No, not the name of a new publication related to robots Of course I’m referring to Google’s rather excellent mobile operating system.

My current phone contract expires soon and I’m seriously interested in getting an Android handset. But which to have. I was excited by the Samsung Galaxy but reviews have generally not been as glowing as I’d hope for – issues such as a hidden¹ marketplace icon and abysmal PC connection software have rather tainted it. On top of this, although it’s on O2 (my current provided), it’s only available from O2 themselves and not Carphone Warehouse (which is where my contract is with). Oh, and it’s expensive.

The viable alternative is the HTC Hero, with excellent reviews, but a poorer quality camera (yes, the camera is one of the selling points for me) and, gulp, only available in pink or brown from the Carphone Warehouse.

However, the Hero has just won the T3 award for best mobile phone and best gadget of 2009. I’m not sure I can argue with that.

Having said that, I’ve just noticed that 3 are bundling Spotify Premium with the HTC Hero…. Hmm. Between now and my contract renewal, it may get quite exciting!

If anybody has any thoughts, have tried either phones, then please let me know.

1. although I believe it is there! [↩]

As a fully certified geek then I am, naturally, a fan of Star Wars and Star Trek. Both.

And I particularly love the music.

Now, most people generally agree that Wrath of Khan is the best Trek film. The soundtrack, by James Horner, has been available for some time, but as a stunted 9 track version. However, a recent perusal of Empire showed a new version available, now with 23 tracks. Basically, the long-awaited “complete” score. Brilliant. I had to have it.

The CD is produced by Screen Archives, who don’t have a presence in the UK. Now, you can buy this CD from their website and arrange for international postage, which would cost approx. £17, or they are available via Amazon’s Marketplace, which costs a little over £13. In both cases it ships from the US. Naturally, I chose the latter and received it at the weekend.

I’ve not a chance to have a good listen yet but, as you can imagine, it really is excellent with all of the soundtrack previously missing. If you’re a Trek fan, it’s highly recommended.

Many of the Linux powered Netbooks come with a simple “Easy Mode” front end – large, chunky icons, all categorised into tabbed menus for you to launch. However, their Windows XP equivalents usually boot to the standard desktop. A Windows version of these easy menus would therefore be useful.

I’ve come across 3 which, kind of, work.

EasyDeskXP

This I came across quite by accident – its SourceForge hosted site contains few details. And, I have to say, it’s still early days for this application.

It’s not easy to use, I couldn’t find any documentation and it has few configurations options. It also looks hideously ugly – particularly the carbon fibre “look” surround. Horrible.

Easy Mode XP

Next up, is a particular project aimed specifically at EEE PC users. The software is, therefore, branded accordingly but it’s not too bad. However, there are a few niggling issues here and there, including copious spelling mistakes.

The site is in German, but the link I’ve provided is via Google Translate.

FSL Launcher

Now, unlike the previous two applications, this hasn’t been designed for Netbooks, but any PC in general. It’s okay I guess – it’s not the prettiest thing, but not as ugly as EasyDeskXP. It also doesn’t take over the entire desktop, as these easy menus generally do (and whether you find that good or bad, is up to you). Personally, I’d prefer something more like the Linux versions – taking over the entire desktop experience, but allowing you to drop back to the Windows desktop when you want.

Having said all that, it’s the best one I’ve come across so far. Not that this is a huge collection – I was thinking  there’d be more choice.

My original list of, well, less popular Open Source software was reasonably popular, so I thought I’d pull out a quick follow up! Yes, I’ve found 10 more.

My original list was good. Kind of. One I’ve since found a better alternative to and the choice of Arora browser was a mistake. It may be replacing Konqueror, but after trying it myself I found it bland and a little lacking. Never-the-less, I’ve dug around and found 10 more morsels for your delight – again, not in any order.

PeaZip
PeaZip is an excellent compression program, like WinZip and 7-Zip. It also has file encrytion facilities and a portable version is available. Of course, 7-Zip is also Open Source, but PeaZip does, at least, offer an alternative.

Scribus
Scribus is a desktop publishing tool, similar to Microsoft Publisher. It has an easy to use interface but Scribus also supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, Spot Colors, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.

Appetizer
This is an application launcher which allows organizing your shortcuts and folders into a convenient dock. It supports plugins and skins, so is completely configurable to your own taste.

Storybook
Storybook is novel writing software for novelists, authors and creative writers. It will help you to keep an overview of multiple plot-lines, records characters and locations and will generally assist you in structuring your book.

InfraRecorder
InfraRecorder is free CD/DVD burning software. It offers a wide range of powerful features, all through an easy to use  interface and Windows Explorer integration. A portable version is also available.

BonkEnc
BonkEnc is a free audio converter and CD ripper which integrates various popular formats and encoders. It currently supports MP3, MP4/M4A, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, AAC and Bonk files.

RedNotebook
RedNotebook is a graphical diary and journal helping you keep track of notes and thoughts. It includes a calendar navigation, customizable templates, export functionality and word clouds. You can also format, tag and search your entries.

Gminder
Gminder is a simple, but effective, desktop version of Google Calendar. It waits in your system tray and alerts you when you have an upcoming Google Calendar event. GMinder supports multiple calendars and allows you to configure how you want to be alerted. Since it downloads your events, it works offline and enables you to preview your agenda of events. New events can be added to your Google Calendars using a Quick Add feature.

Fwink
This is an excellent webcam application that takes still images from your camera at timed intervals and puts them on your web site with FTP. You can add effects like text messages, time stamps and an overlay image.

PopTray
PopTray is a full-featured, customizable, e-mail notifier which works with POP3 accounts but also has plugins for Hotmail, Gmail, etc. It includes spam management and will handle multiple accounts.

After a recent post on a forum, extolling the virtues of a number of  free Open Source program, I made mention that they were always the same problems being mentioned – OpenOffice, ClamWin, Audacity, etc. SourceForge alone holds over 150,000 Open Source projects, let alone those at Google Code, etc.

So, I was set a challenge – find some Open Source software that most people won’t have come across.

Ok, that was the plan. Now, the limitations (self set). Nothing too technical, nor niche. No games (otherwise I could just easily provide 10 of them). Oh, and they have to be Windows applications – no Linux, Mac, PHP scripts, etc.

I thought plunging into my Firefox bookmarks would yeald 10 but, sadly, most were either games or too technical for this list. Or I’ve covered them elsewhere in my blog. So, a number I’ve had to scourer SourceForge for (oh, I wish their search facility was better). And some goodies I’ve come up with too – I’m sure there’s scope for further list in the future but, in the meantime, here’s my 10 (in no particular order)…

TV-Browser
A desktop based EPG. It’s German in origin but includes UK channels. I’ve only had a brief play with it so far, but I’ve been impressed.

MP3Gain
This is something I’ve been using for years. Now, adding gain to MP3s (i.e. bringing them all up to a similar volume) is something built into many media players and burning products. However, MP3Gain is a standalone product designed to do this one task. And well.

DVDStyler
DVDStyler is a DVD authoring program for the creation of professional-looking DVDs. It allows not only burning of video files on DVD that can be played practically on any standalone DVD player, but also creation of own-designed DVD menus.

Arora
Yes, it’s another browser! Based on WebKit (like Chrome and Safari), it’s fast and available on a number of platforms. However, the fact that is has recently “elbowed out” Konqueror as the browser of choice in Kubuntu, has made news.

MuseScore
An excellent WYSIWYG musical score editor. It’s packed full of features, including importing of data and has a built in sequencer and synth.

SmillaEnlarger
Another simple idea, done well. SmillaEnlarger will magnify images in high quality. Useful for “blowing up” part of a photo. And it will go on a USB key as well.

AxCrypt
A file encryption tool that integrates directly into Windows Explorer. Simply right click on a file and you can quickly and easily encrypt it, with password protection (or without, for simple sending via email).

WindowsPager
If you’ve used Linux any time recently, you’ll probably have come across its virtual desktop environment, where you can easily switch between multiple desktops via an icon in the toolbar. Well, WindowsPager provides a similar facility. It’s not perfect, however, and I spotted a problem with Command Prompt windows, but it’s worth a try – as with most of these products, it’s still being worked on.

Synkron
Synkron is a relatively powerful folder synchronisation tool. How you use it, well, is up to you – for something as simple as synchronising a USB key to your PC, or as a quick backup tool.

Hugin
I said I’ve avoid anything too technical and, well, this isn’t. It’s just powerful. But if you’re a keen photographer, you’ll love this. It’s a photo stitcher (which can allow you, for example, to make panoramic images) which is a bit more manual that many (but, hence, it’s power).