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I came across this link earlier today and thought it would be very useful for my target audience. Microsoft is essentially extending what is their older Microsoft Development Network Academic Alliance (MSDNAA) to all college students across the globe. Unlike MSDNAA though, DreamSpark is limited to software development tools whereas MSDNAA gave you access to a variety of operating systems and development tools. Even with these limitations though DreamSpark is a fantastic foot forward for Microsoft in both publicity and attracting the brightest minds in the industry.

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Just found this a few minutes ago and found it interesting enough to post about. This application measures your batteries current performance along with it’s original performance. While not exactly an application I’d fire up every time I was on my Macbook, it’s definitely an application to take a look at as you might be as shocked as I was. I’m currently at half the capacity from when I first bought this Macbook which explains why I tend to get under 2 hours of use while on battery. Sounds like it’s time to upgrade laptops or buy a new battery and keep this one as a spare.

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Microsoft releases security patches and bandaids for Windows on a nearly daily basis but rarely do they roll out an entire Service Pack. Typically when I am benching I try to stick with a minimalistic installation in hopes that the fewer background processes will help create a more efficient platform. Last month I was informed that there was a Windows XP Service Pack 3 release-candidate available to the public so naturally I felt the urge to test out the new spin on Windows XP. Given the fact that XP will easily be with us for a very long time, it seems natural to check out what’s in store for us in advance.

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It seems like lately there has been a flurry of releases with demos and open betas. The enormous Command and Conquer franchise will be getting another addition with Tiberium Wars which looks to be a great counter-point to Supreme Commander. Funny how all the old games are coming back, Command and Conquer, Total Annihilation, maybe Starcraft? Either way here’s some links, I’m currently downloading from the FileFront link at a solid 250kb/sec. Once this finishes downloading and I finish my LOTRO preview I’ll begin playing with Command and Conquer. I can’t believe this, I JUST bought Supreme Commander on Saturday and I have yet to open the box due to having 3 different games in either beta or open demo. Enjoy, links below shouldn’t require a username/password.

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There is something special about having the ability to carry your desktop everywhere you go. No I am not talking about lugging your computer tower with you, I mean the applications that you use on a daily basis. I have a select few programs that I have become accustomed to using. When I have to use another computer and those programs aren’t available I waste countless minutes searching for similar applications and then configuring them to my taste. Now you may say “Chris, you have a Macbook, why not just use that?” and I wish I could simply use my Macbook for everything but that is not the case, especially as a college student. In a normal day I hop from 2 to 3 Windows computers and sometimes more if I happen to also visit the library to print off documents and such. All this computer hopping makes for a lot of time wasted searching for proper applications so to help combat this problem I have assembled a list of portable applications that I have found to be indispensable.

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With the name Codename Max I thought this was going to be a video game or something like that but I couldn’t have been further from the truth. My roommate Paul Stamatiou linked me to a new project launched by Microsoft that tries to target the online social community with an integrated RSS reader and picture sharing software. Lately Microsoft’s programs have been rather attractive and useful programs so I decided to download the 54 megabyte download and give it a try.

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In todays modern computing field lots of terms get thrown around rather frequently such as SSL, HTTP, FTP, and SSH just to mention a few. I myself didn’t know what SSH meant until recently when I began experimenting with server grade operating systems and remotely patching into the systems for administration purposes. I figured if I was confused about a few terms then there might be a few other people that could use a little bit of clearing up.

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It feels like it was just a few weeks ago when I reviewed Azureus and a few other Bittorrent clients. Once again I have another little review of for you guys, Azureus 2.5.0.0. This new release features a few security and bug fixes but two items mentioned in the changelog really stick out, the ability to link to your active torrents, and the adjustment of CPU usage especially when connected to a large quantity of peers

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