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Elpis, Open Source Pandora Client For Windows

Martin Brinkmann — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:25:43 +0000

Remember Pandora, the Internet Radio service that went viral shortly after its release thanks to its interesting music suggestion service and the fact that it was available to users from all over the world? Pandora shortly thereafter went US-only blocking access for users who tried to connect from other countries.

It is still possible to listen to Pandora if you are not in the US, but you need a web proxy or virtual private network for this.

One of the things that I never liked that much was that Pandora was only accessible on the official website. This meant that you had to keep the browser window open all the time if you wanted to listen to music from the service (mobile clients are now available).

Elpis is an Open Source Pandora client for Windows that changes this. It basically moves all important options that the Pandora web player offers to the client. A free or subscription based Pandora account is however required to start playing music with Elpis. New users can create Pandora accounts right from within the program interface.

Once you have linked your account you can start searching for music to play it in the client. Results are then displayed in a list that you can click on to tune into that radio station.

Music is from that moment on played automatically. You can now minimize the Pandora player to just listen to music, or use the player controls to vote for songs or pause and skip songs.

Global Media hotkeys can be enabled in the program interface. That’s useful if you want to minimize the program window, as it allows you to control the player when it is minimized.

Elpis will log in to Pandora automatically when the program is started. You can configure the program to start playing the last played station automatically.

Individual songs can be bookmarked and favorited with a click on the > icon in the program window.

Elpis is an easy to use yet feature rich Pandora client for Windows. The program and its source code are both available at Adam Haile’s website. Elpis requires the Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 to be installed on the system. It is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Speak UP: Text-to-Speech Software with a Translation Feature

Melanie Gross — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:16:05 +0000

Text- to-speech applications are plentiful. They are showing up on web browsers like Google’s Chrome Speak and Firefox’s text-to-speech plugin. Then there is speech-to-text software such as Dragon and many others including the built-in feature in Windows 7. If you are searching for text-to-speech software that is free and does more than just give you Windows’ “Anna” reading aloud, you might want to try Speak UP. Speak Up is an open source freeware application with several different features. For a free application, it actually performs well and is very easy to use. Not only does it read text, it records speech and uses Google’s translator to translate text. The application also allows you to toggle Windows Speech Recognition. The default voice is, of course, good old Windows Anna, but you can download other voices from the interface if you get tired of “her”.

From the interface, volume and rate of speech can be changed. It can read an entire document or a selected section of text. According to the information on Speak Up, you are able to paste text in the field for speech reading. You may find, as this user did, that this doesn’t work. It may depend on your operating system and settings or it may be a flaw in the version of Speak Up. To have Speak Up read a document, convert it to .txt format first and then click the “Save file” button in the bottom pane. There are three buttons in this pane. The first is an arrow and you use this to start the text reading. The one in the middle is to open documents to enter into the field and the third is for saving files.

After you have converted the document to a text file and clicked the Save file button, a new window will open. Copy and paste the text file into that field then select and open the document. Click the arrow button to start text-to-speech.

It will not allow you to paste a document in the Save file field if you do not have Administrator privileges, which is just silly. When you open Speak Up; always right-click the icon first. Then select “Run as Administrator” to avoid running into this problem.

Click Save and then you can use the Open document button to select the text file. Double-click the desired file and the text will appear in the Speak Up field.

Click the arrow button and the reading will proceed. The rate of speech is set to “Slow” by default. Depending on which voice you use, the speed will vary, but there seems to be no need to ever speed it up or it starts to become incomprehensible. The get more voices, click the “Get” tab at the top of the window and select More voices.

You can explore the other features and functions and determine how useful this application will be for your needs as you learn how to use it. Give it a chance. Once you get the customizations and settings just right, it serves a practical purpose despite some minor drawbacks.

Keolah Learns Japanese, Japanese Language Tutor

Martin Brinkmann — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:47:58 +0000

You may remember that I started learning Japanese some time ago. Especially the multitude of different characters make it difficulty to learn the language. Compare learning English with its 26 language characters to learning Japanese which has thousands. Even if you do not have to know all of them, you are still stuck with learning hundreds of different Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji characters and their meaning.

Keolah Learns Japanese is an Open Source Japanese learning software for the Windows operating system that is most useful for students who already know the basics of the language. New students who do not know any characters won’t be able to use the program efficiently as it requires at least basic knowledge of the three alphabets.

Users who already know at least one of the alphabets can use the program for various tasks. This includes practicing the characters of each alphabet, translating words from Japanese into English and vice versa, and conjugating words.

Depending on the selection, lessons are either displayed as multiple choice tests or direct input tests.

The options can be used to change the screen resolution of the window and, more importantly, the difficulty. The default difficulty is set to first grade which an be changed all the way up to high school and advanced.

Japanese students can use Keolah Learns Japanese to practice Japanese vocabulary and their Japanese skills. Probably the biggest drawback right now is that the learning software does not start at the very beginning. It would be great if if would offer options to learn the alphabets and vocabulary before running the tests.

For now, this is not the case and that’s why users need a solid understanding of Japanese to make use of the program. And since it is possible to translate the other way round, it may be useful for Japanese students who want to learn English.

Students of Japanese can download the latest version of the Open Source software from the Sourceforge web page.

Another excellent program for Japanese students is Kanji Sketch Pad which can be used to learn how Japanese symbols are drawn correctly.

Tintii Photo Filter, Picture Highlighter

Martin Brinkmann — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:54:48 +0000

Sometimes you may want to highlight a specific area of a photo that you have taken with your digital camera. Maybe it is a photo of your family in a garden, a sight at your most recent holiday destination or your dog doing a crazy stunt in the park.

Tintii Photo Filter is an Open Source program for the Microsoft Windows operating system that can highlight specific areas of a photo. It does so by converting all other areas of the photo to black and white so that only the highlighted parts appear in color.

When you first load a photo into the application it appears completely in black and white (including gray tones). The program makes automatic suggestions about areas of the image that could be highlighted with colors. A click on one of the preview thumbs there will colorize the selection and keep the remaining image in gray, white and black tones.

Sliders next to each thumbnail preview are available to make changes to the images hue, saturation and lightness. The post-processing pane below the actual image offers additional sliders to change decay, edge and hardness values.

It is possible to select multiple thumbnails or just one. Once you are satisfied with the result you can save it to the hard drive.

While it is possible to add and remove thumbs from the program, it is not possible to select a specific area of the image that you want to highlight. This is probably the greatest weakness of the program at this point in time as it can happen that no thumbs with the right selection are available.

Tintii is regardless of that an interesting program for users who like to modify some of their photos or images. It is without doubt possible to use photo editors like Adobe Photoshop, Gimp or Paint.net for a similar effect, but those usually require more knowledge of the program.

The selective coloring software comes with plugins for several popular applications including Photoshop. Windows users can download the software from the Sourceforge website. The application is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Microsoft Windows.

Copy Text From Images Using Gttext

Martin Brinkmann — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 13:29:51 +0000

While it may not happen too often, you sometimes may want to copy text from an image into a document. It is certainly possible to type the text manually into the document which may be ok if it consists of a few words or sentences. But what if it is an image full of text? Maybe you have received a fax, or a document copy in image format that someone send to you via email.

Gttext is a free open source program for the Windows operating system to identify text in images and copy it to the Windows clipboard. The Ground Truthing tool for Color Images with Text needs to be installed before it can be used to copy text from images to the clipboard.

The program supports a variety of image formats including the popular jpg and png formats as well as bmp, tiff and gif. You start by loading an image into the program. One issue that I had was with the available file filter in the browser, as it offered separate filters for all image formats so that it was necessary to switch to the right filter before the image file would appear in the file browser.

All you then need to do in best case is to draw a rectangle around the text on the image that you want to copy. The program displays the copied text that it identified automatically in a popup with options to cancel, try again or to continue (copy to clipboard).

Try again will run the text recognition again to correct possible errors that were made in a previous run. The text recognition software supports various tools to optimize the image for identifying text. This includes zooming in or out, or modifying the documents brightness among other tools.

Another interesting feature is the ability to extract all text at once without selecting the text first. This is done with a click on Tools > Copy Text From > Full Image.

The text recognition algorithm of Gttext is solid, and worked very well on several document scans that I had in image format on my PC. You do need to go over the results though as they may contain errors that you need to correct manually.

Windows users can download Gttext from the project’s Google Code project website. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Simple IP Config , Configure Network Adapter Settings

Martin Brinkmann — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 08:14:20 +0000

Modern operating systems make it a lot easier for users to connect to the Internet. You may not need to configure network settings at all before connecting to the Internet via a network cable. Even wireless connections have become easier to configure, as it is usually only needed to enter the secure code to establish the connection.

Things get more complicated when you need to connect to a network or create a network. That’s when you come into contact with IP addresses, DNS servers or default gateways that you need to configure.

While you can do that under Windows’s control panel, it is not the most comfortable thing to do, especially not so if you have multiple network adapters installed on the system.

The free portable software Simple IP Config can be used to configure network settings for all installed network adapters.

You need to start by selecting a network adapter from the selection menu at the top. Hit the refresh button afterwards to refresh the information if it is not done automatically.

You should now see the adapters IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, dns server and IP type in the interface. You can start modifying settings on the right side of the screen. It is possible to clear, edit or add values to all fields.

Make sure you do not forget to hit the Submit button after you have finished configuring the settings for the selected network adapter.

Three additional options are available. You can hit the renew or release button on the left side to renew or release the IP address. It is furthermore possible to enable or disable the Windows Firewall and to enable DHCP.

Experienced users may not need to use Simple IP Config. It is nevertheless handy to have all settings on one screen. Inexperienced users can do all configuring of network adapter settings in one simple to use interface instead of having to make their way into the depths of the Windows control panel.

Interested users can download Simple IP Config from the project website over at Sourceforge. The portable program is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Cover Retriever, Download, Save Album Covers

Martin Brinkmann — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:21:20 +0000

I personally do not really care if mp3 files on my computer have the proper album covers associated with them. I do however know a few people who want their mp3 collection to be in perfect condition, which includes having album cover art for all of their mp3 files.

Cover Retriever is a free open source software for Windows that makes it easy to add album cover art to mp3 and flac audio files on the computer.

All you have to do is to start the program after downloading and unzipping it. The program prompts for a music directory on startup. Once supplied, it will crawl all the mp3 and flac files in the directory – including subfolders – and display them in a list in the sidebar.

All albums are sorted in their original folder structure. The program furthermore retrieves album covers for every album or mp3 file that you click on.

You can select a cover by simply clicking on it. Covers are retrieved using the audio files audio tags. There is no way to do a custom search from inside the program, which is probably the biggest flaw right now.

The program displays each cover’s width and height in the main interface. To take a closer look, you can double-click an album cover to open it in a larger preview window.

You can click the Save button in the main window or in the preview window to save the album cover. You have the option to save it into the folder of the audio file or have the program embed the cover directly.

Another issue that people with a large music collection will run into is that there is no option to process a number of albums at the same time. There is no option to let the program pick the cover and save it to as the album art.

Cover Retriever nevertheless is a handy program for small to mid sized collections that miss some album cover art. Windows users can download the latest version of the program from the Sourceforge project website. The program is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. Please note that the application requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.

Network Planning, Mapping Software PrimeDesktop

Martin Brinkmann — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 11:49:31 +0000

It is usually not necessary to use a software to plan a small home network that consists of a couple of PCs, a router and maybe other peripherals like a NAS or printer. But when it comes to medium sized or even larger networks, especially in a business environment, it pays off to plan before starting to build the network.

The free Open Source software PrimeDesktop combines planning with mapping and even administration. When you start the program for the first time you can start creating a new network right away. You see a list of devices in the Unit Area on the left. You can drag and drop those devices on the planning board. Devices are divided into four groups:

Desktop devices – Desktop and mobile end user devices.
Server Devices – Proxy Server, Firewall Server, Printer, Database and Mails servers among others.
External Devices – Scanners, printers, fax machines and external hard drives among others
Network devices – Hubs, switches, routers, modems among others.

You can configure each device with a right-click and the selection of Open Device from the context menu. Here it is for instance possible to change the hardware or operating system, software and network settings like the device’s IP, MAC address or default gateway.

Once you have placed your devices on the screen, you can start connecting them with each other.

Here is a feature overview:

Visualization – A visual representation of all the devices in the network. All devices responsive to user interaction, moveable and connectable to other devices.
Different Connection Types – Decide how devices connect to each other depending on the available ports. Change ports, manipulate hardware or add/remove hardware to change types of connections possible to and from devices in the network.
Drag’n'Drop Device Selection – Drag and drop devices into the network from the list of standard devices.
Networks Overview -Keep track of your open networks with tabs.
Hardware Overview – Have total control over what hardware each device contains. Install and remove hardware components, like CPU, Motherboard and Ram, to match the machines specific purpose. Configure each hardware component with detailed settings.
Software Overview – Setup the software on computers. Install and remove programs and operating systems, including softwave specific settings like filesystem support and security settings.
Network Rules – Control your network with Network Rules. Set what is and is not allowed in your network, with the option to exempt specific devices from the rules.
Custom Device Icons – Customize the icons for the devices in your network.
Export Network to a file, so you can share with others, or export the network as an image for easy presentation
Create rooms in your network to separate and distinguish between network separation.
Export all aspects of your system, including your standard devices list with icons and custom operating systems. Import others customization and share your work with others.
PrimeDesktop is a Java application which means that you need to have the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed on your computer to run the networking planning and mapping software. You can download the latest version of the program from the application’s home over at Sourceforge.

TunnelVision, Hide Part Of Your Screen

Martin Brinkmann — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:36:03 +0000

Remember those pupils at school that would not let you peak at their work during class? They usually used their elbow and body to block your view. TunnelVision is more or less the modern adpotion of this century old practice, only that you are now in control of what others see on your computer monitor. Lets say you are working on some highly classified materials on your computer, or as a harmless variant, you are watching a video in one corner during work hours.

Anyone passing by or sitting behind you could get a glimpse of those contents on your screen, or use a camera to take a picture at anytime, since everything is visible on the desktop all the time.

With TunnelVision installed you can blacken out part of your screen. This is done automatically, and one of the options how it could look like is shown on the screenshot below.

Everything on the screen is still working as it should, it is only that part of the screen is not shown anymore. You can move your mouse around to make other parts of the screen visible. It is for instance a good idea to move the mouse to the system tray area to right-click on the TunnelVision icon to open the program’s properties. Here you can change the diameter and shape of the visible part. You can for instance change from a circle shape to rectanle or square, and increase the diameter to see more of the screen.

The only other option available is to change the background color from black to another color.

It takes time to get used to the screen protector. Especially the fact that you have to move your mouse to make screen space visible on your desktop will take getting used to time.

Regardless of that, it can have its uses. The software is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows. It can be downloaded from the developer website. The program source code is already available. (via)

CherryTomato, Pomodoro Technique Software Timer

Martin Brinkmann — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:26:13 +0000

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management technique where you jot down tasks on the list and work on those tasks in 25 minute intervals. You take a short break after each interval, and a longer break after four sessions. You can read more about the technique on the official website.

CherryTomato is an Open Source application for Windows that acts as a software based timer for the Pomodoro Technique. You still need to write down the tasks that you want to complete on any given day though.

The program sits in the Windows system tray after installation. You start and stop sessions with a right-click on the program icon and the selection of Start Pomodoro from the context menu.

The new session begins and a statistics window will be displayed after 25 minutes have passed. The program displays the keyboard and mouse activity in that time, as well as all applications and tasks during that time. This includes all web pages and programs that have been active during that time.

Sessions can be rated and either approved or dismissed. Another option is a reminder that can remind you after five, ten or fifteen minutes to start another Pomodoro session.

You need to start a new session the same way. This is probably the biggest usability issue as there is no option to use a shortcut or to automate the creation of new sessions. Whenever you are ready, you need to right-click and select Start Pomodoro.

The program settings can be used to customize the program. CherryTomato will for instance indicate in Live Messenger and Skype that you are currently in Pomodoro to avoid interruption. This can be disabled. It is furthermore possible to create regular reminders to start a new Pomodoro session.

Windows users can download CherryTomato from the develop website. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.

Alternatives that offer better automation are Instant Boss and Interruptron. (via)

WinRAP, Protect, Hide Running Applications In Windows

Martin Brinkmann — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:58:13 +0000

There is no way to hide or protect applications in the Windows operating system so that users with local access to the operating system cannot see and access them. While some applications offer password protection to prevent unauthorized access, it is sill possible to see that the program is running, for instance by checking the program icons in the Windows system tray or by opening the task manager.

The portable software WinRAP has two core features. The first option is to hide applications in Windows which hides the open application window from appearing in the taskbar. If you leave it at that, someone else could still see that the software is running by opening the task manager or looking at the system tray. To avoid that, it is possible to disable the task manager and hide the taskbar in locked status.

The program populates the list of running applications on startup. You hide one or multiple apps in Windows by selecting them first and pressing the H hotkey afterwards. You can alternatively click on the Hide button. You will instantly notice that the application does not appear in the taskbar anymore.

Windows 7 users can customize the system tray to hide application icons and notifications there natively, which would leave the task manager to find out that a specific program is running on the system.

You can lock the application which adds password protection to the program. Users who want to access the list of programs need to enter the correct password to do so. The WinRAP icon itself is fully transparent in the system tray in this state.

The default password (1234) can be changed in the options. This is also the place where a new hotkey can be set for unlocking the program’s stealth mode.

WinRAP does not offer 100% protection against users who snoop around on a PC system. One option would be to install a third party process manager like Process Explorer to get a listing of all applications and processes running on the system.

Windows users can download WinRAP from the program website over at Sourceforge. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.

I have reviewed several alternatives for Windows in the past, including WinVisible, WinHide.SB and Hide App.

InfoBar, Display Hardware, Software Information on Windows Desktop

Martin Brinkmann — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:52:59 +0000

After reviewing the Quick Access Bar just two days ago, I have another toolbar for you that docks to the top of the Windows desktop. InfoBar is a fully customizable toolbar that can display information about a computer’s hardware,,software and online activities.

All information are made available by so called modules. It is possible to block some modules from being installed, which makes sense if you do not plan on using them. Modules range from displaying the current cpu and memory utilization to the current bandwidth, Google Mail notifications, a uTorrent watcher, weather conditions or a volume control.

The toolbar docks to the top of the screen where it is always visible. It is blank by default which means that you need to activate the modules first that you want to see on the toolbar.

This is done with a right-click on the toolbar and the selection of Modules in the options.

Click on the items that you want displayed and then on the OK button. All modules are then displayed on the toolbar. Each module comes with its own configuration page where you can modify how the information are presented and how often the graph and tooltip get updated.

You could for instance switch from displaying all cpu cores individually as text on the toolbar to a graph, and even show both a graph and textual information.

You can move the mouse cursor over a module in the toolbar to get additional information in a tooltip. The memory module for instance not only displays the overall memory usage but also the top processes that use memory in the tooltip.

InfoBar ships with several skins that change the appearance of the toolbar significantly. You find default Windows 7 and Vista skins in the settings as well as Microsoft’s Luna skin and custom made skins from third party designers.

The infobar is not shown if a fullscreen application is started. The idea is nice: Give the user direct information that are always visible on the screen. Some users might not like the fact that they lose part of their screen for the toolbar. Then again, it does not use that much space on the system, and there is an autohide option.

The modules are responsive and all configuration changes that I made during tests worked out fine and were shown on the toolbar more or less instantly.

Interested Windows users can download the latest version of InfoBar from the project website over at Sourceforge.

MultiObfuscator, Advanced Cryptography Software

Martin Brinkmann — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 14:28:37 +0000

Sometimes you may want to protect some files or maybe even just one document from third party access. While you could use an encryption software like TrueCrypt to create a container to put those files into, you sometimes may prefer an easier solution.

MultiObfuscator is a free program for Windows that uses multiple security layers to protect data from third party access. In particular, the program uses a three layered approach that combines cryptography with data scrambling and based whitening. Users can furthermore use deniable cryptography to use less important data as a decoy in case someone’s forcing them to decrypt the data.

The encryption software is portable. Once executed, users will see the following screen.

Here they can access the help which offers a step by step guide explaining how to use the program. The two options to lock files or texts open configuration menus where users can configure the encryption and obfuscation individually.

The program divides the necessary steps into tabs in the program window. Users need to configure settings in a minimum of two tabs. First in the main setup tab where the protections are configured, and then in the main file lock tab where the file to protect is selected. Two additional tabs are added to the setup if a decoy file needs to be added.

The excellent help file gives lots of examples and tips on how to lock and unlock files with the help of the program. All usage scenarios are described in detail here.

Windows users who are looking for an easy to use advanced security software that is portable and Open Source, should take a closer look at MultiObfuscator. The software is available for download at the developer’s website. The software is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

The program refers to those options as easy, medium and expert setups. An easy setup for instance would just encrypt the selected file, while an advanced setup would use multiple protection methods to protect the file.

DiscFit, Optimize Multi-Disc Burning Operations

Martin Brinkmann — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:41:00 +0000

Have you ever tried to burn a large number of files and folders to a set of discs? Then you might have run into difficulties arranging the files and folders into a fashion to burn them on the least number of discs. The problem here is that this usually meant lots of file and folder juggling to pack files on each disc that come near the maximum available capacity.

Good news is: This is no longer necessary. All the arranging of files and folders for an extensive multi-disc burn job is now handled by a software. DiscFit basically turns a set of files and folders into optimized sets ready for burning.

When you start the portable program you are presented with a minimalistic interface. A click on File opens a menu with options to add files or folders that should be included in the burning job.

All files and folders are displayed and their sizes are calculated. This can take some time depending on the selection.

the Target Media menu at the bottom of the screen can be used to selected a specific media type, e.g. DVD, Blu-Ray or CD. The file capacities of the selected disc type are then used to calculate the resulting sets.

It is also possible to set a custom disc size if a custom disc size is needed for a job. A click on the pack button runs rearranges all files and folders so that the least amount of discs are needed to burn all files.

Files inside a folder are kept together, while individual files and folders may be moved around to make optimal use of the disc space of each disc.

There is also an oversized tab for files or folders that are to large to be burned on one disc.

All the user needs to do know is to drag and drop the folders of each set to the disc burning program. This works with popular burning programs like ImgBurn or Nero. Users do however need to make sure that the file selection screen of the burning software is the target of the drop.

DiscFit is a free portable software program for the Windows operating system. Users can download the latest version from the project’s Sourceforge page. (via)

Classic Shell, Add Dropped Features To Newer Windows Versions

Martin Brinkmann — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:57:14 +0000

When you compare the Windows XP operating system to Vista or Windows 7, you will notice that Microsoft has changed, altered or removed features in the newer operating system. From a new start menu to a new Windows Explorer layout, new copy user interface or the new Internet Explorer 9 that looks and feels slightly different than previous versions of the web browser.

Classic Shell is a free software for Windows that brings back several of the features that were modified or dropped in newer versions of the Windows operating system. The full list of features includes:

The classic Windows start menu with eight available skins
Classic Windows Explorer
Classic Internet Explorer 9

Windows users can select which features they want installed on their system during installation. It is possible to only install the classic start menu for instance, or only classic Windows Explorer. Installation requires elevated privileges and changes are immediately available and visible without a system restart.

The classic Windows start menu for instance is available right after the installation finishes. The classic Windows Explorer menu on the other hand is only partially available.

A right-click on the toolbar and the selection of Classic Explorer Bar enables the toolbar in Windows Explorer. A click on the options button opens a configuration menu with interesting settings. Here it is possible to add or remove toolbar buttons from the Explorer toolbar and configure other features of Windows Explorer.

Some of the things that you can configure here is a different location bar layout (disable breadcrumbs), change the navigation pane style to XP classic or simple, enable sort headers in all view modes or to replace the file and folder conflict dialogs (file exists for instance when copying).

Classic Shell adds three configuration options to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 web browser. It adds a caption to the title bar to display the page title there and shows the security zone and loading progress in the browser’s status bar.

Windows Vista or Windows 7 users who miss some of the features that they used to work with under Windows XP, should take Classic Shell for a test ride to see if it resolves some of the issues that they have.

The Open Source software is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. Downloads are offered at the program homepage over at Sourceforge.

Gramps, Free Genealogy Software

Martin Brinkmann — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:24:47 +0000

One of the things that I will do with my mother in the coming months is to write down our family’s genealogy. We are both interested in both the research involved and how far back in history we can trace our family tree. For that, I’m currently testing various genealogy software programs to find a suitable candidate for the task. Gramps on first glance offers everything that one would need from a genealogy software.

Gramps has a lot to offer from a technical perspective. The free Open Source application is available as a portable version (from portable apps) and installer. It comes with a plugin system to add more functionality and features to the program. Plugins can be installed at first startup, or from within the program via Help > Plugin Manager.

Addons add importing and exporting capabilities, report generation, various relationship calculators, additional sources and a lot more.

New users need to create at least one family tree in the beginning before they can start adding family members to that database.

Data like people, relationships, events, places or media are added by first selecting the menu in the left sidebar. New data is then added by right-clicking in the interface and selecting the Add context menu entry or from the main menu bar.

Individuals are best added via the People menu, family connections via the Families menu. You can theoretically add father, mother and children individually via the People menu, or all together via the Families menu.

The program has a lot to offer in terms of data that can be added to individual people. From personal events like birth, death or marriage over data sources and attributes to media objects like photos and associations. Most of the available data fields are completely optional, which is understandable as many information are often not available.

The genealogy software requires some getting used to time which can be mainly attributed to the wealth of data that it can store. Users have so many options that it can be difficulty to keep an overview of everything.

The software can generate different types of reports at any time. This includes a book report, graphical reports or graphs. Views can also be exported as comma separated value files or OpenDocument spreadsheets.

It is possible to create a basic family tree in minutes. This tree would be restricted to names, birth dates and relationships.

Genealogy Software Features

People: A list of every individual in your records featuring birth/death dates and more.
Relationships: A summary of the active person’s parents, siblings, spouses and children.
Relationships: A summary of the active person’s parents, siblings, spouses and children.
Ancestry: A graphic representation of the active person’s ancestry featuring photos and birth/death dates
Events: A list of every event in your records featuring descriptions, event types, dates and places.
Places: A list of every place in your records featuring place names and location details.
Geography: An interactive map view highlighting places associated with one person, a group of people or all people in your records.
Sources: A list of all sources referenced in your records featuring authors and publication details.
Repositories: A list of source repositories referenced in you records featuring web addresses, physical addresses and email contact information.
Media: A list of all photos, videos and other media referenced in your records featuring thumbnail preview, media type and more.
Notes: A list of all text notes included in your records featuring note type and preview.

Gramps is a very sophisticated genealogical research software. I would suggest to download the program from the portable apps website, as it includes all dependencies (Python) and is fully portable. Users who want to install Gramps from the official website need to make sure that they have Python up and running on their system as the software requires that. Gramps is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems.

RegName, Fast Regular Expression Based File Name Changer

Martin Brinkmann — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:02:33 +0000

Have you ever tried to rename a number of files, say a few dozen, in Windows Explorer? The renaming operation takes a long time. In addition, renaming those files is a repetitive boring process, especially if the multi-file renaming option of Windows Explorer is of no use to you.

Enter RegName, a free Open Source program for Windows to rename multiple files in a directory easily. It can for instance be used to change the name of a series of photos you want to rename, log files, videos that you have created or any other kinds of files.

You can either start the program directly and switch to the folder that stores the files that you want to rename, or you can use the Windows Explorer integration to do the same. Just right-click in Windows Explorer on the folder that stores the files you want to rename and select Rename files using RegName to launch the program with that folder preselected.

Regname is supporting regular expressions to match and rename file names. The basic match pattern is set to . which would catch all file names in the folder that have a period in their file name.

You can then use those values again in the replace pattern if you like. Jerusalem-. would for instance add Jerusalem in front of the existing file name and extension (as the example looks at a folder of photos taken in Jerusalem).

But regular expressions are way more powerful than those basic examples. You can completely rewrite the file name or use information from the existing file name.

The preview button is handy as it allows you to verify that the new file names will look exactly as you want them to look. A click on Rename finally runs the rename operation on all files that match the pattern.

RegName comes with a command line version that you can use as well. The most interesting option besides the ability to use the command line version in batch file operations is the ability to rename files in sub-folders as well, something that is not possible with the gui version of the program.

Windows users can download RegName directly from Codeplex. Be advised that the program requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0. The program is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.

Download Security Software With Free SSDownloader

Martin Brinkmann — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:48:42 +0000

The first version of Security Software Downloader was released in 2010. The program allows Windows users to download security software comfortably from the program interface. That’s handy especially on new systems, on systems that need a change in security software and PCs that are infected by malware that the installed antivirus software cannot remove.

Security Software Downloader 2 has just been released by its developers. The program itself is still Open Source and compatible with all 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 operating system.

The first change that users will notice is the new and improved user interface which now separates security software in groups like free antivirus, malware removal or firewalls.

That’s better than the all on one page approach of the program’s predecessors.

The program is set to auto detect the operating system and version of the operating system. Users can make the changes manually which is helpful if the auto detection did not detect the correct OS and version.

Software can be selected with a click in the adjacent check box. It is possible to select multiple programs at once. A click on the download button downloads all selected security applications to the operating system. Windows users who do not want the programs to be downloaded to their desktop should click on the Change Download Dir button to change the save location.

The program is not providing any information about the security software in its interface. A website button next to each program links directly to the program homepage on the Internet.

So what is new in Security Software Downlader? The developer has added support for additional programs, raising the number of applications to over 50. Among the new tools are Panda Internet Security, the password manager LastPass, Spybot Search & Destroy and CyberGhost VPN.

Security Software Downloader is still a handy program for users who would like to download multiple security applications at once from the Internet. It can also be handy for users who want to discover and test new products.

SSDownloader can be downloaded from the project website over at Sourceforge.

Create Mindmaps with Freeplane

Melanie Gross — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 23:31:03 +0000

Software exists today that allows you to chart your patterns of though and brainstorms in easy to navigate illustrations. Such programs allow you to make flowcharts that send you from one thought to the next in an effort to sort out exactly what meaning you are attempting to convey. Most such programs charge users a hefty sum, but some options, like Freeplane, allow you to access all the convenience of such charts without paying a dime.

To try it, simply follow this link to the program’s download page. Freeplane is a larger download than most, sitting at a bit over 16MB, although you still should not have any problems fitting it on your system unless you are already approaching critical mass. Installation is a breeze, and Freeplane should automatically launch once you have worked through a few quick setup pages.

The first thing that will likely strike you as you look upon the program’s interface is how complicated it appears at a glance. Freeplane has a lot of different buttons, and sorting through them in the beginning can be rather difficult. As such, opening the tab titled User Manual and exploring a mind map that has already been created can be a good first step, even if you do not care to read the manual’s contents. Doing so illustrates how thoughts can topics can be linked together through the mind map layout and what sort of results you can expect once you finish constructing your project.

In attempting to build your mind map you will want to start by learning a few simple ways of manipulating the information on the screen to create a series of nodes that helps you map out your thoughts. The most important of these is the insert function, which allows you to create new nodes from a parent. This allows you to begin constructing branches from your core concept and really start making a mind map that helps you and others follow your thoughts. By pushing the insert key while a node is highlighted you force a branch from it and will automatically be given them option to name it. If you do not like the position of the child node simply click and drag it to somewhere more convenient.

You can similarly create sibling nodes at the same depth as a highlighted node by clicking Enter. Delete nodes with the Delete key.

To be able to get a handle on the program you also need to become familiar with the various functions made possible by the quick keys listed along the top of the program. They allow you to manipulate not only nodes but the content held within the nodes. Take time to experiment with the F-keys to learn more about how they can make building mind maps easier and more thorough as you get more familiar with the program.

Freeplane does not have the snappy graphics that some of its competitors do. For some this may be a problem, but for those who want total control over the creation of their mind maps without having to pay anything Freeplane is a fantastic tool. Charting the mind can be a difficult task, just like trying to keep track of the seemingly chaotic running of your thoughts. With Freeplane, both challenges are made a bit easier.

CloseTheDoor, Identify Local TCP, UDP Listening Ports

Martin Brinkmann — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:40:59 +0000

One of the things that I to regularly on all of my computer systems is to check each system’s open TCP and UDP ports. It is a security precaution to make sure that only needed ports are listening, and that all other ports are closed to reduce the chance of a successful attack. I have been using various programs for that task, the previously reviewed CurrPorts by Nirsoft for instance. Today I’m going to review CloseTheDoor, another program that Windows users can use to identify local TCP and UDP listening ports.

The program is offered as a portable version and installer by its developers. Both versions offer the same functionality in all other aspects.

The software displays all listening ports, their protocol, process, process ID, associated services and company in the interface. This makes it relatively easy to identify specific ports directly in the program interface. Especially the associated services column can be helpful in identifying the responsible Windows services.

A right-click on a row opens a context menu with additional research options.

Locate the executable file – Opens the folder that contains the process executable.
Terminate this process – Terminates the process directly. May only be temporary if the process restarts automatically.
Process services – Displays all services that are linked to the process.
Google… – Research the port, process on Google.
Wikipedia… – Research the port, process on Wikipedia.
Usage statistics of this port – Look up statistics
Port authority database – Provides information about most ports.

The menubar on top links to additional tools, commands and references. The tools menu links to Windows apps like the Services managements interface, the Task Manager, Registry Editor or Local Security Settings. Commands can run the netstat command to display all open connections, the task list and the system’s environment variables.

Internet references finally links to essays and white papers about ports and online security. Linked there are for instance BlackViper’s excellent website that is offering services configuration suggestions, lists of common port numbers or a Microsoft guide on how to configure a firewall for domains and trusts.

It is furthermore possible to display a short summary, and to export the current port list in detail. CloseTheDoor offers everything that one could hope for when analyzing open ports on a Windows machine. It is a solid alternative to CurrPorts. The software is compatible with all recent versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It tested fine on a 64-bit Windows 7 test system. Downloads of the portable version, installer and source code are available at the project website over at Sourceforge.