Freeware « Doriano Carta

GeeTasks Improves Google Tasks

May 19th, 2011 Posted in Freeware

I am always on the prowl for a new task management system for my computer and mobile devices. There are many solutions out there but none of them have been able to subplant my current favorite which is Google Tasks. Yes, I know it’s rather simple and limited compared to many of the new kids on the block but its simplicity is part of its charm and its power.

For example, since I work in gmail a lot, it’s convenient having google tasks available right there. I also have a bookmarklet on my browser toolbar that open up a slick view of my google tasks. Check it out. https://mail.google.com/tasks/canvas

You can also use google tasks on your iGoogle homepage and on your mobile device by saving the bookmark to your home screen where it looks and feels like a native iPhone app…well, almost anyway. I keep hoping Google will break down and release a true app for google tasks but they refuse to do so.

In steps in GeeTasks! I love this new app for google tasks which is not from Google. They have a free lite version and a pro edition. I really like this app because it makes using google tasks actually fun! Here’s a screencast that shows what it can do.

fkfkf

iphone apps

Netflix Nirvana

August 10th, 2009 Posted in Freeware, Movies

6 Comments »

I love movies and the internet so of course I’m going to be a big fan of Netflix. I love that its popularity continues to grow as more people learn how great it is. I had the same feeling or Tivo when I discovered it and was blown away by how fantastic and life changing it was. The fact that they eventually became partners is just incredible. You’ll see why later.

Here are some little known things about your netflix account as well as some excellent websites and apps that can add tremendous value to the experience.

Netflix RSS feeds displays all kinds of useful RSS feeds about your Netflix account as well as all of the useful RSS feeds that Netflix provides.

Netflix Facebook Connection makes it easy for you to share your Netflix and movie activities with your friends on Facebook with the click of a button.

The Netflix community is an ever growing online social network for Netflix and movie lovers. It’s built within the Ning network so if you already have a ning account you can just sign in to join the Netflix community. Once you’re in, you can add friends, chat, share thoughts, etc.

Twitter for Netflix allows you to manage your Netflix account via Twitter.

Netflix App Gallery

Netflix has an excellent App Gallery of websites and applications for desktops and mobile devices that work with their service. Here are just some of my favorites.

Feedfliks provides tremendous amounts of information and statistics about your Netflix account.

InstantWatcher is one of my favorite sites, period. It gives a wonderful at-a-glance view of all the movies you can watch instantly on Netflix. No muss, no fuss, bada bing, bada boom!

DVD Corral is a fantastic visual way to catalog the movie collection as well as the movies you want to own online.
It connects to Netflix wonderfully so you can actually watch it online if it’s available or you can add it to your queue to be delivered. You can import/export lists which is excellent.

I like that it provides a couple of handy URLs that you can share with friends such as your movie collection:

http://www.dvdcorral.com/users/paisano

as well as the movies you want to watch or own:

http://www.dvdcorral.com/users/paisano/wish

Qflip is just a silly way to let others movies for you.

iPhone apps for Netflix

Phoneflicks

Now Playing 2 is an amazing app that does to much to cover here really. In short, it not only tells you which movies are playing near you and when but it also lets you buy the tickets and pops the popcorn (OK I added that last part but you get the gist). They’re included here because they also work with Netflix! You can access your account from your iPhone and manage you queue and other things. Best of all, it’s totally FREE!

i.TV does a great job working with your local TV channel guides. It also has a Netflix connection allowing you to manage your DVD and instant watch queues.

Mobi iNet and Mobi iNet Lite offer access to a boatload of services including Netflix but truth be told, the interface for Netflix isn’t nearly as good as the other apps here. Still, it appears to be a worthy app for all that it offers.

Netflix on Tivo

The ultimate one-two punch has to be Netflix on Tivo which allows you to watch any streaming movie from Netflix on your big screen TV thanks to the Tivo box. Here’s the Tivo HD device with Netflix access.

Final Thoughts

Netflix continues to grow in popularity as it forms new partnerships with other services such as Tivo which only adds value to its service and members. Another trend that I like seeing is the Add to Netflix button popping on in movie reviews such as this one on the New York Times for Little Miss Sunshine. If you love movies then Netflix appears to be a must have service, especially with all of these apps and services that work with your account.

Movies, Netflix

How to clean your dirty windows

June 1st, 2008 Posted in Freeware, Microsoft, Uncategorized

2 Comments »

Ever notice how much faster Microsoft Windows seems to run when it’s fresh new computer or a reinstalled system?

There are many reasons why performance degrades over time, such as defragmentation of the hard drive and a bloated registry but we will focus on a lessor known reason for sluggish windows and how to fix it.

First, let’s explain what the windows operating system is before we reveal what slows it down so much. Windows is not a single program or application but a complex system of processes that run together in a massive symphony of bits and bytes. Want to take a quick peak at this matrix of mahem and mischef? Press your Ctrl-Alt-Del keys and select your task manager, then select processes. You will see dozens of processes going on, even if you have no applications open. This is what keeps windows running.

The Dirt on Dirt
As you know, windows lives on memory so the more RAM it has the better it performs. Thus, the more programs/applications that you run at any given time, the less memory the operating system will have available for all of those necessary processes and threads it needs to run. So, the goal is naturally to only keep those things open that you need, but most of the time that doesn’t seem to make a difference. Why is that? Well, even though you “think” nothing’s running, the chances are high that there are several memory hogging programs running in the background.

The Windows Detectives
The task manager is pathetic when it comes to revealing the whole truth about what’s really going on inside windows behind the scenes. That’s why you will need a few free tools from Microsoft that are incredibly useful when it comes to spying on your system. Best of all, they are all free, small and easy to use!

The first one to get is called AutoRuns , which is the best utility there is when it comes to showing you everything that runs automatically when you start your windows (hence the name). One of the best features is the ability to hide all Microsoft processes that need to run for windows which lets you focus on all of the non-windows processes and programs that runs.

You can then disable or delete them for startup, thus freeing up a great deal of memory which will in turn make windows run much better. Download it here.

Sometimes it’s difficult to tell what a process or thread really is or what owns it.

No need to take dangerous wild guesses thanks to the following two tools.

Process explorer exposes everything you’ll ever need to know about any process that is running in windows. It will reveal which program owns the process and its path and location.

Download it here.

Process Monitor is like the task manager on steroids and more! It’s an advanced windows monitoring system that displays real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity.

Download it here.

Final Curtain Call

Obviously, this is merely one simple method for cleaning your windows. There are many other things you can do to improve your performance but cleaning up your startup procedure is an excellent start.

autoruns, free tools, Microsoft, vista, Windows

Free Writer's Toolkit

March 22nd, 2008 Posted in Freeware, Writing

133 Comments »

There is a vast treasure trove of free software and online services that can greatly assist writers with their work. Here are some of the best free tools and services that writers can add to their technological toolkit. Most of the free software is for the Microsoft Windows platform but versions for other platforms like MAC OS and Linux will be noted when available.

Free Software

***NEW UPDATE***

StorYBook is an open-source application for writing books of all types. One of the most impressive packages that I’ve seen. The best feature is the way it helps you organize your chapters and offers differents views such as a chronological view of chapters by date or book view according to chapter numbers.
Here’s a screenshot:

Download (windows or linux)
screenshots

yWriter is an impressive novel-writing program that was created by a writer so it makes the process of outlining and editing much easier and even pleasurable! Incredbily, it’s totally free! Download screenshots
WordWeb is a small but powerful dictionary that hardly misses a word. Download screenshot
MobySaurus is an impressive thesaurus! Download Screenshots
TheSage is a dictionary and thesaurus all rolled up into one cool little application. Search results reveal a great deal of samples too. Download Screenshots
OpenOffice The ultimate Microsoft Office clone that is totally free and open source. There is Write (Word), Calc (Excel), Impress (PowerPoint), Base (Access) and more! Download (Win, Mac, Linux) Screenshot
CutePDF Writer lets you create professional quality PDF files from any printable document. FREE for personal and commercial use. No watermarks. No popup Web advertisements! Download
McGill Dictionary of Rhyme is an amazing deal here because not only does it include an excellent rhyming dictionary but also a program called VersePerfect that used to cost $150. These tools are excellent for song writers and poets. The real-time syllabel counter and spellchecker are VERY nice! Download Screenshots
FreeMind is a free mindmapping program written in java.Downloads (win, Mac, Linux) Screenshots
EverNote allows you to capture and search through notes, mobile phone snapshots, webpage clips, images of printed and handwritten text, emails, passwords, brainstorms, sketches, documents, and much, much more. Download Screenshots
NoteTabLite The best text editor that I’ve ever used and I’ve been using it for many years! NoteTabLite lets you open many text files at the same time with its unique tabbed interface (much like a browser). It remembers all of the files you had open the last time you used it and reopens them all automatically for you. Download Screenshot

Free Services

Definr is a quick and powerful online dictionary that never seems to miss.
Freethesaurus is an useful online thesaurus from the makers of MobySaurus the thesaurus software.
RhymeZone Very fast and useful online Rhyming search engine
WordFrequencyCounter Counts the frequency of words you’ve used.
MindMeister is the best online mindmapping service that allows you to embed any map and share them with others. An excellent tool for outlining stories or ideas.
Google Docs is an excellent online word processor that lets you store your writing which you can access from anywhere, anytime.You can export your google docs to word format or import word documents. You can publish any document as a public document so others can view it online. You can make it totally public for everyone to see or make them private justfor yourself or invite others you select to view or even edit the document.
Google Notebook is an online notebook for storing all kinds of text, images, links, etc. Create many subsections, tags, etc.
Zoho Writer Another excellent online word processor with storage anZoho offers the same features forsharing as google docs.
Zoho Db & Reports Easy and fast online database builder. Create databases to track story ideas, plots, characters,submissions, etc.
Zoho Creator Similar to Zoho DB & Reports, but the big different is the ability to create slick looking web apps within minutes without a line of code! Here’s a sample app I created in 5 minutes called My Muse that lets you track your writing, including blog posts. It’s overly simple, but you can copy it to your account and change it any way you want.

Free Social Networks and Services for Writers were covered in Writing 2.0. Here’s a list of the best of these writing networks as well as all of the free software listed on here.

Freeware, Writer tools, Writers, Writing

Free Microsoft Project Clone

March 3rd, 2008 Posted in Freeware

10 Comments »

OpenProj is a free and open source version of the most popular (and expensive) project management application, Microsoft Project. Yes, that’s right, free. Not only can it create project files that can be shared with Microsoft Project users but OpenProj can actually open Microsoft Project files as well! It becomes in essense a Project viewer much like Adobe Reader views PDF files, except for one major distinction: OpenProject doesn’t just view Microsoft Project files, it allows you to make changes to them too!

Here’s a screenshot of OpenProj. Click to view larger image.

Download OpenProj here for free. This isn’t some restricted time-limited lame demo trial version either. This is the full monty! Full version, free without any catches. There is a web version that they sell called Project-on-Demand which is still a fraction of what Microsoft Project Web Access costs (not to mention the expense for SharePoint and SQL server which are required)!

Projity is the company behind OpenProj with offices in California, France and India. There are gaining incredible popularity and credibility all over the world. OpenProj is a fantastic way to save $600 to $1000 per Microsoft Project license.

free, Freeware, Microsoft, Microsoft Project, Open Source, OpenProj, opensource, Project

Virtual Clipboard

February 27th, 2008 Posted in Freeware, Web 2.0

No Comments

ControlC is a unique new service, that’s for sure. In a nutshell, what it wants to be is your virtual clipboard, allowing you to copy and share (instead of paste) via the web.

I like the concept and the way that it saves everything in one place for easy retrieval from anywhere any time you want it again. Best of all it’s free and easy to use.

The only downside to the experience is that it requires a small download and installation of a tiny utility that needs to be running at all times in your system tray.

The good news is that it is indeed so small that it doesn’t appear to impact your computer at all. The downloads page has versions for different operating systems including Linux

and Mac OS and of course windows.

As for security concerns, some will be hesitant when it comes to openly sharing what they dump to their clipboard and rightfully so. Sometimes those items can be login names and passwords or account numbers or credit card numbers, etc. Well, ControlC realized that much and provides encryption automatically for everything you copy which is a great move on their part.

Personally, I love using my JingProject account to take screenshots and immediately sharing it via the web to anyone I want but I might use ControlC more just to see what else it can do in comparison.

Note: The free basic version only allows you to access things you’ve copied in the last 5 days. You will need the premium version to access anything older than that.

clipboard, controlc, Web 2.0

The Ultimate GateKeeper

February 27th, 2008 Posted in Enterprise, Freeware

79 Comments »

In all my years working in I.T. the thing that has always made me cringe is the way that people handle their login account information and passwords. I cannot tell you how often I’ve seen login names and passwords attached to monitors on sticky notes or taped to their desk or keyboard. The more security conscious ones actually try to be more safe by storing their passwords in their drawer, which still isn’t that smart really. The next level of security is taken by those who store all of their passwords in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, which is better than the post-it method of protection, but it’s still vulnerable because their isn’t any encryption which makes opening the file very easy. This is a serious matter that should be addressed by every organization, no matter how large or small they are. One security breach and any company can be exposed to devastating results from a potential hacker.

So what’s the answer? What can be done about this all too common problem that occurs in every company in America? Well, the first thing to do is provide some basic security training for all employees. Make sure everyone understands WHY this is so important. It isn’t just for the company’s safety but for their own safety as well. The next thing to do is provide a simple method for storing all of their login account information and passwords, perferably one that also provides encryption for added security.

Obviously, expense can be a concern so this solution shouldn’t be too expensive either. Now, there are countless password managers available these days, but to me there is only one ultimate gatekeeper.

KeePass is the best password manager available today because it doesn’t require installation, it’s easy to use, and it’s free! The best part of all is that you can keep thousands of passwords in one safe place with encryption. This means that you can have instant access to all of your accounts by remembering just one password from now on. Here’s a screenshot of the main interface (Click to Enlrage):

There’s a version for different operating systems, such as linux, Mac OS and of course all flavors of Windows. However, my favorite is the Portable version which doesn’t require any installation and can be launched from a USB stick! This means you can save the keepass program and the password database that it creates and encrypts for all your passwords in one safe place and with you at all times. Here’s the Keepass download page.

Summation:
Companies and especially I.T. departments need to stop sticking their collection heads in the ground when it comes to this grievous security risk and address it as soon as possible. Don’t assume that your users know better and would never be stupid enough to do such things. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen these things done by individuals with extremely high levels of intelligence, multiple degrees and usually good common sense. It only takes a few minutes and the Keepass utility is free and easy to use.

encryption, Freeware, Keepass, password, password manager, security

Free DVD Player for Vista

December 17th, 2007 Posted in Freeware, Video

2 Comments »

Free DVD Player for Vista

Ever try playing a DVD on Vista and see this screen?

Well, if so then the answer is this free and legal AVS DVD player for Vista !

dvd, Freeware, vista

Doriano Carta

Renaissance 2.0