Beginner’s Guide to Flock, the Social Media Browser
05 May
Posted by ProCOM 
on May 5, 2010 – 1:00 am - 5 views
Are you wanting a browser that can work as a social hub from the first moment that you start it up? If you love the idea of a browser that is ready to go out of the box then join us as we look at Flock.
During the Install Process
When you are installing Flock there are two install windows that you should watch for. The first one lets you choose between the “Express Setup & Custom Setup”. We recommend the “Custom Setup”.
Once you have selected the “Custom Setup” you can choose which of the following options will enabled. Notice the “anonymous usage statistics” option at the bottom…you can choose to leave this enabled or disable it based on your comfort level.
The First Look
When you start Flock up for the first time it will open with three tabs. All three are of interest…especially if this is your first time using Flock. With the first tab you can jump right into “logging in/activating” favorite social services within Flock. This page is set to display each time that you open Flock unless you deselect the option in the lower left corner.
The second tab provides a very nice overview of Flock and its’ built-in social management power.
The third and final page can be considered a “Personal Page”. You can make some changes to the content displayed for quick and easy access and/or monitoring “Twitter Search, Favorite Feeds, Favorite Media, Friend Activity, & Favorite Sites”.
Use the “Widget Menu” in the upper left corner to select the “Personal Page Components” that you would like to use.
In the upper right corner there is a built-in “Search Bar” and buttons for “Posting to Your Blog & Uploading Media”.
To help personalize the “My World Page” just a bit more you can even change the text to your name or whatever best suits your needs.
The Flock Toolbar
The “Flock Toolbar” is full of social account management goodness. In order from left to right the buttons are: My World (Homepage), Open People Sidebar, Open Media Bar, Open Feeds Sidebar, Webmail, Open Favorites Sidebar, Open Accounts and Services Sidebar, Open Web Clipboard Sidebar, Open Blog Editor, & Open Photo Uploader.
The buttons will be “highlighted” with a blue background to help indicate which area you are in. The first area will display a listing of people that you are watching/following at the services shown here.
Clicking on the “Media Bar Button” will display the following “Media Slider Bar” above your “Tab Bar”. Notice that there is a built-in “Search Bar” on the right side. Any photos, etc. clicked on will be opened in the currently focused tab below the “Media Bar”.
Here is a listing of the “Media Streams” available for viewing.
By default Flock will come with a small selection of pre-subscribed RSS Feeds. You can easily unsubscribe, rearrange, add custom folders, or non-categorized feeds as desired. RSS Feeds subscribed to here can be viewed combined together as a single feed (clickable links) in the “My World Page”. or can be viewed individually in a new tab. Very nice!
Next on the “Flock Toolbar is the “Webmail Button”. You can set up access to your favorite “Yahoo!, Gmail, & AOL Mail” accounts from here.
The “Favorites Sidebar” combines your “Browser History & Bookmarks” into one convenient location.
The “Accounts and Services Sidebar” gives you quick and easy access to get logged into your favorite social accounts. Clicking on any of the links will open that particular service’s login page in a new tab.
Want to store items such as photos, links, and text to add into a blog post or tweet later on? Just drag and drop them into the “Web Clipboard Sidebar” for later access.
Clicking on the “Blog Editor Button” will open up a separate blogging window to compose your posts in. If you have not logged into or set up an account yet in Flock you will see the following message window.
The “Blogging Window”…nice, simple, and straightforward.
If you are not already logged into your photo account(s) then you will see the following message window when you click on the “Photo Uploader Button”. Clicking “OK” will open the “Accounts and Services Sidebar” with compatible photo services highlighted in a light yellow color. Log in to your favorite service to start uploading all those great images.
After Setting Up
Here is what our browser looked like after setting up some of our favorite services. The Twitter feed is certainly looking nice and easy to read through…
Some tweaking in the “RSS Feeds Sidebar” makes for a perfect reading experience.
Keeping up with our e-mail is certainly easy to do too.
A look back at the “Accounts and Services Sidebar” shows that all of our accounts are actively logged in (green dot on the right side).
Going back to our “My World Page” you can see how nice everything looks for monitoring our “Friend Activity & Favorite Feeds”.
Moving on to regular browsing everything is looking very good… Flock is a perfect choice for anyone wanting a browser and social hub all built into a single app.
Conclusion
Anyone who loves keeping up with their favorite social services while browsing will find using Flock to be a wonderful experience. You literally get the best of both worlds with this browser.
Links
The Official Flock Extensions Homepage
The Official Flock Toolbar Homepage
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Disable the Old Adobe Flash Plugin in Google Chrome
04 May
Posted by ProCOM on May 4, 2010 – 9:44 pm - 43 views
If you’ve just updated to the Dev or Beta release of Google Chrome, you might have noticed that a special version of Adobe Flash is now integrated into the default distribution of Chrome. But what about your old plug-in?
As it turns out, the old plug-in is generally still installed… but you can easily disable Chrome plug-ins in the latest version, so let’s get to work.
Disable the Extra Flash Plug-in
Head over to about:plugins and look through the list—you should notice two Shockwave Flash plugins. The first one should be in your Google Chrome installation folder, and has the filename gcswf32.dll. This is the NEW one, so don’t disable it!
If you keep scrollling down, you’ll see the old one, with the file name NPSWF32.dll. This is the OLD plugin, and you can safely disable it.
Of course, if you only use Chrome you could just completely uninstall Adobe Flash from your system by heading into Control Panel’s Uninstall Programs screen, and then finding and uninstalling Adobe Flash Player Plugin. The ActiveX version is for Internet Explorer.
We’ve not done any testing to see if the old Flash plugin is even still active or not, but may as well disable it just to be sure, right?
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Change the User Interface Language in Vista or Windows 7
30 Apr
Posted by ProCOM on April 30, 2010 – 2:00 pm - 26 views
Would you like to change the user interface language in any edition of Windows 7 or Vista on your computer?? Here’s a free app that can help you do this quickly and easily.
If your native language is not the one most spoken in your area, you’ve likely purchased a PC with Windows preinstalled with a language that is difficult or impossible for you to use.? Windows 7 and Vista Ultimate include the ability to install multiple user interface languages and switch between them. However, all other editions are stuck with the language they shipped with.? With the free Vistalizator app, you can add several different interface languages to any edition of Vista or Windows 7 and easily switch between them.
Note:? In this test, we used an US English copy of both Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows Vista Home Premium, and it works the same on any edition. The built-in language switching in the Ultimate Editions lets you set a user interface language for each user account, but this will only switch it for all users.?
Add a User Interface Language to Windows
To add an interface language to any edition of Windows 7 and Vista, first download Vistalizator (link below).? Then, from the same page, download the language pack of your choice.? The language packs are specific for each service pack of Windows, so make sure to choose the correct version and service pack you have installed.
Once the downloads are finished, launch the Vistalizator program. You do not need to install it; simply run it and you’re ready to go.? Click the Add languages button to add a language to Windows.
Select the user interface language pack you downloaded, and click Open.
Depending on the language you selected, it may not automatically update with Windows Update when a service pack is released.? If so, you will have to remove the language pack and reinstall the new one for that service pack at that time.? Click Ok to continue.
Make sure you’ve selected the correct language, and click Install language.
Vistalizator will extract and install the language pack.? This took around 5 to 10 minutes in our test.
Once the language pack is installed, click Yes to make it the default display language.
Now, you have two languages installed in Windows.? You may be prompted to check for updates to the language pack; if so, click Update languages and Vistalizator will automatically check for and install any updates.
When finished, exit Vistalizator to finish switching the language.? Click Yes to automatically reboot and apply the changes.
When you computer reboots, it will show your new language, which in our test is Thai.? Here’s our Windows 7 Home Premium machine with the Thai language pack installed and running.
You can even add a right to left language, such as Arabic, to Windows.? Simply repeat the steps to add another language pack.?
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Vistalizator was originally designed for Windows Vista, and works great with Windows 7 too.? The language packs for Vista are larger downloads than their Windows 7 counterparts.? Here’s our Vista Home Premium in English…
And here’s how it looks after installing the Simplified Chinese language pack with Vistalizator.
Revert to Your Original Language
If you wish to return to the language that your computer shipped with, or want to switch to another language you’ve installed, run Vistalizator again.? Select the language you wish to use, and click Change language.?? 
When you close Vistalizator, you will again be asked to reboot.? Once you’ve rebooted, you’ll see your new (or original) language ready to use.? Here’s our Windows 7 Home Premium desktop, back in it’s original English interface.
Conclusion
This is a great way to change your computer’s language into your own native language, and is especially useful for expatriates around the world.? Also, if you’d like to simply change or add an input language instead of changing the language throughout your computer, check out our tutorial on How to Add Keyboard Languages to XP, Vista, and Windows 7.
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Convert a Row to a Column (or Backwards) in Google Docs Spreadsheets
29 Apr
Posted by ProCOM on April 29, 2010 – 5:00 pm - 3 views
If you have to deal with a lot of spreadsheets, you’re probably really bored right now. You also might be wondering how to turn a row into a column, or a column into a row. Here’s how to do it with Google Docs Spreadsheets.
If you’re an Excel user, you’re also in luck, because we’ve already shown you how to turn a row into a column, or vice-versa. It won’t make you any less bored though.
Convert a Row to a Column (or backwards)
The first thing you’ll need is a column or a row of information that you want to convert into the opposite. For our example, we’ve got this set of data that we created by using the Auto Fill options in Google Docs.
Now in another cell, you’ll need to use the TRANSPOSE function, which you can use by simply typing in the following:
=TRANSPOSE(
And then selecting the cells with the mouse, or manually typing in the range of cells you want to copy. The final function in this example was:
=TRANSPOSE(A1:A11)
Finish it off with the final ) character to complete the function, hit the Enter key, and there we are… the column was transposed over to the right.
You can use the same thing to turn columns into rows, or rows into columns—just change the range you are looking for.
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Stop YouTube Videos from Automatically Playing in Chrome
29 Apr
Posted by ProCOM on April 29, 2010 – 1:00 am - 0 views
If you’ve actually used the internet before, you’ve probably come across a page with an auto-playing YouTube clip, and chances are good it was a rather annoying one. Here’s how to stop them from starting automatically in Chrome.
We’ve already told you how to stop them from automatically playing if you’re a Firefox user (best answer: use Flashblock!), but now it’s time for Chrome users to get their turn.
Use the Stop Autoplay for YouTube Extension
The great thing about this extension is that it stops the video from playing, but it allows it to continue buffering, so when you do feel like playing the video, it’ll already be downloaded—really useful for people with slower internet connections.
There’s no UI or anything fancy, just head to the extension page and click the Install button.
If you want to get rid of it later, use the Tools –> Extensions menu (or you can type chrome://extensions/ into your address bar), and then click the Uninstall link for that add-on.
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Download Stop Autoplay for YouTube [Google Chrome Extensions]
Using FlashBlock for Chrome
If you really wanted to, you could just disable Flash across the board using FlashBlock for Chrome. Once you’ve installed the extension, you won’t see any Flash elements anywhere, and you’ll have to move your mouse over them and click to enable them each time.
When I installed the extension the first time, I noticed that YouTube was already in the allow list. I’m not sure if that’s the default setting or not, but you can use the icon in the address bar, or the Options from the Extensions panel to get to the settings page, and from there you can remove anything from the White List that you wouldn’t want.
Another nice feature about Flash Block is that it can also block Silverlight, or you could simply uninstall or remove unnecessary Chrome plug-ins.
Download FlashBlock for Chrome
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Preview Links and Images in Google Chrome
28 Apr
Posted by ProCOM on April 28, 2010 – 8:00 am - 0 views
Anyone who has used the CoolPreviews extension in Firefox knows how wonderful that preview window can be. Now you can get the same kind of functionality in Chrome with the ezLinkPreview extension.
Note: Extension will not work on websites containing “frame buster” code (navigation to the actual URL will occur).
Before
Normally if you want to have a better look at a particular webpage the only option you have is to go ahead and open it in a new tab or window. But it would certainly be nice to be able to take a quick “sneak peek” before-hand…
After
As soon as you have finished installing the extension everything is ready to go…just refresh any pages open prior to installation and enjoy the preview goodness. When you hover your mouse near any link you will notice a small “Preview Button” appear with the letters “EZ” inside.
A closer look at the “Preview Button”.
Click on the “Preview Button” to open the popup window. Now you can get a very good idea of whether the page is worth visiting or not.
Here is a closer look at the popup window. Notice that you can see the URL for the webpage and access a convenient set of buttons on the right side (Open to new tab, Pin to keep overlay open, and Close). You can even resize the window as desired to best suit your needs (you can actually grab any of the four corners to resize the popup window).
It is also possible to open a “preview window” inside the popup window…you can see the “Preview Button” here…
If you have Chrome maximized you can enjoy using a large sized “preview window”. Now that is nice!
For those who may be curious you can see that ezLinkPreview works nicely with images too.
Conclusion
The ezLinkPreview extension provides a quick and simple way to preview links and/or images while you are browsing. If you are looking for similar functionality in Firefox then be sure to read our article on CoolPreviews here.
Links
Download the ezLinkPreview extension (Google Chrome Extensions)
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Update Metadata and Cover Art in Windows Media Player 12
27 Apr
Posted by ProCOM on April 27, 2010 – 11:00 am - 62 views
If you use Windows Media Player 12 in Windows 7, you may notice some of your media is missing information when displayed in the library. Today we look at how to edit and update metadata and cover art in WMP 12.
By default, Windows Media Player will pull metadata, such as the title, artist, album, and cover art from the Internet. If you did not accept that default option during setup, we’ll need to turn the feature on first.
Select Tools > Options from the top Menu bar.
On the Library tab, ensure that Retrieve additional information form the Internet is checked. Click OK.
Editing Metadata
Now we’re ready to update some files. Find a media file with incorrect details or cover art. Right-click on the title and select Find album info.
This will bring up the Find album information window. Here you’ll see the existing information that Windows Media Player interpreted as correct on the left side. The results of? WMP’s search for the media information are on the right.
Click on Artists,? Albums , or Tracks to scroll through the search results and try to find a match. You can also type in new keywords in the Search box and hit enter (or click the Search button) to perform a new search.
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If you find a correct match for your media file, click to select it and click Next.
You’ll be prompted to confirm your selection, then click Finish.
You should now see your media file displayed properly in Windows Media Player.
Manually Entering Metadata
If your search for the correct media information comes up empty, you can always manually enter the information yourself.
On the Find album information window, click Edit under Existing Information.
You can edit the existing information in the text boxes or the Genre dropdown box.
There are a couple hidden text boxes below. Click next to Contributing Artist or Composer to enter that information.
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Choosing Your Own Cover Art
If your media file doesn’t pull the proper cover art, or if you simply wish to find a different image, you can add your own. Search online for a suitable image. An ideal size would be around 300 x 300 pixels, give or take. Right-click on the image copy the image.
You’ll need to switch to Expanded title (if you haven’t already) to paste the image.
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Paste your new image by right-clicking on the current image and select Paste album art. Note: If the image is not suitable size or type, the Paste album art option will not be available.
Your new cover art will appear in Windows Media Player.
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Even though it is pulled from the Internet, cover art is cached on your computer and will still be available when you are disconnected from the Internet.
Are you new to Windows Media Player? If so, check out our article on how to Manage your music with Windows Media Player.
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Move the Status Bar Web Address Display to the Address Bar
27 Apr
Posted by ProCOM on April 27, 2010 – 8:00 am - 33 views
Is the ability to see the addresses for weblinks the only reason that you keep the Status Bar visible? Now you can hide the Status Bar and move that address display to the Address Bar in Firefox.
Before
Here is the normal “Status Bar” address display for the weblink we were hovering the mouse over in our browser. That is nice but if you really prefer to keep the “Status Bar” hidden what do you do? Move that display to a better (and definitely more convenient) location.
After
Once you have the extension installed that is all there is to it…you are ready to go. Notice the address display in “Address Bar”. That is definitely looking nice.
Just for fun we temporarily left the “Status Bar” visible as a demonstration while hovering over the link.
And then with the “Status Bar” totally disabled…more screen real-estate is always a good thing.
Note: The Status Address Bar extension does not show the original address behind shortened URLs.
Conclusion
If you are looking for an alternate way to see the address behind weblinks and acquire more screen real-estate, then the Status Bar extension will be a wonderful addition to your Firefox Browser.
Links
Download the Status Address Bar extension (Mozilla Add-ons)
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How To Start Your Own Professional Blog with WordPress
26 Apr
Posted by ProCOM on April 26, 2010 – 8:00 pm - 1 views
Would you like to start your own blog or website?? With a free WordPress? account, it’s free and easy to get started creating your own professional quality blog site.
This is the first part in a series on how to create your own professional quality blog site. No, we’re not talking about some cheapo looking blog from Blogger or something on Facebook, but creating a quality blog you can be proud of and present to millions of readers online.
WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms, powering hundreds of high-profile websites and blogs around the world.? It’s both powerful and easy to use, which makes it great whether you’re just starting out or are a blogging pro.? To start out with your blogging project WordPress is completely free, and you can use the online interface or install the WordPress software on your own server and blog from there.
Getting Started
You can start a blog in just a few minutes.? Head over to WordPress.com and click Sign up now on the right-hand side of the main page.
![sshot-2010-04-25-[02-09-18]](http://www.programimi.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/3536268670020918.png.png "sshot-2010-04-25-[02-09-18]")
Enter a username and password, check that you agree with the legal terms, select the “Gimme a blog” bullet, and click Next.
WordPress may inform you that your username is already taken, simply choose a new one and try again.
Next, choose a domain for your blog.? This will be the address for your site, and cannot be changed, so be sure to choose exactly what you want.? If you’d prefer your address to be yourname.com instead of yourname.wordpress.com, you can add your own domain for a fee after your blog is setup…but we’ll cover that later.
Once you click signup, you will be sent a confirmation email.? While you wait for the email to arrive you can go ahead and enter in your name and a short bio about yourself.
When you receive your confirmation email, click the link.? Congratulations; you now have your own blog!
You can view your new blog immediately, though the default theme isn’t very interesting without your content and pictures.
Back on the page you opened from the email, click Login to access your blog’s administration page and to start adding stuff to your blog.? You can also access your blog’s admin page anytime by from yourname.wordpress.com/admin, substituting your own blog name for yourname.
Enter your username and password, then click Log in to get started.
Adding Content to your WordPress.com Blog
When you sign in to your WordPress blog, you’ll first see the WordPress Admin page.? Here you can see recent posts and comments, and you can see stats of how many people have visited your site.? You can also access all of your blog tools and settings right from this page.
To add a new post to your blog, click the Posts link on the left, then click “Add New” either on the left menu or on the top of the Edit Posts page.? Or, if you want to edit the default first post, hover over it and select Edit.
Or click the New Posts button on the top of the page.? This menu bar is always visible whenever you’re logged in, so it’s an easy way to add a post.
The editor lets you easily write anything you want in a Microsoft Word-style editor.? You can format your text, add lists, links, quotes, and more.? When you’re ready to share your content with the world, click Publish on the right side.
To add pictures or other files, click the picture icon beside “Upload/Insert”.? Your free blog account can store up to 3Gb of pictures and documents which will definitely give you a good start.
Click Select Files, and then choose the pictures or documents you want to add to your post.
When the pictures have uploaded, you can add a caption and choose how to position the picture.? When you’re finished, select “Insert into Post”.
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Or, if you want to add a video, click the video button.? You have to add a paid upgrade to upload videos directly, but you can add YouTube and other online videos for free.
Click the “From URL” tab, and then paste the link to the YouTube video and click Insert into post.
If you’re a code geek, click the HTML tab in the editor and edit the HTML of your blog post the geeky way.
Once you’ve added all your content and edited it the way you want, click the Publish button on the right of the editor.? Or, you can click Preview to make sure it looks right, and then click Publish.
Here’s our blog with the new blog post containing a picture and video.? While you’re getting to know you’re way around the controls in WordPress, the Preview feature will be your best friend while you try to organize the content to your liking.
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Conclusion
It only takes a couple minutes to get started blogging at WordPress.com. Whether you want to write about your daily life, share pictures of your children, or review the latest books and gadgets, WordPress.com is a great place to get started for free.? But we’ve only covered a small portion of the WordPress features…but this should get you started. Check back for more WordPress and blogging coverage coming up soon!
Links
Signup for a free WordPress.com account
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Stream Media and Live TV Across the Internet with Orb
22 Apr
Posted by ProCOM on April 22, 2010 – 2:00 pm - 30 views
Looking for a way to stream your media collection across the Internet? Or perhaps watch and record TV remotely? Today we are going to look at how to do all that and more with Orb.
Requirements
Windows XP / Vista / 7 or Intel based Mac w/ OS X 10.5 or later.
1 GB RAM or more
Pentium 4 2.4 GHz or higher / AMD Athlon 3200+
Broadband connections
TV Tuner for streaming and recording live TV (optional)
Note: Slower internet connections may result in stuttering during playback.
Installation and Setup
Download and install Orb on your home computer. (Download link below) You’ll want to take the defaults for the initial portion of the install.
When we get to the Orb Account setup portion of the install is when we will have to enter information and make some decisions. Choose your language and click Next.
We’ll need to create and user account and password. A valid email address is required as we’ll need to confirm the account later. Click Next.
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Now you’ll want to choose your media sources. Orb will automatically look for folders that may contain media files.
You can add or remove folders click on the (+) or (-) buttons. To remove a folder, click on it once to select it from the list and then click the minus (-) button. To add a folder, click the plus (+) button and browse for the folder.
You can add local folders as well as shared folders from networked computers and USB attached storage.
Note: Both the host computer running Orb and the networked computer will need to be running to access shared network folders remotely.
When you’ve selected all your media files, click Next.
Orb will proceed to index your media files…
When the indexing is complete, click Next.
Orb TV Setup
Note: Streaming Live TV to Macs is not currently supported.
If you have a TV tuner card connected to your PC, you can opt to configure Orb to stream live or recorded TV. Click Next? to configure TV. Or, choose Skip if you don’t wish to configure Orb for TV.??
If you have a Digital tuner card, type in your Zip Code and click Get List to pull your channel listings. Select a TV provider from the list and click Next. If not, click Skip.
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You can select or deselect any channels by checking or un-checking the box to each channel. Select Auto Scan to let Orb find more channels or disable the ones with no reception. Click Next when finished.
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Next choose an analog provider, if necessary, and click Next.
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Select “Yes” or “No” for a set top box and click Next.
Just as we did with the Digital tuner, select or deselect any channels by checking or un-checking the box to each channel. Select Auto Scan to let Orb find more channels or disable the ones with no reception. Click Next when finished.
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Now we’re finished with the setup. Click Close.
Accessing your Media Remotely
Media files are accessed through a web-based interface. Before we go any further, however, we’ll need to confirm our username and password. Check your inbox for an email from Orb Networks. Click the enclosed confirmation link. You’ll be prompted to enter the username and password you selected in your browser then click Next.
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Your account will be confirmed. Now, we’re ready to enjoy our media remotely. To get started, point your browser to the MyCast website from your remote computer. (See link below)
Enter your credentials and click Log In.
Once logged in, you’ll be presented with the MyCast Home screen. By default you’ll see a handful of “channels” such as a TV program guide, random audio and photos, video favorites, and weather.
You can add, remove, or customize channels. To add additional channels, click on Add Channels at the top right…
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…and select from the dropdown list.
To access your full media libraries, click Open Application at the top left and select from one of the options.
Live and Recorded TV
If you have a TV tuner card you configured for Orb, you’ll see your program guide on the TV / Webcams screen. To watch or record a show, click on the program listing to bring up a detail box. Then click the red button to record, or the green button to play.
When recording a show, you’ll see a pulsating red icon at the top right of the listing in the program guide.
If you want to watch Live TV, you may be prompted to choose your media player, depending on your browser and settings.
Playback should begin shortly.
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Note for Windows Media Center Users
If you try to stream live TV in Orb while Windows Media Center is running on your PC, you’ll get an error message. Click the Stop MediaCenter button and then try again.
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Audio
On the Audio screen, you’ll find your music files indexed by genre, artist, and album. You can play a selection by clicking once and then clicking the green play button, or by simply double-clicking.
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Playback will begin in the default media player for the streaming format.
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Video
Video works essentially the same as audio. Click on a selection and press the green play button, or double-click on the video title.
Video playback will begin in the default media player for the streaming format.
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Streaming Formats
You can change the default streaming format in the control panel settings. To access the Control Panel, click on Open Applications? and select Control Panel. You can also click Settings at the top right.
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Select General from the drop down list and then click on the Streaming Formats tab.?You are provided four options. Flash, Windows Media, .SDP, and .PLS.
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Creating Playlists
To create playlists, drag and drop your media title to the playlist work area on the right, or click Add to playlist on the top menu. Click Save when finished.
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Sharing your Media
Orb allows you to share media playlists across the Internet with friends and family. There are a few ways to accomplish this. We’ll start by click the Share button at the bottom of the playlist work area after you’ve compiled your playlist.
You’ll be prompted to choose a method by which to share your playlist. You’ll have the option to share your playlist publicly or privately. You can share publically through links, blogs, or on your Orb public profile.? By choosing the Public Profile option, Orb will automatically create a profile page for you with a URL like http://public.orb.com/username that anyone can easily access on the Internet.
The private sharing option allows you to invite friends by email and requires recipients to register with Orb.
You can also give your playlist a custom name, or accept the auto-generated title.
Click OK when finished.
Users who visit your public profile will be able to view and stream any of your shared playlists to their computer or supported device.
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Portable Media Devices and Smartphones
Orb can stream media to many portable devices and 3G phones. Streaming audio is supported on the iPhone and iPod Touch through the Safari browser. However, video and live TV streaming requires the Orb Live iPhone App.? Orb Live is available in the App store for $9.99.
To stream media to your portable device, go to the MyCast website in your mobile browser and login. Browse for your media or playlist.
Make a selection and play the media.
Playback will begin.
We found streaming music to both the Droid and the iPhone to work quite nicely. Video playback on the Droid, however, left a bit to be desired. The video looked good, but the audio tended to be out of sync.
System Tray Control Panel
By default Orb runs in the system tray on start up. To access the System Tray Control Panel, right-click on the Orb icon in the system tray and select Control Panel.
Login with your Orb username and? password and click OK.
?
From here you can add or remove media sources, add manage accounts, change your password, and more. If you’d rather not run Orb on Startup, click the General icon.
?
Unselect the checkbox next to Start Orb when the system starts.
Conclusion
It may seem like a lot of steps, but getting Orb up and running isn’t terribly difficult. Orb is available for both Windows and Intel based Macs. It also supports streaming to many Game Consoles such as the Wii, PS3, and XBox 360.
If you are running Windows 7 on multiple computers, you may want to check out our write-up on how to stream music and video over the Internet with Windows Media Player 12.
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