Monthly Archives: January 2006

I just found out this new service called Muiso which I beleive is trying to challenge both Last.fm and Pandora.It was released somewhere in December,2005 but just recently received blog media coverage and so an influx of users are signing up.I was the 98th user to sign up when I did so today. I am still in the mode of testing it so I will be back with more on it.Here is a screenshot of its desktop application:

You can sign up for it here.

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

UPDATE:replaced created with saw.Really bad mistake.Should learn to focus when typing and not write whatever is in my mind and also proofread.

I dont know why i found it remarkable.Ah well, “SHAKE YOUR BOOTY AND WAVE YOUR SWORDS AT THE RIAA.

I have been using this Greasemonkey Script for a very longtime and so I was stunned when I found out that most firefox/flock flickr users didn’t know much about it.The name of this script is Flickrbox.The function of this userscript is to fully preview an image in your browser when you click on the link to the image.Flickrbox is an adaptation of the Lightbox.js script.I can’t really explain it.You gotta see it in action.Here is a screenshot I took of it in action:

You can also watch the demo to see it in action here.I think all flickr users will love it.More can be found about it here and here.
You can download it here.Of ocurse,you need Greasemonkey and Firefox or Flock to use it.

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Jellybarn is a photosharing social community. It allows you to create free and private communities for friends and family. The communites are created through Jellybarn’s website or through your site with the use of their API. Jellybarn is based on flash instead of Ajax but it is fast. The interface is really slick. The above screenshot is my profile before I had uploaded any pictures.You can upload pictures,save contacts and create groups,create projects,maintain events,email photos and have an onlnie journal.
There are lots of options for uploading images.There is a java uploader,a jellybarn uploader client for Windows and Mac.You can also upload images by email and through your cell phone.
You can create projects with your pictures such as DVD movies, postcards and photo books.
Jellybarn is an excellent service for an alpha service but it still has a lot of road to cover. Jellybarn is currently an invite only beta.I do have a few invites to share.
A more thorough review can be found here.

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Finally,the long awaited(from last Sunday)release of Chatsum 0.3.If you do not know what Chatsum is,check my earlier post. So I just downloaded the Chatsum extension and started using it.Wow.It looks and feels awesome.Chatsum has a really nice color scheme that would complement every firefox theme.Chatsum is extremely fast.Typed entries appear almost immediately.This may be due to the fact that only a small number of testers are testing it right now.You can also check and see the most active sites(sites with the most chatsummers) and the most commented on sites.There is an option that allows to stick to the chat on one website but continue browsing.If not,chatsum tracks the url in the address bar(the site that you are biewing) and allows you to chat on the website that you are viewing.There is a site tab for chatting about the site and a page tab for page specific chatting.Also,chatsum has an easy way to report bugs. There is a button just under its logo that sends you to where to submit its bugs.Also,Chatsum has been made compatible with Flock.Therefor,flock users can also experience Chatsum in their sidebars. Since chatsum was released not long ago,it doesnt have a lot of features apart from basic chat and bug reporting. The developers of Chatsum, Lee and George, have posted a list of features that are going to be released really soon.The list includes:

  • Scrolling in chat window
  • Member log-in and “change details” page
  • Member profile pages and links to them from the chat transcript
  • Live “Users in the room” list
  • User blocking
  • Skins
  • More complex spam reporting/moderating/blocking

The full list can be found here.And to all you privacy advocates,chatsum only sends the chat transcripts and the url that you are chatting on to the Chatsum server.
Lee,one of the developers says Chatsum will remain in closed beta testing for sometime before it is publicly available. Right,only 1000 beta invites have been sent out but Lee says ,later,some more invites will be sent. Go sign up for the next round of beta testing here.
Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

CHATSUM

UPDATED ON JAN 24,06 at 5.43 am.

John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law
1172 South Dixie Hwy., Suite 111
Coral Gables, Florida 33146
305-666-4366

January 16, 2006

Paul Eibeler, CEO
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. and Rockstar Games
622 Broadway
New York, New York 10012 C/o Blank Rome

Dear Mr. Eibeler:

As you may know, three homeless men in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, were beaten with baseball bats last week by two teenagers. One of the victims, an African American gentleman, died because of the attacks. This has made headlines around the globe, as has discussion of a likely video game connection to these baseball bat beatings.

Your company has made and distributed the most popular violent video game series of all time—the Grand Theft Auto games. In these GTA games, beating innocent people to death with baseball bats is a featured entertainment activity. Your company has also distributed Manhunt which features the same kind of virtual reality baseball bat beatings. This game is so sociopathic that it has been banned from certain countries. Additionally, your company, during this past holiday buying season, launched the incredibly brutal “brawler� game called The Warriors, which also features death by baseball bat. The Warriors is based upon the 1979 movie of the same name that was yanked, in effect, by Paramount Pictures because of all the copycat violence it was spawning.

You also know, Mr. Eibeler, that huge numbers of academic, scientific, and medical studies prove that violent video games like this, when played by teens, lead to specific acts of teen violence. There are no studies that rebut these findings. You also know that your company has designed and marketed the aforementioned violent games for sale to minors. Your company even went so far as to embed explicit sex scenes in the GTA: San Andreas game which criminal deception resulted in a vote of 355-21 by the US House of Representatives to condemn your company’s acts. That also garnered you the “Worst American CEO of 2005 Award� by MediaWatch.

Finally, you need to know, Mr. Eibeler, that there have been many, many killings linked by law enforcement officials and others to your company’s violent murder simulation games sold to teens. Most significantly, Mr Eibeler, there have been killings of homeless people directly linked to your company’s Grand Theft Auto games. Baseball bats have been used in some of them.

You have until five o’clock p.m., Tuesday, January 17, 2006, to announce a recall from all retailers of all of the aforementioned three game titles—The Warriors, Manhunt, and all versions of the Grand Theft Auto games—or I and others shall proceed to secure appropriate remedies against your company in these regards.

Please govern yourself accordingly—for a change.

Regards, Jack Thompson

Here is a letter a lawyer sent to TAKE-TWO makers of GTA and other so called violent games.This is one of the dumbest letters ever written. Is this guy really a lawyer? If so then he is a disgrace to the Florida bar.Common,my pet lizard is even wiser than he is.Lol,whats so hilarious is that he doesnt even have facts to prove his claim of studies revealing that such video games lead to specific acts of teen violence.

Ah well,I guess it is his way of getting publicity.
Well Mr John B. “Jackass” Thompson,come to my house for my GTA games and you will see what a baseball bat can do to such a dumb like you.

Pirated of this website.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I discovered this firefox extension just before christmas and because it was in its development/alpha stage,there were no screenshots or testimonials of it that I found so I decided not to blog about it.It is called Chatsum.It is a free extension for firefox that allows you to chat with other chatsum users that are looking at the same website as you. Emails were sent to those who had signed up to beta test it saying that Chatsum is going to be released on Wednesday. I am counting the number of hours till Wednesday. Though,I have not tested it,testimonials from people who accidentally got to try it out are glowing. Screenshots and the overall concept shows that this addon will be very welcome.

Here is what the authors said the fuction of Chatsum will be:

Chatsum lets you:

  • Chat live with other people who are looking at the same website as you!
  • Find out what other people think about the websites you’re looking at!
  • Leave messages on any website you visit!
  • Read messages left on websites by other Chatsum users!
  • Browse the Chatsum community’s favourite websites!
  • Hunt for treasure in our unique online treasure hunts!
  • Find people that like the same sites as you and then CHAT TO THEM!

Here is a screenshot of Chatsum:
Chatting at news.bbc.co.uk

I will blog more about it when I try it out on Wednesday.Oh, and i just found out that,there will also be a Dashboard Widget which will work with MAC OS X Tiger.Also,there will be a version of Chatsum for Internet Explorer(lost half of my readers right now :D )
Technorati Tags: , , , ,

CHATSUM

Yesterday I tried to access my website from a university computer. Unfotunately the entire domain blogspot.com was in the list of blocked websites. Luckily I remembered a recent article…

O’Reilly points out how to use Google translator service (language tools) as a free proxy to bypass the restrictions. Basically they provide a url which performs an english to english language translation, your connection is directed to a google.com page so this page won’t be blocked (unless google.com is on the black list, which is unlikely).

The en|en is an english to english translation. If you use fr|fr you get a french to french translation and so on. The proxy method helped me bypass the restriction and access my blog. But remember it does not hide your IP address.

Based on their idea, I simpy used this link to access my blog.
http://www.google.com/translate?langpair=en|en&u=http://killeroid…
You can replace the killeroid…. with your blocked url and bypass the block.

In the same page comments, they point to another quick way using the Google Mobile Search – a tools for searching and viewing the Web on your mobile phone (more info). Google may alter images, text formatting and/or certain aspects of web page functionality to suit best for mobile phone view. Based on this concept, the url which let me access my blog was
http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=killeroid.wordpress.com
Though the formatting, sidebar and css was gone, a limited amount of content was accessible.

Often some websites are blocked on university and office computers to prevent access to restricted websites with improper content. Although I was surprised that they had blocked all blogs from wordpress.com on the server, this tip helped me access my blog. Read more tips to privacy and security by protecting your IP address.

Courtesy of this website.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,

Sorry,folks,I am really busy tonight and so will not be able to blog but i will be back tommorow,

Last time,I wrote about my favorite firefox extensions but this time around,I am going to write about my favorite websites. They include some sites that I always visit when I come online and other websites. Here they are:

  1. Goowy -
    My start page.It has a flash based interface and includes traditional webservices such as   email,contacts,widgets,calender,games,etc.It has a widget that allows you to access feeds from your favorite websites.Go check here for more on it.

  2. Meebo -
    A web based instant messenger application.I use it for all the other networks except MSN.Check here for reviews.

  3. TechCrunch -
    A weblog dedicated to profiling web 2.0 products and companies.It is usuallyy updated a coupla times a day.

  4. Gmail -
    I cant live without my email.

  5. Digg -
    A technology news site that allows users to suggest content.Some of you may prefer Slashdot.I visit both of them but I prefer Digg.

  6. Writely -
    It is a web based word processor. I use it for all those word documents that I have to edit in school with patners. Check here for reviews.

  7. WordPress -
    My blog is based here. So I always check it first thing in the morning and read/moderate all comments.

  8. Livewire Forums -
    One of the best teen forums around.A personal quirk,I visit it every morning.

  9. SolutionWatch -
    Another weblog devoted to profiling web 2.0 products. It isnt updated as much as TechCrunch.

Please leave comments and tell me more about any similar or better sites.And I hope can send me an invite to Newsvine.I desperately need one.Whoever does it gets a WLM invite,a Kahuna(New Hotmail) invite and a Wallop invite.Thanks.

Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

That is a picture of the OPTIMUS keyboard.It is a next-gen keyboard which has every key being a stand-alone display showing exactly what it is controlling at the very moment.It is like having a fully customizable keyboard without shelling extra bucks to buy kits and extra keys.Since each key has its own individual screen it can display any image almost instantly.
Here is a shot of the keyboard being used to play quake:

Here’s to hoping that it wouldn’t be that expensive when it comes out.

The Optimus OLED Keyboard

Damn,I still cant stop drolling.More can be found out about it here or here.

Technorati Tags: , ,

A new mobile P2P file sharing application has been created. The creators say it is “supposed to act as a source of inspiration for listening to new music and as a way of recommending music to other people.” The application is called Push!Music.
It currently runs on WIFI-enabled PDA and allows users to recommend songs from their collection on their PDA’s.
Here’s how it works:

Imagine that you have a mobile device that can store and play back music files, for example a mobile phone with an MP3 player. As you encounter various people, the devices you are carrying connect to each other wirelessly and media agents from the other nearby devices check the status of your media collection. Based on what you have been listening to in the past and which files you already own, new music might spontaneously and autonomously “jump� from another device to yours (and vice versa). Later, when you listen to your songs, your Push!Music player also plays some newly obtained tunes that you had not heard before.

                              

More can be found out about here.
This should scare the RIAA .You guys at the RIAA,suck on this. Here’s to hoping they make it open source so that others can add even more features to it.

Please check this page for more details.

After lots of rumors,Google has finally releases GOOGLE PACK. Google Pack is a free collection of software from Google and other companies. The pack helps you browse the web faster and safely by  removing spyware,malware and viruses. Google pack can be downloaded in just a few clicks.You can add or remove some of the ware before downloading the pack.If you do have some of the software already on your pc, it will only be updated if a newer version is available.
 Here is the list of the software that can be downloaded:
    GOOGLE SOFTWARE: 

  1. Picasa – Photo Organizer
  2. Google Desktop – Desktop Companion
  3. Google Talk – VOIP and IM application
  4. Google Toolbar – Search toolbar
  5. Google Earth – 3D Earth browser
  6. Google Pack Screensaver – Photo screensaver

ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE:

  1. Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar – Web browser
  2. Trillian – Multiplatform Instant messenger
  3. Ad-Aware SE Personal – Antispyware Utility
  4. Adobe Reader 7 – PDF reader
  5. Norton AntiVirus 2005 Special Edition – AntiVirus utility
  6. GalleryPlayer HD Images – Images
  7. Realplayer – Media Player

Though all the software in the google pack is free,some of the software may offer paid versions that provide additional features or ongoing updates.What I know of is the Norton AntiVirus,it come 6 months of free updates but after that you have to get a paid subscription to get more updates from Symantec.

A little bird in the sky dropped the following link into our laps. Download and test the latest beta release of Windows Live Messenger. Now we can all be official beta “testers�. Looks slick.This one definitely falls into the at-your-own-risk category: Without an invitation to the private beta test it has been impossible to use, until now. The trick is to use a recently-released “proxy patch� to fool the MSN network into thinking you’re running version 7.5, thus allowing you to log on without being part of the private beta. Pretty clever, but dont’ blame me if it messes up your system. Once again, try it at your own risk.

Also you can get a Windows Live Messenger invite here on this blog on this page.

windows liveSee more screenshots of Windows Live here.

  • Send all your familiar winks and emoticons, plus some cool new ones
  • Have real-time text, video and voice conversations*
  • Call your friends’ mobile or land-line telephones by signing up with a designated Microsoft partner to make affordable domestic and international calls
  • Easily share documents of all kinds with Sharing Folders
  • Make free PC-to-PC calls with other Messenger users

Download Windows Live Beta

NOTE: UNEASYsilence is not hosting this file, and is merely providing a link to the Microsoft download site.

Read these instructions carefully. And be sure you download the REAL version of the messenger from Microsoft

Try It [via]

I found this on uneasysilence.com and wanted to share it with my readers.I tried it out myself and I will blog about it tommorow.Right now,I am too sleepy to do anything else but yawn.