Cinch

Posted on September 22, 2010 by oc

Windows 7 provides the ability to move a window to the left or right half of the screen, as well as set it to full screen. On today’s larger screens, this can be quite convenient for quickly comparing two documents or realizing the full power of Drag-and-Drop editing. I previously posted about AeroSnap which brings this feature to Windows Vista. Now, Cinch brings this same convenience to Mac OS X.

By dragging a window to the left or right side of the screen, Cinch will resize the window to fit half of the screen. Cinch also shines where Mac applications fall short — in setting windows to fill the screen. Drag a window to the top (the cursor must reach the top of the screen even though the window stops at the menu bar) and Cinch will make it fill the screen.

Cinch is not free, but at $7 it’s within reach. The demo never expires, but does periodically remind you to purchase it. Cinch is available for Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

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PeerBlock

Posted on September 22, 2010 by oc

Malware will strike when you least expect it, sometimes even “safe” sites will accidentally display a compromised ad which can infect your computer. PeerBlock is a free utility for Windows 2000 and newer (XP, Vista, Windows 7) that lets you subscribe to lists of addresses you want to block, and will prevent your computer from accessing them — or them accessing your computer.

PeerBlock will prevent you from going to dangerous web pages, but there is a tradeoff. Because it blocks the connection automatically, some sites will simply not load. There is no special error or message, so you have to be aware that PeerBlock will cause this behavior. Note that the more “agressive” lists like the ad list may block some regular websites, like Google (Google is a major provider of ads). There is an option to disable HTTP filtering in PeerBlock (HTTP is the “Web”) so you can get around this limitation, but it does open your computer to the more common web-based attacks.

PeerBlock doesn’t give you license to ignore common sense and good reasoning, but it can provide a little safety in an insecure world.

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Image Resizer

Posted on September 22, 2010 by oc

As camera resolutions increase, uploading photos and e-mailing photos takes longer every year. Internet speeds can’t keep up with the ballooning file sizes of photos. In many cases you only need to send smaller versions of those photos, but most resizing software is cumbersome.

Enter Image Resizer. Based on a free tool Microsoft created for Windows XP, Image Resizer Powertoy Clone for Windows provides quick and easy resizing for one or many photos, and has plenty of options. It works on 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Simply select one or more photos, right-click on one of them, and click “Resize Pictures.” Choose from four default sizes or click the “Advanced >>” button and set your own custom size. Image Resizer will save off copies of the pictures at a reduced size (and file size).

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Handbrake

Posted on September 22, 2010 by oc

Handbrake was created to do one job – transcode DVDs – and it does it well. It has many important and useful features like Deinterlacing, Handbrake now supports transcoding video from other formats. It provides a number of presets for difference devices, which makes it a snap to transcode movies for viewing on an iPod Touch, PSP, or other popular platforms.

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AeroSnap

Posted on May 5, 2010 by oc

Microsoft created the “Maximize” habit – the need to have one window consume the entire screen – long ago when it made more sense to give each program all the space on your small screen. But, times have changed. Modern screens pack so many pixels that many web sites and word documents are packed with empty space on the left or right.

Microsoft’s alternative to Maximize is Snap, a feature of Windows 7. It allows you to drag windows left or right to “maximize” to half of the screen. Snap also lets you drag a window up to maximize and use Win-Left and Win-Right to snap (my favorite part of the feature). You can have these same features in Windows XP or Vista with AeroSnap Beta. It’s free, it’s simple, and it does just what it says.

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MacFUSE, NTFS-3g & More

Posted on May 4, 2010 by oc

When Windows XP came out, Microsoft started transitioning consumers away from the their old file system, FAT32, and onto the sleeker, better NTFS. Macs, however, can’t write to NTFS, even with the latest OS, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (actually Snow Leopard support writing NTFS, but it’s a complicated solution). Luckily for us, there’s free software available that bridges that gap: MacFUSE.

MacFUSE allows you to support 3rd-party file system drivers on your Mac, including NTFS. A company called Tuxera has an open-source driver for NTFS (they also sell a high-performance version) which allows your Mac to read and write windows latest file systems.

With most external hard drive now formatted with NTFS, not being able to write to these drives can be a serious stumbling block on the path to interoperability.

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VLC

Posted on October 21, 2009 by oc

If there’s a video format out there, odds are VLC can play it. From DVD to MKV, VLC can just play it.

VLC also offers features such as transcoding and streaming support for the advanced user. I recently set up VLC as the default player on a computer for my friend’s five-year-old daughter. She can double-click a movie and VLC is set to open full-screen and start playing. No hassle.

If you don’t have VLC, just get it. It’s free, it runs on Macs, Windows, and Linux. It plays almost everything, and it just works. It has plenty of advanced settings if you want them, but mostly, double-click and start watching.

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SuperPreview

Posted on October 21, 2009 by oc

Microsoft has spent considerable time distancing themselves from the horrors of FrontPage. Part of that effort is Expression Web, the replacement and much-improved web design application. While I don’t use Expression Web, all of us at the office have recently installed SuperPreview for Windows Internet Explorer, a really nice tool in these days of multiple browser versions.

SuperPreview is all about comparison. Choose IE6, your current version of IE (If you are using IE8 you can opt for Compatibility Mode), or an image – even a Photoshop PSD file. Select any two and display them next to, above and below, even overlaid on each other. Simultaneously scroll both panes and zoom in to 500% for pixel-perfect analysis. Box Highliting will select the same item on both panes, and select it in the DOM if you choose to view it. You can change the rendered browser size, and more.

Expression Web has a more complete version, including the ability to add other installed browsers like Firefox or Safari. But, then, it’s $300, and SuperPreview is free. It doens’t work every time (on my machine msnbc.com will not render under IE6) but it’s better than wandering off to the computer with IE6 still installed.

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SyncToy

Posted on August 4, 2009 by oc

Microsoft’s SyncToy is a great free way to copy or synchronize files in Windows. With both a convenient user interface and a command line, SyncToy can be set to copy files manually, on a schedule, or triggered to run during events. My girlfriend’s computer is set up so when she logs in, it will copy her USB stick on which she stores most of her files to a network share if it’s connected. I use it to duplicate my important data from my file server to a large drive in my desktop PC as an on-site backup.

SyncToy has three modes for all sorts of different needs. If you find yourself copying files, or wishing you had,  SyncToy might be for you.

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Paparazzi!

Posted on July 29, 2009 by oc

Paparazzi! isn’t new, but it works, and works well. It takes pictures of websites using the WebKit (Safari) engine on your Macintosh. Last updated in 2006, but still just as useful, Paparazzi! lets you set a number of options including a delay, which can be useful for timing moving images or page dynamic effects. It’s not for everyone, but if you need website screenshots or captures, this is a great, free option.

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