9 posts tagged “freeware”

Since the author of this Windows Mobile Smartphone (and also for Pocket PC, do a Google search) took his site down for renovation it is nearly impossible to find the CAB link for this handy freeware smartphone registry editor. Most Moto Q owners will tell you that the MSI installer doesn't work properly, and you need to install it via CAB file, transferred onto your device or storage card via ActiveSync. To avoid all the hunting and dead links, here is that .CAB file for PHMRegEdit:

PHMRegEdit for Windows Mobile Smartphone CAB file

BLOG ROVER

Well I've been using Blog Rover for more than a week now. I really wanted to "test drive" it really well before I recommended or panned it. What is Blog Rover? Think of it as a value added "side car" plug in for Firefox which helps deliver chosen related value added content from other blogs you like to read as you surf.

For instance, if I am reading a post on a digital scrapbook blog about using the pen tool, it will search all the other blogs I've chosen/read on digital scrapbooking (or any other blogs I've chosen) for similar topics and a small sliding pop out (which can be disabled at any time) will show me links to other related blog posts. You can add or delete blogs on the fly or import an OPML or  XML file of all your current feeds from any reader. It will also allow you to select pre-packed suggested blogs based on topics and if you so chose, it will suggest blogs based on your reading habbits if you enable that option.

Don't worry, despite the functionality of it, it's not constantly "talking" while you surf every web page. Still, although it's easily slid back in or disabled, some might be annoyed by it. I personally think it's pretty sweet, although once or twice I was like, "not that again", even if it takes up minimal real estate. All in all, I'm keeping it enabled and I have to give it the javajane 4 stars out of 5 rating. The thing rocks!

Download the Blog Rovr Plug In for Firefox

Are you still not using CoolIris? I've previously reviewed this plug-in that I've been using since it debuted, but if you are not using it, you're missing out. It just keeps getting better with added functionality with each update. Need ringtones in a jiffy? Tired of using Audacity, to edit your MP3's into ringtones? Yeah, Audacity is a great freeware audio editing program, but you still have to labor to figure out which part of the song can be sliced down to make the best ringtone. CoolRinger uses an algorithm which calculates that for you, and it does so flawlessly. I use it to make tones for both my Moto RAZR V3m and my Moto Q. I just updated my Q with 4 ringtones today in less than 2 minutes. Now that is TOTALLY sweet!

Stay tuned for more secrets...

I love to soup things up. My computer, my cell phone, my iPod, my coffee. I like to get every bit of milage out of one device that I can, and I like a little bling too. I am personally not a huge fan of the iTunes software for iPod, but do open it from time to time to when I create smart playlists. All my thousands of music files, many which I use daily on my internet radio broadcast Generation 80s Retro Radio, are well tagged making it easy to sort and filter to create those

smart lists in many creative ways. Even though I am a huge freeware fan, I have found Aspect One's Dr. Tag the best program I have used, bar none, paid or free by far, to tag and clean up massive amounts of files, much of it is easily and flawlessly automated and then I volume normalize my tracks with an easy to use freeware utility called MP3 Gain appling a contstant gain of 92db so everything is auto leveled and no one song is louder than another without any quality loss. I find the built in leveling that the iPod employs is not reliable and I prefer to apply the changes to the files on my hard drive for many reasons.

I pretty much have taken to using Winamp for playlists at times as well as Ephpod (a wonderful program when I used my iPod mini, unfortunately doesn't currently support newer iPod video, so I've had to scrub this one for now) or Yamipod (Yet Another iPod Manager). There are a lot of other iPod managers, but I really think these two are the best of the bunch. What do you think?

Want to change the fonts, graphics or text link names on your iPod? Then you need the free, opensource program called iPod Wizard. Follow this link to get the full scoop and the latest stable download. iPod Wizard even allows volume uncapping of certain models. iPodulator Pro is another nifty must have if you like to play games (full catalogue of text based games free), write or read notes and text docs, edit and delete easily with no text limitation or read web pages along with their subsequent embedded links or RSS on your gizmo. Now you can catch up on your web based reading in the doctors office, on the train or by the pool. Basically, like the site states, "iPodulator Pro 2 puts any website or RSS feed you name on your iPod in a text-only version. And it gets better. iPodulator Pro 2 can copy most of the links on webpages to your iPod, so when your reading a page on your iPod you have all the links there, ready for clicking".

If you are into e-books, iPod Library is a nice little open source tool for importing books in multiple formats, remembering your place in the book and easily managing or deleting them. I just downloaded Soundcrank  tonight to try out on my iPod. It functions something like Last.fm's scrobbling function (I'm a Scrobbler) and supposedly enables you to discover new music, easily find and tweak album art and lyrics and share lists of what you've been listening to among friends. Of course, this is a Beta release, so if you are leary of Beta testing or Beta releases, tinker at your own risk. I'll follow up my impressions on Soundcrank in comments in the next few days.

If you need some worthy free video conversion tools the one I recommend is the very popular, tried and true Vidora iPod Video Converter freestanding program, or even better, if you have Yahoo! Widget engine installed on your computer, formerly Konfabulator, you can use the Yahoo "Widgitized" converter, where you can simply drag and drop your videos onto the cool looking iPod widget and they will seamlessly convert without any adoo. I mostly use Nero 7 since I own it, but if you just need a good free program, this is your go to app. Handbrake is the equivalent for Mac users. Now if you are in love with YouTube, boy, do I have a treat for you! You have to run and snag Ares Tube which will allow you to enter in the YouTube page URL in AT and it will automatically download the file, convert it, and then import it directly into iTunes, waiting for you to update your iPod. How cool is that?

Lastly, if you want to make your iPod into a mini PDA, it's worth the $15 for iGadget (formerly PodPlus) as you can download local movie times, weather, driving directions, rss, transfer files all types of files between iPod and computer, sync your iPod with Outlook plus a whole host of other things with a nice GUI and a nominal price tag.

What are you using to soup up your Pod and how do you like to create your playlists? Have any tips? Feel free to share, even if it's via email and I can post your comments manually if you are not a fellow Voxer. Rock on...

clipped from lifehacker.com Web site Scrapblog lets you create online scrapbooks with a powerful flash editing tool and tons of templates. Scapblog is one of the most robust, desktop application-like web apps I've seen in a long time; working in Scrapblog has a similar look and feel to working in Picasa. Scrapblog has tons of options for personalizing your scrapbook, from templates and stickers and shapes to your own photos and even YouTube video, all of which you can resize, rotate, and customize to your heart's content. When you're done, you can add an audio track and share your Scrapblog with the world. Anyone who's love for scrapbooking has be curtailed by the move to a digital world should definitely check this out. The only thing missing is the ability to buy your Scrapblog in analog form. — Adam Pash Scrapblog [via Webware]

One of many comprehensive lists, this one is easy to read/compare. I use many of these programs. Good stuff!

Mohawke's Best of the Best Free and Open Source Software Collection: Mac OS X and Windows software Collection
also another list with similar apps, with more comprehensive descriptions:
46 Best Freeware Utilities Ever

clipped from share2me.com share anything. to anyone. anywhere. You get one master sharelist that lets you reach friends on any: > Instant Messenger > Email Account > MySpace Page > FaceBook Wall (coming soon!) and more... See how share2me makes sharing fast and easy.

Many of you probably wonder what the heck is GTD? Go to Dallas? Grip the Dashboard? Get that Dollar? No. Get Things Done. Who doesn't need to, from domestic engineer to CEO? You don't have to be militant or OCD to be organized and productive. Even the most ADD, chaotic, forgetful and haphazard among us can benefit from a little GTD.

Although I do not go out to a formal "job" daily, my days are so full, that even in my home life and moonlighting, I feel like I need to be paid for an 8 hour day plus overtime, as I go from early AM to very late at night. I need to be organized  and efficient to get through my massive "to do" list, make all my appointments and deadlines,  to feel a sense of accomplishment, fit in time for my hobbies and interests and to manage my household. I do, much to the amazement of my family, friends and neighbors without being rigid, anti social or uptight. I still manage to be organized and spontaneous, which is an oxymoron to some.

So how is it done? Some of it is innate, but you can learn. There are many fabulous GTD sites and blogs. Right now, I have recently discovered a few tools that have seriously streamlined my daily grind and help me be productive and enjoy my day. Here are some of those things:

• Netvibes. Switched from Google Personal and MyYahoo! to Netvibes with some careful selection of modules, feeds and podcasts (listen to them right through Netvibes)  and now I have everything I could ever need waiting for me in the morning all from one site including email. I grab my coffee and dig in. My plans for the day are there as well as a virtual custom "newspaper". LifeHacker has a great post on customizing it with the most essential modules, we are trying to streamline our lives, not add bloat, so chosing carefully is key. In the comments section of that post, there is another nice Easter Egg by dep for further tweaks. The best part? If you set up a tab called "Mobile" you can customize a mobile friendly page for those unfortunate times you are away from your computer aka "command central".  I use it along with some well selected feeds in Google Reader mobile. It doesn't get much better than this folks...
• 30 Boxes. Do I love this or what? ?? Slim and functional, this has it all! You start by opening up a wizard which has you put some initial dates to remember in, like birthdays, then you import email addys and a bunch of other stuff. It's an all in one scheduler, social networking tool, reminder, to do list, emailer, will send SMS reminders of your daily activities to your mobile phone/device and has a module that integrates with Netvibes. Best of all, you can set it to "webpage" which is my new Firefox start page and it gives you one column with the days events/to do list, upcoming events then your embedded Netvibes page and a docklet to launch your most important sites and information. The look is clean and I can't say anything more than this RULES.
• Remember The Milk. Another GTD blog/utility which integrates with Netvibes. Right now I think, 30 Boxes is for me, but I am also test driving this as well. Probably more handy for those with structured jobs in a corporate environments, but could be used for anyone.
• Launchy. How did I manage without this? I have StarDock on my computer so I can have my desktop visually pleasing and uncluttered, yet tweaked just the way I like it. I chose for the most part to keep my Windows Task Bar hidden. Now I don't even have to move my mouse to the docklet to activate an app, search or what have you. I installed Launchy freeware, and just by hitting ALT + Spacebar and typing in a couple letters it will launch almost any app intuitively. Not limited to apps, it will find and open photos, documents, mp3's, computer and web searches and is a full function calculator. Everyday time I use my computer, I still marvel at what a gem this is! (Are you using CoolIris? If you're not, you should be using that too!)
  
• LifeHacker, Black Belt Productivity and TheCranking Widgets Blog- daily must reads. Yeah, I'm a geek, you know it...
  

10 Unknown Windows Freeware Applications You Should Know About

Written by the administrator of PCFastlane

There are dozens of well known freeware applications out there. From web browsers to word processors to anti-viruses, there is freeware everywhere. Take a look at these 10 great Windows freeware applications you have probably either never heard of or never fully looked into. Most of the freeware apps listed are for Windows. Linux users have no need to worry because a list for Linux will be published soon. 1. Circumventor This freeware will turn any Windows XP or 2000 PC with an Internet connection into a CGI proxy you can use at work to bypass web filters. Sure, regular web proxies will do the same thing, but isn't it cooler to have your own personal proxy that is ad free? 2. Belarc Advisor  This handy tool will search a computer for installed software and license keys and generate results as a HTML file. It's handy for recovering lost software licenses and Windows license keys. 3.  Xpize Windows XP GUI enhancer. It changes Window's normal, boring icons into something worth looking at. 4. ISO Recorder   ISO Recorder is a light weight power toy for Windows XP, Server 2003, and Vista that let lets you easily mount ISO images to CDs and DVDs. With ISO recorder, mounting an ISO file is as easy as right clicking and choosing "Copy image to CD." A 64-bit version of this program is available. 5 IrfanView Compact and fast image viewer and basic editor that works with most versions of Windows. It offers features that will please both novice users and geeks, including support for just about any file format out there, mutli language support, playing multimedia files, cutting and cropping, basic photo enhancement options, and more. 6. Windows Unattended Edition This Windows modification makes an admin's job easier. With the program, you can create a customized Windows CD that already has many updates, optimizations, and useful software on it. Though it's in Spanish, it's easy enough to figure out how it works. Click here for a translated version of the information page in English, courtesy of Google Translator. 7.Hamachi Hamachi lets you create your own virtual network of computers without actually having to network them together. It basically creates a LAN with other computers over the Internet. Hamachi is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac. 8. BeamFile With this freeware application, you can easily send files up to 5 GB in size to friends and family.  9. CamStudio CamStudio is a feature-full program that lets you record videos of applications on your computer. It's great for making demonstration videos and even lets you add screen captions, include yourself in the video, and convert the AVI files it generates into smaller SWF (flash) files!  10. Abiword Many people know about this tiny little word processor, but its other open source brother, Open Office, takes the spotlight too often. Abiword is very small and light, making it perfect for systems that can't handle the bloatedness of Open Office. Abiword is available for many operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and Mac.

• Clipmarks - In an increasing crowded realm of social bookmarking and blogging tools, seems like a standout.
  
• CoolIris - Amazingly helpful tool which allows you to preview websites without opening a new window, tab or leaving your current page. Works for media content sites like YouTube and Flickr as well. I can't imagine the web without it. Makes surfing a dream!
  
• Coolringer - Takes the best clips of your favorite music automatically and sets it as a ringtone on your cell for free with a few clicks. Aren't you cool?
• Answers 2.2 - available through Firefox Extensions site. Highlight a word or text and get instant spelling, definitions, look up and/or searching with a variety of services.
• JOOST - Don't forget to get on line now (there's a waiting list) to become a beta tester for this hot new social  online peer-to-peer TV service. Not only will you be able to watch live TV on your computer from around the world, with just a codec,  you will also be able to chat with your friends live while you watch. See this screen shot. Can't wait, hope I get in on the Beta testing. Will be watching my email box and will let everyone know if I do.