October 19, 2012
Kaspersky Rescue Disk: Freeware download and reviews from SnapFiles
Bootable CD that scans infected computers.
October 15, 2012
October 13, 2012
October 11, 2012
Input Director - Software KVM to Control Multiple Computers
"Input Director is a Windows application that lets you control multiple Windows systems using the keyboard/mouse attached to one computer. It is designed for folks who have two (or more) computers next to each other and find themselves regularly switching from one system to the other. With Input Director, you can share a single keyboard/mouse across a set of systems. "
Seems a bit nicer than Synergy.
October 02, 2012
Lifehacker Code: Texter
"Windows only: Text substitution app Texter saves you countless keystrokes by replacing abbreviations with commonly used phrases you define."
Website pagination: Stories should load into a single page every time.
"Why websites should not make you click and click and click for the full story."
October 01, 2012
September 17, 2012
September 16, 2012
Mohammed movie embassy attacks: Don’t let Internet videos drive you to violence. - Slate Magazine
"Dear Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and Jews,
You’re living in the age of the Internet. Your religion will be mocked, and the mockery will find its way to you. Get over it.
If you don’t, what’s happening this week will happen again and again. A couple of idiots with a video camera and an Internet connection will trigger riots across the globe. They’ll bait you into killing one another."
September 12, 2012
Broaden Your Horizons by Randomizing Your Reading Material [Learning]
"As news sites get more and more personalized it's easy to get caught in the feedback loop of everyone agreeing with you. Sometimes it's nice to step outside of your box and read, or learn about something more random."
September 10, 2012
September 06, 2012
September 01, 2012
August 29, 2012
August 26, 2012
August 12, 2012
August 09, 2012
August 07, 2012
July 31, 2012
Windows Defender Offline brings systems back from the dead | Windows security - InfoWorld
Best: make the CD/USB drive every time you need it, from another computer (not on the infected one).
July 30, 2012
July 24, 2012
July 22, 2012
June 27, 2012
June 23, 2012
Deslide those irritating multi-page slideshow articles
"If you browse a slideshow and have the above link bookmarked, clicking on the bookmark will open a new window with the slideshow 'deslideshowified' by submitting the viewed site's URL to this web application."
June 20, 2012
June 18, 2012
June 10, 2012
June 04, 2012
June 02, 2012
New ‘Digital Divide’ Seen in Wasting Time Online
"As access to devices has spread, children in poorer families are spending considerably more time than children from more well-off families using their television and gadgets to watch shows and videos, play games and connect on social networking sites, studies show."
May 25, 2012
May 20, 2012
May 19, 2012
Welcome to Life
"Sometime in the future, your consciousness may be salvaged after your body dies and stored digitally in cyberspace. What could possibly go wrong?”
May 17, 2012
April 16, 2012
April 07, 2012
March 31, 2012
In today's warp-speed world, online missteps spread faster than ever
But in an increasingly connected world where social networking has made us all news sources, that means missteps and misinformation get issued -- and repeated -- more quickly than ever.
March 22, 2012
Lessons from Rutgers on privacy and hate speech
"Online bystanders have a responsibility. Some students in the Rutgers dorm were amused by Ravi's spycam-Twitter scheme. Others ignored it. They should have been outraged, and they should have done something about it. "If you see something, say something" is not an admonition restricted to the security realm. "
March 07, 2012
Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing Service Launches Nationally
"While those companies own fleets of cars, RelayRides is entirely peer-to-peer — if you have a car, then you can make it available for rental when you're not using it. RelayRides says the average car owner makes $250 a month from the program."
March 06, 2012
Online errors spread faster than ever
"Misinformation has long been a part of the Internet -- but, thanks to social networks, it moves out there faster than ever, and is hard to correct."
February 19, 2012
The Newspaper Clipping Image Generator - Create your own fun newspaper
Other fun generators there as well.
February 18, 2012
February 17, 2012
February 14, 2012
February 11, 2012
February 07, 2012
How to Install Windows 7 Without the Disc
"n this article, you'll learn how to make your own Windows 7 installation disc (or USB flash drive) and use the valid product key you already have to perform a fresh reinstallation."
February 04, 2012
Saturday morning cartoons: “No Robots”
"A charming little student film from San Jose State University with a great visual style and music."
January 24, 2012
Complete Internet Repair Freeware
"Complete Internet Repair is a simple, portable application that attempts to repair many common Internet or network related connectivity issues which can often be caused by malware program or removal of malware components."
January 21, 2012
Dell Datasafe Local Backup - recovery discs
I have never had an easy time, when working on people's computers, with making the recovery disks via the Dell Datasafe Local Backup program.On several computers it would run, and burn data to the DVDs, and then in the verify stage of the first disc, it would freeze at 72 or 78% or thereabouts, and that would be it, my only choice would be to Cancel and try again (wasting yet another blank DVD and 20 minutes of my life). Well, today I was finally able to make a good set. I Googled around and found that someone recommended setting the compatibility properties of the Datasafe program to Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (on a Windows 7 computer), and even though I did that, I still got the freeze during the verification procedure. But since I had heard the DVD drive spin down and not start back up, I opened the DVD drive and closed it again, and then waited a looong time, and it finally finished and asked for the second DVD (which burned and verified without an issue).
So I'm not sure if both of these things mattered or if just the eject/insert did the trick, but I'll do some testing on that next time.
Another note: the computer I was working was having major issues, and wouldn't even start Windows. I chose the Repair My Computer option, and the Dell Datasafe app ended up making a backup of documents, music, pictures, etc. (and this was all customizable), and saving it on my C: drive, then it reformatted (without affecting the backup somehow) and reinstalled everything to the factory state. Then I just opened the backup (at c:\emergency) and the Datasafe Local Backup program led me through a restore. That was impressive.
So I'm not sure if both of these things mattered or if just the eject/insert did the trick, but I'll do some testing on that next time.
Another note: the computer I was working was having major issues, and wouldn't even start Windows. I chose the Repair My Computer option, and the Dell Datasafe app ended up making a backup of documents, music, pictures, etc. (and this was all customizable), and saving it on my C: drive, then it reformatted (without affecting the backup somehow) and reinstalled everything to the factory state. Then I just opened the backup (at c:\emergency) and the Datasafe Local Backup program led me through a restore. That was impressive.
January 12, 2012
How to Optimize Internet Explorer 9 for Maximum Privacy
"Use Internet Explorer 9? It may be sending your entire browsing history to Microsoft. Or, it may be automatically blocking tracking websites. It’s all in how you tweak Internet Explorer’s privacy settings."
January 02, 2012
Very Public Health
"Why are we so secretive about sickness and health? And what do we lose because we are?"
December 24, 2011
December 20, 2011
December 10, 2011
Star Trek TNG Ambient Engine Noise (Idling for 24 hrs) - YouTube
This is my favorite non-music background noise right now.
December 04, 2011
Look up any character or symbol with Shapecatcher
"Although you could easily look up any word or concept in a search engine, what would you do if and wanted to look up a character or symbol (say if you were a designer or artist or just interested). In ‘real life’ you would simply draw it and show it to someone who might now, and that is precisely how ShapeCatcher works."
December 03, 2011
November 27, 2011
Chrome, FTW
I just switched browsers, from Maxthon to Google Chrome, for reasons of speed, stability, features, and available add-ons. I wish I'd done so a lot sooner. Here's the add-ons (known as extensions in Chrome) I'm using right now, having looked at many hundreds of them.
Ads were yesterday! The successful extension Adblock Plus is now available for Google Chrome™.
Blocks social plugins from loading
I don't participate in social networking, and appreciate this extension's ability to block all the little icons from littering the pages I'm reading.
I don't participate in social networking, and appreciate this extension's ability to block all the little icons from littering the pages I'm reading.
Fill form fields automatically on page load.
Button bar, combining downloads, bookmarks, extensions, history, view source, print, and more from a single button.
A quick access tool that allows you to put your favorite browser commands in one drop down menu, save unsubmitted form data, magnify images, view videos in standalone windows, and define shortcuts to open all links in any bookmark folder.
This extension adds an email button to the toolbar which allows you to email the page link using your default mail client or Gmail.
This works jut fine with Outlook as my email client, without modification. Nice touch: any text I have highlighted on the page is also pasted into the email.
This works jut fine with Outlook as my email client, without modification. Nice touch: any text I have highlighted on the page is also pasted into the email.
Interface enhancement for the new Google Reader™
This extension makes the visual style of Google Reader a bit better, and I spend a *lot* of time in Google Reader.
This extension makes the visual style of Google Reader a bit better, and I spend a *lot* of time in Google Reader.
Display web pages using IE within Chrome. Supports ActiveX controls, Sharepoint, ICBC, alipay. A "Top 10" extension since 2009!
For example: my bank's website has all kinds of problems in Chrome, but I've configured this extension to always open that site with IE's rendering engine (and I turned off the "open pop-ups in Chrome" option so links to my bill pay service are kept in IE mode as well)
For example: my bank's website has all kinds of problems in Chrome, but I've configured this extension to always open that site with IE's rendering engine (and I turned off the "open pop-ups in Chrome" option so links to my bill pay service are kept in IE mode as well)
Use mouse strokes (aka gestures) to accelerate your operations. Support super drag & go, rocker gestures and wheel gestures in one extension! Volunteer translators needed.
This is the function that drew me to Maxthon, and it's even better here: I can close tabs with a mouse gesture, drag links to the right to open them in a background tab, drag links to teh left to open them in a new foreground tab, and many other cool things are possible.
This is the function that drew me to Maxthon, and it's even better here: I can close tabs with a mouse gesture, drag links to the right to open them in a background tab, drag links to teh left to open them in a new foreground tab, and many other cool things are possible.
A neat bookmarks tree popup.
I choose not to keep my bookmark bar turned on; this extension gives me easy access to my bookmarks and bookmarklets.
I choose not to keep my bookmark bar turned on; this extension gives me easy access to my bookmarks and bookmarklets.
Capture visible content of a tab, a region of a web page, or the whole page as a PNG image. Support horizontal and vertical scroll when capturing whole page, with an all new autosave capability.
Accidentally closed your last tab? Tired of losing tabs in Incognito? Don't worry, everything is possible with this sexy extension.
This extension lets me easily recover closed tabs. Chrome does have a keyboard shortcut for this, but I like this simpler method.
This extension lets me easily recover closed tabs. Chrome does have a keyboard shortcut for this, but I like this simpler method.
A new button on YouTube which skips the current ad and start the main video. It will always work.
I don't mind text ads, but those long ads in front of videos (I'm looking at you, ICanHasCheezburger!) chap my hide.
I don't mind text ads, but those long ads in front of videos (I'm looking at you, ICanHasCheezburger!) chap my hide.
Speed Dial for Chrome - replace Chrome new tab with your predefined visual bookmarks.
When I open Chrome, I see a panel of sites I frequently visit, and can choose them easily. Also displays when opening a new tab.
When I open Chrome, I see a panel of sites I frequently visit, and can choose them easily. Also displays when opening a new tab.
To Be Read - Version: 1.8
A list that holds the pages that you didn't read yet but you would like to.
An easy way to save items to be read later: the right click menu on each page offers "Save For Later And Close", and activating that option adds the page to a list and closes the page; you can then at any time go into the list of things you've saved and bring them back up.
An easy way to save items to be read later: the right click menu on each page offers "Save For Later And Close", and activating that option adds the page to a list and closes the page; you can then at any time go into the list of things you've saved and bring them back up.
November 25, 2011
9 Reasons To Wear Tinfoil Hats
"Here’s our short list of nine reasons that Wired readers ought to wear tinfoil hats, or at least, fight for their rights and consider ways to protect themselves with encryption and defensive digital technologies."
November 05, 2011
How to Open the Start Menu Folder in Windows 7
"Are you one of those people that obsessively edits your start menu to keep it clean, tidy, and organized? Back in Windows XP, all you had to do was right-click on the start button to get to the folder, but Windows 7 chang
ed it."
October 29, 2011
September 27, 2011
5 Steps to a Family-Safe Internet
"I’ve reviewed several internet filtering and internet security products for GeekDad over the years. Each has pluses and minuses. I’ve decided to come clean with what my family runs: yes, we do filter the internet for our kids — but our filtering is more common-sense than technology solution (although both play a part)."
September 19, 2011
September 18, 2011
The credulous Bubbie-net
"This explains why many middle-aged people and senior citizens I meet are actually more misinformed and radicalized than their children. Many Tea Party fanatics, in particular, are older white people who have cobbled a political philosophy together from nonsense Internet stories claiming that Barack Obama is Muslim, that global warming has been “debunked” or that universal health care means sending grandma to a “death panel"
September 01, 2011
August 30, 2011
Create an About Me Page and Profile the Easy Way
"If you are wanting something a bit simpler than Facebook or MySpace, perhaps not a social network at all, but rather a place to create a more balanced profile for people to learn more about you, there is an awesome website for that."
August 27, 2011
Adding FrontPage forms with Expression Web
Microsoft removed the ability to create FrontPage forms in Expression Web, but left in the ability to edit existing forms. I've just found that it's easy to create a FrontPage form manually. Caveats: -- I've tested this on multiple sites, and so far it's worked perfectly, but you should of course test everything thoroughly (but you do that anyway, no?) -- I would not normally advise adding any page code that deals with FrontPage extensions and their function, but in this case it works and seems simple enough. -- For those who aren't aware, you need to use a web host that offers FrontPage extensions; and if you use FrontPage extensions, you need to do all of your web editing work with FrontPage or Expression Web or some other application that plays nice with the FrontPage extensions (no FTP). I've been a LunarPages customer for years, and happy with my choice. The process: copy the code below into the body of your web page, while in Code view (to make it easier to place, enter some placeholder text in Design view, and highlight it; then when you switch to Code view, you'll be right there and can just paste the code in place of the already highlighted placeholder). Then when you go back to Design view, you'll see the new form and can make changes as needed. Your standard form items are available in the Toolbox panel under Form Controls.
I couldn't paste the raw html code here and have it remain visible, so in the below, make the following replacements:
[ becomes <
] becomes >
===begin code block, copy everything after this line ====
[form method="POST" action="--WEBBOT-SELF--"]
[!--webbot bot="SaveResults" S-Email-Format="TEXT/PRE" S-Email-Address="emailaddress" B-Email-Label-Fields="TRUE" S-Builtin-Fields="Date Time" startspan S-Date-Format="%Y-%m-%d" S-Time-Format="%I:%M:%S %p %Z" --][!--webbot bot="SaveResults" endspan --]
[p]
[b]
Form starts here and ends at the buttons[/b] [/p]
[p] [input type="submit" value="Submit" name="B1"][input type="reset" value="Reset" name="B2"][/p]
[/form]
I couldn't paste the raw html code here and have it remain visible, so in the below, make the following replacements:
[ becomes <
] becomes >
===begin code block, copy everything after this line ====
[form method="POST" action="--WEBBOT-SELF--"]
[!--webbot bot="SaveResults" S-Email-Format="TEXT/PRE" S-Email-Address="emailaddress" B-Email-Label-Fields="TRUE" S-Builtin-Fields="Date Time" startspan S-Date-Format="%Y-%m-%d" S-Time-Format="%I:%M:%S %p %Z" --][!--webbot bot="SaveResults" endspan --]
[p]
[b]
Form starts here and ends at the buttons[/b] [/p]
[p] [input type="submit" value="Submit" name="B1"][input type="reset" value="Reset" name="B2"][/p]
[/form]
August 11, 2011
Instant Elevator Music
Windows: "The program automatically kicks in whenever you have to wait for a progress bar dialog to finish and plays elevator music in the background. Not only can this make the wait a little more pleasant, it can also be useful to be "keep an ear out" for a progress to finish without having to look at the screen. "
August 03, 2011
July 22, 2011
KidLogger
"KidLogger enables you to log an monitor PC and Internet activity on your computer. The program can keep track of websites visited, applications used, keystrokes typed and even capture screenshots of desktop activity. The program also includes a voice monitoring feature that allows you to record audio via an attached microphone and save it to MP3 files."
July 19, 2011
Safe Mode Fixer Repairs Windows Malware Disablements
"The tool is an executable file that requires no installation. Upon running the executable file and clicking on the Fix button, repairs are applied to your system followed by an immediate reboot."
July 08, 2011
Physion - Physics Simulation Software
Physion - Physics Simulation Software: "Physion is a 2D Physics simulation software. It can be used to easily create a wide range of interactive physics simulations and educational experiments. Teachers may find it particularly useful since it can be used as a virtual physics laboratory through which they can demonstrate some basic physics concepts in the classroom."
June 27, 2011
EFF's 21st Century bust-cards
"The Electronic Frontier Foundation's new 'Know Your Digital Rights' guide is a bust-card for the Twenty-First Century, explaining your rights when it comes to searches of your phone, computer, laptop and other devices."
June 24, 2011
Windows 7 and Vista desktop list view utility
Hit the link above to find tiny, non-resident utility to change your desktop display from this:
![]()
to this:
![]()
I've used many utilities for this over the years with XP and Vista, but none of them seem to work in Window 7. I finally found this one that works. Props to Rei Resurreccion for making this available.
To use: run the installer from the site above (found just above the screen capture of the desktop), and choose the option to have it run automatically when Windows starts.
It's also available here (the top link requires registration to download).
I've used many utilities for this over the years with XP and Vista, but none of them seem to work in Window 7. I finally found this one that works. Props to Rei Resurreccion for making this available.
To use: run the installer from the site above (found just above the screen capture of the desktop), and choose the option to have it run automatically when Windows starts.
It's also available here (the top link requires registration to download).
June 22, 2011
Pulling plug on privacy
"When did the Fourth Amendment die, you ask?Recently, but it’s been sick for a while."
June 21, 2011
June 04, 2011
Give Your Ubuntu Installation Full Multimedia Support
"What formats are we talking about? Well, a default installation of Ubuntu can’t play any of your MP3s. It can’t play videos on Hulu or YouTube. It can’t play the Divx file you downloaded off the Internet, and it can’t play your store-bought DVD disks."
June 03, 2011
Dealing with Cyberbullies
"Bullies are taking advantage of technology to intimidate and harass their victims. Dealing with cyberbullying can be difficult, but there are steps you can take. "
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)