Mar 11

Map an FTP Site to a Drive Letter

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

This article was written on December 16, 2010 by CyberNet.

assign drive letter to ftp.png

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
Several years ago we wrote an article covering some different ways you can assign a drive letter to an FTP site, and now that some time has passed I decided to check been in on a few of the apps that we’ve mentioned. I had an issue finding Novell’s NetDrive app, but with a little Google searching I stumbled upon a similar app that also goes by the name of NetDrive (it’s only free for non-commercial use). It doesn’t appear to be affiliated with Novell’s program, but it left me impressed regardless.

MacroData’s NetDrive is a polished app that is able to connect to both FTP and WebDAV servers even over a proxy connection. It comes pre-populated with several notable FTP locations for universities and companies, but they are all disconnected by default. You can manually choose to connect any of them, set them to connect upon startup, or add your own custom FTP sites.

The thing I love about NetDrive is that the drive letter that is assigned to the FTP site can even be accessed by other applications including DOS. That makes this a great utility for anyone wanting to tinker around with batch files that transfer files to/from remote locations. Of course you could use built-in Windows command-line FTP interface, but being able to use something like robocopy with an FTP server is pretty huge.

Here are some of the features highlighted by the developer:

  • You can use NetDrive Site Manager to easily register and connect to all remote servers you wish to access.
  • Simply map your drive to a specific site and it will be configured automatically the next time your Windows starts. You can add as many sites as you want.
  • When you connect to a remote server, a drive letter will be mapped and you can transfer files and folders by drag and drop in Windows Explorer. You can manage files and folders with a click of mouse.
  • NetDrive supports direct file operation in mapped drive. You can run any .exe files in remote server from your Windows explorer. To watch a movie file in your remote server, you just need to double click it.
  • Once you install NetDrive, you will see an icon created in your system tray. (Right click your mouse on the icon to view menu) NetDrive tray icon provides shortcuts to use.
  • NetDrive. You can open the site manager, configure NetDrive, connect to registered site or view logs.
  • You can customize the program settings from Setup menu. From Setup menu, you can manage action after connection, auto-connection to specific site when Windows starts and log monitoring.
  • Since NetDrive provides Windows system driver to mount drive, you can use DOS-prompt to use commands like copy, xcopy and dir. Other DOS-based legacy applications can be used since NetDrive provides DOS based file access.

If you’re in the market for an app like this I’d highly recommend checking it out, but remember it’s only free for home/non-commercial use. Otherwise it will run you $29 for a license.

NetDrive Homepage (Windows only; Free for Home Use)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Mar 10

Google Pack gets New Security Software, but loses Firefox

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

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

The Google Blog just announced that the Google Pack is getting some new software. The two new additions are Symantec’s Norton Security Scan and PC Tools’ Spyware Doctor Starter Edition. Previously the Google Pack had a 6–month trial of Norton Antivirus and Ad-Aware SE Personal for the two security-related tools.

Google Pack

Google doesn’t acknowledge anything about the removal/switch in software tools, so it is unknown why a change came about. I’m not a big fan of Norton software, but I do like the fact that their new offering doesn’t require any kind of subscription. However, the about page for Norton Security Scan does say:

In the event that Norton Security Scan is removed from the Google Pack, the Norton Security Scan service may be discontinued at Symantec’s discretion at any point in time following six (6) months after the date of such removal. 

As long as the Security Scan remains part of the Google Pack that means there is at least 6–months left of service for the users. That’s not bad, but I would prefer to see Google bundle a free antivirus solution such as Avast or AVG with the Google Pack.

Now that I look back I also noticed that they removed Mozilla Firefox with the Google Toolbar! I am utterly shocked that they removed Firefox from the package since Google has such close ties with Mozilla. Maybe it is because they offer many other ways to download Firefox from Google, but this one was always a no brainer in my opinion. Then I thought to myself that maybe Google recognized that I was visiting the site using Firefox so it didn’t offer that as a download option. I pulled up the Google Pack page in Internet Explorer just to see that Firefox was still an absent option.

Despite my disappointment that Firefox was removed, I thought I would share something that some of you may not have realized. You can actually customize what items are available in the Google Pack that you download. If you want you can include just the Google-related software, such as Google Earth, Picasa, and Google Talk so that it is much faster the next time you have to reinstall it. Unfortunately they don’t let you add in things like Firefox which have previously been removed, but here is a list of all the software you can currently choose from:

Update:
As several people have pointed out in the comments below, Firefox is still included in the Google Pack, but since I am using Vista it doesn’t show Firefox in the list of applications. This is because Mozilla has not officially labeled Firefox as Vista-compatible due to a few remaining bugs with the operating system.

Read more: Google Press Release

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Mar 10

Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 Alpha 1 Released

Posted in: Mozilla, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on July 28, 2006 by CyberNet.

Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 Alpha 1 Released

It looks like Mozilla Thunderbird has finally made its way to a milestone build: Alpha 1! Here is an overview of a few of the new features you will find in this build:

  • Message Tags
  • Folder Views including favorite folders
  • Improved New Mail Notification Alerts
  • New Windows installer based on Nullsoft Scriptable Install System
  • Find As You Type in the message pane
  • New combined and improved Add-ons manager for extensions and themes
  • Updates to the extension system to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions

I actually just started using Thunderbird 1.5.0.4 last week and it is really nice. I haven’t really had a need for it in the past but it seems as though I acquire more and more email addresses. Once I got to the point where I couldn’t remember the logins I knew I had to look for an alternative and Thunderbird was the first thing that popped into my head.

I started using Thunderbird 2.0 Alpha 1 last night and it has been running smoothly. If you want to try out this build the download links are below and Mozilla has been working on the release notes page in case you are looking for some more details.

Download Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0 Alpha 1:
Windows: Installer
Linux: GTK2 + XFT (no installer)
Mac OS X: Compressed Disk Image

Update:
I have put together a portable version of this build.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Mar 10

Nintendo can remotely brick your 3DS after flash card use?

Posted in: 3ds, download, firmware, flash, nintendo, nintendo 3ds, Nintendo3ds, Software, software update, SoftwareUpdate, Today's Chili

Bad news for those that plan on using a flash card with their 3DS — if Nintendo detects that you’ve been dabbing with one, the company might send a firmware update that could possibly brick your system. According to GoNintendo, Japanese retailer Enterking posted a warning message on their site, suggesting that your system might be unbootable after a software update if Nintendo detects you’ve been using an R4. Enterking is not buying used 3DSs that have a history of using an illegal cartridge — a transparent indication that it’s not taking any chances here. We can’t know for sure if Nintendo will dish out said update or how Enterking might tell — however, Nintendo did issue this statement to Eurogamer in response to their story on the topic:

“We do not discuss product security details (for obvious reasons), nor can we discuss the details of countermeasures available in the Nintendo 3DS system. Nintendo 3DS has the most up-to-date technology. The security has been designed to protect both the creative works in the software and to protect the Nintendo 3DS hardware system itself.

Nintendo, like most companies, takes a palpable stance against piracy. We recommend that those fortunate enough to own a 3DS stay away from the flash cards altogether, just in case.

Update: Flash cards aren’t illegal to use per se — homebrew, anyone? — although certain countries have banned them from import and sale, and their widespread use for illegal activity makes them a dubious proposition quite often.

Nintendo can remotely brick your 3DS after flash card use? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 04:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Eurogamer  |  sourceGoNintendo  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 09

Keep Track Of Tasks And Events With ReminderFox

Posted in: Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on September 03, 2006 by CyberNet.

ReminderFox

We all have busy lives with something always going on, and I use Google Calendar to try to keep track of all those events. I just can’t believe that they don’t have a nice task manager built into the Calendar yet. For that reason I haven’t been able to ditch my ReminderFox Firefox extension yet.

ReminderFoxIt has a huge list of customizable options for reminding you about events but the best thing is that you can keep track of your tasks as well. If tracking your tasks isn’t enough then maybe you would like the feature to create multiple lists such as for groceries, homework, or just about anything!

This isn’t exactly a full fledged calendar  but it will keep you on top of things that you normally forget about. Sure we all like to think we’ll remember something but that doesn’t always work out…at least not for me. :D

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Mar 09

Universal File Viewer Supports Most Files

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

This article was written on April 13, 2010 by CyberNet.

universal viewer.png

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
Have you ever tried to open a file just to find out that you don’t have something installed that is able to handle it? That’s where the Universal File Viewer comes in. This free portable app is able to open most filetypes, and prevents you from having to hunt down the right app for the job. It supports most text, images, videos, documents, and many more. If you feel that it is lacking in some way stroll on over to the plugins page to see if one of the compatible add-ons already addresses your complaint.

Overall I’d say the range of filetypes that Universal File Viewer supports is rather amazing, but there is one downside. Microsoft office formats will only be supported if you actually have Office installed. That sucks because I could see wanting to use this on a machine that doesn’t have Office installed, and you may argue that this negates some of the usefulness of the app. On the flip side this portable program starts up way faster than the Office suite does, and can definitely serve as a trusty sidekick for viewing those Office docs.

I have a more extensive list of file extensions supported at the end of the article, but this is a pretty good overview:

  • Text, Binary, Hex, Unicode: any files, of unlimited size (even 4Gb+ sizes are allowed)
  • RTF, UTF-8: RTF and UTF-8 encoded texts
  • Image: all general graphics formats: BMP JPG GIF PNG TGA TIFF… plus all formats supported by IrfanView/XnView external viewers
  • Multimedia: all formats supported by MS Windows Media Player: AVI MPG WMV MP3…
  • Internet: all formats supported by MS Internet Explorer: HTML PDF XML MHT…
  • MS Office: all file types of MS Office (if installed): DOC DOCX XLS PPT…
  • Converters: some types can be viewed as plain text: DOC DOCX PDF PPT ODT…

Sound useful? The entire package is available as a no-install download, and uses just 10MB of your drive. In terms of performance I’d say this is pretty well optimized considering how fast it is able to open files, and the fact that it uses only 11MB of memory when viewing most documents.

Universal Viewer Homepage (Windows only; Portable Freeware)

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the formats supported:

  • Images: bmp, ico, wmf, emf, jpg, jpeg, jpe, jfif, png, gif, rle, dib, tga, tif, tiff, psd, fax, eps, icb, win, vst, vda, pcx, pcc, rpf, rla, sgi, rgba, rgb, bw, pdd, ppm, pgm, pbm, cel, pic, pcd, cut, pal, psp, jp2, jpc, pnm, ras, mis, ani, cur
  • Media: avi, mpg, mpeg, mpe, mpv, mp3, mp2, mp1, m1v, m2v, mpv2, mp2v, mpa, m1a, m2a, asf, lsf, lsx, ivf, wav, mid, midi, rmi, kar, aif, aifc, aiff, au, snd, mov, qt, 3gp, 3gp2, 3g2, 3gpp, ra, rm, ram, rmvb, rpm, rt, rp, smi, smil, roq, asx, m3u, pls, wvx, wax, wmx, wmv, wma, wmp, wm, cda, ac3, dts, vob, ifo, d2v, fli, flc, flic, mka, mkv, ts, tp, tpr, pva, aac, mp4, ogm, ogg, divx, vp6, m4a, m4b, vqf, ape, mpc, flac, flv, dvr-ms, wtv
  • Internet: htm, html, xml, xsl, mht, pdf, swf, xps, shtml, xhtml, shtm, stm, php, php2, php3, asp, pl, vrml, plg, htt, htx
  • Office: odt, ods, odp, odg, odf, odb, odm, ott, oth, ots, otg, otp, sxw, sxc, sxg, sxi, sxd, sxm, stw, stc, std, sti, doc, dot, docx, docm, xls, xlt, xlsx, xlsm, xlsb, ppt, pptx, pptm, pps, ppz, pot, wbk, wps
  • Text Converter (files that can be viewed as plain text): doc, dot, docx, docm, xls, xlt, xlsx, xlsm, xlsb, ppt, pptx, pptm, pps, ppz, pot, wbk, wps

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Mar 09

ToneCheck’s revised email plug-in scans your messages for aggressive, brash overtones

Posted in: Email, Microsoft, Software, Today's Chili

Last year, Lymbix released this so-so software that checked over your typed email messages for signs of “unintended tone.” Scumbag. You know, short and explicit phrases that could easily tick somebody off. Jerk. Now, however, they’ve got a revised version that plays nice with Microsoft’s Outlook, and rather than flooding one’s screen with idiotic pop-ups that further enhance one’s anger, there’s a subtle bar that spans 1 to 5 in order to show a user just how hot and bothered the message that they’re about to send really is. Cheapskate. Speaking of, it’s actually a free download for now, so if you’ve been sending the wrong message time and time again, you might want to stop making a fool of yourself and hit the source link. Don’t even bother thanking us, punk. Ugh.

Continue reading ToneCheck’s revised email plug-in scans your messages for aggressive, brash overtones

ToneCheck’s revised email plug-in scans your messages for aggressive, brash overtones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Technologizer, PC World  |  sourceToneCheck  | Email this | Comments

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Mar 09

iOS 4.3 Is Here—Your Phone Just Got Mo’ Better for Free [Apple]

Posted in: Apple, ios, ipad, iPhone, ipod, Software, Today's Chili, top

The newest little step forward for iOS just dropped—and while it’s nothing dramatic (or unexpected), it adds a nice little pinch of new functionality and performance. Here’s what just got a little better about your iPhone/Pad/Pod: More »

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Mar 09

Helpful Tip: Use a Keyboard to Move the Mouse

Posted in: Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on November 20, 2007 by CyberNet.

Microsoft includes a feature in Windows that many people would love to use … if they knew about it. It’s the ability to completely control your mouse using only the keyboard, but since it is buried in the Accessibility Options a lot of people never know it’s there.

The feature is called MouseKeys, and once enabled you’ll be able to fully control your mouse using the number pad on your keyboard. One of the reasons that I use this from time to time is to move the mouse more precisely, which is extremely handy when doing graphics work.

So how do you enable the feature? Here are the steps needed for both Vista and XP…

Vista:

  1. Open up the Control Panel and type MouseKeys into the search box. Click on the option that says Move the pointer with the keypad using MouseKeys.
  2. Check the corresponding box to turn on MouseKeys. For more advanced options (pictured to the right) you can click the Set up MouseKeys located underneath the checkbox.

XP:

  1. Open the Control Panel, and click Accessibility Options.
  2. Select the Mouse tab, and check the Use MouseKeys box to turn the feature on. For more advanced options you can click Settings.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Mar 09

Automatically Install Extension Updates in Firefox

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

This article was written on January 27, 2009 by CyberNet.

Update Notifier for Firefox-1.jpgOver in our forum someone was wondering if there was a way to prevent Firefox from prompting you about updates to extensions you have installed. Th problem for some users is that Firefox will not continue to load if it is in the process of prompting you for updates. For example, let’s say you have Firefox automatically start when your computers boots up. If there’s an update available for one of your extensions the browser will not actually load until you’ve chosen whether or not you want to accept the update.

Max jumped right in with an excellent solution to the problem, and it just happens to be an extension that will take care of the updating for you. The Update Notifier extension will check for updates after the browser has launched, and you can even choose an option to install them automatically. Not only that but you can disable being notified after the updates are installed thereby making the whole process something that happens in the background.

Update Notifier Homepage
Thanks Max!

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