Confessions of a freeware junkie

Fake Name Generator - Get a Random Name [del.icio.us]

2008-06-30T23:12:02-05:00

Seemingly trivial, the Fake Name Generator might be used for writing, or setting up a pseudonym for yourself!

Defend your computer while you get a cup of coffee: Laptop Alarm 2.0 beta

2008-06-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

Laptop Alarm 2.0 beta
http://www.syfer.nl/beta/

You're at the coffee shop working on your computer, and you feel the need to get up and get a cup of joe... Your table is just out of sight of the counter, and you don't want to pick up your PC and take it with you...what to do?

Well, you can go out and buy a hardware solution and lock your laptop to the table, or buy a hardware based alarm, or...download Laptop Alarm...your own sonic alarm system for your PC.

Laptop Alarm is a small executable which offers a small bit of protection for your laptop while you step away for a minute. Basically, you "lock" your PC with Laptop Alarm, and it will sound an alarm if the configured alert options are triggered.

Laptop Alarm can sound an alert based upon the following criteria:

Loss of AC power
Shutdown / Log off
Unplug of USB Mouse
Mouse movement

Not that this alone would prevent or deter the most determined laptop thieves, but it could be enough to scare some would-be burglars into leaving your laptop where they found it...if nothing else, it would alert you when someone grabs the PC, giving you time to tackle them or toss a hot coffee in their face!

Basically, the executable features a few options for you to configure (including a user-defined lock password), and when you hit the button to lock the PC, you are presented with a screen to enter a password to unlock your system...while this screen is up, Laptop Alarm monitors your specified criteria, and will sound an alarm if any of them are met.

Alternatively, there is the ability to SMS your mobile phone using some sort of sign up service (which I could not see because the sign-up page could not be found!).

Just a little problem...

The alarm sound is indeed - - um, "alarming", but one thing I noticed was that my Acer 5520, which has a physical volume control on the left side of the unit, was turned down. So, the Laptop Alarm, when triggered, was not even audible! What would be nice is a bit of programming that kicks up the PC's volume to 100% (or some configurable level) when the alarm was sounded. While this could be a beta issue, it is an issue nonetheless.

What would be really nice is the ability to execute a program or script of your choosing when the alert is sounded. Also, a screensaver function would be useful.

Laptop Alarm seems to work well, aforementioned issues notwithstanding...if the developers can come up with a way of ensuring the volume level is at a configurable level, then I think they'd have a solid app.

Likes

Nice selection of criteria (obvious, but nevertheless, nice!) - major
Simple interface - major
Small size (no installation required) - minor

Dislikes

Volume control can be defeated (at least with physical volume controls) - major
SMS alert feature was not working - could be a beta issue? - minor

Again, this is a review of a beta program, so keep that in mind!

Free Wi-Fi configuration client: LucidLink 2.2

2008-06-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

LucidLink 2.2
http://www.lucidlink.com/lucidlink_wifi_client.htm

Some laptops just don't have a wireless configuration utility, leaving you with the standard Windows 'View networks' tab in the network adapter properties screen. While this works, it isn't very user friendly.

Some companies like Pure Networks put out programs like Network Magic, which aims to help the beginner Wi-Fi user set up a connection (and it is easy, but it also tries to sell you their full-blown product!).

Just recently, I discovered a little utility, 'LucidLink Client' - a no-frills Wi-Fi connection manager that is a little bit easier than the Windows connection setup and not as bloated as Network Magic.

LucidLink can set your connection up for WEP, WPA and WPA2 wireless security-enabled networks - in addition to its own proprietary 'LucidLink' encryption algorythm. Also, LucidLink will scan your network for available SSIDs and offers a minimal wizard-based connection setup procedure.

While this won't do the trick for your EAP/PEAP or other advanced encrypted networks, it will serve your average user at home...and best of all, it's free!

TokyoFlash’s Ultimate Geek Watches: Giveaway and Review [del.icio.us]

2008-06-23T13:31:30-05:00

Giveaway and review of some cool timepieces (well, cool for us geeks!).

Update: Spiceworks 3.0 is out!

2008-06-20T11:39:00.004-05:00

Spiceworks 3.0 is finally here, and there are a ton of new features (my favorite being the "Web 2.0" looking menu nav system - I know, trivial, right?). Check out all the features here: http://www.spiceworks.com/product

In any case, go and get it now, and let Spiceworks know that you love them!

Update: Firefox 3.0 available now!

2008-06-17T20:43:00.006-05:00

If you use Firefox as your web browser (you should, it is great!), then you probably know that version 3.0 is out now.

I've just downloaded it, and it sure does look nice ;), but there's more to this browser than than good looks.

Aside from a revamp to the bookmarking, password storage, security, and improved performance, a huge list of additions and improvements have been made. Check them out here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/features/

I gotta say, just from the last few minutes of using it, I've seen some seriously noticeable improvements in speed moving from site to site.

Thank you Mozilla!

Giveaway today only: Macrium Reflect Full Version

2008-06-16T09:33:00.005-05:00

Just last week, I posted an entry about Macrium Reflect 4.2 Free, a quality disk-imaging and backup tool, akin to products like Norton Ghost and Acronis TrueImage.

Well, over the weekend I heard back from one of the team members at Macrium telling me that the full paid version is available for free today only at http://www.giveawayoftheday.com!

So, head on over to GiveAwayOfTheDay and download your very own copy! As of this writing, there are 16 hours left in the offer.

Note that you must install and activate the product before the time window is finished, otherwise, you will have downloaded the trial of the full version.

Make a complete disk image: Macrium Reflect Free 4.2

2008-06-12T07:00:00.010-05:00

Macrium Reflect Free 4.2
http://www.macrium.com/ReflectFree.asp

Just about everyone knows about DriveImage XML, the free drive imaging/backup tool for Windows XP (or at least if you have been interested in a free drive imaging tool). And a few months back, I posted about Microsoft's command-line imaging tool, ImageX.

I was surfing the 'Net last night as my wife and I were watching the Daily Show, and I came across a really nice looking (feature and aesthetic-wise) application called Macrium Reflect!

Ghost for the rest of us...

Like the big boys Acronis and Norton Ghost, Reflect is a disk backup tool which gives you the ability to run a complete drive backup within Windows (akin to DriveImage XML). Not only that, but you can explore your archived images through Windows Explorer if you need to restore a file or folder later on down the road. This is an easy solution for those that are not well versed in the "good book of tech".

Being that you can save your drive contents as image files, you can see how useful this could be for those of you with multiple configurations (Vista, Windows - and although I have no way of testing this, it appears you can backup Linux partitions as well).

The program utilizes Windows Shadow Copy services, so it allows you to perform backups online while Windows is running. This of course, is nothing new, but it is worth mentioning.

Freeware to get excited about

I have to say, this is a premium quality program that works as well as it looks.

I saved a 7.3Gb image using high compression at 3.1Gb, in about 12 minutes. Not bad! DriveImage XML is notably slower than this...not only that, but I've had some issues using it with my boot CD (for some reason, the computer doesn't recognize the image when I perform a restore - - - probably just me).

Schedule that backup!

You can set Reflect to run a scheduled backup at a time of your preference. You can restore your partitions easily, but you must restart the computer in the 'Reflect Environment', which is available via the Windows boot menu after you specify the restore option.

Reflect also works as a PE -based plugin (PE 2.0 is not supported with the freeware edition)...

There is a $39 paid version available which gives you additional options like the ability to backup Windows servers, file/folder backup & restore, differential/incremental backups, run programs before and after the imaging/restore process, and more...But, even with all that said, the free version certainly has enough options to make this a viable tool for any user who isn't supporting their own network server(s)!

Over the network you go

Like DriveImage XML and Microsoft ImageX, you can make a backup image o f your PC over the network to a shared drive. Now that is useful.

Overall, out of all three tools (DriveImage XML, ImageX and Reflect), Reflect is the easiest to use and the best-looking of the bunch with a good assortment of configurable options.

Likes

The GUI is nice and easy to follow
Compression works well
Speed is more than acceptable over a network connection
Fully featured for the home user
Built-in ability to create a rescue CD
Inclusion of a BartPE/PE plugin
Backup to a network drive
Online backup
Enough options to make it configurable but not overwhelming

Dislikes

Cannot restore an image from a larger hard disk to a smaller one, even if your backed up data is less than that of your destination disk's capacity - (major)

Alternates:

DriveImage XML - cfj review: online disk image backup
Microsoft ImageX - cfj review: command-line backup, good for system admins
Self-Image: GUI backup tool, compresses to gzip format
XXClone: GUI backup tool, supports disk-to-disk cloning only

Welcome | The PC Decrapifier [del.icio.us]

2008-06-12T10:44:53-05:00

Utility to remove all the add-on programs that are preinstalled with a new computer (like trialware for Symantec, MS Office, Google Desktop, etc.). Helps you get your new computer to a "more like new" state than how it wsa shipped out from the OEM.

CrystalXP.net - Graphics & Windows Customization [del.icio.us]

2008-06-11T11:32:08-05:00

Get free ico/png icons for personal applications and web development needs. Focused on Crystalized icon themes.

The Home Computer Freeware List: Updated 06/09/08

2008-06-09T12:00:00.002-05:00

Subscribe to CFJ

Rob's great freeware list (aka "toolbox" for building a Windows-based (I know, I know :) ) computer for as little money as possible.

Note that this is a list that I recommend for every baseline installation...I will recommend various specialty applications over the course of my musings, but this is something that I believe everyone should install.

Enjoy - every product here is one that I use or have used. :)

System cleanup utility (good for routine system maintenance) - CCleaner, nCleaner Second - both are quality, but I would say CCleaner is a more intuitive to use. You can do a lot of damage with nCleaner Second if you are not careful!

Create PDFs - PDFCreator - Creates a new printer in your control panel, and allows you to convert anything that you print to a PDF.

Read PDFs - Foxit PDF reader - Nice non-resource intensive PDF reading software.

Antivirus - AVG 8.0, Avast 4.8 Home - You should NEVER surf without some form of AV installed. AVG has moved up to tie my preference for Avast. Why? The updated interface, addition of Spyware protection, no recurring serial number expiration, etc. - Avast! is nice because it can scan your system for viruses while screen saver is active. Honorable mentions: AntiVir. Want free AV for a Windows server? Use ClamWin (no real-time scanner, you have to run scheduled scans, but it works VERY well).

Spyware Protection - Ad-Aware 2008 (not a real-time scanner), Spyware Terminator - Spyware sucks, and these tools do a great job of cleaning them up. I would recommend installing both utilities, using one to clean-up after the other.

IE Spy/Malware Protection - IE-SpyAds - This will keep 99% of activex components from being installed on your system through IE. If you are going to use IE, you should use it with *ahem* protection.

Firewall - Comodo - Very configurable - looks sharp, excellent reviews (replacing Kerio).

Remote Control (Technical Support) - CrossLoop - This one is great for consultants and other at-home tech folks - totally secure and SO easy to use. Crossloop makes remote controlling mom's computer a dream.

Remote Control (Extending your office) - Logmein - Access your computer from a secure (256-bit encrypted) connection. You don't need someone on the other end to approve your connection (like Crossloop).

Screenshot Utility - FastStone Capture 5.3. If you can find it, use it. Newer versions are not free. Can't find it? Use Easy Capture. Are you an advanced user? Screen Captor is superior to both utilities.

VPN - Hamachi - Connect two disparate networks together with little trouble. Great for hooking up with your buddies for online gaming, or home "family" support over the Internet.

File Recovery - PC Inspector File Restore, Recuva - Did you accidentally delete your files from your digital camera? Use this to restore it. Good for system drives as well.

Internet Browsing - FireFox - Tabbed browsing, all sorts of great add-ons available, spyware/popup blocker, best of all NO activex support.

Email Client - Thunderbird - Built in spam protection, RSS reader and more.

FTP Client - FileZilla, WinSCP - Secure FTP, save your sessions, easy drag & drop interface.

Office Productivity - Microsoft Live Office (online), Google Docs (online), Open Office. The non-MS apps are MS Office compatible. Text, Spreadsheet, Presentation software -These will do for 90% of your low to middle of the road users.

Zip Archiving - IZArc - New to the list is 'IZArc', recommended by fellow freeware addict, Carputers. I have to agree. If you use WinZip, then you can use IZArc. Excellent interface, great features, just great all around!

Keep track of startup programs - Sysinternals AutoRuns - Excellent tool to discover what the heck is running at startup. Can produce a CSV file for viewing later (or to post to online support forums), etc. VERY thorough. You can use this to help you clean up malware that is slowing down your system. Also recommended is Hijack This, which features a huge user-community.

Graphics Editing - The Gimp - EXCELLENT freebie editor with a lot of built-in effects and layering capability. If you like the Photoshop interface, you can try GimpShop.

Image Touch Ups, Photo Processing - Picasa - Easy to use program that can help you catalog, view, burn, and touch-up photographs. Also, you can use Picasa to upload photos to your blog, and submit them to online digital image printing services.

Image Thumbnail Viewer - The classic, Irfanview (although I personally can't stand the dated look...!), my personal favorite - FastStone Viewer, and another popular one, XNView.

CD Burning - CD Burner XP Pro - Supports burning from/to ISO image files, audio CD's, DVDs, etc. - Especially nice if you have a burner, but no longer have the OEM burning software that came with it. Other quality apps are Infra Recorder and Express Burner Free.

Backup software - Syncback - Backup to/from an FTP location, compress and encrypt data, supports directory synchronization, and much, much more.

DVD viewing (video) - VLC Media Player - Play your DVD/VCD/MPEG videos from a single player. Works GREAT! You can use VLC to watch DVDs without re-installing the OEM DVD software. You can also use it to convert videos (transcode).

Video conversion - Media Converter SA, Super. Convert a video file to a myriad of different formats, great for copying videos to your IPod, Zune, or other personal media player.

RSS News Reader - Google Reader (online), FeedDemon NewsGator -Keep up with your online news and blogs (*ahem*, like this one?).

More as I find 'em.

Announcement: CFJ has a domain name!

2008-06-08T22:29:00.004-05:00

Well, I finally did it - I purchased a domain name. Am I late to the party?

I think that "http://www.confessionsofafreewarejunkie.com" was a bit too long, and too hard to type - also, "'http://freewarejunkie.com" was taken.

Soooooo, I've opted for "http://www.thefreewarejunkie.com" - which still has a nice ring to it!

Now, the next question - should I rename the blog to "The Freeware Junkie" or leave it as-is?

Hmmm...

On a side note - if you are using the domain name in the next couple of days, you will see it go up and down as I work on getting it to forward properly to my blogspot account. I just need to get it so that you can see the full path of the post in the address bar instead of the 'www.thefreewarejunkie.com' at the top (good for copying/pasting into emails, etc.).

Dimdim: Free Live Meeting, Web Conference, Net Meeting, Online Meetings, Online Training, Desktop Sharing, Web Meeting, Free Web conferencing, eLearning, Presentation Software, Web x collaboration, Collaboration software [del.icio.us]

2008-06-09T00:23:23-05:00

With no software to download or install, Dimdim forever democratizes web- based live meetings. In seconds - right from your browser - you easily host or attend web meetings complete with audio and video conferencing, screen and application sharing.

40 Excellent Web Based Tools to Help You Design from Anywhere | Design Vitality [del.icio.us]

2008-06-09T00:22:08-05:00

Here are 40 excellent web based tools to help you design from anywhere

Update your apps AND your drivers: RadarSync 2008

2008-06-04T07:00:00.002-05:00

RadarSync 2008
http://www.radarsync.com/

Awhile back, I posted about a great system updater tool called Secunia Personal Software Inspector, which helps to keep your system applications (duh) current, leaving little guesswork on your part as to what applications you need to go hunt down updates for.

What, no drivers?

One thing that was noticeably missing was the ability to update drivers, which for some is a huge pain in the neck...especially for those of us who need the latest video drivers for our games!

As always, I've scoured the 'Net for another great find, and I present to you (queue horns here) RadarSync, which is an application that can update your system apps AND your drivers. All for free, of course!

Detailed info

Akin to Secunia, when RadarSync finds application updates, you have the option of clicking on the detail link for each app/driver, allowing you to find out more information about it. There's an interesting tab hidden (well, not really hidden) in there called 'Competitors' - this gives you a listing of applications that compete or perform the same function as the application you are updating! So, if you are curious (like I always am), then you are given the ability to try some new apps out...

Scanning for the very first time...

When you first open RadarSync, you must scan your system for out-of-date applications. Once the scan is complete, you can either selectively or download the updates en masse - as each program update is downloaded, a pop-up balloon will notify you that it has completed a download (which can be disabled), and ask if you would like to begin the update now.

Unlike Secunia Personal Software Inspector, there is no way to actively scan your system (memory resident) in the free version. The paid version does supply this functionality.

Wait, is there a catch?

Well, yes, sorta. According to RadarSync's website the following was found in their FAQ when talking about the differences between the paid and free versions:

"The only differences between this version and the paid version are that the auto-update scheduler feature has been disabled and that we'll ask you from time to time to select a sponsor or view an ad to help support our development and tech support efforts.

I have yet to see an ad link/orwhatever, but if it's not too intrusive, I don't think I would mind, considering the time I'm saving by having this little gem installed on my PC.

Likes

The intuitive and easy-on-the-eyes interface - (major)
Driver updates - (major)
The initial application/driver scan is fast - (medium)
The 'Competitors' tab in the 'Details' section - (medium)
Ability to modify download location of updates - (medium)

Dislikes/oddities

RadarSync likes to offer to create a Restore Point (tested on XP) for you before installing any update, which is nice, except I have System Restore turned off...therefore, I really shouldn't be seeing any messages about Restore Points. You can turn this feature off, but it should detect whether it is enabled or not - (medium)
The download button says 'Downlods all items' - obviously a typo, but even the smallest misspelling can turn some people off from a new application... - (medium)
I'd like to see the ability to 'hide' or 'ignore' an application if I don't plan on updating it in the future...akin to Secunia. This is a handy feature for those of us who have applications that are licensed only for a particular version, and not necessarily the newest one. - (medium)
It would be nice to have an 'update all' button (replacing 'Downlods all items'), which chains the installs back-to-back. - (low)
If I click RadarSync to install an application through it's interface, there should be some sort of notifier (italicized text, small icon, etc.) showing that I've run the setup. If I have a huge list of programs and drivers to update, I might not know which ones I've run yet. - (low)
Watch out for the toolbar installation during setup - - - do I really need another browser toolbar? - (trivial)

System Cleaner and more: Glary Utilities 2.5.2.185

2008-06-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

Glary Utilities 2.5.2.185
http://www.glaryutilities.com/

Windows XP & Vista have a basic set of cleanup tools that help you keep your system clean and organized (desktop shortcut cleaner, temp files cleaner, etc.) - and of course, there's a ton of system cleaners and maintenance tools out there available.

I ran across a really nice offering the other day called Glary Utilities. It is one of the most fully featured cleaning tools I have run across.

The program is broken down into a series of 4 tabs: Status, 1-Click Maintenance, Modules and Menu.

Status

The 'Status' tab is basically an overview tab showing the current state of Glary Utilities, including Program and License status (and Autocare settings if you have the pro version).

1-Click Maintenance

Here's a quick rundown of the "1-click maintenance" options:

Registry Cleaner - Fixes invalid or incorrect registry entries
Temporary Files Cleaner - Cleans up temporary files and recover disk space
Shortcuts Fixer - Cleans up invalid shortcuts
Tracks Eraser - Erases your activity history and Internet traces
Startup Manager - Cleans up dangerous startup entries
Spyware Remover - Removes spyware and adware

Now, at this point, I was thinking that this was a lot of great options - but WAIT, there's more!

Modules

Clean Up & Repair - Including Disk Cleaner, Registry Cleaner, Shortcuts Fixer, Uninstall Manager
Optimize & Improve - Startup Manager, Memory Optimizer, Context Menu Manager
Privacy & Security - Tracks Eraser, File Shredder, File Undelete, File Encrypter and Decrypter
Files and Folders - Disk Analysis, Duplicate File Finder, Empty Folders Finder, File Splitter and Joiner
System Tools - Process Manager, Internet Explorer Assistant, Windows Standard Tools

Menu

Here you can undo any changes that Glarysoft has made, and you can access your System Restore applet here as well.

The cleaner

From what I can tell, this program ranks right up there with CCleaner in terms of features (and then some!), but I still found that CCleaner found some additional files to remove after performing a cleanup with Glary. But, Glary CERTAINLY has a lot more features.

Soooo, it is a full featured and well put together program, but as far as being the ultimate cleaner? Not quite there yet...but, is there one true ultimate cleaner?

Now, just because it doesn't quite clean up as much as CCleaner, there are a lot of other features to explore. I wont' go into them here, but you can take a look for yourself.

It seems that every cleaner does its thing, but not one can do it all. However, with that said, Glarysoft Utilities seems to be an up-and-comer to watch out for...it is well-written, intuitively laid out, and best of all - free for home/personal use!

Alternates

yWriter4 - word processor for authors [del.icio.us]

2008-05-31T22:28:17-05:00

Cool writing tool for budding or experienced authors. Arrange your books/chapters, keep track of character attributes, quotes, locations, more...

Connect to your servers terminal services via RDP Web Connection [del.icio.us]

2008-05-28T08:44:53-05:00

The Remote Desktop Web Connection provides a simple way to connect to your Windows XP Professional remote desktop, even when you don't have the Remote Desktop client software installed on the computer you're currently using.

Enhance your copy/pasting: Piky Basket 2.0

2008-05-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Piky Basket 2.0
http://www.conceptworld.com/Piky/piky_features.asp

There are a lot of fun little copy/paste tools, ranging from the awesome SendTo PowerToys to a huge variety (in function, complexity and usefulness) of other tools.

Piky Basket is a fun program that assists you with copying & pasting by giving you an option to drop your files into a "basket", a separate entity than your clipboard - thus giving you some freedom from the fear of overwriting your clipboard with something else as you work throughout the day...

It also has a 'Command Prompt here' feature, which gives you the ability to escape to a command window using that path as the working folder...a nice addition, but not necessary.

The items are stacked into a "basket" (think 'queue'). You have the ability then later on to copy or move or copy all of these files later on as a set, rather than one at a time. Also, you can paste a list of filenames - however, you cannot paste this list from the basket, per se - you can only copy a pathname listing as you have the files selected. This would be a nice feature to add (hint, hint)...

Once installed, it will put itself into your right-click context menu. To add items to the basket, right click on a file or folder> 'Piky Basket'> 'Drop into the basket'. Your action is confirmed by a few cheesy wav files. Thankfully, you can go into preferences to turn these off, but it would be nice to have the ability to modify these to something a little less annoying.

Side note:

I'd like to see the ability to add text strings to my Basket - this would be good for compiling notes as I'm working on a document.

Problems? Only one...

The only problem I noticed is if you copied a series of files into a basket, then deleted one of those files from your system, Piky Basket isn't smart enough to know not to copy/move the file when asked. As a result, it will give you an error, which will most likely prevent you from copying/moving the rest of the files in the basket that were added after it. The fix? Empty the basket and try it again. It would be nice if Piky Basket just trudged on through and notified you after the fact that the file wasn't in the source location any longer.

Admittedly, the program is no frills, but you can't fault an app for simplicity...! Non-existent file copy issue aside, Piky Basket is a fun and useful little add-on to Windows that can make your file copying/pasting just that much easier.

Simply Google, Google search and service - all of Google's hidden features in one webpage! [del.icio.us]

2008-05-27T07:38:54-05:00

Simply Google managed to summarize all of those things into one single page. Simply-Google.com is a roundup of every Google search and service out there on one convenient page.

Update: Cilantro v0.2a (alpha) for Spiceworks available

2008-05-21T00:19:00.006-05:00

Because of the interest for this, I'm letting you try out the alpha version of Cilantro - this is NOT the finalized version of the program, but it should be functional enough to let you try it out.

Check out this post: http://www.vbshf.com/vbshf/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=330&posts=1

You'll want to read it to understand how the server configs and the add-ons work.

Need to run a localized tool against your computers indexed in Spiceworks?

By using Cilantro, you can access your inventoried computers and run your own localized management tools against them. By the inherent nature of a web interface (which is by design), accessing local resources in this fashion is not secure, so you need a locally installed utility to do this.

Cilantro comes with some built in remote management scripts, such as remote VNC push and control, ping, tracert, manage pc, remote desktop, remote assistance and more. These are just a few of my own scripted creations, but you can add or remove anything as you desire.

Currently, you can add your own tools by going into the Cilantro\add-ons folder and copying an existing xml file and follow the same format. Future versions of Cilantro will support dynamic switches (ones that you need to configure at runtime).

Accessing multiple servers?

You can set up multiple server configurations by specifying db file and web address for each config. You can also add, delete, and edit them on the fly without any external xml editing.

Need to view the computer statistics?

Cilantro can list a variety of Spiceworks details about a particular computer...and because of the open nature of the program, you can easily edit the SQL queries which return the data. Future versions should allow you to edit these on the fly as well.

Any time you pull a computer's details, a handy link will be located in the left-hand pane for you to view the complete Spiceworks computer profile for that resource.

What can you search for?

Currently, you can search for all computers by using a "*" wildcard, or a portion of a name using "*name"...also, you can search for last logged on user name (in the domain\name format), IP address, or computer description as listed in Spiceworks.

If you return more than one result, they will be listed in tabular format in the right-hand pane. If one result is returned, Cilantro will automatically bring you to the computer detail page.

BlackBerry GPS Tracking: Blip

2008-05-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

GPS-Snitch Blip for BlackBerry
http://www.blacklinegps.com/blip/

Track your BlackBerry

If you have a GPS-enabled BlackBerry, you can use it as a tracking device and share your location with your friends and family by installing Blip, a small program released by BlackLine GPS.

Not only is this kinda fun, but it could be used to recover a lost or stolen device, or even possibly locate a person if they are lost.

Using Blip, you can view incremental device updates on a map, using the last published location.

The BlackLine GPS site GPS-Snitch.com, offers a a realtime 'track' mode that allows you to view just where the device is going as it is moving, but this requires that you purchase tracking credits (you get 5 when you sign up for free that expire in 6o days).

To me, 15 minute updates seem to be a small enough interval to get a general idea of where the person (or device) may be at.

Share and share alike

You can easily share your Blip status with your contacts directly from your address book. The contact would need to sign up for a free GPS-Snitch account and enter the invite code generated via your email to view your status.

From the website, a blurb about Blip (say that 5 times fast!):

Why Blip?
Blip gives value to you that will improve your life’s efficiency and enjoyment. How many times have you caught yourself wonder where someone was, or more importantly, needing to know? Blip helps you with situations like these but also gives you knowledge about where your circle of contacts are. When you want, you can become more spontaneous with social interaction when on the move and hook up with someone you know who is nearby. Knowledge is power.

GPS-Snitch also sells a line of GPS tracking devices for your car, child, or anything else you want to track for $350 (plus the tracking fee for real-time updates). The website tracks both devices using the same interface.

Bandwidthmeter.info - Bandwidth Meter [del.icio.us]

2008-05-19T22:39:40-05:00

Use bandwidthmeter to test your internet connection speed.

An accessory for Spiceworks: Cilantro

2008-05-15T07:18:00.006-05:00

If you use Spiceworks (an excellent FREE web-driven systems management/helpdesk/network monitoring tool), then you know that you can't perform some actions against the computers that are in the SW database. For example, you can't set up your own custom tools to run against a computer since the application runs from a web interface...and your tools run locally.

So, I decided to write a little application that will allow you to do this. Combining some elements of my bloated HelpHTA app, and some nifty CSS, I bring you "Cilantro"!

Cilantro will query your Spiceworks database, show you a listing of computers based off of an inputted query via the search box, and then allow you to perform various actions against whichever computer you select, using localized tools & utilities.

The real benefit to the program is that not only are the queried system details shown to you, but you can add your own external utilities to run against the computer, extending the usefulness of Spiceworks tenfold!

Your utilities can be copied to an 'add-ons' folder, and you only have to create a small XML file (you can look at other ones that I will provide for a foundation to start from). Once you've added them and load the program, Cilantro will index the add-ons folder and place them into the program's menu bar.

This is not quite ready for mainstream use yet, I have some features to add and some tweaks to make, but what you see here is pretty much the finalized look. I just wanted to get your appetite going with a little "taste". :)

When it is done, I will let you know here so you can download it and try it out for yourself.

Are you interested in this? Let me know!