Microsoft WSYP A very exciting and promising new technology coming from Redmond. [movie - .asf (windows media)]
posted by H. Roark on Oct 20, 2005 - 20 comments

When a developer asks 'don't use TYPO3 for NewAge publications, anti-christian messages, sexually explicit material, extreme political propaganda' , would you use the software? Would you respect his wishes?
posted by dprs75 on Jan 7, 2005 - 86 comments

Nominations for the best software essays of 2004. There's lots of reading here, pardners, and much of it is great.
posted by bonaldi on Dec 3, 2004 - 3 comments

Whizzkid develops Linux application for Windows [...]The significance of the development is that Linux and Windows are able to work in parallel on the same computer or server. To[sic] now, the computer world is divided into systems that operate either with Windows or with Linux. [...]
posted by Postroad on Apr 12, 2004 - 33 comments

Thanks Again, Frauhofer! "Software developed by Germany's Fraunhofer Institut, the creators of the MP3 ... called "Query by Humming," -- a type of melody recognition software program that identifies a song by title and composer based on a person humming a few bars into a microphone." Sure, it'll put quaint sites like this out of business, but think of the fun you'll have walking by your co-workers cubicle only to hear them furtively humming into their PC so that it can search for that pesky tune they can't get out of their head. (This technology sounds familiar, so advanced apologies for a double post. I did a search, really.)
posted by chandy72 on Jan 22, 2003 - 4 comments

Top 10 Challenges for Microsoft. This is from a company called "Directions on Microsoft" in Kirkland, WA. All they do is analyze Microsoft. One of the challenges is to "keep a lid on LINUX"! My favorite part-"Hopes that the Linux community would fragment are not being realized, at least in 2003". Will these challenges hold MSFT in check? What do you think?
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy on Jan 6, 2003 - 24 comments

The Self-Healing Minefield From the current Village Voice: "Utilizing commercial off-the-shelf computer chips and 'healing' software, the networked minefield detects rude attempts to clear it, deduces which parts of itself have been removed, and signals its remaining munitions to close the hole using best-fit mathematics."

Bonus ubertasteless Flash animation courtesy of DARPA here. Color me fascinated and repulsed in equal measure.
posted by Armitage Shanks on Nov 27, 2002 - 40 comments

Diego Doval has just announced the first public alpha release of the decidedly non-vaporous PIM-like app: Spaces.

Coming quickly after the announcement of Mitch Kapor and the OSAF's plans for an MS Outlook competitor, Spaces seems to already do a lot of what Chandler has plans to do, but is ready for download and testing right now.

A very cool feature of Spaces is the integration of an RSS new aggregator right alongside the email client. News items and email messages are fundamentally the same and the app takes advantage of that. Spaces is blurring the differences between how we read news and email and it's about time!
posted by antidigerati on Nov 11, 2002 - 9 comments

Apple releases iSync barely meeting its promise to unveil the software before the end of September. Will Apple's iSync finally take the hassle out of syncing between PDAs, online calenders, email, and cell phones? Why hasn't anyone else made this kind of software?
posted by jragon on Sep 28, 2002 - 19 comments

A Scranton, PA man is auctioning 250,000 pieces of software mostly games from the 80s and early 90s composed of around 20,000 unique titles (2MB Excel Spreadsheet) for $250,000. He says its the worlds biggest collection and many games are rare and in demand. You will need trucks and warehouse. If anyone can afford to sit on these for a few decades untill the 80s generation gets old and nostalgic it could be the Schoyen of early computer gameing software.
posted by stbalbach on Sep 8, 2002 - 16 comments

Every drug dealer knows you give away the first hits for free. Earth & Beyong Free Beta & Magic : The Gathering Online free test drive. [details inside...]
posted by crunchland on Aug 5, 2002 - 18 comments

Tangent.cx is now online. Endquote first came up with a concept for automating self-linking within his own blog. Now he's expanded the idea so that you can build a network of content-driven-sites that auto-link their content with your own. The niftiest part, to me, is his new link pop-up menus, so that one word can link to articles from multiple sites.
posted by nomisxid on Aug 1, 2002 - 12 comments

ixi software is a network of experimentalists in the field of computer music and computer music software. Don't miss their cool downloads.
posted by signal on May 8, 2002 - 6 comments

The Read_Me Festival 1.2 shortlist has been posted, and includes such projects as Carnivore(not the government one, though that was part of the concept), and the DeskSwap screensaver. While this is a "software art" exhibition, it's of particular note that patches or even just instructions for making existing software do things not originally intended are allowable entries. I haven't been through all of them to see if any patches were entered, but it'd be interesting what the publishers might think of these, since it would basically constitute hacking and/or reverse engineering.
posted by Su on Mar 30, 2002 - 2 comments

Does anyone care that nobody needs to sing well anymore? Spot-on piece about the way that digital music tools aren't just making rotten singers sound OK (with software that shifts their pitch upwards), but good singers lazy ("hey that's fine, just copy'n'paste it into the next chorus"). And removing the excitement from studio performance. Is the only honest response to this electro-fakery to go all Daft Punk? Or am I just an old Stevie'n'Retha'n'Marvin nostalgist?
posted by theplayethic on Feb 14, 2002 - 53 comments

Flash Player 6 Beta .... need I say more.
posted by MintSauce on Feb 1, 2002 - 10 comments

Convert your pictures to HTML. So cool I nearly wet myself.
Seriously.
posted by TiggleTaggleTiger on Jan 23, 2002 - 26 comments

Search-indexing video footage? Dremedia's software can analyze video footage -- either raw or edited -- and not only identify nearly every word spoken but also differentiate between speakers and even understand when a scene changes.

And who said the gee-whiz startup was dead? Well, it is, but Futureboy still has rent to pay, I s'pose.
posted by scarabic on Jan 4, 2002 - 4 comments

The US strikes a blow against the forces of evil. Seriously, does this mean I'm gonna have to start paying for my software soon?
posted by tcobretti on Dec 11, 2001 - 21 comments

AirSnort. The dangerous app with the unlikely name allows users to snatch data being passed over wireless networks, eventually capturing passwords to the network.
posted by o2b on Nov 29, 2001 - 7 comments

Java is alive and kicking, and this guy knows what to do with it. Check out his sexy alife experiments (art? science?) and this goofy game. (Warning: his stuff crashed my browser a couple of times, but was worth it. Most applets are available for download.)
posted by grumblebee on Nov 5, 2001 - 14 comments

U.S. Patent 6,304,886, from the fine folks at IBM. "The tool comprises a plurality of pre-stored templates, comprising HTML formatting code, text, fields and formulas." (Via Scripting News.)
posted by mrbula on Oct 17, 2001 - 6 comments

Staroffice 6.0b is a great, free alternative to microsoft office for people who can't afford the suite or for those that would rather not use microsoft products. Staroffice has completely integrated XML support and full featured word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and drawing applications.
posted by mcsweetie on Oct 8, 2001 - 25 comments

Fight back against sneaky scumware like TopText and Surf+, with this Javascript code by Gary Rosenzweig of CleverMedia. The code detects the scumware's presence, pops up a message letting the user know they're carrying a parasite, and then surveys the user to find out if they knew about it. In the first day of operation on his site, he discovered that 3.67% of his visitors had either TopText or Surf+ installed, and more than 90% of these visitors did not know until they were told. (Link to the Javascript code is at the bottom of the article.)
posted by cfj on Aug 31, 2001 - 7 comments

Software Libre! Local and national governments around the world are legislating in favor of open source, in a challenge to US corporate (read Microsoft) dominance. A liberating movement, or too much government intrusion?
posted by liam on Aug 29, 2001 - 11 comments

Netscape 6.1???? Have you tried it? Do you like it? Should we get Mikey?
posted by thunder on Aug 25, 2001 - 33 comments

Yet Another Artist Link , this time i'm showcasing an artist/skinner who not only does great work, but believes in usability (for all those 'hey i've been using winamp for 6 months now, and i still need the buttons plainly labeled' whiners). just kidding folks. check out the wallpapers too while you're there.
posted by jcterminal on Aug 4, 2001 - 5 comments

B&O goes virtual : Beoplayer 1.0 is a Windows application that sits on your desktop and, like everything Bang, works in a sleek, elegant, unintuitive manner (until you learn what the icons and doodads do, then you can show it off for all your friends). Guaranteed you've never seen a music player like this one.
posted by honkzilla on Jul 31, 2001 - 14 comments

Clippings is the GPL-ed code behind IHT's news-clip feature, which has been discussed on MetaFilter before. This is very cool code and I think any site with many front page links could benefit from it. Serendipitously found at smokinggun, which is not the smoking gun.
posted by icathing on Jul 31, 2001 - 19 comments

how to syndicate greymatter with javascript.
useful and simple tutorial for those using this weblog publishing software and want to put their weblog contents in other sites in a very easy way.
posted by neo on Jul 29, 2001 - 12 comments

An all encompassing crypto application sounds great, but is it really feasible? If you try to do too much we'll just end up with another halfass program no one really trusts.
posted by monkeyboy on Jun 18, 2001 - 0 comments

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies now have access to software that can remotely record every keystroke and see every file on a target PC. Data Interception by Remote Transmission (D.I.R.T.), developed by Codex Data Systems (you need a username and password to get past the opening screen) can supposedly see through PGP, firewalls, whatever you throw at it apparently. Only works against Win95 so far, but that won't last. Is this hogwash or something crucial?
posted by aflakete on Jun 4, 2001 - 15 comments

Now there's no excuse for starting that blog. This software allows you to create entries on your Palm (Windows only it appears :-( )
posted by Taken Outtacontext on May 29, 2001 - 9 comments

Fatbubble -- include-all blogging in real-time? This new program will allow you to spy on what your instant messenger buddies are browsing on the web, let them know what you think about the sites they're on, rate them, comment on them, send them to a friend etc. (Their press release)
posted by frednorman on May 8, 2001 - 9 comments

Your laptop is a musical instrument. The Back to Basics software offered by Hard rocking, hard ware band O.R.I. will not garner many comments, but should be tried out. Devo meets Servotron and pretends to be Phillip Glass.
posted by thirteen on May 2, 2001 - 6 comments

Sometimes conspiracies are real. The real reason the 3d net software is showing up again might best be summed up by a quote from this article: ' "The focus was to get someone to go out and upgrade to a Pentium 4," Benoit said. "We wanted to create new and compelling content that wasn't out there and that would cause people to make a decision to upgrade their processors." '
posted by gdavis on Apr 10, 2001 - 13 comments

Brand Ben Brown Software launches
- with Discuss being the debut release; a configurable Perl discussion list script.
posted by williamtry on Apr 10, 2001 - 9 comments

Article on New Scientist about "software that turns everyday language into computer code".
posted by paladin on Apr 5, 2001 - 19 comments

Internet Explorer 6 and Standards Microsoft says they'll have 100% CSS1 and DOM (I assume level 1) support. A step in the right direction? Too little too late? Discuss.
posted by fil! on Apr 5, 2001 - 19 comments

Big Blue moves into the web services arena, claiming to be the first company to provide such services. Ever hear of .NET? Seems to me that they've been rolling a framework (that's got BETA development tools already) since last summer.

i think the most poignant point in this article isn't the fact that IBM's making false claims, but this quote by Peter O'Kelly:

``It's amazing that these guys are agreeing to work with the same standards. They've finally realized it's a disservice to customers when they try and compete on the basis of proprietary formats and protocols."

Now if the browser wars could end, we'd all be in better shape.
posted by tatochip on Mar 14, 2001 - 5 comments

Be very afraid. The only real solution to this is backlash and boycott. Technical solutions to "InTether" are inadequate (especially since every such will be a violation of the DMCA). If content vendors will only sell their material this way, don't buy! (Ultimately, it's going to take an act of Congress to straighten this all out. How about a law making it illegal to prevent "fair use"?)
posted by Steven Den Beste on Mar 13, 2001 - 30 comments

Is this another lifeline for Napster? Would going offshore with the servers really make any difference?
posted by ecvgi on Mar 7, 2001 - 2 comments

Microsoft exec calls Linux a threat to innovation? "One of Microsoft's high-level executives says that freely distributed software code such as Linux could stifle innovation and that legislators need to understand the threat."
posted by macewan on Feb 15, 2001 - 25 comments

Pixia is a FREE paint program for the PC.
posted by grumblebee on Feb 11, 2001 - 13 comments

Winamp 3.0a2 has been released to the general public. Beware it's Alpha 2 so some things aren't complete, such as the EQ, but it still has some nice new features such as the Thinger and the ability to layer and alpha blend skins.
posted by physics on Jan 27, 2001 - 15 comments

MacOS X comes of age. Microsoft has just announced that Microsoft Office will be released for the new Apple OS in the fall. "Analysts had warned that without a version of Office, or similar productivity suite, running natively under Mac OS X, Apple would face problems getting businesses to switch to the new operating system. "
posted by Brilliantcrank on Jan 10, 2001 - 0 comments

Charging for software as a service. As soon as the software vendors get this ironed out the hardware vendors are going to want in too. Soon you'll be paying monthly service fees based on how much you use your computer. (More ranting inside) ->
posted by monkeyboy on Jan 10, 2001 - 19 comments

Flash 6 Screen Shots, for those who, unlike me, are already looking beyond Flash 5.
posted by tamim on Dec 28, 2000 - 14 comments

PoPoRon is "kind of like a pyschedelic photoshop for kids. but even better than that, really." link via Mister Pants and thewebtoday
posted by lagado on Nov 15, 2000 - 3 comments

Anyone tried Flyswat? Reads web pages with you and makes hyperlinks for words it recognizes. Very cool hypertext tool...
posted by owillis on Oct 20, 2000 - 13 comments