Sarasota PC Monitor
Review Chairmans Industry Comments (12/06)
The Computer Buffet
by Herb Goldstein, Review Editor
E-mail comments, suggestions, etc. to Herb Goldstein at: revieweditor@spcug.org
LESS EXPENSIVE PRESCRIPTION DRUG SUBSTITUTES. Tired of paying high prices for brand name drugs? Find out if you could save with generics or similar, less expensive medicines. Here's a list of prescription items and what you can safely substitute at lesser cost to do the identical same job. www.drugdigest.org:80/DD/CheckForSavings
THEOPENCD is a collection of high quality Free and Open Source Software. The programs run in Windows and cover the most common tasks such as word processing, presentations, e-mail, web browsing, web design, and image manipulation. They include only the highest quality programs, which have been carefully tested for stability and which they consider appropriate for a wide audience.
The Open CD site [1] offers for free a wonderful collection of just about every application software product you need to run a PC including the latest version of OpenOffice. Many of these freebies substitute admirably for expensive commercial products. There is Abi Word as an alternative for MS Word, OpenOffice for MS Office XP, Thunderbird for Outlook, The Gimp for Adobe Photoshop, 7-zip for WinZip and many more. If you then add to this collection some of the other utilities from my "46 Best-ever Utilities" collection you will have all the software you'll ever need without spending a cent. Note: All of the Open CD utilities can be downloaded for free as a CD ISO image. If you have a slow connection you can purchase the CD for a as little as $1.99. http://theopencd.org/
PSTART is a free portable start menu that can be installed on a USB drive or your local PC and provides quick access to programs and documents. You can organize your applications into custom groups and launch them by clicking on the associated icons.
The program supports advanced launch parameters, scheduled runs and custom icons, and also offers an option to generate a autorun.inf file for use with CDs. PStart also includes a small notes organizer, a search feature, and it displays information about the hard drive space on your drive. Other features include backup/restore, customizable interface, and an option to hide the launcher on the edge of your screen. www.snapfiles.com/get/PStart.html
EASY CLEANER is a multi-featured system maintenance tool that includes a registry cleaner, a startup manager, a duplicate file finder, and a graphical chart to inspect disk space usage. The program also includes several options to remove junk files, unnecessary files, and (IE) Internet tracks, as well as broken shortcuts from your desktop and start menu. The cleaning behavior can be customized based on file types and folder location, and the program can track your action with an undo list for all registry related clean-ups that allows you to restore your settings if needed. www.snapfiles.com/get/Easy-Cleaner.html
EXCEL USERS will love the comprehensive list of extensively used Excel formulas at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP052001271033.aspx
VISUAL TASK TIPS V2.0. Visual Task Tips is a lightweight shell enhancement utility. It provides thumbnail preview image for each task in the Windows Taskbar, as seen in the upcoming Microsoft Windows Vista. Visual Task Tips is totally free, pretty to look at, and makes you more productive. The only thing more this program could do is print money! www.visualtasktips.com/
MOBYSAURUS THESAURUS is an offline English thesaurus that helps you find related and synonymous words for your everyday speaking and writing purposes. It includes a database of over 30,000 root words and phrases and more than 2,500,000 synonyms, all of which can be cross-linked by simply clicking on a word. If you happen to run into a word that is not included in Mobysaurus, you can use the integrated online reference to look up synonyms on Wikipedia, Thesaurus.com, Dictionary.com, MSN Encarta, WordWeb Online, and other sites. Other features include wildcard search, clipboard/print support, system wide hotkey, WordWeb integration, and more. www.snapfilespro.com/gnomeapp.php?id=110336
MINITREZOR enables you to create password-protected containers that you can use to store your sensitive files using 256-bit AES encryption. You can create the container anywhere on your hard drive (or a USB drive), and also choose to have the program create up to two copies that can be stored in other locations for backup reasons. To add files to a container, you can simply drag and drop them into the interface and further organize them by creating virtual folders within the container. If you want to access your files, you must start miniTrezor and enter the correct password. The files, however, can only be accessed from within miniTrezor; they cannot be opened from Windows Explorer. www.snapfilespro.com/gnomeapp.php?id=110330
THE GOVERNMENT'S EBAY. You've probably heard about government auctions on TV. Plenty of people would like to sell you information on these auctions. But you don't need to spend a dime. Auctions across the country are accessible from the comfort of your computer. At FirstGov.com, you'll find new, seized and surplus merchandise for sale. There are computers, furniture and jewelry. And that's just the small stuff. You'll also find cars, boats and real estate! The purchase procedure varies by product. There are online auctions, public auctions and sealed bids. For real estate, you may have to contact an agent. Happy shopping!
TVUPLAYER is an Internet TV aggregator with 40 channels of streaming programs. Browse the channel line up for something you want to watch and playback the stream in either 320x240 or 800x600. Channels include ESPN, Disney, ABC, FOX, NBC, CNN, USA, Comedy Central, Animal Planet, Telemun- do, Al Jazeera and MLB TV among others. Bookmark favorite channels for faster access. Refresh channels, mute the audio and adjust volume as needed. http://tvunetworks.com/downloads/index.htm
HOOKEXPLORER can tell you if a file has hidden itself behind legitimate apps, sometimes fooling firewall software. A file hooked into the Windows program winlogon.exe, for example, could record your keystrokes as you type your system password, and if you tried to kill the winlogon program, you'd crash your PC. HookExplor- er lets you whitelist items known to be safe. http://labs.idefense.com/labs.php
SPIDER PLAYER is a free small media player with an array of extra features that include a CD ripper and audio format converter (MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV), Equalizer with presets, ID3 and WMA metadata editor, Song lyrics editor, Unicode support, and more. The player uses the Bass Audio Library from Un4seen. Other features include CD-Text support, streaming media playback and playlist search. Spider Player comes with a compact 3-part interface that can be arranged to your preference; most features are tucked away in menu lists, so the interface remain uncluttered despite the array of features offered. www.snapfiles.com/get/spiderplayer.html
CORE FTP LE - free Windows software that includes the client FTP features you need. Features like SFTP (SSH), SSL, TLS, IDN, browser integration, site to site transfers, FTP transfer resume, drag and drop support, file viewing and editing, firewall support, custom commands, FTP URL parsing, command line transfers, filters, and much, much more!
This free, secure FTP client gives you a fast, easy, reliable way to update and maintain your Web site via FTP. It also provides a secure method (via SSL, TLS, or SFTP) to upload / download files to and from FTP servers. Check out the list of features and you'll find almost every feature you need, all in a free ftp program. There are no popup ads, advertising or spyware and you're never asked or reminded to register. The best part about it is you can drag files in and out of the client just like they were on your computer. Want to upload something? All you need to do is drag it in. Want to download something? All you do is drag it out. www.coreftp.com
WIFI SISTR keeps track of your Wi-Fi connection and displays a small and attractive connectivity gauge on your desktop that indicates your current connection strength. The program also keeps a log of your connection history and displays graphical statistics for your average, worst, and best signal strength. The desktop display comes in three sizes and multiple skin styles to choose from. A right-click on the gauge will bring up the detailed settings and statistics interface. WiFi SiStr can also play a sound alert when the signal goes below a certain value, and optionally append signal strength to a (text) log file every minute or hour, which can be useful for troubleshooting of connection problems. http://www.snapfilespro.com/gnomeapp.php?id=110347
CLIPBOARD HELP AND SPELL. It sounds like a children's product, doesn't it? Clipboard Help and Spell is something you would expect to see them selling on Nick Jr. television channel, not here. Although it is easy to use, and fun for all ages, I would not consider this free download to be just for kids. So what is Clipboard Help and Spell all about? Here is what the developers of the download have to say: "Clipboard Help+Spell is a clipboard capture tool with history, favorites, spelling, formatting, and more. Database stores history of all past text clipboard entries for easy viewing, modification, and search. Use it for keeping hierarchical notes - search, sort, filter by text, modification date, last view date. Super easy and super fast search function - or use complex filters if you need them - you'll never have a problem finding a note again! Organize your notes and clips any way you want - show them all or view by group or category; view your clips any way you like. High-quality spell check - underlined mistakes; learning spell checker. Configurable hot keys for common functions. Powerful text formatting options - make your own presets for common functions. Simple functions for copying and pasting into and out of other applications. This is a perfect tool to help you spruce up on your productivity online or off. With this many built-in features, you would think this should cost an arm and a leg. The good news for you is it is totally free. www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/clipboardhelpandspell/
CLAVIER+ When it comes to keyboard shortcuts, you either love them and use them all the time or you hate them because they make you feel like your fingers are playing a game of Twister. Well, if you are so tired of putting your left thumb on the green key and your right index finger on the blue key, then I have a freeware solution for you. The solution this time around is a small program called Clavier+. This program sits in your system tray and allows you quick and easy access to your keyboard shortcuts. The fun does not stop there, though. It also allows you to edit those shortcuts you use. "Clavier allows to create keyboard shortcuts using almost any keys, including the Windows key (around the Space key). The created shortcuts can be associated to programs (to launch) or text (to write). Too bored to write your e-mail address? Create a universal keyboard shortcut to write it: it will work under Word, Excel, and your favorite Internet browser!" I have been using it for a little while, and I do have to say it is handy. I can now change all those simple Windows key shortcuts into something I might actually use. Now instead of pushing the Windows Key and N for Notepad, I now get my installation of NoteTab Pro. Overall, I cannot think of a better free solution for keeping track and editing all those keyboard shortcuts you use or you have been avoiding. http://utilfr42.free.fr/util/Clavier.php
THE WONDERFUL ICON is a small program that adds a single icon to your system tray, from which you can perform dozens of very useful functions. You can minimize any program or folder to the system tray, bounce windows to the edges of the screen, set windows to be on top, adjust the volume, empty the recycle bin, start your screensaver... you name it! The program comes with a large selection of pre-configured actions from which you can easily build a custom tray icon menu that includes all the functions you want to use. In addition, The Wonderful Icon can also act as a hotkey launcher to start applications, adjust your volume, emulate keyboard and mouse actions, and much more. The sheer number of useful little features makes this, indeed, a Wonderful Icon for any power user. www.snapfilespro.com/gnomeapp.php?id=110355
THE PASSWORD MANAGER IN FIREFOX is beneficial for anyone who maintains a large number of complicated passwords, but most people who are concerned with security would much rather enter them in manually. If Firefox keeps entering in passwords when you don't want it to, you can easily kick the program into submission. Go to the Tools menu at the top of Firefox and select Options. From there, click on the Privacy button on the left hand side and select Saved Passwords. By clicking on View Saved Passwords, you can manage what passwords are saved and never saved. Along with this, a Master Password option is available if you'd like to protect your list of passwords. If you don't want Firefox to remember your passwords anymore, just uncheck the Remember Passwords option.
HIDE YOUR IP ADDRESS FREE. When you visit a Web site, it logs your computer's IP address. To many Web surfers, these records are akin to tracking. Many opt to do their Web browsing through a proxy. A proxy is an effective way to obscure your IP address. The proxy fetches Web pages and other online communication for you. Web sites see the proxy's IP address rather than yours. PHProxy allows you to visit Web sites without using your own IP address. Simply enter the Web address of the site you'd like to visit to start. PHProxy will continue to work as you click links. If you enter an address directly into your browser, however, PHProxy's effect will stop. The tool works completely online, so there is no software to download. It works with either Windows or Mac OS X. PHProxy is supported by advertising, which appears as a banner at the top of each page you visit. www.phproxy.org
KEEP YOUR PRIVACY ONLINE. Online tracking is invasive to many Web surfers. To reduce the privacy risks of online tracking, you should protect your IP address. A proxy is an effective way to obscure your IP address. The proxy fetches Web pages and other online communication for you. Web sites see the proxy's IP address rather than yours. Privoxy is a combination proxy and filter. Its filter features can be set to block cookies and Web page advertisements. Privoxy is relatively easy to set up, but filters may require some know-how. Privoxy will work with Windows or OS X systems and most Web browsers. Cost: Free. www.privoxy.org
TRUECRYPT. This free, open-source encryption program lets you place files and folders in "safes" of any size.
The best things in life are free, and Truecrypt may be one of them. When you encrypt files on your hard disk, not only do you want to scramble the files, but sometimes you want to prevent others from discovering that the files even exist, a sleight-of-hand known as steganography. Not only does Truecrypt use strong encryption when it creates encrypted volumes (including 256-bit AES and 448-bit Blowfish), it also creates hidden volumes that are indistinguishable from random data. If you take the time to learn how to use Truecrypt's steganographic features, the program will do a great job of protecting your data from snoops. www.truecrypt.org
CHECK ON YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR. Your financial future isn't something you should take lightly. It's important to get the information you need to invest wisely. Investments should be researched carefully. But what about financial advisors? Well, you need to research them, too. NASD's BrokerCheck will help you check the background of brokers and/or brokerage firms. You can verify licensing and check conduct. The site returns information fast. So you really have no reason not to run a report. One complaint is that the site is difficult to read. The font is really, really small. www.nasd.com
JPEGCROPS batch image cropping tool for lossless cropping of fixed aspect ratios. The application includes a number of preset aspect ratios with the option to customize your own. Supports file renaming, file quality management, landscape and portrait modes for both the image and the cropped output. Dynamically adjustable aspect ratios across individual images or an large batch of images. Use rule of thirds or golden section to help define crops. http://ekot.dk/programmer/JPEGCrops
XYPLORER is a great free file manager. It uses a tabbed view rather than a two pane view which is better when working with multiple folders though not quite as efficient as the two pane approach when working with only two.
XYplorer is packed with features included one of the best file-finders available. It's one of those products that impresses more with use. In fact, if you use it for a month, you'll end up using it permanently. Until the 21st March 2006 it was freeware but has now morphed to shareware but the last free version is still available from the vendors site and various freeware sites. www.xyplorer.com
THUNDERBIRD is a free email program developed by Mozilla.org, the same folks who brought you Firefox. Feature-wise it sits somewhere between Outlook Express and Outlook which means that it offers an upgrade to Express users and a downgrade to those who use the more advanced PIM features of Outlook. All Outlook Express users should seriously consider switching. You'll be rewarded with a more advanced product including built- in spam filtering, built-in RSS reader, message color coding, fast email search, anti-phishing measures, spell check as you type, inbox filters, Kerberos authentication, automatic updates and the ability to view your mail in conversational threads. On top of that, the product is more secure than OE and unlike the latter, is still being actively developed. www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird
BEST FREE CLIPBOARD REPLACEMENT UTILITY. If you just need a basic clipboard replacement utility, look no further than Clipboard Recorder [1]. It will store up to 99 items that can be easily selected and pasted from the popup history list by pressing the shortcut key (Ctrl-Alt-V by default). It supports a variety of formats (text, RTF, HTML, CSV, Bitmap, etc.) and has the ability to transfer copied items between computers. In addition, it is a very small program and uses very little resources. Clipboard Recorder is what the regular clipboard in Windows should have been! www.lw-works.com
THE BEST SPYWARE DETECTOR. If you use Ad-Aware or SpyBot you will be surprised just how more effectively SpySweeper detects and protects your PC from Adware, Spyware, Trojans and other malicious products. That's why it yet again won the prized "Editor's Choice" award from PC Magazine. Try the free evaluation copy and see for yourself, you may be surprised what it finds on your PC. www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php?rc=1132
NTFS VS. FAT 32. For your information, on any drive or partition larger than 8GB, NTFS is actually quite a bit more space-efficient that Fat32. On your 80Gb drive, for example, NTFS will chop the drive into usable chunks-- "clusters"- of 4K each. On the same drive, FAT32 would break the drive into clusters of 32K each. Let's say you save a 1K file on each system. The NTFS system will put the 1K file in a 4K cluster, wasting 3K. (The wasted space is called "slack.") The FAT32 system will put the 1K file in a 32K cluster, wasting 31K. So, NTFS is much more space- efficient-- it generates much less slack- on large drives.
PRINTERANYWHERE. Want to print a document directly on a buddy's printer, anywhere in the world? If you're both online, you can do it with PrinterAnywhere. The free utility installs on both PCs, and you can choose the PrinterAnywhere printer from any application. An encrypted version of the file shoots through the Internet and prints on your buddy's printer. Turn the idea around and you can share your printer with anyone. It's ideal for sending confidential documents (as noted, the file is encrypted when sent); and unlike e-mail, it can't be forwarded www.printeranywhere.com
PASSWORD SAFE. Web browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox are pretty good at remembering and entering your login name and password at sites you visit often. But they don't always work with every Web login page, and not every login happens in a Web page. Free Password Safe stores your login data in a password-protected, encrypted file you unlock whenever you need access to your stored login information. At the very least, Password Safe lets you manually cut and paste user names and passwords from its database into Web pages and applications, and is a great place to store any sensitive information. In addition, you can use the program's Auto Type feature to log you in to programs and sites automatically. www.schneier.com/passsafe.html
DVD SHRINK, DVDs are useful for backing up your hard drive, but what backs up your DVDs? Put your DVD burner to good use with DVD Shrink, which lets you back up the data on your DVD. DVD Shrink burns your backup file to your hard drive. If you have the latest version of Nero's burning software, DVD Shrink will work with it to let you burn a backup DVD as well. www.dvdshrink.org
UNFORGIVEN ORGANIZER is a funny (but solid) powerful organizer with an eye catching interface. It lets you to manage yearly, monthly, weekly and daily tasks based on their frequency of occurrence. It also features a Contacts Manager that links with e-mail client, Internet browser and Windows telephony. The integrated Block-Notes is text editor and note organizer at same time. One basic To-Do List completes the operation. http://spazioinwind.libero.it:80/unforgiven/frameset.htm
DUPKILLER is one of the fastest and the most powerful tools for searching and removing duplicate or similar files on your computer. Complicated algorithms, built in its searching mechanism, perform high results - rapid file search.
A lot of options allow to flexibly customize the search. The program will find unneeded copies of files in those locations where you even would not consider to search. There is comparison not only by name, last modification date or size. One can compare files by their contents, and what's more, to set what percent they must match; one can search different-length files, include or exclude files by mask, etc. In addition, unlike other programs of this sort, DupKiller performs all operations faster and better, because of complicated algorithms of data processing built in the search mechanism of the program. http://dupkiller.bira.ck.ua/index_en.html
STRETCHING THE TASKBAR. Sometimes your taskbar gets a little tight and cramped for room. When this happens, give it a stretch. First, unlock your taskbar by right-clicking the taskbar, and then clicking Lock the Taskbar if it is selected (this will un-select it). Scroll your mouse over the top edge of the taskbar until you see the vertical resize cursor (arrow pointing up and down). Click, hold and drag the top of the taskbar up. Isn't that better? Once you find a place where you like it, you should re-select Lock the Taskbar.
OPEN FILES WITH ONE CLICK. It just makes sense that if you can do the same thing in Windows with a single click of the mouse that you can do with two clicks, you'd take the shorter route, right? If you want to change your two clicks to one, click Start, click My Computer. Under the Tools menu, click Folder Options. Now click the General tab in the dialog box, click Single-click to open an item (point to select), and then click OK. This makes everything in Windows exactly one click faster.
SEND A WEB PAGE BY E-MAIL. If you come across a Web page that you've just got to tell your friends about, why not do it right away? Here's how:
- In Internet Explorer, click the Mail button on your toolbar (the one shaped like an open envelope).
- Click Send Page on the drop-down menu. This automatically opens your default e-mail program with the page attached.
- Type your friend's e-mail address in the To box and click Send.
FREE DOWNLOAD MANAGER. Using power of this free download manager and accelerator you can downloads files and complete websites up to 600% faster than before. It utilizes complete bandwidth of your internet connection even if you download from slow web sites. www.freedownloadmanager.org
ALFACLOCK is a regular taskbar clock (sometimes called "tray clock"). But that is just your first impression. This tray clock combines multitude of cool features with stylish design. First, you can set AlfaClock to display time, date and day of the week simultaneously. Second, you can customize AlfaClock to announce this information periodically. And you can set an alarm - a very handy feature, if you frequently keep losing track of time, while using your computer. Atomic Clock Synchronization feature allows you to periodically connect to atomic clock time servers to make sure that your computer displays correct time and adjust it automatically, if necessary. Correct time may be critical to some computer users - for example, to professional eBay bidders, who make their final bids thirty seconds before the auction closes. AlfaClock has quite a few of extra features that other taskbar clocks don t have.
Like copy time/date to clipboard feature. Or a fully customizable pop-up calendar. Created to ISO8601 specifications, it allows you to change the first day of the week, highlight weekends and holidays. AlfaClock takes very little system resources and is fully compatible with all Windows versions - Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP. Now, here comes the best part. AlfaClock is a Freeware. So download your copy right now, or visit www.alfaclock.com
COPERNIC DESKTOP SEARCH. This free searching tool-has been upgraded. It's even better than before for a number of reasons. The redesigned interface is cleaner and easier to follow. For example, the different search file categories-e-mail, files, music, images, contacts, Internet Favorites, and History-are better in the new version.
You can immediately see exactly how many hits were found in each category. And creating and saving custom searches is blessedly easy. The "as you type" search function is cool, too. CDS looks into files-Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint docs, PDFs, and other files, such as e-mail messages (including Eudora), as well as videos and pictures. You can search on specific file types, say Word docs, or for exact words within files. The program uses an index of files on the PC in order to make searches nearly instantaneous; it updates itself while the system is idle. www.copernic.com
SECURE DRIVES COMING. Early in 2007, Seagate Technology will begin shipping its first widely available hard drives with built-in encryption. The Momentus 5400 FDE.2 (which stands for Full Disk Encryption 2) will include a special encryption chip that will make it impossible for anyone to read data off the disk, or even boot up a PC, without some form of authentication. Designed for notebook computers, the 2.5-inch, 5400 rpm drive will come with a storage capacity of 80GB, 120GB, or 160GB. Users could give a password to gain access to the drive, but Seagate expects notebook vendors to also develop other authentication systems such as fingerprint and smart card readers.
CONGRATULATIONS TO MEMBER CHRIS BLUNT on publication of his latest crime novel in the Judge Overholt Mystery series, published by iUniverse (www.iuniverse.com).
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Copyright 2006. This article is from the December 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/
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