Oct 09

GnuCash: Free Accounting Software

Posted in: Features, Freeware, Linux, Mac, Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on June 03, 2008 by CyberNet.

gnucash-1.png

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A common question that I get asked in emails is whether I know of any free accounting software that is any good. Some people don’t want to purchase applications like Quicken because it is way more advanced than what they are looking to do. All they want is a simple way to manage their finances, but at the same time something that offers more features than a basic spreadsheet.

GnuCash is a great solution, and it’s not only free but also open source. To make trying out the program even easier it’s available in a portable form, and switching from a different financial application is a breeze since GnuCash can import QIF and OFX files. Plus it’s available in 21 different languages, and supports using multiple currencies throughout your accounts. Now how cool is that!

Here’s a more complete list of features:

  • Checkbook-Style Register – The checkbook-style register provides a custom, convenient and familiar interface to entering financial transactions. The register supports common checking and credit-card transactions, as well as income, stock and currency transactions.
  • Double Entry – Every transaction must debit one account and credit others by an equal amount. This ensures that the “books balance”: that the difference between income and outflow exactly equals the sum of all assets and equity.
  • Reports, Graphs – GnuCash has an integrated reporting and graphing module, and comes complete with a full suite of standard and customizeable reports, such as Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Portfolio Valuation, and many others.
  • Income/Expense Account Types – Income/Expense Account Types (Categories) allow you to categorize your cash flow. When used properly with the double-entry feature and equity accounts, these enable you to generate reports, such as Profit & Loss, that plain-vanilla systems cannot handle.
  • Multiple Currencies – Different accounts can be denominated in different currencies. Currency movements between accounts are fully balanced when double-entry is enabled.
  • Stock/Mutual Fund Portfolios – Track stocks individually (one per account) or in portfolio of accounts (a group of accounts that can be displayed together).
  • Small Business Accounting Features – Simplify managing a small business with Customer and Vendor tracking, Invoicing and Bill Payment, and Tax and Billing Terms.
  • QIF & OFX Import – Intuit Quicken QIF files can be imported, and are automatically merged to eliminate duplicate transactions. GnuCash is the first free software application to support the Open Financial Exchange protocol that many banks and financial services are starting to use.
  • Transaction Finder – A powerful transaction query dialogue can help you quickly locate a needle in a haystack.
  • General Ledger – Multiple accounts can be displayed in one register window at the same time. This can ease the trouble of tracking down typing/entry errors. It also provides a convenient way of viewing a portfolio of many stocks, by showing all transactions in that portfolio.
  • Online Stock & Mutual Fund Quotes – Get Stock & Mutual Fund quotes from various web sites, update portfolio automatically. Additional pricing sources are added regularly.
  • Check Printing – Checks may be printed in standard formats on common check stocks. A customization GUI allows custom check layouts to be developed.
  • Scheduled Transactions – You can now create recurring transactions, including automatic reminders when a transaction is due, the ability to postpone a scheduled transaction without canceling it, and the ability to specify only a limited number of transactions.

Get GnuCash (Portable Version)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 09

CyberNotes: How to Install Unsigned Themes in Windows XP

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

This article was written on January 04, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

Microsoft put a tight leash on Windows XP when it came to switching visual styles (a.k.a themes). They were probably afraid of what could happen if users were able to install any theme that they stumbled upon, whether it be complete or incomplete. I understand why they require the visual styles to be digitally signed, but I think it should be more like installing unsigned drivers where they warn you with a prompt but offer the option to continue anyway.

Visual Style

There’s no looking back now…so lets look at how we can get this done in Windows XP SP2. This modification does require you to replace an existing system file, but I’m sure millions have people have already done this considering that 580,000 + people have downloaded the file from Softpedia alone. One of the major benefits about doing this is that it uses Windows to apply the theme, so no external program is needed.

  1. Download and extract it to a location that is easy to access, and you should now see a file called uxtheme.dll.
  2. Go to C:\WINDOWS\system32 and locate the file called uxtheme.dll. After you have found it rename it to something else in case you want to revert back to it later. For example, change the file name to uxthemeBAK.dll or uxtheme.dll.bak so that you can easily recognize it as the backup.
    UXTheme
     
  3. Copy the file that you extracted in step 1 (uxtheme.dll) to the C:\WINDOWS\system32 folder. You should receive the following two prompts:
     
    Click Cancel when you receive this prompt: “Files that are required for Windows to run properly have been replaced by unrecognized versions. To maintain system stability, Windows must restore the original versions of these files. Insert your Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 CD now.“
     
    And then click Yes when you receive this prompt: “You chose not to restore the original versions of the files. This may affect Windows stability. Are you sure you want to keep these unrecognized file versions?“
      
  4. Reboot your PC so that the new file can be loaded into memory.

Now your computer is capable of running nearly any “visual style” (as Microsoft likes to call it) that you can find on the Web. The trick, however, is to find them. Most, if not all, of the themes that you download should be as simple as extracting them and dropping them into the proper folder:

  1. Download a visual style that looks interesting to you. I recommend getting them from DeviantArt because the files are clean, whereas a lot of other sites offering the visual styles typically bundle them with spyware or adware. Here is a small sampling of the visual styles that are available at DeviantArt (they are all Vista variations):
    **Note: They all have screenshots on their main page, and you can click on them for a full-size view.**
  2. If the visual style that you downloaded don’t have an installer you will have to copy some files manually (there should be a ReadMe file in the download that lets you know what you have to do). If there is no installer you’ll need to copy the folder containing the .msstyles file to C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes
  3. Now you need to enable the visual style by right-clicking on your Desktop and going to Properties -> Appearance and under the drop-down menu for Windows and buttons select the name of your theme.
    Visual Style Properties

That’s how you can change your Windows XP theme without ever needing to install an application. There are several great (and some free) applications available if you are looking for something that might be a little easier to use, such as WindowBlinds which also has a more advanced version available for a small fee.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 08

CyberNotes: Windows Vista Tips and Tricks

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

This article was written on February 01, 2007 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Special Vista Edition: Part 3

This is the third and last part of our special Vista Edition of CyberNotes this week. We’ve already reviewed all of the various applications and features that are included in Vista, as well as covering some add-ons that can be used to make Internet Explorer 7 even better. I wanted to wrap up today by offering some tips and tricks on using Vista.

Here are the tips and tricks listed in this article:

–Checkboxes and Dragging Files/Folders–

Vista makes you very aware of when you are doing things with files and folders to prevent accidents from happening. I’m sure it’s happened to all of us at some point or another, where we accidentally dragged a folder or file somewhere and didn’t realize it.

First, go to the Folder Options in Vista, then the View tab, and check the box that says “Use check boxes to select items.” Now when you’re selecting multiple items, Windows Explorer will place a checkbox on that item so that you can easily see what items you currently have selected:

Checkbox selection

The other thing that I wanted to mention was dragging files around in Vista. If you have multiple files selected it will show you how many items you are actually dragging which can be really helpful at preventing accidents from occurring:

Dragging Files

 

–Taking Full Advantage of Flip3D–

Flip3D is one of Vista’s new ways to switch between running applications. It angles all of the open windows so that they can all be seen at the same time, but there are some things you may not realize you can do with it:

Note: To activate Flip3D press the Windows Key + Tab

  • Use your mouse’s scroll wheel to quickly flip through the open windows.
  • Use the arrows to flip through the open windows
  • Click on any portion of a window with your mouse to quickly switch to it without having to flip through them.

Flip3D

 

–Quick Calendar View–

By left-clicking on the clock in the System Tray you’ll get a nice calendar popup. Once you get used to having quick access to a calendar like this you’ll take it for granted. Also, if you observe Daylight Savings Time it will notify you one-week prior to setting your clocks back so that you don’t forget.

Vista Calendar

 

–Slow Down Aero Animations–

The Aero Glass interface is pretty nifty, but the animations happen so quickly that there just isn’t enough time for you to savor them. :D

No problem! It requires a little Registry work to tweak the timing, but it might be worth the extra “wow” factor. ;)

  1. Click on the Start button and in the Search field type regedit. Press Enter.
  2. Click Continue if you see a User Account Control Prompt.
  3. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM
  4. In the right hand pane, right click on an empty space and from the context menu that appears choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
  5. Give the new DWORD (32-bit) Value a name of AnimationsShiftKey
  6. Double click on the AnimationsShiftKey value and give it a value of 1.
  7. Close the Registry Editor and logoff of Windows and log back in to see the effect.

You’ll only see the effect of the slow animation when holding down the Shift key, so it doesn’t completely hinder your productivity. :D  The source of this tweak also found out that the coolest animation has to be when starting Windows Flip3D by pressing CTRL+WinKey+Tab and then holding the Shift button while clicking on a window. It’s just something you gotta see at least once.

Source: Windows Now

 

–Scale Desktop Images to make them Larger or Smaller–

While on your Desktop hold down the Control button on the keyboard and start scrolling with the scroll wheel on your mouse. You’ll notice that you can make the icons on the desktop very small or very large. Here is the smallest and largest that you can make the icons:

Desktop Icons

 

–Keyboard Shortcut to Launch Quick Launch Apps–

Open any of your applications or documents in the Quick Launch bar by simply pressing the Windows Key + Num where “Num” corresponds to the position of the shortcut. Here is an example of how the numbering scheme works (for example, Internet Explorer would be Windows Key + 3):

Quick Launch Bar

 

–Customize the Location of User Folders–

The most important things on your computer are probably your documents, music and pictures. The custom locations option is something you’ll love if you happen to place these things on a separate drive just incase the Windows hard drive fails. That’s what I do and now I can point the My Music, My Pictures, and My Documents folder to the location on a different hard drive. Then whenever I click a link to one of those locations it will immediately pull up the results from that other drive.

Custom Document Locations

 

–Open Command Prompt Here–

 You can easily open a command prompt window pointing to any directory by simply right-clicking on a folder while holding down the Shift key. That will reveal the “hidden” option that says “Open Command Window Here“:

Open Command Window Here

 

–Modifying Vista’s BCDEDIT the Easy Way–

Microsoft changed how users modify the boot entries available when starting your PC. If you want to do something simple like modifying the name of the operating system that appears, you’ll be forced to go to the Command Prompt because Vista uses BCDEDIT. However, there is an alternative that I have talked about before called VistaBootPro that makes this chore a lot easier.

VistaBootPro

 

–Disable User Account Control (UAC)–

 If you get tired of those User Account Control prompts always popping up wanting to get your permission, just disable them. To do this just go to the Control Panel -> User Accounts and Family Safety -> User Accounts -> Turn User Account Control On or Off. After doing this you will have to restart your computer though.

User Account Control

 

–Get a Report on your System’s Health–

It’s always nice to know that your computer is up to par when it comes to its’ health. That’s why you can generate a health report in a few minutes that analyzes a bunch of different aspects of your system. Pulling up the report is pretty simple, just go to the Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Performance Information and Tools -> Advanced Tools (located in the left sidebar) -> Generate a system health report.

If something is not quite right this report will be sure to tell you after it is done analyzing your system. Who knows, a health report might be just what the doctor ordered. ;)

Health Report

Source: ZDNet

 

–Temporarily View Menu Bar in Windows Explorer–

The Menubar (File, Edit, View, Tools, etc…) is hidden by default in Vista when using Windows Explorer. It can be enabled by going to Organize -> Layout -> Menu Bar but I think you’ll find that you hardly need it. If, however, you do want it real quick just press the Alt key while in Windows Explorer to temporarily reveal the Menu Bar. It will disappear immediately after making a selection in one of the menus.

Menu Bar

 

–Overview–

That completes our first Vista tweak guide. If you found any of these interesting you should make sure to follow future postings closely because I’m sure we’ll find other great things to tweak as we are able to play around with Vista a little more.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 07

CyberNotes: Shortcut to Change Resolutions

Posted in: CyberNotes, Freeware, Software, Tips and Tricks, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on February 07, 2008 by CyberNet.

CyberNotes
Tutorial Thursday

Have you ever wanted to change the resolution of your computer in a single click? There are various reasons that you may want to do that, such as playing a game that requires a certain resolution or developing a program that needs to be tested in various conditions. Today we’re going to show you how to create a simple shortcut that can be used to switch between multiple resolutions.

This trick is going to require a third-party application called Resolution Changer, but it requires absolutely no installation and will eat up a mere 150KB of your hard drive. With it you’ll be able to adjust the resolution, color depth, and refresh rate with the shortcuts you create. It even has support for multiple monitors!

–Instructions–

Setting up a shortcut to use Resolution Changer is a quick process, but there are a ton of different options that you can configure. Be sure to checkout a list of some other options available at the end of this article.

  1. Download Resolution Changer (the console version), and put it in a location you’ll know how to access from the command line. The easiest spot for it would probably be at the root of the C:\ drive, which is where I’ve placed it on my system.
  2. Now we need to create the shortcut to the application. Right-click on your Desktop and choose New -> Shortcut. You’ll need to enter in the location of the shortcut followed by the width and height that you want the resolution set to. Here’s my example where I’m changing the resolution of the screen to 800×600:

    C:\reschangecon.exe -width=800 -height=600

    In Vista it should look something like this (Click to Enlarge):
    Resolution Changer Shortcut

  3. Now specify a name for the shortcut, and finish the wizard. Double-clicking on the new shortcut will set the resolution to whatever value you specified.

–Other Options Available–

There is a lot more that you can do with Resolution Changer, and if you’re feeling ambitious you might want to tinker with some of the other settings:

  • Multiple Monitor Support
    This does support multiple monitors, and more information on that can be found here. To sum it up you can change the resolution of a specific monitor by providing the monitor number in this format:

    reschangecon.exe -monitor="\\.\DISPLAY1" -width=800 -height=600

  • Launch an Application
    After the resolution has been changed you can have an application or document opened immediately afterwards:

    reschangecon.exe -width=800 -height=600 "c:\test.exe"

    What’s cool about that is after the program or document is closed the resolution will revert back to what it was like before it was executed.

  • Adjust the Color Depth and Refresh Rate
    There are two other options that can be used to adjust the color depth and refresh rate of the monitor. Accepted values for the color depth are: “4″ = 16 colors, “8″ = 8-bit, “16″ = 16-bit, “24″ = 24-bit, and “32″ = 32-bit. Here’s how you can adjust the depth and/or refresh rate:

    reschangecon.exe -width=640 -height=480 -depth=8 -refresh=72

–Extra Credit–

You can also assign an icon to the shortcut that you just created and/or establish a keyboard hotkey for quickly switching between resolutions. Just right-click on the shortcut and choose the Properties option. From there you can configure the shortcut key or change the icon:

Resolution Changer Shortcut Icon

I’m sure this is going to spark some discussion about alternative ways to changing resolutions on your computer, and there are all kinds of apps that run in the System Tray doing the same kind of thing. The reason why I prefer this shortcut method is that the program only runs when I need it to, which saves on both processing and memory. It’s just my personal preference, but I like to minimize the number of applications I have running at a time.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 07

New Poll: When will you Upgrade to Vista?

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

This article was written on January 29, 2007 by CyberNet.

Last week we wanted to know which game system you played the most, or wish you owned. There are a variety of systems available, so which are your favorites? Well, in first place was Xbox 360 with 28% of the votes, and in second was the Nintendo Wii with 20%.  Not far behind was the Playstation 3 with 15% of the votes, and ’None of the Above’ with 14% of the votes.

This week, we’re wondering when or if you plan to upgrade to Windows Vista:

  • Within the next few months
  • After Service Pack 1
  • After Service Pack 2
  • When it’s time for a new computer
  • Never

You can vote and see the results to the Poll in the left column. With that… when will you upgrade, if ever?

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 07

Invalid File Hash When Installing a Firefox Extension

Posted in: Firefox 3, Firefox Extensions, Google, Software, Today's Chili, Web Sites, Windows

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

firefox add-ons.jpgEver since we launched the CyberSearch extension I’ve been getting a ton of emails with recommendations on what I can do to make it better, and alongside those emails are also a few dozen from people who are having troubles trying to install it. What happens to them, and I’ve had this happen to me before, is they are prompted with this warning when trying to install the extension:

Firefox could not install the file at [URL] because: Invalid file hash (possible download corruption) -261

Believe it or not this has been a known problem for quite some time, and there are a couple of different things you can try to circumvent the problem.

  1. Clear your cache. Go to Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Network / Offline Storage -> Clear Now and then try reinstalling the extension.
  2. Enable third-party cookies. A few commenters (thanks Clark!) have pointed out that enabling third-party cookies in Firefox is also something you should do to get around the error message. To do this go to Tools -> Options -> Privacy and check the Accept third-party cookies box.
  3. Manually install the extension. The easiest way to do this is to just download the extension in another browser, and then drag the downloaded file into the Firefox window. This should initiate the installation process.
  4. Suspend ThreatFire. I’m adding this one to the list because several of our commenters (thanks Sunny!) have pointed out that ThreatFire could be one of the reasons that extensions won’t install. Temporarily suspending ThreatFire should solve the problem.
  5. Temporarily disable your antivirus. When all else fails the culprit could be that your antivirus application is preventing the installation of the extension. This is kind of a last resort, and not something that I really recommend doing.

Again, I apologize for those of you having issues installing the extension, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Once we manage to get enough (hopefully positive) reviews of the extension we will be able to get CyberSearch out of the experimental stage. From what I’ve read after that happens the “invalid file hash” errors shouldn’t really happen anymore. So if you’ve got a spare second go drop by the Mozilla site and leave a review for our extension.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 07

Vista RTM Is Finally Complete!

Posted in: Software, Today's Chili, Windows

This article was written on November 08, 2006 by CyberNet.

Vista Jim Allchin just posted a lengthy article (10 characters long) stating that “It’s time!” Judging by the tags on the post I would assume that he is referring to Windows Vista being sent to the manufacturer!

The road has been a long one but I am glad to see that Microsoft finally reached a point where they felt confident enough to ship Vista out. This means by next Wednesday MSDN subscribers should be able to download it and I’m sure it won’t be long after that happens for it to leak to the Internet, since that is naturally what happens.

I am still running Vista RC2 on two of my primary machines and they are both starting to get bogged down a little. It has only been a month since I did a fresh install but it is a lot slower now that I have many of my frequently used programs installed. I’m sure a lot of the problem is due to the applications not explicitly being Vista compatible but many of them I can’t function without. In fact I just got done rebooting from a blue screen (yes, the wonderful BSoD is still in Vista). :(

I’m sure that several bugs have been fixed so that Vista RTM runs smoother than the previous releases so I can’t wait to give it a try. Congratulations to Microsoft for getting Vista out-the-door and I anxiously await to see what kind of applications developers will make to utilize the full functionality that Vista has to offer.

Update:
Paul Thurrott has a screenshot gallery available of Vista RTM for all of the different versions. He is also starting his 8-part review of Windows Vista.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 06

Microsoft’s Giveaways Cause Quite a Stir

Posted in: Software, Today's Chili, Windows

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

Acer Ferrari I can’t believe what a stir Microsoft’s recent giveaways have caused in the blogosphere! The big talk is about Microsoft handing out Acer Ferrari laptops (completely loaded) to bloggers in what many people are calling a bribery. These laptops come fully loaded with Vista Ultimate Edition and Office 2007 Professional, so what is so horribly wrong about that?

Before I get into anything else I’ll throw it out on the table that we do have a Velocity Micro Media Center coming to us this weekend compliments of Velocity Micro, Microsoft, and AMD. This is the original email that I received from the Microsoft employee regarding the machine:

I’m working on getting some hardware out to key community folks, and I’d like to offer you a review PC.   I’d love to send you a loaded Velocity Micro Media Center courtesy of Windows Vista and AMD.  Are you interested?

This would be a review machine, so I’d love to hear your opinion on the machine and OS.  Full disclosure –  while I hope you will blog about your experience with the pc, you don’t have to.  Also, you are welcome to send the machine back to us after you are done playing with it, or you can give it away on your site, or you can keep it.  My recommendation is that you give it away on your site, but it’s your call.  Just let me know your opinion on Windows Vista and what you plan to do with it when the time comes.

If you are game, would you send me your address and phone?

You will not be able to see the unit on Velocity Micro’s website because they are going to be releasing this new Media Center PC when Vista launches. Here is a quick image of what it looks like:

Velocity Micro PC

This is a review machine as the email stated. It has an AMD 64-bit processor and a lot of amazing specs that I’ll layout in my review, but most importantly for me is that it has Windows Vista. Our blog primarily focuses on software and it is important for us to have the latest releases so that we can accurately review them for you. We have been talking about Vista for over a year now but we have only had hands-on experience for a fraction of that time. If I didn’t test out the latest software then this blog would not be nearly what it is today.

With that being said we are still determining whether to give the machine away or hang on to it for now so that we can begin writing reviews for Vista in preparation for the January 30 consumer launch. Receiving this machine does not affect how I view Vista because it is still an operating system. We’ll criticize it in areas that it needs work, but we’ll praise it for things it does right…which is no different than the past. Having a Media Center unit also gives us the ability to fully review the Media Center portion of Windows Vista, which is something we have not been able to do because we lack the necessary hardware to do so.

So whether it is a Ferrari laptop or a Velocity Micro Media Center, it is indisputable that a lot of bloggers are receiving these units to help hype the Vista launch in January. Here are other people who are discussing or have received (or are going to receive) these review units from Microsoft:

  • Michael Arrington – TechCrunch
    “And anyway it doesn’t really matter. Microsoft did something smart, because many of us wouldn’t have taken the time to download and install Vista on our own computers. The fact that it was delivered to us, ready to go, made it a lot easier.”
     
  • Robert McLaws – Windows Now
    “You can flame us all you want. Question our credibility if you want. Say we “sold our souls” for $2400. Fine. Most of you have been taken out to lunch for a business deal or interview. And most of you have made up excuses to have your company “comp” a trip to a conference. So get off your freakin high horse, you don’t have the moral high-ground. Read my blog, don’t read my blog. I don’t care. But don’t act like you’re so altruistic.”
     
  • Long Zheng – IStartedSomething
    “I don’t see the Free Software Foundation handing out any Ferrari’s.”
     
  • Mitch Denny – notgartner
    “I am going to give the laptop to my wife who has hardly used Vista at all and has actually being resisting until it came out of BETA. This will be her first laptop and her first time running Vista and my plan is to somehow capture her feedback as a “Vista-newbie”.”
     
  • Scott Beale – Laughing Squid
    “I’m not sure how I was selected to be one of the people receiving this (I’m assuming there are others, but I haven’t come across any yet). It could be that they are reaching out to bloggers who are Mac users (I switched to a Mac back when OS X came out) or it might just be that people I know who work for Microsoft or other influential bloggers who recommended me.”
     
  • Brandon LeBlanc – MSTechToday
    “With this laptop, I have several options I could make with it on top of keeping. I could offer it up as a prize for my readers here at MSTechToday or I can give it back to Microsoft. Not sure what route I’ll take just yet.”
     
  • Barb Bowman – Barb’s Connected World
    “The nice folks at AMD recently provided an Acer Ferrari 5000 with 2 gigs of RAM and swapped out the hard drive for a faster 7200 RPM upgrade from the stock configuration.”
     
  • Robert Scoble – Scobleizer
    “That is a GREAT idea. After all, how can anyone have a decent conversation about Windows Vista without having put a bunch of time on one of the machines?”
     
  • Mauricio Freitas – Freitasm
    “This is no different from freelance journalists getting free flights to Taiwan to attend the IDF. Or being sponsored to attend the PDC. Or attending the CES and receiving a laptop bag from Toshiba, or going to ShowsStoppers and receiving a bag with goodies from the exhibitors.”
     
  • Ed Bott – Windows Expertise
    “Microsoft is just doing some smart marketing, seeding the market and increasing mind share. They could spend the same amount of money hiring people to write white papers or running ads in the Wall Street Journal. But the world will get a lot more valuable feedback if that information comes from real people actually using this technology.”
     
  • Michael Calore – Monkey Bites (Wired blog)
    “If Microsoft were to give away copies of Vista that would make sense and probably raise no eyebrows at all, but giving away a whole laptop understandably strikes some as little more than bribery.”

Those are all of the posts that I have come across regarding the Microsoft/AMD “giveaway” and I just wanted to let everyone know that we are also a recipient. I don’t think this will change the way you view our site because if you are a dedicated reader of ours you’ll surely know that we can’t be bought. Our independence is something that helps keep news exciting and fresh, and we plan on keeping it that way. If you frown upon Microsoft (or us) for this, just think about if the situation would be any different had Google or Ubuntu been the ones handing out the laptops and Media Centers.

Update:
Was just checking my email this morning and saw this from the Microsoft representative:
“You may have seen that other bloggers got review machines as well. Some of that coverage was not factual. As you write your review I just wanted to emphasize that this is a review pc. I strongly recommend you disclose that we sent you this machine for review, and I hope you give your honest opinions. Just to make sure there is no misunderstanding of our intentions I’m going to ask that you either give the pc away or send it back when you no longer need it for product reviews.”
From the looks of it I am not the only one who has received that email.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 06

Free Bulk Image Compressor for Windows

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

This article was written on July 05, 2011 by CyberNet.

Image compressor

arrow Windows Windows only arrow
Personally I’ve never needed to compress a large number of images before, but if I did I’d definitely be using Caesium. The interface is easy to understand, and the dual-pane previews along the right side make it easy to see the before/after comparison so that you can get the right compression ratio.

As you can see in the screenshot above the compression ratio turned out to be pretty good for the sample images I was working with. However, I had the compression quality set to 80% which may be lower that some of you may want to go. Even at 100% quality I did see the file size drop 25% lower than it started, which is still good.

Here’s a rundown on some of the features:

  • Portable version requires no installation
  • Resize your pictures up to 90% preserving the file format
  • Batch processing
  • Quick zoomable preview of the output
  • Picture-by-picture compression level
  • Compression level can be set with an easy slider
  • Metatag information support
  • Drag and drop pictures directly into the list
  • Rename all files with a custom suffix

Caesium Homepage (Windows only; Freeware; Portable)

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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Oct 06

Windows 7 (a.k.a. Windows Vienna) Feature Insight?

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

This article was written on February 15, 2007 by CyberNet.

ViennaMicrosoft just posted the other day that they do not want to give up any details in regard to the next milestone release of Windows. I really don’t blame them for not wanting to disclose any details because that is when they end up pinning themselves in a corner. They should give it a little while to make sure they are on track to meet their 2009 delivery date, and then start sharing some of the details with the public.

They are indeed working on the next operating system which has had the name Vienna removed and is now being called Windows 7. I’m not sure why they ditched the cool name and replaced it with a version number, but maybe it has something to do with the name Vienna being so close to Vista, and they are trying to avoid confusion. Maybe a new name will emerge as the development process continues, or maybe they will bring back the old codename: Blackcomb! ;)

So what is in the future for Windows? As noted above the list of features that the next version of Windows will possess is still in the works, but Paul Thurrott has started a FAQ’s site for Windows 7 that makes some interesting points. Here are a few things that are mentioned:

  • Windows Vienna will only be a “minor” release because Microsoft currently makes every other Windows release a major one. Vienna is estimated to ship in 2009 which means the next major release of Windows should be around 2011.
  • Vienna will include a new version of Windows Explorer that will take on some of the properties from the Ribbon in Office 2007. There is no doubt in my mind that Microsoft should center more of the operating system around what the Office 2007 team has already done with the Ribbon. With the Ribbon new users are able to easily find what they are looking for because commands and options are intuitively located through the application. Windows Explorer in Vista has gotten a small facelift but there is still a lot of room for improvement, and a Ribbon-like system might be just what it needs.
  • To keep up with Microsoft’s x64 migration schedule there will probably be no 32–bit version of Vienna offered. While this might be true it is hard for me to believe that the next version of Windows will not be compatible with computers that are still being sold today. The dual-core and 64–bit processors are becoming more prominent so maybe Microsoft ditching the 32–bit operating system isn’t so unrealistic.

Designed for WindowsWhile the suspense of not knowing what will come next in Windows is exciting, I think it can also lead to the implementation of features that users may not actually want. It seems like there is a growing trend of companies turning to their users for input on what they would like to see in future products and Microsoft should do that, too. Microsoft needs to find ways to get more involved with the communities and people on the Internet by letting them participate in the design, even if it does only include voting.

Maybe Microsoft should do something like MyDreamApp and let users submit application ideas, and then whatever program gets the most votes they will implement to include with the next Windows release. Not only would the community become interested in the voting process, but I think people would also be more inclined to follow the progress of Windows.

So now I’ll leave you with two questions:

  • What would you like to see in the next version of Windows?
  • What can Microsoft do to get people more involved/interested in the next Windows release?

More information on Vista’s successors (Vienna and Fiji)

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