Windows and Linux only: Amarok 2, the next version of the free, open-source media player, has just rolled out an official beta release, Nerrivik. The beta of the media manager we previewed back in June, improves memory management, overhauls the add-on scripting and metadata tracking, adds gapless playback, and streamlines the interface. Center-rail widgets still seem a little rough, but it’s a usable preview of what’s to come. Amarok 2 is a free download; Windows users can install it through the KDE on Windows Project, while Linux users can download the source or add the nightly build repository listed in our screenshot tour.
Nerrivik – Beta 1 of Amarok 2.0 released! [Amarok]Windows only: Free Windows utility Folder Guide adds user-defined folders to your right-click menu for quick, easy access to any number of favourite folders. Once you add a folder, Folder Guide makes it a very simple affair to navigate to that commonly used folder in just two clicks. Explorer’s Favourites menu already uses the same basic concept, but it’s not as readily available as the right-click menu and it also integrates with Internet Explorer, which means any of those bookmarks clutter your folder shortcuts. If you like the quick access idea behind Folder Guide but don’t like the execution, check out previously mentioned Direct Folders or previously mentioned Finder Style to put your favourites in the sidebar.
Folder Guide [via gHacks]Despite the flurry of attention surrounding the iPhone and other new mobile phone platforms, Windows Mobile still has a widespread distribution and capacity for customisation. Approaching its ninth birthday, Windows Mobile has a large selection of old and new software that helps enhance the user experience and make getting things done (and sometimes goofing off) all the easier. If you’re rockin’ a Windows Mobile handheld, check out our favourite programs, add-ons, and tweaks for getting the most out of your Windows Mobile device.
Firefox 3 comes with several preferences baked into its options dialogs, but there are still a few you can only access by rolling up your sleeves and digging into its configuration manually. Power users have been diving under Firefox’s hood to get their browser to behave just how they like since version 0.9, but Firefox 3 offers some new settings that customise its new features. Let’s take a look at our favourite Firefox 3 about:config tweaks for customising your browser.
Today and through the rest of this week, we’ll be taking a look at tips for finding, interviewing for, negotiating over, and succeeding in a new gig. First off is making inconvenient, low-tech job listing sites—the kind without RSS feeds, email alerts, or any other technologies beyond 2001—much more manageable through a combination of a “page scraper,” or RSS generator, and automatic RSS-to-email services to make sure you’re never near the bottom of the resume stack. Photo by shadytrees.
