Filed under: Audio, web 2.0, Web

The folks behind the Working series of radio stories that have been running on public radio program Marketplace, have put together a nifty Flash-based Working Browser. The radio stories explore some of the more unusual occupations of people around the world. But the Working Browser allows anybody to create a profile and rate their job satisfaction, describe their compensation, and answer a few other questions.

Right now there are only a handful or profiles, but the web site only launched yesterday. As more people enter their information, the site will provide an interesting way to see what people do for a living and how they feel about it. In addition to browsing profiles, you can sort the browser by categories like gender, education, compensation, length of commute, and other variables to see how many people fall within each category.

Working Browser - Compare your job originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, Security, Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Use Secunia PSI to find your PC's Achilles heel originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, Video, Social Software

For years, the president of the United States has delivered a weekly radio address to the nation. President-elect Barack Obama plans to be the first to videotape that weekly address and post it on YouTube.

The move shouldn't come as a huge surprise. The Obama campaign used new media tools like Twitter, YouTube, and text messaging as a key part of its effort over the past two years. But it's a bit silly to point out that Obama silly to pi out that Obama will be the first president to use YouTube in this way, as Obama's transition team is trying to do. The video sharing site didn't exist when President George W. Bush was running for office. So all it really means is that President Bush didn't use YouTube.

While Obama won't be sworn in as president until January, he has started to deliver the weekly Democratic Party radio address, which will also be videotaped and uploaded to YouTube and to Change.gov.

[via Mashable]

Barack Obama plans to post weekly YouTube address originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, Microsoft

Microsoft has launched a new online store, cleverly titled the Microsoft Store. I know, who woulda thunk? The fact that Microsoft is selling software like Windows Vista and Office 2007 as well as hardware like the Xbox 360 isn't particularly surprising. But what is new is the fact that Microsoft is offering customers the option of purchasing physical media like CDs and DVDs or downloadable software. And that covers all Microsoft software that's available on the site, including Windows upgrades, full versions of Windows, and Office.

Microsoft charges the same price for downloads as it does for softwar that comes on a disc and stuffed in a box. I would have expected Microsoft to charge a few bucks less for the downloadable version since there are no shipping or packaging costs. But the company apparently decided to go another way.

The other surprising thing? The fact that it's 2008 and this is the first time Microsoft has sold these products as digital downloads.

[via Profy]

Microsoft launches online store, sells downloadable software originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Time-Wasters

Have you been busy scheduling all those Tweets using Twuffer and FutureTweets? No, me neither: but if you're looking for snark, wit or paraphrases of well-known movie quotes to use in your Twitter stream in an attempt to out-humor our very own Mr Funny, then you may want to have a bit of fun with Generatus.

Enter a couple of particulars [namely, your name and select 'Boy or Girl'], hit generate and before you very eyes a status suitable for Twitter or Facebook is made for you. There's also the ability to filter by tag [for example 'Monty Python' or 'Movies' or 'Manias'] and an absolute bucketload of hilarious, ironic and generally very excellent phrases that you could be assigned, should you have the urge to press refresh a few [dozen] times.

The only oversight with Generatus seems to be that, unlike most webservices, it lacks an API. Twuffer, combined with the hilarity of Generatus would make for an epic all-singing, all-dancing autonomous Twitter bot that would allow you to never once tweet into awkward, unfunny silence again.

OK, so maybe I'm kidding when I say I'd prefer to read tweets from Generatus all-day: but very seriously, if you're looking for a little bit of laughter, and want to lose a few minutes of your day, Generatus is an excellent Time Waster.

Stuck for a Status? Try Generatus - Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, Web

Want to hire movers, a photographer, or a DJ? You could post an ad on Craigslist, but you never really know if you're going to get reliable service or some guy who shows up at your door with a baseball bat asking for your money and jewelry. Workstir is a new classified ad site that aims to make the process of hiring help online a bit easier.

Users can create detailed profiles that give you a good idea of their skills and work experience. More importantly, there's a feedback system so that past customers can rate performance, giving you a good idea of whether the person you're thinking about hiring is trustworthy, reliable, and good at their job.

Right now, Workstir has one major problem: It does't have a whole lot of registered users. That means you won't find a ton of workers or job listings. And if you do find a worker who matches your needs, odds are they won't have any feedback yet. But if Workstir can overcome the chicken or egg problem, I could see a site that combines the simplicity of Craigslist with a feedback system really taking off.

[via TechCrunch]

Workstir wants to take guesswork out of Craigslist-style job listings originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Troubleshooting

ShutDownGuard tells Windows where to stick automatic restarts originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: E-mail, Web

Need to send a file to a friend or colleague, but it's too large for your email system to handle? No problem, just upload it to a web server and send the recipient a download link. If you don't have your own server, there are plenty of services that offer the ability to send large files for free, or even larger files for a fee. Here are a few of my favorites:

• YouSendIt
• MailBigFile
• Driveway
• Filemail

And then there's DilbertFiles. Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip has decided to dabble in the file sending business. Essentially DilbertFiles is just a rebranded version of SendYourFiles. And I'm sure it works well enough. But it's pretty expensive compared to most similar services. You have to shell out $9.95 a month to send just 250MB in a month. $13.95 will allow you to send up to 2GB in a month. But FileMail lets you send as many files up to 2GB at a time for free.

I'm not saying it's not worth paying for a reliable file sending service. I'm just saying that when there are plenty of companies offering freemium access, you'd think the creator of a cartoon that highlights bad business decisions on a regular basis would have chosen a better business model.

[via Digital Inspiration]

DilbertFiles - Like YouSendIt, but funnier, more expensive originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Developer, Utilities, Macintosh, Productivity, iPhone, Troubleshooting

When you back up your iPhone or iPod Touch, iTunes can use the backup to do a restore, but not much else. It's nice when Apple's stuff "just works," but what if you want to see inside the black box and interact with the data on your phone? This is especially important for developers, who can fix bugs a lot more easily if they can look at a user's backup to figure out what's causing problems with an app. iPhone Backup Extractor is a tool that makes this possible.

With iPhone Backup Extractor, you can convert an iPhone/iPod Touch backup to make it readable by the OS X Finder. This lets developers get access to application resources that there's no way to see in iTunes. It might be of some interested to curious non-developers, too, if you just to figure out what files a 3rd-party app has created on your phone.

[via furbo.org]

What's really on your iPhone? Find out with iPhone Backup Extractor originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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