Akelpad is a small & portable Notepad replacement

Overview:

Akelpad is an open source editor for plain text. It is designed to be a small and fast.


Features:

• Single window mode (SDI), multi window mode (MDI);
• Editing of files, which size is more than 64K (generally speaking, size isn't theoretically limited);
• Full support of Unicode strings on Unicode systems (NT/2000/XP/2003);
• Support of Unicode codepages (UTF-16 little endian, UTF-16 big endian, UTF-8);
• Support of any codepage installed in the system;
• Support of DOS/Windows, Unix and Mac newline formats;
• Preview file open;
• Correct pseudographics displaying;
• Column text selection;
• Multi-level undo;
• Fast search/replace text strings;
• Remember file codepage and caret position;
• Printing of a document;
• Support of language modules;
• Plugins support (syntax highlighting, auto-completion, scripts execution, keyboard macros and much more).

Review:

Akelpad is a small Notepad replacement that is fully portable. The program features a tabbed interface, previews before opening a file, Unicode support, opening of files with unlimited size and a lot of the usual stuff that you have come to expect in a text editor. However Akelpad can be greatly expanded with the use of plugins allowing you to have such nice things like an explorer panel and syntax highlighting (handy for coders) among many other things.
In conclusion Akelpad is a neat Notepad replacement that has enough functions of it's own to make it worthwhile and the fact that it can be expanded with plugins is just icing on the cake, it's definitely worth a look. Available for all Windows versions.


Get it at http://akelpad.sourceforge.net/en/index.php

Appetizer is a small app dock for Windows that is fully portable

Overview:

This is a free application launcher, or dock, for Windows. It allows organizing your shortcuts and folders into a convenient dock. The app is open source, which means that it's free and will remain so. It is entirely customizable and is available in multiple languages.


Features:

• Support for plugins
• Support for multiple skins (two included)
• Resizable dock, which allows displaying the icons both horizontally or vertically.
• Three sizes of icons: Small, large and extra-large
• Support for custom icons
• 'Wizard' to automatically imports shortcuts from various locations
• Organize the icons by drag & dropping them
• 'Multi-launch' functionality
• Regroup multiple shortcuts within one menu
• Hot key to hide / show the dock
• Special items to provide extra functionalities: hide / show the desktop, Recycle Bin, Control Panel, etc.
• Support for multiple languages
• Minimize to tray icon functionality

Review:

Appetizer is a small, portable and simple open source application dock that stands from the pack in several ways, for starters Appetizer can quickly import shortcut links from the Windows quick launch toolbar, the Windows start menu and even from the portableapps.com dock launcher. You can also group the various shortcuts in a single menu for a more organized look, add special items like "My PC" into the dock, snap the dock into the borders of the screen by simply moving it around, use a hotkey to show/hide the dock and run several programs at Appetizer's startup which is handy when carrying the app in a portable device. Besides all that the program supports custom skins and plugins for extra functionality, tough the plugin section is kinda low right now. Appetizer used between 7 to 10MB in my system which is a good number in my opinion. In conclusion i feel that Appetizer is a pretty good application dock for everyday use specially if you plan on using it from your portable device, It's simplicity and easy to use interface won me over, it's definitely worth a look. Available for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.

Get it at http://app.etizer.org/

Notice about spam comments

It has come to my attention that some spammers have taken notice of my little blog and have decided to spam the heck out of the site with spamming comments. Obviously this sucks so i have decided to take some badly needed countermeasures, for starters all comments from now on will go trought moderation before being published. Hopefully this will be enough of a deterrent but if it's not enough i reserve the right to stop allowing anonymous commenting, i know this can be annoying to some of you so i am hesitant to implement that feature. Also sorry for the lack of frequent updates, life has been getting in the way.

Close opened programs and eject your pendrive with EjectUSB

Overview:

Designed to be a simple utility to close all programs running from a specified drive or folder and then attempt ejection if a drive was specified. Extended functionality includes flushing the file cache, closing Explorer windows and removing registry entries and Recent Document shortcuts referencing the specified drive or folder.


Review:

EjectUSB is a neat little open source utility that can make your life easier if you use portable programs inside your pendrive or other device. Basically EjectUSB will close all of the programs that you have running inside your portable device and it will also eject the device itself. Extra features include being able to close explorer windows, flush the file cache, remove registry entries and recent documents shortcuts that point to the ejected drive. This is a lot better than having to do it all manually. There's just one thing to keep in mind tough, EjectUSB can't eject your portable device if a non-portable application is using a file inside your device. For example EjectUSB can't eject a pendrive if you have opened a text file located inside the pendrive with Notepad. The program has a lot of customization settings including the ability to use external apps for certain functions like closing programs. In conclusion despite a noticeable flaw i feel that EjectUSB is certainly worth a look for all of us that like the portable app scene. Available for all Windows versions.


Get it at http://www.pocketappreview.com/main/item/ejectusb

Convert your files online with Cometdocs.com

I don't use file converting web sites because i have never had a need for that kinda service however i thought i may as well try one in case someday i might find myself requesting their services. Anyway one of those online converting websites is Cometdocs.com, the site supports over 50 type of file convertions mainly focusing on converting files to PDF or from PDF's. That's not all since you can also convert from XPS files (XML), convert Excel to CSV, Unix to DOS, MAC to UNIX, compare files, get the MP3 info of a file and a bunch of other convertions that are too many to list. While Cometdocs has a lot of useful convertions i missed some, for example converting Open Office documents into files compatible with Microsoft Office would be real handy , hopefully they add that in a later update. The site requires an email address that will be used to notify you when your convertion is done, if you don't like this you can always create a free account that includes various benefits like better priority in the conversion sequence, keep files/conversions longer than 24 hours for later use and finally not having to enter your email address every time that you want to convert something. In conclusion i found CometDocs.com useful, easy to use and working well but it could use some more types of file conversions.

Via http://www.veign.com/

Search your Windows registry with more speed and efficiency with RegScanner

Overview:

RegScanner is a small utility that allows you to scan the Registry, find the desired Registry values that match to the specified search criteria, and display them in one list. After finding the Registry values, you can easily jump to the right value in RegEdit, simply by double-clicking the desired Registry item. You can also export the found Registry values into a .reg file that can be used in RegEdit.


Review:

If you ever had the chance to work with the Windows registry editor you may have noticed that the search function sucks, a lot. RegScanner fixes this in a huge way by adding a wide array of search options. For starters results are shown all at once instead of pressing F3 which is great since that was very annoying, dumb Microsoft. Also you can search by date of modification, by date length, by type of registry key (REG_BINARY, REG_DWORD, Etc.), make case sensitive searches and find unicode strings in binary values. Results can be opened in Regedit (for editing purposes) by simply double clicking on them and can be exported into a .reg file for used in conjuction with Regedit if you want. In conclusion RegScanner is a great way of searching the Windows registry and is definitely worth a look if you despise Regedit's search function as much as i do. Available for all Windows versions.


Get it at http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/regscanner.html

Search your PC at lighting speed with Everything

Overview:

Locate files and folders by name instantly.


Features:

• Small installation file
• Clean and simple user interface
• Quick file indexing
• Quick searching
• Minimal resource usage
• Share files with others easily
• Real-time updating

Review:

Everything is a small, portable and extremely fast desktop search engine. Everything achieves it's speed at the cost of not being able to index file contents, only file and folders names are indexed. This may pose a problem to some people but i think Everthing's speed makes up for it. The app supports Boolean operators, wildcards and Regex for more advanced searchers which is handy to have. Everything has a simple interface and doesn't use many system resources, the program used between 5 to 20MB in my PC however this may change depending on how many files Everything has to index inside your computer. In conclusion Everything is a neat desktop search program that is worth a look if you dislike the standard way of searching files in Windows. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.voidtools.com/

Weekend fun: Beneath a Steel Sky

Beneath a Steel Sky is an adventure game first released commercially in 1994 but was released as freeware in 2003 by Revolution Software. In the game you step into the shoes of Robert Foster that must navigate a dangerous dystopian city in order to find the truth behind his kidnapping. The game uses 2D graphics and a fully voiced cast of characters that help shape an interesting story, it's pretty good stuff with plenty of funny moments along the way. You can download the game files from the SCUMM website or you can get it from Good Old Games that offers the game in an easy to use installer, the latter method only requires a free account. In conclusion this an awesome game that is definitely worth a look if you enjoy adventure games.

Run95 is a clone of the Windows 95 run dialog box

Overview:

This is a copy of the Windows 95 Run Dialog Box. The implementation as a standalone executable file has a great advantage over the original: you can create a shortcut on your desktop and assign a hotkey to it, and the Run Dialog Box is ready on the spot!


Review:

I have never used Windows 95 so i was surprised when i stumbled into a little app called Run95 which attempts to clone the Windows 95 run dialog box. This may seem useless nowadays but Run95 has some interesting features like portability and the ability to stay open after launching something. So if you are looking for a little blast from the past Run95 maybe worth a look. Available for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.flos-freeware.ch/archive.html

View the history of Firefox/Mozilla with MozillaHistoryView

Overview:

MozillaHistoryView is a small utility that reads the history data file (history.dat) of Firefox/Mozilla/Netscape Web browsers, and displays the list of all visited Web pages in the last days. For each visited Web page, the following information is displayed: URL, First visit date, Last visit date, Visit counter, Referrer, Title, and Host name.

Review:

If you want to check your Firefox/Mozilla browsing history without opening your browser or just find the default history menu too simple then you gotta try MozillaHistoryView. This portable app will display all the URL you have visited recently with extra info like dates, hit counts, referrer, title, type of link, Etc. MozillaHistoryView works pretty well even without Firefox installed (only the history file is required) so it's a worth a look if you like checking your Firefox/Mozilla history. Available for all Windows versions.


Get it at http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/mozilla_history_view.html

Remove the metadata from your pictures with JPEG & PNG Stripper

Overview:

A tool for stripping/cleaning/removing uncessary metadata (junk) from JPG/JPEG/JFIF & PNG files. The image quality IS NOT AFFECTED. Includes command line support. Just specify a folder or file on the commandline (wildcards allowed)


Review:

JPEG & PNG Stripper is a small utility for the removing of metadata found on pictures, by deleting this metadata you can shrink the size of your images a bit which is handy if you have hundreds of pictures . The program is pretty easy to use, just drop your images into JPEG & PNG Stripper and your images will be automatically stripped of the metadata. You can also choose to keep the original date/time of your pictures before processing them and add a context menu entry for the program.
In conclusion if you hate the metadata on your pictures then get rid of them by using JPEG & PNG Stripper. Available for all Windows versions.


Get it at http://www.steelbytes.com/?mid=30

See which global hotkeys are active in Windows with ActiveHotkeys

Overview:

ActiveHotkeys detects what global keyboard shortcuts (hotkeys) are currently registered on the computer by various applications. This helps you determine which hotkeys are in use, and which are still available.


Review:

ActiveHotkeys is a small little program that can show all the currently active global hotkeys in Windows, this is useful if you want to check out which hotkeys are available before adding new hotkey. Results can be exported into a text file with tab-demiliters for easy viewing or to be exported into a spreadsheet which is handy. ActiveHotkeys does have one flaw tough, it can't display which app has registered an active hotkey. This is a Windows limitation but it's still a bummer, anyway the program works well regardless so give it a try. Available for all versions of Windows.


Get it at http://www.donationcoder.com/Forums/bb/index.php?topic=18189.0

Weekend fun: Warsow

Warsow is a fast paced multiplayer first person shooter that combines a beautiful cell-shaded look with gameplay that focuses on quick movements and tricks like wall jumping, bunny hopping, double jumping, Etc. If you are not a hardcore first person shooter player you will probably have a hard time keeping up with the gameplay specially when you try your skills in the online modes, better train with the computer bots first since they give a good feel of what the game is about. Anyway the game requirements are low enough that probably any computer these days will run the game so if you fancy some online gaming then give Warsow a try, it's free after all.

Get it at http://www.warsow.net/