Everyone is hot for AJAX right now, in a world of web buzzwords and jargon “AJAX” has spread like a dancing hamster in 1999. Allowing a web page to send and retrieve data back to the server without a refresh sounds simple enough, but it’s creating a revolution in the way web sites work; search results show up as you type them, addresses are completed from a post code, tables of data magically sort themselves, most of which happens in an elegant, intuitive way. This is a real boon for web users and fans of nifty interface design, but what seems to have not been noted so far is that AJAX can allow a developer to create a web application that is completely platform independent.

The client side code can run completely independently from the server side in a way that just wasn’t possible before. Client side AJAX calls can pass requests back to the server, and then format and display the results as needed. This means that with a little bit of design, the back end functionality can be developed ass a pure data gateway – making it trivial to create the web application with .NET, JSP, PHP anything! To move a web app to a new platform involves just copying the client side files (the html, .js and .css bits), and then recreating the simple data processing parts in whatever language is required. Which sounds a bit like the old CGI days, what goes around comes around I guess.

If you’ve read any of the reviews for Apple’s new Intel Macbook, I’m sure you’ve also read these words therein: “This is the best laptop I’ve ever used”. Well, just for the sake of forming some kind of meditative mantra I’ll type those words again: THIS IS THE BEST LAPTOP I’VE EVER USED! I mean it! This is also my first Mac. I don’t know how this laptop compares to other Macs, but compared to my bulky, clunky Wintel laptop, well, it’s the best laptop I’ve ever used. And I mean it!

It’s hard to offer up anything more substantive that you haven’t read before, so I’ll throw some purchasing tips your way. Unless you absolutely think you need to have a black one; unless you think how your laptop looks is going to score you chicks, then go with white. $150 is a lot to pay just for a color. And RAM, you’re going to want RAM. The $500 Apple tries to get out of you for 2 gigs is absurd, and installation is simple enough for a child. I picked up 2 gigs for $170 on eBay, and if you’re concerned about the quality of budget RAM, well, don’t be. I’ve had no problems so far in two months. I also installed a 7200rpm 100gig hard drive that I purchased online. Again, save your money and head to eBay, the installation is simple and foolproof, and installing OS X onto the new hard drive was as simple as anything else on the Mac. Between cost, and availability of software (with parallels or bootcamp), Apple has seemingly tackled the only negative things Macs were known for.

Audacity is a simple and elegant open-source sound recording/editing application that does just about everything a home recording enthusiast needs to do, from recording the raw sound files to editing the files to formatting the output in several different formats, including mp3, Ogg Vorbis, AIFF, WAV, and many others. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. I really haven’t found anything to dislike about this software in my several months of using it.

It does require a high-quality microphone, but once that is connected, the user experience is seamless. Recording is as simple as pushing “Record”; editing a sound file is as simple as cut and paste; outputting to mp3 is as simple as selecting “Export” from the menu. And it’s free! What’s not to like? I imagine that if one is a professional sound engineer, one will find Audacity quite inadequate; but for mere mortals, it is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Looking for powerful image manipulation software but don’t want to spend a bundle? Check out the GIMP – the GNU Image Manipulation Program – a free, open source, raster-based graphics editor.

The GIMP provides many of the same professional-grade tools that expensive commercial graphics editors offer but at a cost everyone can afford. The interface takes some getting used to but once you’ve figured out where everything is editing your images and photos is fun and easy. Plus, because it’s open source there is a large community of developers coming up with new plug-ins and add-ons all the time. But editing photos isn’t the only thing the GIMP is good for. With advanced painting and drawing tools, pressure tablet compatibility, layers, transparency, channels and paths the GIMP is capable of handling almost anything you can throw at it. There are a few things the GIMP is missing. It does not support any color models other than RGB(A) and grayscale and it lacks sophisticated transform tools. These limitations, particular the lack of support for the CMYK color model, mean that the GIMP might not be for ready for high-end professional use just yet but for the home user it’s a terrific alternative to the more expensive editors. The GIMP was originally built for UNIX based operating systems (like Linux) but versions are available for Windows and MacOSX.

Google offers plenty of great services that normally we may not consider. A huge portion of our lives involves Google.

From our phones to our personal computers to even jobs, Google has had some part in shaping it. Just when one thinks they’ve seen all that Google has to offer, there is more. Although just about everyone has heard about Chrome, Maps, Gmail, Youtube and Picasa, few have heard of the amazing educational and utility resources Google has to provide.

Google SketchUp is Google’s take on a combination of 3d modeling and professional CAD work made easier. A lot modeling work is hard to get into and SketchUp gives dive-in functionality and ease of use to just about anyone. Google Labs is another great educational resource that teaches people the technology and development that goes behind innovations at Google.

Google offers many other services including free sites, data visualization, graphing services and scholar papers. Knol, Groups, Orkut and Blogger are made for people to socialize online. Finance and Patent Search helps innovators and business people stay on top of the latest developments in their fields. Google has many free online services to offer so be sure to check them out next time!

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution based on Debian that is gaining a lot of popularity in the desktop OS.

This distribution focuses on ease of use and comes bundled with tons of open source software like OpenOffice, The Gimp, and the Evolution mail client with countless more available in the package manager. Ubuntu comes on a LiveCD which allows you to test out the OS without actually installing it, if you like it you can just install it straight from the CD. Partitioning is done with the Gnome Partition Editor and is rather painless.

The nice thing about Ubunt is that everything just works, and in the rare event there is a problem, there is a huge forum community that has the resources to solve almost anything you search for. I’ve been a windows user for longer than I care to remember, but since I installed Ubuntu, I haven’t been back once. I would highly recommend at least trying out the LiveCD, it’s worth it.