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Filed under: Utilities, E-mail

b2 GMail Notifier brings insipid Incredimail style alerts to your webmail


So you've switched to GMail but pine for the days of yore when that snooty butler hand delivered your new Incredimail messages to you? Well, you're in luck!

Among the dozens of options available for GMail inbox alerts is b2 Notifier. Think of it as a combination of one part something Download Squad readers love (GMail) and two parts things they hate with a passion (Adobe Air and Incredimail).

And unlike Incredimail, since this baby is built on Air that means it will run on all three major OSes. Isn't that awesome news?! Yeah, I didn't think so either. I've built up an aversion to apps like this over the years.

It never fails that a system which can barely run the diagnostic and cleanup apps I throw at it will have Incredimail (or some other cheesey animated alerter - RIP, Bonzi Buddy) installed. And it also never fails that they'll start popping up with great frequency the moment I need to dig in.

But hey, to each his/her own. If you love sappy happy animated shenanigans, b2 Notifier should be right up your alley. And, in truth, if this app would actually convince some of my customers to switch from Incredimail to GMail, I'd be all for it.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, E-mail

Scott's GMail Alert is a kick-ass GMail, Google Calendar, and RSS notifier


Plenty of apps will give you a simple tap on the shoulder when new mail arrives arrives in your GMail inbox. There's GMail Assistant, GMail Notifier, GMail Notifier Plus, and of course Google offers their own app.

Today's entrant into the battle for GMail notification supremacy -- Scott's Gmail Alert -- has a lot going for it. Way more than just the fact that it doesn't use the word notifier in its name.

SGA can check up to five different GMail accounts including those in your Google Apps domains. Set custom color for your accounts and create as many as ten special alerts to make sure emails from VIPs stand out. Font settings can also be customized, and Aero Glass is supported on Windows 7 and Vista.

Read more →

Filed under: Utilities, Apple

Snarl: Growl-like notification system for Windows

Mac users love Growl, a global alert system that displays notifications from your favorite apps for various events (like a new email message or a completed download). Now Windows users can get in on the fun, with Snarl. While Snarl isn't a straight-up Growl clone, it provides a lot of the same features, like customizable notification styles.

Snarl isn't completely new, but the last time Download Squad covered it (in 2007), it wasn't ready for the bigtime. The only notifications available were for iTunes and a clock app. Now it works on apps like Firefox, Pidgin, iTunes, and Windows Live Messenger. Some of the available notification styles are also quite nice, rivaling even Growl's selection.

[via InstantFundas]

Filed under: Fun, Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Freeware

Torment (or help) your users with MsgBoxToy's Windows alert boxes


While there are certainly some good ways to put MsgBoxToy to use - say, prompting users to save their work or take a computing break - it's also a lot of fun to create dialog boxes simply to mess with your co-workers.

The program's interface is incredibly simple: choose a title, enter up to four lines of text, and enter button labels. You can also select the type of icon to display: stop, alert, question, or information. Click the make button to preview your work, and then save it to a file.

Running [the path to MsgBoxToy]\msgboxtoy.exe /text.txt launches your message. Make sure to give your message a test run, as Windows' security may ask you to confirm the run command. Just untick the always ask box and that will be the end of that.

Because MsgBox uses a command line switch to display alerts, it plays well with the Windows Task Scheduler. With Vista and Windows 7's support for on event tasks, MsgBoxToy can actually be put to very good use in a workplace setting.

It's a quick, easy way to create Windows message boxes. Whether you use your new software powers for good or evil is entirely up to you.

Filed under: Fun, Internet

Never miss a Woot! with these handy trackers

Woot trackers

If you're a fan of the deal-of-the-day Web site Woot! then you know Woot-offs (like, ahem, today!) are a big deal. That's when the deal-of-the-day becomes the "the deal that changes at random intervals throughout the day." There are some great bargains to be had -- if you have the time to babysit the site all day and wait for the new deal to be announced.

If you have, you know, a life, then download these handy Woot watcher tools and put them to work for you. The Windows-only Woot Agent pops up a notification on your screen when an item changes or sells out, while the Woot.com Widget for Mac lets you order the newest deal right from your dashboard.

What method do you use to make sure you never miss the Bandolier of Carrots?

Filed under: Internet, Text, Freeware, Social Software

Loopnote launches


Loopnote is a way to keep everyone in the loop. You setup your group of friends, fans, band members, family, whatever, and Loopnote will basically broadcast alerts to everyone via RSS, SMS, Email, or IM. Fused with the ability to search or browse loopnotes socially, you can subscribe to notes from other users. Honestly, I am not quite sure what the value is to that right now, unless you already know the person. Most of the loopnotes available for perusal are podcast-wannabes it seem like. A way for people with too much to say to say stuff across multi-protocols and people will want to receive notes like this? Doesn't quite make sense, but this isn't the service's focus, simply the content that exists in the directory. I could see many bands using this as a free way to let fans know about upcoming shows and other such applications.

Filed under: Hardware, News

Toshiba recalls 340,000 Sony batteries

ToshibaToshiba now recalls 340,000 laptop batteries that were made by Sony and were shipped with laptops made between March and May this year. The BBC states that the batteries may lose all their power. This is the largest battery recall in computer history (if you hadn't heard), and Toshiba joins an list of companies whom Sony has effectively screwed with bad batteries. The recall is in effect for Dynabook and Dynabook Satellite notebooks where in rare cases the batteries would simply lose power. There is no risk on overheating or catching fire for Toshiba's version of the batteries known, so this problem isn't quite so explosive, literally.

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So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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