Firefox isnt my default browser (Opera still is my default browser) but every now and then I stumble across wonderful extensions that does make me want to use it more. Piclens is one such extension.

PicLens provides a full screen, 3D interface to view multimedia content (images and videos) on the web. Piclens extension for Firefox adds a small button that turns blue whenever you come across a website that is supported. When fired up Piclens gets rid of the browser window and normal webpage, extracts the multimedia content from the webpage and displays it in a truely captivating and stunning 3D interface. You feel that you are flying past a wall of of images (or rather their thumbnails) which on being double click open up the slideshow interface displaying a full screen high resolution version of the image. (more…)

Want a fine and functional utility? Don’t waste time searching for a pdf converter. It’s a click away - Take a look all of the services provided here, such as a pdf server and a pdf to word converter too.

Time for another edition of Tiny Utilities. I have three more nifty software in store for you.

Just as the name suggests, this utility displays live statistics about your internet connection. NSL allows you to monitor your internet connection’s status on the fly. This works much better than most web based internet speed checking services. Not only does it display the download and upload speed it also displays the amount of data downloaded and uploaded. Besides that it can also show statistics like CPU usage your system and average ping time and number of hops of a remote machine.

Screenshot

Download NetStat Live (257 KB)
Platforms Supported : All Versions of Windows
Version Reviewed : 2.11

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Irrespective of the browser you use, irrespective of the security software installed on your system if you are using Windows you are never truly secure. There is always the possibility that a trojan horse or a worm may sneak through. There is always the possibility that someone may exploit a zero-day vulnerability present in your browser.

So, what is the solution? The best solution is to completely separate the browser from your system so that your browsing session doesn�t affect the system. This is called creating a sandbox - a virtual container in which untrusted programs can be safely run (more info is available at Wikipedia). There are two free and easy to use solutions that I recommend.

Sandboxie

Sandboxie creates a safe environment - which is separated from your operating system, for applications to operate in. It tracks all requests made by an application and makes sure that actual system files are never modified. Restrictions put in place by Sanboxie also ensures that threats like rootkits and keyloggers aren’t installed in the Sandbox itself as well as the system. Sandboxie is a donationware and almost all the features are available for free (more info). Sandboxie is a very powerful software with plethora of options. It should work with most applications. I tested it with Opera and didn�t run into any problem. It allows you to even create and manage multiple sandboxes. However, the free version of Sandboxie doesn’t automatically sandbox particular applications when they are launched. There is another issue with Sandboxie - files downloaded using a sandboxed application are not normally visible in Windows Explorer. Sandboxie replicates the actual directory structure on your hard disk and places the downloaded files in its own ‘Application Data’ folder.

Download Sandboxie (230KB/320KB)
Requirements : Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista (64 bit edition also available)
Version Reviewed : 2.86 (Freeware)
Licensing : Donationware

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When it’s time to print the work you’ve just finished with IrfanView, don’t get stuck without enough ink in your printer. Get online and find cheap printer ink.  It’s quick, easy, and frankly, even more dependable than the flunky who works at the local computer store. Find Epson ink cartridges (and HP and Lexmark, too, for that matter) in no time. Laser toner cartridges are available, too!

Last month I blogged about “Ten Things You Can Do With IrfanView” (you should read my previous article on IrfanView before reading this). I covered basic image manipulation options offered by IrfanView in the previous article. This time I shall highlight some of the more advanced functionalities offered by IrfanView.

1. Screensaver/Slideshow with Music : IrfanView allows you to use create simple slideshows and screensavers using multiple images. Press W (or select “Slideshow” from File menu) to bring up the Slideshow/Screensaver tool. Now simple add images you wish to include in your Slideshow/Screensaver. If you want to add background music, add MP3 files into the slideshow file list, usually at the beginning or before an image. The MP3 file is played until it ends or until next MP3 is loaded from the file list. IrfanView Plugins should be also installed, at least the MP3 Plugin.

2. Panorama : IrfanView allows you to create panorama images by merging multiple images. You will find this option under “Image” menu.

3. Batch Resize/Convert/Compress/Rename : Batch Processing abilities is what makes IrfanView really powerful. Launch the Batch Processing tool by pressing B (you can also find it under “File” menu). You can resize, convert and rename a whole bunch of image files at a time. You can also use it to compress multiple images at a go. This is very useful if you are going to upload images to the web. In order to compress a JPG or GIF image just reduce the quality of image from “Options”. Normally a value between 60 and 70 works best. For PNG images also you get the option to choose compression level. For better results you use the PNGOUT plugin. You can even rotate images , adjust colours or add overlay text.

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Welcome to the the third installment of my Tiny Utilities series. In each installment I take a lot at three extremely useful yet free utilities which are less than 2MB in size.

Process Lasso from Bitsum Technologies is a tiny utility that can save you some headaches. Its objective is simple – to prevent a problematic application from freezing your system. It does that by quietly running in the background and monitoring the CPU usage of all applications. If any application starts using up abnormal amount of CPU resources then Process Tamer reduces the priority of that application. This prevents those familiar situations where your computer stops responding because a single application is using 99% of CPU resources. Process Lasso itself has a small memory footprint and can work in invisible mode. Certain applications (example: games or video encoders) require high CPU resources to function properly. No need to worry – you can ask Process Lasso to exclude those applications from it’s purview by adding those processes to the exclusion list.

Download Process Lasso (500 KB)
Platforms Supported : Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista
Version Reviewed : 2.30

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The last thing you need to worry about if you have a trojan wreaking havoc in your innards is empty printer cartridges. Find one that is right for the job, and find it fast, so you can get back to running your AV software. Printer ink is widely available on the Internet, at prices cheaper than your local computer joint down the road. Epson ink, HP ink, Lexmark ink - get your ink cartridges fast. Worth a look-see, don’t you think?

Earlier this week AV-Test.org - a reputed antivirus software testing group, released the results of their latest Antivirus shootout. In this test only detection abilities were tested, not cleaning. Over 600,000 malware samples (which included backdoors, Trojan Horses, bots and worms) were used to test twenty nine software. The top ten performers were :

Software - Detection Rate

AVK 2007 - 99.56%
AntiVir - 99.42%
F-Secure - 97.93%
Symantec - 97.77%
Kaspersky - 97.64%
Fortinet - 97.06%
Avast! - 96.32%
AVG Anti-Malware - 96.15%
Rising - 96.02%
BitDefender - 95.68%
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Launchy is a file launcher for Windows XP. The developers claim it would help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager.

How Does it Work?

To begin with Launchy indexes your start menu programs, control panel applications and Firefox bookmarks. When not needed Launchy hides in the background utilizing very little system resources. Upon pressing Alt+Space a tiny window pops up. You can type the name of the application or bookmark you want to launch and Launchy would provide suggestions as you type. All this is so easy that you have to simply use it to believe.

It’s Not Just a File Launcher

Launchy is not just a file launcher. Here are some of the things you can do with Launchy.

Search The Web : Launchy allows you to search in Google, Msn, Yahoo, Live Search, Weather.com, Amazon, Wikipedia, Imdb, Msdn, Netflix and Dictionary.com.

Calculate : Launchy features a built in calculator that can add, subtract, multiply and divide.

Explore : You can even explore your computer using Launchy. Start by typing the root directory (example “c:\”). Then enter partial name for a directory or press down key to view the list of directories. Use Tab key to enter a directory.

Launch Bookmarks : Launchy v1.25 includes the Foxy plugin which allows you to launch Firefox bookmarks directly from Launchy. Opera users can use Opery plugin for similar functionality.
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In my previous post I had showcased my Desktop for the month. Since Anand posted a comment asking what software I had used, I decided to write a detailed article on Desktop Modding. There are several aspects to Desktop Modding. I have tried to cover each of them briefly in this article.

Shell

Shell is a term used to denote the user interface (in this case Graphical User Interface or GUI). The most important aspect to modding your desktop is modifying the basic user interface. You can either modify the appearence of the default shell, enhance it or replace it all together.

Shell Enhancement Software

These software modify and enhance the appearance of Windows shell to add that spark to your desktop.

MsStyle : Windows XP allows users to alter the appearance of the GUI out of the box (through MsStyles). You can skin various aspects of the Windows GUI like the title-bar, start-bar, start menu etc. But, don�t forget we are dealing with Microsoft here. They had to mess it up. Windows Xp only recognises visual styles that are digitally signed by Microsoft. This makes your choice very limited as till date Microsoft has released only a handful number of visual styles.
In order to overcome this restriction you need to patch the uxtheme.dll file. Don�t worry, its as simple as downloading and executing the UXTheme Patcher. You can now download and apply any Visual Style available on the web.

NextStart : NextStart is a GUI enhancement program which aims at increasing productivity apart from making your desktop look prettier. In terms of functionality it is one of the more powerful (if not the most powerful) shell enhancement program. It replaces the default windows taskbar, context menu and start menu with more functional versions. You can learn more about this software here. In short NextStart provides the functionalities of Shell Replacement software without actually replacing the shell.

WindowBlinds : WindowBlinds is probably the most popular 3rd party Windows Shell Modifier. It is created by Stardock, who also worked with Microsoft to create MsStyles discussed above. WindowBlinds integrates itself flawlessly with Windows XP and boasts of many features which are not present in MsStyles. Features like per-pixel alpha blending (makes skins look smoother) and Windows Vista like transparency makes it one of the best skinning software in the market. One of it’s biggest assests is the per application skinning system which allows you to set different skins for different applications or disable visual styles all together for certain applications. Like the Vista GUI WindowBlinds harnesses the power of modern day graphics cards to increase performance. The amount of resource used depends on the skin. if you use a no frills simplistic skin WindowBlinds would resource very little (sometimes even lesser than default the default skinning system). If you want to make your system look XP look truly out of this world go for WindowBlinds.

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