We’ve teased it. We’ve promised it. And now it’s finally here. Ladies and gentlemen, we here at the Free Line present day three of our “Obscure” Showdown.

App #1: QQ

Website: http://www.imqq.com
Our Original Thoughts, In Synopsis Form: A simple synopsis cannot adequately describe our QQ experience.
QQ, In a Nutshell: Think MSN, only in Chinese and with a cute little penguin mascot accompanying every window and menu. (Hmm … MSN and penguins … Does anyone else find the irony both delicious and absolutely hilarious?)
Oddities: Well, the “dress up” doll, for one. Instead of allowing the user to attach a photo avatar to their account, QQ “forces” them to simply make one. While the basic avatar is free, any sort of “image upgrade”– better hats, more shirts, etc. — will cost you a few dollars yuan. Sadly, we did not have a chance to really experience this part of the program, as English is currently not available at this time. The other major “oddity” lies within the security settings. In addition to the normal set of options, we were given a list of questions we could ask would-be friends. Although most of the choices were pretty straightforward (name, home phone number, cell number), there was one that stuck out like a proverbial sore thumb: Our car number. Despite our research, we cannot for the life of us figure out what our “car number” could possibly be. We’re guessing it’s the license plate, but we could be wrong.
Is It Worth Checking Out?: If you have a few contacts in mainland China or if you want something completely different, then yes. Those who are just looking for a good instant messaging program, however, would be better served by something a bit more well known.
Overall: 9 (For anyone who can read Chinese); 7 (For everybody else).

App #2: Lavabit

Website: http://lavabit.com
Our Original Thoughts, In Synopsis Form: It’s the mail service for those who take their privacy very, very seriously.
Our Thoughts Now: It really does seem secure. That said, we “highly suggest” that you avoid the webmail client at all costs.
Avoid the webmail? Why?: Lavabit makes it clear from the get-go that it is designed for Pop3 access. Those who decide to eschew the likes of Windows Mail and Thunderbird for the webmail option will find a disappointing, stripped-down experience. In fact, the only thing that you can do in it is send and receive basic, barely formatted messages. Everything else is available to Pop3 users only.
Is it worth checking out?: Yes, but again — and we cannot stress this enough — you need to be using an external mail client. The webmail setup really is that bad.
Overall: 7 (For the service as a whole); 2 (For the webmail only.)

App #3: Theora

Website: http://theora.org
Our Original Thoughts, In Synopsis Form: Theora is a free, completely open source codec originally designed to be the “video” version of OGG Vorbis. The name is derived from the Max Headroom character Theora Jones.
Our Thoughts Now: We were unable to find a program that would convert a DVD to Theora. Because of this, we still don’t have much of an opinion on it as a codec.
What?! Nothing worked?: Not necessarily. We were able to convert an episode of Max Headroom from DivX to Theora using the VLC. It was the DVD that gave us trouble.
How was the converted file then?: Honestly, we weren’t able to tell the difference.
Aside from VLC, What would I need to create Theora file?: At the present moment, your best chance lies with a command-line only program called FFmpeg. It’s powerful, but actually using it is like pulling teeth.
Is it worth checking out?: At the present moment, no. Give it a few years.
Overall: 2; It is simply way too hard to convert files and besides, not many hardware platforms support it at the moment.

As you can plainly see, the “big finale” has been delayed by a day. So in the meantime, I would like to share a bit more about QQ. It’s … Odd, to say the least.

1:02 – Not willing to declare defeat just yet, I dutifully trudge back to the website, hoping against hope that I get something other than a “busy signal.”
1:03 – It worked! I cannot believe that it worked! Now I get to log into the service using my brand new … ID number. ID number? What is this, ICQ?
1:03 – After I log in, I am greeted by a Windows Live Today-like pop up window called QQ Today. The content was pretty close in style to Windows Live Today, only with the “hip trends” of Shanghai replacing the likes of New York City and Los Angeles. Everything seems normal enough, until I am greeted by one of the single most bizarre and surreal images that I have ever seen — Chairman Mao wearing the stage makeup of Kiss’ Gene Simmons. I find myself staring blankly at the image, absolutely convinced that the next image I see will feature the bearded trio of Karl Marx, Fidel Castro, and Vladimir Lenin dressed as ZZ Top. This is definitely different than MSN.
1:05 – I am brought out of my Mao-derived stupor by a User Account Control warning box. According to the message, a program featuring several Mandarin characters (aka the QQ instant messenger) wants to make a few changes to my computer. That’s enough to make anyone nervous, let alone a safety conscious guy like me. After a few seconds of research, however, I find that there is truly nothing to the message and let the program do its thing.
1:10 – Since I don’t have any friends yet, I find myself clicking aimlessly around QQ’s familiar, MSN-like interface. One of the first places that I find is my profile screen. On the top of the screen sits a link that asks if I want to “bind my email” to my user ID. Within seconds, my user ID and my email address were one in the same. On the left hand side of the window sits a row of grayed out icons, all following under the heading of “Owned Services.” Apparently, I could “own” up to seven: QQ Mail, QQ Show Red Diamond VIP, webcam privileges, Mobile QQ (for standard mobile devices), QQ 3G (for “high-end” devices), QQ WAP (for “legacy” devices), and QQ Alumni. Unfortunately, only the mail service and the webcam setup are in English. The rest are still in Simplified Chinese. It’s a pity … I really wanted to join the QQ Show Red Diamond VIP Club.

…And there you have it. Be sure to tune in Monday for the real finale. We promise. Until then, have a great weekend.

The following log is true. Nothing has been changed, as there are no innocents to protect.

Part One: Program Setup

12:20 – The official QQ instant messaging program is currently being downloaded. The QQ site seems to be rather slow on the uptake, as they say. The file is currently loading at 35 k/s. A download from a so-called “normal” site will go at least ten times that speed, especially at this time of night.
12:24 – All done … finally. Let’s see what this program has to offer…
12:26 – I am currently being asked my location. I can apparently choose from “work/home,” “Internet cafe/school,” and “other.” I honestly have no idea what “other” could be. Below it sits a window detailing my “security check settings.” I can choose from four different options — “weekly,” “daily,” “at login,” and “never check my security settings.” Since the thoughts of letting an instant messaging program check my security settings scares the living hell out of me makes me a bit nervous, I chose the “never check this ever” option.
12:27 – It is now asking me if I want to make QQ.com my default start page. I think I’ll pass for now.
12:27 – After picking a location for my history folder to reside in, everything began to install.
12:28 – All done! Judging by the “sign in” screen, it seems as if QQ was inspired by Live Messenger. Now let’s get me a user name and profile.

Part Two: Fun With Profiles

12:30 – I am being asked to identify my state/province of origin. Fair enough.
12:30 – …Now it wants to know which city I am in. That’s an odd question to ask, especially since I haven’t even chosen a handle yet.
12:31 – It now is asking me to pick my languages. I can choose up to three. Since QQ doesn’t recognize HTML as an official language, it looks as if I’m going to have to go with the “old standby” English.
12:31 – The setup is now imploring me to enter a user name. It’s about time you asked! It also wants to know my age and gender. Odd grouping, but I’ll go with it.
12:32 – Typed in my password. According to the text that resides underneath the box, “all numeric passwords under nine characters in length are not allowed.” This raises an important question: Who uses a number as a password these days?
12:33 – Everything is filled out and ready to go. Let’s see what happens next.
12:33 – I am being told that I took too long to fill out the form and will have to start all over. Oh bother…
12:34 – I filled out everything again, only to discover that the “sever is busy.” Maybe it’ll work better if I run it in a IE Tab.
12:35 – No luck. Let me try one more time…
12:36 – Now it says that there have been “frequent requests from this IP” and therefore cannot sign up at this time. Before I start crying and throwing things, I’m going to try using the laptop.
12:40 – It’s hopeless. I have tried two different computers and three different browsers, and each time I get an oddball error message. I will try again tomorrow. But before I go…

Part Three: Malware Scan

12:45 – I checked MSConfig to see if anything out of the ordinary is running. It all looks clean thus far.
12:46 – Starting Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware scan now.
1:02 – According to the scan, everything is fine. That’s good enough for me right now.

…And there you have it. Tune in tomorrow for the final day of our Showdown extravaganza. Until then, we bid thee a fond adieu.

…And here is part two of our Showdown extravaganza, just as we promised. Expect the third and final part in a few days time.

App #6: Runecats Explorer

Website: http://www.runecats.com/
Company: Runecats
First Impression: “I don’t like this pre-loaded ‘acid’ theme. I’m gong to have to get rid of that.”
Ease of Use: N/A, as we cannot for the life of us get anything to load.
Positives: Nothing good can possibly come from a web browser that simply does not work.
Negatives: We cannot stress this enough: Nothing is loading. Not Google, not Amazon, nothing. A browser that doesn’t work is basically useless.
Overall: 0; “I really wish that it would start loading something…”

App #7 Theora

Website: http://theora.org/
Company: Xiph.org
…You Might Remember Them From Such Codecs As: OGG Vorbis
First Impression: “As a huge fan of OGG Voribis, I can honestly say that I’m curious to see what this codec can do.”
Ease of Use: N/A; See below.
Positives: Just like the LavaBit email service from yesterday, we cannot give you an unabridged list of positives until we use the codec for an extended period of time. Again, give us a few days. It’ll all be worth it. We promise.
Negatives: None at the moment. Still, the test period is still young…
Overall: N/A

App #8: aTunes

Website: http://www.atunes.org/
Company: The aTunes Team
First Impression: “It found the lyrics to almost all of my music, even the obscure stuff.”
Ease of Use: 9
Positives: It’s like iTunes, only without all of the “Apple goodies” like the store or Bonjour. The built-in support for OGG files, lyric sheets, and even YouTube are all welcome additions as well.
Negatives: None so far…
Overall: 9

App #9: Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

Website: http://www.malwarebytes.org/
Company: Malwarebytes Corporation
First Impression: “Man, this is a goofy name. Could have they come up with something that sounds a bit less awkward?”
Ease of Use: 9; “It’s not really all that hard — all you have to do is click on the ’scan’ button.”
Positives: Malwarebytes is the security equivalent to the “quiet guy” from those old Sonny Chiba kung-fu films. Sure, it doesn’t look like much, but give it a moment. Soon, your enemies — or in this case, malware — will not know what hit it.
Negatives: It’s not the prettiest program in the world.
Overall: 9.5. While it isn’t exactly designed for everyday use, Malwarebytes is perfect for those times when you have a problem that will simply not go away.

App #10: QQ

Website: http://www.imqq.com/
Company: Tencent
Note: After much discussion, we decided to “take the plunge” and load the official QQ instant messenger. Yes, we know the risks, but it’s something that we quite literally have to do. It’s sort of in our job description. If it came down to it, we’ll just run Malwarebytes a few times. That will definitely clear things right up.
First Impression: “Well, it looks interesting. I will give it that much.”
Ease of Use: N/A; See below once again.
Positives: It’s near impossible to review a instant messenger in a few hours. Programs like this takes days to analyze.
Negatives: The “adware” threat still makes us a bit nervous, Malwarebytes or not.
Overall: N/A

In an effort to not completely overwhelm our assistant, we decided to split our ten-app review fest into two days. Expect the other five tomorrow. Until then:

App #1: Evernote

Website: http://www.evernote.com/
Company: Evernote Corporation
First Impression: “Oh look … [The mascot] is an elephant. Nice.”
Ease of Use: 8
Positives: It does everything it claims to do — take notes with ease.
Negatives: Unlike a traditional Post-It Note, Evernote can be minimized to the taskbar. This feature is actually a determent, as it makes it easier to “forget” that you have anything written down. The last thing that anyone needs is an “easier to ignore” Post-It.
Overall: 7

App #2: TurboCASH

Website: http://www.turbocash.net/
Company: Pink Software
First Impression: “Um … What exactly am I looking at again?”
Ease of Use: 4; “Although it isn’t ‘hard’ to use, it does employ different terminology than Peachtree and Quickbooks. That sort of thing is bound to throw people off.”
Positives: Everything is better when a fully documented help file is available.
Negatives: Aside from the “terminology” gripe listed above, our biggest complaint is with the lack of a sample company. We realize that that sounds a little odd, but bare with us for a moment. By utilizing the “sample company” found in such programs as Peachtree and DAC Easy, the user can easily figure out the basics of the program without spending days on end reading a manual or pressing buttons. Without it, well … We feel just plain lost. We also had to install several other programs in order to make this one work right, such as the FlameRobin and FireBird database engines. Call us paranoid, but we get nervous when programs “spring” added parts on us at the last moment like that.
Overall: 4; “At least they tried.”

App #3: Lavabit

Website: http://lavabit.com/
Company: Lavabit LLC
Bold Claim Ripped Directly From the Site Itself: “…A system so secure that even our administrators can’t read your e-mail.”
Our Reply: “A system so secure that even I can’t read my e-mail.”
Ease of Use: N/A; See below
Positives: Honestly, we cannot give you an unabridged list of positives until we actually use the system for an extended length of time. Give us a few days and we will post our thoughts in full.
Negatives: Both finding and getting into the webmail client was like pulling teeth.
Overall: N/A … At this point in time, at any rate.

App #4: First Page 2006

Website: http://www.evrsoft.com
Company: Evrsoft
First Impression: “I like Hardcore Mode. It’s Hardcore … I guess.”
Ease of Use: 8
Positives: In the year plus that we we have been doing the Free Line, this is the first time we have ever seen a program employ video game style “skill settings.” It all breaks down into four distinct, yet equally important segments:

• Easy Mode: Each menu and option is designed with the beginner in mind. While it is a breeze to use, it also eliminates many of the “advanced” features that veteran programmers rely upon.
• Normal Mode: The default setting. Pretty standard stuff here.
• Advanced/Expert Mode: Usability takes a backseat to power here. Those who know what they are doing can create a great site in nearly no time at all. Those who do not, well … Let’s just say that “easy mode” is your friend.
• Hardcore Mode: Why did the friendly looking HTML editor just turn into a full-featured programming environment? Am I doing C# now?

Negatives: The “mode shifts” do take some getting used to.
Overall: 8

App #5: Adventure Game Studio

Website: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/
Developer: Chris Jones
Note: Since Angela already knows this program like the back of her hand, we will be skipping the traditional “First Impressions.”
Positives: You can make your own games. Sure, said games end up being classic adventure romps in the vein of Lucasarts and Telltale Games, but it’s a game nonetheless. On the programming side of things, the interface is diverse enough for a seasoned programmer, but easy enough for the more inexperienced among us to fumble through.
Negatives: Not everyone likes adventure games, programming, and/or working with bitmaps.
Overall: N/A, but we can definitely say this: If you like making your own games, then we highly suggest checking out this program. You will not be disappointed.

Despite what your friends might be telling you, not everything worth using is a mainstream attention grabber made by Google. Sometimes, the best programs and webapps are the ones that sit just below the surface. That is about to change. On this action packed, two-day edition of the Showdown, we will be giving (yes, ten) of these semi-obscure marvels the patented “Free Line once over”  that you have come to expect. With that said, on with the introductions!

App #1: Evernote

Website: http://www.evernote.com/
Company: Evernote Corporation
Specialty: Note taking
Program Types: While Evernote is primarily a webapp, a separate download version is available for many of the major platforms, including Windows, the iPhone, and the Palm Pre.
Competes With: Namely Microsoft OneNote.

App #2: TurboCASH

Website: http://www.turbocash.net/
Company: Pink Software
Specialty: Finance
Program Type: Windows download
Competes With: All of the major players in the accounting market — Peachtree, Quickbooks/Quicken, DAC Easy, GNUCash, etc.

App #3: Lavabit

Website: http://lavabit.com/
Company: Lavabit LLC
Specialty: Email
Bold Claim Ripped Directly From the Site Itself: “…A system so secure that even our administrators can’t read your e-mail.”
Program Type: Web service
Competes With: Gmail, AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.

App #4: First Page 2006

Website: http://www.evrsoft.com
Company: Evrsoft
Specialty: Web development
Program Type: Windows download
Competes With: Adobe Dreamweaver

App #5: Adventure Game Studio

Website: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/
Developer: Chris Jones
Specialty: Programming, with a special focus
Program Type: Windows download
Full Disclosure: Angela the product tester is a huge fan of this program.
Competes With: N/A

App #6: Runecats Explorer

Website: http://www.runecats.com/
Company: Runecats
Specialty: Web browser
Program Type: Windows download
Rendering Engine: Trident (Internet Explorer)
Competes With: Other web browsers — IE, Firefox, Opera, etc.

App #7 Theora

Website: http://theora.org/
Company: Xiph.org
…You Might Remember Them From Such Codecs As: OGG Vorbis
Specialty: Video
Program Type: Open source video codec
Fun Fact: The codec in question is named after Theora Jones, Edison Carter’s highly talented “partner in crime” on the short-lived Max Headroom television series. Hmm …  Max Headroom … That name sounds familiar, but I’m not sure why…
Competes With: Divx, XViD, H.264 (The kind of files you would find on iTunes), etc.

App #8: aTunes

Website: http://www.atunes.org/
Company: The aTunes Team
Specialty: Media player
Program Type: Multi-platform download
Competes With: Mainly iTunes and Songbird.

App #9: Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

Website: http://www.malwarebytes.org/
Company: Malwarebytes Corporation
Specialty: Malware removal
Program Type: Windows download
Competes With: Anti-virus programs of all shapes and sizes.

App #10: QQ

Website: http://www.imqq.com/
Company: Tencent
Specialty: Instant messaging
Program Type: Instant messaging service
Fun Fact: QQ is easily the most popular instant messaging client in mainland China, with roughly 318 million citizens subscribing to the service.
Note: The official QQ client is considered by some to be low-level adware. Because of this, we will be accessing the network using the Pidgin third-party app. If we have a last second change of heart, or if we find that the nasty “ad problem” has been fixed, we will definitely let you know.
Competes With: AOL Instant Messenger, Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, etc.

Hello and welcome to the exciting finale of Fun With Moral Dilemmas. We’ve laid out the situation as it was known on Sunday, and also provided a few possible outcomes. Now before we get to the heart of the matter, we here at the Free Line would like to share how we would have handled the situation.

What We Would Have Done: It’s hard to deny Kurt Angle’s place within Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. That said, the last thing that fans wanted to see was Kurt Angle wrestle a match that night. For some, it was because of the crimes he was alleged to have committed. For others, it was simply due to his “questionable” physical condition. (The phrases “hit by a bus” and “hasn’t slept for a week” were used frequently.) Due to this, we would have “downgraded” his appearance from “main event wrestler” to “interested bystander.” As said bystander, Angle could still be a part of the pay-per-view event without actually having to be shoved into the spotlight. Sure, our “wait and see” attitude would have bothered those who wanted Angle stripped of the title then fired, but that is neither here nor there. Gaining our star employee’s trust would be priority one, plain and simple.

What Dixie Carter Did: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The show went on as planned, and all questions regarding the issue were met with a stern, but friendly “no comment.” Kurt, despite looking like the a extra from a George Romero film, worked his match and retained his title. He also worked the company’s television tapings Monday and Tuesday night.

Fan Reaction: The word “merciless” comes to mind. According to some fans, Ms. Carter was actually “rewarding” Kurt’s bad behavior by letting him retain the title that night. Others even went as far as saying that she is no better than the likes of Bernie Madoff and the folks at AIG Insurance in the sense that she put “profit” before “human decency.” Even those who were able to look past the “corporate greed” rhetoric questioned the move, citing the problems that an incarcerated champion could bring to an emerging company like TNA.

Final Thought: On the whole, we agree with the way Dixie Carter, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and Panda Energy (TNA’s parent company) showed their support for Kurt Angle. We just wish that they would have handled it with a bit more grace and tact. Here’s to hoping that they have learned their lesson for the future.

Hello and welcome to Odds and Ends, the one place where we can talk about ideas and concepts that tend to go unnoticed. With that said, here we go:

Question #1: How is the text message advertising campaign going?

Answer: Not so great at the present moment. After a few “dry runs” using cell numbers from around the office, we found that the service leaves much to be desired. We are currently reevaluating our options and are planning to work with an alternative service shortly.

Question #2: How is the mobile website coming? Have any late breaking updates to share?

Answer: No, not at the moment. That said, we highly advise that you continue watching this space. You will definitely be seeing something big come down the pike sooner rather than later.

Question #3: I see. So … what are your opinions on the current tech scene?

Answer: Rather boring and uninspired. It seems as if everyone who is involved with the tech industry right now — programmers, so-called “idea men,” the media — are more interested in gently mocking Twitter users and ignoring the continued success of MySpace than trying to find the “next big thing.” Now I do realize that much of this trepidation comes from the questionable state of the world’s economy and the effect it has had on “angel funding.” After all, it’s hard to build the next “Digg” if the kindly old rich guy down the street is suddenly and justifiably reluctant to “share the wealth,” as they say. That said, we are truly shocked at the speed in which “the creative elite” grabbed their C.Crane wind-up emergency radios and headed for their private “bad economy” bomb shelters. Until the day comes that they emerge to create once more, we “on the surface” will be stuck in the same boring cycle of Tweets, Facebook Walls, and Google news.

Question #4: Well that’s … um … really depressing. Is there anything that excites you?

Answer: Yes. The Creative Zii. And here is four reasons why:

1. It’s a highly powerful media device that doesn’t have a lowercase “i” attached to it. It’s nice to know that tech such as this still exists.
2. Users have the choice of two operating systems — the proprietary Plaszma OS or Android. It should be interesting to see what Google’s mobile OS is like away from HTC’s sub par hardware and T-Mobile’s mediocre mobile network.
3. It oozes with HD features – 1080p television tuner, support for high-def video formats, and a built in HD camera, just to name a few.
4. Few things get our creative juices flowing more than playing around with a promising new gadget.

…And there you have it. Until tomorrow, we bid thee adieu.

…So it’s been a few days since we asked you to think about the “Kurt Angle situation.” In our continuing effort to make an already impossible situation even more difficult, we here at Free Line would like to present you with a partial list of options that Dixie Carter was faced with last Sunday.

Option #1: Fire Kurt Angle

Pros: It sends a stern message to the locker room, the press, and the fans that acts such as this will not be tolerated.
Cons: A move like that would also…

1. …Kill locker room morale. Why should that young guy trust anything the company says, if he is going to be fired at the first sign of trouble?
2. …Damage the company in ways unimaginable. Terminating one of your biggest and most successful talents has the tendency to do that to an organization.
3. …Put their “latest project,” the Hard Justice pay-per-view event, in serious jeopardy. The entire show is based upon Kurt Angle defending “his” world title against two challengers: A relative newcomer by the name of  Matt Morgan and a man called Sting (aka Steve Borden). Angle is the clear selling point. Remove him, and the main event (as well as your pay-per-view buy rates) is/are dead on arrival
4. …Put the writing staff in a bind. Not only would they have to rework the ending of the show, but also months worth of storyline. That’s not an easy thing to do in three hours time.

Option #2: Suspend Kurt Angle Immediately, Pending an Investigation

Pros: The same as number one, only not as harsh.
Cons: You are still left with a giant, gaping hole where an extremely talented performer once stood.

Option #3: Have Kurt Drop the Title at the Pay-Per-View, Then Quietly Suspend Him the Next Day

Pros: This option at least attempts to salvage the live show by having Kurt work his scheduled match. Say what you will about Kurt Angle the person, but Kurt Angle the performer has always given 110% at work. Every business has at least one person like this. Wrestling is no different.
Cons: Again, getting rid of one of your biggest and most successful talents has the tendency irreparably harm an otherwise growing business. Just ask the folks at Affliction. It also puts the creative staff in a really awkward spot in terms of the title situation.

Option #4: Business as Usual

Pros: Nothing changes as far as the pay-per-view goes. It also tells the locker room that the company is willing to stick by your side during difficult times.
Cons: Oh boy. Where to begin…

1. If Kurt is found guilty, the company’s long-term credibility is gone for good.
2. It makes the company look like they support drug use.
3. Both fans and the press will show absolutely no mercy.
4. The buy rates and television ratings could take a major hit.

…And there you have it. Be sure to come back Friday to find out how Dixie Carter handled the situation, and what we would do if we found ourselves in a situation such as that. Until then, we bid thee adieu.

Okay gang. As promised, here is the exciting conclusion of Leavin’ On a Jet Plane. Enjoy!

Tool #1: MotionX GPS

Why We Checked It Out: To many, a good GPS system is a must. The problem is that we don’t necessarily have one. The closest thing we have is an unlocked Nokia smart phone that contains full maps for Finland and Germany. While that would be great if we wanted to drive from Helsinki to Dusseldorf, it makes driving from Atlanta to, say, Pittsburgh neigh impossible.
Our Thoughts Then: I honestly have no idea what I am doing here. There is a compass, a scrolling banner and several intimidating looking buttons, all of which are doing something completely foreign. This is definitely going to be interesting…
Our Thoughts Now: …We still have absolutely no idea what we were doing. All we did was press buttons until we either:

1. Found the compass utility.
2. Found that nifty overhead shot of our destination.
3. Got a gigantic headache and switched back to Google Maps.

To be fair, our lack of knowledge is partially our fault, seeing as how we eschewed the provided reading material in favor of the “hunt and peck” method. Still, we really don’t think that you can blame us here. The last thing we felt like doing was reading though an online manual the size of a Dungeons and Dragons rulebook in order to figure out which way was north. If you have the patience for such things, great. We didn’t, obviously.
Overall: 8.5 (For people who “get” how true GPS systems function); 2 (For people who would much rather bring up/print directions from Google Maps than stare blankly at an odd looking compass for hours on end.)

Tool #2: Gas Buddy

Why We Checked It Out: Finding a place to get cheap gas is always a good thing.
Our ThoughtsThen: The website is absolutely perfect for the rookie traveler, telling us everything that we could possibly need to know in a straightforward, timely matter. The iPhone app, however, left us scratching our heads in confusion. Still, the trip (and the Showdown) is still young.
Our Thoughts Now: Despite our initial trepidations, the Gas Buddy worked as advertised. We were able to get gas, and we got it as cheap as humanly possible.
Overall: 8

Tool #3: TripIt

Why We Checked It Out: It’s always a good idea to keep track of your travel plans. Hey … It beats writing everything down on paper, right?
Our Thoughts Then: The site, while a tad cryptic, looks to be rather promising. We will have much more on this intriguing looking social service in a few days.
Our Thoughts Now: A service like this is great if your trip includes buying plane tickets and a hotel room. If it involves driving long distances in a car that you own, however … That’s a different story. Now that is not to say that TripIt isn’t a fantastic service. It just did not mesh with “our kind” of trip.
Overall: N/A — It simply does not make sense to assign a score right now. Check back with us in a few months.

Tool #4: Traffic

Why We Checked It Out: Just because we know the lyrics to “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” and “Feelin’ Alright” by heart doesn’t necessarily make us experts on “Traffic.”
Our Thoughts Then: The reviews on the app store were the very definition of the word “mediocre.” Here’s to hoping that our experiences buck the current trend.
Our Thoughts Now: Those reviews lied. Traffic wasn’t “mediocre,” it was downright abysmal and embarrassing. What’s the use of having a “traffic guide” if the program just does not work? Case in point: Traffic claimed that the “Pittsburgh stretch” of I-79 would be clear sailing through calm seas. It wasn’t. We were actually stuck in a rather large jam up due to some “impromptu” road work. Later on, it told us to be ready for “significant delays” around the borders of West Virginia and Virginia Prime. We still have no idea what they were talking about.
Overall: -8. It would be in your best interest to avoid this app like the cliche of your choosing (the plague, a bitter relative, the “rival” political party, etc).