GBridge is a standalone extension making use of the Google Talk service that supports automatic backups, file synchronization and sharing, remote control, desktop sharing and direct and secure file access across computers. The only requirement being a Google account that is needed because of the use of Google Talk.

Functionality depends largely on the way GBridge is used. If the software program is installed on one computer the user can make use of the automatic backup option and chat. The backup can be used to store files locally if GBridge has been installed on one computer. The backup simply takes the files of a selected folder and copies them into the other location. Windows users who are only looking for a way to backup files could look at the more advanced Windows Backup Software Deltacopy instead.

It becomes more interesting if the user installs GBridge on multiple computers. The file backup can now be used to backup files in a remote location on the other computer. Another interesting option that becomes available to access files on every connected computer that the computer owner runs. It can be used to play multimedia files and access any other file type on another connected computer.

continue reading "GBridge Share, Sync, VPN And Backup Extension For Google Talk"

Sleep Mode, which is also known ans stand-by, deep sleep and suspend, is a low power mode for electronic devices that saves electronic consumption during that time. Wake Up On Standby is a software program for Microsoft Windows that can return the computer from sleep mode into normal mode, perform tasks and make it go back into sleep mode or perform another shutdown operation afterwards.

This tool can be interesting for users who regularly use sleep mode or hibernation instead of turning off their computer completely after work. That’s only one possibility though. The software program can also be used to run system updates, system optimization or other tasks that are best executed when no one is accessing the computer.

Wake Up On Standby is a portable utility compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and additional former Microsoft operating systems. It uses a five step configuration procedure to exactly time and configure the automatic sleep mode wake up procedure:

continue reading "Automatic Sleep Mode Wake Up"

Networx is the second network monitoring software on review at Ghacks in the last months. It was recently released in version 4 which is compatible to all Windows operating systems since Windows 98 including 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Vista and Windows Server 2008.

The network monitoring software can be used to monitor incoming and outgoing bandwidth of selected network adapters and connections. Traffic is shown in graphs and logged in a file for further processing. Reports are extensive and provide access to daily, weekly, monthly and custom reports.

A realtime network traffic graph visualizes the incoming and outgoing traffic. Notifications can be used to perform actions under configured conditions. They can be configured to run so called actions when network traffic drops or rises above a certain level. Possible actions include running a software, displaying visual and sound alerts or to drop the connection.

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Being able to activate a ftp server when needed can be an efficient way of providing file access and file upload capabilities to customers, coworkers and friends. Most users shy away from setting up an ftp server fearing that the setup is complicated and that they might overlook an important setting that will give the connected users access to their whole system and not on the selected virtual directories.

Setting up an ftp server is actually not complicated at all. The process can be broken down in the following parts: Downloading the ftp server software, installing the software, configuring the ftp server and starting it. The biggest part will be the ftp server configuration where the ftp server admin has to share directories and add user accounts to the system.

Filezilla Server is an Open Source ftp server that can be used to setup a ftp server in Windows. A good advise would be to use the default parameters that are shown during ftp server setup. If you have followed the advice you should see a small window after installation that’s called Connect To Server. A click on OK should connect to the ftp server interface as an administrator.

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I recently began to use mind maps again for some of my keyword research projects because they offer an excellent way of visualizing keyword connections which are an important part of keyword research. The Open Source mind mapping softwareFreemind was my application of choice for the first few projects. It worked well but had a few scaling problems among other issues that I could not get fixed.

Then I spotted a post about PersonalBrain over at Rarst’s website entitled Mapping stuff in PersonalBrain and it seemed to be exactly the software that I was looking for. Both applications are written in Java and available for Windows, Linux and Macintosh.

The elements are called thoughts and originate from one home thought in PersonalBrain. Each thought, except for the home thought, consists of a name and at least one link to another node in the system. The user can write down notes for every thought on the map that can contain additional information. There is also the option to add attachments like text documents or web links to each node. Additionally users can add tags, set types and colors for each node separately.

continue reading "Mind Mapping software PersonalBrain"