Posts Tagged: ‘Software’

Last App Switcher – Originally Published September 2014

October 5, 2014 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

I’ve been using Lap App Switcher (LAS) for about two weeks now.  This is one of those programs that doesn’t seem to be real great; however, when you use it for a while it becomes almost indispensable.

In the programmer’s description, LAS compares itself to the “last channel” button on your TV remote.  I think that description is most appropriate.  What this app does is keep a floating notification bubble open.  When you tap on it, it will take you back to the last app that you had open.

Over the course of the day, I probably tap it at least fifty times.  It is so much easier and faster than pressing the last apps button on my phone and then selecting the correct item from the list of active programs.  It seems like it only saves a little time but throughout the day it adds up.

LAS is highly customizable.  The developers have also added alternate methods to use this app in case you’re not a fan of the floating button.  The floating button can be re-sized.  Its transparency can be changed.  What I have found to be the most useful feature is that you can easily place it anywhere on your screen.

The application is easy on the battery and uses very little memory.  There is no advertising nor in app purchases.  The developer seems to be responsive to comments.

I think that there will be no in between for this app.  Users will either love it or hate it.  I am in the love it column.  The app is free in the Google Play Store.  I personally would pay to use it.

Download Last App Switcher here.

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Categories: Darkside

Red Herring – Originally Published July 2014

October 1, 2014 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

I like word games.  If you’ve read any of my game reviews, you’ve probably noticed that I start a lot of them with those same four words.  Red Herring is a word association game that is different than most others.

The object of the game is to slide the word tiles into one of the three category columns.  Each puzzle has only one correct solution.  There is no time limit for finishing the game.  The difficulty in the game comes from the fact that many of the words fit in more than one category.  Each puzzle has four extra “red herring” words that also fit into the categories.

To play the game, drag a word tile and drop it on another tile to swap them.  When four categorically matching tiles line up vertically, they’ll lock into place, with the category revealed at the top.  There are three modes of play. In the easy mode, you start with the category headings and the positions of five of the tiles revealed.  In the normal mode, the categories are hidden.  In the hard mode (which I’ve been playing) there is nothing revealed at the start of the game.  If you get stumped on a difficult level, you can always restart the level with an easier difficulty.

The base game comes with one puzzle pack of 50 grids for free (as well as ten free hints).  You can purchase additional puzzle packs and unlimited hints with in app purchases.  You can view a 47 second video on the official website.

Red Herring was developed by Blue Ox Technologies Ltd.  They also have produced one of my favorite word games, 7 Little Words, which I reviewed in the April Newsletter.  Although I like this game a lot, I doubt if I will keep it after I finish the 50 free puzzles.  After a while it gets a little repetitive.  When you get stumped, it is just too tempting to restart in an easier mode and finish the puzzle.

You can download Red Herring from the Google Play Store.

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Goodbye Outlook (and other old friends) – Originally Published June 2014

September 16, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’m saying goodbye to an old friend.  As you may or may not know, I’ve been an Outlook 2007 user for the last six years.  It’s still a pretty good organizer of email, contacts, notes and of course my calendar.

The only real problem is that it doesn’t play well with other operating systems.  For years I was a Windows Mobile user.  I got my first pocket computer in 2004.  It was a Hewlett-Packard IPAQ running Windows Mobile 2003.  (Doesn’t it sound like Apple should have made that machine?)  In July of 2012, I decided to quit waiting for Microsoft to catch up in mobile development.  I bought an Android pocket PC and haven’t looked back.  Now it is two years later and Windows mobile has become a pretty good mobile operating system again.  I’ve become vested in the Android mobile world.  I doubt if I’ll ever go back.

One benefit is that I’ve gotten a lot of new material for future lagniappe columns.  I’ve replaced Outlook 2007 with freeware and other open source programs.

My decision to change reminded me of other similar choices I made in past years.  Do you remember Sidekick?  It was one of the first personal information managers (PIM) created.  Like many other people, I spent my hard earned money to buy the program.  At the height of its popularity, it was more than software for your computer.  It spawned several pocket organizers that worked more like glorified calculators.

I really miss the old Infocom games.  To this day I remember their advertising slogan, “We put our graphics where the sun doesn’t shine”.  I’ve played a few of the modern “adventure” games, but they just don’t seem as difficult or imaginative as Zork, Planetfall or Trinity.  I think my favorite game of all time was Suspended.  I know you can still play the games online.  The problem is that they just don’t seem as good as I remember them.

My first web sites were designed with Microsoft Front Page.  It was a great program for a beginner web site designer and proved to fill my needs as my knowledge advanced.  Some of the pages on my web site today were originally created years ago in the program.  Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn’t sell the program any more.  (For some reason, I’m reminded of a labeling software.)

I guess as I get older, old great software has become like other things in my memory.  I know that modern automobiles are quieter, safer and getting better every year.  Even though, I sure do miss my ’54 Oldsmobile.

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

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7 Little Words – Originally Published April 2014

September 15, 2014 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

I like word games.  When I reviewed the game Wordiest, one of our club members suggested that I try another word game.  It was another free game called 7 Little Words.  This is one of those games that is doing what seems to be the new gaming trend: In application purchases.  I guess I must like the game a little bit.  I’ve spent money on it.

Like many other excellent games, 7 Little Words is simple to play and difficult to win.  The game reminds me of both anagrams and crossword puzzles.  Each puzzle consists of seven clues for seven different words.  There are twenty letter combinations for you to put together that fit the clues.  The goal of the game is to use all of the letters to solve the clues.

When you download the game, you get three daily puzzles and a puzzle pack of fifty free puzzles.  A new daily puzzle is added each day.  Additional puzzle packs can be purchased.  I’ve purchased an “impossible” to solve puzzle pack.  It hasn’t been impossible, but it’s pretty hard.

A limited number of free hints come with the game.  Unlimited hints can be purchased. I have been sorely tempted to buy the hints but have avoided having to so far.  The game relies on elimination.  If you solve most of the words you can experiment with the remaining letters and usually guess the answer.  I’ll admit that I have searched the web a few times for answers.  For example, I didn’t know that a cherimoya is a Peruvian fruit.  As with many other games, there are cheat web sites with all of the answers.  I haven’t had to use them.

The game has a 4.8 rating in the Google Play Store.  You can Download 7 Little Words by clicking the link.  Give it a try.  I think you’ll like it.

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Apps I’m Not Going to Download – Originally Published January 2014

September 1, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

It’s that time of year again!  Did you keep all of the New Year resolutions you made a year ago?  Me neither.  I think it’s because I haven’t been making the right resolutions.  This year is going to be different.  I’m going to keep all of my resolutions.  How can I be so sure?  It’s simple.  I’m going to resolve only one thing.

You’ve heard the saying that there is an app for everything?  I think it might be true.  This year, I am resolving not to download and install any of the following applications.

1) Ghost Radar uses your device to scan for paranormal activity and alert you when ghosts are present.
2) PeeperPeeper is one of the most useless utilities I’ve seen.  It takes a picture whenever you open a messaging application.  This will supposedly give you proof that someone is reading your messages.
3) Fake Battery is supposed to help you not have to lend someone your phone.  You can tell them “Sorry, my battery is low.”
4) Poop Log is the application you need if you want to keep track of important things like size, amount, color, frequency, etc.  This is much more information than I need to know.
5) Flying Poo appears to be a game in where you have to use your finger to find Mr. Poo a new home.
6) The Dental Video Lexicon is just the app you need if you want to watch dental operations.  Open wide and say “mafapqjdqieck”.
7) Got Cash?   Prove it!  Show everyone that you have enough cash to buy useless $200 app!  Who wants milk, anyway?  You’ve just read the developers description on the Play Store.  It has a 5.0 rating (one vote).  Surprisingly, there has been some downloads.
8) Nothing does nothing for the same price.
9) Motion Fart uses the sensor in your phone to allow you to fart by lifting your leg.
10) Idiot Detector is an application that I was tempted to try.  Then I realized that it was not needed.

There you have it.  Ten applications that I recommend you DO NOT install.  They are all real programs available from the Google Play Store.  I didn’t check if any of them are also on iTunes or Windows.  I don’t know what amazes me more: the fact that some one writes these types of apps, or that other people actually download them.

Thanks for reading.

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Revo Uninstaller – Originally Published August 2014

August 31, 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.

Did you know that when you uninstall a program from your computer, you seldom uninstall all of the program?  When you uninstall programs in Windows, they leave bits and pieces of themselves behind, such as Registry entries, file folders, shortcuts, dll files, etc.

There are many free uninstaller programs available to replace the Windows built in installer.  My favorite is the Revo Uninstaller.  It is one of the most popular and highly respected programs that you can download.  It has been around for a long time.  I don’t remember when I first started using it, but I know it has been more than five years.

Revo Uninstaller is an uninstaller for Microsoft Windows.  It uninstalls programs and additionally removes any files and Windows registry entries left behind by the program’s uninstaller or by the Windows uninstall function.  It works by scanning a hard drive and registry for files that would otherwise be left behind.  It removes all the program’s files, auto start entries and all noticeable registry entries.

When you open Revo Uninstaller, you are presented with a list of installed programs that can be uninstalled.  Right clicking on a program in the list will give you the option to search Google for the program’s name or manufacturer.  I have found this useful when I am not sure what the program is.

To uninstall a program, double click on the title.  Revo Uninstaller will first run the program’s built in uninstaller if there is one.  Next, Revo searches for leftover program files, auto start entries, the recently opened file list and any leftover registry entries.  Although, Revo Uninstaller has a few tools for removing junk files, its real forte is program uninstalls.  It is not perfect and occasionally misses a file or entree, but under most circumstances, it is more than adequate.

There is also a portable program that can be run from a USB drive.  A paid PRO version is also available with more features.  Revo Uninstaller can be downloaded 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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EULAyzer – Originally Published June 2014

August 28, 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.

Before reading this article, you must explicitly agree to abide by the following terms and conditions.  If you do not agree, please either close the newsletter or immediately hit the page down key.

“This review can only be perused during daylight hours except on weekends, holidays, a family birthday, or a solar eclipse.  In the event you decide to continue, you agree that you will not disagree with the author unless you are under the care of a state certified psychiatrist.  By continuing, you are granting permission to the newsletter editor to collect your personal information and sell it to other computer clubs.  The author of this article can change it any time without informing the readers.  Information in this article can be true or false without any repercussions to the author.”

If you’re reading this paragraph, you probably realize that the lead in was probably not enforceable.  I have no idea whether or not it is.  All I know is that almost every program I install on my computer(s) make me read and agree to an End User License Agreement (EULA).  They are often full of lots of legal terms and big words.  Many of them are several pages long.  I’m pretty sure that most EULAs were written by lawyers.

There have been several surveys and tests that show that most end users just check the agree box and install the software.  One company put a clause in the EULA telling customers how to claim a $1000 prize.  It was not claimed until after more than 3000 program installs.

Do you, like most computer users, not read the EULA?  So am I.  Don’t be surprised at that statement.  I hardly ever read a EULA.  I let the computer do it for me.

EULAlyzer Personal is a utility that scans user agreements and analyzes them for “key words” or phrases in the EULA.  It is an easy program to use.  When the EULA shows on your monitor (usually in a small window that you can’t re-size), simply select “scan new license agreement” and drag the cursor to the EULA.

EULAyzer then scans the document and searches to see if the software you’re about to install displays pop-up ads, transmits personally identifiable information, uses unique identifiers to track you, and much more.  Troublesome phrases in the EULA are highlighted so you can easily review the appropriate phrase.

Occasionally, EULAs are found on a web page or some other file.  In this case, you can copy and paste the document into EULAlyzer and analyze it as previously described for potential problems.  You can also review Terms of Service agreements by the same method.

As an added bonus, you can save the EULAs to a file on your computer and read them at you leisure.

EULAlyzer is not the ultimate program and does not offer any advice, but only suggestions.  It is a good utility that I recommend you keep in your junk fighting toolbox.  Did I mention the price?  You can download and install the program for a one time payment of $0.00.

You can download EULAlyzer 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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TunnelBear VPN – Originally Published March 2014

August 28, 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.

Do you ever download from the internet on unsecured wireless networks?  If you answered “no” to that question, I can say that you are most likely not telling the truth.  The first thing almost everyone does when they come to our monthly meeting is log in to the local WI‑FI.  It is probably safer than the local McDonald’s, Starbucks, or library.  Personally, I’m not willing to bet my personal data on that.

That’s why I use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).  Put simply, a VPN is a group of computers networked together over a public network, namely the internet.  A VPN client is the software that allows you to enter an encrypted network and access the internet.  Anyone intercepting your data will not be able to decipher and read it.

If you search for “free VPN”, “best VPN”, etc. you will find literally thousands of VPN clients.  Of course they will all tell you why they are the best.  I like TunnelBear. I’m not going to tell you it is the best, but I’ll try to convince you that it is pretty good.  The first thing I like about TunnelBear is that it is a Canadian company.  This means that they aren’t subject to a National Security Agency court order.  It’s really not that big a thing, but I know the NSA spies so why make it any easier for them.  TunnelBear has servers in seven different countries.  They create a secure, encrypted connection between your internet device and the host country you are connecting to.

TunnelBear is easy to download and setup.  There is no need for the user to learn about network protocols, IP addresses, encryption levels, etc.  After downloading and installing the program, an account must be created.  The only user information required is name, e-mail address and password.  No need for your phone number, address or Mother’s middle name.

Like all other VPN companies, TunnelBear offers both a free and paid service.  Their free service gives you 500 MB of free data every month.  This should be plenty for the occasional user.  A bonus 1 GB can be obtained by promoting them on Twitter.

TunnelBear is easy to setup and use.  Give it a try and see if you like it.  You can download TunnelBear here.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk; a little lagniappe.

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KeePass Password Safe – Originally Published January 2014

August 27, 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.

This month, I thought I’d take a few minutes and revisit a program I told you about almost two years ago.  It’s the password program that I use every day when I’m computing.  KeePass Password Safe creates strong passwords and keeps them safe.

I use a lot of passwords in my daily computing.  As of this writing, I’ve got 63 e-mail addresses.  I have eighteen passwords that I use to manage them.  I frequent 7 different forums, each with separate password.  Then there are my gaming site passwords.  Five right now.  Did I forget to mention my military and medical passwords?  Eight of them.  Then there are on line shopping passwords and the most important one of all – the one that logs me into the SWLAPCUG web site.  I’ve got more than 50 passwords that I use fairly frequently.

The first week of every month, I change the passwords for websites that keep important data.  It seems that some company or government office is always being compromised and losing important data.  For most web sites, I use hard to break passwords.  Want to see one of my sample passwords?  1+;edYXEQ)-|gvUWxSOZ`B~4ym,x]~U|MV$Hpm&} is a password that I’ve used in the past to gain access to my military retired pay and allotment information.  As you can see, it would be pretty hard for anyone to guess what it is.

The program I use to manage all of those passwords is KeePass Password Safe.  It is a really easy to use utility that helps you to keep track of all your passwords while keeping them safe.  It lets you store all of your passwords in a lightweight, simple to use database that is encrypted so that only you can access it.

KeePass Password Safe stores all of your passwords in groups.  That makes it extremely easy to quickly find the one you want.  The program does more than just store the passwords; it also lets you easily copy them onto a Web page or an application.  You can drag and drop them, copy them to the clipboard, or copy them using a hot key.  A great feature that was added since my last review is “Perform Auto Type”.  This feature automatically fills in user names and passwords.

KeePass also features a plugin framework.  Plugins can provide additional functionality, like support of more file formats for import/export, network functionalities, backup features, etc.

One of the best features of KeePass is the random password generator which creates passwords with characteristics that you specify.  That way you can tailor your passwords as needed.  For example, some websites won’t let you create a password with underlines while others might require a specific password length.  KeePass makes it easy to create any password.

The program also includes support for TAN (Transactional Access Numbers) passwords and allows you to create TAN lists which automatically expire a password once it has been used . Other features include auto-lock, database search and import/export.  There are many more features.

Of Course, KeePass also fits in with one of my most demanding prerequisites.  The cost is Zero!  KeePass is open source.  You can read more about the program on the KeePass Password Safe Home Page.  Give it a try.  I don’t think that you’ll be disappointed.

If you like the program, just tell everyone that you’ve got a SWLAPCUG extra, a bonus perk; a little lagniappe.

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Things I Miss About Gaming – Originally Published October 2013

August 24, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’ve been thinking about buying a Minecraft gaming account.  The grandson has been playing the demo and it looks like a game that I might enjoy.  I mentioned to him that I might do that and of course he is in favor of me doing it.  I told him that it wouldn’t make a difference because I couldn’t download it to his tablet.

That got to reminiscing  about one of the things I miss about playing computer games in the old days.  I miss software that didn’t have to be installed and could be run off the disk.  You didn’t have to worry about how much hard drive space was available or about memory conflicts.  If you went to a friends house, you just had to pop the disk in the drive and play on their computer.  To some extent, we can still do that with portable programs that run off a flash drive.

I’m not much of a game player these days, but I sure miss the old Infocom games.  Their advertising line was, “We put our graphics where the sun don’t shine.”  That was because there was no graphics.  The games were all text adventures.  The puzzles were all difficult.  You had to both think and imagine to play.  Maybe someday I’ll make a monthly Mindbender with questions about old games.

When was the last time you plugged a joystick into your computer?  It used to be that you needed a good one to play any games.  Wolfenstein, Space Invaders, Pacman and the many flight simulators needed one to be playable.  I still remember the last time I saw my old joystick.  It was the night I blew the dust off it and brought it to the club meeting to put on the giveaway table.

Some of the best games were free from many computer magazines.  They printed the code and you had to type it in for the program to run.  I remember sitting for hours with my six inch ruler marking the line, tediously typing in numbers and the letters a through f.  If just one digit was wrong, the software wouldn’t run and you had to spend hours troubleshooting.  I used to get a lot of good games from a company called Softdisk.  They were based in Shreveport and published several “Disk Magazines”.  Each month, I would eagerly wait for my Loadstar disk for the Commodore 64.

With the use of emulators, you can still download and play a lot of the old games on your modern computer.  If you’re interested, check out My Abandonware or The Internet Archive.  The games are free, but they don’t seem quite as good as I remember them.

I still haven’t decided if I’ll try Minecraft.

Thanks for reading.

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