{mosimage}Well Skype 4.0 Beta is now out for all to try, however, I would say, if you're happy with Skype -- then don't. I can sum the application up in one word ... Yuck.



It seems that the Skype 4.0 Beta has hit every branch of the ugly tree on it's way down. With it's new full sized window, which has to be THE MOST terrible idea, they could have come up with.


Not only that, conversations attached themselves to the right hand side and when you pop them out, this big ugly blue box stays there.



Back to the drawing board ...

This weekend I began upgrading my main PC, though there was a minor hiccup. All the DDR2 ram I had was 533mhz whereas the motherboard I’d purchased supported 667 and above. With a quick dash off to PC Shopper on Sunday morning in the rain, I picked up some ram and my rig is now in production (and gunning fools down on COD4).



I also installed this old unopened Antec PSU I had, as I was going to put this into my new server (where my old P4 mobo is going), but soon realized that it was better than the one I had in my machine and so of course I claimed it.



Click here for the web gallery.

{mosimage}"The single most important item in 2008 households is the computer. These electronic brains govern everything from meal preparation and waking up the household to assembling shopping lists and keeping track of the bank balance.



Sensors in kitchen appliances, climatizing units, communicators, power supply and other household utilities warn the computer when the item is likely to fail. A repairman will show up even before any obvious breakdown occurs."



Classic. I guess our predictions now will be just as half true as what this 1968 article in Modern Mechanix proposed.

{mosimage}Recently, I've started a new job where I get to play (work) with VMware's ESX Server.

When we were working away on ESX the other day, I just happened to blurted out, we're VMX Bandits, being a play on words of the Aussie movie BMX Bandits, which also happens to be Nicole Kidman's debut.



The site has nothing to do with the movie, I started it because I've been a VMware fan for quite some time now.



So, along with other colleagues, we'll be documenting our adventures on this site about all things virtual.



Check us out at vmxbandits.com

{mosimage}"An emboldened IBM challenged Microsoft's desktop application dominance with the introduction on Tuesday of IBM Lotus Symphony, a suite of free desktop applications.



Lotus Symphony is made up of three applications--word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation programs--which IBM already ships as part of Lotus 8. "



The offering is in beta and is available as a free download with "community support" from IBM's Web site. IBM is considering other support options, according to a company executive."



I see there is a Windows and Linux version, but sadly, no Mac OS X. It's a good start. Anyway, for the full lowdown, click here.