Synergy (software) review

Well last weekend I found this cool stuff called Synergy, and so I decided I'd write a review on it. It's really a great piece of software if you have more than one computer; it allows you to control multiple computers with one mouse. If you know me, you might know that I have a laptop with it's screen plus a second monitor, and I also have a desktop with a nice monitor, and I'm a bit of a multi-tasker in the sense that as I write this review, I also have a browser open with about three other reviews on this specific software, I've got Trillian open, I've got MedieMonkey open playing music, I've got Notepad++--which is the best notepad replacement ever (next software review?)--with 6 documents open and I've also got Gmail and Google Calendar open. For some reason I have an English paper and two other OpenOffice documents (including this one) and I've got a virus scan running on my laptop.. You know? When I put it in words, it seems like I've got every program installed on my computer open right now, but anyways, the point is: I'm kind of a multitasker.
Well multitasking, as most people is hard without one of two things: Alt-Tab and multiple monitors. The multiple monitors part is different, but it makes things a whole lot easier, because at one time, I can see this document, my calendar, and in a tab a thing that tells me I have one unread message (wonder who that's from.. oh well I'll check it after this) and I also have a quick play/pause button for my music. When I'm writing research papers, it sucks having to alt-tab between browser, read a little, alt-tab back, type a little, etc.--It's nice when I can just turn my head a little, read a little, turn my head BACK, type a little.
Well now that I have three total monitors, it also means I have two keyboards and two mice (mouses?) and half the time, I'll start typing on one keyboard and then I realize I'm typing on THE WRONG KEYBOARD! Yes, once I even shut down the wrong computer using keyboard shortcuts and ended up losing about half an hour's worth of work opening all the applications I was planning to use! <--That's actually an exaggeration. With Synergy I have solutions to every problem every presented in this universe, in fact I considered nicknaming it 42. You know, the answer to the universe and everything... oh whatever it was a joke, anyways, with Synergy, I can move my mouse from my desktop to my laptop AND BACK!!! That part totally blew my mind away. Then I realized I could copy-and-paste from one computer and back (goodbye netpaste, you are no longer needed) and I could move DOCUMENTS from ONE COMPUTER and back!!! Wait let me test that, just a second.. ok you can't move documents from one computer and back, and that is why you use shared folders. But I thought, this is the sickest thing ever to happen to my desktop and laptop, it's like they've become married, they have joined souls and become one. Well now I have seen a problem: I can't use alt-tab to switch between firefox on my laptop and openoffice on my desktop. Well simple, Synergy has shortcuts which let you switch the keyboard/mouse between computers, and problem solved.
Well Synergy is a really great piece of software, it's been very helpful. I'd give it a 5/5 easily. I think you can connect more than just two machines together too, you could probably have 5 or even 10 computers together :D Oh and the cool thing, do you have two computers because you like Linux and Windows? Well no problem, or maybe you like Mac and Linux (such a Windows-hater!) well no problem! Synergy works across multiple operating systems at the same time :) So in conclusion: do you have two computers? Good, get Synergy. Bye.

February Anticipated Games

Since November, we have only seen a few nice game releases, including Dragon Age: Origins and CoD: Modern Warfare 2 of course. There was also James Cameron's Avatar: The Game and DiRT 2, and a couple of other games, but Christmas seems like a dead season for new games (but don't get me wrong, everything shows up in a big gulp right before Christmas) Well February seems to pick up the pace again. Mass Effect 2 is an amazing game (I have only read countless articles and watched tens of YouTube trailers) and probably to only notable game release of January 2010.

Well now we are in February, and if you are looking for a new game, you've come to the right place. Several games have been anticipated for a while, and are finally being released in February. These games include: Star Trek Online, Bioshock 2, Everquest II: Sentinel's Fate, Napoleon: Total War, and even though it is being released on March 2nd which is not in February, I have decided for the sake of this blog entry to also include Battlefield: Bad Company 2 because it is just that epic! I have not been following the release of games for very often, but in my own research, I have noted down that a lot of these are sequels, or expansions to existing games. Hopefully you were able to notice this too because, well... except for Star Trek Online and Napoleon: Total War, all of those games include a '2' or 'II', and in the case of Sentinel's Fate, it happens to be an add-on to a sequel!

Now notice that one of the games that doesn't include a 2 in it is Star Trek Online. That, however, is totally fine! I mean who wouldn't want to play a game called Star Trek after seeing the movie? Well not me because I'm not a huge fan of online games anymore: Either you want to keep doing the same thing over and over, or everyone else wants to do the same thing over and everyone else is really good AND you either suck at the game or you get addicted.. In other words, they are addictive. Anyways, Star Trek Online looks like a pretty sick game. As far as I can tell from previews, there is quite a bit of combat, and something I thought was really cool is the fact that you can create your own species!!! Wouldn't that be awesome? Create a species, and describe how you came into the galaxy (like you discovered some Mass Effect relay in the 22nd century... Wait that sounds like the humans in a game I like called "Mass Effect"!) Star Trek Online has revealed that the monthly cost will be $14.99, similar to several other popular MMOs. It was created by the same people that brought you City of Heroes, City of Villains and Champions Online so it should be an interesting game!

The other game that doesn't include a '2' in it is still a new addition to an ever-so-popular series, the Total War series. This is an awesome set of games, albeit strategy games (I haven't grown accustom to this genre of games, but it still looks awesome anyways!) A new feature present in Napoleon which wasn't included in the other Total War games is a new multiplayer mode. While I haven't played many strategy games, I certainly don't remember ever seeing a multiplayer strategy game before! It may just be because of my recluse-ness to those types of video games. Anyways Napoleon: Total War is enticing to me, just the fact that there are several gameplay modes and historic battles you can play through (my History class has turned me into a little bit of a history fanatic... Yes, I have started reading "U.S. History for Dummies")

Now we have two of those games out of the way, I'd like to talk about Bioshock.. TWO! Bioshock in my opinion was a really interesting sci-fi game. The website is a real treat to the eyes, but I'm almost certain the website is nothing compared to the game. The original Bioshock had some really great graphics, an interesting storyline and some unique features creating a gameplay which you couldn't experience twice. Now the sequel, Bioshock 2 claims to take you back to the underwater city of Rapture to re-experience the unique elements of the games setting. The game also features multiplayer modes, which obviously don't appeal to me because I suck at multiplayer BUT that's probably one of the best features in the game, I mean who doesn't enjoy shooting the crap out of other people online? 2K Games did a great job with the first and they sure got my attention in this sequel.

The other game worth mentioning is Everquest II: Sentinel's Fate. No, I didn't forget Battlefield: Bad Company 2, I am just not writing about it this month. That is for next month. Anyways, the Everquest game is a nice MMO for multiple audiences, it incorporates those nice fantasy features that everyone loves, and of course it's got a bazillion expansion packs. The only game I would ever pay monthly for is a game that is always being improved on. (Imagine paying even a dollar a month to play Half Life 2; it lasts for a while but after playing it for a year or 6 and only getting two new episodes, not to mention the multiplayer which gets old too unless you start modding) This happens to be the 6th expansion (9th if you count the three adventure packs) and it features a new level-cap, new dungeons, hundreds of new quests and thousands of new items, an plenty of new land to explore and quest on.

Now, my disclaimer, I haven't played more than about 5 hours each of the original BioShock, I've never played any Total War games (but I've watched plenty of previews of most of them) and I've never played any Everquest (well I got about an hour into a free trial and lost my password.... long long ago...) and I've only played small portions of City of Villains and Champions Online. Therefore, I am not the most knowledgeable on any of the above mentioned games BUT I can still give you my opinion and save you an hour or two of extra research (which you are likely to do anyways because of your curiosity :p)