5m0k3: Technology

Goobuntu: Google's Operating System?

2006-01-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

It would appear that Google has confirmed their development of a desktop linux project, tentatively called Goobuntu. Ubuntu has been previously featured here at TechBlaster. The intentions of this OS are not currently known. If done correctly, and effectively, this could be an excellent stab at Microsoft's dominance.

Obviously, a great deal of work must be done in order to make this simple enough for basic Windows users. However, it could be a big thing due to Google's large audience.

Freeware Friday: Gaim

2006-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

Gaim is a multi-platform, multi-protocol instant messenger. It serves Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. Gaim can communicate with AIM and ICQ (Oscar protocol), MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, GroupWise Messenger, and Zephyr networks. Gaim 2.0 is currently in the works. You can grab the beta, now.

John T. Haller has packaged Gaim as a portable app for use on your USB thumb drive from anywhere! You can download 1.5 or 2.0 beta.

Ubuntu Resources

2006-01-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

For those of you who haven't tried Ubuntu, or are seeking additional resources, this post is for you.

Automatix provides an automated GUI for installation of a variety of applications. It allows you to tweak various things, to get Ubuntu running up to your standards in no time. You must have Breezy Badger (5.10) to use Automatix.
Updating Firefox to 1.5 is made simple with this tutorial. You can also do this easily with the aforementioned Automatix.
This Unofficial Ubuntu Starter Guide is an excellent resource for you new Breezy users.
Ubuntu will also ship CDs to you absolutely free of charge! There is absolutely no excuse to not try Ubuntu.

Google News no longer in Beta

2006-01-23T14:30:00.000-08:00

The Beta status of Google News has now been removed. With this graduation, new features were also added. Google News now has automatically-generated personalized news story recommendations. As quoted from the Official Google Blog:

"When you’re signed in to your Google Account, you’ll receive recommended news stories based on the previous stories you’ve read. These recommendations will be highlighted just below the top news stories on the page, in a clearly marked section. You can also get a full page of recommended stories by clicking on the section. All of this is done automatically using algorithms. For example, we might recommend news stories to you that many other users have read, especially when you and they have read similar stories in the past."

Freeware Friday: Recolored

2006-01-20T17:00:00.000-08:00

Recolored is an application that allows you to colorize black and white photos by simply scribbling on them. It uses advanced algorithms to accomplish this. Currently, Recolored is in Beta stages and is available free of charge. A new version, 0.7.0 was recently released. It is about three times faster than 0.6.0.

If you need a bit of help getting started, try this tutorial.
Click Here to download Recolored 0.7.0 Beta.

Google Earth Alternative: NASA World Wind

2006-01-17T14:00:00.000-08:00

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has had a 3D mapping program available since mid-2004. It has grown in leaps and bounds since its initial release. World Wind combines a great deal of satellite technology and imagery into one excellent application.

"Leveraging Landsat satellite imagery and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data, World Wind lets you experience Earth terrain in visually rich 3D, just as if you were really there."

Not only can you explore Earth, but the moon as well! World Wind is open-source. Several add-ons are available to further improve the product.

Click to Download NASA World Wind 1.3 Source Code.
Click to Download NASA World Wind 1.3.

FlyakiteOSX v3 Release Imminent

2006-01-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

The Windows XP to Mac OSX transformation pack is to be released later today [Sunday, approximately noon, Central Time]. I have previously written about FlyakiteOSX, and the new features should be excellent. The actually release is complete; we are simply waiting for it to be packaged.

The installer is to be setup in a different manner, to avoid flaws when uninstalling or making changes. You may also be happy to hear that you can install v3 directly over v2 with absolutely no problems!

To monitor the progress of this release, you can follow the thread at Neowin or Aqua-Soft. Upon release, you can download it and get further information from the FlyakiteOSX Website.

Freeware Friday: 100 Essential Downloads

2006-01-13T14:00:00.000-08:00

This Friday, we have a lovely bonus for our readers. You get a list of not 1, but 100 freeware applications! 100-downloads.com has compiled a list of, well, 100 downloads. There are some amazing applications in the list, so check it out if you have Windows XP.

Thunderbird 1.5 Released

2006-01-11T17:45:00.000-08:00

That's right, Mozilla has released version 1.5 of Thunderbird. This is their first major update to their free, open-source, and cross-platform mail client. Version 1.5 includes an automated update system, in-line spell checking, and a great deal of other features.

Gmail + Music = GookBox

2006-01-10T14:00:00.000-08:00

What do you get when you combine the spacious beauty of Gmail with your musical desires? GookBox! GookBox allows you to store and play your music through your Gmail account. This allows you to access your favorite songs from virtually anywhere with internet access.

You can try GookBox free for a limited time. After which, you can purchase a key for only $1.99. Visit the GBDownload page for additonal information.

Debut of Google Pack

2006-01-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

Google has released their latest freebie. Google Pack is a suite that includes many essential applications for a new computer. As indicated on the Official Google Blog, they have worked with several technology companies to determine the products that should be included in this suite.

It allows you to select only the components you wish to install. I recommend not selecting Norton, as it serves only as a bloated sense of false security.

Also included is the Google Updater. You can use this to ensure that you are running the latest version of the software included in this bundle.

Google Pack is currently only avaiable for Windows XP.

Freeware Friday: Hamachi

2006-01-06T06:30:00.000-08:00

Hamachi allows you to organize a group of computers over the internet, as if they were connected to the same Local Area Network. This virtual network is extremely secure, due to various encryption and authentication measures. Because the peers initially locate eachother via a third party mediation server before connecting directly to eachother, you can easily use Hamachi if you are behind a router or firewall without additional configuration.

Hamachi allows you to create a private network with an encrypted password, or a public network. It then assigns you a 5.x.x.x IP address that will always be yours.

Allow me to discuss a few of the innumerable practical uses of this program. First of all, you can easily share files amongst those with whom you wish to share. You will also be able to play LAN games, over the internet. Basically anything you can do on your home network can be done with Hamachi!

Currently, you can download it for Windows and Linux. A mac version is to be released in the future.

Firefox Extension: QuickChat

2006-01-05T05:30:00.000-08:00

Perhaps you read my article discussing Yakalike. If you prefer an IRC feel, you should consider QuickChat by Pavan Gupta. It is a complete rewrite of the Yakalike extension. This also allows you to communicate in real-time with other firefox users visiting the same site. It actually takes advantage of AJAX to bring you quicker and better functionality.

Click to Download the QuickChat Extension.

Windows Explorer Replacement

2006-01-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Though it has been on the market for a while, Directory Opus from GPSoftware is still the best File Manager available. For all its great features, you'll have to dish out a bit of money. You can try it free for 60 days however, via the above link.

At any rate, Directory Opus is more than just a two pane file manager. It has a function to server as a complete Explorer replacement. Additionally, it can be used to manager your ZIP Files and as an FTP client. It is entirely customizable to suit your viewing preference.

The built in viewer pane is also extremely useful. This pane allows you to preview your images, videos, text documents, among other things without having to open a seperate application.

Conversion between filetypes, advanced searches, easy file transfer, folder synchronization, slideshows, and file merging/splitting are just a handful of the other great features you'll discover with Directory Opus.

Of course, if you aren't willing to pay the money for this excellent file manager, you can download xplorer² lite. It shares many of the basic features of Directory Opus.

Firefox Extension: Yakalike

2006-01-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

Yakalike is among the more interesting concepts for a Firefox extension. It allows you to chat with others who are visiting the same site by providing a chat area at the bottom of your browser. All users visiting the same site appear in the same chat area.

This is very useful when discussing current items such as the weather, news, technology, etc.

The ability to chat is currently disabled, due to overwhelming popularity of this item recently. Registration has also been halted for the time being. If you have Live HTTP Headers however, you can work around the registration block. I will not explain the procedure, in order to protect the website from further hardware/bandwidth abuse.

At any rate, the developer of this interesting extension recently stated, "New hardware should be operational late in the day (EST) today. Things should be usable at that time.
New registrations will still be dissabled until the system gets more testing."

I'm certain Yakalike can be greatly improved upon in future versions, and could become the next big thing in social browsing.

Click Here to Download Yakalike.

Damn Small Linux

2006-01-02T05:25:00.000-08:00

Damn Small Linux, or DSL, is a miniature Linux distribution. It is a mere 50 mb! Don't let the size fool you, DSL is bundled with the Fluxbox GUI and a wide array of other applications. By default, DSL serves as a LiveCD, but you can install it to your hard drive. This is absolutely perfect for bringing back to life those ancient machines with old hardware.

It gets even better than this. DSL 2.0 has an embedded version of the distro. This can be used to boot Linux, while in Windows, from your USB thumb drive. This is useful if, for example, you wish to securely check your email at an internet cafe, or if you simply feel more comfortable in the Linux environment.

MyDSL allows you to easily add the applications and software you want for DSL. You can access the MyDSL directory from within Damn Small Linux, or you can browse it from the aforementioned website.

Click to download DSL 2.0

Is your website optimized for search engines?

2006-01-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

"The SEO Analyzer uses a sophisticated algorithm that detects how optimized your web page is for search engines." It inspects your website, and provides a detailed report regarding areas that need optimization. This makes SEO Analyzer a crucial utility for improving your website, thus building a better search engine optimized site.

The SEO Analyzer focuses on:
* semantic structure
* obsolete and deprecated HTML
* improper use of table elements
* inline styles
* download size and time
* outgoing links
* top keywords

Best of all, it is absolutely free!

Firefox Essentials: Webmasters

2005-12-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

Lifehack.org has compiled a list of some of the Essential Firefox Extensions for Webmasters. The list is as follows:

Must Have:
Aardvark - Very useful tool to view elements within the HTML, view source code on specific element, select and remove block by block within the page.
IE Tab - Embed Internet Explorer into Firefox. This is ultra convenient extension to test your page compatibility with just a click away.
Performancing - “Performancing for Firefox is a full featured blog editor that sits right within Firefox. Just hit F8 or click the little pencil icon at the bottom right to bring up the blog editor and easily post to your Wordpress, MovableType or Blogger blogs.”
Search Status - Puts Google PageRank and Alexa popularity ranking on the status bar to quickly view the link importance of the site easily.
Web Developer - Many features just for web developer. One of the best features is to edit CSS source and display live changes.
ColorZilla - Quick way to pick color from any pages (text or image) and get its color hex code.
DevBoi - A sidebar offers easy access to web-development documentations and reference manuals (HTML4, CSS2, DOM2, XUL). Very neat way to get reference on syntax especially for CSS.

Should Have:

MeasureIt - A ruler to analyze website layouts. This is very useful small tool to get the right measurement for your web layout.
Platypus - “lets you modify a Web page from your browser — “What You See Is What You Get” — and then save those changes as a Greasemonkey script so that they’ll be repeated the next time you visit the page. Editing pages to suit your needs is dandy — but making those changes “permanent” is the real payoff.”
LiveHTTPHeaders - View and manipulate header request.
LiveLines - Change the RSS subscription from default live bookmark to web services such as Bloglines and NewsGator Online, and RSS reader extensions(Sage, Habari Xenu). Quick way to subscribe any feed for your daily research.

Good to Have:

SEOpen - Add a set of menu links for search engine optimization, such as quick links to Alexa, DMOZ, HTML Validator, etc.
User Agent Switcher Extension - able to switch the user agent of the browser.
UrlParams - Quick utility to debug GET/POST parameters.

While we are on the subject of Firefox, why not take a look at what's expected from Firefox 2.0 "Bon Echo."

Freeware Friday: Week in Review

2005-12-30T08:30:00.000-08:00

After an abbreviated absence, I will now deliver your somewhat belated Freeware Friday special. Because of general time restraints, it will be a recap of the wonderful free items of this past week.

A Pair of Free FPSs

2005-12-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

Today, we have an excellent bonus for our loyal readers. We will feature, not one, but two fantastic, and free First Person Shooters. Both have their own elements of gameplay that make them unique, while maintaining great graphical quality. They are each set in the modern era (My apologies to you futuristic junkies).

First of all, we'll bring you America's Army. For those of you who aren't aware, America's Army is a free first-person shooter developed by the United States Army. It was first released July 4, 2002 as a recruiting tool. It has since developed into an excellent model for the gaming industry. The current version, AA:SF (Direct Action) v2.5, is based on the Unreal 2.5 engine. The game is constantly under development with new maps and features added every few months.

America's Army brings a new level of realism to online gaming. Upon installing the game, you must create an account and complete Basic Training. If you choose to complete additional training missions, you can unlock more weapons and classes. Movement, speed, weapon range, accuracy, reloading, jams, etc. are all modeled after the actual behaviors of the respective objects. The game also has a built-in honor system.

There are currently Public, Government, and Future Application versions of this game. All of which have their own development department and uses. Believe it or not, this game is actually used for combat simulation in the United States military as a training utility. In the near future you can expect the implementation of various vehicles, and even an upgrade to the Unreal 3.0 engine!

To sum it up, there are simply too many great things about America's Army to list! Feel free to peruse the AA website to learn more about this fantastic game.

You may also wish to check out the Official America's Army IRC Server at irc.americasarmy.com (You can connect via the ingame chat client). The Foxhole and AAFiles have some wonderful resources for your use.

Second on our list, is WarRock.
WarRock is developed by Dream Execution--a Korean game development studio. Consider WarRock a Battlefield 2 clone. The popularity of this game drastically increased with a well promoted article at digg.

It is currently in an open beta period. While it is not known whether the game will remain free once its open beta status is removed, it currently has a large enough user database to retain its success on the free market. Currently, there are only a handful of maps to play, but that number should grow as new versions are released. In fact, more weapons, new vehicles, and an item shop may be in the future of this game.

You can easily make sure you have the latest version, with the included updater. Just the other day, a new map and extra features were added to the game.

Classic Games

2005-12-28T20:30:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you remember some of the classic PC games. No, I'm not speaking of games such as Pong, Pacman, and Tetris. Those are much too simple to locate and play. Nay, I shall discuss games that will bring back much fonder memories.

SkiFree is the classic skiing game developed by Chris Pirih. It is now available for free! Who can forget the abonimable snowman at the end of the courses?

Commander Keen consumed a great deal of my time in the early days of my computing career. You can now download Keen 1 and Keen 4 for free.

RockStar Games has made Grand Theft Auto, Wild Metal, and Grand Theft Auto 2 available for you to download and play, completely free of charge.

Super Mario War, while not necessarily a classic PC game, should certainly be included in this list. It can be from one to four players. SMW is loaded with innumerable quantities of maps, and a plethora of game modes. It is quite reminiscent of the original Mario Bros. arcade game. The game even has a level editor so you can build a map to suit your fancy.

The Foxhole: New Honor Server

2005-12-28T12:30:00.000-08:00

The followong is fantastic news from The Foxhole: Your #1 Tactical Resource for America's Army:

First of all, we would like to introduce you to this forum that has been idly sitting here, waiting for this wonderful announcement. This has been something we've looked forward to for quite some time. Feel free to post your questions, comments, or concerns about this server, here.

For those of you who are unaware, The Foxhole now has a 10 slot tracked honor server for your playing pleasure! We hope to see many of you there. The IP of the server is, 68.209.83.36. We would also like to know what map(s) you want to play!

Consider this another great contribution to the community.

In the Media: Tunatic

2005-12-27T09:15:00.000-08:00

Tunatic is software that identifies the title and artist of that enigmatic tune in an unusual, but effective manner. It analyzes the sound of the song (melody and timbre). Simply place your computer's microphone near the source of the music (e.g. computer speakers, radio, television, etc) and enable Tunatic. It will retrieve the information from its database and bring you the information that may have been puzzling you for weeks.

The Tunatic server database is kept up to date by the community. If you have a Mac, you can contribute to their server of information with Tunalyzer. Tunatic can recognize songs from every genre, except classical.

In additional tidbit that makes this program so great, is that it is compatible with multiple Operating Systems. You can download it for Mac and Windows.

Addiction of the Day: Falling Sand Game

2005-12-26T08:15:00.000-08:00

Falling Sand Game is among the most addicting games available. You simply control the flow of sand, water, salt, and oil by drawing walls, plants, spouts, cera (wax). It's like a Zen-Garden game, in that there is really no point to it.

It is a great way to relieve stress, entertain yourself for extended periods of time, and serve just about every other purpose you desire.

You can even play the game locally, on your computer, for offline fun!

1) Download http://chir.ag/stuff/sand/sand7.jar
2) Open a text editor and paste: java -jar sand7.jar sand7
3) Save this as a file with a .bat extension.
4) Put both files in the same folder and double click the .bat file to execute the game.

Happy Holidays from 5m0k3

2005-12-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

I would like to wish all my readers a very safe holiday season. Have a very merry Christmas!

Track Santa with Google Earth

I will leave you with a poem written by a Marine stationed in Okinawa, Japan:

The Google Earth team has received a pretty interesting business development inquiry that we thought we'd share with you:

To: "Google Support"
From: claus@gmail.com
Subject: Naughty or Nice Layer

I love Google Earth and have been planning a big trip with it. Now I'm wondering if you've ever thought about licensing data layers for "nice" and "naughty." If interested, I've got a really good list -- I've checked it twice. Rooftop accurate data!

Let me know,
S. Claus

While we didn't work a deal for Naughty or Nice data layers, we did negotiate the rights to track this user on his big trip. If you've already got Google Earth, you can too. If you don't have it, get your own Google Earth.

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF
PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO
IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED
A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT
BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."