There are search tools and then there are SEARCH TOOLS. Any Linux user that has ever needed real power for their searches generally has to resort to the command line where they can take advantage of regular expressions or scripting. But what if you could have a GUI tool that could also handle regular expressions?

There is such a tool – SearchMonkey. SearchMonkey attempts to bridge the gap between Beagle and locate/find by adding a powerful regular expression builder to a GUI searching tool. And SearchMonkey does quite well at this task.

In this article you will learn how to install SearchMonkey and use its powerful regular expression builder to power your searches.

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Tags: desktop searching, regular expressions, search
Categories: Advice, Desktop Manager, Linux, Open Source, Tutorials Basic, software

Most computer users know that regular data backups are important to be prepared when data on a computer system becomes corrupted. This can be due to hardware failures, human error or computer virus infections. Backups ensure that data can be recovered at anytime. Online services on the other hand are not usually integrated in backup strategies as users put their trust into the hands of the companies that offer these services. It does not matter if its online email accounts like Gmail and Yahoo Mail, social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter or video and photo hosting websites like Flickr or Youtube. Only a few users think about backups of their data that is stored online and those that do usually encounter problems trying to find a service that can backup that data. It usually takes at least some level of research to find an appropriate program or service to backup the data that is stored online if there is a solution at all.

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Tags: backup, facebook, flickr, gmail, lifestream backup, twitter, wordpress
Categories: Online Services, The Web

The Microsoft Bing development team is trying to distinguish their search engine from Google by adding new features to their search engine. The latest feature that the team is developing goes by the name Bing & Ping. It has been designed to offer Bing users better options to share search results. This feature resembles the “social” buttons that are displayed on blogs and other websites. Bing & Ping integrates Facebook, Twitter plus email and copy options in the Bing search engine.

Only specific results, called Bing’s Instant Answers, can be shared this way. This includes translations, sport results, weather conditions, financial information and more.

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Tags: bing, Bing & Ping, facebook, search engine, twitter
Categories: Microsoft, Search Engines

Firefox opens the bookmark manager (which is officially called library) in a new window by default. I always felt that this was kinda weird as it meant to navigate back and forth between the web browser window and the bookmark manager. One could try to place the two windows next to each other or display the bookmarks in the sidebar instead but it always nagged me why there was not an option to display the bookmark manager in a tab instead of a window.

Places in Tabs changes this. It is an experimental Firefox add-on that will add the option to launch the bookmark manager in a tab in the Bookmarks menu. The library is then displayed in a new tab in the active web browser window. Users who want to work with the bookmark manager that way need to know that a left-click on any bookmark will load that website in the active tab. To keep the bookmarks manager open users need to middle-click (or right-click and select Open in a new tab) instead.

Places in Tabs might be interesting for users who would like to open the bookmarks manager in a tab. The add-on is compatible with Firefox 3 only and can be downloaded from the Mozilla website.

Tags: bookmarks manager, firefox, firefox library, firefox-add on, places in tabs
Categories: Browsing, firefox

Most wallpapers are downloaded to a computer system or created by using a photo or image that is already on the system. The portable software program Wallpaper Generator offers another possibility. It can create gradients that can then be used as the wallpaper on the local computer system.

The software comes only with a few options which makes it very easy to use. Colors are displayed on each corner of the interface which determine how the gradients will look like. A click on a color will open the Windows color picker. Changes become visible immediately. The gradient can be set as the wallpaper of the computer system after all four colors have been set to the user’s satisfaction.

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Tags: wallpaper, wallpaper generator, wallpaper gradients, windows software
Categories: Windows, software

Some call Google Wave the next big thing on the Internet while others think that it does not add anything new or exciting to the web. Whatever it is, most users have not had a chance to test Google Wave as Google has closed registration for the service. The Google blog announced yesterday that they will open the service to a new batch of 100.000 users. Registrations on the other hand remain closed and the only way users can grab one of these invites is by being a developer who have been active in the developer preview started in June, being one of the first users who signed up for Google Wave (and offered to give feedback) or by being a select customer of Google Apps.

Best chance for most interested users is therefor if they have filled out the registration form at the Google Wave website back when it was announced for the first time. Everyone else will have to wait just a bit longer before they can experience the service first hand.

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Tags: Google, google wave, google wave invites
Categories: Google, The Web

Although integration has become widespread, there are instances when you might want a separate tool for organizing your life. Say, for instance, your company requires you use Zimbra, eGroupware, or Outlook for company calendaring and contacts. What if you want something on your machine to organize your life – that doesn’t require an online connection, is simple to use, and has a tiny footprint. If that’s you, OSMO is the tool you’ve been looking for.

OSMO is not an organizer that will do everything for you. I will not sync with your iPhone or your Blackberry. OSMO will not publish your calendar or allow you to drag and drop from one application to another. What OSMO will do is keep track of your calendar, tasks, contacts, and notes. In this article you will learn how to install OSMO and see just what it has to offer.

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Tags: calendar, organizer, personal information manager, pim
Categories: Advice, Desktop Manager, Linux, Open Source, Tutorials Basic, software