In My Opinion

I have defected!

2008-02-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

It's true, I'm moving to the majesty that is Wordpress. You can find my new blog at Dan.Spot6.net. This page will still be up for... posterity? Nah, laziness is more like it.

My Google Reader Remote

2007-11-26T04:00:00.000-08:00

(G)Reader Function	Controller Button	(G)reader Key
Disabled	Left	Disabled
Expand Folder	Right	Shift+X
Previous Subscription	Up	Shift+K
Next Subscription	Down	Shift+J
Previous Item	Button 1 (Left)	K
Next Item	Button 2 (Bottom)	J
View Original	Button 3 (Right)	V
Disabled	Button 4 (Top)	Disabled
Open Subscription Or Folder	Button 5 (L1)	Shift+O
Share Item	Button 6 (R1)	Shift+S
Full-Screen Mode	Button 7 (L2)	U
None	Button 8 (R2)	Joy2 Config
Mark Item As Read	Button 9 (Select)	M
Home Folder	Button 10 (Start)	G+H

(G)Reader Function	Controller Button	(G)reader Key
Disabled	Left	Mouse 15° Left
Disabled	Right	Mouse 15° Right
Disabled	Up	Mouse 15° Up
Disabled	Down	Mouse 15° Down
Disabled	Button 1 (Left)	Mouse Left-Click
Increase Text Size	Button 2 (Bottom)	Ctrl+ +
Disabled	Button 3 (Right)	Mouse Right-Click
Decrease Text Size	Button 4 (Top)	Ctrl+ -
Open Expanded View Mode	Button 5 (L1)	1
Share Item	Button 6 (R1)	Use Joy3 Config
List View Mode	Button 7 (L2)	2
Disabled	Button 8 (R2)	Holding
Mark All Items As Read	Button 9 (Select)	Shift+A
Refresh Items	Button 10 (Start)	R

(G)Reader Function	Controller Button	(G)reader Key
Disabled	Left	Mouse 30° Left
Disabled	Right	Mouse 30° Right
Disabled	Up	Mouse 30° Up
Disabled	Down	Mouse 30° Down
Disabled	Button 1 (Left)	Mouse Left-Click
Increase Text Size	Button 2 (Bottom)	Ctrl+ +
Disabled	Button 3 (Right)	Mouse Right-Click
Decrease Text Size	Button 4 (Top)	Ctrl+ -
Disabled	Button 5 (L1)	Disabled
Disabled	Button 6 (R1)	Holding
Firefox Full-Screen	Button 7 (L2)	F11
Disabled	Button 8 (R2)	Holding
Disabled	Button 9 (Select)	Disabled
Disabled	Button 10 (Start)	Disabled

So I decided I'd mentioned in my last post that I'd make one for the Google Reader, and here it is. Not to worry this'll be my last Joy2Key post for a while. (Big Table)
Song of the day is: Tito Puente - Take Five

	Tito Puente - Take Five

	Found at skreemr.com

My Joost Remote

2007-11-25T07:39:00.000-08:00

Key	Primary Action(s)
	Escape to Main Screen
or	Play/Pause
	Bring up Controller and Icons, Enter or Play highlighted item
	Mute
/	Volume control
	Help
	Show info
to	Select channel #
/	Scroll through programs (or between channels/programs epg)
+ / +	Skip directly to previous/next program
/	Scroll up/down channels (or list items)
+ / +	Skip directly to previous/next channel
	Menu mode
	Channels mode (left hot edge)
	Community mode (right hot edge)
	Content Owners mode (top hot edge)
+ or	Search
/	Page Up/Down
	Explore
	Add
+	Resize window
+	Power down
+	goto preferences

I've been using Joost a good bit lately and since my monitor is so damn far away to get comfortable I and I have a TV out card I popped the signal out to my ugly ole CRT TV. "Great!" I thought now I can sit on my couch and get comfy and watch some good IPTV (well as close as we can get to IPTV in the states).

But hopping up every little while to change the channels every little bit was completely screwing me mojo. And like many people I don't have an IR Remote, (or an RF either) but I do have an ancient Gravis pad pro. So I dragged out JoyToKey again and built myself a good conf file that looks something like this.

And soon that wasn't enough either, so I added mouse functionality and volume controls by linking the R2 button to another joy file so it goes right back to above when I let go.

But it was too slow so I set the R1 to another joy file as well so that when I held R1 & R2 it goes to this configuration.
Which was considerably faster and made it much easier to go through the 'explore' tab of Joost that was I could browse though channels via genres.

If you want my conf file you can grab it here (at the bottom). And if you need to know the shorcut keys they'll pop up below.

Tune of the day is: The Original Onions - Music To Watch Girls By
(Happy belated Thanksgiving)

	The Original Onions - Music To Watch Girls By

	Found at skreemr.com

No idea why you'd want it but here's a link to the svg I used for the controller. (Thank you vector magic)

Owwie! It burns!

2007-11-18T18:12:00.000-08:00

Yukkas! Sorry, I remember, absolutely loving this song when I was about 13 and kinda felt like it was mine, you know like when stupid kids think that "Crawling" by Linkin Park truly speaks to them and them alone? Well, when I was a stupid kid, (though wheather I still am or not is debatable) this was my "Crawling" and well, it hurts, sniffle sniffle. Have to shake this off and listen to nailbomb or something now.

	Nailbomb - Wasting Away

	Found at skreemr.com

Da Movies

2007-11-13T15:24:00.001-08:00


	My Flixster

New Group!

2007-11-12T18:25:00.000-08:00

Well, leader actually. Not enough good resources for surf music out there. Hopefully me and a few other cats can make a better one. Swing by if that interests ya.

EEK! Almost here!

2007-10-17T09:08:00.001-07:00

Stupid Patent Filings!

2007-10-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

I just caught this artice by wired detailing a new patent filed by Microsoft.
This is getting ridiculous, how can the US Patent office keep giving these out? And no, I'm not referring to the prior art by Apple. I mean in general. Let me clarify, I agree with filing patents with certain ideas and procedures i.e. if Intel develops a new way of squeezing a few more ghz out of an outdated processor model then great, they should file for a patent. But for these elements of UI, it's just insane.

That would be like me filing for a patent detailing a glass:

A open-ended cylinder shaped noncrystalline structure for holding and keeping liquid for consumption

And as I stated in my comment on the article itself, data in a box should belong to Microsoft, Visual voice mail shouldn't belong to Apple, nor should bouncing icons on a dock. A better way of representing data is simply that. And it should be open to whoever wants to use it. This whole thing, it's just dumb.

My Name is Dan... And I'm a Google-holic

2007-10-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

I thought I should get that out of the way before we start here. It's high time I admit it, 'Ctrl+K' is my friend. It's gotten to the point where when I list the google products/service I need more than 2 hands.

On my desktop I use:

Google Browser Sync (through Firefox)
Google Notebook (through Firefox)
Google Talk (through Pidgin)
Gmail (through Thunderbird)
Google Calendar (through Tunderbird)
Google Earth

And everywhere else I use:

Blogger (obviously)
Google Search (Well, who doesn't?)
iGoogle
Google Reader
GOOG-411
Google SMS
Google Transit (when It launches in my city)
Google News
Google Maps
Google Images
Google Video
Youtube

Whew! Lots of links! About the only (major) google ventures I don't use are Orkut, because I'm not a big fan of most Social-Networking services and Picasa, and that's because I've bought a subscription to Flickr, and I honestly think it's better. And when I heard the rumor about Google's new 'Virtual World' I was damn excited. Nobody does free better than google and that's why I've got to tack on another number to my list: Google Shared Stuff

Google Shared Stuff is an absolute god-send for people like me. I should explain that more, I'm also a book-mark-a-holic. At the time of this posting my bookmarks clock-in at 1.34mb. I have 23 sub-folder of unsorted junk that probably never will be sorted.

Shared stuff is pretty much a smart java-script that allows you with a few clicks to 'share' and tag a web page or article with a description, which then get sent to a small page, which is publicly visible for what I like to call cataloging. Then can also be sent to some of the social-networking sites you frequent such as: Facebook, Furl, del.icio.us, Social Poster, Reddit, and Digg.

It seems to be a great service, if you bookmark alot, if not it'll just be another page that sits there and collects dust like ~~google page creator~~ something else I know of.

If you're a google-holic like me you might want to check out the weekly Google-holic posts from Download Squad, and the tag.

Snes Online!

2007-09-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

Remember the good old days of video games? Where you and a friend from school or in the neighborhood would huddle around a 27in CRT? Well now those days are back!

You and a friend or even a complete stranger can share those experiences again through Zbattle.net I know I've talked about emulation before, but I've just rediscovered a completely amazing aspect of it.

Zbattle isn't new, in fact, it's been out nearly as long as Zsnes. With this program you can start a game 'room', similar to a chat, and either tell a friend about it or wait for someone to connect to it. Don't have the game for someone else's room? Zbattle handles that by sending it to them.(These games or roms [also 'romz"] are only permitted if you own the physical cartridge, and sometimes not even then, it's a rather gray area because the carts are no longer for sale in new condition)

There are a few things you need in order for Zbattle to operate.

1. And older version of Zsnes. (1.50)
2. Zbattle.net
3. Port 7845 forwarded (Though you can edit the port in the .ini).
Well, 3 is a little tricky depending on your router make. (If you use a direct connection i.e. directly to a cable modem you can skip 3).

Head to portforward.com to get directions on how to open that port.

And that's that, enjoy! Sorry mac fans, only Windows and Linux at this time, though you can find Zsnes for regular and Intel macs. Hopefully someone will port is soon.

If you a Mario Cart fan kick my buddy a message (luvadrianalima) and ask him for a challenge.

-Have a great weekend!

94 of the Best Free Software Applications that are Better than Purchased Software

2007-07-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

----------------------
Best Web Browser:
----------------------

Firefox is a favourite browser, being safer than IE and highly customizable. Automatic updates, faster browsing, better pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, an integrated search bar, and live bookmarks are just some features of this browser and countless add-ons you can install. Another popular browser is Opera which includes many of the same features as Firefox.

FireFox
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

Opera
http://www.opera.com/

----------------------
Best Torrent Client:
----------------------

Azureus is a java bittorrent client offering multiple torrent downloads, queuing/priority systems (on torrents and files), start/stop seeding options and instant access to numerous pieces of information about your torrents. Azureus now features an embedded tracker easily set up and ready to use. uTorrent is a lightweight (Very) and efficient BitTorrent client that includes bandwidth prioritization, scheduling, RSS auto-downloading and Mainline DHT.

Azureus
http://azureus.sourceforge.net/

µTorrent
http://www.utorrent.com/

--------------------------------------------
Best Multi Platform File Transfer Utility:
--------------------------------------------

Shareaza is a great program that connect to 4 P2P networks, EDonkey2000, Gnutella, BitTorrent and Gnutella2 (G2).

Shareaza
http://www.shareaza.com/

-----------------------------
Best IP Blacklist/Blocker:
-----------------------------

A must for anyone using P2P. PeerGaurdian integrates support for multiple lists, list editing, automatic updates, and blocking all of IPv4, TCP, UDP, ICMP, etc, making it the safest and easiest way to protect your privacy on P2P. Lite version is made to consume as little CPU and RAM as possible. It has no UI or options and consists of a single tray icon.

PeerGaurdian
http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/

PeerGuardian Lite
http://phoenixlabs.org/pglite/

------------------
Best FTP Client:
------------------

Two amazing FTP clients that each include a great deal of features are FileZilla and SmartFTP.

FileZilla
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/

SmartFTP
http://www.smartftp.com/

-----------------------
Best Chat Program:
-----------------------

Two that stand out are Gaim/Pidgin and Trillian, both are multi-platform. Gaim is compatible with AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, GroupWise Messenger, and Zephyr networks. While Trillain is a skinnable chat client that supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC. Trillain also includes many features not included in those chat programs.

Gaim/Pidgin
http://pidgin.im/pidgin/home/

Trillian
http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/

-----------------------------
Best AIM Virus Remover:
-----------------------------

AIM Fix was created to remove all known AIM viruses in one consolidated removal tool.

AIM Fix
http://www.jayloden.com/software.htm

--------------------------------
Best Phone Voice Software:
--------------------------------

These programs allow you to call people for free and talk with them, all you need are headphones and a microphone. Skype adds encryption and has excellent sound quality. An alternative to Skype is the Gizmo Project.

Skype
http://www.skype.com/

Gizmo Project
http://www.sipphone.com/

----------------------------
Best Download Manager:
----------------------------

The ones that work great are FlashGet, GetRight, and Free Download Manager. All split up files and increase the download by 100-600%, they can also resume broken downloads.

FlashGet
http://www.flashget.com/index_en.htm

GetRight
http://www.getright.com/

Free Download Manager
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/

----------------------------
Best Gmail File transfer:
----------------------------

There is a good program that allows you to use your Gmail space to upload your files and make backups of them.

Gmail Drive
http://www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm

--------------------
Best Email Client:
--------------------

Another from Mozilla, Thunderbird, is a full-featured email client, that includes a spam filter, anti-phishing protection, enchanced security, and auto updates and tons of add-ons you can download to further enhance it.

Thunderbird
http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/

------------------------
Best Blogging Poster:
------------------------

w.bloggar is a great blogging tool that includes a template and post editor that works with many blogging sites, including Blogger. Unlike other blogging tools, it doesn't require you to have your blog on an ftp site, but can log in and post.

w.bloggar
http://wbloggar.com/

------------------
Best IRC Client:
------------------

Other than the popular mIRC some outstanding IRC clients are IceChat and HydraIRC.

HydraIRC
http://www.hydrairc.com/

IceChat
http://www.icechat.net/site/

--------------------
Best IRC Add-on:
--------------------

NoNameScript is an amazing addon that's definitely worth installing over normal mIRC.

NoNameScript
http://www.nnscript.de/index.php?section=download

----------------------
Best Anti-Spyware:
----------------------

Some of the best are Spybot, Ad-Aware, Windows Defender, and Spyware Blaster. The first three are scanners each with their own special tools including realtime scanning, encrypted file deletion, and history eraser. Spyware Guard is more of a realtime scanner (Like Anti-Virus) of spyware while you're downloading. Spyware Blaster is not a scanner, but prevents spyware from installing on your computer, (Spybot includes a robust version of this). All four programs are recommended since each is not 100% efficient solution.

Spybot
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/

Ad-Aware SE Personal
http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

Windows Defender
http://tinyurl.com/dyvaw

SpywareGuard
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html

Spyware Blaster
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

------------------
Best Anti-Virus:
------------------

A favourite is AVG from Grisoft, which includes updates, real time scanner, and an email scanner. Another good one is AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic which includes many of the same features. Do keep in mind that free anti virus clients are not up to par with paid ones according to testings. ClamWin is also one of the best, it's a port of the great Open Source ClamAV.

AVG
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic
http://www.free-av.com/

ClamWin
http://www.clamwin.com/

---------------
Best Firewall:
---------------

The best is ZoneAlarm which is simple for begginers and provides lots of features for more advanced users.

ZoneAlarm Free
http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp

--------------------
Best Anti-Rootkit:
--------------------

AVG Anti-Rootkit really helps stop find and remove those evil root kits from your system.

AVG Ant-Rootkit
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

------------------------
Best Diagnostic Tool:
------------------------

Ultimate Boot CD is an amazing bootable CD to restore a crashed computer and can fix it. I've used it on many different PC's and Laptops!

Ultimate Boot CD
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

----------------------
Best Disk Cleaner:
----------------------

CCleaner, removed about 1.5 Gigs in unused application data and internet cache (which I thought was removed by the disk cleaner). This utility cleans out your PC's hard drive safely and even scans and removes obselete registry data, speeding up your system. You might want to turn off cookie deletion if you save your passwords for sites.

CCleaner
http://www.ccleaner.com/

--------------------
Best File Deleter:
--------------------

Eraser is an advanced security tool (for Windows), which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns.

Eraser
http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/

----------------------
Best File Encrypter:
----------------------

Three stand out, GNU Privacy Gaurd, TrueCrypt, and Blowfish Advanced CS. GNU is a full replacement of PGP that is command line based, and not for beginnners. However, Blowfish Advanced CS offers multiple algorithms, efficient data compression, and safe key handling for content protection. TrueCrypt can create virtual encrypted disks, can encrypt an entire hard disk partition or a device, such as USB flash drive, and provides two levels of plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password.

Blowfish Advanced CS
http://www.hotpixel.net/software.html

TrueCrypt
http://www.truecrypt.org/

GNU Privacy Gaurd
http://www.gnupg.org/

Guide to GNU Privacy Gaurd
http://www.dewinter.com/gnupg_howto/english/GPGMiniHowto.html

--------------------------------------------
Best Md5 Checksum Creator/Checker:
--------------------------------------------

This open source utility is used to calculate the MD5 checksum of a file using L. Peter Deutsch's MD5 code. One of the most common uses is to make sure that a file that you have downloaded is not corrupt. Some websites post the MD5 checksum of a file on their download page. Once you have downloaded the file, use winMd5Sum to get the MD5 checksum of the file on your computer. Then make sure that the MD5 checksum from the web site is the same. If they are the same, then your file is exactly the same as the file on the website.

winMD5Sum
http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/winmd5sum

---------------------
Best File Unlocker:
---------------------

Unlocker is an Windows Explorer extension allowing you with a simple right-click on a file or folder to get rid of error message such as error deleting file or folder, cannot delete folder: it's being used by another person or program.

Unlocker
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

---------------------
Best Image Editor:
---------------------

The GIMP and Paint.NET are the best. GIMP is more like Photoshop and there is a seperate version that make the GIMP interface appear more like Photoshop (to make it easier to use). Piant.NET replaces the simple MS Paint program and adds tons of features and includes some of the things Photoshop has.

The GIMP
http://www.gimp.org/

GIMP Shop
http://plasticbugs.com/?page_id=294

Paint.NET
http://www.getpaint.net/index2.html

------------------------------
Best Vector Image Editor:
------------------------------

Inkscape is an Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw, or Xara X using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.

INKSCAPE
http://www.inkscape.org/

------------------------------
Best Image Viewer/Editor:
------------------------------

IrfanView supports many formats of images and includes some plugins that allow it to view many other formats such as videos, flash, and some audio formats. Picasa, on the other hand, differs in being able to edit photos and searches your computer for photos. Another good one is FastStone Image Viewer which is a fast, stable, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor.

IrfanView
http://www.irfanview.com/

IrfanView Plugin/Addons
http://www.tucows.com/preview/415586

Picasa
http://picasa.google.com/

FastStone Image Viewer
http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

--------------------------------
Best Digital Album Creator:
--------------------------------

InAlbum Lite is an easy you can use program to turn your digital photos into a great photo album slideshow. InAlbum Lite helps you turn your digital photos into stunning photo albums.

InAlbum Lite
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Authoring-tools/Digital-Album/InAlbum-Lite.shtml

-----------------------------------------------
Best 3-D Modelling/Animation/Rendering:
-----------------------------------------------

Blender is the open source software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback.

Blender
http://www.blender.org/

------------------------
Best Color Capturer:
------------------------

Color Schemer ColorPix is a useful little color picker that grabs the pixel under your mouse and transforms it into a number of different color formats. You can use the built-in magnifier to zoom in on your screen, click on a color value to copy it directly to the clipboard, and even keep ColorPix on top of all other apps and out of the way. Also, it doesn't require installation and is a tiny program.

Color Schemer ColorPix
http://www.colorschemer.com/colorpix_info.php

---------------------
Best Virtual Drive:
---------------------

If you ever wanted to run that .iso or any other CD image without having the CD or DVD in the drive just use DAEMON Tools. Do not install the adware toolbar!

DAEMON Tools
http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/download.php

---------------------------
Best DVD Descrambler:
---------------------------

Well the name says it all, DVD Decrypter allows you to copy DVDs to your hard drive and re-encode them to MPEG1 (VCD) or DivX. DVD Decrypter can also write most types of CD / DVD images via its 'ISO Write' mode. Also there's DVDFab HD Decrypter which copies entire DVD movie to hard disk, and removes all the protections (CSS, RC, RCE, APS, UOPs and Sony ARccOS) while copying. It also comes with full HD-DVD and Blu-Ray support (Removes AACS).

DVD Decryptor
http://www.filehippo.com/download_dvd_decrypter/

DVDFab HD Decrypter
http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm

---------------------------
Best DVD Compressor:
---------------------------

ratDVD takes a full featured DVD-9 movie and puts it into a highly compressed .ratDVD container format file of about 1.x GB in size - while preserving all the features of the original DVD.

ratDVD
http://ratdvd.ca/

-------------------------
Best CD/DVD Burner:
-------------------------

CDBurnerXP Pro is a fully featured DVD/CD burner and can create .iso's from them. It is very fast and meet all your needs.

CDBurnerXP Pro
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

For you Ubuntu and Linux fans, without a doubt... K3b! (http://k3b.plainblack.com/)

----------------------------------
Best MPEG to DVD Converter:
----------------------------------

Got those mpegs from your digital video camera, off the web, etc. but always wanted to convert them into DVD's? Well DVDBuilder does exactly that, efficiently and painlessly for free.

DVDBuilder
http://www.keronsoft.com/dvdbuilder.html

-----------------------------------
Best Video Player/Codec Pack:
-----------------------------------

The K-Lite Mega Codec Pack will play every video file on this planet. Also GSpot is a video codec identification utility - identifies which video codec and audio compression method is used on .avi files, whether the matching codec is installed, so you can direct download only the ones you need.

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack
http://www.codecguide.com/about_mega.htm

K-Lite Codec Pack Full (Less features)
http://codecguide.com/features_full.htm#full

GSpot
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/GSpot.htm

------------------------------------------
Best Video Player/Streaming Server:
------------------------------------------

VLC is a portable cross-platform, multimedia player that also streams audio/video across your network. MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, etc. And DVDs, VCDs. It can stream unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.

VLC media player
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

---------------------
Best Audio Player:
---------------------

Winamp and foobar2000 comes out on top as the best audio players. ml_ipod is a plugin that uses Winamp to support your iPod. Winamp DSP Enhancer increases the quality and depth of your bass and treble, but not just making them louder but by filtering out any distortions and other bad stuff. foobar 2000 s an advanced audio player for the Windows platform. Some of the basic features include full unicode support, ReplayGain support and native support for several popular audio formats. Not to mention it's tiny size.

Winamp
http://www.winamp.com/

ml_ipod (Version 5.2 of Winamp alreday has had iPod support built in.)
http://mlipod.sourceforge.net/

DSP Enchancer
http://download.nullsoft.com/customize/component/2001/10/8/P/Enhancer.exe

foobar2000
http://www.foobar2000.org/

For you Ubuntu/Linux fans my all time favourite is Amarok! (http://amarok.kde.org/)

Audacity is a free and gull featured audio editor and recorder. As for grabbing audio from CDs , Exact Audio Copy is the solution, although it's not for beginners.

Audacity
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Exact Audio Copy
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

-------------------------
Best Audio Converter:
-------------------------

Often called the Swiss army knife of audio, dBpowerAMP is able to convert between audio formats whilst preserving ID Tags.

dBpowerAMP Music Converter
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm

-------------------------------
Best XviD/DivX Converter:
-------------------------------

AutoGK is an amazing program that converts Xvid and DivX formats of video to many others, at the same time compressing them and it includes many other features.

AutoGK
http://www.autogk.me.uk/

--------------------------------
Best Movie Cover Searcher:
--------------------------------

Have those "back up" DVDs but no covers? Well, no fear, iCover searches its 6 databases and the internet for over 13,000 movie covers that you can download for free.

iCover
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Other-VIDEO-Tools/i-Covers.shtml

iCover Site (French)
http://www.i-covers.net/

(Google translate: http://www.google.com/translate_t)

------------------
Best iPod Utility:
------------------

Forget iTunes, YamiPod gives you full control of your iPod and offers many other features to you.

YamiPod
http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/home/

------------------------------
Best Hard Drive Analyser:
------------------------------

JDiskReport is an amazing program that provides many different graphs and information on what's stored on your computer.

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html

-----------------------------
Best Software Collection:
-----------------------------

TheOpenCD includes many freeware programs and open source programs that are essential to anyone.

TheOpenCD
http://theopencd.org/

--------------------
Best HTML Editor:
--------------------

NVU, is a great HTML editor similar to Dreamweaver and Frontpage. Also, BlueFish editer is a very stable robust solution that focuses on editing dynamic and interactive web sites.

NVU
http://www.nvu.com/

BlueFish
http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/

-----------------------------
Best CSS Menu Designer:
-----------------------------

CSS Menu Designer is a good tool to automatically create beautiful CSS menus that you can customize to your needs.

Best CSS Menu Designer
http://www.highdots.com/css-tab-designer/

---------------------
Compression Tool:
---------------------

Although there's many, a few stand out, mainly 7-Zip and IZArc. 7-Zip supports: 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, Z, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB. IZArc supports many files including: 7-ZIP, A, ACE, ARC, ARJ, B64, BH, BIN, BZ2, BZA, C2D, CAB, CDI, CPIO, DEB, ENC, GCA, GZ, GZA, HA, IMG, ISO, JAR, LHA, LIB, LZH, MDF, MBF, MIM, NRG, PAK, PDI, PK3, RAR, RPM, TAR, TAZ, TBZ, TGZ, TZ, UUE, WAR, XXE, YZ1, Z, ZIP, ZOO. Both also include many other features.

7-Zip
http://www.7-zip.org/

IZArc
http://www.izarc.org/

-----------------------------
Best Benchmarking Tool:
-----------------------------

EVEREST Home Edition is a freeware hardware diagnostics and memory benchmarking solution for home PC users. It offers the world's most accurate hardware information and diagnostics capabilities, including online features, memory benchmarks, hardware monitoring, and low-level hardware information. Sadly, this free version has been discontinued, since they want to make some money on their corporate version (Which is understandable).

EVEREST Home Edition
http://www.filehippo.com/download_everest_home/

--------------------
Best Office Suite:
--------------------

The best by far is OpenOffice.org. It includes many of the same features as MS Office and then some!

OpenOffice.org
http://www.openoffice.org/

--------------------------
Best Multi-Coding Tool:
--------------------------

For those computer programmers, PHP Designer 2005 and Notepad++ are great programs that include syntax highlighting and syntax folding. PHP Designer supports: PHP, HTML, XML, CSS, JavaScript, Java, Perl, JavaScript, VB, C#, Java & SQL. Notepad++ supports C, C++, Java, C#, XML, HTML, PHP, Javascript, RC resource file, makefile, ASCII art file (extension .nfo), doxygen, ini file, batch file, ASP, VB/VBS source files, SQL, Objective-C, CSS, Pascal, Perl, Python, Lua, TCL, Assembler, Ruby, Lisp, Scheme, Properties, Diff, Smalltalk, Postscript and VHDL. And that's the tip of the iceberg for both programs, they contain tons of features.

Notepad++
http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm

PHP Designer 2005
http://www.download.com/PHP-Designer-2005/3000-7957-10353130.html

PSPad
http://www.pspad.com/en/

---------------------
Best AutoIt Editor:
---------------------

This custom made version of SciTE has syntax highlighting and syntax folding, autocompleting, and intellisense.

SciTE
http://www.autoitscript.com/

--------------------
Best PDF Reader:
--------------------

Foxit Reader is small (1.5MB), so it downloads quickly. It doesn't need any installation, so you can start to run it as soon as you've downloaded it.

Foxit Reader
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

-------------
Best Linux:
-------------

Ubuntu and Kubuntu are two of best and most well known linux distros out there and include a barrage of programs. Another good one is Damn Small Linux, which is 50mb and can run off your USB flash drive.

Ubuntu
http://www.ubuntu.com/

Kubuntu
http://www.kubuntu.org/

Damn Small Linux
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

-----------------------------------------
Best Tutorial/Presentation Creation:
-----------------------------------------

Wink is a Tutorial and Presentation creation software, primarily aimed at creating tutorials on how to use software (like a tutor for MS-Word/Excel etc). Using Wink you can capture screenshots, mouse movements, add explanations boxes, buttons, titles etc and generate a highly effective tutorial for your users.

Wink
http://www.debugmode.com/wink/

-------------------------------
Best Windows CD Creator:
-------------------------------

AutoStreamer works as a totally automated slipstreamer. Basically, all it really needs is a source that being an original Windows CD or a local share and a Service Pack file. Using this you can create another Windows CD that includes the newest service pack and all the hotfixes.

AutoPatcher
http://mhtools.knoware.nl/raptor/autopatcher.html

AutoStreamer
http://mhtools.knoware.nl/raptor/autostreamer/AutoStreamer.exe

via digg, google cache

Medison Celebrity, the $150 Laptop

2007-07-25T15:49:00.001-07:00

Somebody must be losing money on this Medison Celebrity laptop, running Fedora Linux and certainly qualifying as the cheapest notebook in the world at $150. Heck, that's even less expensive than the OLPC (one laptop per child) that was supposed to cost $100 and has now ballooned up past $175.

read more | digg story

Kwonho!

2007-07-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

Kwonho is a massively multi-player online 3-D fighting game. And it's the first I've ever seen of this genre. It's part of Ijji, a portal for free multi-player games, as well as "mini-games", which really means flash-games.

After signing up for a free account from them, it's a fire fox add-on and a fairly small (255mb) download away from being playable. Well, that's not entirely true, it will then up-date itself, and about 19-20 entries for GameGuard, one of the elements that keeps this game "cheat free". Once all that's taken care of, you'll be greeted with this screen, to choose your server.

There doesn't really seem to be a sizable difference between the servers, except that the 'East' server is faster if you're in the US or Canada. The characters you create will be available on either server, so you're never really locked into one.

Next up, picking a fighting style. The five styles included are; Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, Tai Chi Quan, Ba Ji Quan and Judo, all of which have distinct advantages (and of course disadvantages). After that it's off to building you a snarky character.

Now, pick your chatacter, I know, complicated. (and quit looking at my, match record!)

Next, I'd reccomend a little bit of trainging, it's a great way to get a few valuable as well, as a small amount of coin.

It's about time to play your first match. You can click view 'waiting' games, or you can start your own with 'Quick Start'.

Probably shouldn't have started a match with someone twice my level. Well, play a few matchs earn some coin and now it's time for...

Shopping?!? That's right girls and girls, time to go shopping! And make out character look extra-snarky! It should probablly be mentioned here that the Korean version has alot more▼ than the US.

There's also tons of 'ability' you can buy and then equip for each fighting style.

Ko, that's it for now, if you'd like to challenge me, or yell at me for forgetting something, kick me a comment. Also, trip plans coming up soon. I'll try and do one of these for Frets On Fire, FlyFF and StepMania before I leave Hm, too ambitious, me thinks.

The NEW AT&T, like the old but now they've got a new logo.

2007-07-21T11:23:00.001-07:00

In 1982, telephone monopoly "Ma Bell" (AT&T) was broken up into 7 independent telephone companies known as "Baby Bells". It didn’t take too long before all these companies "congeal" back into larger entities.

Free Press has the visual guide on how Ma Bell was broken up and then came back together again: Link

via neatorama

And now, I've got a visual representation of how much competition for telephone, cell-phone and broadband, we've got here in the states.

Especially for broadband, guess who's network is the back bone for prety much every ISP in the states? And that same enormous company is still handing over traffic to NSA, whoooo! I love 'free-markets'.

Ringfo!

2007-07-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

Neat little hack of the Amazon API from ringfo that let's you call in a upc and recive info from a standard telephone number.

(from the site)

Dial 1-617-712-3574
Find the bar code on any product (also called UPC or ISBN)
Using your phone keypad, enter the numbers found below your product's bar code
Listen for new and used prices, customer ratings, and similar items

The number seemed to work beautifully with my copy of "The very best of Motörhead" and if you log-in via the site, it will keep all of you searches saved.

Free Calls To The WORLD!

2007-07-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

(If you're in the US, Ireland or the UK.)
It seems like Yak4Ever has finally filled the void left behind when the whole "Iowa Scheme" hit the fan.

The service is pretty straight forward.

Enter your email address.
Enter you telephone number (make sure your number isn't blocked from Caller ID).
Put in the numbers you want to call
Then when you get your confirmation e-mail, Pick up the phone, dial the US number it gives you.
Enter your "Extension number" (think speed dial)

And you're off! Just like that, support for other countries▼ is pretty stellar as well.

It seems to be a complete step in the right direction. While most other startups are trying to deliver the calls via web pages, applications, 3g phones, and even small Java apps for simplistic phones. The service is completely stand-alone after you set it up and that's definitely something I can appreciate.

Go Pauly! Go!

2007-07-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

Very nice new (to me) service called Blinkx who appearantly has 12 million hours of video! Damn!

Why I haven't bought an iPhone

2007-06-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

1. I'm not a huge mac fan.

Of the OS that is, the products are phenomenal (aside from the price extremely bloated price).

2. I don't like iTunes.

I don't, In fact I hate it, I'd seriously rather use .... realplayer, that's how much I hate it.

3. I already own a cellphone.

I do, it's a very shitty flip phone, but It works and I'm not going to get in bed with another carrier no matter how cool their phone is.

4. No Skype.

AT&T has already disclosed that it will block ports to Skype and I assume by extension EQO . Skype is my primary form of calling, in fact I have that route to my shitty cell. So it would odiously do me no good for my hefty international talk time. (To my brother and my girl)

5. I already own devices.

I've got a notebook, a Skype phone, a Psp, and a PMP that plays DIVX/XVID so to go from that to to converting my video every time I want to dump it onto that phone is a step in the wrong direction.

6. I like "All you can eat" music.

A la carte music subscription plans are amazing for me, I love music, I don't buy cd's and I'm very flakey on what I like at the time, so paying 15 bux for "Unlimited music mobility, unlimited songs, playlists, radio stations" on my device is a damn godsend, which I surely can't get with iTunes, not in the foreseeable future anyway.

That said, if I didn't have so many devices, the price was 399 and it wasn't a phone (operated exclusively by wi-fi), hell yea I'd consider buying one.

Brite Lite!

2007-05-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

Thought this was a really cool mod. Make sure to check out the users channel for more.

Invites anyone?

2007-05-17T05:54:00.000-07:00

I've been using Joost for a while and given out invites to most of my web-savvy friends, but with this new "for friends" edition I've got unlimited invites, so.... Who wants 'em? Just drop me a comment.

Now Playing - Calamine - Document

And if you've got no idea what I'm talking about click here (for the dropdown).

Itty Bitty

2007-05-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

Some great stuff happening from the bitty browser lately. With the new (yet small) revisions to the google personal homepage (previously GoogleIG, now iGoogle)

&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.bitty.com/"&amp;amp;amp;gt;Bitty Browser&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt; (iframes required)

And with ability specific bitty browsers for sites like BBCnews, Digg, YouTube, del.icio.us, and BlogLines, not to mention any RSS, podcast or OPML, it seems it could be quite cool.

Not quite as pretty as some of the Spring Widgets, but definitely as functional (if not more so).

Get this widget!

Ctrl+Z... Always A Good Idea

2007-04-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

New slick little player from the guys at UndoTV (Pixspot). Not quite ready but it does show promise.

And my girl came in recently for 11 days WHOOOO! Pics here!

Now Playing: Gatsby's American Dream - Just Like Heaven

What's the temp?

2007-04-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

Code provided by csgnetwork.

Now Playing: John Butler - Ocean

And make sure to get your virtual haircut virtual haircut to trim up those sides, just as long as you have headphones.

Wakka Chikka!

2007-03-28T00:07:00.000-07:00

Even if you have never seen a porn movie in your lifetime, almost everyone in the world knows what the 'Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka' represents... Each person, upon hearing it, mentally interprets the 'Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka' in their own way, fueling a range of emotions from lust to disgust. This CD represents 17 individual artists' interpretations of the 'Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka'; each providing their own unique cultural and geographic spin on the vibe that is "Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka'. From celebrations of the beauty of intimacy to a cautionary tale of excess, this collection of sound sculptures of the 'Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka' mystique from around the world will guide you into the heart of all that is 'Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka'.

So turn the lights down low, light a few candles, put this CD on the stereo and let the magic of the 'Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka' take you wherever you want to go.

Play me

Bro's In Different...

2007-03-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

Great new resource I just tripped on by Ben Fry called ZipDecode. Couple that with and area code map and keep everyone guessing.

Or just skirt the whole thing and use the Fake Name Generator and (or) a Guerilla Mail account.

Now Playing: Nancy Sinatra - You Only Live Twice