Saturday, September 20, 2008

Joost Now Offers Online TV with Only a Browser [Joost]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/396314077/joost-now-offers-online-tv-with-only-a-browser

Joost, the web-based provider of on-demand and live television, launched a browser-based version of its offerings this morning. While users of the service's Mac and Windows software can still get at their channels, Joost's new model allows anyone with Flash capabilities, and a temporarily-required browser IE or Firefox plug-in, to get at the good stuff. Joost is expected to go no-plugin-required next month—nice for those on Linux or non-standard browsers—but for now, it's a bit more hassle-free to watch live or canned television at work, or show a friend that old sitcom episode you were referring to. Joost is a free service; requires a sign-up and (for the moment) browser plug-in.


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Five Best BitTorrent Applications [Hive Five]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/396340609/five-best-bittorrent-applications


The days of peer-to-peer file sharing tools ushered into popularity by the original Napster are over and done, and today, BitTorrent reigns supreme. It took some time for BitTorrent to gain mainstream popularity, but now that it has, there are a surplus of BitTorrent clients available vying for your downloads. On Tuesday we asked you to share your favorite BitTorrent applications, and now we're back with the five most popular choices. Keep reading for a breakdown of the top five and to pick the BitTorrent client you count on. Photo by djxspike.

Before We Get Started

By now BitTorrent is a common and popular file-sharing protocol, so chances are you all know how it works. If you don't, check out our beginner's guide to BitTorrent. If that's too elementary for you, our intermediate guide might be more your speed.

uTorrent (Windows)


uTorrent's first public release came three years ago today, having been developed with one goal in mind: To create a lightweight, efficient BitTorrent client. Once a popular independently developed app, uTorrent is now owned and operated by BitTorrent the company (not to be confused with the protocol). Despite a continued emphasis on keeping the application small, fast, and light, uTorrent is now loaded with features, including a personal fa! vorite, built-in remote control.

Deluge (All Platforms)


Deluge is a lightweight, cross-platform BitTorrent client. The look and feel of Deluge is very reminiscent of uTorrent, and as much as uTorrent has dragged their heels on porting to any platform other than Windows, Deluge is poised to really take hold as a uTorrent-for-the-rest-of-us. The app is a little over a year old, and in that time it's already built an impressive, feature-rich client. Another feather in Deluge's cap is that it supports a plug-in architecture, and though all plug-ins are currently included in the app, the extensibility it offers could mean a lot to Deluge as it continues to grow.

Transmission (Mac OS X/*nix)


Transmission is a free, open-source BitTorrent client with big download bars and an increasingly impressive feature set. Like uTorrent and Deluge, Transmission aims to remain as light on system resources as possible while still offering every feature most users could want or need. The application boasts similar features to most of the rest, like download scheduling and remote control, but also has nice integration with OS X, including Dock and Growl notifications and built-in Quick Look.

rTorrent (*nix)


rTorrent is a text-based BitTorrent client that runs on Linux and Unix-like systems. In contrast to the other options, rTorrent is about as spartan as you can get on features and interface. Most fans of rTorrent love that they can easily control rTorrent remotely over SSH, but a very nice web interface called wTorrent is available if you like the idea behind rTorrent but can't see yourself managing all your downloads through the command line.

Vuze (All Platforms)


Vuze (or the BitTorrent client formerly known as Azureus) is a free, cross-platform application written in Java. Often criticized for its memory footprint (70MB at startup for me—or about 10 times that of uTorrent), Vuze has recently re-branded; in addition to the torrent downloading, it's now a content distribution tool for original video. One of the biggest talking points for Vuze addicts is its distributed trackerless network, which allows users to find and download content from peers even when they can't find anything on a web tracker.


Now that you've seen the best, it's time to vote for the BitTorrent client that gets the job done for you.

Which Is the Best BitTorrent Application?
( polls)

If you've picked your favorite BitTorrent client and you know our beginner and intermediate guides inside and out, check out our top 10 BitTorrent tools and tricks for more ! cool way s to get the most from BitTorrent.


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Stanford Offers Free, Full Courses Online [Education]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/396424437/stanford-offers-free-full-courses-online

The Stanford Engineering Everywhere program offers online access to full courses in the school's engineering program—including classes in computer science and artificial intelligence. Courses include lecture videos, reading lists, handouts, quizzes, tests, and even a social network for fellow online students. Not quite your speed? Check out other ways you can get a free college education online.


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Yugma Integrates Screen Sharing with Skype [Featured Download]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/396620411/yugma-integrates-screen-sharing-with-skype


Windows/Mac OS X: Free Skype plug-in Yugma Team Collaboration adds a screen sharing feature to Skype. The plug-in is an offshoot of previously mentioned Yugma, a standalone web conferencing and screen-sharing tool that you can use independently if you're not already a Skype user. The benefit to the Skype plug-in is that you have easy integration with your already populated Skype contact list, so starting up a meeting with Yugma through Skype (once it's set up) is a breeze. In addition to screen sharing, Yugma also offers remote control and annotation, among other features that could make it a worthwhile meeting tool. The biggest drawback is Skype's plug-in system, which is cumbersome, confusing, and makes getting started sharing with Yugma more of a pain than it should be.


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MSI Talks About Future of Wind, HSDPA on Way [Wind]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/396412828/msi-talks-about-future-of-wind-hsdpa-on-way

In an interview with Impress, MSI's Neo Lin (Notebook Product Manager) leaked some details of upcoming Wind mini-notebook revisions. The big news is that HSDPA will be coming to the new U91 (8.9") and U120 (10") systems. But the (translated) interview has some other interesting info other than just the specs on new models. Lin reveals a great geek factoid explaining where the name "Wind" came from (Wi-Fi Network Device). And that just made our day. Seriously. He also warns that dual core Atoms require twice as much power, a design obstacle that all netbook manufacturers will need to overcome. [Impress via Engadget]


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