Cliff Pavlovic » Software

A Vision of the Future… Year 2019

Cliff — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 04:06:29 +0000

Here is a very interesting vision of the future, by Microsoft, of the year 2019.

A cool vision indeed. I especially like the medical applications as well as the electronic wallet (finally all cards in one!). If Microsoft can keep its focus, maybe this vision can become reality.

Videos are originally by Microsoft Office Labs

Free software for Windows: Good quality for no money!

Cliff — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:31:03 +0000

So you have a Windows box and need some software for it. Sure you can take the route and buy what you need (an office suite, an antivirus, etc.), but what if you are tight on money or have already been burnt by purchased software (needing to always activate, having your system slow down to unusable speeds)? So here are a few free programs that will enable you to get work done and keep your machine running smoothly.

Office suite: OpenOffice
http://www.openoffice.org
A good replacement for Microsoft Office and does not cost a penny.

Anti-virus: AVG Free Anti-virus
http://tinyurl.com/39aeu8
A very good antivirus that is not heavy on your system resources.

Anti-spyware: Spybot Search & Destroy
http://tinyurl.com/37t9f
Helps you cleanup any spyware that has infiltrated your system and protects you from future infections.

Maintenance & cleanup: CCleaner (Crap Cleaner)
http://www.ccleaner.com/
It does what it says and does it well. Helps cleaning up leftover files on your system and cleanup your registry too (with a backup of all changes just in case you need to go back).

File compressor/decompressor: 7-Zip
http://www.7-zip.org/
If you need to open a zip file (or rar), this program does the job. Also opens a ton of other formats (as well as create the same formats).

Web browser: Firefox
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
A good open-source browser with useful features (such as tabbed browsing) and easily extensible with a multitude of add-ons. Of course, Internet Explorer 7 is not bad at all (so please use it if you don’t go with Firefox, especially if you use Internet Explorer 6 or earlier versions), but Firefox can be customized to your liking with a much bigger community of add-on developers.

E-Mail: Thunderbird
http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/
A good email program which can be extended using add-ons.

Image editing: Paint.NET
http://www.getpaint.net/
Does a very good job of replacing the regular Paint program (which is very basic) and has more advanced features (like layers) seen in more expensive software (such as Photoshop).

Instant Messaging: Pidgin
http://www.pidgin.im/
if you have/use multiple Instant Messaging accounts (like MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, etc.), you can condense all your accounts in one software.

There you have it. Remember that this is a non-exclusive list and many more different programs exist that can do the job; this list I’ve compiled is of software I have used and recommended to others, posted them here as a quick reference to people who may need a program for a specific task. Enjoy!

The Ultimate Steal: Get Office 2007 for $64! (in Canada)

Cliff — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 20:04:51 +0000

If you are a university student and have, well, not paid for your version of Office, now there is a cheap and legitimate way of getting you hands on it: Get Office Ultimate 2007, which retails for $899, for only $64 (in Canada, but the offer is available elsewhere).
What’s the catch? Well you have to have a valid university email address and provide, if asked for, proof of being a student (a copy of your ID card). I think Microsoft finally got it: Give students a cheap price on Office and they shall buy. Remember, this is the Ultimate edition, not the student version (which retails at some places for $109), and it is installable on one desktop and one laptop. If you want to know what the differences between different editions are, just go to Microsoft’s Office edition comparison page (click here).
So go to http://www.theultimatesteal.ca, or http://www.theultimatesteal.com if you are in the US, to get your copy! Offer is valid till April 30th, 2008.
I did and I’m quite happy with it.

Stellarium: A free planetarium on your computer

Cliff — Sat, 13 May 2006 16:33:54 +0000

I came across a nice free program online: Stellarium. It’s an open-source project (which can be found here) which re-creates a planetarium on your computer. You can set it to any location in the world and be able to see what the stars look like in the sky. Features include the ability to illustrate constellations, zoom in on different stars, time control and even have starts twinkle (which gives a realistic effect). It also has a multilingual interface and can run on different platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux). You’ll find a full description of all its features on the project’s homepage. So if you like looking at the stars, or are just curious about what’s in the sky, check out this nice free program.

Useful extensions for Firefox: An Opera user’s point of view

Cliff — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 12:39:30 +0000

I’m primarily a Opera user, but I do have Firefox installed on my computer. I use it when some sites give me trouble with Opera. Of course I have gotten use to some features that Opera has (such as saving your browsing session upon closing the browser). There are even a few features you can get on Firefox that you cannot get on Opera at this time (like the in-browser Gmail notifier). So I set out to make Firefox behave like Opera. I searched for different extensions which would mimic the features in Opera and which would work well together (no conflicts when having all the extensions loaded and Firefox staying stable during long-term use).

So here are my favorite extensions, in no particular order…

To speed up the net connection of FireFox, Tweak Network settings:
http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/index.php?showtopic=1225&hl=tweak+network

To get a better tabbed browsing experience, Tabbrowser Preferences:
http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/index.php?showtopic=112&hl=tabbrowser+pref

To save your last browsing session, Session Saver:
http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/index.php?showtopic=166

To focus on the last selected tab (when you close your current one), Focus Last Selected Tab (FLST):
http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/index.php?showtopic=44&hl=flst

To control your browsing (forward, back, home, refresh) just using your mouse, Mouse Gestures:
http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/index.php?showtopic=68&hl=mouse+gestures

To see the current weather conditions, try ForcastFox:
http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/index.php?showtopic=705&hl=weather

There is also a Gmail notifier extension, but that’s only useful if you have a Gmail account (and you don’t want to use the official Gmail notifier from Google):
http://www.extensionsmirror.nl/index.php?showtopic=394&hl=gmail

These extensions should help you get the most out of Firefox, with the mindset of an Opera user. I use them all and they should work on the Mac version of Firefox as well (I’ve tested a few). I’ve obtained all of them from www.extensionsmirror.nl, a good site for Firefox (and Thunderbird) extensions. The site is better organized than Mozilla.org’s own update site (for now), which is why I picked it as my extension source (of course, most are also found on the official update site). You will probably need to allow the site to be able to install the extensions.

Enjoy!