Link: http://www.betanews.com/article/Adobe-updates-Webbased-Photoshop-no-longer-demands-membership/1282752551

Everyone needs to do a little photo editing now and then, and the redesigned photoshop extras now looks to be a great online editor.

Firstly, a Photoshop.com account is no longer needed to use Photoshop Express Editor. Users can simply navigate to the Web app, upload photos directly from their local drive, edit and change the photos, and then save them back on their local storage. Previously, an account was necessary, and photos were uploaded to online storage first before they were edited. This is still an option, as Photoshop.com members can still store and share photos online as well as create albums, but it's no longer the only way to use the Editor.

Link: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

UBCD gets an update - this is a must have software for any system tinkerer...

There are so many tools on this puppy there are far too numerous to list here - go and take a look, or download it and play around with it. You'll be glad you did.

Link: http://www.howtogeek.com/news/internet-explorer-will-finally-stop-drawing-a-pointless-2-pixel-border-around-web-sites/487/

Another really annoying IE trait is going away with version 9 - the 2 pixel border drawn by default around the body tag. While this is good news, it's tempered somewhat by the amount of people still using IE6.

Link: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/bitdefender-rescue-cd-removes-viruses-fails/#more-51092

Nice tool to have here, when a machine gets bad enough that it can no longer be scanned from inside the OS - give bitdefender a try... I've had some good luck with it.

This little-advertised free product can scan your unbootable or corrupt Windows setup safely from a Linux Live CD.

Don’t panic! You don’t need to know anything about Linux to use this disk. All you need to know how to do is burn an ISO and boot from it.

Link: http://www.redferret.net/?p=22862

The Red Ferret has found this very cool bit of software for those of you that might need to do some image editing and don't have Photoshop...

Photoscape is a fully – and we mean fully – featured photo editing freeware program which offers slideshow, lossless image rotation, a complete editing suite, screen capture, batch processing of images and an animated gif maker. Phew! The interface is a little quirky, but still understandable and you get the usual mix of filters and effects in the editor that you’ll find in commercial products.

Link: http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/17/6rounds-rounds-facebook/

A while back I spotlighted this way cool video chat service and now it seems they have an app for Facebook so you can bother your friends in a 2 way video chat.

The app, which is called Video Chat Rounds, lets you interact with Facebook users over video, not only to chat but also to play games, enhance conversations with effects in real-time, share Flickr photos, watch YouTube videos, exchange virtual gifts and much more.

Essentially, it’s video chat on steroids.

Link: http://www.appscout.com/2010/08/vlingo_voice_command_app_goes.php

Figures, after I bought the darn thing. Vlingo is a really cool app which lets you dictate text messages (EG while your driving) - it also reads incoming texts and emails to you and on top of that you can control a whole bunch of apps with your voice too. Topping it off - they just went freeware, what more could you want?

Vlingo is available for Android 2.0 and Android 2.1 (as well as the iPhone, RIM BlackBerry, Nokia Series 60, and Windows Mobile).

Link: http://www.physorg.com/news200991000.html

From the company that created Magic Jack, software will soon be available to allow for free phone calls from internet connected devices. What evils will the software include? Ads, monitoring, privacy concerns? That remains to be seen.

MagicTalk would go one better by eliminating fees for calling landline and cell phones in the U.S. and Canada, with no time limits on the calls.

The software will be available next week for Windows and Mac computers. Versions for the iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and Android phones will follow in September or October, said Dan Borislow, the CEO of VocalTec Communications Ltd.

Each magicTalk user gets a phone number that's associated with the software. Users will also be able to move their existing phone numbers to the service, for a fee, a feature that will be extended to magicJack users soon as well.

Is it good enough for a complete landline replacement? Maybe not, read up before ditching the cordless.

Link: http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2268169/microsoft-updates-migration

I've been in this boat before, it wasn't by choice. But if you have to do this type of migration things just got a heck of a lot easier.

Microsoft claims that 94 per cent of SSMA downloaders would recommend the tool to others.

The new version allows customers to migrate to any edition of SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2005, and the SSMA for MySQL and SSMA for Access products also support simple and direct migration to SQL Azure.

SSMA for MySQL v1.0 is designed to work with MySQL 4.1 and above, and includes the ability to convert or migrate elements such as tables, cursors, triggers and transactions.

Smart move from Redmond here - hopefully not too many people will be in this category.

Link: http://www.ghacks.net/2010/08/11/firesay-adds-speech-recognition-to-firefox/

I dunno, I've tried speech recognition before and I just couldn't help from feeling stupid barking orders at a pc. However the trend moves on and this beta with limited support debuts for Firefox.

Firesay is an interesting add-on for Firefox, as it adds speech recognition to the web browser so that users can use voice commands to issue commands in the browser. While it is not mentioned anywhere on the page, it appears to be only compatible with Windows related PCs. It would be great if Linux, Mac, and users with Windows XP could test the add-on to see if it is compatible with their operating system as well.

Link: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/08/09/hot-on-the-heels-of-chrome-firefox-4-will-support-silent-in-t/

This is good news - I think silent immediate updates are the way to go for all software....

According to Computerworld (they don't cite a source, however), Firefox 4.0 will feature the same 'silent' updating as Google Chrome. Minor updates, say from Firefox 4.0 to 4.0.1, will be carried out in the background after the user opens the browser. Major revisions to 4.5 or 5.0 will still prompt the user before being installed.

In true Firefox fashion though they won't force you to take the new behavior if you don't want to.

the behind-the-scenes auto-updater will be configurable. For those that simply want to browse, you can disable any and all update notifications -- your browser will always be kept up-to-date. Alternatively, if you're a power-user, you can simply turn the auto-updater off.

Link: http://www.ghacks.net/2010/08/09/remove-multiple-toolbars-in-windows/

You all know the scenario - go to a house to look at a misbehaving PC and there are so many toolbars installed you barely have any screen left for the browser. This nifty bit of software can save you a good deal of time in ripping them out and then you can deal with the leftover BHO's etc.

Link: http://www.mspot.com/

Awesome idea - good implementation.

Listen to your music at home, at work, at your friend's
Just open a web browser (IE, Safari, Chrome, Firefox) on PC or Mac and access your entire music collection.
Get your music on that smartphone
Our player app is smart too; it keeps playing in and out of network. Get music, cover art and lyrics instantly.
Effortlessly keep music updated across all your devices
Your smartphone and desktop browsers will automatically reflect changes in your songs and playlists. No wires. No hassle. Just music.

Link: http://www.ghacks.net/2010/08/06/ccleaner-enhancer-adds-200-rules-to-ccleaner/

CC Cleaner is something I've been using for a long time. I set it to run invisibly at boot and whack all sorts of temp files and garbage. It just got even better.

CCleaner Enhancer is a portable program for Windows that improves CCleaner tremendously by adding 270 new programs to it. The software makes use of the custom rules capabilities and adds its rules to the existing ones.

The latest version of the program supports both portable and installed versions of CCleaner. Wiindows Vista and Windows 7 users need to run the program as administrators, as it otherwise fails to work properly.

Link: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/23959/completely-remove-itunes-and-other-apple-software-from-a-windows-computer/

You'd be surprised just how much garbage one single program installs - take a look at this guide and clean it up!

Link: http://www.redferret.net/?p=22557

Nice bit of software that manages how your pc handles you leaving your desk... lots of options.

Run System Silencer and when you’re away your computer’s monitor can turn itself off, the sound will be muted and you can even choose to hide your taskbar and desktop icons! Of course, you can skip all the hiding and just configure System Silencer to lock your computer while you’re away. Additional options allow you to kill a process and run a program or file, if you have anything specific you’d like to hide or show while you’re “afk”.

Link: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/chat-friends-securely-privately-retroshare-im/

This looks to be a great little piece of software that incorporates peer to peer file sharing to do everything except video chat. Nice way to share files with friends.

The process of setting up your profile is an interesting process where the software generates prime numbers to come up with a unique “GPG key”. This is a special code that identifies your computer – so even if someone steals your password, installs the software on their own computer and tries to communicate with someone pretending to be you, it’s not going to happen. All authentication with friends is a process that ensures absolute security.

Link: http://www.geek.com/articles/news/google-earth-gets-real-time-weather-20100730/

Very nifty new layer for Google Earth.

Version 5.2 of the popular global mapping product delivers the real-time effects, allowing users to keep tabs on the progress of tropical storms or check out the current weather at their favourite weekend getaway before they embark on a long drive.
Users wanting to check if their location is covered by the real-time weather data should enable the radar and cloud layers.

Link: http://cybernetnews.com/remotely-restart-computer/

Every now and again you find a nifty little program that's both free and incredibly useful...

This free and portable app offers all kinds of options for managing power-related tasks both locally and remotely. Not only that, but you can create your own scripts for it to run.

Link: http://csved.sjfrancke.nl/

Thanks Osh!

I work with CSV files from time to time and this software looks to be really useful.

* edit, add, insert and delete items;
* import;
* change separator;
* add, delete columns;
* rearrange column order;
* save selection of rows and columns;
* save filtered items;
* save with double quotes;
* search and replace;
* filter items;
* remove duplicates;
* append and merge files;
* install and uninstall
* help in English
* add prefix and suffix
* split and join columns
* export to HTML, Excel, Word, XML and more
* proper words and strings
* column search
* column sort and global sort

Link: http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2267192/firefox-gets-beta-update

More details on the next major update coming for Firefox.

Firefox 4 beta 2 includes a number of improvements, and is now available in 23 languages. The firm credited its global community of users with much of the work towards achieving this.

Tabs have been improved, and the firm said that from now they could be turned into App Tabs, meaning that users can switch between applications, for example an email client, as easily as they change web pages.

Mac and Windows users will find their tabs located at the top of the page, the firm added, which should make it easier to navigate and control their web experience.

Link: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Remove-Fake-Antivirus/1260895677/1

If you've got one of those annoying fake antiviruses popping up and killing your system - try this software out, it just may do the trick. Note though that this won't touch the rootkit version that installs 20 of 'em.

Everyone needs to convert videos at some point - from one format to another or maybe for a specific device like converting a movie to watch on your portable device. These two programs are both free and easy to use, and with them you can put video on any and every device or service imaginable.

Hampster Video Converter

Bulk Video Converter

Link: http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/

A very smart move from Google on this one .....

You can build just about any app you can imagine with App Inventor. Often people begin by building games like WhackAMole or games that let you draw funny pictures on your friend's faces. You can even make use of the phone's sensors to move a ball through a maze based on tilting the phone.

But app building is not limited to simple games. You can also build apps that inform and educate. You can create a quiz app to help you and your classmates study for a test. With Android's text-to-speech capabilities, you can even have the phone ask the questions aloud.

To use App Inventor, you do not need to be a developer. App Inventor requires NO programming knowledge. This is because instead of writing code, you visually design the way the app looks and use blocks to specify the app's behavior.

Link: http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/07/12/rim-announces-blackberry-protect/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBoyGeniusReport+%28Boy+Genius+Report%29

Blackberry users now can get a little piece of mind ... Rumored for months, the new service lets customers not attached to a BlackBerry Enterprise Server:

# Protect important information on a lost BlackBerry smartphone by remotely wiping or locking the device from your desktop
# Remotely add contact information to the home screen of a locked BlackBerry smartphone so it can be returned if found
# See your BlackBerry smartphone’s location and pinpoint the current whereabouts of a lost or stolen device with cell tower and GPS device tracking
# Find a nearby misplaced BlackBerry smartphone by remotely activating a loud ringer

Comes with some backup and restore functions too, but we already had that in the desktop software.

Link: http://blogs.technet.com/b/enginenotifications/archive/2010/07/09/antimalware-engine-release-for-july-2010.aspx

I've installed this in a couple end users machines and am sufficiently impressed. I'd recommend it - and it looks like the malware engine is getting an upgrade soon.

As part of regular update of our Antimalware technology to address the latest in the threat landscape, the Microsoft Antimalware Team is planning to release a new antimalware engine on 15 July 2010.
Affected products: Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE), Forefront Client Security (FCS)
Engine Version will be in the range of 1.1.600X.0

Link: http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/hands-on-firefox-4-beta-2010077/

Wow - take a look at the uncluttered new GUI - I like it but wonder where I'll put my weather bar?

For starters, Mozilla has decided to follow Google in giving your tabs top visual priority. Unlike Chrome and Opera, however, Firefox 4 lets you turn this feature off should you prefer the old-school tabs bar. Tabs are on top by default only in Firefox 4 Beta for Windows at the moment. Mozilla said that Mac and Linux versions will have this feature when the theme has been modified to support the change.

Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20009387-264.html

Well this is interesting, seeing that IBM has kinda always bucked the Microsoft trend (OS2 Warp anyone?)

Firefox has become the default browser for nearly 400,000 IBM employees, a big coup for the open-source project during a time of increasing browser competition.

"All IBM employees will be asked to use it as their default browser," Bob Sutor, vice president of open source and Linux at IBM's Software Group, said in a blog post Thursday. "Firefox is enterprise-ready, and we're ready to adopt it for our enterprise."

Mozilla has said in recent weeks it believes nearly 400 million people use its software.

Way to go Firefox!

Link: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/20714/what-is-moe.exe-and-why-is-it-running/

Interesting article here - not only for identifying what moe.exe is - but also for resource management. If you use Windows Live Sync you might be surprised at how much of your resources it takes up.

Yeah, go figure - a Windows service that hogs resources.

Link: http://www.ghacks.net/2010/06/27/firefox-3-6-6-stability-update-download-now/

Having problems with Farmville or other apps? An update has been released to help with the new out of process plugin feature timing out too quickly.

Following the release of Firefox 3.6.4 we heard from some users, mainly those using older computers, that they sometimes expect longer periods of non-responsiveness from plugins, especially with games. For these users the default timeout of 10 seconds was too short. To address this, we increased the amount of time Firefox waits for a plugin to respond before terminating it from 10 to 45 seconds. This change has been made in Firefox 3.6.6, which was released today as an automatic update for all users.

Link: http://tips.vlaurie.com/2010/06/google-voice-now-open-to-all-in-the-us/

It's out of beta and open to anyone now - and arguably this cool app is one of the most confusing to get familiar with so -

here is a link to a guide to getting started.

Link: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Fences/1234839974/1

I see a lot of software every day, but not many things catch my eye like this one. This is such a simple and no brainer idea that it makes you wonder why it's not a built in feature of windows.

Fences is a one-of-a-kind program, allowing you to draw labeled shaded areas on your desktop, which become movable & resizable containers for your desktop icons. These groups can help bring organization and consistency to your computer's desktop, solving the "constant mess" problem that has plagued the desktop since its inception.

I love it - and yes, it does remind me of Win 3.11's folders a bit.

Link: http://globalthoughtz.com/2010/06/adobe-brings-flash-player-10-1-for-mobile-platfotms/

Android will see it working almost immediately - other phones will have to wait for the carrier to update. Soon everyone (well , except Apple) will be able to viw and interact with Flash on their mobiles - Yaaaaaaay!

The Flash Player 10.1 will currently be made available for the Android devices that carry the latest version dubbed Froyo. However the others needn’t be disappointed as it has also been shipped to mobile platform partners to be supported on devices based on Android, BlackBerry, webOS, future versions of Windows Phone, LiMo, MeeGo and Symbian OS.

Link: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/3.6.4/releasenotes/

This is pretty much what Chrome does by running extensions as a separate process - if the extension (cough, Flash) crashes... the browser still works. The updates coming to everyone. If you didn't get it yet go to help / check for updates.

Link: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/19876/screenshot-tour-take-a-look-at-the-new-office-web-apps/

While they might be useful because of the Cloud storage, I don't think these apps have anything on Google Docs..... but take a look for yourself.