Windows alternatives...

Why You Don't Need Adobe Reader (And What to Use Instead)

2021-05-01T20:05:00.004-07:00

BY GAVIN PHILLIPSUPDATED DEC 01, 2020

Adobe Reader is bloated and slow. Here's why you don't need it and how to open PDF files without Adobe Reader.

Adobe Reader isn't just unnecessary. The PDF tool has a history of being an application you wouldn't want on your system. Adobe Reader carries a certain reputation from being heavy and sluggish to a long series of security flaws. For many users, Adobe Reader is simply overkill for reading PDF documents.

So, the question is, do you need Adobe Reader installed? Or, are there better Adobe Reader alternatives for reading PDFs?

What Is Adobe Reader?

Adobe Acrobat Reader is one of the most popular PDF readers. It comes in two main flavors: Free and Premium. The free version allows you to view, print, and annotate PDF files, while the premium version includes tools for editing, scanning, digital signing, and file conversion, among other options.

For most people, the advanced options available in Adobe Acrobat Pro (the premium version) are overkill. If you're just reading the occasional PDF or printing a document or form, your regular web browser can take care of business.

Is Adobe Acrobat Reader Safe?

Adobe Reader has a history of vulnerabilities, too. Security incidents in 2006, 2009, 2013, and 2016 required serious and immediate patching to remove critical vulnerabilities. Most of the vulnerabilities stem from JavaScript vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader, allowing an attacker to exploit the program to gain access to the host computer.

So, is Adobe Reader safe? If you keep Adobe Reader updated, then you should remain safe. Adobe pushes updates for its apps on the first Tuesday of every month (as part of Patch Tuesday, which many tech companies observe). Reading through the patch notes reveals that it isn't just Adobe Reader receiving critical updates; all Adobe products require a significant patch from time-to-time.

One thing you can do to increase your security is to adjust your Adobe Reader JavaScript settings.

Head to Edit > Preferences.
Select JavaScript from the Categories.
In the JavaScript Security window, edit the options for JavaScript management.

If you want to disable JavaScript completely, uncheck Enable Acrobat JavaScript.

How to Open PDFs in Your Browser

Adobe Acrobat Reader allows you to view and print PDFs. But your browser can do exactly the same without you having to download and install an extra program.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome has an integrated PDF viewer. It has been bundled with Google Chrome since 2010. It makes opening online PDFs extremely quick, loading directly in your browser. Unfortunately, Chrome's PDF viewer doesn't have many features. Or rather, it has basically none, unless rotating your PDFs is an absolute necessity.

However, it is fast. Additionally, Google Chrome is now the most popular browser worldwide, so there is a good chance you already have it installed.

Google Chrome can function as your default local PDF viewer, too. Right-click your PDF, and select Properties. Select Change, followed by Google Chrome. Then select Apply.

Please note that this process is the same for Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or any other PDF viewer you'd like to use as default.

Enable the New Google PDF Reader

As luck would have it, as I was updating this article, Google snuck out an update to the Chrome PDF viewer. You can enable the Chrome PDF reader update through the Chrome Flags page, a list of experimental browser features. Some of these features are in active development, while other options come and go.

Input chrome://flags in your Chrome address bar, search for #pdf-viewer-update, and switch to Enabled. You'll have to relaunch your browser before the new PDF reader loads.

So, what's new? The PDF reader update aims to bring Chrome's PDF reader up to the same standard as Mozilla Firefox's, adding support for document outlines and new view controls.

Mozilla Firefox

Like Google Chrome, Firefox has an integrated PDF viewer. In fact, Mozilla has bundled a PDF viewer since Firefox 19—we're now using Firefox 83. Who said Mozilla isn't innovative?! Firefox's PDF viewer comes with some handy features, too. For example, if you have a PDF with interactive fields, such as on a form, you can use the built-in PDF viewer to fill them in.

Firefox's PDF.js browser viewer is one of the best options around.

Microsoft Edge

Windows 10's native browser, Microsoft Edge, also includes an inbuilt PDF reader.

The Microsoft Edge PDF reader includes options for drawing and scribbling on your PDF using the Draw menu, as well as options to highlight and color text using the Highlight menu. There's also the option to have your PDF read aloud to you. You can use the Microsoft Edge PDF reader to fill in basic forms, though JavaScript forms are not supported at the time of writing.

What Happened to Microsoft Reader?

Microsoft Reader is no longer maintained and, as such, is not included in your Windows 10 installation. You can still download and use Reader via the Microsoft Store.

macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android

Other operating systems don't require Adobe Acrobat Reader, either. macOS users have Preview, while Linux distributions come bundled with Okular or Evince, depending on the environment. Android has a built-in PDF viewer, as does iOS.

While Adobe Reader is available to all of these operating systems, there isn't really a reason to use it. Not least because there are better free PDF options available for each OS.

The Best Adobe Reader Alternatives

If you're read enough and want to try a new PDF reader, check out the best PDF and eBook readers for Windows. The options on that list represent some of the best Adobe Reader alternatives available, with many options including similar functionality to Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Or, if you prefer something more lightweight, consider these very light alternatives to Adobe Reader. They deliver PDF functionality in a smaller package, taking up fewer system resources than the mainstream alternative.

What's Your Favorite PDF Viewer?

You've read why you don't really need Adobe Reader anymore. Between the internet browsers with inbuilt PDF viewers and the free PDF reader alternatives, you're well covered. As most PDFs are just documents meant for viewing in a specific format—that's what PDFs do, after all—most of the alternative PDF viewers on this list will deliver the same if not better experience.

13 Reasonable Alternatives to Adobe's Expensive Apps

2021-04-25T20:17:00.004-07:00

Jumping into the full suite of Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps is an expensive proposition: a $53/month setback (as of this writing) that might be overkill for your needs unless you’re producing a lot of media across a variety of formats.

You can go piecemeal, of course, but you’ll still be paying quite a bit more than your typical monthly music subscription to edit photos/videos/audio/print pages/etc. And then there are the cancellation fees, which might come as an unanticipated shock if you’re trying to get out of an annual plan early.

Not to hate on Adobe, but if you’re looking for alternatives that cost less, cost nothing, or simply aren’t as bulky to work with as some of Adobe’s apps, I’ve got you covered. While nothing beats Photoshop, for example, there are plenty of cheaptools out there you can use to accomplish much of what the app lets you do. Dare I say it, these “lesser” apps might even be a better fit, as you don’t really need the tank of graphics-editing apps if you’re just doing a little cropping and color-correction from time to time.

I’ll be highlighting a bunch of alternative Adobe apps in this guide, but if you’re impatient, here’s the full list:

Affinity Photo [Adobe Photoshop]
Photopea / SumoPaint [Adobe Photoshop]
GIMP / Glimpse Image Editor [Adobe Photoshop]
Krita [Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop]
Inkscape [Adobe Illustrator]
Scribus [Adobe InDesign]
RawTherapee / Darktable [Adobe Lightroom]
PDF-XChange Editor [Adobe Acrobat]
DaVinci Resolve [Adobe Premiere]
Audacity [Adobe Audition]

David Murphy

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David Murphy is Lifehacker's Senior Technology Editor. He has geeked out writing for The New York Times, Wirecutter, PC Magazine, Reviewed, Computer Shopper, and PCWorld. www.thedavidmurphy.com

7 Free Microsoft Paint Alternatives

2020-03-09T18:20:00.003-07:00

2017

Microsoft officially deprecated Paint in July 2017. Of course, the app hasn’t been updated since Windows 7 anyway, so it’s hardly news.

While it will remain available through the Windows Store, this really spells the end for MS Paint. Microsoft is now squarely focused on the new Paint 3D; there’s only so much time the old version of Paint can remain available until it becomes a liability.

Perhaps it’s time to start looking for free alternatives? Here are seven of the best for you to check out.

1. Paint.NET

Paint.NET started life as a student project back in 2004, but it’s since grown to become one of the best free image editors on the Windows operating system. If you’re only a light user, it’s even a valid alternative to full suites like Photoshop and GIMP.

15 Free Alternatives to Adobe Lightroom, Illustrator, and PhotoshopWould you like to get Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, or Illustrator for free? Here are some of the best Creative Cloud alternatives.Read More

If you’re coming from Microsoft Paint, one of the biggest things you’ll want is familiarity, and Paint.NET has it in abundance. The main screen looks very similar to the Microsoft app.

Dig a little deeper, however, and it’s packed with features that make the app shine.

They include Photoshop-esque layers, a vast number of special effects, unlimited undo/redo, an array of tools for drawing shapes, and most importantly for many users, near-endless plugins.

To give you an idea, the community-supported PDF document which lists all the plugins is 95 pages long! If that sounds too daunting, don’t worry. You can download packs of the most popular plugins that center around certain themes (e.g. extra brushes, colors, effects). Some even have installers.

Download: Paint.NET

2. IrfanView

If Paint.NET is too complicated and you’re looking for something more basic, IrfanView could be the tool for you.

Some of the headline features are almost identical to Microsoft Paint. The app has easy-to-draw shapes, tools for rotating, flipping and resizing images, and one-click buttons for converting images to greyscale and other color palettes.

IrfanView also offers some functionality that’s missing in Paint but which makes using the app easier and more enjoyable. For example, it has image previews, support for more file formats, and even the ability to open animated GIFs.

3 Best Tools to Make Free Animated GIFs on WindowsKeen to start creating your own GIFs? These tools will get you animated in no time.Read More

Lastly, professionals will still be able to rely on the app for tasks thanks to its support for Photoshop filters, batch conversion, and IPTC metadata.

A Quick Guide to Photoshop Filters and What They DoPhotoshop comes with a few dozen filters of its own and these are more than enough for amateurs and hobbyists. Here's a quick guide to what they do.Read More

Download: IrfanView

3. Pinta

If you’ve been paying attention, you will notice Pinta looks instantly familiar. Why? Because it’s based on the previously discussed Paint.NET.

The app is not quite as feature-laden as its inspiration, making it a better alternative for people who want the Microsoft Paint familiarity without all the extra pro-level features they’ll never use.

However, just because it’s not equal to Paint.NET, don’t write it off. Pinta supports layers, provides unlimited history, has 35 effects, and includes easy-to-use drawing tools.

Perhaps most interestingly, it takes a different approach to the workspace in front of you. You can pop out any window to make it float, and even use a combination of docked windows and floating windows to suit your needs.

Download: Pinta

4. Krita

Krita is geared towards digital artists. Specifically, the app is aimed at concept artists, illustrators, matte and texture artists, and people working in the visual effects industry. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s not also a great tool for people who want an alternative to Microsoft Paint.

If you choose to download it, you can enjoy a range of useful features that are absent in Paint. They include a quick color selector (just right-click on a color to pick it), brush stabilizers (perfect if you’re doing basic drawing with a mouse), and vector, filter, group, and file layers.

Krita also offers some of the best shape drawing tools. Thanks to its “Drawing Assistants,” you will be able to create the perfect ellipse, arrow, or fisheye every time.

Download: Krita

5. Photoscape

Photoscape is mainly focused on photo editing. If you use Microsoft Paint to edit and tweak snaps you have taken, it’s the perfect replacement.

Many of the tools it offers are photo-orientated and are absent on Paint. For example, you can easily combine multiple photos into one image or watch your photos in a slideshow. You can also convert images from the RAW format into JPEGs or splice your photos into multiple pieces.

As you would expect, it also has a comprehensive basic editor. You can use it to resize your image, adjust the brightness and color, change the white balance, correct the backlight, add text, draw pictures, add filters, remove red-eye, and more.

Lastly, Photoscape has a cool tool that lets you print lined, graph, music, and calendar paper using your images.

Download: Photoscape

6. Fotor

Fotor made its name as a cloud-based image editor, but these days you can download the software as a standalone Windows app that’ll work offline.

Like Photoscape, editing photos is Fotor’s bread and butter, but it also works well for editing screenshots and other images.

The app can make simple adjustments such as resizing and cropping, includes hundreds of free fonts, and offers a shape drawing tool. It also has some basic touch up tools.

The 8 Best Free Font Websites for Free Fonts OnlineNot everyone can afford a licensed font. These websites will help you find the perfect free font for your next project.Read More

Fotor is entirely free to download and use, but it’s also the only app on this list that offers a paid tier. For $3.33 per month, you get 100 new effects, a vast number of stickers and photo frames, professional-grade touch-up tools, and an ad-free experience.

Download: Fotor

7. Pixlr

If you’re not going to have Paint on your system anymore, why even bother to clutter your hard drive up with more junk?

You could use an online-only editor instead, and Pixlr is one of the best.

The design of Pixlr is more Photoshop-esque than Paint-esque. But, if you spend a bit of time learning how to use the app, you will quickly discover it’s one of the best Paint replacements available.

It has all the basics you’d expect, plus advanced features like smudging, blurring, layers, and a long list of filters and effects.

Of course, you should only consider Pixlr if you have a reliable web connection; it’s useless without one. You will also need to enable Flash for it to run.

Run: Pixlr

Originally posted here: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/microsoft-paint-alternatives/

Top 5 FREE Microsoft Office Alternatives

2020-01-16T19:07:00.001-08:00

How to enable DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) in Google ChromeA step by step guide to enable DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH)

2019-09-08T22:16:00.001-07:00

How to enable DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) in Google Chrome

A step by step guide to enable DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) support in the Firefox browser.

By Catalin Cimpanu for Zero Day | September 8, 2019 -- 22:49 GMT (15:49 PDT) | Topic: Security

You can now enable support for the privacy-focused DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) protocol in Google Chrome using a command-line argument.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-enable-dns-over-https-doh-in-google-chrome/

Alternative browsers

2018-01-03T20:23:00.001-08:00

Sometimes it feels like there’s only room for four choices when it comes to web browsers on Windows: Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Internet Explorer. You’ll find some people running Opera, too, but for the most part it’s all about the big four.

Despite the seemingly small world of web browsers, there’s an entire alternative universe out there. All of them are fighting for your attention with unique features and specializations around new interface concepts, privacy, music, social media, and more.

If you’re looking to shake up your web-surfing experience, consider these 10 great browsers not named Firefox, Chrome, or Internet Explorer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Opera Neon

Ian Paul/IDG

Underpinnings: Blink rendering engine

Focus: Re-imagining the browser

Opera Neon debuted in early 2017 as an experiment in interface design and new browser features. Opera describes it as a proving ground “similar to the way concept cars predict the future of automobiles.” In fact, Opera released a new version of its mainstream browser in May that included some inspiration from Neon.

When you first open up Neon it’s clear this browser is not your typical tabs-at-the-top affair. In fact, you don’t even open new tabs in Neon the way you do in other browsers. To open a website you just start typing the URL or click on one of the “link bubbles.”

Opera Neon, just like the official Opera, uses Chrome’s Blink rendering engine.

Vivaldi

Ian Paul/IDG

Underpinnings: Chromium

Focus: Power users

Vivaldi is a Chromium-based browser that targets hardcore power users. From the moment you install it, the browser helps you customize its look to suit your needs including color choices, tab position, and start page image. It’s a very simple browser at the moment that takes cues from current and former Opera features (Opera’s former CEO is leading the Vivaldi effort).

Vivaldi has a speed-dial feature for quick access to favorite sites, a built-in note-taking app, and a side panel for viewing a secondary webpage. Vivaldi also has some features that any power user will appreciate, such as mouse gestures and keyboard shortcuts, saved tab sessions, tab stacks, user interface scaling, and adaptive interface colors.

There were early dreams of a built-in mail client for Vivaldi, like several browsers of old, including Opera. So far, however, Vivaldi has only managed to provide its own brand of webmail.

As Vivaldi is built on Chromium, it is compatible with extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

Maxthon

Ian Paul/IDG

Underpinnings: Trident and WebKit

Focus: Multi-device browsing and social

The biggest feature for Maxthon is its cloud-based account, called Passport, which syncs browsing data across your devices. That’s a common feature among the major players, but not as common in the world of alternative browsers. Passport also has a feature called Cloud Push that lets you share content with your friends via email or text message.

Maxthon comes with a built-in RSS reader, notepad, password manager, a virtual email mailbox service called UUMail, and AdBlock Plus. There’s also a “reader mode” to read articles more easily without all the distractions of a typical website.

Maxthon isn’t a single-engine browser, instead relying on both Trident (Internet Explorer) and WebKit (Safari). Maxthon uses WebKit by default, but will switch to Trident on the fly for older webpages that are friendlier towards Internet Explorer.

Torch

Ian Paul/IDG

Underpinnings: Chromium

Focus: Media

Torch is a browser for media junkies with features for music and games. There’s a built-in YouTube-based streaming service called Torch Music. Torch Games gives you one-click access to a selection of web-based games. Torch also has some handy drag-and-drop sharing features: Drag web content to the left and you get a sidebar for sharing content on social networks, or drag content to the right to search for it.

Torch is also a media-pirate’s dream, with a built-in tool for downloading audio and video from sites like YouTube and Vimeo, as well as a built-in torrent client for...well, you know.

Epic Privacy Browser

Ian Paul/IDG

Underpinnings: Chromium

Focus: Privacy

If you like Chrome but don’t like forking over all your info to Google and other advertisers, then Epic Privacy Browser may be for you.

The browser doesn’t deviate far from its Chrome-based roots, but it comes with a bunch of privacy-enhancing features like a built-in proxy, always-on private browsing, and built-in blockers for third-party cookies and trackers. It also has a built-in video downloading tool that shows up on video sites such as YouTube.

Epic ditches Google account integration, so don’t use this browser if you want to sync bookmarks and open browser tabs with Google’s servers.

Pale Moon

Ian Paul/IDG

Underpinnings: Goanna (Gecko Fork)

Focus: Legacy Firefox

Do you miss the old Firefox? Not the old, old Firefox, but the interface before the current one, with the menu button in the upper-left corner? If so, Pale Moon is worth looking at.

Pale Moon was “forked” from the core Mozilla project with an initial release in 2009. Forked means they took the Firefox open source code and started iterating it separately from Mozilla.

The result is a browser that will be familiar to longtime Firefox users, though the two browsers are different now, especially under the hood. Pale Moon, for example, continues to support old-school add-ons as well as NPAPI plugins—that last bit is not necessarily a good thing.

Comodo Ice Dragon

Ian Paul/IDG

Underpinnings: Gecko

Focus: Security

From security firm Comodo, IceDragon is another browser promising enhanced security. IceDragon’s security props include webpage scanning for malware, the use of Comodo’s Secure DNS service by default, and active blocking of known phishing and spyware sites.

As this is based on Firefox, IceDragon also comes with the Pocket add-on pre-installed. IceDragon lets you drag content from a webpage to the right to share it on social networks, and to the left to use that content as the basis of a web search.

It has also added a tablet mode that lets you switch to larger interface elements when surfing the web on a Windows touchscreen device.

Ghost Browser

Ian Paul/IDG

Underpinnings: Chromium

Focus: Productivity

Ghost Browser is an interesting idea. It’s built with productivity in mind and let’s you create separate browser sessions inside the same window. That way you can have a set of tabs for your work accounts, and another for your personal ones. Each session has separate “cookie jars” so that you can remain logged in to multiple social media or email accounts at the same time in separate tabs. Each new session tab is automatically assigned a different color.

You can even go one level deeper and organize sites by “projects” that stash your tabs for you. That way you can do a social media project with all your various accounts open in different tabs, and then swap into your party-planning project with tabs open to email, list-making tools, calendars, and so on.

Ghost Browser is built on the freemium model. That is, it’s free to use, but features are limited. If you want a more robust browser you have to pay $10 to $15 a month.

The free version is still pretty good. You’re limited to three projects and three separate tab sessions per project. You can also only open one project at a time. Free users don’t get an incognito mode or separate user profiles either.

As Ghost Browser is built on Chromium it works with the Chrome Web Store.

Midori

Ian Paul/IDG

Underpinnings: WebKit

Focus: Lightweight

Midori is a longstanding choice for underpowered Linux systems, but there’s also a Windows version for anyone who needs a lightweight browser.

Midori is pretty simple, lacking any major features and sporting an almost XP-like interface. On the upside, it’s responsive and very simple to use. There’s also a portable version if you want to run it from a USB stick.

Avant Browser

Ian Paul/IDG

Underpinnings: Gecko, WebKit, Trident

Focus: Browser fanatics

Avant Browser features a “tri-core rendering engine.” Instead of choosing one popular browser engine it uses those of Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.

Avant Browser has several interesting features including a “video sniffer” that helps you download videos from websites such as YouTube. An “always on top” feature makes sure that your tabs never get buried behind other desktop applications like Outlook, Microsoft Word, and Photoshop.

Avant’s interface is decidedly “Windows XP,” but if you can get past that, there all kinds of power-user features to satisfy most browser lovers.

That’s our look at the latest 10 alternative browsers that have caught our attention, but there are others just a quick Google search away.

Alternative browsers

Paint.NET - Free Software for Digital Photo Editing

2016-12-14T17:26:00.001-08:00

For photo editing, free Windows tool Paint.net is an excellent alternative to Photoshop.

Paint.net is a Windows-based alternative to the Paint editor that Microsoft shipped with versions of Windows. Don't let that put you off, though, as it's a surprisingly capable and useful tool, available completely free of charge. The software started out life as a Microsoft-sponsored undergraduate project, and has become an open source project maintained by some of the alumni.

The focus is on ease of use, and there's a definite tendancy towards photo editing rather than artistic creation. That said, there are a range of special effects available, allowing you to easily create fake perspective, blend and push pixels around the canvas, tile and repeat selections, and so on.

A good range of selection tools, support for layers, and adjustments such as curves and brightness/contrast mean that Paint.net is a great alternative to Photoshop for photo editing, especially if you can do without some of the more recent additions to Photoshop's toolset.

Paint.NET - Free Software for Digital Photo Editing

GoPro Studio instead of Windows Movie Maker

2016-10-26T14:42:00.001-07:00

Import and enjoy your GoPro footage and create beautiful videos with just a few clicks.

GoPro, the Q-Tips of action cameras, recognized a problem. People are shooting tons of footage with their cameras, but are then letting it languish away on a dusty old hard drive, unseen and unedited. The California company is hoping to help correct that with new mobile apps and desktop editing software.

We recently got a preview of the new software while at the GoPro Mountain Games in Vail, CO. Here's a rundown of the new goodinesses. UPDATE:Studio 2.0 is now available. We've updated this article (originally published June 12th), with a bit of new info about the final version.

GoPro Studio 2.0

GoPro's video editing suite for desktops has been around for a while, but we suspect it doesn't get a ton of use. It is, essentially, a pared-down editing program, designed to make putting together your personal highlight reel easier. It provides a simple way to import footage, speed it up or slow it down, crop, and make image adjustments (like removing the fisheye lens distortion, or adjusting color or contrast). It's also handy for making a timelapse out of a bunch of stills, and perhaps best of all, it's much easier to work with footage shot at different resolutions/frame rates compared to even pro-level editing suites (no conversions required). The new feature, which actually might tempt people to use Studio 2.0 for action cam videos, is templates.

So, you know how GoPro has these amazing commercials and videos they put out? Some things are slowed down, some are sped up, and all the cuts are timed perfectly to the music. Most of us could never dream of cutting together a video that looks that good, because A) most of us aren't professional video editors, and B) even if we had the skillz, most of us don't have the time. Templates in Studio 2.0 basically takes the framework from one of those pro edits—music and all—and allows us to just drop in our own footage. It's a really good idea.

The process of making a video with a template goes like this:

Go through your clips, one by one. When you see a highlight that you want to include, you set an in point and an out point around it, then hit Convert Clip, and it will be added to a queue. This will convert that highlight into CineForm 444, a proprietary format designed to make video editing smoother (it's similar to Apple's ProRes in FinalCut). You can pull multiple highlights from the same clip, one at a time. Once you've gone through all the footage and pulled out your best bits, you convert the whole queue at once. This process is the same as it's always been. It takes some time to go through your footage—there's still no getting around that.

Here's where the fun starts. Hit Templates, and up pops a list of 4 preloaded templates, or you can choose to download nine other options. They are templates for some of GoPro's more popular videos, like Alana Blanchard surfing, or the Baby cam Superbowl commercial. Each one tells you how long the finished video will be and how many separate cuts go into it (see image above). Choose the one that best matches the amount of footage you have and length you want to end up with. For example if you've just got a few highlights from a bike ride, you can probably just pop them into the 30-second 4-cut template. If it's a whole weekend's adventure, maybe you want to go for the a two-minute 40-cut template.

Once you've picked the template you want, it opens up a timeline that looks like any other video editor, except the timeline is pre-populated with GoPro's clips from the original video. Each of those clips has a bullseye on it, which means you can drag one of your highlights onto that clip, which replaces it. The timing of the cuts and the motion properties (such as slo-mo) from the original sequence are preserved, but now it's your footage instead of theirs. Once it's in there, you can drag the start point around within the clip, so you make sure the best part is included. It's all extremely intuitive.

Once all of GoPro's clips are replaced with yours, you click Export. There are a bunch of built-in templates for export, too, which are made easy for the lay-person to understand. “Best for YouTube,” “Best for Vimeo,” “1080p,” stuff like that. There's “Custom,” too, if you actually know what you're doing. Once it exports, you're ready to upload it to wherever you want.

UPDATE: We got an early hands-on with the final Studio 2.0 software (to be released tomorrow), so I used that as an opportunity to cut together some footage I had from my buddy John's bachelor weekend raft trip. It took about an hour to log the clips, and maybe another hour to cut it together, if that. Given the small amount of time it took, I'm pretty pleased with the results:

There are a few caveats with the templates. You're stuck with the music in the original commercial. It's not that the music is bad, it's just that with thirteen templates at launch, we're going to start seeing a lot of action cam videos set to the same music. You also have GoPro branding at the start and end of the video (not replaceable), which makes your masterpiece feel a bit like a GoPro commercial. Naturally, GoPro likes it like this. The more people they have making commercials for them (for free) the better. Sure, you could take the export, put it into some other editing software and cut that out, but most people probably won't bother. UPDATE: The GoPro branding can now be replaced.

Of course, if you have video editing skills and don't mind investing the time, keep doing it yourself. The templates are really aimed at beginners and people who might shoot some awesome stuff, but then don't know how to cut it into something compelling. The idea is to enable more people to upload and share polished-looking videos, and if it works, then that's a cool thing. Personally, I have a hard drive full of action camera footage, but I've never felt like devoting the time or energy to making something really good out of it. But hell, I'd take an hour or two to make something if it's that easy. It's certainly better than it just sitting there doing nothing.

It should be noted that it's definitely not a perfect solution. It's gotten a lot better since our original hands-on, but there's still some pretty unintuitive behavior. For example, you can't drag a clip from one place on the timeline to another. Or if your clip isn't long enough to fit in a section, rather than slow it down and thus stretching it to fit (which is perhaps what you intended) it will simply block you from dropping it. So you have to go back to step one, re-convert a longer version of the clip, drag it back in, and thenslow it down. The title editor isn't particularly user-friendly, either.

These are mostly small gripes, though, and all of them could be improved with quick updates in the future. In the meantime, make sure you check these tips from professions for getting the best action camera footage.

GoPro - Quik | Desktop

'via Blog this'

And now we have G Suite

2016-09-29T14:45:00.001-07:00

Dopamine for Windows expertly handles your local music library

2016-07-04T19:59:00.001-07:00

It’s crazy to think that I’ve been using Winamp as my go-to desktop music player for nearly two decades now. The app has always been the best looking tool for the job, and made light work of managing my collection as it grew from a handful of MP3 snippets to a 350GB library of locally stored tunes.

I stuck with Winamp even after I upgraded to Windows 10, but it doesn’t play nice with my 4K display. That’s why I’ve been looking for a worthy replacement, and Dopamine seems to check all the boxes on my list.

The free music player has a beautiful interface that blends in nicely with Windows and lets you customize its accent color and overall theme with light and dark options. It also works great in a small window size that highlights only the cover art, and displays notifications with playback controls every time a new song starts up.

Dopamine for Windows expertly handles your local music library

'via Blog this'

The 4 Best Alternatives to uTorrent on Windows

2016-06-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

Remember when uTorrent was great? The upstart BitTorrent client was super-lightweight and trounced other popular BitTorrent clients. But that was long ago, before BitTorrent, Inc. bought uTorrent and crammed it full of junkware and scammy advertisements.

Screw that. Whether you need to download a Linux ISO or do whatever else you do with BitTorrent, you don’t have to put up with what uTorrent’s become. Use another BitTorrent client instead.

Note: this article was originally written a while ago, but due to uTorrent bundling some really shady stuff with their upgrades, we’ve republished this article.

The 4 Best Alternatives to uTorrent on Windows:

'via Blog this'

Dedicated Servers in the cloud with eSecureData

2015-03-06T01:32:00.002-08:00

We have tried all sorts of server solutions in our office, with it always seeming to end up with server and hard drive failures resulting in huge amount of recovery and IT work.

We have tried to run a server locally now for 6 years, most recently with Windows Server 2012, and had nothing but issues and problems truth be told.

Our local office just is not setup to have a serious server running in a back office, not to mention the costs in hardware and power over the years.

In our efforts we discovered that servers fail because of a number of reasons which can be split into software and hardware issues. On the software side we found that the operating system froze up almost on a daily basis and the server needed to be restarted. This was our number one issue that we had to deal with on an almost daily basis.

We were now getting more and more into web development with the Army of Flying Monkeys and expanding to more staff needing access to server resources. We kind of stumbled upon eSecureData and saw that they where unique (which in this market there is a serious number of copycats) compared to their competition. Their simple goal is to offer fast high quality service at cheaper prices than any of their competition. I thought what the heck, this is a no brainer.

So, in late 2014 we decided to can the local server and get our server into the cloud and I have not regretted doing this yet, which is a record for us as we're quite demanding.

So last year we went looking for a solution provider to give us all the normal bells and whistles but with a little bit more than others.

What we were looking for

We were looking for dedicated servers from a long time provider, with some history in the business. We were however looking for a new good data centre for a modern and up to date infrastructure, however alsi wanted it to have been running for 6-9 months to prove themselves out.

The Data Centre we were looking for

One of the most common problems out here in the Pacific, where connectivity is always a little selective, are data connection problems. This can really only be solved by organising multiple providers into your data centre and good redundant switching hardware inside of the data centre.

We had already decided that a data centre failure was much less likely than our own server freezing, but more likely than hardware failures.

We considered all the pros and cons and our biggest hardware problem locally was electrical problems. Electrical problems are the most clearly addressed by any tier 3 or 4 data centre. generators, UPS's and automatic switches are all standard requirements and any good data centre will have them.

Hardware failure

We have been plagued with hardware failure in our local server. Even with the best equipment, HDD's fail (yes event the new and fancy SSD ones too), power supplies and event the UPS's supporting them also fail etc.

What we hoped for in the dedicated server from eSecureData was a good response time to these issues if and when they happened and honest answers on timelines. So far we have been very happy!

Assistance and Online Support

None of our team had any experience specifically in running a remote server, and so good support and help sections was a requirement for us. However we didn;t want over restrictive systems or too much hand holding.

They have unique help section where they put the answer right at the top of the section so you can get it immediately, and if you want to (or indeed have the time!) read the background info below later on.
The help section has literally hundreds of questions in it, so all you need to do is use the search for things like “How to set an Email Alert from a php Script on CentOS” and you get a couple of answers to get you fixed fast.

Their quick reference was a serious advantage so we could get up and running without having to search through hundreds of pages to find the right answer

eSecureData's support team

eSecureData's support team are brilliant and actually really friendly. Their fast replies to our email enquiries is one of the things that will keep us with them long term for sure. We always seem to get an email answer back within 20-30 minutes if you can believe that. If you have been with any other Data Centre you know you could be waiting up to 24 hours sometimes before you get a reply.

We would have no problem in recommending eSecureData.com for hosting your website for sure.
Over all we are more than happy with eSecureData and would recommend them for anyone looking for a dedicated server or website hosting solution.

They have provided us with 100% uptime so far and with the brilliant support we are not planning on moving anywhere!

About ESecure Data
Deciding on a dedicated server hosting company can be a complex matter. eSecureData.com outweighs the competition on several levels. eSecureData offers:

Sensible Pricing - eSecureData.com offers pricing so far below industry standards that that we outshine the competition hands down.

Serious Bandwidth - With unmetered bandwidth, eSecureData.com is here for people who actually plan on having success.

Real-World Hard Disks - At eSecureData.com, we don't fool around with tiny hard drives. All eSecureData servers come with real-world drives, ranging from 500GB at the bottom end on up to 12,000GB at the high end.

No-Excuses Data Centrer - We have diesel generators, halon fire protection, multiple backbone-class Internet feeds, 24/7/365 security, 24/7/365 technical staff, AAA downtown locations, biometric and swipe-card access.

Real Intel Quad Core Xeon CPUs. No Celerons - Celerons are fine for low-demand desktop computers, but servers are constantly processing multiple tasks at the same time and Celerons simply cannot keep up.

First peek at the next Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid Vervet

2015-03-02T12:49:00.001-08:00

Ubuntu 15.04 is here – almost. The first beta of Vivid Vervet has been delivered, and with it have come images of the penguin flock that nestles on this OS.

I looked at Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu GNOME and Ubuntu MATE but there’s also Lubuntu and the China-centric Ubuntu Kylin, which I didn’t test.

These are beta releases and should be considered for testing purposes only, but the advantage of these early versions is that features have been frozen and you can get an early glimpse of what's coming for each of the popular flavours in the 15.04 foundation. From this point on, the only changes will be bug fixes.

The biggest news is that Ubuntu MATE has finally gained an "official" blessing from Canonical. That doesn't mean much right now – other than the fact that you can now download it from a Canonical URL – but it is obviously good news for the future of Ubuntu MATE.

Among other things, this will mean there's a now an easy-to-grab daily image if you want to help test and stay abreast of what's new.

If you're dying to try MATE with Ubuntu behind it you can grab the beta, but I'd strongly suggest waiting. The Ubuntu MATE 15.04 beta is very rough and lacks quite a few things you'll find working just fine in, for example, the Mint-based version. That said, some of the more noticeable changes in the last couple of MATE releases – notably improvements to the file managers, like folder colours and customisable sidebars – are present in this release.

Ubuntu MATE: acceptance at last

The key to getting a reasonable experience out of the Ubuntu MATE beta is to install an extra PPA, which fixes some of the problems that occur because MATE 1.8x is not fully compatible with the version of glibc that's in 15.04. Check out the Ubuntu MATE release announcement for details on how to fix that issue.

Despite the current state of the beta, if you have fond memories of Ubuntu 9.10 or so, back when GNOME 2.x was the default desktop, Ubuntu MATE is probably your best bet for recreating the experience (and of course improving on it, since MATE has quite a few nice tricks up its sleeve that were not part of GNOME 2.x).

If the torrent I downloaded is any indication – it had almost triple the number of seeders compared to the rest of the flavors – Ubuntu MATE is going to be a very popular release. That said, I'd wait for the second beta at least before jumping in with both feet.

MATE may be the attention-grabbing newcomer, but perhaps the biggest changes await users of Kubuntu with KDE.

Kubuntu 15.04 will be the first Kubuntu release to default to the impressive new Plasma 5 interface. Plasma 5 is perhaps most notable for its visual changes, which see KDE embracing a more streamlined, "flat" interface, but it's also the first version of KDE to be powered by Qt 5 and the recently released KDE Frameworks 5.

Kubuntu 15.04 defaults to Plasma 5

Kubuntu comes with KDE Applications 14.12. A number of the applications have been ported to KDE Frameworks 5, but fortunately even those that haven't should "fit in seamlessly", according to theKubuntu announcement. I did not encounter any serious problems in my testing, but it is a beta, of course.

One of the more lightweight Ubuntu flavours, Xubuntu 15.04 is shaping up to be a relatively minor release, or at least the portions pertaining to the Xfce desktop are.

A host of small changes in Xubuntu

There's a new LightDM settings tool to control your login screen, some new wallpaper, a series of updates to various Xfce tools like window previews in xfwm4, an "intelligent" hiding mode for panels and much improved support for multiple monitors. The Thunar file manager also gets some improved keyboard navigation in this release. For more details on all the smaller changes, check out theXubuntu release announcement.

First peek at the next Ubuntu 15.04 nester line-up • The Register:

'via Blog this'

Why Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn Update

2014-12-30T18:55:00.001-08:00

Ubuntu 14.10—or “Utopic Unicorn”—is now out. It’s a standard release of Ubuntu, not a long term support release like 14.04 “Trusty Tahir,” and at first glance Utopic isn’t the most exciting update. It doesn’t even have new wallpaper! But peer a little closer and you’ll see some huge changes being worked on for Ubuntu. In fact, the alterations are such a massive undertaking that they’re not yet stable enough to be part of the main Ubuntu desktop image.

Massive changes are coming for Ubuntu. Utopic Unicorn is the calm before the storm—and it signifies just how mature the Linux ecosystem has become in recent years...

Why Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn's humble changes are the calm before the storm | PCWorld:

The Best System Tweaker for Windows

2013-04-05T23:57:00.001-07:00

Windows users have a ton of system tweakers to choose from, but we love the Ultimate Windows Tweaker the most. It has a ton of different tweaks you can perform, it's portable

The Best System Tweaker for Windows

Android, my choice of mobile OS

2013-03-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

Don't suppose this will come as a surprise to anyone here, I am an Android, open sourse, believer.

So here is my little list of apps on all my devices:

Google Based Apps

As I am a Google fone user, and an original Nexus 7 user, I am pretty embedded into Google Apps by defualt.

Chrome
GMail
Google Drive
Google Calendar
Youtube
Currents
Google Sky (who doesn't play with this and smile?)
Google maps and navigation

Safety and Disaster Alerts

I live in the tropics and quite like knowing what weather and natural disaster maybe on the horizon...

Pacific Ocean Tsunami Warning app
Disaster Alert

News

Simple new apps for me, nothing too much

BBC News
News republic: like how news is presented

Utilities

Evernote: synching all my notes across all devices (hacks be damned!)

Social

Facebook
Foursquare
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Instagram
Tweetdeck for Android (while it lasts!)

Convert a DVD Movie Directly to AVI with FairUse Wizard

2012-09-29T19:28:00.001-07:00

Are you looking for a way to backup your DVD movie collection to AVI? Today we’ll show you how to rip a DVD movie directly to AVI with FairUse Wizard.

About FairUse Wizard

FairUse Wizard 2.9 uses the DivX, Xvid, or h.264 codec to convert DVD to an AVI file. It comes in both a free version and commercial version. The free, or “Light” version, can create files up 700MB while the commercial version can output a 1400MB file. This will allow you to back up your movies to CD, or even multiple movies on a single DVD.

FairUse Wizard states that it does not work on copy protected discs, but we’ve seen it work on all but some of the most recent copy protection. For this tutorial we’re using the free Light Edition to convert a DVD to AVI. They also offer a commercial version that you can get for $29.99 and it offers even more encoding possibilities for converting video to you portable digital devices.

Convert a DVD Movie Directly to AVI with FairUse Wizard 2.9 - How-To Geek:

'via Blog this'

Delete Duplicate MP3s in Windows

2012-07-10T00:16:00.003-07:00

Anti-Twin (Freeware) - Find and delete duplicate files or similar images

2012-07-10T00:16:00.001-07:00

Anti-Twin (Freeware) - Find and delete duplicate files or similar images

Search for identical or similar file names
Pixel-based image comparison, e.g. search for similar pictures

Free for private use

Anti-Twin is a small software application which compares files, i.e. it searches for duplicate or similar files on your hard disk drive. All similar or identical files that were found can either be sent to the recycle bin or directly deleted. This will increase the hard disk space on your computer.

Select the option “Compare file content” to compare the entire binary content of the files. This means that the file names are irrelevant. Here, the basic principle is: “Name is but sound and smoke - size matters! And never lose sight of the inner values.”

Anti-Twin is an excellent application to e.g. find and delete duplicate MP3 files in a download folder or to find similar images. Apart from that, Anti-Twin helps you clean up employees' chaotic file repositories in company networks, e.g. by searching for unnecessary file copies and redundant data back-ups.

Anti-Twin is freeware and can be downloaded from the Download page (see menu top right). Please also read the instructions and note the warnings.

Scheduled sending and email reminders: Boomerang for Gmail

2012-03-27T15:12:00.001-07:00

I use Boomerang every single day. I remember signing up for Boomerang when it was first launched in 2010, but I hadn’t really put it to use until the new year, when I needed it to facilitate a personal New Year’s resolution to be better at following up with clients and coworkers.

Boomerang schedules emails to be sent later, and you can also set emails to be sent on a recurring calendar. Personally, I love the setting that sends an email back to you if you haven’t received a response within a specified period of time.

Now thanks to Boomerang, if I haven’t heard back from a client or coworker within the expected amount of time, the email returns to my inbox so that I can follow up and remind that person of the task at hand.

Scheduled sending and email reminders

The Freelancer’s Toolset: 100 Web Apps for Everything You Will Possibly Need : Codswallop

2011-12-28T15:23:00.000-08:00

Running a business for yourself means you have to be inventive and always on the lookout for a new and better way to get things done.

Innovation junkies, take note: the Internet has a lot to offer. From invoicing to marketing, these are tools that freelancers need to know about.

The Freelancer’s Toolset: 100 Web Apps for Everything You Will Possibly Need : Codswallop

Linux Compose Key | Derek Sivers

2011-12-26T00:19:00.000-08:00

I often need to type characters that aren’t on the keyboard, like ½ ÷ © ¥ or ¢.

On Mac, they’re done with the [option] key, but not always intuitive. For example: © is [option]-G and £ is [option]-3. I never did memorize all of these combinations, but there’s a nice cheat sheet of Mac accent codes, here.

On Windows, it’s horrible. You need a separate numeric keypad on your keyboard, then you use the [Alt] key plus a 4-digit unicode number to create the character. For example: © is [Alt]-0169 and £ is [Alt]-0163. See Windows alt codes, here.

On Linux, though, they have the most brilliant intuitive way of doing this:

You pick a key on your keyboard you don’t use much, like [Insert], [CapsLock], or [menu], and make it the “compose key”.

Then to make any character, you just hit the compose key, then type the two obvious keys that, when combined, make up the character.

For example:

* To get ©, just type c then o (Get it? It’s like drawing. The letter c, then a circle.)

* To get £, just type L then - (like L with a line through it.)

* To get ¥, just type Y then =

* ¢ is c then |

* ÷ is - then :

* ½ is 1 then 2

* ñ is n then ~

It’s like drawing with your keyboard!

Linux Compose Key | Derek Sivers

Feature: Improve Windows XP and boost performance - Personal Computer World

2011-12-25T16:03:00.000-08:00

Windows XP is designed to be compatible with the broadest possible amount of hardware and software. As a result, more operating system services than necessary are started or modules you don’t need are loaded.
This can lead to problems; in extreme cases, installation can take hours, lots of unwanted and sometimes useless programs and services are installed and the user interface is optimised simply to look pretty. All this can be to the detriment of system performance and reliability.

If you’ve installed Windows XP a couple of times, you’ll be familiar with the amount of time you need to spend customising it to your requirements – installing up-to-date drivers and getting rid of unnecessary ballast, with the aim of creating a fast, slim and secure operating system from the resource-gobbling monster that is the default Windows XP.

Nlite to the rescueOne easy way to get to the root of the problem is to use the freeware program Nlite to create a made-to-measure Windows XP installation CD. The biggest benefit of this is the almost endless configuration options this procedure offers.

Whether you are talking about integrating service packs, hotfixes and drivers, removing unwanted components or adding Registry tweaks, you can use this remarkable little program to create your own personalised XP installation CD.

The software, which is just 1.37MB in size, is available on the Nlite website. We used version 1 Beta 6 and, despite its beta status, it gave us no problems.

The program has since moved to Release Candidate 5 status. The program is only free for non-commercial personal use.

The big benefit of this free software is its modular construction: you don’t have to perform all the XP modifications shown in this feature in the sequence shown.

You can use the program’s main menu to decide exactly which XP components you want to include on your personalised installation CD and which to leave out.

This makes it possible, for example, to make updated Windows XP CDs that include hotfixes, altered system settings, or with unwanted XP components left out.

You do need about three hours and a bit of patience to use this utility effectively. Whatever you do, make sure after creating your Mini XP CD you take time to test it.

To test your customised CD, use an empty partition or separate hard disk to reduce the risk of losing your data. Alternatively, it’s an ideal use for software like Microsoft Virtual PC or Vmware Workstation.
You can use virtual PCs created with these utilities to carry out a risk-free installation of the Nlite-modified XP version. You don’t even have to burn a CD or DVD, as both Virtual PC and VMware can use ISO image files directly to install the OS.

Whichever route you take, you’ll need a valid Windows XP licence key, and the installation will still be subject to the Microsoft licensing and product activation requirements.

Feature: Improve Windows XP and boost performance - Personal Computer World

PDF to Word Converter — 100% Free!

2011-12-24T15:52:00.000-08:00

The Most Accurate PDF-to-Word Converter

Using our PDF-to-Word conversion technology, you can quickly and easily create editable DOC/RTF files, making it a cinch to re-use PDF content in applications like Microsoft Word, Excel, OpenOffice, and WordPerfect.
Best of all, it's entirely free!

PDF to Word Converter — 100% Free!

Clonezilla

2011-12-22T16:10:00.000-08:00

You're probably familiar with the popular proprietary commercial package Norton Ghost®, and its OpenSource counterpart, Partition Image. The problem with these software packages is that it takes a lot of time to massively clone systems to many computers. You've probably also heard of Symantec's solution to this problem, Symantec Ghost Corporate Edition® with multicasting. Well, now there is an OpenSource clone system (OCS) solution called Clonezilla with unicasting and multicasting!

Clonezilla, based on DRBL, partclone, Partition Image, ntfsclone and udpcast, allows you to do bare metal backup and recovery. Two types of Clonezilla are available, Clonezilla live and Clonezilla SE (server edition). Clonezilla live is suitable for single machine backup and restore. While Clonezilla SE is for massive deployment, it can clone many (40 plus!) computers simultaneously. Clonezilla saves and restores only used blocks in the harddisk. This increases the clone efficiency. At the NCHC's Classroom C, Clonezilla SE was used to clone 41 computers simultaneously. It took only about 10 minutes to clone a 5.6 GBytes system image to all 41 computers via multicasting!

Clonezilla