From: chuck@chuckstr89134.com
Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2006 11:44 AM
To: Charles Strickland
Subject: #020 Friday, 11Nov06
 

 

  

Hi Folks,

Swampped this weekend, so just a quickie with some stuff I have been gathering - should keep you busy for a little while.

What Is Really Holding Vista Back - It’s Not What You Think

by Matt Hartley on October 18, 2006 at 10:51 pm · Comments off
Categorized by GnomeREPORT / Related Information

Lately I have been reading article after article on how Mac or Linux is going to beat out Windows Vista. And to be honest, I can almost understand how those who are out of touch with reality might see this as the case. But today, we are going to take a moment for a little bit of a reality check. Check it out…

Once and for all, Vista’s biggest threat will be from within – Windows XP. I have come to this conclusion based on a whole lot of research both virtually as well as based on polling some locals here in Northern Washington.

The one thing every person that I have spoken to had in common was the belief that Vista had no advantages over their current installation of XP. This is not to say whether or not this is in fact true, that would be something that each of you will have to decide for yourselves. But for a very large majority, there is really no question. Any new OS being “sold” to the public at large must be able to demonstrate a clear advantage to those they are targeting.

Thus far, I have yet to see any reason to bother. Think I am wrong, email me and share your thoughts.

Have comments? Want to share feedback? Email me at matt@lockergnome.com with a subject of “feedback”. Changing this subject will cause POPFile to quarantine your message and I will never see it.

IE Tab For Firefox v1.1.1.4

by Lockergnome on October 13, 2006 at 4:46 pm · Comments
Categorized by Download / Related Information

IE Tab for Firefox enables you to load Web pages in Internet Explorer without having to open another browser window. Just click a button on the Firefox toolbar and it will open the current page in a new tab that uses the Internet Explorer engine instead of Firefox. You can also configure certain Web sites to automatically open in an IE tab, making the process completely transparent. Now you can visit Windows Update without the need to switch browsers.

IE Tab also offers context menu integration and supports external applications other than Internet Explorer.

[174k] [Win2k/XP] [FREE] [SnapFiles]

Arrange Startup

Slow performance from you PC can usually be traced back to one of a few things. But it's caused by too many programs being set up to run at every startup you do, which uses up too many precious resources. Well, as we have discussed here before in the WorldStart newsletters (sluggish system), you can regain your system's youthful state by simply turning off some of these unnecessary programs from running at every startup. This, in turn, will free up some system resources for what you really need, while creating a noticeable improvement in your system’s reaction time.

For a lot of people, this process is easier said than done and I know when I ask people to perform this procedure, there is usually an air of confusion. Maybe I should say uncertainty rather than confusion and it’s completely understandable. The entries in the startup list are usually cryptic and misleading. Their names leave users unclear as to what they are truly doing and no one wants to just start turning things off without the proper knowledge, because that could cause undesired effects. For example, you could turn off your antivirus program without even knowing it.

Well, hopefully this week's download will put that issue to bed. The program I'm going to be talking about today is called Arrange Startup and its job is to maintain you startup items and keep it at a desired state.

Arrange Startup takes the “Huh“? out of dealing with your startup items by presenting all the.exe files your system has set to start when you PC boots up. If you're still unsure of what one of the entries is, don't worry. Arrange Startup even thought of that by marking each entry as "Required for Startup," "Not Required" or "Incomplete File Info," which should make you feel more at ease.

Arrange Startup can really be instrumental in helping your PC get back to the blistering performance it had when you first brought it home from the store. Years of installing programs and updates have chipped away at your PC’s performance enough, so take back what is yours and enjoy the speed your system once had. I also recommend the free download Process Library Quick Access Info Bar. That can help you to decipher not startup items, but running processes. It will help you in explaining if you need certain ones running or not.

Arrange Startup works on Windows NT, 2000 and XP. There is also a complete Help file within the program to help you get the hang of things, as well as, a technical support e-mail address.

Just click here to download Arrange Startup.

Hope you enjoy!

~ Chad

Some freeware recommendations from Lockergnome.

Snippy - “How often have you carefully selected some text from a Web page and copied it to an email message? Snippy makes this a snap! Simply click on the little Snippy icon in the taskbar notification area, and mark out the region of the screen that you want to copy — that’s it, you’re done! The cut-out image will now be in your clipboard, and you can paste it in another application.“

Wink - Wink is a Tutorial and Presentation creation software, primarily aimed at creating tutorials on how to use software (like a tutor for MS-Word/Excel etc). Using Wink you can capture screenshots, add explanations boxes, buttons, titles etc and generate a highly effective tutorial for your users.

PDF Creator - PDF Creator easily creates PDFs from any Windows program. Use it like a printer in Word, StarCalc or any other Windows application.

CD Burner XP Pro - CDBurnerXP Pro is a free CD/DVD burning solution. With this software you can burn CD-R, CD-RW DVD+R/RW DVD-R/RW discs.

ISO Recorder - ISO Recorder is a tool (power toy) for Windows XP, 2003 and now Windows Vista, that allows (depending on the Windows version) to burn CD and DVD images, copy disks, make images of the existing data CDs and DVDs and create ISO images from a content of a disk folder.

CCleaner - CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it’s fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :) When your pc runs slow, this will speed it up.

FoxIt PDF - Foxit Reader 2.0 is a free PDF document viewer and printer, with incredible small size (only 1.5 M download size), breezing-fast launch speed and amazingly rich feature set. Foxit Reader 2.0 supports Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003. Its core function is compatible with PDF Standard 1.6.

RegShot - RegShot is a small utility that allows you to quickly take a snapshot of your registry and then compare it with a second one - done after doing system changes or installing a new software product. The changes report can be produced in text or HTML format and contains a list of all modifications that have taken place between snapshot1 and snapshot2. in addition, you can also specify a folder (with subfolders) to be scanned for changes as well.

Citrix Virtual Client - Citrix has partnered with Thinstall to virtualize the Citrix Presentation Server Client. Thinstall technology enables you to carry the Citrix Presentation Server Client with you, and use it from any computer, without requiring installation or administrative permissions. Easily and securely access any of your Citrix applications from any computer, anywhere. FREE for individual use.

Tags: freeware, software, download

The Digital Photography Book

by Lockergnome on October 23, 2006 at 12:35 pm · Comments
Categorized by Books / Related Information

Scott Kelby, the man who changed the “digital darkroom“ forever with his groundbreaking, #1 bestselling, award-winning book The Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, now tackles the most important side of digital photography - how to take pro-quality shots using the same tricks today’s top digital pros use (and it’s easier than you’d think) with The Digital Photography Book.

This entire book is written with a brilliant premise, and here’s how Scott describes it: “If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, ‘Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, but I want the background out of focus?’ I wouldn’t stand there and give you a lecture about aperture, exposure, and depth of field. In real life, I’d just say, ‘Get out your telephoto lens, set your f/stop to f/2.8, focus on the flower, and fire away.’ You d say, ‘OK,’ and you’d get the shot. That’s what this book is all about. A book of you and I shooting, and I answer the questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I’ve learned just like I would with a friend, without all the technical explanations and without all the techno-photo-speak.“

This isn’t a book of theory - it isn’t full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts: this is a book of which button to push, which setting to use, when to use them, and nearly two hundred of the most closely guarded photographic “tricks of the trade“ to get you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos with your digital camera every time you press the shutter button.

Here’s another thing that makes this book different: each page covers just one trick, just one single concept that makes your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you’ll learn another pro setting, another pro tool, another pro trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. There’s never been a book like it, and if you’re tired of taking shots that look “OK,“ and if you’re tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, “Why don’t my shots look like that?“ then this is the book for you.

Email Etiquette

by Chris Pirillo on October 20, 2006 at 11:07 pm · Comments (6)
Categorized by GnomeREPORT / Related Information

Email etiquette should still be alive and well. Let me share a few pointers that you might care to pass along, privately, to those who may not be aware of the unspoken rules. Unless everybody knows everybody else in an email thread, it’s always best to use the BCC option. Believe me, every single email utility on the planet has a BCC option. But wait, there’s more you need to remember!

1.     NEVER TYPE IN ALL CAPS. THAT’S LIKE SCREAMING. REALLY!

2.     Be wary of any kind of attachment - even if it comes from someone you know.

3.     If a file you wish to send is larger than 2MB, think twice before sending it.

4.     HTML stationery is annoying; if you don’t need to use it, don’t.

5.     As the comic above illustrates, use BCC instead of CC to keep other email addresses private.

6.     Don’t delete relevant information when you reply to someone.

7.     If you can’t spell well, rememmber to run a spell check before sending.

8.     Try to keep your messages as short as possible - you’re not writing a novel.

9.     Check Snopes before forwarding info that sounds too good to be true.

10.  Never send emails when you’re mad - wait until you calm down first. Trust me.

11.  Triple-check that you’re not sending a message to someone who shouldn’t see it.

12.  Remember that when you send something electronically, it has the potential of “living“ forever.

13.  Before you forward an email joke, make sure it’s funny first. Please?

Tags: email, etiquette, netiquette

EverNote

by Mitch Keeler on October 24, 2006 at 12:48 pm · Comments
Categorized by Download / Related Information

There is no new way to take a note, right? Personally I gave up on paper a long time ago, and now I use digital notes and reminders for myself. How can this be so? Well, there are a slew of free sticky note programs out there. One of the most unique I have seen in a while though is EverNote.

So what makes EverNote so different?

With EverNote 1.5 you can easily capture, store and quickly access typed and handwritten memos, webpage excerpts, emails, phone messages, addresses, passwords, brainstorms, sketches, documents and more! With EverNote, you can create notes in multiple formats, including text, Web, email, handwriting, image clips and custom templates. You don’t need to save your notes manually - EverNote saves them for you automatically.

This is like your standard sticky note application on steroids. It has just about everything you could ever need when taking notes via your PC. To make things even better, it has a Firefox extension as well - so you get even more integration between programs.

EverNote makes it easy to store and quickly access notes, Web page excerpts, emails, phone messages, and more. EverNote innovates by storing content on an endless, virtual roll of paper. You can quickly scroll chronologically through your notes similar to scanning through handwritten notes in a notebook.

For folks who want to use a note program that doesn’t have so many features, you might take a look at Stickies.

[10.9M] [Win 2K/XP] [FREE]

Tags: windows, freeware, notes, sticky, memos

More Next Friday,
Chuckstr
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