Filed under: Weekend Review

We'd normally write something mildly clever in this spot, but to be honest, it's been a long week and we're just too tired to be clever. So umm, a man walks into a bar. He says ouch. See what we mean? Anyway, have some of our favorite posts from the last week:

• Help! Windows cannot open this file
  Ever download a shiny new file from the internet only to realize you have no idea how to open it, make it run, or do whatever it is it's supposed to do? We've compiled a roundup of some of the best Windows applications for opening pretty much any file type. Make sure to check out the comments, because it turns out y'all provided a veritable treasure trove of additional suggestions.
• aTunes: Cross-platform open source media player
  Looking for a media player capable of handling pretty much anything you can throw at it (except DRM)? aTunes might just fit the bill. And it's open soruce and cross-platform to boot. There's a native Windows version, but since the application is Java based, you can also run it on OS X and Unix/Linux. Oh, and did we mention it displays lyrics and has a karaoke mode?
• PlanningWiz: Plan and share room layouts
  Whether you're moving into a new place or trying to figure out how to better utilize the space you have, odds are PlanningWiz can save you an awful lot of time and graphing paper. This web-based app makes it easy to set your room dimensions and then start figuring out where to put the couch, table, entertainment system and missile silo.
• Tofu makes on-screen reading actually bearable
  Computer monitors are a lot better than they used to be, but let's face it, even though we spend all day staring at a computer screen we have a hard time reading large amounts of text on a computer screen. That pretty much rules out reading eBooks. But Tofu is a desktop app for Mac that takes large chunks of text and breaks them up into shorter, more easily digestable segments so you can tackle War and Peace without all the eye strain.
• Inline PDF viewing for Firefox 3? There's a plugin for that
  While the Safari web browser features support for inline PDF viewing, if you happen across a PDF online while using the Mac version of Firefox 3, you have two choices: download the PDF or install this plugin. Nuff said.
• Sync your Google Reader, NewsGator feeds with RSS Bandit
  There's a new alpha version of RSS Bandit, a desktop RSS reader for Windows that adds one killer new feature: Support for synchronization with online feed readers like Google Reader and NewsGator. In other words, you can configure RSS Bandit to not only import your feed list, but to mark items as read in your online reader once you've read them using the desktop reader, or vice versa.

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Filed under: Utilities, Social Software, web 2.0

Web-based list-creation service Blist has made a couple of changes recently, and the biggest one is "less a feature and more a philosophy." Because Blist is easier to demonstrate than it is to explain, you can now try Blist without an account. You can play with all the features, browser other people's Blists and even make your own -- you just can't save it.

At the same time, they've introduced social features, similar to the ones you're familiar with from places like Digg and Google Reader. You can add contacts and share Blists with others via your contact list. Previously, you could only share via email (that feature is still available.) We love to see intelligent uses of social features like Blist's. It looks like they've added something that people will actually use, without going overboard with elaborate profiles.

[via Mashable]

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Filed under: Internet, E-mail, Web services

When we first looked at Zenbe two months ago, the service was still in private beta. Now anyone can sign up for Zenbe. The company has also added several new features that help transform the service from a simple webmail client to a personalized start page.

For example, you can now sign into Google Talk and Twitter in the Quick View area on the right side of the page. This lets you chat with your contacts without leaving the email/calendar client. You can update your twitter status or read updates from your contacts.

Zenbe has also created a new email notification script for Firefox, redesigned the task list, and added buttons for easily deleting all items in your deleted and spam folders. Zenbe also says it's working on adding a Gmail-style conversation e-mail view, and is working to add IMAP support.

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Filed under: Internet, Windows, Freeware

Remember back when the only software worth having was the kind that fit on a single floppy disk? NFReader would have fit right in. You know, if RSS and floppy disks had coexisted a bit longer. NFReader is an RSS reader for Windows that weighs in at less than 1MB. It also doesn't require installation, which makes it a perfect candidate for throwing on a USB flash drive.

You won't find a ton of features in NFReader. There's no way to tag, star, or share items. You can just mark articles as read or unread. But you do to choose whether you want to use HTML or just read the plain text versions of each article.

Like any good RSS Reader, NFReader will let you import or export OPML files. So if you typically use an online RSS reader like Google Reader or Bloglines, but want to test out a desktop reader, you can export your web-based feed list and import it in a matter of moments.

[via Lux.Et.Umbra]

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Filed under: Internet, Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla, Browsers

On June 17, 2008 Mozilla attempted to set a Guinness World Record for the most downloads in a 24 hour period. According to Mozilla over 8 million downloads were recorded. Currently they are awaiting word from Guinness if they were successful.

But there was one thing we wanted to know about this number. Out of the 3 major operating systems in use today which one blazed away with the most downloads. So we decided to ask and a Mozilla spokesperson gave us the following numbers:

• Windows 79%
• Linux 13%
• OS X 8%

Now the number 1 spot didn't surprise us at all since Windows leads in overall computer operating systems it's almost a given that most of the downloads would come from Windows. But what was a bit surprising was that Linux bested OS X in the numbers of downloads.

One could say that Ubuntu, which is a very popular Linux distro comes packaged with Firefox so it's only natural that more downloads would come from Linux users. But according to w3counter, OS X accounts for 4.95% of the operating systems in use while Linux is barely half of this at 2.01%

So this strikes us as odd. What would cause OS X to slip to 3rd place in the number of downloads? Do these numbers suggested that Apple users only like to use Apple apps? Or did a large group of Mac users not get invited to the download party?

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