Archive for category Downloads
Why You Shouldn’t Use LimeWire
Posted by admin in Downloads, File and Data Sharing, Free Stuff, how to, Instruction, Internet, news, productivity, Security, Simplicity, Spam, Technology & Gadgets, Timesavers, tips, Tools, Tricks & Hacks, Web, Web Applications on March 5, 2010
I have seen far too many computers infected with spyware, viruses, trojans, malware, etc. There are numerous ways to end up with the problems caused by malicious software. Unsafe browsing practices, such as visiting untrusted websites and downloading software from untrusted sources are just two of the ways to acquire malicious and damaging software.
On many of the computers I have seen with malicious software, one common piece of software I find is LimeWire. LimeWire is a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) software that allows users to share files. It is a haven for malicious software, pirated music and illegal videos.
Mark Stone has written an excellent piece about LimeWire here.
If you have this software on your computer, do yourself a favor and uninstall it now. It’s not worth the trouble.
Handbrake Rips and Converts Your Video Files
Posted by admin in Compression, Downloads, Free Stuff, home, how to, Instruction, Internet, productivity, Technology & Gadgets, Timesavers, tips, Tools, Tricks & Hacks on February 17, 2010
Handbrake is a piece of software I use nearly every week. It’s a free program designed to efficiently rip DVDs to editable video files on your computer. Handbrake will also convert files of one format to another.
Download the Handbrake installer here [~5MB exe]. Run the installer with all the default settings and you’re ready to start ripping DVDs.
1) Choose the source using the “Source” button at the top left corner of the Handbrake window. There are options to choose a file or DVD.
2) Choose the destination for the out put in the main frame of the Handbrake window. I normally use the Desktop or the Videos folder in My Documents.
3) Choose your output settings using either a preset (right side frame) or customize using the tabs in the main section of the Handbrake window.
4) Click “Start” on the toolbar. You’ll see a DOS-looking window open with progress information. Wait until it’s done, then look at the destination folder for your new file.
Note: I offer this tip and software as a resource for professional and personal use. This software should not be used for illegal purposes, such as pirating movies.
DirSync Pro Synchronizes Files and Folders
Posted by admin in Downloads, File and Data Sharing, Free Stuff, how to, Instruction, productivity, Security, Simplicity, Technology & Gadgets, Timesavers, tips, Tools, Tricks & Hacks, Web on February 12, 2010
Here’s another Lifehacker recommended download. It’s called DirSync Pro and it allows you to backup information on a local computer to a mapped network drive or other location on the same computer. Here’s a description from the author’s website:
Using DirSync Pro you can make incremental backups. In this way you’ll spare lots of time because you don’t have to copy all the files each time you want to update your backup; only new/modified/larger files would be copied.
Use DirSync Pro to easily synchronize files from your desktop PC to your USB-stick (PDA, Notebook, …). Use this USB-stick (PDA, Notebook, …) to synchronize files to another desktop PC.
DirSync Pro is free, open source software, available for download here. It’s a Java application, so it’s supported on any system with the Java Runtime Environment, including Windows, Mac and Linux.
UltraDefrag Is a Portable and Open-Source Disk Defragmenter [Downloads]
Windows: If you like your software open-source, you’ll definitely want to check out UltraDefrag, a snappy open-source Windows disk defragmenter.
UltraDefrag is available as a portable application and in a GUI and ultra lightweight command-line only version—the lightweight version is designated as "micro" in the download list and is at the top of the screen, make sure to scroll down for the GUI version if you want to interact with the program like in the screenshot above.
With UltraDefrag you can defragment your entire disk, defragment based on the file and folder—handy if your disk defragmentation is limited to a handful of frequently edited and altered files—and set it up to defragment during the boot process to access files Windows usually has locked.
UltraDefrag is open-source and available for 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows. Have a favorite tool for managing your disks? Let’s hear about it in the comments.
Shrink Pic Resizes Images Automagically for Faster Uploads [Downloads]
Posted by Whitson Gordon in Compression, Downloads, Email, images, Photos, Timesavers on December 30, 2009
Windows only: Image resizing tools are a dime a dozen, but free utility Shrink Pic is actually an extremely clever original: Instead of requiring manual processing, it runs in the background and automatically resizes images whenever you attach or upload them.
A perfect tool for frequent Facebook uploaders, for example, Shrink Pic works with a number of applications (most browsers, Outlook, Thunderbird, Skype, and MSN Messenger, to name just a few) to monitor when you upload, attach, or send pictures via IM. When you do, it automatically resizes the images in the background based on user-defined settings, then uploads the smaller image (so you don’t have to wait several minutes for an upload to complete just to have it severely compressed at its destination anyway). It can even resize multiple photos in the same upload. The speed at which it resizes and the quality of the compression are nothing to sneeze at, either.
Shrink Pic saves the resized images in a temporary directory, so your originals are never touched—just copied. You can use any kind of compression level you want, as well as choose from 5 different photo types to check for. If you want to disable it, all you need to do is uncheck an option in your system tray—and re-enabling it is just as easy. You can even install a portable version to a USB drive, so you never have to resize images again—not even at other computers.
Shrink Pic is a free download, Windows only.