Ubiquity

Ubiquity is a small Firefox plugin that adds minimal functionality to the browser, but makes everything easier to get at.

Opinion: Why has this taken so long for someone to make? It is really simple and allows for users to create their own scripts for it. It makes things extremely easy to look up by simply hitting control+space or some other key combination that they choose. You type and it automatically attempts to figure out what you are going for. It is very simple and straight forward.
With some programing knowledge this can become a very helpful tool. Users create scripts to do simple things, like search Rotten Tomatoes. By bunching all of these extremely simple scripts into a basic interface they have created a useful plugin.

Tech Review: The program is a touch slow. It may be the computer I am using to test it or the program itself, but it seems to "chunk" when popping up. The ability to add user commands is extremely versatile and easy for even the simplest of users. They have had some problems with to many calls to the database causing Firefox to be slow to boot but it seems as though they have fixed this.

Pros/Cons:
Pros:

• Basic and straight forward.
• Easy to install.
• (Almost) Infinitely customizable though user commands.
  

Cons:

• A little slow.
• Has the potential to slow Firefox down considerably. (seems like they fixed this)
  

Rating: 4/5. The program has tons of potential, but the chances of it slowing down Firefox are just a little scary.

Random Thought: What makes something artist and something else not?

Joost

Joost, the first in true Internet TV. Maybe not the first, but the first worth noticing, in my opinion. There is a lot to like about this program, but there is a lot to hate also.

Opinion: Well it is about time. Someone finaly harness P2P technology and merged it with televission content to make a distrubited Internet Television Broadcast. It is pretty cool that is it all on-demand, but there are some problems that still need to be ironed out.
The advertising is a touch annoying. The program chooses what seems like random times to put the commercials in, rather then using the time when the commercial was meant. This can lead to very awkward pauses in a show. The utter lack of number of advertisers can also be annoying. They need to learn to mix up there ads, cause when I see the exact same ad for the same company 6 times in a row (mixed in with different programs) it is a real turn off.

Tech Review: Pretty solid program. There are a few bugs here and there, but I have been with this beta for a while and have seen considerable improvement since the beginning. They finally added a Mac client, but I would have really liked to see a Linux client also.

Pros/Cons:
Pros:

• Very nice interface.
• Joost is growing very quickly.
• All the shows are On-demand.
• All content is free.
  

Cons:

• Needs an Auto Updater for how often they release new versions. (may possibly see this in a final version)
• Very limited content, but this is changing.
• Needs more advertisers. (Note: Not advertisements, advertisers)
• Commercials could have better timing.

Rating: 4/5 The program is awesome and so is the idea, but the advertisement issues are really a drag.

Random Thought: How long would it take to count to the largest prime number?

Team Fortress 2

Well its about time. After something like 10 years, they finally got this game into beta. The guts that Valve had when they said it would be released by Tuesday night and it did not come out until Wednesday morning. Team Fortress was an amazing game and a lot of people have high hopes for the sequel.

Opinion: I love this game. The classes are very balanced, except the pryo, which they have been very proactive about fixing. The maps are wonderful. Even though the graphics are of a cell shaded type, I don't feel like they have wasted the power of my graphics card. This game is going to consume mass amounts of your time and with the interesting tags when you die, you will probably laugh pretty hard the first few times you die.

Tech Review: This game has its ducks in a row. There are some minor glitches like the ability to get under levels. It also has a few mapping problems that allow for kills before the start of the round. There are no glaring glitches, even though some users report "swimming" bodies when people die or people falling though the map when they die, I have not noticed this and these are not crucial to game play.

Pros/Cons:
Pros:

• Well balanced classes and maps
  
• Requires team play, a single player can not throw the whole game
• Pretty graphics
• Stats tracking

Cons:

• Pryo could use some tweaking
• Needs a SDK
• Takes up a lot of resources to run it
  
• Team work is a requirement
  
• I am already addicted to this game

Rating: 5/5 Team Fortress 2 lives up to the hype that it has created and I don't regret staying up all night to play.

Random Thought: Has Jim Carrey ever been a character that is not insane?

Gmail

Gmail, the never ending beta. This program has been in beta for at least 4 or 5 years now and really doesn't have the problems a normal beta does.
Opinion: Over all I love gmail. It has an excellent spam filter and great way to manage messages. The tab system is a little different, but once you get used to it you will never want to go back to folders again. Mixed in with Gchat, it also is a great way to communicate with your friends or coworkers in an instant. I could probably list the features for hours.
Tech Review: Over all the program is stable and runs fairly fast. It has a little bit of a lag time right after you log in, but past that the program is structurally sound.
Pros/Cons:
Pros:

• Amazing spam filter
• Great mail organization system
• Gchat
• Pop3 access
• Ability to grab mail from any Pop3 source
• Tons of storage space (5gb currently)
  

Cons:

• Slow login system
• Does not support mail receipts
• Tagging system takes time to get used to
• Hard to convert from Outlook or other local mail program to Gmail
  

Rating: 5/5 - Gmail is a strong program that I would suggest to just about anyone.

Random Thought: What happens if you put a bag of microwave popcorn in the microwave upside down?

So what you are seeing here is the starts of a new blog. In essence this is the beta of a beta testing blog. I am shooting to update the blog about once a week with post about current betas or other interesting programs.

For the first few post I think I will be alternating between current beta test and past beta test. Hopefully this will help get the blog going along with showing people what my taste in programs are and how I think.

Being my first blog, I really have no clue how this is going to turn out. I have high hopes, but since this is a beta, it could probably already use some work.

I am always looking for new betas to try out, so if you know of one that you would like me to test, please post a link here.

Suggest a Beta

Know of or starting a beta test? We would love to hear about it.

Post a link to the beta in the comments.