Filed under: Weekend Review

The big story this week was undoubtedly the launch of Firefox 3. And we covered the heck out of it. But while Mozilla's little browser was busy grabbing headlines, there was plenty of other news. Here are a few of our favorite (mostly) non-Firefox related stories:

• What to expect from Mozilla's mobile Firefox web browser
  OK, we promise, this is the last Firefox-related link of the roundup. But we got a chance to talk with Mozilla VP for Mobile Jay Sullivan this week and he gave us the a rundown of what we can expect from the upcoming mobile version of Firefox. For example, Mozilla is targeting Linux and Windows Mobile phones at first, but could develop a Symbian version soon as well.
• HELP! Windows cannot open this file
  Ever download a file from the internet only to discover that you have no idea what program you need to use to open it? We've got you covered with a roundup of software you can install on a Windows system to ensure that you can open pretty much any file you're likely to find.
• OpenSUSE 11.0 proves chameleons can take on herons any day
  Ubuntu gets a lot of attention for being a user-friendly Linux distribution for newbies, but the latest version of OpenSUSE is poised to give Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron a run for its money. It's fast, supports GNOME or KDE4, as well as the light weight Xfce interface, and comes with all the applications you'd expect from a modern Linux distro, including the latest stable version of OpenOffice.org.
• Giveaway: OpenSUSE 11 box set with all the trimmings
  Oh yeah, and we've got a special boxed edition of OpenSUSE 11 to give away. Follow the link for all the details and contest rules. The contest runs through Tuesday June 26th.
• Digg this Kevin Rose - Reddit goes completely open source
  Always wanted to develop your own Digg-killer? Now you can, using the source code for one of the most popular social news/bookmarking sites around. Reddit opened up its source code this week which lets anyone develop their own Reddit clones or applications designed to interface with the original web service.
• Qtrax launches free, legal, and limited P2P music app
  Remember when you could easily find and download any song on the internet just by firing up Napster or your favorite P2P music client? Yeah, we know there are still programs and P2P networks out there holding the free music torch. But you always run the risk of getting a nasty letter from the RIAA when you use those clients. That's not the case when you use Qtrax, a new P2P client that launched this week. What sets Qtrax apart from the competition is that the service only features 100% legal and free music. The service is supported by advertising and would be totally awesome if it weren't for two restrictions. First the software uses Windows Media DRM. Second, the music selection is still pretty pitiful.
• Skype 4.0 beta puts video front and center, takes over your screen
  Skype has released a new beta of its popular VoIP client for Windows. And for the first time, video seems like a primary feature and not an afterthought. The video window is larger and more prominent. But overall the client takes up far more screen real estate and starts in full screen mode by default. While you can certainly resize the window, it doesn't fit in the sidebar as easily as earlier versions, which makes it a bit more awkward to use if you're just looking to use the text chat or audio call features.

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Filed under: Social Software, Search

The only thing Facebook messages have ever been good for is getting a friend's real contact info so you can talk outside of Facebook. But what happens when you lose that critical message with your buddy's new address or screenname? Facebook fails you, and you have to scroll back through all your messages to find the right one. Not anymore! The 'Book has introduced a search bar for your inbox.

Rejoice! A new feature that should have been there all along! We think this is a step in the right direction, even though it's not exactly the highly-touted data portability we're still waiting for. At least this gives us something better to do on Facebook than tend to our very impressive L'il Green Patch.

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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Productivity, VoIP

SkypeSync is a new service you can use to get all those numbers from your phone into your Skype list, so you can call them with SkypeOut, the Skype feature that lets you call regular phone numbers. It's built using the SyncML standard, which is supported by most recent phones, so the odds are pretty good that it'll work for your cell.

Here's how to use it: point your phone's browser at zyb.com, a free synchronization server recently acquired by Vodafone, and store your contacts there. Download and open SkypeSync (it's only available for Windows right now) and use its Synchronization Wizard to import your contacts from Zyb to Skype. Voila! You now have all your phone numbers ready for use with SkypeOut.

Obviously, the service is somewhat limited right now, since it only works with Zyb, but there are plans to support other synchronization servers soon. Right now, this looks like a decent solution if you're a big SkypeOut user, and don't want to face the prospect of manually entering every number you want to call on Skype.

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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Open Source

Sure, Windows lets you change file associations. But the file type manager is kind of a pain to use. Types is a free, open source utility that makes it a snap. All you do is launch the program, select the extension you want to change, and then hit the properties button.

You can change the link class (which will change the program that is used to open the file), the description, or even the icon. In some cases you can also change the default action that takes place when you click a file. For example, when you click on an audio file, it could either begin playing in your default media player or it could be added to your current playlist.

[via Inspect My Gadget]

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