TechBite Technology
Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
TechBite's columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the technology products he loves, the strategies for getting the most out of them, and the gotchas that can cause computing misery. Plus a couple of weekly laughs.
5 Free Tools to Tickle Your PC's Fancy
In This Issue
Geek Alert: Tune Up Your LCD
Xinorbis Analyzes Your Hard Drive
Quick, I Need My Screensaver
Hey, I'm Offline!
Have a Messy Link? Let URLRun Clean It Up
Image of the Week: Get the Warranty!
Time Wasters
More Games
--------------------advertisement--------------------
Ad Muncher Removes Ads. Period.
New Version 4.8 Available Now
Had enough of annoying banners that move across the screen and block your view? Are you weary of seeing advertisements come on screen before content? Join the thousands of Ad Muncher users who browse the net without distracting ads. Ad Muncher removes everything: pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, floating- and video ads. Ad Muncher's filters are updated daily; it works with all Windows versions and in all browsers. Ad Muncher also blocks ads in ad-based apps, including LimeWire, Pando, and ICQ. If you've had enough of clicking a full-page ad before entering a Web site, download a trial of Ad Muncher.
----------------------------------------
Click a link and keep TechBite free.
I know you like new tools to try (I do too), so here are a stack. Play with them, see if they fit your working style, and maybe you'll find a couple of keepers. [top]
Geek Alert: Tune Up Your LCD
Listen, you know why the subtitle is geek alert? It's because you need to like to take computing risks and you need some semblance of knowledge about LCDs. So before you read about Nicomsoft's free Display Tuner, I want you to know that you can't write me to complain the tool turned your LCD into one side of a 21-inch bookstand. (Or formatted your drive, or caused your spouse to leave you, for that matter.) Monitors are weird and even the program's author has a stern warning for you. Got it? Okay, cool, carry on.
I never seem to get either of my ViewSonic LCDs tuned just right. And I really don't like fiddling with those silly, hard-to-use buttons on the front of the monitor. Display Tuner lets you do those adjustments -- such as geometry, color, and brightness -- from within Windows. You can also set profiles for different viewing situations, say, watching videos, or reading text. That's terrific. There are two limitations: If you have a dual monitor display, Display Tuner will support just one monitor and ignore the second one. And the tool works only with monitors that can be managed by software (they must support DDC commands). That leaves my ViewSonic LCDs out in the cold. [top]
Xinorbis Analyzes Your Hard Drive
Is your hard drive stuffed? Chances are good you don't know half of the junk you have stored in some of the folders. Xinorbis analyzes your hard drive and shows you the contents, the structure, and how the files are distributed. It'll look at local, removable, and networked drives.
You'll say OMG once you see how many video files you've got stashed away.
Quick, I Need My Screensaver
Picture this: You're playing a computer game, or maybe a sensitive spreadsheet (or worse, a sensitive video) is on screen. In walks the head of HR. In my case, it's Popcorn, my 12-year old terrier, and nothing offends or surprises her. But you might want to get your screen saver running, like, pronto. Use Saver Starter to hover your cursor over a hot spot on your screen and instantly pop open the screen saver. While you're on the developer's site, check out Juggle Saver, a nifty screen saver. [top]
Hey, I'm Offline!
There are lots of reasons it can happen; I talked about some fixes in Help -- I Can't Get Online! One tool I didn't mention in that newsletter is the Internet Connection Repair Utility. It fixes invalid Registry settings, checks and repairs Winsock settings, and helps you figure out exactly what's wrong. [top]
Have a Messy Link? Let URLRun Clean It Up
You ever get a long link in e-mail? Sure you do, and when it spans a couple of lines, it doesn't always work when you click it. So what do you do? You copy and paste it into your browser and hope it works. The problem is you take along detritus -- spaces or maybe an angle bracket character or two. Try using URLRun, a tiny tool that strips all the junk from a link and automatically pastes it into your browser. Even though the site (which, in computing terms, is ancient) only works with Internet Explorer, URLRun will work in your default browser; it works for my in Firefox.
URLRun needs no installation. Download and unzip it right onto the Desktop. You can leave it there, but it's much better to right-click it and drag it to the Quick Launch portion of your task bar. Then just highlight any URL, press Control-C to copy it, and click on the URLRun icon. The cleaned-up link is in the clipboard and URLRun whisks it into your browser's Address field. Make the magic work right in Microsoft Outlook using the URLRun add-in. [top]
--------------------advertisement--------------------
Can't remember passwords?
Don't worry, RoboForm Pro will help you out! RoboForm Pro is the easiest and most secure way to manage your passwords. Here's what RoboForm Pro does:
Logs you into websites automatically
Reduces your many passwords to just one
Fills forms with just one click
Prevents phishing, keylogging, and much more
Is amazingly fast and easy to use
TechBite Users: Buy Now and Save 20%
----------------------------------------
Click a link and keep TechBite free.
Time Wasters
A definition of duck!, a horse tackles a mountain lion, cool magic, a honking pumpkin to scare the kids, and the Prince of Persia comes to the Net.
In less than 2 minutes, 38 hours of video get uploaded to YouTube (and almost 2 million videos are watched), 850 people sign up for Facebook, 1500 new blogs are posted and 300,000,000 e-mails are sent globally. And I haven't a clue how many twits bother Twittering, nor do I care. Don't believe me? Check the Gary Hayes' Social media Counts site.
You'll be shocked to see how much
activity there is on the Net...
It's in-your-face close-up magic I love. The guy in the video is Lennart Green, an extraordinary card worker. His techniques are amazing and very difficult to learn.
You've heard of Tequila shooters? No such thing in Russia. Nope, they use Vodka and yes, they shoot 'em. Watch the video.
Watch this F35 jet in action. Do it full screen and lower your PC's volume first.
When you're in a plane (or helicopter) and the runway looks a little hinky, all you can do it trust the pilot.
Don't get up until the aircraft comes
to a complete stop.
What happens when a mountain lion challenges a horse? Well, listen, whatever you do, don't mess with a horse.
Do you remember playing Prince of Persia way back when it was a DOS game? Forget the CD -- and the copy protection. The game's online, it's free, and still lots of fun.
Watch where you're walking, Prince...
If I say duck!, I'm not talking about waterfowl.
Forget about the standard jack-o-lantern. This year create a honking pumpkin. [top]
Image of the Week
The number one reason to buy the warranty.
More Games
I know, the Prince of Persia didn't challenge you. How about a trade? I give you an extra game; you forward my newsletter to a couple of hundred friends. You say you don't have that many buddies? Okay, how about finding an annoying cousin, your rich sister-in-law (who'll probably get a divorce soon), or your next-door neighbor. Forward the newsletter or send 'em this link: http://www.techbite.com. (Here's Line Rider, my end of the bargain. Try it and see if you can do as poorly as I did. Watch this video for how-to-do-it ideas.) By the way, if you're enjoying this newsletter and getting something out of it, become a TechBite member by sending us some financial support using PayPal. I promise, good things will eventually come your way... [top]
___________
Steve Bass is the publisher and self-appointed Chief Content Officer at TechBite; he continues to experience the cool feeling of having his own newsletter. Send him your feedback at TechBite. To sign up for TechBite's free Steve Bass Technology newsletter, head for our signup page.
Steve's also the author of "PC Annoyances, 2nd Edition: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer," available on Amazon. It covers XP, but not Vista. If you haven't purchased your copy today, don't wait, supplies are limited...
Newsletter Subscription Resources
Sign up for TechBite's free Steve Bass Technology newsletter by heading to our, well, signup page. Previous newsletters are available online.
Want a TechBite RSS feed? Here's the link to stick into your RSS reader.
To change your e-mail delivery address, or to unsubscribe, click the link at the very bottom of this newsletter.
Worried that your ISP may someday arbitrarily black list this newsletter? Us, too... So take a proactive approach: Find your ISP in our handy How To Whitelist TechBite in your Spam Filter ditty, and white list yourself. [top]
TechBite is a joint effort of Steve Bass (in rainy Pasadena) and
Mike Kronenberg (in snow-bound Denver).
Copyright 2009 by TechBite, LLC.
