Archive for December, 2008
Funny how the most minor inconveniences can ruin your day, isn’t it?
All of us end up with more accounts and passwords than we know what to do with and most of us usually end up storing them all in an unprotected file or a sheet of paper. The same guy that wrote MWSnap, which I introduced in my previous post, has also written a free program called PINs.
PINs is a free feature-rich Windows program for safe and comfortable storing of any secure information like passwords, accounts, PINs etc. PINs uses a secure 448 bit Blowfish algorithm to ensure the data are not crackable. The password used for securing access to stored data is not saved anywhere.
Grab a copy of PINs.
We use an old version of SnagIt at work to capture screenshots for the plethora of business and technical documentation that rises out of our work group. It’s a very handy program and I’ve always wanted a copy to use at home but I’m too cheap to buy it, plus, based on what I see on TechSmith’s site, it looks like they’ve added a lot of bloatware to the later versions.
Enter MWSnap, a free screen capture utility that allows you to capture the whole desktop, a highlighted window, an active menu, a control, or a fixed or free rectangular part of the screen. It handles 5 most popular graphics formats and contains several graphical tools: a zoom, a ruler, a color picker and a window spy. It can be also used as a fast picture viewer or converter.
Grab a copy of MWSnap and give it a test drive.
“Fairpoint Communications, which has taken over Verizon’s landline business in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, has announced that on February 6 ‘AOL, Yahoo! and MSN subscribers will continue to have access to content but will no longer be able to access their e-mail through the third-party Web site. Instead, Yahoo! and other third-party e-mail will be accessed directly at the MyFairPoint.net portal. Since Verizon spun off its lines to Fairpoint in a maneuver that got debt off of Verizon’s balance sheets by saddling Fairpoint with it, there was concern by the public service boards of the three states about how Fairpoint would deal with that debt. Fairpoint’s profit plan: force all Webmail users through Fairpoint’s portal, by blocking all direct access to Webmail portals other than its own. Will Fairpoint’s own search engine portal be next? What can stop them?”
Read the ongoing discussion on Slashdot or the original article on the Rutland Herald.
Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it,No explanation required here. Sometimes science is a lot easier than it seemed in school.
Ever try building a house of cards? I used to try but after a couple of stories it would cave in on itself and I’d give up. This guy makes a real art form out of it.
Bryan Berg broke the Guinness World Record for the World’s Tallest House of Cards in 1992 at the age of seventeen, with a tower fourteen feet, six inches tall. His latest record-holding structure in the category is over twenty-five feet tall. In 2004, Guinness created a new record category for the World’s Largest House of Cards to recognize a project Berg built for Walt Disney World–a replica of Cinderella’s Castle. He continues to hold both records.
Check out the Cardstacker’s site.
Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it,I stumbled across this and thought it was kind of cool, figured I’d share it. It looks pretty simple but I imagine that the creator put quite a bit of time in it.
The author has a lot more cool videos. Visit Dust Films to see more.
Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it,Gizmodo has provided a follow-up article on the IBM ThinkPad W700ds that includes a video of the laptop.
| I’m a Kindle owner and can’t overemphasize how much I love the device. Now there’s a new eBook reader in the line up. The eSlick can now be preordered and can be shipped in just five to seven weeks. The cost of the eSlick is $229.99 direct and with a suggested retail price of $259.99. The Foxit eSlick uses the same screen tech that is used in both the Kindle and Sony’s own reader. The resolution is 600 x 800 and it weighs 6.4 ounces. It does not have any wireless capability (something the Kindle has) but substitute it with a USB port. It has 128MB of RAM and has a SD card slot that can read cards up to 4GB. It also has a built-in MP3 player. |
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Screen:6″ E Ink® Vizplex screen 600 x 800 pixel resolution, 4-level gray scale Size: 7.4″ x 4.7″ x 0.4″ (188×118×9.2mm) Weight: 6.4 ounces (180g) battery included Color: Black , Gray(Black back), White (Light Gray back) Connectivity: USB2.0 Operating System: Embedded Linux Supported Formats: – eBook Formats: PDF, TXT, Any printable document(after converted to PDF using included software) – Sound Formats: MP3 Internal Memory: 128MB Storage Memory: SD Card (2GB included. Supports up to 4GB) |
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The following insightful article was posted by Gina Trapani from lifehacker.
“Can you take a look at my computer?” is the dreaded question your clueless family member will ask when you’re home for the holidays. Let’s review some common computer complaints and the easiest solutions.
“It takes forever to start up.”
If your loved one has installed any software on the computer—especially ISP-specific packages that automatically include bundled add-ons—there’s no doubt unnecessary items have planted themselves into its startup. Use our complete guide to speeding up your startup to get rid of the stuff they don’t need, and save CPU cycles and time on boot-up.
“I keep getting a pop-up saying I need to pay for my antivirus software.”
If the default trialware antivirus software that came pre-installed is now bugging your clueless relative to pay for a subscription, uninstall it. Then, check out Lifehacker readers’ five favorite—and FREE—AV packages ready for download and installation. To fast-track to a free replacement, grab the free edition of AVG.
“When I get on the internet things look weird” or “I keep getting these annoying popup ads.”
Thoroughly check your relative’s PC for evidence of malware: like a hijacked web browser that redirects google.com to an Asian porn site, unsolicited pop-up ads, or suspicious programs named things like “Keypress Watcher.” If you suspect nefarious software has glommed onto Windows, get to scrubbing. Back in 2006, we ran down how to fix Mom and Dad’s malware-laden computer and the advice still stands. Go straight for a copy of Ad-Aware Free and Spybot Search & Destroy to get started.
Then, download and install Firefox, set it as the default browser, and replace all the IE shortcuts labeled “Internet” with the fox.
“I can’t find the digital photos I downloaded last month.”
If Aunt Bertha never gets the photos and videos she took with her digicam onto her computer—or she does, but they get lost in the abyss of her hard drive—make sure she has the right software to preview and find ‘em. Install Picasa 3 and scan your loved one’s entire hard drive for digital photos to add them to the library.
Relatives who take digital home videos should also get a free copy of VLC installed to insure that they’ll be able to play any clip they’ve got.
“I’m running out of hard drive space.”
If Uncle Marty thinks he needs a new computer because he keeps getting a “low disk space” message, tell him all is not lost. Find out where all that gigabytage is going by visualizing his hard drive usage with free tools that will map what files are taking up what space. Then, declutter his hard drive of the bits and bytes he doesn’t need (and didn’t know he had).
“The internet stopped working.”
The worst family tech support situation to get in is one that involves no (or a very slow) internet connection. Before you head over to Cousin Bob’s house, load up a USB drive with the software you’ll need to troubleshoot things without a connection (or without a broadband connection). TechRadar compiles a list of fix-it tools you can take with you to the family holiday get-together.
Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it,