Download Squad Week in Review

It's been a busy week here at Download Squad HQ. We produced our first ever Squadcast, spent way too much time playing with our new Eee PC, and drafted a plan for fixing our parents' broken computer over the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Here's what you might have missed if you weren't paying attention this week. And shame on you for that, by the way.

The Squadcast: Episode #01

Download Squad's Grant Robertson and Christina Warren got together to talk shop. On the menu this week, first impressions and problems with OS X Leopard, the Eee PC, and using IMAP with Gmail. As you can probably guess from the title, this is the first episode of the Squadcat, but it will not be the last.

Eee PC tips: A crash course in Linux

Last week we gave you a first look at the new $400, Linux-based Eee PC from Asus. This week we started digging into the software and figuring out how to configure the Eee PC to make it act a bit less like a toy and more like a computer. If you're new to Linux, this tutorial is a must read.



iTunes Alternatives

Apple's iTunes is a great, free application for managing your music and syncing with an iPod. But while it runs great on the Mac (no surprises there), it can be a bit of a resource hog on Windows. And there's no Linux option. We take a look at some of the best alternatives to iTunes for each platform.

Troubleshooting 101: How to fix the family computer and save your holiday

Heading home for the holidays? If you're the de facto tech support person for your family, you might want to stock up on a few useful freeware apps that you can use to diagnose and repair your parents' busted PC.

Emoze to launch pro and enterprise push email services

For the past year, Emoze has been offering a free push email service to customers who wanted instant notification of new emails on their cellphones but didn't want to buy a BlackBerry. We've kind of always wondered what their long term business plan was, (There's not a lot of money in free), and we got a chance to ask Emoze chairman Naftali Shani about the company's plans to launch low-cost subscription services soon.

Other hot topics on Download Squad this week:

• Get your @live.com email address
• Technology Solutions for common travel problems
  
• Verizon FiOS customers getting searchjacked
• Using Thunderbird with Gmail IMAP
• Google Hacks helps you find what you're looking for
• TwitterSearch: find your friends on Twitter without inviting them
• Make a Facebook App or Widget from any web site
  

Tags: eee-pc, emoze, fios, itunes, linux, troubleshooting, verizon, weekendreview