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System Silencer, Run Commands When The Computer Is Idle

Martin Brinkmann — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:47:18 +0000

We have seen our fair share of application reviews that change system settings automatically when the computer enters idle state. Most of the applications offered to turn off the monitor, lock the workstation or mute the sound of the system. System Silencer can do that, and more which justifies a closer look.

The portable application runs silently in the background upon startup. It can be configured with a right-click on its system tray icon and the selection of Show / Hide Configuration menu from the context options.

All available options are listed on the same page. Available for selection are:

Toggle mute: Mutes the computer.
Toggle show desktop: This minimizes all open windows automatically when the computer enters idle stage so that the desktop is shown.
Toggle taskbar icons: Hides the taskbar and icons when the computer is idle.
Toggle desktop icons: Hides the desktop icons on idle.
Hide window(s): Option to select specific windows that are then hidden by System Silencer on idle.
Kill process(es): Terminates the selected processes
Run program / file(s): Launches specified applications or files.
Turn of monitor(s)
Lock workstation
Shutdown, reboot, log off or reboot the computer

Some options can be reverted when the idle state of the PC ends. It is furthermore possible to specific actions individually for desktop and battery mode. The idle time can be configured individually for each action as well.

System Silencer offers several interesting options. Especially the ability to hide elements on the screen, configure different idle times for actions and the option to revert changes should make it interesting for the majority of users.

The application can be downloaded from the developer website over at Nozavi.

System Silencer, Set PC Idle State Actions

Martin Brinkmann — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:00:26 +0000

There are usually a lot of things that don’t need to be running or active if the system is idle. This may include the computer monitor, music playing in the background or certain windows or processes that do not need to be open in idle state.

System Silencer is a versatile highly configurable program to set PC idle state actions. The program offers options to configure actions for idle states in desktop and battery mode.

One interesting aspect of the portable application is that it offers to set the idle time for actions individually.

system silencer

The program can perform the following actions when the computer is idle:

Toggle mute
Toggle show desktop
Toggle taskbar icons
Toggle desktop icons
Hide windows
Kill processes
Run programs / files
Turn off computer monitors
Lock the workstation

Each action can be configured individually in the program for desktop mode and battery mode, including the option to set idle times for each action individually as well.

It is for instance possible to activate the hide windows action and configure window names that the program should hide when the computer is in idle state for the specified time.

The same is possible for running background processes, and programs that could be run in idle state.

The main advantage of System Silencer over comparable applications is its customizability, which exceeds that of the other programs.

A click on the save and apply button saves the configuration and minimizes the program to the system tray.

System Silencer is an excellent program for Windows users who want as much control as possible over their computer in idle state. (via Cybernetnews)

Sleep Talking Mode To Save Energy

Martin Brinkmann — Sat, 02 May 2009 08:53:58 +0000

Sleep Mode – which goes under the name standby, sleep or suspend depending on the operating system in use – has been created to save energy in situations where a computer system does not perform any active calculations. The operating system will power down most of the connected hardware devices except for the computer memory which is being used to restore the previous state once the computer ends sleep mode. The unresponsiveness of computer systems that are in sleep mode made it impracticable for certain situations where response is required. This includes staying connected to a computer network, being available in Instant Messengers and VOIP software or availability for remote access.

Sleep Talking, a new system that is called internally Somniloquy has been designed by computer scientists at UC San Diego and Microsoft Research, combines the energy saving benefits of sleep mode with the responsiveness of awake mode. An USB prototype has been created that acts as a low end computer system impersonating the host computer on the network. The prototype comes with the ability to wake the host computer system if necessary. This can be an incoming call using voice over IP or a P2P download that filled the internal flash memory of the USB prototype so that the contents have to be written to the host computer system.

Tests that the researchers conducted resulted in power savings between 60 and 80 percent depending on the use model compared to idle state which is