The new Youtube player.

A couple of things to notice:

• Larger play, stop, fast-forward, and volume buttons.
• Much faster response time in all browsers.  Seeking is instantaneous.
• Overall, much better performance at full screen.

You can see how well the player integrates with the beta page:

Here are a couple of cool things you can do with a Wave that you can’t do using e-mail or chat.

1. Organize an event, dinner/lunch, or meet-up in less than an hour.

With the GWave Who Is Coming gadget you can quickly invite a large group of people to an event.  The invited can then RSVP in a moment’s notice and even change their RSVP whenever they want.  Not only will this gadget allow you get a live listing of who’s coming to your event, but anyone can also post comments below the wave and suggest revised times, places, or even post sub-event Who Is Coming gadgets.
Get it here.

2. Play chess/backgammon/sudoku live with a friend (or a couple of friends).

Google Wave has a variety of game gadgets including Chess, Sudoku, and Magnetic Poetry (?).

3. Edit and Share Maps

Need to show someone where you’re apartment is on a live map? How about you and your friend mark the spots on the map where you want to visit on a roadtrip?  There’s a gadget for that:
Maps

For more gadgets visit Wavety.com

V

Quothe V:

But on this most auspicious of nights, permit me then, in lieu of the more commonplace soubriquet, to suggest the character of this dramatis persona. Voila! In view humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the “vox populi” now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin, van guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition.

The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.

Verily this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honour to meet you and you may call me V.

The mystery grew as I turned the card.

Well hello there.

Such intricate patterns.  There has to be more to this card.  No one in their right mind would print something so detailed for no reason at all.  Indeed, no one.  An anonymous no one.

Expensive

Hmm, I wonder where this is going: http://www.youfoundthecard.com/

Well so much for that.  Really guys?  You printed this expensive card and probably wasted many hours of your life just to advertise for an anti-scientology website?  Well, whatever, if that’s your ‘hobby’ than who am I to judge?

Wallpaper is here.

This can be done in two different ways.  The more powerful one which involves $$ will also use more of your computers resources through extra processes.  The other involves a simple patch that will alow you to use a smaller variety of skins.

Windows Blinds
The current version of WB is a program by Stardock that will use custom skins called WB files.  Both the program and the skins can be downloaded from http://www.wincustomize.com.  The variety of skins is virtually endless.  If you don’t find a skin to like with WB then you won’t find a skin you’ll like anywhere.  The installation process if self explanatory and changing skins involves a very simple right click.  However I must warn that the program itself and the skins take up a large chunk of Processing power, RAM, and HD space relative to the other skinning method.

UXtheme.dll Patch
Many do not know this but Windows XP has a built in skinning ability allowing it to use “msstyle” theme files.  However, for some unkown reason ‘cough’money’cough’, Microsoft configured the UXTheme.dll file used for skinning windows in order to not allow the use of 3rd party msstyles.  As a result a 3rd party patch came out which allows the user to simply click on msstyles to skin their computer.  The msstyles themselves load with no residual memory usage, processing power, and very little HD space.  The UxTheme.dll patch can be found here and the msstyles can be found here and here.  While this method is simple and has very few residual effects it is not nearly as powerful as WB in skinning.  WB can also add transparency to make the Vista Skins look real—msstyles cannot.

In the end it’s your choice on how serious you are about skinning and whether to buy WB or stick with the free UXTheme.dll patch.  Just make sure your desktop doesn’t look like this:

My Ugly Desktop by XxMoroDashixX

Next week. Icons and Wallpaper!