Skip to Content

Get your holiday on with Holidash!
AOL Tech

Filed under: Open Source

Filed under: Audio, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Freeware, Open Source

Songbird 1.0 released

Songbird 1.0
Just over a month after the first release candidate made its ways to the masses, Songbird 1.0 is available for download. Songbird is an open source music player built on Mozilla code.

The cross-platform music player comes in Mac, Windows, and Linux versions, and can handle playback of most music formats. Like most Mozilla-based software, Songbird supports plugins, including a QuickTime Playback plugin that adds the ability to play music purchased from the iTunes store. There's also a plugin that allows you to sync your music with portable media players including an iPod.

Songbird is much more than a music player. It's also an online music browser. You can visit web sites using the built in browser and automatically stream or download MP3 music from those pages. And thanks to the Last.fm integration, you can get additional information about songs and artists you're playing, or stream related songs from Last.fm.

Filed under: Web services, Open Source, Social Software, Browsers

MySpace, Flock and Vidoop release OpenID for Flock plugin

OpenID is a really great concept. The ability to use a single digital identity across the web and avoid having to sign up for yet another user account is a real productivity boon. More and more high profile sites and services are adopting OpenID, but the project still hasn't gained the traction that many of us think it deserves. This is partially because it still isn't easy to use OpenID -- or even find out if a site supports OpenID -- on all services. MySpace, Flock and Vidoop think they've come across a solution: let the browser handle it.

Back in June, MySpace announced support for OpenID and also became an OpenID provider. In order to help users more easily manage their online identity across other sites and services, MySpace teamed up with Flock and Vidoop to create OpenID for Flock, available today at https://extensions.flock.com. OpenID for Flock is an open source plugin, part of the larger Identity in the Browser (IDIB) project which is focused on having the browser, not the user handle, authenticate and mange multiple user identities.

I had the chance to demo the plugin yesterday and it is pretty cool. Essentially, once installed an OpenID icon appears on the right of Flock's chrome bar. The extension scans a page for OpenID compatibility, and if a site supports OpenID, the icon starts to glow. You can then automatically choose to populate the OpenID fields with your designated OpenID URL or associate that site with a specific OpenID account. You can manage all of your OpenIDs, choose what sites to associate certain profiles with and view the login history and OpenID-to-site-relationship with each site.


Read more →

Filed under: Features, Commercial, Freeware, Open Source, Lists

16 (or so) apps I'm thankful for

It's Thanksgiving day for those of you in the United States, time to reflect upon the things for which you're truly thankful. While I'm sure there are many more noble things to list, this is Downloadsquad, after all, and what would be more fitting than a list of programs I appreciate?

16. Cabos. I rarely use a Gnutella client any more. When there is the odd song stuck in my head that necessitates a one-off download, Cabos is what I use. It's got a clean, simple interface, and it works - and that's really all I'm after.

15. Flash Player. Damn you, Adobe. Now that v10 has taken care of some of the CPU and memory issues, it's hard to begrudge Flash. There are just way, way too many addictive little games and excellent web applications that have been built using it.

14. FastCopy. My boss also runs a DJ business, and transferring his multi-hundred gig library from drive to drive was starting to drive me insane. After stupidly giving Windows a crack at the job once, I quickly hunted down a better tool for the job. FastCopy with the buffer cranked up made (relatively) short work of the task.

13. Find and Run Robot. It's not quite a flashy as the more popular Launchy, but it's much lighter on resources and gets the job done just as well. There are also tons of great extensions for it. For those who swear by the power of the keyboard, FARR is a must have.

Read more →

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Open Source, Beta, Browsers

Help Mozilla track add-on compatibility with Firefox 3.1 beta

Firefox 3.1 compatibility
One of the things that makes Firefox one of the best web browsers around is its support for thousands of add-ons that extend the functionality of the browser. But since most of these plugins are developed by third parties, and not Mozilla, every time the developers behind the web browser prepare a major new release, they run the risk of breaking compatibility with many of those add-ons.

So before releasing Firefox 3.1, one of the things Mozilla wants to do is make sure that as many add-ons as possible that work with Firefox 3.0 will function properly with the new browser. And they want your help.

Here's how it works. You download a beta version of Firefox 3.1 and see if your favorite add-ons work. If you run into a problem, you can leave a comment at the Mozilla Add-Ons blog.

As of today, about 28% of the most popular plugins are compatible with Firefox 3.1. And that's about 8% more than a few weeks ago, so things are moving in the right direction.

Filed under: Internet, Security, Web services, Open Source

Brute Force Calculator finds your password's staying power

Back in March, Brad told you about Password Meter, a web app designed to help you create strong passwords. Want to know how long it would take to brute force?

Pay Hackosis a visit, and try out their Brute Force Calculator, an Open Source PHP app based on an Excel spreadsheet from Mandylion Labs.

Hackosis' calculator asks for details about your password - not the password itself. Using the information you provide and some quick computational Kung Fu, you'll get a rough idea of how long it would take someone to discover the correct secret word.

If you use as many web apps as we do, it's essential to use strong, secure passwords. Even if you use a password generator like LastPass, it never hurts to test them.

[ via gHacks ]

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Freeware, Open Source

Songbird 1.0 RC1 now available

Songbird 1.0 RC1
Open source, Mozilla-based media player Songbird is inching closer to version 1.0. This week the team behind the cross-platform application made the first release candidate of Songbird 1.0 available.

So what's new in the latest build? First up, Songbird 1.0 RC1 uses GStreamer to handle media playback whether you're running the Windows, Mac, or Linux version of the program. The Songbird team says that should mean better performance and reliability. The latest build also includes a number of performance enhancements, including the ability to import media into Songbird more than twice as fast as before.

Here are a few of the other changes/improvements in Songbird 1.0 RC1:
  • Users can also drag and drop images to add album art to a song.
  • Addition of new keyboard shortcuts
  • Smart Playlists can be used as rules within other Smart Playlists
  • Improved search speed
  • Faster startup times
  • Scrolling large libraries is more efficient
While this is a release candidate, which means it's a bit more stable than your typical beta software, there are still a number of known bugs and issues. You can read the complete list in the release notes.

Filed under: Design, Photo, Productivity, Open Source, Web

Pixlr: slick new online image editor

There are plenty of online image editors out there, but it can be tough to find the right one. If you're looking for a few filters, a bit of layer support, and a decent range of tools, Pixlr might be the one you want. You'll be familiar with its tools from using desktop apps like Photoshop and The Gimp, but it's rare to see so many advances options in a web app.

Some of the Pixlr perks that surprised me: opacity sliders! Layers and transparency! The collection of filters includes halftones, scanlines and pixelation. Common (but useful) features like hue/saturation, resizing, and brightness/contrast are also intact. Next time you find yourself on a computer without Photoshop, you might also find you don't need it.

Filed under: Internet, Security, Mozilla, Open Source, Beta, Browsers

Firefox's private browsing feature debuts in latest Minefield build


Back in September, the Mozilla wiki provided clues that private browsing was indeed back on the radar for version 3.1 of Firefox. With the release of beta 2 looming, anxious testers can preview the feature by downloading the latest nightly build.

To enable the feature, click the tools menu and then click private browsing to enable it. You'll be asked to confirm your selection and restart the browser. Eschewing any blatant notification that you've activated the feature, Minefield will simply add (Private Browsing) to the application 's title bar.

You'll also see a notice that private browsing is enabled and what exactly that means: browsing, search, form, and download history will not be saved, nor will cookies or temporary files. Any new downloaded files or bookmarks will be retained.

Eshan Akhgari has more information available about private browsing, and thankfully he's put forth a possible application that doesn't directly involve NSFW surfing: "an example scenario would be looking for a new employer while at work."

Interested in trying it out? Grab the latest release from Mozilla's ftp.

Filed under: Audio, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Freeware, Open Source

Audacity 1.3.6 Beta adds support for editing WMA, M4A audio files

Audacity 1.3.6
Open source, cross-platform audio editing application Audacity 1.3.6 beta is out, and it adds a handful of new features that make it even more useful. One of the most attractive new features is support for using FFmpeg to import and export audio files in a wide range of formats, including WMA, M4A, and AC3. You can even import audio tracks from video files using FFmpeg.

Here's how to set it up. First you need to install Audacity 1.3.6 beta, and then find the preferences menu under the edit tab. Next, click the Import / Export option. If you already have FFmpeg on your system, click the find library button and locate the avformat-52.dll file. If you don't have FFmpeg yet, click the download button and a web browser window will open up with instructions for downloading and using the plugin.

The latest version of Audacity also has a few other tweaks, like improved performance when laoding uncompressed audio files and the ability to link audio and lable tracks so that labels move properly when you move an audio track.

[via Making Music]

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mozilla, Freeware, Open Source, Browser Tips, Beta, Browsers

Experimental Minefield browser from Mozilla is crazy fast

MinefieldI'm in love. With a browser.

Nope, it's not Firefox, and not Safari, though I've had flings with both in the past. Not Camino, not even Chrome.

My new thing is with Minefield, from Mozilla. Okay, so Minefield is essentially an early build of the next version of Firefox. But the latest version has a drastically improved Javascript engine under the hood. Is it fast? Let me tell you - it's crazy fast. In fact, Ars Technica is reporting that Minefield is 10% faster than Google Chrome.

Faster than Chrome, available on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and oh - it supports your Firefox add-ins, as long as you're willing to force compatibility using Nightly Tester Tools. Minefield is an alpha release, so it's likely to still be buggy. So far I've been lucky though; all of the add-ins that I've activated have worked fine right out of the gate.

Let me guess, you're in love now too, eh? Well, there's more than enough Minefield to go around. Go get some. Minefield, that is.

[via Ubuntu Unleashed]

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Productivity, Freeware, Open Source

MuCommander is a powerful, cross-platform file manager


We've covered many, many Explorer replacements here in the past, so I was a little surprised that MuCommander hadn't been written up yet.

What makes MuCommander stand out is that it is free, open source, and cross-platform. The author's web site provides downloads for Windows, Mac, and Linux (.tar.gz) as well as a Debian package, portable version, and a Java Web Start package.

It's actually the first JWS application I've come across since I started reviewing for Download Squad. It loaded fairly quickly on my netbook, and ridiculously fast on my quad-core AMD desktop.

MuCommander presents a skinnable, dual-pane view for file management. There's no tab support, though I don't consider that a major shortcoming - especially considering its other features are numerous, and extremely useful.

For starters, there's built-in support for FTP, SFTP, Samba, HTTP, NFS, and Bonjour. Several types of archives can be explored without extracting: zip, rar, tar, gzip, bzip2, iso, nrg, deb, and lst. MuCommander can create archives (press ctrl+I to pack) and even modify zip files on the fly without having to recompress the entire archive

There's also a command shell window with scrolling output, credential manager, and favorite locations list.

MuCommander is a fantastic file manager, and well worth a test drive for any user - regardless of OS.

Filed under: Developer, Utilities, Freeware, Open Source

Put your portable apps on a diet with AppCompactor

PortableApps AppCompactor

I'm a big fan of John T. Haller's Portable Apps.com, and I was very excited by one of the apps that appeared in its RSS feed last night: AppCompactor.

It is, of course, portable, open source, and designed to integrate with the PortableApps suite. AppCompactor fuses UPX (for exe, dll, and other binary files) and 7zip (for jar and zip files) to compress portable applications. Not surprisingly, it's been used to package the other programs in the suite.

Using the default options, AppCompactor reduced my CCleaner portable folder to about 760k (about 40% its original size) and pummeled my ArtWeaver to trifling 3.1mb - a 10mb reduction. Both programs launched much more quickly from my Kingston Data Traveler, and they functioned exactly as they had before: no errors, no headaches.

AppCompactor can't work it's magic on everything, though. It didn't manage to reduce a single byte with FastStone Capture or Spybot, and it only reduced AdAware SE by 60kb. For curiosity's sake, I also tried portable version of Photoshop CS3 and Office 2003, and had little success with them either, saving only about 1mb on each.

Since it utilizes UPX, apps that were previously packaged using that type of compression (like the Gimp or Firefox) probably won't see an appreciable reduction.

Still, when it does work, it's fantastic. It's an incredibly simple way to boost launch times for some of your portable apps and provide extra megs of free space on your flash drive. A few megs might not seem like much on a 16 or 32gb drive, but space is space - and more is always welcome in my book.

Filed under: Google, Open Source, Mobile, Android

The Google Android user interfaces that didn't make the cut

TAT Android concepts
In case you haven't heard, the T-Mobile G1, or the first mobile phone to run the Google Android operating system, is now available. As we've discussed before, Android has an interesting user interface, that's something of a cross between the iPhone UI and a Windows desktop. But have you ever wondered what design choices Google rejected?

Software design team TAT, which helped create the Google Android interface has posted a page showing a bunch of concept designs that didn't make the final cut. Some of the designs, like "Asia Cute" were obviously a bit too niche to be considered seriously. Others, like "Windows Mobile Homescreen" just seem too busy to me. But the "Browser Concept" view for the web browser is pretty attractive, if not particularly useful. And the "History Lane" interface for the music player could have given Apple's CoverFlow a run for the money.

The nice thing about Google Android is that it's not locked down like the iPhone operating system. And that means there's nothing preventing third party developers from taking some of these design ideas and running with them. Or coming up with something else entirely. We've already seen third party skins for Windows Mobile, and that's a closed source OS. With an open source OS like Android, the sky's the limit.

We'll have more Google Android updates for you throughout the day.

Filed under: OS Updates, Google, Open Source, Mobile, Android

Google Android source code now available

Android SourceGoogle released an SDK for the Android mobile operating system a few months ago. But with the first Android-powered phone set to go on sale tomorrow, Google went all out and released the source code today.

This isn't a surprise. Google has long stated that it would make the source code for the operating system available, but now that it is, developers can do far more than create applications that will run on Android. They can help improve the operating system overall by submitting potential new features, bug fixes, or other ideas.

The software license also allows developers to port Android to run on additional devices (Perhaps your old Palm TX? Maybe an Eee PC?), or to develop custom versions of the operating system. Don't like the version of Android that ships with the T-Mobile G1? Maybe Verizon or Spring will have a phone that runs a completely different operating system built on the same source code.

You can check out a video introducing the open source project after the break.

[via Techmeme]

Read more →

Filed under: Internet, Video, Macintosh, Linux, Open Source

Boxee media center adds Hulu support

Hulu
Almost a year ago, I suggested that if Microsoft would add support for Hulu to Windows Media Center, it would launch a whole new way for people to watch TV. Web video today is designed for people to watch while sitting hunched over a laptop. But Microsoft and other companies have been putting out media center applications for years that are designed to let you enjoy the media on your computer and from the web from the comfort of your couch.

Now that you can stream full length television episodes from web sites like Hulu, it only seems natural that you should be able to access them using a media center application. Or maybe I just say that because I prefer web video and an HDTV antenna to paying for cable.

Microsoft has yet to add support for Hulu, even though you can watch Hulu videos at the MSN Video site. But the developers behind the open source media center applicaton Boxee have done it. The latest version of Boxee was released today and it adds support for streaming video from CNN, Hulu, CBS, YouTube, and Comedy Central.

Boxee is still in Alpha, and you need to request an invite to install it. The software runs on Mac and Linux, and today's update brings support for the AppleTV. A Windows version is expected soon.

You can see a video of Boxee in action after the break.

[via eHomeUpgrade]

Read more →

Featured Time Waster

Forumwarz - a potentially offensive time waster

I pwn UAfter spending the better part of an hour on Forumwarz I still can't decide if it's just sick or if it's kind of fun. It's a bit like a car wreck on the highway. I know I shouldn't be looking but I can't quite turn away.

It's sick, it's twisted, it's the internet on it's worst level and darn it, it's kind of fun. At least for a little while.

Forumwarz is a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet - or at least the Forumwarz version of it. Your goal is to complete missions that are given to you through a mock up of GoogleTalk called Sentrillion.

Your first "friend" is ShallowEsophagus who begins giving you missions to pwn various forums by being a troll. Depending on the character type you are assigned at start up, you have tools like drooling on the keyboard or bashing your head on the keyboard that you can use to destroy forum threads and eventually, pwn a forum.

Future missions involve buying illegal software from the Russians, pwning more difficult forums and other internet oddness.

Completing missions gives you cash, called Flezz in game, and items that you can pawn or use in other missions. The game is NOT for those easily offended. It's crass, coarse and there are frequent f-bombs in the fake chat sessions.

This is also a game for a more mature audience as it requires you to shop at the Drugs R Fun store to get various concoctions to improve your playing, engage in certain cyber activities to get more Flezz and just generally use a more adult perspective.

If you can get past that, here are the more enjoyable and time-wasting aspects.

View more Time Wasters

Featured Galleries

Defective by Design, London: Protest Pictures
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals
Android First-look: Amazon.com MP3 Store
Android First-look: Twitroid
Google Reader Android
Android Hands-On
Twine 1.0
Photoshop Express Beta
SXSWi 2008 Schwag Unboxing
SXSWi 2008 Day 1
Mozilla Birthday Cake
Palm stuff
Adobe Lightroom 1.1

 


Follow us on Twitter!

Flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

BloggingStocks Tech Coverage

More Tech Coverage

Joystiq

TUAW

BloggingStocks

Autoblog

Xbox 360 Fanboy

Engadget

WOW Insider

Switched.com

FanHouse