Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on March 13, 2008 by CyberNet.

Tutorial Thursday

There’s an application that I’ve been using for years that has saved me a lot of time and trouble. It’s a Windows application called Sizer, and it is completely free and extremely small in size. Those of you who have installation-phobia can rest easy knowing that there is a no-install version available.

Sizer doesn’t require much of an explanation in order for you to start using it. Basically it will let you resize a window to a set of predefined dimensions. There are plenty of applications out there in the wild that do almost the same thing, but there are some features that really make Sizer stand out from the crowd.

Once you have Sizer running there are several different ways you can use it to precisely resize a window:

• Shortcut – Hold down the Control key while resizing a window to have it snap to an invisible grid. By default the grid is set to 10 pixels, but you can adjust that number in the configuration.
• Tooltip – When you’re resizing a window you’ll see a little tooltip appear by your mouse that tells you the current dimensions.
  
• Menu – When your mouse turns into the resizing arrow (the double-ended arrow) you can right-click to see a menu of predefined sizes. You can customize the options that show up in the menu, and we’ll demonstrate how to do that in just a minute.
  
• Titlebar – Another way to access the menu is by right-clicking somewhere on the titlebar for the window. There will be a resize/reposition menu which will expand to show your predefined sizes.
  

Now that you know how to use Sizer lets take a look at how you can configure it. If you right-click on the System Tray icon you can open up the configuration screen to change some of the settings. This is where you can add or remove predefined resizing options from the menu:

You’ll also notice that for each menu item you create you can adjust the positioning of the window. For example, you can have a window resized to 640×480 pixels and centered on the screen! The “Move to” drop down menu will let you choose just about any corner of side of the screen, or you can specify a custom position in terms of pixels.

Towards the bottom of the configuration window is a box where you can enter in the “snap size.” I talked about this earlier where you can hold down the Control key when resizing a window to have it snap to an invisible grid. The larger the number you enter in this box will cause the grid to be less precise.

Sizer is a relatively simple application in terms of how it works, but if you’re constantly resizing windows this can become a huge time saver. Jump on over and give it a whirl if you’re a Windows user.

Note: The author of the application put a note on the site that Sizer has some issues under Windows Vista, but when I was testing it everything worked perfectly. I used the no-install version that was available which might be the reason why I didn’t run into any problems.

Download Sizer

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This article was written on March 27, 2007 by CyberNet.

Time Saving Tuesday

I frequently get asked how people can setup their own FTP. Some of the current programs available always seem intimidating with the extensive list of configuration options when most people only want to access their own documents when they’re away from their PC.

In the past I have always recommended the free GuildFTPD, but getting it to work can be a hit or miss. So I started searching around for another tool that you could use, and I found just the thing!

The answer to your FTP server problem is the Quick ‘n Easy FTP Server Lite (Download Mirror). It is an easy-to-use FTP server application that you can setup in less than 30–seconds…no joke. The download weighs in at a measly 0.35MB and there is no installation necessary. Just run the executable file and start configuring your FTP server.

Once you get it running you’ll be greeted with a wizard to walk you through the necessary steps to complete the setup. As seen here, the only thing it really asks for is a username, password, a starting directory, and permissions for your server:

After the setup is complete just press the green “Start” button located on the toolbar. This will initiate your FTP server so that you can connect to it using Windows Explorer (by placing FTP:// in front of your IP address) or by using a free FTP client such as my favorite FileZilla.

After you get it all setup, there are a bunch of different things you can do with the program including viewing statistics or adding more users. With an interface that closely resembles Windows XP it should be a breeze for you to tinker around with what it has to offer:

The only thing that would probably prevent you from getting the FTP server setup in less than 30–seconds would be port forwarding. By default this program uses the default FTP port 21 which you may have to forward if you’re using a router at your home. This is pretty easy to do and your router’s documentation should explain how to do it.

I have never seen a program that makes it so easy to setup your own personal FTP, but this one does a very good job of it. They also have a Pro version available for $29.95, but I think you’ll be more than satisfied with what the free version has to offer. 

Quick ‘n Easy FTP Server Lite Homepage (Download Mirror)

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 April 10, 2008 by CyberNet.

Compiz Fusion is quickly becoming an important part of many Linux distributions, and I don’t think that anyone would argue that the cube effect for switching between desktops is one of the most hyped features. Well, the cube could very well be on its way to retirement thanks to the cylinder effect that was just added.

As seen in the screenshot above the cylinder effect provides a pretty sweet looking way to switch between each of your virtual desktops. The thing that I’m left wondering is whether Compiz Fusion is becoming a little overwhelming? There’s just so much that you can do, and so many different effects that I fear it could be verging on bloated. Maybe I’m wrong, but the last time I actually used Compiz Fusion there were so many features and settings that it was intimidating. But I guess power users want the ability to control every aspect of features like this.

What do you think of Compiz Fusion? For those of you running Linux: is Compiz Fusion something you use often, or do you only have it to show off to your friends? Personally I fall into that latter category, which is disappointing since it took some extra work for me to get it functional in Ubuntu.

I’ve embedded a video below of the new cylinder effect in action. The video starts out demonstrating the cube, and then moves into the cylinder after about 1 minute and 45 seconds:

Compiz Fusion [via Digg]

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on May 23, 2007 by CyberNet.

Back in April Paul Thurrott started to think that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) was a dead dream. He talked about the numerous delays it has suffered, and the lack of motivation Microsoft had to ship another Service Pack due to the release of Vista:

And while I’m ranting a bit, let’s dredge up Windows XP Service Pack 3, which was delayed from 2005 to 2006 to 2007 and now to 2008. If you were looking for any glimpse into the mind of Microsoft, this is it: The company has completely abandoned Windows XP, and it has absolutely no plans to ever ship an XP SP3.
…
But the reality is, Microsoft is looking ahead to new revenue and not behind to money that’s already in the bank.

According to the Windows Service Pack Road Map SP3 is still scheduled for the first half of 2008, but that date is still considered to be tentative. Now there is speculation that XP SP3 could still be released this year (2007) because of a recent press release by Microsoft that says:

Microsoft is announcing that Windows Vista supports this protocol today and Windows Server 2008 and Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) will support it as well later this year. The Juniper Networks UAC solution is expected to support the new TNC standard in the first half of 2008.

Then later in the press release they make another mention of SP3:

Simplified deployment: Customers running Windows Vista or Windows XP SP3 will be able to easily realize the benefits of a Juniper UAC deployment without requiring the need to deploy additional client software.

In August it will have been three years since Windows XP SP2 shipped, so there is no doubt that SP3 is long overdue. It’s doubtful that any new features will sneak into the service pack since Vista is already available for consumers to purchase, but it should at least address common issues that XP users incur.

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