Video portals are one of the most popular websites on the Internet. Sites like Youtube, Dailymotion, MySpace and even Facebook provide users with videos that they can watch on the sites. Youtube alone is a website that adds thousands of videos per hour to its impressive video inventory all thanks to users who upload the videos to the most popular video portal on the Internet.

Watching videos online has a few disadvantages, namely sometimes bad connections which stop the video during playback. The video player controls that are available on the video portals are also not the most comfortable ones, forwarding or rewinding the movie usually results in pauses and sometimes additional loading times.

Those are the main reasons why users have the desire to download videos from video portals to be able to watch them on their local computer in their favorite video player.

One application that can aid the user in downloading those videos is the Firefox extension DownloadHelper. DownloadHelper supports hundreds of video portals and also some generic streaming formats which virtually make it compatible with many video streaming websites.

The Firefox extension is compatible with both Firefox 2 and Firefox 3. The extension can be configured to display a small icon in the Firefox Status Bar which will become automatically active if a video has been found on the active website.

A click on the status bar icon will display all icons and the formats that can be downloaded. A click on a link will start the download of the video immediately.

The preferences of the DownloadHelper extension are quite extensive and provide access to some advanced options that might be useful for some users.

They contain basic preferences like the option to display the icon in the status bar or to animate the icon if a video was found that can be downloaded. More interesting than those generic options are keyboard shortcuts that can be used to initiate downloads without having to use the mouse at all. These options can be mapped to specific keys on the keyboard. Read the rest of this entry »

The Windows operating system is still not having a central driver repository for all supported hardware devices like the Linux operating system has. This makes it essential to have drivers at hand before making changes to the operating system. A user who wants to reinstall Windows needs to reinstall many drivers for hardware devices after the installation.

Since Windows does not provide a way to use the already installed drivers on the old system it is necessary to have drivers on a storage device or download them from the Internet to be able to install them on the new system. It is rare but not unheard of that drivers cannot be located on the Internet which would mean that a user would have to rely on a driver CD that was supplied with the hardware. Troubles begin if that CD cannot be found anymore.

Double Driver makes this process a lot easier by providing the means to backup all or only selected system drivers from within its interface. This is ideal to have backups of drivers at hand whenever the system has to be reinstalled.

Double Driver is a software for the Microsoft Windows operating system. The developer’s website does not contain information about the supported operating systems: It did work fine on a Windows XP SP3 test system and Windows Vista SP1 but should work on many other systems as well.

The interface of the software consists of a few buttons at the top and a table that is making up most of the screen estate. A click on the Scan button will scan the computer system for installed drivers and display those drivers in the table.

Several information about each driver is displayed in the table. Among them are the name of the driver, the provider, version, date, hardware ID and setup information. It is possible to sort the table by clicking on one of the column titles. Read the rest of this entry »

To define portable application I should say that it is a piece of software which can be executed from a removable storage device (i.e.CD-ROM, USB flash drive, flash card, etc.), and it is mandatory that it can store its configuration information and data on the same containing media.

Thus, their popularity comes from versatility at the moment of carrying and using them on any computer (provided it has the correct operative system configuration) saving a lot of time on program installation and configuration.

So, just double-click and start running
In this occasion I will make a brief description of four applications for different software categories which you can carry on your USB drive.

The Comprehensive Suite - OpenOffice Portable
I put OpenOffice Portable in the first place because it is really a "pocket" office suite for your portable USB device. It includes Writer - a powerful word processor. Calc - a fully functional spreadsheet. Impress - a fast multimedia presentations creator. Draw - an image editor. Base - a databases manager. Math - a mathematical equations creator. All these tools in a 240 MB sized package (the zip file is only 86.4 MB). It includes all features of the original suite and works exactly like the normal OpenOffice, but without installing a single file on the computer where the USB drive is plugged. It also includes some special enhancements to make it work even better from the portable device. Unfortunately, this portable version of OOo 3.0 which has been recently released by PortableApps.com only works under Windows operative system based PC or Wine under Linux/UNIX. You can freely download it from HERE.

The Most Popular Browser Goes to Your USB Drive
Mozilla Firefox also has its portable version, I think most of our readers know what is all about when we talk about Firefox, but for those who do not, I can tell that this is a great browser, with an endless list of really nicely built features such as, tabbed-browsing window, popup-blocking, integrated search engine, enhanced privacy options, continuous automatic updating and much more. Now you can carry your Mozilla Firefox with your configuration including bookmarks and add-ons no matters where you go. One interesting characteristic of this portable edition is that no traces or personal information will be left on the computer it runs. Best of all, it is available for free download from HERE. Read the rest of this entry »

A Cloud Computing Operating System or Web Operating System is basically mimicking a desktop operating system on the Internet. The main advantages of a web operating system are that it can be accessed from any computer or device with Internet connection. It also means that it is platform independent as it can be accessed from any web browser supporting the technologies used by the web operating system.

It can be accessed from Windows, Linux or Macintosh computers or from mobile devices that support the technologies. eyeOS is one of those cloud computing operating systems. It is based on an Open Source platform written mainly in PHP, XML and Javascript.

eyeOS has the looks and feel of a desktop operating system with the difference that it can be accessed by opening the eyeOS homepage on the Internet. The web operating system offers more than 67 applications and system utilities that can be used to work with files or process information.

The developers of the eyeOS platform have made it very easy to get started with the web operating system. All that needs to be done is to create a user account during the first startup to get a personalized version of the operating system.

All the tools and applications that come with eyeOS are already installed and can be accessed after login into the platform. It is for instance possible to view and edit Word documents, images, text documents and practically any other file types that you might come across. Read the rest of this entry »

Nowadays customization can be found everywhere, which means that opportunities for users to get involved in the process of production/development of many products increases continuously, as you can see, the minimum is that they can make freestyle aesthetic retouches or adjustments in the final stages. Customization also implies two facts: the first is an inherent versatility in the product and the second can be an artistic and technical capability to transform a standard non customizable product. You can see customization in cars (and most transportation means), houses (mainly through decoration), mobile phones, in many, many other things, and what most concerns us, in computers.

To me, customization is like a one-way trip, is so addictive and makes me so enthusiastic that I would always come back for more. I think that the idea of having the opportunity to create something that reflects your personality and soul is what makes customization such an interesting activity.

Today I'm going to introduce you to two tools which will give you some desktop customization capabilities. But not everything is just aesthetics, these tools will also impact on the way you work by providing enhanced organization for your programs and shortcuts.

Windows Themes - The Obvious?
Yes, the default Windows process for switching themes by means of the Uxtheme.dll file. I know, you must be saying that this is not only old new, but boring as well. I say: "Yes, indeed!", but let me tell you what you can do if you if you patch this file.

Patching Uxtreme.dll enables you to widen your possibilities by using many customized styles for your operative system, and with the extra advantage of using a built-in process brings in forms of low resources consumption.

The first thing to do is to download UXTheme Multi-Patcher from here, install following the prompts (the program will automatically determine your operating system) and reboot your computer.

Finally, once that Uxtheme.dll is patched, you are enabled use custom themes. You will find a lot of themes at deviantART. You can download and install them in windows theme folder (i.e. C:\Windows\Resources\Themes). After that you can use new themes just in the same way you used to do it (right-clicking over the desktop and at the bottom of the menu click on Properties). This is my choice. Read the rest of this entry »

It happens sometimes that a hardware device cannot be identified in Windows. This can happen after the initial installation of the Windows operating system or after plugging in a new hardware device.

A device that is not recognized correctly is usually shown with a yellow exclamation mark in the Windows Device Manager. You can check for those devices by clicking on the Windows Start button and selecting the Control Panel from the menu that is opening.

A click on System > Hardware > Device Manager will open the device manager where all connected devices are displayed.

While the devices are usually showing up with their name which makes it easier to identify them they sometimes are not showing up correctly which makes it very difficulty to identify.

Unknown Device Identifier is a software program that can help with the identification of devices that have not been identified correctly the first time.

The software is compatible with most versions of the Windows operating system including Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows XP.

The software will list all devices and components that are installed on the computer that the software is running on. It looks pretty similar to the Windows Device Manager but with additional functionality that aids the user in identifying those unknown devices among other things. Read the rest of this entry »

myNotes for Mac 1.4.12
License - Shareware
Publisher - Mishimo

Create, organize and share notes and clippings, keep to-do lists or write a book with myNotes. Work with notes like you never have before.
Import text documents, or enter your ideas. Enjoy myNotes' auto-naming feature and real-time word count. Customize your work area to suit your needs or moods. Sync notes onto your iPod or print them with beautiful customizable themes. Sort and search through all of your notes using the Spotlight menu or myNotes' flexible filtering engine.

Key Features
1 - Take your notes with you - just plug in your iPod and sync.
2 - Make stunning prints with 5 customizable themes.
3 - Share your ideas and thoughts with friends or colleagues.
4 - Change text color, background or transparency.
5 - Instantly find any note using myNotes' flexible filtering engine or Spotlight.
6 - Tired of inventing names? Let myNotes do it for you!



Features-★★★★★
Operation-★★★★
Security-★★★★
User Interface-★★★★★
CPU/Mem usage-★★★★★

Download myNotes for Mac NOW! Read the rest of this entry »

If like me, you like to try newer versions or beta versions of Mozilla Firefox, you must have had the same problem I always have… add-ons (extensions) deny to work and tell you that "This add-on is for older versions of Firefox" even in the Mozilla Firefox add-ons site.

You know, I really love Firefox, and I also love to be up-to-date and the best for me is to try the latest version and take a look at what novelties it brings in the form of features, functionalities and improvements, even under the threat of being unstable. However, I also like that while I'm testing it I can continue using Firefox right in the way I'm used to. Here is where the first obstacle arises, older add-ons wont work. It mostly occurs because developers haven't updated the add-ons or failed to make the code compatible for the newer version accurately. Fortunately Firefox has a few options to get all those lazy extensions to work.

In the following paragraphs I'm going to share with you the way of doing that.

Lazy add-ons? Nightly Tester Tools will help you to wake them up
Nightly Tester Tools is a handy Firefox add-on that will help you to install and run an incompatible extension, it will also turn disabled extension into enabled. Read the rest of this entry »

360 Monitor for Corporate Networks 4.7
License - Shareware
Publisher - JustNovo Soft

360 Monitor for Corporate Networks is an application for real time network computer usage monitoring, internet content filtering and blocking, and for employees' work time tracking. 360 Monitor for Corporate Networks allows you invisibly monitor your entire network from one contralized position, such as email, instant message, keystrokes, print Jobs, flash driver CD/DVD-ROM usage, file replication, FTP file transfer, websites visited, applications used, etc.

Key Features
Works in stealth mode, silently and smoothly.
Stores logs on centralized database on server computer.
Monitor and control multi-computer with one click.
Record outgoing webmail (Hot mail, GMail, Yahoo mail).
Record typed keystrokes by users on all network computer.



Features-★★★★
Operation-★★★★
Security-★★★★★
User Interface-★★★★★
CPU/Mem usage-★★★★

Download 360 Monitor for Corporate Networks NOW! Read the rest of this entry »

Carrying around data on an unprotected USB Flash Drive can lead to all kinds of problems if the flash drive gets lost (or stolen). Anyone finding it could plug it into the next computer to access all data that is stored on the storage device. The main problem is that anyone can access the data if the date is not secured on the USB Flash Drive.

While this might not be a problem if the stick contains a software collection it could very well be a privacy or security risk if the data on the stick is personal. Think of photos, documents and private information like Credit Card numbers, contacts or emails.

The only practicable way or preventing this from happening is to secure all or some of the data on the USB Flash Drive. Secured data can only be accessed after providing a pass phrase that was selected during creation.

One of the best free tools for the job is the Open Source software TrueCrypt. TrueCrypt is compatible with several Microsoft operating systems like Windows XP or Windows Vista but also Mac OS X and Linux. This makes the tool excellent even if it has to be accessed on computers running different operating systems.

The latest version of TrueCrypt can be downloaded from the developer’s website for all supported operating systems. TrueCrypt can not only be used to create a secure storage space but also to encrypt entire hard drives or partitions. It uses automatic, real-time and transparent encryption.

The above image is showing the TrueCrypt interface after installation. A click on the Create Volume button will start the process of creating a new secure storage space. TrueCrypt will ask about the kind of volume to be created.

The option to create an encrypted file container will be used to create the secure storage space. An alternative would be to select Encrypt a non-system partition / drive to encrypt the complete Flash Drive. Read the rest of this entry »