sugarenia.com

I didn’t really get too much into Friendfeed until recently - eventhough I have my Twitterrific on (and checking) all of my home computing time, I never thought that *everything* my net pals do would be interesting enough for me to watch obsessively.

So I decided to give Twhirl and Alert Thingy, the two major AIR FriendFeed apps, a go the other day. And boy I was confused, and disappointed, and pissed.

First of all, Alert Thingy just won’t work for me. It will load but it won’t connect, it just sits there stuck in a “connecting” state. I updated my Adobe AIR, I restarted, I did everything I could but it wouldn’t get unstuck. So long, much-hyped-about Alert Thingy.

Twhirl, well… Twhirl Twhirl. Aren’t you a looker (not). Well, it works, but, meeeeeh… *any attempt of proper argumenting ends here - I just don’t like the way it looks*

Then I was prompted to MySocial 24×7, which is a Firefox extension for keeping an eye on Friendfeed. I never use Firefox but I installed to check it out, and there it was. A nice little subtle extension, with likes and comments right from the sidebar, with a pretty and cosy interface and, well, right where you usually socialize: in your browser. I loved it. Plus, it works in Firefox 3.

So I won’t be a cool kid and won’t use AIR applications, for the time being. I’m perfectly fine with most apps in my Mac, and AIR applications are just so off its usual interface it’s off-putting. I’ll stick to extensions and native applications, thank you very much, kthnxbai.

P.S. Please notice that I don’t actually use Firefox for my day-to-day browsing, Safari is my browser of choice. But MySocial 24×7 is a cool extension, nevertheless. Just don’t install it on your work PC, huge time waster!

twhirl, alert thingy, friendfeed, mysocial 24×7, adobe air

Mark has sent me a link to an interesting video today, a countdown from GameTrailers.com.

Top Ten Years of Gaming.

And I’ve discovered I’ve played most of the games showcased there. It feels weird. Especially the Atari ones. I remember the graphics, the sound effects, every little detail.

Like all the moaning that my sis did when she lost in any game. Or how mom used to hide the Atari machine and uncover it only on Christmas, Easter and summer holidays. Or how I’ve spent my first gaming night, a Saturday night, sis was sleeping and parents were out. Me, the Atari, the hard-to-handle, easy-to-break controller with the big red button and some apple and pear flavoured sweets.

Then the PC came along, emulators, other consoles… Evolution.

But the Atari games still are my first gaming experience. And I’m so proud of that.

atari, games, gaming, retro

What’s the best way to avoid writing anything of importance in your blog in such a stressed day like this?

A meme!

Days ago, John invited me into a meme I saw just recently. I’m supposed to showoff my desktop, so here it is:

I obviously dislike clutter, and I obviously call my Windows Bootcamp partition ‘Untitled’.

I use Desktoptopia for my ever-changing wallpapers, but I loved that one so I hit pause.

meme, desktoptopia, desktop

Here’s what my trip taught me:

• Rome is a dirty, noisy, magical city.
• Italian drivers are the worst thing ever happened to driving. And I thought Greeks were bad.
• San Pietro basilica was awe-inspiring.
• Italian food is overrated (and overpriced).
• Fontana di Trevi is coooooooool.
• Why don’t people speak english? Really. I know some italian, could find my way around, but I wouldn’t expect any tourist visiting Greece to speak greek!
• Italian people are hot, in the steamy dark Mediterranean way.

All in all, despite the ranting (you know me, guys), I had a fun time. Flickr photos coming, and that’s a whole slew of them.

Now back to work!

italy, fontana di trevi, san pietro

Blah I hate those. Yet Stelios called me into it. Thanks a lot, man.

Ok the rules are these:

1. Get any book that’s nearest to you at the time.
2. Go to page 123. If it’s short, get another that has at least 123 pages.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Copy the next three sentences (sixth, seventh and eighth)
5. Find 5 people to pass this game to

What I found near me was Designing the Obvious by Robert Hoekman Jr. The three sentences required are:

The “Click here to add text” statement positioned in the center of new text blocks on a JotSpot Live page serves to tell new users exactly what needs to be done to add a new note, and gives experienced users a visual clue to where the next text block begins. This text block also uses a different background color than others inthe page to make it stand out even more. A quick glance at the page reveals exactly where to add the next note.

So there. Bla bla bla.

Svelon, Stelios, John, Yiannis and hm. Don’t have enough people to send this too, boohoo.