For those that aren’t in the know, the browser based “IDE” is an abbreviation of Integrated Development Environment. Very simply said, it’s an application that can be used to write code, but usually with added compiler/interpreter, debugging and automation features.

Finding a decent freeware code writing application (view previous code-editor compilations for Windows or Mac), never mind an IDE, can prove difficult. Some operating systems have it harder than others, and if you use more than one, or are on the move a lot, coding can be a bastard.

Hence it pays to code in the cloud. By elevating your coding platform to an online environment, you not only rid yourself of OS issues but even of hardware independence. No matter where you find yourself, you can always access all your files with the same IDE.

Here’s Why You Want An Online IDE

If the aforementioned motivation of increased portability and accessibility wasn’t enough, here’s something else to think about.

With your coding environment in the cloud, an IDE can be used as a programming environment for multiple people. You’ll be able to access code directories as a code, and collaborate through the web. Some of the IDE’s even offer a Google Wave-ish experience, where people can navigate and edit a single file together, at the same time.

Most of these can even be installed on your own servers, eliminating the intermediary. Web hosts can even integrate them in the administrator dashboard, opening a whole new range of possibilities for their customers, by default.

Bespin from Mozilla Labs

Remember Mozilla? They’re the guys that brought you Firefox, Thunderbird, Ubiquity, and a bunch of other stuff. Included in the ‘other stuff’ is a browser-based IDE, called Bespin. The editor is built using the rather fresh HTML5 standard, so you won’t be able to use it with the older Internet Explorer versions (as if).

As mentioned, this one can also be downloaded and hosted on your own server, or even integrated in one of your own web applications. An example of this, Kodingen, is discussed below.

Due to it’s minimalistic features, you can expect a lightning fast code editor, albeit slightly complex. The command line-like interaction might take some getting used to. All expected features are present: syntax highlighting and standard text manipulation. You can also access frequently used actions via the command bar and view the history of files, and how they were adapted.

Groups of users can work on a single file at the same time. The code will automatically be updated in other browsers. This same feature can also be used to work on the code on multiple computers, without even needing to save and refresh.

Coderun Studio

Coderun Studio is a similarly powerful browser-based IDE, also boasting extensive collaborative features. Code can be automatically shared on a number of social networks, or otherwise distributed via unique hyperlinks. These will allow the recipient to view, and optionally edit a parallel version of the code.

Because of the HTML5 absence, Coderun Studio can run in pretty much every browser, even the much faulted Internet Explorer.

On the other hand, some of the features that would elevate this to a full-fledged IDE, like compiling and deploying web scripts, are only available with one of the premium Coderun Cloud extension plans, ranging from $10 to $169 per month.

Kodingen

Browser-based IDE Kodingen was based off of Bespin, mentioned above. Is it fair to mention it in this top 3 as well? You bet it is. Kodingen does away with the minimalistic interface, and becomes more of a GUI tool like Coderun Studio, albeit with a Bespin core. In a way, it features the best of both worlds.

For Kodingen, although officially still in sign-up beta, the full launch is very near. As such, the advertised sign-up limitation will not be kept in effect. With the launch, a number of non-beta features will be rolled out as well.

The discussion is still an ongoing one: do we need IDE’s in the cloud? Tell us your personal opinion in the comments section below!

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You are now running Windows 7, you read up on my previous posts relating to Windows 7 upgrade issues and downloading great desktop wallpaper for Windows 7 here. Now you want to pretty up your desktop up even more and load a new Windows 7 theme.

These Windows 7 theme files are everywhere! You will need to make sure that the file is suitable for Windows 7, then simply download and install. The themes we will cover are all featured on DeviantArt. Check them out and go grab yourself one that you like.

Let us know what your favorites are and if you find any others, let us know in the comments!

The first one reminds me of Woodstock – no, I am not that old. I went to Woodstock in 1994 at the height of my childhood and had a great time. Maybe I don’t remember everything that happened out there but my fond memories of backstage Rave Stock and that 22 foot tall… Um yeah I digress, check out this Woodstock theme.

Next up for those users who want to love the Mac way of life so much but cannot commit themselves to the dark side, check out TerraNova that emulates the Mac dock as you can see below:

The next one by Oliver182 is titled Alternative for Windows 7 and it certainly is! It is colorful and I particular like the red, black and white integration.

The next one is VERY cool and is now sitting on my desktop. It is titled Water bomb and Windows 7. It depicts a mushroom cloud explosion in water on your desktop. The overall colors of this one are gloomy but hey, maybe it’s good when you are in an exploding mood!

And next to last we have an awesome Windows 7 theme called 7x Dark Transformation Pack. Check it out.

This one is very detailed, check out the other options and how the internal folders look. You will also see information embedded in the desktop like the current date and time. These are awesome additions to any theme!

Microsoft not only offers some free themes but a method to modify your own themes as well. The free Windows 7 themes provided by Microsoft are available here and there sure are a lot of them!

These are just a few of them, visit the site to see all of them.

If you are interested in modifying your themes that you have downloaded, check out the instructions below provided directly from Microsoft:

To change parts of a theme

1. Open Personalization by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type personalization, and then click Personalization.
2. Click the theme that you want to change to apply it to your desktop.
3. Do one or more of the following:
   • To change the background, click Desktop Background, select the check box for the image that you want to use, and then click Save changes.
   • To change the color of window borders, click Window Color, click the color that you want to use, adjust the intensity, and then click Save changes.
   • To change the sounds for the theme, click Sounds, click an item in the Sound Schemes list, and then click OK.
   • To add or change a screen saver, click Screen Saver, click an item in the Screen saver list, change any settings that you want to change, and then click OK.

   Your revised theme will appear under My Themes as an unsaved theme. If you want to revert to your custom theme later, make sure you save it.

Do you have other Windows 7 theme resources, tips/tricks or anything that we might be interested in? Well then send them our way in the comments – what are you waiting for?

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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In today’s world, almost everything electronic has some sort of information available about it online. Whether it be an official webpage, a fan site, or a collection of forum posts, you can almost always find it online somewhere. Android devices are no different—in fact, in many ways an Android device relies on this internet information system like any other phone operating system.

For this reason, it’s important to find a few Android websites that can keep you up to date on your Android device. Recently, I wrote an article about 5 Awesome Android Applications That Could Make Life Easier, and now I’d like to tell you which Android websites I’ve found useful in my experience as an Android user.

Android Tapp

Coined as “the best resource for Android App Reviews, Android Apps, Android App Ratings, Interviews with mobile app developers, News and Showcases”, Android Tapp really fits the bill for new and veteran Android users out there. Whether you just picked one up over the holidays, or have followed Android since day 1, you’ll still find something useful here.

While you’re at it, check out the videos page hosting android tips and tricks. There’s even a page for hardware news, and an applications blog you don’t want to miss. In addition, AndroidTapp now has an “app of the week” featured on the homepage to check out. Overall, this is one of my favorite Android websites to check out on a regular basis for Android news a reviews.

Android Zoom

Love the Android market on your phone? I do—but unfortunately it’s only on my phone. AndroidZoom solves this problem by bringing the Android application store to you for access online. Updated hourly with new games, applications, and utilities; Android Zoom is the best substitute I have found to fill the lack of a good Android market online. In fact, this Android website even includes the ratings and reviews exactly as they appear on your phone’s market application. For this reason, I have found that not only is AndroidZoom reliable and up to date, but it’s also convenient and user friendly.

Find something you liked on AndroidZoom? Just click on it, and on the same page as the product reviews and screenshots you’ll find a QR code that you can scan with your phone to download that app straight to your Android device (Note: to download via a QR code, get the free application ‘Barcode Scanner’ for your Android). From the looks of things, AndroidZoom has over 11,000 Android applications currently in its extensive database—go check it out!

Android and Me

This Android website is a very extensive Android resource and covers news and software just like the others, but also has a few excellent pages that sets it apart in several ways. First, I would highly recommend checking out the applications page. Android&Me has done a great job of providing news about new, relevant, useful applications that you’ll probably at least want to try out on your device.

In addition, if you’re new to the Android scene, take a look at the Android&Me page for beginners. There you’ll find a steady stream of information (in no particular order) which will keep you informed of popular terminology or software that a new Android owner should keep up with. For instance, it has information on what it is to root an Android device, as well as the benefits and dangers of doing such a thing. Even though I’d like to think I know a fair amount about my Android device by now, I still learned quite a bit just by scanning the beginners page. Oh, and don’t worry—in this case, the lack of structure actually proves beneficial to the learning process. Don’t understand what I mean? Give the Android&Me Android website a look and see what you think.

Android Community

Android Community is a website that I only use parts of, but still consider invaluable to a good learning experience with my phone. Even though I don’t care as much for the content on the main webpage (frankly, it’s information you can find all over the place), I personally find the Android Community Forums to be one of the most indispensable resources I have access to today.

Within the Android Community forums, you can find discussions about your specific model of Android, different builds, hacks, software lists compiled by users, and quite a bit more. Developers can look to these forums for development tips, program ideas-even software requests and reviews. Phones have evolved from simple communication devices into so much more, and the Android Community forums give you access to the thoughts, opinions, and accomplishments of users just like you who want to continue making their phones better tomorrow than they were yesterday.

Phandroid

Phandroid is an Android fan site focused on providing the viewer with media about Android and its devices. I would personally highly recommend the podcasts page, which contains excellent discussion and news about everything Android. There’s a podcast about the Motorola Droid and its impact on the market, and even an interview with the creator of the popular Android ROM Cyanogen.

In addition, Phandroid contains an awesome video page which has quite an assortment of demonstrations, tutorials, and game videos that no Android fan could ignore. Give Phandroid a run and see what you think.

AndroLib

Lastly I’d like to mention AndroLib—it’s a lot like Android Zoom but with a few key differences. Androlib has a useful toplist containing the top downloaded apps of the day. Androlib’s database also includes a recent apps page, and a search function.

You may find it useful to view the statistics page as well, to get a feel for what the rest of the Android community is doing on the market. Don’t sell this site short—its database has a massive amount of applications, and the website definitely contains more than meets the eye.

Without the Android websites I mentioned above, my experience with an Android phone wouldn’t be nearly as good as it’s proven to be so far. I would highly recommend that you give these websites a look, and see what you think. If you have a website to recommend, leave me a comment and I’ll check it out!

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There is no other quote that one could use to lead into a story like this except, “It’s like deja vu, all over again.” Thank you, Yogi Berra.

Really, what do you do with the number one social networking site after you’ve added so much crap, like Facebook Apps, Facebook Ads, more quizzes than you can shake a stick at, Farmville, YoVille, Whateverville.  People in general seem to love all those bells, whistles and doodads. If they didn’t, would Facebook and the independent developers keep putting it out there?

Well, there are some, myself included, that miss the Facebook we signed up for. It seems like just three years ago, you could use Facebook to send simple notes to all your friends. You could look up old friends. You could share a wee little part of your daily life with old and new chums. Facebook seemed to be to the Internet what party lines were to the phone world – a quick way to catch up on the gossip.

For whatever reason, Facebook has decided that the newest thing they could do is to give us something old again. Introducing Facebook Lite Beta. Why not? It worked for the Ford Mustang and the Dodge Challenger.

The first thing you’ll notice when you sign in is, well, nothing. Lots of nothing. Lots of white space. You can actually focus on what your friends are saying, again. The signal-to-noise ratio is definitely favouring signal now.  Begone pesky mobs and vampires!

Look at that profile. All you are getting there is pure, unadulterated, me. No hatching eggs or drinks or pinches. No silly animations or untasteful pictures. You’ve got my Wall, my Info, my Friends and my Photos & Videos.

The interesting thing about being in the FacebookLite version is that anyone else’s profile you view, you’ll see the FacebookLite version. It separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. Do you really need to know what my Redneck Name is? I’m from Alberta. My Redneck Name IS my name!

I suspect that the Facebook developers are also going to streamline the Settings as well. Hopefully, this will be done in favour of privacy. It seems to me that as Facebook grew and grew, more things were defaulted to public settings. If any FacebookLite developers are reading this, I suggest that the settings be defaulted to the most private settings possible.

At the time of writing this, most of these settings were unavailable to use. Facebook Lite is still in the beta phase. Which seems odd, since this was done once before, wasn’t it?

The new Events page also receives a big thumbs up from my tired, overworked eyes. Even after a 15 hour work day, I can look at it and know what’s going on. Which is good because I like to know what I’m missing. Remind me to send belated birthday greetings next week. The brilliance is in the simplicity, once again.

If you get the chance to login to the Facebook Lite beta, I encourage you to invite friends to it.  Keep in mind that the beta is only available to the US and India right now. Yet I live in Canada and I’m on it.

Send feedback to the Facebook Lite developers. Let them know that you enjoy the simple life of Facebook Lite. It appears that the intent is to offer both versions, so it wouldn’t hurt to encourage the release of Facebook Lite for all your web friends, like me, that are sick of the clutter we were trying to get away from on MySpace by going to Facebook.

Have you tried the Facebook Lite beta? How do you like it? What would you like to see differently? Please share with our other readers in the comments below.

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