One of the only features some of us here like about Windows is that you can alt-ctrl-del and look at the open tasks and programs running at any given time.

It's nice to know what's sucking up all of your memory (pr0n) and what's bogging down your processor (DVD burning).

Sloth for Mac OS X shows us exactly what's running, Windows style.

You can see which application is running which process, reveal the directory it's running out of, and kill it off if you want. If you're super geeky and/or bored you can even look at the IP and Unix sockets to see what application is connecting to the interwebs at any given time.

This is a really handy dandy tool, and the source is available too for monkeying...er, slothing around.

One of the better parts about Sloth is that it's a Cocoa app, and runs nice and slick on your Mac.

[via chris pirillo]

Seems like the big guys could be getting in a little trouble for violating patents. Among them, AOL, Amazon, Borders, Google, IAC (ASK), and Yahoo have all been accused.

The charges from this IP-related company that stem from a patent infringement make notes about the violating parties implementing systems that 'comprise interpreting electronic messages with rule base and case base knowledge engines'. Whatever that means. The claim does outlay the method as well as steps involved for receiving an electronic message and interpreting the electronic message. We all know this is most likely an effort by said plaintiff to get a little green in their pockets the filthy lawyer way. Especially when the company involved, as well as a slew of other IP-related companies, are associated with the same attorney. And it also just so happens that the same company suing the above companies, has also filed patent lawsuits with Oracle and Sirius Satellite Radio. Some people have guesstimated the settlement amount to be in upwards up six and seven figures.

IP scanning is something that conjures up thoughts of nefarious hackers trying to find a vulnerable point on a network, but there are also totally legitimate reasons to do it. For example, you might find yourself dealing with a network that uses dynamic IP addresses, yet you need to remotely connect to a specific computer with VNC, or some other such remoting software.

Angry IP Scanner can make the job of scanning a set of IP addresses as simple as pie, and you'll be connecting to the right computer within moments to install the update, or help the user with their issue. It uses muilti-threading to speed up the process of scanning many IPs, making it about as quick as IP scanning can be.

The interface in Angry IP Scanner is as simple as it could be for a tool like this; the single-pane interface allows you to enter a range of IPs to be scanned, and once you start the scan, the IPs will scroll by in the window below.

In fact, the worst thing about Angry IP Scanner is the utility's name. Beware of offending your IT department's policies or at the very least their sensibilities if they happen to find this file sitting on your computer. Since it consists of a single executable file, it can be run just as easily from a USB memory stick as from the local hard drive.

Angry IP Scanner is a free Windows download.

So far, there is no IP routing in space. That's scheduled to change with the impending launch of the Department of Defense's Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) project.

Once in orbit, the first IRIS satellite will act like a router, feeding packets to other satellites and essentially creating the first permanent IP network in space. Limited ability to address orbiting birds has existed since the 1970s, but IRIS will make IP routing possible without individual downlinks.

What crazy applications can you picture for IP addressable birds?

Hopefully when 2006 is over in a couple weeks people will stop putting the word "Ajax" in their web apps' names. I love the things Ajax makes possible, but as a marketing tool it's no longer useful, folks. Regardless, Ajax DNS is a pretty handy tool. If you enter an IP address or hostname it will do a DNS lookup, WHOIS lookup, ARIN IP lookup, HTTP header check, spam blacklist check, ping, or DNS traversal check, all from the same page. All of these tools have been available elsewhere for a long time--DNS Stuff comes to mind--but Ajax DNS has a nice "one box" approach for simple and fast lookups. If you find yourself doing these sorts of checks often, Ajax DNS might be worth bookmarking.