na641.com

Font rendering is always a sticky issue for power users. Cleartype, freetype, etc.; every user has their preference. Some even swear by no anti-aliasing, which is something I’ve never understood. Regardless, if you are a fan of OSX’s font rendering, this is just the tool for you. GDI++ overrides windows default font rendering giving you a more OSX/Linux type rendering. It does this using the Freetype engine Linux users have come to adore.

I found this great utility over at Xenosium. Please note that this is not the homepage of the utility, but only where it was found. The homepage is in Japanese and no longer being maintained. As such I will not link to it.

Usage:

1. Extract the .rar file
2. Run the included GDITray.exe
3. Select an ini file, and select apply now

As the app is in japanese, reading the included documentation is pretty useless. Settings are controlled via .ini files, included in the ini folder. There is a custom ini file, created by xenosium, that will probably work best for you.

Download: GDI++

I’m particularly interested to here your thoughts on this one. Love it? Hate it? Let me know

Chances are you either listen to internet radio or knows someone who does. How about Last.FM? Myspace? While the source quality of music from these sources can be questionable, the ability to download that music would be an undeniably handy resource.

Free Music Zilla, by Innoshock, is just the tool for the job. Despite the name, Free Music Zilla is a simply wonderful little tool that is long overdue. Fans of internet radio will wonder how they lived before this app existed. While not all sites are supported, the most popular, including Myspace, Last. FM, and Pandora, are. Small, lightweight, and functional regardless of browser… what could be better?

From the site:

Key Features:

• No limit download!
• Download music from Last.fm™, IMEEM™, Pandora™ and more social music!
• Support all web browser like IE, Firefox, Opera, Maxthon, Avnta, Netscape!
• Super light, micro-sized and resource-friendly!
• Free! No adware! No spyware!

Unfortunately this app is Windows only. No clue if a Linux/OSX version is in the works, but we can always hope.

Download: Free Music Zilla (Windows Only)

You can add another tick to the checklist, as software has officially been socially networked. Wakoopa.com is a social networking site targeted to software usage and recommendations. It does this by use of a tracker program, which interestingly enough, tracks your software usage. The tracker keeps tabs on usage of active processes, while also keeping tabs on processes ‘running in the background’. This all adds up to a nice overview of what applications you use, and how often you use them.

From a technical standpoint, both the site and tracker software should be considered beta. And not the Google, “this isn’t beta but we’re going to call it beta so as not to need support”, beta… real beta. Not that the software is flawed by any means, it is simply lacking features that one would assume would come with it. For example the tracker doesn’t do to well on full screen applications, leading to large discrepancies. For example I use Media Player Classic to watch video, movies, etc. My usage times for this are not accurate however as 99% of my MPC usage is fullscreen.

There are two reasons which make Wakoopa.com worthwhile to me: It allows me to see my software usage, which is good motivation to spend more time working, and less time on irc. Secondly, it’s entertaining to watch trends of other users. For example, did you know that Internet Explorer uses generally use a majority of Microsoft apps? Outlook express, wordpad, notepad, calculator all see major use by IE users.

If you decide to join Wakoopa.com, don’t forget to add little ole me to your friends list.