Clif Notes - Freeware reviews

Ubuntu 10.10 Coming to a PC Near You

2010-09-14T23:39:00.003-05:00

This image above tells you how many days until the newest version of Ubuntu is released. As most of you know, Ubuntu is the one of the best free operating systems out there. I paid nearly $200 for my last copy of Windows. I pay nothing every time I try a new version of Ubuntu. It's easier than ever to download and install. Check it out.

Why you should always carry a camera!

2010-07-17T10:48:00.006-05:00

Unique, funny animal antics that are just too cute for words!

Why you should always carry a camera!

(email from Tiffany Carter)

Why Everyone Should Have a Dog

2010-07-11T23:23:00.001-05:00

From Tiffany Carter:

"Guaranteed to make you laugh out loud! I did."

Who Ya Gonna Call

2010-06-24T18:00:00.003-05:00

This video was created to call attention to a funding crisis for a library. If the ghosts don't pony up, who are the librarians gonna call?

Can't see the video? Go here

Clif Notes Newsletter for May 2010

2010-05-09T02:40:00.005-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I'm late posting. I missed last month too. I have lots of articles for you to read. Hopefully it's not too much for you. I've decided to make it easy this time and you only need to read the posts you want to.

If you are new here, please take the time to subscribe to receive an email update whenever I send out a new email (once a month). You will get an email back asking for confirmation that you really want email from me.

Subscribe to my monthly newsletter
http://freewarewiki.com/SubScribe

Recent articles:

Get Your Free ClipArt at OpenClipart.org

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎8 hours ago‎

I often spend too much time looking for the right image to use in a blog post or web page. My biggest problem is finding an ...

Screenshot Preview of Kubuntu Netbook Remix

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎May 6, 2010‎

I've always been a bigger fan of the Gnome desktop in Ubuntu, but I still like to check out the KDE versions in Kubuntu, ...

Call Drop.io and Create a Public Voicemail as MP3

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎May 5, 2010‎

There are many file sharing services out there. Many offer simple free file hosting, however, I don't know of any that ...

How to Choose a New Laptop Hard Drive

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎May 4, 2010‎

Your laptop's hard drive is the major source for storing all your data. It is the place where all your applications, ...

Protect Your Portable Files with USB Safeguard

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎May 4, 2010‎

Traveling around with a USB flash drive full of your personal files is often very useful. However, it can also be risky. ...

Quickly Scan Any File with 40 Different Antivirus Engines

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎May 1, 2010‎

There are several online services that will allow you to check files for viruses or malware by uploading the files from ...

Macpup Opera 2.0 is Launched – Fast Portable Linux

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎Apr 28, 2010‎

Macpup Opera is a branch of Linux based on the famous Puppy Linux, which is known for it's small size and portability. ...

Hide Your IP Address and Surf Anonymously with UltraSurf

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎Apr 25, 2010‎

[Windows Only] UltraSurf is a tool that hooks your web browsers up with a free anonymous proxy....

Encrypt Your Files Quickly with AxCrypt

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎Apr 24, 2010‎

[Windows Only] ÀxCrypt is a free and open source (FOSS) application that lets you quickly encrypt multiple files with a ...

Hours of Fun with SoupToys on Your Desktop

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎Apr 22, 2010‎

[Windows Only] Souptoys is a collection of toys that you can play with on your PC desktop. Rather than tell you about it, ...

Put Firefox into Hyperdrive with Pale Moon

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎Apr 21, 2010‎

[Windows Only] What is Pale Moon? It's an open source project that takes the Firefox web browser code and recompiles it to ...

Google Chrome May Stop Showing HTTP in the Address Bar

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎Apr 19, 2010‎

One of the most recent builds of the Chromium web browser is drawing some criticism. As you may know, Chromium is the open ...

GOOG

Create and Edit Icons with a Free Portable App - IcoFX

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎Apr 15, 2010‎

[Windows Only] Since most applications come with nice icons already embedded in them, I rarely need to create or edit icons ...

Automatic Spelling Correction and Text Expansion with Texter

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎Apr 14, 2010‎

[Windows Only] How often do you type the word “teh” instead of “the”? If it's very often, you aren't alone. ...

Everything – A Super Fast Portable File Search

Techie Buzz - Clif Sipe - ‎Apr 13, 2010‎

[Windows Only] “Everything” is a small and portable freeware program that lets you find files in Windows with blazing speed ...

For the brave among you, you can stay up to date and read each article as I publish it by subscribing to the Google News feed. (YES, I'm listed on Google News now!)

Email notification for Google News - Author:”Clif Sipe”
http://bit.ly/SubcribeGoogleNewsEmail
RSS feed for Google News – Author:”Clif Sipe”
http://bit.ly/SubcribeGoogleNewsRSS

That's all for now. Have fun!

Clif

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http://freewarewiki.com/SubScribe

Ubuntu Netbook Remix - a fun but rock solid OS

2010-03-29T17:52:00.007-05:00

If you have a netbook, you really should try out the Ubuntu Netbook Remix. I've had it for a few months now. It's really fun to use. Here's a screenshot of my desktop ...

Take a look at this video to see it in action:

If you don't see the video - click here.

Download Ubuntu Netbook Remix

Find out how to install it

Let me know if you need help.

Clif Notes Newsletter for March 2010

2010-03-08T00:40:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone,

This month, I have lots of articles for you to read. Hopefully it's not too much for you. After all, you can always stop reading at any time and return when you do have time.

Subscribe to my monthly newsletter
http://freewarewiki.com/SubScribe

This month's articles:
● Backup Your Device Drivers with Double Driver
● Learn to Program with Microsoft Small Basic
● Find and Read Tons of Free E-Books with FBReader
● 5GB of Free Online File Storage with CloudDrive
● How to Restore Default File Types in Vista and Windows 7
● Free Online Anti-Virus Scan from Trend Micro – the HouseCall
● Can You Hide Your Web Browser While Surfing at Work or School?
● How To Create and Use System Restore Points
● How to Speed Up Windows Disk Cleanup
● Find as You Type with Listary
● Windows 7 Update – Microsoft Will Seek and Destroy Pirated Copies
● Tweak XP Security Settings with XP-Antispy
● How to Keep the Same Notes Everywhere – Synchronizing Tomboy with Dropbox
● Create a Hyperlinked Notes Database with Tomboy
● 650 Free Wallpapers That You’ve Never Seen Before
● Immunet Protect Offers Side by Side Compatibility with Your Current AntiVirus

Links to Clif Notes Newsletter articles:
http://www.netvibes.com/clifnotes#Newsletter
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/clif.sipe

For the brave among you, you can stay up to date and read each article as I publish it by subscribing to the Google News feed. (YES, I'm listed on Google News now!)

Email notification for Google News - Author:”Clif Sipe”
http://bit.ly/SubcribeGoogleNewsEmail
RSS feed for Google News – Author:”Clif Sipe”
http://bit.ly/SubcribeGoogleNewsRSS

That's all for now. Have fun!

Clif

Unsubscribe to my monthly newsletter?
http://freewarewiki.com/SubScribe

What free software do you need?

2010-03-08T00:38:00.001-05:00

So what do you need? Comment below and I'll see if I can find it. If you know the answer to someone else's question, add your answer there too.

If you don't see a comment box below, use this link to comment.

COOLSITES Newsletter

2010-03-08T00:36:00.000-05:00

March 5 2010 COOLSITES Newsletter #259

Here are a 6 links (out of dozens) from Mark's CoolSites Newsletter. Be sure to visit his site and see the rest of his links this week. Please visit Mark's website at: http://luem42.com/coolsites.html

If you'd like to subscribe to Mark's newsletter: http://luem42.com/contactus.html

You can also find the current and all past postings of Mark's newsletter at Lockergnome Forums: http://help.lockergnome.com/general/Cool-Web-Links-forum-18.html

Wikibooks is a Wikimedia community for creating a free library of educational textbooks that anyone can edit: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page
Xp Tweaks Unlocked Freeware - Xp Tweaks - Microsoft Windows Tweaking - Tweak Microsoft Windows - Tweaking Software: http://www.freewarepark.com/xp-tweaks-unlocked.html
Hornil StylePix, or simply StylePix, is a free image editor with a number of advanced features: http://hornil.com/
Extended Character Keyboard. OnscreenSCK 1.0 beta onscreen keyboard that allows you to enter special characters: http://onscreensck.codeplex.com/
Comodo Dragon Internet Browser. Fast and versatile Internet Browser based on Chromium, infused with Comodo´s unparalleled level of Security: http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/browser.php
amaze 1.1.3 Generate and print simple mazes. Includes binary installers for Ubuntu and Windows XP: http://sourceforge.net/projects/qtamaze/

Internetfixes Weekend Windup

2010-03-08T00:35:00.001-05:00

Gary at InternetFixes continues to amaze me with hundreds and thousands of tips for your PC. Whatever your operating system, or how you use it, a visit to Gary's site will soon have you saying "So that's how you do it!".

Do you have any Windows problems or questions? Post them at this address.
http://www.internetfixes.com/fixes/index.php

Don’t Give Up Your Email Addy – Use WhySpam.Me

2010-03-06T02:20:00.001-05:00

I appreciate recommendations from real people out there. SnowmanInTheSun wrote in with a thumb’s up on this service. (below)

New item from SnowmanInTheSun on Comments

WhySpam.Me Is a completely free disposable email address system.

IS IT FREEWARE? YES
WHERE IS THE WEBSITE AT? http://whyspam.me

IS THE DOWNLOAD LINK EASY TO FIND? No Download required, they have chrome and firefox plugins

WHAT KIND OF PROGRAM IS IT? Hides Your email

WHAT VERSIONS OF WINDOWS ARE REQUIRED? Crossplatform: windows, Mac, Linux

DOES IT REQUIRE ANYTHING ELSE? (LIKE .NET) No

IS IT A LARGE OR SMALL DOWNLOAD? Small

IS IT AN EASY PROGRAM TO INSTALL? Yes

DOES IT COME WITH AN UNINSTALLER? yes

WHERE DID YOU FIND IT?
searched google for 'disposable email'

WERE YOU LOOKING FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS? yes

WHAT ARE YOU USING IT FOR? Registering with online services

WHAT WERE YOU USING BEFORE YOU FOUND THIS? Nothing

IS THE PROGRAM EASY TO USE? Has introduction videos

DOES IT COME WITH HELP FILES? Online help

WHAT FEATURES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE ADDED OR TAKEN AWAY OR CHANGED?
smaller urls

Thanks for the mini-review, from SnowmanInTheSun.

An Address Change for Clif Notes Newsletter

2010-02-11T19:44:00.004-05:00

http://www.google.com/buzz

Due to the release of Google Buzz - the new sharing service from Google - I am changing one of the links to my newsletter page.

The old address, http://www.google.com/reader/shared/clif.notes

will be busier now, so you may want to remove it from your bookmarks or feed reader. I plan to use the old address for posts to my Google Buzz account. (Sorry for any inconvenience!)

The new address, http://www.google.com/reader/shared/clif.sipe

will only be updated once a month as I release my newsletter.

The alternate address, http://www.netvibes.com/clifnotes#Newsletter

has not been affected and those who like reading my Notes at NetVibes can still do so.

Best wishes to you all, and you'll be hearing from me when I post my March newsletter.

Clif

Landing in the Hudson River - Flight 1549 Animation

2010-02-06T03:51:00.004-05:00

Here is an amazing recreation of Captain Sully's landing in the Hudson River after both engines were destroyed by a flock of Canadian geese.

Best viewed in full screen

If you can't see the video - click here

Via Dave's Computer Tips

Some Truly Brilliant Ones [Slide Show]

2010-02-04T20:44:00.005-05:00

Here's another slideshow from Tiffany.

These slideshows are best viewed full screen by clicking the

(icon) on the toolbar below.

If you can't see the slideshot - click here

Clif Notes Newsletter for February 2010

2010-02-01T23:44:00.007-05:00

Hello Everyone,

This month, I have over a dozen articles for you to read. Hopefully it's not too much for you. After all, you can always stop reading at any time and return when you do have time.

Subscribe to my monthly newsletter

This month's articles:

Global Hotkeys for Windows Media Player
Security Advice From McAfee That You May Not Want
Back Up Your Registry in Case of Disaster – ERUNT
Portable Sticky Notes for Your Desktop – hott notes
Hundreds of Free Smileys – The Smiley Vault
Locking Programs and Files with a Password – SaveIt
Online Security Scan in Less Than Two Minutes
WinPatrol Lifetime License for 99¢ – One Day Only
How To Repair Your Default Image FileTypes
Defragging the Easy Way – Disk Defrag Screen Saver
Free Clipboard Manager and Personal Database – Ditto
Create Animated Gifs with UnFREEZ
Find Files Fast with UltraSearch
Easily Create Personal Web Pages with No Signup at Webnotes

* Two or three of you wrote to tell me you didn't like the newsletter format. Now, I can offer you three different views of the same articles.

Links to Clif Notes Newsletter articles:

http://www.netvibes.com/clifnotes#Newsletter

http://www.google.com/reader/shared/clif.sipe

For the brave among you, you can stay up to date and read each article as I publish it by subscribing to the Google News feed. (YES, I'm listed on Google News now!)

Email notification for Google News - Author: Clif Sipe

RSS feed for Google News - Author Clif Sipe

That's all for now. Have fun!

Clif

Unsubscribe from my monthly newsletter?

BuggyRoller in the SwissPass [Video]

2010-01-26T00:56:00.003-05:00

My wife showed me this video that she found on Facebook.
This guy is pretty crazy.

Best viewed in full screen

Partners - animals who are friends - friends who are animals [Slideshow]

2010-01-23T20:01:00.002-05:00

This is another tip from Tiffany.

Partners

View more presentations from clifnotes.

Clif Notes Newsletter for January 2010

2010-01-03T23:49:00.006-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the first newsletter of 2010. Once again, everyone will have to get used to writing down a new year on all their documents and notes. Good luck to all of you in this New Year.

This month, I have over 20 articles for you to read. Hopefully it's not too much for you. After all, you can always stop reading at any time and return when you do have time.

Subscribe to my monthly newsletter

This month's articles:

Create Your Own Wifi Hotspot - Connectify Updated to 1.0

Patience and Wisdom [Picture]

Easily Create Personal Web Pages with No Signup at Webnotes

Mirror in the Water [Slideshow]

Find Files Fast with UltraSearch

Beautiful Pictures [Slideshow]

Free DNS Benchmark Tools - Satisfy Your Need for Speed

Take the Jung Typology Test - What Kind of Person Are You?

Is the Windows XP Search Doggie a Spy?

How to Replace Windows XP Search

Create Goo.gl Short URL’s with a Bookmarklet

Rohos Mini Drive - Hide Your Data on Flash Drives

Free Full Version of WinOptimizer 5

Change Your DNS Settings Fast with Dns Jumper

Multifox for Logging into Multiple Accounts

Review of the Eset Online Scanner

The Matrix as Your Desktop and Screensaver

Review of Radian Application Launcher

Mozilla Thunderbird 3 Review

How to Add WinHlp32 Support to Windows 7 and Vista

Backup/Restore Windows Live Writer with Import/Export Plugin

Windows CleanUp! for Fast and Fun System Cleanings

How to use Google Public DNS on Windows 7 and Windows XP

* Two or three of you wrote to tell me you didn't like the newsletter format. Now, I can offer you three different views of the same articles.

Links to Clif Notes Newsletter articles:

http://www.netvibes.com/clifnotes#Newsletter

http://www.google.com/reader/shared/clif.notes

http://snurl.com/cnnl-reader-view

For the brave among you, you can stay up to date and read each article as I publish it by subscribing to the Google News feed. (YES, I'm listed on Google News now!)

Email notification for Google News - Author: Clif Sipe

RSS feed for Google News - Author Clif Sipe

That's all for now. Have fun!

Clif

Unsubscribe from my monthly newsletter?

Patience and Wisdom [Picture]

2009-12-30T18:44:00.004-05:00

Another tip from Tiffany.

Two of the greatest qualities in life are:

Patience

And

Wisdom

Mirror in the Water [Slideshow]

2009-12-30T18:09:00.006-05:00

What is it about large calm bodies of water? The images seem to instantly soothe and yet excite. Seeing them draws you in and make you wish you were there.

Thanks to Tiffany - who sent me the PPS file via email.

These slideshows are best viewed full screen by clicking the

(icon) on the toolbar below.

Here's a link in case you can't see the slideshow here.

Beautiful Pictures Slideshow – Source Unknown

2009-12-19T16:33:00.004-05:00

Tiffany emailed a slideshow to me today. I decided that it was too good not to share.

These slideshows are best viewed full screen by clicking the

(icon) on the toolbar below.

Here's a link in case you can't see the slideshow here.

Clif Notes Newsletter for December 2009

2009-12-06T21:25:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,

I've got quite a bit for you to read this month, so take your time. You don't have to read it all in one sitting.

This month’s articles:

Windows Double Explorer for Windows 7
MalAware 1.0 Scans for Trojan/Virus/Spyware in 60 Seconds
Play the Original Atari Arcade Games
How To Turn On/Off Thumbnail View in Windows 7 Folders
TeamViewer Adds Voice and Video Chat to Screen Sharing
How to Search Without Ads in Google Chrome
A Fast Way to Create Beautiful Gradient Wallpapers

Go here:

http://www.netvibes.com/clifnotes#Newsletter

It's easy to read them at netvibes, but if you need help figuring it out, let me know.

Best holiday wishes to you all.

Clif

Many Changes – but I’m back!

2009-11-21T02:51:00.002-05:00

Yes, I’ve been away for a long time. Some of you have written me to see if I was still alive. Thanks for your concern.

Since I’ve last published a newsletter, I’ve started writing as a semi-professional at Techie-Buzz. That means you’ll have to check in there or subscribe to an RSS feed to see my latest articles.

However, I don’t want to abandon my email readers totally and I’ve found a cool way to share my articles all in one place at one time. I’m using an online news aggregator named Netvibes.

You can find my latest articles here. http://www.netvibes.com/clifnotes#Newsletter

Many of y ou will figure out how the Netvibes reader works immediately. In case you don’t or you’d like to see some cool tweaks you can make, check out the images below. You can click on them to make them larger if the print is too small to read.

CurrPorts - Find Out Who Is Spying On You

2009-08-02T02:08:00.000-05:00

Do you have any idea if evil computers are connecting to your PC? If your enquiring mind wants to know, I recommend that you try out two utilities from NirSoft.

Download and Install:
CurrPorts and IPNetInfo are both portable applications that are offered as ZIP files. You can unpack these ZIP files anywhere on your hard drive or even onto a flash drive to use them. CurrPorts and IPNetInfo work best if you put the files from both programs into the same folder. After I downloaded them, I unpacked the CurrPorts and IPNetInfo into two different folders. I renamed the readme.txt files and then copied the IPNetInfo files into the CurrPorts folder. I ended up with the following files in my CPorts folder.

Run CurrPorts:
You can run CurrPorts by launching the cports.exe file. It will scan your computer and display a list of all of the processes on your PC that are using the network and internet connections. The list contains the following columns of information on each connection to your machine.

Process Name
Process ID
Protocol
Local Port
Local Port Name
Local Address
Remote Port
Remote Port Name
Remote Address
Remote Host Name
State
Process Path
Product Name
File Description
File Version
Company
Process Created On
User Name
Process Services
Process Attributes
Added On
Module Filename
Remote IP Country
Window Title

Search the information:
The most important columns to pay attention to are the columns I've highlighted above.

Process Name is the name of the program or service on your PC that is making the connection to the net.

Process Path tells you where the program or service is located on your hard drive. It's important to know this location if you suspect that you have a spyware, virus or trojan infection.

Remote Address is a set of numbers that is often called the "IP Address". This address is needed to identify the computers connected to you by the internet.

Many of the connections you'll see won't even have a remote address and you don't have to pay as much attention to them. In order to unclutter the list and concentrate on the remote IP addresses, you can use the Options menu and uncheck the item labeled "Display Items without Remote Address" or hold down the CTRL key and press F6.

Identify WHO IS connecting:
Now that you have some IP addresses displayed, you can find out more about them by using NifSoft's IPNetInfo utility. When you right click on any remote address shown in CurrPorts, you can find out more about it by choosing the IPNetInfo option. IPNetInfo will pop up and give you the WHOIS information if it's able to.

Here's an example of the WHOIS info for a Google page in Internet Explorer.

If IPNetInfo doesn't seem to do anything when you open it with a right click from CurrPorts, it could be that the remote address is a local address on your home or business network. In that case you shouldn't have to worry about who it is.

IPNetInfo.exe can be run all by itself by launching the ipnetinfo.exe file. When it's running this way, you will have to paste in the IP Addresses manually to initiate WHOIS searches.

Stop the Spies:
Once you've identified all the owners of those remote IP addresses, you should have a better idea about who they are. You can usually find out more about them by using the company name in an internet search. If you are still suspicious that the IP addresses you are seeing are from the bad guys, you can check in several places to find out if they are on a watch list. I recommend that you search for malicious addresses at hpHosts. Just paste the remote IP address into the search box.

If you've identified a connection you don't want, you can right click on entries in CurrPorts and either "Close" the connection or "Kill" the process on your PC. If you have a process running on your machine that continues to connect to IPs that are suspect, you should probably save an HTML report as shown below, then run an Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware scan. I recommend using MalwareBytes or one of the other good free spyware removers. If that doesn't do the trick, get some help from one of the Anti-Spyware forums. I always visit Temerc.com's forums when I need help.

If you wish to ask me about some of your remote connections, you can select one or more items in CurrPorts, click on "View" > "HTML Report - Selected Items". When the report pops into your web browser, you can copy and paste the information into the comments below this article. You can also save the report from your browser using the File > Save menu.

Have a good day and surf in peace.

How to Create Gradient Desktop Wallpapers

2009-08-02T02:04:00.000-05:00

I think that a clean classy looking Windows desktop helps me stay organized and look professional at work. You may not agree or even care, but stay tuned if you'd like to know how to use MS Paint to create simple custom wallpapers.

By default, many Windows components are colored with gradients. As one color fades into another, it often has a pleasing appearance. Here's an example of a black to blue gradient.

I created this gradient using MS Paint, which comes on every Windows PC. It started as a two pixel bitmap (.BMP) file with one pixel black and the other blue. Here's how it's done.

First, fire up Paint. You can find it in your Start Menu under Programs > Accessories. If you don't see it there, you can always call it up from the Start > Run dialog by typing in MSPAINT and hitting the Enter key.

Next, set the image attributes so that you only have two pixels. Select the menu items Image > Attributes.

Set the Attributes with either Width 2 and Height 1 for a horizontal gradient or vise versa for a vertical gradient.

Now you have a two pixel bitmap started but you can't really see it well. You'll have to adjust the Zoom to 800% as shown.

What you'll see after you've zoomed in is still pretty small, but it'll work.

Pick the Pencil tool and choose one color to paint the the first pixel and another color to paint the other pixel.

Here's what it looks like if you've chosen black and blue as I have.

Now save your image making sure it's a BMP file in the "Save as type" box.

The file is saved now and you can use it as a Desktop Wallpaper. Hopefully you already know how to set wallpapers. Just be sure to set the image as "Stretch" when you select it.

It sure doesn't look like a gradient before you hit the OK button here. Your Windows system will make it into a very nice looking gradient when it "stretches" the image to fit your Desktop.

Here's my desktop when I finish ...

That's all there is to it, so have fun playing with Paint now.

STP - Tiny but Full Featured MP3 Player

2009-08-02T02:01:00.000-05:00

STP, short for "SysTrayPlay", is an MP3 player made in Russia by Youri Strous.
Home page: http://stp.byteact.com/

This tiny music player is contained in a single executable file about 200k in size. Despite the small size, STP has everything you need to easily listen to and manage your MP3 collection. It's designed to stay out of your way and provide music while you are busy doing other things on your PC.

Installation and first use:
This program is offered as a ZIP file collection. Since STP is a single EXE file, you can unzip and place the STP.EXE file anywhere on your hard drive. As far as I can tell it's completely portable and you should be able to use it from a flash drive or any other media.

Once you launch it, you'll see the STP icon in your system tray. It will save it's own settings in an STP.INI file after it's started.

A right single click on the STP icon reveals all the settings, controls and options. Normal left single mouse clicks will pause and play the current song. You can assign other functions to both right and left double and triple clicks of the mouse.

Using the STP minibar:
Under the Windows menu, STP can be set to display a "minibar" interface that many people will recognize as common in music players. The minibar can be dragged around on the screen by grabbing the dark grey rectangle on the right end.

The minibar also displays the standard Play, Pause, Stop, Forward and Backward buttons. The next "now playing" field is active and clicking on it will cause the player to jump to different portions of the song almost instantly. The next field shows the volume as a percentage. Clicking on the volume field allows you to change the volume up and down.

After the volume field, you can see that there are 5 letters displayed. Clicking on the letters "I E P T A" provides quick access to many of the often used player functions.

I - brings up up "MP3 Info" on the currently playing song where you can also edit the ID3 tags.

E - launches the built in "Equalizer" which allows you to adjust the sound frequencies and save or load EQ settings.

P - displays a playlist which can be saved as M3U or PLS files. MP3 files can be dragged and dropped on the playlist and once there, they can be re-ordered by dragging them up or down in the list. Playlists can also be searched by typing in the "Find Track" field at the top of the playlist.

T - shows the "Tracks" menus which I'd say should really be called the "Folders" because it allows you to see all the music folders that your current playlist is using.

A - shows "Album" menu with the current music folder and the songs in it.

That basically covers using the "minibar" interface. I prefer using only the systray icon along with some custom hotkeys.

Using Hotkeys instead of the minibar:
You can set your own custom hotkeys in STP by going to the Settings / Advanced menu. You'll find lots of other goodies in this settings menu, but let's focus on the hotkeys which can be accessed by hitting the "Hotkeys" button at the bottom.

Almost every function of STP can be accessed by hotkeys that you can define.

As you can see, I only use a few of the hotkeys such as Play/Pause, Prev/Next and Volume. Those alone are enough to keep me from having to click open any other menus while using STP.

Conclusion:
There are very few MP3 players that are smaller than STP and I'd have to give it 5 stars for cramming in all of it's features in such a small and completely portable package. It's a shame that the author is no longer actively developing this application. On the other hand, what more does it need?

JHoodsoft Newsletter

2009-08-02T01:53:00.001-05:00

John Hood, author of the freeware site, "Best of Free Software", occasionally writes to tell us what he's been up to. He's got a great site and his opinions on free software are right on the mark.

If you don’t want to wait a month to see the next letter from John, you’ll have to sign up for his newsletter.

JHoodsoft Newsletter for July 2009
Contents:
DabbleDB - Putting the "Wow" factor into number crunching
Click-N-Type Virtual Keyboardby Lake Software.
Roll your own "Launchy" Handy Computer Help Links Problem with Google Docs

First off, I'd like to thank friend and fellow free software watchdog, Paul O'Mara, for taking on the job of editing the Newsletter. Bravo buddy, and thank you!

Computing in a Recession - In a down economy, Netbooks are flying off the shelves. If you only needed to connect to the web and only needed a basic computer with which to do it, and it cost about the same as an iPhone, would you buy one? Asus has made an absolute killing in this economy by offering the just that. They called it the Eee: a computer small enough and light enough to be truly portable. Slip it into a book bag or shoulder bag and off you go.

Now laptop manufacturers practically falling all over themselves to get in on the action. Almost all of the major players in the laptop arena, are making offerings for small inexpensive ultra-portables.

If this is the kind of computer you are looking for, just remember, that is works the best when connected to the web. On it's own, it's slow an a bit limited. Also, it may not be a Windows computer. Not a bad thing: it's giving Linux a big opening in the consumer market. Just be aware that it's gonna look different.

DabbleDB - Putting the "Wow" factor into number crunching. Free for the sign-up at www.dabbledb.com. Note that the free version makes all data public. I was initially un-impressed - an online database that didn't really do much, with no support for sub tables and no form editor. It was just another spreadsheet. Then I saw the demo, and then I was forced to use it. Four words: "Pie-chart in eight minutes." On the first try, no less. DabbleDB makes working in Excel seem like driving a stick-shift car. You create a database, import an Excel spreadsheet, etc. DabbleDB will make pretty good guesses about what the day is. Set up groupings, special filters, you name it. Yes, there is a form set up. It's limited, but it's there. Now go to "Views" and decide how you want your data shown. Dabble DB does the rest. I actually had fun doing it. In fact, I wanted to do it again: how about my video collection list, sorted by genre, director, actor? I see two immediate niches for this product: 1: Number-crunching for non-accountants. Instead of relying on someone else's report, managers - who may not be Excel savvy - could use DabbleDB to turn the raw data into meaningful metrics on their own. 2: Support-staff "secret weapon." Whenever support staffers are faced with a large lump of data to collate and an order from on high that makes no sense whatsoever ("I want all our customers by zip code, hair color and handedness -ASAP!"), they can use DabbleDB to manipulate the data quickly and churn out meaningful reports. Even if the denizen of mahogany row suddenly changes his/her mind about the data they want, the support staff can switch it easily.

Dabble make number crunching fast and fun; a winner!

Click-N-Type Virtual Keyboard by Lake Software.

Once in a while you run across a freeware application that almost makes you cry. Click-N-Type was written in response to the needs of a disabled girl, and in response to the poorly written and expensive keyboard solutions out there. Click-N-Type offers a keyboard recorder and and play-back feature, multiple keyboards to choose from - as "speakback" feature - and it's all free. Even if you don't use it, visit the site and say hello. This is what free software is all about - using a computer to make someone's life better, and they don't have to spend a dime.

Click-N-Type is an on-screen virtual keyboard designed for anyone with a disability that prevents him or her from typing on a physical computer keyboard. As long as the physically challenged person can control a mouse, trackball, touch screen or other pointing device, this software keyboard allows you to send keystrokes to virtually any Windows application or DOS application that can run within a window.

http://www.lakefolks.org/cnt/

Roll your own "Launchy" .

Windows XP users love the open-source program Launchy. It pops up a little box into which you can type a program or file name, and Launchy runs it for you. It saves a lot of navigation. The only problem is that the database for Launchy needs to update periodically, and that slows down your computer. I developed a method to use the "Run" line as a Launchy-type box without installing any software or updating a database: 1: Create a folder called "Links" (or launchers or whatever) somewhere on your C: drive. It's easiest if you just create it off of the root of C:. 2: Go to Control Panel - System, and click on the "Advanced" tab. Go down to the button "Environment Variables". 3: In the second window below, scroll down until you see the word "Path". Select it and click "Edit". 4: Place a semi-colon and then C:\{launcher_folder_name}. Click OK and OK out. 5: Now you have an empty folder that Windows will check if you type something in the "Run" line. Final Step: Copy to your new folder any shortcuts on the desktop and in the start menu. I rename the shortcut and edit out the "Shortcut to", if there is one. I also shorten the name so it's easier to remember: for example, shortcut to "Mozilla Thunderbird" becomes simply "Tbird". Now all you have to do is press CTRL+ESC+R or, if you have that Windows key down between CTRL and ALT, just do {Windows_key}+R. When the Run line pops, type in the name of the shortcut and press Enter. The program will run. I use this mostly to call programs I use a lot, and also for very obscure tools I have installed but don't have the time to look for. I hope this works for you too.

My Friend Sheila sent this around:

Subject: Handy Computer Help Links

Hi all, Thought you might find some of these sites interesting: http://www.findtutorials.com/ for help in a wide variety of computer needs. http://www.techtutorials.net when you just need help getting through a process. http://www.computerhope.com If nothing else, a great idea! Enjoy! Sheila

A reader caught wind of this and wanted to bring it to your attention...
"Problem with Google Docs

I just wanted to drop you a line to let you know how much I like your website, and to let you know about an ongoing problem with Google Docs. You will notice (see URL below) that several people have been having a problem deleting documents, pdfs, and empty folders in Google Docs. The problem was reported on January 31, 2009, and remains unresolved today. Chandler is a Google employee that has occasionally shown up, but has been of little help. It is incredible to believe that Google can't make something as simple as the Trash Bin work properly. http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Docs/thread?tid=56e303a01070266c&hl=en&fid=56e303a01070266c00046bf43db1dc56 May I suggest that you warn your readers about the above problem? I would also suggest warning your readers about the lack of competent customer service that is currently provided by Google.

Here you go, and thanks for the tip...

OK, that's enough for now. Keep the feedback and ideas coming in...

--
Hood's Best of Free Software
www.jhoodsoft.org

Awesome photos from Tiffany

2009-08-02T01:45:00.000-05:00

Here’s a terrific slideshow that was sent to me in email by Tiffany. I uploaded it to Slideshare.com so that I could share it without making you download a PPS (PowerPoint) file.

Be sure to hit the full screen icon below to get the best results.

Thanks Tiffany!

Photos Rares

View more presentations from clifnotes.

Is Chromium better than Google Chrome?

2009-07-26T00:24:00.002-05:00

What is Chromium?
Google Chrome has made a big splash in the browser pond even though it's still feature poor compared to more mature browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera. Many people would agree that the biggest share of this newbie browser's success is due to the big marketing muscles that Google can flex. Just as many people aren't aware that Google's browser success is also due to the fact that it's a branded version of the free and open source Chromium browser.

The Chromium project is the test bed for most of the new features that end up Google's browser. There aren't many visible differences between Chromium and Google Chrome so you may find that the line between the two is pretty blurry. But if you want the latest features, surfing speed and simplicity, you may want to try out the latest build of the Chromium web browser. You can even run it as a portable application so that it won't interfere with any of your installed browsers. I'll tell you how to do that and offer you a few tips as well.

News Flash 8/4/05: Themes for Google Chrome are now available and work well in Chromium and the Portable Chrome I’ve mentioned below.

Where's the download?
If you went looking for Chromium, it's very likely you'll only end up finding places to download Google Chrome. It's not hidden, but it's surely not well advertised. The Chromium testers have a page where they host packaged versions of the daily builds. Once there, you can choose to download a EXE file with a built in installer, or a ZIP version.

Chromium Download
http://build.chromium.org/buildbot/continuous/win/LATEST/chrome-win32.zip (manual install)
http://build.chromium.org/buildbot/continuous/win/LATEST/mini_installer.exe (exe installer)

There are beta versions available for those wishing to try out Chromium for the Mac and Chromium for Linux. These versions are still partially broken but work on them continues.

Chromium for Mac and Linux
http://build.chromium.org/buildbot/continuous/

How do I install Chromium?
I recommend downloading the chrome-win32.zip package. Once I've done that, I simply unpack the zip file into a folder and I run it from that location after creating shortcuts to chrome.exe. The mini-installer.exe package does not allow you to choose where Chromium is installed. It places the application files into a hard to find subfolder under your Documents and Settings. I think that's a terrible place to store applications.

I can also recommend using the Portable Chrome package which can be found at a German blog by a person named Caschy. The portable version does not store your profile, history and cache files in your Documents and Settings folders.

Portable Chrome Download
http://stadt-bremerhaven.de/category/google/

This portable package is downloaded as an EXE file, but it's a simple self extracting archive which will only ask you where you want to unpack the files. Caschy's portable Chromium package may not be as up to date as the packages at the build.chromium.org site. I always update my Portable Chrome by downloading the latest chrome-win32.zip and unpacking it into the "Chrome" subfolder in my Portable Chrome folder. I make sure that I launch Chromium using a shortcut to the ChromeLoader.exe file in the Portable Chrome folder.

Some of you may be aware that even Chromium, like Google Chrome, still contacts Google servers. If this concerns you, you can always download a portable version of SRWare Iron which is another version of Chromium which doesn't contact any outside servers at all. It does get updated occasionally but I always want the most up to date version of Chromium and for that reason alone I put up with the connections to Google. I typically have a tab or two open to either Google Mail or Google Reader in any case and I'm not too concerned about sharing my surfing habits.

Download SRWare Iron (web browser for privacy fanatics)
http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php

How do I add more features to Chromium?
Right now, extensions (addons) aren't well supported but they can be used. I have tried using them with only limited success. I've found the best method is to use javascript Bookmarklets which often allow you to do many of the same things that the addons in Firefox do for you. For those of you who aren't familiar with Bookmarklets (or Favlets for IE users), these are simply bookmarks that you can drag to your Bookmark toolbar and click on when you are at a web page where they'll do a job for you. The very same bookmarklets I use in Chromium often work just as well in Firefox and Internet Explorer. This fact makes it easier to switch between browsers when you need to. Below is a short list of my favorite Bookmarklets and some links to other lists of Bookmarklets that others find useful.

My favorite Bookmarklets

LastPass Login - quickly fills in all your usernames and passwords for web logins - requires a free account at Lastpass.com
Delicious Bookmark - allows you to post your favorite bookmarks online - requires a free account at Delicious.com
su.pr - allows you shorten URLs and to make simultaneous posts to Twitter and Facebook - requires an account at StumbleUpon.com
Readability - scrubs all the non-essential ads and makes text larger on many blogs and web sites
Youtube to MP4 - allows you to download Youtube videos as MP4 files for playing on iPods or your PC
Remove Bloat - removes distracting advertisements on many sites
Evernote - allows you to quickly add clippings to your Evernote PIM and web account - requires a free account at Evernote.com

Links to lists of useful Bookmarklets:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmarklet#External_links
http://cybernetnews.com/cybernotes-best-bookmarklets-and-favelets-part-2/
http://lifehacker.com/395697/top-10-useful-bookmarklets
http://speckyboy.com/2009/02/16/32-indispensable-bookmarklets-for-web-developers-and-designers/

How to launch programs using only 3 keys

2009-07-02T21:41:00.002-05:00

a tip for Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP

One nice thing about Windows is that there are plenty of ways to launch applications. The most common way would be to click on the green Start button and look around for what you want to run.

There is another way to use the Start button that many people either don't know about or have long forgotten. You can open the Start menu from your keyboard using the fancy key with the Windows logo on it. This key is often called the "Windows" key.

Why would you want to start using the Windows key? The one word answer is ... SPEED.

I've set up my work PC so that I can launch any one of 36 different apps using only three keys. My fingers never have to leave the keyboard and in most cases I don't struggle to remember what keys I need to hit.

Here's how to set up your own three key speed launcher.

1. First, you'll have to start using the Classic Start menu if you aren't already. Just right click on the Start button and choose properties. Then choose the Classic radio button.

2. Open up your Start menu for editing by right clicking on the Start button and choosing Explore.

3. Add your own special launch folder. I've named mine "xLinks" but you can use any name as long as you start it with a letter that doesn't already appear as the leading letter for some other menu item.

4. Open your new launch folder and start adding and creating your shortcuts in it. Here's an example of some of the shortcuts I've added to mine. Notice that all of the shortcut names each start with a unique letter of the alphabet or the numbers 0 through 9. This allows you to have 36 unique shortcuts.

5. You are essentially done once you've added shortcuts into the launch folder. The only question remaining is how they can be used. Here's what I see when I hit the Windows key then X.

If I hit one more key, I'll launch the corresponding shortcut in that menu. For example, if I had hit the Windows key then X then P, I would have launched my Windows Paint program. I can hit these key combinations fast enough that you can barely see the menus flash up. Most users would have still been reaching for the mouse while I was opening my application.

I've found that it's a great way to impress folks looking over my shoulder. They'll often ask what I'd just done. If I feel like being cryptic that day, I just say "It's magic!".

ImageShack QuickShot – grab screenshots and upload them automatically

2009-06-14T13:34:00.001-05:00

I’ve been using ImageShack’s image hosting service for years. It’s really one of the easiest to use and it’s also free.

If you set up a free account, all the images you upload will be kept there for you and they are fairly easy to search and categorize using tags.

A common use of their hosting service might be to upload your photos to share with your friends and family. Instead of attaching a large group of photos to an email, it’s better to upload them and include links to them. You can even link to a slideshow that nicely displays your photos.

I most commonly use their service here in my websites because it’s easier to upload to ImageShack than it is to my own sites. Many of the pictures you see at Freewarewiki are hosted by ImageShack.

ImageShack also provides a good selection of tools that make uploading photos and images from your desktop or browser much easier.

I recently tried out the QuickShot tool that ImageShack offers. It allows you to take screenshots of your display or open applications, then automatically uploads them and sends an image link to your Windows clipboard for easy pasting.

Quote from the website:
ImageShack QuickShot v1.52
ImageShack QuickShot integrates with Windows XP, 2000, or 2003 and allows you to take a screenshot and upload it to ImageShack with the press of a key!

QuickShot is great for documenting application features and making up tutorials that need to be published online.

If you decide to try out ImageShack, be sure to check out the other nice tools they provide there. Here’s a list of them as displayed on their tools page:

Have fun with your images and be sure to comment below with your questions or solutions for displaying images online.

TestDisk - free utility to recover accidental reformats

2009-06-13T22:50:00.001-05:00

About two years ago, a friend of mine accidentally reformatted a hard drive. He had over 5 gigs of music files from dozens of CDs that he'd collected over the years. He was sad, and I had no advice to give him.

If I could travel back in time, I could at least have offered some hope for him. It's possible to recover entire file systems that have been reformatted. I recently read about a recovery utility called TestDisk on the Windows Secrets Newsletter (paid version). Fred Langa, formerly the author of the LangaList passed on a tip from one of his readers that told how he saved over $400 in repair costs by using TestDisk.

I found out that I've had a copy of TestDisk for a long time and never knew it. It's included as a tool on several Live CDs including one or my favorites called GParted. A fellow named Herman has written a great How-To page on using TestDisk.
Herman's TestDisk HowTo

I haven't used this program yet and I hope I never have to. I wrote about TestDisk in the hope that it may stick in your mind if you ever have to recover a reformatted hard drive.

Quote from the authors:

TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery software! It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting a Partition Table). Partition table recovery using TestDisk is really easy.

Website: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

OpenTarget – adding a new option for XP shortcuts

2009-06-11T22:21:00.001-05:00

If you love to organize files and menus on your computer, you can’t avoid using shortcuts. And if you have lots of shortcuts, you sometimes need to find out what a shortcut is actually pointing to (it’s target). You simply can’t remember them all.

Shortcut Keys

I’d gotten pretty darn quick at finding targets for shortcuts by clicking on a shortcut and hitting the Context Menu key then the R key. That’s the same as right clicking on the shortcut and choosing “Properties”, but it’s actually faster because the right click seems to have a delay built in.

+ R

Once you have a shortcut’s properties displayed, you can pick the “Find Target” button to find out what the shortcut is pointing to.

= ALT + F

And if you really want to get fancy, after you’ve hit the Context then R key you can also hold down the Alt key and press F to open up the Find Target button.

Now that you know how I open up the Find Target quickly, I can tell you that there’s an even better way, maybe even two ways.

OpenTarget vs Windows Powertoys

There’s a cute little program out there called OpenTarget, which adds an item to the right click menu for shortcuts.

Quote from the author:

… probably the most pointless shell extension in history: OpenTarget. The major idea is to extend the default context menu of shortcuts to include (you guessed it) "Open Target Folder".

The shortcut target is now selected when Explorer is launched
Made verb configurable, so you can either Open or Explore

After finding OpenTarget, I ran into another utility that does the same thing and it’s been around since Windows 95. The Windows 95 Powertoys collection has a DLL and INF file that allow you to install a “Target” section in the shortcut right click menu. When you install it, you can right click on a shortcut, expand the Target menu and choose “Open Container” to go where that target is stored.

At first, I thought that the Cut, Copy and other items in the sub menu were just a repeat of the ones further down in the main menu. Then I realized that they only act on the target of the shortcut. Now that could be handy.

Installing this Powertoy is a bit tricky, but I’ll break it down for you.

Download the Win95 Powertoys
Create a folder and move the file W95powertoy.exe into it
Double click the W95powertoy.exe file to start the extraction of the 31 Powertoys into the folder.
Then right click on the TARGET.INF file and choose the Install option.

That’s all I’ve got for you on this topic. Be sure to comment if you have your own solutions and tips.

Cool site – LiverFoundation.org

2009-06-09T21:46:00.001-05:00

Here’s a message from Tiffany that I felt I should share with you …

A very dear friend's life was saved by a liver transplant, so today's Cool Site of the Day has special meaning for me:

http://www.liverfoundation.org/

I hope this invaluable information may help someone else. It's really an interesting article, with great tips and sound advice on how to keep YOUR liver healthy! http://www.liverfoundation.org/education/info/transplant/

Please share it with everyone you care about.

Tiffany Cartier

Best wishes for your friend’s continuing health.

Hardlink Shell Extension - help with symbolic links in Windows

2009-06-08T23:26:00.001-05:00

Have you ever needed to have multiple synchronized copies of the same folder or files on your PC? I'll admit, it's rare that I need this and most often it's easier to simply create shortcuts to files and folders. It's also easy to copy a folder or files and place it somewhere else, but how can you keep the all the copies updated if a file changes?

There are plenty of free sync tools out there that allow you to synchronize files and folders on a hard drive, but there is an easier way. I'm guessing that most of you have never heard of symbolic links (Unix/Linux) or hard links (Windows NT, 2000, XP, Vista).

Ever since Windows NT came out, you can create hard links to files and folders. These hard links make it look like you have multiple copies of files or folders when in fact they are only stored in one location. This saves file space and it means that you don't have to run file synchronizer software to keep all the copies updated. The only problem is that you can normally only create these links using command line tools. I don't like using the command window unless it's absolutely necessary.

I found a Windows shell extension called Hard Link Shell Extension that lets you right click on files and folders to create hard links. You can read more about it below.

Tip 1: Please note that this only works on a single hard drive. If you need to sync files between hard drives, see these free folder sync utilities. If you need to sync files between computers, I recommend DropBox, Windows Live Sync or similar services.

Tip 2: If you are using DropBox to synchronize files between computers over the internet, you may find that Hard Link Shell Extension is very handy. See LifeHacker's article: Sync Files and Folders Outside Your My Dropbox Folder

Quote from the website

Have you ever wanted to create hardlinks as it was possible with Unix, but not from the commandline but from the Explorer simply by right clicking an item? Take a look a the HardlinkShellExtension for WinNT/2K

Hardlinks provide the ability to keep a single copy of a file yet have it appear in multiple folders (directories). They can be created with the POSIX command ln included in the Windows Resource Kit or the fsutil command utility included in Windows XP. Thus, using standard Windows facilities Hardlinks can only be created at the command prompt, which can be tedious, especially when Hardlinks to multiple files are required or when one only makes occasional use of Hardlinks.

Website: http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html

Magnifixer – great screen magnifier

2009-06-04T20:26:00.001-05:00

A screen magnifier us one of those tools that many of you don’t use often or not at all. Windows provides it’s own built in magnifier program, but it’s pretty lame in comparison to many of the freebies out on the web.

I probably use a magnifier more now that my eyes are getting old, and when I do, I like to have plenty of options.

Magnifixer is my current favorite because it’s easy to tweak with nearly a dozen different settings as shown below. It’s one of the best free magnifiers I’ve found.

Tip: You can turn it into a portable version by simply copying the program folder onto a flash drive.

From the authors:

Magnifixer is a screen magnifier utility. You can place it anywhere on your screen, make it any size you want and select a zoom level. Magnifixer will always show the area of your screen where the mouse cursor resides.

- Up to 40x Magnification
- Place anywhere on your screen
- Dual monitor supported
- Smoothing for better readability
- Cursor tracking or fixed location view
- Stay-on-top window option
- Color Display (HTML or RGB mode)
- Most settings are saved and reused
- Very simple and intuitive interface
- Uninstall option

Website: http://www.blacksunsoftware.com/screenmagnifier.html

Firefox plugin: Drag & Drop.io

2009-05-16T15:48:00.001-05:00

It’s hard to beat simple online file hosting services … until you start looking at the features that come bundled with them.

Drop.io (pronounced drop-ee-oh) has a free file hosting service that literally has everything but the kitchen sink. They offer file hosting with a multitude of collaboration options like commenting, live chat, conference calls, voice mail, guest permissions, RSS feeds and email. Now they are offering a nice Firefox Plugin that lets you drop your files into their service with ease. Dropio is awesome … and the basic free service allows you to host 100mb in each drop.

See this screenshot of the admin page for a drop and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

See the video below for a demo of the Firefox plugin.

Here’s a short description from the dropio folks …

Drag & drop your files directly into Drop.io drops!
A drop is a chunk of space you can use to store and share anything privately (pictures, videos, audio, documents, etc.), without accounts, registration, or an email address. Drops are not "searchable" and not "networked;" they just exist online as private points for exchange between individuals or groups.
Create as many drops as you want in as little as two clicks and set things like a password, whether others can add to the drop, and how long you want it to exist (you can renew later). Drops can be flexibly used in a range of ways from sharing family photos and videos to collaborating on group projects.
For more information, go to drop.io/about

Can I access Cosmopod from a public PC?

2009-05-16T13:14:00.001-05:00

Note: Cosmopod service has been discontinued

I will take a look around the net to see if there are any similar services.

Why would I use Cosmopod? It's a free hosted Linux computer desktop that has tons of applications such as Open Office and all the K-Desktop tools. Once you are logged into Cosmopod, your online transactions are encrypted and nobody on your network or on the net can see them. This is just what you need for a safe access on a public PC.

~~http://cosmopod.com~~

Go to this French website to get the Portable NX Client v1.5. Unzip the file onto one of your thumb drives.

You then fire up your copy on the thumb drive and set it up as shown.

~~Once you get it set, just use it to log into your Cosmopod account.~~

Here's a picture of my Desktop.

That's it. Enjoy your online desktop.

ViStart and ViOrb - make XP's start menu work like Vista's

2008-06-07T01:56:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, I tried a Vista styled start menu replacement for XP called Vista Start Menu. It worked nicely and even included the Vista style program search. This one seems to give you an even better simulation and the search feature is even faster than what Vista can give you. The only issue I had with this utility is a slow start-up time.

The ViOrb tool is a separate utility that replaces the green Start button with the fancy Vista styled Windows logo. I tried it out but I was much less impressed with it.

Here's where you can find both of these programs.

http://lee-soft.com/

Windows Live Writer Gets Image Editing Capabilities

2008-06-05T23:19:00.001-05:00

I occasionally use Windows Live Writer. I ran across this article at Techie Buzz and I'd really like to try out the new image editing features. However, I'm not up for a beta trial, so I'll wait patiently. If you aren't that patient, check out the preview link below.

(Excerpt from the article)

Windows Live Writer one of the most widely used blog editors (and my favorite too) has released a new Technical update which includes features like image cropping and tilting, more border styles for your images and support for centering images.

In addition to that you can also add image previewing effects from Lightbox right from the editor itself ...

Please note this is not a release version and can have bugs that may lead to crashes. If you are of the adventurous types and can’t wait to use the new features you can download the Windows Live Writer Technical Preview.

Read the rest of this article by Keith Dsouza

Deepburner is great CD/DVD burner - now it's portable!

2008-05-17T00:13:00.003-05:00

clipped from www.deepburner.com

DeepBurner Free Portable

DeepBurner Free Portable works straight from removable media, whether it's a USB flash drive, compact flash card, or even a good old floppy.

Benefits

DeepBurner Free Portable has all the features of DeepBurner Free

Keep program's settings and saved projects on a removable disk (USB Flash Drive)

Be confident because the disks will be burnt the way you need to, on any computer

And there's no need to install anything and therefore no traces are left in the system you are using the program on

Simply plug in your flash drive and burn any disks, using DeepBurner Free Portable. That simple.

Please note that DeepBurner Pro Portable is currently in the development phase and thus not available for public download, yet.

The Squirrel Catapult

2008-04-03T17:57:00.004-05:00

I had a good laugh today at work. One of the guys showed me this video that someone had sent him in email.

Sure it's in bad taste and I can't promise you that no squirrels were hurt during the filming, but just try not watching it more than once. LOL

Can I access Cosmopod from a public PC?

2008-03-25T00:32:00.001-05:00

http://cosmopod.com

Go to this French website to get the Portable NX Client v1.5. Unzip the file onto one of your thumb drives.

You then fire up your copy on the thumb drive and set it up as shown.

Once you get it set, just use it to log into your Cosmopod account.

Here's a picture of my Desktop.

That's it. Enjoy your online desktop.

One in five PCs infected with rootkits?

2007-12-30T20:13:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed an entry from Tom in his Malware Advisor blog with that glaring headline about one in five PCs with rootkit infections.

The Malware Advisor post pointed to an article at PC World which details results from people scanning with the Prevx CSI service. The statistics from the scans indicated a sharp increase in the number of rootkit infections. In my last issue of this newsletter, I wrote a bit about trying out a new scanner I'd found. It was called Prevx CSI. Small world, ain't it?

After reading Tom's post at Malware Advisor, I went to his security forum and I asked him if he thought there was any truth to the statistics. He didn't disagree with the article, but he hadn't seen any sharp increases in the forums. Later on in that forum thread, Lusher, one of the regulars here, posted his opinions as well.

The PC World article may or may not contain the whole story. In any case, rootkits are something you should worry about and I've posted reviews of a few rootkit scanners you might want to try out sometime.

If you ever have a suspicion that you do have a rootkit or other infections on your PC, be sure to drop by the Temerc forums and post a question for Tom. He'll get back to you lickety-split with just the right advice.

Quote from the website
More than 725,000 PCs were scanned using the Prevx CSI malware scanner over a two-month period. Of the around 291,000 users who scanned their PCs during October 2007, some form of spyware or malware was found on one in six.

Significantly, although rootkits were detected on 15.6% of PCs during October 2007, that figure had risen to 22% by early December.
Read the PC World article here

UltraDefrag - open source Windows defragger

2007-12-28T22:48:00.001-05:00

You have quite a few good choices when it comes to free disk defragmenters. Here are a few I've written about in the past.
JkDefrag
AuslogicsDiskDefrag
DirMS
DiskeeperLite
DisKeeper9
PowerDefragmenter

Now I've found a new one called UltraDefrag and it's FOSS (free and open source software). I couldn't really find anything I didn't like about it.

I found 3 versions of it at the download page. I believe the i386 version is the one most of you should use. It looks like there are versions for AMD and 64bit as well.

Quote from the website
UltraDefrag is powerful Open Source defragmentation tool for Windows NT. It is very fast, because the defragmenting is done by kernel-mode driver. They are three interfaces to them: graphical, console and native. The GUI is very useful, because it represents your filesystem visually as a color coded cluster map. The console is another option for those that prefer the command line. It is also allows you to run UltraDefrag from the task scheduler and scripts. Finally, the native executable will run at boot time in a manner similar to chkdsk.

Website: http://ultradefrag.sourceforge.net/

tinySpell - a tiny spell checker for Windows

2007-12-28T20:17:00.001-05:00

Recently, I was asked how to spell check pages at PBwiki, my webhost and employer. I answer all kinds of questions there as email tech support. I don't think I answered that one very well because I told them that PBwiki doesn't offer spell check when you are editing pages. What I should have told them about is the free spell-checker called tinySpell.

I'm sure many of you might remind me that Firefox already supports spell checking in text windows and forms. Sure it does, but it doesn't always work in AJAX driven windows such as WYSIWYG editors. The spell check in Firefox doesn't help the crowds of people who still use IE6 and IE7. For those of you who wish to add spell checking in Internet Explorer, you may want to try ieSpell.

I found that tinySpell worked very nicely in the PBwiki WYSIWYG editor once I'd gotten used to stopping whenever it beeped at me to indicate a misspelled word. When I selected a larger area of text, it also beeped to indicate any misspellings and helped me find where they were located.

I would prefer to get a visible indication when I misspelled words, but I can't complain. After all, it's a free application and it works exactly as it was designed. If I wanted more features, I could pay for a license of the tinySpell+ version.

Quote from the website
Occasionally you need to check the spelling of words in an application that does not include a spelling checker and you don't want to launch your word processor just for that. This is when tinySpell becomes handy. It is a small utility that allows you to easily and quickly check the spelling of words in any Windows application.
tinySpell can watch your typing on the fly and alert you whenever it detects a misspelled word. It can also check the spelling of text that you copy to the clipboard.
tinySpell installs itself in the system tray for easy access. It comes with an American-English dictionary containing more than 110,000 words.

Website: http://tinyspell.m6.net/

WOT - plugin helps identify bad websites

2007-12-28T19:28:00.001-05:00

How often do you end up at a website and wonder if it's safe to download a program there or to enter in an email address? If you already use SiteAdvisor, TrendProtect, or CallingId, you probably already have a good idea which sites are safe. WOT offers a similar protection to you but uses the power of all of it's users to help identify bad web sites.

I've been using WOT side by side with SiteAdvisor and I've gotten comfortable enough with it that I'm dumping SA in favor of WOT. I like the idea that I'm getting advice from fellow web surfers and not from a security company. We're all out there on the front lines and we need to stick together.

Quote from the website
Keep yourself protected from unreliable online vendors, spam, spyware, viruses, phishing and other scams. Unlike traditional security systems, WOT will warn you already before you interact with any suspicious websites. The color coding is like traffic lights: green to go, yellow to slow down and red to stop.

WOT has information on over 16 million websites.

Each community member can contribute. WOT is a democratic system where everyone can participate. You can share your knowledge to help other users surf safer by giving ratings to sites that you have used. The system processes ratings and calculates the reputation for each web site. Eventual attempts to manipulate the reputation data are eliminated by sophisticated algorithms.

Website: http://www.mywot.com/

My first blog from Flock tools

2006-07-02T11:47:00.000-05:00

Here's a neat little graphic from Thunder7, a friend of mine. He likes to play around with fractal images. Pretty cool, eh?

Blogged with Flock

2006-02-02T22:52:00.000-05:00

Form Letter Machine Review

While I was on the way home from work one day, I was thinking how I kept typing the same headings and formatting commands over and over again. Maybe I could write a quick and dirty program to help me with that? It needs to show me an interface that would let me paste in text and urls to make a new review with the formatting already done for me. My coding wish was granted when I accidently stumbled into the Form Letter Machine that evening.

The Form Letter Machine was fairly easy for me to figure out after I'd read the help files. Within a few minutes, I had made a template that saved me lots of time. Even though this program is free, the program's author requests that you register the program by signing up at his forum and requesting a key. When I did that, I discovered that the DonationCoder forum was full of people who love software and coders who love to make it. If you visit the Coding Snacks board, they'll even write a small program to grant your wishes.

Download the Form Letter Machine

Join the freeware fanatics at Clif Notes Newsletter today!

Visit Freeware Wiki and Clif Notes Newsletter

2005-09-10T12:04:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

This blog is just a work area. All the action is at http://freewarewiki.pbwiki.com where I publish freeware reviews, Windows tips, security advice, and show you cool web sites and services.

I also publish a free weekly newsletter that is sent out on Sundays. It has all the latest posts from the wiki.
Clif Notes Newsletter now has over 1000 email subscribers and many others who view it at MSN Groups or RSS Feeds. You can sign up for it here.

I also have an archive with over 600 pages of past reviews. See them at http://clifnotes.mybesthost.com/reviews.

http://clifnotes.tk

2004-05-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

araneae.com: "You�ve reached the home of Araneae, a simple yet powerful text editor for the web. Araneae (pronounced ah-RAN-ee-ay) is a tool that provides only the features necessary to create stunning websites with all the latest web technologies. Araneae will not seize control of your code, leaving its interface astonishingly uncluttered and easy to use. Simply put, Araneae is just what you need. "

2004-05-27T21:13:00.000-05:00

Computer Help Club: "Installing Husband 1.0
Dear Tech Support: Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance - particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0. and NASCAR 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply
crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?
Signed, Desperate
Dear Desperate:
First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System. Please enter the command: 'http: I Thought You Loved Me.htm' and try to download Tears 6.2 and don�t forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 10 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1. Beer 6.1 is a very bad program"

2004-05-27T20:58:00.000-05:00

Quantum Muse - science fiction and fantasy stories and artwork: "We have the freedom to do just about any damn thing we please. We publish who we like, from countries all over the globe. We just don't care about people's politics. All we want to know is if they can write or not."

2004-05-27T19:23:00.000-05:00

SpywareInfo :� Spyware and hijackware Removal Specialists: "Welcome to SpywareInfo, the spyware and hijackware removal specialists
Has some sleazy web site taken over your browser? Are you getting pop up ads even when your browser has been closed for some time? Are you infected with a spyware program that refuses to go away? If so, our message board has dozens of dedicated volunteers ready to give you step-by-step assistance to remove the malicious software and regain control of your PC. "

2004-05-22T13:06:00.000-05:00

Miscellaneous Tools: "CopyLock is a small program that allows replacing, moving, renaming or deleting one or many files which are currently in use (e.g. system files like comctl32.dll, or virus/trojan files.)
Add the files to update, click Apply, restart and that's it!
You can also list and edit the pending operations from the system after you ran an installer or view the processes which use the locked files."

2004-05-22T12:29:00.000-05:00

Deepnet Explorer - Web + P2P + News Browser

This looks like a nice tabbed browser with lots of other cool features
+popup blocker
+password minder
+form filler
+p2p file sharing
+rss reader

2004-05-15T18:05:00.000-05:00

Tutorials for defending against Spyware/Hijacker Software

2004-05-15T16:27:00.000-05:00

einfodaily.com SmartFix Security Center Homepage

2004-05-15T16:22:00.000-05:00

|MG| Free Download - SmartFix 2.6

To provide the best computer experience available, SmartFix is an all-in-one system and security repair tool that allows you to fix and eliminate the pesky bugs and problems that make slow down your computer through easy one-click menu options. Furthermore, SmartFix adds an extra layer of protection against the security attacks and hazards of the Internet by repairing the security flaws on your system. To make your computer experience even smoother, an intelligent pop-up ad blocker is included to block those annoying spam pop-up and pop-under ads, as well as an easy-to-use system monitor taskbar that allows you to keep track of your computer's health.

Features include:

- Stylish system monitor taskbar that allows you to keep track of your computer's health.
- Quick access to system repair tools through the system tray icon
- Integrated Laptop energy saving mode to keep your laptops running longer
- Quick access to Windows Update to keep to your computer up to date
- Integrated pop-up blocking capabilities to get rid of those annoying pop-up ads

Whats new:

- New improved worm intrusion prevention feature for eliminating deadly worms
- New improved spyware intrusion prevention feature for eliminating intrusive spyware applications
- New Security Alert console for keeping up with the latest security threats

2004-05-15T16:13:00.000-05:00

PSPad - HTML editor, PHP editor, JavaScript, ASP, Perl, XHTML, C, MySQL, CSS, Hexa editor

2004-05-15T16:09:00.000-05:00

Net Transport - multi-thread download assistant

2004-05-15T15:57:00.000-05:00

Download details: Sasser (A-F) Worm Removal Tool (KB841720)

2004-05-15T15:50:00.000-05:00

Enabling the Windows XP Internet Firewall - Lockergnome & TechSmith's Video Tip of the Week #1

2004-05-01T16:21:00.000-05:00

YourWare Solutions Company Website

FreeRam XP Pro - supposed to help free up ram.
Win 95/98/ME/2000/XP

2004-05-01T16:13:00.000-05:00

Disoriented Labs - open-source applications and utilities for Windows

FreeExtractor - Create self extracting zip files

2004-05-01T16:07:00.000-05:00

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer V1.2

Looks like a good tool for winnt win2k and xp

2004-05-01T15:50:00.000-05:00

TextCalc -- A Calculator/Text Editor Combined
Looks like a useful item for documentation.