: #!/bin/bash convert "$1" -morphology Convolve DoG:15,100,0 -negate -normalize -blur 0x1 -channel RBG -level 60%,91%,0.1...