Raptor is a Great FICS Desktop Client for Mac

Free Internet Chess Server (FICS), which can be found at www.freechess.org, is a great way to play chess online for free. Besides being free, another great thing about FICS is the presence of a huge community, so that you’ll always have someone within your playing level to start a game with. It is also highly moderated by system and human moderators so that trolls and cheaters are quickly identified and acted upon accordingly.

I used to connect to FICS via Winboard or BabasChess on my Windows machine. But now that I’m on a Mac (specifically on an Intel, Mac OS X Lion 10.7, Macbook Pro 13″ Early 2011), these two programs don’t just seem to work. Good thing I stumbled upon a comment from one user in the FICS group in Facebook about Raptor Chess. See screenshot after the jump »

Mac Desktop Client for FICS

UPDATE: I actually already found a great FICS client for Mac: Raptor Chess.

If you have have read in my previous post, I’ve been a Mac convert for sometime now. And I would like very much to test the computing power of a Mac upto its full potential.

I also liked playing chess on FICS or freechess.org. And I have been looking for Apps or programs that can be a desktop client for connecting to FICS. In my Windows days, my favorite was Winboard, though I sometimes used BabasChess. Continue reading Mac Desktop Client for FICS

Chess on a Mac

Admittedly, Chessbase’ Fritz 12 is the best program for the PC. The Fritz 12 (or even the Deep Fritz 12) engine may not be the strongest computer chess engine out there, but the Chessbase interface is able to deliver on its purpose. I use it widely when analyzing games and studying openings. I load my favorite engines like Rybka, Houdini, Stockfish, etc., to test some of the more stronger engines.

But the problem is it’s only available in PC. When oh when can they be able to make a program for the Mac? I’m a Mac convert now, and there really are a lot of Mac users who are anticipating this from Chessbase. Although I already paid for the licensed copy of Fritz 12 for Windows, I’ll be willing to shell out another for the Mac — for as long as it will natively run on the Intel Mac. Continue reading Chess on a Mac

Facebook Messenger – a Free Mobile Messaging App

Facebook has just made available a free stand-alone messaging app for your mobile phone. It will be like BlackBerry’s BBM service, or WhatsApp, or Kik, or LiveProfile, or PingChat!, but that you don’t need an additional ID, as all your contacts in Facebook will be available for messaging, may they be using the app as well, or just in any other mobile device, or the web.

Get and send messages fast

With the new standalone Messenger app, now messaging with friends is faster than ever. Messages are delivered instantly, and they’re always just a click away.

— Source

Unfortunately, it’s only available (yet!) for iOS and Android (have I already told you about the developers’ preference in developing mobile apps?), and for iOS it’s only available as of the moment in the US iTunes store. Continue reading Facebook Messenger – a Free Mobile Messaging App

Sparrow – What Makes a Mac a Mac

Apps like Sparrow Mail are what makes a Mac a Mac. Not just because it is available exclusively for Mac, but they integrate well with the Mac.

Sparrow is a desktop email client for Mac that works like a native desktop client especially for Gmail. It could even replicate most of the keyboard shortcuts of Gmail as you would do in a web browser. It’ll support IMAP for Yahoo! Mail as well. What’s more, email accounts other than Gmail will behave like Gmail inside Sparrow.

Watch the introductory video below:

Continue Reading »

From NU 107 to DigRadio.ph – A Wish for an iPhone App

I have missed the music that is NU 107, especially since it signed off in November 2010. Rock & Roll world rejoiced when the former DJ’s of NU 107 put up an online music streaming site at digradio.ph to continue that music we have known. Yet, I always find it inconvenient to be able to listen to it only via my laptop.

So here’s a wish for an official iPhone app soon.

Digradio.ph is a step in the right direction for us rock fans to continue converge in one common music ground. So I hope they come up with mobile apps soon for the iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry.

Tweetbot — The Quality You Pay For

Tweetbot, according to the developers, is an iPhone Twitter client with a lot of personality. And personality, indeed, it is full of. From its first release, the Tweetbot app significantly defines what a quality app is — what is value for money in the mobile app world.

I don’t want to delve into much details on what this app can do or how can it be so different from the other Twitter iPhone clients. Instead, just watch the introductory video »

Globe Recommendation: SuperSurf

Took this Globe Telecom’s internet surfing profiler to determine which of Globe’s internet plans is best for me according to my data requirements, habits and/or usage. And the result: Globe recommends I subscribe to their SuperSurf plan.

After all I thought Globe has got a lot of options suited for me, and all they could come up was the ultimate SuperSurf plan! Continue Reading »

Samsung Galaxy Tab — Faster, Thinner, Lighter

Here’s the commercial of the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 that was aired in the UK:

Great that the device is HSPA+ capable, but what do you do with that hardware if the network you’re on sucks? Honestly, you’ll be paying for a hardware you can’t even use.

Here are the separate commercials emphasizing how the Galaxy Tab can be thinner and lighter: Watch the Videos »