Posts Tagged: ‘Software’

Spyware Blaster – Originally Published November 2016

November 6, 2016 Posted by Tiny

Some Lagniappe for You
by Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

I’ve used Spyware Blaster on all of my Windows computers for as long as I can remember.  It is a small program that will use less than 9 MB of space on your hard drive.  Unlike other anti-spyware programs, it does not remove spyware from your computer.  Instead, it focuses on keeping evil spyware, adware, browser hijackers, etc. from being downloaded by your web browser and being installed.  It does this by using a list of known exploits and setting the “killbit” in the Windows Registry that identifies the software as unsafe.  This in effect, sets a flag to notify a web browser that an object is not be opened.  Your browser will not download malware.


Unlike most anti-malware programs, Spyware Blaster does not have to be running at all times in the background.  It works seamlessly with whatever anti-virus software you use.  When you first install and run the program, you simply have to check for updates.  After updates are downloaded, select enable protection for all browsers.  You can then close the program.  Every week or so, you should run the program and check for updates to the data base.

Spyware Blaster has some other features that I have not tested.  You can create a System Snapshot, view and change browser settings, tweak Internet Explorer settings, backup the Hosts File, completely disable Flash content or create custom Active X blocking lists.  These are items that I either have no need for or employ in other utilities.

Spyware Blaster can be downloaded from the Brightfort website.  (Bonus: They have some other pretty good utilities.)  It is a Windows only program.  The software is free for personal and educational use.  The purchase of a license for $14.95 allows for automatic updates and support.  Give it a try.  It’s kind of like a flu shot.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

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Solid Explorer – Originally Published October 2016

October 4, 2016 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

My favorite Android file explorer was just updated.  Solid Explorer is a great program that just got even better.  Just like I haven’t used Windows Explorer for several years, I haven’t utilized the stock Android files program.  For years, I used the free ES Explorer.  When they junked up the interface with advertising, I shifted my allegiance and haven’t looked back.

Solid Explorer has all of the standard functions: Select All, Copy, Paste, Delete, Search, etc.  One of the features that is most useful is dual panels, which makes it extremely easy to drag and drop.  Although you can only see both windows in landscape mode, they are still active if your machine is using portrait mode.  You simply have to swipe right or left.  I usually keep my left window in my phone memory.  I change the right window as needed to either my SD card or places on my network.

You can keep as many favorite places as you need.  With one touch, I can browse any of my networked computers, my networked media storage, all of my mobile devices, etc.  If you have any favorite folders on your network, you can also create an icon just for them.  I don’t have to navigate all the folders to get to “my documents” on different machines.  One touch and I am there.

Solid explorer also makes an excellent cloud manager.  It supports Dropbox, One Drive, Own Drive, Google, Box and many others.  You can also use FTP to remotely connect to your home computer(s).

   
The app also has built in file viewers for image and text files.  Support for compressed file formats such as zip, rar and tar is also built in.  You can either create or extract compressed files.  It also duplicates another Microsoft Windows feature in that it indexes files.  This make it able to do really fast searches.

The latest update has added a file encryption feature.  You can encrypt either a single file, a whole folder or your entire phone.  I can almost guarantee that if you use Solid Explorer’s encryption and the built in Android encrypt your phone option, the FBI won’t be able to see what is on your phone.  Of course, they don’t seem to be the most efficient at that job anyway.  Solid Explorer uses the AESS256 algorithm.  If your device has a fingerprint sensor, you can encrypt without a password.

Now for the bad news, unlike most of the Android apps I review, Solid Explorer is not completely free.  You can download the full version from the Google Play Store.  When you do so, you can use all features for a two week trial period.  After that, it costs $1.99 to unlock the app.  I personally paid the unlocking fee about thirty minutes after I installed the program.  Interestingly, as I write this review, the app has a 4.6 rating in the play store.  The unlocker app (paid) has a 4.7 rating.

Thanks for reading.

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Apple’s iOS 10 Claims – Originally Published September 2016

September 4, 2016 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

“San Francisco — June 13, 2016 — Apple today previewed iOS 10, the biggest release ever of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system.”  That is a direct quote copied from the Apple website announcing the release of their new operating system, iOS 10.  According to the company and many of the fans web sites, this is the greatest thing since the invention of Hostess Twinkies.  I’ve been griping about Microsoft and Windows 10 so much that I thought I should point my keyboard in a different direction for a change.  Let’s review the latest claims.

Siri, iMessage, and Maps Open to Developers.  This might be the single biggest change that Apple has ever made.  They have opened up some of their apps to third party developers.  Siri can even reserve an Uber car.  I think this is the biggest change that I have seen Apple do.  Third party development is one of the reasons that so many of their competitors products have outpaced them in usefulness.  Of course, this also means there will be an increase in personal data collection.  It will be interesting to see how Apple handles that.

The Maps app is getting a boost with Map layers, smarter and proactive assistance as well.  The Maps also supports extensions.  It can help you throughout your day by offering the fastest routes by following all the traffic around you and suggesting places nearby.  It can also make reservations.  I guess they are finally recovering from the dumb mistake made in 2012 when iOS 6 dropped Google Maps.  Maybe they will finally catch up in another four or five years.

The iMessage app has been enhanced.  It supports live GIF and video playback right within the app.  You now get quick access to your photos and live camera feed without leaving the app.  The Emojis are now three times bigger and you can replace words with Emojis by just tapping on them.  The Bubble Effects different personalty to your messages.  The app now supports handwritten messages, digital touch and tickers.  With the app open to developers, I’m sure there will be no end to the innovation.

Photos & QuickType Become More Intelligent.  Apple has ramped up the capabilities of the Photos app with a feature it calls advanced computer vision.  The Photos app recognizes what’s in your photos and automatically groups them into categories, creating albums of similar photos.  Additionally, the app has a new feature in the Memories tab that not only uses the artificial intelligence of Photos to bring together images and movies according to events and places, but will automatically create a video montage of select photos and video clips with music, titles, and transitions.  You would think that is something Google would have thought of first.

Home App Controls HomeKit Devices.  The new iOS 10 comes with a new app which lets you control all your HomeKit accessories.  You’ll also be able to create and control scenes and use Siri to interact with them.  Depending on the accessories you have, from your iPhone you can control lamps, bulbs, doors and locks, cameras, air conditioners, fans, outlets, humidifiers, doorbells and many others.  I’m not qualified to comment on this as the only smart equipment in my house is me and I haven’t been electronically modified yet.

Apple has also redesigned or updated the lock screen, Apple Music, Apple News, the quicktype keyboard, the control center and other things.  I believe that the company is in dire need of some more “new and exciting” releases, especially in their hardware.

The MacRumors Buyer’s Guide has nicely summarized things.  The iOS Devices Page recommends “don’t buy” on four of seven items, the Macs Page a “don’t buy” on six of seven items and the Other Devices Page a “don’t buy” on one of three items.  Of the seventeen products, they recommend “buy now” on only one.  Almost all of the “don’t buy” recommendations are due to the fact that there haven’t been updates in several years.

I guess I’ll never understand how Apple can be so revered by consumers and only have around ten percent of market share while Microsoft is usually reviled while retaining about ninety percent of the market.  Sometimes they kind of remind me of our political parties.

Thanks for reading.

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Windows Snipping Tool – Originally Published September 2016

September 4, 2016 Posted by Tiny

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

This month I’d like to take a few minutes and tell you about a great utility program for making a screen shot.  This program is not only free, but you don’t even have to download and install it.  This is because it is integrated into the Windows Operating System.  I thought I’d write a short article about it because I am so often surprised that many people don’t even know it exists.

Snipping Tool is a screenshot utility included in Windows Vista and later.  Before Windows Vista, Snipping Tool was included in the Experience Pack for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005.  It was originally released as a PowerToy for the Microsoft Tablet PC launch on November 7, 2002.

The Snipping Tool can be started by clicking “Start>Programs>Accessories>Snipping Tool”.  I’ve found that in later versions of Windows, it is much easier to start by just typing “sn” in the search box and clicking on the link that is found.

Running the program opens a small window.  Clicking on “New Clip” places a cursor on your computer screen for outlining the area you want to snip.  There are four options for new clips.  A free–clip lets you draw around an object on your screen with your cursor.   A rectangular clip drags the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.   A window snip clips the entire active window on your monitor.   Finally, a full–screen snip clip will capture your entire screen.

When you select your clip, it is copied to the clipboard.  A new mark–window with options will also open.  In this window you can make an annotation on your clip.  You can also highlight areas on your clip.  You can send your clip via e‑mail or save it to disk.  Clips can be saved in JPEG, GIF or PNG formats.  You can also save as a web page in MHT format.

The only thing I wish that Microsoft had added is a function to add text notes to your screenshot.  This is not by any means a deal breaker as almost every graphics editing program will do this for you.  In short, why download a program to make a screen shot when there is such an excellent utility built into the OS?

If you like this program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

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FileMenu Tools – Originally Published July 2016

July 3, 2016 Posted by Tiny

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (lnyp, ln-yp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

This month I’d like to tell you about one of my favorite utility programs.  I’ve got it installed on all of my computers and have been using it for eight or nine years.  Like many other free programs, the programmer has a donate button on his website.  I like the program so much that I hit the PayPal button a long time ago.  Maybe it is about time I gave him a few more dollars.

FileMenu Tools lets you customize the right click menu of Windows Explorer (or on my computers FreeCommander XE).  The program adds utilities to perform operations on files and folders and adds customized commands that let you run external applications, copy or move to a specific folder or delete specific file types.

With the built in commands you can:
Run With Parameters – Runs a program with parameters you input in a dialog box.
Command Line From Here – Opens a command line window.
Copy/Move – No need to cut and paste. You can also use filters in file selection.
Duplicate Files – Make a copy in the same folder.
Pack to Folder – Moves all the selected elements to new subfolder in the current folder.
Copy Path/Name/Content – Copies the selected item(s) to the clipboard.
Attributes – You can view and change them without opening a properties dialog box.
Find and Replace – Lets you find or replace a text for all the files in a selected folder.
Advanced Rename – With lots of options.
Change Icon – Quickly and easily change folder options.
Advanced Delete – lets you delete specific file types in a folder.
Synchronize Two Folders – Lets you synchronize two folders quickly and easily.
Shred Files – Overwrites several times so it is impossible to recover the file in the future.
Send to Mail Recipient – Lets you send an e-mail with selected elements as attachments.

These are less than half of the FileMenu commands you can select from.  In the configuration menu, a simple check will turn off the commands you don’t want.  If you can’t find the FileMenu function you need, then just add a customized command to run external applications, copy/move to a specific folder or delete specific file types.

FileMenu Tools lets you configure the “Send to” submenu.  You can add new items, change the properties of the existing items or delete them.  You also can disable existing “Send to” items in order to hide them from the menu.

FileMenu Tools will also let you enable/disable the commands which are added to the context menu of the Windows Explorer by other programs.  This is the only function that is not one hundred percent reliable.  When it works, it works well, but it doesn‘t catch all of the programs that add a right click.

FileMenu Tools is a 10 MB download and runs on all Windows platforms.  Open Candy is used during the installation process, but can be refused with a check mark.  Did I mention the price?  This program is freeware and costs nothing.

Download FileMenu Tools and give the program a test. I’m pretty sure that you’ll like it.  While you’re on the Lopesoft website, you can also download LopeEdit Lite.  If you do, you’ll probably never use Windows Notepad again.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

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App Usage – Originally Published July 2016

May 26, 2016 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

Yesterday, I turned on my phone 44 times.  Over the course of the day, I used it for 3 hours and 42 minutes.  How do I know these facts?  The answer is simple.  I’ve installed a new app on my my machine. App Usage, by Sam Lu, was released on May 24, 2016.  Besides tracking how often you turn on and use your phone, App Usage has several other useful features.

– app usage history tracks the amount of time that you use individual apps.
– activity history shows the time that you opened each app.
– manage apps lists which ones you haven’t used in a long time.
– track installs and uninstalls.
– batch uninstaller.
– and many more.

As I write this article, I’ve only had the app installed for three days.  Although the numbers in the first paragraph are fun to look at, I think the most useful function is the ability to add notes to each app.  You can easily keep track of everything from license data, cost, login information, etc.  You could even make a note for the App Usage app reminding yourself that you installed it after reading a “Tiny” recommendation.


 

You can set usage reminders for daily usage summaries.  There are also options to set reminders for when you over use an app, when you check your phone more than 30 times a day or set a reminder time for an individual app.  In the manage apps section, you can also keep track of dates that apps were installed/uninstalled.  Apps can be listed by app name, last update time, first installed, usage time, access count, total size, cache size, data size or notes you’ve inputted.  You can easily uninstall apps without opening system settings.  A function that I haven’t tested is exporting histories to a CSV file.  This would be useful for viewing on a large monitor or printing a hard copy.

I really like this program a lot and will probably keep it on my phone.  Like so many other apps, the deciding factor will be battery life.  So far it doesn’t seem to have a negative effect.  App usage is free in the play store.  It supposedly is ad supported with an in app purchase to remove them.  I haven’t seen any advertisements at all.  You can download App Usage from the Google Play Store.  Why not give it a try?  You might find it useful.

Thanks for reading.

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Microsoft, What Are You Doing? – Originally Published June 2016

May 26, 2016 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

What are you doing Microsoft?  In the last few days, almost all of the headlines on tech news sites were about the Chrome Browser replacing Internet Explorer as the most used browser.  Even though I don’t use IE very much, I became even more concerned when I read the the usage statistics include Microsoft’s new Edge browser in the totals.  This means that IE has slipped even more that the totals reflect.  Of course, one of the main reasons IE ever had such a high usage is because it has always been the Windows Operating System Default browser.  With the past years push by Microsoft to update users to Windows 10, they can no longer use what has been the dominant browser.

I’ve written in the past my reasons for not installing Windows 10 on any of my main computers.  Not only is the OS still not stable enough for me to trust with my daily use machines, I have no desire to install it on my old hardware.  I do have it installed on two machines and it works great, when it works.  It seems that about every other update messes up my settings, uninstalls some of my software or does some other niggling thing that makes me utter a few bad words.

I’m not planning to ever install Windows 10 on my two Windows 7 machines.  Aside from my hardware concerns, I’ve got them both running exactly like I want.  The only thing I don’t like about them is that I’ve had to disable Windows update.  Once a week or so, I check for updates and carefully scrutinize them before I install.  I don’t want to install a new operating system by accident.

Four years ago, in July of 2012, I wrote an article for the newsletter explaining why I switched from a Windows phone to an Android.  Since then, all of my mobile devices have had Android Operating Systems.  It looks like I was ahead of the times.  Today, Windows Mobile is around four percent and sliding lower.  Do you suppose this might be the result of many users like myself?  Customers get tired of waiting and move on.  The problem is that they often don’t move back.

I think the same thing is starting to happen with the Windows desktop/laptop Operating Systems.  A slow slide into oblivion.  Although there are no real accurate statistics, it isn’t hard to guess that Linux, Chrome OS and others are increasing in use.  Could this be happening because of Microsoft’s “strong arm” tactics to get everyone to use Windows 10?  Only time will tell, but I’d bet that many people are like me, using Linux more and more.

I will probably never know whether I am right or wrong, but I am starting to believe that in twenty years or so tech writers will only be writing about the history of Microsoft.  It’s not anything new in the technology world.  Just think of Commodore, Gateway, Lotus 123, Netscape, IBM, WordPerfect, AOL, Yahoo!, Motorola, Blackberry, Polaroid and many others.  Will Microsoft one day be just a footnote in the history books?

Thanks for reading.

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Monkey Wrench – Originally Published May 2016

May 8, 2016 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

Way back in April 2014, I told you about one of my favorite word games, 7 Little Words.  I still play it every day and have purchased several extra puzzle packages.  In July, I reviewed Red Herring, another game by the same developer.  I thought it was okay, but not near as challenging.

The developer, Blue Ox Technologies has released another word game.  I think that two years from now Monkey Wrench will still be on my favorites list.  Monkey Wrench is a word finding game with clues to figure out what the hidden words are.  The clues are given in categories which will definitely challenge your brain.  Some are easy (sports with a round ball – tennis) and others are difficult (edible flowers – fennel).

Opening a puzzle presents you with a screen of letters.  The object of the game is to spell the answers by sliding your finger through the correct letters.  When you get an answer right, the letters are removed from the grid.  Each puzzle has three difficulty levels you can play.  Easy shows all of the words you must find.  Normal shows the first letter of each word.  Hard reveals how many letters in each word.

If you get stuck, you can use a hint.  The game comes with ten free hints or you can buy an upgrade for $1.99 and get unlimited hints.  The hints give you a choice of showing all the vowels, showing the last letter or showing the entire solution.

The game comes with one free bundle of fifty puzzles.  You can purchase more puzzle packs.  There is a promotion where you can sign up with an e-mail for their newsletter and get another bundle of twenty puzzles.  There is also a free game each day that you can download.

If you enjoy word games, you’ll like Monkey Wrench. It can be downloaded from the Play Store for free with in-app purchases.

             

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Scribus Desktop Publishing – Originally Published April 2016

April 24, 2016 Posted by Tiny

Some Lagniappe for You
By Tiny Ruisch

la·gniappe (län’yəp, län-yäp)
n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi
1. A small gift presented by a store owner to a customer with the customer’s purchase.
2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Also called regionally boot.

Do you send out an annual Christmas letter to all of your relatives?  Do you like to make personalized greeting cards and party invitations?  Are you writing the next great novel?  Would you like to make your own personal calendar?  Would you like to edit the Computer Club Newsletter?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, you probably need some good desktop publishing software.  There are many programs you could buy: Microsoft Publisher, PrintMaster, The Print Shop and PagePlus, to name a few of the well known ones.  These programs will set you back anywhere from forty to two hundred dollars or more.

Or, if you’re thrifty like me, you could download and use an open source program that does everything the paid programs do and more.  I’ve been using Scribus Open Source Desktop Publishing to edit and publish the club newsletter for four months now.   I’ve come to think of the program as a word processor on steroids.

With Scribus you can create single or multi-page documents which can be single or doubles sided.  You can also create three or four fold documents for making brochures.  After your document is created, you simply have to insert text or image frames.  All the frames can be re‑sized, dragged and dropped or copy and pasted, etc.  You can also enter your data directly on the page, but it is much easier to create a frame.

Although I haven’t used all of the features, you can also insert render tables, frames, tables, shapes, etc.  There is also an insert barcode option.  I might research that feature in the future.  Wouldn’t it be cool to be reading a newsletter article and scan a barcode to get more information?

A search of the internet will yield several sites where you can find templates for everything from creating a comic book or magazine to printing your own newspaper.  You can also create and save your own templates.  I’ve done that for the newsletter.  Every month, the first page is nearly the same.  I just load the template, change the dates, volume number, meeting information and insert the President’s message.  Then it is just a matter of inserting articles, pictures, web site charts, etc.  My template is twelve pages, but it is a simple mouse click on the menu to add or delete pages as needed.

There are a few other things about Scribus you should know.  If you want to use the print preview, you have to install the interpreter Ghostscript.  Ghostscript is a non-harmful open source program, but it is more software on your computer.

Scribus has a medium difficulty learning curve.  Most items are intuitive and work much like any word processor.  Others are not.  For instance, to insert a hyperlink, you have to highlight the text and then select “Insert PDF Text Field”.  Then the inserted field has to be edited and the hyperlink inserted.  It was a pain at first, but after about the twentieth time, it became second nature.  For everything I have had difficulty with, it has been easy to find help and solutions in either the Scribus Wiki or an internet search.

Scribus is open source with versions for Windows, Mac and Linux.  There is also a portable version for Windows 32 Bit.  You can download the software at Get Scribus.  If you have a need for desktop publishing software, give it a try.  The cost is zero dollars, plus tax.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk, a small gift, a present from the club: a little lagniappe.

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The Room – Originally Published March 2016

March 13, 2016 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

I’ve been excited lately!  Fireproof Games recently released the third installment to their popular “The Room” series.  It all started in September 2012 with the release of The Room, a physical puzzler, wrapped in a mystery game, inside a beautifully tactile 3D world.  It was followed with a sequel, The Room Two, in February 2014.  Last month, January 2016, gave us the release of The Room Three.

Fireproof Games describe themselves as “a team of 15 based in Guildford, UK and since 2012 we’ve been creating our own games.”  So far, they’ve only released the three Room games and a virtual reality Jetpack game for the Samsung Gear.  Many game companies churn out a lot of games that are mostly the same old thing with in-app purchases to try and get your money.  Fireproof has a slightly higher price but delivers a quality game with no further cost.  The games are also available for Apple and Windows.  This mini-review is for the Android environment.

In The Room, your task is to open a safe.  The safe is really a big box that changes as you solve the many puzzles, riddles, games and other bafflements.  In the course of the game, you find a story unfolding about locating a strange machine.  I estimate that it took me about 20 hours to complete the game the first time.  I replayed it last year and got through a lot faster, even though I couldn’t remember a lot of the game play.

                   

The Room Two picks up where the original game left off.  You have to recreate the steps of the scientist and complete the strange machine.  The first thing you notice is that the room is a lot larger and has several boxes.  There are many more puzzles and many of them seem to be much more difficult.  I don’t think any of them were repeats from the first game.

                   

I haven’t yet finished playing The Room Three, but I can tell you that it is more diabolical that the first two.  So far, the biggest difference I have found is that the game “world” is much larger.  Instead of a single room, the game starts on a train.  As you start solving puzzles, you soon find a secret entrance to a room.  Once again, you find many puzzles, riddles, mazes, etc.  The difficultly level has increased again.  It appears that the machine you discovered in the previous games has put you in another world and you need to solve the game to get back.  So far, there have been several rooms and many more puzzles.

                   

The games all have spectacular graphics, perplexing puzzles, eerie music and are very playable on a touch enabled tablet or phone.  I originally paid full price ($5.99) for each game.  Over the years, the price has been reduced:
The Room is $1.10, The Room Two is $2.07 and The Room Three costs $5.55.  I can happily recommend all them.

   
Thanks for reading.

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