Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

ableton live is the best sequencer I've ever used by a longshot.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Here is another useful bookmarklet - specifying date range for searching the 2+2 archives:

<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>
javascript:(function() {maxDays=120; archDate=new Date(2006,00,01);
today=new Date(); var interval=parseInt(prompt("What " +
maxDays + " day interval?\n(1 starts back from " +
(archDate.getMonth()+1) +"/" + (archDate.getDate()+1)
+"/" + (archDate.getYear()+1900) + ")", "1"));
if (isNaN(interval)) {interval=1; };
older=Math.ceil((today.getTime()-archDate.getTime())/(1000*60*60*24)) + (maxDays * (interval-1));
document.forms[0]["newertype"].value="d";
document.forms[0]["oldertype"].value="d";
document.forms[0]["olderval"].value=older;
document.forms[0]["newerval"].value=older+maxDays;})()</pre><hr />

Again, copy as one line into the bookmark properties as one line and give it a title like "Specify date range for archive search"

No more trying to figure out "how many months ago was Jan 1, 2006?" and then working back from there.

When you use the bookmark a dialog will come up asking you to select the interval. Use "1" for the 120 days previous to 1/1/2006, "2" for the 120 days before that, and so on.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Not strictly software but the trio of:

Newsleecher (Usenet download software, free with Giganews unlimited account)
Newzbin.com account (Usenet cataloguer / organizer)
Giganews.com subscription (Best Usenet server)

Is the absolute holy-grail of getting anything for free. For example, if I want to watch the latest episode of 24 (we're way behind in Aus), I goto Newzbin and search for "24 6x13", and choose the resultion and encoding format I want. With one click the episode starts download at absolute full throttle, automatically repairs and unpacks itself, and two minutes after my whim I am watching the episode. All this in SSL too, if you're really security conscious. Absolute solid gold.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
Not strictly software but the trio of:

Newsleecher (Usenet download software, free with Giganews unlimited account)
Newzbin.com account (Usenet cataloguer / organizer)
Giganews.com subscription (Best Usenet server)

Is the absolute holy-grail of getting anything for free. For example, if I want to watch the latest episode of 24 (we're way behind in Aus), I goto Newzbin and search for "24 6x13", and choose the resultion and encoding format I want. With one click the episode starts download at absolute full throttle, automatically repairs and unpacks itself, and two minutes after my whim I am watching the episode. All this in SSL too, if you're really security conscious. Absolute solid gold.

[/ QUOTE ]

couldn't agree more. NNTP is the filesharing of the future (and past, really).

Nothing like maxing out a 12meg pipe.

At my last job, I ask my IT guy "So can I download newsgroups uncapped, or should I limit it?"

He responded with "We've got a 10 meg dedicated pipe... you can do whatever you want"

I said "I'm downloading at about 9.8Mbps..."

He said "Yeah, keep it under 5 from now on"

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Anyone who likes pandora really should check out www.last.fm. I think it's far better.

Mac users should all check out:

Vienna - Open source rss reader. Very nice.

and

Adium - Open source messenger (like trillian but i think much nicer)


Also VLC media player is the [censored].

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Check out Slacker , an internet radio service with new and old song, lots of customizable options, with a hook of portable players that will have Wifi for streaming internet radio, and also car kits for satellite streaming internet radio. It sounds badass. The web service is good too, I've just been fooling around with it, but you can ban songs from your personalized stations, which I like....

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

any other recommendations of good usenet download software?


(Outlook Express just doesn't cut it for me)

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

Enthought edition Python. It's a full Python install with all the possible scientific computing packages and libraries you could want included. Very handy. Everyone at the beginning of the thread concerned about the price of Matlab might want to check it out (and this) as a possible replacement. It's as close as freeware gets.

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone who likes pandora really should check out www.last.fm. I think it's far better.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just read this pretty interesting blog entry/discussion here regarding Pandora versus last.fm.

Right now this old guy is fooling around with both.

~ Rick

Re: Software products that you think are really good
 

[ QUOTE ]
any other recommendations of good usenet download software?


(Outlook Express just doesn't cut it for me)

[/ QUOTE ]

Really Newsleecher is the way to go IMO. It's extremely powerful, easy-to-use and pretty too, easily the best of the bunch. They have just implemented an automatic "PAR and UNRAR" feature into the core software, which otherwise you are either doing manually or fiddling with a temperamental plugin. Also it's free with a Giganews unlimited account, which if you download &gt; 25GB per month you'll be getting anyway.

Make sure you learn to use NZBs too, which is what Newzbin us all about (basically they're like .torrents but for useNet).