Feb 15

CyberNotes: Remove Broken and Duplicate Bookmarks

Posted in: CyberNotes, Features, Freeware, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Opera, Software, Today's Chili

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

CyberNotes
Web Browser Wednesday

I’m not sure about you, but I have a collection of bookmarks that is almost unmanageable. Some of the bookmarks I probably haven’t touched for years, and I thought it was time for a little spring winter cleaning!

So I started browsing around looking for a utility that would assist me in the daunting chore. Sure there are Firefox extensions out there that can check for duplicate bookmarks and look for dead links, but all of my bookmarks aren’t in Firefox alone. I needed something a little more universal.

That’s when I stumbled across a free Windows-only program called AM-DeadLink. It’s a nifty little tool that can check your Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape, and Opera bookmarks for both dead links and duplicate entries. This would really be a killer application if it didn’t require any installation, but I’ll take what I can get.

–Dead Links–

If you’re a bookmarking fanatic you probably have some pretty ancient sites saved that don’t even exist anymore. Just startup AM-DeadLink, select your browser, and click the green button with the checkmark in it. The app will begin scanning all of your bookmarks 10 at a time (number of concurrent connections is adjustable in the settings), and it will alert you of its findings:

DeadLink Check
Click to Enlarge

The nice thing is that it will ignore local bookmarks and bookmarklets which would likely return an error. You’ll also notice that it points out when a bookmark is redirected to another site. Unfortunately there is no option to automatically update the address of all the redirected bookmarks, but that might be a nice feature for the developer to add in the future.

If you find a broken bookmark that you want to delete you don’t have to worry about opening the browser to remove it. Just select the bookmark from the list (Ctrl+Click to select multiple bookmarks), and then click on the Recycling Bin button located at the end of the toolbar.

–Duplicate Bookmarks–

There is an option located on the toolbar that will filter out all of the displayed bookmarks except for those that have duplicates. This is great for finding those sites you’ve bookmarked one too many times:

DeadLink Duplicates
Click to Enlarge

–And More–

AM-DeadLink has a few other features as well, such as the ability to download favicons for all of the websites in your bookmarks. If you find that the browser doesn’t have a lot of favicons for your bookmarks this is a fast and easy way to do it yourself.

And since your bookmarks are so important it only makes sense that the app lets you back them all up. In just a few clicks they will be saved to your computer in a compressed ZIP file.

–Overview–

In the end AM-DeadLink managed to hunt down 23 dead links and 6 duplicates in my hundreds of bookmarks. It might not be a huge amount, but I thought that I did a good enough job managing my bookmarks that it would have a hard time finding anything wrong with them. Guess everyone should clean “house” once in awhile!

Download AM-DeadLink (Windows only, requires installation)

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Feb 15

Rip DVD’s to AVI Files

Posted in: Freeware, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows Vista, Windows XP

This article was written on January 29, 2009 by CyberNet.

bitripper.png

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
Have you been wanting to get your DVD library onto your PC, but are trying to figure out the best way to do that? A free application called bitRipper might be just the solution you’re looking for.

When you first launch the application you’ll be presented with an extremely simple interface that should confuse no one, but there are still plenty of customizations you can make if you really want to dig in. Here are some of the app’s highlights:

  • On-the-fly DVD to AVI conversion.
    You don’t need gigabytes of free disk space to store intermediate data. Your DVD is converted in your PC memory and written directly to your hard drive.
  • Extreme simplicity.
    You don’t need to be computer expert to convert a DVD using bitRipper, all you should do is to insert disc and click a button.
  • Splendid customization.
    You may tune any parameters if you want, but until you decide they will never distract you.
  • Everything included.
    You don’t need to download additional modules, codecs and other software. We bundled everything that bitRipper requires yet saving it’s size.
  • Existing sources usage.
    bitRipper may use any codec which is already installed in your system choosing the most optimal one of them unless you specify the other.
  • High software performance.
    We did everything to make a DVD to AVI conversion process as fast as possible. The speed only depends on your hardware.

On the download page the developer does say that bitRipper is 100% free, but if you are prompted to register a complimentary serial number is provided. I’m guessing this is just in case you download an older version from somewhere else that still requires a serial number.

bitRipper Homepage
Thanks “Seanster” for the tip!

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Feb 13

Helpful Tip: Middle-Click to Close Programs

Posted in: Features, Freeware, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on December 07, 2007 by CyberNet.

Taskbar Shuffle Middle Click Close I can’t even begin to count how many people have become addicted to closing tabs in their browser using the middle mouse button. If you’re one of those people I’m here to tell you that you can carry that feature outside of your browser and onto the Windows Taskbar!

One of my favorite free apps, Taskbar Shuffle, has had this feature for quite some time now. It’s enabled by default, but I didn’t realize it came with this it until about a month ago. With it you can middle-click on any Taskbar button to quickly close the program! Now how cool is that?

For those of you not familiar with Taskbar Shuffle it is well known for its ability to reorder the items in your Taskbar using a simple drag-and-drop motion. One of the more recent releases also made it possible to rearrange icons in your System Tray, and when you put all of this together you get one amazingly small, free, and powerful application.

There are two versions of Taskbar Shuffle available, one that is bundled with an installer for easy setup, and another that includes only the files critical for running the app. The latter is great for people who want to run this from a USB drive, or just don’t want to install yet another program on their computer!

Download the free Taskbar Shuffle

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Feb 12

Import/Export Firefox Extension Preferences

Posted in: Firefox Extensions, Freeware, Pre-Release, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on March 23, 2008 by CyberNet.

opie extension
(Click to Enlarge)

Earlier this year we wrote about two different solutions that could be used to backup your Firefox profile, but it’s possible that you aren’t looking to back everything up. One of the areas that is extremely valuable to most Firefox users is the extensions, and some of them really take awhile to get configured just the way you like them.

Don’t worry, the same developer who created the FEBE extension for backing up your Firefox profile has also created an extension for saving only extension preferences. The Ordered Preference Import/Export (OPIE) extension will present you with an intuitive interface for selectively saving preferences in any of the extensions that are installed in the browser.

One reason that I really like this is that it’s now a bit easier to wipe out your Firefox profile and start fresh. With OPIE you can only restore the settings for the extensions that you plan on reinstalling, and leave behind the additional clutter. Believe it or not your preferences are normally not removed when you uninstall an extension, and so I always like to start with a fresh profile (after backing up my bookmarks of course) every few months.

OPIE Homepage
Kudos to Mark for the tip!

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Feb 11

Johnny Chung Lee makes DIY telepresence bot out of an iRobot Create and a netbook

Posted in: diy, robot, Robots, Today's Chili, video

Most of us don’t have $15,000 to drop on an Anybot, even though having one around would be nice in the event we don’t feel like leaving the house to get some coffee. To help those of us with more humble means, our old friend Johnny Chung Lee (of Wiimote hacking and Kinect dev team fame) has utilized his prodigious DIY talents to create a video chat robot for the relatively paltry sum of $500. Using an iRobot Create ($250), a netbook with Skype ($250), a cable to connect the two, and some control software he wrote himself, Mr. Lee built a digital surrogate on the cheap. Johnny isn’t the first person to so leverage iRobot’s hacking platform, but he added a stand on top of the robot to get the PC closer to human height, attached a fish-eye lens to the webcam for better remote viewing, and even did some re-wiring to allow the netbook to charge via the Create’s base station. The code and how-to instructions are up on his blog, so hit the source link if you’re feeling up to making one yourself. Seems like Johnny Lee’s putting that Google 20 percent time to good use thus far — keep ’em coming. Check the video of this latest creation after the break.

Continue reading Johnny Chung Lee makes DIY telepresence bot out of an iRobot Create and a netbook

Johnny Chung Lee makes DIY telepresence bot out of an iRobot Create and a netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 23:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hack a Day  |  sourceProcrastineering  | Email this | Comments

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Feb 09

Automatically Restart Crashed Apps

Posted in: Freeware, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows Vista, Windows XP

This article was written on January 21, 2009 by CyberNet.

application monitor.jpg

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
There is a good chance that you’ve had a program crash on your while you were away from your computer, and it probably caused quite a headache. Maybe you have a web server or FTP server at home, and the application running it crashed when you were at work leaving those files inaccessible. Another good one is when you start a download before you leave home, and when you return you realize that the download didn’t finish because the program crashed.

If you’ve found yourself in this situation then you may want to take a good look at this free Application Monitor. You can set it to monitor the status of a running program, and it can automatically restart it should the program inadvertently get stopped. Just specify what process should be watched, how often you want it checked, and what command you want executed when the program is found not running.

The nice thing is that you get to specify the command you want run after a program has crashed. That means you can also point it to a batch file in case you need something done before the program starts. Or, if you really wanted, you could set it to restart your computer if a particular program crashes. This guide might help you with some other ideas of things you can run when a program crashes.

Application Monitor Homepage for Windows
Thanks for the tip Jason!

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Feb 06

Elaborate Arduino tutorial explains the nuts and bolts of communicating over GSM

Posted in: arduino, att, hack, hacked, hacking, mobile broadband, mobile internet, MobileBroadband, MobileInternet, t-mobile, Today's Chili, wwan

If you’re looking to make yourself somewhat more productive on this lazy weekend, and you’ve got an Arduino or two collecting dust, we’ve got just the thing to add line after line to your dwindling to-do list. Tronixstuff has a borderline insane tutorial series going, and as of now, 27 chapters have been published. It’s essentially the Arduino Bible, but the two most recent additions in particular have piqued our interest. With the explosion in mobile broadband, even hackers are looking to get their creations online. If you’ve mastered the art of Arduino, but haven’t yet been brave enough to toss in a bit of GSM communication, the how-to guides linked below definitely deserve your attention. Just be careful how you write that code — one wrong line with a SIM card installed could lead to text overages that’ll take two lifetimes to pay off.

Elaborate Arduino tutorial explains the nuts and bolts of communicating over GSM originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Feb 2011 11:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hack A Day  |  sourceTronixstuff (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

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Feb 05

WrapUp: IE9 Developer Preview, Remote Control/Streaming Apps, and More

Posted in: Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili, windows phone 7 series, WrapUp

This article was written on March 22, 2010 by CyberNet.

Welcome to the WrapUp by CyberNet. This is a collection of news stories, downloads, and tips that we have collected over the last few days, but never got around to writing about. Don’t forget to send in your own tips, or just leave a comment on this page if you think you’ve got something we should include.

–News–

ie9 preview.jpgIE9 Developer Preview Released
At MIX last week Microsoft released a developer preview of IE9 to showcase their updated rendering engine. The new browser will make use of multiple CPU cores, will utilize the GPU for some processing, and pushes towards HTML5 standards. The developer preview is merely for testing out how pages render, and doesn’t have much of a GUI. And, in case you’re wondering, the IE9 developer preview scores a 55/100 on the Acid3 test (thus far).


windows marketplace.jpgMicrosoft Reveals Windows Phone 7 Series App Marketplace
Engadget has the scoop on the upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series app marketplace that will serve as a hub for consumers to download third-party programs. It will be the only way for users to get apps on their phone (with an exception for enterprise customers), but Microsoft wants to make the approval process as transparent and predictable as possible. All purchases will be tied to a Live account, and can be carried from one device to another without needing to re-buy them.


–News in Brief–

xbox 360 storage.jpgXbox 360 Getting USB Storage Support in 2010
Joystiq got their hands on some documentation that says an update to the Xbox 360 supposedly coming Spring 2010 will have support for USB storage support.


google vulnerability reward.jpgGoogle Hands Out First $1337 Prize for Chrome Vulnerability
For the first time Google handed out their $1337 prize, which is rewarded to anyone that finds a critical vulnerability in Chrome.


url shortener.jpgTests Say Google is the Fastest URL Shortener
A site decided to test the performance of various URL shorteners, and overall they all slow down the user experience. If you had to pick one, however, Google is the fastest.


htc logo.jpgHTC Defending Against Apple Lawsuit
HTC released a statement saying that they disagree with Apple’s actions, and plan to fully defend themselves.


gm windshield.jpgGM Reveals Enhanced Windshield
Using a bunch of sensors GM is able to overlay/highlight important information on your windshield from the road in front of you.


facebook traffic.jpgHitwise Says Facebook is the Most Popular U.S. Site
 According to Hitwise Facebook bypassed Google as the most popular site in the United States, and serves up 7% of all U.S. traffic.


netflix.jpgNetflix Shows Off Windows Phone 7 Series App
 At MIX Netflix’s Windows Phone 7 Series app drew a lot of attention because of its integrated “Watch Instantly” support.


–Tips, Tutorials, and Reviews–

clipgrab.jpg22 Cool (and Free) Windows 7 Apps
This article outlines some nice freeware apps that are compatible with your Windows 7 OS. They do things like repair broken user profiles, download online videos, convert audio and video to different formats, clean up the desktop, and much more. There’s a good variety available, and definitely worth checking out.


openvpn.jpg10 Remote Control and Streaming Tools
A guide to some awesome remote access and streaming utilities. Create your own VPN, remotely power-up machines using Wake-on-LAN, stream media, monitor your home through a webcam, and more.


–Tips in Brief–

feelhome.jpgCross-Platform Remote File Access Tool
This free cross-platform tool can provide remote access to files that are hosted on a Windows, Mac, or Linux environment.


chrome bookmark manager.jpgGoogle Chrome Getting a Better Bookmark Manager
Google is beefing up their bookmark manager, but only in Chromium builds for the time being.


rescheduler.jpgGoogle Calendar Smart Rescheduler
A new Google Calendar Labs feature provides recommendations as to when events should be rescheduled.


mozilla contacts.jpgMozilla Introduces Contacts Integration
Mozilla has developed a contacts add-on that ties together your Twitter, Gmail, and Apple address book.


excel.jpgMicrosoft Excel Cheatsheets
A wide selection of Excel cheatsheets covering keyboard shortcuts, functions, and more.


snowtape.jpgFind and Record Online Radio Stations
Snowtape will let you listen, find, and record online radio stations on your Mac.


windows 7 wallpaper.jpgChange Wallpapers on Windows 7 Starter
Microsoft doesn’t let you change the wallpaper on the Windows 7 Starter OS, but this free app will take care of that.


–Downloads–

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Feb 05

Easily Calculate MD5 or SHA1 Hashes

Posted in: Freeware, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on August 04, 2010 by CyberNet.

hashmyfiles.png

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
Last week we wrote about how you can use hashes to scan files for viruses using VirusTotal, and referenced a few ways to grab the hashes on both Windows and Mac. One of the recent additions to my portable catalog is a hash calculator called HashMyFiles put out by Nirsoft, who makes a lot of great freeware utilities.

What’s so great about HashMyFiles? For one it doesn’t require any installation, but on top of that it includes all of the features you’ll find in similar apps… plus some. The first time you run it you’ll probably want to go to the Options menu and enable the Explorer context menu. That way you’ll be able to right-click on files in Windows Explorer and have it calculate the MD5, SHA1, and CRC32 hashes for it. You can also select multiple files and the program will calculate out hashes for all of them.

One feature you won’t find in many of the other apps is the report generation. This will let you selectively save off hashes to an HTML file that you can safely tuck away. When would this be useful? The first thing that comes to my mind is if you want to keep tabs on whether or not some files have changed. Using the report you can compare the current hash to the one from the archived report.

If you’re a command line guru you may enjoy the fact that the included executable also has a variety of DOS-compatible commands available for all your scripting needs.

For those of you wondering the executable weighs in under 50KB, and uses under 2MB of memory when running.

HashMyFiles Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)

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Feb 03

KwiClick: Faster Searching in Firefox

Posted in: Features, Firefox Extensions, Freeware, search, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on May 22, 2009 by CyberNet.

kwiclick.jpg

I’m always on the lookout for a good Firefox extension, and I got an email the other day about one I’ve really fallen in love with. It’s called KwiClick, and it does exactly what I look for in an extension… it stays out of my way until I need it, and when I do use it I get the results I want.

So what’s KwiClick do? Basically it displays a nice little floating window that is capable of showing search results from sites like Google, YouTube, FriendFeed, Twitter, Google Maps, Flickr, Wikipedia, Amazon, Technorati, Viddler, Yahoo, del.icio.us, and more. You can even pin the floating window so that it will remain on top while you browse around. The example they give where this could be handy is for browsing the web while wanting to watch a video at the same time. You can open up a YouTube video in KwiClick, and pin the window so that it will remain open even while you browse in the background. Very slick!

Personally I love it for the mapping capabilities. As you can see in the screenshot above you can highlight an address, open KwiClick, and have a map instantly slide out from the side of the screen. I love the fact that it’s extremely unobtrusive since the window will disappear as soon as you click back on the website, well, unless you pin the window.

The developers have definitely gone out of their way to make this as useful as it can be, and I’m impressed with how they were able to stray away from making this more annoying than helpful. It seems like all the other extensions with similar features get in the way more than anything else, but this one is definitely different. Job well done guys!

Get KwiClick for Firefox

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