The Benefits of Dual Monitors

Honestly, I would rather just hire another employee to help me instead of getting another monitor. But it isn’t my call so I will take what I can get. I have quickly adapted to this dual monitor thing and have already increased my productivity.

Some basic examples of multi-tasking situations on a PC:

- Analysing spreadsheet data while compiling a report
- Emailing colleagues and clients while researching online
- Talking via instant messenger (MSN, Skype, etc) while browsing the web

By using a dual-monitor setup, you can easily and efficiently split the tasks into separate monitors and monitor/action them accordingly, while still having one main point of focus.

If you’re in business where your staff are actively using computers all day, try becoming more efficient with a dual monitor setup, which will aid productivity all round.

Multi-Monitor Support (VS 2010 and .NET 4 Series)

Visual Studio 2010

Taking advantage of the multi-monitor feature is really easy to-do. Simply click on a document tab or tool-window and drag it to either a new location within the top-level IDE window – or outside of the IDE to any location on any monitor you want:

Code source file support:

Demonstrates how code files can be split up across multiple monitors. Below I’ve kept a .aspx file in the main IDE window and then moved a code-behind file and a separate class file to a separate screen:

Designer support:

Demonstrates how a designer within VS can be split across multiple monitors. Below I’ve moved the WPF/Silverlight WYSWIYG designer and the property grid to a separate screen (the code behind file is still in the main window). Note how the VS10 property grid now supports inline color editors, databinding, styles, brushes, and a whole bunch more for WPF and Silverlight applications (I’ll cover this in later blog posts):

Google Music Store coming soon

Google has been in talks to offer its own MP3 music store for some time, but Android head Andy Rubin shed a little more light on the upcoming service today at the AsiaD conference, saying the service was “close” to launching.

Google couldn’t launch a full-service music offering earlier, so it launched a music locker that lets users listen to their music from the cloud. The record labels weren’t happy with that move, but Google has been persistent in wanting its own MP3 music offering to challenge established players like Apple and Amazon and willing to do whatever it takes.

Android boss Rubin didn’t reveal too much about the upcoming service outside of the fact that the service was “close” to launch. But he did indicate the service would be a little different from Apple and Amazon by offering “a little twist – it will have a little Google in it. It won’t just be selling 99 cent tracks.”

Google is in an increasingly challenging position because now Apple has iCloud for music storage and will soon have iTunes Match, a $25 a year service that lets people legally access almost any song in their iTunes library. And then there’s Amazon, which already has a strong MP3 sales catalog, its Amazon Cloud Drive for music storage and the upcoming Amazon Kindle Fire tablet that will have an emphasis on media consumption.

While Google launched Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich last night, we’re not sure at this point if the major software update will help the music experience. There’s no doubt Google will try to take advantage of the number of Android devices used around the world in selling music. But until Google can complete deals with the major music labels, we’ll have to wait and see what Google launches.

Would you like to use a native Google MP3 store on your Android phone or tablet?

Google introduces “Infinite Digital Bookcase,” acts as virtual librarian

Google introduced the newest form of bookcase to your browsers today — what it calls an “Infinite Digital Bookcase,” and damn does it look cool.

The company announced the bookcase in an official blog post.

With tablets and eReaders offering a number of new ways to experience books, the browser has been relatively ignored. However, not a lot of people consider getting into a bubble bath with their nice glass of wine and a laptop book to wind down the day, but you never know. To that end, the virtual bookcase may not be a competitor to the Kindle, but rather to the book discovery service overall. It could also simply be a way to funnel people toward purchasing Google Books, but it’s still pretty cool.

Google created the bookcase to act as an infinite loop of reading options. You can use your mouse to scroll through shelves of over 10,000 books available on Google Books that coil like Trajan’s Column. The column spins left, right, up and down. It uses WebGL, or a web-based graphics library, which interacts with Javascript programming language to allow for interactivity. WebGL can be found on most updated browsers.

Books on these shelves are separated into 28 different categories, bestsellers, and free books, which when clicked on, act as a virtual librarian taking you to the right section of the bookcase. It almost feels like something out of Harry Potter, being magically taken to your section on the column that seemingly goes on forever. The interactive bookcase also uses the Google Books API (application programming interface) to show title, author and a short synopsis of specified books.

Choosing a book is also visually tasty. Once you click on a book, it bounces similarly to how an icon bounces on an Apple Mac application dock. After loading, a 3D version of the book pops off the shelf and opens to show you the above content. In order to read the book you have the option to purchase it from Google Books or take a picture of the QR code with your mobile device to read it on the go.

The bookcase is available now to interested readers with an updated browser, but is still a little buggy given it is in experiment mode. Check it out here.

Bookworms using a modern browser can try the WebGL Bookcase today.  We recommend using Google Chrome and a fast computer with a powerful graphics  card. Even with new hardware, this interface is experimental and may not work on some machines. For more creative browser experiments, check out Chrome Experiments, a gallery of more than 300 creative projects made by developers and artists from around the
world, many utilizing WebGL.

Adobe Launches Adobe Reader For iOS

 

Adobe has just launched a version of its PDF Reader, Adobe Reader for iOS devices, which supports iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The new, free application, available here in iTunes, lets users view PDF files opened via email, on the Web or from within any application that supports iOS’s “Open In” functionality.

The app provides additional features like the ability to search for text in the document itself, plus support for bookmarks, navigation using thumbnails, zooming, sharing via email, copy and paste, single page or continuous scroll modes and even wireless printing via iOS AirPrint.

In addition to standalone PDFs, the app can be used to open ePortfolios (PDF Portfolios), PDF Packages, annotations and drawing markups. Password-protect files, those secured by Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management and files encrypted using AES256, are also supported.

Along with the new iOS app, Adobe released Android Reader for Android 10.1 which includes many of the same features and works on both Android phones and tablets running Android 2.2 or higher.

 

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What are some benefits of using jQuery?

You should be able to vocalize the benefits of jQuery. It is lightweight, open source, has lots of plugins, and jQuery has a great community and user support. It is incredibly good at matching CSS selectors, it supports chains of actions, and it has many useful AJAX methods. These are just some basic reasons. You could also add that jQuery fixes many JavaScript cross-browser issues.

Technology week opens today, big guns to talk about future

Dubai: Top leaders from some the largest tech and telecom companies in the world converge on Dubai today for a five-day showcase that will encourage 3,500 conference corporate attendees to seek innovation and redefine the future. Gitex Technology Week opening ceremonies begin at 11am today followed by a 1pm general opening for visitors at the Dubai International Conference and Exhibition Centre. Organisers are expecting 136,000 visitors to pass through the doors this week to hear corporate chieftains who helm multi-billion corporations discuss next-steps strategies regarding technolgies that have changed the way we live.