http://www.downloadsquad.com Download Squad http://www.downloadsquad.com/http://www.downloadsquad.com/media/feedlogo.gif en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/qu0L-STknY0/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/getit-combines-the-power-of-three-windows-apt-style-updaters/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/getit-combines-the-power-of-three-windows-apt-style-updaters/#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/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</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"><a href="http://puchisoft.com/GetIt/"><img width="550" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="193" border="0" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/getit.jpg" alt="" /></a></div> As I've mentioned before, I'm a fan of apt-get. It's an extremely easy way to get tons of new applications installed on a new Linux installation. Plenty of similar options exist for Windows, but one stands out.<br /><br /><a href="http://puchisoft.com/GetIt/">GetIt</a> combines the power of three Windows implementations of the system - <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/10/08/batch-upgrade-your-software-with-appsnap/">AppSnap</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/12/19/appupdater-command-line-utility-for-keeping-your-apps-up-to-dat/">AppUpdater</a>, and <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/07/31/win-get-is-like-apt-get-for-windows-but-less-useful/">Win-Get</a>. Once you've got all your engines installed, use Get-it's GUI to set them up (just click the buton) and you're ready to install.<br /><br />More than four hundred apps are currently supported, including Avast, AVG, CDBurnerXP, Firefox, AutoHotKey, uTorrent, VLC, OpenOffice, and Handbrake.<br /><br />Applications can be installed a number of ways. When GetIt checks your repositories for updates, it creates installer files in its Install folder. After that, you can:<br /> <ul> <li>Browse to the folder and double-click an installer</li> <li>Use the GetIt Gui or command line</li> <li>Index the folder and launch installers from <a href="http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/findrun/">Find and Run Robot</a> (or your favorite launcher)</li> </ul> Installs run without user input, and GetIt also supports checking for updates to your apps. I'd like to see the GUI support multiple selections and would prefer not having to "press any key to continue" following an install, but those are minor gripes. For the average user, category listings would be a helpful addition.<br /><br />GetIt is a simple, powerful way to download and install tons of great software and keep it up to date on your Windows PC.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/getit-combines-the-power-of-three-windows-apt-style-updaters/">GetIt combines the power of three Windows apt-style updaters</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://puchisoft.com/GetIt/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/getit-combines-the-power-of-three-windows-apt-style-updaters/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1391101/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/getit-combines-the-power-of-three-windows-apt-style-updaters/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/kNtDS_iDbtRfIJPwezwdmR0EGBE/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/kNtDS_iDbtRfIJPwezwdmR0EGBE/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=mtrlEdQ5"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=mtrlEdQ5" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=i2YFVhTl"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=i2YFVhTl" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/qu0L-STknY0" height="1" width="1"/>apt-getinstallerupdaterThu, 04 Dec 2008 14:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/getit-combines-the-power-of-three-windows-apt-style-updaters/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/Bc3AhZYxEj4/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/google-finally-lets-you-make-picasa-web-albums-truly-private/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/google-finally-lets-you-make-picasa-web-albums-truly-private/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/photo/" rel="tag">Photo</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/google/" rel="tag">Google</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web/" rel="tag">Web</a></p><a href="http://picasa.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=113516"><img hspace="4" height="119" width="193" vspace="16" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/private-web-albums.jpg" alt="Picasa private web albums" /></a>Online photo sharing sites like Flickr, Photobucket and Picasa Web Albums provide a great way to share a set of images with friends, family, or the whole world. But what happens when you only want a select group of people to be able to see your photos? <br /><br />Many sites allow you to hide or block photos from anyone who you haven't explicitly granted access to. But up until recently, if you wanted to hide images uploaded to Picasa from the general public, the best you could do was mark them as "unlisted," which meant that they wouldn't show up in public searches of Picasa Web Albums. But anyone who had the correct URL could still access those images.<br /><br />Now Google has added the ability to <a href="http://picasa.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=113516">restrict access</a> to the people you've chosen to share an album with. You can set the permissions for a web album either when you're uploading images or after you've already created an album. Just click the edit menu, select album properties, and scroll down to the bottom of the screen where you'll find an option to mark photos as public, unlisted, or "sign-in required."<br /><br />[via <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/12/private-albums-in-picasa-web.html">Google Operating System</a>]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/google-finally-lets-you-make-picasa-web-albums-truly-private/">Google finally lets you make Picasa Web Albums truly private</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://picasa.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=113516>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/google-finally-lets-you-make-picasa-web-albums-truly-private/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1391102/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/google-finally-lets-you-make-picasa-web-albums-truly-private/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/w8XFcJYbVtb0do8jRSyBAmdUfsM/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/w8XFcJYbVtb0do8jRSyBAmdUfsM/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=SoWNNaN7"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=SoWNNaN7" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=PHb4FNDN"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=PHb4FNDN" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/Bc3AhZYxEj4" height="1" width="1"/>picasapicasa-web-albumsThu, 04 Dec 2008 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/google-finally-lets-you-make-picasa-web-albums-truly-private/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/ZpulflAJV0o/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/opera-10-alpha-1-web-browser-passes-the-acid3-test/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/opera-10-alpha-1-web-browser-passes-the-acid3-test/#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/freeware/" rel="tag">Freeware</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2008/12/03/peregrine-takes-flight-opera-10-0-alpha-is-here"><img hspace="4" height="361" width="550" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/opera-10-alpha-1.jpg" alt="Opera 10 Alpha 1" /></a><br /></div> The latest version of the Opera web browser gets a perfect score on the Acid3 web standards test, which is pretty impressive until you realize that Firefox and Internet Explorer fall short of that score. And if the two most popular web browsers on the face of the earth don't fully meet these web standards, what good are they exactly?<br /><br />That said, <a href="http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2008/12/03/peregrine-takes-flight-opera-10-0-alpha-is-here">Opera 10 Alpha 1</a> includes a number of other tweaks that make this web browser worth checking out:<br /> <ul> <li>Inline spell checking</li> <li>Automatic updates</li> <li>Updated Presto 2.2 rendering engine</li> </ul> Opera Mail has also been improved, as has the Opera Widget engine for the Linux version of the cross-platform web browser.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/opera-10-alpha-1-web-browser-passes-the-acid3-test/">Opera 10 Alpha 1 web browser passes the Acid3 test</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2008/12/03/peregrine-takes-flight-opera-10-0-alpha-is-here>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/opera-10-alpha-1-web-browser-passes-the-acid3-test/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1391089/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/opera-10-alpha-1-web-browser-passes-the-acid3-test/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/_e6EtiminnX8hKHjEqYxVN2ROes/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/_e6EtiminnX8hKHjEqYxVN2ROes/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=b1BYih3l"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=b1BYih3l" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=cVH4FKOW"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=cVH4FKOW" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/ZpulflAJV0o" height="1" width="1"/>acid3operaopera-10opera-10-alpha-1web-standardsThu, 04 Dec 2008 10:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/opera-10-alpha-1-web-browser-passes-the-acid3-test/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/xDiwOVyPuok/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/iknow-launches-open-learning-platform/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/iknow-launches-open-learning-platform/#comments<p>Filed under: <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>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/education/" rel="tag">Education</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/iknow.jpg" alt="" />Having knowledge of more than one language (and to be clear, this is about spoken and written languages, not programming languages) is an increasingly important and valuable skill. The problem is of course, the older we get, the harder it can be to pick up another language. <br /><br />This is why the Internet is so awesome. It can make the challenge of learning a new language or even picking up a few key phrases much easier and more intuitive.<br /><br />In that vein, last week, Tokyo-based <a href="http://www.iknow.co.jp/about">Cerego</a> launched content creation tools for its open language platform, <a href="http://www.iknow.co.jp">iKnow!</a> to the public. These tools allow users to create learning modules in 188 languages of study and then collaborate with other users to make corrections, add additional items and discuss the process.<br /><br />iKnow! isn't just about lists of words and phrases, flash card style. It also leverages the semantic web and lets you "remix" the web. You can add content from Google, Flickr and YouTube to supplement the items you are studying -- a picture from Flickr to represent a term, a video from YouTube to help show something in use -- making the process more engaging. There is also text to speech translation, so you can hear how something sounds and then select the correct context and usage. <br /><br />There are also courses, although right now they are limited to English and Japanese, that let you study terms. You select what level language you are and what format you want to use and a number of items to study. The web app will then show you words, let you hear them, define them and then move on. After a few words, you will be asked if you "know" a word and you are quizzed and asked to choose what a word means and what it means in the context of a sentence. Very cool stuff.<br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/iknow-launches-open-learning-platform/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>iKnow! launches open learning platform</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/iknow-launches-open-learning-platform/">iKnow! launches open learning platform</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:20:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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.iknow.co.jp/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/iknow-launches-open-learning-platform/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1391032/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/iknow-launches-open-learning-platform/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/0N-jno4PnTx7futuLj4V9Svs-NM/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/0N-jno4PnTx7futuLj4V9Svs-NM/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=cGVoYKa6"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=cGVoYKa6" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=hC4KfAQZ"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=hC4KfAQZ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/xDiwOVyPuok" height="1" width="1"/>ceregoiknowlanguagelearningThu, 04 Dec 2008 09:20:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/04/iknow-launches-open-learning-platform/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/uJTSGoYFfDM/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/driver-backup-2-is-a-free-portable-drivermax-alternative/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/driver-backup-2-is-a-free-portable-drivermax-alternative/#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://sourceforge.net/projects/drvback/"><img hspace="4" height="361" width="550" vspace="4" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/drvbk.jpg" /></a><br /> <div align="left">I've been using <a href="http://www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax/">DriverMax</a> for a while, and it's a great tool - I included it in my <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/01/5-apps-for-painless-windows-reformats-for-8-2-08-switched-thin/">5 applications for a painless Windows reformat</a>. One thing I don't like about it is that it's not portable and that the screens don't display properly on computers running at 800x600 or 640x480.<br /><br /><a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/drvback/">Driver Backup! 2</a> is a nice alternative. While it doesn't have DriverMax's extra features (like driver updating), the just-under-1mb application provides fast, simple driver file backups and restorations.<br /><br />Two other features I enjoy are that it's fully portable and supports command line switches for fully automatic operations. Even better, there's an integrated builder that will help you create your command line easily - as long as you can read a little Italian.<br /><br />English help files are provided, though, and fully document the available switches. Setting one up manually is easy enough that you don't really need the builder's help anyway.<br /><br />Both backups and restores are quick and painless, and it had no trouble with my Windows Vista x64 install. It's well worth adding to your USB flash drive.</div> </div><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/driver-backup-2-is-a-free-portable-drivermax-alternative/">Driver Backup! 2 is a free, portable DriverMax alternative</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://sourceforge.net/projects/drvback/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/driver-backup-2-is-a-free-portable-drivermax-alternative/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1390428/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/driver-backup-2-is-a-free-portable-drivermax-alternative/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/kTnVjhipDZxf9RPkXZXTiWcEf6U/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/kTnVjhipDZxf9RPkXZXTiWcEf6U/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=Sok4hHEp"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=Sok4hHEp" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=ekiVeyEL"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=ekiVeyEL" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/uJTSGoYFfDM" height="1" width="1"/>driver-backupdrivermaxdriversWed, 03 Dec 2008 16:30:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/driver-backup-2-is-a-free-portable-drivermax-alternative/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/UGdV-FbEa5k/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/aim-blast-finally-you-can-im-multiple-buddies-at-once/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/aim-blast-finally-you-can-im-multiple-buddies-at-once/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/social-software/" rel="tag">Social Software</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/aol/" rel="tag">AOL</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://blast.aim.com"><img vspace="8" hspace="8" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/aimblast1.jpg" /></a><br /></div> <a href="http://blast.aim.com">AIM Blast</a> is a new AOL Instant Messenger feature that makes me feel old, because I just realized that it's been a decade since I first wondered why there was no way to IM multiple buddies without opening a chatroom. Well, it's finally here, and it works pretty well. You can't make a Blast Group from within AIM, but if you go to <a href="http://blast.aim.com">blast.aim.com</a>, you can set up and edit a group from there. Blast seems to work with third-party AIM clients, although AOL says that Meebo may have some problems with it.<br /> <br />The Blast Group will then show up on your buddy list, and any IM you send to it will go to everyone in the group. The group acts like a normal AIM account, it just puts people's individual screennames in front of their messages, so you know who's talking. When you invite people (using your group admin page), they'll get a message in AIM asking them to accept or decline. Once they're in, they can IM the group, unless you make it admin-only. That makes your group more like a notification system than a chat, but that may work better for some people.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/aim-blast-finally-you-can-im-multiple-buddies-at-once/">AIM Blast: finally, you can IM multiple buddies at once</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://blast.aim.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/aim-blast-finally-you-can-im-multiple-buddies-at-once/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1389987/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/aim-blast-finally-you-can-im-multiple-buddies-at-once/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/QeUi4BUmH_wEjkp6J7pglbCEJno/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/QeUi4BUmH_wEjkp6J7pglbCEJno/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=WFq0gPSC"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=WFq0gPSC" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=MzO6xb7v"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=MzO6xb7v" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/UGdV-FbEa5k" height="1" width="1"/>AIMAIM BlastAOLchatIMinstant-messaginginstant-messengerWed, 03 Dec 2008 15:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/aim-blast-finally-you-can-im-multiple-buddies-at-once/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/jIYSnqnEPTU/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/backblaze-offers-truly-no-hassle-online-backups/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/backblaze-offers-truly-no-hassle-online-backups/#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/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/macintosh/" rel="tag">Macintosh</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/commercial/" rel="tag">Commercial</a></p><div align="center"><a href="https://www.backblaze.com/"><img width="550" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="319" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/bb.jpg" /></a></div> Many users have the same problem when it comes to configuring a backup application: they forget to add one important file or folder to the job. <a href="http://www.backblaze.com">Backblaze</a> - a new online backup service - thinks they have a solution to the problem.<br /><br />Unlike most applications where items to be backed up must be manually added by the user, <a href="https://www.backblaze.com/">Backblaze</a> works by automatically <em>excluding</em> the junk it knows you don't really want to back up anyway. Gleb from the Backblaze team explained it like this: <br /><br /><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span>"The reason we took this approach was that most users would get stuck at the "pick what files and folders to backup" step. They either didn't know how to navigate the file system (try finding your PST file), or their files were not organized, or they just didn't have time."</span></span><br />By default it won't back up operating system, application, or temp files, and you can add any other exclusions you like via the settings screen.<br /><br />Now, if you're like me and confined to 30kbps upload your initial backup is going to take a while - four days in my case. Once it's done, Backblaze keeps things efficiently in synch by performing differential backups. Your data is encrypted prior to uploading, transmitted securely via HTTPS, and users that demand added security can add their own private key.<p><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/backblaze-offers-truly-no-hassle-online-backups/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Backblaze offers truly no-hassle online backups</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/backblaze-offers-truly-no-hassle-online-backups/">Backblaze offers truly no-hassle online backups</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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=https://www.backblaze.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/backblaze-offers-truly-no-hassle-online-backups/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1389870/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/backblaze-offers-truly-no-hassle-online-backups/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/nWgMovzHJSuBtvVcZVxjIVzzzBs/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/nWgMovzHJSuBtvVcZVxjIVzzzBs/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=QXw8Te5W"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=QXw8Te5W" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=X4hQGBmt"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=X4hQGBmt" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/jIYSnqnEPTU" height="1" width="1"/>backupcloudonline-backupstorageWed, 03 Dec 2008 13:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/backblaze-offers-truly-no-hassle-online-backups/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/sOVCENltbZs/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/wordpress-2-7-coming-tomorrow/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/wordpress-2-7-coming-tomorrow/#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"><a href="http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/27-gets-here-in-two-days/"><img hspace="4" height="334" width="550" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/wp-2.7-rc1.jpg" alt="WordPress 2.7 RC1" /></a><br /></div> <strong>Edit: </strong>As <a href="http://ma.tt">Matt</a> was kind enough to point out, WordPress<strong>.com </strong>will see the roll out of WordPress 2.7 sometime this evening. There is no official word on when WordPress.org will release the self-hosted version, though the first release candidate <a href="http://wordpress.org/development/2008/12/wordpress-27-release-candidate-1/">is available now</a>. -- CEW<br />--<br />It's a bit behind schedule, but <a href="http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/27-gets-here-in-two-days/">WordPress 2.7 is due out tomorrow evening</a>. Automattic, the company behind the popular blogging platform put out the first release candidate version of WordPress 2.7 just a few days ago, but a beta version has been <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/11/06/first-look-at-wordpress-2-7-beta-2/">available for the last few months</a>.<br /><br />WordPress 2.7 represents a huge shift away from earlier versions of WordPress - at least in the administration area. Most of the changes will be visible to bloggers, but not blog readers. But the changes in the admin area are huge. First, the navigation menus have all been moved to the left side of the screen, giving you more room at the top of the page. The submenus are all also collapsible, which allows you to navigate the administration interface without reloading the page as often.<br /><br />You can also customize the admin area by dragging, dropping, adding, or deleting widgets like the Right Now screen which gives you an overview of your blog stats or the QuickPress widget which lets you create a post using a stripped down WYSIWYG editor right from the start page.<br /><br />WordPress 2.7 also lets you search for and install plugins without leaving the admin area. And for the first time, an automatic upgrade tool is included in WordPress so you can upgrade to WordPress 2.7.1 or 2.8 or whatever new versions are on the horizon without having to fire up an FTP client. <br /><br />The upgrade tool also means that if you just can't wait until tomorrow to try out the new version of WordPress you can install the release candidate today and initiate an automatic upgrade tomorrow. For some reason WordPress still does not provide a simple way to backup your database before upgrading though, so you may want to <a href="http://www.ilfilosofo.com/blog/wp-db-backup">install a third party plugin</a> to backup your data before upgrading just in case something goes wrong.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/wordpress-2-7-coming-tomorrow/">WordPress 2.7 coming tomorrow</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://en.blog.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/27-gets-here-in-two-days/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/wordpress-2-7-coming-tomorrow/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1389909/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/wordpress-2-7-coming-tomorrow/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/ss-X-oZiraRFZK6Ye9-dVrRQl1Q/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/ss-X-oZiraRFZK6Ye9-dVrRQl1Q/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=dAH3mC0c"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=dAH3mC0c" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=CUHkVFzQ"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=CUHkVFzQ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/sOVCENltbZs" height="1" width="1"/>automatticbloggingwordpresswordpress-2.7Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/wordpress-2-7-coming-tomorrow/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/CZuvUw7UnO8/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/greasemonkey-script-adds-pirate-bay-links-to-amazon-pages/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/greasemonkey-script-adds-pirate-bay-links-to-amazon-pages/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/p2p/" rel="tag">P2P</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/browser/" rel="tag">Browsers</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://pirates-of-the-amazon.com/#download"><img hspace="4" height="314" width="550" vspace="4" border="0" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/pamaz.jpg" alt="" /></a></div> If you're looking to either make your Pirate Bay downloading a little more like traditional shopping or a way to avoid spending money at Amazon.com, a new Greasemonkey script is ready to answer the call.<br /><br /><a href="http://pirates-of-the-amazon.com/#download">Pirates of the Amazon</a> works by inserting a direct download link below the title of the product you're currently viewing. Of course it works with movies and albums, but it also does an admirable job finding software and books.<br /><br />The download link points directly to the .torrent file, so you won't even have to view the Pirate Bay page for a particular item. Their crew doesn't mind a bit.<br /><br />"We love scripts like that. Sharing is good, [and we] don't really care if people end up on our download page or take the torrent itself directly. It's easier for the people to get it directly, but they miss the meta data that is surrounding the torrent file (comments and so on can be helpful)."<br /><br />This isn't the first script of this kind, obviously. Others exist that perform the same function with <a href="http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/11540">IMDB</a> and <a href="http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/22689">Rotten Tomatoes</a>, and a quick tag search at Userscripts.org for '<a href="http://userscripts.org/tags/torrent">torrent</a>" reveals several others.<br /><br />It's an interesting script, but I'll keep searching <a href="http://nowtorrents.com">NowTorrents</a> for now.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/greasemonkey-script-adds-pirate-bay-links-to-amazon-pages/">Greasemonkey script adds Pirate Bay links to Amazon pages</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://pirates-of-the-amazon.com/#download>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/greasemonkey-script-adds-pirate-bay-links-to-amazon-pages/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1389805/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/greasemonkey-script-adds-pirate-bay-links-to-amazon-pages/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/GUuYNwKs5wJqxF-0EyewoOTNTkU/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/GUuYNwKs5wJqxF-0EyewoOTNTkU/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=LHdS2ikQ"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=LHdS2ikQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=DRw685U0"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=DRw685U0" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/CZuvUw7UnO8" height="1" width="1"/>amazonmoviesmusicp2ppirate-baytorrentsWed, 03 Dec 2008 09:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/03/greasemonkey-script-adds-pirate-bay-links-to-amazon-pages/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/TIJW9AE7Mm4/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/windows-market-share-reaches-new-low-89-6/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/windows-market-share-reaches-new-low-89-6/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/news/" rel="tag">News</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></p><div align="center"><br /></div> <div align="center"><a href="http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8"><img hspace="4" height="216" width="534" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/windows-share.jpg" alt="Windows Market Share" /></a><br /></div> If you gauged the market share of various operating systems by counting the number of Macs vs PCs you see in the typical urban coffee shop, you'd probably believe that Apple and Microsoft were duking it out like Republicans and Democrats in a close US presidential election. <br /><br />But the truth of the matter is that Microsoft is <em>the</em> dominant company when it comes to consumer oriented computers. In fact, according to Net Applications, a company that tracks these things, Microsoft had <a href="http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8">more than 90% of the market share</a>. Until last month, anyway.<br /><br />In November, 2008, Microsoft's market share dipped to 89.62%. Which is to say, Microsoft's Windows operating systems still dwarf the nearest competitors, Mac OS X and Linux. But a slightly smaller percentage of people who visited web sites tracked by Net Applications in November were using the operating system.<br /><br />Net Applications reports that OS X has also seen a slight jump in usage, and that Windows Vista use is up while Windows XP use is down. More than 20% of computer users were running Windows Vista for the first time in November.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&amp;articleId=9121938">Computer World</a> and <a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/02/1857253&amp;from=rss">Slashdot</a>]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/windows-market-share-reaches-new-low-89-6/">Windows market share reaches new low - 89.6%</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:50:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/windows-market-share-reaches-new-low-89-6/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1389057/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/windows-market-share-reaches-new-low-89-6/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/iuJgFm12wQ9rvHNUfBMRt9eGrQI/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/iuJgFm12wQ9rvHNUfBMRt9eGrQI/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=GCgi5kBU"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=GCgi5kBU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=sIlNeB1r"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=sIlNeB1r" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/TIJW9AE7Mm4" height="1" width="1"/>linuxmac-os-xmarket-sharenet-applicationsos-xwindowswindows-vistawindows-xpTue, 02 Dec 2008 16:50:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/windows-market-share-reaches-new-low-89-6/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/-qzWCBNFK2k/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/ask-dls-vista-sp2-beta-released-does-the-public-care/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/ask-dls-vista-sp2-beta-released-does-the-public-care/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/os-updates/" rel="tag">OS Updates</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/ask-dls/" rel="tag">Ask DLS</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/beta/" rel="tag">Beta</a></p><div align="center"><img hspace="4" height="247" width="370" vspace="4" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/visbe.jpg" /></div> While most people probably don't care what Microsoft does to patch or improve Windows Vista any more, Service Pack 2 is now available to Technet and MSDN subscribers and is slated for public release on December 4th.<br /><br />Could SP2 actually take care of some of the irritations that have plagued other Vista users? Perhaps more importantly, does anyone really care? <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/tag/Vista/">Vista</a> has been taking such a beating in the media that it seems as though no one will. Prevailing sentiment seems to be that Vista should be ignored and left to die while development on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/tag/Windows7/">Windows 7</a> continues.<br /><br />While enhancements like Windows Search 4.0, native Blu-Ray media burning, improved wireless, and Bluetooth 2.1 support are great, I've yet to see any perception-altering features mentioned.<br /><br />Personally, I've never <em>hated </em>Vista, and I've been able to work through or disable any of the annoyances I've encoutered (like UAC). I recently installed Ultimate x64 and I've been enjoying quite a bit. Photoshop CS4 runs like a dream, and <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/11/26/eset-smart-security-beta-4-available-for-download/">Eset recently released a beta</a> of my favorite internet security suite. <br /><br />My Vista install is running just fine right now, but if SP2 can tweak my system's performance or squeeze a few more minutes of battery life out of my laptop, then I'm all for it.<br /><br />What are your thoughts? Do you think Vista SP2 will do anything to really improve the OS, or does it stink of a last-ditch effort to "salvage" the experiment?<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/ask-dls-vista-sp2-beta-released-does-the-public-care/">Ask DLS: Vista SP2 Beta released: Does the public care?</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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/2008/12/02/ask-dls-vista-sp2-beta-released-does-the-public-care/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1388903/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/ask-dls-vista-sp2-beta-released-does-the-public-care/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/QmRoMb602V8i22nlnqtcnafY1bo/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/QmRoMb602V8i22nlnqtcnafY1bo/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=zz2QNx9G"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=zz2QNx9G" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=G8ek2awF"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=G8ek2awF" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/-qzWCBNFK2k" height="1" width="1"/>betaservice-packsp2updatesvistaTue, 02 Dec 2008 15:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/ask-dls-vista-sp2-beta-released-does-the-public-care/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/tHBGXE44hCo/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/songbird-1-0-released/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/songbird-1-0-released/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/audio/" rel="tag">Audio</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/freeware/" rel="tag">Freeware</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/open-source/" rel="tag">Open Source</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://getsongbird.com/"><img hspace="4" height="418" width="550" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/songbird-1.jpg" alt="Songbird 1.0" /></a><br /></div> Just over a month after the <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/11/05/songbird-1-0-rc1-now-available/">first release candidate</a> made its ways to the masses, <a href="http://getsongbird.com/">Songbird 1.0</a> is available for download. Songbird is an open source music player built on Mozilla code. <br /><br />The cross-platform music player comes in Mac, Windows, and Linux versions, and can handle playback of most music formats. Like most Mozilla-based software, Songbird supports plugins, including a QuickTime Playback plugin that adds the ability to play music purchased from the iTunes store. There's also a plugin that allows you to sync your music with portable media players including an iPod.<br /><br />Songbird is much more than a music player. It's also an online music browser. You can visit web sites using the built in browser and automatically stream or download MP3 music from those pages. And thanks to the <a href="http://www.last.fm">Last.fm</a> integration, you can get additional information about songs and artists you're playing, or stream related songs from Last.fm.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/songbird-1-0-released/">Songbird 1.0 released</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:14:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://getsongbird.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/songbird-1-0-released/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1388949/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/songbird-1-0-released/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/CRvFTAPVb9F3fCKm240KSzBZ_0g/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/CRvFTAPVb9F3fCKm240KSzBZ_0g/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=WtFDIx7B"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=WtFDIx7B" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=Rp9iGdyz"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=Rp9iGdyz" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/tHBGXE44hCo" height="1" width="1"/>itunesmozillamusicsongbirdsongbird-1.0Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:14:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/songbird-1-0-released/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/X2qCUQlzJm0/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/a-few-days-later-a-better-notifier-ding-its-up/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/a-few-days-later-a-better-notifier-ding-its-up/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/productivity/" rel="tag">Productivity</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://dingitsup.com"><img vspace="8" hspace="8" border="0" align="middle" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/dingitsup.jpg" /></a><br /></div> It seems like only yesterday that I was <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/11/30/notify-me-when-its-up/">writing about Notify Me When It's Up</a>, a site that lets you know by email when a website comes back online. Actually, it was a few days ago, but someone has already built a fancier version of Notify Me. It's called <a href="http://dingitsup.com">Ding, It's Up</a>, and it adds SMS and Twitter notification options, and tells you when a site goes either up or down. Despite my praise of Notify Me's minimal approach, I am forced to concede that Ding outdoes it.<br /><br />I previously commented that it was nice that Notify Me keeps things simple, even though it could have added more features, or incorporated the functionality of Down For Everyone Just Me. I guess the creators of Ding, It's Up are basically sticking their tongues out at me, because they've done just that, and it's actually pretty neat. Just don't use it to sign up to receive updates by Twitter about when Twitter is down. You might want to use <a href="http://istwitterdown.com">Is Twitter Down?</a> for that.<br /><br /><strong>UPDATE:</strong> No more Notify Me When It's Up! Now the URL just redirects to Ding. <em>Thanks, Sanjay.</em><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/a-few-days-later-a-better-notifier-ding-its-up/">A few days later, a better notifier: Ding, It's Up</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://dingitsup.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/a-few-days-later-a-better-notifier-ding-its-up/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1388620/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/a-few-days-later-a-better-notifier-ding-its-up/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/i2LutDliMaTyOcETj7seaJy9a0c/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/i2LutDliMaTyOcETj7seaJy9a0c/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=nzpv4VKd"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=nzpv4VKd" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=SnOE8Gb2"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=SnOE8Gb2" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/X2qCUQlzJm0" height="1" width="1"/>alertsding-its-upemailemail notifierEmailNotifiernotifynotify-me-when-its-upsmsTue, 02 Dec 2008 13:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/a-few-days-later-a-better-notifier-ding-its-up/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/aXpWgRW42a0/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/microsoft-adds-similar-images-feature-to-live-search-images/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/microsoft-adds-similar-images-feature-to-live-search-images/#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>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/microsoft/" rel="tag">Microsoft</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/search/" rel="tag">Search</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web/" rel="tag">Web</a></p><div align="center"><img hspace="4" height="443" width="550" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/msn-image-search.jpg" alt="Live Search Images" /><br /></div> When you're using a search engine to find what you're looking for, you're probably used to typing a query, looking at the results, and refining your query. Every now and again you might even click a button that says it will show you similar results. Now Microsoft has <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/livesearch/archive/2008/12/01/using-images-to-find-other-images.aspx">added a button</a> with exactly that feature to the company's image search engine. <br /><br />When you conduct a search using Live Search Images, you can hover your mouse over any image and click the "show similar images" button. To be honest, it's a bit tricky to tell exactly what this does. Because if you've searched for something like "stick" you're probably already looking at a window filled with pictures of sticks. If you click the similar images button, you'll wind up on another page with images filled with sticks. That said, when I said I wanted to see similar images to a stick bug, I did get another picture of an insect - and several pictures of <span style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" class="Apple-style-span">deodorant</span>, glue sticks, and stick figures.<br /><br />If you're looking for a more advanced image comparison service, check out <a href="http://tineye.com/login">TinEye</a>, a beta site that allows you to upload a picture and find images on the internet that are compositionally similar. <br /><br />[via <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/12/find-similar-images-using-live-search.html">Google Operating System</a>]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/microsoft-adds-similar-images-feature-to-live-search-images/">Microsoft adds similar images feature to Live Search Images</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://blogs.msdn.com/livesearch/archive/2008/12/01/using-images-to-find-other-images.aspx>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/microsoft-adds-similar-images-feature-to-live-search-images/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1388540/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/microsoft-adds-similar-images-feature-to-live-search-images/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/h_ddsi6WLuGs4izy2GX93WijBvA/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/h_ddsi6WLuGs4izy2GX93WijBvA/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=ejHUSjZk"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=ejHUSjZk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=cXwPNnLX"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=cXwPNnLX" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/aXpWgRW42a0" height="1" width="1"/>image-searchlive-searchlive-search-imagessearchtineyeTue, 02 Dec 2008 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/microsoft-adds-similar-images-feature-to-live-search-images/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/wPf-0Xvl3UM/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/burn-downloaded-videos-easily-with-dvdcoach-express/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/burn-downloaded-videos-easily-with-dvdcoach-express/#comments<div align="center"><a href="http://www.kibisoft.com/"><img hspace="4" height="244" width="400" vspace="4" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/dvdc.jpg" /></a><br /> <div align="left"><br />One of the most frequent questions I get asked by retail customers is "Where can I get a program that burns my movies?" Nine times out of ten they actually mean "the movies I downloaded with Limewire."<br /><br />If you're in the same boat and need a nice, simple app to convert and burn your downloaded video files to DVD, take a look at <a href="http://www.kibisoft.com/">DVDCoach Express</a>.<br /><br />It's a free application for Windows that utilizes <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/07/flipping-the-linux-switch-zomg-ffmpeg/">ffmpeg</a> to handle conversion duties. The process is straightforward: drag your videos onto the file pane, set your encoding options, and start your task. Options are kept to a minimum: you can select PAL or NTSC, 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio, and the encoding quality.<br /><br />DVDCoach's simplicity is key, because I've already got enough software support calls to answer.<br /><br />On the high setting, four 150mb clips converted and burned in about 40 minutes. It runs on XP and Vista, and didn't have any issues on my x64 install.</div> </div><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/burn-downloaded-videos-easily-with-dvdcoach-express/">Burn downloaded videos easily with DVDCoach Express</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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.kibisoft.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/burn-downloaded-videos-easily-with-dvdcoach-express/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1388517/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/burn-downloaded-videos-easily-with-dvdcoach-express/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/ygZCcVANL4qhYCR-TorASHQeXLw/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/ygZCcVANL4qhYCR-TorASHQeXLw/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=iHfg2l1s"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=iHfg2l1s" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=Mrux0Zyf"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=Mrux0Zyf" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/wPf-0Xvl3UM" height="1" width="1"/>aviconversiondivxdvdffmpegmpegvideoTue, 02 Dec 2008 11:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/burn-downloaded-videos-easily-with-dvdcoach-express/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/kw0b8YlHGRQ/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/drawminos-domino-knockdown-simulator-time-waster/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/drawminos-domino-knockdown-simulator-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/time-waster/" rel="tag">Time-Wasters</a></p><a href="http://drawminos.com"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/11/drawminos1.jpg" alt="" /></a>If you're like me, you rarely played dominos properly as a kid. Instead, you just built elaborate chains and knocked them down, Domino Rally style. <a href="http://drawminos.com">Drawminos</a> is a site that lets you virtually relive those fun times, building and saving different domino setups, so you can watch them fall whenever you want. The best part? You don't have to set the dominos back up when you're done. <br /><br />If I have a complaint about Drawminos, it's that it's tedious to pick up a new domino every time you want to place one. It would be fun to have a domino tool you could just hold down and drag. I guess that part of the simulation is a bit too realistic for me. On the other hand, you won't run out dominos like you would in real life.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/drawminos-domino-knockdown-simulator-time-waster/">Drawminos: domino knockdown simulator! - Time Waster</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://drawminos.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/drawminos-domino-knockdown-simulator-time-waster/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1385902/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/drawminos-domino-knockdown-simulator-time-waster/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/nmjMuZ4L1A3vezlv_X6gvejAg8k/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/nmjMuZ4L1A3vezlv_X6gvejAg8k/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=HWUt3inx"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=HWUt3inx" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=tThGQml0"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=tThGQml0" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/kw0b8YlHGRQ" height="1" width="1"/>dominosdrawminosgameTue, 02 Dec 2008 10:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/drawminos-domino-knockdown-simulator-time-waster/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/TjlFIKCICcg/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/find-play-and-download-web-music-with-songbeat/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/find-play-and-download-web-music-with-songbeat/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/audio/" rel="tag">Audio</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/windows/" rel="tag">Windows</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="http://www.songbeatplayer.com/en/"><img hspace="4" height="350" width="550" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" alt="Songbeat" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/songbeat.jpg" /></a><br /></div> <a href="http://www.songbeatplayer.com/en/">Songbeat</a> is a desktop application for accessing web-based music search and discovery services including <a href="http://www.seeqpod.com/">Seeqpod</a>, <a href="http://www.playlist.com/">Project Playlist</a>, <a href="http://spool.fm/">SpoolFM</a>, and <a href="http://www.last.fm">Last.fm</a> without a web browser.<br /><br />When you fire up the application you're greeted with a search box. Just type an artist or song title and Songbeat will attempt to find songs from the music search engines mentioned plus a few more. Or you can click on the Station tab and enter an artist or song title to launch a Last.fm audio stream. <br /><br />Songbeat lets you listen to as many songs as you want for free. But you can also use the program to download music or record audio from Last.fm. Once you hit 25 downloads, you'll have to pony up some cash to keep downloading the free music. A full license costs 19,99 Euros or $29.99 US. <br /><br />There are a few kinks to be worked out. While I found the search and playback features worked fairly well, once I tried recording an audio track Songbeat went hog wild and started downloading a bunch of songs I hadn't asked for. In a matter of minutes all of my 25 free downloads were used up.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/01/songbeat-makes-searching-for-music-online-really-simple/">TechCrunch</a>]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/find-play-and-download-web-music-with-songbeat/">Find, play, and download web music with Songbeat</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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.songbeatplayer.com/en/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/find-play-and-download-web-music-with-songbeat/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1387873/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/find-play-and-download-web-music-with-songbeat/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/C2bQ-7OEK7S-mivPHIZ9CzTqN_k/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/C2bQ-7OEK7S-mivPHIZ9CzTqN_k/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=P7ht7De2"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=P7ht7De2" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=aQx5fEec"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=aQx5fEec" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/TjlFIKCICcg" height="1" width="1"/>last.fmmusicproject-playlistseeqpodsongbeatspoolfmTue, 02 Dec 2008 09:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/find-play-and-download-web-music-with-songbeat/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/bytnxcl9FbU/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/myspace-flock-and-vidoop-release-openid-for-flock-plugin/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/myspace-flock-and-vidoop-release-openid-for-flock-plugin/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/web-services/" rel="tag">Web services</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/open-source/" rel="tag">Open Source</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><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="0" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/openidcew.png" alt="" /><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/tag/openid/">OpenID</a> is a really great concept. The ability to use a single digital identity across the web and avoid having to sign up for yet another user account is a real productivity boon. More and more high profile sites and services are adopting <a href="http://openid.net">OpenID</a>, but the project still hasn't gained the traction that many of us think it deserves. This is partially because it still isn't easy to use OpenID -- or even find out if a site supports OpenID -- on all services. MySpace, Flock and Vidoop think they've come across a solution: let the browser handle it.<br /><br />Back in June, <a href="http://myspace.com">MySpace</a> <a href="http://openid.net/2008/07/25/myspace-announces-support-for-openid/">announced support</a> for OpenID and also became an OpenID provider. In order to help users more easily manage their online identity across other sites and services, MySpace teamed up with <a href="http://vidoop.com/">Flock</a> and <a href="http://vidoop.com/">Vidoop</a> to create OpenID for Flock, available today at <a href="https://extensions.flock.com">https://extensions.flock.com</a>. OpenID for Flock is an open source plugin, part of the larger Identity in the Browser (<a href="http://code.google.com/p/idib/">IDIB</a>) project which is focused on having the browser, not the user handle, authenticate and mange multiple user identities.<br /><br />I had the chance to demo the plugin yesterday and it is pretty cool. Essentially, once installed an OpenID icon appears on the right of Flock's chrome bar. The extension scans a page for OpenID compatibility, and if a site supports OpenID, the icon starts to glow. You can then automatically choose to populate the OpenID fields with your designated OpenID URL or associate that site with a specific OpenID account. You can manage all of your OpenIDs, choose what sites to associate certain profiles with and view the login history and OpenID-to-site-relationship with each site.<br /><br /><br /><p><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/myspace-flock-and-vidoop-release-openid-for-flock-plugin/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>MySpace, Flock and Vidoop release OpenID for Flock plugin</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/myspace-flock-and-vidoop-release-openid-for-flock-plugin/">MySpace, Flock and Vidoop release OpenID for Flock plugin</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:12:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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=https://extensions.flock.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/myspace-flock-and-vidoop-release-openid-for-flock-plugin/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1388421/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/myspace-flock-and-vidoop-release-openid-for-flock-plugin/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/J_vjH2BbC7GyfFNuec8jCqk2e1s/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/J_vjH2BbC7GyfFNuec8jCqk2e1s/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=1Gc5Ga2l"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=1Gc5Ga2l" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=QJkc5cfT"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=QJkc5cfT" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/bytnxcl9FbU" height="1" width="1"/>extensionflockmyspaceopenidpluginvidoopTue, 02 Dec 2008 08:12:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/02/myspace-flock-and-vidoop-release-openid-for-flock-plugin/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/IMMHIX4AsJ8/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/winflog-powers-up-your-windows-context-menus/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/winflog-powers-up-your-windows-context-menus/#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://winflog.wikidot.com/"><img hspace="4" height="351" width="550" vspace="4" border="0" align="top" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/winflog.jpg" alt="WinFlog" /></a><br /></div> <a href="http://www.download.com/WinFlog/3000-2344_4-10803299.html">WinFlog Extreme</a> is a tiny Windows utility that lets you add a handful of useful items to your right-click context menus. That includes the ability to turn Aero desktop effects on or off in Windows Vista, eject a CD or DVD, or turn on the Flip 3D Windows switcher in Windows Vista. You can also add an option to turn off your display from the context menu. Don't worry, it will come back on as soon as you move your mouse.<br /><br />The utility lets you pull up these features when you right click your My Computer icon, when you right click on your desktop or a Windows Explorer Window, or when you click your middle mouse button or scroll wheel. <br /><br />The only feature that actually seems to work for Windows XP users is the option to turn off the monitor by right-clicking on the My Computer icon. So if you're running Windows XP, I'd recommend downloading the lite version of <a href="http://www.download.com/WinFlog/3000-2344_4-10803299.html">WinFlog</a>, which offers just a few features, rather than the full WinFlog Extreme. Of course, both versions take up less than half a megabyte, so unless you're on a dialup connection where every KB counts, you might want to just go ahead and splurge and get the full version.<br /><br />[via <a href="http://www.download.com/8301-2007_4-10109149-12.html?part=rss&amp;tag=feed&amp;subj=TheDownloadBlog">Download.com</a>]<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/winflog-powers-up-your-windows-context-menus/">WinFlog powers up your Windows context menus</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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://winflog.wikidot.com/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/winflog-powers-up-your-windows-context-menus/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1387839/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/winflog-powers-up-your-windows-context-menus/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/RSbG8NM1xPsi4SRc2ZoEYlP8JX0/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/RSbG8NM1xPsi4SRc2ZoEYlP8JX0/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=Ev8cvs1S"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=Ev8cvs1S" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=1lYOQTyb"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=1lYOQTyb" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/IMMHIX4AsJ8" height="1" width="1"/>context-menuwinflogMon, 01 Dec 2008 18:00:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/winflog-powers-up-your-windows-context-menus/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~3/Gy3SeJ0Vbqc/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/pownce-gets-pwned-six-apart-acquires-and-plans-to-shutter-servi/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/pownce-gets-pwned-six-apart-acquires-and-plans-to-shutter-servi/#comments<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/news/" rel="tag">News</a>, <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/category/blogging/" rel="tag">Blogging</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"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="0" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/12/pownce-logo-tagline.png" alt="" /><br /></div> <br />Do you still use your <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/tag/pownce/">Pownce</a> account? I stopped using mine months ago. I don't even know if I remember the password. If you do still use <a href="http://pownce.com">Pownce</a>, the <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/07/02/pownce-up-close-and-personal/">Twitter-like microblogging service</a> that just never seemed to capitalize on its early hype, start preparing to migrate to something new. Today, <a href="http://sixpart.com">Six Apart</a>, the company behind Movable Type, TypePad and Vox, <a href="http://www.sixapart.com/blog/2008/12/welcome-pownce-team.html">announced</a> that it has acquired Pownce and will be <a href="http://blog.pownce.com/2008/12/01/goodbye-pownce-hello-six-apart/">shuttering the service in two weeks</a>. Lead Pownce developers Leah Culver and Mike Malone will continue on at Six Apart, where presumably some of Pownce's features will be rolled into <a href="http://www.vox.com/">Vox</a>.<br /><br />Hey, at least there is Twitter! Seriously though, Pownce's failure is proof that hype alone will not make a product or company a success. As our own Nik Fletcher pointed out, Pownce is the perfect example of how NOT having a useful API at launch or soon thereafter is a huge mistake. Especially if you are trying to do the whole microblogging thing. <br /><br />Not to get all <a href="http://valleywag.com">Valleywag</a>, but didn't Six Apart just <a href="http://www.sixapart.com/blog/2008/11/changes-at-six-apart.html">lay off 8% of its staff</a>, like three weeks ago? I don't know the particulars of either situation -- but simply on the surface, that's cold. Did something miraculously change or was this part of the plan the whole time?<br /><br />If you are worried about losing your messages once Pownce powers down its service, the Pownce team has created an <a href="http://pownce.com/settings/export/">export tool</a> which will generate a file (I'm guess its XML. I haven't had a chance to look at it) that can then be imported into Vox, WordPress or TypePad.<br /><br />Fittingly, the discussion of Pownce's demise is much more active on Twitter and Friendfeed than on Pownce itself.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/pownce-gets-pwned-six-apart-acquires-and-plans-to-shutter-servi/">Pownce gets pwned: Six Apart acquires and plans to shutter service</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com">Download Squad</a> on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:20:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</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.sixapart.com/blog/2008/12/welcome-pownce-team.html>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/pownce-gets-pwned-six-apart-acquires-and-plans-to-shutter-servi/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/forward/1387733/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/pownce-gets-pwned-six-apart-acquires-and-plans-to-shutter-servi/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/zP5hJqYeymSyWSCWuf5vbSMkmco/a"><img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/zP5hJqYeymSyWSCWuf5vbSMkmco/i" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=tT5p2mCu"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=tT5p2mCu" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?a=rHhbzEIS"><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/weblogsinc/downloadsquad?i=rHhbzEIS" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/downloadsquad/~4/Gy3SeJ0Vbqc" height="1" width="1"/>pownceshut downShutDownsix apartSixAparttwittervoxMon, 01 Dec 2008 17:20:00 ESThttp://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/12/01/pownce-gets-pwned-six-apart-acquires-and-plans-to-shutter-servi/