As if these weren’t enough, the open-source/freeware product Snarl exists solely to double your notification pleasure.

While providing you with some of the same notifications you already receive (battery is low, audio is muted, etc.), Snarl also enables even more notifications for those that either have OCD or just need to always be “in-the-know.”  Examples include notifications for: hourly time updates, timer countdowns, more-specific power/battery notifications and more. Plus, like any truly-great application, Snarl supports extendability. For those that like the concept of this application, this is where it really gets interesting. Developers (or even you) can even write their own Snarl applications so that you can be visually notified for every event imaginable.

Want to be notified of a recent Tweet? New emails (even Exchange emails)? New Google Wave messages? New weather alerts? Snarl has you covered.

Plus, if you’re a true nerd, you’ll certainly appreciate how much granular control over what you’re notified about and how exactly you’re notified.

G’head and check it out: http://www.fullphat.net.

[Source: downloadsquad.com]

Currently in beta, avast! WHS Edition provides protection for Microsoft’s latest operating system dedicated to home servers which were designed to deliver peace and tranquility to "administrators" of home networks.

Besides providing the protection of the WHS machine, it also supports simple management of other avast! products on the home network. This is performed directly through the WHS console, by means of a new configuration page.

Again, the product is in beta but is expected to be released in in early November which should be around the same time the first Windows Home Server systems are shipped.

On a related topic, we here at Fans of Tech published an in-depth article on Windows Home Server back in May so be sure and read "Fans of Tech InD: Windows Home Server" for more information on the product.

SecondLife is MovableLife allows Second Life users to log in to Second Life using only a web browser. MovableLife allows you to chat, IM, search, teleport, manage friends, groups, and much more. If you just want a quick and easy SecondLife experience without all the 3D graphics, then MovableLife is exactly what you are looking for.

We do not store your Second Life account information on our servers, it is transferred directly to the Second Life servers. Please read our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for more information.

If you check it out, drop a comment and let us know how it works out for you.

Every now and then, we like to introduce you to a new or existing software application that you may not be familiar with.  Today, we’ll be taking a look at the freeware app for Windows by the name of Taskbar Shuffle (currently v2.2.)

Taskbar Shuffle does one thing but it does it very well: it allows you to rearrange the buttons on your taskbar and/or system tray.  For instance, I’ll usually pull up three different applications when I start my PC: Outlook, one Firefox window for browsing and one for Meebo, as well as Remote Desktop.  Now, I typically like to have the “buttons” for these windows next to each other on my taskbar so I’ll always know where they’re at.  Taskbar Shuffle allows me to do just that.

There’s just a little more to it than just that, though…

As many of you know, both Windows XP and Windows Vista automatically cluster your taskbar buttons together based on the application type (i.e., buttons for Internet Explorer windows will be placed side-by-side or buttons for open Microsoft Word documents and so on and so forth.)  If you leave this feature of Windows enabled, Taskbar Shuffle allows you to move those clusters around on the taskbar – thus allowing for taskbar button organization. 

Taskbar Shuffle really shines, however, if you’re one of the many individuals who disable this feature of Windows – allowing you to rearrange any and all buttons to your exact preference.  (Place a Word document button in between two Internet Explorer buttons, etc.)

I recall testing this application when it was first released and after the first few explorer.exe crashes it caused, I abandoned using it.  This version however, available as both an install and stand-alone application was released in June of 2007 and seems to be glitch-free after months of using it.

An added bonus for Windows Vista users…

Another feature of Windows is taskbar grouping (not what we were describing in the last paragraph.)  By default, Windows can join all of an applications taskbar buttons into one thereby simplifying the appearance of the taskbar for those without a lot of screen real estate. 

Clicking on that one taskbar button will bring up a small window, located directly above the button, allowing you to choose and view any window from that application group.  Let’s say Windows has grouped 5 different text documents you have open.  Click on that grouped taskbar button and you can then select the precise document to which you want to switch back:

I personally didn’t mind this feature but I wanted to change the default settings so that grouping would only occur if I had more than 15 windows open of the same type of application.  (Sadly, this happens more often than I’d like.)  Depending on how much space you have available on your taskbar, Windows begins grouping as few as three windows from any given application.  Microsoft’s TweakUI for Windows XP allowed me to change this number to my desired preference: 15.  However, TweakUI doesn’t work for Windows Vista and I wasn’t necessarily inclined to pay for a similar application just for this function alone.  Fortunately, Taskbar Shuffle has this option embedded in its’ preferences and the program works just fine on either Windows XP or Windows Vista.

So, give Taskbar Shuffle a try…we highly recommend it.

I’m not entirely sure how this slipped under my radar but, 9 days ago, Adobe launched AMP or “Adobe Media Player,” a very Joost-esque piece of software that offers “channels” of online video content in a variety of different categories: news, animation, music, etc.

With the application, based on the Adobe AIR¹ platform, you can discover and download new content in AMP’s catalog as well as subscribe to any new episodes of your favorite shows/content.  Think of it as TiVo² for the Web – or just think of it as the first Joost competitor/rip-off from a multi-million dollar software company.

One unique feature about the player is its ability to play all of those Flash video files you ripped off of YouTube using some 3rd party application.  Prior to AMP, we you had to rely on some horrifically-designed, unstable app to play those files.

In addition to catering to the end users of this product, all 5 of them so far, AMP also “offers content publishers new ways to distribute and monetize their video assets:“

* Branding—Deliver backgrounds, banner, and logos which are displayed dynamically around your content when it is viewed in AMP.

* Advertising—Dynamically deliver banners, in-rolls, and overlays, using your existing ad system, which are displayed in and around your content.

* Measurement—Anonymously measures and asynchronously transmits content usage data to provide valuable metrics for your business.

* Content Protection—Help ensure that ads can’t be replaced or removed, and that content can’t be reused or remixed without your consent.

* Media RSS—Increases viewership by conveniently delivering new content on an automatic and periodic basis.

Update: I heard the AMP user count just went up to 7…all because of this blog post.  We’re proud to have the amount of readers that we do and it truly feels incredible having this kind of power and influence.

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The Fans of Tech Glossary
“For those of you that just don’t know what the crap we’re talking about.“

¹ Adobe AIR: “a system runtime environment for building Rich Internet Applications.“

² TiVo: “a consumer video device which allows users to capture television programming to internal hard disk storage for later viewing.“

all entries via WikiPedia (”a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project.”)

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The above screenshot is taken from the source code of microsoft.com/responsepoint.  See, I guess good ole’ Steve can’t hate Google that much.

Facebook, everybody’s favorite social networking site, officially announced a version of the site dedicated exclusively to Apple’s iPhone.  Where can you find it?  I’m glad you asked: iphone.facebook.com.  According to the Facebook official blog:

Facebook for iPhone not only looks wonderful on that big touch screen, it makes it easier than ever to stay connected with your friends wherever you are.

Of course, Facebook continues to offer a more generic mobile version of their main site for those of us who aren’t so special: http://m.facebook.com.

First up, we have YUDOmagic: a site dedicated to destroying any allure that may have remained in the magic trick illusion profession.  Of course, that’s not their tagline.  Their’s goes a little more like this:

YUDOmagic’s is a niche community offering a network for magic lovers. Their main focus is community produced magic performances and tutorials. This service allows you to watch, learn and share cool magic tricks. Community members can share their performances by uploading their own magic videos to the site. However uploaded performance videos will be reviewed by site administrators prior to availability in the YUDOmagic Player.

(In the words of Gob Bluth, “the alliance isn’t going to like this.”)

Oh, and good luck besting me…I can actually pull a quarter out from my ear.  Seriously, you’ve got to see it to believe it.

Next up, we have MyDogSpace and MyCatSpace, sites dedicated to giving dogs and cats “their own place on the Internet.” 

MyCatSpace is a site for all cats and cat lovers. It’s a new place for a cat community! There are many social communities for people – it is about time that cats have their own place on the Internet too. A place to let the world know that Cats are IT.

With MyDogSpace you can share your dog pictures, write blog posts about dogs and communicate with other dog lovers, all in a very lovely community.

Your pets aren’t just into playing poker…they’re all about social networking too.

That’s it for this week, check us out next Friday.

*In our humble opinion, of course.

Please take a moment to read through the hardware requirements below.  If you meet these requirements, go to http://connect.microsoft.com, click on Invitations, sign in with your Windows Live ID (Passport ID) and enter the following invite ID; Extr-GHBC-JCJM. We will send an email to you from MsftConn@microsoft.com once we have reviewed your application. If you don’t already trust this address, please add it to your trusted email addresses. Please be aware that Windows Server “Centro” CTP is Confidential, and you will be required to accept the terms and conditions of participation detailed on the Connect site. 

To install Windows Server “Centro”, you need three physical servers and the associated network hardware. Ideally, the servers should be configured identically, although this is not a requirement. The minimum hardware requirements are as follows:

· 64-bit (x64) processor

· 60 GB hard-disk drive

· 2 GB RAM Management Server (4 GB recommended)

· 2 GB RAM Messaging Server (4 GB recommended)

· 2 GB RAM Edge Server

· DVD-ROM drive

· 1 network adapter (2 in the Edge Server)

From MizPee.com:

1. Start up your mobile browser and go to www.mizpee.com. Click “Find toilet”

2. Input your location, then click “Find”.

3. Browse the list of results.

Welcome, my friends, to that great big series of tubes we like to call the World Wide Web.