Alternative Software
I've decided to give anyone who reads my blog the alternative open source programs that I use in place of the usual programs one might use. Here you go this is the list of items I use in place of the mainstream. Well some of them have become mainstream like firefox.
Alternatives to IE
Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/products/download.html?product=firefox-3.0.7&os=win⟨=en-US
Opera: http://www.opera.com/download/get.pl?id=32022&thanks=true⊂=true
Chrome: http://www.google.com/chrome/eula.html
Alternative to iTunes
SharePod: http://www.getsharepod.com/screenshots/
Alternative Messenger. Now I use one messenger to connect to all my accounts. AOL, Google Talk, and Yahoo.
Pidgin (Formaly Gain): http://downloads.sourceforge.net/pidgin/pidgin-2.5.5.exe
Trillian: http://www.download.com/Trillian/3000-2150-10047473.html?part=dl-trillian&subj=dl&tag=button
Email. Now most people use programs that are on the web now such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc but if you still like your email client on your computer here is an alternative to outlook express.
ThunderBird: http://www.mozillamessaging.com/thunderbird/download/?product=thunderbird-2.0.0.21&os=win⟨=en-US
Eudora: http://www.eudora.com/download/
Pegasus: http://www.pmail.com/downloads.htm
Just for the hell of it here is yet another social network site that is up and coming.
http://www.hi5.com/
If you want tv from the internet check out....
Hulu: http://www.hulu.com
TV.com: http://www.tv.com (Still being re-worked but they are going to try to keep up with hulu)
Ok that is it for now. I'm sure I will ad to this sometime... if anyone has any ideas or suggestions on what they like to see added feel free to let me know.
7:49 PM
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
I think I might be a geek.....
Believe it or not I just might be a geek. Yes me. If you see my apartment you will realize that I am a bit of an electronic/gaming/computer nerd.
Lets start with my computer desk. First there is a shelf (well an old drawer I converted to a shelf ;) ) that has my camera dock, vonage router, dsl modem, 8 port switch, and a wireless/4port router (which is wireless n compatible). Its a mini light show of yellow and blue.
Next we have a laptop that is around 6 years old. It is running XP pro at the moment, but I'm thinking about converting it to Ubuntu Linux once I migrate the info I need off of it.
I have two USB hubs connected to each other so I don't have to unplug anything. It has all the plugs in the hubs. This way I can run everything from my laptop. There is also an external DVD/CD burner. I got this so I could burn from both a desktop and laptop. It burns dvd-r double layer also. My keyboard and mouse are wireless. (Time for new one though this one is getting rather worn) I have an extra cable out of the switch too so I can hook in my work laptop when I need to. The monitor is a 20in LCD screen.
I also have a desktop that my cousin gave me, which I put linux on. There is a dead desktop that I tried to build but for some reason it won't cycle power. Everyone I talk to says motherboard or power supply. I've replaced the motherboard but have yet to replace the power supply. Lets hope thats it because I want to convert that one to a file server.
Then comes the new computer that should be arriving anytime this week. I got another monitor with it so I can go dual screen. It is going to be a beast. It unfortunately has Vista home edition on it but I can deal with that. It should run any new games out there. It has 1.5 terrabyte main hard drive, 750 Gb secondary hard drive, 8 Gb of RAM, 1 GB of video ram, 10/100/1000 network card, blu ray/dvd burner, dvd burner with lightscribe, and is liquid cooled.
There is also a few dead parts or un-used parts in various places of my apartment. The laundry/utility room has a skeleton case of my old dell desktop, some power cords, networking cords, usb cables, etc. A room upstairs has a CRT monitor. The one closet has a few keyboards, old software, and mice. That is the tell tale sign of my geek status I would say. Parts everywhere.
Now its not just computers. I have a gaming system addiction too. I have sitting in my living room area, a xbox, gamecube, wii, and xbox 360 and yes they are all hooked up to a 40in lcd screen. In the closet is an old nintendo, sony playstation and a junked out xbox (damn that soddered joint). Also in various closets are old games for the nintendo, super nintendo, sega, xbox, playstation and sega cd. (If i
have an itch to play an old game now I use an emulator and rom on my computer.....he he he e)
Then their are the movies. A 5 disk dvd player with a simple but nice surround sound and probably over 200+ dvds. I also have a netflix account in which i stream movies to my xbox 360 account or computer and also get a disk in mail. Needless to say with all this I don't watch much of the "regular" tv programing. If i do it is often online that I watch a show.... such as heroes and chuck. Now that I have looked at hulu.com i might have another avenue to look for tv shows and movies. I have one thing to say about this... time to upgrade my internet
connection speed ;) .
Oh and I have recently purchased 3 Cat 6 (which don't exist according to aradio shack sales rep in corry) cables to replace the Cat 5e cables. At this time they don't have a great benefit over the cat 5e but they will in the future. They should handle video and audio better than cat 5e.
I'm pricing KMV switches for dual screens, why you ask. Well so I can have all computer on and just hit a button and have the switch to my dual monitors. Dah.... Pricing long cables that don't have signal loss to hook my 40in lcd up to the computer also. Once again a reason to upgrade internet speed for those streaming videos.
So I admit it.... here goes.... My name is Jon... and I'm a geek. (now is time for everyone to say HI JON)
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Previous Blog to my MySpace
Shadows
I reside in the shadow, only rising when I choose. Once my job is done i sink back in. Nobody noticing. One day I will fail to rise. The question is will anyone notice.
I reside in the shadow, only rising when I choose. Once my job is done i sink back in. Nobody noticing. One day I will fail to rise. The question is will anyone notice.
A previous blog from my MySpace
So you think men are the only ones concerned about appearance.
So you think men are the only ones concerned about appearance.
I was watching a reality tv show.... because yeah know that is all that is flippin on now days. It is about Dating in the dark. Three people pick the girl/guy they want to date in the dark room based on sent (they smell their clothes) then are given who pyscologists and experts match them to, etc. They go on the "dates" in a dark room. (where supposably they can't see anything) . They then go on multiple dates and pick the guy they like. They also get (at least in these two episodes) have a sketch artist draw a portrait based on what they think they look like. After its all done they get to see them in the light. One at a time of course so they don't see the reaction of the person. After they decide if they are going to meet them on the "balcony" to keep dating.
Guess what. In these episodes the WOMEN were much more judgement on the apperance of the guy than the guys were on the apperance of the women. The guys were also more accurate on getting the apperance of the women during the sketches than the women. Does this prove guys don't care about looks. NO. Because we do. Say what you will but guys do care about looks and we often admit it. However women do not. I simply think women are just as concerned as guys. Society makes it that way now days. The show is in no way concrete proof, but it is interesting to see.
...... what constitutes physical attraction is another question.
Women also think that guys want women to be thin yada yada yada. It is not entirely true. Men are attracted physically to a women who 1. Has the appearance of taking care of herself and 2. Is well proportioned. What that means is if a women is a size 16 but she is well proportioned (aka she has curves) many (normal) guys would find her attractive.
Here is an interesting quote from one study
"Contrary to popular assumptions men are not bothered much about the size of the breasts or back when it comes to looking for a life mate. These factors are pretty much not important."
A list from another study
1.) Smile of a woman (You can't control this one, well not naturally ; ) )
2.) Feminine and delicate Nature (Some degree of control, but not without changing who you are)
3.) A woman's voice (You can't control this one)
4.) Sense of humor (Some degree of control, but not without changing who you are)
5.) Un-materialistic attitude (You can control this one but with the women I know it must be hard ; ) )
6.) Strong personality (Strong is fine but not argumenative on everything ; ) )
7.) The eyes (Don't have much control over this)
8.) The Woman's Hair (Can control, but not a big factor)
9.) Physical Structure (Look it ranks 9th AND states physical structure)
10.) Comfortable and Confident (This one I think should be higher)
Hmm .... look at this list. To me it states.... be who you are, don't worry about appearance to the point of obsessiveness.
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com.au/in-the-news/images/img-ad-campaign.jpg ..... ahh this one shows what is considered physical structure, or proportionate.
So yes we look at the physical part for attraction. It is often up front attraction. The intial attraction. Personality is what keeps us there (well after the college years anyway ; ) ).
Why did I blog about this. I have no clue .... I was bored.
Ok Women start yelling at me now..... ; )
So you think men are the only ones concerned about appearance.
I was watching a reality tv show.... because yeah know that is all that is flippin on now days. It is about Dating in the dark. Three people pick the girl/guy they want to date in the dark room based on sent (they smell their clothes) then are given who pyscologists and experts match them to, etc. They go on the "dates" in a dark room. (where supposably they can't see anything) . They then go on multiple dates and pick the guy they like. They also get (at least in these two episodes) have a sketch artist draw a portrait based on what they think they look like. After its all done they get to see them in the light. One at a time of course so they don't see the reaction of the person. After they decide if they are going to meet them on the "balcony" to keep dating.
Guess what. In these episodes the WOMEN were much more judgement on the apperance of the guy than the guys were on the apperance of the women. The guys were also more accurate on getting the apperance of the women during the sketches than the women. Does this prove guys don't care about looks. NO. Because we do. Say what you will but guys do care about looks and we often admit it. However women do not. I simply think women are just as concerned as guys. Society makes it that way now days. The show is in no way concrete proof, but it is interesting to see.
...... what constitutes physical attraction is another question.
Women also think that guys want women to be thin yada yada yada. It is not entirely true. Men are attracted physically to a women who 1. Has the appearance of taking care of herself and 2. Is well proportioned. What that means is if a women is a size 16 but she is well proportioned (aka she has curves) many (normal) guys would find her attractive.
Here is an interesting quote from one study
"Contrary to popular assumptions men are not bothered much about the size of the breasts or back when it comes to looking for a life mate. These factors are pretty much not important."
A list from another study
1.) Smile of a woman (You can't control this one, well not naturally ; ) )
2.) Feminine and delicate Nature (Some degree of control, but not without changing who you are)
3.) A woman's voice (You can't control this one)
4.) Sense of humor (Some degree of control, but not without changing who you are)
5.) Un-materialistic attitude (You can control this one but with the women I know it must be hard ; ) )
6.) Strong personality (Strong is fine but not argumenative on everything ; ) )
7.) The eyes (Don't have much control over this)
8.) The Woman's Hair (Can control, but not a big factor)
9.) Physical Structure (Look it ranks 9th AND states physical structure)
10.) Comfortable and Confident (This one I think should be higher)
Hmm .... look at this list. To me it states.... be who you are, don't worry about appearance to the point of obsessiveness.
http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com.au/in-the-news/images/img-ad-campaign.jpg ..... ahh this one shows what is considered physical structure, or proportionate.
So yes we look at the physical part for attraction. It is often up front attraction. The intial attraction. Personality is what keeps us there (well after the college years anyway ; ) ).
Why did I blog about this. I have no clue .... I was bored.
Ok Women start yelling at me now..... ; )
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Netflix....
Although I like Netflix it is bordering on getting lame. It does not add enough new material. Once my kids are finished watching there seasons of looney nick and disney shows I believe I will be canceling it for a little while. I could cancel it for a year and renew and I would have enough to watch for a month. The amount of good movies they have is subpar at best. They need to get more quality movies and more of them.
Some PC World Links...
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189178/fantastic_freebies_by_category.html?tk=rss_news
http://www.pcworld.com/article/188971/best_free_windows_customization_tools.html?tk=rss_news
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189082/best_free_web_and_social_networking_tools.html?tk=rss_news
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189227/best_free_stuff.html?tk=rss_news
http://www.pcworld.com/article/188980/best_free_productivity_tools.html?tk=rss_news
http://www.pcworld.com/article/188981/best_free_timesavers.html?tk=rss_news
http://www.pcworld.com/article/188971/best_free_windows_customization_tools.html?tk=rss_news
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189082/best_free_web_and_social_networking_tools.html?tk=rss_news
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189227/best_free_stuff.html?tk=rss_news
http://www.pcworld.com/article/188980/best_free_productivity_tools.html?tk=rss_news
http://www.pcworld.com/article/188981/best_free_timesavers.html?tk=rss_news
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