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

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 on Jan 7, 2005 - View this thread

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

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 on Apr 12, 2004 - View this thread

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 on Jan 22, 2003 - View this thread

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 on Jan 6, 2003 - View this thread

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 on Nov 27, 2002 - View this thread

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 on Nov 11, 2002 - View this thread

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 on Sep 28, 2002 - View this thread

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 on Sep 8, 2002 - View this thread

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 on Aug 5, 2002 - View this thread

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 on Aug 1, 2002 - View this thread

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

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 on Mar 30, 2002 - View this thread

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 on Feb 14, 2002 - View this thread

Flash Player 6 Beta .... need I say more.
posted on Feb 1, 2002 - View this thread

Convert your pictures to HTML. So cool I nearly wet myself.
Seriously.
posted on Jan 23, 2002 - View this thread

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 on Jan 4, 2002 - View this thread

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 on Dec 11, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Nov 29, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Nov 5, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Oct 17, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Oct 8, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Aug 31, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Aug 29, 2001 - View this thread

Netscape 6.1???? Have you tried it? Do you like it? Should we get Mikey?
posted on Aug 25, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Aug 4, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Jul 31, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Jul 31, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Jul 29, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Jun 18, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Jun 4, 2001 - View this thread

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

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 on May 8, 2001 - View this thread

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 on May 2, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Apr 10, 2001 - View this thread

Brand Ben Brown Software launches
- with Discuss being the debut release; a configurable Perl discussion list script.
posted on Apr 10, 2001 - View this thread

Article on New Scientist about "software that turns everyday language into computer code".
posted on Apr 5, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Apr 5, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Mar 14, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Mar 13, 2001 - View this thread

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

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 on Feb 15, 2001 - View this thread

Pixia is a FREE paint program for the PC.
posted on Feb 11, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Jan 27, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Jan 10, 2001 - View this thread

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 on Jan 10, 2001 - View this thread

Flash 6 Screen Shots, for those who, unlike me, are already looking beyond Flash 5.
posted on Dec 28, 2000 - View this thread

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

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

Today Apple announced Quicktime 5. It sounds cool but it's only available for Macintosh right now. Doesn't Steve understand that he needs to get this software out to as many platforms as possible, as soon as possible? Windows Media Player 7 is looking better and better...
posted on Oct 10, 2000 - View this thread

FLASH! Sanity breaks out in Congress! Doesn't sound like grandstanding to me; sounds like these guys have a clue on software and business method patents. "Healthy skepticism" sound like real friendly words to me.
posted on Oct 4, 2000 - View this thread

Winners of the Foil the Filters Contest.
posted on Sep 28, 2000 - View this thread

How to tilt at windmills. What these guys don't undestand is that Apple can't make money selling software. They develop software so that they can sell the hardware on which it runs, which is their real profit center.
posted on Sep 18, 2000 - View this thread

"A unique little pet that lives in your e-mail software." Asking for trouble?
posted on Sep 4, 2000 - View this thread

Censorware gone wrong.
posted on Aug 28, 2000 - View this thread

(Almost) What you wanted for Christmas. A lightweight browser using the Mozilla rendering engine, solely to browse webpages, minus all the smoad of bloat thats making Mozilla so un-usable at the moment. It is just work in progress though, so some important practical features aren't implemented yet, but something to look at nonetheless.
posted on Aug 25, 2000 - View this thread

Ok, here comes the firestorm. Joel on Software has some very good things to say -- though, like most user-interface-design mavens, I think about 50% of the time that he hasn't comprehended what the problem really is... but in this piece, he's wrong.
posted on Aug 7, 2000 - View this thread

Joel on Software has got a good piece on .NET called Microsoft goes bonkers. In it he says that although it's being heralded as a 'revolution', .NET is worse than vaporware, they didn't even bother to provide the vapor. There is also as an interesting response from a Microsoft employee.
posted on Aug 2, 2000 - View this thread

Flash 5! Tasty and delectable new features including HTML TEXT! I can't wait!
posted on Jul 24, 2000 - View this thread

IBM's Linux commercial. Part of their Avery Brooks "serious software" ad campaign, which I like a lot, I have to say.
posted on Jul 22, 2000 - View this thread

The end of view source? New software on the horizon may allow you to control who saves, copies or prints your web content. Are the days of right-click piracy coming to a close? Will this add weight to the budding concept that people might actually pay for content they want? Should we care?
posted on Jul 11, 2000 - View this thread

The original programmer of the Broderbund/Mattel "spyware" explains that it's actually NOT spyware. This topic was originally discussed on MeFi in this thread.
posted on Jun 17, 2000 - View this thread

I got my copy of Dreamweaver UltraDev today, it shipped with a copy of Cold Fusion Enterprise Server and IBM Websphere Application Server (and yes, they snuck a site redesign in there too).
posted on Jun 15, 2000 - View this thread

So, how big did you say that app needed to be? Radsoft Labs knocks a Windows DNS client down from 3.5MB to 7*KB*. [Via RISKS Digest.]
posted on Jun 11, 2000 - View this thread

The Spyware Infested Software List. All programs on this list surreptitiously report back to a server telling either what you've been doing or what is on your computer. It's quite a list. I don't understand why Navigator isn't on there, though. Navigator's "What's Related" feature does exactly the same thing.
posted on May 28, 2000 - View this thread

Occasionally you find an absolute treasure on the web. And I felt like sharing this one, though it's not topical at all. It's free and it's supercool. (So I'm a nerd. So sue me.) Requires WIN32 and a fast computer and OpenGL. But just the page itself is worth visiting even if you can't run the program.
posted on May 21, 2000 - View this thread

Aw crap. You *know* their Linux initiative is going to take the blame for this, right...?
posted on May 18, 2000 - View this thread

Voice Recognition - An Optimistic Take. A sunny view of a voice-commanded future. But I'm a little freaked out by their description of "VoiceXML"... someday will we all be saying "Metafilter, CLICK"?
posted on May 16, 2000 - View this thread

Is this cool? Or do I just want too much? A happy marriage between my geek self and my designer/writer self? Is it possible? Is Macromedia Dreamweaver Ultradev the answer?
posted on May 10, 2000 - View this thread

Phil Katz RIP
posted on Apr 26, 2000 - View this thread

Microsoft unsympathetic toward ending serial killings. "Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk held an extraordinary public meeting two months ago and asked the public for fresh tips. He even wrote to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, asking him to donate software to help analyze 10 years of homicide files; according to a sheriff's spokesman, Microsoft said no." => Lack of confidence in their software, or lack of a value system for MS?
posted on Apr 23, 2000 - View this thread

Haven't really tried it yet, but RedGorilla sounds like a badly-named but useful tool for people who need to track their hours so they can accurately bill clients.
posted on Apr 16, 2000 - View this thread

Hey Mac users, want to beat the rush and get IE 5.0 final early? Follow the link to Nick Finck's Digital Web magazine site for the download URL. From the looks of Microsoft's Mac site, it won't be out until tomorrow.
posted on Mar 26, 2000 - View this thread

Folks, this one's not a joke. The major software publishers are trying to make an end-run around the copyright laws. If this passes anywhere we're all potentially going to be bound by it. All they have to do is stick a clause in the license that says "This shall be governed by the laws of the state of Virginia."

They're also trying to make an end-run around the First Amendment. If this passes it will be illegal for you to write a review about any software package, or to reveal any information about bugs you find.

Finally, they're trying to make an end-run around property law. If it passes, you won't own the software you purchase, you'll be leasing it, and you won't be protected by state laws on commercial purchase.
posted on Mar 5, 2000 - View this thread

Nannybots and mailing lists don't mix - especially nannybots that have gone insane!
posted on Mar 3, 2000 - View this thread

Amazon is approved for a patent on the technology behind their affiliate program. Wow, this really has the potential to shake things up a bit. Will software patents like this destroy internet commerce?
posted on Feb 27, 2000 - View this thread

Web-related software patents are starting to look like the new cyber-squatting equivalent. People are patenting all sorts of mundane things like "electronic shopping carts" and "making secure purchases via the internet." My guess is in 3 or 4 years, after many of these silly patents have been awarded, we'll see a restructuring of the US patent system.
posted on Feb 22, 2000 - View this thread

I often forget that there's still a community of visual basic developers out there building all sorts of goofy apps for windows. This site has a whole bunch of useful utilities, including Gribouille, a program that lets you draw all over your desktop, Pubcruncher, an app that kills popup windows, and my favorite: "Nap and Coffee", a fake app that lets you walk away from your computer and make it appear that you're copying large files, scanning for viruses, or setting up a program.
posted on Feb 6, 2000 - View this thread

Ever noticed that the also-rans who have yet to be acquired by one of their peers seem to glom together like cornmeal in water? Take a look at who Be is partnering with for their Stinger internet appliance software: Bitstream - clearly a runner-up to Adobe in the typeface technology department; and Opera - who are trying desperately to be the alternative browser of choice. Who's next? Corel, and their latest BeOS port of WordPerfect?
posted on Dec 9, 1999 - View this thread

When a software company starts licensing chunks of hardware, something must be afoot. What the heck is Adobe going to do with Sony's Memory Stick technology anyway? Free PDF storage media in every box of Acrobat?
posted on Nov 15, 1999 - View this thread

The ICQ Protocol Site is a neat resource about the ICQ protocol. Yeah, that's right. I bet you didn't see that coming. Anyways, the protocol is kinda elegant.
posted on Nov 2, 1999 - View this thread

Dontcha hate it when something like Winamp gets bought out by AOL? It crashes a bit too much on my home system so I went looking for alternatives and was glad when I found FreeAMP (it's GPL'ed to boot!). Take the high road, use the mp3 player that guarantees no AOL buyouts on your desktop.
posted on Sep 23, 1999 - View this thread