Calculate subnets from your browser with www.subnet-calculator.com

www.subnet-calculator.com is a website for people that need to quickly calculate Subnets. Subnets are very technical in nature so a website like this could come in handy for people that work with networks or if you are just a student that needs to check if their calculations are correct (like me). Anyway give the site a chance if you fancy making some subnets.

Launch your screensavers from the system tray with TrayScreenSaver

Overview:

Control the screensaver from the tray.


Features:

- Doubleclick the tray icon to run the default screensaver.
- Singleclick to enable or disable the screensaver.
- Run any screensaver from the tray menu.


Review:

TrayScreenSaver is a small and portable utility that can let you launch your installed Windows screensavers with a single click, just double click the tray icon to launch your default screensaver or right click to select from any of the installed screensavers. Unfortunately TrayScreenSaver list the screensavers by their filename which can prove confusing when trying to find a specific screensaver. Anyway TrayScreenSaver can be pretty handy if you are a fan of screensavers, give it a chance. Available for all Windows versions.


Get it at http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Skrommel/index.html#TrayScreenSaver

Quickly launch all of Windows XP utilities with XP SysPad

Overview:

XP SysPad is a Windows system monitoring utility that allows easy access to Windows system information and Windows system utilities, such as the individual control panel applets, as well as putting the “hidden” applications in Windows at your fingertips. XP Syspad also recovers lost Windows & MS-Office product keys.


Review:

Most of the Windows XP's features are scattered all over the place which can hurt when trying to find a specific thing, also some features are well hidden and you probably won't find them unless you know where to look. XP SysPad attempts to fix by basically acting as a central hub of all of the features found on Windows XP. By using this program you can launch the event viewer, logoff, edit the HOST file, open your recent files folder, check when you installed Windows, kill IE explorer, see your clipboard contents, run the Windows XP tour, open/close your tray, run the accessibility features and many more things that are too many to list here. Besides all that XP SysPad can monitor your process, get your IP and retrieve your Windows XP/Office XP/Office 2003 serials.
In conclusion if you are having trouble locating the many Windows XP features available then give XP SysPad a chance, you won't regret it. Available for Windows 2000/XP.


Get it at http://xtort.net/xtort-software/xpsyspad/

Fit more MP3s into your Mp3 player with MP3 Quality Modifier

Overview:

The main purpose is to change the bitrate of your mp3 music collection in a really simple but intuitive way so that the filesize can be dramatically reduced while the audio quality stays the same. With this advantage it's possible to put more music on your mp3-player or just to save some disk space.


Features:

• change mp3 quality with just a few clicks
• really easy and intuitive interface
• retain common id3 tags (like title, artist etc.), original file date
• advanced options: detailed variable bitrate mode, sample frequency and so on
• concluding quality comparison: compare created files with original
• portable: extremely small, just one executable, no installation

Review:

If you have a portable MP3 player that has a small storage capacity then you might wanna give MP3 Quality Modifier a chance. This portable program will process your MP3s in order to reduce their size while attempting to keep their audio quality, you can do this using several quality presets that range from very low quality to pretty good or by just adjusting the available options yourself. By using MP3 Quality Modifier you can reduce your MP3s size between 30 to 70% while maintaining a decent quality even on the lowest settings, also the output files will retain their tags which is pretty good.
In conclusion i think that if you want to fit more songs into your portable media player then you must definitely give MP3 Quality Modifier a chance. Available for all Windows versions.


Get it at http://www.inspire-soft.net/?nav=soft_mp3qualitymodifier

PicPick can take screenshots, edit images and more

Overview:

PicPick is an all-in-one software for software developers, graphic designers and home users.


Features:

# Captures
- Full Screen (Support for Dual Monitors)
- Active Window
- Window Control (Scroll a page automatically)
- Region, Fixed Region
- FreeHand
- Repeat Last Capture
# Image Editor
- It's very similar to Microsoft Paint, but you can do more.
- It provides an effect like selection opacity, blur, sharpen, brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, flip, rotate and etc.
# Color Picker
# Color Palette
# Pixel Ruler
# Screen Protractor
# Crosshair
# Screen Whiteboard


Review:

PicPick is an incredible suite of small apps all thrown together into a single package. With PicPick you can take screenshots of your screen and retouch them with the built-in editor using the severals effects available, the editor is no photoshop but it works well for simple task like cropping. Besides that PicPick comes with a bunch of small apps like a color picker, zoom magnifier, pixel ruler, a whiteboard that can be used to draw into the screen and other stuff that is probably handy to have around. The program is portable and used between 3 to 4Mb in my PC so it's fit for everyday use.
In conclusion if you want a screenshot taking program with a built-in editor then give PicPick a chance, you won't regret it. Available for all windows versions.


Get it at http://picpick.wiziple.net/center

Weekend fun: Façade

Façade is billed as an interactive drama and i gotta say that's a pretty accurate description. You the player are invited to hang out with Grace and Trip, two of your oldest friends who happen to be married with each other. Pretty soon you realize that everything isn't so great in marriage land and that you can either help them or just stick around to see the fireworks, the choice is up to you. In Façade you use the arrow keys to move and a text parser that is used to communicate with the fully voiced characters, i was a little surprised at the variety of the terms it can pick up and the responses you could get. The "gameplay" is basically you steering the conversation into a specific topic, for example you could ask any number of subjects and depending on your actions the "drama" will end in a different way each time that you play.
In conclusion Façade is a pretty unique experience that is worth a try if you have ever wanted to be part of a drama up close.

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

NFReader is a simple reader for your RSS feeds

Overview:

NFReader is a small and simple to use Feed reader for RSS, Atom and RDF feeds. Feeds and group of feeds can be exported to OPML files. The import from OPML files is supported as well.


Review:

If simplicity is your thing when it comes to watching your feeds then take a look at NFReader. This simple and portable RSS/Atom/RDF reader uses a straightforward interface that let's you read stuff without any fancy extras. NFReader supports all the basic features that are important to have in a reader like feed importing/exporting, popup notifications for feed updates and search. Also the program only used between 7 to 8MB in my system which makes the app very lightweight to use. So in conclusion if you want to read your feeds using a basic interface then try NFReader. Available for all versions of Windows.


Get it at http://www.gaijin.at/en/dlnfreader.php

Monitor websites for changes by using the Firefox addon Update Scanner

Overview:

Monitors web pages for updates. Useful for websites that don't provide Atom or RSS feeds.


Review:

Update Scanner is a handy Firefox addon for monitoring changes made to web sites, this is specially useful if a site doesn't have an RSS feed. Update scanner will display a small popup when a change in a site you are monitoring has been detected, if you click the popup you will be taken to the site with all the new changes highlighted. You can set Update Scanner to check a web site using minutes, hours and days. Also you can define if you want to be notified of every little change made in a site or skip minor changes altogether and focus on big ones only.
In conclusion Update Scanner is an interesting Firefox addon that i feel is worth a look if you want to monitor web sites that do not use an RSS feed.


Get it at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3362

Erase your tracks when using someone else's PC with CleanAfterMe

Overview:

CleanAfterMe allows you to easily clean files and Registry entries that are automatically created by the Windows operating system during your regular computer work.


Review:

If you are a person that frequently uses other people's computer then you might know that is always a good idea to erase your tracks once you leave, one good way to achieve this is by using CleanAfterMe. This is a portable app that can be run from your pendrive and will erase all the tracks that Windows records like recent document lists, temp folders, the recycle bin, clipboard contents, installed USB devices, Windows prefetch files among many other things that you probably should erase. Also CleanAfterMe will clean up things like the history, cookies, cache and more from internet browsers like IE, Mozilla Firefox and Opera. Oh and if you really don't want anyone to find out what you've been up to CleanAfterMe offers the options of filling files with zeros before deleting them, this should make recovery from curious hands a lot harder so in my opinion you should use it.
In conclusion CleanAfterMe is a handy little app for erasing your tracks that deserves a spot on your pendrive. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


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

Check the hashes of files from the Windows properties menu by using HashTab

Overview:

HashTab is a Windows shell extension which adds a tab called "File Hashes" to the Windows Explorer file properties. The tab contains the MD5, SHA1 and CRC-32 file hashes. These are common hashes that are used to verify the integrity and authenticity of files. Many download sites list the MD5 hash along with the download link. The HashTab makes it very simple for Windows users to check these hashes on any file on the system without using external tools. The screenshot to the right shows an example.


Review:

HashTab is a simple and effective way to check and compare your file hashes, it will do so by adding a new tab in your Windows file property menu in where you can see the most commonly used file hashes and quickly compare them by pasting a code. HashTab is pretty easy to use and worked well for me so give it a try if you are interesting checking file hashes. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://beeblebrox.org/hashtab/

Get wallpapers, themes and icons from interfacelift.com

Interfacelift.com is a website that provides wallpapers, themes and icons free of charge using an easy to use interface in which you can narrow your search by downloads, ratings, tags, resolution, number of monitors, Etc. One cool thing about the site when browsing for wallpapers is that it tells you which resolution your monitor is at, pretty handy for people that don't know much about computers. Anyway i found the wallpaper and icon section with the most content so check the site out if you are looking to put some cool new visual into your PC.

Check if an image has been altered and see it's detailed info with JPEGsnoop

Overview:

JPEGsnoop is a free Windows application that examines and decodes the inner details of JPEG and MotionJPEG AVI files. It can also be used to analyze the source of an image to test its authenticity.


Review:

JPEGsnoop is a very interesting portable app that can be used for extracting very detailed information from JPG, THM, AVI, DNG, CRW, CR2, NEF, ORF, PEF, MOV and PDF files. This information can be used to check if an image has been altered, see the image compression used by cameras and determine the quality settings used by photoshop in an image. Most of the information given by JPEGsnoop is very technical which is great if you know what all that info means. Extra features include exporting pictures from AVI files, saving images inside PDF files and identify the hacks necessary in order to improve your scanner/cellphone camera quality.
In conclusion i feel that JPEGsnoop is probably going to be a lot more useful to users that can make sense of all the technical info given however checking an image to see if it's been altered it's pretty easy to do so normal users shouldn't have any problems with that feature, the bottom line it's that i think JPEGsnoop is worth a look. Available for all Windows versions.


Get it at http://www.impulseadventure.com/photo/jpeg-snoop.html

Weekend fun: Judith

Judith is one the more unique experiences i have ever experienced on a game. Using low graphics and a very effective use of sound you are thrusted to discover two distinct stories that may or not be related using only your arrow keys and space bar. Since the game is so short (it took me like 30 minutes to reach the end) is better that you stop reading right now and just download the game at the Judith official site. In my humble opinion is worth a look.

Zilla TXT To PDF Converter will transform your text files into PDF

Overview:

Zilla TXT To PDF Converter is a freeware to convert TXT files to PDF format files in batch mode. Zilla TXT to PDF Converter also allows users to set Page Size, Font, Author and Keywords information etc.


Review:

Zilla TXT To PDF Converter is a small portable app that can be handy if you would like to quickly convert a bunch of text files into PDF. Before converting you can choose the font, font size, author name, keywords, Etc.
Zilla TXT To PDF Converter worked well for me so i don't have much to say except that it's worth a look if you like using PDF. Available for all Windows versions.


Get it at http://www.pdfzilla.com/zilla_txt_to_pdf_converter.html

Zoom into the mouse pointer and get detailed info like color codes and position with MouseZoom

Overview:

MouseZoom is a nice but small utility. It zooms the current mouse position (50x) and shows the color value (RGB, HEX, HLS, CMYK) and the absolute and relative position of the point where the mouse is.


Review:

If you are a web developer that needs help in knowing the codes for a certain color or just need to zoom into your mouse then MouseZoom can help you. The program can zoom up to 50x into the screen and will display the different color codes from the place you are pointing your mouse at. Also MouseZoom will calculate the exact position of the mouse cursor on the screen (using pixels) and it will even let you measure distance between two points by just pressing a key. Unfortunately MouseZoom falls into the category of nagware meaning that it will constantly nag you for you to register. You can register from MouseZoom's page (no email required) but honestly it's cumbersome right now because you have to answer some questions that involve other products from the same developer (btw the answers are "Comic Sans" and "FX"), once you do register tough the annoying nag messages dissapear entirely.
In conclusion while MouseZoom it's pretty easy to use and works well the fact that it needs registering to remove the constant nagging hurts the usability of the program somewhat, ultimately it's up to you to decide if MouseZoom it's worth registering for. Available for Windows 98/2000/2003/XP.


Get it at http://www.neuber.com/free/mousezoom/index.html

Disable/enable your Windows shell extensions with ShellExView

Overview:

Shell Extensions are in-process COM objects which extends the abilities of Windows operating system. Most shell extensions are automatically installed by the operating system, but there are also many other applications that install additional shell extension components. For example: If you install WinZip on your computer, you'll see a special WinZip menu when you right-click on a Zip file. This menu is created by adding a shell extension to the system.


Review:

ShellExView is a small and portable app that allows you to easily edit Windows shell extensions, these extensions are commonly used for context menu entries but they can do more than that. Just run ShellExView and a list of all of the current shell extensions found in Windows will be displayed (btw the red ones are the ones ShellExView finds suspicious) along with some useful info like the type of extension, it's description, associated file, Etc. Using ShellExView you can disable/enable these shell extensions, open them up in the registry editor and export the shell extension list into an HTML for easy sharing.
In conclusion ShellExView is very easy to use and works well, worth a look if you need to manage your shell extensions. Available for all Windows versions.


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