Download Squad http://downloadsquad.switched.com Download Squad. http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/downloadsquad.switched.com/media/feedlogo.gif Download Squad http://downloadsquad.switched.com prods@weblogsinc.com (Weblogs, Inc. Producers) support@weblogsinc.com (Weblogs, Inc. Web Support) en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. View our terms of service here: http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/ Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ <![CDATA[Time Waster - Fast140 aka "How Badly and Fastly can you type?"]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2009/04/14/time-waster-fast140-aka-how-badly-and-fastly-can-you-type/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2009/04/14/time-waster-fast140-aka-how-badly-and-fastly-can-you-type/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2009/04/14/time-waster-fast140-aka-how-badly-and-fastly-can-you-type/#comments
So you think you can type fast, eh?

Not soooooooo fast. Here comes Fast140.

What is it you ask? Well, it recycles tweets from Twitter and turns them into a speed typing game. No longer will you be testing your speed to mundane and correctly spelled sentences like "The dog ran quickly.", now you get stuck with winners like the one pictured above.

Uhhh, I'm sorry what? I have to type........."Hero" by Enrique Iglesias? YES, I did. Ugh! Now that's a time waster my friends. And I loved every damn second of it.

This gem of an app comes via Philip Kaplan, aka "Pud", the fellow who brought us ummm....Effed Company. I can say Effed, right? I got the inside scoop by pinging him on Twitter naturally:

Continue reading Time Waster - Fast140 aka "How Badly and Fastly can you type?"

Filed under: , ,

Time Waster - Fast140 aka "How Badly and Fastly can you type?" originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> easterfast140gamephilip kaplanPhilipKaplanpudtimewastertwittertyping Drew Olanoff Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[iPhone App Tracker - What's on Yours?]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/15/iphone-app-tracker-whats-on-yours/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/15/iphone-app-tracker-whats-on-yours/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/15/iphone-app-tracker-whats-on-yours/#comments The Lockergnome brand and Chris Pirillo know their technology, and now they're opening the doors up to a new iPhone App tracking site just for you and run by you.

The idea is similar to Digg in that you can submit iPhone apps and people can vote them up or down, giving you a nice community snapshot of what app is performing, and what app isn't at any given time.

It also has implications for when new apps come out, and you want to be the first kid at school to get it.

Sure, you can read reviews in the Apple Store, but you don't get the full story like you do on a site with simplicity and ease of use.

It's rough around the edges but the idea seems clear. Submit, rate, and interact. But the difference here is that it's so granular and dedicated solely to iPhone Apps.

Chris gave us the early link to the Apple App Tracker too, and we'd like to see one for PC apps and maybe even Linux distributions. Since he can build communities, it'll be interesting to see how big of a community pops up around this new venture.

Filed under: , , , , ,

iPhone App Tracker - What's on Yours? originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> app trackerAppTrackerchris pirilloChrisPirillodiggiphonelockergnome Drew Olanoff Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Simple but powerful Drivepricing helps calculate gas costs]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/09/simple-but-powerful-drivepricing-helps-calculate-gas-costs/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/09/simple-but-powerful-drivepricing-helps-calculate-gas-costs/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/09/simple-but-powerful-drivepricing-helps-calculate-gas-costs/#comments Sometimes the best web services are the simplest ones. Drivepricing lets you calculate the cost of gas for your road trip.

With gas prices so high its nice to be able to know how much to put in the piggy bank to save up for the trips you have coming up this summer.

So when you're going to visit grandma in Albany from Philly, you can drop your gas mileage in there and get an estimated cost of what you're going to have to beg her for so you can get home.

Even if you don't know your gas mileage they have a link to FuelEconomy.gov for you. Drop your zipcode in there, start address, end address, the type of gas you use (which is a great feature) and whether its a round trip or not.

After a few seconds of loading, booya there you have it. Price per gallon and cost for trip.

Filed under: , , , , ,

Simple but powerful Drivepricing helps calculate gas costs originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> cardrivepricinggasprices Drew Olanoff Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[She's a Brick.....Smith - Lego Modeling for your Mac]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/08/shes-a-brick-smith-lego-modeling-for-your-mac/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/08/shes-a-brick-smith-lego-modeling-for-your-mac/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/08/shes-a-brick-smith-lego-modeling-for-your-mac/#comments Who doesn't like Legos?

Bricksmith brings Lego building to your Mac. And in a big way. Sorry PC folks, Mac only.

When we say a big way, we mean this isn't just a drag and drop of lego parts, this is full modeling. You don't have to have a degree to do it, but you definitely have to have some time on your hands....but the payoff could be awesomesauce.

This sucker is like Photoshop for lego designs.

You have thousands of parts to choose from, some of which we've never seen in our lego pails.

There's a full color palette, copy/paste/undo, drag and drop modeling and more.

Best part is, you don't have to step on them in your bare feet in the middle of the night!

We used it for 5 minutes and it hurt our heads, but we bet you can come up with something great. Take a screenshot and put the link to it in the comments.

[via chris pirillo]

Filed under: , , , ,

She's a Brick.....Smith - Lego Modeling for your Mac originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> bricksmithdesignlegosmodeling Drew Olanoff Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[So you want to build a PC, eh? PCIncubator is here to help]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/08/so-you-want-to-build-a-pc-eh-pcincubator-is-here-to-help/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/08/so-you-want-to-build-a-pc-eh-pcincubator-is-here-to-help/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/08/so-you-want-to-build-a-pc-eh-pcincubator-is-here-to-help/#comments PCIncubatorPCIncubator aims to help you find the right parts at the right prices to build your dream PC.

We've all built a PC at some point. It's fun, isn't it? Pick our your case, the mother board, memory, GI Joe Stickers.

What?

The pain in the neck part of the process is finding the right parts that you need and not paying too much for them...or buying really crappy parts as a default because you don't want to break the bank.

The parts are all out there, the internet is vast, but PCIncubator keeps tabs on the stuff that you need, the prices that are right, and does so very nicely if we may say.

They use NewEgg which is the geek chic place to shop for parts. They also keep a price history of all items so you can wait for prices to go back down if they go up. It's kind of like shopping for airline tickets. It also gives you that Dell and Apple builder feel

Once you've picked your perfect PC parts, you can toss them all into a NewEgg cart and away you go!

Too bad that you can't get Windows XP anymore :(

Please let us know in the comments if you have found this site helpful.

Filed under: , , , ,

So you want to build a PC, eh? PCIncubator is here to help originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> buildingneweggpartspcwindows xpWindowsXp Drew Olanoff Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[1 + 1 = 4? Wait....Ecalc please]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/08/1-1-4-wait-ecalc-please/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/08/1-1-4-wait-ecalc-please/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/08/1-1-4-wait-ecalc-please/#comments Some of us aren't good with numbers. The whole addition, subtraction, division, it's just not our forte.

Sure Windows and Macs have built in calculators but we're web people so we need something on the web to make us not feel like we're totally mathstupid.

Ecalc to the rescue. It's not just any calculator though.

It's pretty and webified.

They also have a scientific calculator for those who are past just trying to add up this months shopping list with the rent, which is as far as some of us go.

All kidding aside, scientific calculators are expensive...so it's pretty cool to have this tool available online.

They also have a rundown of all types of calculators if you're really into that.

So go be a mathematical genius...we're counting on you.

Get it? Oy.

Filed under: , , ,

1 + 1 = 4? Wait....Ecalc please originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> additioncalculatorscientificsubtractionweb Drew Olanoff Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Time Waster: Launch your hog over the hedges]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/03/time-waster-launch-your-hog-over-the-hedges/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/03/time-waster-launch-your-hog-over-the-hedges/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/03/time-waster-launch-your-hog-over-the-hedges/#comments Launching stuff is cool, and doing so in a flash game online is even cooler.

VivaLaGames brings us a new Time Waster with "HedgeHog Launch".

The premise is simple, you go through a series of days and launch HedgeHogs with a nice launcher gear, much like you would water balloons. Except these aren't balloons, these are dangerous little beasts called HedgeHogs. it's not quite Sonic, but we think it's way more fun.

The name of the game is to only get distance, but to grab money in the air while your HedgeHog flies.

The controls are quite easy, and you can play in fullscreen mode too. Just don't do it at work, because we can't be held responsible for having "HedgeHog Screwoff" on your permanent record. But that would be pretty schweet though.

You can dig in and tweak your thrusts left or right, and as you go through the days, your skills will get better and the stakes will get higher. Collect money, buy better rockets, some stylish goggles, and even a parachute to get better scores.

The music is addictive too.

So launch your hog and share your scores in the comments.

Filed under: , ,

Time Waster: Launch your hog over the hedges originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> flashgameshedgehoglaunchvivalagames Drew Olanoff Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Noise of the white variety, right on the webernets]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/03/noise-of-the-white-variety-right-on-the-webernets/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/03/noise-of-the-white-variety-right-on-the-webernets/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/03/noise-of-the-white-variety-right-on-the-webernets/#comments Have you ever been working somewhere and needed to focus on what you were doing, writing, saying, but there was too much ambient noise around you?

You know, peoples iPods crankin' or chitter chatter chattin'.

SimplyNoise is about to become your best friend.

At desk jobs (ewwww), they sometimes pump in "White noise" to push out sound and give you a bit more privacy, but you can't control how much of it you get.

SimplyNoise works kind of like an air conditioner in that you can amp it up to as much as you need. SimplyNoise's site states that white noise can help get you in a zen state, give you more privacy while on the phone, help you fall asleep, and even ease migraines.

Since we're all writers, and some of us have annoying construction going on outside of their condo during the day, we'll put it to the test and you should too.

Let us know in the comments if white noise is the right noise for you.

Filed under: , ,

Noise of the white variety, right on the webernets originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> simplynoisewhite noiseWhiteNoise Drew Olanoff Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Mozilla Firefox breaks non-existent world record - nobody cares]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/02/mozilla-firefox-breaks-non-existent-world-record-nobody-cares/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/02/mozilla-firefox-breaks-non-existent-world-record-nobody-cares/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/02/mozilla-firefox-breaks-non-existent-world-record-nobody-cares/#comments Remember, that whole Firefox download day thing that we got so amped up about? Us too.

Remember when their servers screwed the pooch for most of "Download Day"? Us too.

How about that vulnerability that affected all 8 zillion of us who downloaded version 3? Yep, we remember that too.

Now you can put all those rough memories behind and sleep easy. Today, Mozilla "officially" announced setting the record, with 8,002,530 downloads on the release day of Firefox 3. It's fair to point out that, nothing was broken here... this was a new record, hence "setting" and not "breaking".

Will you remember Mozilla set the Guinness World Record for the most software downloads in 24 hours on June 18th, 2008? Neither will we.

But congrats on still being #2 Firefox. Let us know when that changes and we'll jump around and party like it's 2035!

Filed under: , ,

Mozilla Firefox breaks non-existent world record - nobody cares originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> boringbrowserfirefoxguinness book of wor...GuinnessBookOfWor...mozillavulnerability Drew Olanoff Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Make your own Mario masterpiece with Mario Paint Composer]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/02/make-your-own-mario-masterpiece-with-mario-paint-composer/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/02/make-your-own-mario-masterpiece-with-mario-paint-composer/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/02/make-your-own-mario-masterpiece-with-mario-paint-composer/#comments Mario Paint Composer lets you do what you know you've wanted to do all of your life...compose music in the key of Super Mario. You'll remember this from the Super NES days, but everything is way more fun on the computer.

This baby is free and it's available for Windows AND Mac and it comes from unFun games. Yay.

Don't have any music writing chops? No problem, neither do we. It makes fun noises and has cool Mario icons. 'Nuff said.

The default song when you load up Mario Paint Composer is a jazzy version of your favorite video game theme song ever. But it's up to you to write the next masterpiece.

And not just any masterpiece, you get to use pigs and cats and hearts.

Best part is that when the app is loaded, everywhere you click on your computer, the sounds follow. I like hearing a nice Yoshi sound when I click on an email or on iChat.

unFun built an interface for you to lo in and download all the songs you want, for your personal listening and partytime enjoyment, but it took forever to log into the system, so we wouldn't hang our hats on that feature.

[via chris pirillo]

Filed under: , , ,

Make your own Mario masterpiece with Mario Paint Composer originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> applemario composerMarioComposermusicnintendosuper mario brothersSuperMarioBrotherswindows Drew Olanoff Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Sloth loves Chunk, and we love Sloth for Mac]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/02/sloth-loves-chunk-and-we-love-sloth-for-mac/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/02/sloth-loves-chunk-and-we-love-sloth-for-mac/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/02/sloth-loves-chunk-and-we-love-sloth-for-mac/#comments 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]

Filed under: , , , ,

Sloth loves Chunk, and we love Sloth for Mac originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> ipmacosxprogramsslothunixwindows Drew Olanoff Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[We heart movies and so do you, let's heart them together]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/01/we-heart-movies-and-so-do-you-lets-heart-them-together/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/01/we-heart-movies-and-so-do-you-lets-heart-them-together/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/01/we-heart-movies-and-so-do-you-lets-heart-them-together/#comments We all have a ton of DVDs laying around, and have no way to really keep track of them all digitally. Sure, there are services out there who have come and gone that promised to store your precious information once you've taken days and days to enter them.

Here comes another, called IHeartMovies.org. We want to preface this by saying that you should always look into the background of web apps and feel free to contact the company to see if you feel like they're in it for the long haul. Nobody likes putting info up, only for the company to dissapear in a week or month.

Having said that, IHeartMovies aims to be a social network for you and your friends (and people all over the world) to share your likes as far as movies go. Great idea, let's jump right into the features.
  • Rate Titles
  • Break your collections down into lists (TV or Film)
  • Check out your collections in multiple views (full description and icon view, or quick list)
  • Full search of your lists, others lists, and sitewide information
  • Share movie likes and dislikes on Facebook, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Google
Pretty standard stuff, right?

But it's all in the presentation here. When you log in, you're presented with a pretty neat dashboard that will show you whatever you want to see based on your interests. Things like what your friends have added and quick surveys.

With this type of format, we really hope that IHeartMovies Hearts us and stays up with things, and that means adding more functionality and more widgets. It's an ajaxified and friendlier IMDB.

Post your lists in the comments so we can see what kind of wacky movies you like.

Filed under: , ,

We heart movies and so do you, let's heart them together originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> iheartmoviesmoviessay anythingSayAnything Drew Olanoff Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[It's Cosmic man...it's on my Mac...whoah.]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/01/its-cosmic-man-its-on-my-mac-whoah/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/01/its-cosmic-man-its-on-my-mac-whoah/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/07/01/its-cosmic-man-its-on-my-mac-whoah/#comments Do you know those cool art spinning booths at festivals and carnivals? Of course you do, they're awesomesauce aren't they?

Well now thanks to CosmicPainter from garageCube you can bring that to your Mac OSX desktop, minus the carnies and smell of funnel cake (booooo).

CosmicPainter lets you make designs from different pre-set shapes and colors, as well as from other images you already have on your computer. You can really dig in with the shading and depth choices on the pallette and make some really rad shapes and designs.

Why would you want to use this? Because it's hella fun and free.

We sat in front of this thing for hours and got completely lost. But Chris Pirillo, the tipster who sent this in to us, warned us that we'd get sucked in...and we're pretty sure you will too.

[via chris pirillo]

Filed under: , ,

It's Cosmic man...it's on my Mac...whoah. originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> artcosmicpaintermacosxpaint Drew Olanoff Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Time Waster: U Can Beez a LOLCATZ with LOL Feeds]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/23/time-waster-u-can-beez-a-lolcatz-with-lol-feeds/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/23/time-waster-u-can-beez-a-lolcatz-with-lol-feeds/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/23/time-waster-u-can-beez-a-lolcatz-with-lol-feeds/#comments LOL DownloadSquad

This is probably the awesomest thing we've seen in a while. LOL Feeds takes the lolcat phenomenon and melds it with Twitter, Jaiku, Wordpress, or anything with an RSS feed!

Basically, you plug in your user name for Twitter (or an RSS feed of your choosing) and it will make what you've written into a lolcat complete with images and LOLFontz!

Here's an example one for you to play with:
http://lol.ianloic.com/feed/downloadsquad.switched.com/rss.xml

The possibilities are endless here. Your blog, your Facebook news stream, Barack Obama's twitter account!

Make your own and post the link in the comments!

Filed under: , ,

Time Waster: U Can Beez a LOLCATZ with LOL Feeds originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> barack obamaBarackObamacatslolcatslolfeedstwitter Drew Olanoff Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[We think we just saw Ashton Kutcher, cuz you just got Netflix'd!]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/20/we-think-we-just-saw-ashton-kutcher-cuz-you-just-got-netflixd/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/20/we-think-we-just-saw-ashton-kutcher-cuz-you-just-got-netflixd/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/20/we-think-we-just-saw-ashton-kutcher-cuz-you-just-got-netflixd/#comments Punk'dNetflix users are in an uproar, and rightfully so.

If you're not familiar with what Netflix is, then sorry...please move along.

Kidding...you can rent movies online, and you can create a queue of what you want to see, and they'll mail them to your house as they're available. It's like an autopilot feature and it frakkin rocks.

A few months ago the company put out an even cooler feature that let Netflix account holders create multiple queues under one account. So basically your baby daughter, mom, uncle Steve, and your parrot Whiskers could have their own queue of movies that they want to see.

Such a time saver, such a great function that really reminds you why you use and love (and pay for) Netflix.

Don't go and try to sign up just for that feature though, because Netflix just announced that they're taking it away.

Continue reading We think we just saw Ashton Kutcher, cuz you just got Netflix'd!

Filed under: , ,

We think we just saw Ashton Kutcher, cuz you just got Netflix'd! originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> ashton kutcherAshtonKutcherfeaturesmoviesnetflixnetflixdpunkd Drew Olanoff Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[I know what you downloaded last week]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/20/i-know-what-you-downloaded-last-week/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/20/i-know-what-you-downloaded-last-week/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/20/i-know-what-you-downloaded-last-week/#comments We're talking part one, the one with the hot version of Jennifer Love Hewitt. And oh yeah, that's who you were downloading last week, and we know alllllll about it.

A recent study by Cyber-Ark, who asked 300 IT Professionals about the topic of System Admins checking out what you're doing online at work, says that 1 in 3 IT professionals snoop on their co-workers surfing habits and stats.

I mean why not, right...all the info is right there! They're just "protecting the company from harmful usage".

Sheah, right.

IT Professionals download more pr0n than the entire state of Texas.

Even scarier? 47% of those surveyed said that they accessed info about you that had nothing to do with their job.

No wonder most SysAdmins have the password g0d. Oy!

What might be even worse, is that the other 2 in 3 surveyed lied out of fear that someone was snooping on them while they were taking the survey, thus uncovering the fact that they snoop on us. OMS our heads hurt!

SysAdmins, do you snoop? Worker folk, are you snooped upon?

You can hiphopanonymously write a comment here and let us know about it.

Filed under: , ,

I know what you downloaded last week originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> businessjennifer love hewittJenniferLoveHewittsnoopingsystem adminsSystemAdminswork Drew Olanoff Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Digg THIS Kevin Rose - Reddit goes completely open source]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/18/digg-this-kevin-rose-reddit-goes-completely-open-source/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/18/digg-this-kevin-rose-reddit-goes-completely-open-source/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/18/digg-this-kevin-rose-reddit-goes-completely-open-source/#comments LOL Kevin RoseDigg has legions of followers. They're quite fanatical. The similar service Reddit doesn't have that type of following.

But how many of the Digg fantatics know how Digg works anyways? There's some type of "algorithm" that controls what hits the homepage. Kevin Rose and Jay Adelson have hinted to that it involves who is digging what, the rate at which the stories are dugg, and we think that it involves something with the space time continium. That and what side of the bed MC Hammer wakes up on.

But nobody really knows but Digg.

Today, the #1 competitor to Digg, Condé Nast's Reddit, says "Screw you guys, we're going transparent". That's not an actual quote, but the company's actions say that in a nutshell.

Condé Nast is opening up Reddit's codebase to developers, your moms and dads, your pet fish, and whoever else has a computing device hooked up to the interwebs.

Continue reading Digg THIS Kevin Rose - Reddit goes completely open source

Filed under: ,

Digg THIS Kevin Rose - Reddit goes completely open source originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> diggjay adelmanJayAdelmankevin roseKevinRoseredditsocial newsSocialNews Drew Olanoff Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Firefox? Who's that? Opera says 4.7 million have downloaded version 9.5]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/firefox-whos-that-opera-says-4-7-million-have-downloaded-ve/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/firefox-whos-that-opera-says-4-7-million-have-downloaded-ve/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/firefox-whos-that-opera-says-4-7-million-have-downloaded-ve/#comments Are the oldschool browser wars starting up again? It sure seems like it.

Flock has a preview of their version 2 out, Firefox launched version 3 today, and Opera launched version 9.5 on June 12th.

Who's missing from this uber release party? Oh, that would be Microsoft's Internet Explorer...the browser with the #1 market share. After their less than stellar (and way less than standards compliant) version 7, Microsoft better come up with some EPIC for Internet Explorer 8.

Opera as you know is focused on security, speed, and mobile.

The sometimes over the top Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner stressed that Opera 9.5's most innovative and most important feature is the cross-link between your desktop and mobile devices. A feature that other browsers haven't even bothered to start playing with yet.

Will Opera's mobile first, desktop second strategy work? We shall see.

4.7 million downloads in 5 days is impressive, but can Firefox surpass that in a single day? Not if they can't keep their own site online.

Stay tuned!

Filed under: , , , , ,

Firefox? Who's that? Opera says 4.7 million have downloaded version 9.5 originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> browsersfirefoxflockinternet explorerInternetExplorermicrosoftmozillaopera Drew Olanoff Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[People + Processors + Popular Content = Loud3r]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/people-processors-popular-content-loud3r/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/people-processors-popular-content-loud3r/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/people-processors-popular-content-loud3r/#comments Loud3r

What do you get when you add Technorati + Mahalo + Google? One part human led guide team, one part ranking of individual posts, and one part powerful algorithm that decides what's hot and what's not, based on what is fed into it.

Loud3r.

Today, Loud3r is launching 25 separate sites on 25 different niche topics that range from Motorcycles to Web 2.0. Big deal, right? There are content gathering tools everywhere these days, why bother with this one?

Each of the 25 niche sites is set up to kickstart its own community, with features reminiscent of Digg. You can give feedback on the stories, and it will help their algorithm get smarter. The more sources that the guide feeds the engine, plus the more you interact, the better user experience you'll get.

Continue reading People + Processors + Popular Content = Loud3r

Filed under: , , ,

People + Processors + Popular Content = Loud3r originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> blogsgoogleloud3rmahalosearchtechnorati Drew Olanoff Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Time Waster: Drink beer and throw axes LOTR style]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/time-waster-drink-beer-and-throw-axes-lotr-style/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/time-waster-drink-beer-and-throw-axes-lotr-style/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/time-waster-drink-beer-and-throw-axes-lotr-style/#comments You've seen Lord of the Rings. You've drank beer. You've thrown axes. Ok, so maybe not the last part.

Now do all 3 online for points with the Lord of the Rings Swig & Toss game! All thanks to the wonderful thing we know and love called Flash!

This is brilliant for a few reasons.
  • The more you drink, the harder it is to hold the axe straight, naturally.
  • The more you drink and the better you do, the more points you get!
This is the definition of a Time Waster.

As always, post your scores here...if you can type straight!

Filed under: , ,

Time Waster: Drink beer and throw axes LOTR style originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> axesbeerflashgamelord of the ringsLordOfTheRingspoints Drew Olanoff Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Firefox shoots for world record, ladies and gents...start your bandwidth!]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/firefox-shoots-for-world-record-ladies-and-gents-start-your-b/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/firefox-shoots-for-world-record-ladies-and-gents-start-your-b/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/17/firefox-shoots-for-world-record-ladies-and-gents-start-your-b/#comments Firefox Download DayAs you know, Firefox is releasing their version 3 today, and that's not all...Firefox wants to break the Guinness record for software downloads in a 24 hour period.

1.5 Million people have said "YES I WILL DOWNLOAD!", you can be one of them and a part of a world record.

So download away! (Starting at 10am PT and 1pm ET)

Still on the fence? You can check a pretty long list of all of the things updated in this version. It's not about flash and whizbang features, it's more about stability, speed, and security. The "3 S's" that we liked to hear about from a company like Firefox that is growing up.

Give it a shot, be a part of history! Tell us what you think about Firefox 3.

Filed under: , , , , ,

Firefox shoots for world record, ladies and gents...start your bandwidth! originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> browserdownload dayDownloadDayfirefoxguinness book of wor...GuinnessBookOfWor... Drew Olanoff Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Checking your email obsessively? It's costing you money, time, and probably sanity]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/16/checking-your-email-obsessively-its-costing-you-money-time/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/16/checking-your-email-obsessively-its-costing-you-money-time/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/16/checking-your-email-obsessively-its-costing-you-money-time/#comments Check this out y'all:

A NYT article says that Americans waste $650 BILLION dollars over-checking their email obsessively. BILLION. Not Millions. Not Thousands. BILLIONS. Crazier? We waste $650 BILLION dollars trying to get back into the groove of work after checking our email obsessively.

Why do we do it? Are we that afraid of missing something?

Some of us here can say that we too check our email obsessively. Even going so far as to click on the Gmail logo over and over to refresh the page. Does this sound familiar to you? If so, you're apparently not alone.

How do we stop? How do we combat this problem? Do we love email that much? We hear people complaining all of the time about information and email overload, so maybe we're trying to get a jump on controlling it before it controls us?

Many questions and not a lot of answers, but if these numbers from the NYT are true, oh boy do we have to change some things.

First things first.

Stop. Look, and Listen.
  • Stop checking your email so often
  • Look and notice that Gmail already refreshes itself
  • Listen for emails to come in automatically via POP or IMAP
You won't miss something.

What's your favorite way to catch email? We find that checking email on the mobile slows us down a bit. Unless you get too obsessed with that...can you say Crackberry?

Lets hear your thoughts in the comments.

[via silicon valley insider]

Filed under: , , ,

Checking your email obsessively? It's costing you money, time, and probably sanity originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> billionsemailgmailmoneynytproductivitytimetweet-this Drew Olanoff Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Gab your life away on Facebook and Google Chat with Gabtastik]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/13/gab-your-life-away-on-facebook-and-google-chat-with-gabtastik/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/13/gab-your-life-away-on-facebook-and-google-chat-with-gabtastik/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/13/gab-your-life-away-on-facebook-and-google-chat-with-gabtastik/#comments Facebook has put out their chat service, Google has Google chat. There's no desktop app for Facebook, but there is one for Google chat.

Confusing, and annoying. It's also confusing and annoying to have to use those services in separate programs or multiple tabs in a web browser.

AIM is probably the most popular IM service known to man and woman, iChat for Mac...these are both desktop experiences.

Enter Gabtastik.

For Windows XP and Mac OS X, Gabtastik wants to take your browser chatting to the desktop where a lot us feels that it should stay. The program takes you to a page just like a web browser would to log in. It did seem a little slow to pull in Facebook data. That could be an issue.

You can switch back and forth between Facebook chat and Google, as well as change the opacity of the application itself so that it doesn't become an annoyance by overpowering your desktop. Make it invisible if that floats your boat.

This is a great way to not be tethered to either site via browser 24/7 and still be in contact with your friends who either are tethered or are cool enough to use something like Gabtastik. The downside is that you still have to have AIM or iChat up along with this if you use them too.

Gabtastik calls itself a "Site Specific Browser" for web chat services, so will other services be included as they pop up as well? Let's hope so!

Gabtastik is not the first to do pull these services away from their respective sites, Digsby handles it, and so does a sweet Firefox trick.

Filed under: , , , , , , , , ,

Gab your life away on Facebook and Google Chat with Gabtastik originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> adiumaimfacebookgabtastikgoogle chatGoogleChatim Drew Olanoff Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Screenshot of Microsoft "TownSquare" - Social Networking at Work]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/screenshot-of-microsoft-townsquare-social-networking-at-work/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/screenshot-of-microsoft-townsquare-social-networking-at-work/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/screenshot-of-microsoft-townsquare-social-networking-at-work/#comments Microsoft TownSquare

We mentioned Microsoft TownSquare today, the new offering from Microsoft for internal social networking and document sharing, and we have a screenshot for you to check out.

From what we can see it looks like you get a steady stream of activity based on employee which is really, really cool and helpful, along with an RSS feed to track the activity. From a project management standpoint, this is a huge.

We'll keep an eye out for more info and keep you up to date. Is this something you would want to use at work, or would it creep you out?

Be sure to check out Microsoft Office Labs too.

Filed under: , , , ,

Screenshot of Microsoft "TownSquare" - Social Networking at Work originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> labsmicrosoftofficesocial networkingSocialNetworkingtownsquare Drew Olanoff Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Out of Beta: Gettin' Twingly Wit It]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/out-of-beta-gettin-twingly-wit-it/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/out-of-beta-gettin-twingly-wit-it/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/out-of-beta-gettin-twingly-wit-it/#comments Today, the blog search engine Twingly has officially come out of beta.

Twingly allows you to search for the "Best of Blogs", with spam free results, the company says.

The folks at Twingly are also announcing their new widget platform that lets you turn any search result into a widget quickly. See an example here.

We're not sure how "spam free" this is, or what type of technology they use to make this claim, but the results didn't look that great when we did a search.

The saving grace here is that you can vote a result as a "like", which will bring it up in the ranks. A little Digg style there thrown in. It's going to take a lot of early adoption on Twingly's part to make that system work.

Along with the search, you can translate results into other languages, as well as subscribe to an RSS feed of any search as well. That's pretty standard stuff.

The Hot Right Now feature that shows up under the search bar could pick up some steam though. With all of the content out there, the trend seems to be towards companies trying to find a way to bubble up the most "important" or "interesting" content. We'll watch to see how this evolves and to see how accurate and/or helpful it is.

Twingly admits themselves that they're focusing on European blogs even though they're indexing worldwide, so that's something to keep in mind too.

Filed under: , , ,

Out of Beta: Gettin' Twingly Wit It originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> blogsearch engineSearchEnginetwingly Drew Olanoff Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Opera Desktop Browser 9.5 is Final - Take your stuff with you]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/opera-desktop-browser-9-5-is-final-take-your-stuff-with-you/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/opera-desktop-browser-9-5-is-final-take-your-stuff-with-you/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/opera-desktop-browser-9-5-is-final-take-your-stuff-with-you/#comments Opera 9.5
Just a day after launching a release candidate of Opera 9.5, the Opera team has pushed out the final version of their new desktop web browser.

Opera is all over the place with their releases, and focuses as well. The company loves mobile devices, and at one point stated that Opera wanted to be on any device that you can plug in. We'd love to browse on our toaster. We lose an important few minutes of productivity in the kitchen every morning.

The latest version of Opera has some features that 9.2 didn't have though, so here goes nothing:
  • Opera Link - Hardcore users of Opera use features like speed-dial, note taking, and of course bookmarks. Now you can sync them with your mobile if you use the very popular Opera Mini browser on your phone.
  • Quick Find - search for anything on any page you've visited.
  • Updated skin - This is the one that made us wonder if Opera is has re-invested themselves into the Desktop market. The buttons are sharper and it's more Firefox like now.
  • Opera's Fraud Protection - This got an update. Opera likes to talk about how they guard you against phishing and spamming, and say they're the only browser with these features built in.
And it's faster - So fast it sings we like to say. Operaphiles say that it's the lightest browser on any platform. What do you think? Tell us in the comments!

Filed under: , , , , , ,

Opera Desktop Browser 9.5 is Final - Take your stuff with you originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> browserfirefoxmobileopera Drew Olanoff Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Microsoft, unable to buy Facebook, makes their own for Big Biz]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/microsoft-unable-to-buy-facebook-makes-their-own-for-big-biz/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/microsoft-unable-to-buy-facebook-makes-their-own-for-big-biz/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/12/microsoft-unable-to-buy-facebook-makes-their-own-for-big-biz/#comments So we all know the saga of Microsoft and Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook, Facebook and Yahoo, and so on and so forth.

But at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference in Boston Microsoft is expected to show off their own new social networking project that the company's been "incubating" for a while. It's called "TownSquare".

TownSquare is a social networking platform for your company to use internally. Apparently it even looks like Facebook. There's probably a village idiot in every company too that will use it for something inappropriate, which is the true test of a full on corporate piece of software.

The goal is to provide a system for storing anniversaries, job promotions, shared docs, and other information about employees. It actually sounds kind of neat and useful.

Microsoft has been using it since January with 8,000 employees and no word on whether it displays in Internet Explorer correctly (we told you all jokes aside, "for now")

Hopefully some screenshots will surface soon.

[via zdnet]

Filed under: , , , ,

Microsoft, unable to buy Facebook, makes their own for Big Biz originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> corporatefacebookmicrosoftsocial networkingSocialNetworkingyahoo Drew Olanoff Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Mobaganda - A Mob Extravaganza!]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/11/mobaganda-a-mob-extravaganza/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/11/mobaganda-a-mob-extravaganza/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/11/mobaganda-a-mob-extravaganza/#comments Bringing together a group of people can be a pain. Facebook events and groups, eVites, emails, text messages, smoke signals.

Mobaganda aims to make the gathering process that much easier.

Simplicity seems to be the new h0t on the web, and we like it.

As soon as you visit Mobaganda, you'll notice that you don't have to sign up for anything. Say what? Useless you say! I HAVE to put in my username/pass somewhere!!!! Nope.

All you have to do is name the event and set the date and you're off!

As soon as you create the event, a unique page is created like this one. After 60 days, the pages go away, so no worries about URL's being gone forever.

People can RSVP on the page, and an RSS feed is immediately available to track which cool kids are coming.

Simple, easy, that's it.

Manage the mob with Mobaganda and spend your time on more important things, like grabbing the keg.

[via epicfu]

Filed under: , , , ,

Mobaganda - A Mob Extravaganza! originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> eventsmobagandapartyrss Drew Olanoff Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Parallels for Mac hits 1,000,000 users]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/10/parallels-for-mac-hits-1-000-000-users/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/10/parallels-for-mac-hits-1-000-000-users/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/10/parallels-for-mac-hits-1-000-000-users/#comments Parallels for Mac, the crazily popular utility for Mac users to run Windows on their Apple computers in...a window has said the product's user base has hit 1,000,000 users.

That's a really nice pace for a piece of software not blessed by Mr. Jobs himself we'd say.

Right now the company's running a special where you can get 2 copies for $129. Kind of cool if you have multiple Macs around the house like a lot of you do.

Our question is this though:

Do a lot of people get Parallels and run Windows because they want to, or because they have to? Do people secretly love Windows XP (or egads Vista) but want to feel like a cool kid by having a shiny sexy Apple product?

Tell us what you think in the comments, if you're one of the 1,000,000 users of Parallels, why do you run Windows at all anymore?

Filed under: , , , ,

Parallels for Mac hits 1,000,000 users originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> applemacparallelswindowswindows vistawindows xpWindowsVistaWindowsXp Drew Olanoff Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[It's that time again! Apple Keynote in 60 Seconds]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/10/its-that-time-again-apple-keynote-in-60-seconds/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/10/its-that-time-again-apple-keynote-in-60-seconds/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/10/its-that-time-again-apple-keynote-in-60-seconds/#comments
So some guy named Steve Jobs got up on stage at something called the WWDC yesterday and talked about some products from a company called...orange or banana? Or was it carrot.

Oh, Apple, that's right.

It was long. And sometimes boring. So thanks to Mahalo Daily, here it is in Sixty Seconds. Did we get our iPhone with iRobot and iHateMakingMyOwnCoffee? We do get Exchange integration and now we're all Mobile with MobileMe and plus Apps for iPhone coming July 11th. Whew, that's a lot.

What they left out was that the new OS Snow Leopard or Rain Monkey or whatever (coming next year), will support multi-core processors, AND be able to take advantage of even more RAM (up to 16TB!).

See for yourselves.

Filed under: , , , , ,

It's that time again! Apple Keynote in 60 Seconds originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> applekeynotemahalomahalo dailyMahaloDailysteve jobsSteveJobswwdc Drew Olanoff Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[All SMSed up on your Crackberry with no space left? Dexrex 'em.]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/10/all-smsd-up-on-your-crackberry-with-no-space-left-dexrex-em/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/10/all-smsd-up-on-your-crackberry-with-no-space-left-dexrex-em/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/10/all-smsd-up-on-your-crackberry-with-no-space-left-dexrex-em/#comments A common problem for many Blackberry and other mobile phone users have as well is what to do with all of those "omg these could be important" SMS messages. What to delete, what not to delete?

That's no longer the question in Dexrex's mind.

Dexrex has put out an SMS archiving software and service for Blackberry people like yourself.

Once you get an SMS message it immediately gets archived by Dexrex for later checking out, re-reading, pining over, crying about, and forwarding to your buddy whilst drinking at the bar online (by just you hopefully). Dangerous stuff indeed.

We're calling this one Gmail for SMS.

The obvious issue here is privacy, as it is with all web services. SMS messages can be uber private, for example:

"d00d, thiz girl eez hawt". Do you want everyone in the world to see that? We don't. Dexrex has to prove themselves trustworthy.

Having said that, if you get a lot of SMS', give it a shot, tell us if its helpful, and share your experiences.

Filed under: , , ,

All SMSed up on your Crackberry with no space left? Dexrex 'em. originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> blackberrycelldexrexmobilesms Drew Olanoff Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:30:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Awww, can't remember yer wittle passwords? Isn't that cute?]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/09/awww-cant-remember-yer-wittle-passwords-isnt-that-cute/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/09/awww-cant-remember-yer-wittle-passwords-isnt-that-cute/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/09/awww-cant-remember-yer-wittle-passwords-isnt-that-cute/#comments Not really.

Forgetting your password to Yahoo!, Gmail, Twitter, Hotornot, or "other" sites can be downright annoying and maddening. It's not a cute situation at all.

But now it might be with the software Cute Password Manager.

For some reason, we end up with 12 different passwords for 25 different sites. It never fails. So a password manager is nothing new.

What does Cute offer that's different? Well let's take a look:
  • AutoSaving passwords in your browser saves time. Firefox and others has this built in, but it's nice to have something outside of the browser in case it crashes and dies.
  • Cute will generate really strong passwords for you to manage. So you could unify all of your passwords with one that's solid. And you don't have to remember it.
  • Encrypt passwords and personal data using AES.
  • Info is stored on your PC only (No Macs though...boooooo)
  • Backup & Restore, Print your passwords.
  • Fights Phishing by filling passwords only on matching web sites.
  • Imports & Exports your passwords with text and csv format file.
Our main question is, is there a password to get to the password manager (yes, actually there is a master password)? And if you forget it, do you need a password manager for that?

Exhausting.

Also, how secure is this if you have more than one person using your computer? There might be certain sites you don't want your um significant other um...discovering?

But hey, that's on you.

Don't get too cute, but feel free to save some brain space by flushing out your internal memory cache. It's free, so give it a try and let us know what you think!

Filed under: , , , ,

Awww, can't remember yer wittle passwords? Isn't that cute? originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> cute password managerCutePasswordManagerpassword Drew Olanoff Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Time Waster: Warning - 1337 is in the eye of the joystick holder]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/09/time-waster-warning-1337-is-in-the-eye-of-the-joystick-holder/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/09/time-waster-warning-1337-is-in-the-eye-of-the-joystick-holder/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/09/time-waster-warning-1337-is-in-the-eye-of-the-joystick-holder/#comments So a tipster sent this new site to us, 1337orNot.com.

And it seems ridiculously goofy.

That's why it caught our eye.

In the geekiest and most honest and most tried and true tradition on the internet, our peers decide whats cool and whats not with a simple vote.

1337orNot.com will tell you if you're well...1337 or Not.

By uploading your own photo you are clearly Not.

But if you have to get up on there, just make it not so obvious, kthxbai?

HotOrNot.com blew up with this format, but for obvious OTHER reasons. Does 1337orNot.com have a shot? Well, you decide and let us know.

Upload your 1337est (is that even a word? ah it's the interwebs, nevermind) friends' photos and let people vote. Maybe you'll pop up there as well.

1337 us know (get it?) how you rank.

thanks Bobby!

Filed under: , , , ,

Time Waster: Warning - 1337 is in the eye of the joystick holder originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> 1337orNot.comhotornotl337notrankingtimewasters Drew Olanoff Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Zembly - Helping you widgetize, one app at a time]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/06/zembly-helping-you-widgetize-one-app-at-a-time/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/06/zembly-helping-you-widgetize-one-app-at-a-time/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/06/zembly-helping-you-widgetize-one-app-at-a-time/#comments Zembly

Do you have an idea for a widget or Facebook app? Maybe you either don't have the time or the full knowledge to actually make it?

You reallllly want to make Wolverines vs. Dracula Part 8 for Facebook, and it frustrates you. Well be frustrated no more, in steps Zembly.

As you know, companies have been formed around building Facebook apps, some of them have become wildly successful AND profitable. Now it's our turn.

Zembly is funded by Sun Microsystems and targets easy creation of applications for Facebook, OpenSocial, meebo, and other social platforms. Not to mention, they're blowing open the barrier to entry on creating these things, and starting a community around doing just that.

Today, Zembly has opened a private beta of their site which lets you very easily create widgets and apps in your browser. Check out their blog for more details.

Continue reading Zembly - Helping you widgetize, one app at a time

Filed under: , , ,

Zembly - Helping you widgetize, one app at a time originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> facebookfacebook appsFacebookAppsmeeboopensocialzembly Drew Olanoff Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Add a skin to your skin when you Livecast with Videoskin]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/06/add-a-skin-to-your-skin-when-you-livecast-with-videoskin/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/06/add-a-skin-to-your-skin-when-you-livecast-with-videoskin/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/06/add-a-skin-to-your-skin-when-you-livecast-with-videoskin/#comments Live video is all the rage with the kids these days. Some of us even hop onto the webcam. It feels like 1998 all over again. But Videoskin has tossed a wrinkle or two in there.

So you know about Camtwist, right? It is an application that lets you add effects and elements to your live video. Neato stuff. But Videoskin is more about fun and presentation and also has advanced technology that Camtwist lacks.

Videoskin lets you basically "skin" what you're showing to the web, and they've put out some free skins for you to try too.

Want to have a business meeting while in the Matrix? No problem.

The program can add a type of "blue screen" effect that removes you from the foreground and background and then tosses in some nifty animations. All on the fly.

You don't need a blue screen though. There's an intellectual algorithm that splits the video image into three parts and separates you from your environment automatically.

VideoSkin warns that the "blue screen" effect is very CPU intensive, but then says that the CPU stands idle a lot, so it shouldn't affect performance. We're not entirely sure what that means, but your experience will probably depend on what type of computer you're using.

Right now Videoskin is only available for Windows on XP or 2000. Good call, don't waste time on Vista.

Sounds super complicated to us, so let us know what your experiences are. Give it a download!

Filed under: , , , , ,

Add a skin to your skin when you Livecast with Videoskin originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> blue screenBlueScreenlive videoLiveVideoskinvideoskinwindows xpWindowsXp Drew Olanoff Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[CloudFire Invites Part Deux]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/06/cloudfire-invites-part-deux/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/06/cloudfire-invites-part-deux/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/06/cloudfire-invites-part-deux/#comments So in our last post about the P2P media sharing site CloudFire, y'all jumped in and answered our question about BitTorrent's Bram Cohen.

This time around, there are no questions to answer. It's first come, first serve.

We have 100 invites to the first lucky folks who use "downloadsquad" without quotes naturally to sign up here.

We've had a bit of a play with CloudFire and the things that jump right out to us is that it seriously is easy to share media files with people who might not be as geeky as a lot of us are. And you know what, us geeky people like easy things too, that's why a lot of us use Macs.

There are some random issues as expected, and you have to make sure that the person connecting to your media has the most updated version of Flash, but other than that it works nicely. A good amount of bandwidth on your end doesn't hurt either.

They're completely open to your feedback and have been asking us what we think.

It's still very pre-beta and stealthy so here's your chance to join in!

UPDATE: If the code doesn't work then you might not have gotten in on the 100 invites. If we get more, we'll pass along the word!

Filed under: , , , , , ,

CloudFire Invites Part Deux originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> bittorrentcloudfiremediamusicp2pphotosvideo Drew Olanoff Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[VLC on the iPhone and iPod Touch? Yep]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/05/vlc-on-the-iphone-and-ipod-touch-yep/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/05/vlc-on-the-iphone-and-ipod-touch-yep/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/05/vlc-on-the-iphone-and-ipod-touch-yep/#comments So this uber smart dude Zodttd, has done something pretty sweet.

He has successfully ported the popular VLC media player over to the iPhone. Yes, the iPhone.

Big deal you say? Well check out what you'll now be able to do on your little piece of Apple mobile goodness: Drag, drop and play MPEG/MPG, AVI and MP3 media formats.

Woohooo!

Soon it will play FLAC and OGG and he's checking out how to build support for VCD, DivX, WMA, and WMV.

You will have to break free from the jail on your iPhone to see this baby working, and it's currently in beta.

One question though, Why aren't these formats already supported by Apple? Aren't we all tired of the format wars at this point? If you pay $400 or more for a device, shouldn't you get a say in what plays on it and what doesn't?

What do you think? Comment us up.

[via Gizmodo]

Filed under: , , ,

VLC on the iPhone and iPod Touch? Yep originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> appleiphonemediavlc Drew Olanoff Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Grab your shades, uvLayer has a bright future]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/05/grab-your-shades-uvlayer-has-a-bright-future/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/05/grab-your-shades-uvlayer-has-a-bright-future/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/05/grab-your-shades-uvlayer-has-a-bright-future/#comments You watch videos online. From Youtube, from other people's blogs, and so on.

But more than likely, you're not currently getting a desktop type experience with online video.

uvLayer is a web based application that is similar to other web-based desktops. But there's a twist. uvLayer is built around search, discovery, and sharing of online video.

You add friends, and they show up on the left hand side of your uvLayer desktop. Search for videos, and drag them out to your uvLayer desktop. If you want to share a video with someone, simply drag the video onto your friend. It's that easy.

Watching videos is pretty simple and it all stays within the uvLayer web environment.

They have an Adobe AIR app which is pretty nice as well, but we think the value here is the in-browser experience.

If you're into online video and hate that you have to hop around different sites, copy and paste code, and jump through the normal hoops, then uvLayer is for you.

Filed under: , ,

Grab your shades, uvLayer has a bright future originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> adobe airAdobeAiruvlayervideoyoutube Drew Olanoff Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Egg Attack, show Ballmer who's Boss - Today's Time Waster]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/04/egg-attack-show-ballmer-whos-boss-todays-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/04/egg-attack-show-ballmer-whos-boss-todays-time-waster/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/04/egg-attack-show-ballmer-whos-boss-todays-time-waster/#comments Egg Attack Steve Ballmer

So you remember the whole Steve Ballmer egging incident, right? Of course you do, how could you forget?

Irked at the cost of Microsoft Office? Mad about Vista? Aren't we all.

Now you can get your revenge by throwing eggs at Steve Ballmer, yourself. We're sure Jerry Yang is already playing this one.

The concept is simple, throw eggs at Ballmer and get points. Most points makes you the most eggcellent egg tosser this side of Redmond.

Give this one a shot and post your high score in the comments!

Filed under: , , ,

Egg Attack, show Ballmer who's Boss - Today's Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> egg attackEggAttackgamesteve ballmerSteveBallmertime wasterTimeWaster Drew Olanoff Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST Download Squad <![CDATA[Don't let search results fall off of the cliff - Climb the Surf Canyon]]> http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/04/dont-let-search-results-fall-off-of-the-cliff-climb-the-surf/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/04/dont-let-search-results-fall-off-of-the-cliff-climb-the-surf/ http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/06/04/dont-let-search-results-fall-off-of-the-cliff-climb-the-surf/#comments When we saw Surf Canyon, we figured it was just another search add-on. It was obvious after installing it and searching around on Google for about 3 minutes that we were wrong.

Here's why.

Surf Canyon wants to bring those meaty good search results to the forefront. You know, the ones that we never see on page 2,3,4,100 on Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Do you ever search past the first 2 pages? We don't.

That's where Surf Canyon differentiates itself. It has developed search technology that recommends posts to you based on the content of the top search results on each of the search engines.

It sticks a bull's eye next to the results and when you click it, you'll see results that are recommended. Not only that, it'll tell you the search result page it was found on. See this example here:

Continue reading Don't let search results fall off of the cliff - Climb the Surf Canyon

Filed under: , , , ,

Don't let search results fall off of the cliff - Climb the Surf Canyon originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]> extensionfirefoxinternet explorerInternetExplorersurf canyonSurfCanyon Drew Olanoff Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST Download Squad