Trillian Astra

Traillian Astra

This program looks bloody sweet. If you don’t already know, trillian was one of the first programs to support multiple protocols (MSN, ICQ, AIM, etc). This made it fairly popular among those that were a part of communities where not everyone shared a common IM (games, forums etc). In my opinion, trillian, while a good program, just never cut it for me. Too much crap, not streamlined enough, and just not as well done as other clients out there.

Well their new piece of software, Astra, seems to be much more promising. According to the site, stride were made everywhere possible to streamline the experience, minimize the footprint and increase speeds.

Alpha testing supposedly opens tomorrow so I hope to get accepted though I doubt I will.

One of the main problems I for see is that  they will charge for a full edition, which means I won’t be using it. If I can’t get all the features available without paying I refuse to use it.  There are many other programs out there that are similar. But why I am hoping for this one is because these guys have been around for a while and this new program should (hopefully) take advantage of everything they have seen in IMing in the last several years.

So here’s hoping. I will write a review of the software as soon as possible. Hopefully I get accepted for the alpha.

Die Brucke, Be Bad, Hellacaust & Cauldron live in Halifax!

You can’t destroy the metal, to quote Jack Black.

So last night, a few friends and I went to Gus’ Pub to watch the show, which I must say, was the best one (metal show that is) I have went to since  I seen Unexepect live. One of the best things about this show was it wasn’t all brutal death metal, which I am falling out off. I still really enjoy it live, but when you compare them to Hellacaust you is almost at every show, they just fail to compare.

So first up was Die Brucke, who I really liked. Being a mix of punk and metal, it was a nice change and was unexpected from what you normally hear at these shows.

Next was Be Bad with amazing attention to their music and instruments but left MUCH to be desired in the department for vocals. The singer didn’t really sing… He more or less talked loud into the mic. And they just didn’t have near as much energy as the first band.

After them, came Hellacaust, seriously one of the best death metal bands I have heard. These guys blew me away with the energy they had last night. My head was constantly banging as were my hands and feet.  Wicked goodness.

And finally Cauldron. The leader singer being an ex-member of goathorn (or so I’m told)  meant that before they started everyone knew they would be great, since Goathorn was a kick ass heavy metal band. And did these guys ever live up to it. Leaning pretty close to traditional heavy metal with death influcenes, these guys had the whole crowd bouncing with energy, devil horns out with the high pitch metal screams sounding form every corner (including mine). The only problem I had with the band was their singers voice (not when he screamed but sang) didn’t do it for me. I felt it was flat.  Mind you I likely couldn’t do better and, fuck, I love the band, but I think thats where they need the most improvement.

Not being a musician myself ( I can sing metal though but not a member of a band) I don’t like to say bad things, because I can’t do better but since it’s a recap of last nights show, I will say what I think.

Overall, amazing and through the 5 buck cover charge. Its time like this that I remember why metal is so close to my heart. The feeling and emotions I experience while at a concert are those I never felt anywhere else. If you have never been to a metal concert, don’t be so quick to judge a cd. I myself am not a big fan of listening to them on my pc, but god, live these bands are amazing. You just can’t convey the energy through cd.  Plus they sound much much much better live then recorded.  So if you live in Halifax, take advantage of the great metal scene we have here. At least go to one show before you say you hate it.

Hamachi + Quick ‘n’ Easy FTP Server

Well for the longest time I have been trying to step up an FTP server so my friends can get files from me and upload their files to me. But it have never worked because I’m always behind a router that just hates allowing FTP traffic. Ya, I could but a new router but I’m cheap.

But you see when you you are behind a router and other pc’s are to they can connect to your FTP server. So bored the other day I went looking for a way to make a virtual LAN to by-pass the whole retarded router thing and I came across a piece of software I haven’t used since it’s early stages and forgot about; Hamachi.

After a little browsing on their site, I found a quick guide, plus a link to set up an FTP server using one of 3 different servers. My favorite being Q ‘n’ E.

So this is how it works basically. You grab hamachi, install it and it goes about making virtual connection. After that you are given a unique IP which other hamachi users can use to connect to you. So, after you have it install, you pester all your friends to d/l and install it.

Next you create a network. 16 people can join this network if they hamachi. When you get that set up, install the server is REALLY simple. Check here for a pictorial guide plus the link to the server.

After you have that set up, all your friends need to do to connect is have hamachi running and have the user/pass to the ftp. Pretty quick and easy.

Now, you may encounter the same problem I did when you first set this up. For my router I had to port forward hamachi on ports 12975(TCP) and 32976(tcp)

These are the ports hamachi uses to connect and receive. If one of the people trying to connect to you doesn’t have theirs forwarded or allowed by the firewall, it won’t work and they will get time outs and connection resets when trying to grab your files.

If ya don’t know how to portforward check here. Great guides on how to port forward, the only problem is the hamachi section is date, hence why I supplied the needed ports if you want to forward.

So there you are. This should work. If you have any questions feel free to post ‘em. I will try to help. Happy FTP’ing ^_^

*PS* My favorite FTP program is FireFTP, a fire fox extension that is free and works amazingly well. If you want something better than the basic IE or FF FTP, this is your best bet.