I’ve said it before, but I suppose it bears repeating: I love games - board, video, card, and otherwise.

In particular, since the board game scene exploded over the last few years, I’ve found myself neck-deep into the hobby, excitedly following blogs and Kickstarter for the next ‘big game’ coming down the line. With all of the new games, sometimes I forget about the ‘classics’ - you know, the kinds of games that have been around forever but may not be as ‘shiny’ as newer games on the market today.

Some of my earliest memories of gaming are with my grandfather. I’ve talked about the hours spent in his den playing through Monkey Island, but although we certainly loved our PC games, his first love as far as games went was definitely chess. From a young age, I learned to approach the game with a certain reverence and, although he beat me most every time, I came back to play with him time and again.

He’d be absolutely tickled to see where technology has taken one of his favorite pastimes today. While browsing the web the other day I stumbled on a mechanical chessboard called Square Off that lets you play chess on 20 different difficulty settings, or against someone else via chess.com. The company isn’t new - it’s been around for a handful of years - but they continue to innovate and improve their boards so that they now have several options for chess players.

The Mumbai-based startup behind Square Off have recently introduced a video calling feature. Using the app, you can now connect with one another across the globe while you play. It's not quite the same as having an opponent sitting across from you, but in the midst of a global pandemic, I'll take any sort of social interaction I can get. 

“The lockdowns have motivated people to rediscover their passion and the chess community is expanding,” CEO Bhavya Gohil said in a release. “The recent addition to the video calling feature was the call of the hour and we are thrilled for the response it has received. It takes the experience of connected board gaming one notch ahead." According to the company, they've seen an increase in users of the board of about 30% since the pandemic began. 

I like physical pieces, and although I'm grateful for things like Tabletop Simulator and other digital gaming outlets, they just aren't the same as holding a piece in my hand and moving it. This board solves that - and honestly, the movement and capturing of pieces is kinda freaky! Frankly, I love it, and am in awe of the innovation.

Honestly, it's been so long since I've played chess - either digitally or in person - that I feel like I've forgotten all of the strategy and most of the rules. I think I might have to find some opponents and delve back into it. As for this board, if I ever get the chance, I'd love to check it out. Get it? ...no, just me? Alrighty then.

Are you a chess player and have you had a chance to see a Square Off in action? If so, I want to hear about it in the comments!

Files UWP is a new app that's currently in beta in the Microsoft Store. It's a nice modern app you can use as an alternative to Windows Explorer. 

Thanks to Yarlen for the tip!

You can download it here.

We are just a week or into June and we've already had a nice batch of some WindowBlinds skins added to the WinCustomize galleries. Lets take a few minute and highlight some of these.

Volitiion FX 

Mint Leaf

Krets

Crescendo

I have a 15" Dell XPS 4K touchscreen laptop that I primarily use for work purposes. Any productivity software I need is bought and used mostly for this machine. Over the years, I've tried out more types of apps than I could probably ever remember or count. Most of them I never stuck with because they ended up not being not very useful for what I needed.

Now, of course everyone's view on what is productive for them will vary from person to person, but I wanted to talk about the software I have used that has been absolutely essential in keeping my daily work productive and efficient. 

Fences 
If you've read any of my blogs over the years you'll know Fences is one of the first apps I install on a new PC. The biggest thing necessary for my productivity is organization. I have various project I work on throughout the week, most of which involve various type of files like images, video clips, text documents, etc. These can easily turn into a mess, and I use Fences to keep them organized so I know exactly where my files are.

SnagIt
If you need to capture images or video of your screen, then there is nothing better than SnagIt. I have used it for longer than I can remember, and it is one of the main apps I use when creating tutorials, screenshots, blogs, and much more. Aside from taking the screenshots/video, it has a powerful editor where you can edit and mark-up for use in your media.

1Password
There are many password managers out there, and I've tried a fair share of them. 1Password ended up being my favorite, as I have found it's the easiest to use and works well with most web browsers. Another huge benefit is that it works across all my devices. I have all my passwords synced across my PCs, iPad, and iPhone, so I always have access to my passwords.

Groupy
Groupy is probably the newest addition to my PC out of the software I've listed here, but it has certainly earned its place. Groupy basically lets you group multiple apps into tabs so you can quickly create a workflow for whatever task you might have. Lets say I'm working on getting some content up on WinCustomize for DeskScapes - I might have my video editor, video encoder, DreamMaker, and notepad grouped so I can easily switch between them. That's just one simple example of the many ways you can use Groupy to up your desktop productivity. 

Let me know in the comments if you use any of these apps, or any different ones that you recommend!

Summer isn't officially here for a couple of weeks yet, but it's the beginning of June and I'm getting my desktop ready for the beach. I like to keep some of my desktop themed with the seasons, and Summer is one of my favorites. 

We have lots of skins and themes to change the whole look of Windows, but today I'm going to highlight some animated wallpapers for DeskScapes.

We've also been working on the site getting the tag functionality working great. Many creators have been adding them to their skins which should make searching for a particular type of skin a bit easier. So if you are looking for more of these use words like "tropical", "beach", "summer", etc. and you get a bunch of great selections.

Paradise Beach

Tropical Beach from Above

White Sand Aqua Ocean

The Island Life

Grand Turk Waves

OS/2 Forever!

Thanks Curtains! www.stardock.com/products/curtains 

Object Desktop is a suite of desktop enhancements that lets you change the look and functionality of Windows. Being an Object Desktop member gives a lot of great value with full access to many popular Stardock applications, betas, and any new or updated apps.

Check out all the apps included with Object Desktop here.

https://www.stardock.com/products/odnt/

As long as your membership is active, you will always get updates to the latest versions of everything within Object Desktop, as well as any new apps that are added during that time.  When your membership expires, you will no longer have access to new updates, but you will still have access to the apps you had during your membership. Whether you plan to keep your membership active or not, it is still a good idea to keep backups of your apps, just so you have them in a pinch.

Here are two ways to get your apps backed up:

Download from your Stardock account

Every application you purchase, whether it’s the Object Desktop membership or just a stand-alone app, is available in the 'my downloads' section of your Stardock account.

Access your Stardock account here: http://download.stardock.com

There, you will find all the links to the apps you have available. Simply download them and keep them for future use if needed.

Using Object Desktop Manager

If you download and install your apps using the Object Desktop Manager, then you should already have copies of all of your apps that have been installed.

The default location that they save to is: C:\Users\YourName\Downloads\Stardock

Learn more about Object Desktop here

The Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft roll to pad 39A during its first test flight in February. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Today, American astronauts will launch on a rocket from American soil to the International Space Station, marking a new era of human spaceflight. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, chosen for their experience on several previous missions on the space shuttle and extensive test pilot and flight experience, will fly on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifting off on a Falcon 9 rocket at 4:33 p.m. EDT May 26th from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. The astronauts will remain on the International Space Station for an extended stay for the Demo-2 mission. 

This historic moment has been a decade in the making thanks to a groundbreaking public-private partnership that finally returns the United States to the business of human spaceflight for the first time since NASA's space shuttle fleet retired 2011. After successfully docking, Behnken and Hurley will be welcomed aboard station and will become members of the Expedition 63 crew. They will perform tests on Crew Dragon, which was built by Elon Musk's SpaceX company and funded by the US government under the Commercial Crew Program.

According to NASA's website for the mission: "Lifting off from Launch Pad 39A atop a specially instrumented Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon will accelerate its two passengers to approximately 17,000 mph and put it on an intercept course with the International Space Station. Once in orbit, the crew and SpaceX mission control will verify the spacecraft is performing as intended by testing the environmental control system, the displays and control system and the maneuvering thrusters, among other things. In about 24 hours, Crew Dragon will be in position to rendezvous and dock with the space station. The spacecraft is designed to do this autonomously but astronauts aboard the spacecraft and the station will be diligently monitoring approach and docking and can take control of the spacecraft if necessary."

The Demo-2 mission will validate the company’s crew transportation system, including the launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, and operational capabilities. This also will be the first time NASA astronauts will test the spacecraft systems in orbit. The mission website also states that, "This certification and regular operation of Crew Dragon will enable NASA to continue the important research and technology investigations taking place onboard the station, which benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future exploration of the Moon and Mars starting with the agency’s Artemis program, which will land the first woman and the next man on the lunar surface in 2024."

Want to watch the launch? You can see it live here on NASA's YouTube channel, plus visit their website to see what other upcoming events might be worth watching. Share your thoughts in the comments below!

It's hard to believe we're already heading into June! While we're slowly getting back to normal, the beach still may be a place that some of us cannot get to just yet. If that's the case at least consider putting a tropical beach theme on your desktop until you can get there!

Stardock News:

NOW AVAILABLE: Curtains Public Beta - Add additional style modes to Windows 10!

"Stardock released a public beta for its new customization tool today. Curtains™ allows users to apply new styles along the lines of Dark Mode and Light to Windows® 10.

Taking advantage of the groundwork built to support light and dark mode, Curtains includes several new styles including Fluent, Cairo, and Crystal mode that enhance the look and feel of the Windows UI along with apps that already support light and dark mode. "

Community Posts You Might Have Missed:

IKEA releases creative fort diagrams to build with your kids during quarantine - so I built one for myself

What Would You Like to See in an Updated SkinStudio?

Microsoft moves Build conference to online format

Stardock Curtains brings new customization options to Windows

Recent Leaks Give Look into New iPhone 12 models

Add these Curtains Styles from Danioc to your Collection!

New Skins and Wallpapers:

Pelorous (WindowBlinds)

Ventanas (WindowBlinds)

Spring Shore (Dream)

Flowing river between trees (Wallpaper)

Arrow (Curtains)

Saw this article on MakeUseOf (linked above) offering five powerful alternatives to MS's improved Task Manager.

Right now I'm trying SysInternals Mark Russinovich's Process Explorer which looks best to me for my needs. If you like Process Explorer, it's landing page is here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer . If not, there are four other good ones in the MakeUseOf article. 

Thought you'd be interested in this tool which has good explanatory notes in the zipped download and on its page.

Have a great weekend!