Recent Comments Posted

For US addresses only - to registrate you must select "country" from the list (as "Sweden") but if the country is not "US", you are unable to select a state which is a required field. Kind of Moment 22.

NoPriv.py - HTML5 IMAP email backup

NoPriv.py is a python script to backup any IMAP capable email account to a HTML archive, nicely browsable, instead of weird folders (Maildir), one huge file (mbox), only needing a Eeb Browser to view (Thunderbird) and no proprietary Code, so you can make sure it steal your password:

https://raymii.org/s/software/Nopriv.py.html

Liferea:

Features:

* Read articles when offline.
* Never read headlines twice from multiple devices!
* Full Google Reader and TinyTinyRSS sync!
* Supports Google Reader labels (folders)!
* Permanently save headlines in news bins.
* Match items using search folders.

http://lzone.de/liferea/

thanks for this.
does anyone know of a free s/w that will tell you what notes or chords are being played from a wav or flac or mp3 file, besides nch's twelve keys

thanks again,
michael clyde

btw - if this only reads midi files i'm guessing there is a free pgrm to convert popular formats to midi,
maybe somebody knows a good one and can save me the trial and error syndrome

michael clyde

THANKS JOJOYEE!!! I like your suggestions!

But, for the transparent panel suggestion you could do the following I think:

Click Menu and select Terminal.

To get YOUR_USERID, enter the command echo $LOGNAME in the terminal. Substitute the returned value for YOUR_USERID in the following. Otherwise, the root user's theme is updated by the sudo commands.

Enter sudo cp -R /usr/share/themes/Mint-X /home/YOUR_USERID/.themes/

Enter sudo pluma /home/YOUR_USERID/.themes/Mint-X/gtk-2.0/Apps/panel.rc to open the file with the default text editor.

Search for two instances of "Panel/panelbg.png"
Comment out the two lines by placing a # at the beginning of the lines, for example: # bg_pixmap[NORMAL] = ...
Save the file.

Enter sudo chown -R YOUR_USERID:YOUR_USERID /home/YOUR_USERID/.themes

Log out and log back in to the system to see the effect.

Anyway, I've got both Mint Mate 14 and Mint XFCE 14 sessions (selectable from the login window) running and I like both!!!

Thanks for the information. We will update it accordingly

DVDFlick Does Not Support WMV version 9 Audio Format

Just a note for other users:
I tried using DVDFlick with a Windows Media version 9 video file, and I got a message* saying that this version is not supported. This is confirmed on the DVDFlick website (http://www.dvdflick.net/features.php)with the footnote "** Windows Media 9 is still experimental" by the WMV format in the Supported Video Codecs section.

* The entire message is, "The audio format 'Windows Media Audio Professional v9' in file .wmv is currently unsupported. It will not be added to the project."

I have tested quite a few of them and after all I personally prefer Free Commander XE (new version of the good old Free Commander). Explorer++, Multi Commander, Just Manager and Nexus would follow...

Has anyone tried out the Kingsoft Antivirus?
I've been using it for about 2 weeks now, and it has some interesting features. But it seems to have a lot of false positives. Does anyone else have any opinion on the use of Kingsoft?
If any is interested it is here...http://www.kingsoftsecurity.com/

I really loved DVD Styler when I used it on my old XP, but on my new Windows 7 64 bit it's not working for me at all. It may be an issue with the newer version. I don't know what version I used on my old computer. I tried two of the most recent versions (a couple of months ago by now since I gave up on it). No matter what I do, every video but one has come out in PAL format, even though I had all the settings at NTSC. When it works, it's the program I've found to allow me to be the most creative with the menus.

DVD Flick's menus suck. No really. They do. There's not much creativity possible unless you know how to play with the code. You can add a photo, but you have to figure out which folder to add it to and use one of the other menu's names. The menus it comes with are all really ugly, and when I play a video, my DVD player thinks the audio menu is the root menu. I haven't found a better program so far, so this is the program I'm using at the moment, but I miss my DVD Styler.

I just tried Koyote's Video to DVD and the menu was not quite as customizable as DVD Styler, but nowhere near as rigid as DVD Flick. Trouble is that it just plain didn't work. It wouldn't recognize that there was a DVD in the drive, so refused to burn to it. I tried creating VOB and IFO files, in the hopes I could burn them with Imgburn, but it just created MPEGs of the videos then generated an error for the menu.

Also, WOT seems to be under the impression that Koyote software is malware. I'm not a fan of WOT's rating system, but when it talks about actual threats it's pretty helpful. I'm not sure though if this rating is just because it's pushy about a toolbar, like so many free programs are nowadays. But it's something to keep in mind. I've uninstalled it, since it just wasn't working.

To me, menus are vital. If I just want to burn one movie, I'll use Imgburn. But for more than one video, menus really are a key ingredient.

PotPlayer is basically a video player, and not a music player/organizer. For music players, please look at this review :

http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-music-players-and-orga...

I just discovered UltraFileSearch. The "Lite" version is freeware and a portable version is offered. A couple of advantages over Everything (which is great): (1) the application is still being developed--as of November, (2) text searches WITHIN files are offered--no indexing involved.

Thanks for a fantastic site. Your efforts have benefited us over a considerable time. Bless you & all the very best for the New Year.
Re the spammers: I've not registered before now, but have done so simply because I also deeply regret that class of mental ineptitude that finds its only real raison d'etre in callow and cowardly destruction at an anonymous distance. It's not you that should be apologizing. Keep up the great work :)

I don't know if it's just me, or if the site(s) are country sensitive, but as soon as I attempt to watch a few science documentaries (as with your previous site suggestion),I keep getting video not available or video deleted etc.
I guess my problem is I should be watching the docs that are really important:"Inside Sumo","What Killed Arafat?", and last but not least"Who Really Invented Vodka?"

Well, the driver update can be accurate, if the software checks the manufacturer's site, otherwise, accuracy is not guaranteed. And if it's checking the manufacturer's site, it's better to check it yourself manually. Its not much of a tiring process, since the drivers are not required to be updated all the time.
In case, the drivers are not available from the manufacturer's site, because of old hardware, then it comes down to finding a good driver site, and then carefully choose the driver for the hardware, examining all things, like the reputation of the site, comments if any for that driver, etc.

The links you provided are from the manufacturers themselves, and of course, if such a software is available from them, best to use these. They will however be specific to that manufacturer only.
Intel processor diagnostic tool is not related to drivers, as it will only identify the processor, and give details about it, but no drivers are required for processor as such, nor an update. And processor information can be shown by a system info tool as well, like Belarc Advisor.

If you wish to carry this on, please post in the forum, as the content is now getting out of topic. I will delete these out of topic comments later.

If you search on the forum, there are some threads in which driver update sites have been discussed, and software too. You may use them if you want, but as usual, not recommended from us. Use at your own risk.

Try this app Emoji New Style Free designed for iPad and iPhone.

@Keith
Restoring a backup is a good way. But when there's no backup available, some have succeeded in using Library Persistent ID and iTunes DB Cloner as reported in Apple Support Communities here. Try at your own risk as I've not personally tested it.

Thanks for this additional tip. Your recommendation of watchdocumentary.org was spot on, an excellent resource.

I wasn't aware of that, and I don't think how that works with DriverMax, but I think that it won't come into play unless you don't use the driver update feature? Will have to find out more on that.

Anyways, the backup and restore feature of DriverMax is separate from the driver update feature. In settings too, scheduled driver update can be turned off, which is turned on by default. If you have a firewall installed, you can also stop DriverMax contacting the net.

About software for driver updates, I am not in favor of them. Drivers are important part of the system, and wrong drivers can make your system crash, or unbootable. The best place to get drivers from is the manufacturer's website. That's the best, and genuine place to get driver updates from.. not from anywhere else. In case the hardware is old, then you might need to look for drivers in other places, not otherwise.

Also, it's not that the latest driver is the best. Sometimes, a driver update can cause a problem because it was not needed.

I will only recommend the manufacturer's site for driver updates/downloads.

And as regards using more than one program, I was going to try the latest DriverMax, but in the license it states that "it allows you to download and install driver updates from the DriverMax community web site. In exchange for these benefits, you must share with the DriverMax community the drivers already installed on your computer."

However, i think this would violate the license you must agree to for some drivers so i did not install it. Note also that it will shows ads from time to time.

What about reviews of freeware that searches for the latest drivers and downloads them?

Thanks for responding Marko - much appreciated. MC - Site Manager.

Hi Jim,

WildBit Viewer original installer is not offering any 3rd party add-on installers. I know that some sites will offer own wrapped installers and those installers can offer those add-ons. For ex. cnet own installer offers them, but you are not forced to download that one. Do this: Click download link in my site then you are coming to cnet site, what has: "Welcome WildBit Viewer users To complete your download, click on the link below:"
Below that text is two links, click Direct Download Link. Then it gives you the original installer.

- Marko

Well now, their second download link is working. I think they are working on the downloads. So, I will be keeping the link to their download page intact for now.

It's a good idea to backup the drivers. Also, as mentioned in the review, you can backup the drivers with multiple software, so that in case one of them has problems restoring any driver, the other one can. Ability to restore is also an important part of backing up drivers.

No comments must mean it is 100% accurate and everybody loves it. Either that or they don't understand it and think it's garbage. :D No doubt some of the regulars will post here as soon as they recover from Christmas. MC - Site Manager.

No problem. Hope you didn't mind my jumping in but wasn't sure what your movements might be this holiday.

It will be interesting to see what the developer says too.

Of the direct downloads (ignoring cnet), I chose the first which is the largest file. There are others labelled as "w/O help", Zip and portable which I did not check. I use Zone Alarm Free Antivirus + Firewall on my W7 system and there was no indication it was blocking anything. An entry for WildBit did appear in the ZA program list after install but all sections were marked "?" and there was no popup, indicating the program did not request internet access on install or after when I ran it from the shortcut. MC - Site Manager.

I hadn't seen your message before, MC. Thanks for editing the details. I think I'll write a note in the article too.

The WildBit link defaults to cnet which uses a wrapped installer. See our information page here:

http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/cnet-downloadcom-wrapped-install...

It is the bundled content of this that would have made the changes you observed. I chose the direct download link and the program made no attempt to install anything extra, or even connect to the internet.

It is our policy to advise about cnet downloads and I have therefore added this to the product information details. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

The use of wrapped installers and directly bundled components is an increasing concern however, and Winpatrol does help users to avoid them.

I use a program called Toolwiz Time Freeze whenever I test out new software. With this you can observe what changes the installer is trying to make and return your system to it's pre-install state if desired with a simple re-boot. MC - Site Manager.

http://www.toolwiz.com/products/toolwiz-time-freeze/

Not sure if the 37124 is showing up because you have it set in uTorrent and uTorrent is open when testing, but to be safe try something like 49001.

However, for any port to show open an exception has to be made for that port, or uTorrent, in any firewall, software or hardware (router), on your system.

Steve

Thanks for all your work at Gizmo. It has been greatly appreciated for a long time.

I have recently installed Wildbit Viewer, because of the 'good' review.

I got treated with a, not asked for, unwanted and secret installation of add-ons for Internet Explorer and Chrome. These were found by Winpatrol. Further, the installation treated me with a Global Hook, which seemed not so friendly anymore. I deinstalled the whole lot quickly.

What do you think about these practices? To me it seems all to suspicious. If these are truly suspicious, I would think this program does not belong in your list.

Thanks for all,
Jim (from the Netherlands)

I've been using TeamViewer for "grandparent support" and to connect to my home machine from work starting with Version 6, then 7 and now 8. It's the best tool I've found so far. The upgrades in Version 8 are impressive. I'm only using and supporting XP and Win7 computers and haven't had a need for the new features yet, but so far Version 8 seems solid.

Very highly recommended, if you haven't tried it yet.

This is unmistakably wrong. I have moved directories and use symbolic links to them many, many times in Windows 7. I do it regularly.

I have used junctions for my entire steam collection and several other things to move them off SSD's.

Thanks for your comment, and for the information that DoubleDriver works on Win 8, which is great!

About the links, thanks for the alternate link. Their site keeps having problems. I think they are trying hard to keep it up. A few months ago, their site was down totally.

I think they will take care of this download issue in some days, or sometime. Meanwhile, thanks for the Softpedia link. I will keep a watch on their site, and if the download is being a problem, will change it to softpedia.

When you are retired and no longer have so much access to like minded people, a site such as this is rare pleasure. Thanks

That looks like a pretty good program. I've been short on review able text editors so Ill take a shot at this one. Thank you.

Typing

rel

works in Windows 8 Pro With Media Center.

May I just add that LibreOffice and IBM Lotus Symphony are not stand-alone office suites, as they both require the pre-installion of Java(200MB) to operate properly.

Just wanted to make that clear.

Thank you for this great list of free office suites. :)

+1 on (the older) radio shure, i can record 20+ different stations simultaneously @ different bit-rates and it will even leave out the commercials and DJ-Diarrhea, if set up properly. i don't like the newer versions as the developer started putting some constraints on his software now that he thinks it's all that and a bag of chips too.

michael clyde

btw- anybody NOT happy the world is still going around ¿

MetroTextual is a Windows text editor inspired by Microsoft’s Metro Design Language. It’s designed to be a visually appealing replacement for Notepad; with significant improvements to performance and aesthetics.

Hotshot programmers will also enjoy MetroTextual’s syntax highlighting; which is powered by Scintilla.

Features:

# Syntax highlighting with file extension detection
# Lighting fast; thanks to unique multi-threading technology.
# Compatible with all character encodings supported by Windows
# Beautiful and simple Metro UI style user interface.

http://singularlabs.com/software/metrotextual/

MetroTextual requires Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8. The Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 (or newer) must be installed before MetroTextual can be used.

Ah thanks for the info, I was hoping to avoid thid party apps but since I tried free launch bar suggested by the comments below I was pretty satisfied with its functions, so I guess I'll settle for that. Cheers!

I'm a die-hard XP user. I realize I'm riding a dinosaur but this dinosaur is one I've trained to do just what I want it to do.
I still have a computer using DOS 6.2 and Win 3. Why? Damfino.

In point of fact, two of the five tips apply to all current versions of Windows, including XP. Also these tips are reader's choices for the top five from a large assortment of tips, many of which are applicable to Windows XP systems.

Some of still use XP. These tips are worthless to us. Thanks for trying.

This was an absolutely wonderful article because it was specific on the MATE Linux Mint Desktop Environment.

After two years on Ubuntu 10.10 and research for 6 months I decided Linux Mint 14 Mate was the way to go. WOW WOW WOW this destro is so incredible I can hardly contain myself! It did everything I wanted and MORE, MUCH MUCH MORE!!!

After working with Skype for weeks trying to get it to work correctly on an AMD64 machine I was stunned to see "Skype:i386" in the Software Center for LM14. I selected it and applied it and I was immediately logging into Skype! WOW

I have found the combination of Mate 1.4 and mintMenu to be absolutely incredible and stable. Let me say that the performance of this desktop is beyond anything I have ever seen before. It is virtually the same as running LXDE! I can have multiple windows and applications open and my processor is only using 5% or less CPU in use! Even when I am running Skype (which is NOT a very efficient program) I was only using 25% with both video and audio streaming working! I could even go on YouTube and watch videos at the same time!

Get this desktop! You can not beat it. ROCK STABLE and totally flexible and configurable! Thank you MINT and MATE!
Contact me if you wish: [edited out. please do not post emails in public forums]

It works just fine for a lot of other people. You probably are trying the wrong size or are blocking Flash.

I got several error messages at this very promising site, such as:
"This documentary has been reported and confirmed as having a broken link.
The video below may be replaced by a trailer temporarily.
We will do our best to find a new video source as soon as possible."

I googled the episode I wanted to see and found this site:

documentarystorm.com

"Watch Free Documentaries Online"
and
"Search through 2000+ documentaries"

Newbie here. I just want to know what's the best and fastest VPN for South East Asian people, Malaysian to be exact, as nearly all servers are at Europe or other continents, which mean the connection time and speed can be excruciatingly slow. Thank you.

ClicNAct - Offline computer learning for young children:

Features :

- Audio-visual: made for oral cultures (explains everything with a voice for non-readers)
- Comprehensive: contains more than 1000 learning activities (maths, languages, colouring in, etc).
- Extensible: designed to include new activities and languages
- Flexible: Can run from CD/DVD, USB device or Computer hard disk
- Free: Can be used with anyone anywhere, freely distributed, given away
- Groups: Customised for classroom use
- Informative: contains model lessons to help the user work towards a goal
- Lightweight: Can run with as little as 128MB RAM and 2GB hard disk (suitable for old computers).
- Ludic: The majority of the learning activities are presented as games
- Multilingual: runs in Moroccan Arabic, French and English
- Offline: Does not require an internet connection to function (all activities are installed on disk)
- Operating system independent: A Linux boot system will enable it to run on any machine independent of installed operating system
- Solid: Interface specially designed for use with children with special needs

http://www.clicnact.tuxfamily.org/index.php/en/

Beware of unwanted bundled components during the install process. The same product is also marketed under different names, but all relate to Tech Evolve GmbH. MC - Site Manager.

I haven't found any mention of "Power Sound Editor Free". It looks clean and easy to use with enough functions to meet most needs.

Added after brief testing:

Now I see why there's no mention. It only saves to wav files. Easy enough to convert of course but why go to the extra trouble when there are other programs that do save in multiple formats.