For the last couple of weeks I've been trying out Picasa, a
digital photo organizing program. This is *great* software, the
best I've used in the field. It's very easy to use and I love the
interface. It's much better than the rather stodgy software that
came with my digital camera, that's for sure.
You can use the program to easily email photos to friends and
family members. Picasa also allows you to export complete albums
as web pages. There are several web page templates you can choose
from that generate thumbnails of the images in the album. Clicking
on the thumbnails opens a full sized image. Using the "Export
album as web page" option is a great way to easily share multiple
photos. Once you have uploaded the web page and images to a
website you can simple email the link to your friends and family.
Picasa is now owned by Google and is free. From the download site:
"Everything you need to enjoy your digital photos in a single
software product:
Auto-transfer photos from your digital camera.
Organize and find pictures in seconds.
Edit, print, and share photos with ease.
Create slideshows, order prints and more!"
Check Out Picasa
Saturday, August 21, 2004
Thursday, June 24, 2004
WinKey
WinKey a very handy little application, that can make your computing more
efficient. I've used it for a long time on my Windows 98 system. It also works well on my XP system.
From the download site:
"Open your favorite applications, folders, and Web pages instantly
with Windows key shortcuts that you create. This shell extension
allows you to create keyboard shortcuts using the Windows key. You
can use up to 200 different key combinations in addition to the ten
built-in links. This update includes new shortcut commands to manage the
state of an active window, a new "Browse for Folder" button in the
shortcut properties, and more."
You can get it here.
efficient. I've used it for a long time on my Windows 98 system. It also works well on my XP system.
From the download site:
"Open your favorite applications, folders, and Web pages instantly
with Windows key shortcuts that you create. This shell extension
allows you to create keyboard shortcuts using the Windows key. You
can use up to 200 different key combinations in addition to the ten
built-in links. This update includes new shortcut commands to manage the
state of an active window, a new "Browse for Folder" button in the
shortcut properties, and more."
You can get it here.
Friday, June 11, 2004
Spyware Blaster
Anti-spyware programs like Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy do an
excellent job of ridding your computer of spyware components. In fact, if
your goal is to maintain a secure and stable computing environment, a good
quality anti-spyware scanner is practically a must have.
Having said that, the majority of anti-spyware scanners provide a
cure for spyware rather than offer prevention. Obviously, it would be more
desirable to prevent the installation of spyware in the first place rather
than get rid of it later. This is where an excellent freeware application
called SpywareBlaster comes into its own.
SpywareBlaster sets a so-called "kill bit" that prevents spyware
Active X controls on a webpage from being installed at all. It can
also stop some Active X controls from running if they have already
been installed. The software achieves this by checking its database
of known spyware Active X controls. The program has a built in
updater, so that information about new spyware threats can be easily added
to the spyware database.
This software has quite a lot of useful options. You can configure it to
block spyware / tracking cookies, create an encrypted back up of your
browser hosts file and a lot more. It also offers the ability to create a
"System Snapshot" of your computer when it is in a "clean", spyware free
state. A spyware infection can make a lot of changes to your computer
settings but the "System Snapshot" function allows you to reverse a lot of
these changes quickly and easily.
Although it protects your system from Active X threats in real time, you
do not have to have the program running all the time, which saves system
resources. However, it is important to open the program and check for
updates on a regular basis.
I am not suggesting that SpywareBlaster is a *replacement* for
spyware scanners like Ad-Aware, as this is not the case.
SpywareBlaster cannot do a full spyware scan of your system and rid
your computer of all existing spyware. I have Spybot Search and
Destroy, Ad-Aware and SpywareBlaster installed on my systems.
Together they provide very thorough protection against spyware.
It is only fair to mention that Spybot Search and Destroy has the
"Immunize" option, which provides protection against Active X
Controls in a similar way to SpywareBlaster. However, SpywareBlaster is
more comprehensive and configurable in this area.
SpywareBlaster is freeware, is compatible with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4,
2000 and XP and is a relatively small download at a little over 700KB.
You can read more about SpywareBlaster and download the product via
the link below:
Spyware Blaster
excellent job of ridding your computer of spyware components. In fact, if
your goal is to maintain a secure and stable computing environment, a good
quality anti-spyware scanner is practically a must have.
Having said that, the majority of anti-spyware scanners provide a
cure for spyware rather than offer prevention. Obviously, it would be more
desirable to prevent the installation of spyware in the first place rather
than get rid of it later. This is where an excellent freeware application
called SpywareBlaster comes into its own.
SpywareBlaster sets a so-called "kill bit" that prevents spyware
Active X controls on a webpage from being installed at all. It can
also stop some Active X controls from running if they have already
been installed. The software achieves this by checking its database
of known spyware Active X controls. The program has a built in
updater, so that information about new spyware threats can be easily added
to the spyware database.
This software has quite a lot of useful options. You can configure it to
block spyware / tracking cookies, create an encrypted back up of your
browser hosts file and a lot more. It also offers the ability to create a
"System Snapshot" of your computer when it is in a "clean", spyware free
state. A spyware infection can make a lot of changes to your computer
settings but the "System Snapshot" function allows you to reverse a lot of
these changes quickly and easily.
Although it protects your system from Active X threats in real time, you
do not have to have the program running all the time, which saves system
resources. However, it is important to open the program and check for
updates on a regular basis.
I am not suggesting that SpywareBlaster is a *replacement* for
spyware scanners like Ad-Aware, as this is not the case.
SpywareBlaster cannot do a full spyware scan of your system and rid
your computer of all existing spyware. I have Spybot Search and
Destroy, Ad-Aware and SpywareBlaster installed on my systems.
Together they provide very thorough protection against spyware.
It is only fair to mention that Spybot Search and Destroy has the
"Immunize" option, which provides protection against Active X
Controls in a similar way to SpywareBlaster. However, SpywareBlaster is
more comprehensive and configurable in this area.
SpywareBlaster is freeware, is compatible with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4,
2000 and XP and is a relatively small download at a little over 700KB.
You can read more about SpywareBlaster and download the product via
the link below:
Spyware Blaster
Saturday, April 17, 2004
Easy Thumbnails
I've been testing out this software for creating thumbnails. So far
I'm quite impressed. It works very well, and there are quite a lot
of options.
From the developers site:
"Easy Thumbnails is a popular free utility for creating accurate
thumbnail images and scaled-down/up copies from a wide range of
popular picture formats. An elegant interface makes it a snap to find
your images and select them for processing individually, in groups,
or in whole folders, using a simple file selector and built-in image
viewer. You can use slider controls to rotate images and adjust their
contrast, brightness, sharpness and quality, and check out the
results with the built-in viewer.
Key Features:
Scale images up or down in batches
Nine resampling filters, including Lanczos3
Sharpen soft images from digital cameras
Real-time preview of target image
Supports the new JPEG 2000 image format
Preserves EXIF data in JPEG images
Supports lossless JPEG rotation
Free software producing quality results "
Runs on:
95/98/2000/NT4/Me/XP
Get it here:
http://www.fookes.com/ezthumbs/?Easy%20Thumbnails=2600
I'm quite impressed. It works very well, and there are quite a lot
of options.
From the developers site:
"Easy Thumbnails is a popular free utility for creating accurate
thumbnail images and scaled-down/up copies from a wide range of
popular picture formats. An elegant interface makes it a snap to find
your images and select them for processing individually, in groups,
or in whole folders, using a simple file selector and built-in image
viewer. You can use slider controls to rotate images and adjust their
contrast, brightness, sharpness and quality, and check out the
results with the built-in viewer.
Key Features:
Scale images up or down in batches
Nine resampling filters, including Lanczos3
Sharpen soft images from digital cameras
Real-time preview of target image
Supports the new JPEG 2000 image format
Preserves EXIF data in JPEG images
Supports lossless JPEG rotation
Free software producing quality results "
Runs on:
95/98/2000/NT4/Me/XP
Get it here:
http://www.fookes.com/ezthumbs/?Easy%20Thumbnails=2600
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
WordWeb
WordWeb and it is a stand-alone dictionary
and thesaurus. The program sits in the System Tray and you can
call it up from just about any program you may be using including
your browser. To check a word, you simply highlight it and click
the tray icon or use a keyboard shortcut. The WordWeb dialog
appears and presents you with a definition of the word as well as
a list of synonyms. If the word is spelled incorrectly, it will
present an alternative where possible as well as a list of like
words for you to choose from. You can substitute the word with
one from the list by using the "replace" button.
You can also enter a word directly into the search field and have
the search function present you with a definition, synonyms,
antonyms and more.
This software is excellent if you are working in text editors,
email clients, html editors or other programs that might not have
access to the powerful grammar and spelling functionality of
software like MS Word. It also very handy for checking the
meanings of words you may encounter while browsing the Internet.
The program is compatible with Win 95, 98, NT, 2000 and XP.
You can find out more about the program from the following links:
Developer's Website
Download Mirror
NOTE: This version of the program is freeware and fully
functional. However, there is a Pro version of the software that
offers extra options for a fee.
and thesaurus. The program sits in the System Tray and you can
call it up from just about any program you may be using including
your browser. To check a word, you simply highlight it and click
the tray icon or use a keyboard shortcut. The WordWeb dialog
appears and presents you with a definition of the word as well as
a list of synonyms. If the word is spelled incorrectly, it will
present an alternative where possible as well as a list of like
words for you to choose from. You can substitute the word with
one from the list by using the "replace" button.
You can also enter a word directly into the search field and have
the search function present you with a definition, synonyms,
antonyms and more.
This software is excellent if you are working in text editors,
email clients, html editors or other programs that might not have
access to the powerful grammar and spelling functionality of
software like MS Word. It also very handy for checking the
meanings of words you may encounter while browsing the Internet.
The program is compatible with Win 95, 98, NT, 2000 and XP.
You can find out more about the program from the following links:
Developer's Website
Download Mirror
NOTE: This version of the program is freeware and fully
functional. However, there is a Pro version of the software that
offers extra options for a fee.
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