Archive for Technology

Freeware For Everyday Computer Users

// September 7th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Freeware, Technology

Freeware For Everyday Computer Users7-Zip: A file archiver with a high compression ratio.

Bulk Rename Utility: A free file renaming software for Windows. Bulk Rename Utility allows you to easily rename files and entire folders based upon extremely flexible criteria. Add date/time stamps, replace numbers, insert text, convert case, add auto-numbers, process folders and sub-folders….plus a whole lot more!

CCleaner: A system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system – allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it’s fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!

CDBurnerXP: A free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components.

Defraggler: It differs from other defrag tools on the market, by enabling you to quickly and simply defrag the files you want to, without having to process the whole drive. Simply run it, select the file and defragment in seconds. No more struggling with the Windows defragmentation tool!

Digsby: A multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list. digsby is also an email notification tool that alerts you of new email and lets you perform actions such as ‘Delete’ or ‘Report Spam’ with just one click. Lastly, digsby is a social networking tool that alerts you of events like new messages and gives you a live newsfeed of what your friends are up to.

Firefox: A free and open source web browser which features tabbed browsing, spell checking, incremental find, live bookmarking, a download manager, private browsing, location-aware browsing (aka “geolocation”) based exclusively on a Google service and an integrated search system that uses Google by default in most localizations. Functions can be added through a wide selection of add-ons, created by third-party developers.

FireFTP: A free, secure, cross-platform FTP client for Mozilla Firefox which provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers.

Gmail: A new kind of webmail, built on the idea that email can be more intuitive, efficient, and useful. And maybe even fun.

Mp3tag: A powerful and yet easy-to-use tool to edit metadata of common audio formats where it supports ID3v1, ID3v2.3, ID3v2.4, iTunes MP4, WMA, Vorbis Comments and APE Tags. It can rename files based on the tag information, replace characters or words in tags and filenames, import/export tag information, create playlists and more. Mp3tag supports online database lookups from, e.g., Amazon, discogs, or freedb, allowing you to automatically gather proper tags and cover art for your music library.

Picasa: The easy way to find, edit, and share your photos.

Update Notifier: A small utility that scans your computer for installed software and displays a list of updates. Also you can see the latest updates for applications from your Watch List.

Google Wave

// June 6th, 2009 // No Comments » // Software, Technology

Google Wave…the future of web-based personal communication/collaboration. Coming in late 2009.

Wolfram Alpha: Answer-Engine Technology

// May 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Software, Technology

Wolfram Alpha: Answer-Engine TechnologyCheck out the evolution of answer-engine technology at Wolfram Alpha (tentatively scheduled to launch later this evening).

Digsby

// December 30th, 2008 // No Comments » // Software, Technology

DigsbyI’ve been playing with some software over the Christmas Holidays and I’m quite impressed with Digsby which is a multi-protocol IM (Instant Messaging) client.?On the never-ending quest for PC environmental simplification, I have used a number of multi-protocol IM clients over the years including;?Miranda,?Pidgin and?Trillian but never stuck with any of them. Up until a few weeks ago, I had been using?Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk (which alerted me to emails from my primary?Google Apps account) and I used a Google Gadget on my PartnerPage (the Google Apps equivalent to iGoogle) to keep track of my Facebook alerts.?Digsby does all of the aforementioned centrally. For example, Digsby?notifies me when I receive email (can be setup via POP3 or IMAP settings), when I receive Facebook alerts and I can chat across?multiple IM clients simultaneously (Windows Live Messenger and Google Talk). If so desired, you can even log into the same IM client multiple times (i.e. have two Windows Live Messenger accounts active simultaneously). Digsby also supports AIM, ICQ, Jabber, Yahoo!, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn. The only short-coming of Digsby is that it doesn’t support IRC (yet) but, for most computer users, this is a moot point. Digsby is also skin-able.

Freeware Picks

// November 2nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Freeware, Technology

Freeware PicksGizmo’s Tech Support Alert is a great resource for finding legitimate freeware that, oftentimes, rival applications you are required to pay for. A few that I use and highly recommend are:

CCleaner: Formerly branded as “Crap Cleaner”, CCleaner is a system optimizer that cleans temporary files from Windows operating system and a number of 3rd party applications, repairs the registry, uninstalls/removes programs from Uninstall menu and allows user to cleanup start menu, etc.

Defraggler: File fragmentation can lead to system performance issues so regular defragmentation is recommended. Defraggler defragments drives (including USB flash drives) quickly and efficiently.

FileZilla: Offers client and server FTP capabilities.

Picasa: In addition to allowing users to organize and edit digital photos, Picasa allows users to geotag photos in Google Earth and upload/synchronize photos to Picasa Web Albums. Picasa offers a number of other options including; printing photos, emailing photos to friends, adding photos to your blog, buying prints online, video support, and a one-step backup/restore feature.

IZarc: A file archiving tool that is compatible with over 48 formats (including .iso and .bin). 7-Zip is another good pick.

SUMo: SUMo (which stands for?Software?Update?Monitor) allows you to keep your computer up to date by ensuring you are using the?most recent version of your installed software. It will scan your computer and let you know which software is up to date, requires a minor update (i.e. v1.0.11 to v1.0.12) or what requires a major update (i.e. v1.0.11 to v2.0.1). You are required to download/install the software updates manually but at least you have a centralized resource that allows you to know what updates are required and where to download them from.

Google: Chrome & Picasa 3.0

// September 2nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Software, Technology

Google: Chrome & Picasa 3.0Busy day at?Google as they took a shot at Microsoft and Mozilla with their Chrome browser and also released a major update to?Picasa. Please visit the Official Google Blog for more detailed information on both announcements. At a glance:

Chrome: It shouldn’t come as a shock to see simplicity and user-friendliness reign supreme in Chrome. However, don’t be sand-bagged into thinking Chrome is a “bare bones” browser as there have been a number of subtle and intuitive features that users will benefit from. One of the largest improvements (over traditional browsers) is Chrome’s multi-process environment (similar to an Operating System) whereas each browser tab is a stand-alone process running independently of the other(s). For example, you can close a tab when a page or a process on your computer acts up opposed to closing/re-opening the entire browser and losing an email or a cool site that took you forever to find. The multi-process approach also optimizes memory usage and eliminates memory bloat whereas closed tabs in single-threaded browsers still hang onto memory fragments long past the time you closed the tab (try using multiple tabs in the same IE session for a day). But, above all, Chrome has out-performed existing browsers in the time it takes to load web pages which, when boiled down, is the most direct user benefit of using any browser (assuming functionality requirements are met).

Picasa: Picasa’s always had a reputation for being a decent entry-level photo organizer but Google’s upped the ante with 3.0 with a number of improvements, especially around collaboration. Previous versions of Picasa allowed users to upload/share photos on?Picasa Web Albums but 3.0 allows users to bi-directionally synchronize photos and create slide-shows and movies that can be seamlessly ported to?YouTube. However, one of the coolest new features is Picasa Web Album’s “name tag” option that scans your albums and allows you to tag people using face recognition. If you’re still not sold…it’s free!