Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on March 14, 2012 by CyberNet.

We’ve covered a bunch of different applications that can be used to bulk rename files and folders, and normally they all have their own strong points. Bram is another one of those utilities, and like the others it has some features that set it apart from similar apps.

For starters Bram has a bunch of different modes available so that you can rename, copy and rename, move and rename, rename then copy, only move, only copy, or delete the files and folders. All of those different modes help ensure that the app is capable of doing exactly what you want it to. If you’re worried about the changes you are about to make to the files you can always have them copied so that the originals remain untouched, but Bram also includes an option to undo the last set of changes that were made to the files. It’s nice knowing a simple mistake won’t mess up all of your files.

Bram is also able to handle nested folders with ease, and you can tell it how deep it should traverse through the folders. If the files you are looking to rename are split up across a bunch of a directories this is a great tool to handle that.

Bram Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on August 26, 2008 by CyberNet.

Time Saving Tuesday

One of the things that’s always nice to know is what you can remove from your hard drive to quickly regain hard drive space. Maybe there are some enormous games on your computer that you don’t play anymore, or files you’ve downloaded that have never gotten deleted? By using hard drive visualization tools you’ll be able to pinpoint exactly what is eating up your hard drive storage.

There are a lot of different programs that can be used for this purpose, and we thought it would be better to put together a more comprehensive list instead of just covering one or two of our favorites. We’ve broken them up according to operating system below, and for each one we provide a brief description accompanied by a screenshot. That way you’ll be able to figure out which free app is right for you.

Note: You can click on a screenshot for a full-size version.

–Windows Hard Drive Visualization–

• JDiskReport [Homepage]
  This is a Java-based tool that gives you a few different options for visualizing your hard drive. The screenshot below shows the typical pie graph, but you can also switch to a distribution graph. As you drill into folders it will update the graph accordingly.
  
• WinDirStat [Homepage] [Full Review]
  This free program is pretty cool because of how it breaks up your hard drive into chunks so that you can see at a glance where the large space-hogging chunks are. The various types of files are also color-coded for easy identification.
  
• SpaceMonger [Homepage]
  This definitely isn’t the most glamorous application we’ve seen, but the way it breaks up the view of your hard drive is very intuitive. Just like with WinDirStat the boxes are proportionally sized to the percent of the hard drive they consume, but what’s nice about this is that some of the files and folders are clearly labeled on the diagram.
  
• TreeSize Free [Homepage]
  TreeSize is a more Windows Explorer-like interface for finding those large folders on your computer. As you can see in the screenshot below it puts the largest folders at the top of the list, and you can continue to expand them to see the largest files and folders inside each of those.
  
• OverDisk [Homepage]
  What really makes OverDisk unique is that it’s visualization method looks more like a pie chart that has exploded. You can use the navigator along the left side of the window to traverse through the directories on your PC, and the chart will adjust accordingly.
  

–Mac Hard Drive Visualization–

• Disk Inventory X [Homepage]
  Look at this the same way as the WinDirStat application for Windows above. It has the same visualization technique, and color-codes the files based upon their type.
  
• GrandPerspective [Homepage]
  Yet another block visualization tool. It’s very similar to Disk Inventory X, and both have nearly the same features and interface.
  
• JDiskReport [Homepage]
  That’s right, you saw this program in the Windows section above as well. Since it’s made using Java it’s available on multiple platforms which is a nice benefit. It uses standard pie graphs and distribution charts to plot the data on your hard drive.

–Linux Hard Drive Visualization–

• KDirStat [Homepage]
  This is the original application that used the block-like view many of the different programs mentioned above now incorporate. It also comes with some cleanup utilities to help reclaim the disk space.
  
• Baobab [Homepage]
  Baobab has a clean and intuitive interface for navigating through the folders on your computer. For each line it has a color-coded bar that indicates how much space it is taking up, or you can always switch over to one of the more graphical views. The best part is that this is already included with the GNOME desktop, and is referred to as the Disk Usage Analyzer.
  

–Overview–

So those are the best hard drive visualization tools that we’ve come across throughout the years. Let us know in the comments what you use to find the pesky files and folders taking up all of your precious hard drive space.

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on May 18, 2012 by CyberNet.

So after weeks of XBMC-focused posts we are wrapping it all up with a summary of all the guides we wrote, along with some helpful posts from the official wiki and forums pages. The community that surrounds XBMC is incredible, and that’s something you’ll realize once you start digging deeper into the software. If you’re just starting out with XBMC, the page we’ve assembled here should be a great place to kick-off your learning.

Helpful XBMC Wiki Posts:

• UserData Folder
  An explanation of what all the various files and folders are used for in your UserData folder.
• AdvancedSettings.xml
  A list of all the advanced configuration values that are available.
• File Sharing Protocols by OS
  This page covers the various file sharing protocols that are available for each of the different operating systems.
• Special Paths
  You can use the “special://” protocol to reference XBMC-specific resources, which is useful with path substitution.
• Naming TV and Movie files
  In order for XBMC to correctly detect the TV show or movie that corresponds to a video file you’ll need to make sure you understand how the files will need to be named.
• Keyboard Shortcuts
  A long list of all the various keyboard shortcuts available in XBMC.
• Remote Control Reviews
  Wondering whether your remote will work with XBMC? This wiki page covers many of the different kinds of remotes that are compatible.
• Debug Log
  The debug log can be infinitely useful when trying to troubleshoot an issue, and so it’s important to understand exactly how it works.
• Keyboard.xml
  This configuration file will let you customize/override the default behavior for keyboard shortcuts.
• Dirty Regions
  Dirty regions are a new way that XBMC tries to reduce the load on your CPU and GPU by optimizing how things are rendered on the screen, but it isn’t turned on by default yet. If you want to give it a try, this page will help you along.

Helpful XBMC Forum Pages/Posts:

• Photos of Extensive XBMC Setups
  It will take some time to flip through the 75+ pages of posts here, but there are quite a few great images showing off some of the home theater setups people have in their homes.
• XBMC Skins
  This is a nice directory of skins that are available in the official XBMC repository as well as third-party repositories.
• Video Add-ons
  This is the forum dedicated solely to video add-ons, and there is an ever-growing list of them. It’s a good place to start if you’re wondering whether your favorite online streaming service has a plugin available.
• Tips for Building Your Own HTPC
  This is a general guide on the various hardware components that make up an HTPC.
• Hardware Recommendations
  This is a long list of hardware recommendations along with pricing for anyone building an HTPC from scratch.

CyberNet’s XBMC Guides:

• XBMC: Introduction to Our Upcoming Guides
  Our introduction provides some of the deciding factors for switching from Windows Media Center to XBMC.
• XBMC: Build Your Own HTPC
  Our extensive guide on the hardware we chose for our home theater PCs (HTPCs), the cost, and some tips on choosing the hardware for your own HTPC.
• XBMC: Prepare and Optimize Windows 7
  A helpful list of tips to optimize the performance of Windows 7 so that the system is able to offer as many resources to XBMC as it can.
• XBMC: IR Receiver and Remote (Harmony, Xbox 360, and More)
  If you want your HTPC to operate like a set-top box you’ll definitely want to get a remote control configured, and for me this was a critical step so that I wouldn’t have to be concerned about less tech-savvy users trying to use my TV.
• XBMC: Share and Sync Media/Settings Between Multiple XBMC Installs
  Configuring XBMC to share settings between multiple instances means you’ll be able to stop a show in one room, and seamlessly pick up where you left off in another room.
• XBMC: Fit the Picture to Your TV with Overscan
  If XBMC doesn’t fit your TV screen perfectly there are a couple of steps you can take to get it just right.
• XBMC: Installing Skins
  How to tweak the appearance of XBMC so that it looks the way you want it to.
• XBMC: Custom Home Screen Menu Backgrounds
  Make the backgrounds of your chosen skin/theme a little more interesting by having it flip through artwork from your favorite TV shows and movies.
• XBMC: Dynamic Weather Backgrounds
  If you’re using the Aeon MQ 3 theme you can have it use dynamic wallpapers that change based on the time of day and current weather conditions.
• XBMC: SMB on Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion)
  I use a Mac to serve up files to my XBMC instances running on Windows, and so my preferred protocol for sharing files is SMB. This guide explains how you can get a XBMC-compatible version of SMB running on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.
• XBMC: Adding Media Sources
  Learn how to add your media to XBMC and turn on the appropriate content scrapers.
• XBMC: Troubleshoot Buffering Issues
  Trying to troubleshoot buffer issues in XBMC can be quite a pain, and so I lay out some of the most common culprits.
• XBMC: Test Your HTPC with High Bitrate Sample Videos
  Want to see how well your HTPC performs? Throw some of these high bitrate 1080p sample videos at it.
• XBMC: More Advanced Settings
  Configure some of the settings that you won’t find anywhere in the GUI.
• XBMC: Stream Hulu, Food Network, and More
  Thanks to add-ons you can stream videos from some of your favorite sources including Hulu, Food Network, HGTV, TWiT, and more.
• XBMC: AirPlay on Windows
  Send videos from your iOS device to any XBMC instance with very little configuration.
• XBMC: Web Interface and Chrome Extension
  As long as you are on the same network as your XBMC box you can control it from any browser using the built-in web interface, or you can install a Chrome extension to make it even easier.
• XBMC: iPhone and iPad Remote
  If you own an iPhone or iPad you can enjoy one of the best XBMC remote control experiences I’ve seen, and it will only cost you a few bucks.
• XBMC: A List of Our Guides, Plus Helpful Wiki and Forum Posts
  A recap of all the guides we’ve written as well as useful wiki and forum post from the official XBMC.org site.
• XBMC: Free and Official iOS Remote for XBMC Released
  This is the free and official XBMC remote control iOS app (optimized for both the iPhone and iPad). It will let you easily control all of the XBMC instances in your house as long as they are all on the same network.
• XBMC: Running XBMC on Startup in Windows 8
  Learn how you can make XBMC start automatically when Windows 8 boots.
• XBMC: Send YouTube Videos From Chrome to XBMC
  Send YouTube videos from your PC to any XBMC instance in a single click.
• XBMC: Aeon MQ 4 Skin
  If you’re looking for one of the best and most popular XBMC skins the Aeon MQ 4 is a great choice.
• XBMC: Android Widget Remote Control
  Control multiple instances of XBMC without ever having to open an app on your Android device!

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on July 27, 2010 by CyberNet.

We recently wrote about Any Video Converter, which is one of the best tools I’ve come across for batch converting those videos you have laying around. Last week I found a new app called XMedia Recode (English translation) for Windows, which is both free and portable. What makes this app so unique is the extensive number of built-in profiles that are included.

What benefits do these profiles offer? They mean you can convert videos to use on your mobile device without having to think about the optimal screen resolution or supported video format. You can just select your device, optionally review/tweak the recommended settings, and kick off the encoding. Does this app have a profile for your device? Probably. It includes profiles for about 35 manufacturers including popular ones like Apple (~35 devices/profiles), Motorola (~25 devices/profiles), HTC (~35 devices/profiles), and many others.

Here’s how simple the process is:

1. Drag-and-drop videos from your computer into the file pane located underneath the toolbar.
2. Select the video(s) you want to convert in the list (you can use Ctrl/Shift+Click to select more than one)
3. On the Format tab select your profile.
4. Click the Add Job toolbar button to queue up the video(s).
5. Repeat steps 2-4 until you’ve finished queuing everything up.
6. Click the Encode button to kick off the processing.

If you want you can dive through the additional tabs to configure advanced video and audio settings, or even specify a specific portion of the video to convert.

The only downside? Like most other video converters this one can take some time to process a file. In my experience it is about 1.5 times the length of the video, but that also depends on the starting/ending formats as well as how powerful your machine is. It’s a portable and free app… so there’s no harm in giving it a whirl for yourself.

XMedia Recode Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)

Supported video formats include: 3GP, 3GPP, 3GPP2, AAC, AC3, AMR, ASF, AVI, AVISynth, DVD, FLAC, FLV, H.261, H.263, H.264, M4A , M1V, M2V, M4V, Matroska (MKV), MMF, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, TS, TRP, MP2, MP3, MP4, MP4V, MOV, QT, OGG, PSP, (S) VCD , SWF, VOB, WAV, WMA and WMV.

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on November 09, 2007 by CyberNet.

Original image on the left, vectorized on the right

Have you ever had a photo that you wish you could blow up to a much larger size? Doing something like that would require a vector image, which is a graphic format that has no size limitation. You’re in luck because there is a new service in town, called VectorMagic, that will take your regular images and do its best to convert it into a vector graphic. The conversion process is normally rather quick, and it only asks you a few questions such as:

• What type of image are you uploading? Is it a photograph, anti-aliased logo, or a non anti-aliased logo?
• What is the quality of the image? Is it sharp or blurry?
• Are there less than 12 colors in the original image, or are there more than that?

After it’s done you’ll be able to download the vector image in a variety of lossless formats including PNG, SVG, and EPS.

One thing that I’ve noticed is that starting with a higher quality images will result in pretty good conversions. I intentionally made the Firefox logo above low quality to start with so that I could see what the end result would be. The vectorized Firefox logo was a bit choppy, but it almost looks like artwork to me. When I bumped up the quality of the logo the result was much better, but it obviously has a hard time with shading:

Original image on the left, vectorized on the right

Tip: The bigger and more detailed the images are the more time it will take to process. If you just want to play with this real quick try shrinking down some of your images otherwise you might be waiting for a few minutes to see the results.

VectorMagic [via Lifehacker]

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com