Petes Blog

I’ve been trying Flock out for the last couple of weeks and I want to give in my 2 cents on it, maybe it will shed some light on it for you.

So far, it’s been pretty stable for me, I like the fact that I have an overview of all my social services on the sidebar including Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and Facebook. It does support additional services like Ma.gnolia, del.icio.us, Piczo, and Photobucket. Plus it supports several blogging platforms with a built in blog editor. Let’s not forget a Photo Uploader and Feed reader too!

There’s some interesting features that I’m not used to yet, but I do think it’s neat, like clicking on the “Media Bar” opens a strip across the top showing Flickr photos or any of your choice of media streams available online.

Overall, I’m finding something new to play with everyday and it’s somewhat refreshing dealing with a different browser. I’ve downloaded Flock in the past, but it was just too buggy to continue using, although this time around, it’s more stable.

It’s a free download, feel free to try it yourself.

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Skype’s new release for Linux includes video chat! It’s nice to see strong development on Skype for Linux as Linux is becoming more of a mainstream OS than ever before. I don’t use the video option that much myself, but it’s good to have the feature if I need it.

This release is not just a revolution for us in Linux, but a revolution for the Skype world at large. No longer are we, the people of Linux, prevented from socializing in the same way as our peers.

Read about the new Skype 2.0 Beta for Linux and download!

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Have you heard about the new Eee PC yet? It’s this nifty little portable computer with a flash drive that is smaller than most hardcover books. Currently runs for about $400 here, but there will be cheaper versions available soon.

Anyway, one of the things that make this little pc so great, is that it comes with a very easy to use linux interface that most people can use. As for people like me who like to be confused more often with more advanced features, there is a way to get a full desktop out of this.

Here are some great instructions on how to give yourself a fully functional linux desktop (Xandros) and use the little bugger the way it was meant to be used.

Now, it won’t be easy for the novice user, but it isn’t impossible either!

We say no, easy way, because it turns out you can pull up a terminal in easy mode and use apt-get. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do in order to enable the full desktop. You could just use apt-get to install all the software your heart desires without ever enabling full desktop mode. It would certainly save you a few MB of precious memory (while the Eee PC has 4GB of solid state storage, only about 1.3GB is available, since the OS eats up a large chunk). But it’s also more of a headache to do everything from the command line if you’re used to graphical user interfaces.

Thanks to Brad Linder at DownloadSquad.com!
Read how to get the most out of your Eee PC.

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I remember a time that IM (Instant messaging) programs were scarce. That’s right, it was hard to find a decent program for communication. The top dogs were ICQ, AIM, and MSN Messenger and they all sucked back then compared to the features available today.

I use Skype and Google Talk on a daily basis. For me, this covers every base I need, but then there’s times that people need to communicate with me and they only use a particular medium. In those cases I only use Aim or MSN Messenger.

Anyway, here’s a huge list of Instant Messenging programs that list all kinds, from desktop to web-based to network im programs.

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I ran into this pretty good list of web applications you can use around the office. From bookmarking, calculators, spreadsheets, to file servers, form generators, and personal organizers. The list seems to go on and on. I do use a few and I’m sure you will run into a couple you use as well.

Read the entire list of Web 2.0 Office Applications

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Google Docs and Spreadsheets just got a new look. I like it this time around, it’s loading faster for me, and you’re now able to see all the documents right there in front of you. I wasn’t a big fan of the “out of sight out of mind” from the previous setup.

Outside of the new look, they did add some new things, now they have folders. Folders seems to work the same way as tags, but more like gmail where organization seems better with the traditional folder view. Also, they have Google Suggest like features for searching through your documents.

All in all, I think it’s a nice improvement.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets gets a makeover

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Thought you would find this as amusing as I did.

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I have been looking for alternative financial tools to use and have run across this today. I found some tools I haven’t seen before and wanted to share it.
A couple web based and some software applications. My experience hasn’t been great with one or two of the listed alternatives, but I did find some new ones that seem interesting and worth trying out, maybe you will too!

Check out 6 great alternatives to Quicken and Money

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PC World put together a fantastic list of 100 products together that you will surely agree with, well mostly. A really nice selection of software and hardware that has made up this year so far.

Lots of my favorite tools are listed, including most Google apps, hardware like the 80GB iPod, and sites like Digg and Craigslist!

Our editors rank the best PCs, HDTVs, components, sites, and services. Plus: the products we’re looking forward to next year, and which technologies are rising and falling.

Check out PC World’s full list of the 100 Best Products of 2007

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Skype for Linux 1.4 Alpha has been released. This doesn’t mean it’s ready for prime time just yet, there are some issues that still need to be worked out, but it’s a complete rewrite and a step towards a much more stable version for linux.
Video and SMS functionality is still not ready for this release, but there is a new file transfer window. You can read what the requirements and current issues for Skype 1.4 alpha here.

We’re again close to our mother nature birth cycle - nine months between 1.2 and 1.3 and seven months between 1.3 and 1.4. But this early born is an Alpha version, so we will take our two months to make it a real cute baby.

Good news is that they’re expecting release cycles to release every few weeks until they reach Gold. They’ve also put together a bugtracker for this linux alpha version where you can report bugs or keep track of them.

Read more about Skype for Linux 1.4 Alpha and download

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