All Things Nerdy | allthingsnerdy.com

Have you heard about this new service? Yes it is from the company that Linux lovers would rather puncture their ear drums than hear here the name…Microsoft. Live Mesh is the perfect blend of Windows Live Sky Drive and Windows Live Folder Share. You can sync between computers, access select files online, and add permissions so that others can share and access these items as well.

AllThingsNerdy, what would it take to make this the unstoppable app? Well grasshopper, a limit of 5GB of online space takes out the option of using this as a one-stop shop for backup and synchronization unless your have a remote backup computer that you can leave connected.

Bottom line, is AllThingsNerdy using this on his/her computer right now? Oh, yeah.

Do you know Plaxo?  You should. 

Plaxo is an online address book, calendar, and task manager that syncs with Microsoft Hotmail, Google Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL, Mac, Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook, and your mobile phone. 

The initial idea behind Plaxo was to have other contacts signed up for the service as well and therefore your address book would be updated automatically if the person ever made any changes to, for example, their phone number.  Oh but it can do so much more than that.

There is no need to mention their excellent online interface because as soon as you get Plaxo set up you won’t even noticed that is working.  It seamlessly works in the background to sync all of your data.

I currently sync Plaxo to Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, Hotmail, Work Outlook - Exchange Server, and Home Outlook.  My Home Outlook is then used to sync to my PDA/phone (T-Mobile Dash: excellent phone by the way).  It works like a dream and cannot imagine my life without it. 

I definitely will not neglect to tell you all of this is covered under their free service!  See the Free vs. Premium services breakdown below.

 This open source operating system is a ground up build of Windows XP.  If you are building a new computer and wanting to do it on the “cheap”, there are many alternatives for buying software is this is a great one. 

You get the benefit of a familiar user interface and the cost effectiveness of free.  Many major software packages you are currently using are available for use with ReactOS and many more are untested and could work.  Games, Microsoft Office, and more all work.

Of course before diving into ReactOS you should be aware of what you are doing and read up on compatibility of apps and hardware that you use.

Happy computing.

I am, in fact, writing this post in Windows Live Writer.  This is a new blogging tool that allows you to use a powerful editor, that is beautiful to the touch, to create and maintain your blog. 

Although this tool is from Microsoft and the wonderful Live initiative, it can be used with many different blogs other than Spaces (obviously since you are reading this on wordpress).

After a short install and a no-brainer setup, I am happily blogging on a WYSIWYG editor that appears just like my web site’s theme.  You can throw in images and easily manipulate them on the fly.

Simple, Simple, Simple.  I love it.  This is a must try for Windows users.  This tool will make you want to blog again.

Lightroom is the new photo management software from Adobe Labs.

It has some very advanced features that true photo buffs will love but lacks some of the features that an average photo management user might like, or at least lacks the ease of use - because I did not see them upon inspection.

Either way you should keep your eyes on this project as it is still in its infancy (my replacement for beta).

Adobe Labs - Project: Lightroom

Chatsum is a chatting tool that allows you to chat with people from your browser with people who are looking at the same site you are. Very cool idea that reminds me of a persistant chat room that is now built into every website.

• If you are a website publisher you can see what others are saying about your site or talk to them.
• Families could use it to goto there family website and instantly be able to chat.
• People could goto their city’s website to chat with people in the same geographic area.
• More…

Many possibilities exist but one thing is for sure this is a pretty cool tool.  Its only possibility for downfall would be the lack of users, it must have enough people using it to make it work.  Secondly, but less of a problem, is that lack of private messaging - maybe you would like to send a message to just one user on that site.

Chatsum

I used to be a little worried about Adobe because often it seemed as though they were trying to suck everyone into their way of doing things and making things inflexible and ‘their way or the highway’.  Lately I get the feeling that I was wrong.  I like being wrong when it comes to things such as this.

Checking out the Labs section of Adobe you will see some very cool, innovative ideas and technologies.  I am especially interested in the Lightroom project.  It seems to be a very powerful photo library management and editing tool.  Currently the beta is available only for Mac users but will soon be available for windows.  Check out the video on the Lightroom page to get more details on the power of the app.

Adobe Labs - Technologies

WEEE…I knew this day would come and I am just as happy as I thought I would be. The almighty Streamload who offers 25GB free online storage came out with a backup / synchronization tool that makes the service useful now. You have no reason to not have your data backed up now. Unless you are a lazy, unorganized bastard.

Ok well maybe that was a bit strong.  Seriously, the utility is in beta (I hate this word by the way) and needs some work but I am sure in little to no time at all this will be a geat utility.  It also has support for synchronization (to sync your multiple computers) if you are not already using FolderShare owned by Microsoft (which I would highly recommend using).

Streamload MediaMax - Free Online Storage - Share Videos and Photos - Online MP3 Access

 Google has come out with a fantastic extension for firefox.  It syncs all your settings for the browser between your multiple computers.  ie: between your laptop and desktop.  I give it a definite install rating.

Google Firefox Extensions

Skype is now allowing you to use their SkypeOut service for free! You just download their client and place a call from your computer to a landline. Now go out and call your grandma!

Free calls to all landlines and mobile phones within the US and Canada - Skype Blogs