The one with tech-porn

Good day again, my friends!
Yes, it has been a while, and I'm fairly certain I don't have any readers - at least I don't get any comments. Some tech-things related to my life;

#1. GAIM is now Pidgin. Apparently AOL didn't like the fact that GAIM and AIM sound the same (even if GAIM predated AIM), so with the final of version 2.0 out, they changed the name. I think it works rather well, and I like the fact that they have hidden protocols out-of-view in the GUI. It looks pretty, slim and efficient. This is pretty much what I would hope ICQ or MSN would look like. My only problems with the program (apart of the fact that Skype and Google Talk isn't supported) is that there is no VoIP, meaning I still have to have MSN Live Messenger (that overbloated piece of shit... pardon my French) on my computer.
For those who it may concern; yes, I find the program stable. Meaning that the crashes are way less regular than those of MSN LM and that it handles net outages in very courteous manner, unlike it's predecessor GAIM 1.5

#2. I found Google Reader. Everybody else might have gotten on with the program months ago, but this was a new find for me. I haven't really gotten used to RSS/Atom-feed - I found the notification systems of tried programs very clunky (I might have done something wrong) - but this changed everything. Basically it treats blog posts in a similar manner than Google Mail treats email, giving the impression that the posts are sent to YOU, instead of YOU going to THEM. Of course, this is the whole basis of the RSS-feed, but it only today clicked for me. Removing ten bookmarks from the side panel (which I always keep open) meant that I don't have to scroll anymore. And I don't have to obsessively go through the links when I'm bored and can't motivate myself to go outside. So it's great.

#3. I heavily stripped down my account at IRC-Galleria. Mainly because it had changed from it's original function (user database of Finnish IRC-users) to MySpace Finland. Again, the customer profile has changed; from Internet-savvy 20something to trendy 12-16 year old. The site has also changed from group hobby to serious enterprise. Of course, I think it's great that the people get money from their hobby-turned-work, but the increase in ads, competitions and change in userbase made it rather embarrassing to log in at public places - or ,indeed, to even have an account.
The name of the site also has caused some problems as regular users think they are "ircing" when they are using the service. When corrected, they emphatically admit that there is this thing called "irc" but that these days the word mostly refers to the site. Sometimes they suggest that old-fashioned ircing should in fact be called "mircing". The new usage of the word is even spreading to newspapers (who are unaware of the history) and common consciousness trough the interviews done with site users. But I digress. Let us just say that the greatest monument of the change is that they now have an information sheet for concerned parents, who come to the site while researching the activities of their children.

#4. I installed Picasa, mainly because of my leave from Finland destroyed my FTP-account (that was part of the Internet-subscription) and the computer magazine (named MikroBitti) that gave me another one merged with audio/picture elitist mag named Hifi, changing the reader focus outside my area. You can probably gather that I no longer have subscription.
I'm sure that the company thought it was sensible move, but I'm understanding that many of the readers feel differently. So, put together with #3 I had no place where to put my photos and pictures for show. Basically it's a (very good) photo organizer that you install to your hard drive, and from where you can upload stuff to your Google account on Internet. You have one gigabyte for pictures and ability to create infinite amount of photo albums, which you can choose to keep private or "half-public", for your friends. I suppose you can use the service without installing anything, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, my account can be found here.

#5. Greasemonkey. I have been aware of this few weeks. The idea of Firefox ad-on which modifies the way individual sites look like with scripts didn't really speak to me, until I heard of few very good examples.
It is excellent on occasions when the site-developer won't for monetary reasons (removing ads), user-reasons (script does something not in the interest of mainstream user, like removing comments from YouTube) or legal reasons (like Google Image linking to pages and not individual pictures). Sometimes the problem is purely mistake on the site's part; Google Mail has incorporated several features first brought up in the scripts.
The scripts also work in Opera, and some in Internet Explorer 7 (God have mercy on the idiot who actually uses it from free will).

So, what have you been up to? Want to link me to something cool?