Review Chairmans Industry Comments (4/06) The Computer Buffet

Sarasota PC Monitor

Review Chairmans Industry Comments (4/06)

The Computer Buffet

by Herb Goldstein, Review Editor

E-mail comments, suggestions, etc. to Herb Goldstein at: revieweditor@spcug.org

JOIN "THE HOT LINE" E-MAIL about your computer-related experiences, bad or good and we will share it with our readers in a new section of the Computer Buffet entitled, "The Hot Line." Tell us about some computer software or hardware issue that either gave you ulcers or made your day. How about the service from your Internet service provider? Are you happy with your new computer? What about service-related issues? We will include your name or just your initials, your choice. Your opinions and experiences can be of valued interest to our readers. Send them to editor@spcug.org Let's hear from You!

JETAUDIO is integrated multimedia software made up of a single compact rack. Not only does it play various music and video files, it also has features such as CD burning, recording, and conversion to other file formats. You can create your own Internet broadcast by using JetCast, provided with JetAudio, and you can play all major file formats, including WAV, MP3, MP3Pro, OGG, WMA, MPEG, AVI, WMV, MIDI, RM, and video and audio CD tracks.

Convert among audio file formats, and record analog audio to various formats; tag editing for MP3, OGG, and WMA files; sound effects including wide, reverb, and x-bass; multichannel sound output; speed control of audio playback; cross-fading for a smooth transition between two songs; a skinnable user interface; and synchronized lyrics display (karaoke) for MIDI and MP3 files.supports for video conversion for iAUDIO U3, supports .ts, .tp file extension, and includes video format converter to AVI. www.cowonamerica.com

POP PEEPER is a small utility that runs in your Windows system tray. It visually and audibly lets you know if you have email on any number of POP3 servers as well as Hotmail, Yahoo, Mail.com, Myway, Excite, Lycos and Rediffmail. It allows you to preview the headers of your email, and view the messages. There is also support for file attachments, which allows you to view the name of the files. If you are checking multiple accounts, you can specify a custom color for each, making it easy to distinguish the messages. Message preview is quick and fully supports HTML messages. Using POP Peeper, you can quickly scan what messages are important enough to read, and which ones you want to delete without even opening your email client. A great little tool that works fast and efficient. www.poppeeper.com/

AVAST! Home Edition is a complete anti-virus package, that is is free for registered home non-commercial users. It contains an on-demand scanner with two interfaces (simple for novices and advanced for experienced users), an on-access scanner with Standard Shield (which protects against execution and opening malware programs) and an embedded e-mail scanner which scans incoming and outgoing email messages. Avast! Home integrates with the Windows Explorer right click menu and also includes a special screen saver which is able to scan your system while your computer is not in use. Updates are incremental and frequently made available for manual or scheduled download. You will download a 60 days demo, if you would like to continue free usage beyond that time, you'll need to register from the home page to obtain a free activation key by email. www.avast.com/

OUTLOOKHELPER. With all the spam and those friends sending "chain" emails, it makes sense to bolster Outlook. OutlookHelper is a free add-on for Windows 2000 and above and Windows XP. It's like a turbo charger for Outlook, allowing you to more efficiently manage your email. It features several helpful functions, such as previewing images of multiple emails simultaneously without opening them (so technically you're not breaking that lucky chain email). Also lets you store, sort and organize email in more flexible ways and a virus alert lets you know before you open that tainted email. This add-on comes with free, private cyber-storage, which more than makes up for the small disc space it uses. Easy to load and use and priced to move: free. www.outlookhelper.com/olh_main.asp?

DIGITAL CAMERA TIP. Here's a handy tip for digital camera owners from Scott Johnson, The Computer Tutor. "Any digital camera that you buy will come with its own software that is supposed to help you with downloading your pictures from the camera to the computer. Some of these programs are Camedia, Corel PhotoAlbum, Kodak EasyShare, etc. Here's my advice: don't use any of them. In fact, if you use Windows XP, you don't need to use any separate program to get your pictures to your computer - XP has that function already built in. Here's how you do it:

Connect your camera to your computer, via the cable that goes to the USB port, and turn on the camera.

Double-click My Computer so that you see the various drive letters displayed.

Double-click the drive letter for your digital camera (it will probably say "removable disk" followed by the drive letter).

Double click the next folder shown (probably labeled DCIM), and then double click the folder containing your photos.

Hold the Ctrl key, and hit the letter "A" (this highlights all of the photos).

Do a right-click on one of the highlighted images, and choose "Copy" (this copies all of the images to the Windows Clipboard).

Now, close this window completely and go to the My Pictures folder (you can find that by clicking on the Start button).

In a blank area in that folder, do a right-click and choose "Paste" (this copies all of the images to this folder).

Now, your images are on the hard drive. You are able to move them around to the proper folder(s), or you can edit them, or you can delete them. Once you know that the pictures are on the computer, you can delete them from the camera, thereby freeing up space on the memory card for more photos. If you really want to use a separate program for moving pictures from the camera to the computer, I highly recommend Picasa - just use the Import button found in the top left corner, and choose your camera as the device from which to import."

REAL ALTERNATIVE V1.32. Many audio and video files are offered only in Real Networks' formats. If you like the files, but you don't like being tied to Real, you may prefer Real Alternative. This player plays RealAudio (.ra and .rpm) and Realmedia (.rm, .ram, .rmvb, .rpx) files just like RealPlayer and RealOne Player do-but without the hassles of dealing with Real. It offers limited support for Real's .smi and .smil formats. Real Alternative's RealMedia browser plug-in supports Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Netscape, and Opera. http://home.hccnet.nl/h.edskes/finalbuilds.htm ADJUST MOUSE WHEEL SCROLL SPEED. If you own a wheel mouse, then you can control how many lines your mouse scrolls when you turn the wheel.

Click the Start menu and open the Control Panel.

Click the Printer and Other Hardware icon, then the Mouse icon. (Note: This is in Category view, not Classic view.)

Click the Wheel tab in the dialog box, change the number of lines your mouse scrolls with each turn of the wheel, and then click OK.

XP SP3. Don't look for it until next year, but it's coming. Microsoft is concentrating on getting Vista out the door this year.

VIDEO2PHOTO captures frames from a video source (DV camcorder, Webcam, live stream) or video file (AVI, DivX or MPEG). Play your movie within the application and select individual frames to extract. Choose to apply effects or processing options to all or selected frames, including color corrections, cropping, old photo effect, and more. Exported image as still images, HTML galleries, Flash, or AVI. www. pixel chain.com/video2photo/

BAZOOKA ADWARE AND SPYWARE SCANNER. While many programs detect Spyware, Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner not only detects unwelcome guests, it obliterates them. This free program detects spyware, adware, foistware, trojan, keylogger, various trackware components and more stuff that much anti-virus software overlooks. Once Bazooka detects something, it gives you easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions for uninstalling the threat.

Bazooka Spyware Scanner searches for more than 460 threats, including ghost programs that track your surfing habits, which leads to even more pop-up windows. It's free and easy to install, and the website is updated regularly to keep you safe and free from new invasion technology. www.kephyr.com/

SITEADVISOR for Firefox users helps protect you from all kinds of Web-based security threats including spyware, adware, spam, viruses, browser-based attacks, phishing, online fraud and identity theft. Their automated testers continually patrol the Web to browse sites, download files, and sign-up for things with e-mail addresses. As you search, browse, download or register online, SiteAdvisor's safety ratings help you stay safe and in control.

The short story on SiteAdvisor is that it gives you the dirt on more than a million Web sites. Its test bots constantly check sites to see whether they send unsolicited e-mail, bury users under a blanket of pop-ups, and-perhaps most importantly-contain software that could compromise your privacy. Whenever you visit a URL, SiteAdvisor's browser icon flashes one of three colors: green (safe), yellow (caution), or red (extreme caution). Then, with a couple clicks, you can head to SiteAdvisor's home page for more detailed information. According to the company, about 90 percent of the sites tested so far have scored a green rating, whereas only 5 percent haved earned the red flag for bad behavior. A favorite part about the plug-in is that it rates sites directly from search engines such as Yahoo and Google, which reduces your chances of falling victim to a drive-by install. www.download.com/SiteAdvisor-for-Firefox/3000-2378_4-10493671.html?tag=nl.e415

TIMELEFT is a countdown, reminder, clock (also Windows tray clock replacement), alarm-clock, stopwatch, timer, sticker, and time-synchronization utility. TimeLeft uses Winamp skins to show digits and text. The main feature of TimeLeft is a customizable reminder, which can alert you at a specific moment or run periodically. It can also remind you before a specified event or keep on reminding you after it. The reminder can show a message, play music, open a link or document, or shut down your PC. The Countdown feature lives on your desktop and shows the amount of time left until (or that's passed since) the specified event. You also can put your countdown on a Web page. www.download.com/TimeLeft/3000-2350_4-10034817.html?tag=nl.e415

#1-TUFFTEST-LITE 1.53 AND TUFFTEST-PRO V3.53. Working at the BIOS level, this application diagnoses your system to find hardware, port, and memory malfunctions that may not be found by applications installed onto your native operating system. You merely insert the program disk and boot up the computer, and at the end of the Test Session, a simple "OK" or "fail" is reported for each test in the Certification Test Results display. This report can be printed, as well as saved to the program disk for later viewing or printing. www.tufftest.com/index.htm

BITDEFENDER 8 FREE EDITION is your chance to use one of the world's most effective antivirus engines for free! BitDefender 8 uses the same ICSA Labs certified scanning engines found in other BitDefender products, allowing you to enjoy basic virus protection for no cost at all. BitDefender 8 Free Edition is an on-demand virus scanner, which is best used in a system recovery or forensics role. If you are on an "always-on" Internet connection, we strongly advise you to consider using a more complex antivirus solution. http://www.bitdefender.com/bd/site/products.php?p_id=24

AMAZINGMIDI. Now there's a new way to get to Carnegie Hall. AmazingMIDI is a program that automatically transcribes music into notes by converting WAV files into MIDI files. Isolate a single instrument with powerful single instrument polyphonic music recognition. Strike new chords (or learn them) with this quick install program. As accomplished as this program is, to get to Carnegie Hall you'll still have to practice, but with AmazingMIDI, perhaps you'll get there faster. www.pluto.dti.ne.jp/~araki/amazingmidi/

JALBUM. This software allows you to create nice-looking photo galleries for the Web. You simply select or drag and drop folders containing images or movie files onto JAlbum, and it creates thumbnails and HTML pages to publish your images as a gallery or as a picture slide show. The galleries are based on various templates, and their appearance can be further customized by advanced users. The application's additional features include support for IPTC/EXIF data, style sheets, lossless image manipulation, pluggable image filters, and a built-in FTP/SFTP client. Version 6.2 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, and bug fixes. www.datadosen.se

FASTSTONE IMAGE VIEWER is a fast, stable, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor. It has a nice array of features that include image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping and color adjustments. Its innovative but intuitive full-screen mode provides quick access to EXIF information, thumbnail browser and major functionalities via hidden toolbars that pop up when your mouse touch the four edges of the screen. Other features include a high quality magnifier and a musical slideshow with 150+ transitional effects, as well as lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image frames, scanner support, histogram and much more. It supports all major graphic formats (BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, animated GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO and TGA) and popular digital camera RAW formats (CRW, CR2, NEF, PEF, RAF, MRW, ORF and DNG. www.faststone.org

A-TOOLBAR brings just about every useful tool all under one roof. If you want to use it, chances are, A-ToolBar has it. This ultimate Internet and desktop tool brings you 50 useful tools in one program. So what about the features? What does this toolbar really deliver? Here is only a handful of the things this toolbar can do: meta search, Web catalog, latest news, feed (RSS) reader, spam remover, desktop search, links manager, applications manager, language translator, dictionary, Telnet SSH, proxy, ping, trace, DNS lookup, submit URL, URL info, link popularity, position analysis, keyword density, and so much more. It has more than enough features to keep just about everybody happy. From general tools, network tools, and URL tools, you should find more than enough to increase your productivity and to keep it around for a very long time. www.metaeureka.com/download.shtml

MSCONFIG CLEANUP. Cleanup MSConfig disabled items. MSConfig is a helpful system tool. But it lets you to only disable items but they remain in the startup list. MSConfig Cleanup helps you remove the residue! www.get-in-control.com/msconfig-cleanup/ MICROSOFT ONECARE. Microsoft expects to release its all-in-one anti-malware product labeled "OneCare before summertime this year. It will contain anti-virus, anti-spyware software as well as a two-way firewall, offer regular updates, and is expected to cost $50 a year. The anti-spyware component is based on the product formerly from Giant Software that is the core for Sunbelt's CounterSpy. The Microsoft product will need to offer something dramatic to compete with PC-cillin Internet Security which contains the same protection and then some at considerably less cost.

MICROSOFT SUPPORT ENDS FOR WIN 98, ME. June 30, 2006 will bring an end to Extended Support for Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows Me as part of the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy. Microsoft will retire public and technical support, including security updates, by this date.

SITEADVISOR helps protect you from all kinds of Web-based security threats including spyware, adware, spam, viruses, browser-based attacks, phishing, online fraud and identity theft. Their automated testers continually patrol the Web to browse sites, download files, and sign-up for things with e-mail addresses. As you search, browse, download or register online, SiteAdvisor's safety ratings help you stay safe and in control. www.siteadvisor.com

G-ZAPPER helps you stay anonymous while searching Google. G-Zapper is compatible with Windows 95/98/ME/NT/ 2000/XP. G-Zapper requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0+ or Mozilla Firefox 1.5+. Did you know that Google stores a unique identifier in a cookie on your PC, which allows them to track the keywords you search for? They use this information to compile reports, track user habits, and test features. In the future, it is possible they could even sell this information or share it with others. G-Zapper helps you protect your identity and this valuable "attention data" by blocking the Google search cookie. www.dummysoftware.com/gzapper.html

REALLY BIG SHOW! If you are into massive storage, look at the recent 1 terabyte (1,000 GB) external USB/firewire drives from Maxtor and LaCie. Each is actually two 500GB drives in one external enclosure. If you are a movie download enthusiast, it's not as big as it sounds.

STARTUP CONTROL PANEL is a nifty control panel free applet that allows you to easily configure which programs run when your computer starts. It's simple to use and, like a good utility, is very small and won't burden your system. A valuable tool for system administrators! Startup Control Panel is compatible with all modern versions of Windows, including Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, and XP. http://mlin.net/

SPAMFIGHTER has partnered up with Microsoft to build what it claims is the strongest, safest and most effective anti spam tool on the market. So if you use Outlook or Outlook Express and you want to get rid of spam, just install SPAMfighter. And if you use it at home, it's 100% free. http://www.spamfighter .com/Product_Info.asp

FOXYTUNES lets you access your media player from Mozilla Firefox. This free slender plug-in appears at the bottom of your browser window. Supported players include Apollo 37, Foobar, ITunes 4, JetAudio 6, Musicmatch Jukebox, Quintessential Player, Sonique, Winamp, Windows Media Player, and Yahoo Music Engine. It includes limited support for Real Player as well. FoxyTunes v1.2 Some people surf in silence because their media player is too distracting. FoxyTunes lets you escape this sad fate by accessing your media player from Firefox. This slender plug-in appears at the bottom of your browser window, leaving your precious browser space untouched. www.foxytunes.org/firefox/

SKYPE is software that enables you to make free calls anywhere in the world. Skype uses innovative P2P (peer-to-peer) technology to connect you with other users. It offers several features, including SkypeOut calling from Skype to regular and mobile phones worldwide, conference calling, and secure file transferring. Skype calls have better sound quality than your regular phone and are highly secure, with end-to-end encryption. http://skype.com

MERCORA IMRADIO is for the music connoisseur or aficionado who is into music discovery. Mercora IMRadio is the "universal tuner" that connects you to the world's largest and legal music radio network powered by people, dj's and artists just like you. With Mercora IMRadio, you can search, find and listen to thousands of artists and hundreds of genres in near-CD quality sound from webcasters all over the world - you can never find such variety with other online services, AM, FM or even XM. Mercora IMRadio also allows you to legally time-shift authorized webcasts for listening at a later more convenient time or when you are disconnected from the Internet. Welcome to the future of legal music discovery - Mercora IMRadio!Search, listen, and record any music. With over 2.5 million unique tracks, Mercora is a legal music radio network powered by people, DJs, and artists just like you. Mercora combines Internet streaming, country-specific copyright compliance, and social networking technologies to create the next generation of digital music. www.mercora.com

SPARE BACKUP is a totally automated, completely secure, and invisible backup application. Spare Backup scans your computer, identifying files to be backed up for you. You don't have to do a thing. Spare Backup backs even backs up Outlook email, contacts and calendar. Once your files are scanned, they're automatically scheduled for nightly backup. Simple, fast data recovery. Imagine recovering a lost file without having to select it from a long, complicated directory. www.sparebackup.com

IE MAXIMIZER. This handy program will help you get more out of IE. First, it will open every IE window in full screen. No more of those annoying half windows! Then, you can set options for certain windows. Have the program close them automatically or open them in their normal size. You can also assign a shortcut key that will close all IE windows! www.jiisoft.com/iemaximizer

DOWNLOAD ACCELERATER PLUS V8.0.2.3. This download manager brings much more to the table than faster downloads, but it's main focus definitely delivers on making file transfers quicker. Upon installation, the program asks for your e-mail address in the hopes of sending you special offers, but you don't actually need to submit any information to use Download Accelerator Plus. Although the software is free, the trade-off is the ad that occupies the top-right portion of the interface, but it's easy to get used to. In most other respects, the tabbed main window is easy to use and navigate; we especially like the built-in player for previewing media files. The program also installs a handy toolbar in Internet Explorer and integrates with alternate browsers such as Firefox.

Increased download speeds are this Download Accelerator's bread and butter, and it doesn't disappoint, making downloads faster than other programs by almost 200 percent in most cases. Besides the common tactic of splitting files into smaller pieces, Download Accelerator Plus speeds things up by automatically seeking faster mirrors. It also can get a file simultaneously from several sites, which is useful if a particular site limits the download speed. Other useful tools include the ability to resume interrupted downloads, log onto protected sites, and schedule downloads at low traffic times for faster downloading. We appreciate the extra tools for organizing media and finding games, as well as the basic yet functional FTP client. All things considered, this feature-rich program will prove to be a valuable addition for the majority of habitual downloaders. www.download .com/Download-Accelerator-Plus/3003-2071_4-10037157 .html?tag=nl.e415

HOW MUCH IS THAT HOME? Lately the housing market has gone through the roof. In some areas, prices of houses have increased by thousands of dollars a month. So if you're buying or selling a house, it makes sense to do some research. That way, you won't get a raw deal. And Zillow is a great place to start. Just enter an address in the search box. You'll get a current estimate of the home's value. A map will show you the values of the neighboring houses. Need more information? You can find additional details about the quality of construction, square footage and heating system and a chart will show the change in value over the past year. Happy house hunting! zillow.com

EMAILING LARGE FILES. You may have discovered that most ISP's (especially Comcast) will not allow you to email anything whose size is more than a few paltry megabytes. There is a very easy workaround. Go to either yousendit.com or mailbigfile.com. You can very easily send files up to gigabyte in size on these and it's free. The mailing is done directly at their site by just indicating what file you want to send and where you want to send it.

HP PHOTOSMART ESSENTIAL helps you get great prints without having to buy anything new. With this fast, free download, you'll not only save time and money, but you'll also get the power to create professional-looking prints in a snap! Designed to streamline the most frequently performed photo software tasks, it's a quick and easy solution for organizing, fixing, printing, and sharing photos. Featuring a mere two clicks to printing lab-quality photos and one touch auto fix, it's surprisingly simple for the novice and convenient for experienced user.

Optional plug-ins allow you to do more with your photos. Version 1.9 (formerly Image Zone Express) now features great new sharing options: Upload, share, order prints and photo gifts at Snapfish.com or let Photosmart Essential auto downsize your photos perfectly for home printing and automatically send them in your default email program. Also included are many more borderless home photo album templates, and much more. www.hp.com

SWITCH OFF is a tiny, easy-to-use, tray-based system utility that can automatically perform various frequently used operations such as shutting down or restarting your computer, disconnecting your current dial-up connection, and locking your workstation.

It also provides fast access to these operations through the system-tray icon. It has a fully customizable Web interface that allows you to initiate operations remotely from any computer with a Web browser installed. The Web interface includes WAP support, so you can control your computer from a mobile phone. This utility is intended to be used by either a novice or a professional user, because of its intuitive interface and professional features. Professional features include command-line support, and a silent install option. yasoft.km.ru

SIMPLE FILE SHREDDER is a utility that securely deletes your files so they can't be restored using recovery software. SFS ensures your privacy by scrambling filenames, overwriting files with random bytes, changing the file date/time to a random date/time value, and verifying files have been completely shredded before deleting them. Simple File Shredder also supports shredding the Windows Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, and Temp files. Also supported are Firefox, Opera, and Netscape browser "junk files." Version 2.6 features quick search advanced search options and Netscape 8 is added to System Junk Shredder. The application also has simple or custom shredding options; changes to System Junk Shredder user interface. www.scar5.com

TOOLBAR DESIGNER is a Windows application that gives you the opportunity to design own custom Internet Explorer Toolbars. You could literally have your first toolbar designed in 10 minutes. Toolbar Designer may be used on any computer running Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000 or XP. We've made sure that even the newest newbie can build a toolbar easily, but we've also packed in the features for the professionals who want the advanced stuff. www.toolbardesign.com

WINDOWS DEFENDER (Beta 2) detects and removes known spyware from your computer, which helps make your Internet browsing safer. The software uses automatic definition updates provided by Microsoft analysts to help detect and remove new threats as the threats are identified. Take a look at some of the good points here: www.updatexp.com/windows-defender-beta.html

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Copyright 2006. This article is from the April 2006 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/

The Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. has 1,100+ members and was established in 1982. We are members of the Assoc. of PC User Groups (APCUG), the Florida Assoc. of PC Users Groups, Inc., and we are members of the America Online Ambassador Program.

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