Egonitron » Software

Amahi – A Free Home Server Alternative to Windows HS

egon — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:19:19 +0000

I’ve been using Microsoft Windows Home Server since the beta test, and while I’m not normally a raving fan of any software by Microsoft, I love this thing. It’s designed to be very user-friendly, and while it is very easy to use for a server, I wouldn’t give it to my grandma to try out. I consider my self to be pretty tech-savvy, but I did have some problems setting some stuff up.

That aside, it’s a wonderful piece of software, and I’d recommend it to anybody. It’s a great backup solution, automatically backing up all of the computers on your network every night, and allowing a simple recover feature in case something happens, completely restoring any PC on the network. It has some great plugins to use as well – Webguide is my favorite. Webguide was so popular that MS themselves picked up the project and made it free.

On to my point…the problem with Windows Home Server (WHS) is that it’s expensive. The system builder software is good for those who have a spare PC to run it on or can just build a new PC. The software alone is ~~$160~~ now $85, then add the price of the hardware. Even better though, you can buy an HP Mediasmart Home Server for about $750. It comes with 1TB (1000GB) of storage space, and is built with WHS in mind. It’s a great option, but way too expensive for most people.

The good folks at MSWHS blog introduced me to Amahi HDA – a free linux-based home server software with many of the features of WHS. Amahi offers:

* Calendaring
* Wiki
* Shared network storage
* Network Backups
* Printer server
* Remote access

You can use a spare computer with at least a 800MHz processor and 512MB RAM or they can send you a desktop box pre-configured as an HDA with a Pentium III 800MHz processor with 256MB of memory and a 20GB disk for FREE (-shipping). A Power user option is available with a PC using an AMD Opteron 244 chip running at 1.8GHz with 2GB of memory and a choice of hard disk, all in a black desktop workstation case for a very low cost.

Sounds like a damn good deal to me. Keep in mind this isn’t going to be as user-friendly as WHS, but that’s what to expect when it’s free (or cheap if you buy the systems they offer.)

I have 3 total invites available for the Beta. Please leave a comment below if you want an invite.

WinSplit Revolution – Get The Most Out Of Your Monitor

egon — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:50:34 +0000

Do you have a high-resolution monitor or dual monitor setup? I guarantee you aren’t getting the most out of it unless you’re using WinSplit Revolution; a fantastic piece of freeware designed to help you maximize your productivity. And it works.

By using simple keypad shortcuts (Default is Ctrl+Alt+Num Pad 1-9) WinSplit rearranges your windows in an efficient manner, allowing you to get the most out of you desktop space. This is especially useful for Web Developers to have your browser, FTP program and code editor tiled to see all three at once.

I’ve had no issues so far using it in Windows Vista, and the most recent version (1.6) now supports dual-monitors.

Download WinSplit Revolution

[via Lifehacker]

No More Joost Invites

egon — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:00:45 +0000

Ever since I started offering Joost invites, I’ve received an unbelievable response. So far I’ve sent out 125 invites, all by hand, one at a time. The time has come to an end. Not because I feel like being a jerk, but because Joost completely stopped working on my computer. Every time I opened it, it crashes on me right away. I really don’t feel like trying to install it again; I didn’t really use it very often anyway.

It’s a great service, but I’m going to wait until they fix the obvious major bugs, and complete their partnerships with some of the major networks they’re working on. Right now they really don’t have that many channels available.

I still encourage you to find invites and try it out, you might find that you love it. It’s still better than all the other TV-on-Your-PC programs I’ve tried. I believe the folks at TechCrunch still have some. Go get a Joost invite from TechCrunch.

A Note to Internet Explorer Users

egon — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:19:39 +0000

Please, PLEASE stop using Internet Explorer, if for no other reason but this: You won’t see all websites the way they were meant to be seen. Internet Explorer (from here on out refered to simply as “IE”) does not support many features that other modern browsers support, and what it does support, it does badly. The most recent release (IE7) fixes some issues that previous releases had, but for some reason, Microsoft still refuses to support what other browsers have been supporting for years. For example, check out my most recent post on the new Safari browser. If you view the post in any other modern browser it looks fine, but if you view it in IE, the image has a strange gray background (PNG transparency,) and the list items don’t look right.

Using IE puts a strain on web developers, and they often have to create and use “hacks” and work-arounds just for IE. This is simply unacceptable. It creates non standards-compliant websites, and often forces webmasters to leave out features they would otherwise include. Many web developers also live by the “Screw IE” philosophy, which means that web pages will look silly to you only because you use IE. The same page will look great if you’re using another browser. Is it really worth it?

Many people are afraid to switch because they don’t like change, and they’re afraid to learn a new piece of software. Modern browsers have a very small learning curve, and only take a few minutes to get the hang of. In fact, switching to IE7 will be more difficult to learn than changing to Firefox. What are you waiting for?

Want another reason? Security. IE has many security flaws the other browsers have fixed. IE is a target for hackers. Do you like viruses, spyware and adware? Then keep using IE. Using a different browser instantly makes your browsing significantly safer.

So which browser should you switch to? There are many free choices available. I prefer Firefox for many reasons, and so do 77% of my readers. It all comes down to personal preference, but for first switching from IE, I recommend Firefox. Here are links to some of the most popular alternatives:

Firefox
Opera
Safari
Flock

Those are some of the more popular browsers, and I have personally used and highly recommend all of them.

Note: When you install a new browser, do not uninstall Internet Explorer. You will still need it for many Microsoft features including Windows Update. Isn’t it nice of Microsoft to refuse other browsers to use their services? There are also still a few online services which require IE like banks, some colleges, etc.

Need more convincing? Go here or here or here or here or here or here or here…there are many more.

Apple Updates Safari – Is It Safe Now?

egon — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 15:03:55 +0000

Apple recently made Safari available for Windows users…and webmasters rejoiced. Within 2 hours, critical security flaws were found, and many put off downloading the browser promising 2 times the browsing speed and application launch speed of current browsers. Safari also offers several other features including (of course) tabbed browsing, easy bookmarks, pop-up blocking, resizable text fields, private browsing, auto-fill, a beautiful interface, and SnapBack, a nifty little feature that allows you to “Instantly snap back to search results or the top level of a website.”

Will the most recent update from Apple put Safari back into the must-have Windows browsers? According to Apple, Safari 3.0.2 Beta has:

Latest security updates
Improved stability
Fixes for text display, non-English systems, and start-up times

I guess if it’s no more safe than it was, we will hear about it soon. In the mean time, I’ll be testing my websites with it at “Blazing fast speeds”…

Download Safari 3 Beta

Joost Review – Invites Aplenty

egon — Sun, 13 May 2007 07:12:06 +0000

**Update: No More Joost Invites

Heard about Joost yet? It’s really cool.

From Joost.com:

Joost is a new way of watching TV on the internet. With Joost, you get all the things you love about TV, including a high-quality full-screen picture, hundreds of full-length shows and easy channel-flipping.

I’ve used many different internet TV programs and online services, and some of them are okay, but have too many flaws to make it worth keeping. I was initially hesitant to even try Joost when I got the Beta invite, but after hearing many good things about it, I decided to give it a try.

I was floored after trying it. The quality is amazing, it doesn’t skip and jump around, no buffering, the interface is really cool, and it’s very easy to use. It also has some other cool features like IM, preference widgets and more, but I’m yet to use them. I’ve been too busy watching TV on it. It’s an on-demand like service that let’s you watch any of it’s programs any time you want. (Note: There have been reports of Joost freezing people’s computers, but I haven’t had any problems yet.)

The only problem is that there aren’t that many programs available for it yet. While they’re planning more shows, signing more deals, and getting a bunch of funding, there are most likely enough currently to keep you busy for a while.

If you want an invite to Joost, please leave a comment requesting one and be sure to fill in the email field (you don’t have to leave your email address in the comment itself, just the email field.)

Update: Joost Experience