humble bundle 6 for Mac, Windows and Linux

In case you didn't know, there is this great deal on the internet called humble bundle and the current humble bundle is humble bundle 6.  Basically it is a collection of quality indie games for Mac, Windows and Linux and you specific the price you want to pay and the amount is divided by the developers, charity and bandwidth costs.

Humble Bundle 6 includes:

rochard

shatter

s.p.a.z.

torchlight

vessel

dustforce

bit trip runner

gratuitous space battles

jamestown

wizorb

The total value of these games together is worth over $135.

For me, i wanted torchlight- a famous indie rig in the likes of diablo 2 series, but with better graphics.

Bit trip runner and orchard are also 2 games i wanted on steam.

these games here are all of high quality and you can googlesearch them and get an idea of how much quality these games in the humble bundle are; they are all good games-- ranging from shoot'em ups, to rpg to strategy to platformers.

you also could get keys for steam, an online gaming ecosystem for Mac and Windows.

the website is:
http://www.humblebundle.com

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GIMP is now a native Mac App! Yayy!

GIMP version 2.8.2 is now a native Mac app!  Starting with this version, it uses the Mac Aqua UI instead of the X11 interface-- which means it will work like a Mac app should and you can access options in the menubar.

GIMP is a graphics editor program, much like Photoshop and it can do almost everything Photoshop can do and it is FREE!  GIMP stands for Graphics Image Manipulation Program.  You can draw and paint with it too just like MS Paint on Windows or MacPaint on the Classic Mac OS.  You can also edit and tweak photos and graphics with it.  Need to retouch a photo?  GIMP can do it!  GIMP is great for artists and anyone who wants to dabble in art or graphics or photoshop work.  GIMP's potential for graphics and creative works is unlimited.  Why not download it and give it a try?  You got nothing to lose.  GIMP is multi-platform, with versions available for Linux, Mac OSX and Windows.

About the Mac OSX version of GIMP-- version 2.8.2 is for Intel based Macs only. . . sorry.  Users of PowerPC based Macs can get an older version of GIMP and will need the x11 interface installed.

The Website for GIMP is:

http://www.gimp.org/

UPDATE: 

GIMP 2.8.4: Requires 64 bit Intel CPU and MAC OSX 10.6.8 and up:
Download Now


Mac OS X 10.8.x Mountain Lion - native
GIMP 2.8.2 for Mountain Lion

Mac OS X 10.6.x Snow Leopard & 10.7.x Lion - native - 64 bit
GIMP 2.8.2 for Snow Leopard & Lion

Mac OS X 10.6.x Snow Leopard - native - 32 bit
GIMP 2.8.2 for Snow Leopard

Mac OS X 10.5.x Leopard - still uses X11
GIMP 2.6.11 for Leopard

Mac OS X 10.4.11 Tiger - still uses X11
GIMP 2.6.11 for Tiger

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in case you didn't know, LibreOffice 3.6 was released a little while ago

LibreOffice 3.6.0 is available for most major platforms, including: Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.

LibreOffice 3.6.0 is a free open source full featured office suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office files and is a very feature rich package that can accomodate most people's needs.

LibreOffice 3.6.0 Final (2012-08-08)

This is the first release from the 3.6 branch of LibreOffice.
It contains many exciting new features, and is the recommended version for early adopters. (See this page for LibreOffice 3.5.)

The following notes apply:

• This release is bit-for-bit identical to the 3.6.0 Release Candidate 4, so you don't need to download or reinstall if you have that version already.
• If you update from an earlier version, spellchecking might be broken. In this case, the following workaround helps:
  • On Linux, in a terminal window enter "rm -r ~/.config/libreoffice/3/user/extensions"
  • On Mac OS X, in a Terminal window enter "rm -r ~/Library/Application\ Support/LibreOffice/3/user/extensions"
  • On Windows, in a Command Prompt window enter "rmdir /q /s %appdata%\LibreOffice\3\user\extensions"
  • After that, please restart LibreOffice twice.
• The distribution for Windows is an international build, so you can choose the user interface language that you prefer. Help content is available via an online service, or alternatively as a separate install.
• Our Windows binaries are digitally signed by The Document Foundation.
• For Windows users that have LibreOffice prior to version 3.4.5 installed, either uninstall that beforehand, or upgrade to 3.4.5. Otherwise, the upgrade to 3.6.0 may fail.
• For Windows users that have OpenOffice.org installed, we advise uninstalling that beforehand, because it registers the same file type associations.
• If you run Windows 2000, you may require this update before being able to install LibreOffice.
• If you run Linux, the GCJ Java variant has known issues with LibreOffice, we advise to e.g. use OpenJDK instead.
• A full list of annoying bugs is available from the wiki.

The list of new features can be found here: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/3.6

Download at: http://www.libreoffice.org/download/

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The answer to my commodore 128 emulation needs-- VICE!

My first computer was a C128 aka Commodore 128 w/ a commodore 1571 disk drive, a two button mouse, a color dot matrix brother printer, a commodore 1084 Color Monitor, a 1750 512Kb Ram Expansion Unit, GEOS 128 v2.0, a couple of joysticks and a library of C64 games and C128 games and applications; This set up satisfied my computing needs and gaming needs.  I had the VDC chip upgraded to 64Kb of video ram and also had the rom upgraded back in the day.  I had this great c128 painting program that had such great graphics that rivaled the Amiga, Mac and VGA PC.  I had some great 80 column c128 games that made great use of the VDC 80 column chip such as tetris or maid stone quest.  Unfortunately, I no longer own a Commodore 128. So i had to turn to an emulator; enter VICE.

What is VICE?

VICE is a program that runs on a Unix, MS-DOS, Win32, OS/2, Acorn RISC OS, BeOS, QNX 4.x, QNX 6.x, Amiga, GP2X, Dingoo, Syllable, SkyOS or Mac OS X machine and executes programs intended for the old 8-bit computers. The current version emulates the C64, the C64DTV, the C128, the VIC20, almost all PET models, the PLUS4 and the CBM-II (aka C610).

VICE is freeware and open source and is the answer to my needs.

I recommend the GTK+ port of vice or the x11 port and not the cocoa version for Mac OS X because the GTK + version and the x11 version is more complete than the cocoa version.

Can't wait to use GEOS 128 again! GEOS 128 was as every bit as good as the Mac but way cheaper in price back in the day! And there is a lot of abandonware/freeware/public domain software for the native c128 mode for c128 computers!

More information and downloads are on the website:

http://viceteam.org/

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Candy Crisis (a puyo puyo clone)-- free for Mac & Windows

I recommend a free now open source game called "Candy Crisis."  It is a puyo puyo clone; the game is kinda like tetris or Dr. Mario, and it is extremely fun and addictive and it is FREE! I believe the game is PPC Native so if you own a Mac and want to run it, you will need Rosetta -- meaning Mac OS X Snow Leopard or earlier. It is also available for Windows.

There is solo mode and vs. mode in which you compete against a computer opponent or a friend.

the website url ( for a better description and info on the game and to get the shareware turned freeware code):

http://candycrisis.sourceforge.net/

the download url:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/candycrisis/files/

Here are some screen shots:

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Got an older or extra computer lying around, why not turn it into a media PC/Mac?

Got an older or extra computer lying around, why not turn it into a media PC/Mac? I did with a free open source program called XBMC.  It has built in Weather reports, Internet TV, Internet radio, built in DVD player and video player (and some limited bluray support?) and built in mp3/aac player. You could run it off your computer monitor or use your media PC/Mac with a TV or HDTV.

It is available for Mac (PPC & Intel,) Windows, and Linux

You could read more and learn more about it at their website:

http://xbmc.org/

their downloads page:

http://xbmc.org/download/

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LibreOffice 3.5.3 is released!

LibreOffice 3.5.3 is released! It is a free open source office suite for Mac, Linux, Windows and other various platforms. It is compatible with Microsoft Office. It consists of Writer (word processor,) Calc (spreadsheet,) and various other components.

the url to the download link on their website:

http://www.libreoffice.org/download/?nodetect

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Full featured alternative free office suite-- LibreOffice!

LibreOffice is the free full featured alternative office suite to MS Office.  It is the result of hard work from the open source community and the direct heir to OpenOffice and was based on the same code with all the openoffice developers transitioning to LibreOffice development.  It is available for PPC Mac OSX & Intel Mac OSX, Linux and Windows and various other operating systems.

the Url: http://www.libreoffice.org/

UPDATE: 4/24/2012

Libreoffice version 3.5.2 came out a few weeks ago, it is FREE so go out and download it if you don't have an office suite or if you got an older version of Libreoffice or openoffice.

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