<%@ Page CodeBehind="2006_02_19.aspx.vb" Language="vb" AutoEventWireup="false" Inherits="rugless._2006_02_19" %> CFCS--February 19 2006

An Office Visit

February 19, 2006


I had a chance to invite the members of the Central Florida Computer Society "into my office" for a visit on Sunday, February 19, 2006. I suggested that they imagine they'd dropped by while I was working, and had to have their curiosity satisfied regarding some of the software I use.

We spent a great time together (except that I didn't offer any refreshments) and they were full of questions.

We talked about more than a dozen pieces of software that I felt would be useful to them. Here's the list, divided into five categories. Click on the software name to visit the author's web site. The photos (thanx to Hewie Poplock) tell their own story.

(By the way, several members invited me and my wife along as they headed to a nearby "feed center" after the presentation. M-m-m-m! We chowed down, buddy!)
 

System Tools   
I enjoyed sharing some great products with CFCS members.
 
AutoIt AutoIt is a freeware BASIC-like scripting language designed for automating repetitive tasks. It can simulate keystrokes and mouse movements, as well as manipulate windows and controls. AutoIt is very small, and will run on 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, 2003 with no runtimes required. You can even make compiled executable scripts that can run without AutoIt being installed.
Belarc Advisor Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, and CIS (Center for Internet Security) benchmarks. Displays the results in your Web browser. All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any web server.
MultiRes MultiRes lets you change your monitor's resolution with the click of a button. It resembles Microsoft's QuickRes applet, with administrative scripting facilities and extended capabilities to handle ClearType, refresh rates and multiple monitors. Supported resolution and refresh rates are accessible from the command line or from a simple menu that pops up from the system tray.
 

Photos   
We visited a variety of web sites, including this one, owned by a guy I know,
featuring a variety of really cool stuff.
 
Picasa Picasa is a freeware photo manager from Google. It helps you instantly find, edit and share all the pictures on your PC. Automatically locates all your pictures (even ones you forgot you had) and sorts them into visual albums organized by date with folder names you will recognize. You can drag and drop to arrange your albums and create new groups made up of pictures from multiple albums. Picasa also offers one-click photo fixes and powerful effects. You can email and print your photos, make gift CDs, instantly share via Hello™ (an instant messenger for photos), and even post pictures on your own blog.
Exifer Exifer is postcardware (send the author a postcard) with which you can manage the metadata (EXIF/IPTC) of pictures taken by digital cameras. Many image processing programs (Photoshop and others) destroy this metadata when saving files. Exifer lets you create a backup of the metadata before editing the image. When you're done, you can restore it back into the processed file. You can also edit the metadata directly.
 

File   
Management   
Fingers danced across the keyboard as I shared the good stuff.
Actually, I just craned my neck and typed as fast as I could.
 
Total Commander Total Commander is a terrific file manager that offers: Two file windows side by side / Powerful file search functions / File compare capability / Directory synchronization / Quick View panel with bitmap display / ZIP, ARJ, LZH, RAR, UC2, TAR, GZ, CAB, ACE archive handling + plugins / Built-in FTP client with FXP (server to server) and HTTP proxy support / Parallel port link / Multi-rename tool / Tabbed interface / Regular expressions / History and favorites buttons / Thumbnails view / Custom columns and MUCH more.
File Box Extender File Box Extender lets you navigate easily through Windows folders by adding buttons for favorite and recently visited folders and documents to your file open and file save dialog boxes. Lets you display such dialogs at any size you prefer. Adds a push-pin button to regular windows to let you keep them on top, and a roll-up button to hide window contents except for title bar.
Hide Files Hide Files allows you to hide files or folders simply in one mouse click. It ensures that only authorized people can access sensitive information on your computer. Others will not know where your personal files are, or even that they exist. Includes a "stealth" mode in which the existence of Hide Files itself is hidden. CAUTION: Be sure to assign a hotkey to Hide Files before going into Stealth mode, since you won't be able to start it otherwise.
 

Video   
After the presentation, several CFCS members headed to a nearby "feed center."
 
WinAVI Video Converter WinAVI Video Converter converts video formats quickly and with high quality. It supports most video formats, including: AVI, MPEG1/2/4, VCD/SVCD/DVD, DivX, XVid, ASF, WMV, RM, QuickTime MOV, and Flash SWF. It also lets you burn CDs and DVDs.
AsfTools 3.1 ASFTools is a free windows 98/ME/2000/XP program to process ASF, WMV and WMA files. Features include the ability to join & split, converting ASF/WMV format to AVI, extract audio stream and save it as WAV, and perform many kinds of repair. Most operations are done without re-compressing so the quality will not degrade.
 

Miscellaneous   

They invited us, so Erlinda and I went along, too.
We had a ball with CFCS president James Thompson and several others.
 
ClipMate ClipMate saves time and makes you more productive by adding many clipboard functions that the Windows clipboard leaves out, starting with the ability to hold thousands of "clips", instead of just one. ClipMate has functions to edit, re-format, and manage your clipboard data. It can also print, and even spell-check. ClipMate 7 adds powerful drag/drop, integration with the windows taskbar, and makes pasting your data even easier than before.
MOBILedit! MobilEdit lets you control your mobile phone from your PC via Bluetooth, infrared or cable. You can easily copy photos from your phone or upload your favorite ringtones, logos, and MP3s. You can even transfer documents. You can copy phone numbers from one phone to another.
ExportDb ExportDb allows you to script a database for archiving, distribution and installation. Unlike SQL Server, this program lets you script table data as insert statements, making the process of scripting an entire database "in one shot" much easier. NOTE: Look for the words "Download the Visual Studio.NET 2003 solution accompanying this article" to get the zip file.
HiDownload HiDownload is a multi-threaded download manager that allows you to download individual files (or lists of files) from web and FTP sites while maximizing the potential of your Internet connection. It also supports multimedia streaming and RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) with optional resume, enabling you to download movies and music and to capture streaming video and audio from the Internet. It provides scheduling, drop basket, download history, clipboard monitoring, zip preview and more.
Virtual PC Virtual PC is a software virtualization solution that lets you run multiple PC-based operating systems simultaneously on one computer. In essence, you can create as many configurations of your computer as you want. For instance, you might create a Virtual PC image in which you test all new software before installing it on your main machine, thereby providing a safety net if the software is ill-behaved. If you're an instructor or a professional who needs to do demonstrations, you can configure an image for a particular course, or a client demonstration.