A couple of months ago, I got so fed up with iTunes and its unstable nature that I completely abandoned it as my primary music player. iTunes was giving me all sorts of problems: it would crash unpredictably, it would halt podcast downloads without reason, it would require my processor’s full attention for extended periods of time, and the list goes on. All of these problems slowly but surely built upon my existing contempt for Apple’s often hailed piece of junk. Apple tries to have iTunes perform all sorts of functions, but unfortunately it fails to please on almost every single level – I’m sure I’ll piss off at least one Apple fan, so don’t hesitate to leave me a comment or two.

After ridding my hard drive of any and all things Apple, I hit Google in search of a replacement for iTunes. After a few quick searches it quickly becomes clear how tight Apple’s stranglehold on music playback is – practically everyone with an iPod uses iTunes, and most are completely unaware of exactly how lackluster this combination really is. Looking through the queries, it was nothing but Apple this and iTunes that. There has gotta be something out there that doesn’t suck…

After a few more searches, I finally found something that I had almost forgotten about: Winamp. Developed by Nullsoft, Winamp has been faithfully reproducing audio since 1997. In fact, the guys over at Nullsoft have just released version 5.5 to commemorate the player’s 10^th anniversary – ironically, this latest version was released on the tenth day of the tenth month of the player’s tenth year of its existence.

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First released three years ago, Ubuntu has managed to permanently alter the Linux scene. Before Ubuntu grabbed the Linux world by storm, Linux was plagued by the stigmatic notion of being only for the geekiest of the geeks. Ubuntu’s undying focus on usability and ease of installation changed all that, and Gutsy Gibbon, the latest release, is the best yet at demonstrating this commitment.

Major New Features:

• GNOME 2.20
  • GNOME is the essence of Ubuntu’s Graphical User Interface (GUI), and version 2.20 introduces a long list of new features – some of which are actually pretty impressive. Thanks to this newest version of GNOME, Ubuntu will now feature: integrated desktop search, enhanced image browsing, simplified system preferences, better power management and laptop battery monitoring. One of the neatest features that I’ve seen so far has to do with the Evolution e-mail client (which is part of GNOME): if Ubuntu finds keywords in your e-mail suggesting that there should be an attachment appended to the message, it will automatically check to see if this is actually the case. If it can’t find the attachment, it’ll warn you before you send it off by mistake. It’s little things like this that often stand out the most.

• 3D DESKTOP EFFECTS
  • If you’ve done some research on Linux lately, you’ve probably come across a few videos that show off some very impressive 3D visuals. It may not increase your productivity, but the integration of Compiz Fusion into Gutsy is sure to please many. If you have a slower system, however, there is no need to worry. The developers have thought this through, and if your system doesn’t have the graphical horsepower to take advantage of the beautiful, but taxing, aesthetics of Compiz Fusion, your system will automatically fall back onto the standard 2D desktop environment.

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It’s not all too often that you’ll be playing a game that does something new; something that hasn’t been done over and over again in almost every other game. One such game is Portal, a clever three dimensional puzzler based on the incredibly popular Half-Life universe.

Portal got its beginnings when a group of students from DigiPen were invited over to Valve to show off their little project, called Narbacular Drop. Walking out of the demo room, little did the students suspect that they’d soon be hired and encouraged by Valve to further flesh out their project.

Since the inspiration behind Portal started out as a Senior game project, it’s no surprise that the game feels a bit like a technological showcase. That being said, however, Portal is incredibly fun – even if it can be quite frustrating at times. If you’re a fan of the Half-Life 2 universe and enjoy the occasional puzzle, this game is guaranteed to please. (more…)

Ever wondered what all the “Web 2.0″ fuss is all about? Sure, it’s often described as the second generation of online services and applications designed to keep people social; but what does that actually mean for the average user? For an answer that leaves little doubt about the usefulness and inevitable need for powerful, interlinked web applications, check out Picnik.

Picnik – possibly the epitome of Web 2.0 – is the ultimate showcase when it comes to demonstrating that online applications can be just as fast and smooth as any local application. Picnik is a sophisticated, yet simple, photo-editing application, which has all the necessary features to easily outperform and outclass Vista’s Photo Gallery and Apple’s iPhoto.

Although there is no way that Picnik is going to convert anyone away from professional powerhouses such as Photoshop, it has enough elegance and grace to become a social networker’s best friend. Picnik is lightning fast thanks to the clever implementation of AJAX and Flash. Once you hit the “Fullscreen” button, there is no way to tell that Picnik is all the way up in the clouds, as they say.

After a quick and painless registration process, users are presented with a very simple tabbed interface that easily guides users through the process of uploading, manipulating, and sharing their creations. One of the things that makes Picnik such a powerful “Web 2.0″ applications is that fact it is set up to seamlessly integrate with a most popular image sharing sites out there, including: Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, Facebook and Photobucket.

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I’ve been in the market for a new laptop for about half a year now and I’ve finally made up my mind and purchased an HP DV6500t. I was looking for a widescreen laptop of about 15″ in diameter with a decently fast “Santa Rosa” Intel chip and a decent nVidia graphics card. I also didn’t want to spend more than $1,500 in total (including taxes). Having looked at everything from Asus to Toshiba, I finally homed in my search on an HP, and eventually the DV6500t.

BUYING EXPERIENCE

I knew for quite some time that I wanted a new laptop, and so I was able to do quite some searching for the best places to buy my new DV6500t. Trolling between various sites, along with the occasional visit to a brick and mortar store, made it quite clear that if you want a specific laptop with certain chips, cards, and features, you’ll want to make your purchase from the manufacturer directly.

Buying from HP.com was easy and quite straight forward. I had no trouble selecting what I wanted, and it was always clear what I would end up getting and paying for it. Unfortunately, buying directly from the manufacturer has one major drawback: you’ll have to wait longer to get your new machine, since the item in question won’t be built until you order it. So, after three weeks of waiting, somewhat impatiently, I finally got my DV6500t – kudos to HP and FedEx for accurately predicting the correct arrival time, though.

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