The 3DS System Itself

The first thing you’ll notice, if you have had one of the other variations of the DS systems before is this one is a little ‘bit heavy in comparison.  It is nothing mind-blowing or anything, but it is a little noticeable.  I also keep wanting to pull the stylus out of the side, even though now it has been relocated to the back of the 3DS.  The buttons and controls feel really solid, not cheap at all.  Some people have said that the fact that it is a little ‘bit bigger than the regular DS Lite is an issue, but for me it wasn’t really noticeable.

The 3DS System Software Basics

Playing around with some of the basic applications and the system itself was almost as much fun as playing the games.  I am sure eventually the novelty of running around the house taking 3D pictures of things might wear off, but right now it’s just really cool.  I’ve also thought about using the 3DS as my defacto MP3 player too.  It does have all the functionality there – but not sure yet if I want to carry it in my pocket with me everywhere I go.  Right now it is more of a really expensive baby I am taking really good care of.

Here is a quick rundown of the built-in software:

• Nintendo 3DS Camera  – Not a replacement for your expensive digital camera, but it is fun to take both 2D an 3D pictures.  There are also a lot of interesting photo effects you an add too.
• Nintendo 3DS Sound – Your standard sound recorder and player.  Comes with a few audio effects you can add too – just in case you wanted to listen to yourself in a tunnel while talking into an electric fan.
• Mii Maker – Creating a Mii from your photo is really the draw with this application.  You also have a few more items to choose from in comparison to the Wii Miis, however facial hair is still rather wonky looking.
• AR Games – A great example of what the 3DS is really capable of.  I haven’t gotten around to playing with all the cards and features, but this one is great to use when you want to show the 3DS off to a friend.
• Face Raiders – I thought this would be stupid and I was surprised by how fun it was.  You pretty much turn around with the 3DS, shooting flying faces you input into the game.
• Activity Log – Here you can check to see how long you have played each game and some other interesting stats.  I really haven’t played with the 3DS long enough to get much to show up here.

I am sure over the next few days and weeks I’ll have more to say about the 3DS, as I get a chance to play with it longer.  Overall, I can sum up the experience like this.  It was the same sort of wow factor I had when I played the Wii for the first time.  You are kind of in awe of the technology – and then realize, they the games are pretty fun too.

Ninite bundles the best free and open source programs for you, and lets you install them all at once.  The only work you need to do is to select the software you want to install, then download the package.  There is no extra bundled in deals, no crapware to uninstall and no mess.  Some of the programs included are:

• FileZilla
• 7-Zip
• Launchy
• CCleaner
• Steam
• Dropbox
• Firefox
• Open Office
• Paint.net

and the list goes on and on.  All the programs on the page are categorized by type too, so you have all your web browsers, your messaging clients, your media players and more. 

Want to give it a shot? Head over to Ninite.com and create your own software bundle today.

I am a junky when it comes to notes.  I love taking notes, I love having notes, and really notes are how I am able to get as much as I do done on a day to day basis.  With that said, I thought I would give Notes on Top a shot.  This freeware program for Windows gives you a simple way to create a checklist and always keep it on top of your other windows.

This application is a smart and easy to use notes program. With it by your side, you always have access to your notes, while you are working away at your desk PC.  The notes can also be divided into several user-defined categories too.  So, if you have a hard time keeping track of what you need to do or have done before, this lightweight program would be your perfect companion. 

There are no bells, no whistles – just a simple program that does its job and does it well.  The requirements are pretty simple to give Notes on Top a shot.  You just need to make sure you have Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 and the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or higher installed.

 Download Notes on Top and let me know what you think.

I have tried all the alternatives when it comes to simple text editors and Notepad replacements on Windows.  For some reason though, I keep coming back to NoteTab as my simple text editor of choice.  It does everything I need it to do, and makes it simple to hide the features I don’t really need.

So how exactly do I use it?  Well, during the day – I often like to write myself notes or reminders of things I need to do or have done.  Keeping NoteTab open in the bottom left corner of my screen to do that across multiple NoteTab tabs is just  a really handy functionality.  Also, when I do most of my copy writing work, I like to keep it as basic as I can.  Give me NoteTab and the simple spellchecker and I am good to go.

Some of the other features included are:

• Tabs: Handles many documents at once through a lean tabbed interface.
• Performance: Fast document handling and text processing, feature rich, bloat free, and reliable.
• Portable: Runs off USB drives and does not require installation with a Setup program.
• Versatile: Appeals to a broad range of users – casual note takers, journalists, authors, webmasters, and programmers.
• Accessible: Offers comprehensive Accessibility Mode for sight-impaired users and people with other disabilities.
• International: Supports UTF-8 and Unicode files, as well as ANSI documents based on non-Western character sets.
• Businesses: Fully supports multi-user and networked environments. Works from Windows limited user accounts.
• Power-Search: Allows multi-line search-and-replace across open documents, or search any file on disk.

Now, there is a free version of the program you can use – but some of the functionality is cut out of the program.  Rather than going all the way up to NoteTab Pro, I would suggest trying NoteTab Std first.  It is only $20 – and after using it for five or more years I can tell you it is $20 well spent.

To download the free version or check out the premium version features, you can head over to notetab.com.

Of all the image editing programs out there, Paint.NET is slowly becoming my favorite.  Not only is it totally free, but it really stand the test against a lot of expensive image editing tools when it comes to functionality too.

Going into the history of the program, it was originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint program that has come with Windows for years.  Over time though it has simply overshadowed that tool, and is now mentioned more within the ranks of Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and the GIMP.

Here is a little more about the program from the developers:

Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.

Want to give it a shot? You can download this almost perfect image editor from getpaint.net. Give it a shot, and let me know what you think.  It might be the best free image editor out there.

Are you looking to a great bundle of web design and development treasures, for a fraction of the price? Then you need to go check out BundleHunt.  Right now they are offering everything from web hosting plans, premium WordPress themes, classy icons and more for a heavily discounted price.

BundleHunt is fantastic, because it does all of these things:

• Helps to Promote Great Design Tools, Software and Services
• Gives People BIG Discounts on Great Resources

I have yet to figure out how BundleHunt is making very much, but I am sure they have a business plan wrapped in there somewhere.  Currently you have 6 days left to get:

• Billings
• Flux
• 6 months of Site5 web hosting
• The Smashing Mag E-Book
• 1 Year Membership to SUBERNOVA
• Icon Dock (Icon Set)
• Designious (Vector Image Pack)
• 2 WordPress Themes from WP Bakery
• 100 HQ Photos from Photocase
• 100 Premium Files from Vandelay Premier
• 3 WordPress Themes from Mojo Themes
• Dry Icons
• 25% Off the Next Bundle

That is $1,400 worth of great and wonderful web design and development tools.  You only have to pay $49 for it all.

BundleHunt is a resource well worth bookmarking, and checking out.  You get tons a great things, for a really low discounted price.

Is it just me, or is Apple starting to remind you more of the Real Player more and more? Or perhaps, maybe Adobe and the 10,000 unrelated updates it asks for?

Thanks to companies bundling over thirty or forty different tools in with the big burning sofware packages (I’m looking at you Nero) I have been left to look at BurnAware Free Edition as an alternative. What does it deliver?

• Absolutely FREE. No spyware, no adware, no banners
• Writes to all CD/DVD media types including Blu-Ray (BD-R/BD-RE)
• Writes discs from disc images
• Writes DVDs from DVD-Video files
• Writes Audio CDs from WAV, MP3, or WMA files
• Creates disc images
• Supports all current hardware interfaces
• Writes Multi-Session to all supported media formats
• Auto-verification of written files
• Supports unicode for multi-byte languages
• Clean, flexible, easy to use interface
• Supports Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista (32 and 64 Bit)

If your looking for yet another burning alternative for this alternative – download CDBurnerXP. It is yet another powerful burning progam that does not toss anything in my way that I do not need.

The software that came with it wasn’t that bad either as a matter of fact.

Usually when software comes a device it is lackluster at best and at worst, well it just sucks. Go ahead and tell me the last software package that came with your device that you actually use. You can’t because none of us do it. The Creative Media Lite program that I was asked to download after buying my Creative Zen Stone Plus is awesome.

Why does it rock? (pun was intended there buddy)

• It Tells Me if the Battery is Charged
• It allows me to Drag and Drop Media From and To the Device
• It Doesn’t Slow Me Down With a Bunch of Other Features I Don’t Need

I was expecting to see something with a music store, big flashing lights and an interface that looked like it was stolen from a Scifi Channel movie of the week. Instead I got a useful application.

Two thumbs up to you Creative, you deserve it!

1. Firefox
   It has been my Web browser for year, and unless they do something extremely crazy – don’t think I’ll be moving away for one of the other browsers anytime soon.
2. NoteTab Pro
   NoteTab Pro is another program I have been using forever and have never found anything better. Three reasons I love it are: basic text editing, spell checker and word count. If your a text editor without those three don’t bother me.
3. WinRAR
   Out of all the zipping and un-zipping tools out there, I think WinRAR does the best job and stays out of my way unless I need it. Good stuff all around.
4. VLC Media Player
   I mainly have this one loaded up to play all the wacky video downloaded from the Web that doesn’t play right in your standard video players.
5. CoreFTP Lite
   I am not deeply in love with this FTP client – but it does the job without choking much. If I could find a better client – I’d probably use it instead. Alternatives welcome!
6. Audacity
   A must have for any podcast that is working with a $3 budget. Totally free and easy to use even for a beginner in the audio editing arena.
7. CDBurnerXP Pro 3
   Toss out your old CD burning software because you no longer need it. CDBurnerXP Pro 3 does for free what some of the other burning packages can’t even get done for $50 or more.
8. XNeat Windows Manager
   This is one I just ran across not too long ago. It allows you to hide things on your taskbar, send anything to the tray, show and hide windows, and a heck of a lot more.
9. Foxit Reader
   Adobe can bite my Web hosting butt. Foxit Reader gives me a PDF reader that doesn’t ask to update itself every five minutes with crap I don’t need. Thank you Foxit!
10. OpenOffice.org
    Anybody who says you can’t live day to day inside of Open Office is wrong. For me, at least – it does what it needs to do when I need it to do something. Usually I only use it for editing and creating invoices though so maybe I’m not the spokesperson they are looking for.

What about you? What do you think of these suggestions – or can you suggest a replacement for one? Let me know and make sure to leave some links for them as well.