CyberNotes: BibMe – Free APA & MLA Bibliography Generator

This article was written on July 28, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Weekend Website

If you’re a student, you’re going to love this for writing research papers! The website is Bibme.org and it takes all the hassle out of writing a bibliography because it essentially does it for you. Had this been around when I was a student, I definitely would have used it.

BibMe Background

Before I get into how it works and what you can do with it, here’s some quick background information.  BibMe actually started as a semester project involving 6 students at Carnegie Mellon University. It took them around 15 weeks during this last Spring Semester (2007) to finish the project using Ruby on Rails and AJAX. I’d say for 15 weeks worth of work, it’s not to shabby! Nice work, guys!

It’s not like the others….

I’ve tried other Bibliography builders in the past and none of them had an AutoFill mode like BibMe does. What’s AutoFill? AutoFill allows you to find a book by the title, author, or ISBN number. I searched for a book called Stylin’ with CSS and it pulled up two results. Then I was able to select which book I wanted to use as a source and it got all of the information for me so that with one click, I could add it to my bibliography.

Bibme

Where does it gather the information like the author, publisher, and year published? I know for sure that they at least use Amazon, but it’s possible that they use other sources as well to gather this information. It also appears that they have a deal with Amazon to make money by suggesting further reading that relates to the source you entered into your bibliography.

Do-it Yourself

While the AutoFill mode is by far the one thing that makes BibMe unique and useful, they also have a Manual entry mode if you’d rather do it yourself, or if by the off-chance they don’t have the information for your source. If you decide to do it yourself, you’ll enter in all of the book info and author names yourself, and then they’ll do all of the formatting for you (usually the most tedious part anyways!).

What’s also nice is that they have a citation guide right on the site so that you can quickly reference formatting guidelines should you need them.

Not just for books

As I mentioned above, the AutoFill feature allows you to enter in the name of a book, and then it will go find all of the information for you. What I didn’t mention though is that it’s not just for books.  Besides books, you can search for a magazine, newspaper, website, journal, film, or “other.” And under the “other” category you’ll find options for an interview, radio/tv, and an encyclopedia. Essentially any source that you could possibly use is covered.

Which format do you want?

I never understood why there had to be different formats for a bibliography, but there are. Need your bib in MLA format? No problem! What about APA or Chicago? It’ll do it for you. There’s a drop-down list that allows you to choose between the three mentioned formats.

Register for BibMe

Okay, you don’t have to register to use BibMe, but you can. And what’s nice about registering is that first of all, it’s free. But more importantly, you’ll be allowed to save up to 10 bibliographies so that you can use them or reference them in the future.

Download

Bibme2While you’re adding items to the list, they appear on a “My Bibliography” page to the right of your screen so that you can see how everything looks as you add it. That’s also where they display the mentioned “further reading” from Amazon.

Once everything looks just right, you’ll have the option to save to your account, or download it to Microsoft Word.

My only complaint is that at the bottom of the downloaded bibliography, they put “Created at www.bibme.org.” Certainly you’re not going to want to turn your research paper in with that displayed at the bottom. I get that they’re trying to promote themselves, but I think it’s useful enough that others will find out about it from word-of-mouth. I don’t know any student who has enjoyed putting together a bibliography, so they’ll be sure to tell others about the huge timer saver they’ve found which is easy publicity.

If you’re a student, enjoy!

www.bibme.org

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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CyberNotes: My Top 10 Thunderbird 2 Extensions

This article was written on April 24, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Time Saving Tuesday

Now that Mozilla’s Thunderbird 2 is finally released there will probably be a lot of newcomers trying out this top-notch email client. A lot of people don’t realize that Thunderbird actually has extensions that you can install much like Firefox, and so I thought I would point out some of the best Thunderbird 2 compatible extensions that are available.

Installing extensions in Thunderbird isn’t exactly the same as installing them in Firefox since Thunderbird doesn’t have a website browser. The easiest way to install the extensions is the following:

  1. Download them in your Web browser by right-clicking on the download link and choosing the “Save link as“ option.
  2. Open  Thunderbird and go to: Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions and press the Install button.
  3. Now just browse for the extension that you just downloaded to your computer.

For more detailed instructions on installing extensions in Thunderbird please see the Mozilla help page. Alright, now onto the extensions! Remember, all of the extensions that I mention below are officially compatible with Thunderbird 2 so there aren’t any tricks required to get them to work with the latest release.

-Lightning (Homepage)-

Thunderbird ExtensionsThis is extension is something that is still in the works by the Mozilla team. They are developing it as both a standalone application (called Sunbird) as well as this extension (called Lightning). I personally like having the calendar integrated right into my email client because it is very convenient, and the 0.5 release of Lightning is due very soon which will also include Google Calendar synchronization!

  

-MinimizeToTray (Homepage)-

This is one classic extension that I couldn’t leave off of the list of best Thunderbird extensions! The concept is so simple, yet being able to minimize Thunderbird to the System Tray is so incredibly useful. This is honestly one feature that should be built-in, but until they get around to it I’ll still be using this extension.

Thunderbird Extensions

  

-Signature Switch (Homepage)-

Thunderbird ExtensionsIf you’re using Thunderbird then you probably have it setup to check multiple email accounts. After all, that is one of the main purposes of having a desktop email client. If that’s true then you might like to use the Signature Switch extension which allows you to switch between multiple signatures. By default Thunderbird only allows one signature so this option is definitely a nice addition.

  

-Auto Zip Attachments (Homepage)-

Thunderbird ExtensionsAdding multiple attachments might be easy for you to do in Thunderbird, but what about the people who have to download it? You can keep them in mind by using the Auto Zip Attachments extension which gives you a one-click solution to zipping up all of the files that you have attached to an email. You can even add a password to the file, change the name, and choose the compression ratio used.

  

-Quicktext (Homepage)-

Thunderbird ExtensionsMost emails probably seem pretty repetitive to you, or at least have repetitive parts. Maybe you like introducing yourself in the beginning of an email, or answer the same questions over and over again? Quicktext allows you to automatically insert text in a variety of ways:

  • With the toolbar
  • Adding a button to the main-toolbar
  • You can right-click and choose a template
  • You can set up shortcuts like Alt+1 to insert a specific template and
  • Or just add a keyword to a template and then write that word in the email and press TAB—the keyword is then replaced by the template.

  

-GMailUI (Homepage)-

Thunderbird ExtensionsThis extension brings all of the best features from the Gmail user interface into Thunderbird. This includes the powerful search feature where you can specify search fields directly in your query (such as the one pictured to the right) or even the ease of archiving messages. For more information on how this extension works, and for all the search syntax, please visit the developer’s homepage.

  

-QuickZoom (Homepage)-

Thunderbird ExtensionsWith this extension you will quickly and easily be able to zoom in and out of a message for easy reading. I can’t count the number of times that I receive an email message that has some unique text formatting where I can hardly read what it says. Having the zoom in and zoom out buttons located right there in the status bar makes reading the emails a lot more comfortable!

 

-Quote Collapse (Homepage)-

Thunderbird ExtensionsI think almost all email services will automatically quote a message when you hit the reply button, which can definitely lead to some super long emails. Quote Collapse makes it a little easier to cut back on the length that the quotes takes up by adding a plus/minus box next to each quote. That way you can collapse those quotes that seem to take up most of the email’s body.

  

-Webmail (Homepage)-

Thunderbird ExtensionsNot all email services, such as Hotmail and Yahoo!, offer the POP access which is necessary to download/send your emails. Believe it or not there is an extension that will help get around that problem and it is called Webmail. With this you’ll actually need to install at least two extensions, one which is the main Webmail extension and then you’ll install an extension for each of the email services you want Thunderbird to work with. For links to all of the add-on components as well as installation instructions just see this page.

  

-Mailbox Alert (Homepage)-

This extension is pretty cool because it will let you choose custom notification options for each folder that you have in Thunderbird. You can have a message, sound, and/or system command that is executed when specific folders receive mail. Or for the folders you care less about (such as spam) just have it ignore those.

Note: The notifier for this extension does not use the Thunderbird 2 new mail notifier, so it won’t look exactly the same as what you’re used to.

Thunderbird Extensions

Thanks to Lars for the tip on this one!

  

-Summary-

There are all kinds of Thunderbird extensions available to choose from, and the problem is finding the ones that’ll be useful to you. Hopefully some of the ones that I mentioned above will help you out, and if you know of any other great ones make sure to leave a comment below!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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CyberNotes: Vista Skins for Firefox and Opera

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

CyberNotes
Web Browser Wednesday

Now that Windows Vista has been released it is time for software developers to start making their applications look a little cleaner with the Aero Glass interface. Right now most applications look alright, but many of them don’t take advantages of Vista’s new graphical capabilities…specifically browsers. Well, maybe not all browsers because Internet Explorer 7 sure looks sweet with its excess transparency (even the search bar has a little transparency):

IE7

Unfortunately the other browsers aren’t quite to the point where they can take advantage of those features because the operating system is still so new, but I’m sure it will come in due time. Seeing that I’m a Firefox/Opera user myself I began searching Google for some alternative skins for both of the browsers and managed to scrounge up some that will definitely look better for Vista users.

If you’ve seen Opera in Vista it really doesn’t look that bad so I don’t mind sticking with the default theme, but Firefox’s toolbars have a purplish glow that I just can’t cope with:

Firefox Plain

When comparing the appearance of that Firefox to Internet Explorer 7 in Vista, I would undoubtedly say that IE 7 wins. When I was searching Google for "Firefox Vista" I came across this skin made by a DeviantArt user. It still doesn’t offer the slick transparency that IE 7 has but I definitely like the look:

Firefox Vista

Using that skin makes Firefox blend in a lot more with the rest of the operating system. I’m hoping that at some point a skin will be made to utilize the "pixel shading" in Vista, which is what ads a blurry transparent effect so that text is still easy to read.

Now onto Opera! I think Opera’s default skin feels just right in Windows Vista without needing any change, but there is also a skin that makes the browser look a little more like what IE 7 offers. Of course, you’ll only be able to switch skins if you can pull yourself away from the PlayBoy skin, which is one of Opera’s most popular (safe for work screenshot, and borderline safe for work screenshot). Here’s what the LikeIE Opera skin looks like:

OperaVista

So those are the skins that I managed to find on my journey to making my browsers fit in a little better with Windows Vista. I’ve been contemplating how long it will be before developers actually jump on the Vista bandwagon and really go all out to make the applications look nice on the operating system, but I’m guessing it won’t be for more than a year. A lot of people are still using XP and I think that developers will hold off on spending more money on visual appearance until Vista starts to pick up more of the market share.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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CyberNotes: Ever Wonder What Happens to Your Computer at Night?

This article was written on June 22, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Funny Friday

Some of you may have seen this before because it’s been floating around the web for several years now, but it’s still funny to watch, even if you’ve seen it already. Have you ever wondered what happens to your computer at night? I guess now you have another reason to turn off your computer before bed, other than to save energy. :)

Note: For a bigger/better video, click here.

And along the same lines, just for fun:

Signs Your Computer Was Drinking Last Night (source)

  1. Everything you saved the night before, your computer has forgotten.
  2. It keeps hurling out every CD that you put into it.
  3. The computer monitor dims a little every time you click the mouse.
  4. You sound card plays everything at half the speed it should.
  5. All error messages read: “A serious error has occurred.  If you get me through this, I promise I’ll never do it again.”
  6. Your computer automatically adds “I love you man” to your email signature.
  7. When playing an MP3, you can hear someone in the background singing karaoke.
  8. Whenever you start your computer, it comes up with a message saying, “Firewall? We don’t need no stinkin’ firewall.”
  9. No matter how you position it, your computer slowly slides off your desk.
  10. Your “Start” button changes to “Get ‘r Done”
  11. You go in the next morning and there’s some strange modem lying by your computer.

Have a great weekend!

 

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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CyberNotes: Share a Taxi with Hitchsters.com

This article was written on August 25, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Weekend Website

Today’s featured website isn’t one that is going to be useful to everybody, at least not yet. The site is Hitchsters and it was chosen because it’s a great idea that could end up saving travelers money should they expand. Currently it’s available in New York City, and starting August 27th it will be available in Brooklyn. Hopefully they’ll be adding the service to other cities soon, which they’ve promised.

Hitchsters

—What is Hitchsters.com?—

Hitchsters is a web-based system that will connect a traveler with another traveler on the same flight to share a taxi either to or from the airport to save money. In other words, it’s a matchmaker! If you’ve taken a taxi before, you know that it can get a little pricey. The whole idea of sharing a taxi with someone on the same flight is great because then you’ll never have to be waiting around for someone on another flight. And if there’s a delay, well, your co-traveler will be delayed too! They’re on the same flight.

Now, as mentioned, this service can be used either to or from the airport.  When you’re going to the airport, if you live in the same area as another traveler and you’re taking the same flight, Hitchsters would match you together. They also offer the option to select a “gender preference.” If you’d only rather ride with a guy, they’ll do their best to meet that request. You can either select that it’s a preference and that if it doesn’t work, you’d be okay riding with either gender, or you can select that you “must” ride with a specific gender otherwise you’ll ride alone.

—How to use it—

Using Hitchsters is divided up into four simple steps.

  1. Enter your flight time or the time you’ll be wanting to hail a cab
  2. Hitchsters with find a match so that you’ll have a co-rider
  3. Once you’ve been matched, you’ll receive an email or text message with the pertinent information of your co-rider. Only a first name is given for security purposes
  4. Contact your co-rider so you can share the cab

Hitchsters2

—Hitchsters Etiquette—

As you can imagine, this service relies on people who follow through with their plans. If you back out at the last minute, this service is hardly useful.  So, one of the first things to keep in mind is to not leave people hanging.

Another “rule” is that the first person who gets out of the cab will pay 60% of the fare.  That means one of you will need to agree to get out first. They say that if you can’t figure out who should get out first, it’s a simple solution: rock/paper/scissors. :)

Hitchsters relies on the co-riders being able to communicate with each other, particularly for those using a taxi service when leaving the airport.  That’s why it’ll be important to keep a cell-phone charged and ready to use so that once landed, you’ll be able to arrange to meet-up and get a cab.

—Wrapping it up—

If you’ve been to New York City, you know that taking a cab can run you as much as $100 depending on where you’re going.  By the time you pay that fee to and from the airport, you’ve almost spent as much on the cab as you have for your airfare. Hitchsters is for smart people who just want to save some money.  With little work involved to find a co-rider via Hitchsters, there’s no reason not to use it!

00

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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CyberNotes: Vista’s Games Explorer and New Games

This article was written on November 26, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Microsoft Monday

By now you’re probably aware of some of the features that are new and specific only to Windows Vista like Aero or Sidebar Gadgets, but you may not be aware of changes that Microsoft has made when it comes to games.  New with Windows Vista is a special Games Explorer (included with all versions of Vista), and three games which we’ll be talking about today.

What is Vista’s Game Explorer?

Vista’s Games Explorer is a special folder just for all of your games. It displays the games that a person has installed on their computer, and not just the ones that come with Windows by default. Anytime a user installs a compatible game, a shortcut will automatically be added to the Games Explorer. This can be seen in the image below. I just installed Peggle Deluxe and a shortcut automatically got added to the Games Explorer which also included the games that came with Vista by default.

To access the games explorer, just click the start menu and search for “Games Explorer.”

games 1

Information Provided by Games Explorer

Not only is a shortcut added to the Games Explorer, but Vista also goes and downloads the game’s box-art and the content rating information. For the game Peggle Deluxe, no rating was provided so you won’t see it pictured. Additionally, Vista now rates each computer, and that information is used to determine how a game will perform on your computer.  My system’s rating is 3.6, and it tells me that the required rating is 1.0. The recommended rating is 2.0 for the game, but either way, I know that I’ll have no problem as far as performance goes.

games 2

If a game doesn’t appear automatically…

If by chance a game doesn’t appear automatically in the Games Explorer, you can manually add it by dragging a shortcut for the game to the explorer. The only thing you won’t have then is the box-art and the information for the rating.

Sorting and Grouping Games…

We’ve written about groups, stacks, and sorting in Vista before so you should be familiar with this. The Games Explorer has the same options and allows you to sort the games based upon different things like the game last played, publisher, developer, rating, or name. You can also group the games as well, and it works exactly the same as we have already explained. The image below shows what the Games Explorer looks like when I have the games grouped by name:

games 3

Also note that you can access parental controls from this screen.

 

Games New to Vista

While we’re on the subject of games, I thought now was the perfect time to introduce you to three games new to Vista. Chess Titans, Mahjohng Titans, and Purble Place have never been included with a version of Windows before. Screenshots for each will be included below.

Purble Place is an educational game geared for young children.  It helps them to recognize patterns, shapes, and colors. Mahjong Titans is a form of solitaire that uses tiles instead of cards. The object of the game is to remove all of the tiles from the board by finding matches for each one. Once you clear the tiles, the game is over. Chess Titans is a game of chess that is designed for Windows Aero with a glass-like view. It takes complete advantage of the graphical user interface that Vista offers.

purble place

mahjong titans

chess titans

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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CyberNotes: Safely Browse the Web with Special Versions of Firefox & Opera

This article was written on January 17, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Web Browser Wednesday

Tor Safe and anonymous Web browsing is important to a lot of people. I can understand that you may not think about security so much when you’re at home because you don’t think about people intercepting packets of information sent from your computer to a destination. However, when doing important tasks like banking or even just browsing the Internet in a more public place, you should really think about stepping up the security.

So how can you be a little safer when you’re on the Internet? Actually, one big step would be to use Tor which provides some anonymity for your Internet connection. What does it do?

Tor aims to defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal anonymity and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security. Communications are bounced around a distributed network of servers called onion routers, protecting you from websites that build profiles of your interests, local eavesdroppers that read your data or learn what sites you visit, and even the onion routers themselves.

Basically you establish an encrypted connection with a chain of Tor computers that eventually connect to your destination. So how safe is this?…

A branch of the U.S. Navy uses Tor for open source intelligence gathering, and one of its teams used Tor while deployed in the Middle East recently. Law enforcement uses Tor for visiting or surveilling web sites without leaving government IP addresses in their web logs, and for security during sting operations.

Downloading and installing Tor is not a difficult task, especially with graphical instructions like these for Windows. However, if you’re like most people you will probably just want to use it for your Web browser…and there are two great solutions for doing that!

 

 –TorPark (Homepage / Mirror [version 1.5.0.7a])–

This is a portable Web browser that can be used anywhere that you go. Unfortunately it is still based on Firefox 1.5.0.7 so you don’t get all of the nifty features that Firefox 2 has to offer, but I did read that they have plans on upgrading it to version 1.5.0.9 shortly. If privacy and security is what you’re looking for then I’m sure you’ll fall in love with this browser.

Essentially it is Just a version of Firefox that includes some extensions to make your browsing a lot safer. Here are the extensions that it includes by default:

  • Adblock – Blocks ads on websites.
  • Firesomething – used to rebrand the browser as Torpark.
  • Flush Tor Circuit – drops your current Tor connection and creates a new one.
  • Live IP Address – Shows your IP in the address bar.
  • Torbutton – Easily enable or disable the use of the Tor network.
  • NoScript – Blocks scripts from running on websites without your approval.
  • It also comes with a bunch of language translation extensions installed.

While you could make your own version of this secure browser by installing a few extension, I do have to admit that it is nice having it already packaged for me to use.

TorPark

 

–OperaTor (Homepage / Mirror [version 2.1])–

You probably wouldn’t enjoy using the TorPack mentioned above if you’re an Opera browser fan. Don’t worry though, there is a version of Opera that utilizes the Tor network as well…and it is portable! All you have to do is download and run the included OperaTor.exe file and the browser, along with Tor, will be up and running.

It is based on Opera 9.10 so you get the latest security protection including Opera’s new anti-fraud feature. I actually prefer to use OperaTor over TorPack myself and it’s what I have sitting on my USB drive right now. So whenever I’m in a public place I whip it out and feel much more confident about the Web surfing that I do.

OperaTor  

 

–Overview–

 That’s not all you can do to try and keep yourself safe. Last year I wrote a post that listed 10 Firefox extensions you can use that offer several security benefits. Safety and security are serious matters in a world where identify theft continues to rise, so make sure you take extra measures to keep your data safe, especially when the risks are abnormally high, like in public places.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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CyberNotes: Acid3 Browser Results

This article was written on March 05, 2008 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Web Browser Wednesday

The other day, the Web Standards Project released the Acid3 test that will push browsers to a new level. I’m sure many of you are already familiar with the Acid2 test which has become famous because of the often discombobulated block-like smiley face most browsers produce.

Browsers such as Safari, Konqueror, and Opera already pass the Acid2 test, and when Firefox 3 is released later this year it will as well. Microsoft has also put some work into Internet Explorer 8 so that it will pass the Acid2 test when it is eventually made available. All of the main browsers will be passing the Acid2 test about 3 years after it was initially released.

Now it is time to move on to bigger and better things… Acid3! The test is not nearly as cool as the smiley face in my opinion, but it does extensively test different aspects of the browser’s rendering engine. It runs a hundred different tests on the browser, and the result should look just like this:

acid3 test correct

This new test targets DOM scripting which is frequently used by Web 2.0 services for advanced interaction. Here’s what the Web Standards Project said about it in their press release:

The Acid3 Test is designed to test specifications for Web 2.0, and exposes potential flaws in implementations of the public ECMAScript 262 and W3C Document Object Model 2 standards. Collectively known as DOM Scripting, it is these technologies that enable advanced page interactivity and power many advanced web applications such as web-based email and online office applications.

We thought it would be fun to test out the browsers that are currently available to see how they stack up to each other on the Acid3 test.

–The Browser Test–

Here are some things to note about our tests:

  • All of these browsers were tested on Windows Vista.
  • The browsers started with a clean profile and no extensions or add-ons were installed.
  • The results below are sorted from the best to the worst.
  • Click on any of the screenshots for a full-size version.

Safari 3.1 (Nightly r30626): 86/100

acid3 safari31


Firefox 3 (Nightly 03/04/2008): 67/100

acid3 firefox3


Opera 9.5 (Beta 9815): 65/100

acid3 opera95


Firefox 2.0.0.12: 50/100

acid3 firefox2


Opera 9.26: 46/100

acid3 opera 926


Safari 3.04 (Beta 523.15): 39/100

acid3 safari304


Internet Explorer 7: 12/100

acid3 ie7

 

–Overview–

So it looks like the nightly builds of Safari really take the crown for this test. It was the closest browser to perfectly complete the test by quite a large margin, with Firefox 3 and Opera 9.5 coming in second and third place. It’s obvious from the results posted above that the current stable builds of all the browsers are definitely not close to passing the Acid3 test.

If you’re on a Mac or Linux machine I would love to hear what you’re results are in some of the other browsers that are available.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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CyberNotes: Best Portable Antivirus Software

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

CyberNotes
Time Saving Tuesday

Have you ever been on another computer and wished that you had an antivirus program? Maybe you were trying to clean up a computer for a friend, or maybe you received an email attachment while using a public computer? One thing is for sure, and it’s that having the best antivirus is important, but there are times where you just need something.

Today we’re going to present you with three portable antivirus solutions that can be used for scanning files in an emergency. They are all self updating, and require absolutely no installation. But remember, these are not replacements for installed applications as they are only made to do on-demand scanning.

–Portable ClamWin (Homepage)–

Portable ClamWin
Click to Enlarge

ClamAV is an extremely popular open source antivirus application. It was recently ranked very highly in the quest for the best Linux antivirus, it even beat out many of the highly acclaimed commercial solutions. Shortly after that the makers of the application were acquired by Sourcefire.

To get Portable ClamWin up and running all I had to do was run the executable, which then extracted several files to a directory. The first time that I ran it I was forced to update the program because the portable version comes with no virus definitions. So you may want to make sure to run the program at least once before throwing it on your USB drive, because if you don’t have an Internet connection you’ll be out of luck.

This is my top recommendation for portable antivirus software because it frequently receives updates.

Portable ClamWin will occupy about 19.1MB of room on your drive.

–Portable Antivirus (Homepage)–

Portable Antivirus
Click to Enlarge

This program appears to be relatively new, and from what I can tell it has been around for less than 7 months. My favorite thing about this generically named program is that it is composed of a single file. It even comes bundled with a set of virus definitions so that it is ready to go out-of-the-box. Although the included virus definitions are just a small set relative to the other apps mentioned here.

There is a real-time scanning option available on this application, but it will be disabled if you are running it from the standalone file. This makes sense though, because if you were to use this on a USB drive it would create insane amounts of overhead, and would greatly hinder your ability to access the drive.

One nice touch that the program offers is a useful System Tray icon. From there you can start a full system scan, check for updates, or close the program all together.

Portable Antivirus will occupy about 847KB of room on your drive.

–MicroWorld Free Antivirus (Homepage)–

MicroWorld Antivirus
Click to Enlarge

This is one of the last tools that I stumbled upon, and I thought it was just a virus scanner like the others that I’ve listed here. It does scan your memory, registry, files, and more for viruses, but it also has an extremely useful network activity monitor.

In the network activity monitor you’ll be able to keep track of any communication going in and out of the computer. It also shows the ID of the computer “on the other end” so that you know who you are communicating with. If you ever try to diagnose a friends computer that is plagued with unknown programs and files, this will be a good way to identify the software that is frequently communicating with the outside world.

MicroWorld Free Antivirus will occupy about 18.8MB of room on your drive.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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CyberNotes: Use Docstoc to Share and Discover Documents Online

This article was written on August 16, 2008 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Weekend Website

Today’s Weekend Website is called Docstoc. If you’ve ever looked for a web-based service for sharing and discovering documents, you’ll want to check it out.

What is Docstoc?

Docsto.pngDocstoc is a platform for web-based sharing and discovery of documents. Sound familiar? That’s because its main competitor is Scribd who offers something similar. Docstoc is aimed more towards professionals, so you’ll find professional types of documents in various categories and languages. All documents are free to upload and free to view. At the moment they have documents with various file types available including .doc, .pdf, .xls., .ppt., and .txt.

Categories of Documents

As mentioned, Docstoc is geared towards professional documents, so you will find various document types under the following categories:

  • legal
  • business
  • financial
  • technology
  • educational
  • creative

Aside from viewing documents in categories, you can also view documents by those that have been viewed the most, those that were downloaded or reviewed the most, those that have been uploaded most recently, or those rated the highest.

I decided to view the “educational” documents and then filtered it down by the most downloaded to see what types of documents were available. The overview for this section was interesting because it explains that you can “find and share free educational documents, free term papers, and class notes. Download sample class outlines, college essays, graduate materials and much more.” So in other words, it seems as though Docstoc is promoting users to cheat, by pointing out the fact that users can find and share term papers, for free.

Document Filtering

You can filter the documents that you view by either document type or language. Examples of document types you can view include:

  • Adobe PDF
  • MS Word
  • MS PowerPoint
  • MS Excel
  • Rich Text Format
  • Plain Text

It would take us too long to go through all of the languages that are supported because there are many of them which makes this a Global service. A few examples include English, Dutch, French, Polish, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and more. In all there are over 65 different languages.

Private Documents

One of their latest features allows you to monitor your private documents to track who is viewing, downloading, and emailing them. Another feature allows users to allow only viewers of their documents to simply view the document and not download them.

Below is a screenshot of what a document activity log shows — it tells the document owner which visitors viewed the document, and which ones downloaded it:

document activity log.png

Using Docstoc as File Storage

Once you create an account, you can begin uploading your documents. At this point there is no limit on how many documents can be uploaded. And because you have the option of keeping your documents private, Docstoc could potentially be a solution for backing up your documents. They did say that at some point in the future, they might have to put a limit on the number of documents people can store, but for now it remains unlimited.

Then it’s just a matter of determining whether you feel comfortable or not leaving your documents in the hands of Docstoc which is in beta.

Request a Document

If there’s a particular type of document that you are looking for, they offer the option to request it. What you’ll do is fill out a form of the key elements like name, tags, a category, language, and file type. Should someone upload a document that meets your request, you’ll receive an email.

documents.png

Docstock OneClick

Docstoc wanted to make it easy for users to email large documents without needing to attach files. Their solution for this is Docstoc OneClick. Once you download the OneClick application (for Windows only, unfortunately), you will be able to right click on supported file types and choose the option to email them (either as private or public). They do limit you to 50mb in size per document.

Overall Impressions…

Docstoc does a decent job of providing users a place to find and share documents. They’ve got a community rating and comment system that could potentially be useful, but it doesn’t get used nearly enough. Whether you are looking for a sample contract, a budget planner, or a term paper, Docstoc does a pretty good job of helping users find the documents they need online.

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