Download Squadhttp://www.downloadsquad.comDownload Squadhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/media/feedlogo.gifDownload Squadhttp://www.downloadsquad.comen-usCopyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Mozilla preparing to push Firefox 3 update on all Firefox 2 usershttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/mozilla-preparing-to-push-firefox-3-update-on-all-firefox-2-user/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/mozilla-preparing-to-push-firefox-3-update-on-all-firefox-2-user/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/mozilla-preparing-to-push-firefox-3-update-on-all-firefox-2-user/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Firefox 3.0.1Ready or not, here it comes. And it is Firefox 3.0.1. Mozilla has been issuing automatic updates for Firefox for ages. If you're running Firefox 3, you were probably prompted to install version 3.0.1 a few weeks ago. But if you've been running an older version of Firefox, you might still be at version 2.0.0.16. Now Mozilla plans to push out an update to all Firefox 2 users that will prompt them to update to version 3.0.1.

The update could come as soon as next week. Firefox 3 offers a number of advantages over Firefox 2. First, and probably most importantly, it's the most up to date version of the browser when it comes to security features. But it also has improved JavaScript support, faster page load speeds, and improved performance with web applications like Gmail, Google Docs, and Zoho Office. Firefox 3 also has a completely redesigned location bar that makes it much easier to find pages you've recently or frequently visited.

Firefox 2 users don't have to update. If you're happy with your existing browser experience, you can either postpone the update or decline it.

[via WinBeta]
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]]>firefoxfirefox-3firefox-3.0.1updatesBrad Linder2008-08-20T15:00:00+00:00AutoPager makes scrolling (and frustration) go on and onhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/autopager-makes-scrolling-and-frustration-go-on-and-on/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/autopager-makes-scrolling-and-frustration-go-on-and-on/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/autopager-makes-scrolling-and-frustration-go-on-and-on/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Look, an unauthorized page break!

I've never been particularly put out by needing to click the "Next" button on a blog. Sure, there are always exceptions, like when I find sites that archive oddly or only have a few posts per page. And don't get me started on the "Next" buttons and surprise ads (do I want two free iPod Nanos? Only if I can beat the advertiser about the head and neck with them).

LifeHacker introduced me to the AutoPager add-on for Firefox. The idea behind AutoPager is a good one. It takes a web page with continuous content (such as a blog) and allows you to scroll through it all as if it were one page . So that you're not waiting for years for your page to appear, AutoPager allows you to choose the number of pages displayed at a time. It also has a few pre-configured web pages in its clutches, like Digg and Twitter.

The good news is that AutoPager can be set to scroll through just about any site with a next button. The bad news is, it's not really apparent how to do this. I was pointed to the Site Wizard, which worked just as well as many wizards I've encountered -- not at all. I couldn't select the "Next" link, and it kept aborting (and it's too early in the morning where I am to be doing that).

I know little about XPath (the underlying AutoPager mechanism) or how it works, but I did still get AutoPager to give me several pages of Download Squad at once. Truth be told, I'm still not sure what it was I did. I clicked the AutoPager icon on my toolbar, and got a sidebar that popped up in the browser and seemed to autodetect both the "Next" link and the content I wanted to see. I clicked the green checkmark on the sidebar (did I need to? no clue), and we were finally in business.

AutoPager is great for getting your eyes on a lot of information quickly. Once it's configured to the sites you want to see in this manner, it's really handy. But for the first few sites you configure, make sure to take frequent breaks for deep, cleansing breaths.
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]]>add-onAutoPagerextensionFirefoxpluginsscrollweb browsingWebBrowsingKristin Shoemaker2008-08-19T13:00:00+00:00Chandler wants to set you free from Outlook, takes 6 years to do ithttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/chandler-wants-to-set-you-free-from-outlook-takes-6-years-to-do/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/chandler-wants-to-set-you-free-from-outlook-takes-6-years-to-do/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/chandler-wants-to-set-you-free-from-outlook-takes-6-years-to-do/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Chandler

About six years ago Mitch Kapor, the guy behind Lotus 1-2-3, started a new open source project called Chandler. The goal was simple enough: Create an personal information management tool that would allow users to store, share, and collaborate. It would have things like a calendar, address book, and to do list.

In other words, Chandler is a lot like Microsoft Outlook. But there are a few major differences:
  1. Chandler is open source
  2. Chandler works with Windows, Mac, and Linux and has a web interface
  3. You can sync your Chandler tasks with an online server and share them with others
Overall the interface of the desktop and web clients is pretty, but not necessarily intuitive. For example, there's a nice big text entry box at the top of the application that you would think would be for searching. But it's primary use is for entering new tasks. Type something into that box and a new task is created. If you want to use the text area as a search box, you need to type "/f" before entering your query.
Is Chandler kind of useful? Sure. Is it an Outlook killer? Maybe. Was it worth a six year wait? Maybe not. But now that it's here, Kapor says it's up to the open source community to continue developing the project. And I've learned never to understimate the open source community. If there's a will, there's a way, and this application could be the future of collaborative task management. On the other hand, it's not entirely clear if there's a will at the moment.

What do you think? Is Chandler the wave of the future, or should Kapor have given up on it years ago?
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]]>calendarchandleroutlookpimBrad Linder2008-08-14T13:30:00+00:00Wuala P2P online storage service goes livehttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/wuala-p2p-online-storage-service-goes-live/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/wuala-p2p-online-storage-service-goes-live/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/wuala-p2p-online-storage-service-goes-live/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Wuala
Wuala is a social file storage application that we first looked at back in February. At the time, Wuala was in private beta, but starting today anyone can sign up for an account.

Unlike other file storage/sharing services, Wuala doesn't provide you with web space. Rather, your files are encrypted and then stored on the computers of other Wuala users. While this might sound a bit scary, the upshot is that you can store large amounts of data. The more space you allocate for Wuala on your hard drive, the more online space you can access. And your files are duplicated on multiple computers so that you shouldn't have problems accessing your files even if some of the folks in your network have turned their machines off for the night.

Wuala has a desktop client for Windows, Mac, and Linux that you can use to upload and download files. Or you can access a web interface. The service is still in beta, so nobody's promising that all the kinks have been worked out. But as of today, Wuala is in public beta, not private.
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]]>backupfile-storageonline-storagestoragewua.lawualaBrad Linder2008-08-14T04:00:00+00:00Inquisitor 3.2 adds languages and improves performancehttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/13/inquisitor-3-2-adds-languages-and-improves-performance/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/13/inquisitor-3-2-adds-languages-and-improves-performance/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/13/inquisitor-3-2-adds-languages-and-improves-performance/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

A few months back, Download Squad's Danny Mendez wrote about Yahoo!'s acquisition of popular Safari InputManager Inquisitor. At the time, Danny was worried that Yahoo's purchase would make the tool unusable with other search engines, but those fears were unfounded, and Inquisitor continues to work well with either Google OR Yahoo.

Inquisitor is cool because it adds Spotlight-like functionality to the default Safari search box (it's kind of like the Awesome Bar for Firefox 3), along with easy access to other search results from places like Flickr or IMDB or Wikipedia. The design is also utterly kick-ass.

In the new release, users who choose to use Yahoo! search engine will see much, much faster results, thanks to integration with Yahoo's new BOSS platform. Like, instantaneously fast. Like, fast enough to make me consider changing my default search engine fast.

Inquisitor now supports eight languages in addition to English: Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and German.

The interface has also become more streamlined and looks really, really great.

Inquisitor is free and available for Mac's running OS X 10.4 and up.
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]]>inquisitormacpluginssafarisearchyahooChristina Warren2008-08-13T15:00:00+00:00Coccinella - the whiteboard thrill just doesn't lasthttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/11/coccinella-the-whiteboard-thrill-just-doesnt-last/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/11/coccinella-the-whiteboard-thrill-just-doesnt-last/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/11/coccinella-the-whiteboard-thrill-just-doesnt-last/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,



Despite its seriously flawed name, Coccinella, the open source IM client, has some interesting features that might make you do a double take. The idea of chatting and having the ability to draw on a whiteboard, as well as play chess during a chat session sounds like fun, so I decided to give it a spin.

I learned from the process that Coccinella is the Latin name for ladybug. It is not, as I had thought originally, a bacteria found in pond scum. I continued my pursuit, preferring to focus on the cute little ladybug in the logo and ignore the unfortunate "ella" associations with the name.

Coccinella is a free download for Windows, Linux and Mac. After downloading the application, the set up assistant leads you to select from a list of servers to open a new account on. Although Coccinella can connect to any Jabber/XMPP instant messaging server including Google Talk, AOL, MSN and ICQ, you have to dig for information to find out how. The set up assistant leads you to select from various servers and so I created an account with Jabber.org. I was happy I did.

Continue reading Coccinella - the whiteboard thrill just doesn't last

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]]>CoccinellaIM client with whiteboardImClientWithWhiteboardjabberopen sourceOpenSourceDolores Parker2008-08-11T14:00:00+00:00Get your photos from iPhoto to Flickr with FFXporterhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/11/get-your-photos-from-iphoto-to-flickr-with-ffxporter/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/11/get-your-photos-from-iphoto-to-flickr-with-ffxporter/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/11/get-your-photos-from-iphoto-to-flickr-with-ffxporter/#commentsFiled under: , ,


If you use iPhoto, and you have a Flickr account, but you don't have a way of getting your pictures from one to the other, you might want to give FFXporter a look. It's a free iPhoto plugin that -- just as the name would indicate -- exports files from your iPhoto library to Flickr. Although there are other ways of getting this done, I have yet to find another free one that works as well.

FFXporter preserves a lot of the data that iPhoto and Flickr can both use, like keywords (tags on Flickr) and EXIF info. Since it's a plugin, you won't have to open another app to get the job done, you can upload pictures right from iPhoto. Probably the most useful feature is set support, so you can batch upload a bunch of photos at once, and add them all to the same set on Flickr.
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]]>exportFlickriPhotophotoplug-inuploadJay Hathaway2008-08-11T12:00:00+00:00Arrested Development chooser - Mac Time Wasterhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/09/arrested-development-chooser-mac-time-waster/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/09/arrested-development-chooser-mac-time-waster/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/09/arrested-development-chooser-mac-time-waster/#commentsFiled under: ,

I have to admit, this is probably the most self-indulgent Time Waster ever (and we can be pretty self-indulgent), but as a huge fan of the too-quickly canceled "Arrested Development," I could not resist.

ADchoose is a stand alone Mac application (though it is written in Python so porting it would just be a matter of compiling against a different binary) that does exactly one thing: it recommends what episode of "Arrested Development" you should watch. That's it. I know, I know, it sounds pretty one-note.

Here's why this has potential:
A) Genius idea -- as GOB would say, "Come on!"
B) The developer already has a poll asking what users would like to see in the next version, and one of those choices is direct Hulu links. THAT makes a one-note application instantly more useful.

If you are a big fan of the Bluth Company, give ADchoose a try...with club sauce!
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]]>arrested developmentArrestedDevelopmentmactimewasterChristina Warren2008-08-09T16:00:00+00:00Freedom frees you (and your Mac) from the horror of the internethttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/05/freedom-frees-you-and-your-mac-from-the-horror-of-the-internet/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/05/freedom-frees-you-and-your-mac-from-the-horror-of-the-internet/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/05/freedom-frees-you-and-your-mac-from-the-horror-of-the-internet/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

FreedomIf you're anything like me, you're probably at least a little bit addicted to your internet connection. The first thing I do when I wake up is check my email and RSS feeds, and it's also the last thing I do before going to sleep. But that addiction can sometimes be a problem.

Staying on-task these days is not easy, particularly if you work at an internet-connected computer. The possible distractions are virtually limitless. So what is a geek to do? One option is to simply pull the plug. The network plug, that is.

But of course, these days almost all computers have wireless capabilities, so turning off your internet connection isn't quite as simply as just pulling the plug. If you're on a Mac, you can use Freedom.

Freedom will turn off all of your Mac's wireless and ethernet networking for a set amount of time. So if you need to put your head down for an hour and get some work done, you can set Freedom to an hour, and know that you won't be tempted by any distractions.

If you absolutely need to get back online before the chosen duration is up, the only way to do so is to reboot your computer.

This is one of those apps that will be a life saver for some people, and seem totally ridiculous to others. Which are you?
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]]>distractionFreedominternet-addictionnetworkingtime-wasterwi-fiwirelessJason Clarke2008-08-05T15:00:00+00:00Dino Run - Time Wasterhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/05/dino-run-time-waster/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/05/dino-run-time-waster/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/05/dino-run-time-waster/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

Dino RunDino Run is an online flash-based time waster with a great classic arcade feel. You play the part of a small dinosaur, and you run. And run.

The premise of the game is that you are running from a "pyroclastic wall of doom", while trying to find power-ups like eggs, super eggs, bones, critters, birds, and plants. Each of these things help you in different ways, such as earning you DNA which allows you to evolve your dinosaur with additional abilities.

The wall of doom is actually a pretty novel way to introduce an extra level of suspense to the game. When you're well ahead of it, you don't really have any indicator just how far ahead you are. So while you have time to slow down and attempt to get some of the more powerful power-ups, every moment that you waste feels like an eternity. When the wall of doom catches up to you, the screen darkens and it starts to envelop you like a wave. You can actually continue to play as it covers over you, so much so that you can't even see your dinosaur, and it's possible to run your way out of trouble. In fact, if you do this, you actually earn risk points.

The graphics and music are all deliciously reminiscent of 8-bit gaming days of yore. Dino Run is what I wish my Commodore 64 games were like.
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]]>dino-runevolutionflashflash-gamepower-upstime-wasterJason Clarke2008-08-05T11:00:00+00:00Seero lets you geo-tag your videoshttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/05/seero-lets-you-geo-tag-your-videos/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/05/seero-lets-you-geo-tag-your-videos/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/05/seero-lets-you-geo-tag-your-videos/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Seero
I'm pretty bad about remembering to pull out our video camera to record our family's adventures. I think the thought of a bunch of raw, unedited footage piling up just makes me anxious. Of course, something that feels like work can instantly be turned into fun if you throw in a bit of technology, particularly software, right?

My first exposure to Seero was when my dad sent along a link to a video clip of the classic chase scene from the Steve McQueen classic movie Bullitt. Someone had taken the time to painstakingly geo-tag each scene of the movie so that as you watch the scene you can also watch a map of downtown San Francisco showing just where McQueen was during each scene. It's oddly compelling.

It turns out that the Seero site, while well suited to this particular use, is intended for users to record their own adventures with geo-tagging so that others can see just where they were when they saw what they saw.

So, now instead of just having to edit a pile of raw footage, I'll have to edit, then geo-tag it. But depending on what we're recording, the resulting mashup just might be worth it.
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]]>geo-taggeo-tagginggpsgpstrackingmashupvideovideo-mashupJason Clarke2008-08-05T08:00:00+00:00Clean Notifications - WordPress pluginhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/03/clean-notifications-wordpress-plugin/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/03/clean-notifications-wordpress-plugin/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/03/clean-notifications-wordpress-plugin/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Clean NotificationsWithout a doubt, WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms currently available for people who want to install and maintain their content management system on their own server. I mean, what's not to love? Free, powerful, and easy to use - it's the whole package.

But for all of its positive attributes, WordPress certainly doesn't get everything right. Take, for example, the email notifications that the blogging platform generates. They're ugly, right? Full URLs make for a muddy reading experience.

To be honest, I really wasn't aware how ugly those emails were until I saw what a difference the Clean Notifications plugin makes. It tidies up and re-arranges the information in notification emails to make them much easier on the eyes. Give it a try, and let us know what you think.
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]]>clean-notificationsemail-notificationsnotificationsWordPresswordpress-pluginJason Clarke2008-08-03T14:00:00+00:00Apprise: RSS reader with Twitter, AIM integrationhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/31/apprise-rss-reader-with-twitter-aim-integration/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/31/apprise-rss-reader-with-twitter-aim-integration/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/31/apprise-rss-reader-with-twitter-aim-integration/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

Apprise
Sure, most RSS readers give you a few button that lets you share interesting stories you're reading with friends, loved ones, and enemies via email or a link blog. But what if you want to broadcast a story to your Twitter friends, or send a story by instant messenger? Apprise is an RSS reader designed to save you the few seconds it would take to copy and paste the link.

Apprise lets you sign into your AOL IM or Twitter account and send a page to your contacts with the click of a button. The reader is built on Adobe AIR, which means it should work on Windows, Linux, or OS X. But it's worth noting that Apprise is available as a public beta at the moment, which means you might experience some bugs. After importing a few hundred feeds, I found that Apprise crashed every few minutes. The Linux version is described as an alpha.

Aside from the Twitter and AIM integration, Apprise has a few other tricks up its sleeve. For example, you can view the full web version of any feed item. You can search your feeds, and you can import and export OPML files. One things you cannot do? Email a story to a friend.

[via Sizlopedia]
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]]>apprisefeed-readerrssrss-readerBrad Linder2008-07-31T14:00:00+00:00Calgoo goes free: sync Google Calendar, iCal, and others for freehttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/28/calgoo-goes-free-sync-google-calendar-ical-and-others-for-fre/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/28/calgoo-goes-free-sync-google-calendar-ical-and-others-for-fre/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/28/calgoo-goes-free-sync-google-calendar-ical-and-others-for-fre/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

calgoo ical google calendar sync
Since the dawn of time Google Calendar, we've been waiting for a free, easy way to fully synchronize our Google Calendar to desktop calendar clients like iCal. We'd love to be able to access the same calendar data across multiple computers, but it's always been a messy affair, not free, an incomplete solution, or PC only.

Well, Calgoo has been one of those paid options up until now, but the minds behind the program just announced that it is free from here on out. That's right, Calgoo is now the free option in Google Calendar and desktop caledar synchronization. Calgoo officially supports 30 Boxes, Apple iCal, Microsoft Outlook, and -- of course -- Google Calendar.

Calgoo's "Chief Owl" will not employ ads in the app in order to pay for the costs of developing the program, but the team will begin to run ads on Calgoo Hub and possibly other future products. As for the software itself, it's pretty easy to use, and it provides for two-way synchonization, which means that any changes on one calendar will apply to the other.

[via WebWorkerDaily]
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]]>30 boxes30BoxescalendarcalgoogoogleoutlooksyncsynchsynchronizationDanny Mendez2008-07-28T12:00:00+00:00Jing turns one, offers 10x more storage space for screencastshttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/24/jing-turns-one-offers-10x-more-storage-space-for-screencasts/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/24/jing-turns-one-offers-10x-more-storage-space-for-screencasts/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/24/jing-turns-one-offers-10x-more-storage-space-for-screencasts/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

jing projectIt's been just over a year since TechSmith launched the Jing Project, a free utility for capturing screenshots and screencasts. Users can also upload their video recordings to Screencast.com to share with other users. Techsmith is celebrating Jing's birthday by increasing the amount of storage space it gives to Screencast.com users to 2GB. That's ten times more space than you would have gotten last week.

The program is pretty powerful as free screencast recorders go. But there's one major limit: You can only record screencasts up to 5 minutes. One of the reasons the company gives for this time limit is the sheer file size of long videos. Perhaps now that TechSmith is giving away more free storage space, we'll see the company remove the 5 minute time limit as well.

Jing is available for Windows and OS X.
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]]>jingjing-projectscreencasttechsmithBrad Linder2008-07-24T11:00:00+00:00Totem Destroyer - Time Wasterhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/totem-destroyer-time-waster/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/totem-destroyer-time-waster/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/totem-destroyer-time-waster/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

Totem DestroyerTotem Destroyer is a fun little Flash-based physics game that is one part Indiana Jones, and one part Jenga.

The game play is simple; click on blocks to destroy them, while ensuring that the golden idol never touches the ground. There are three types of blocks: brown, green, and black. The brown ones are regular blocks and can be destroyed. The green ones are both bouncier than the brown ones, and have less friction, and they too can be destroyed. The black ones cannot be destroyed.

Each level starts with the idol balanced precariously on a stack of blocks, and your goal is to destroy the prescribed number of blocks without breaking the idol. There are 25 levels of mostly increasing difficulty, so this time waster should last you through your coffee break and part of your lunch break.
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]]>flashflash-gameidolindiana-jonesjengatime-wasterJason Clarke2008-07-23T16:00:00+00:00Know Your 802.11 Surroundings With Xirrus Wifi Monitorhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/know-your-802-11-surroundings-with-xirrus-wifi-monitor/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/know-your-802-11-surroundings-with-xirrus-wifi-monitor/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/know-your-802-11-surroundings-with-xirrus-wifi-monitor/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

xirrus wifi tool is like radar for hotspots
Widgets are cool, especially when they do something useful - and even cooler when they look quasi-military.

Xirrus Wifi Monitor is available as a Yahoo Widget (for Mac, too) and a Vista Sidebar Gadget. It sits at the side of your screen scanning at your specified interval and updating its tiny radar screen with new hits. In our testing, it did a very good job at plotting the physical location of nearby APs. To our dismay the widget doesn't actually animate sweeps - too bad, because that would be pretty sweet.

Don't think it's just eye-candy. Wifi Monitor also provides you a ton of statistcal data about your access point's capabilities, your wireless connection, even a glossary of wireless terms. The details screen also allows you to disable your wireless adapter and to connect/disconnect (forwards you to your OS's wireless connection manager).

Well worth the download - if not for functionality, at least for its good looks!
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]]>gadgetwidgetwifiwirelessLee Mathews2008-07-23T14:00:00+00:00Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth: We can surpass Apple in two yearshttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/ubuntu-founder-mark-shuttleworth-we-can-surpass-apple-in-two-ye/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/ubuntu-founder-mark-shuttleworth-we-can-surpass-apple-in-two-ye/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/ubuntu-founder-mark-shuttleworth-we-can-surpass-apple-in-two-ye/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Kubuntu
Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth has big dreams for Linux. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's been following the progress of Ubuntu, which releases a major update every six months and keeps getting more and more user friendly. But user friendly is just the beginning. Shuttleworth wants Linux to be prettier too. In fact, he's calling on open source developers to make desktop Linux more attractive than OS X within 2 years.

Shuttleworth's remarks came yesterday at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention, or OSCON. Open source developers have been making great strides in this area recently. Many Linux distributions include support for Compiz desktop effects which add a bit of visual bling to the desktop experience while also making things like switching virtual desktops a bit easier. And the developers behidn the KDE desktop environment have scrapped the Windows-like interface of KDE 3 and replaced it with a whole new paradigm in KDE 4 -- we're note entirely convinced that KDE 4 is easier to use than KDE 3, but it's certainly prettier.

On the other hand, it's a bit funny to hear Shuttleworth talk about making Linux more beautiful. After all, Ubuntu is frequently mocked for its default dull brown color scheme. But the operating system and its user interface are already extraordinarily customizable.

What do you think? Is it possible for desktop Linux to become as "beautiful," and user-friendly as OS X within 2 years? What would it take? And keep in mind, it's not like Apple is going to just sit still while Linux developers are working on the challenge. Who knows what the Mac OS will look like two years from now?
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]]>linuxmark-shuttleworthos-xubuntuuser-interfaceBrad Linder2008-07-23T12:00:00+00:00Home Inventory: track your belongings, have peace of mindhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/home-inventory-track-your-belongings-have-peace-of-mind/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/home-inventory-track-your-belongings-have-peace-of-mind/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/23/home-inventory-track-your-belongings-have-peace-of-mind/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Home InventoryHome Inventory is a free program for Windows or Mac that lets you create a home inventory complete with product photo and receipt scan. A home inventory is an important protective measure for any home owner, renter, or insurance-policy holder as it can be invaluable in times of disaster to help prove to a claims adjuster that you really did have a 50" wall-mounted plasma TV.

The program is easy to use: create rooms to organize your stuff and then add items to each room. For items, you can add information like purchase price/location, serial number, make, and model. You should also add a picture of the item in your house (not just from the manufacturer website), and a scanned receipt proving you paid for the item.

You can print your entire inventory room by room, export to .csv, or save to the Vault24 service (a secure, offiste backup service offered by the makers of Home Inventory). If, for instance, a fire takes your home (and you've been good and backed up your Home Inventory files offsite), you can make life easy for yourself and the insurance people by providing them a complete, organized inventory of all of your significant belongings.
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]]>databasedisaster recoveryDisasterRecoveryinsuranceinventoryTodd Ritter2008-07-23T10:00:00+00:00Adobe wastes time/money/effort, gives its Media Player old, new contenthttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/22/adobe-wastes-time-money-effort-gives-its-media-player-old-new/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/22/adobe-wastes-time-money-effort-gives-its-media-player-old-new/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/22/adobe-wastes-time-money-effort-gives-its-media-player-old-new/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

adobe media player flashpoint
Adobe just added new video content to its AIR-based Media Player, but it all pretty much sucks in one form or another. The Adobe Media Player is a slick media browser that can play and subscribe to videos from the web, and it also provides somewhat high-resolution content from Adobe's media partners such as MTVN and Comedy Central.

Despite the fact that the player is very visually appealing and easy to navigate, it's just not that useful. It's possible to use any regular, free browser such as Firefox to watch online video content, allowing web-travelers to avoid the installation of an extra app. As a result, the main reason for installing the app (unless you really, really like the subscription feature) is to watch the 25,000+ videos provided by Adobe.

And that's exactly what's wrong here. Adobe's video library is still weak, and most good of the good TV shows aren't full episodes but rather short clips. Furthermore, the full videos Adobe is adding aren't current TV hits like Lost or Battlestar Galactica. Instead, Adobe partnered with CBS and Sony to add tons of clips and a few movies/episodes from old stuff like Men in Black, Jerry Maguire, The Love Boat, Beverly Hilly 90210, Family Ties, and even The Price is Right. They might as well call the app something to the tune of Adobe Senior TV On Demand.

Sure, Adobe has the money to keep it up and running, but why bother if the company isn't bringing its best to the table? Why not partner with Hulu and create an official, fully functional Hulu AIR app instead?
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]]>adobeAIRflashmediamedia playerMediaPlayerplayersubscribesubscriptionDanny Mendez2008-07-22T17:00:00+00:00