For me this is especially annoying, because I use a central Linux server for all my files and access them from various terminals throughout the house. You can “sort of” make Windows 7 do this already by telling Windows Media Player to add these folders, but it doesn’t work very well.

Understandably I was thrilled I was when I found out that someone has created a utility that tells Windows it really is OK to index network locations and use them in libraries. Yay!

Kudos to the Washington Post’s Rick Broida for the excellent review, and to Zorn Software for their great Win 7 Library Tool!

Get it today! It’s simple and free!

However, it’s not pretty and it is clunky in many areas. Lightning is also clunky, but it’s great with Google Calendar, so I like it. I don’t currently use it, however. This is because of the sloppy look and the complete inability to use a normal, 12 hour calendar to input events, that is, I want to input events the way I do in Outlook where I can type in the date, and then set AM/PM.  Thunderbird makes you use a clunky, ugly 24 hour interface.

None of these problems are present in the latest release of Thunderbird. That’s because they chose to not even include Lightning, or any calendar application. Lightening isn’t even compatible with Thunderbird 3. Disappointing.

Picky? You bet. But when comparing Thunderbird to Outlook, one of the best schedule and email programs available, this program really needs to shape up. I’m absolutely perplexed that Mozilla would release Thunderbird when it’s not really finished. I’ll try this again when Lightening is updated to work with Thunderbird 3 – until then it’s recycle bin time.

It’s a WYSIWYG blog editor that is surprisingly easy to use and work with, and perhaps most importantly of all, interfaces (so far) seamlessly with WordPress. If you’re running Windows you should really give it a try, so much stuff is faster and easier, including:

• Making bulleted lists, like this one.
• Inserting pictures, and adding effects to pictures, like the one on the right.
• Speed. I open the application on my desktop, publish it. Easy-peasy.
• Full blog access. I can look at old posts, create new ones, edit categories, set tags, set a date I want the post to be published.
• Familiar Windows interface – you can highlight text, right click, add a hyperlink, for example.

The only thing that doesn’t work perfectly is previewing in-application how my post will look. Live Writer tries importing my blog’s theme, but shows it very strangely.  It’s not that big a deal for me however, as I prefer writing and editing it with a white background and black text, like a Word document.

In summary, it’s how all my posts will be made from now one. Thanks, Microsoft!

How devastatingly true.  YouTube is a great resource for videos on the internet, however for every great video, there is a Swamp of Sadness surrounding it – idiotic, poorly spelled comments making you lose your will to live.

But rejoice!  A Luck Dragon is here to help in the form of YouTube Comment Snob for Firefox!  You can select just how badly written comments have to be to be blocked, or you can set the filter to zero and effectively block every single one!

Download YouTube Comment Snob here.

1. Download Fences from Stardock.

2. After installing Fences, right click and drag on the desktop. When you let go a box will come up saying “Create New Fence Here”.

2. Select “Create New Fence Here”.  A box will come up asking you to name the fence.  I’m organizing some of my roleplaying files in this example, so I’ll name the Fence “Roleplaying Files”

3. Click “OK” or hit enter, and you’ve made your fence!

4. Just drag the icons you want to add into the fence and they’ll be organized inside!

Fences is very customizable, you can change the color, opacity, show/hide label options, and you can even hide all the icons on the desktop with a double-click if you like.  The program is free and very lightweight so you don’t need to worry about it slowing your system down.  The program claims to be compatible with Vista and XP, however I have only tried it on Vista.

To try it yourself go to the Stardock Fences Site.

The Easy Way:

1. Get a .PNG file that’s already to go. If you use PhotoShop like I do, you might find the Free Icon Plugin by Sibcode helpful, it lets you edit Icons in PhotoShop (pretty handy!)

2. Point Your Web Browser to ConvertICO.com, a free site where you can upload your image file and convert it to a high quality .ico file!

How I Made Mine!

1. Get your source files ready.  I simply used my Print Screen button on my keyboard, pasted it into photoshop and cropped out the window I wanted.  I found an empty Vista Folder Icon on Deviant Art.

2. I used the Skew to create a 3D effect, and sized it to what I wanted.

3. Then I made a duplicate layer. I changed the Opacity to 50% on the duplicate layer, and cropped out the original screen cap (the area that looks like it’s inside the folder. Once I was all done, I saved the file as a PNG.

4. Then I simply went to ConvertICO.com, uploaded the PNG, and voila!  You can test it by converting the PNG in this article.

Happy Icon Creating!

“What do you collect?”
“Well, everything—what do you want?”
“Can we have it all?”  “Sure.”
Dmitri Williams summarizing the conversation with Sony.

MSNBC and Ars Technica recently reported that 60TB of user data over the last 4 years of EverQuest II play will be released and studied by scientists. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation and, ominously, the Army Research Institute.

Among other things (read: all things) the information will include who players talked to, when they talked to them, and the geographic locations of those players, as well as their Body Mass Index (BMI), psychological and other factors like depression, and their sexual orientation.

Once the data and the study are released, some interesting trends may become available. Already we’re told that MMO players in the study are more fit than the United States as a whole, and interestingly that players on Roleplaying Servers are more prone to have higher levels of depression.  Players also tend to play with individuals that they know personally and who are geographically close to them.  Numbers on the percentage of gay players has yet to be released, I’m curious if the MMO population is higher than the general population.

In my personal experience of playing MMOs it certainly seems like there are more gay people around, however I suspect this may be because more people are “out” in MMOs, due to the consequence free environment these games provide.

The data in the study has been made anonomous, with no user names (real or otherwise) apparently involved.

I usually buy cans of pop in the 24 or 12 pack, or whatevers cheaper.  I would get 2 liters of pop, as they are considerably cheaper than 12 and even 24 packs, but the trade off is that they go flat faster.  So when I saw a “Pump & Pour” in the Pop aisle, I was naturally curious.

For $3.99 the Pump & Pour promised to keep 2 liters from going flat.  Does it work?  After a week of testing I’m suprised to say “Yes.”  The Pump & Pour is pretty easy to use too, you replace the 2 liters cap with the device, squeeze the pump on the top until the bottle feels hard and the pump is harder to pump.

Unfortunately it doesn’t come with very good instructions, other than a vauge warning about overpumping, and to not attach to glass bottles. Another worrying point is the construction: it’s made out of pretty cheap plastic, the hinge that holds the pump to the rest of the lid feels like it’ll give out after a month or two.  So far it’s been doing a good job, and it brings back some good memories of my old Reebok Pumps.  Should you get one?  With the ridiculous price of Pop (nearly $5 for a 12 pack in some areas) it’s hard to argue against it.  They’re available on Amazon and probably for even cheaper in your local grocery store.

3 Diet Dr. Peppers out of 5