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November 2009

Great Free Appz

By Techie No Comments

Everyone likes a freebie so here’s a list of some great free appz that do various different things.

Yay for free!

  1. Firefox (see also: Power User’s Guide to Firefox 3, Top 10 Firefox 3.5 Features)
  2. VLC (see also: Master Your Digital Media with VLC, VLC Hits 1.0 with Better Playback and File Support)
  3. CCleaner (see also: Five Best Windows Maintenance Tools)
  4. Dropbox (see also: Use Dropbox for More Than Just File Syncing, Sync Files and Folders Outside Your My Dropbox Folder)
  5. 7-Zip (see also: Five Best File Compression Tools)
  6. OpenOffice.org (see also: OpenOffice.org 3.1’s Usability Tweaks, OpenOffice.org Screenshots Preview a Ribbon-Like Toolbar)
  7. Google Chrome (see also: The Power User’s Guide to Google Chrome, 2009 Edition)
  8. Notepad++ (see also: Five Best Text Editors, AutoSave Adds Reassurance to Notepad++ Editing)
  9. Gmail (see also: Our full Gmail coverage)
  10. GIMP (see also: Gimp 2.7 Beta Improves Text Editing, Streamlines Saving)
  11. Microsoft Security Essentials (see also: Microsoft Security Essentials Free Antivirus App Leaves Beta, Stop Paying for Windows Security; Microsoft’s Security Tools Are Good Enough)
  12. Revo Uninstaller (see also: Lifehacker Pack 2009: Our List of Essential Free Windows Downloads)
  13. Evernote (see also: Evernote 3.5 Beta Brings Tons of Tiny Fixes to Windows, Expand Your Brain with Evernote)
  14. Thunderbird (see also: Thunderbird 3 Release Candidate Available for Download)
  15. Audacity (see also: Geek to Live: Make a ringtone from any MP3)
  16. ImgBurn (see also: Turn Your PC into a DVD Ripping Monster, Five Best CD and DVD Burning Tools)
  17. Picasa (see also: Picasa 3.5 Organizes Your Photos with Facial Recognition)
  18. Skype (see also: Our full Skype coverage)
  19. Pidgin (see also: Ten Must-Have Plug-ins to Power Up Pidgin, Five Best Instant Messengers)
  20. iTunes (see also: iTunes 9 Improves Syncing, Network Sharing, More)
  21. Foxit Reader (see also: Five Best PDF Readers, Lifehacker Pack 2009: Our List of Essential Free Windows Downloads)
  22. FileZilla (see also: Five Best FTP Clients, Build a Home FTP Server with FileZilla)
  23. VirtualBox (see also: The Beginner’s Guide to Creating Virtual Machines with VirtualBox)
  24. TrueCrypt (see also: Geek to Live: Encrypt your data, Five Best Portable Applications)
  25. Avast! (see also: Five Best Antivirus Applications)
  26. Defraggler (see also: Five Best Disk Defragmenters)
  27. KeePass (see also: Eight Best KeePass Plug-Ins to Master Your Passwords, How to Use Dropbox as the Ultimate Password Syncer)
  28. AVG (see also: AVG 9 Free Now Available for Download)
  29. Digsby (see also: Five Best Instant Messengers, Digsby Sees the Light, Removes (Some) Bundled Crapware)
  30. Google Reader (see also: Our full Google Reader coverage)
  31. Winamp (see also: Win7shell Adds Windows 7 Jump List Support to Winamp)
  32. Google Earth (see also: Google Earth 5.1 Speeds Up Your World Browsing)
  33. TeraCopy (see also: Five Best Alternative File Copiers)
  34. Launchy (see also: Our full Launchy coverage)
  35. Transmission (see also: Lifehacker Pack 2009: Our List of Essential Free Mac Downloads)
  36. Eclipse IDE
  37. SpyBot Search & Destroy (see also: Five Best Malware Removal Tools)
  38. Adium (see also: Adium Updates with Security Fixes, Better Facebook Integration)
  39. PuTTY (see also: Add Tabs to PuTTY with PuTTY Connection Manager)
  40. Songbird (see also: Songbird 1.0 Release Official, Fixes Bugs, Plays iTunes Purchases, Killer Add-ons Make Songbird So Much Better)
  41. Sumatra PDF (see also: Sumatra 1.0 is a Blazing Fast Replacement for Adobe Reader)
  42. XBMC (see also: Build a Silent, Standalone XBMC Media Center On the Cheap, Customize XBMC with These Five Awesome Skins, Turbo Charge Your New XBMC Installation)
  43. Blender (see also: Learn Blender with free e-book)
  44. CDBurnerXP (see also: Five Best CD and DVD Burning Tools)
  45. Everything (see also: Everything Finds Windows Files As You Type, Top 10 Tiny & Awesome Windows Utilities)
  46. HandBrake (see also: HandBrake Updates to 0.9.4 with Over 1,000 Changes, 64-Bit Support)
  47. Rainmeter (see also: Rainmeter 1.0 Brings the Enigma Desktop to Everyone)
  48. AutoHotkey (see also: Turn Any Action into a Keyboard Shortcut, Hack Attack: Knock down repetitive email with AutoHotKey)
  49. Google Calendar (see also: Our full Google Calendar coverage)
  50. MediaMonkey (see also: MediaMonkey 3.2 Syncs with More Devices, Adds Auto Folder Watching)
  51. Quicksilver (see also: A beginner’s guide to Quicksilver)
  52. Google Voice (see also: Make Unlimited Free Calls on Your Cellphone with Google Voice, How to Ease Your Transition to Google Voice)
  53. Boxee (see also: Build a Cheap But Powerful Boxee Media Center, Boxee to Launch Beta with Loads of New Features)
  54. AdBlock Plus (see also: Top 10 Must-Have Firefox Extensions, 2009 Edition)
  55. Media Player Classic (see also: Five Best Video Players)

source: lifehacker

I just ordered a new pooter

By Techie No Comments

 macbook proThanks to a Christmas bonus I have been able to order a new Macbook Pro – WOOP WOOP

The plan had been to buy a regular macbook but thanks to Apple’s Black Friday  sale we were able to afford the pro version. I am very very VERY excited! Yay!

Sync Google with your Nokia

By Techie, Via Phone No Comments

If you own a Nokia that runs on the S60 platform and you use google then this is for you.

Google Sync: Setup Instructions

Before you start:
* We strongly recommend that you back up any data from your phone using the Nokia PC Suite or other phone management software.
* You’ll also need to make sure that your phone is compatible with Mail for Exchange and that you’ve downloaded the latest version.

To configure the Mail for Exchange application for Google Sync, follow these steps:

  1. Open the MfE folder on your phone and start the Mail for Exchange application.
  2. Select Yes when prompted to create a new Sync profile.
  3. Configure the profile with the following settings:

  4. * Connection

    • Exchange Server: m.google.com
    • Secure Connection: Yes
    • Access Point: your carrier’s Internet access point
    • Sync while roaming: your preferred setting
    • Use default port: Yes


    * Credentials

    • Username: Your full Google email address, e.g. jon@gmail.com
    • Password: Your Google Account password
    • Domain: leave empty

    * Sync schedule

    • Decide when you want synchronization to happen. Leaving this Always On will ensure your data is always current, but will also consume more battery than other settings.


    * Calendar

    • Synchronize Calendar: Enable or disable
    • Sync Calendar back: your preference
    • Initial Sync: Decide if you want to keep existing Calendar events on your phone or replace them all with events synced from Google Calendar.

    * Tasks

    • Synchronize Tasks: No (currently not supported by Google Sync)

    * Contacts

    • Synchronize Contacts: Enable or Disable
    • Initial Sync: Decide if you want to keep existing Contacts on your phone or replace them all with contacts synced from Google.

    * E-mail

    • Synchronize Email: No (currently not supported by Google Sync)

Source: Google

Phone Phail

By Techie, Via Phone No Comments

Telephone

I am awaiting reciept of my 3rd Nokia N95 8GB. About a month ago i got fed up with the phone locking up on me and not functioning as it should so i rang Orange and told them i was having problems. They went through some diagnostics and confirmed that the phone said it had a fault on it. They arranged for a new one to be delivered the following day – sorted.

or so i thought!

This second phone arrived and seemed ok at first. But i soon discovered a rather irritating issue with it. On a few calls to my wifey the soud would cut out. I assumed that this was her phone as it had been buggy but then it started to happen while on the phone with other poeple. The sound would cut out for about 3 to 10 seconds each time and it would do so every 3 – 5 minutes.

I also found that the same thing would happen while listenihng to music. I have a set up in the car where by i can link up the phone to the stereo and listen to tunes or podcasts and take calls and the like. The same sound cut was happening with the music. This was really frustrating. There I’d be cruising down the motorway getting down and diggy along to some tune and and then my thunder would be stolen by the sound cutting out!!! When i was listening to an audio book i would be missing some key words in the story and it started becomeing really really annoying.

Soa couplke of Fridays ago i rang orange again and told them abouot the issue. The chap on the phone this time was a little more reluctant to help me. I explained the problem and he suggested the follwoing:

  1. Reset the phone with one of the nokia reset codes – this would reset the software and should cure the issue.
  2. Check what version of the software i was running and upadate it if possible.

I did the first one and found that there was no difference what so ever except i had to go through the rigmarole of having to resync and resetup my phone the way i like it.

I then did the second one and updated the software only to have the same usless result and waste of time incur. I was not happy and yesterday i rang orange again and told them what had been happening.

I am now waiting for my 3rd phone. I’m a little worried as i really like these phones and i dont want them to have made them rubbish with the updates. This has been known to happen. I will let you know what happens and whether this next one actually works this time.

Post Templates… not working as i expected…

By WordPress One Comment

I’ve managed to tweak this theme to sort of do what i want it to do.

If you look at the image below you will see the tweet posts are all simply done with no heading or meta data. (i may add the date back in later) This is great but this happens only when you go to the tweets catagory page.

 tweets-good

This image shows the front page of the site but the tweets are not being displayed as per the tweets page.

 mixedWhat i want to happen is for the main page to show all the catagories but when it displays a tweet to display it like it does on the tweet page.

The code is thus:

<?php if (have_posts()) : ?>

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post();  ?>

<div>

<?php
if (is_category(28)) {
include(TEMPLATEPATH . ‘/tweetpost.php’);
} else {
include(TEMPLATEPATH . ‘/blogpost.php’);
}
?>

</div>

<?php comments_template(); ?>

<?php endwhile; ?>

<div>
<div><?php next_posts_link(‘&laquo; Older Entries’) ?></div>
<div><?php previous_posts_link(‘Newer Entries &raquo;’) ?></div>
</div>

<?php else : ?>

<h2>Not Found</h2>
<p>Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here.</p>

<?php endif; ?>

The code for the “tweetpost.php” page is thus:

<?php include(TEMPLATEPATH.”/Cat_Thumb_Assign.php”);?>

<h1>

<?php the_content(‘Read the rest of this entry &raquo;’); ?>

</h1>

And the code for the “blogposts.php” page is thus:

<a href=”<?php the_permalink() ?>”>

<?php if( get_post_meta($post->ID, “hpbottom”, true) ): ?>

<img style=”” src=”<?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID, “hpbottom”, true); ?>” width=”100″ height=”100″  alt=”<?php the_title(); ?>” />

<?php else: ?>

<?php include(TEMPLATEPATH.”/Cat_Thumb_Assign.php”);?>

<?php endif; ?>

<h1><?php the_title(); ?></a></h1>

<small><?php the_time(‘F jS, Y’) ?> | <b>Author:</b> <?php the_author_posts_link(); ?> |
<b>Filed under:</b> <?php the_category(‘, ‘) ?>  <?php if ( $user_ID ) : ?> | <b>Modify:</b>
<?php edit_post_link(); ?> <?php endif; ?>|
<?php comments_popup_link(‘No Comments &#187;’, ‘1 Comment &#187;’, ‘% Comments &#187;’); ?></small>

<?php the_content(‘Read the rest of this entry &raquo;’); ?>

I know that some of my readers are wordpress junkies, so come on, step up to the plate, be a man lie you’ve never been a man before (especially apt if you are in fact a girl) and help me out my geeky bretheren…..

EDIT:

WP LOOP:

<!-- Start the Loop. -->
 <?php if ( have_posts() ) : while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>

 <!-- The following tests if the current post is in category 3. -->
 <!-- If it is, the div box is given the CSS class "post-cat-three". -->
 <!-- Otherwise, the div box will be given the CSS class "post". -->
 <?php if ( in_category('3') ) { ?>
           <div>
 <?php } else { ?>
           <div>
 <?php } ?>

 <!-- Display the Title as a link to the Post's permalink. -->
 <h2><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>

 <!-- Display the date (November 16th, 2009 format) and a link to other posts by this posts author. -->
 <small><?php the_time('F jS, Y') ?> by <?php the_authors_post_link() ?></small>

 <!-- Display the Post's Content in a div box. -->
 <div>
   <?php the_content(); ?>
 </div>

 <!-- Display a comma separated list of the Post's Categories. -->
 <p>Posted in <?php the_category(', '); ?></p>
 </div> <!-- closes the first div box -->

 <!-- Stop The Loop (but note the "else:" - see next line). -->
 <?php endwhile; else: ?>

 <!-- The very first "if" tested to see if there were any Posts to -->
 <!-- display.  This "else" part tells what do if there weren't any. -->
 <p>Sorry, no posts matched your criteria.</p>

 <!-- REALLY stop The Loop. -->
 <?php endif; ?>

Right V’s Left Brains

By Profound One Comment

 rightvslft_lrg
Clicky Piccy to take the testy

My results on the above test were:

Left Brain Right Brain
37% 63%

You are more right-brained than left-brained.

The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. In addition to being known as right-brained, you are also known as a creative thinker who uses feeling and intuition to gather information. You retain this information through the use of images and patterns. You are able to visualize the “whole” picture first, and then work backwards to put the pieces together to create the “whole” picture. Your thought process can appear quite illogical and meandering. The problem-solving techniques that you use involve free association, which is often very innovative and creative. The routes taken to arrive at your conclusions are completely opposite to what a left-brained person would be accustomed. You probably find it easy to express yourself using art, dance, or music. Some occupations usually held by a right-brained person are forest ranger, athlete, beautician, actor/actress, craftsman, and artist.

Your complete evaluation follows below:

Your left brain/right brain percentage was calculated by combining the individual scores of each half’s sub-categories. They are as follows:

Your Left Brain Percentages

38% Logical (Your most dominant characteristic)
34% Symbolic
27% Linear
14% Reality-based
9% Sequential
7% Verbal (Your least dominant characteristic)

Your Right Brain Percentages

48% Intuitive (Your most dominant characteristic)
48% Fantasy-oriented
46% Concrete
38% Nonverbal
34% Random
0% Holistic (Your least dominant characteristic)

If you wanna take the test you can do so here:

http://www.wherecreativitygoestoschool.com/vancouver/left_right/rb_test.htm

Revisiting Jockey Bashing

By I Laughed No Comments

 angieandmewyattvilleyoungIn sorting out some folders i found these and thought i should relive the moments of Jockey bashing:

Thank you Mr. Pearce

feeling rubish

By Techie One Comment

Back seemed to sort itself out last night. I woke up this morning with alot more movement and more importantly i realised i actiual;ly got some sleep. I was worried i’d be awake and in pain all night. During the day it has gotten better although it is still quite…twangy…if that’s even a word.

I managed to go to work but after an hour there i stared to feel even more rubbish. My wife’s cold which i have been fighting off decided to make its presence known in full force and i have been steadily being feeling worse all day. I went to a meeting before lunch and then came home.

On the way home i found that my recently replaced phone is not working properly. It is cutting the audio out. Not very fun at all – am trying to sort it but its a pain when you have to reset the whole thing and you need to go and re-apply all the settings.

that is all.

Old Romanian made phone