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5 Fun Apps To Kill Time On Your Android Honeycomb Tablet

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<img alt="android honeycomb apps" border="0" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/b397fda62eTime09.png.png" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/b397fda62eTime09.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" />Do you remember why you bought your Android tablet? Maybe you wanted to be connected while on the road, more productive during meetings or maybe you just fancied having a sleek device that you could do really cool things with. So how productive did the tablet <em>really</em> make you?</div>
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Tablets are a lot better at being entertaining than at making you productive. Hence, this article is all about filling dead time with fun and entertaining apps. Now if you ever find yourself bored or stuck waiting, get out your tablet and kill time with the following fun Android Honeycomb apps.</div>
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Browse The News</h2>
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The good thing about news is that there are new ones every day. So whenever you have some free time to fill, there will be a new story for you to discover. A really great way to do that on your Android device is Pulse.</div>
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<img alt="android honeycomb apps" border="0" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/41c2dea93fTime01.png.png" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/41c2dea93fTime01.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></div>
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Pulse is an application that turns articles from your favorite websites into streams of little tiles. The tiles can either contain an image and the headline or the headline and a brief summary. With Pulse you can browse the strings of articles from different sources.</div>
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<img alt="honeycomb android tablet" border="0" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/fee6fe0d58Time05.png.png" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/fee6fe0d58Time05.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></div>
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Articles you want to read will open in a slide-in window to the right-hand side. It allows you to both keep the present article open and browse other news stories at the same time. You can either view the posts in a compact text view (shown below) or load the website within the same window.</div>
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<img alt="honeycomb android tablet" border="0" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/b38f7ea6e5Time06.png.png" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/b38f7ea6e5Time06.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></div>
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We also covered Pulse for Android and iOS in the MakeUseOf Directory.</div>
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For fans of old school newspapers, Pulse may be a little too flashy. If that’s you and if you got a tablet nevertheless, maybe PressReader for Honeycomb will make you a little more content.</div>
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Listen To Music</h2>
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Just want to zone out and listen to a few tunes? TuneIn Radio is one of the best apps to browse over 50,000 channels, including local presets and national networks from around the world.</div>
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<img alt="honeycomb android tablet" border="0" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/a759cad494Time04.png.png" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/a759cad494Time04.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></div>
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Entertain The Brain</h2>
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News can be heavy stuff and maybe you’re not in the mood for audio centered entertainment. If you’re looking for some less serious and quiet entertainment, there are a couple of Android Honeycomb apps to stimulate that grey matter in a fun way. My favorite is Funny Facts, an app with random facts sorted into various categories, such as science, celebrities, or sex. It also includes famous quotes.</div>
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<img alt="apps for android honeycomb" border="0" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/fcd4f0e64bTime03.png.png" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/fcd4f0e64bTime03.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></div>
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Another great way to waste some time and do something for your education at the same time is reading Wikipedia. Wikipedia for Honeycomb Tablet actually is a Wikipedia browser in which you can store your favorite pages as bookmarks.</div>
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Play A Game</h2>
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There aren’t a lot of cool free games optimized for Honeycomb out there. You will find a few basic ones, for example Minesweeper. One that is much more fun is Cordy, a 3D puzzle platform game. A little robot called Cordy runs through its world, collecting zap drops and once he has collected enough energy, he can power up the level, which will open the exit door.</div>
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<img alt="apps for android honeycomb" border="0" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/a3da149146Time07.png.png" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/a3da149146Time07.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></div>
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The first four levels are free. To play the full 27 levels you need to buy the game for $4.99.</div>
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Draw</h2>
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In the event that you have to entertain a bored toddler, get DrawFree, a basic drawing Android Honeycomb apps. It may also be useful to illustrate something or make a quick note when pen and paper are not handy.</div>
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<img alt="android honeycomb apps" border="0" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/e824bf75abTime08.png.png" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/e824bf75abTime08.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></div>
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<img alt="" data-mce-src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Makeuseof/~4/UFWjKW9gXWo" height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Makeuseof/~4/UFWjKW9gXWo" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="1" /></div>
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5 Fun Apps To Kill Time On Your Android Honeycomb Tablet

Do you remember why you bought your Android tablet? Maybe you wanted to be connected while on the road, more productive during meetings o...

How To Control WordPress Versions Using Subversion [Linux]

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<img alt="subversion version control" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/df56e397b000x300.png.png" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/df56e397b000x300.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" />Most of you probably already know that WordPress powers a large amount of websites that we look at every day. With the large userbase and support, you can do a lot of cool things with it. While WordPress even offers one-click upgrades to the latest WP versions, some people simply can’t use it because their server doesn’t support it, they don’t have any FTP accounts (maybe you uploaded files using SSH?), or whatever else the reason may be. If this is the case, you’ve more than likely had to update your site by manually copying over the new files. However, there’s really no need to do that anymore, as you can set up your WordPress site in a way where updating is much more simple.<br />
I will be explaining how to create a brand new WordPress blog on your Linux server using Subversion (SVN) as well as how to convert a “traditional” installation to an SVN-type installation, as most people who will want to do this probably already have a blog going. This is possible because Automattic (the creators of WordPress) operate a SVN repository that allows this functionality. Without this repository, none of this would work.<br />
Before you start, you’ll probably need to install the Subversion version control software onto your server. For Ubuntu and Debian servers, use<br />
<code>sudo apt-get install subversion</code><br />
while Fedora/Red Hat/CentOS users should use<br />
<code>sudo yum install subversion</code><br />
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Creating A New Blog</h2>
In order to create a new SVN-controlled WordPress instance, log into your server using a program such as PuTTY, using :<code></code><br />
<code>cd /path/to/a/folder</code><br />
so you can use<br />
<code>mkdir blog</code><br />
to create a new folder named blog in your current location. Then use<br />
<code>cd blog</code><br />
to go into the new folder, and run<br />
<code>svn co http://core.svn.wordpress.org/tags/3.2.1 .</code><br />
<img alt="subversion version control" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/a6dc98b83aeckout.jpg.jpg" height="385" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/a6dc98b83aeckout.jpg.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="580" /><br />
to download and install WordPress into the current folder. If there is a newer version, replace 3.2.1 with the latest version. Also, don’t forget to include that lonesome period (.) at the end of the command as that is needed for the command to run correctly. Wait for the process to complete, then you can go ahead and enter in the correct URL to begin the installation script.<br />
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Converting From “Traditional” To SVN</h2>
Converting your blog to be controlled by SVN will require a few new steps. Essentially, this will create a new blog that is SVN-controlled, and move all your content and settings over to that new blog. This isn’t as invasive as it sounds, and shouldn’t mess up anything that you currently have on your blog.<br />
To get started, use “cd” to go to where your blog folder is located (don’t actually go into the blog folder). Here we are going to assume that your old blog is in a folder named “<em>blog</em>” and your temporary new blog is going to be in a folder named “<em>blog-new</em>“. Go ahead and run<br />
<code>svn co http://core.svn.wordpress.org/tags/3.2.1 blog-new</code><br />
which will create the new “<em>blog-new</em>” folder and download the necessary files into it. Please make sure that you download the <em>same</em> version as the one you are currently using. So if you’re not running the latest version, don’t choose the latest version in this process.<br />
Next we’re going to go into the old blog folder by running<br />
<code>cd ../blog</code><br />
and then copy the main config file as well as the htaccess file by running<br />
<code>cp -p wp-config.php .htaccess ../blog-new</code><br />
so that these important files are in the new blog folder.<br />
Now we’re going to copy over the actual content of your blog to the new folder, including plugins, themes, and whatnot. To do this, run<br />
<code>cp -rpfu wp-content/* ../blog-new/wp-content</code><br />
and let that take a couple seconds or more, depending on how large your blog is. WordPress-provided plugins shouldn’t be affected, but you can double-check to make sure everything is running smoothly by running<br />
<code>svn status ../blog-new/wp-content</code>.<br />
Any files that were modified will have an “M” next to them and need to be reverted by using<br />
<code>svn revert ../blog-new/wp-content/some/file</code>.<br />
Any custom files or directories can also be copied by running<br />
<code>cp -rp images wp-digest ../blog-new</code><br />
You can check that everything is copied over correctly and good to go by running<br />
<code>diff -rq blog/ blog-new/ | grep -v svn</code><br />
<img alt="subversion version control" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2b26ed17c3diff1.jpg.jpg" height="163" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2b26ed17c3diff1.jpg.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="580" /><br />
(This is an example after I intentionally removed some files)<br />
We’re almost done! We’re now going to move out to the big folder containing the two blog folders by running<br />
<code>cd ..</code><br />
and then renaming them to make the final switch-a-roo by running<br />
<code>mv blog blog-old; mv blog-new blog</code>.<br />
Congrats! Your SVN-controlled blog should now be up and running! If not, you may have forgotten to copy something from the old blog (now located in the renamed folder “blog-old”). You can now go ahead and update to the latest version if needed.<br />
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Updating Your Blog</h2>
To update your SVN-controlled WordPress blog, you’ll need to go into the directory of your blog using the “cd” command and then run :<br />
<code>svn sw http://core.svn.wordpress.org/tags/3.2.1/ .</code><br />
which will switch your blog to the newest version. Remember to replace 3.2.1 with the latest version available.<br />
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Conclusion</h2>
For those that support it, Subversion version control is a great version tracking tool that is highly effective, relatively easy to use, and very fast. It’s a great thing that WordPress can be controlled via SVN, increasing the flexibility of the already-flexible WordPress platform. No wonder it’s one of the most used frameworks for sites today.<br />
What do you think about WordPress and SVN working together? Have you even known that this was possible? Let us know in the comments!<br />
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How To Control WordPress Versions Using Subversion [Linux]

Most of you probably already know that WordPress powers a large amount of websites that we look at every day. With the large userbase and ...

Trimit reads, simplifies, and condenses web content for social networks

<br/><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" class="aligncenter" height="68" src="http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9128/screenshot20110628at906.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px;" width="178" /></p><br/>Trimit is a new app that promises to automatically summarize text. The idea is this: You enter a URL, trimit ingests the web page you pointed to, and then it spits back a condensed version at the length you specify.<br/><br/>TUAW had a chance to take an early peek at this app, which is due to launch soon on the App Store. So how did it measure up? All in all, I was impressed by its looks, but not by its functionality.<br/><br/>Trimit is visually lovely. But that loveliness has not been designed around a solid user experience. I did eventually get the hang of using the application, but given the number of steps it took to make things happen, I felt that the app would benefit from hiring a usability designer.<br/><br/>Here are the steps you need to take for the most common use case:<br/><ol><br/>	<li> In Safari, find a URL you want to work with and copy it to the system clipboard. The application does not offer a built-in web browser.</li><br/>	<li> Tap the link button (it's in the center of the screen, one icon over from the left, looks like a two-link chain).</li><br/>	<li> Paste the URL into the "import text source from url:" field.</li><br/>	<li> Tap Go and wait. Trimit extracts the content text from the page.</li><br/>	<li> Tap on settings. This is the leftmost icon in the middle of the screen. Once tapped, it becomes a keyboard icon. You'll need to use this after picking your destination.</li><br/>	<li> Select a destination, like Twitter (which is the top-left of the options). A teeny tiny checkmark appears next to the choice. I could figure out Twitter at a glance, and "f" is probably facebook, but the other options may leave you guessing.<br/><div><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="419" src="http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/4442/img07191309290704.png" style="width: 220px; height: 328px; margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;" width="279" /></div></li><br/>	<li> After tapping on the destination, once again tap on it, but this time tap and hold until the iPhone vibrates. A pop-up appears. Choose whether you want to compress vowels and/or add abbreviations.</li><br/>	<li> Tap anywhere but on the destination again. (It took me forever to realize you could not dismiss the pop-up by re-tapping.)</li><br/>	<li> Tap on the keyboard icon to leave the destination settings mode.</li><br/>	<li> Shake the iPhone <em>strongly</em>. A gentle shake will not do. And *only* shake in the right mode, which seems to be compose mode or something like that, after destination picking. You'll be shaking your arms off otherwise. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure why some massive shakes would work sometimes and others wouldn't.</li><br/>	<li> Wait for trimit to compress your message.</li><br/>	<li> If needed, further edit the message by hand (so you can add a bit.ly'd source to the summary, for instance).</li><br/>	<li> Tap the send button at the top-right corner of the screen. It does not look like a button, just like an arrow, but it <em>is</em> a button. (Other on-screen buttons have shadow effects to show they are tappable buttons that invite interaction.)</li><br/>	<li> Select how you want to send the message, e.g., "Twitter it" or "Facebook it" (their phrasing). While these items <em>do</em> explain what each icon means, those same explanations should have been on the destination chooser and should follow the same order. They aren't and they don't.<br/><div><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="419" src="http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/8476/img0721.png" style="width: 220px; height: 329px; margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;" width="279" /></div></li><br/>	<li> Enter credentials, authorize the application, and send.</li><br/>	<li> Tap the keyboard to re-enable the link button.</li><br/>	<li> Pull down to clear the previous text (otherwise the app will append new material, not replace it) and confirm your deletion.</li><br/></ol><br/>I love the idea of trimit, but the app itself is a big ol' mess. With this high degree of summarizing, not being able to include a source link is incomprehensible. What's more, people seem to do a much better job of summarizing the cool web pages they just read, whether using a basic tweet test or allowing more lax summaries.<br/><br/>For example, consider this Auntie TUAW post. Most people would tweet it like this: "iOS devices are no replacement for Wacom tablets http://aol.it/jx5AvB" 70 characters or so. How does trimit summarize the same material?<br/><br/><em>I am looking for an iPad app that allows it 2 function as a graphics tablet, similar 2 something like a Wacom tablet.</em><br/><br/>No source link, and very little context. Here's another go. Website io9 seemed to like Sunday's <em>True Blood </em>season premiere. What does trimit have to say about their write-up?<br/><br/><em>Con: Sookie is pized that Jason had the audacity 2 sell her (her grandmother's) house, after she's been mizing for over a year.</em><br/><br/>Honestly, do you really want to tweet that out? As if you had written it?<br/><br/>I found trimit more concept than execution. I didn't like the "shake to summarize" -- don't build your apps around shake gestures, people -- I wasn't impressed by the summaries, and I found the user interaction crippling.<br/><br/>Trimit is an app that should have soared. It is a great concept, but the app doesn't deliver on execution. Trimit will be available on App Store for US$0.99 (introductory price), moving to $4.99 once the initial sale concludes.

Trimit reads, simplifies, and condenses web content for social networks

Trimit is a new app that promises to automatically summarize text. The idea is this: You enter a URL, trimit ingests the web page you pointe...

Angry Birds Seasons Summer Pignic update now live in the Market

Angry Birds Seasons Summer Pignic update now live in the Market

We heard yesterday it was coming this summer, and technically it's summer.