Announcement: DriverMax free is now severely limited

Well, it was a good run; DriverMax, my favorite application to download/export drivers has now gone (almost completely) the way of the payware model, and has severely limited their free offering by presenting free users with a counter delay for downloading the driver that you need, ala RapidShare free. Not only that, but DriverMax is now only granting free users to no more than '2 driver downloads per day'.

So, if you are building up a new computer and really need drivers, guess what? It will probably take you a few days to do it with DriverMax.


The download delay I can understand, but the limiting of downloads? Hmmm. Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that not everyone can support the freeware model - but there are ways of doing things with advertisers that can keep your freeware offering afloat (case in point: Spiceworks). So a big 'WOW' from me, this was quite a surprise to me when I attempted to update a tablet PC I was working on.

Overall, I have been extremely happy with DriverMax over the years, preferring it to all other driver backup and download utilities , but now it seems that we budget-conscious users must carry on and find a new solution that will bring us our drivers - Me? I'll probably move to RadarSync.

One small ray of light: DriverMax may still be a good solution for backing up and importing your drivers, so it isn't totally useless as a freeware tool...*sigh*

Announcement: Spiceworks 4.0 is out!

I would have posted this on Friday last week, but I was way too busy at work!

In any case,I had the privilege of attending a Spiceworks 4.0 web conference on Thursday that went over some of the new features of SW 4.0.

This is certainly VERY exciting news!  I installed 4.0 on friday, and have been loving the smoother interface, and the responsiveness overall.  Nice job guys!

Side note:  I also LOVE the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference in the screenies...

Serve Your Users with the IT User Portal! Wish you had an intranet to serve your users’ IT needs? The Spiceworks IT user portal is just that! Customize it with your company’s logo and colors Drag and drop content to format the layout to your liking Include info like contact details, maintenance schedules & newsfeeds! Add knowledge articles and FAQs
Run the Spiceworks Help Desk with Exchange 2007 Ready for some great news? The Spiceworks help desk now supports Exchange 2007! Get tickets and send email using your Microsoft 2007 Exchange server Use Exchange 2007 over protocols like POP or SMTP
Loop In Relevant Parties with cc: on Help Desk Tickets Working a ticket that requires someone else to be in the loop? Now you can cc: others on any Spiceworks ticket. Get approvals without drafting a separate approval request Make sure your boss knows a touchy topic is being addressed
Work Faster with a Streamlined User Interface Want to work more swiftly in Spiceworks? Our cleaner user interface makes it easier to find things! See tabs and detail views up top Do common tasks, like creating a ticket in one-quick-click See more of your tickets without having to scroll down - the new interface is now optimized for higher screen resolutions Follow new cookie crumb trails to help you cruise thru Spiceworks
Watch Videos via the Spiceworks TV Widget Checked out the full line up on Spiceworks TV? The handy Spiceworks TV widget will make sure Spiceworks videos are a part of your regularly scheduled program! Watch Spiceworks tutorials, webinars, IT comedy clips & more Access Spiceworks videos directly from your dashboard
Manage Spiceworks Updates in Your Subscription Center Did you know that you can control all the communications you receive from Spiceworks? The new subscription center allows you to: See and manage all your Spiceworks subscriptions Explore the variety of communications that Spiceworks has to offer including product & company updates, partner offers, survey opportunities & more Opt to receive a daily or weekly email summary of the Spiceworks Community posts that you care about most …and remember, when you opt to receive these emails, you're doing your part to help keep Spiceworks free!
See Your Set Up with Network MapBETA Want to see a visual layout of all your network elements and how they inter-relate...Spiceworks network mapBETA makes it possible for select layer 3 devices! See how your devices are connected View how much bandwidth each of them is consuming Identify users consuming the bulk of your bandwidth in network “hotspots”
Triage Windows Events with ID Collaboration Wondering what to do about a particular Windows event you came across in your logs? Now Spiceworks has Windows Event logs! Includes a “look up” link that takes you directly to a description of the issue Connects you to all other Spiceworks users who have dealt with that ID before
Tweet from Spiceworks with Twitter Integration Tweet much? Now you can “tweet” from Spiceworks using our new Twitter Integration! Tell the Spiceworks Community what you're doing while you’re doing IT “cc: Twitter” to update your Twitter account directly from Spiceworks Have a Spiceworks ‘swoosh’ appear next to your tweets to show your followers that Spiceworks is where “everything IT” happens!
Extend What You Can Do with New Plugins Want to get even more functionality (& fun!) out of Spiceworks? Grab one of the many plugins that Spiceworks users and partners alike have created to extend the value you get from Spiceworks. Put your user portal in your local language with the 'user portal translator' plugin Get a laugh with the Daily Dilbert comic plugin Compare how many MS licenses you’ve bought vs. how many Spiceworks detects (no worries, Spiceworks keeps your info private!) with the the Microsoft License Organizer plugin Archive 5 email accounts for free, then use the LiveOffice Mail Archive plugin to set up and monitor the status of your email archives
Manage Requests On-the-Go with “Tickets Anywhere” Wish you could work on your tickets while you’re out to lunch? Now you can with "Tickets Anywhere!" Work tickets from a mobile device as though you were sitting at your desk Send an email to your help desk - handy hashmark commands let you create, respond, reassign, classify and close tickets

Look cool?  Then get Spiceworks here:

Podcasts on your BlackBerry or iPhone: Stitcher

Stitcher
http://stitcher.com/home.php

I'm a BlackBerry user - since it has become more central in my every day life, I'm finding that I am looking for a wider array of applications that I never had the opportunity to use on my old 8703 (RIP). As such, I'm using it more and more for its multimedia capabilities. I'm a daily user of Slacker radio, I download Revision3 Internet shows to my video player, and my Storm serves as my MP3/Audio player of choice - - only wish I had a bit more space, but we'll get there soon I think...!

I really use my netbook for writing extended emails, documents, Facebook and some quick surfing. Other daily tasks have now been delegated to my Storm.

In any case - one thing that was noticably missing on my BlackBerry was a decent podcast application. Viigo is more than adequate for my RSS needs - but I'm missing my fix of Escape Pod (Sci Fi Short Fiction), Pseudopod (Horror Short Fiction), Skeptic's Guide to the Universe (Science), and my Scott Sigler (Independent Horror Fiction).

Stitcher is an application made for BlackBerry and iPhone which allows me to quickly browse and select podcasts for a quick listen.

Stitcher works like it advertises - find a podcast in the directory, allowing you to 'favorite' them. I can't say too much more about the application, as it just works as advertised. Iphone users, your mileage may vary, but I assume it works similarly with exception to running in the background (thanks to a multi-tasking limitation imposed on the iPhone pre 3.0 OS).

I do wish that Stitcher put an option on the global menu that allowed me to stop or pause (or close) Stitcher from anywhere I might be on my BlackBerry (say someone calls on the deskphone, and I need to mute it quickly).

Beside Stitcher and the forthcoming update to Viigo (podcast feature is still in alpha stages), what other free apps are there for the BlackBerry?

Likes:

• You can listen to your podcast while doing other things (at least on the BlackBerry, can't vouch for iPhone) - major
  
• Easy interface, no mess - major
  
• Good quality audio - major

Dislikes:

• Can't see a way of playing an older podcast from the same source - major
  
• Podcast choices are limited to those that sign up with the Stitcher service as a partner - major
  
• Occasional pauses in audio - medium
• Can't pause or stop audio unless in Stitcher app - medium
• Would like to see video streaming as well - minor