February 2011

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Facebook Photo Theater Killer Gets Rid Of Facebook’s New Photo View Mode

Facebook recently rolled out a new photo viewer which they say “makes it simpler and faster to navigate photos”. The benefit of the new photo viewer is the fact that no new pages are loaded even if the user views multiple photos on Facebook.

Facebook’s new photo viewer has caused quite the controversy among Facebook users with more than 2200 mostly negative comments about it. There are some that like the new style of the photo viewer while the majority does not like its features at all to say it mildly. When there is controversy there is usually a workaround around the next corner.

There are actually a few things that Facebook users can do to get rid of the new photo viewer. From manual workarounds like reloading the web page (hit f5 in the browser) to Ctrl-clicking (or middle-clicking) the photo to open it in a new tab so that the new photo viewer is circumvented to userscripts like the Facebook Photo Theater Killer

he userscript basically replaces the new photo viewer on Facebook with the old viewer that is still accessible. It is however not clear if Facebook will keep the old photo viewer up and running indefinitely. The userscript will break the moment Facebook disables the old photo viewer. For now, it is working perfectly.

The Greasemonkey script for now offers the only automatic solution to prevent the opening of photos in Facebook’s new photo viewer.

The script is compatible with Firefox if the Greasemonkey add-on is installed in the browser and Google Chrome if the Tampermonkey extension has been installed.

Users should see no sign of the new Facebook photo anymore after the script has been installed. Previous versions of the userscript showed the new viewer for a split second before the old photo viewer page was loaded.

Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox users can download and install the userscript from its Userscripts.org page.

via, gHacks

Justin Bieber meets grisly end – on CSI

Teen singing sensation Justin Bieber may have a new movie out in cinemas, but it’s a television appearance that has his army of fans chatting excitedly this morning.

In a scene that will surely horrify his tweenage fan base, Bieber’s character has been shot dead on the hit CBS TV show CSI.

Bieber’s character’s brother, Alex McCann, was shot and killed in the season premiere.

The 16-year-old returned to the crime series to revive his role playing troubled teen Jason McCann in an episode titled A Target of Obsession which aired in the US last night.

In the episode’s climactic scene there’s a dramatic standoff between McCann and the authorities which ends in a storm of gunfire.

McCann is shot dead by police. Bieber’s fatal wounds will ensure this second appearance on CSI will be his last.

McCann’s tragic end on CSI, however, did not dampen the heart-throb’s excitement about the airing of his episode.

The teen sensation took to his Twitter account to share his excitement about the broadcast, tweeting;

Everyone back home make sure to tune into CSI tonight!! Jason McCann is BACK!!

Source: NzHerald

Bruno Mars dodges jail with guilty plea on felony drug case

Grammy winner Bruno Mars has pleaded guilty to his felony cocaine possession case in a Las Vegas courtroom Wednesday. The 25-year-old “Just the Way You Are” singer dodged jail in exchange for 200 hours of community service and a year of probation.

Mars – real name Peter Gene Hernandez – was arrested in the Sin City in September after he was seen with a 2.6-gram bag of cocaine.

His legal team managed to work out a plea deal, though. Instead of jail, he was ordered to be placed on probation for a year, undergo drug counseling, and complete 200 hours of community service, as well as pay a $2,000 fine.

Because he is a first-time offender, the felony charge will be wiped clean from his record if he stays out of trouble for the next twelve months. If he misbehaves, he could face prison time.

Mars has just won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his single “Just the Way You Are” at the Grammys on Sunday.

Source: CNS

Apple unveils subscription service in App Store

Apple launched a subscription service at the App Store for magazines, newspapers, videos, and music bought through its App Store.

In a move that goes a long way to addressing concerns of many in the magazine and newspaper sectors, Apple said today that publishers will be allowed to set the price and the length of the subscription term. The processing of payments will be Apple’s job and handled within the App Store. Apple will collect 30 percent of the revenue.

Our philosophy is simple,Steve Jobs wrote in a statement. “When Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share. When the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing.

All we require,” Jobs continued, “is that if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app.

The Apple iPad has proven to be a popular media-consumption device and magazine and newspaper executives are typically excited about the tablet’s appeal as an e-reader. But to get their content on the iPad, some in the newspaper and magazine sectors are dissatisfied with the money Apple once offered–a 30 percent cut forever. They were also unhappy with the amount of control Apple would exercise over subscriptions and user data.

But this latest offer from Apple Inc is more publisher friendly, said Chuck McCullagh, a former senior vice president with the Magazine Publishers Association of America.

Apple should become a significant channel and this might reduce pain [for publishers],” McCullagh told CNET. “If Apple brings a customer to app it gets 30 percent. When publisher brings new or existing subscriber, Apple gets nothing. That is an advance.

But McCullagh, who is now a consultant and advises magazines on their digital strategies, also still sees some sticking points. Apple’s requirement that publishers must offer the same subscription for the app as it does out of it, could “bump into the common publisher practice of selling subscriptions at different prices across [distribution] channel’s,” McCullagh said. Some of those channels include the publisher’s Web site, direct mail and newsstands.

Apple said this is the same digital-subscription billing service that the company recently launched with The Daily app, created by News Corp. for the Apple iPad, In that case as with the latest announcement, Apple is giving subscribers the option to provide personal information, such as name and e-mail address, to publishers. This won’t meet the needs of the publishers, McCullagh said, adding that publishers don’t want third parties overseeing their relationship with readers.

Apple said that the relationship between the publisher and the App Store isn’t exclusive. Publishers can sell subscriptions on their own site or offer free access to existing customers, Subscriptions can be weekly, monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, biannual, or annual.

Publishers must provide their own authentication process within the app for subscribers who have signed up for service outside the App Store, according to Apple.

Chuck McCullagh is the father of CNET.com reporter Declan McCullagh.

Rumour: Apple to expand iPhone 5 screen to 4 inches?

Will the iPhone 5 feature a larger 4-inch screen?

Following persistent rumours of plans for a smaller, cheaper Apple iPhone nano, the latest Apple rumour this week is that the Cupertino-based tech giant is planning to release an iPhone 5 with a larger, 4-inch screen.

Details of Apple’s next gen model reportedly leaked from component suppliers via Digitimes suggesting that Apple will release a larger-screened iPhone in order to compete with the growing threat from Android in the 4-to-7-inch smartphone market, such as Samsung’s’ Galaxy S and Google’s Nexus S.

We need a bigger screen

That’s according to component suppliers, who told DigiTimes that the production lines for Apple’s next gen iPhone have begun testing.

The component suppliers noted that the production lines for Apple’s next generation iPhone have begun testing, and Apple is interesting (sic) in expanding the screen size to 4-inches to support the tablet PC market as the vendor only has a 9.7-inch iPad in the market.” – Digitimes anonymous source.

“What is worth noticing is that Dell has re-defined the market position of the Dell Streak 5 – which was originally focused on the tablet PC market – as a super phone. The Dell Streak 5 uses a 5-inch panel which stands in the gray area between tablet PC and handset segments and indicates there is an overlap in the market for 4- to 7-inch panels.
iPhone 4 currently features a 3.5-inch widescreen touch-controlled ‘Retina’ display, with Apple reportedly looking to increase the size of the screen by 0.5 inches to compete with the numerous other 4-inch touchscreen phones on the market.

Via Digitimes.