Harsh J

Google launched its new Desktop Search software for Linux and it looks like the widget below.

It searches only a few kind of files as of now, but then, Google Desktop never was the best in searching. But it sure gives a handy application to search the web quickly.

Download as [ DEB ] or [ RPM ]

Or if you wish to add Google’s Linux Software repository to your OS, look here.

But the thing with me is, I never really needed a search in my daily OS use. Over the past five years I’ve learned how to manage your files side by side as I work. Sure it was difficult at first, but when some friend of yours dumps about 500 songs on your HDD, you realize how painful tagging is. Yeah, I tagged them all manually (Right Click – Properties, Google for info) on Windows and then after I finished the 3 day work and arranged them well, with Album Art and all, I discovered that MusicBrainz did the same. Only, automatically. Haha, I felt like deleting the entire collection after I discovered the software.

It might be that I don’t really keep a lot of files, like documents and all. And even if I do, not for a long time. The only thing I start the Search applet or software of an OS is to find a system file or something hidden deep under the User Profile folders. But otherwise, I always know where my files are and never really have hassles searching them out.

Sorting music is now much easier, thanks to both Amarok and Windows Media Player 11 coming with automatic file tagging and Album Art downloads. My music folder is arranged in the Artist – Album – Files and Art way. Like the breadcrumb view below:

And though its arranged in such a way, its still obsolete cause these modern player libraries are beautifully sorted and very easy to use if your files are well tagged.

I don’t think anyone these days actually goes through the File Explorer and selects something to play. Its way easier in a library or a manager, can be sorted in a hundred different ways and all your files are accessible from your player itself, thus making playlists from them a cake.

So what am I getting at? Nothing, just saying that once tagged and categorized, your files are way easier to navigate through. But don’t categorize like /home/name/Documents/Office/June1 and /home/name/Documents/Office/June2 and so on. That’s just stupid and makes it more difficult to browse through. Instead just stop at the Office sub category and dump all files with proper descriptive names in it.

No one really listens to all this crap but if you actually keep categorizing and spending that extra few seconds in placing the saved file in the right folder with the right name, it makes retrieval way easier, and completely reduces your need on the search module of the OS which usually gives you a hard and dumb time searching. I mean, how innovative can a search get and be helpful to you when you simply don’t know what and where you seek.

And after the long off-topic blabber, I just wanna say that this GDS tool is quite heavy, just like Beagle is.

Of course, you must have heard about the recent anti-trust complaint by Google on Microsoft Windows Vista’s search issues, and about the eventual victory of Google in that too. This surely makes things better for us.

First off, its resulted into a much earlier Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), in which Microsoft had promised to address Google’s worries. Google here isn’t a clear victor, cause to get rid of its issues with Windows Vista’s Desktop Search, its got to face the time till the SP1. But anyway, it’s made Microsoft speed up things, and thats good. Though I don’t expect them to complete it on time, cause they have a sort of affinity towards lawsuits and paying fines. The money has to go somewhere hasn’t it?

Second, this action is a good and a very quick reply to both Microsoft’s request of an anti-trust probe in the Google-DoubleClick deal worth 3.1 million and the as usual lame Steve Ballmer’s words against Google, which also appeared in this Desktop Search case.

And now what have we got? That’s right, dissatisfaction. Way to go Google! I just hope they make Microsoft fix the entire search up, so that the software world can be a more peaceful and easier place, to search in, of course.

Found this cool little game ‘World of Padman‘ whilst browsing today, its based on the Quake 3 engine and is a free style comic-color influenced run around game.

Click the screenshot below to view the gallery :

The good part about the game is that its cross-platform, a bonus of being based on a Quake engine.

And no matter what OS you are on, you just need to download one package, which comes with install stuff for all Operating Systems.

Link: World of Padman

Download: [Win] [Lin] [Mac]

Here’s my likes (and dislikes, after the jump)

1. Swing fast, real real fast across the free roam city.
2. Its all reality, you cant swing when there’s nothing to grapple your line onto.
3. Jump swing like he does in movies by pulling his leg up and leaping mid swing.
4. Use the building to swing faster by running along it in case you touch it.
5. Not just climb and crawl walls, leap large distances climbing it, thus faster and less irritating now than previous games.
6. Run on walls. You got to try this! You are swinging across the skyline and suddenly you go bang flat into a building. What better way than to press the required keys and set Spidey start running real fast on the walls all the way above and then continue swinging.
7. Slingshot across the city to leap very very large leaps. If you don’t know what the slingshot is, remember the thing Spider-Man does in the first movie to get to the bridge with Green Goblin from the city? Like a catapult? Yeah you can do that from select spots in the city!
8. Double web swing. Left arm’s web line attached to the left building, and the right one to the right, now swing. Awesome stability but very slow. Its like you might have seen Spider-Man do in the beginning of every episode of “Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends”.
9. Web zipping, the best and fastest way to cross multiple buildings from above them.
10. Web Yoyo. The thing you see Spider-Man do most of the times, hang upside down on a webbing, lower down creepily, kiss Mary Jane and go back again. Yeah it is lovely to spy on missions with this one.
11. A Commandos 3 like Spider-Sense. Makes the screen TV-Static-Black and the enemies red and the usable items or doorways orange when activated. Easy now to find all enemies or to find what to do to stop them.
12. Dodging attacks using Spider-Sense just got easier, cause holding its button makes time slow (Marvel Ultimate Alliance?) and gives you time and button press opportunities to dodge almost any attack.
13. Web pull all enemies mid air and defy gravity to grant them their knock-out.
14. New real Spidey style combo moves. He can shoot web bullets, he can multi-web-up several people at a time, lift them all in one go and give a nasty kick! And that’s not all, there’s more and tons more of upgrades you get along the game, like for example, a web sling kick! How cool is that? You need to play to find out.
15. ROFL Copter kicks! Punch Fury! Cyclic mid-air kicks! All fun for those rare button-mashing moments.

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Joost is offering the invites themselves now, just head to this page and fill the form up. Am no longer sending invites anymore

Since Joost has gone full public beta, it’s filled up all accounts with about 999 invites. Am offering them all up here, just comment with your email address using the form below (At the bottom of the page) and I’ll send one towards you

The new way of watching TV

All the things you love about TV, fused with the interactive power of the internet – just the way you want it. Enjoy the ride!

In case you wish to know more about Joost, visit their official site. They give free HD content.