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July 08, 2004
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If you happen to have a spare PC lying around then try out this cool program that lets you use the second computer as a dual monitor for your main PC.
Just install Maxivista on both computers (and make sure that they are networked together) and both computers automatically find each other where one acts as an extension to your monitor, doubling your desktop.
This is cool application easily doubles your desktop without needing to install any extra hardware on your PC (and the installation and setup are a sinch).
I know this program isn't for everyone, but if you happen to have an extra PC and monitor then this could be pretty useful for you.
Posted by Guy at 01:22 AM
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June 21, 2004
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Since I'm already on the roll of blabbing about GMail then I'll add another post on the subject.
This time it's GTray for GMail.
GTray is exactly what was missing from GMail: it's a small program that lives in your system tray and automatically notifies you when you have new GMail.
This is a very small project, created by one dude so it may not be the most fancy application but it does do its job (and it does it well).
Some features that I do feel are (currently) missing (off the top of my head):
- The GTray icon doesn't change visually according to the number of new GMails that are waiting. I'd like to see the icon change color when I get a new mail and show the number of new mails.
- Have the popup bubble disappear automatically after X seconds.
- and just a small cosmetic feature that I'd like: have the popups look like the new Office 2003 popups (similar to FeedDemon 1.1)
Overall, this is a great application that goes along hand in hand with the excellent GMail.
Posted by Guy at 12:50 AM
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February 17, 2004
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Yahoo has a piece from PCWorld about 10 free utilities that will "let you work smarter".
There's actually one util that got a permanent place in my system tray: Pure Text (and I really use it all the time).
I try out tons of free applications but very few remain installed, and I'll regularly use only a selected handful.
Posted by Guy at 07:39 AM
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February 09, 2004
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ieHTTPheaders is an IE plug-in that lets you view all HTTP request and response headers.
It can be very useful for debugging web applications and viewing IE traffic.
What it does is open a new pane in Internet Explorer and every time your browser requests something it will display the HTTP request that the browser sends the server and the HTTP response that the server returns.
Very useful (if you're into that sort of thing ;-)
Posted by Guy at 06:58 AM
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November 12, 2003
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I've been an avid supporter of the excellent Dave's Quick Search Deskbar, which lets you search numerous online resources from your desktop (you can easily lookup a word in the dictionary, find acronyms, search Google, convert currencies, and quickly access just about any other site that you need).
Now Google has come out with a similar product: the Google Deskbar.
The Google Deskbar lets you search Google without opening your browser.
You just enter some keywords in the text field on your deskbar (very much like Dave's Quick Search Deskbar) and a window with your search results quickly opens.
Additional options let you search other site (also like Dave's Quick Search).
You can search for movie reviews, stock quotes, and some other sites.
The Google bar main advantage over Dave's bar (as far as I can currently see) is that Dave's bar opens Internet Explorer for displaying results, which can take a while to open (depending on your computer) whereas the Google Deskbar quickly slides up a window (with some cool animations) with your results.
Therefore not only does Google's application give you faster results, they also look cooler (not just an Internet Explorer window).
The advantage that Dave's Deskbar has over Google's is that it is mainly written in HTML so you can pretty easily add your own custom searches (I added the ability to search your UpSave bookmarks and added custom searches that I use to search the Intranet at work).
Therefore there are a lot more searches in Dave's Deskbar.
Google's Deskbar does have the ability to add your own searches but it is not as powerful as Dave's.
The Google Bar is still in beta version so there may be some problems with it but I'm sure that they'll gradually stabilize and improve it.
Update: I uninstalled the Google Deskbar since I never seemed to use it (though I do keep using Dave's Quick Search Deskbar).
Posted by Guy at 10:36 PM
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September 17, 2003
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Sleepy is a free program that can prevent you (or your kids or spouse) from staying up all night on the computer.
What Sleepy can do is turn off your computer at specific times (and on days that you specify).
I guess some people could find this useful but I'm not going to install it.
I'm not addicted, I can stop any time I want ;o)
I don't need a program to tel....Shutting down...
Posted by Guy at 12:30 AM
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September 03, 2003
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Here's a cool little (83K) utility that tells you how much free disk space a remote machine has, without having to log into it.
It uses the .Net framework so you'll need to have that installed before you can run it.
Posted by Guy at 03:23 PM
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August 29, 2003
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I needed a way to download binary files from usenet and it turns out that Outlook Express doesn't know how to decode binary files that are encoded with yEnc (which is the standard for encoding binary files in usenet, check out http://www.yenc.org/ for a list of yEnc-friendly utilities)!
So, as usual, I started searching for a free news reader that can download yEnc binaries from usenet.
At first I tried Xnews but it was way too complicated and really drove me crazy.
Then I discovered GrabIt and gave it a run.
GrabIt is a great, free, newsreader that specializes in downloading binaries from usenet.
It makes the whole yEnc decoding completely transparent to the user (you have no idea that files need to be decoded) and lets you batch download several files.
Don't leave home without it!
Posted by Guy at 12:37 AM
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August 27, 2003
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Howto Play Mp3's on a Clie
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The Sony Clie is a great PDA (I have a PEG-NX70V) that can, among other things, play video clips and mp3 files.
The only limitation with playing mp3 files on the Clie is that it requires that the mp3 file sampling rate be 44.1KHz and the bitrate be 56kbs and up.
If you try playing a mp3 file on your Clie and get an error similar to this:
This track is not available because of either of the following reasons:
Does not support the copyright system or file format.
The memory stick is write-protected.
then the problem usually is that the sampling rate or bitrate of your mp3 file are not supported by the Clie.
Many people in online forums say that you need to buy the white Sony Memory Stick (Magic Gate which is more expensive than the purple Memory Stick) in order to play mp3 files on your Clie but that's not true, you can use the regular purple Memory Stick.
One caveat: if you want to use Sonic Stage (the PC software that comes bundled with Clie) that uses ATRAC encoding (instead of mp3) then you'll need to get the white Memory Stick (the purple MS can't play ATRAC encoded files), but for regular mp3 files you don't need anything special (just make sure that the sampling rate and bitrate are in the range that the Clie supports).
In order to play mp3 files then remember to always put your mp3 files in the \PALM\PROGRAMS\MSAUDIO folder.
I had several mp3 files that weren't in the correct format so I searched for a utility (preferable freeware) that could convert mp3 files to different sampling rates and bitrates.
I stumbled upon this excellent util:
dBpowerAMP Music Converter (dMC)
It lets you easily select a mp3 file for conversion, select the desired output format, and you're off.
It does have to encode the entire file (that's the whole purpose of it) so it will take some time.
It also comes with an outstanding (really!) CD ripper.
Oh yea, it's free!
Good luck and rock on....
Posted by Guy at 10:21 AM
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August 13, 2003
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DialogMate adds a button to all the save and open Windows dialogs (you know those windows that pop up when you are saving a file and need to select where to save it).
The new button adds a pop-up menu with user-defined favorite folders so you can quickly jump to the folders that you usually use, without the boring and usual navigation.
The configuration is with an ini file (that you need to manually edit) but don't let that discourage you, there is a simple ini file that is included with the program and you can easily edit it and add your own favorite folders.
It's free and just 11KB to download.
Posted by Guy at 10:35 AM
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August 07, 2003
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I've been messing around a bit with streaming radio (got to use up my bandwidth somehow) and I needed a way to cut huge mp3 files that I created.
A quick question to the Internet Gods lead me to Mega mp3 splitter.
It's a very simple freeware program that lets you select breakpoints in your mp3 file and it splits it into several files.
Nothing very fancy just does the job, and it's free.
Posted by Guy at 12:19 AM
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July 23, 2003
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This is a pretty cool idea: Password Scrambler 1.0 lets you have one password for all the websites that you use but uses it to generate unique passwords according to the URL of the website.
That way every site has a different, secure password and you only have to remember your master password.
The idea is great (that's why I'm writing about it here) but I do not use this software since you can't get the list of all of your site passwords.
Maybe if they add that feature and make it easy to backup all your passwords (especially to sync them with my Palm Pilot) I'll use this program.
Oh yea, it is integrated with Microsoft IE in the button toolbar and automatically fills in your passwords.
Posted by Guy at 08:14 AM
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July 15, 2003
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Yesterday I posted a challenge:
Tomorrow I'll write about the feed reader that I use (there's a hint of which one I use somewhere here...).
I'll give 11 apples to whoever finds out which reader I'm using.
Well the answer is Feedreader (ahh now I get it).
Feedreader is a very simple program that sits in your system tray (you know those little icons near the Windows clock) and automatically downloads the latest headlines from RSS feeds that you give it.
It's very simple to use and pretty stable (even though it is still in Alpha stages).
Oh yea, don't forget to add the Guy's World RSS Feed so you always know when this site is updated.
And the winner of the 11 apples is: Dave
Congratulations!
Posted by Guy at 08:14 AM
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June 26, 2003
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The small little download (just 190KB) lets you save a web page as a single file that includes all the graphics on the page.
This is great if you want to save a web page without having to worry about multiple files (like IE creates).
The instructions for saving a web page are pretty simple and appear at the bottom of the download page.
Office 2000 Add-in: Web Archive
BTW: In IE you can also save a web page as a single file (.mht) by clicking "File", "Save As...", and select "Web Archive, single file (*.mht)" in the "Save as type" field in the dialog that opens.
Posted by Guy at 07:32 AM
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May 08, 2003
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PS2 Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2
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Yesterday I burned several hours on the PS2 playing Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2
As you know, I have Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 for the PC but differences between the PS2 and PC versions are amazing.
Since my PC's video card is over three years old (Voodoo 5 5500) the performance on the PC can't match the PS2's graphics but ignoring than that the two games are entirely different.
The PS2 has some cool features that the PC version doesn't have.
For example: while driving you can look ahead to see what's coming up (with a cool fireball effect) and there's a neat Matrix like 360 effect.
In addition, the cops need to stop you 3 times in order to arrest you (in the PC version it's one time and you're out).
In both versions the gameplay is outstanding, providing hours of fun either racing other opponents, outrunning the cops, or playing a cop trying to stop other racers.
Posted by Guy at 09:47 AM
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May 06, 2003
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GSMTool is a great little tool for using your cellphone with a Palm Pilot.
I use it for communicating between my Nokia 8210 and my Sony Clie PEG-NX70v, via IR.
GSMTool lets me send SMS messages from the Pilot, read SMS messages, backup my cellphone phone numbers, dial the cellphone from a number in my Pilot address book, and many more options.
I installed it a long time ago (on my Palm m100) and would use it just for sending SMS messages (instead of using the annoying cell phone keypad to write SMS messages).
A few days ago I played around with it a bit (on my Clie) and discovered many more features that it has.
Normally, reading SMS messages wouldn't be a big deal (the Nokia display is usually sufficient for reading short SMS messages) but since the display on my Nokia hasn't been working for several months, using GSMTool I can read SMS messages on my Clie.
Dialing a phone number is pretty cool since you can just select a number on the Pilot and have the cellphone dial it.
The two best features (for me at least) are:
Being able to write SMS messages using Graffiti (or the Clie's built in keyboard)
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Being able to easily backup and restore the numbers on my cellphone (you can also edit the numbers on the Pilot before restoring them, since they are saved in a standard Palm memo file).
Posted by Guy at 05:22 PM
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May 03, 2003
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Since my PC at home has a dynamic IP (every time I restart the cable modem or dial the VPN connection I get a new IP) I need a way to know my PC's current IP (in order to access the machine remotely).
What I used to do up until now was send myself an email (with the current IP) every time I knew my IP had changed and I would like to access the machine from afar.
A few days ago I started looking into dynamic DNS services (free services) in order to automatically update my current IP to a static domain name.
I tried out about 5 different clients and services and none of them seemed to work properly.
Today I installed DirectUpdate which is a dynamic DNS client that you install on your PC, it automatically detects your current IP, and updates one (or several) of the available dynamic DNS services.
During my research I opened an account with No-IP so I decided to try to use DirectUpdate with my No-IP account.
It worked (finally a solution that works).
Now what happens is that DirectUpdate periodically discovers my current IP (it tries several methods in order to determine the IP, like contacting external sites to see what IP I am using), updates the current IP to No-IP, and No-IP assigns a domain name (that I set up there) to the my PC's IP.
That means that I can always use the domain name in order to get to my PC, without having to manually do anything.
Posted by Guy at 12:11 AM
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April 25, 2003
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I just installed w.bloggar (and am creating this post using it).
It's a free program for managing you web log, offering some cool stuff like uploading files, HTML syntax highlighter, custom tags, the ability to create posts offline, and my favorite: a spell checker.
I installed this a while ago, but ended up uninstalling it since it didn't give me much added value.
Lately, I've been hearing about it more and more so I decided to give it a second chance (and see how it interacts with the new content management system I'm using, MovableType).
I'm still exploring bloggar and its many options so I'll probably post an update once I get more familiar with it (I'm basically creating this post in order to try out bloggar :o).
Posted by Guy at 06:52 PM
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April 09, 2003
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Today I purchased a copy of Serif 3DPlus 3 and the 3DPlus 3 Resource CD.
I've been using Serif PhotoPlus 8 for a while now and it's great.
Serif sent me an email offering me each CD for only ~$6.
After the flawless experience I've had with Serif and their products I quickly obliged and purchased them both.
I hope they arrive soon.
Posted by Guy at 08:31 PM
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March 12, 2003
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I use a cool little free program called Codex in order to publish my source code.
What it does is open a source code file and creates a html file (or RTF) with syntax highlighting of the code.
It supports many popular languages like: C, Perl, JavaScript, HTML, Java,....
and it's small (686KB) and free (what more could you ask for?) 
Posted by Guy at 11:22 AM
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January 22, 2003
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Ki-Washer is a small program that erases all the traces that you leave behind while surfing the Internet and using your PC.
It erases things like cookies, temporary Internet files, document history, Windows temp files, ...
This not only improves security but it also speeds up your entire system.
The coolest thing about Ki-Washer is that you can create an exclude list for any cookies you would like to keep (for all the sites where you enjoy the benefits of cookies).
The download is very small (146KB) but just too bad that it requires an installer (I love programs that you just extract and run).
Oh, and of course it's freeware.
Posted by Guy at 04:05 PM
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January 21, 2003
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I just discovered Slimbrowser which is a IE based browser that adds some cool tools that are missing from IE (some of them already exist in Mozilla).
I usually don't like these things that mess with your browser but since Slimbrowser was a small download (less than 700KB) I decided to give it a run.
First of all the interface is a nice new refreshment (after years of browsing with IE) and I also liked the fact that it doesn't mess with Internet Explorer (you can easily run them both at the same time).
But the features are what makes it really cool:
- Tabbed page browsing: you can open several sites at the same time, within the same browser window
- Popup blocker: this isn't as good as Mozilla's pop-up blocker (it still takes time for a page with a popup to open, unlike Mozilla), but it still does the job and is easily configurable.
- Autologin to web sites: I doubt I'll ever use this, due to security reasons, but it's still a cool idea
- Quick search: built in ability to search Google, Google groups, Yahoo....
- Site groups: you can configure groups of sites that you want to load together
- Shortcuts to various system resources like the control panel, desktop, cookies, Internet cache...
- Internet trace cleaning: you can easily clean up your Internet tracks
- URL aliases: this one could be pretty useful
- Site filter
- and more....
Pretty impressive list of features for such a small download.
One thing I did notice that is missing is the "Links" toolbar.
I'll try to give it a good run for its money in the next few days...
Oh yea, speaking of money, it's freeware!
You can't beat that !
Posted by Guy at 10:46 AM
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January 02, 2003
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Since my connection to the Internet at home and at work needs different settings (home uses DHCP and at work I have a static legal IP), I looked for some way to easily change the network settings between my home and work configurations.
I discovered Netswitcher which does exactly that: it saves your computer's network settings (TCP/IP settings, browser settings...) into profiles that you can easily switch between. So now I have one profile for my work settings and one for home.
Very simple!
Oh yea, here's a tip I discovered: when changing your TCP/IP settings to use DHCP, Windows 2000 will want to reboot, unless you insert your network cable beforehand.
Odd but it works!
Posted by Guy at 12:33 PM
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