Let’s gloss over the promised extra ads from Microsoft and the sale itself. Let’s gloss over the downtime. Let’s even gloss over the frequency of people who are on Skype appear offline but are both online and available. While we’re at it let’s gloss over when messages you or they sent appear hours later.

Skype was free, Skype was easy, it was enough to gloss over a lot.

Skype has installed crapware on one of our systems without my permission.  I’m not impressed. Skype has installed crapware called ‘EasyBits Go on many Skype users systems with or without permission, including business users. It appears that only Windows users have been affected.

It cannot be properly uninstalled. Skype have confirmed it’s not malware exactly but have not kept users informed nor provided a solution to the problem.

If you’ve been affected you can get rid of it following these steps.

I am unsure why Skype would do something this foolish.   As for EasyBits go I think it’s quite clear why they took part in this. As they said, “Since the update, game sessions have jumped from 850,000 top daily game sessions to over 7 million game sessions globally yesterday.” Well, isn’t that peachy?

Now anyone, please, is there a better alternative to Skype than Google phone?

EB Games Expo, the largest ever to be held in Australia, have announced some of their official exhibitors which a a strong and diverse set.

This Thursday the 2nd of June tickets will be on sale online and in EB Games stores from midday Australian Eastern Standard Time.

Games, software and related exhibitors are 2K, Activision, Bethesda, Capcom, Codemasters, Disney Interactive Studios, EA, Incomm, Konami, Mindscape, Namco Bandai Partners, Pop Cap, QVS, Sega, Square Enix, THQ, and Ubisoft.

Hardware is also covered, like Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony Playstation, Nintendo, Logitech, Bluemouth Interactive, Plantronics GameCom, Parrot AR.Drone, Razer and Turtle Beach.

Several media partners are also announced.

More than Just Not Unity

Release Date: 9th May 2011

Developer: Linux Mint Team led by Clement Lefebvre

Base: Ubuntu, Gnome, Debian

Mint. Minty Fresh? You know, I absolutely hate peppermint but I do love Linux Mint.

But I am getting ahead of myself. I am that altogether too common Ubuntu migrant checking out Mint to see if I like it. I didn’t like Unity which is not only integral to Ubuntu, but also Ubuntu’s future when they dump Gnome in Ubuntu version 11.10.

I’ve wanted to try out Mint for quite a while given its out of the box ‘It Just Works’ kind of promise and positive feedback I’ve heard. Unity gave me a good push to give it a go. As such a lot of commentary will admittedly be in comparison to Ubuntu.

Installation was straightforward with the easy replace Ubuntu option and copying goes on while doing the settings followed by a sideshow talking about some of Mint’s features. Basically the same as Ubuntu’s excellent installer.

Dabbling very briefly in the Linux Mint user community it looks promising. Active and respectful with a good mix of user levels. The community is important in Linux because this is where most of the support comes from.

To make it quite clear Linux Mint does not use Unity but opted for Gnome 2.32 instead.

Mint’s menu is beautiful. Not your standard Ubuntu Gnome menu, it presents things well to be easily accessed. There is a nice search function as well as a favourites and all applications toggle. The menu is easily configured and lets you add things to the panel. It has to be used to be appreciated but here’s a bit of a look.

Linux Mint’s default programs are much the same as for Ubuntu, including LibreOffice and Firefox 4.0 however Evolution is nowhere to be seen with Thunderbird being used for email. I’ve never liked Evolution and usually used Thunderbird on Ubuntu! Gimp, Sun Java 6 and the VLC media player are also included. Gwibber is not included. I usually used Tweekdeck which runs on the decidedly not open source Adobe AIR. If you want it, you will need to install that yourself whether you use Ubuntu or Mint but it’s easily done.

The real difference is you don’t have to spend time with Medibuntu etc getting all the codecs, flash, fonts and other simple usability improvements working. It also helps that most of the default software is a good choice. Linux Mint was originally designed with this ease of use in mind. It’s focused on the users and usability not on the open source ideals, which is Ubuntu’s focus. Neither choice is really better or worse, it just depends on what matters more to you. So Linux Mint largely delivers on the ready out of the box experience.

Mint still has the same silly overlay scroll bars as Ubuntu has but I do not actually dislike them. I guess they are there for space saving on small screens typical of the devices that Ubuntu has been aiming for. Mint’s desktop does not come with a trashcan, which is easily found in the menu. Not sure if I like that or not but it’s not a very significant thing.

It is quite true that pretty much any operating system, including Ubuntu, can be changed from its default theme to something more attractive. However, it is nice that Mint’s default theme is slick and attractive from the get go. Yes it’s true, I am not a fan of brown tones which make up Ubuntu’s default themes.

Like Ubuntu, the simpler Software Manager of Linux Mint is much improved and would say Mint has done the better job. A great tool for newer Linux users.

There is only one minor criticism of the OS as I saw it. The sound defaults to mute on install which is naturally easily fixed. I’ve tried it out a fair bit but it’s really quite stable. If you find any faults yourself comment on them below.

Linux Mint is free and open source software available here. I recommend getting the stock standard 32 bit DVD version unless you know what you’re doing.

Overall Mint is very nice and likely to stay at least till the next 6 monthly churn. Where it all goes from there is a big question. There’s the Ubuntu Unity push and there’s also Gnome 3 which is still in the early stages and has garnered more than a few critics. Linux Mint is excellent for new users of Linux and I recommend it for that purpose.

Light up your Cardboard

Release Date: 9th May 2011

Developer: State of Play Games

Genre: Point and Click Adventure/Puzzle

Mode: Single

Lume is a beautiful but also very short flash based adventure game with an interesting style. The game begins with a short introduction where you see the electricity fail at Lumi’s granddad’s home. You, as Lumi, arrive to find granddad has gone and set about restoring power.

Lume is extremely easy to learn to play, as many adventure games are.

The puzzles in Lume are fresh, interesting and not terribly difficult with one major exception. There is one puzzle in there so obscure I don’t see many people finding their way through it without help.

In terms of positive entertainment, Lume delivers some good puzzles and an innovative graphical look. It has the simple appeal of taking action too so that the adventure doesn’t seem as contrived as many do.

One of the great appeals of Lume is the interesting graphics which are a merged style of animation which feels like felt or a scrapbook and real recordings from papercraft. The papercraft in Lume used paper and cardboard to make the sets which include a few extras like dollhouse lights. It let State of Play Games make very nice area transitions which pan to give a light 3D feel to the game. Altogether the result is smart, charming, cute and has a faint air of school. The graphics resolution is fixed at 800×600.

Lume comes with only one piece of music which will get repetitive but can be toggled on and off. I find the music irritating because it has a very soothing feel but there is one note which is so sour it may be an error.

The few ingame sounds are all fine.

Lume could have used a little more polish. Lume doesn’t come with an icon so the default flash one is used. The game also lacks an internal way to close the game. There are also very few configuration options.

However the biggest problem is that this game is very short. If you take out the obscure puzzle game time would be well below an hour. It makes sense since it is the first part of a series but I simply found it far too short.

Lume runs entirely through Adobe flash and runs on Windows and Mac. You can get it from Steam, Direct2Drive and GamersGate for $US 6.99-7.49.

Overall Lume is a charming but flawed game which is too short but has a beautiful and innovative graphical style.

Game: 3/5    Positive: 

Both Microsoft and Google have made quiet announcements highlighting a push into PC gaming.

Microsoft’s Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer reckons Windows 8, will be designed with gaming in mind and released in 2012. Microsoft did some hilarious back-pedalling from that position so you can decide who you believe, the CEO of the company or the company.

You can get some sense of where Microsoft is going with gaming below. The video is an internal release showing the concepts and principles of what the Windows Gaming Experience (WGX) team hopes to accomplish. This likely ties in with the changes being made to Windows LIVE. Microsoft have also clearly seen the potential of the virtual items market.

Google isn’t sitting still either with their new emphasis on Chrome Web Store to act as the gaming marketplace. A position which slots in nicely with their Chrome OS moves. I have looked at this store but there’s a very long way to go before they outdo even the likes of Apple’s money machine.

So PC gaming is returning but it’s with a twist. More social, more browser and web focused. No doubt Steam will get in this too at some point as it’s already halfway there. However this needs great games and frankly Farmville won’t cut it. A lot of opportunity there for Indy devs who can wind through this maze.