Limited offer: Techsmith SnagIt 7.2.5 available for free (again!)

Remember way back in '07 when Techsmith was giving away its 7.2.5 version of SnagIt for free?

Well, it seems that TechSmith is once again offering the 7.2.5 version at no charge, thanks to 'Covermount' (not sure what that is, exactly). Even though 9.1 is the most current release, this version is perfectly capable. Download it and try it out - you won't be disappointed. Get your free serial number here.

Also, if you upgrade to 9.1 immediately, you can get the it for 50% off the usual purchase price (standard price is $49.95).

Interestingly enough - the page says that 8 is the latest release, but the confirmation email states that indeed, 9.1 is the most current version.

Download SnagIt 7.2.5 here

Create easy polls to determine best time & locations for get-togethers [Web]: Doodle

Doodle

http://www.doodle.com

One of the frustrating things about setting up meetings with others is the fact that not everyone is on the same calendaring system you are. This being the case, you can’t quickly determine if a person is free during a time you want to schedule your meeting. Sure, you could create a shared Google calendar, but if your meeting attendees aren’t Google users (gasp!) then you need to find something that caters to the lowest common denominator.

I came across Doodle about a month back, and it is elegant in its simplicity. Basically, if you want to schedule a meeting, but don’t know when is the best time for your attendees, you can pick a number of dates/times and have your buddies pick which date would work best for them. No membership is required to use Doodle (either for the administrator/creator or the recipient).

You create the parameters for the poll/meeting schedule, then pick some options (limit one choice per user, for example), allow comments, etc. – and bam! You’re done. Send out the link to the poll provided to you by Doodle, and the site will do the rest.

When a recipient comments on or answers a poll, you will get a notification – very easy! Doodle also provides a quick summary of all poll results.

I can’t tell you how much schedule-wrangling I saved myself by using Doodle. Again, the idea is ridiculously simple, but Doodle executes perfectly. This is one service you need to check out.

Free phone conferencing with up to 150 callers: FreeConference.com

Small/medium businesses rejoice – there is a service that can provide you with the means to create large conference calls with very little cost to you (the cost of a long distance phone call).

About a month back, I had to schedule a teleconference for our Microsoft Licensing meeting. Just getting these folks scheduled was the hard part, but then I had to figure out how I was going to get three of our resources in on the same conference call (our phone system only allowed two other join-in callers to our existing conference).

So, after a bit of searching, I found FreeConference.com.

FreeConference.com offers a variety of services (some paid, which include 800 numbers - - good for those who do not want to charge their clients with a long distance phone call), but the one that grabbed my attention was the free ‘Web-Scheduled Standard’ offering:

Maximum size:
150 Callers

Maximum time:
4 hours

Dial-in Number:
Long distance number assigned during the online scheduling process

Access Codes:
Participant Access Code assigned by us or created by you

Organizer Access Code assigned by us, changeable on the 'SETTINGS' page

Begins:
When first caller enters the conference ‡

Ends:
When last caller exits the conference ‡

Service Features

• Schedule & manage conferences via Web
• Advanced security features
• Real-time conference management controls
• Automated conference e-mail invitations
• Receive RSVPs with reply comments
• Outlook and Lotus calendaring
• Crystal clear all-digital connections
• Secure and private
• 24-hour automated access to Web-Scheduled conference system

We had our phone conference, audio quality was clear as a bell and we actually went over our scheduled time by about 10 minutes…but was not disconnected.

FreeConference.com offers the following services:

Toll-free calls using the Web-Scheduled Premium 800 + web conferencing for 10¢/minute, with free recording - Pay only 10¢ a minute for toll free conference calls.

Reservationless Premium 800 – Same as above, but with privileges to create impromptu 800 conference calls.

Web-Scheduled Standard + FC Select (Free) – Schedule and manage conference calls at any time for free.

Reservationless Standard (Free) – Make conference calls anytime for free without scheduling.

Also, there is an Outlook Add-in which can allow you to use Outlook’s scheduling capabilities to interface with FreeConference’s service. However, I could not get this to work (Outlook 2007 problem?) - - update...I had to re-enable the plugin under 'Help' > 'Disabled items'. Once re-enabled, it now works.

Outlook Conference Manager Benefits:

Embeds conference information into your Outlook meeting invitation for automatic forwarding once meeting is scheduled

Meeting subject and dial-in number populated into email header for easy access

Integrated with your existing Outlook contact database

Allows you to check availability of participants while scheduling (if enabled within Outlook)

Allows full recurring meeting scheduling and unlimited future scheduling

Automatically adds scheduled meeting and information into all participant’s Outlook calendar for easy access from desktop or synced smart phone

While I’m not sure what the revenue model is for FreeConference, I hope they stick around.

For more details, check out the quick reference guide.

Freeware Archiving Programs

There is quite an assortment of archiving utilities to help you archive a number of pictures, documents, etc. into a single file, suitable for emailing or storing long term on a backup drive.

This relates somewhat to an article about replacing paid applications with freeware alternatives I wrote a long time back:

On a related and timely note, I have been tasked with uninstalling un-licensed WinZIP from our corporate workstations and replacing it with IZArc.

Like my company, many organizations have installed WinZIP on their corporate images because up until version 10, WinZIP never stopped working after the initial 45-day trial period was up. Granted, an annoying nag-screen would appear, but otherwise, you could easily use WinZIP FAR beyond the eval period with full functionality, even though you were blatantly opposing the license agreement. Many still to this day are using it, believing it is freeware (it never was).

Here’s a quick summary of some of the most popular archiving tools out there (note that this does not include utilities that are programs that include archiving as a secondary function like Total Commander).

I myself prefer IZArc…what’s your favorite?

IZArc

Version: 3.81 (4.0 now in beta)

Opens: (47 file types) 7-ZIP, A, ACE, ARC, ARJ, B64, BH, BIN, BZ2, BZA, C2D, CAB, CDI, CPIO, DEB, ENC, GCA, GZ, GZA, HA, IMG, ISO, JAR, LHA, LIB, LZH, MDF, MBF, MIM, NRG, PAK, PDI, PK3, RAR, RPM, TAR, TAZ, TBZ, TGZ, TZ, UUE, WAR, XXE, YZ1, Z, ZIP, ZOO

Archives to: (11 file types) .7z, .bh, .bza, .tar.bz2, .cab, .jar, .lha, .tar, .tar.gz, .zip, .yz1

Supports encryption? Yes (AES 128, 192, 256, ZIP 2.0)

Command-Line version: Yes

Portable? Yes

Other notes: Skinnable interface, free for corporate use.

JZip

Opens: (15 file types) .zip, .tgz, .rar, .tar, .7z, .bz2, .iso, .cab, .arj, .tpz, .gz, .z, .gzip, .taz, .tbz

Archives to: (5 file types) .zip, .7z, .gZip, .bZip2, .tar

Portable? No

Other Notes: free for corporate use (without add-ons), MSI version coming soon.

PeaZIP

Opens: (32 file types – 85+ if using plugins) ACE, ARJ, CAB, CHM, COMPOUND (MSI, DOC, XLS, PPT), CPIO, ISO, Java (JAR, EAR, WAR), Linux (DEB, PET/PUP, RPM, SLP), LHA/LZH, LZMA, Mac (DMG/HFS), NSIS, Open Office files, PAK/PK3/PK4, RAR, SMZIP, U3P, UDF, WIM, XAR, XPI, Z/TZ

Archives to: (10 file types) 7Z, ARC, BZ2, GZ, PAQ/LPAQ, PEA, QUAD/BALZ, TAR, UPX, ZIP

Portable? No

Other Notes: Free for corporate use, interface uses drop downs a bit more than the other offerings. Not as ‘WinZIP’-like in this regard.

7Zip

Opens: (18 file formats) ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, DEB, DMG, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MSI, NSIS, RAR, RPM, UDF, WIM, XAR and Z

Archives to: (5 file types) 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR

Supports encryption? Yes (AES 256)

Command-Line version: Yes

Portable? Yes

The Home Computer Freeware List: Updated 05/08/09

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!

Defragmenting your hard disk - JKDefrag (for more of you techie folks), Defraggler - Windows defragment is OK, but JKDefrag is quicker, and does a lot more optimization (move large files to the end of the volume, for example). Defraggler is a bit more user-friendly when it comes to appearance. Both are quality products.

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 - Avast 4.8 Home, AVG 8.0, - You should NEVER surf without some form of AV installed. Avast! is nice because it can scan your system for viruses while the screen saver is active, and protects your PC against multiple vectors. Honorable mentions: Avira AntiVir. Want free AV for a Windows server? Use ClamWin (no real-time scanner, so you will have to run scheduled scans, but it works VERY well).

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

removed from the list: SpywareTerminator

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. CrossLoop now supports Mac!

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 (local install). 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, supports the widest amount of archive formats, great features, just great all around!

Keep track of startup programs - Sysinternals AutoRuns - Excellent tool to discover what the heck is running at startup - definitely for advanced users. 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. Want something simpler? Use Paint.net.

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. A digital camera's best friend.

Image Thumbnail Viewer - The classic, Irfanview, 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 - Any Video Converter Free. Convert a video file to a myriad of different formats, great for copying videos to your IPod, Zune, or other personal media player.

removed from the list: Media Converter SA, Super

Video codecs - K-Lite codec pack - this will enable your computer to play just about any video type out there.

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

Multi-IM/chat client - Pidgin, and if you don't use IRC, then Digsby is for you!

More as I find 'em.

LDAP capable IM solution: OpenFire 3.4.6

OpenFire 3.4.6

http://www.igniterealtime.org/projects/openfire/index.jsp

My need for IM:

Recently, I have discovered the need to notify my users of system outages (um…email?). The Windows Messenger service is out of the question as it is hard to selectively broadcast messages, and you cannot keep a central log of your messages easily – or at least, not without some third-party solution keeping track for you. Not only that, but you can’t configure file transfer, perform voice chat or other more advanced functions.

Enter OpenFire, a Jabber/XMPP compatible IM server, and Spark, the chat client provided by Jive software (makers of OpenFire). I was completely flabbergasted by the capabilities that this free software could provide!

So, a quick list of features out of the box (and mind you, this is supposed to be a quick overview, so I may skip over some other features you might find handy):

• SQL, MySQL, PostGreSQL, Oracle, IBM DB2, HSQLDB and embedded database compatible
• LDAP compatible authentication
• Assortments of plugins available
• Supports other Jabber clients (besides ‘Spark’, the one that you can download from OpenFire’s website)
• Extensive administration options
• Broadcast capability
• User groups
• Import/Export user data
• Configurable chat rooms

A quick look at the server information page

What caught my attention was the ability to authenticate my users via LDAP. This means that my users can log in with their Windows domain credentials and not be concerned with creating and/or remembering a new or different password. Nice!

Setup complexity: Low

If you are a sysadmin who is worth his or her salt, you should have absolutely no trouble setting this up within 5 minutes. If you aren’t terribly familiar with LDAP (and want to get this to work) or have some port magic you have to work, it could take you a little while longer to set up…but, out of the box, it only takes a few minutes to get going.

To set up OpenFire in my environment, I opted for the SQL server backend, for scalability and performance. I only needed to know the SQL administrative password for setup, then OpenFire did the rest.

Also, when I configured LDAP, I needed to know the DN for my administrative account (which would be authenticating my logons) and CN for where to pull my user accounts from. I used SysInternals’ AD Explorer to get this information quickly.

These users were imported into OpenFire from AD automatically.

The Spark client

• For me, the awesomeness does not stop at the OpenFire server (and how ridiculously easy it is to set up), but I really like the Spark client as well.
• The download is a bit hefty at 27Mb, but I assure you, it is a full-featured and robust client that has some great capabilities:
• Easy file-transfer
• Send screenshots quickly with the built-in screenshot snip tool
• Voice chat
• Avatar support
• Invite-to conference

Now, some of these features can be disabled at the server level (like the file-transfer and avatar support), but for a support staff, you can see the benefits of having a screenshot snip tool!

What would be really nice is the ability to lock down the main Spark interface so that you could remove the ‘Accounts’ and ‘Advanced’ buttons…don’t want my users messing around, right?

Plugins

Some of the plugins available for the OpenFire server:

Asterisk-IM Openfire Plugin

Integration for Asterisk and Openfire.

Broadcast

Broadcasts messages to users.

Client Control

Controls clients allowed to connect and available features

Content Filter

Scans message packets for defined patterns

Email Listener

Listens for emails and sends alerts to specific users.

Fastpath Service

Support for managed queued chat requests, such as a support team might use.

Fastpath Webchat

Web based chat client for Fastpath.

IM Gateway

Provides gateway connectivity to the other public instant messaging networks

Monitoring Service

Monitors conversations and statistics of the server.

MotD (Message of the Day)

Allows admins to have a message sent to users each time they log in.

Packet Filter

Rules to enforce ethical communication

Presence Service

Exposes presence information through HTTP.

Registration

Performs various actions whenever a new user account is created.

Search

Provides support for Jabber Search (XEP-0055)

SIP Phone Plugin

Provides support for SIP account management

Subscription

Automatically accepts or rejects subsription requests

User Import Export

Enables import and export of user data

User Service

Allows administration of users via HTTP requests.

Oh, OpenFire, how do I love thee?

What next for me?

Next, I need to:

• Develop an acceptable use policy
• Figure out how to lock Spark/OpenFire down a bit more to prevent abuse
• Discover proper deployment technique and pre-configure the client upon installation
• Test out the ‘Support chat room’ plugin (IT support, anyone?)

Have you used OpenFire? Do you use a different IM solution at your job? What were your issues that you had to overcome in order to successfully deploy it in your organization?

If you aren’t an IT admin like myself – what do you think of the IM in your company? Is it useful? What don’t you like?

Get the skinny on various freeware reviews [web]: Appnews.net

Coming at you from blogger Rarst (from Rarst.net) is a consolidated freeware review listing bringing you links from a few of the biggest freeware blogs out there like Freeware Genius, Rarst.net and Ghacks.net...

Great link summaries if you wanted to look at a single feed for all the good stuff!

Please check it out and support Rarst's efforts.

http://appnews.net/

System management akin to DameWare and Hyena: Purgos 3.0.249

Purgos 3.0.249
http://www.softulz.net/

Have you ever used DameWare tools or SystemTools' Hyena products? They are GREAT paid system administration tools, essential for any network administrator to effectively support multiple users spanning different physical locations.

Purgos is a new tool to me (although it is at version 3!) which almost fills the freeware niche of "DameWare"-esque utilities in that you can quickly inventory a remote system, allows remote control via VNC or RDP, shows you quick device details, quick remote registry support and more.

Note that it is not nearly as clean as DameWare or Hyena, but it does approach those programs' level of usefulness when you need to get a quick connection to a remote computer.

With Purgos, you can quickly:

• Determine OS, Service pack version
• Remote control via RDP or VNC
• Browse locally installed hard disks on remote computer
• Filter computers/servers based upon various criteria
• Group computers/servers
• Run executables from remote station
  

Central inventory database

The main difference between Purgos and the aforementioned DameWare and Hyena products is that managed computers report into a central administration server via an installed agent, similar to SMS. That means you can view system details even when the computer is offline. Limited information is available on Purgos' website to determine exactly how the agent works...i.e. does it update statistics on a predetermined interval, or when the agent starts up?

The nice thing about a centralized database is that you can run a quick query showing how many managed computers you have where service pack 3 is installed, or how many computers have 512Mb of RAM.

Add computers to the Purgos console

You can add new computers to the console quickly via a couple different routes:

• Single computer name/IP
• Multiple computers via Active Directory import
• Multiple computers via NTLM domain
• Multiple computers via text file listing

A little refinement could be made...

It seems like the computer management console piece is a bit more refined than the 'server files' component. When I attempted to look at some of the properties of where the server files and folders where located, I get an error, but this is if no files have been dropped into the folder...

Also, it was not immediately clear what these folders are for, but more in-depth documentation hunting would probably help me out there.

There are a lot of cool features built into Purgos that I don't have time to review at this time (baby and all, right?), here's a couple interesting features:

Computer Management (Copy Files)	Section 2.4
An arbitrary set of files can be copied to one or more computers. The files that need to be copied to the server can be added to the servers file set at the time of copy or before. Select the files or set of files from all files on the server to copy.

Computer Management (Snapshots)

Section 2.9

Snapshots are a way of capturing the configuration of a given system at a given time. Once two or more snapshots have been taken you can then compare them to analyze the differences. Snapshots can be scheduled to run on a scheduled basis or can be taken immediately the compare with an older snapshot. Comparing snapshots consists of selecting the two points in time that you wish to compare and beginning the compare process . Once the compare process is complete you can view the specific details about the differences found.

I'd like to see the ability to run our own commands against a remote computer, much like Hyena's functionality. Also, I'd like to see remote printers that are installed...

If you get a chance to take a look at this, post your thoughts here.

Announcement: New freeware junkie added to my family!

You've no doubt noticed my lack of posts lately (or the lessened frequency of them).

Well, it was for a great reason - we had been expecting a new child for the last couple of weeks and finally, after all the long waiting, young Patterson arrived on Monday April 13th at 12:48pm! He was 9 lbs 0 ounces and has a full head of hair (lucky!).

Hopefully as we get acclimated to the new baby in the house I will be able to post with more frequency once again.

I want to thank everyone for their well-wishes in advance, and promise you I will be back in full force soon!

Update: Spiceworks 4.0 coming in June

Spiceworks, a personal favorite freebie of mine is slated for a 4.0 release in June.



Some of the new non-heartburn inducing spiciness (as mentioned in the 4.0 forums):

• Network maps
• Bulk-editing of objects
• Removal of Glide support (not many people use it)
• IE6 support dropped for reports and admin interface (end user GUI will still be supported)
• Latest Ruby on Rails as a framework, resulting in faster operation
  
• New end-user portal layout
  

In the meantime, if you don't know what Spiceworks is or want to know more about what it does, review this slideshow/video:

Spiceworks Intro

View more presentations from ground047.

My dream BlackBerry: Storm with Trackball

I know this isn't a real BlackBerry, but it would be awesome.

You see, I absolutely love my Storm, but I don't like trying to accurately place a cursor or navigate web pages with the touchpad. Even with the mouse pointer 'emulator' that you can use on the browser, targeting a specific link, selecting text (ever try to do this inside of a text box on a web page?) is a frustrating affair.

So, I wanted to meld the trackball configuration of a Curve 8900 with the Storm 9530 and here's what I got.

RIM - Please make this for me!

How many of you Storm users would prefer a setup like this?

Online storage with a twist: DropBox Beta

DropBox Beta
http://www.getdropbox.com/

A few weeks ago, my friend Kevin at work turned me onto DropBox as a way to upload/backup files and share them with others.

The whole online storage thing has been pretty overplayed in my opinion, but this service is a little different so I thought I would talk about it. I've definitely heard of DropBox, mind you, but I've never actually spent the time and actually tried it out. After Kevin showed me how he used it, I decided to give it a try (also, I told him I wouldn't post before he did on his blog).

Now, DropBox isn't like every other online storage service - - or at least not like the Microsoft SkyDrive service which I do use...DropBox works like this:

• You sign up for service, install client utility on computer 'A'
• Client utility creates 'My DropBox' folder under 'My Documents'
• Client copies/synchronizes contents of My DropBox to your DropBox account
• You install client utility on computer 'B'
• Client brings all files down from your DropBox online account to your 'My DropBox' folder on this computer (B)
• You change a file on Computer B, files get uploaded and then synchronized to Computer A as soon as the client utility connects from that computer

The files and folders inside your DropBox directory get a handy little sync indicator showing if the file has been uploaded or if it is pending upload to the online service. Nice!

Share your DropBox files

The beauty of DropBox is that you have the ability to share an individual file or a whole folder to a user. Simply right-click a file or folder under the 'My DropBox' directory to see the option.

• You share a folder with another user (who has a DropBox account and client loaded)
• Your contents are dropped to their computer - any changes made by them or you is synchronized to/from all computers that are shared (I'm not sure how it handles conflicts as of yet).

When you share a file, you do so via your Public folder. You drop a file into your public folder, right-click it > DropBox > 'Copy public link' then email your recipient the link and thats it! Your recipient can click the link on their side and download the file.

FYI: When you share a folder, your recipient will get a local copy of your shared folder - so, it goes without saying to try and not share a folder with more contents than what your recipient has in free drive space!

Download your folders as a ZIP file

A cool feature that the web site provides is the ability to download a shared folder as a ZIP file. So, if you don't have DropBox installed on a PC, you could download your folders as needed.

Refer to DropBox, get more space

The only downside to DropBox is that the free account is limited to 2Gb - but there is a cool offer for those who send referrals to DropBox. When you refer other users to sign up for the service and they create an account and download the client, you and your friend automatically get an additional 250Mb of free space!

Referral-related free space is limited to 3Gb total, so if you exclusively use a free account, you are limited to 5Gb. You can sign up for a 50Gb plan for $99 a year, which really isn't bad, so if you have a lot of data to synchronize, this might do the trick for you!

Idea: Pyramid scheme!

I would like to see a bit more space for the free users - hey, how about a pyramid scheme type of system for referrals? User 'A' refers 'B', User 'A' gets 250Mb of space, User 'B' refers User 'C' - User A gets 125Mb, B gets 250Mb? Or, if a referral purchases a year's worth of space, the referring member gets a significant increase in space?

I still use SkyDrive, but DropBox is kind of like an Internet attached USB drive where I can keep all my stuff that I really need synchronized (and backed up if my system crashes!).

Update: AVG 8.5 and Avira 9.0

Free AV suppliers Grisoft and Avira have announced recently that they have updated their offerings to version 8.5 and 9.0, respectively.

AVG 8.5 offers updated safe-search algorithms and a new pre-execution code protection feature from malicious websites.

Avira 9.0 offers anti-spyware removal, enhanced heuristics detection engine, one-click threat detection/removal and netbook support for lower resolution screens.

New BlackBerry Storm Theme: Google Android

Android Theme for BlackBerry Storm
http://forums.crackberry.com/f131/android-e-storm-edition-162626/

I've come to love my Storm (aside from some strange 'phone not picking up when I press the answer button' issues, but I've recently received a replacement phone)...and as all other Storm owners are probably doing, I've been waiting for some themes to come out that replaces the current Zen offering.

Not that I hate the default theme, but it is a little difficult for me to differentiate between the icons on the screen since there are no colors associated with them. I can only imagine that this is the case for a number of other Storm users out there.

Also, I am opting out of trying to find the yawnable/obligatory iPhone theme for my Storm, and wanted something new.

Availability of themes

In the arena of Storm themes there's not been a lot out there for us Storm users...until recently. The Plazmic 4.7 CDK (theme maker) beta has been floating around out there on the Torrent sites, and we are starting to see a few themes surface - - some good, some definitely not so good...but this one is great!

Of course, since the CDK is in beta, it should be worth mentioning that you shouldn't expect things to work flawlessly (although I suspect that this has more to do with creating the themes rather than using them). That being said, I've experienced no stability issues with this theme.

A member at Crackberry forums by the name of elycruz0102 has developed this awesome Google Android theme for the Storm.

The Google Android theme has offered me a breath of fresh air to my Storm, and as a result of installing it - I love my phone even more. The device even seems more responsive and allows me to find my apps a LOT faster, since they are colorful and distinct.

Most Storm default applications do have a themed icon associated with it - with exception to the app store and the installed Docs to Go apps - which is to be expected.

Problems?

I noticed that it moved my apps that I put into my 'Applications' folder into the 'Downloads' folder...not a big deal.


The only problem I saw with this theme is when I receive calls, the caller name is not centered on the screen quite right. Not a huge deal - certainly not enough of an issue for me to uninstall the theme.


***Update 3/14/09

My Talklock app didn't seem to want to work properly here, so my phone screen was still giving me the issue of hitting the mute button with my cheek while on a phone call. The problem here was that the 'turn off mute' button was then grayed out, and I couldn't press it again! Finally, I realized that if I hit the physical BlackBerry menu button, I could turn it off from there. I would consider this a notable flaw - this was in the AndroidX theme.

Variations

The developer of this theme has a few variations available, and they are all good, but my favorite by far is the android-X theme.

Check it out and let me know if you love/like your Storm just a little bit more after you use it.

Please be sure to throw a dollar (or five!) to the developer for this great theme.

Download (OTA)

• Android X
• Android 2 WB Edition
• Android 2 Dual Screen
• Bottom Slide Dock v1.3
• TodayPlus Version v1.3

Image editing with no install: Sumo Paint 1.1/1.0

Sumo Paint 1.1/1.o (if you don't have Flash 10)
http://www.sumo.fi

I don't know about you, but I am a big fan of the Gimp and have been using it for years. It's a huge step up (leap, really) from Microsoft Paint, and it is a few small steps below Photoshop. Of course, the Gimp is free and it truly is hard to beat for the price.

In the last couple of years as 'cloud computing' has become the buzzphrase in the IT industry, we've seen a lot of different online applications become available for general use by the public.

In the genre of image editing, Piknik has been the biggest name, offering much of the same capabilities as Picasa, but again - this doesn't really let you create your own masterpieces. So, Sumo has found a niche that fits nicely with the other cloud apps.

Sumo features the following:

• Layers with blending modes
• Layer effects
• Shape tools
• Brush tool
• Ink tool
• Text tool
• Clone stamp tool
• Eraser tool
• Filters
• Gradient tool
• Gravity
• Custom shape tool
• Shape trails
• Symmetry Tool
• Transform tool
• Magic wand tool
• Lasso tool
• Smudge tool
• Blur tool
• Line tool

...all in Flash.

Operating Sumo is almost identical to running a locally installed application - you can open and save local files, copy & paste and much more.

Honestly, this is one of the coolest implementations of Flash I've ever seen.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Announcement: DonationCoder.com anniversary + donation = licenses for all DC software!

Just got an email from Mouser, the admin over at DonationCoder.com...

They are celebrating their 4th anniversary (congrats!) and are offering a great deal to anyone that donates during the month of March:

March of 2009 marks the 4th anniversary of DonationCoder.com.

We've been deeply honored to be a part of a great experiment in alternative funding for software development -- one that many people thought would never succeed. This site, and the community that has grown up around it, has thrived over the last 4 years, producing a constant stream of new applications and resources for the software connoisseur in all of us.

JOIN NOW: WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU

We're offering something special to encourage people to donate now during our March 2009 fundraiser.

If you make a donation this month, you will receive a never-expiring license key for *all* of the software we make, as well as lifetime access to our shareware discount area. In addition, everyone who donates during the fundraiser will receive a full license to all future updates and new software we create in the future (!)

This is a heckuva deal. If you're not familiar with DonationCoder, you should be...I gave ScreenShot Captor bragging rights for the best non-commercial freeware screen capture program.

DC is trying to hit their goal of $8,000 for the end of the month (but I'm sure they won't complain if they get more). Head out there and show them some love. I know Mouser and the rest of the gang will appreciate it! I know I will be donating.

Tip: Use a laptop SATA drive in a desktop computer

Just last week I had to work on a laptop - specifically, I had to clone the drive so I could install a larger disk. For some reason, my boot CD wasn't finding the storage controller, so it would not detect the hard drive.

If I can't find the drive, then I can't make a clone.

What to do?

Since this was a new-ish laptop, it had a SATA 2.5" drive installed. The beauty of SATA (note not eSATA) is that the plugs for power and the data interface for a 2.5" drive are exactly the same as their 3.5" counterparts. So that means you can easily take a drive from a laptop and slap it into a desktop (as long as you have a free SATA port).

So, that's what I did - I knew my boot CD worked on my desktop, so I installed the drive, booted to my Reatogo disc, then ran a disk imaging tool to backup from the old drive, then restore to the newly installed drive.

What to do with the old drive? Buy an external enclosure and use it as a backup device.

The other benefit? If you have a laptop SATA drive lying around that is bigger than your existing hard drive, you could perform a swap on your desktop - of course, being cognizant of the difference in drive speeds (RPM). I would guess you might need a mounting kit, but overall, you get a little extra ventilation room in your desktop, less power consumption and less heat.

Sometime, I need to update my disc with new storage drivers, but that is another post.

Yet another screen shot tool (and recording): Extensoft Screen Capturer

Extensoft Screen Capturer
http://www.extensoft.com/?p=free_screen_capturer

Already in a crowded field, the Extensoft Screen Capturer (awkward name, but I'll bite..) is a pretty handy screen capture and recording tool.

Pretty much a beefed up Gadwin Printscreen with some added features; like recording your screen in WMV or AVI format (with audio!). An additional plus I have to mention is that the GUI to Screen Capturer is reminisce of SnagIt.

Like Gadwin PrintScreen, there are no annotation features available with Screen Capturer, but if you have a need to only perform screen grabs quickly, then Screen Capturer should fit your bill.

Capture modes:

• Full Screen
• Current Window
• Window
• Region

Output modes:

• Clipboard
• Image File
• Email
• Printer

Image File output types supported:

• BMP
• PNG
• JPG
• GIF
• TIFF

Video output type supported:

• AVI
• WMV
  

Screen Capturer is easy to use and is very configurable, i.e. you can set your favorite hotkey combination to trigger the capture. Also, when capturing to an animation, you can use your codec of choice (like XVid!).

Likes

• Modern interface
• Ease of use - similar to SnagIT
• Records Desktop
• Desktop recording abides by window, full-screen, active window, region rules
  

Dislikes

• No way to set the automated save image format...it always defaults as PNG
• Have to register for a free serial number (not a huge deal, but is it necessary?)
  

Want to check out some other screen capture tools: The Great Screen Capture Shootout

If you are a DBA and have to deal with Oracle on a day-to-day (or maybe week-to-week) basis, or maybe you are just plain into free education, then Geeks are Sexy has a deal for you!

GAS is offering a free 2 day course which can help you come to grips with the wildly popular database platform.

No matter if you are using Windows or Linux, you can still partake of this free offer.

List of Lessons

• Introduction (No additional materials complement this chapter)
• Installing Oracle and Building the Database
• Getting Started with Oracle Enterprise Manager
• Configuring the Network Environment
• Managing the Oracle Instance
• Managing Database Storage Structures
• Administering Users and Security
• Managing Schema Objects
• Performing Backup and Recovery
• Monitoring and Tuning the Database
• Managing Oracle Software

Check out the GAS IT Resource Center and get your free course.

Link via GAS

Handy database query/browse tool for Excel: SQLExcel 1.3

SQLExcel 1.3
http://www.sqlexcel.net/

If you are a person who works with databases from day-to-day (as increasingly, I am...) then you probably at one time or another have used Microsoft Office and the MSQuery tool to build up your simple queries against those databases...

If you don't know - MSQuery allows you to view database tables, create joins, build queries and output the results back into Excel or other programs.

MSQuery can really help you build simple queries using the graphical interface, but it most definitely has its limitations - namely, you can't use the GUI to build advanced queries. For that reason, we are left with finding alternatives that are a little more robust.

In the payware arena, I've really come to love EMS's Query for Microsoft SQL Server (and its variants for MySQL, etc.) and Navicat, but those are platform-centric, and definitely not free.

Recently, I've come across a small Excel add-in called (appropriately enough) 'SQLExcel'. SQLExcel makes it much easier to connect to your ODBC compliant database and browse table structures to build up your queries. Note that this doesn't just mean SQL-styled databases, but those that fall under the ODBC compliance umbrella. This means (according to the website) you can connect to "SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, MySQL, DB2, Firebird and any other ODBC compliant database."

Once you've installed SQLExcel, a new button appears in Excel (in your main toolbar if you have Excel 2003, or under 'Add-Ins' if you have 2007) called 'SQL'. Pressing this button presents you with the SQLExcel interface, which looks a little sparse at first, but don't worry - you just need to create a connection first.

Creating the connection is easy - just a few steps to define your database provider, server, database schema and credentials. After that, once you connect successfully, a list of tables appear on the right, and you can start building your queries!

This is a LOT nicer than Microsoft's offering, although in a pinch, MSQuery still can be handy. Me...? I think I'll be using SQLExcel exclusively.

What I really liked was how SQLExcel automatically created a join for obvious links in tables. For example, I had a two tables selected: UserConfig and UserStats (I was working with a BlackBerry Management database). There was an 'ID' field in UserConfig and a 'UserConfigID' field in UserStats. SQLExcel joined these automatically. Very handy - I can see this will be a timesaver!

I would love to see this or a new app as a variant as a stand-alone application so to easily export the data to a text file, csv, etc. without the aid of Excel (or more importantly I could use OpenOffice.org's Calc application).

Overall, I found that SQLExcel was very responsive and easy to use - a new version is on the way, so stay tuned. I didn't see a donate link, but I'm sure if you asked, Al would find a way for you to do so...

Comment: Getting rid of a computer? Wiping your drive once may be sufficient.

Saw this tidbit of news a little while back:

http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/888

Wiping your drive only once with garbage data is likely to be sufficient enough security to ensure that prying eyes can't get to your deleted data.

If you have been in the tech/IT industry for any time, you know that you can easily recover files and folders that have been previously deleted from a system with various forensic tools. As long as that block on the hard disk hasn't been completely overwritten by newer data, you have a great chance of getting that data back in some legible format.

When deleting data, some security tools out there will overwrite the blocks occupied by that data numerous times to ensure that the chances of recovery is impossible. While this offers a nice big helping of warm fuzzies, it isn't really necessary!

With the aid of an electron microsope, researchers had determined that while yes, multiple writes and rewrites of random series of 0's and 1's makes it impossible to yield any recoverable data, they also found that a single wipe was sufficient to block any recovery of any substantial amount of meaningful information.

Security Focus is currently investigating this claim, however:

"(Editor's note: SecurityFocus is currently investigating the veracity of the research paper mentioned in this article. Peter Gutmann of the University of Auckland, an expert on secure deletion, has criticized the work in the epilogue to his paper on secure deletion.)"

My guess?

Either way, if you are wiping your disk at least once, it is better than not at all - - also, unless you are harboring some super-secret government data, the amount of effort and resources required to recover data from your drive by some random kid is probably not worth the effort.

Utilities you can use to wipe free space or data from your drive:

• Eraser
• Active @ Killdisk
• Darik's Boot and Nuke
• Shamwow - it can do it all, right? ;)
  

Keep track of your friends: Latitude/Google Maps 3.0.1

Google Maps 3.0.1
http://www.google.com/latitude/intro.html

Social networking is everywhere: from LinkedIn to Facebook to Twitter to just about everything else in between, you can't escape it. Now Google is joining the fray (again) with the new 'Latitude' service in their Maps product.

Install Google Maps on your phone, enable Latitude (you need a Google account to do this). Your phone will update its location on the map, and if configured, will send updates to your friends' Google Maps as well.

So, if you want to easily meet up with friends or are just plain curious where they are at any time of day (is this a good thing?), you can find out how close by they are - maybe you can get together for an impromptu cup of joe/pint!

From Google's web site:

With Google Latitude, you can:

• See where your friends are and what they are up to
• Quickly contact them with SMS, IM, or a phone call
• Control what your location is and who gets to see it

Enjoy Google Latitude on your phone, PC, or both.

Sharing your location with friends is easy - you can use your existing Google contacts or custom email address and you can also tweak what you share with them.

Additionally, you can set your location manually if you don't want to have your mobile track you

everywhere you go. It would be nice if Latitude allowed you to 'Publish your current location' if you had auto-updating turned off...but hey, maybe next version, eh?

One thing I did notice - I have a Verizon BlackBerry Storm and Google Maps is only using the cell-triangulated location services. As such, accuracy is around 1800-3800 meters. I'm not sure if this is Verizon still locking out a portion of the GPS hardware to BlackBerry maps and VZW Navigator, or if there is some additional coding that needs to be done - - either way, a more accurate GPS would be appreciated (My guess is Verizon). I suppose in cases like that, you could manually set your location if you are meeting up with friends.

No posts this week...well, maybe.

Some work craziness and stomach flu has completely derailed me this week. I will be back next week (possibly a post on Friday this week if I'm really lucky).

In the meantime, check out a few of my favorite blogs:

Digital Inspiration
Instant Fundas
Elite Freeware
Rarst.net

Tip: Extract raw data from your Spiceworks database using Excel

I wrote this quick article yesterday and posted in the Spiceworks forums - thought you SW users here would get some use out of it!

Rob

-

This article describes how you can use Excel (or any program that uses ODBC) to extract the raw data from the Spiceworks database.

This document covers Windows, but the same concepts apply when using Linux or any other OS capable of running a SQLite3 ODBC connection.

Requirements:

• Spiceworks (any version)
• Windows OS
• Microsoft Excel or other Spreadsheet program
• File level access/permissions to the Spiceworks_prod.db file

	Download and install the SQLite ODBC driver Go to http://www.ch-werner.de/sqliteodbc/ and download and install sqliteodbc.exe (current version). Accept all default options. Linux versions of the driver can also be found on this page.
	Configure your ODBC driver a.) Open your Data Sources (ODBC) administrator from your administrative tools folder. b.) Click on the 'System DSN' tab. c.) Click on 'Add...' d.) Scroll down the available ODBC drivers listing and find 'SQLite3 ODBC Driver'. Highlight this entry and click 'Finish'. e.) At the Configuration screen, give your connection a name (in this example, we'll call it 'Spiceworks', although you can name it whatever you want). f.) Next, type the fully resolved path to the Spiceoworks_prod.db file or click the 'Browse' button to browse to the network folder where your Spiceworks database is stored. Note that you will require file-level permissions to access the database. g.) Leave all other settings as default, click 'OK' to finish up the configuration. h.) Close out of the ODBC Data Sources applet.
	Open Excel or Spreadsheet software of choice Since we are using Excel 2003 as an example, your options may/will differ depending on what spreadsheet application you use. a.) Open Excel and create a new blank spreadsheet. b.) Click on 'Data'> 'Import External Data'> 'New Database Query'. You will be presented with the 'Choose Data Source' dialog. c.) Find the 'Spiceworks' connection (or whatever name you gave your connection in step 2.), click on it, and click 'OK'. d.) You will see an error stating that "The datasource contains no visible tables", and will be presented with a Query Wizard. Click on the 'Options' button. e.) You should now see the 'Table Options' dialog. Clear all checkboxes with exception to 'Tables', then click 'OK'. You should now see all the tables listed in the left-hand column. Now you can choose which tables and columns you wish to query! If you want to use MSQuery to build your SQL, you can cancel out of the Query Wizard, and click 'Yes' when asked if "...you want to continue editing this query in Microsoft Query".

Exchange admin tip: Create a query-based distribution group

Requirements:

• Windows Active Directory
• Exchange server 2003 or higher

Do you have distribution groups or lists that you are maintaining constantly? Are they department or organization-based groups? Perhaps you have organized your OU structure within Active Directory according to department or logical business units?

If your answers were "yes" or you are just plain curious...then here is a really handy way to create virtually maintenance-free distribution groups in Exchange. The only thing you would need to do is make sure that your users are located in their proper OU structure in AD so they automatically become members of the group you are creating.

Here's the information from Microsoft:

To create a query-based distribution group

1. In Active Directory Users and Computers, in the console tree, right-click the container where you want to create the query-based distribution group, point to New, and then click Query-based Distribution Group.

2. In Query-based Distribution Group name, type a name for the query-based distribution group, and then click Next.

3. Under Apply filter to recipients in and below, verify that the parent container shown is the one that you want the query-based distribution group to be run against. If this is not the correct container, click Change to select another container.

   Note:
   The query returns only recipients in the selected container and its child containers. To get the results that you want, you may have to select a parent container or create multiple queries.

4. Under Filter, select one of the following options:

   • To filter the query based on a set of predefined criteria, click Include in this query-based distribution group, and then select from the following criteria:
     - Users with Exchange mailboxes
     - Users with external e-mail addresses
     - Groups that are mail-enabled
     - Contacts with external e-mail addresses
     - Public folders that are mail-enabled
     
   • To create your own criteria for the query, click Customize filter, and then click Customize.
     

5. Click Next to see a summary of the query-based distribution group that you are about to create.

6. Click Finish to create the query-based distribution group.

   The new query-based distribution group appears under the container that you selected in Step 3.

So, I've created an LDAP filter/query that picks up users that are located in an OU (in my case, an OU that denotes a physical location, "State Street").

Here is the query that I've created:

(&(!cn=SystemMailbox{*})(& (mailnickname=*) (| (&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(|(homeMDB=*)(msExchHomeServerName=*))) )))

Don't worry, you create these queries on the fly and isn't as complex as it looks above.

But...you can create compound filters if you want to get really crazy.

Excluding users from a query:

I created a filter that excluded our physicians here in town (the last part of the query excludes an account called helpdesk from the distribution list):

(&(!cn=SystemMailbox{*})(&(&(&(|(&(objectCategory=person)(objectSid=*)(!samAccountType:1.2.840.113556.1.4.804:=3))(&(objectCategory=person)(!objectSid=*))(&(objectCategory=group)(groupType:1.2.840.113556.1.4.804:=14)))(& (mailnickname=*) (| (&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(|(homeMDB=*)(msExchHomeServerName=*))) )))(objectCategory=user)(!description=Physician*)(!samAccountName=helpdesk))))

So, the benefit? First, each distribution list gets their own SMTP email address - and, as long as my users appear in those OU's, my distribution lists are always up to date!