Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on September 05, 2007 by CyberNet.

Process Explorer is one of the must-have apps for any Windows power user. It doesn’t require any installation for you to use it, and it can show you things like which application has a specific file or folder open. Honestly this is something that I’ve always hoped would ship with Windows as an “advanced” mode option, but I’m just grateful that Microsoft has continued to keep this project alive.

Today marked another milestone for the application with the introduction of Process Explorer 11. There’s several improvements for Vista users, and here’s the more complete list:

• New treelist control for better UI responsiveness
• Asynchronous thread symbol resolution on threads tab of process properties
• More flags on groups in security tab and SID display
• Thread IDs on threads tab
• On-line search uses default web browser and search engine
• Vista ASLR column for processes and DLLs
• Vista Process and thread I/O and memory priorities in process and thread properties
• Vista Process and thread I/O and memory columns
• PROCESS_QUERY_LIMITED_INFORMATION support on process permissions on Vista
• Run as limited user runs with low IL on Vista
• Reports information for all object types on Vista
• Show details for all processes elevation menu item on Vista
• Supports replacement of task manager on Vista
• /e to launch elevated
• /s switch to select a process at startup
• Compiled w/ASLR, DEP
• Faster startup
• Miscellaneous bug fixes and minor improvements

If you’ve decided that you want to replace the Task Manager with the Process Explorer it’s just two-clicks away. After you have Process Explorer open just go to the Options Menu, and choose “Replace Task Manager” from the list:

You can undo that operation at anytime by using the same item in the Options Menu, but I have a feeling that you’ll grow accustomed to the sea of details that Process Explorer provides you with. So go ahead and try it out…there’s no installation required and it runs on nearly all versions of Windows.

Process Explorer 11 (only for Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista)

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on February 06, 2007 by CyberNet.

Wal-Mart has scored a partnership with all of the six major Hollywood studios to start the download war.  Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Sony, 20th Century Fox, and Universal have all agreed to allow Wal-Mart to sell their movies online. The site is to launch later today, with HP working to make it a more user-friendly experience.

Prices for the movies are said to range from $12.88-$19.88 for newer releases with older movies said to start at $7.50.  Prices for the newer releases are really about the same as what you would pay for an in-store movie.  I’m wondering why someone would want to pay the same price for a downloaded copy when they can get a hard-copy of the movie for about the same price?

Also offered at their download store will be TV shows from Viacom networks like FX, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, etc.  Each single show will be $1.96 which comes in slightly below their iTunes competitor. If you visit the site right now, it doesn’t look like much, but that’s expected to change sometime today with 3,000 films and TV episodes for-sale.

I don’t know that this will be an instant hit with consumers with prices where they stand for movies, especially because there’s not an option to burn the movies to DVD. What they do having going for them, however, is the fact that this type of service is expected to catch on with consumers and grow.

Tom Adams of Adams Media Research says this about the deal:

“It gets the ball rolling finally. Now the studios are free to pursue it as aggressively as they can without worries about what Wal-Mart is going to think.”

There’s clearly a growing interest in downloadable media, and if the price is right, I think Wal-Mart might be able to win people over.

News Source: Business Week
Image Source: Gizmodo

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on December 12, 2007 by CyberNet.

Earlier today I posted instructions on how to download and install Vista SP1 RC, and now that I’ve kicked it around a bit I thought I had enough thoughts to constitute an article. The reason why I didn’t include this information in the earlier post was that my installation had not completed, and in the end it took about 45 minutes to finish installing. A bulk of that time was spent after the computer restarted the first time, so don’t think that your done after the first restart.

–The Good–

Microsoft focused the first Service Pack for Vista purely on performance, stability, and reliability. After running it for just a few hours I’ve noticed that they went for the updates that offered the “biggest bang for the buck.” By that I mean they really hit home on some critical areas where performance wasn’t the greatest, and where users would really notice a big difference.

To be more specific here are some of the things that have really stood out to me in Vista SP1:

• They fixed one of the issues that has irked me the most! Previously when I would start up my laptop Vista would pause for about 15 seconds while it was connecting to the network. During that time no programs or Windows services would load, but things like the Start Menu were still usable. After a lot of research I determined that the delay was caused by Vista looking for other computers on the network, and if I disabled file sharing the problem disappeared. I’m happy to say that there are no startup delays for me in Vista SP1!
• Searching indexed files and folders is way more instant than before. I have Vista index all of the files on my entire computer, and sometimes when performing a search for files it would still take several seconds to bring up any matching results. Now it is able to pull in results almost instantaneously when I begin typing. For the curious minds out there I have 150,000+ files in my index that Vista is searching.
• Big file transfer speed improvements! Transferring files from one machine to another is amazingly faster. Before installing Vista SP1 on my computers I transferred a 500MB file over my local network. It took 3 minutes and 25 seconds to complete, but after installing Vista SP1 on both machines it only took 2 minutes and 22 seconds. That’s a 30% difference!
• Remaining time for file transfers is calculated faster, and seems to be a bit more accurate. When I transferred the 500MB file mentioned in the previous bullet the remaining time was calculated immediately upon initiating the transfer. Sometimes it would take 10 or 15 seconds for it to calculate, so it’s a lot nicer now.
• I have yet to see firsthand the advantages of the hotpatching we discussed yesterday, but the less frequent reboots will surely be a nice touch.

–The Bad–

• One thing that really bugs me with Vista SP1 RC is that Microsoft felt the need to brand my desktop as an “evaluation copy.” Sure I’m not running the final release, and Vista SP1 RC will expire in June 2008, but did they still have to do this? If you’re annoyed by the “Evaluation copy. Build 6001″ message here are some instructions on how to remove it, but I’ll probably just leave it alone.
  
• There hasn’t really been any improvements to the User Account Control (UAC) in Vista. I guess this is something that would be included in Service Pack 2 since it is more aligned with new features, but some minor tweaks could have made it less frustrating for new users. A “remember my choice” checkbox on each of the prompts would make it 1,000 times better!
• I would have liked to see a few improvements to the Vista Gadgets, such as an autohide option for the sidebar. There should also be an easier one-key shortcut to show/hide the gadgets in the sidebar and on the desktop. The WinKey+Space Bar just doesn’t cut it for me.

So those are my initial impressions of Vista SP1, along with what I was hoping to see included. Vista SP1 should be in final form the early part of next year, and I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that two years won’t go by before we see SP2 (there was a two year gap between SP1 and SP2 for XP).

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on April 17, 2008 by CyberNet.

Tutorial Thursday

One of the questions that I get asked rather frequently is how people can take their media with them to places (normally work) without carrying a media player around. There are plenty of services out there that will let you upload, for example, your music so that it can be accessed from anywhere. But most of the time people want to stream it directly from their home machine.

Is it possible? Of course, it’s just a matter of finding the right tools for the job. If you’re trying to stream media (music, movies, images, documents, or television) from your home computer I recommend checking out the free Orb service. With it you download and install a small application that always runs on your computer. Then by logging into their website you can access nearly any type of media that has made its way onto your machine. Forget a file at home? No problem! Orb can not only stream media but will also let you download files directly from your home computer.

–Supported Media–

Orb handles a wide array of media including television, videos, photos, music, documents, and more. In the configuration options you can set the directories that you want Orb to snatch media from, which means the control is really in your hands.

You might be wondering how the streaming television works. It’s required that your computer have a supported tuner first of all. After that it takes just a few steps to configure the Orb software. You can also schedule shows to record so that you don’t miss them!

–Supported Devices–

The primary computer that hosts the media will need to be running Windows XP or Vista for Orb to work. Then when it comes to accessing the media all you really need is a computer with a browser and Internet connection. Or more specifically…

• Any Windows, Linux or Mac OS-X laptop or desktop computer that has a broadband connection and a media player that can stream Windows, Real or 3GP media, such as Windows Media Player (v.9 or above), WinAmp, RealPlayer (v.9 or above) or Quicktime Player.
• Any Pocket PC that has Microsoft Windows 2002, 2003 or Mobile 5 Pocket PC.
• Any Palm OS device with the Kinoma Player 4 EX is compatible with Orb. Such devices include (but are not limited to) the Treo 650, 680, 700p, 750 and the Tungsten C.
• Any cell phone with a Web browser and either Windows Media Player, TCPMP, RealPlayer, or 3GP Player.
• All of the major gaming consoles so that you can stream all the digital content from your home PC and from the Web onto your TV screen in the living room! Orb works seamlessly with the Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation3 and Microsoft Xbox 360.

So it’s safe to say that you can stream media using Orb to a lot of different devices.

–Setup–

I hadn’t used Orb prior to writing this article, and despite being a first-time user I had the software setup and running within a few minutes. Here’s what you have to do:

1. Download and install Orb. It’s available in a variety of different languages, and works with Windows XP or Vista.
2. Start going through the setup process. If you don’t already have an Orb account you’ll be able to create one from within the application. Note: You’ll need to verify your email address if you’re creating a new account.
3. Head on over to mycast.orb.com to start streaming media! There you’ll find a fully customizable homepage, but I recommend that you click the Open Application button to select what type of media you want to stream:
    

–Remotely Manage Media–

Now that you have Orb setup and understand how to navigate around the site it’s time to have some fun! You can create playlists of your favorite songs so that they are quickly accessible, and managing photos is a breeze. From within the Orb MyCast site you can do it all:

(Click to Enlarge)

And before you shrug this off as something you’ll never use there’s one very important aspect that has made this a valuable tool to me: downloads. Even if you don’t want to use Orb to stream your media it can still be used kind of like a personal FTP server. If you get to work and realize you forgot an important document at home just pull up Orb, find the file, and click the download button. To speed things up you can even have the file compressed before downloading it (if you’re downloading multiple files they’ll automatically be compressed before sending them):

–Overview–

There is a sense of reassurance that Orb isn’t storing any of my files on their servers, but at the same time they’ve got an amazing online interface that I can use to access any of my media located at home. Give it a whirl and I’m sure you’ll like it as well!

Orb Homepage

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on December 06, 2007 by CyberNet.

Tutorial Thursday

Have you ever had two or more computers that you wanted to synchronize files between that weren’t all located on the same network? Maybe you have one computer at work and another one at home, and you want some of your more important documents or reports accessible from both locations. No problem!

Back in 2005 Microsoft purchased a service called FolderShare, which is used to keep files on multiple computers all in sync with each other. And we’re not talking just Windows computers, but Mac’s, too! There aren’t many free tools out there that are capable of syncing files on multiple platforms, so this is definitely something to treasure.

–Why FolderShare–

There are a lot of reasons why you should use FolderShare if you have more than one computer, but here are my favorites:

• None of the files are hosted on FolderShare, which means you don’t have to worry much about privacy. It’s just like sending a file to someone over an instant messenger, except it is automatic.
• Files up to 2GB can be shared.
• There is no limit of any kind on how many files you can transfer.
• Any files, regardless of filetype, can be transferred.
• The web management screen works in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera.
• Sync files, share folders with friends, or access all of your files almost as if you were using an FTP.
• It’s fast! Files will often be synchronized to your other computers within minutes.

Note: After you download and install FolderShare it will have you setup an account within the program.

–Syncing Files Between Computers–

One of the best features about FolderShare is its ability to sync files (even large ones) between multiple computers. You can set it up so that the folders are automatically synchronized, or only when you tell it to. It’s simple to setup:

1. Go to the My FolderShare page and select the Sync My Folders option:
   
2. Click the Specify folders to sync option, pick one of the available devices from the left side of the screen, and browse for the folder that you want to sync. Click Next after selecting the folder.
   
3. Now select another computer from the Available Devices column located on the left side of the screen. The folder that you just selected in Step 2 should be one of the options immediately available, but you may choose the Specify Folder option if you want to select a different destination to sync to.
   
4. Choose whether you want the files to be automatically synced, or just synced when you tell it to. Then hit Next:
   
5. That’s it! Now you’re files will be synced between computers faster than you know it.

–Sharing Files with Friends–

Not only can FolderShare keep your files in sync, but it can also help share files between friends. You can create a folder, or select an existing one, and share the contents with your friends. Each time you change the folder’s contents FolderShare will update the files on all of your friends’ computers.

Here’s how that works:

1. Go to the My FolderShare page and select the Share With Friends option:
   
2. Select the device that you want to share files from on the left side of the screen, and then choose the Specify a folder option:
   
3. Browse your computer to find the folder that you want to share. All system folders and folders you don’t have access to will be blocked from sharing. Just fill in the bubble next to the folder that you want to share and click Next:
   
4. Your folder will be validated to make sure it exists, and that you have the correct permissions to share it. Then you’ll be prompted to add the email address of your friends. They’ll need to create a FolderShare account and install the software if they have not already done so.

Now you and your friends can share all of the files that you want, without the need to email them to each other. Just drop them in the shared folder and let FolderShare take care of the rest.

–Web Downloads–

FolderShare can also act as a web-based FTP, and it doesn’t require any additional action other than installing the FolderShare application. Once that is setup you’ll have access to all of the files on the computer that you have permission to. If you need to download a bunch of files, however, it could take quite awhile. Here’s what you have to do:

1. Go to the My FolderShare page and select the Access My Files option:
   
2. Select the device that you want to get files from on the left side of the screen, and then browse for the file that you want to download:
   
3. Clicking on any of the files will download them straight from the remote computer to yours.

–Overview–

As you can see FolderShare is an extremely versatile application that should be used by anyone who finds themselves away from their computer(s). I’ve used this service for a long time, and when the service was down for a few days in November I found out how much I really missed it. Other than that one time the service has always been available when I needed it, so it is also reliable.

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com