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CrossLoop is a smooth, free, and lightweight screen- and file-sharing program, formerly available only for Windows users. Earlier this month, a Mac beta version debuted offering the same features. Besides extending the feature set to Macs, the PC and Mac versions can talk to each other and share across platforms.
For those unfamiliar with the program, which uses 128-bit encryption, you're given a unique and random 12-digit access code each time you start the program. You can then share your username and code to allow somebody else to access your computer, or input another user's info to access his computer. Guests can use any app and save files on your computer, as if they were sitting in front of the machines. No router configuration is required, either. CrossLoop bases its business model on connecting freelancing tech support with those in need of assistance. It doesn't support multiple users, so it's not a good platform for group presentations.
In testing the Mac beta with CrossLoop co-founder Mrinal Desai, I noticed a virtually identical experience to the stable PC version. There were some resolution and image quality issues, which Desai assured me had more to do with bandwidth than the program itself. Although CrossLoop defaults to autodetect your pipeline, you can force it to use faster connection speeds, resulting in lower resolution, or slower speeds for higher quality images.
Although I didn't encounter any bugs when testing the beta on my own, Desai pointed out to me one major problem: dragging and dropping files to share causes CrossLoop Mac to crash. Browsing directly to the files through the program to share them causes no problems.
If you've used CrossLoop for Mac or Windows, please share your opinions in the comments below.
When open-source video jukebox Miro was in beta and known as the Democracy Player, the biggest problem it had was stability. Graduating from beta fixed most of the problems, but not even a name change could erase the feeling that this Webware 100 winning program wasn't firing on all cylinders.
Miro's new interface is based on a faster-running foundation.
(Credit: CNET Networks)In version 2.0 for Windows and Mac, all that's changed. At the top of the list of changes is a serious attempt to improve the usability. At least on my Windows XP machine, with 2GB of RAM, those modifications have paid off. The program flies now, where it used to struggle with takeoff. Using it all day, shutting it down, and restarting it intentionally, has produced no crashes or hiccups--it's as smooth as a CRT screen.
Miro 2.0 sports a pop-out button to watch videos while you browse.
(Credit: CNET Networks)The interface overhaul streamlines the design while keeping button controls in the same place, basing it all on widgets. It's not readily apparent what this means for the average user, because the workflow is practically identical to previous versions. Search for a video or channel, add it to the sidebar or subscribe to it if you want all content from that producer, and Miro begins to download the video. It defaults to delete videos after five days, but a button on the UI toggles a "save" switch.
Besides the interface, the other major change is that you can now pop out your playback screen from the main player. A button located near the controls at the bottom right of the window does the deed, so you can now continue watching videos--or at least playing them--while you surf in Miro for more even more vids.
Miro also defaults to grab HD content whenever available, including from YouTube. It also supports streaming Web sites, such as Hulu, and there's new support for audio podcasts as well. If you're familiar with previous versions, this one will be instantly recognizable, but if you're not you should still be able to use it without looking up instructions. If you're new to Miro, it does manage the all-important torrent. The new torrent engine is based on libtorrent, a faster delivery system than before.
The pop-out window offers a compromise between full screen and in-player playback.
(Credit: CNET Networks)The flaws left in Miro are minor. There's a lack of mouse-over labels, which would take the edge off the learning curve for new users or those who just can't be bothered memorizing what each button does. There are two search boxes, one on the sidebar and one at the top right of the main window. They both seem to do the same thing, so it'd be good if the designers could either label how they're different or get rid of one.
The new Miro is faster and easier to use, and worth checking out if you've dismissed it before.
There are a lot of music jukeboxes out there that aren't iTunes but still work with iPods. Freeware Floola for Windows, Mac, and Linux is one of the few, if only, portable music players that not only works with your iPod, it will work from your iPod, too. The program's fully compatible with your desktop iTunes installation, but can be run from the iPod itself.
Floola, the portable, iPod-based jukebox.
(Credit: CNET Networks)The features it offers are comprehensive and robust, including music, video, note-taking, and photo support. The latest version, released today, includes bidirectional Google Calendar synchronization. Don't let the simple interface fool you, there's an incredible amount that you can do with Floola, which the publisher states is compatible with Windows 98 and newer, Mac OS X 10.3.9 and newer, and any GTK2 Linux distro.
It apparently can work on all iPods except for the Touch, although newer iPods--basically from the 5G on--will almost certainly require you to find the 16-digit fwid on both Windows and Macs. There are somewhat vague instructions on the Floola FAQ. Once you've retrieved it, close Floola and re-open it while holding down the CTRL and ALT keys and the menu that appears should walk you through the process.
Floola's latest feature is Google calendar synchronization.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Floola doesn't play very well with non-Apple jukeboxes and might require you to reformat or ''repair'' your iPod, but once you've got it going it's worth exploring. Album art, lyrics, playlists, podcasts, and Last.fm scrobbling are all supported from Floola. The context menu available from any given track will tell you which playlists the track is in, as well as giving you the option to add it to another one. Note that although album art is supported, there is no baked-in art discovery feature.
The Edit Song feature not only lets you change the track information, but adjust the track's specific volume, discover the real location of the track in Apple's labyrinthine iPod architecture, and instantly change a track from Song to Audiobook. The Song menu in the menubar contains options for drag-and-dropping folders, copying songs from your iPod to your desktop, and downloading tracks from the Web. This feature is quite cool: it lets you download a video, and then rip out the audio track to save as a new song or just load the video onto your iPod. Keyboard jockeys have hot-key commands for all these features.
The Song Edit window speaks volumes about the track.
(Credit: CNET Networks)The music management allows you to still sync with iTunes by using the CTRL+SHIFT+S hot key to pull up a customizable list of folders to synchronize. The option is also available from the Manage tab on the menubar. If you've been stuck using iTunes, it's hard to deny the appeal of finally getting to pick and choose which folders get synced. There is a separate photo sync feature, so you don't have to worry about syncing photos and music at the same time.
One of the essential things that Floola does, of course, is preclude the need for a desktop synchronization program. Since it runs from a self-contained EXE file that can live on your iPod, and it weighs in at a paltry 23MB for the Windows version, one of the key concerns with jukeboxes has been effectively eliminated.
Other support features include Snarl for Windows and Growl for Mac, built-in format conversion, and duplicated and lost song finder. In testing the format converter, I found it to work about half the time. Other imperfections in Floola include not being able to change many settings from their respective menubar options. For things like Last.fm, users must go through the Preferences or Advanced menu, which live under Tools on the menubar.
Buy from Amazon.com from within Floola.
(Credit: CNET Networks)There's iPod safe ejection support, as the program will remind you when you close it down: hold down shift when closing to eject. Although not being able to eject while running Floola is frustrating because it discourages multi-iPod support, it reinforces that this is meant to be a portable jukebox that lives on your iPod.
The concept of a well-rounded jukebox that's both portable and player-specific is an interesting solution to the desktop juke question. I really like the idea of eliminating the hassle of syncing and instead just pointing to the folders you want copied over, and it's hard to dislike the built-in download and convert features. However, Floola's lackluster album art support doesn't do it any favors, and the persistent bugginess in the converter doesn't help, either. The Windows interface was far from clean, too, with labels often running outside their boxes and poor shading detracting from the overall look.
If you're more of a desktop than an on-the-go audiophile, I'd give Floola a pass, but for some, Floola will be the portable, multicomputer jukebox they've been looking for, bolstered by the backing of the Floola.com support forum.
Functional, useful, and always on, the note-taking application Evernote goes beyond mere cool program architecture and is also interesting. It's a true three-platform play: it works very well, and somewhat differently, on desktop computers, mobile phones, and over the Web. You can download it for Windows, Mac, and your mobile phone.
One of the cooler features is that when Evernote runs on your camera phone, it will automatically upload your snapshots to the Evernote server, creating a useful archive of them. The killer feature is that it also does OCR on your images so you can find them later by searching for text in them. Use this tool to snap pictures of products you see in stores and want to remember, to grab whiteboards in meetings, and to take pictures of people with name tags at conferences. It's one of those utilities that might just change your life.
Everything you do on your phone and on your computer is synchronized to your Evernote account on the Web. Since it synchronizes as soon as you log on, and regularly thereafter, reinstalling the software or losing data because of a crash are nonfatal problems.
Do note that the Web-based text editor isn't keystroke compatible with the PC-based editor, which makes switching between the two experiences confusing. Evernote is also still in beta. The free version offers 40MB per month for uploading and unpredictable OCR performance, while $45 a year gets you a 500MB a month allowance, priority OCR, better security features, and support.
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