Filed under: Fun, Retrocomputing

I remember playing Star Wars from a cassette on our Apple ][. My dad bought it in a bike shop and it came with paddles and some starter cassettes like Breakout, Applesoft BASIC and Star Wars (complete with slightly off-pitch theme song). Later we upgraded the ][ to a ][+ on the inside (capable of addressing a whopping 8K of RAM!). We also upgraded to two disk drives -- something you really needed for playing Wasteland. The dual drives might have been on my Laser 128, but that was the first computer that was given to me specifically. The Apple ][ started it all.

Things progressed nicely when I caught my first computer virus by unsafely downloading some Monty Python sounds on my dad's Macintosh SE/30. Today my iPhone has far more computing power (and has yet to see a copy of Disinfectant cleared on the App Store) than a room full of 80's-era Macs. For anyone who reflects back upon their first computer and their current computer, it is a similar, dizzying experience.

As we head into a new decade, we've assembled a few stories from our Seed contributors on this same topic. Each contributor recalls a specific type of computer and their own special experiences with their first computers. The last story, "Helping My Mom..." is more about how computers have left a generation behind, and how the technological divide still exists... But it's OK -- the future is bright for computing, as we now carry miniature PC's in our pockets every day. Here's to the future!

To jump to a particular story, click below.

The Digi-Comp II

The Sinclair ZX81

The sad little IBM PCjr

My first computer: remembering in black and green

A used IBM 80286

Helping my Mom slide technologically backwards

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/ / CC BY 2.0

What was your first computer? originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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App Store - IPhone - Apple - Applesoft BASIC - Monty Python

Filed under: Browsers

While the guys over at UselessApplications.com claim their software is "of no interest to most people," I've got dozens of customers here who would love to have me bolt Firefox Throttle onto their web browser.

See, I live and work way out in the boonies - about 6 hours past the boonies, really - and anyone living beyond a 5-mile radius of "downtown" has two options for Internet access. One is dial-up, and the other is KA-band satellite high speed. Needless to say, plenty of people are willing to pay the extra bucks to avoid being chained to their phone lines.

The downside is that some satellite providers have fairly strict bandwidth usage policies. Go over the cap, and you're throttled back to modem speeds.

Firefox Throttle can help. Add it to your browser and you've got a simple, straightforward way to keep your web browsing within your provider's limits. In addition to throttling upload and download rates, you can also enabled "bursting" which allows for brief accelerated sessions following periods when your connection has been idle. You can also whitelist certain sites if you want them to load full-speed all the time.

Curious how busy you've been? Check Throttle's stats page, and you can see your upload and download for the current browsing session as well as a grand total.

Thanks for the tip, Yansky!

Firefox Throttle keeps your browser's bandwidth usage under control originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Download Squad - Web browser - Mozilla Firefox - browser - Clients

Filed under: Utilities, iPhone

Download Squad doesn't condone irresponsible levels of alcohol consumption - at least not without a plan for how you're getting home - but we know that it happens sometimes. Fortunately, you're likely to have your phone with you when you're drinking, and there's a new, geeky way to determine whether you've had one too many to drive safely. Yes, my friends, there's an app for that: R-U-Buzzed.

It's not a breathalyzer attachment for the iPhone, as cool as that would be. No, R-U-Buzzed is just a calculator based on your height, weight, and what you've had to drink that night. If you're sober enough to put that information in, the (free) app will tell you whether you can drive safely. Ok, I get that this seems pretty useless. Someone who really can't drive safely probably can't operate an iPhone app, either. On the other hand, even seeing the app on your home screen might remind you to call a cab. In fact, the app can even call a cab for you, if you live in Colorado. If you don't, it at least offers links to cab numbers in your area.

Be safe on the road this New Year's, Download Squad readers. We're happy you've visited our site this year, and we sure wouldn't want to lose you. Besides, there's still no app for the jaws of life.

[via USA Today]

Think you might be too drunk to drive tonight? There's an app for that! originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Download Squad - iPhone - IPhone OS - USA Today - Mobile phone

Filed under: Games, Time-Wasters

If you feel like you're too happy or you're having too good a day, bring yourself right back down to Earth by playing Every Day the Same Dream. It's a stark little story where you play a faceless corporate automaton. You get up, put clothes on (if you want), talk to your wife and head for your depressing cubicle job with your identical coworkers. The dream can end one of 5 different ways, and once you find all of them, you "become a new person" and see the real ending.

The visuals and music are both simple and appealing. Controls are also extremely spare: left or right to walk, and spacebar to interact with people and things. Your options are limited, but that's sort of the point of the game. I'm not going to spoil it for you, because that would away from the power of the conclusion. I wouldn't call Every Day the Same Dream "fun," but I would call it a good game. I might even call it art. I was actually a bit disturbed when it was all over.

Every Day the Same Dream: a bleak, unsettling Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Download Squad - Defender - Games - Kids and Teens - Earth

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Web services

Quickly! Before it gets shut down! Muziic, a web app developed by a sixteen-year-old teenager, now offers YouTube and Vevo videos without ads.

We originally covered it back in March and until Christmas Day, Muziic was simply a desktop-based downloadable program. Now, however, it's a full-featured web app -- and it's really rather good! It has a smooth, quick interface and a neat playback bar that sits at the bottom of the window. Playback isn't interrupted as you surf either; cool.

The problem is, not only does it draw on-demand content from YouTube (which is fine), but it also takes content from Vevo... without the pre-roll ads! The thing is, this isn't actually Muziic's fault, it's YouTube's. The YouTube application interface (API) also links into Vevo, and it doesn't seem to include the ads. We can only assume this will be fixed soon -- or Muziic will be forced to somehow include the ads.

Muziic offers a service comparable to, or better than, the wide range of streaming music web apps already on the Internet. I'm tempted to use it simply because a kid coded it -- he was just 15 when Muziic first launched. Did I mention there's an iPhone app for it coming soon too?

[via CNET]

Muziic now plays YouTube and Vevo videos without ads originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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YouTube - Download Squad - IPhone - IPhone OS - Vevo

Filed under: Games, Shareware, iPhone

I'll admit I'm not a particularly avid gamer on my iPhone, however over the Christmas period I've found myself playing Charadium: a stylish take on the classic game Charades. Using the ngmoco Plus+ network, you play against friends (or complete strangers) and your task is to draw the prescribed word for other plays to guess.

You each take it in turns to guess and draw, with players being awarded points for correctly guessing a drawing - and the artistically challenged such as yours truly being penalised points for unguessable drawings.

The best thing about Charadium is that you can play in small tidbits or against your Plus+ friends - as well as longer puzzle games to test your interpretive skills. Charadium is just 99¢, requires a network connection to play and is available on the App Store now.

Charadium brings charades to your iPhone and iPod touch originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone - App Store - IPod Touch - IPod Classic - Download Squad

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Web services, web 2.0, Web, Microblogging

Over the last year, I've almost entirely abandoned browser bookmarks - instead switching to Instapaper: the service that lets you save webpages for reading later, whether in the browser or via the service's handy iPhone app. In the run up to Christmas, whilst I was busy running around doing some last minute Christmas shopping, the Instapaper website received a slick update: in addition to a new look there's also a brand-new section on your homepage to show you things you might like to read.

It's worth noting that the content recommendation isn't based on your saved items right now, and isn't as complete as the content from the Instapaper-powered Give Me Something to Read however it's a nice addition to your dashboard if you're visiting the new Instapaper website and looking for something to, er, read.

Online bookmark service Instapaper gets a facelift originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Download Squad - Instapaper - IPhone OS - World Wide Web - Web page

Filed under: Google, VoIP

Google Voice is great for voicemail and text transcription, call forwarding, and a bunch of other useful phone-related services, but it's not a full VoIP solution like Skype. That could change in 2010, though, especially since Google acquired Gizmo5, a company that develops technology for web-to-web and web-to-phone calls. Owning Gizmo5 doesn't necessarily mean Google's going to compete with Skype, but some recent quotes from a VP at Google suggest things may be headed in that direction.

According to eWeek, a Google VP of Product Development, Bradley Horowitz, told the media that "voicemail transcription, inbox integration and threaded SMS are fantastic features, but we're really just scratching the surface. Gizmo5 gives us talent and talent technology. ... We want to make sure your communication is available to you irrespective of where you are at, what device you have in your pocket, etc." With Gizmo5's technology, Google's brand name and huge userbase, will we be saying "Google Voice me" instead of "Skype me" by this time next year?

I'm not willing to call it one way or the other just yet. What do you think, oh wise DLS readers?

Is Google Voice going to be the next Skype? originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google - Skype - GoogleVoice - Gizmo5 - Voice over Internet Protocol

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Features

As you can probably tell, I'm not as savvy when it comes to software -- sure, I know my way around a computer, but it's nothing like the prowess that Lee and Jay display here on Download Squad. You see... I'm a geek. Not a Mac nerd like Jay, or a security-Linux-OMG-netbook dweeb like Lee -- I'm a geek. I get excited about the things people do with computers. A virus-free computer is cool but calculating and navigating a path to the moon is frickin' awesome.

What I've tried to compile here are the 10 greatest applications of software and computers in the year of 2009. Even the most die-hard, odorous and bearded nerd should find something to squeal about in this list.

In no particular order (I'm not that brave)...
1. The Apollo Guidance Computer is now open-source

Originally coded in the 1960s for the Apollo lunar missions by the MIT Instrumentation Lab (not by NASA as you might think!), 2009 saw the open-sourcing of the software used to navigate both the Command and Lunar Modules to the moon -- and back to Earth again, in the Lunar Module's case.

As Grant covered back in July 2009, the early Apollo computers were really, really basic. It's quite amazing to consider that with just 3840 bytes of RAM, we made it to the Moon and back. The processor itself operated at 'just', 85,000 operations per second -- 85kHz... that's less than 1 megahertz! A far cry from today's quad-core four-gigahertz beasties with terabytes of RAM.

And now, 50 years later, you can emulate the Apollo software on your home computer! Now you just need to make a rocket...
2. The continued iPhone/BlackBerry/Android and cellular service provider WAR

2009 has seen some fantastic competitions, or even wars in some cases (AT&T vs. Verizon). The result, other than the smoking carcasses of the losers littering the field of war, is incredible leaps in technology. 2009 was the year of free data packages and multi-touch screens -- and OLED displays! Geolocation. Streaming video -- and even mobile broadcasting is now possible.

Apple have managed to secure a lion's share of the market with their iPhone, and seem set to steal some casual gamers away from Nintendo with their iPod Touch. The competition won't cease in 2010 though. If anything it will continue to hot up: we'll be seeing the launch of Google's Nexus One and also whatever Nokia decides to fight back with. No doubt Nintendo have something up their sleeve too. In 2010, will people move away from phones towards ultra-portable netbooks or tablets? The war for portable, omnipresent computing has only just begun.



3. A photograph of the entire Milky Way, produced using open-source apps

I covered this one recently, but I think it deserves to be shown again. What you see here is a labor of love made up of 3,000 individual digital images. The creator, Axel Mellinger, travelled around the world to get the requisite photos, and then stitched them all together using just his home computer, and a bunch of open-source apps.

Science is one of the areas where Linux and the OSS movement have always been strong -- and as computers grow in power, as does the scientific potential!

4. Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

I'm allowed to include videos in this round-up, right? Even parodies of news stories that aren't really, er, real? It was a toss-up between this, and the Google Opt-Out Island -- and my prejudice for Mac users obviously won.


5. Pirate Bay crumbles, Mininova buckles and IsoHunt is on its way...

I think we've seen more BitTorrent trackers and indexes shut down, or that have judgments passed against them, in 2009 than any other year. It used to be one big boy a year -- Napster, SuprNova, a handful of trackers that you probably didn't even notice -- but this year we've seen a lot of changes occur in the P2P piracy scene.

Broadband connections continue their proliferation around the world, international backbones swell in size, ISPs compete and offer large data-limit packages -- all in all, it's never been a better time to pirate movies, music, apps and games. (May I take this chance to offer you a list of alternative Torrent sites that I compiled after Mininova's shut-down?)

There's no doubt that we'll continue to see Torrent sites close down in 2010 as long-running lawsuits finally reach their conclusion. But you can be sure that others will pop up. Humans are resilient and technology will adapt.

Seb's 10 greatest, geekiest and most awesome things of 2009 originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone - Apple - IPod Touch - Google - Nokia

Filed under: Text, Windows, iPhone

Blio, a tablet-ready eBook reader originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone - Google - Raymond Kurzweil - E-book - Nook