http://www.downloadsquad.comDownload Squadhttp://www.downloadsquad.com/http://www.downloadsquad.com/media/feedlogo.gifen-usCopyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/370262093/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/quick-media-converter-converts-media-quickly/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/quick-media-converter-converts-media-quickly/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/utilities/" rel="tag">Utilities</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/freeware/" rel="tag">Freeware</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.cocoonsoftware.com/#us"><img width="440" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="305" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/quick-media-converter.jpg" alt="Quick Media Converter" /></a><br /></div> <a href="http://www.cocoonsoftware.com/#us">Quick Media Converter</a> is a Windows utility that will let you convert practically any audio or video file from one format to another. MPEG to H.264? No problem. WAV to OGG? Sure, why not. <br /><br />Now let's get something out of the way here. Quick Media Converter is basically just a fancy front end for the open source, command line <a href="http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/">FFmpeg</a> media encoder. But it's a really useful front end. The utility offers you two interfaces: an easy mode and an expert mode. In easy mode, you can choose from a number of predefiined formats. So just select the media files you want to convert, and click the Audio, Quicktime, WMV, DiVX, Xbox, PS3, or Wii button to create a file optimized for your system of choice. <br /><br />In Expert mode, you have much more control over the code choices and settings. For example, in easy mode, there's no way to convert a FLAC file to OGG. But you can do that in expert mode.<br /><br />The program also includes a bundled copy of CamStudio for making screencapturs which you can then convert to other formats using Quick Media Converter. In a nutshell, Quick Media Converter doesn't do anything that <a href="http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/">MediaCoder</a> doesn't. But if you're looking for an even easier to use alternative, this program might be worth a look.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.technobuzz.net/convert-your-media-files-to-numerous-formats/">TechnoBuzz</a>]<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.cocoonsoftware.com/#us>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/quick-media-converter-converts-media-quickly/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1290344/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/quick-media-converter-converts-media-quickly/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1290344"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1290344?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1290344" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1290344&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/quick-media-converter-converts-media-quickly/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=UTHzCu"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=UTHzCu" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=EWMOJk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=EWMOJk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=V2T9jk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=V2T9jk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/370262093" height="1" width="1"/>conversionffmpegmediacoderquick-media-converter2008-08-20T16:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/quick-media-converter-converts-media-quickly/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/370218246/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/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/macintosh/" rel="tag">Macintosh</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/linux/" rel="tag">Linux</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/mozilla/" rel="tag">Mozilla</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&amp;taxonomyName=desktop_applications&amp;articleId=9113018&amp;taxonomyId=86&amp;intsrc=kc_top"><img width="200" vspace="16" hspace="4" height="208" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/firefox-3.0.1.jpg" alt="Firefox 3.0.1" /></a>Ready 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 <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&amp;taxonomyName=desktop_applications&amp;articleId=9113018&amp;taxonomyId=86&amp;intsrc=kc_top">push out an update</a> to all Firefox 2 users that will prompt them to update to version 3.0.1.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Firefox 2 users don't <em>have</em> to update. If you're happy with your existing browser experience, you can either postpone the update or decline it.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.winbeta.org/comments.php?shownews=17237">WinBeta</a>]<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&amp;taxonomyName=desktop_applications&amp;articleId=9113018&amp;taxonomyId=86&amp;intsrc=kc_top>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/mozilla-preparing-to-push-firefox-3-update-on-all-firefox-2-user/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1289833/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/mozilla-preparing-to-push-firefox-3-update-on-all-firefox-2-user/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1289833"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1289833?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1289833" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1289833&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/mozilla-preparing-to-push-firefox-3-update-on-all-firefox-2-user/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=VZcGhw"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=VZcGhw" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=OTiBmk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=OTiBmk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=uZRg9k"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=uZRg9k" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/370218246" height="1" width="1"/>firefoxfirefox-3firefox-3.0.1updates2008-08-20T15:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/mozilla-preparing-to-push-firefox-3-update-on-all-firefox-2-user/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/370175783/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/ebay-to-de-emphasize-auctions-lose-all-distinctiveness/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/ebay-to-de-emphasize-auctions-lose-all-distinctiveness/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</a></p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/technology/20ebay.html"><img width="250" vspace="16" hspace="4" height="170" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/ebay-buy-it-now.jpg" alt="eBay buy it now" /></a>Online auction site eBay has two things that make it different from every other online store. First, it's a virtual bazaar where anyone can hawk their own goods rather than a traditional storefront where a company maintains and sells its own inventory. Second, as an auction site, there's a chance that buyers will get a real bargain, or that sellers will get more than an item is worth.<br /><br />For a while now, eBay has been offering sellers the option of selling items for a fixed price. This way both the buyer and the seller know exactly how much money will change hands up front. If you search eBay for pretty much any item now, you'll find a ton of "buy it now" listings amidst the sea of auctions. <br /><br />But now it looks like eBay wants to change the ratio a bit, by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/technology/20ebay.html">lowering seller fees for fixed priced items</a>. This will do three things:<br /> <ol> <li>Make it easier for customers to simply place an order for an item at a specified price instead of waiting a week to find out if they won an auction</li> <li>Help eBay compete with the thousands of other web stores offering items for fixed prices</li> <li>Kill off one of the things that really made eBay special</li> </ol> Now, eBay isn't really going to emphasize that last bit. But the truth is, the move sort of turns eBay into half.com (which is already owned by eBay). Sure, a few sellers might decide it's worth selling their items in auctions, hoping that some buyer will forget to comparison shop and pay way too much for an item. But if it's cheaper to just list the item for the price you hope to get, why wouldn't you? And that takes a way a bit of the excitement involved in the bidding process.<br /><br />Then again, with so many people using eBay, when was the last time you really got a bargain as a buyer?<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/technology/20ebay.html>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/ebay-to-de-emphasize-auctions-lose-all-distinctiveness/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1290201/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/ebay-to-de-emphasize-auctions-lose-all-distinctiveness/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1290201"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1290201?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1290201" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1290201&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/ebay-to-de-emphasize-auctions-lose-all-distinctiveness/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=HvlUDr"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=HvlUDr" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=I1of3k"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=I1of3k" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=sWu4kk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=sWu4kk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/370175783" height="1" width="1"/>auctionsbuy-it-nowebayhalf.compaypal2008-08-20T14:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/ebay-to-de-emphasize-auctions-lose-all-distinctiveness/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/370087619/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/smplayer-open-source-media-player-goes-portable/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/smplayer-open-source-media-player-goes-portable/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/audio/" rel="tag">Audio</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/video/" rel="tag">Video</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/linux/" rel="tag">Linux</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/open-source/" rel="tag">Open Source</a></p><div align="center"><a href="https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=185512&amp;package_id=284416/&amp;abmode=1"><img width="440" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="372" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/smplayer-0.6.2.jpg" alt="SMPlayer portable" /></a><br /></div> <a href="http://smplayer.sourceforge.net/">SMPlayer</a> is a frontend for the open source MPlayer, which means the media player can handle pretty much any media file you can throw at it, as long as it isn't wrapped up in DRM. SMPlayer is available for Windows and Linux. And now there's a <a href="https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=185512&amp;package_id=284416/&amp;abmode=1">portable version for Windows</a>, which means you can run the media player without installing it. Just download, unzip, and click the executable file.<br /><br />SMPlayer Portable supports all the same media formats as the classic version. The major difference is that you can install it to a USB flash drive for use on any computer. The portable application is based on SMPlayer 0.6.2, which is the latest version. It lacks the icon themes included in the full version, and it won't write anything to your Windows Registry. You can find a complete list of differences between SMPlayer and SMPlayer Portable in the <a href="http://smplayer.berlios.de/forums/viewtopic.php?id=660">user forums</a>. <br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=1358&amp;ts=1219237643">The Portable Freeware Collection</a>]<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=185512&amp;package_id=284416/&amp;abmode=1>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/smplayer-open-source-media-player-goes-portable/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1289867/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/smplayer-open-source-media-player-goes-portable/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1289867"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1289867?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1289867" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1289867&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/smplayer-open-source-media-player-goes-portable/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=3AueOW"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=3AueOW" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=6WN4Ck"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=6WN4Ck" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=1txZjk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=1txZjk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/370087619" height="1" width="1"/>mplayersmplayersmplayer-portable2008-08-20T12:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/smplayer-open-source-media-player-goes-portable/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/370005437/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/survey-people-buy-from-spam-email/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/survey-people-buy-from-spam-email/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/blogging/" rel="tag">Blogging</a></p><div align="center"><img hspace="4" height="138" border="0" width="440" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/spam2.png" alt="" /></div> Results from <a href="http://www.marshal.com/pages/newsitem.asp?article=748&amp;thesection=news">a new survey by Marshal</a> are in, and apparently 29% percent of the respondents to a recent survey admitted they made purchases from spam messages. That number is up from a 2004 survey in which only 20% admitted doing so. I was all set to vent about people getting sucked in when I realized something: <strong><em>who cares?</em></strong><br /><br />Marshal's VP of Products, Bradley Anstis, said "Many of us often question ourselves, why is there so much spam? The answer is, enough people are purchasing products from spam to make it a worthwhile and profitable endeavour for spammers." <br /><br />Well duh. Thanks for the press release!<p><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/survey-people-buy-from-spam-email/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Survey: 29% Bought Spam Email Products, But Who Cares?</em></a></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/29_of_internet_users_have_boug.php>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/survey-people-buy-from-spam-email/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1289423/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/survey-people-buy-from-spam-email/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1289423"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1289423?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1289423" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1289423&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/survey-people-buy-from-spam-email/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=TXgRH2"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=TXgRH2" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=GSfYgk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=GSfYgk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=MYEvLk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=MYEvLk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/370005437" height="1" width="1"/>emailspamstatisticssurveys2008-08-20T10:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/20/survey-people-buy-from-spam-email/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/369355432/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/microsoft-finally-gets-into-the-keyboard-app-launcher-biz-with-s/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/microsoft-finally-gets-into-the-keyboard-app-launcher-biz-with-s/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/utilities/" rel="tag">Utilities</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/microsoft/" rel="tag">Microsoft</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/freeware/" rel="tag">Freeware</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.officelabs.com/projects/speedlaunch/Pages/default.aspx"><img hspace="4" height="285" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" alt="Speed Launch" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/speed-launch.jpg" /></a><br /></div> If you've ever used a keyboard app launcher like <a href="http://www.launchy.net">Launchy</a>, <a href="http://executor.dk/">Executor</a>, <a href="http://www.blacktree.com/projects/quicksilver.html">Quicksilver</a>, or <a href="http://do.davebsd.com/">Gnome Do</a> you've probably asked yourself, why doesn't Microsoft build something like this into Windows? Now Microsoft Office Labs has released a free keyboard launcher called <a href="http://www.officelabs.com/projects/speedlaunch/Pages/default.aspx">Speed Launch</a>. <br /><br />Speed Launch adds a little bull's eyee to your desktop. To add a frequently used program, file, or document, to Speed Launch, just drag it to the target. You can then activate Speed Launch by hitting Win+C to bring up the program window. You can either hit the buttons to perform specified actions or type into the box. In other words, it does pretty much what you'd expect any keyboard launcher to do.<br /><br />But Speed Launch has a few quirks. First, the program doesn't lose focus or go away unless you hit the X button in the upper right. Second, there doesn't seem to be a way to change the hotkeys that bring up the Speed Launch window. So if, like me, you happen to have a computer with an awkwardly-placed Windows key, there's no way to change the hotkeys.<br /><br />The program is also a bit of a memory hog, using as much as 30MB of RAM, which is far more than similar programs like Launchy or Executor use. That seems strange, especially considering the fact that Speed Launch doesn't index your program files or start menu items automatically, something which both of those other programs do.<br /><br />Overall, Speed Launch doesn't stack up particularly well against the competition. But it's worth keeping in mind that this is an experimental project that's still under development.<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.officelabs.com/projects/speedlaunch/Pages/default.aspx>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/microsoft-finally-gets-into-the-keyboard-app-launcher-biz-with-s/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1288920/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/microsoft-finally-gets-into-the-keyboard-app-launcher-biz-with-s/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1288920"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1288920?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1288920" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1288920&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/microsoft-finally-gets-into-the-keyboard-app-launcher-biz-with-s/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=gVDwS0"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=gVDwS0" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=yGRsKk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=yGRsKk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=toPgHk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=toPgHk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/369355432" height="1" width="1"/>executorlaunchymicrosoftprogram-launcherspeed-launch2008-08-19T17:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/microsoft-finally-gets-into-the-keyboard-app-launcher-biz-with-s/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/369276728/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/mygazines-read-magazines-online-for-free-until/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/mygazines-read-magazines-online-for-free-until/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/news/" rel="tag">News</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-2-0/" rel="tag">web 2.0</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.mygazines.com"><img hspace="4" height="270" width="400" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/mymag.jpg" alt="Mygazines" /></a><br /></div> <a href="http://mygazines.com">Mygazines.com</a> is a Flash based site where you can read most of your favorite magazines online for free. The big question is for how long, since this is copyrighted material after all, and as Folio reports, the magazine trade association <a href="http://www.foliomag.com/2008/another-free-peer-peer-magazine-portal-launches">MPA has already threatened legal action</a> against the site.<br /><br />Content on the site is uploaded by users and then displayed in a neat Flipbook reader with lots of tools like zoom, search, keyboard shortcuts, article directory, etc. You can also create your own magazine with content you supposedly own, upload it and share with others.<br /><br />Since the site was registered in the Caribbean island of Anguilla, and is hosted by PRQ of Sweden, the same web host of Pirate Bay infamy, does the piracy theme apply? Although there are arguments aplenty for why publishers should be happy about their content being shared online - increased readership, more ad views, ability to go viral, etc., there is still that pesky copyright infringement argument that just won't go away. <br /><br />[via <a href="http://popacular.com/">popacular</a>]<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.mygazines.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/mygazines-read-magazines-online-for-free-until/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1288619/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/mygazines-read-magazines-online-for-free-until/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1288619"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1288619?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1288619" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1288619&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/mygazines-read-magazines-online-for-free-until/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=A7lPPW"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=A7lPPW" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=vLHqSk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=vLHqSk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=iA6VUk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=iA6VUk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/369276728" height="1" width="1"/>copyright infringementcopyright violationCopyrightInfringementCopyrightViolationmagazine sharingMagazineSharingmymagazinesp2p2008-08-19T15:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/mygazines-read-magazines-online-for-free-until/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/369191247/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/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/macintosh/" rel="tag">Macintosh</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/linux/" rel="tag">Linux</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/mozilla/" rel="tag">Mozilla</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div align="center"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt="Look, an unauthorized page break!" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/dlsautopgbrk1.jpg" /><br /></div> <br />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).<br /><br /><a href="http://lifehacker.com/400576/autopager-automatically-loads-the-next-web-page-inline">LifeHacker introduced me to the AutoPager add-on</a> for Firefox. The <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4925">idea behind AutoPager</a> 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.<br /><br />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 <em>how</em> 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).<br /><br />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 <em>finally</em> in business.<br /><br />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.<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://lifehacker.com/400576/autopager-automatically-loads-the-next-web-page-inline>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/autopager-makes-scrolling-and-frustration-go-on-and-on/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1288693/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/autopager-makes-scrolling-and-frustration-go-on-and-on/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1288693"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1288693?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1288693" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1288693&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/autopager-makes-scrolling-and-frustration-go-on-and-on/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=qu2wJA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=qu2wJA" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=Cc7Ykk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=Cc7Ykk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=NZMLAk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=NZMLAk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/369191247" height="1" width="1"/>add-onAutoPagerextensionFirefoxpluginsscrollweb browsingWebBrowsing2008-08-19T13:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/autopager-makes-scrolling-and-frustration-go-on-and-on/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/369191248/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/executor-light-weight-but-powerful-keyboard-app-launcher/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/executor-light-weight-but-powerful-keyboard-app-launcher/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/utilities/" rel="tag">Utilities</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/freeware/" rel="tag">Freeware</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://executor.dk/"><img hspace="4" height="128" width="385" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/executor.jpg" alt="Executor" /></a><br /></div> <a href="http://executor.dk/">Executor</a> is an application that lets you launch programs open URLs, or perform other actions with just a few keystrokes. At first glance, it looks a lot like <a href="http://www.launchy.net/">Launchy</a>. Both programs are free utilities for Windows that let you run programs without reaching for the mouse. And both will scan default and user-selected directories looking for a list of programs. But Executor wins hands down when it comes to customization options.<br /><br />Probably the coolest feature in Executor is the ability to assign global hotkeys. You can add keywords for any program by dragging and dropping a shortcut or executable file into the kewyord section under the settings tab. And then you can select a global hotkey to press to bring up that application without even pulling up the Executor window. For example, I can now luanch the Irfanview image viewer either by hitting Ctrl+Z to bring up Executor and typing in "irfanview," or I can just hit Ctrl+I.<br /><br />Here are a few other features that make Executor stand out:<br /> <ul> <li>Supports keyword "find [text]| for using Windows Vista search or Windows Desktop Search</li> <li>You can configure a drop down menu to display additional results or to stay hidden</li> <li>You can customize the heck out of the layout by changing the skin, fonts, dimensions, position, and transparency</li> <li>Use a single keyword to start multiple programs/documents/etc</li> <li>Assign properties to each keyword</li> </ul> [via <a href="http://lifehacker.com/400566/executor-is-impressive-full+featured-app-launcher">Lifehacker</a>]<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://executor.dk/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/executor-light-weight-but-powerful-keyboard-app-launcher/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1288645/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/executor-light-weight-but-powerful-keyboard-app-launcher/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1288645"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1288645?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1288645" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1288645&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/executor-light-weight-but-powerful-keyboard-app-launcher/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=z5WG7i"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=z5WG7i" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=626kVk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=626kVk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=dsZPBk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=dsZPBk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/369191248" height="1" width="1"/>executorlaunchyprogram-launcher2008-08-19T13:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/executor-light-weight-but-powerful-keyboard-app-launcher/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/369109373/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/theft-is-bad-karma-stop-pirating-photoshop/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/theft-is-bad-karma-stop-pirating-photoshop/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/photo/" rel="tag">Photo</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/adobe/" rel="tag">Adobe</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/commercial/" rel="tag">Commercial</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/freeware/" rel="tag">Freeware</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/open-source/" rel="tag">Open Source</a></p><div align="center"><img hspace="4" height="120" width="415" vspace="4" border="0" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/karma-ps.jpg" alt="" /></div> I understand that Photoshop is a great program. I'm willing to concede that there's really no comparable software for the <strong><em>professional</em> </strong>user. What I just don't get is why the average user thinks 1) they need Photoshop and 2) they need to pirate it.<br /><br />A few years ago, no one came in and asked me "Can you put Photoshop on my computer?" Most users hadn't even heard of the program. Now the perception from the public seems to be that if you want to edit photos at all, you've got to have Photoshop to do it - and that you might as well just steal it.<br /><br />But why? Most users don't need even half of the functionality in Photoshop, and there are plenty of great editors that are easy to use, less hard on computer resources, and <strong><em>completely free</em></strong>. <br /><br />Clear your conscience and try one of these alternatives!<p><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/theft-is-bad-karma-stop-pirating-photoshop/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Theft is Bad Karma: Stop Pirating Photoshop!</em></a></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/theft-is-bad-karma-stop-pirating-photoshop/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1288183/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/theft-is-bad-karma-stop-pirating-photoshop/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1288183"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1288183?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1288183" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1288183&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/theft-is-bad-karma-stop-pirating-photoshop/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=BlFKQX"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=BlFKQX" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=DuEBKk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=DuEBKk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=5It5Vk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=5It5Vk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/369109373" height="1" width="1"/>alternativesfreephoto editingphoto editorsPhotoEditingPhotoEditorsphotoshop2008-08-19T11:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/theft-is-bad-karma-stop-pirating-photoshop/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/369064499/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/flipping-the-linux-switch-countdown-to-the-dual-boot/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/flipping-the-linux-switch-countdown-to-the-dual-boot/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/features/" rel="tag">Features</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/linux/" rel="tag">Linux</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/open-source/" rel="tag">Open Source</a></p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdnewton/2414900485/sizes/l/"><img hspace="4" vspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/dualbootguyflickr.jpg" alt="KDNewton's LAN probably doesn't dual boot but it could!" /></a>I have been a Linux user for quite some time -- about eight years. My husband and I have known each other since we were twelve, when our school's only computer was an Apple IIe attached to a dot matrix printer. We grew up together, bought our first computer together, and built our first home-grown computers together.<br /><br />He has never used Linux. Sure, he's played Frozen Bubble a few times. He's shut down my computer during thunderstorms. That's it. <br /><br />His desktop Windows machine is older, and truth be told, he uses it for games and web surfing. He just bought an MSI Wind for work and school, and plans on keeping most of the "work stuff" on there.<br /><br />He is a Windows user, but Windows irritates him on regular basis. He has said (for years) he'd be happy to use Linux for internet and document creation, but he can't part with a couple of games.<br /><br />Now, the time has come. He is ready. He has asked that his computer be set up as a dual boot machine. How did he reach this conclusion, and what needs to be done to get his computer ready for the Linux invasion? And if you find yourself in this same position, what do <em>you</em> need to do?<p><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/flipping-the-linux-switch-countdown-to-the-dual-boot/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Flipping the Linux switch: Countdown to the dual boot</em></a></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/flipping-the-linux-switch-countdown-to-the-dual-boot/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1286758/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/flipping-the-linux-switch-countdown-to-the-dual-boot/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1286758"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1286758?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1286758" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1286758&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/flipping-the-linux-switch-countdown-to-the-dual-boot/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=rsSxSK"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=rsSxSK" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=3MnEXk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=3MnEXk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=FGJtfk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=FGJtfk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/369064499" height="1" width="1"/>dual bootdual bootingDualBootDualBootinglinuxlinux-switchwindows2008-08-19T10:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/flipping-the-linux-switch-countdown-to-the-dual-boot/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/369015003/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/yahoo-buzz-now-open-to-the-rest-of-us/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/yahoo-buzz-now-open-to-the-rest-of-us/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/yahoo/" rel="tag">Yahoo!</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://buzz.yahoo.com/"><img width="400" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="300" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/yahoo-buzz.jpg" alt="Yahoo Buzz" /></a><br /> <div align="left"><a href="http://buzz.yahoo.com/">Yahoo Buzz</a>, a Digg-type site where users can rank stories from a pre-approved set of publishers, is open to all users now. <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/26/yahoo-buzz-digg-clone-now-in-beta/">In the past</a> only the invited few could post buzz-worthy content but now it's open to the rest of us. <br /></div> </div> <br />Basically, you sign in with your Yahoo ID and "buzz up" stories that you like causing them to move up in ranking. Stories are ranked on what people are searching for on Yahoo and voting for on Buzz. There's not much more to explain. Stories that make it to the top of the list will be featured on the <a href="http://www.yahoo.com">Yahoo</a> homepage potentially driving serious traffic to the site. <br /><br />You can <a href="http://buzz.yahoo.com/submit">submit</a> stories or join the <a href="http://publisher.buzz.yahoo.com/about">mailing list </a>to find out when Yahoo will add new publishers to the network it pulls Buzz content from. <br /><br />When I looked, top stories were about weight fluctuation in Hollywood stars and USA Gymnastics. Not the most newsworthy in my opinion but if you're tired of Digg you might enjoy it. Maybe it will improve once they add more publishers to the list of pre-approved sites.<br /><br />[Via <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/18/yahoo-buzz-opens-to-everyone/">TechCrunch</a>]<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://buzz.yahoo.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/yahoo-buzz-now-open-to-the-rest-of-us/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1288193/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/yahoo-buzz-now-open-to-the-rest-of-us/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1288193"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1288193?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1288193" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1288193&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/yahoo-buzz-now-open-to-the-rest-of-us/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=WSHWVH"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=WSHWVH" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=MZicPk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=MZicPk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=FXP5Fk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=FXP5Fk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/369015003" height="1" width="1"/>diggyahooyahoo buzzYahooBuzz2008-08-19T09:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/19/yahoo-buzz-now-open-to-the-rest-of-us/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/368472686/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/yougetsignal-lets-you-discover-which-web-sites-are-sharing-a-ser/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/yougetsignal-lets-you-discover-which-web-sites-are-sharing-a-ser/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/utilities/" rel="tag">Utilities</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/web-sites-on-web-server/"><img hspace="4" height="262" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/reverse-ip.jpg" alt="Reverse IP Domain Check" /></a><br /></div> <a href="http://www.yougetsignal.com/">YouGetSignal</a> provides a bunch of tools for looking things up. You can find the location of a phone number on a Google Map, find open ports on your internet connection, or perform a <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/23/visual-trace-route-tool-makes-traceroute-fun-again/">visual trace route</a> (which traces the route packets of data make on the internet when traveling from your computer to another destination). <br /> <br /> We recently discovered a new YouGetSignal tool: a <a href="http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/web-sites-on-web-server/">reverse IP domain check</a>. Just type a URL in the box, and YouGetSignal will attempt to discover other web sites using the same server. This comes in handy if you want to find URLs registered to a certain company, or if you have a shared hosting plan for your own web site and you want to see what other sites are sharing your server space. <br /> <br /> For example, I discovered that there are 856 domains hosted on the same server as www.google.com, and 841 hosted on the same server as www.downloadsquad.com.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-other-sites-running-on-your-server-with-yougetsignal/">MakeUseOf</a>]<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/web-sites-on-web-server/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/yougetsignal-lets-you-discover-which-web-sites-are-sharing-a-ser/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1287854/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/yougetsignal-lets-you-discover-which-web-sites-are-sharing-a-ser/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1287854"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1287854?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1287854" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1287854&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/yougetsignal-lets-you-discover-which-web-sites-are-sharing-a-ser/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=YBOQ8I"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=YBOQ8I" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=F3pdOk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=F3pdOk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=gwDPBk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=gwDPBk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/368472686" height="1" width="1"/>reverse-ip-domain-checkserveryougetsignal2008-08-18T18:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/yougetsignal-lets-you-discover-which-web-sites-are-sharing-a-ser/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/368433861/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/opera-stumbler-brings-stumbleupon-to-the-opera-web-browser/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/opera-stumbler-brings-stumbleupon-to-the-opera-web-browser/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/social-software/" rel="tag">Social Software</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.operastumbler.com/"><img width="440" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="302" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/opera-stumbler.jpg" alt="Opera Stumbler" /></a><br /></div> Thinking about switching from Firefox or Internet Explorer to the <a href="http://www.opera.com">Opera</a> web browser, but can't imagine life without the <a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com">StumbleUpon toolbar</a>? StumbleUpon has yet to release an official toolbar or plugin for Opera. And while there is certainly a way to <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02/11/use-stumbleupon-in-any-web-browser-without-installing-a-toolbar/">rank web pages and discover new pages</a> without a toolbar, it's rather inelegant.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.operastumbler.com/">Opera Stumbler</a> is a third party plugin that gives you all the same features you'd expect from the toolbar, sans the toolbar. There are several different ways to use Opera Stumbler. You can install the menu button, which adds a StumbleUpon menu to Opera. <br /><br />If you'd rather have toolbar buttons, you can install a series of buttons for common tasks like giving a page a thumbs up or thumbs down. These buttons can be dragged and dropped onto any Opera toolbar. You can also add a Stumble option to your Opera Speed Dial bookmarks.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.nirmaltv.com/2008/08/18/download-stumbleupon-toolbar-for-opera-with-opera-stumbler/">Life Rocks 2.0</a>]<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.operastumbler.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/opera-stumbler-brings-stumbleupon-to-the-opera-web-browser/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1287694/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/opera-stumbler-brings-stumbleupon-to-the-opera-web-browser/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1287694"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1287694?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1287694" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1287694&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/opera-stumbler-brings-stumbleupon-to-the-opera-web-browser/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=LIYHRp"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=LIYHRp" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=3Kh4pk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=3Kh4pk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=pnXqPk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=pnXqPk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/368433861" height="1" width="1"/>operaopera-stumblerstumbleupontoolbar2008-08-18T17:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/opera-stumbler-brings-stumbleupon-to-the-opera-web-browser/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/368383458/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/quizoapps-adds-tabs-breadcrumbs-to-explorer/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/quizoapps-adds-tabs-breadcrumbs-to-explorer/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/utilities/" rel="tag">Utilities</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/freeware/" rel="tag">Freeware</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://qttabbar.wikidot.com/"><img hspace="4" height="146" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/quizo.png" alt="" /></a></div> <br />While I know there are plenty of good replacements out there for Windows Explorer, I'm not ready to jump ship just yet. I don't really need any really advanced functionality, but there are a few things I'd like to add. <strong>Vista-style breadcrumbs</strong> and <strong>tabbed browsing</strong>, for example.<br /><br /><a href="http://qttabbar.wikidot.com/">QuizoApps</a> has coded two small extensions that do the job quite well with a minimal impact on resources. Both addons are activated by <strong>clicking view -&gt; toolbars</strong> in any Explorer window. <br /><br />The Breadcrumbs addon (<a href="http://qttabbar.wikidot.com/qtaddressbar">QtAddressBar</a>) is extremely responsive and even displays links to subfolders (you can see the arrow off the Adobe folder above).<br /><br />Brad blogged about using <a href="http://qttabbar.wikidot.com/qttabbar">QTTabBar</a> to <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/09/10/add-an-up-button-to-windows-explorer-in-vista/">add an up button in Vista</a> a while back, but it also adds several other tabbed browsing functions. You can create groups to open several tabs at once, clone a tab, merge tabs from another window, undo tab closing, use hotkeys, and it even includes enhanced replacements for Explorer's standard buttons. It even maintains a list of recently closed folders for quick resurrection.<br /><br />Customization offers tons of enhancements, like grid lines, alternating row colors, minimizing to tray, and a lot more. If you want, QTTabBar will restore your tab previous tab layout on launch - I use it to keep the Control Panel and my Printers close at hand.<br /><br />These are two great addons for any Windows XP. .NET 2.0 Framework is required.<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://qttabbar.wikidot.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/quizoapps-adds-tabs-breadcrumbs-to-explorer/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1287397/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/quizoapps-adds-tabs-breadcrumbs-to-explorer/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1287397"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1287397?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1287397" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1287397&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/quizoapps-adds-tabs-breadcrumbs-to-explorer/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=vx1O2F"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=vx1O2F" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=7ICUWk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=7ICUWk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=nRCz8k"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=nRCz8k" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/368383458" height="1" width="1"/>addonenhancementexplorerextensionshelltabbed browsingTabbedBrowsingwindows2008-08-18T16:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/quizoapps-adds-tabs-breadcrumbs-to-explorer/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/368340469/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/tweetake-twitter-backup-webapp/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/tweetake-twitter-backup-webapp/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/utilities/" rel="tag">Utilities</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-2-0/" rel="tag">web 2.0</a></p><div align="center"><a href="www.tweetake.com"><img hspace="4" height="224" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/tweetake.png" /></a><br /> <div align="left">If you're a heavy Twitter user, you've no doubt accumulated a huge collection of tiny text messages. Losing all that information would be a giant pain, but how do you save a copy for yourself? Have a look at <a href="http://www.tweetake.com">Tweetake</a>!<br /><br />The interface is dead simple: enter your Twitter username and password, select what you want to back up, and press Get 'em! to release the hounds.<br /><br />Within a few seconds Tweetake presents you with a CSV file containing all your valuable messages. Tweetake grabs the sender's name and screen name, their location and description, timestamp, and the tweet text, along with just about all the other info that Twitter stores.<br /><br />How many of you back up the files on your PC regularly? I'd wager the number backing up online data (like Twitter) is even lower. Play it safe, and back up your tweets!</div> </div><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.tweetake.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/tweetake-twitter-backup-webapp/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1287373/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/tweetake-twitter-backup-webapp/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1287373"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1287373?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1287373" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1287373&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/tweetake-twitter-backup-webapp/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=YC5Zyd"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=YC5Zyd" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=RwopGk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=RwopGk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=BsJYtk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=BsJYtk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/368340469" height="1" width="1"/>backuptweetstwitter2008-08-18T15:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/tweetake-twitter-backup-webapp/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/368256910/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/pa-governor-is-about-as-tech-literate-as-john-mccain/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/pa-governor-is-about-as-tech-literate-as-john-mccain/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/e-mail/" rel="tag">E-mail</a></p><a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20080818_Rendell__the_unwired_governor.html"><img hspace="4" height="235" width="200" vspace="16" border="0" align="right" alt="Ed Rendell" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/rendell.jpg" /></a>John McCain has gotten a lot of flack recently for his lack of tech savvy. McCain doesn't use email, the web, or a computer. But it turns out he's not the only high ranking politician who prefers a fax machine to email. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has a cellphone and recently learned to send text messages - but has <a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20080818_Rendell__the_unwired_governor.html">never sent an email</a>. <br /><br />The article raises an interesting point - does the guy at the top really need to be CCed on every single email his underlings send around? Some of Rendell's staffers say the answer is not only no, but that this frees the governor up to think about other things. He can make the decisions when it's time to do so, but he doesn't have to get bogged down in all the back and forth emails sent while hammering out the details.<br /><br />On the other hand, Rendell has probably been responsible for the destruction of a small forest during his time in office, since every single document he needs to read has to be printed out in advance. <br /><br />What do you think? Is it OK for politicians to be technologically illiterate, or would you like your elected officials to at least know <em>how </em>to look themselves up on Wikipedia even if they still prefer to write out their speeches by hand?<br /><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20080818_Rendell__the_unwired_governor.html>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/pa-governor-is-about-as-tech-literate-as-john-mccain/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1287459/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/pa-governor-is-about-as-tech-literate-as-john-mccain/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1287459"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1287459?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1287459" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1287459&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/pa-governor-is-about-as-tech-literate-as-john-mccain/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=FQawwO"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=FQawwO" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=pviGdk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=pviGdk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=jceeCk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=jceeCk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/368256910" height="1" width="1"/>ed-rendelljohn-mccainpennsylvaniapolitics2008-08-18T13:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/pa-governor-is-about-as-tech-literate-as-john-mccain/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/368171863/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/firenes-adds-tons-o-nintendo-fun-to-firefox-time-waster/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/firenes-adds-tons-o-nintendo-fun-to-firefox-time-waster/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/fun/" rel="tag">Fun</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/games/" rel="tag">Games</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/mozilla/" rel="tag">Mozilla</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.firenes.com.ar/"><img hspace="4" height="211" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/firenes.png" alt="" /></a><br /><br /> <div align="left">If you didn't notice from reading <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/15/10-ways-to-play-classic-mac-pc-console-games/">my last massive time waster</a>, I love classic gaming. I'm also a Firefox user, and always on the hunt for good addons like the rest of you. Thank god for FireNES, an awesome addon for Firefox that gives you ready access to a massive repository of NES games. <br /><br />After you install it, customize your toolbar and add the FireNES button to give yourself one-click access to the sidebar. The full ROMs list is massive, The toplist contains the 100-or-so most played titles, and you can add any game to your list of favorites with a simple right click.<br /><br />Best of all, you don't have to hunt down ROMs on horibly cluttered, scam-laden websites. Awesome.<br /><br />The only possible downside to all this: habla usted espa<font face="verdana" size="2" color="#000000">&ntilde;</font>ol? The developer's page is Spanish only - not a big deal, the install link is easy to find and you can always run it through your favorite translation app.</div> </div><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.firenes.com.ar/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/firenes-adds-tons-o-nintendo-fun-to-firefox-time-waster/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1286771/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/firenes-adds-tons-o-nintendo-fun-to-firefox-time-waster/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1286771"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1286771?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1286771" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1286771&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/firenes-adds-tons-o-nintendo-fun-to-firefox-time-waster/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=dxyyNG"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=dxyyNG" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=bUqqgk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=bUqqgk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=32UIMk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=32UIMk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/368171863" height="1" width="1"/>addonemulatoremulatorsextensionfirefoxgamesgamingnintendoroms2008-08-18T11:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/firenes-adds-tons-o-nintendo-fun-to-firefox-time-waster/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/368080582/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/grooveshark-adopts-pandora-style-radio-player-embargo-until-11-a/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/grooveshark-adopts-pandora-style-radio-player-embargo-until-11-a/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/audio/" rel="tag">Audio</a></p><p><img hspace="4" vspace="4" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/grooveshark_autoplay.jpg" alt="" />Pandora may be on the <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/17/high-royalty-fees-could-cause-pandora-to-close-its-music-box/">brink of self-destruction</a>, but upstart music download service GrooveShark clearly believes in its style of predictive music programming with the launch of its new service, GrooveShark Autoplay. </p> <p><a href="http://listen.grooveshark.com/">GrooveShark </a>originally launched with a radical new model which proposed to commercialize P2P by allowing users to be rewarded for sharing songs that were purchased by other users. </p> <p>Since the initial launch of GrooveShark the company has also launched a Web based download solution 'GrooveShark Lite' which features a substantial music library to compliment the service's P2P features which also allows for full previews of songs on the site. </p> <p>The addition of the Autoplay service to GrooveShark Lite turns the site into a Pandora style radio station as it allows consumers to search for tracks, listen in and then click on Autoplay which will build a playlist based on your initial choice. Autoplay can then proceed to build a picture of your listening interests with then subsequent user feedback on the selected tracks which allows the user to give any particular track the thumbs up, thumbs down or add the track to your favorites. </p> <p>With Pandora threatening to close down, it will be interesting to see if GrooveShark can avoid the royalty woes that have afflicted the Web radio giant and prove that Web radio and music downloads can both be made to pay. </p> <p>[Via <a href="http://listen.grooveshark.com/">GrooveShark Lite</a>]</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/grooveshark-adopts-pandora-style-radio-player-embargo-until-11-a/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1286826/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/grooveshark-adopts-pandora-style-radio-player-embargo-until-11-a/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1286826"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1286826?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1286826" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1286826&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/grooveshark-adopts-pandora-style-radio-player-embargo-until-11-a/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=xbumB1"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=xbumB1" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=klwNuk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=klwNuk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=LKDaUk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=LKDaUk" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/368080582" height="1" width="1"/>groovesharkitunespandora2008-08-18T09:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/18/grooveshark-adopts-pandora-style-radio-player-embargo-until-11-a/http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/367274226/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/17/high-royalty-fees-could-cause-pandora-to-close-its-music-box/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/17/high-royalty-fees-could-cause-pandora-to-close-its-music-box/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/audio/" rel="tag">Audio</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503367.html"><img hspace="4" height="158" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/08/pandora-blues.jpg" alt="Pandora blues" /></a><br /></div> Music discovery service and online radio station <a href="http://www.pandora.com">Pandora</a> may <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503367.html">have to shut down</a>, thanks to high royalty fees imposed last year by the US Copyright Royalty Board. Pandora founder Tim Westergren says his company is currently paying 70% of its revenue to SoundExchange, the organization that collects royalties for artists.<br /><br />While nobody is arguing that artists shouldn't be paid for their work, this Copyright Royalty Board decision has always seemed a bit shortsighted. First of all, artists don't make a penny for music broadcast on traditional radio, even though radio station owners bring in plenty of dollars through advertising. Second, since Pandora doesn't just stream audio, but determines a listener's musical tastes and streams music from artists they might like, the service is an amazing promotional tool for musicians who might otherwise not be heard. Why would an organization that says it's concerned with paying artists try to shoot that service in the foot?<br /><br />Webcasters have to pay a fee every time they stream a song -- and that fee is rising from 8/100 of a cent per song last year to 19/100 of a cent per song by 2010. The new royalty rates are hitting Pandora especially hard because the company streams hundreds of thousands of songs to hundreds of thousands of listeners simultaneously. I assume similar services like <a href="http://www.last.fm">Last.fm</a> are also feeling the pinch, but Last.fm was recently purchased by media giant CBS, while Pandora is an independent company with shallower pockets.<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503367.html>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/17/high-royalty-fees-could-cause-pandora-to-close-its-music-box/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1286743/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/17/high-royalty-fees-could-cause-pandora-to-close-its-music-box/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br /><br /><p><map name="google_ad_map_53-1286743"><area shape="rect" href="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/imgclick/53-1286743?pos=0" coords="1,2,367,28" /><area shape="rect" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/abg" coords="384,10,453,23" /></map><img usemap="#google_ad_map_53-1286743" border="0" src="http://imageads.googleadservices.com/pagead/ads?format=468x30_aff_img&amp;client=ca-aol_weblogs_xml&amp;channel=Download_Squad_07_RSS&amp;output=png&amp;cuid=53-1286743&amp;url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/17/high-royalty-fees-could-cause-pandora-to-close-its-music-box/" /></p> <p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=1NTV8Q"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=1NTV8Q" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=qQFYNk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=qQFYNk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=KKUcek"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=KKUcek" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/367274226" height="1" width="1"/>copyright-royalty-boardlast.fmmusicpandoraroyalties2008-08-17T10:00:00+00:00http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/17/high-royalty-fees-could-cause-pandora-to-close-its-music-box/