gdgt.com launched today.  This is a new tech site/community that allows users to add, review and compare gadgets.  The site is structured much like a wiki where users can edit almost any information on a device.

In its first day online the site has come to a screeching halt, unable to hold up to all the users flooding the site.  The site looks promising for users who are into gadgets and want to compare and see what other people think about a product.

Update: Later in the launch day the team at gdgt.com got the site back up and stable.  Since then I haven’t had any problems with the site.  It is a very interesting idea for a site and seems to be a hit, you constantly see new users signing up.  I don’t see the site being long term, it seems like something that is fun at first but will soon be just another thing.  I like the site so far.

I received my Ubuntu One invitation today.

Ubuntu One is a service provided by Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu, which allows you to backup, sync, and share your files.  It works similar to the Dropbox service, you install a client to your workstation, select what you want to sync and it is automatically updated when it changes.

Ubuntu One requires Ubuntu 9.04 or greater, an internet connection, and a standards-compliant browser to function.  Unlike other services, this is made for Ubuntu and is not available for Windows or Mac.  This is a slight drawback.  You can still use the service to backup to the service and that in itself is a good service.

Two account types are available right now, a 2GB and 10GB limited account.  2GB is the free account and the 10GB will run about $10 a month.  Since this service is in beta I chose the 2GB storage to give it a try.  This is a closed beta and is by invitation only.  You can request an invitation from the Ubuntu One site.

Microsoft has released the beta version of its free antimalware program, Microsoft Security Essentials.  I have loaded it on a Windows XP and Windows 7 32-bit workstation and so far so good.

The software has a similar look to Windows Defender, and did a full scan in about ten minutes.  Security Essentials is meant to replace Windows Defender, which is a good thing.  I was thinking this was going to be an additional piece of software that would have to run to keep my workstation clean.  Nice to know that it is meant to be an all-in-one solution.

It is hard to think that this free software will take care of everything needed by an internet user, but it is too early to tell.  I will continue to run it and try to put it through some good testing before I give a review.

The beta is available now and if you are bleeding edge, I would give it a try.  I wouldn’t recommend this on your production system but if you are into virtual machines or have another workstation go ahead and give it a try.

Ubuntu 9.04 was released in April and once again they deliver. Ubuntu is one of the easiest Linux distributions available, and I think it can be used by the total beginner. I have been running Ubuntu exclusively for almost two years now and it has been great. When I first started messing around with Linux, about six years ago, I had trouble with certain distributions. I skipped from distribution to distribution until I finally tried Ubuntu. Ubuntu was definitely the best distribution at the time I was searching, and I believe it still is the best available for the most amount of users. Other distributions are doing great things with their operating system, but to me, nothing compares to Ubuntu at this point. I wouldn’t take my complete word on this, I would suggest a new user try out as many distributions as possible before committing.

Ubuntu 9.04 includes the newest stable versions of the Gnome Desktop, 2.26. The new Gnome Desktop only really takes care of some bugs, there is no real visual difference that you can tell. It also integrated the new ext4 partition support. I went ahead and formatted all of my drives to use the new ext4 and I have been pleasantly surprised by the speed. The boot up time of my workstation was almost cut in half and file access “seems” faster. I am not sure if the file access is any faster, but I don’t notice lag anymore. The new Nautilus includes tabs so that you can open multiple folders inside of one Nautilus window.  Ubuntu 9.04 also integrates a new notification system to make application notifications uniform and neat.

Ubuntu is worth a try for all types of users.  It is simple enough for new users but there is plenty available for the experienced users. Ubuntu installation disks include a live installer so that you can test out the operating system before actually installing it. Run Ubuntu right off the CD to make sure it meets your needs and that all hardware (network, video, sound, etc) works. If you really give it a chance and are open to learn the differences then you will never go back.

Some other distributions to look at are OpenSuse, PCBSD, Linux Mint, and Fedora.

There is talk that Microsoft will be releasing their very own antivirus for FREE.  Not much information is available at this time, but you can check out some of the news over at Neowin.net.

Updated: Neowin.net has added some additional information about the Microsoft antivirus application.  Article Here

Updated: Microsoft anti-virus to be name Security Essentials.  Detailed description can be found here.

The few people who actually used Microsoft’s Live Search may have stumbled across Micsrosoft’s newest search engine, Bing. When this new service launched on June 3, 2009 it had a lot of hype behind it. No matter what you read online you were guaranteed to come across an article about Bing. I have had the chance to use the search engine and it seems pretty solid. I would consider Bing more of a search engine that Google. I have gotten so use to using Google as my basis for search that I haven’t really looked at anything else. I am glad that I gave Bing a chance.

First thing to know is that Bing is has a different style of search. First of all, if you put in a location it will break the results into categories. For example, I entered “Atlanta” into Bing and into Google. Google presents me with a list of sites I can visit based on relevance and popularity, it also presents me with a map and some current news. Bing gave me almost identical results of sites, but they were grouped in categories like weather, hotels, and events. Bing also provided images and maps for the Atlanta area. Bing made it easier for me to weed out the sites that I didn’t need and jump directly to a particular category, from there I could see more results in a particular category or move on to additional results. Their video search isn’t as strict as some users would like but, that is a minor drawback that Microsoft has stated that they are working to make it better.

All the normal search features from Live Search are still available, including video, images, maps, and news. I recommend giving Bing a try. It is definitely different from Google, and it may be a good different.

It seems like Microsoft is headed in the right direction. With the official release of Windows 7 coming up, Windows Mobile 6.5, and their good work on Bing I think they may be header for better days. Who knows, soon you may be saying “Let me Bing that”.