Discovery Studio 1.5 from Accelrys is a new Life Sciences software package. It allows standard protein modeling and simulations and incorporates docking capabilities as well. An X-ray crystallography package has also been included, but most users would want a dedicated X-ray crystallography package. DS1.5 is the next generation package and is a combination of features from DS1.1 and DS1.2. It is much more user friendly in that it plugs directly into the windows structure for data storage, rather than using an Oracle database. Unfortunately some usability seems to have been lost, for example it is now not possible to modify your own minimization/molecular dynamics calculations.

In terms of runtime, the new version is an improvement over the old, however many bugs still remain. As this is still a young program, only recently ported from a Linux platform (Insight II), this is not unexpected. I recommend not wasting time attempting to port your data from 1.1 or 1.2, as most of the information is not compatible with the new version. Only structures and data tables can be converted. For new users I would recommend trying other software such as Sybyl from Tripos, now up to version 7.2. This software package has very few bugs and is much more reliable.

Having owned one of these new machines for almost 3 months now, I would say I’m extremely pleased with this Mac. Thought (and feared) to be a dangerous “transition” product by many, Intel equipped iMacs perform great and look amazing. One of the worries of buying one of these machines, was if Rosetta (Apple’s built-in PPC emulation) would be able to handle serious apps like Adobe CS Suite and Freehand without much hassle. I’ve found they run just fine, besides the obvious increased memory use due to emulation, and I’ve been able to keep up with my work until the universal versions are released by Adobe.

Even tough Apple is not widely regarded as an economic brand in any way, one has just to check out the incredibly bright and huge display on the 20″ model. It ranks up with the best in the market, and now that you can boot Windows XP in these machines, there are less and less reasons to not buy a Mac.

Combine Google Earth with Google Sketchup to do some amazing designs and win cool stuff. You are now able to import a 3D site from Google Earth into Google Sketchup. This means you could import the Grand Canyon and then design a bridge using Sketchup. The best part is that you can then send your model back into Google Earth and have the world look at your design. Fun stuff! You can even win prizes using these tools, check out this site:

This method can also be used to get sites into AutoCAD, Revit or Civil 3D!

• Google Earth
• Google Sketchup

Fedora Core 5 Linux is a very stable operating system that works well for most tasks. I personally use it for work and home tasks as a Linux administrator for a web hosting company. It’s stable on the desktop as well as in the server environment. Although the installation process is finicky (The Fedora Project hasn’t worked all the bugs out of Anaconda yet) once it is installed it is very simple to use.

While not 100% intuitive for a first time user, most folks will get used to it very quickly. It comes with Open Office 2.0, and Mozilla.com’s excellent FireFox browser. Installation of new software is quite easy thanks to the RedHat Package Manager, and most mainstream Linux software is available in this format. Hardware detection is excellent, with no major problems that I’ve found.

So, if you’re thinking about trying Linux, give Fedora Core 5 a try. Sure, you could try Ubuntu or another distribution, but Fedora Core 5 is my personal favorite for every day use and I highly suggest it.

DBAN – Wipe that hard drive for good! Upgrading your hard drive or selling an old one to a friend? DBAN (Darik’s Boot and Nuke) is a nice small program that can make that process a whole lot easier. This software is particularly useful for people who are planning on selling their old HD’s. When you find a buyer you really don’t know you are taking a huge risk by just selling them your hard drive even after you have reformatted it to a fresh copy of windows. When you go to reformat the hard drive you may be under the impression that you have deleted everything but you haven’t all that information can still be accessed by the next user of the hard drive. If you use DBAN it will completely remove every piece of information from the hard drive so you can protect yourself from fraud and other e-crimes that could easily arise without using a simple small floppy drive to take care if it for you.

Autoit3 is a great basic-like scripting tool for Windows GUI Automation. Using the power of windows API’s you can easily write a script that simulate keystrokes, ( also combined like CTRL-ALT+CANC , CTRL-Z , ALT-F3 …) mouse movements and clicks. Latest versions include a easy GUI builder for give more interface automation to the user. Script can be saved and run via AutoIt or compiled ( in a very small exe! ) for redistribution. This tool save my life many time, especially when you need a fast, reliable, small solution.