TechBlog

Dax posted a while ago about Twitter and how he loves it. I’ve just given it my honest effort and I think I’ve found it pretty cool as well. I’m following updates from a few of my friends and it’s neat to have that bit of interaction even if they live a hundred miles away.

I don’t pay for text messaging on my phone, so I thought it wasn’t going to be an effective demo for me, but I’ve integrated the service with Jott, my web page, and my Google Talk instant messenger. Now it’s easy for me to send and receive updates about what my friends are up to. This social networking biz is kinda cool!

Wouldn’t it be nice if your computer games didn’t cost anything? What if you wanted to kill a few minutes and join a game online with all your friends, but they are playing a game you don’t have? Rather than having to go out and buy it, you could just download it for free (legally) on the internet? If the source code used to develop games were open source, it could be free! Is open source gaming the future?

I recently heard about a game called Nexuiz. Apparently it’s been around since 2005 and this gamer has been living in a cave. Sure I’ve heard of a number of free or open source games out there (e.g. America’s Army), but Nexuiz seems to be one of the most popular of all of them.

This first-person shooter game is based on a highly-modified version of Quake (a game all techies have heard of or even played). Its engine has been modified and tweaked so much, the game can be adjusted to look great on a high-powered system, or scaled down to look fair and run well on a low-end system. Not to mention, it runs on OSX, Linux, and Windows. Think this flexibility is common in the gaming world? It’s not.

Open source games tend to allow most computer users, no matter which platform they are using, to partake in the action. Because of this user base, they also tend to be a bit less buggy. Sounds sweet, doesn’t it? And why can’t all games or pieces of software be this way? The paycheck. Who will make money during development? How will the project be funded? How do you sell it to the public….for free?

Open source seems like a powerful movement, but down to the nitty gritty, it won’t take off quickly without investing someone’s money. Until then, download Nexuiz and enjoy the liberties we have right now.

Or do you want to upgrade a little here and there? Here are a few sites I keep an eye each day to see what’s on sale. Hopefully you don’t mind rebates as many of these deals include them. I don’t mind them and I was able to replace my computer with a new one for around $300.

These sites are not just for computer components, they frequently have a slew of other things as well. Check ‘em out!

Ben’s Bargains
GotApex *
SlickDeals
Techbargains
AnandTech Hot Deals
Amazon’s Friday deals outlet

*This site always finds the best deals on Dell laptops and desktops. Look here if you want a completely new system.