Posts Tagged: ‘Software’

Finding Free Software – Originally Published November 2015

November 22, 2015 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I was looking back through some of the old newsletters when I saw an article about the annual club software disk.  Tom used to work hard at making all club members a CD with several freeware/shareware programs that were always useful.  Being a frugal computer user, I often got a gem or two from the annual Christmas gift.

I don’t think we should return to the days of an annual disk, but I thought I’d share my methods of obtaining free software.  Keep in mind that nothing is free.  We’ve all heard the saying “when something is free, you are the product.”  Although not necessarily always true, often you pay a price for “free” software by giving up personal data, looking at advertisements, getting fewer features, etc.

No, I’m not making a plea to turn back the clock.  Instead I thought I’d write about where to find useful software for zero or little charge.  Although I’m not going to recommend any software as being “better”, I will mention that I’m writing this article with LibreOffice Writer, a module of the LibreOffice suite.  You can download it for free at LibreOffice – the document foundation.

When looking for free software, a good idea is to load your favorite internet search engine and include the words free or freeware in your search terms.  Refine your results as necessary.  For instance, when I became the newsletter editor, I searched for “best freeware newsletter software”.  Search engine suggestions (usually found near the bottom) soon made me realize that I was really looking for desktop publishing software.  It wasn’t long before I found several programs that I plan to test.

There are many sites that offer lists and reviews of different categories of software.  Almost all of them have a search function.  Those that don’t have menu buttons to easily find what you are looking for.

My favorite is one that I have often talked about.  Gizmo’s Freeware is a community site with several members that curate lists of freeware in different categories.  Recently, they have also added reviews for free to try and paid programs.  I have found this to be one of the best software resources on the internet.

Major Geeks goal is to provide the top one percent of editor tested freeware downloads.  They’ve been on the internet since 2001, so they must be doing something right.  There is also an active user forum.

FileHippo is another site where you can find many popular freeware programs for downloading.  A unique feature of the website is the FileHippo App Manager.  This is a small utility that scans your installed software and notifies you of programs that have an available update.  The app only works for programs that are hosted on the site.

The Giveaway of the Day website offers one free license software title each day.  The programs are available for only twenty four hours.  Software companies do this with the hope that you will like the program enough to purchase it.  Many days the free program isn’t the best, but there is the occasional gem.

A fellow by the name of Nir Sofer has written more than a hundred utilities.  They are mostly small, stand alone programs that are easy to use and solve a specific problem.  Best of all, they are all free.  You can check them out at Nirsoft.

There are many other places to find free software.  Some are good and some are not so reliable.  Watch out for sites that hide their download links.  They may try to fool you by having you click on a big download button for software you don’t want while putting the correct link at the bottom of the page where it is easy to miss.  Before installing unknown software, do an internet search of the program name.  If you use a keyword such as problems, you might find something to change your mind.  The more reviews you read, the better informed you will be.  You will soon get a “feel” whether or not the program is worth trying.

Thanks for reading.

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FreeCommander XE 2015 – Originally Published July 2015

August 6, 2015 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.

Windows 10 will soon be released and once again Microsoft hasn’t done much with a program that everyone uses.  Windows Explorer was first released in Windows 95 as a replacement for File Manager.  It is the interface for accessing the Windows file system.  Windows Explorer is also the interface that controls many items on the monitor such as the task bar and the desktop.  In short, it is a necessary program for operating your computer.

Over the years, Windows Explorer has morphed into what is commonly known as Windows File Explorer.  Enhancements to the program have included, the task pane, search and image handling, to name just a few.

As in many other facets of Windows, third party developers have released enhancements or replacements to the File Explorer.  An internet search will give you listings for hundreds of them.  For the past year or so, I’ve been using XYPlorer.  This is an excellent program which I like.  It is a paid program.  I got it as a Giveaway of the Day about a year ago.  Since I can’t update it, I decided it was time to move on.

For the past month or so, I’ve been using FreeCommander XE 2015, an easy to use alternative to the Windows File Manager.  It has a friendly user interface and can be easily adapted to your individual needs and desires.  There are more features than I can use.  I’ve disabled many of them, another pretty good feature of the program.

One of the main features is the dual pane interface.  If you do a lot of file copying or moving, it is easy to drag and drop from one pane to another.  With Windows File Explorer, you would have to have another open window.

My favorite feature is the tabbed interface.  Instead of having to open a new window for each file location I access, The FreeCommander window has as many tabs as you need.  I always have easy access to my most common locations.  Tabs can be locked so that you don’t accidentally close them.

There are four optional toolbars.  Toolbars can be resized.  I haven’t counted the number of toolbar commands available, but there are at least 150.  Nearly every toolbar button can be customized by the user.  However you handle files, I believe FreeCommander XE will do the job for you.

The last feature I’m going to mention is the favorites menu.  Everyone has favorite folders, files and programs that they access often when using the computer.  FreeCommander has an excellent favorites folder that can be accessed from anywhere in the program.  Remember that there is only one window that ever needs to be opened.  Click here for screenshots of the program.

Did I mention the best feature?  FreeCommander XE 2015 is freeware and can be used free of charge for both private and commercial purposes.  For those that are interested, the program also has a portable version.

I’ve barely skimmed the features of this software.  I think if you try it, you’ll never go back to File Explorer.  You can download the program from the FreeCommander XE download page.

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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Hoopla – Originally Published June 2015

June 5, 2015 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

One of my favorite apps was recently updated.  When I looked back at the list of Android programs I’ve reviewed, I was surprised that I’ve never written about Hoopla.  I remember demonstrating it a long time ago at one of the club meetings, but never in the monthly newsletter.

I like to read.  Over the years, I’ve migrated from paper books to books on tape in a Walkman (before I hated Sony), to books on CDs, e-books and finally to audible books.  These days, I no longer make my bi-weekly trip to the library to check out materials.  I check all of my reading items on line with Zinio, Overdrive and Hoopla.

Hoopla has been around for about a year now. Anyone with a card from a participating library can borrow a digital movie, music album, audio book e-book or comic book.  Our parish library allows up to thirty items to be checked out every month.  There are no limits on the number of people that can borrow an individual title at the same time.  There are no waiting lists, late fees, reservation lists or popular items being out of stock.

Although the user reviews are not high, I have personally found the app to be easy to use.  Many of the bad reviews are from users complaining that they can’t utilize the app, they don’t like the selection or that the lending limit has been exceeded.  Almost all of the problems are because of restrictions established by their local library and not Hoopla.

Any items you check out are downloaded to your device and can be read, viewed and listened to at your convenience.  With a catalog of more than 300,000 titles, I’m sure that you will find something that you like.

To browse all of the titles, go to the Hoopla Web Site.  The mobile app can be downloaded at Google Play, the Amazon App Store or Apple iTunes.

If you like to read, listen to books or watch movies, give Hoopla Digital a try.  I think you might enjoy it.

Thanks for reading.

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Trainyard – Originally Published March 2015

March 15, 2015 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

Trainyard is a fun little puzzle solving game that I originally downloaded because my grandson wanted to play it on one of my devices. That was in September of 2013, before he got his own tablet. I’ve still got the game on my machine and I still play it frequently.
The object of the game is simple. You have to get your trains from their departure points into the correct station. You control your trains by drawing track on a square of grids for them to follow. Trains and stations are colored and the train must go to the correctly colored station. Each square on the grid can have two tracks overlapping at angles, but every time a train runs over that square, the track that is on top switches direction. When timed correctly, multiple trains merge into single ones. Two trains can merge together and change color. I’ve relearned the primary colors chart by playing this game.
The games begin with a tutorial that demonstrates the basics of the game. Initial puzzles are simple tracks from depot to station (see figure 1). As the game progresses, you have to route multiple trains, switch track and combine trains (see figure 2).

    
The puzzles continue to get more complicated. Eventually you will get squares that change your trains color, split them up or block them. This is one of those games that is easy to learn, but requiring thought to master. There is no single answer for any puzzle. In fact, most of the Trainyard puzzles has thousands of solutions. If you find a unique solution, you can upload it to the games online data base. If you get stuck, you can also consult the data base for suggested solutions.
With no time limits for solving each puzzle, Trainyard is the perfect game to play when you get a spare minute or two. I’m addicted. Why don’t you give it a try?
Trainyard Express is the free version of the game. You get more than 60 puzzles. The paid version of Trainyard is $2.99 from the Google Play Store. It features more than 100 additional puzzles. There are also some more advanced functions for the higher levels.
Give the game a try. Thanks for reading.

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PathSync – Originally Published April 2015

March 8, 2015 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.

There are many programs for syncing files on your computer(s). The one I use doesn’t have a lot of fancy features, doesn’t come with any help files and hasn’t been updated since August 2007. So why do I keep using it? To borrow a line from Apple, “It just works.”

PathSync is an open source application that allows you to compare and sync two different directories. It lets you seamlessly copy files from source folder to destination folder, destination to source folder, or in a bidirectional manner.

PathSync works by analyzing two directories and showing you a list of the differences. The folders can be on either an internal or external hard drive, portable flash drives and cards or cloud storage. You can define rules to differentiate between file formats. Other masks can be added.

Everything is accomplished from a single screen which is laid out in an intuitive manner. To compare your desired folders, select them by clicking the browse buttons in the “local” and “remote” fields. Select your synchronization action. If you want to use file name masks, click the “question mark” button to get instructions. The ignore field will let you make exception for file size, file dates and missing files. Finally, click the “Analyze!” button.

PathSync Screen Shot

After the file comparison list is generated, right clicking on a file name will give you the options to change the synchronization directions or take no action at all. When all of your options are completed, click the “Synchronize!” button.

When the program starts to synchronize, a new job status window will open. This will display information about the item that is currently being processed, the total progress of the job, and an estimated time until completion.  If you would like to try the program, you can download it here.

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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Obsolete Technology A to Z – Originally Published January 2015

January 11, 2015 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Over the years, I’ve written many articles on technology terminology.  This is another one of them.  It originally started as a Mind Bender quiz, but soon evolved into a list of obsolete technology, terminology, companies, etc.  I hope you enjoy learning the alphabet from A to Z.

A is for Amiga computers, the last product line of Commodore International.  That was the company that brought us the VIC-20, the Commodore 64 and many other great computers.
B is for Beta Max tapes.  They have become obsolete along with the letter V.
C is for Circuit City.  After the bankruptcy, the brand name was purchased by Systemax and lived for a while on the internet.  Even that is no longer with us.
D is for dial up modems.  I imagine that someone somewhere is still using one.  Can you remember calling someone on the telephone and getting that unique sound?
E is for ENIAC, the first computer.  It was initially designed to calculate artillery firing tables for the United States Army.
F is for floppy disks.  They started big and got smaller.  Finally they disappeared.  CDs and DVDs probably won’t be around very long.
G is for Google Reader, which was an RSS aggregator operated by Google.  Although it was still popular, Google discontinued it.
H is for Honeywell computers.  Still in business today, Honeywell International ceased manufacturing computers in 1989.
I is for Infocom.  If you’ve read any of my past articles, you’ll know that I think they produced some of the best games ever.  My all time favorite was Suspended.
J is for the Jupiter Ace.  In 1983, it was advertised as possibly the fastest computer in the universe.  Instead of BASIC or CP/M, the machine’s default operating language was FORTH.
K is for Kinescope, at one time the cutting edge of video technology.
L is for Laserdisc, a video technology that never really made it to the big time.
M is for Mosaic, one of the first graphical web browsers.
N is for Netscape, once the dominant browser for surfing the internet.  The final version was released in February 2008.
O is for Olivetti, once a well known typewriter manufacturer that branched out into making computers.  They are still in business as a subsidiary of an Italian telecommunications company.
P is for Pager.  It used to be the machine that made the noise in movie theaters.  Supposedly, you were important if you carried one.
Q is for Quantum Link which later became America Online.  Q-Link was one of the first on line bulletin boards.
R is for Rolodex.  Does anyone still use these index cards to keep track of their contacts?
S is for Slide Projector.  The only time you hear about slides anymore is when someone wants to know how to digitize them.
T is for typewriters.  There is still a company that makes them, but you won’t see them in use very much.
U is for UNIVAC, the first general purpose computer for commercial use.  It was also the first computer to correctly predict the outcome of a presidential election.
V is for VHS tapes.  They have become obsolete along with the letter B.
W is for Windows 1.0, Windows 2.0, Windows 3.0 Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows Millennium, Windows 98, etc.
X is for the xD-Picture Card.  These flash memory cards were only used in Olympus and Fujifilm cameras.  They were expensive and replaced by SD cards.
Y is for Y2K which on January 1, 2000 was going to be the end of the world because computers wouldn’t be able to correctly calculate the date.
Z is for Z-DOS, a forked version of MS-DOS designed to run on the Zenith computer.  I was originally going to make Z for Zenith, but they are still around.  LG owns the brand and sells a few items.

That’s all of my thoughts for January. My mind is empty again. Thanks for reading.

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Windows Shortcut Arrow Editor – Originally Published December 2014

December 7, 2014 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.

Whenever you see a little arrow at the bottom of an icon, it indicates that the symbol opens a program and not a file.  I think Microsoft does this mainly because they think I’m stupid enough to not be able to find a program file on my desktop.

If you don’t like the arrow ruining the aesthetic of you icon, there are several methods for removing it.  Most of them involve making changes to the registry which is always dangerous.  There are other methods that involve using the Windows shell which can be difficult.

Over the years I’ve seen many other tweaking programs that remove the arrow.  Once I read about a program that changed the icon picture to one without the arrow.  Needless to say, all of these methods are either time consuming, difficult, unsafe or just plain stupid.

You’ve probably guessed by now that I don’t like the arrow on my icons.  For several years, I’ve used the Windows Shortcut Editor program.  If you download and unzip the program you will find folders for Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.  The program(s) do not install or change anything on your computer.  Just run the correct EXE application and you will see the screen shown in the accompanying screen shot.

ShortcutArrowEditor

There are four different options.  Click the one you want and Windows will refresh to give your icons the new look.  You can select the Windows default arrow for your system, the Windows classic (XP) arrow or no arrows.  The custom option lets you replace the arrow with your own design.  The ZIP file also contains a ‘Shortcut Arrows’ folder for a few ready made arrows that you can use.

A word of caution.  Removing the arrow not only changes the icons on your desktop but also the icons in any of folder throughout the computer.  If you browse your computers folders, you will lose the visual identification of a shortcut.  You can download the software at WINAERO.

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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OK Google

November 13, 2014 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

OK Google. What happens if I get laryngitis and can’t say OK Google?  Answer: Google gives you information on how to treat your voice loss.

OK Google is tightly integrated with Google Now, Android’s personal assistant program.  They have almost become synonymous.  In the next year or so, I think there will only be one program combining both.

In the last couple of years OK Google has become an excellent tool for making your mobile Android device easier to use.  Without tapping anything on your phone, you can use your voice to make a phone call, send a text message or compose an e-mail.  I often use it to write these articles for the club newsletter.  I hardly ever key in a Google search anymore.  It is just so much easier to speak my search phrase.

Almost all Android devices come with Google Now installed. For those that do not, the Google app is available from the Play Store.  It works by setting up “cards” on your device to assist you with your personal life.

Google voice searching was first introduced in 2008 in Google Maps.  It has constantly been improved over the years.  Today it is excellent for both searching and phone commands.  Examples of searching commands are:

Where was [President Obama] born?
Define [computer].
Who is the governor of [Louisiana]?
How old is [Bobby Jindal]?
Show me pictures of [the White House].
What’s the weather like? What’s the weather in [New Orleans] [this weekend]?
What’s [182 yards] in [miles]?
What is [12 ounces] in [liters]?
What’s [135] divided by [71]?

Some examples of commands are:

Take a picture (“Take a photo” also works)
Record a video
Call John Doe [mobile]
What’s my schedule?
Send email to [Tiny], subject [Darkside], message [That was a great article in the November newsletter.]
Text [Tiny] [I just sent you an email.]
Open Evernote

Of course, these are only a few of the things that Google will recognize.  If you do a web search you can find complete lists.  There are also a lot of fun “Easter Eggs”.  On of my favorites is “Scotty, beam me up.”  If you’re not a Star Trek fan, I’ll tell you that Google responds with a classic Engineer Scott reply, “I canna do it Captain.  I do not have the power.”

This short article has only given an overview of the powerfulness of OK Google and Google Now.  Click here for Google’s help page on setting up OK Google on your Android.  Google also has a help page on OK Google and voice search.  If it is not already installed, the Google Now app is available in the Play Store.

Thanks for reading.

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Categories: Other Stuff

Turkey Technology – Originally Published November 2014

November 10, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

It’s November again, the time of the year when we gather to feast on a large gallinaceous bird, Meleagris gallopavo, of North America, having a bare wattled head and neck and a brownish iridescent plumage.  This would probably be a good month to talk some turkey.  To be more specific, I’m going to talk turkey from the slang section of the dictionary.  Not a stupid, incompetent or unappealing person, but a thing that fails.  This month is about technological turkeys.

The Affordable Care Act brought us the Health Care Website, which was such a big initial failure that it was the target of joke on every late night show.  My personal observation is that this was just one of many medical websites that are lacking.  For example, the portal for my doctor’s medical group will only allow me to request prescription refills from certain pharmacies, many of which aren’t in Lake Charles.  This is just lousy website design.  They wonder why more patients don’t use it.  The website where I actually get my medications from is down more than it is operating.  I’ve found it’s easier to just make a telephone call.  Then there was the time I had to get three blood tests in one day because the medical community couldn’t share the results.  I’m just happy that the doctors and nurses seem to be programmed much better than their computers.

The Google Nexus Q was announced in June 2012 and officially dropped in October of the same year.  I think David Pogue described the Nexus Q perfectly when he said, “I can think of only one class of customer who should consider buying the black Nexus Q sphere: people whose living rooms are dominated by bowling-ball collections.”

Does anyone remember the Iomega Zip Drive?  The problem was that thousands of them didn’t work.  You could hear the drive head clicking as it destroyed the data on your disk.  Rather than acknowledge and fix the problem, Iomega chose to ignore it until there was a class action suit.

In July of 2011, the HP TouchPad was an eagerly awaited tablet that was going to rejuvenate HP’s WebOS operating system.   The machine was buggy, slow and had hardly any apps.  In less than three months, it was history.

Whatever happened to the virtual optical keyboard?  This was a holographic keyboard that could be projected on almost any surface.  It was supposed to be the end of clunky computer keyboards.  I’m not sure, but I think the plans were accidentally rolled up in one of those flexible keyboards and thrown out in the trash.

The only good thing about Windows Millennium was that it had a cool name.  As an operating system, it was a real dud.  When the PadBot debuted, it was going to revolutionize the world as we know it.  All you had to do was attach your iPad and the machine would be “you”.  You could send it almost anywhere and view, converse and interact with people.  This device was so popular that I don’t know anyone that has ever seen one.

The Zune MP3 player was going to be Microsoft’s iPod killer.  It had a few problems.  It was ugly, expensive and had inferior sound.  Not only did it not put a dent in iPod sales, it didn’t manage to gain market share over any of its rivals.

There are many other turkeys.  I could talk about things like the Segway, Sony Betamax, Windows Phone 7, Apple Lisa and the wearable computer to name a few.  I think I’ll wait to write about them after I get my microchip implanted.

It may not be an official technological turkey yet, but I think the Amazon Fire Phone will soon be one.  Originally priced at $199 with a two year contract, the Fire Phone was reduced to 99 cents less than two months after release.  Although it has some impressive specs, consumers don’t seem to want Amazon’s forked Android system on their phone.  Even on the Amazon website, the phone only gets 2.2 stars.  Many of the reviews that are five stars are because of the year of Amazon prime that is bundled with the machine.

That’s all of my thoughts for November.  My mind is empty again.  Thanks for reading.

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LopeEdit Text Editor – Originally Published October 2014

October 13, 2014 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.

Notepad has been been Microsoft’s default text editor since before there was Windows.  It hasn’t changed much over the years.  Although the program does an effective job of editing text, there are hundreds of alternatives.

My default note editor is LopeEdit, a powerful programmer’s editor and a replacement of Windows Notepad.  It has tabs to select between open files, supports syntax highlighting of multiple programing languages and incorporates a built in hexadecimal editor.

For most people, the programmers attributes are likely to be overkill.  The other features of LopeEdit make it worth the download.  It comes with a built-in file browser, allowing you to locate and open the files you need.  A versatile tabbed interface means you are able to open multiple documents simultaneously.  There is an excellent search, find and replace tool.  You can send the results of your search to a separate tab.  This means there is no need to scroll all the way through a lengthy document to find all your hits because they are all neatly presented in a single list.

There are many other features including detailed statistics on the current document (lines, words, characters, etc.) A File > Send To menu which which sends your document via email.

Finally, there is a customizable tool bar with many more functions and options than you will probably ever use.  LopeEdit come in both a free and paid version.  The Pro version mostly adds functions that are useful for programmers.  A portable version is also available.  You can download LopeEdit here.  Give it a try.  I think you’ll like it.

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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