The modern MOD-scene is a friendly, care-and-share alike community consisting of programmers producing free software, composers sharing their music for free and those who simply love the music. Thanks to software emulation, there’s no need for original hardware any more – though many do still insist on using classic technology for their musical needs.

This will be a two-part guide, with hardware, samples and VSTs coming next week.

Trackers & Making Music

A tracker is not an absolute necessity for creating 8bit, and many people get away with using digital audio solutions like FLStudio or Audacity. However, If you’re really serious about creating 8bit music then you’re going to want to learn how to use a tracker.

Whilst each tracker is different, the methodology behind making music is virtually identical on each piece of software. The most noticeable difference between standard audio software and a music tracker is the way the track is constructed – vertically, as opposed to horizontally – but there’s far more to it than that.

There are 6 main characteristics common to music trackers: tracks (channels), samples, notes, effects, patterns and orders. Tracks are the vertical strips onto which you construct the music, and whilst trackers of old only had a limited amount of available tracks the modern offerings have vastly improved on this. Samples are sound recordings that must be imported (and sometimes generated in-tracker) in order to construct  music.

Notes then adjust the pitch of the samples in order to match them to musical notes, allowing you to construct complex patterns of varying notes with only a handful of samples. Effects go hand in hand with notes, as these are commands added to the end of the note to instruct it to play arpeggio, vibrato, portamento and so on.

A pattern consists of multiple tracks playing at once to make up part of a song, whilst the order defines when each pattern plays, for how long and specifying other options like whether each pattern should be looped or not. These are the basics, and once they’re firmly implanted in your head then the only thing holding you back is your imagination and eagerness to experiment.

Software

Here are some of the best, completely free music trackers as well as relevant documentation where available.

OpenMPT (Windows) [Official Documentation]

Based on ModPlug Tracker, OpenMPT (Open ModPlug Tracker) builds on this release with a number of awesome features including support for VST effects and instruments. VST stands for virtual studio technology and allows instruments such as synthesizers and drum kits as well as a number of effects to be used in OpenMPT. This is somewhat special as I haven’t found any other free trackers that provide support.

OpenMPT continues the 8bit revival by supporting a number of newer file formats including Impulse Tracker (.IT/.ITP files) as well as good old fashioned (but somewhat limiting at times) .MOD and .XM files. OpenMPT is currently only designed to be used with Windows, and unfortunately I had a lot of trouble getting this to work through WINE on Linux.

One of the most complete, powerful and user-friendly trackers out there.

MilkyTracker (Windows, Mac, Linux) [Official Manual, Unofficial Tutorial]

Another much-loved tracker, MilkyTracker attempts to be a faithful recreation of the popular DOS tracker, FastTracker 2. It also aims to satiate Amiga fans, providing enhanced playback compatibility with the Amiga classic ProTracker. MilkyTracker is able to create .MOD and .XM tracks, has a unique custom user interface and supports MIDI-in.

MilkyTracker has not made the leaps forward that OpenMPT has in the form of VSTs and advanced formats, and this is because it has been designed to be and remain a second generation tracker.

SunVox (Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android) [Official Manual, Video Tutorials]

SunVox aims to be a more contained workstation than Milky or OpenMPT and to achieve this there are a lot of synthesizers and effects bundled from the get-go. In addition to this the software has a particularly flexible architecture, allowing it to perform well on older machines, mobile devices and even smartphones.

Indeed, there are iOS and Android versions available – but they’re going to cost you. If you’re weighing up the purchase then luckily all other versions are free. If you’ve still got an old Windows Mobile or PalmOS device then you’ll be pleased to know SunVox is fully compatible, so why not try it out!

SchismTracker (Windows, Mac, Linux + more) [FAQ, Message Board]

SchismTracker is a free Impulse Tracker clone that aims to recreate the feel and functionality seen in the old DOS application. Whilst Impulse Tracker doesn’t add anything particularly new to the plate (unlike ChibiTracker above) it is very flexible in construction, and according to the author: “Schism will most likely build on any architecture supported by GCC4 (e.g. alpha, m68k, arm, etc.)”

As well as Windows, Mac and a handful of Linux distributions, SchismTracker can be downloaded for the Pandora and even the Nintendo Wii (though that version is no longer supported).

SonantLive (Browser) [Instructions]

Because you want to play with a tracker and you’re too impatient to download a portable app and run it – introducing SonantLive, a music tracker than runs in your browser! Yes, it works and should give you a basic introduction to patterns, sequences, waves and of course the process behind constructing a pattern.

It’s not necessarily as powerful as the other trackers on this list but then again it’s web-based, designed for fun and completely free. You can even save and load!

Conclusion

There’s simply not enough space here to go into hardware chiptune, the many free samples the web has to offer or all the gorgeous VST instruments and effects that are floating around for free. You’re going to have to wait for next week in order to enjoy those.

In the meanwhile if you’ve got any other trackers or software you rely on for your chiptune needs then don’t hesitate to add them in the comments below.

Windows has managed to do a pretty good job of putting together the x64 version’s emulation mode (WoW64) and I’ve had no experiences where 32-bit software wouldn’t run as expected. Device drivers though, is a big one. Don’t you dare go putting x86 device drivers on your x64 machine. However, x86 64-bit systems often lack alternative software to those that are written specifically for 32-bit architectures. So here I am with three solutions that ought to put you on to some brand new, 64-bit compatible freeware goodies.

Just a note before jumping in: All three of these websites are very trustworthy and I have experiences with them all. Feel free to check their WoT ratings if you’d like a third-party opinion. However, I do not personally support downloading software from anywhere but the software’s original website. Too many websites wrap their downloads with garbage, and though these don’t I’d still recommend that you search up and navigate to the author’s site and download the programs from there. Just a safety practice!

Start64!

Start64! is one of the most trusted repositories for updated software compatible with 64-bit systems. Those of you who have been really laying it on me about now posting much about OSX will be pleased as Start64! has a whole section set aside for Apple fans.

The site is very easy to navigate, which is something I’ll always be a fan of. The listings are clear, large, and include a short summary of the software.

Each and every listing includes live screenshots and an easy-to-read recap of the program’s features. They make it very clear in just about every specific software’s listing that the software is 64-bit compatible and go as far as to list OS compatibilities overall. If you read my warning earlier (which I hope you did) then you don’t have to worry about Start64! because they send you directly to the website the software originates from for downloads instead of making you jump through hoops.

64x Software

64x Software is for both users and developers, so if any 64-bit coders have managed to slip upon this post then there’s a little added bonus for you.

This website can be a little confusing at first and I’m not crazy over the design and listing layout, but it’ll get the job done. The site is used best when checking their top software listings, or their categorical ones:

• CD/DVD
• Communication Software
• Developer Tools
• File Management
• Graphic Software
• Internet and Network Software
• Security Software

Software display pages are a little bit “meh” but again, gets the job done. Never been a fan of websites that allow open comments and a bleak rating system, but 64x Software does have a vast range of 64-bit compatible software.

X 64-bit Download

X 64-bit Download has that Download.com feel to it and I’d suggest it for the more novice user. My recommended landing pages would be at their featured and top pages (though I’m unsure of the difference). I’ve used both to find some of the better software listed here.

The site has a lot of information per software, and just as many ads. Gets a little annoying, but this is a safe website.

They’ve got software separated by category and from my experiences I do believe this is a website that features only Windows software. Sorry guys. Downloads are hosted on their servers so consider my warning earlier. Again, safe site but don’t mind me trying to condition you to be a paranoid downloader!

You can find some of the 64-bit architecture’s best software using these websites, but remember that dabbling in the world of 32-bit applications isn’t going to harm your system either. We’ve got a whole lot of articles that can help you find the software you’re looking for.

Leave a comment and let me know some of your favorite 64-bit compatible programs to use!

A couple weeks ago I discovered that Boxee on the desktop is dead. I was disappointed, but was thrilled to discover that XBMC is not only a capable replacement but better than Boxee once you collect some amazing add-ons. What I didn’t get working right away was Hulu. So I used the Hulu desktop for that, despite its many faults. No longer. Thanks to a very quick and capable plugin from the Bluecop repository, I now have full access to Hulu from within XBMC. I can even turn off ads if I want, although I don’t think I will.

Using Hulu In XBMC

Load this plugin and you can start browsing immediately. Not sure where to start? Click “Popular“.

From here you can pick to browse popular shows, episodes or movies. Pull up popular shows and you’ll see a pretty great example of Hulu’s selection:

I know: this looks pixelated. It looks much better on a TV screen, if that matters.

Anyway, you can pick a show you want to watch and you’ll see the free episodes available, typically about six.

Are you a paying Hulu Plus user? Be sure to log in and get access to complete seasons for a staggering number of shows. You can do this in the settings, where you can also configure the advertising options:

That’s right, this plugin gives you total freedom to customize when and whether you see advertisements. Remember, if Hulu is to remain free it’s vital that people watch the ads, so use this feature wisely or you might end up ruining the fun for everyone.

Installing The Hulu Plugin

Do you want to check this plugin out? There’s only a few steps you need to follow.

• First of all, on your XBMC computer, download the ZIP file of the Bluecop Repo.
• Next, open up XBMC and head to the settings, then to the “Add-Ons” section. Pick the option to add a plugin via a ZIP file, then browse to the ZIP file you downloaded.
• Finally, head to the “Add Add-Ons” section of the settings menu. You’ll find “Hulu” under “Video“. You may need to restart XBMC before it shows up, so don’t panic if you don’t see it. Install Hulu and enjoy your newfound television-related happiness.

Joyful outbursts of laughter, similar to those of a a child with a new video game console at Christmas, are an acceptable reaction but by no means mandatory. Enjoy the free TV shows.

Conclusion – Adding To Favorites

Want quick access to your favorite shows? You can add them to your XBMC favorites easily: just right-click or press “C”  on any show and you can add the show to your XBMC favorites. This means you’ll have a quick shortcut to to your show, though where this shortcut lives depends on your XBMC theme.

So, is this plugin useful for you? As always I’d be happy to hear from you, and to hear of any other add-ons I need to check out. I learn a lot from you guys.

Last time, I lamented the end of Boxee on the desktop, but I got over it quickly when I started using XBMC. It’s the software Boxee is based on, and it’s fun to use. Sure, where Boxee is clean and organized, XBMC can be chaotic and hackerish, but that’s part of the fun. But the real fun comes when you discover the various plugins you can add to this system. I’ve been digging in the past couple of weeks, and was surprised to find very few of these great plugins are written up anywhere.

So here they are – the best plugins for the XBMC media center I’ve found so far. Try them out, and point out anything better in the comments below.

Adding Repos

Before we get to the fun part, a brief explanation of repositories. Installing these is important if you want to get updates for your plugins, but happily it is very easy to do. All you need to do is download a ZIP file, then point XBMC towards it. You can do this in the settings: just head to the “Add-Ons” section, then select “Add from ZIP file.”

Once you’ve added the repository you’ll be able to install the software from it, though I’ve sometimes needed to restart XBMC to see the new plugins. That wasn’t so bad, was it?

NaviX

If you want to browse, watch and download videos from across the Internet, this is where you should start. NaviX is a collection of user-generated playlists that we’ve covered before. You can find pretty much anything here.

Download NaviX and you’ll find it under “Programs“.

Free Cable

Do you want to watch content from TV networks around the US? This is the plugin you’re looking for. Featuring streams from NBC, FX, CBS, SyFy, USA Network and more, this plugin gives access to lots of American television content.

You’ll need to install the Bluecop Repository to install this add on. Once you do, you’ll find “Free Cable” in the video section of the add-on menu.

PsuedoTV

Imagine TV stations with only shows you like and no commercials. That’s the fun of PsuedoTV, a plugin that brings the mindlessness of channel surfing to your personal media collection.

The best criticism of media center software is how active it is. You, yourself, need to pick what you want to watch, as opposed to TV where you can mindlessly channel surf. If you just want to relax and just watch whatever for a while this is the plugin for you. It makes up TV channels based on the shows and movies in your collection, and you’ll never know what you’ll stumble upon.

You’ll find this add-on under “Programs” in the add-on menu, and there’s no need to add a repository.

Rom Launcher

Have a ROM collection? You’ll want this plugin, which lets you browse all of your ROMs from within XBMC. It even collects cover art and game descriptions:

You don’t need to do much to get this working. Just tell the plugin where your emulators and ROMs are and it will figure out the rest. This works great, and is a great deal simpler than the Boxee method I outlined last year.

You’ll find this extension under “Programs” in your add-on menu, and there’s no repository you need to add.

Sports Devil

It’s no secret – you can easily watch sports not broadcast in your country online if you know where to look. Sports Devil makes this even easier, allowing you to browse several online streaming sites with your TV remote.

Not every stream will work, but if you read through the directions you’ll find that most of them do.

You’ll need to add the Max Mustermann repository to get this working. Once you do, you’ll find this extension under “Videos.”

Other Favorites of Mine

I’ve found a few other great plugins, including Reddit, Al Jazeera, The Guide and YouTube. These can all be found under “Video” and work great.

I’m wondering, though – can you guys point out any other awesome XBMC media center plugins? I’d love to hear about them, because I’m relatively new to XBMC. Fill me in using the comments below.

Other than just using VNC clients to connect to a remote computer, what can you really use VNC servers for? I mean, when you stop and think about it, the ability to connect to and control a remote computer using free software like this is pretty cool.

In this article, I’m going to put together four remote-control systems that you can use to control various entertainment and display systems throughout your home, from a single, central computer. This is especially useful for those of you that have a “main” computer in your living room or living area that everyone uses.

Four Cool Ways to Use a VNC Server

Each of the four setups that I’m going to describe here involve a main computer running VNC client software, and a remote computer – which doesn’t have to have a mouse or keyboard attached – running the VNC server software. EchoVNC is my own personal favorite, but really any VNC server software that you prefer will work.

The four setups are: a remote TV controller, a remote stereo/music controller, a centralized surveillance system, and an in-home information display system. Sound cool? Let’s get started.

Remote Control TV Media

The setup that I am going to propose here involves a central computer in your living room that controls your television entertainment system. The actual infrastructure should be configured as showing in this diagram.

Next, I suggest you set up an HTML file using the tips I offered in my recent CSS web page article. Use a free CSS template and then create a launch page where you can quickly access links to your own personal video streaming services.

Have that page automatically launch every time the display PC boots up by adding the link to that HTML page you’ve created in the startup folder.

Once you’ve got this all set up, all you have to do is sit down at your control PC in the living room, VNC into your media “controller” PC, and you’ll see that browser window already open. Just click on the service you want to use and launch the movie of your choice.

Remote Access Sound System Controller

You can use this same approach to remotely control a sound system. All you have to do is hook up an inexpensive standalone tower PC to your stereo system.

This is what that setup would look like:

This setup is nearly identical to the movie system controller, except the output from the standalone PC is sound rather than an HDMI output cable. Now, all you have to do is connect to the standalone PC via VNC and launch the music using your favorite music app like iTunes. Here, I’ve connected to my controller PC using Echo VNC and iTunes.

Just launch the music on the remote PC and the music will start playing on your stereo system.

By the way, if setting up a media center PC sounds cool and you’d like to try it, I highly recommend the free MUO manual on setting up a media center PC, which goes into far more detail than I can in this article.

Access Your Surveillance System

Were you one of the people that thought the Wi-Fi surveillance system idea that I put together using Active Webcam was a good idea? Well, if you think about it, incorporating VNC into the mix can let you dedicate a single PC to monitoring your entire household surveillance system.

By installing VNC server software onto that dedicated surveillance PC, whenever you want to check out all of your camera displays, all you have to do is remote into it to check out all of the cameras.

This allows you to run your surveillance system setup from a single, dedicated PC. Whenever you want to monitor the cameras, just remote in and check things out.

Set Up a Household Display

If you’ve ever walked through a manufacturing facility, then you’ve probably seen those flat screen informational boards up everywhere, scrolling through important statistics and information.

Well, using VNC you can actually set up a similar display at home. Just mount a small LCD display monitor on a shelf or on the wall. Connect it to a dedicated, standalone PC that you can hide in a cabinet or under a table.

Then, set up a rotating set of HTML screens that show anything from this month’s family calendar, to a task list of important projects the family will be completing together. You can use a website like FreeHTMLCalendar to create such a quick HTML calendar screen and customize it with your important events.

If you’re familiar with Javascript, then you can set up your remote PC to scroll through HTML pages as shown here.

<script type="text/javascript">// <![CDATA[
 function PageLoad() { var t=setTimeout("loadnext()",20000); } function loadnext() { location.replace('pagedisplay1.html');  }
// ]]></script>---&gt;The body of your HTML web page goes here

As you can see, the moment the first HTML page loads, it launches the “PageLoad” function. This waits 20 seconds before launching “loadnext()”, which will load the next HTML page. For each display page, you’ll just change the next called HTML file.

Here is the directory on my remote display PC that holds all of those HTML pages to display.

Whenever you want to update your remote display, just remote into it with VNC, update those HTML files with new information, news or a new family calendar, and you’re done!

Do you see yourself trying out any of these VNC client/server setups? Can you think of any other cool ways to make use of VNC? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

Image Credit: ShutterStock

AOL seems to recognize that sentiment and they’ve recently and unofficially dropped AIM 1.0.0.3 on us, dubbed “AIM Preview“. It looks like Skype, it chats like Skype, and it weighs like Skype. But it’s AOL Instant Messenger.

As you can see, I haven’t put much use to it as I’m not a very big fan. First thing you’re going to notice is that AIM has been completely redesigned. It looks nothing like it did in versions 5, 6, or 7. It’s nice and fat now, just like Skype. We’ve got a lot going on here.

1. Lifestream (which is your “status updates” of the AIM world) has been stripped away with and, well, replaced with real status updates (the Facebook kind). AIM updates still exist, they’re just a little more useless now.
2. As aforementioned, Facebook has now become integrated with your AIM experience.
3. Your buddy list has been transformed in a way that mingles Facebook buddies, contacts, and recent chats. It’s another overhaul that has AIM looking a lot more like Skype.
4. Along with Facebook, you can chat with Google Talk buddies through AIM. This already existed if you didn’t know about it.
5. Photos and videos are synced inline on the client. Chat histories are now stored remotely (rather than locally), which enables seamless synchronization between devices (at the expense of your security).
6. There’s a news feed, where AIM promoted their Huffington Post. Not much more to say here.
7. One-on-one video chatting and group messaging (more features pulled from Skype) are now with AIM. I guess this is what they decided to do with AV?

Nothing too unique or exciting is going on here. Maybe it was AOL jumping the gun on Microsoft acquiring Skype, maybe it’s AOL trying to salvage their last true-to-the-company web property that is still used daily by thousands of people.

In any event, it’s a breath of fresh air to a near-dead messenger and that’s about it. If you’ve instant messaged at all in the past couple years, this isn’t bringing anything new to the table. I can’t think of any real compliment here, though it seems as if this preview version isn’t as riddled with ads as others. You can get rid of ads in older versions of AIM quite easily, though.

It’s not worth your time, guys. Stick with Skype and let’s consider AIM an afterthought unless you, like me, need a barebones solution to IM-ing (in which case, I again recommend a much older version of AIM). Anyone else suddenly feeling nostalgic and missing those days when AOL was relevant? I can hear the modem dialing up now.

I’m not trying to beat up on poor old AIM. This is only a “preview” release, after all. Again, you can pick it up here: http://preview.aim.com/
Luckily, it doesn’t install over your old version of AIM and will write to a new directory, so there’s really no risk in at least giving it a shot.

It’s out on every platform: desktop, mobile, and web. You can get it on your iPhone or Android. I was really looking for AIM to be the first IM client that picks up the ball and adapts to the mobile world with a new release. I know you can send SMS messages from AIM, but adopting a more “permanent” solution like Textfree’s method would have been cooler.

Let me know if you guys find anything interesting with the new version that I may have skipped out on. I gave it a quick whirl after reading a few reviews and came to a pretty quick decision. Nothing new here!

Instead, what you can do to give your machine a breather is use applications that don’t tax its resources so heavily. Here, I’ll take a look at three of such programs that I also consider underhyped.

Billy [Windows]

Foobar2000 is a great project that doesn’t eat up resources, but if you want to take a look at an alternative, check no further than the extremely lightweight and simple player, Billy by SheepFriends. It launches in half a second, in contrast to many of the bloated media players (I’m sorry, iTunes, but I’m totally talking about you). True, it cannot play videos, or access a multimedia store, but it can play a whole directory of MP3, WAV, and OGG files without a hitch.

Do you like to listen to music while you play PC games? You don’t even have to use your mouse, as Billy has keyboard shortcuts for all functions.

The download file is about 600KB and takes about 2MB of RAM while playing a 60-file playlist. You can shuffle and repeat by file and playlist, as well as save Favorites. That may not seem like a lot, but when you’re surfing the web on a browser with 80 tabs and need a bit of music, all you need is this lightweight music player that won’t take up the resources.

Miranda IM [Windows]

Miranda IM is an open-source multi-protocol IM client that focuses on efficiency while still providing many of the features that distinguish Pidgin and Adium, the leading open-source IM clients for Windows, Mac and Linux. Miranda IM is quite low on resource consumption. On my machine, it was taking up 6MB of RAM while it occupies very little of hard disk space, technically nearly 7MB.

Even version 0.9.40, which is the latest one (released in December of 2011) and the one I’m testing, keeps its focus on being a lean, mean program that connects you to your Windows Live, GTalk, Yahoo, and other IM networks.

As you can see in the previous screenshot, you can customize a heck of a lot of options. While it can’t connect you to Facebook Chat and even Skype natively, it can do so when you download one of the many addons available from its official website. Overall, Miranda has a great set of features and addons while it’s also very fast and small.

Puppy Linux OS

Alright, I admit Puppy is not a program, and lots of users have professed their loyalty to Puppy already on this site and on other technology blogs, but Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and other Linux distros still seem far more popular than this tiny gem. Perhaps, most savvy users have powerful enough machines that can use the heavier OSes, but truthfully, Puppy Linux isn’t only for low-powered machines.

It deserves far more attention as a stable OS for all kinds of systems. Heck, you don’t even need a hard drive to run this OS and keep your changes. This OS has very low minimum system requirements and can access the applications that Ubuntu users enjoy, thanks to Lucid Puppy, a version of Puppy that uses Ubuntu-compatible binaries.

For me, this OS has saved my work and files more than once. This summer, one of my laptops died suddenly and while I backed up some of my important files in Dropbox, there was still a number of files that I needed from my dead machine. Thankfully, I had Puppy on an older 2GB flash drive for this type of situation. Ubuntu could also serve the same purpose but Puppy barely occupies 127 MB, while Ubuntu is a bit hungrier. I urge you to try it, even as a virtual machine, as it could come very handy later on.

The 3 programs in this list may be lightweight and simple, but sometimes simple applications works best. That’s especially true when you’re multi-tasking and don’t need another resource hog overworking your computer.

What’s your take on programs that are light on resources? Do you embrace them or do you prefer heavier applications with more advanced features? Let us know in the comments!

Image credit: schollidesign, DaPino

We should have seen it coming. There was an entire year between updates for desktop users, during which things continued to break. Certain shows stopped working, apps slowed down or broke entirely and new features appeared only on the Boxee Box. We put up with it. We loved Boxee, and wanted it to keep growing the way it did back in 2009 and 2010. We watched some shows in our browser, and used Navi X to fill in the gaps. Apps still worked, for the most part, and local playback was still decent.

During the summer of 2011 we were told we’d get an update in autumn. Months went by, autumn wound down; Boxee users grew impatient. Then, right around Christmas, Boxee released a new, bug-ridden version for Linux, Mac and Windows only to also announce this was the final desktop version ever to be released: developers will from now on focus only on the Boxee Box and software for other set-top devices.

This makes sense. Boxee is a small company, and can’t spend money developing its program for every platform under the sun. Other than consumer devices Boxee doesn’t have much of a revenue stream, and millions of dollars in venture capital means Boxee needs to be profitable, soon.

So the desktop version’s decline was inevitable. Still, a total lack of updates leaves me feeling betrayed. I, and the large number of Boxee early adopters, sincerely felt like we were part of the team. We tested the software, provided feedback and helped promote the platform. Boxee kept releasing clever hacks to keep Hulu working for free, and promised they would always do that.

Those days are long gone, and it’s time for all desktop Boxee users to buy a box or find a new home.

Story Of A Boxee User

I’m what you might call a Boxee fanboy. I’ve been using the program since its alpha release, and spent a great deal of time telling my friends and family they should be using it instead of cable. I wrote an excessively glowing review of Boxee’s beta back in early 2010, and a series of follow-up articles after that. Boxee was the recreational program I used more than anything else.

If anyone should be excited about the current release of Boxee, it’s me. I’ve forgiven its shortcomings many times, looking back, because I always believed things would keep getting better.

Not this time. The 1.5 release of Boxee for the desktop is buggy and frustrating. Most of the online shows I tried to watch didn’t work or didn’t launch in full screen. Support for Netflix, Hulu and more are dropped from the desktop version, meaning I need to turn to NaviX to watch many movies and shows. And a variety of apps simply don’t work any more.

I could say more, but it’s all been said in the Boxee forum, where users are openly discussing what program to switch to. None of these bugs would be a huge problem if updates were coming. The problem is they’re not. So it’s time to find something new.

Why Not Buy A Box?

So why don’t I support the program I love by buying a Boxee Box? Because I have a computer hooked up to my TV, which I use for a lot more than just media. I play games on it with a couple of joysticks, share files from it to my other computers and use it to test lots of different software.

Why not add a Boxee Box as well? Because I don’t want to take up more space with an unnecessary device. I’d be more than happy to pay for the privilege to use Boxee on my computer, and I think I’m not alone. At it’s best, Boxee worked better than anything out there. But I don’t want another device cluttering up my living room.

Boxee claims people like me are around for now, but won’t be for long: people are finding dedicated boxes to be better for the job. That may be the case. I get it. But if Boxee can’t support its desktop users anymore, how do I know they’ll keep supporting their box users? It’s not a completely fair question, but I can’t be the only person asking it.

What To Use Instead

After seeing how awful the new Boxee is, last night I bit the bullet and installed XBMC. And I’m telling you: I should have done that months ago.I got my favorite plugins, Reddit TV and Navi X, working in no time. I found a plugin for streaming shows from CBS, NBC and all the major networks, and it works flawlessly in a way Boxee hasn’t for years.

Yes, it’s not as well organized. Yes, the interface is harder to use. But it works, and it’s actively being maintained. Check out XBMC or read our most recent review.

A program I want to check out, but haven’t yet, is Plex. Since our last review Plex was updated to run on Windows natively, and I can’t wait to try it out. Feel free to let me know your thoughts about Plex below.

Conclusion

The Boxee team said it all: “We would not be where we are today without you. But we can’t stay here.”

I understand the sentiment, but will miss Boxee. You did web video well before you needed to make money, and standing up to big companies and hacking to keep stuff working is what made that great. Oh well, there are lots of new programs to try out with lots of clever programmers.

Can you think of something else I need to play with? Give me your thoughts in the comments below, because this recovering Boxee user needs ideas. I’ll be hanging out with you guys below.

What distinguishes the application presented in this article, Neembuu Uploader, is that it’s open-source and it also allows you to define your account login details so you can upload files to your own account. If you’re intrigued by the sound of that, read on and find out how Neembuu Uploader works.

Installation

You can download the application from the main website, which looks very polished by the way, or you can head to this URL which is the directory for all the zipped files. In case you’re wondering which zip file to grab, in this article I’m reviewing version 2.6 of Neembuu. For either of the versions, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got at least version 1.6 or newer since Neembuu Uploader is a Java application (think of it as a sibling to jDownloader, but with the exact opposite feature set). You can always go and get the latest Java over at Java.com.

Use

Once you’ve downloaded the zip file, double-click on the .rar file to run the program. You’ll get a window to type in all your login information for any of the 30 major file-hosting sites.

If you don’t quite need to upload files to a specific account, you can skip this part and close the window. On the next window, you can drag and drop files or use the browser to select your files. At this point, you can also select your hosts again, a setting which will be remembered for your future uploads.

Once your hosts and files to upload are selected, you can add them to the queue, reorder them and click on Start Queue to begin the upload process.

At any point, if you feel like you need to stop uploading, you can click on Stop Further.

Once the upload process has ceased, right-click options will be enabled so you can copy the download link or delete URLs, if your selected file host supports that option.

After you’ve used the program a few times, if you ever need the download URLs for a file you uploaded previously, you can click on Upload History to see a list of uploaded files and their respective links. You can also export that list to an HTML file with the links for easy backup and/or sharing.

Summary

Here’s a few of Neembuu Uploader’s features that make it stand out:

• Open-source and free: If you’re worried that your account information will be leaked somehow, you can look at the source code and even help modify it.
• Cross-platform: Neembuu Uploader will run wherever Java runs.
• Supports more than 30 file hosts: Dropbox, Mediafire, MegaUpload, ZippyShare, MultiUpload (which itself supports uploading to around 10 file hosts), and more.
• Translated to Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Dutch, French, German, Spanish, Vietnamese, and more.
• You can drag and drop files to add them to a queue and start uploading.
• Can set upload limits in case you have a slower connection or are multi-tasking. By default, the maximum number of uploads is 2.
• You can view your upload history and export download URLs to an HTML file for further backup and/or easy sharing.
• You can save queued files so you can upload them next time you open Neembuu.

Overall, Neembuu Uploader makes uploading to file hosts so easy you’ll wonder why you ever uploaded files on separate websites manually.

How do you upload to file hosts? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post described 3 excellent apps for recording calls, managing history and using a whiteboard in call. But there are lots more things you can do with Skype apps, such as launching multiple accounts, adding spell checks, translating chats and initiating calls with one click.

Some Skype apps require permission through Skype itself. For a full explanation on how to do this, check out Tina’s post. And now, let’s check out some awesome Skype apps!

Multi Skype Launcher

If you’re regularly using more than one Skype account on the same computer, and you’re tired of constantly signing in and signing out of different accounts, Multi Skype Launcher is going to come in mighty handy.

Simply download the app, add all your Skype accounts, and you’re read to go. Whenever you want to launch more than one account, open Multi Skype Launcher, and launch the accounts you wish to use. For each account you add, you can choose to auto login when the computer starts, and whether it starts minimized or not.

Note that if you choose to auto login, you should disable Skype’s native auto login option from Tools –> Options – > General Settings to prevent confusion.

The app works seamlessly, and I was able to use both my Skype accounts at the same time without a hitch.

Ursa Spell Checker

In today’s world, it’s becoming harder and harder to write without those built-in spell checkers we’re so used to. They’re everywhere, and we rely on them to catch embarrassing typos and even more embarrassing spelling mistakes. Skype chat, however, doesn’t have one. Ursa Spell Checker adds this functionality to Skype, complete with suggestions for correct spelling in a context menu.

Ursa Spell Checker works on an individual user basis. You set up hotkeys to enable and disable it, and whenever you want it to work, simply hit the activation hotkey you set up in the preferences. If you’re chatting to several users at the same time, you will have to enable it for each and every one. This is both a down side and an up side, depending on how you look at it.

You can download multiple languages to Ursa and enjoy a spell checker for different languages. I only tried Ursa with English, so let us know in the comments how it fares with other languages.

Clownfish for Skype

If you need more than a simple spell checker, or if Ursa is not what you’re looking for, give Clownfish for Skype a try. This app offers live translation and text-to-speech, on top of a multi-language spell checker.

The app’s context menu is a bit intimidating at first, but once you brave its sheer size, it’s not that complicated to navigate through.

For translations, you can choose between several different dictionaries, and then set them up for the languages you want to use, or simply let Skype auto detect the languages. You can also encrypt messages, set up the spell checker (which you will have to download dictionaries for), set up text to speech and more.

This is a really useful little app that can make your life easier if you often chat in different languages and need to constantly copy and paste into Google Translate. As I’ve mentioned earlier, the app’s interface is a bit hard to swallow at first, but don’t give up, there are some real gems to be found.

Click.to

Click.to is a brilliant time-saver which is not meant for Skype only, but personally, I find that it’s especially useful when used with Skype. What Click.to does is take data from your clipboard and then lets you use this data in other applications. So how does this help us with Skype? Simple. Say someone just gave you a phone number in an e-mail or a chat, or you’ve found a phone number you need to call in a customer service website. Instead of copying, opening Skype, and pasting, you can use a Click.to shortcut.

When you first install Click.to, you can choose which services it will offer to use. I chose only Skype.

Then, when someone give you a phone number anywhere, simply highlight it, copy it to the clipboard and a set of buttons will appear. If you click the Skype button, a call will immediately be initiated. Simple, and very very useful.

You can easily change things like what shortcuts it offers, the icons’ size and location and whether it offers these shortcuts automatically.

Conclusion

If you use Skype a lot, you’re going to enjoy the enhancements these apps provide. But there are many other apps out there that can enhance your Skype experience. Know of some really good ones? Let us know in the comments, so we know what to try next!