Computer tips and tricks

6 microblogging tools alternative to Twitter

Jan22
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Caitlin

Microblogging tools

The tools below all claim to be different from Twitter in one way or another, it is worthwhile to research them before deciding to start a microblog.

Subjot: It has the ability to curate content from users you follow and the ability to comment on other people jots, making engagement easier. There is a 250 message character limit.

Identi.ca:  Stream oriented social network running on open source (StatusNet) with 140 characters message limit, you can send private messages and create private groups, with group members needing administrator approval.

Beenup2: Specialist microblogging tool for photos, you can post pictures directly using mobile phone and after sharing it with the world, family or friends, people can make comments on the images.

Microblogging

Microblogging

Plurk: Service to showcase what you do in your life with a 140 characters limit, you can share links to videos and images with Plurk automatically creating a thumbnail view, a widget can be embedded into your blog.

Dailybooth: A photo only twitter like messaging tool, you can start a real time conversation with others using pictures with a link or phrase below, there is no need to sign up and photos can be added using your webcam or uploading them from your computer.

FreeSocial: Launched by the Swedish Pirate Party, you can use this tool (StatusNet) to post short notices about yourself, events, polls or questions. Private groups can be created with messages being sent to only members of the group, the site is secured against eavesdroppers using SSL encryption.

Businesses will want to look into a tool focused in production that makes it easy to work in a team and has strong security, like for example Co-op or Worksimple, Chinese users will want to use a Twitter clone that is not censored and blocked by the Chinese Government, like for example Weibo(微博), and the most adventurous might want to host their own microblogging service using open source software, like StatusNet or Sharetronix, but be aware that spam can be a problem and it needs maintenance.

Posted in Other Computing - Tagged , , , , ,

Free Adobe Photoshop alternative Artweaver

Jan16
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Caitlin

Graphics editor freeware

Artweaver is a powerful photo editor with an interface that looks like Photoshop and nearly as capable. The comprehensive list of incorporated filters (Ripple, Whirl, Waves, Lens, Add noise, Filmgrain, Oilify, Oldlook, Solarize, Emboss, Textures, Blur, Rendering, etc) will allow you to create sketches and artworks from simple photos in no time. You will be able to use a variety of brushes to retouch imperfections or add depth to the photos using a classic technique called Impasto,where the user gets to specify the amount of shine, exposure, smoothing and depth through a drop down menu, layer support makes it easy to work with special effects.

Artweaver has its own file format called .Awd but it can open and save photos using Adobe Photoshop .psd format too, if you are working in collaboration with someone using different software it should not be a problem, support for pen tablets means that you can use this software in any device.

Photoshop alternative ArtWeaver

Photoshop alternative ArtWeaver

One of the best features is Artweaver Team to connect with friends over the Internet and work simultaneously on the same image, you will need to open an account first and after logging into a team session all events will be synchronized with the other people, a simple built-in chat let’s you communicate with your buddies.

If you have used Photoshop before you will feel at home with Artweaver, with the tools positioned in the same place, even shortcuts, and if you are a beginner the included help manual with screenshots will quickly put you to work, this software is suitable for both, beginners and professionals. You can upgrade to a paid for Artweaver Plus if you need to load and run Photoshop compatible filters, saving presets, EXIF metadata support, custom palettes and other high end properties.

Visit ArtWeaver homepage

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Free Windows junk cleaner and optimizer JetClean

Jan10
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Caitlin

JetClean review

JetClean is a Windows junk cleaner suite to optimize your PC and protect your privacy, its tabbed interface and one click approach make it easy and painless to clean up your computer redundant files. Once you have JetClean set up, it can be instructed to automatically remove temporary files every time you log on, at an specific time or when the computer is idle, any changes made to the computer are logged in case you want to review them later on.

This optimization tool will take care of the operating system temporary files and Internet browser improving your computer performance and reducing online tracking by regularly getting rid of browser cookies. Files listed as deleted include memory dumps, old prefetch data, thumbnail cache, Windows log files, non-existent shortcuts, clipboard and files created by applications such as Java, Foxit Reader, Flash player, Shockwave and Adobe Air.

Windows junk cleaner JeatClean

Windows junk cleaner JeatClean

What I liked most of this software is that you can select browser cookies from safe websites, like webmail or search engines containing your preferences, and place them on a never erased list. The one click approach makes this junk cleaner one of the fastest in the market, it got rid of all my junk files in just two clicks, one to scan the computer and the other, after reviewing the listed problems found by scan, to erase the files.

You can create a portable USB version of JetClean after installing it, I failed to see too much use to that though, the paid for version of JetClean adds registry defragmentation and Internet booster, unless you play online games probably not needed, overall, this is a simple, light on resources junk cleaner good enough for those who want an easy life and have no serious privacy needs (files are not securely wiped only erased), I would feel relaxed recommending this software to someone who knows nothing about computers.

Visit JeatClean homepage

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Keep the Windows registry clean with Registry Life

Jan07
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Caitlin

Best Windows registry cleaner

The Windows registry is a database that stores hardware and software settings for the Windows operating system to operate, over the time the registry will grow in size containing old and invalid information,  a registry cleaner optimizes this database getting rid of invalid entries left by uninstalled programs. Advanced registry cleaners can also defrag it compacting the entries, this makes the system more organized and speeds up accessibility.

Registry Life is a free Windows registry cleaner capable of fixing errors, defragmenting the registry and compacting it, it will remove invalid entries, check file associations, dynamic link libraries and registered applications key entries.

Free Windows Registry cleaner Registry Life

Free Windows Registry cleaner Registry Life

Registry Life guides you through the process of cleaning with a two step wizard, it will automatically create a backup of deleted keys for later restoration in case something goes wrong, the frequency of use depends on how often the computer is operated, I am the average user and I run a registry cleaner once a month.

Registry Life main features

  • Searching and fixing for more than 10 different registry errors
  • Compacting the Windows registry loading it faster into memory
  • Registry defragmentation increasing operating system registry access

Read everything carefully during installation as it will ask you if you want to install trial versions of different tools made by the same developer, it managed to install one unwanted program in my computer because I did not uncheck the box, it is not spyware and can be easily be removed.

Visit Registry Life homepage

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O&O Speedcheck compares fragmented hard drive speed

Jan03
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Caitlin

O&O Speedcheck review

O&O SpeedCheck simulates data reading by your Windows system in a fragmented and defragmented hard drive, no real data is ever written to the drive. After the test, which last some minutes, you will be shown a comparison bar chart of the two test times, I would not call this software a benchmark because it doesn’t give you too many details other than the possible increase in speed by using a properly defragmented drive.

O&O SpeedCheck hard drive test

O&O SpeedCheck hard drive test

You do not need to install O&O Speedcheck to run it, only administrator rights. This program is a bit confusing as it might give the impression that you need to defrag your hard drive when everything is fine, O&O SpeedCheck does not measure hard drive defragmentation level, it only shows people the speed increase they can get by defragging their hard drive and the reason why a hard drive should be defragmented often, the main point of this software is to convince people to defrag their drives and show the theoretical speed one can get from that specific drive, which not only depends on disk defragmentation, but also on system hardware.

O&O offers you a 30 day trial of their defragmentation software once you close O&O SpeedCheck, it appears to be a tool to push O&O own defrag software, which can be easily ignored and would be fine as long as their freeware provided detailed data other than a simple percentage number. The only use I see for this tool is for presentations at IT lectures, if you are a home user I would give it a pass unless you still need to be convinced that defragging a hard drive really makes a difference.

Visit O&O SpeedCheck homepage

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Top 8 alternatives to Windows Notepad

Dec30
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Caitlin

Better than Windows Notepad

AkelPad: Open source editor for plain text, designed to be small and fast, supports multi window mode, Unicode text, preview of files before printing, drag and drop, syntax highlight (via plugin), user created colour schemes and much more.

Akelpad free Notepad replacement

Akelpad free Notepad replacement

TED Notepad: Highly configurable Notepad editor with autosave, Ted Notepad is targeted at advanced users with most of its functions having a hotkey, appearance (font&background colour) can easily be changed in settings. Text formatting, HTML support, search&replace, full screen, etc.

Free lightweight text editor TEDNotepad

Free lightweight text editor TEDNotepad

Notepad2: Light weight (560Kb) Notepad like text editor with syntax highlighting, it can be run in portable mode without installation and it will not leave any trace in the Windows registry. Supported syntax includes  HTML, XML, CSS, VBScript, CGI, SQL query, this editor is ideal for web authoring.

Windows Notepad replacement Notepad2

Windows Notepad replacement Notepad2

MetaPad: Portable multilingual editor (GPL licensed) that will save the settings on the USB thumbdrive not leaving any data behind. It has persistent window placement, find and replace text, Unix text file support, recent file list, hyperlink support and dual font.

Metapad text editor

Metapad text editor

EditPad Lite: General purpose text editor to edit any kind of text file, it has a tabbed interface to work with many files at once, automatic back up to prevent data loss, search and replace feature, undo/redo editing,  full Unicode support and it works with Windows and Unix text strings.

EditPad Lite text editor

EditPad Lite text editor

Notepad ++: Open source Windows Notepad replacement editor based on Scintilla, a powerful programmers editor, Notepad ++ has a numerous community and is actively in development, features can be extended via plugins, expect a spell checker, FTP client, and macros.

Developer text editor Notepad ++

Developer text editor Notepad ++

PSPad: Free editor for developers, it can be used as a web authoring tool to create webpages or IDE compiler for programmers, macros can be used to automate repetitive tasks, it comes with an HEX editor, FTP client and Macro recorder, this editor is best suited for people into web development (programmers).

PSPad free editor

PSPad free editor

Vim Editor: Very geeky cross platform (Linux, BSD, Windows) text editor widely used by developers. Multiple clipboards, macros support, powerful configurable search capabilities, built-in scripting engines to automate tasks, sophisticated keyboard short-cuts and portable.

Vim editor

Vim editor

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Review Windows defrag alternative SmartDefrag

Dec28
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Caitlin

iObit SmartDefrag review

As you use your operating system files will get scattered all over the hard disk in no time, this process is known as defragmentation and it slows down the operating system as it has to gather together the files you want to access.

iObit SmartDefrag is a powerful configurable alternative to Windows built-in defragmenter, it will analyze your hard disk level of defragmentation before the scan, showing a coloured block map of your hard drive with the files location. SmartDefrag will work in the background placing the most used files into the fastest area of the drive, this is known as streamlining the file system.

iObit SmartDefrag Windows defrag alternative

iObit SmartDefrag Windows defrag alternative

An easy to use skinnable tabbed interface with transparency lets you switch in between the different options, there are four tabs, one shows you the drive file map, another shows automatic defragmentation resource usage, another shows Boot Time Defrag options, like defragmentation of the hibernation and page file, another tab shows a detailed report of  the number of fragmented files and where they can be found.

An always on option guarantees you that SmartDefrag will work silently in the background, the default options (can be changed) activate disk defragmentation when the computer has been idle for 5 minutes and pauses it if the computer is using over 60% of its resources, this stops SmartDefrag from affecting disk performance while you are using it , alternatively defragmentation can be scheduled or run on demand and if you want to stop certain file from being defragmented, it can be manually excluded or use a checkbox in SmartDefrag to stop it from moving files bigger than a certain fixed size.

While there are many free defrag utilities, iObit SmartDefrag has been specially designed for modern large hard drives giving you maximum speed, and it is one of the few that can be instructed to defrag at boot time, allowing for the defragmentation of Windows system files that can not be moved while the operating system is in use.

Note: There is no need to defragment solid state disks or memory sticks.

Visit iObit SmartDefrag homepage

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Portable task manager GeeTeeDee

Nov13
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Caitlin

Get It Done software

GeeTeeDee is an easy to use task manager where you can create groups to classify your notes/tasks, dragging and dropping notes or typing them directly, the task manager view can be compacted, with just a single click hiding an extended window, this tool doesn’t require administrator rights to run and it needs a humble 12MB of hard disk space, it is available for Windows and Linux with a Mac version coming soon.

GeeTeeDee portable task manager

GeeTeeDee portable task manager

GeeTeeDee has a very clean interface making it easy for you to see and organize your notes, after deleting a note GeeTeeDee sends it to a trash bin from where it be recovered unless you empty it, groups of tasks can be exported as .txt file, the logos are very eye candy, this a task manager with lots of simplicity which is what it makes it to stand out of the crowd, but if you are a really busy person you will want to look at something else as there is no sync, no mobile version and no alarm sound warning you of upcoming appointments, GeeTeeDee main selling point is that it is portable, free and effortless, an ideal reminder software for the home user or someone who travels and needs to take it on a thumb drive.

Visit GeeTeeDee homepage

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Free website building program Website X5

Nov11
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Caitlin

Free website editor

Website X5 is a free WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web editor, there is no need to know about any HTML code or CSS (Cascade Style Sheets), a wizard guides you through the process of creating a website, the user just needs to add text and images and if you get confused, there is a complete help manual and video tutorials showing you how to build a website.

The program is suitable for personal websites made by people with zero knowledge of web design, some web templates are included and they can be customized (header, menu layout and colour), the most adventurous users can add flash animations or videos if they wish so. Packs of web templates based on specific themes can be bought if needed, they include web layouts customized for small businesses, sports, technology, travel, artistic, etc.

Free web editor Website X5

Free web editor Website X5

Once the website is finished you can upload it to your webhost using Website X5 built-in FTP client or export it as .html to your hard disk, the paid for version of the software also allows you to export the whole project but unless you intend to create many websites this is not necessary. The step by step guide to create your website includes adding meta tags like website keywords, headers and “alt” image tag description, attributes that are not visible to the surfers but important to get your website indexed by search engines.

Website X5 free edition features

  • Creates standard HMTL5 code and CSS2.1/3
  • It can build websites of up to 10 pages
  • Comes with 100 free templates included
  • Basic text and image editor

This free web editor allows anyone to create a simple website, if you want a family, hobby or personal club site it will do a good job and save you money, to create a business website you will need to upgrade to their paid for version that comes with tools for e-commerce.

Visit Website X5 homepage

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PixBuilder Studio a good free alternative to PhotoShop

Nov02
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Caitlin

Free photo editor program

PixBuilder Studio comes in a very small size, just 3MB download, a good indication that it will be light on resources, the official requirement is only 512RAM, during installation you can choose to install it as portable on a USB thumbdrive.

Its interface is tightly integrated (no floating panels) the layout resembles PhotoShop, most tools are located in the very same place, this photo editor has all of the features that a home user will need: photo resizing, cropping, import from scanner, brightness adjustment, contrast, auto levels, RGB, hue/saturation, curves and colorize. I own PhotoShop as well and there isn’t a single tool that I normally use there and can not be found on PixBuilder Studio, there are more features in PhotoShop of course but most home users will never need them.

PixBuilder Studio free photo editor

PixBuilder Studio free photo editor

PixBuilder Studio is a powerful photo editor that allows you to work with panels and layers , text editing could be improved a little, you can add and format text on the photographs using bold and different fonts but PixBuilder opens up a new window where you have to edit the text first, other photo editors allow you edit the text directly on the image being able to see what it looks like on real time.

The default special effects are limited to dithering, blur (quick, motion, Gaussian), sharpness, emboss and few others, all very basic. There is support for Adobe Photoshop 8BF filters in the form of plugins, you will need to add those after installation. I enjoyed the clone stamp, and magnetic lasso tool, these are not found often in free graphics editors., the program is multilingual and you can translate it into your own language if it is not available yet, the developer will include it in the next release.

Supported file formats:

It reads: .jpeg, .gif, .png, .bmp, .pcx, .psd, .tga, .ico, .pbs

It writes: .jpeg, .gif, .png, .bmp, .pcx, .tga, .ico, .pbs

It can not save photos as Photoshop .psd files but it is able to read them, you will also find .pbs PixBuilder Studio own file format.

Visit PixBuilder Studio homepage

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