Antipresto: Deviant Magic

Meebo is awesome.

Whether you’re looking to chat on your favorite messenger (AIM, Yahoo, MSN, GTalk, etc) or all of them, you can’t really go wrong with Meebo. For those of you out there looking to sneak-in some IMs at the workplace (one that either frowns-upon or straight-up “doesn’t allow” instant messenging), Meebo can sit in-browser so as long as your not a the net-user equivalent of a caveman, you can setup tabbed-browsing to “hide” the site. It’ll look just like any other “blog,” or whatever it is that you use browsers for.

It’s worthy of note not-only because it’s free, combines all of the majors in-one, but because it’s designed really well. It’s simple and clutter-free, it’s fast, and it’s modifiable. You can minimize, maximize, pop windows in and out… it’s all you could ever ask for.

So now you don’t have to worry about proprietary ad-covered offerings, and gone are the days of installing and uninstalling services, or the very-dreaded “forgot to sign-out/remove your username/password” at the netcafé or other public computer.

Check it out. And then twitter me.

I love the Apple computers, and Mac OSX Leopard is awesome in many ways. But I have some issues with it, nothing as serious as those with Vista, and nothing I see being impossible to correct, but here they are:

1. External Drive issues: I’ve had issues with drives not being recognized, networked drives, and Time Machine. A properly-formatted, previously properly-functioning LaCie external terabyte drive suddenly stopped working after an attempt to use one of it’s partitions for Time Machine.
2. WiFi disconnects, over-simplified interface. By default, the settings chosen as “primary” by Apple in Leopard undermine many user’s abilities. Yes, I know that part of Apple’s semi-unique appeal draws in a user-group “new to computers” through ease of use—that’s a good thing, but when something doesn’t work, it’s often feels harder to figure out how to fix it than it actually is to fix. For some reason, more than any other desktop, notebook or device, my fully-updated Leopard iMac 24inch disconnects from (and cannot locate) my home WiFi network. I keep wishing for an update for the Airport Extreme Base Station or Mac OSX Leopard.
3. MovableType “visual editor” issues. I commend Apple for working hard on the Safari browser; in fact, I commend the company for opening up much of it’s software to Windows users—not just Safari… iTunes as well. Microsoft apps Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player are offered to Mac users; even though many of “us” don’t use these options, it’s nice that they’re there. (Random-related info for Mac users: If you’re looking for a great media player option check out VLC Player and Flip4Mac.) MovableType is great; I’m using it for most of my sites, I love the fact that (when I can, finally) it canbe modified so easily and installed via “1-click” through my favorite host, Media Temple. However, using Safari 3, when MovableType defaults to the “Visual Editor,” none of the assumed formatting actually happens! Each and every time I go back to correct something, add something, or just look-over the entry, much of the formatting is stripped, the worst of it being: break-lines and paragraphs are gone. That sucks.

I’m still looking for writing software, blogging software and options, and a writing gig. I need to make massive changes… and I hope I can still post my un-bought, unbiased opinions on technology and software. Though, if someone wants to offer me some cash…

BEFORE YOU CONFUSE YOURSELF, know that I’m not talking about document editors and word processors; there’s a time and a place for that topic and it’s worth discussing, however, I don’t want to distract from the importance of the text editor, especially if you’re not using one of the following.

If you’ve been searching for the right program or tools to start coding up a storm (because TextEdit and Notepad are too plain, and WYSIWYG isn’t for you), you’re in luck! Here are my favorite free apps.

Whether you’re just starting out and don’t want to invest too much, spent all’yer cash on a domain and hosting, or if you’re just plain cheap—these freebies are first class! If you have money to spend, there are options from the sub $100 apps all the way to the “best” (Dreamweaver, imo).

WINDOWS - Programmer’s Notepad | MAC - Text Wrangler

Now here’s the thing; you’re not going to get something similar to Dreamweaver in these two programs, and some people will incorrectly call them “glorified” plain text editors. Those people are wrong, in more ways than one… heck, they’re probably wrong about a lot of things. These apps won’t give you instant-gratification; you’ll have to learn code in order to write code, and you won’t get an instant preview in any kind of “split” window (a la Dreamweaver). What you will get is color-coding and find and replace features that will really come in handy as your code gets more complex. You’ll also get numbered lines which is convenient for editing and organization, especially with multiple users/coders.

I could go into more detail, but you can get that at the two linked sites. Many programmers (who have the option of using Dreamweaver) end up using Programmer’s Notepad because it’s simple and fast. Apps with WYSIWYG-ish features and components are undoubtedly slower, and many of the cheaper ones don’t recognize languages other than HTML and javascript. Also, if you’re writing XML, Perl, Python, C, C++, JAVA, ANSI, etc… these two apps will do you some good!

I use a Mac as a main computer, but I would have to say that I like Programmer’s Notepad more. The creators of Text Wrangler: Bare Bones, offers another program called “BBEdit,” with some great features and the company is definitely cool enough to warrant paying for the software. The company isn’t some mega-corporation-evil-bloodsucking-money-whore, they’re what they look like, dedicated and cool programmers with an almost cult-like following (you should see their booth at MacWorld) because they create good software.

An alternative software (doesn’t really fit my tastes but I’m sure it would work for some users) is Mozilla’s SeaMonkey. SeaMonkey is a neat program that is the evolution of Mozilla’s original “Mozilla” app; it’s multi-OS (there’s multiple Linux versions and Solaris in addition to Windows/MacOS), it’s a browser, it’s an email client, it’s a text-editor/composer, an address book, and an IRC client. All in one, and that’s it’s charm.

I guess for those of you out there with system resource issues, it might be worth a look. You can ditch IE and the other browsers, your fat and ugly email client, and several other things as well. It has tabbed browsing, spam control, offensive content blocking… just no kitchen sink. You can probably find one of those in your kitchen.

I forgot to mention to loyal Mac users out there (or for those of you without an Apple computer, here’s another software that gives reason to get one): If you don’t yet have it, I suggest you get Adium. This multi-app chat platform has tons of icon sets and add-ons available here. Adium is simply the best; you can chat with your LJ, GTalk, Jabber, AIM/ICQ, MSN, .mac, Yahoo!, etc. friends and buddies, and you can setup the software to work with Growl.

Growl is one of those little known, awesome Mac apps. I feel that way about Apple in general—people really just don’t get how good the Mac OS is to work with until actually owning an Apple machine (MacBook, Mac Pro, Mac mini, iMac… whatever, even an old one). There’s no more loyal a group (except for the damned Linux/UNIX folk!); some of the best software is written for Mac OS and a ton of it is free. The lack of Apple computers equals a lack of viruses, and that equates to a better user experience.

People just don’t know how bad Windows is until you no longer have to use it. Comparing the two OSes, the only reason for someone to subject themselves to Windows is to play games. For the bulk of you who don’t know this: I gave up playing computer games over a year ago, and I only game on the XBOX 360 (and I love it, enough to write about it—but that’s a whole entry).

Also, many people have heard of Skype. Skype is pretty good, but it’s not free, and you can only “call” other Skype user’s (using Skype) for free now. However, it is cheap and tons of people have it. But I found something pretty cool that everyone should download and setup! Gizmo.

THE GIZMO PROJECT is awesome… seriously, click the link, download it, install it, make an account. Why am I almost manic about Gizmo? There’s a long backstory about it that deals with me needing/wanting to talk to Sweden for hours on end and how that’s wracked up a huge phone bill… Gizmo rocks because you can call Active Users for free on their landline or mobile phone when they are offline!

When users setup their Gizmo account, they have the option to add a home phone number and a mobile phone number. Users who establish ACF (All Calls Free) Active can be called at home or on their mobiles using the Gizmo application if they’re offline. International rates are very low, comparable to Skype for sure, and when you create an account, users are credited $0.25 USD to make calls to whomever, wherever. The people you call using Gizmo don’t have to be users (active or otherwise), just like Skype and just like a phone!

Skype and Gizmo are both available for the Nokia N800, Linux, Mac OS, and Windows. My Skype and Gizmo name? Bradtastic, of course.