<?xml version="1.0"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><channel><title>Download Squad</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com</link><description>Download Squad</description><image><url>http://www.downloadsquad.com/media/feedlogo.gif</url><title>Download Squad</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com</link></image><language>en-us</language><copyright>Copyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.</copyright><generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title>Web based home design site Floorplanner adds 3D objects</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/08/web-based-home-design-site-floorplanner-adds-3d-objects/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/08/web-based-home-design-site-floorplanner-adds-3d-objects/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/08/web-based-home-design-site-floorplanner-adds-3d-objects/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-2-0/" rel="tag">web 2.0</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://beta.floorplanner.com/"><img hspace="4" height="243" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/07/floorplanner.jpg"  alt="Floorplanner" /></a><br /></div>
Whether you want to design a dream home or figure out how to cram a new couch into your living room, <a href="http://www.floorplanner.com/">Floorplanner</a> can help. The site, which we <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/10/09/create-and-share-floorplans-with-floorplanner/">first covered last year</a>, lets you design, share, and export floorplans. The site recently launched a <a href="http://beta.floorplanner.com/">new beta version</a> with a bunch of updates, including support for 3D objects. In other words, your couch, bed, table, or dresser might show up in 3D. Not every item in the library is available in 3D yet, but the company is working on adding more objects. <br /><br />Here are a few of the other changes you'll find in the new beta:<br />
<ul>
    <li>Improved drawing of surfaces</li>
    <li>Faster loading speeds</li>
    <li>Option to hide the sidebar and maximize your work area</li>
</ul>
Floorplanner is free to use, and you can try it out without registering for an account. Eventually Floorplanner will offer free personal accounts plus paid professional and enterprise accounts.<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://beta.floorplanner.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/08/web-based-home-design-site-floorplanner-adds-3d-objects/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1248864/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/08/web-based-home-design-site-floorplanner-adds-3d-objects/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>design</category><category>floorplan</category><category>floorplanner</category><category>home</category><dc:creator>Brad Linder</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-07-08T14:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>TweetDeck: Desktop client for Twitter helps you organize the chaos</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/07/tweetdeck-desktop-client-for-twitter-helps-you-organize-the-cha/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/07/tweetdeck-desktop-client-for-twitter-helps-you-organize-the-cha/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/07/tweetdeck-desktop-client-for-twitter-helps-you-organize-the-cha/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<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/freeware/" rel="tag">Freeware</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/social-software/" rel="tag">Social Software</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/"><img hspace="4" height="257" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" alt="TweetDeck" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/07/tweetdeck.jpg" /></a><br /></div>
<a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/">TweetDeck</a> is a desktop client for Twitter build on Adobe AIR. Nothing new there. That sentence could have described <a href="http://www.twhirl.org/">Twhirl</a>, <a href="http://getsnitter.com/">Snitter</a>, or <a href="http://alertthingy.com/">Alert Thingy</a>. But TweetDeck has a few features up its sleeve that other Twitter clients lack.<br /><br />The most noticeable difference is that TweetDeck has a multi-column view. You can glance at all of the latest tweets from your contacts in one column, see replies in another, and direct messages in a third. Or you can create groups of contacts (for example, a group of all your favorite <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/04/13/crowdstatus-and-gridjit-two-new-ways-to-look-at-twitter/">Download Squad bloggers on Twitter</a>), and see just updates from those contacts in a column.<br /><br />You can customize the display by adding up to 10 columns, or removing columns you don't need. The display is also resizable. There are no themes and no way to adjust the font yet. But the application is still in beta.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/tweetdeck_twitter_client.php/trackback/">ReadWriteWeb</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.tweetdeck.com/beta/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/07/tweetdeck-desktop-client-for-twitter-helps-you-organize-the-cha/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1247647/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/07/tweetdeck-desktop-client-for-twitter-helps-you-organize-the-cha/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>tweetdeck</category><category>twitter</category><dc:creator>Brad Linder</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-07-07T18:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Expose hidden OS X preferences with Secrets</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/07/expose-hidden-os-x-preferences-with-secrets/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/07/expose-hidden-os-x-preferences-with-secrets/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/07/expose-hidden-os-x-preferences-with-secrets/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/developer/" rel="tag">Developer</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/utilities/" rel="tag">Utilities</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/macintosh/" rel="tag">Macintosh</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><img src="file:///tmp/secretsprefpane.jpg" alt="" /><a href="http://secrets.blacktree.com/"><img hspace="4" vspace="4" border="0" align="right" alt="" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/07/secretsprefpane-1.jpg" /></a>There are tons of useful preferences in OS X and popular Mac apps that aren't part of the GUI, but you can tweak them by using the command-line. That Terminal stuff isn't for everyone, though, so it's a good thing there's <a href="http://secrets.blacktree.com/">Secrets</a>. This little preference pane from Blacktree Software (the makers of Quicksilver) is worth a thousand mini-tutorials. It comes pre-loaded with preferences for the Finder, as well as for apps like Twitterrific, iTunes, Safari, and NetNewsWire.<br /><br />Among many other tricks, Secrets can change the orientation and pinning of the Dock, set how often Mail refreshes RSS feeds, show all hidden files in the Finder, and switch Safari's loading animation to a circle instead of a bar. One of the cooler Secrets is turning Dashboard on or off with one click. Back in 2005, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2005/08/10/kill-dashboard-dead-if-you-must/">we reported on the struggle</a> to get rid of Dashboard, including apps dedicated to the purpose. Well, this is 2008, so get Secrets. You'll be able to do that and lots more.<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://secrets.blacktree.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/07/expose-hidden-os-x-preferences-with-secrets/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1246957/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/07/expose-hidden-os-x-preferences-with-secrets/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>Dashboard</category><category>hidden preferences</category><category>HiddenPreferences</category><category>Mac</category><category>Os X</category><category>OsX</category><category>prefpane</category><category>Secrets</category><dc:creator>Jay Hathaway</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-07-07T16:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Switchabit Multitasks Your Blogging For You</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/switchabit-multitasks-your-blogging-for-you/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/switchabit-multitasks-your-blogging-for-you/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/switchabit-multitasks-your-blogging-for-you/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/blogging/" rel="tag">Blogging</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-2-0/" rel="tag">web 2.0</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://beta.switchabit.com/"><img hspace="4" height="293" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/07/switchabit.png" alt="" /></a><br />
<div align="left">Maintaining your online presence can be such a giant pain in the ass nowadays since your followers are looking for constant updates on three hundred different web sites. It's especially annoying to try and publicize your new blog post manually after you've spent precious minutes of your morning typing and re-typing it.<br /><br />Thankfully, the folks at <a href="http://beta.switchabit.com/">switchAbit</a> have been gracious enough to develop a web app for us that handles cross-site posting for us. What's not to love about an app that makes it appear as though you're doing much more work than you actually are?<br /></div>
</div><p><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/switchabit-multitasks-your-blogging-for-you/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Switchabit Multitasks Your Blogging For You</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://beta.switchabit.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/switchabit-multitasks-your-blogging-for-you/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1244340/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/switchabit-multitasks-your-blogging-for-you/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>blog</category><category>blogger</category><category>bloggers</category><category>blogging</category><category>blogs</category><category>facebook</category><category>twitter</category><dc:creator>Lee Mathews</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-07-03T16:30:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Adobe Updates Flash 10 Beta - Now Slightly Less Inefficient!</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/adobe-updates-flash-10-beta-now-slightly-less-inefficient/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/adobe-updates-flash-10-beta-now-slightly-less-inefficient/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/adobe-updates-flash-10-beta-now-slightly-less-inefficient/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/adobe/" rel="tag">Adobe</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><a target="_blank" href="http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/"><img hspace="4" height="241" width="249" vspace="4" border="0" align="right" alt="" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/07/flash10.png" /></a>Download Squad originally told you about the Adobe Flash beta <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/05/15/flash-player-10-beta-available-now/">in May</a>, and yesterday Adobe announced <a href="http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/">further updates to "Astro</a>." So what do you have to look forward to?<br /> <br /> From a viewer's standpoint, there are several new features of interest. Tops among them: advanced 3d effects - that's right, Flash now supports shaders. Web gamers rejoice, because this no doubt means a whole new era of addictive browser-based gaming.<br /> <br /> Sound APIs have been refined as well, which should provide a boost not only for games, but also for streaming media applications. Also along these lines, Flash 10 support dynamic bitrate adjustments. Translation: it'll adapt to crappy network conditions automatically so that your video doesn't get all choppy.<br /><p><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/adobe-updates-flash-10-beta-now-slightly-less-inefficient/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Adobe Updates Flash 10 Beta - Now Slightly Less Inefficient!</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://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/adobe-updates-flash-10-beta-now-slightly-less-inefficient/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1244635/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/03/adobe-updates-flash-10-beta-now-slightly-less-inefficient/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>adobe</category><category>beta</category><category>flash</category><category>flash player</category><category>FlashPlayer</category><dc:creator>Lee Mathews</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-07-03T14:30:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Trillian turns 8, no Astra beta birthday gift quite yet</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/02/trillian-turns-8-no-astra-beta-birthday-gift-quite-yet/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/02/trillian-turns-8-no-astra-beta-birthday-gift-quite-yet/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/02/trillian-turns-8-no-astra-beta-birthday-gift-quite-yet/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</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/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><a href="http://blog.ceruleanstudios.com/?p=370"><img hspace="4" border="0" align="right" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/07/trillian-logos.jpg" alt="" /></a>We all love applications that take lots of little things and turn them into one big thing. When this concept is applied to instant messaging clients, one program should jump to everyone's mind: <a href="http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/learn/">Trillian</a>. Ever since its first multi-protocol release in 2000, many Windows users that want all the IM without all the hassle have chosen Trillian as their weapon of choice for tackling their instant messaging needs.<br /><br />This week marks the eighth anniversary of Trillian's first release. Since then, Cerulean Studios has had over 35 million downloads, and has become one of the (if not the single) most popular instant messaging clients for Windows. Currently, there are two versions of Trillian offered. Trillian Basic, the free version, offers support for AIM, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and IRC chat. Audio chat is available for all of the protocols that support it.<br /><br />Cerulean Studios also offers Trillian Pro for $25 dollars; the beefed-up version adds support for more protocols like Bonjour, Novell GroupWise, and Jabber, along with support for video chat and third-party plugins for things like mail, weather, and news feeds. Trillian Pro can also combine your contacts who have multiple IM services into "metacontacts," which help you manage your contact list.<br /><br />Currently in the works is version 4 of Trillian, called <a href="http://www.trillian.im/preview/index.html">Trillian Astra</a>. Astra boasts incredible new features, including its own IM service that helps to integrate the other IM connections, a web interface and an iPhone interface to allow you to chat on all of your protocols anywhere, and a much more streamlined user interface that supports dozens of colors and styles out-of-the-box. Currently, Trillian Astra is in a private alpha phase. However, their development team has stated that there <span style="font-style: italic;">will</span> be a public beta at some point in the future.<br /><br />Celebrate Trillian's 8th birthday by checking it out if you're looking for a solution to your all your IM needs.<h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://blog.ceruleanstudios.com/?p=370>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/02/trillian-turns-8-no-astra-beta-birthday-gift-quite-yet/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1243152/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/02/trillian-turns-8-no-astra-beta-birthday-gift-quite-yet/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><dc:creator>Adam Maras</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-07-02T14:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>BBC iPlayer 2.0 arrives in beta</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/26/bbc-iplayer-2-0-arrives-in-beta/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/26/bbc-iplayer-2-0-arrives-in-beta/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/26/bbc-iplayer-2-0-arrives-in-beta/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/video/" rel="tag">Video</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayerbeta/"><img hspace="4" height="309" width="445" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/iplayer2.jpg" alt="iPlayer 2" /></a><br /></div>
We've covered the BBC iPlayer in <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/tag/iplayer/">great depth</a> here at Download Squad - from its inception to nationwide rollout - and today, the BBC has announced version 2 of the (hugely successful) project. The new-look site has been heavily re-designed, bringing together both Radio and Television shows in a central portal. Personalisation also seems to be the key to the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayerbeta/">new release</a>, which incidentally runs side-by-side (at least for now) with the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/">previous version</a>. The iPlayer site keeps track of what you last watched, listing up to ten recently-viewed shows and if that weren't enough, a list of 'last night's TV' is available to help you find shows to catch up with. The video playback size also increased from 512 pixels wide to 640 pixels (a jump of 25%) and the BBC has promised a more 'cinematic' feel to pages playing video.<br /><br />The iPlayer continues to use Flash to stream videos online for seven days after broadcast, and remains available only to UK residents due to the BBC's publicly-funded status - but if you're a UK resident then you can get started with this new beta <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayerbeta/">here</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.bbc.co.uk/iplayerbeta/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/26/bbc-iplayer-2-0-arrives-in-beta/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1238032/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/26/bbc-iplayer-2-0-arrives-in-beta/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>BBC</category><category>bbc-iplayer</category><category>iPlayer</category><category>Video-streaming</category><dc:creator>Nik Fletcher</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-26T20:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Organize and share your online content with SecondBrain</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/24/organize-and-share-your-online-content-with-secondbrain/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/24/organize-and-share-your-online-content-with-secondbrain/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/24/organize-and-share-your-online-content-with-secondbrain/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<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>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-2-0/" rel="tag">web 2.0</a></p><div align="center">
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<div align="left">
<div align="center"><a href="http://www.secondbrain.com"><img hspace="4" height="159" border="1" width="400" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/secondbrain.jpg" alt="" /></a><br /></div>
<a href="http://www.secondbrain.com">SecondBrain</a> is a personal aggregator that doesn't just aim to collect all your online content in one place - it helps you organize it. It's a bit <a href="http://del.icio.us/">del.icio.us</a>, a bit <a href="http://friendfeed.com">FriendFeed</a> and a bit <a href="http://www.onaswarm.com/">Onaswarm</a>, all rolled into one, with a new twist you're not going to find anywhere else.<br /><br />You can import content from Twitter, del.icio.us, Blogger, Wordpress, Digg and StumbleUpon, and that's less than half the list. You can also get your content into SecondBrain by adding links directly to the site. With most other aggregators or social bookmarking sites, that's all you have to do. This is where SecondBrain gets interesting, because it allows you to organize your content into collections and share it with your people who follow your updates. SecondBrain's latest feature gives all users 1GB free storage. <br /><br />It's still lacking certain features, the most significant one being the inability to export your links, but we've been told that's in the works. <br /><br />SecondBrain appeals to that obsessive compulsive need to keep all your online content neatly tagged and filed away. And what better way to do this than with a service that allows you to share it with other like-minded people? </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.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/24/organize-and-share-your-online-content-with-secondbrain/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1230808/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/24/organize-and-share-your-online-content-with-secondbrain/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>aggregator</category><category>bookmarking</category><category>import</category><category>lifestream</category><category>organization</category><category>secondbrain</category><category>social</category><category>socialbookmarking</category><category>storage</category><dc:creator>Nancy Messieh</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-24T09:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Sync your Google Reader, Newsgator feeds with RSS Bandit</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/23/sync-your-google-reader-newsgator-feeds-with-rss-bandit/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/23/sync-your-google-reader-newsgator-feeds-with-rss-bandit/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/23/sync-your-google-reader-newsgator-feeds-with-rss-bandit/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<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>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</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.rssbandit.org/"><img hspace="4" height="316" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" alt="RSS Bandit" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/rss-bandit.jpg" /></a><br /></div>
At first glance, the latest version of <a href="http://www.rssbandit.org/">RSS Bandit</a> looks just like pretty much every other desktop RSS reader for Windows. In other words, it looks like Outlook. But this week saw the <a href="http://rssbandit.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!D57E4FD607B93BA!176.entry">released of RSS Bandit 1.7 Alpha</a> with one killer new feature: support for synchronization with your Google Reader or NewsGator feeds. <br /><br />Here's how it works. You download and install the open source application, and then click the File menu and select Synchronize Feeds. Pick your service and enter your login information and RSS Bandit will import your feed list in a matter of seconds. Any actions you take using the desktop reader should then be reflected at your online feed reader. You can mark items as reader, unread, or shared. And you can subscribe to feeds or remove feeds using RSS Bandit and the changes should apply to your online account.<br /><br />At least that's the theory. In practice, we're still waiting for our changes to show up in Google Reader. We read a few items, unsubscribed from a feed, and over an hour later Google Reader is showing no sign that it's noticed. This is still Alpha software, so it's possible speedier updates could come at a later date.<br /><br />RSS Bandit 1.7 Alpha also adds a new podcast download manager. <br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.labnol.org/software/download/rss-bandit-desktop-client-google-reader/3656/">Digital Inspiration</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.rssbandit.org/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/23/sync-your-google-reader-newsgator-feeds-with-rss-bandit/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1234378/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/23/sync-your-google-reader-newsgator-feeds-with-rss-bandit/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>alpha</category><category>feed-reader</category><category>google-reader</category><category>newsgator</category><category>rss</category><category>rss-bandit</category><category>rss-bandit-1.7-alpha</category><dc:creator>Brad Linder</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-23T19:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>AOL released updated instant messenger for Windows Mobile</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/23/aol-released-updated-instant-messenger-for-windows-mobile/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/23/aol-released-updated-instant-messenger-for-windows-mobile/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/23/aol-released-updated-instant-messenger-for-windows-mobile/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows-mobile/" rel="tag">Windows Mobile</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/freeware/" rel="tag">Freeware</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/mobile-minute/" rel="tag">Mobile Minute</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/aol/" rel="tag">AOL</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><a href="http://beta.aol.com/projects.php?project=aimwinmobile"><img hspace="4" height="267" width="200" vspace="16" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/aim-wm.jpg"  alt="AIM WM" /></a>It's been a while since AOL launched an updated version if its instant messenger for Windows Mobile. The new version is still in beta, but it has some nifty features that make it worth checking out. The first thing you'll notice is that the interface is much more attractive. But it's also more useful. <br /><br />When you first login you're greeted with a buddy list. You can double tap on any contact to enter a chat window. After you've initiated a chat you can flip back to your buddy list knowing that you'll be able to see all open chats and any new messages in the sidebar that now pops up. <br /><br />You can also manage your buddy list from the client. And the settings menu has a nice array of options letting you customize your notification, conversation, and privacy settings. <br /><br />This beta supports devices running Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6. <br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/06/23/aol-releases-new-windows-mobile-aim-client-hell-freezes-over/">The Boy Genius Report</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://beta.aol.com/projects.php?project=aimwinmobile>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/23/aol-released-updated-instant-messenger-for-windows-mobile/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1234016/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/23/aol-released-updated-instant-messenger-for-windows-mobile/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>aim</category><category>aol</category><category>aol-instant-messenger</category><category>IM</category><category>instant-messenger</category><category>windows-mobile</category><dc:creator>Brad Linder</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-23T13:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Qbox: Music player for songs from social networks</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/20/qbox-music-player-for-songs-from-social-networks/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/20/qbox-music-player-for-songs-from-social-networks/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/20/qbox-music-player-for-songs-from-social-networks/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<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>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/social-software/" rel="tag">Social Software</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</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.qbox.com/"><img hspace="4" height="293" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" alt="Qbox"  src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/qbox-2.jpg" /></a><br /></div>
<a href="http://qbox.com/">Qbox</a> is a search engine/media player combo that lets you find and listen to music available from social networking sites including MySpace, Bebo, and YouTube. The interface is a bit more complicated than it needs to be. If you just download the standalone media player for Windows, you'll be told that you need to sign in if you want to search for music. <br /><br />Search results are displayed in your default web browser, which is odd because the Qbox media player acts as sort of a stripped down browser for playing web audio and video clips. Don't ask us why it won't display search results.<br /><br />Now here comes the important part: Qbox is not compatible with Firefox 3. If you conduct a search from the media player or the web site using Firefox 3, you'll get a list of songs. But when you click the play buttons next to those songs, you'll be told that you haven't installed the Qbox media player if you're using Firefox 3. When we logged into the web site with Internet Explorer, everything worked properly. But when we tried to search from songs from the media player interface, the results were again displayed in our default browser, which was Firefox 3. There doesn't seem to be a way to select your prefered browser from within the software. <br /><br />You can also click on genre tags to browse for songs within the media player itself. Qbox is currently available as a public beta, so it's possible the company could improve the interface and adds Firefox 3 compatibility.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.appscout.com/2008/06/qbox_launches_free_streaming_m.php">AppScout</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://qbox.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/20/qbox-music-player-for-songs-from-social-networks/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1232220/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/20/qbox-music-player-for-songs-from-social-networks/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>bebo</category><category>music</category><category>myspace</category><category>qbox</category><category>social-networking</category><category>youtube</category><dc:creator>Brad Linder</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-20T18:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Versions.app - OS X Subversion with Style</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/19/versions-app-os-x-subversion-with-style/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/19/versions-app-os-x-subversion-with-style/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/19/versions-app-os-x-subversion-with-style/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/developer/" rel="tag">Developer</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/macintosh/" rel="tag">Macintosh</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/shareware/" rel="tag">Shareware</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.versionsapp.com"><img hspace="4" vspace="4" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/versions.jpg" /></a><br /></div>
One of the fundamental tools for developers is not just their development environment of choice, but also their version control system of choice. The debate over just which version control system is undoubtedly set to rage on for eternity, however one of the more popular systems is <a href="http://subversion.tigris.org/">Subversion</a>. On the Mac, up until now there's been a number of choices: Terminal (command-line) which is built into the OS and includes Subversion as part of OS X Leopard, <a href="http://www.lachoseinteractive.net/en/community/subversion/svnx/features/">svnX</a> - another open-source graphical user interface, or using the built-in Subversion support in Apple's OS X development IDE <a href="http://developer.apple.com/tools/xcode/">Xcode</a>.<br /><br />For some of us here at Download Squad, a fear of the command-line, compounded with a little loathing of the svnX interface made the announcement of Versions.app - over a year ago - more than a little exciting. Promising an elegant and truly OS X interface to work with Subversion, it's taken a long time to come to fruition - however the betas to date do appear to deliver.<br /><br />After having used Versions on a daily basis since its debut 2 weeks ago, it's certainly showing a great deal of promise - and makes version control far friendlier. <a href="http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/june#wed-04-versions">As others have noted</a>, the application not only makes working with existing repositories easy, but also has quick links to Subversion web-service <a href="http://www.beanstalkapp.com">Beanstalk</a>, allowing you to easily create a new online repository and add it to Versions.<br /><br />Pricing for Versions will be set 'when version 1.0 ships', and currently all (free-to-use) betas expire on July 1st.<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/2008/06/19/versions-app-os-x-subversion-with-style/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1215710/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/19/versions-app-os-x-subversion-with-style/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>osx</category><category>subversion</category><category>svn</category><category>version-control</category><category>versions</category><dc:creator>Nik Fletcher</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-19T18:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>100 Toluu invites: Discover RSS feeds the easy way</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/19/100-toluu-invites-discover-rss-feeds-the-easy-way/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/19/100-toluu-invites-discover-rss-feeds-the-easy-way/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/19/100-toluu-invites-discover-rss-feeds-the-easy-way/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<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>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-2-0/" rel="tag">web 2.0</a></p><a href="http://www.toluu.com/"><img width="250" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="222" border="0" align="right" alt="toluu" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/toluu.jpg" /></a>At first glance, <a href="http://www.toluu.com/">Toluu</a> looks like a stripped down version of the RSS aggregator <a href="http://fav.or.it/">Fav.or.it</a>, which <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/18/fav-or-it-rss-aggregator-launches-will-it-change-the-game/">we reviewed earlier</a>, but it's not. They both serve the same purpose - recommending new feeds based on your current subscriptions. The difference lies in how each web site gets this done. To use Fav.or.it, you have to abandon your current RSS reader in order to benefit from their recommendations. On the other hand, Toluu works <em>with </em>your RSS reader, to make these recommendations. <br /><br />Getting started couldn't be easier. Import the OPML file from your RSS reader and it instantly matches your feeds with other members who have similar taste. You can then discover and read new feeds directly in Toluu before deciding to subscribe. <br /><br />Using the provided bookmarklet, you can add new feeds to Toluu - so you can continue to benefit from updated recommendations - and subscribe in your preferred reader simultaneously. Supported readers include Google Reader, My AOL and Netvibes, amongst others. You can also connect Toluu directly to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a>, sending an update every time you add a new feed. <br /><br />Toluu is currently in private beta and invites seemed to be going out pretty slowly, and while it's certainly worth the wait, we have invites for the first 100 readers to leave a comment below.<br /><br /><strong>Update: </strong>We've got another 25 invites to give away. First come, first served!<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.toluu.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/19/100-toluu-invites-discover-rss-feeds-the-easy-way/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1228528/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/19/100-toluu-invites-discover-rss-feeds-the-easy-way/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>opml</category><category>rss</category><category>toluu</category><category>tweet-this</category><dc:creator>Nancy Messieh</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-19T09:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>QTrax launches free, legal, and limited P2P music app</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/18/qtrax-launches-free-legal-and-limited-p2p-music-app/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/18/qtrax-launches-free-legal-and-limited-p2p-music-app/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/18/qtrax-launches-free-legal-and-limited-p2p-music-app/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<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>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/p2p/" rel="tag">P2P</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://qtrax.com/"><img hspace="4" height="313" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" alt="Qtrax" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/qtrax.jpg" /></a><br /></div>
Want to download popular music without paying and without breaking the law? <a href="http://qtrax.com">Qtrax</a> is a new advertising-supported service that lets you download music from two of the four major labels, Universal and EMI as well as several smaller labels. The service uses a modified version of the Songbird Media player to let you search or browse for music and download tracks. Some music willbe available through P2P connections while music from Universal and EMI will be hosted on Qtrax servers. <br /><br />The files use Windows Media digital rights management and are designed to be played with the Qtrax media player. But once you play a song using the Qtrax software and acquire a valid license key, you shold be able to play it using the media player of your choice. The one thing you cannot do is transfer songs to a portable media device like an iPod. That makes sense, since Qtrax makes money by showing ads while you search for and listen to music. There's no particularly good way to do that on a mobile device.<br /><br />The music selection is somewhat limited at the moment. Not only are Sony and Warner Music Group tracks missing, but there are plenty of albums that show up in the Qtrax interface even though the songs are not yet available for download. But since the service just launched in beta, we're willing to cut Qtrax some slack. <br /><br />The Qtrax client is Windows only for now, but a Mac version is in the works.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/6/qtrax_finally_up_and_running_june_18th">Silicon Alley Insider</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://qtrax.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/18/qtrax-launches-free-legal-and-limited-p2p-music-app/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1229805/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/18/qtrax-launches-free-legal-and-limited-p2p-music-app/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>drm</category><category>music</category><category>qtrax</category><category>tweet-this</category><category>windows-media</category><dc:creator>Brad Linder</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-18T20:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Skype 4.0 beta puts video front and center, takes over your screen</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/skype-4-0-beta-puts-video-front-and-center-takes-over-your-scre/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/skype-4-0-beta-puts-video-front-and-center-takes-over-your-scre/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/skype-4-0-beta-puts-video-front-and-center-takes-over-your-scre/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/internet/" rel="tag">Internet</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/video/" rel="tag">Video</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/voip/" rel="tag">VoIP</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/p2p/" rel="tag">P2P</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/windows/beta/"><img width="440" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="246" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/skype-4.0-beta.jpg"  alt="Skype 4.0" /></a><br /></div>
<a href="http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/windows/beta/">Skype 4.0 beta for Windows</a> is due out tomorrow. And this beta will represent a major shift for the VoIP client. While <a href="http://gigaom.com/2008/05/20/movie-clips-on-skype-sure-why-not/">nearly a third of Skype calls are video</a>, each version of Skype up until now has been designed with audio in mind. The client is small and easily resizeable and feels like an application for making phone calls. <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/17/skype-40-beta-its-all-about-video/">TechCrunch reports</a> that Skype 4.0 beta will be a full screen application designed with video in mind.<br /><br />The new version takes advantage of the larger window by spreading out the buttons a bit and adding support for new video features like picture in picture. There's also more room on the screen for text chat or for sharing files while conducting voice or video calls.<br /><br />Skype 4.0 beta also features improved hardware deection and tools for testing your connection. But honestly, we're not convinced that this whole full-screen design is the way to go. There's no doubt that the updated Skype client looks like it will make video calls far more pleasant. But more than 70% of the calls placed on the Skype network are still audio-only. And we're guessing that a lot of the people placing those calls like to have a bit of space on their desktops to multitask while making phone calls. <br /><br />Of course, if you're just using Skype for voice communication, you can always minimize the application while you're talking, web browsing, and playing World of WarCraft. Or whatever it is you do when you're on the phone.<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.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/windows/beta/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/skype-4-0-beta-puts-video-front-and-center-takes-over-your-scre/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1228686/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/skype-4-0-beta-puts-video-front-and-center-takes-over-your-scre/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>skype</category><category>skype-4.0</category><category>skype-4.0-beta</category><category>video</category><category>video-chat</category><dc:creator>Brad Linder</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-17T23:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Create events on Twitter with Twitzu</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/create-events-on-twitter-with-twitzu/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/create-events-on-twitter-with-twitzu/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/create-events-on-twitter-with-twitzu/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<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>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><img width="400" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="123" border="1" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/twitzu.jpg" alt="" /><br /></div>
<br />Want to invite all your <a href="http://www.twitter.com">Twitter</a> friends to one event at the click of a button? <a href="http://www.twitzu.com">Twitzu</a> has simplified the process, allowing you to quickly create and publicize events. Fill in the details and it's sent off as a link in a Twitter update, along with a short optional message. Your followers can then RSVP on the Twitzu website. <br /><br />Twitzu has great potential for organizing public events like blog meets or advertising small gigs, but you won't want to use it to organize a private gathering. One of Twitzu's main drawbacks is the fact that your event is not only broadcast to all your Twitter followers, it's also posted up on the main Twitzu page. With talk of Twitter groups in the making - it would be nice to see the two concepts integrated - allowing you to invite only certain people who follow you. The website is also sorely lacking a privacy option. Another huge drawback is the inability to edit your event once you've submitted it. Don't be fooled by the 'Edit Event' tab. It seems to be there only for show.<br /><br />Twitzu is far from perfect - and we don't just mean the glaring spelling mistake on the front page - but if it gets enough attention it could turn out to be one of the easiest ways to ensure a large turn out at your next public event. <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/2008/06/17/create-events-on-twitter-with-twitzu/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1226060/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/create-events-on-twitter-with-twitzu/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>events</category><category>networking</category><category>social</category><category>twitter</category><category>twitzu</category><dc:creator>Nancy Messieh</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-17T08:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Flock 2.0 beta is out: Social browser built on Firefox 3</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/16/flock-2-0-beta-is-out-social-browser-built-on-firefox-3/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/16/flock-2-0-beta-is-out-social-browser-built-on-firefox-3/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/16/flock-2-0-beta-is-out-social-browser-built-on-firefox-3/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<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/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.flock.com/beta/download/"><img hspace="4" height="330" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/flock-2.0-beta.jpg"  alt="Flock 2.0 beta" /></a><br /></div>
If you spend a lot of time using social web sites like Facebook, Pownce, Digg, Flickr Twitter, YouTube, or del.icio.us, you've probably heard of Flock, a web browser with integrated tools for interacting with those services and many others. The browser is built on Mozilla's Firefox, so it can render any web page that works in Firefox. But it also makes it easy to share links, photos, and videos or even write blog posts.<br /> <br /> But there's one problem. Up until now Flock was based on Firefox 2 and couldn't take advantage of the speed improvements featured in Firefox 3. With <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/12/mozilla-sets-release-date-for-firefox-3-june-17/">Firefox 3 set to launch</a> out of beta/release candidate limbo tomorrow, the Flock team has released the first <a href="http://www.flock.com/beta/download/">beta version of Flock 2.0</a> which uses Firefox 3 as it's base.<br /> <br /> What does that mean for users?<br />
<ul>
    <li>Uses the Gecko 1.9 rendering engine for faster page rendering</li>
    <li>Improved support for web applications like Gmail and Zoho Office</li>
    <li>Reduced memory footprint</li>
    <li>Security enhancements</li>
    <li>Improved password manager that takes up less memory</li>
    <li>Uses the Firefox 3 "awesome bar" which auto-completes URLs based on your history and favories</li>
    <li>New favorites manager</li>
    <li>New download manager</li>
</ul>
For the most part you won't see a lot of cosmetic changes in Flock 2.0 It looks a lot like Flock 1.2 under the hood. But it's worth checking out for the performance enhancements. Keep in mind, this is still beta software though, and if you're lucky you might find a few bugs worth reporting.<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.flock.com/beta/download/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/16/flock-2-0-beta-is-out-social-browser-built-on-firefox-3/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1226591/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/16/flock-2-0-beta-is-out-social-browser-built-on-firefox-3/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>firefox-3</category><category>flock</category><category>flock 2.0</category><category>flock-2.0</category><category>flock-2.0-beta</category><category>Flock2.0</category><dc:creator>Brad Linder</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-16T10:30:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>What's in store for Firefox 3.1</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/13/whats-in-store-for-firefox-3-1/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/13/whats-in-store-for-firefox-3-1/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/13/whats-in-store-for-firefox-3-1/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/mozilla/" rel="tag">Mozilla</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox3.1/Features"><img hspace="4" height="287" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/ctrl-tab.jpg"  alt="Ctrl Tab" /></a><br /></div>
Sure, Mozilla is preparing to release the final version of Firefox 3.0 next week. But that doesn't mean the development team is going to take a break anytime soon. You can take an early look at some of the features that will be included in the <em>next</em> version of Firefox. Here are a few of the things planned for <a href="http://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox3.1/Features">Firefox 3.1</a>:<br />
<ul>
    <li>A new <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/11/08/coming-soon-to-firefox-3-tab-previews/">visual tab switching feature</a> will work like the Alt+Tab switching feature in Windows Vista (in other words, you can see thumbnails of open tabs). If you want to check out this feature before it's officially added to Firefox, you can download the <a href="http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5244">Ctrl+Tab extension</a> for Firefox 3.0 now. </li>
    <li>Download history will be added to Places.</li>
    <li>Support for bulk bookmark tagging and tag autocompletion<br /></li>
</ul>
Firefox 3.1 alpha is scheduled for a mid-July release. <br /><br />[via <a href="http://mozillalinks.org/wp/2008/06/firefox-31-shiretoko-planned-features-draft/">Mozilla Links</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://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox3.1/Features>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/13/whats-in-store-for-firefox-3-1/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1224957/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/13/whats-in-store-for-firefox-3-1/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>ctrl tab</category><category>firefox</category><category>firefox-3.</category><category>tab-switching</category><dc:creator>Brad Linder</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-13T14:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Eluma launches public beta of social RSS reader</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/12/eluma-launches-public-beta-of-social-rss-reader/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/12/eluma-launches-public-beta-of-social-rss-reader/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/12/eluma-launches-public-beta-of-social-rss-reader/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<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/freeware/" rel="tag">Freeware</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.eluma.com/site/"><img hspace="4" height="345" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/eluma-20.jpg"  alt="Eluma 2.0" /></a><br /></div>
<a href="http://www.eluma.com/site/">Eluma</a> has released a public beta version of its social RSS reader for Windows, which has been in private beta <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/03/18/eluma-desktop-rss-reader-bookmark-manager-and-more/">for the last few months</a>. Eluma is basically a desktop application that lets you sift through RSS feeds and bookmarks. <br /><br />You can also rate individual items with a thumbs up or down button or tag items to make them easier to find later, or share them online with other Eluma users. There are also browser toolbars for Firefox and Internet Explorer that let you add web pages or RSS feeds to Eluma with a single click.<br /><br />The public version of Eluma has a few new features, including:<br />
<ul>
    <li>New local search feature for searching local data</li>
    <li>Improved navigation of public web collections</li>
    <li>Improved interface with new menus and desktop alert options</li>
    <li>Support for Firefox 3 and 64 bit versions of Windows</li>
</ul>
if you're a fan of desktop RSS readers, Eluma might be worth checking out. One complaint we have is that here doesn't appear to be a way to view all of your unread items in a "river of news" format.<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.eluma.com/site/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/12/eluma-launches-public-beta-of-social-rss-reader/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1224057/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/12/eluma-launches-public-beta-of-social-rss-reader/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>elluma</category><category>rss</category><category>rss-reader</category><dc:creator>Brad Linder</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-12T19:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Google Friend Connect spotted in the wild</title><link>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/12/google-friend-connect-spotted-in-the-wild/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/12/google-friend-connect-spotted-in-the-wild/</guid><comments>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/12/google-friend-connect-spotted-in-the-wild/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/blogging/" rel="tag">Blogging</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/google/" rel="tag">Google</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/social-software/" rel="tag">Social Software</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-2-0/" rel="tag">web 2.0</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://blog.go2web20.net/2008/06/testing-google-friend-connect-1-2-3.html"><img hspace="4" height="311" width="440" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/06/friendconnect.jpg"  alt="Google FriendConnect settings" /></a><br /></div>
It's been about a month since<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/05/13/google-friend-connect-a-social-network-for-every-site/"> Google announced its new Friend Connect platform</a> which lets you add social widgets to any blog or web site. If you've been waiting patiently to see these widgets start popping up on the wild, wild web, it looks like the wait is over. Tech blogger Orli Yakuel has <a href="http://blog.go2web20.net/2008/06/testing-google-friend-connect-1-2-3.html">added a widget to her blog, Go2Web20</a>.<br /><br />The widget looks a lot like the recent readers widgets you find from services like <a href="http://www.mybloglog.com">MyBlogLog</a>. But Friend Connect offers users the opportunity to interact with their contacts and communities more deeply without leaving the current web page. For example, Yakuel has added a comment widget that lets FriendConnect users who sign up to be members of her blog to leave comments that are visible to other members. <br /><br />When you visit a site with a FriendConnect widget you can invite your Google contacts or friends from other sites including MySpace, Hi5, Orkut, or Plaxo to join the community.<br /><br />Yakuel says there are only a handful of Google gadgets available at the moment, but says there is a section where you can grab gadgets from third party developers, much like the gadget gallery for iGoogle and Google Desktop.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_friend_connect_spotted.php">ReadWriteWeb</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://blog.go2web20.net/2008/06/testing-google-friend-connect-1-2-3.html>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/12/google-friend-connect-spotted-in-the-wild/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1224020/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/12/google-friend-connect-spotted-in-the-wild/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a><br />]]></description><category>friend-connect</category><category>friendconnect</category><category>gadgets</category><category>widgets</category><dc:creator>Brad Linder</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-06-12T18:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item></channel></rss>