Category: Cool

Everybody and their dog is talking about the new Google Talk instant messaging and VoIP service. You can download Google’s client here, but if you’re a Trillian Pro user, as I am, you can just use Trillian Pro to connect to the network as they use the open source Jabber protocol (though you can’t use Trillian Pro to use their VoIP server, though I’m sure somebody will find a hack for that).

So if you’re interested in playing with it, and I’m not stupidly busy (don’t expect in-depth chatting here), you can find me at utterlyboring [at] gmail [dot] com on the jabber/GoogleTalk network. So that brings the number of connections I’m managing in Trillian Pro up to 9: One ICQ account, one AIM account, a Yahoo! Messenger account, two MSN messenger accounts (long story there), and three Jabber accounts (two Google Talk, and one Jabber.org). Now I just need to find a good IRC channel to hang out in and I’ll have double digits (I’m not counting my Rendezvous connection as I don’t know anybody who uses it).

Those of you who have some common sense and are using Firefox instead of MSIE for your Web browser, bookmark this site and you’ll never have to go to WindowsUpdate.com again.

This is actually a good thing, as I was having trouble getting MS’s Windows Update to run on a server here at the office, but this ran without a hitch after I installed Firefox.

For those of you going off to college for the first time this Fall, check over this list and make sure you’re prepared. There are some things on there I didn’t even think of, but wish I knew about when I went off to school.

Only true Simpsons fans know that before they hit the big time on Fox, The Simpson appeared as shorts on the Tracy Ullman show. Now, you can download all those shorts (with their old-school animation) all in one place.

Why doesn’t our local symphony do cool stuff like this?

Gamers get to control a lot of things in the videos they play. They choose their characters, their weapons, where they go and what they do. And Wednesday, during “Video Games Live” at the Hollywood Bowl, they will get to control something new — the L.A. Philharmonic. For a portion of the two-hour video game music concert, the actions of two gamers playing live on stage will actually direct the 105-piece orchestra.

This “interactive symphony,” as the event’s founders call it, is one of the more intriguing segments in an already groundbreaking show. A conductor, watching the video game play out on a screen on the Bowl stage, will lead an orchestra that has rehearsed five musical sequences based on the action of the game. The music is for a vintage arcade game called Frogger.

Video clips, laser effects, costumed characters and stunt men will also share the stage as the Phil performs 20 other pieces of classic video game music, including Donkey Kong, Halo and EverQuest II.

Thanks Ken for the link

Now there’s a nice feel-good story for you.

One that wakes you up with the sweet smell of cooking bacon.