iTunes Alternatives: Media Monkey and Songbird

I think it's safe to say that most folks who store music digitally use iTunes, and if not, know about it. Some people may even think it's the only digital music option (no joke). I use it myself, but recently I've found a couple of alternatives that I had not heard of before, and maybe you haven't either. Maybe, like me, you've been satisfied with iTunes (or whatever you use) and had no reason to look for alternatives. There are two in particular you should check out: Songbird and Media Monkey. They both have functionality similar to iTunes (like their compatibility with iPods and similar devices), though each has a couple of extra features that might sway you.

Songbird
I stumbled across Songbird a couple of months ago while I was looking for something else (as good finds sometimes happen). I discovered that it has customization features, like skins and layout, and since it's open source, there are all kinds of third party widgets you can add to it to make it your own (no surprise, since it's a Mozilla product). After I downloaded it and began using it, I found out there's just one thing: as of this post, there's no equalizer so the sound quality leaves something to be desired. The last time I checked the issue, a suitable equalizer was in development, so I would keep an eye on this. Head over to the Songbird website to Check it out.

Media Monkey
I haven't tried this one out yet. A buddy of mine told me about it, so I decided to get the info. I'm probably going to end up getting this one. First, there is a free version and a paid (Gold) version. Media Monkey's main draw is that it supports huge music collections. How huge? Try 10,000+ tracks. Reportedly, iTunes becomes very sluggish when you fill it with a large collection like this. Media Monkey is designed for serious collections, and this is reflected in the advance tagging and searching options it offers, both in the free and Gold versions. Interested? Take a look at Media Monkey.

Coming Soon: Docking your desktop on Windows, Windows 7 upgrade paths announced

Read more...

My Current Instant Messaging Client...Digsby

If you only use one or two instant messaging applications, such as Yahoo Messenger or Windows Live Messenger, this post is probably not for you. If you find yourself spending several minutes starting up all your IM apps only to have them cluttering up the notification area of your taskbar, you might want to use an IM client. Don't know what that is? It's a third-party application that will handle all (or most) of your separate IM services.
There are lots and lots of IM clients out there. Some of the biggies are Trillian, Adium, Pidgin, and Miranda IM (to name a very few). I have tried Pidgin and Miranda myself, and while these two are loved by many, I have found myself getting along pretty well with one called Digsby. My preference may defy logic, since a widely held opinion is that the other IM clients I mentioned are superior to Digsby in many ways. However, at present I like what I like...and I'm liking Digsby.
Why? Mostly the "eye candy" and ease-of use (trademark preferences of novices like us). There are various options for skins in the main window, conversation windows, and even lets you customize chats with specific IM buddies. Another useful feature is tabbing in the conversation window, allowing you to carry on multiple IM conversations without having separate windows cluttering up your screen. Additionally, Digsby has an email notification feature much like the one you're used to in each of your separate IM services, letting you view the message right from the main window.
So what does Digsby support? It will handle AIM, Windows Live IM, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk IM, ICQ and Jabber; for email it covers Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, AOL Mail, and serves as an IMAP/POP as well. Last, but not least, you can also use it for messaging on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn.
All this functionality comes with a price. Not money, because Digsby is free to download. The sacrifice I'm talking about is resources...Digsby eats up a lot of RAM, even for an instant messaging client. For example, I have four separate IM accounts (each linked to an email account) on my Digsby. When it's running (which is most of the time), it uses around 20MB of RAM...that's quite a bit. You'll have to decide if the convenience and functions are worth its hogging of resources.
Check it out if you're consistently running more than one or two separate IM windows at a time. And as always, educate yourself before downloading.

Coming Soon: What's on my desktop, Online Publishing, Tips for freeware productivity

Read more...

Two Great Freeware Disk Utilities: AusLogics Disk Defrag, CCleaner

Not long ago, I found that there are loads of useful freeware utilities out there. I know that many Windows users are content with the default utilities found in the "System and Maintenance' menu of Windows Explorer...that is, if they take it upon themselves to perform upkeep.
In the interest of learning to do things for myself, I stumbled across a couple of awesome software utilities for Windows hard disk maintenance. And both of them are free to download. Now, since we are tech novices here, I'm going to give you my advice: Before you actually download, install, and use these or any other utilities...educate yourself on what it does, how to use it. The sites linked below have lots of useful information you'll want to look at, and you'll also want to remember that friendly search bar in your browser.

First up, CCleaner. It has been said that the name used to be "Crap Cleaner," but that the C now represents the C drive on a computer (the most common letter designation for the hard drive).
Since I'm not a hardcore techie, and you're probably not either, I'll put it in understandable terms. It cleans your hard disk; removing the temporary files that build up every time you download and/or install software, move files, change files...almost anytime you do anything. As you can imagine, all those temporary files (most of which are unnecessary) begin slowing down your performance because they're lurking all over the hard drive. Besides removing those temporary files, CCleaner also has an uninstall tool, a startup menu tool (to make your machine start a little faster), and a Registry Integrity Tool (I'm still learning about this one). It's recommended that CCleaner be used regularly. That can mean once a day, once a week, whatever...of course, the longer between cleanings, the more you'll notice the sluggishness creeping back into your computer's performance.

Great, now you've gotten rid of all that crap. Follow it up with Auslogics Disk Defragmenter. Why? Because even temporary files leave holes when they get deleted. And don't forget about all the things you've consciously and purposely deleted recently. Those applications you've uninstalled and the spaces left when you move files, blah, blah, blah. This particular disk utility works a bit better than the default available on Windows. All you really have to do is open it up and turn it on. It's a nice and easy follow up to CCleaner.

I'll say it again: Educate yourself. In using these utilities or any other, a little research goes a long way. If you don't know what something is, look it up.

Coming Soon: Amazon Kindle 2 is here, Checking out Media Monkey, Chris Pirillo and Geeks.com

Read more...

Windows 7 Is Coming...And It's What Vista Shoulda/Coulda/Woulda Been

Okay...You've been using Windows Vista for a while (I'm a year and a half into it), and it's been okay, right? Some have complained about Vista's system-hogging, that it's slow in the startup, or that there were too many changes from Windows XP. If you've been using it for a while, you've either gotten used to it or you've third-party software to tweak performance more to your liking.
But wait! What's that on the horizon? Could it be? YES! It's a new Operating System from Microsoft Windows, and it's called (at least for now) Windows 7.
I've been watching this for a few months now, which is more than most novice tech geeks can say. I've seen it released for "public beta testing" over the last month (purportedly the largest OS public beta test EVER), and the consensus is rolling in from all over the Tech Geek Universe that Windows 7 is everything (or almost everything) that Vista should have been. I actually thought about participating in the public beta test of Windows 7, going as far as to read a post on Gizmodo/Lifehacker about dual booting two Operating Systems. Alas, even though I understood the instructions, and realize that a dual boot does not run both at the same time, I'm not confident that 1 GB of RAM on my Laptop is enough of a cushion. So, I will wait patiently for the Final Release of this new OS.
What's so great about it? The folks at Microsoft have trimmed down the RAM usage for Windows 7, and they've also introduced a slew of new User Interface elements that are slick, more customizable, and actually useful. Oh, and news that will make many Vista users weep tears of joy: They've made User Account Control more friendly; allowing you to decide how attentive/intrusive it is...so you don't have to turn it off to keep it from popping up unnecessarily.
The latest news right now is the information that Microsoft has released regarding the versions that will be available. As soon as Techies began participating in the public beta test, and noticed that the beta was labeled "Windows 7 Ultimate," speculation ran wild that Windows was going to release too many different "flavors" of Windows 7 like they did with Vista (You know...Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Enterprise, Ultimate, and Super-Duper Deluxe With Whipped Cream And A Cherry On Top). All kidding aside, there will be several different versions, but Microsoft is doing better with which versions will even be available to which market. To cut to the chase, we average end users will only need to know about Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional; though anyone who wants Ultimate will be able to get it...it just won't be advertised in the mass market. The Enterprise version will be peddled to the Corporate world, and the Starter version (made almost exclusively for developing markets outside the U.S.) isn't of interest to the average consumer. I'll be keeping up with Windows 7 developments, because from what I've seen, this will be the one to get. I'll bet even those who've wisely clung to Windows XP will finally have a real reason to update.

Want to learn More? Hit Gizmodo's "Complete Windows 7 Coverage" Post.

Coming Soon: You don't have to be a geek to use system tweaks, Songbird vs. iTunes, Oh, how I love Digsby!

Read more...

Crash....And Reboot

It should be clear from the absence of any posts for the last three months, I've been away. Without going too deeply into detail, it'll suffice to say that I've been out of work since the beginning of September. Naturally, this entails a dire financial situation--that still needs correcting--with sidebar issues that make it hard to focus on tech developments (most cost $$ that I don't have yet).
I'm not giving up yet. I may have had to relocate and lose some stuff, but if it's humanly possible, I'll recover. It's kind of a system crash and reboot situation.
I've not been entirely out of the loop...I'm still gathering and digesting the information paths for what's going on in the tech universe. I guess what's changed is that (for now) many of the gadgets and new software, etc. that I was interested in because they seemed attainable to me are now just interesting because they represent advancement of tech. I guess that's what it's supposed to be about anyway...

Read more...