Woot's Web Wonders.

Will Self-Adjust Monitor to Soften at Night, Brighten Day!

2010-04-29T14:55:00.001-07:00

stereopsis.com

11/22/2009

Point Your Browser HERE: http://stereopsis.com/flux/

_You must be familiar with modern LCD screens, right? If you look carefully, most of them have a button to automatically change the attributes of the screen to adjust for the types of media which is being viewed: one specially tweaked for movies, another for photos, a separate one for text and there’s one we’re particularly interested about — night.

_You see, working in front of a computer screen at night raises a particular concern. The fact that you’re staring at a bright screen late at night when your body is supposed to be turning in, disrupts your circadian rhythm.

_A bit of medical jargon coming your way — during nighttime, darkness permits the production of melatonin by the pineal gland. Melatonin causes drowsiness and in tandem with the central nervous system, controls the circadian rhythm. In layman’s term, all this means is the bright light from the LCD screen screws up your sleep-wake cycle.

_That’s why there’s a customized “Night” setting on your LCD. Furthermore, there are several apps that will reduce the brightness of your screen while working at night; Shades is one example of a Mac app that will do just that. I don’t know if you’ve noticed the LCD’s reflection off a person’s face at night — it’s mostly bluish white. Technically, the specific colour temperature is 6500K; also known as daylight. That’s right. If you find it hard to fall asleep after using your computer, this is why.

_F.lux addresses this issue but it does it slightly differently. Instead of reducing brightness per se, it actually warms the colours you see on your screen and imitates the lighting in the room during nighttime. It’s quite hard to wrap your head around until you actually use it but I’ll do my best to try and explain it:

THE LOW-DOWN: After downloading and launching the app, it will ask you for your location and the type of lighting that’s in the room — tungsten, halogen, fluorescent or daylight. Based on the information, it calculates exactly when the sun sets in your area and adjusts the colour temperature of your screen to mimic the lighting in the room. Note that the Mac version’s interface isn’t as refined as its Windows counterpart — but it doesn’t matter very much because all of the time, the app is absolutely unobtrusive. There are no pop-ups and you won’t notice it running.

I have found the "night mode" so much more relaxing on my eyes, and I "think" a calming effect on my body.

Try IT!

(Thanks to MakeUseOf.com for description)

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Deals, Shopping, 13 Bargain Inexpensive Websites

2010-04-29T14:53:00.001-07:00

fatwallet.com

Topics: Deals, Shopping, 13 Bargain Websites Cheaper Th

11/24/2009

Please Browse to: "http://tinyurl.com/2l5r2o".

Looking for a place to find some good deals or bargain discounts while shopping online for electronics, clothing, accessories, etc? Well, there are a good number of sites out there other than Fatwallet, which (possibly?) everyone in the world knows about. I’m going to list a number of "good deal-finding" shopping sites. Check them out and see what you think!

dealighted.com A very cool site that’s a mashup of deals from other sites like Slickdeals.com, Fatwallet.com, Gottadeal.com and lots more. Mostly tech-related stuff, but there are other things as well.

passwird.com is a web site created by a University of California student that lists bunch of excellent deals on everything from tech to shoes daily. This site is very simple and is addictive.

bensbargains.net. The nice thing about this site (and others) is that you can subscribe to the RSS feed to quickly find deals. Also, pictures of the items are included in the feed. This site also gives you info on rebates and coupons in addition to just deals.

dealdump.com. DealDump is an aggregate of multiple deal sites, covering everything from Woot.com to DealOverFlow. There are a lot of sites on here I had never even heard of before, so you might find something great.

dealnews.com. Find the hottest deals on gadgets, computers, electronics, cameras, and lots more. The cool thing about this site is that you can subscribe to an RSS feed for the specific item you’re looking for.

dealsplus.com. Takes the same concept of Digg.com and does it for deals. Users vote for the best deals and the ones with the most votes get on to the front page. Also once you join you can enter to win free stuff, etc.

techdeals.net. As you can probably tell from the name of the site, Techdeals.net is all about tech stuff likes games, MP3 players, digital cameras, computers and more. It’s updated daily and has a good number of items.

cybuys.com. An online service that helps shoppers find coupons and hot deals for tons of online stores. It has a very clean interface and is one of the best sites for just finding coupons! Definitely check it out.

jellyfish.com. Not your normal deal-finding site! This site is basically a social shopping deals site, complete with a game show host and a good number of great products. You’ll have to check it out yourself to find out.

dealitem.com. DealItem is another deal site for mostly tech stuff. It works best when you’re searching for something by model # or by make and features. If you know what you’re looking for, check out DealItem.

dealigg.com. A social bargain hunting site that changes frequently during the day, so you’re looking at new stuff all the time. Again, its based on a peer voting system that brings the best deals to the front page.

slickdeals.net. SlickDeals is one of the better known deal sites and includes everything from tech gadgets to men’s shirts. They also have over 800 coupons that you can use at your favorite stores. Very clean interface and easy to use web site.

gottadeal.com. Finally, GottaDeal.com is very popular site for finding deals and coupons online. Has a bunch of categories and brings in deals from many of the major retailers such as Apple, AT&T, and CompUSA.

So that’s about 13 deal sites that I've run across that seem to be gaining in popularity. I hope shopping any of these sites brings some measure of savings and a good deal to boot.

Thanks to Aseem Kishore

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Great Audio Video Free Editior.

2010-04-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

mediacope.com

Topics: Great Audio Video Free Editi

11/29/2009

It is an all in one media player solution and lets you play audio & video files, cut them according to your needs or transcode them to other formats. In addition you get a photo cutter, resizer and much more. In short, it’s as complete a media package as you’re likely to get. It is called Media Cope.

I've reviewed plenty of audio/video tools in the past, from mp3 joiner to video trans-coding tools. If you are an avid user of such tools, you will have a nice, albeit a little lengthy, collection in your start menu. Well here is one tool that can make that list a little shorter.

The tag line doesn’t overstate Media Cope’s capabilities, when it says: “It is all you need“. Media Cope combines the best open source software in the business to give you a killer application. It has mplayer for playing media files and uses ffmpeg for all the transcoding heavy lifting.

Let us take a deeper look on what Media Cope offers.
Media Cope supports all the major media file formats. It lets you play file formats mp3, avi, divx, mov, mkv, flac, rmvb, flv, vob, wma and mp4 to mention a few. In addition it also offers other mplayer functionality like speed change, ratio change, audio delay , framestep and screenshots etc.

_An Audio/Video Cutter

Hop over to the next tab and you can now trim audio & video files to your liking. All the formats listed above and many more are supported. Open the file, you can use the slider to go the exact location you want to start the video clip from, click “Select Start” and the starting point will be set to the current slider position. You can choose the end point in similar fashion. Now choose the output file format and you are ready to save the trimmed file as an audio/video clip.

_An Audio/Video Converter

The next two tabs let you trans-code your media files into a format of your choice. Queuing, output quality and trans-coding to and from all major formats are supported. I missed default presets or the ability to create and save your presets. Such an option is extremely useful if you trans-code files for playback on an iPod or any other device.

_Photo Cutter/Resizer/Converter

Media Cope lets you do common photo tasks like resizing and converting to different dimensions and formats. The photo tools do a fairly good job and are great for batch processing. That said, I would stick with image editors for such needs mainly because of the interface and greater control and visual feedback they offer.

_Slide Show

Media Cope also lets view your photos as a slide show. You can specify a background music and basic slide show configuration options. There is no option to export your slide show as a video file which makes it seem as misfit as a mere photo-browser amongst other tools.

_Internet Tools

You can also use Media Cope when browsing the Internet. Media Cope offers text to speech functionality in Internet Explorer and Firefox web browsers. You have to explicitly enable Internet tools from Media Cope’s settings.

Media Cope offers a number of tools to meet all your media needs. There are some glitches and the user interface could use some touch up. Even then the media player, cutter and trans-coders are straightforward and easy to use. MPlayer and FFMPEG form a deadly combo and it would be interesting to see Media Cope develop further and iron out some of the shortcomings.

Enjoy it, I do!
Thanks to MUO.com

People found this review: Insightful (4)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Fbi, Fraud, Internet Crime Complaint Center.

2010-04-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

ic3.gov

Topics: Fbi, Fraud, Internet Crime Complaint Cente

1/4/2010

This seems to be an excellent place to report fraudulent Internet business. It's a web site that pulls the FBI, the bureau of White Collar Crime, and the Bureau Of Justice Assistance together for the soul purpose of handling malicious business activity on the Internet (called IC3).

Interestingly, it has no single focus (i.e. banking, commercial, individual, etc.) rather, is a in place for any consumer(s) that feel they've been victimized by Internet ("cyber") fraud. The web site introduces itself with this 'intent:

_"IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at the federal, state, local and international level, IC3 provides a central referral mechanism for complaints involving Internet related crimes".

The IC3 site explains in simple terms how a claim is created, asks for basic personal information, and then provides a large, Red link reading, "FILE A COMPLAINT". Easy to navigate.

IC3 is not bogged-down with legalese, and the complaint process is thankfully quick.

I'd include this web site high on my list of "reporting" mechanisms. RIPOFFREPORT.com has it's place, but this is rather like calling the Internet's version of the Federal Trade Commission!

Best Of Luck!

People found this review: Insightful (3)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Search 4 People Information.

2010-04-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

webmii.com

Topics: Search 4 People Information

1/13/2010

Find all online public information about you (and other people)
and get your "PeopleRank": or Your "visibility" score on the web.

You'll love this search tool. Look yourself up, might be surprised.

People found this review: Insightful (1)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Idea For Creating Easy & Safe Excellent Password.

2010-04-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

pcmag.com

Topics: Computer, Magazine, Media

1/21/2010

The web site I've provided is simply a link to PC Magazine article on how terribly passwords are selected. The most common password revealed, from a hacked web site, was "123456", literally. The exact URL for the article is:
"http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2358273,00.asp" (without the quotations).

I have a suggestion for creating a very secure 'universal password', easily remembered, and assuredly a safer password that what most use - perhaps yourself.

The best passwords have no pattern, are alpha-numeric, and the longer (12-15 characters) the better. However the prospect of deciding on such a phrase, easily recalled - but so difficult to crack, can be daunting.

Try this: Take a piece of information (perhaps an old address that you won't forget) I'll make one up as example: "1584westanywherestreetsandiegocalifornia". Read that carefully and you'll see it's an address. First, that's a nice "long" series of characters. Secondarily it's alpha-numeric, the safest type of password. Here's a trick to make that address harder to crack.

By selecting (or un-selecting - the OPPOSITE of your default keyboard setup - play with this to be sure!) the "Num-Lock" key (one tap), the above address becomes: "1584westanywherestreetsand5eg6ca35f6rn5a". Note the changes in the latter part of that address.That information has been sufficiently "garbled" to be a much more secure password, certainly than what most people use.

Take some time with a text doc., or a Word document, and play with different unforgettable strings of information. Once you've decided on a long string, but a memorable string, play with the Num Lock key and see how it changes the data.

After a bit of fine tuning, you should have an near worry-free password, very hard to crack, created simply by hitting "num-Lock" before typing it.

If you're curious what the Num Lock key does, how it works on different keyboards and computers, you can Google that and get answers. Right now, it's sufficient to jump into a safer universal password you can stop worrying about.

People found this review: Insightful (1)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Really Clean Up Your Writing! Great Tool!

2010-04-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

afterthedeadline.com

Topics: Really Clean Up Your Writing

1/25/2010

I'm very sensitive to 'words'. People often get a "gut-hunch" of who we are based on what we say, and how. Business correspondence is an obvious application, but I feel it spills over to how we affect friends, colleagues, and even lovers.

With that in mind, I found "After The Deadline", a great, free, site that can help you correct your grammatical errors, but syntactical issues, and more.

Here's what the site says in "about":
"We use artificial intelligence and natural language processing technology to find your writing errors and offer smart suggestions". Even when I think I've created the flawless document, a cut&paste into "After The Deadline", reveals more 'over-talk' than I realised.

A highly recommended tool for finishing/sharpening important writing!

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Touch Look Listen.

2010-04-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

fleshmap.com

Topics: Touch Look Listen

1/25/2010

Fleshmap is not a porn site (sounds like porn, hm? Nope. Sorry - smile), rather a fascinating web site that allows one to explore, in great detail, the areas on the male, and female body, that desire "touch" the most. It's not as simple as one might imagine. Any area is broken down into dozens of smaller details, to fine-tune where the skin is most 'needy'.

From The web site:
"Fleshmap is an inquiry into human desire, its collective shape and individual expressions. In a series of studies, we explore the relationship between the body and its visual and verbal representation.

Touch investigates the collective perception of erogenous zones. We asked hundreds of people to rank how good it would feel to touch or be touched by a lover in different points of the body. The resulting images reveal a map of sensual desire with multiple focal points and islands of excitement. Read more about our method.

While Touch examines collective patterns, Look explores individuality and the hidden surprises that each body reveals when bared. Through a process of abstraction, the piece reveals the multiplicity of formal possibilities contained in a single body part. Contours from different individuals are presented in collections that expose both familiar and oft-overlooked patterns, confronting prototypical notions of ourselves. Read more about our method.

Listen investigates the relationship between language and the body. Verbal manifestations of human physicality in music, poetry, and religion are distilled to their basic elements. In a play with language, the "body rebus" emerges as a visual representation of cultural expressions of the physical in us. Read more about our method."

If you're a skin aficionado, there's a lot to explore here.

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Create A Research Papers!

2010-04-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

ipl.org

Topics: Create A Research Papers

1/25/2010

This is a great tool for high school and college students. It walks one through the essential steps on how to 'ace' a research paper. It's very friendly, does not talk-down to anyone, and helps coalesce the concept of creating such a document - makes it less threatening.

ipl2 is the result of a merger of the Internet Public Library (IPL) and the Librarians' Internet Index (LII).

Do your high school OR college student a favor, and pass this web site along!

Happy research.

People found this review: Insightful (3) Spot On! (1)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Free Legal Answers Online

2010-04-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

civilanswers.com

Topics: Free Legal Answers Online

1/28/2010

Need some legal assistance ? Now you can answers to legal questions at CivilAnswers.com. It’s a free service where users can ask all kind of legal questions to a large network of professional experts and attorneys. No-registration required, though you still need to give-in your email address.

Looks like a fantastic tool to keep handy. Could this drastically reduce number of trips downtown to visit your attorney?

People found this review: Insightful (5)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Easy Delete Social Network Accounts!

2010-04-29T14:41:00.002-07:00

deleteyouraccount.com

Topics: Easy Delete Social Network Acc

2/1/2010

"Information on how to delete your account from all of the major social networking, blogging, shopping, etc. sites and services across the web.

Feeling a little regret? We can show you how to get it back, too! (If possible)."

People found this review: Insightful (5)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Free Check For Plagiarism! Very Cool.

2010-04-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

articlechecker.com

Topics: Free Check For Plagiarism

2/1/2010

Very interesting and potential valuable tool.

A free online service searches for originality (or lack of it) using a few phrases taken from different parts of a document. The phrases needn't be contained within search operators (like quotation marks as the plagiarism checker does it on its own through its code). Content checking is optional with either Google or Yahoo.

There's bound to be a time when this tool becomes invaluable at the office, or when there is a question of doubt!

People found this review: Insightful (1)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Clean, Free, PC Wallpaper Library.

2010-04-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

wallbase.net

Topics: Clean, Free, Pc Wallpaper Library

2/3/2010

Wallbase is the most comprehensive archive of wallapers for your desktop.

THe inteface is attarctive and fairly simple. Plug-in keywords (designate resolution and other parameters if you chose) and hit search. If your looking for widecreen 1900 x 1200, that's all you'll be shown. Laptops can indicate size and results will selected for that type of screen.

Search is very sensitive to search terms, so keywords must be chosen wisely to obtain best selection.

Have fun with this.

People found this review: Insightful (6)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Fascinating Search Engine.

2010-04-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

bevyfind.com

Topics: Search Engine

4/5/2010

GASP! I might have found a search engine I like better than Google, is this possible?

You can open results in the same partioned window, and so much more. I've not switched as yet, but I'd give Bevyfind a run around the block.

"Welcome to BevyFind! BevyFind was developed by Next Technologies Inc. and is the first consumer web product to feature Next Technologies' proprietary Bevyweb Technology.

Next Technologies Inc. was founded in 2007 to develop and provide technology consumers with advanced hardware and software solutions. Bevyweb was developed over a period of two years, and is the base technology for several web applications and sites currently being developed by Next Technologies.

Using Bevyweb, BevyFind makes web search faster than ever by allowing the user to open multiple search results in the original browser window without having to leave the search page. All the user has to do is click a button next to the search result, causing an embedded BevyWindow with the desired website to open up on the page. This allows you to immediately see whether that search result is what you're looking for. No more having to open a bunch of tabs or windows! The BevyWindow can also be maximized and minimized, allowing the user to check each search result out in either full screen or half screen - either horizontally or vertically - and if desired, use the BevyWindow as a browser window.

In addition, Bevyfind offers innovative features like the ability to view different kinds of search results (web, images, etc) simultaneously and to rearrange these results on your screen to get the layout you want! You can also email search results and search the various categories separately or at the same time."

People found this review: Insightful (3) Witty (1) Spot On! (2)

Comments (2) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Shopping Nearest And Cheapest

2010-04-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

milo.com

Topics: Shopping Nearest And Cheapest

4/9/2010

Have you heard about Milo yet? According to the their website they dub their service as: “Your local shopping companion”.

What does this mean exactly? Milo is an online service that will search the inventory of major retailers in YOUR local area, advising you of availability of product you’re looking for - and BEST PRICE!. In other words, it’s a multi-search engine for shopping.

I was then shocked to see them say that 95% of sales happen at real stores in the real world. That is brick and mortar shops as opposed to somewhere on the Internet. Are you surprised as well?? Bizarre, right?

If you have shopped for something in the real world recently, you’ll know that the stores with the cheapest prices are also usually sold out of what you want. And when do you find that out? When you get to the store, of course.

I hate taking pointless trips! And I hate being unhappy even more! What about you?

Enter Milo, which will help you answer these three questions:

1. What’s available at local stores?
2. Which product is the best for me?
3. Where is it cheapest and available in stock?

This could be an invaluable shopping tool to save you money on product, and "running-around" time to find what you're looking for!

Happy hunting...
Ron.

People found this review: Insightful (1)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Find Duplicate Pics On The Net, Image Database, Image Matching

2010-04-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

tineye.com

Topics: Find Duplicate Pics On Th Net, Image Database, Image Matching

4/13/2010

TinEye is a "reverse image" search engine. Simply, this means you can upload an image to TinyEye.com, and it will find "all instances" of that image, in various sizes, resolutions, etc.

You can submit an image to TinEye to find out where it came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or to find higher resolution versions.

TinEye is the first image search engine on the web to use image identification technology rather than keywords, metadata or watermarks. It is free to use for non-commercial searching.

TinEye regularly crawls the web for new images, and we also accept contributions of complete online image collections. To date, TinEye has indexed 1,432,495,997 images from the web to help you find what you're looking for. It has an easy-to-use UI, and comes in remarkably handy when you need a better/different version of that pic you found!
Ron.

People found this review: Insightful (2) Spot On! (1)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Online & Mobile Medical Resource.

2010-04-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

epocrates.com

Topics: Online Mobile Medical Resour

4/13/2010

Epocrates, Inc. develops clinical information and decision support tools that enable healthcare professionals to find answers more quickly and confidently at the point of care.

More than 900,000 healthcare professionals, including one in three U.S. physicians, use Epocrates’ innovative mobile and web-based products to help them reduce medical errors, improve patient care and increase productivity.

This site is essentially for medical practitioners. As such, it offers an expansive library of medical information. The FREE, online version provides, Drug monographs, health plan formularies, Drug interaction checker, calculators, and
Content updates, medical news. Not bad at no-cost. The Drug-Interaction library, in and of itself, can be tremendously useful.

If one chooses, there are packages offered (the least expensive) beginning at $99. annually. These offer an outstanding "Pill-Indentifier" and much more to make it a must for many doctors to use. The company’s trusted clinical content is developed by physicians and pharmacists and is continuously updated to keep users informed and up to date.

NOTE: Epocrates offers a very cool & handy MOBILE version for your smart phone (I know Motorola DROID is compatible, I have it - and I would assume the Android series as well, but check!) The Android version is very comprehensive, more information than you'd imagine. By all means do check Epocrates out.

Stay Well...
Ron.

People found this review: Insightful (3)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Great Free Flash Based Web Sites!

2010-04-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

wix.com

Topics: Free Flash Based Web Sites

4/13/2010

Absolutely GREAT place to build a FLASH-based web site...FREE. Drag 'N Drop technology makes getting up to speed a snap. You're even provided with a "Wix" URL as your domain (FREE), and you can certainly buy your own and migrate it over.

Company Promo-Data:
"A small but growing start-up, we love it when you use Wix to make your own fabulous websites and other Flash creations. And it's thanks to the support and feedback from users like you that Wix continues to evolve! Check out our blog to keep track of our latest news & features. Or get back to playing on Wix.com".

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Is There Dirty Water Near You?

2010-04-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

projects.nytimes.com

Topics: Is There Dirty Water Near You

4/13/2010

KNOW WHAT YOU DRINK: Find Water Polluters Near You

"Across the nation, the system that Congress created to protect the nation’s waters under the Clean Water Act of 1972 today often fails to prevent pollution.

The New York Times has compiled data on more than 200,000 facilities that have permits to discharge pollutants and collected responses from states regarding compliance.

Information about facilities contained in this database comes from two sources: the Environmental Protection Agency and the California State Water Resources Control Board. The database does not contain information submitted by the states".

People found this review: Insightful (2) Spot On! (1)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Find Passwords Registration On Your System.

2010-04-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

freewarefiles.com

Topics: Find Passwords Registration

4/13/2010

PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:

If you want to setup your computer system again you need to have the licenses and serial numbers at hand for all the software programs that you have purchased and registered. This does include the Windows product key but also other serial numbers for applications like Nero, Office, VMWare and pretty much every other application.

Instead of searching for the keys in your emails, manuals and recipes you could use another approach. License Crawler is a sweet little application that scans the Windows Registry for Windows product keys and other serial numbers and licenses.

The License Crawler can discover application product keys and other serial numbers or licenses very quickly and supports all versions of Windows operating system from Windows 95 to Windows Vista.

It is a portable application that can be run from any location and would be a perfect fit for an USB stick. Asking clients to find serial and license keys is often very frustrating. Instead, tech support can simply run License Crawler without having to interact with the client at all.

People found this review: Insightful (3) Witty (1) Spot On! (3)

Comments (3) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Free Software Directory

2010-04-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

directory.fsf.org

Topics: Free Software Directory

4/21/2010

The Free Software Directory is a project of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and UNESCO. It is a categorized index of free software that runs on free operating systems (GNU and Linux). FSD advocates the use of free software and through its activities seeks to counter restrictive policies such as Digital Restrictions Management (DRM).

There is no free lunch; so goes the popular saying. The abundant availability of free and open source software thankfully belies the fact. Just imagine a world where open source did not exist. It would have been such a narrow existence.

"_Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. Think of "free" as in "free speech," not as in "free beer." Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.

The Free Software Directory is a project of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). We catalog useful free software that runs under free operating systems — particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants".

Enough said. Save your money and Enjoy
Ron.

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Answers, Ask, Basically Just Talk To Someone. Good Time Killer.

2010-04-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

anybodyoutthere.com

Topics: Answers, Ask, Basically

4/21/2010

This isn't for everyone - what is . The essence of this site is your willingness to open a thought, question, or comment to its population and wait for response (you're notified my e-mail when someone addresses your input).

I found people her on the decent & helpful side. The usual jerks have settled in as well - but seeming in the minority. You can get to know people, and begin to find those willing to share (trust & honesty?) their more "subtexual" content. For me, that's where it gets interesting. In broader terms, you'll be surprised at the number of people who will try to help with questions, find things, give advice (smile - careful), and be pretty decent overall.

It's a community to kill time with as well, I suppose. From the web site:

#1
What is AnybodyOutThere.com?

AnybodyOutThere is a communication junction that offers an instant and relevant response to your thoughts and questions by connecting you with the right people.

#2
How do I get started?

Post a thought, topic or question of up to 110 characters, that best describes what's on your mind then click the post button.
When you find someone on the list that you'd like to talk with, click the "Let's Talk" button next to the user's nickname. A chat request will then be sent to the user. And if s/he accepts, chat window will open. Let the conversation begin.

#3
How do I know when I have a chat request?

When a user sends you a chat request, you will see a notification on the upper right side of the screen. You have the option to accept or decline it.
If a user is bothering you, you can click the "Ignore future requests" button on the chat request and block future requests from the user.

#4
I couldn't find anyone to speak with on a specific issue

We do our best to analyze your post and find the most relevant people for you to talk with; however, our system is still in beta stages. You can try and talk with people about other issues though; try it! It can be fun.

#5
How do I change the subject I would like to talk about?

You can always change your post (the sentence describing what you want to talk about) in the text box located on the top bar (see picture below).

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Software, Geek, How To. A Must Have Tool!

2010-04-29T14:27:00.001-07:00

lifehacker.com

Topics: Software, Geek, How To

9/9/2009

The net has become such an overwhelming experience when looking for software. Lifehacker is dedicated to providing an impressive array of A-Z software needs. It's all about open-source options, ad has been rigorous in testing what it suggests so surprises are almost 'none'. I highly recommend you bookmark this site and turn to it often when heavy with questions. I believe you'll find Lifehacker a necessary browsing tool.

People found this review: Insightful (5)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Software Reviews. Just Great!

2010-04-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

howtogeek.com

Topics: Software Reviews

9/9/2009

When you're stuck and exhausted from Googling ideas, you'll more than likely find at best what you've sought (worst an excellent idea) with The Geek. Explanations are thorough and complete walk-through on set-up and use of hundreds (thousands?) of FREE software solutions. Site does not dumb-down it's commentaries, neither is it level 5 tech stuff. It's friendly and communications fall comfortably where most can be amazed at what they'll find. Do yourself a favor and check it out - HIGHLY recommended!

People found this review: Insightful (4)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Academic Papaers, Articles Some Free, Photos.

2010-04-29T14:25:00.002-07:00

docstoc.com

Topics: Academic Papaers, Articles Some Free, Photo

9/9/2009

Docstoc is an out-of-the-way where one would search for Documents, Academic papers, Templates, photographs for websites, and generally all sorts of written material that could just fill a need you have. Certainly worth a browse one day.

People found this review: Insightful (1)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Updat

White Noise Online

2010-04-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

simplynoise.com

Topics: White Noise Online

9/9/2009

This is very much down to taste. When lost in concentration, a soft whispering of 'white noise' cuts static from my mind, and helps me focus. Also great for creating just enough "noise" to make it difficult for strollers to attempt a conversation with you. I enjoy this gadget/tool and keep the site minimized and whispering when I need to really be focused. Very Zen...smile.

People found this review: Insightful (1)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Gmail, Mobile Phone Coordinator and Reminders.

2010-04-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

reqall.com

Topics: Gmail Etc, Organizer Of The 3rd Kind Via

9/9/2009

Call reQall on your mobile and be asked, "Add, Share, or Recall?" This is the coolest gadget/personal organizer I've found lately. Savvy hi-tech method of controlling your days & weeks by calling your mobile and leaving verbal messages, WITH TIMES AND DATES, only to have these notes TEXTED back to you - and get a copy in your Gmail to boot. Send one message and "add" names you've listed, and have that text sent to everyone you named. So much more I can't recall. CHECK THIS OUT!

People found this review: Insightful (6)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

E Mail Attachments Up To 2 Gb, Free

2010-04-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

filemail.com

Topics: E Mail Attachments Up To 2 Gb, Free

9/9/2009

E-mail attachments up to 2 GB, FREE. If you find yourself needing to send large files, beyond what your e-mail provider allows, by all means check this tool out!

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Confounded Anti Viral.

2010-04-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

webroot.com

Topics: Av

9/20/2009

I tried Webroot AV for about a year and found the product to invasive, required too much baby sitting. The annual anniversary of my Webroot purchase just came around. They have RECURRING BILLING, and want me to re-up. I have the right, of course, to 'opt-out', just click here.

Well it seems that to avoid the recurring billing and leave Webroot, one must provide the registration code they initially used to UNLOCK the product. Is that great or what? What customer service. Great e-commerce.

If you had/have webroot AV, keep that license code handy. Thumbs down,.

People found this review: Insightful (3)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Tv, Online Video Content.

2010-04-29T14:21:00.000-07:00

ovguide.com

Topics: Tv, Online Video, Video

9/22/2009

OVGUIDE.com (hereafter OVG) is very handy helping you locate a video or TV show of interest. Turns out OVG's search results will steer you to OTHER SITES where you can view your video but generally at a COST, of course. I executed a search: (FOX's "FRINGE" season2/episode 1 - I'd missed), and was really knocked out by what seemed to be free access to some great stuff.

Forty-seven minutes into my program a screen pops up informing me I'd "exceeded my bandwidth". I hate exceeding my bandwidth. Bottom line I could 'come back in about an HOUR and watch more, or,cough-up $59.95 for a years membership' and watch to my heart's content.

So OVG search actually costs $10 for a complete membership (a watered-down free version is available), AND...whatever web site you're routed to will likely charge to see that video.

This is not to say that OVG isn't handy, but ultimately FREE it's not.

Rather than pony-up $60 without checking, I slid over to "fox.com." A quick search found Fringe which I watched in it's entirety, absolutely gratis. FOX is great about that

Putting The Prod In Productivity!

2010-04-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

lab.drwicked.com

Topics: Putting The Prod In Productivi

9/22/2009

http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html
Write Or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box. As long as you keep typing, you're fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences.

Many people find themselves unable to write consistently. I believe that this is because their reason to write is intangible. For instance, I want to write and finish a book because I want to be published and make a living as a writer. That goal is a long way away so I might find it difficult to sit down to the task of writing now.

I think this is a smart tool, and the motivated will have fun with it too.

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

all-freeware site that investigates/reviews only freeware

2010-04-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

makeuseof.com

Topics: All Free Site

9/24/2009

MakeUseOf.com (MUO) is an all-freeware site that investigates/reviews only freeware (or ones with a decent free account option). They have published over 7,000 articles on the widest selection of internet-interest available.

From the best free anti virus programs, audio, video, image management/conversion, downloads and web-based tools, Firefox & all the browser extensions-add-ons/fixes, and "How-To" articles that you could want. Strange file extension you've never seen before? Search MUO for an answer

Okay, I feel I'm overdoing this, and you get the idea. No advertising, no malware, no concern for browsing safely. No, my cousin is not the webmaster...smile. I realize the scope of this endorsement, but MUO has been providing me with options and alternatives for a year now (stuff I'd have never thought to search for), and I think you'll be a MUO regular as well.

Enjoy.

People found this review: Insightful (5)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Buyers Ripoffreport Forums, Complaints, Complaints Forum

2010-04-29T14:18:00.000-07:00

ripoffreport.com

Topics: Buyers Ripoffreport Forums, Complaints, Complaints Forum

9/27/2009

This is a very serious consumer advocacy web site:

"Helping you, the consumer...
Search the Ripoff Report before you do business with retail stores with bad return policies, checking & credit theft, rebate fraud or other unscrupulous business policies such as phony auto repairs, auto dealer bait-and-switch tactics, restaurants with bad service or food, corrupt government employees & politicians, police corruption, home builders, contractors, unethical doctors & lawyers, online stores that sell non-existent products, dead beat dads & moms, landlords & tenants, fraudulent employment & business opportunities, and individual con artists who scam consumers".

The site makes clear that filed reports CANNOT be removed, even by an attorney's appeal, which means your claim is forever.

If you've been burned and need to voice your ire, this is unquestionably the place to do it. Highly recommended as SAFE & EFFECTIVE. Free web site.

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Back It Up, Clone A Drve, Restore That Image As Needed

2010-04-29T14:17:00.001-07:00

clonezilla.org

Topics: Back It Up, Clone A Drve, Restore That Image As Needed

9/27/2009

Imaging hard drives is the process of copying it, bit by bit, to create an exact replica, in a way an “image” or 'snapshot'. The cloning part is the process of taking that “image” of a hard drive and placing copies of it on one or more other hard drives.

Clonezilla is free - a good tool for taking a snapshot of a system and reverting back to it later as a backup or to get things the way you once liked them.

HighlyRecommended!

People found this review: Insightful (4)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Beware What Happens To Your Personal Info!

2010-04-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

digitalriver.com

Topics: E Commerce Billing For Thousan

10/2/2009

Small print. Beware of "terms" and "Privacy Policies". Unless you take the time to read the very, very small print - you'll have your credit card info, IP address, and other bits of personal info flipping in the breeze.

This report on *DIGITAL RIVER* is long, but being well informed can save you time and money and might be worth the read
.
Digital River. DR is the e-commerce arm for THOUSANDS of online business, large and small. Digital River's privacy policy begins as follows:

_"DIGITALRIVER.COM PRIVACY POLICY: _IMPORTANT: PLEASE REVIEW THIS DIGITALRIVER.COM PRIVACY POLICY BEFORE SUBMITTING ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION TO DIGITAL RIVER THROUGH THIS WEB SITE.
_BY SUBMITTING PERSONAL INFORMATION TO DIGITAL RIVER THROUGH THIS WEB SITE, YOU ARE CONSENTING TO THE COLLECTION, USE, TRANSFER, AND DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AS DESCRIBED IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY. This Privacy Policy is effective as of April 4, 2007.

_"...With Whom Do We Share Your Personal Information?
Our Partners."

_"We also pass on to our Partner the privacy preferences you have expressed on our Web site. We provide your credit card information to our Partner if you have purchased a subscription that qualifies for automatic renewal. (You will be automatically re-billed for another course of purchase)."

I love this:
_" There are circumstances in which we may share the personal information in our databases with *unrelated third parties* that may contact you and have access to your personal information shared."

_"For example, we may disclose the personal information we collect on this Site WITHOUT notifying you when *WE*, in good faith, believe disclosure it is appropriate...".

Bottom line: When you buy a product online, and as you move into the payment facet, if *Digital River* is handling the purchase - read ALL the fine print - and if time is not critical, e-mail questions prior to hitting the PURCHASE button.

People found this review: Insightful (3)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Side By Side Nutrition Comparisons!

2010-04-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

twofoods.com

Topics: Side By Side Nutrition Compari

10/5/2009

twofoods.com allows you to compare the nutritional data of two food items contrasting calories, fats, and other helpful data in choosing meals. A quick analysis of which food suits your healthy eating goal.

Clever idea, simply executed, with a nice variety of selections in data base.

People found this review: Insightful (1)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Police Sketch Artist Online Fun!

2010-04-29T14:14:00.002-07:00

pimptheface.com

Topics: Police Sketch Artist Online Fu

10/5/2009

www.pimptheface.com/create.

Ever want to be a police sketch artist? Well here's your chance! Rather addictive web-based component-sketch tool that replicates the piece-by-piece dynamic of building a face/person/personality.

You can save your people, post to web sites, and certainly kill a half-an-hour when necessary.

Enjoy.

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Documentaries Food For Your Mind. Great!

2010-04-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

documentaryheaven.com

Topics: Documentaries Food For Your Mi, Entertainment, Movie

10/5/2009

Documentary Heaven was set up early July 2009 to provide the public with a vast collection of documentaries spanning across every genre out there. They intend to continuously update the site, on a daily basis, to bring you nothing but the very best views into, music, history, animation, computers, wars, and whatever else might spark your interest.

This is far more fascinating than you might first consider. There is no hidden agenda here, no politics, just free entertainment and learning something along the way.

People found this review: Insightful (11)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

And Text, Cloud Computing, Grab And Save Images

2010-04-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

snipd.com

Topics: And Text, Cloud Computing, Grab And Save Images

10/5/2009

You have to see this one for yourselves. We-based, truly unique manner of capturing text, images, even video from any web-page.

Using it is so easy. The concept is quickly grasped given a visually creative design.

Do check this out!

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Create Any Size Poster With 8.5 X 10 inch paper. Very Cool.

2010-04-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

homokaasu.org

Topics: Create Any Size Poster With 8

10/6/2009

www.homokaasu.org/rasterbator/wizard.gas?Phase=1
Rasterbator allows you to upload any image (jpg, png, bmp, etc.), and turn it into a poster of any size. This web-based tool offers "poster" sizes (from 2'x4' - to quite literally wall-sized - if you've enough ink & paper), and Rasterbator will to the rest.

Your image will be printed, sheet, by sheet, into the poster size you selected. The sheets are printed in ORDER, so that when arranged one after another, left to right, you''ll have a mosaic of your image.

I've tried it small scale (4'x6') and it looks great. Lot's of ink used, lot's of paper as well. All depends on how motivated and creative you are.

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Find Your Cell Phones Sars Level. (Radiation)

2010-04-29T14:09:00.001-07:00

ewg.org

Topics: Find Your Cell Phones Sars Lev

10/6/2009

www.ewg.org/cellphone-radiation
This web site reviews mobile phones by manufacturer and carrier, to provide you with YOUR phones "SARS" ratings (levels of radiation you are exposed to when phone is against your ear).

I'm certain you'll get a variety of responses when discussing things like dangers of mobile phone radiation and it's effects. But there seems to be enough involved to keep the manufacturers busy trying to LOWER their phone's SARS ratings.

WHEN YOU get to the EWG web site, front page, to your right, you'll see a box saying, "TAKE ACTION". Immediately below is a blue LINK reading "Cell Phone Radiation". Clicking that will take you to a page where the WORST and BEST rated phones are detailed. You can enter YOUR phone's info, carrier, and get a diagrammed rating showing how your device compares to others, and where it falls between least harmful and most.

People found this review: Insightful (3)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Entertainment, Funny, Funny Videos

2010-04-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

collegehumor.com

Topics: Entertainment, Funny, Funny Videos

10/6/2009

Videos, pic, weird and funny stories. Some material here can be rated "R", bear that in mind.

There are a host of other web sites you can spin-off to. Many are rather sexually explicit with predominantly male oriented humor. Other sites are humorously appalling to both sexes.

Purely a diversion - time killer.

People found this review: Insightful (5)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Cloud Your Data Access Anywher

2010-04-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

getdropbox.com

Topics: Cloud Your Data Access Anywher

10/7/2009

Dropbox is an useful app for moving files between computers, or keeping a copy of your most important files in the cloud. However, that isn’t all Dropbox is great for; it is also great for helping students keep their files as mobile as they are. There are a myriad of reasons why every student should have Dropbox in their arsenal of study tools.

Switch Between Computers With Ease

Portability is one of the reasons students need a laptop at school. With Dropbox, he/sshe can be stuck at ANY computer, still able to access work from anywhere.

This holds true for those in business and could ease some of the schlepp knowing you can access your files from the "cloud" from your system at home.

I love clouding tools. The program on your system is far lighter (much of it is resting on servers 'somewhere in the world'), and the data is again 'off' your system.

Should your system implode, back-ups and all, one can simply access the data from another system and RESTORE or utilize as need dictates.

People found this review: Insightful (2)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

Place To Write/compose w/o Distractions!

2010-04-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

People found this review: Insightful (4)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

codealchemists.com

Topics: Place To Write Without Distrac

10/7/2009

www.codealchemists.com/jdarkroom/#features
_______________________________________

Quoting web site, "JDarkRoom is a popular, simple full-screen text file editor with none of the usual bells and whistles that might distract you from the job in hand. If you are writing a speech, novel, essay, thesis or just need to be able to concentrate on your writing, then JDarkRoom may help you.

Features:

* Change your colour preferences, font and font size - via the settings screen
* JDarkRoom remembers the file that you were working on last time
* Support for central-European character sets
* JDarkRoom notifies you if you might have forgotten to save your changes
* Word/line/character count (Ctrl-L)
* Specify a file on the command-line for JDarkRoom to open it at startup
* Text anti-aliasing (where possible)
* Mouse-wheel scrolling
* Adjustable margins to fit any screen resolution (F9 to reset)
* Auto-save backups - so you never lose your work again
* Text search (F7 / Ctrl-F)
* A command-reminder strip can be displayed at the bottom of the screen
* Export to HTML using Markdown".

With a screen recalling the time of DOS, the black screen, and soft green (or choose another color) text, offers a pleasant - non-distracting - environment to concentrate and create.

Find Something To Do Now!

2010-04-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

People found this review: Insightful (7)

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

goby.com

Topics: Find Something To Do Now

10/11/2009

This isn't going to find you a dating service or the best singles bar. What Goby will do is hunt down anything from the best bed & breakfast, best assortment of family fun, pubs and bars, restaurants, and you name it from there - all in your zip code.

You input three pieces of information on a very simple attractive interface:
1. WHAT you want to do, 2. WHERE (name a city & state or a zip code), and
3. WHEN you'd like to get going.

Each category has a drop-down box to offer most obvious recommendations, but you can certainly type-in your particular interest.

Once you hit 'search', a text frame flashes by as Goby considers your interest and request. It then displays results with name, address, phone, and a thumbnail of each item.

I think you'll be surprised at how well this web site hunts down your interest, and the scope of it's offerings. Check Goby out and see if you don't find it a keeper for finding stuff to do!

Directory, Telephone, Talk To Real People

2010-04-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

Comments (0) Send to a Friend Link to This Edit / Update

gethuman.com

Topics: Directory, Telephone

10/12/2009

In short, GetHuman.com is a web site compiling phone numbers (so that you can actually Speak to a PERSON regarding your concern) that are typically hard to find.

It does become an extremely handy repository of numbers you might need to use or might want to at some point (eBay, AT&T, Verizon, Facebook, Apple, Ticketmaster, etc.).

If YOU have a "hard-to-find" phone contact, submit it to the data base so someone else can benefit from your nightmarish search.

UPDATE: Sorry I left a period out of URL in Title. SHOULD BE:
www.gethuman.com.

Circumvent E Mail Blocks At Work!

2010-04-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

mailmyweb.com

Topics: Circumvent E Mail Blocks At Wo

10/12/2009

If you can’t access your favorite sites at work or college because of a restricted network, make sure to add MailMyWeb to your bookmark arsenal.

Using this online app you can open blocked sites though your email. Once registered, simply send an email to robot@mailmyweb.com with a URL of the site you want to access. Few seconds later you will receive an email with requested page. Read more: MailMyWeb – Open Blocked Sites Using Email!

Phone Number Info, Phone Number Review

2010-04-29T14:00:00.001-07:00

whocallsme.com

Topics: Phone Number Info, Phone Number Review

10/14/2009

This is a "user created" database of phone numbers associated with people/businesses that manage to piss-off more than just yourself.

Each time someone has a bad experience with a company, found them RUDE, UNRESPONSIVE, TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE etc., he/she goes to WhoCallsMe.com,checks the company's phone number to see if others have had similar bad luck. If nothing cames back from your search, you may be the first to comment which might help the next who checks in.

Rather like a BBB by phone number. I ran a couple numbers of businesses I'd had trouble with and two searches came back with others who had upsetting things to report. This will hopefully give you some idea of who you're doing business with - or to check a business BEFORE you use their product/service.

If you miss a call and are curious about who placed it - zap - search the number and see what you find.

2010-04-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

crimereports.com

Topics: Find Crime In Your Area

10/24/2009

Here's how the site describes itself:

_"How do community members receive information about criminal activity in their neighborhoods? Community members can visit www.CrimeReports.com any time to view crime incident reports for any participating jurisdiction. Based on the type of data the agency chooses to make available, community members can also sign up to receive daily, weekly or monthly email alerts regarding criminal activity and police dispatch calls for service in their neighborhoods. The majority of crime and call incident records are available indefinitely on CrimeReports.com".

_This very handy. I often wonder how my neighborhood 's safety compares to others, especially after a shot of the evening news. Simply sign-up, select the particular 'crimes' you're interested in being alerted to (i.e. theft, assault, quality-of-life threats, etc.), enter your zip code, the activity within a particular radius, and your done.

_You can select a weekly, or daily update so this will not become overwhelming. You can also opt to become part of an active community of those who keep an eye on their neighborhoods if you wish.

The service to citizens is FREE.

Free Video Conferencing Tool

2010-04-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

vzochat.com

Topics: Free Video Conferencing Tool

10/25/2009

Per VZOchat.com:

_"CRISP VIDEO QUALITY! With our patented Visicron video codec, we have achieved superior video quality, minimal processor and bandwidth usage in our free VZOchat video chat.

_SAFETY AND PRIVACY. Video chat VZOchat contains no harmful code, no hidden adds, no modules for tracking users. You have total control over the personal data that you share with other video chat users.

_COMMUNITY: Tell the world about yourself and make new friends. Use the blogs and photo albums on our site. Look for people with similar interests. Communicate your preferred way and JOIN our video chat VZOchat community!

_INTEGRATION WITH OTHER WEBSITES: Insert our video chat VZOchat web client into your homepage or blog and stay in touch with your friends!

_STABLE CONNECTION, EVEN THROUGH PROXY AND FIREWALLs.
Special technology allows video chat VZOchat clients to work through any HTTPS/SOCKS proxy, and does not require additional firewall settings for a stable and reliable connection.

And finally: Video chat with up to 120 of your friends in VZOchat!"

I've tried VZOchat and found, for my simple purposes, audio, video and size reproduction rival Skype. That's quite a compliment.

Freeware: Windows Calculator Is File "Safe".

2009-11-30T06:43:00.000-08:00

krilome.com

Topics: Freeware Calculator Safe

11/12/2009

Exact Site: http://krilome.com/aprod/index-cse.html.

This is just a clever, savvy, fun and "must have" utility, rolled into one.

It's a very good idea to never feel so certain your private documents will always be "safe". That's simply playing with fire.

What could be a more 'benign' safety repository than Windows Calculator? Doesn't attract attention, and probably one of the last places (if ever) anyone would look for personal data. Add the fact that this safe is password protected AND data encrypted, it should look after your need for confidentiality perfectly.

The calculator is fully functional. Move your IDs, passwords, other sensitive data without fear of consequences in case of loss or theft.

After entering your PIN, Calc.EXE will encrypt and "swallow" the file(s) you've selected for hiding. You can browse your root drive for the files to be "eyes only", and simple, easily understood directions show how the files are stored, resurrected and even executed from this devastatingly clever program.

This is one of the cool "gadget" utilities that I always keep an eye out for, and generally have a price attached. This one is FREEWARE.

Shopping, Electronics, Find Quality At Lowest Price

2009-11-30T06:40:00.000-08:00

cheapism.com

Topics: Shopping, Electronics, Find Quality At Lowest Price

11/13/2009

If you are a bargain hunter, but don’t like to compromise on quality, then Cheapism is a website you should bookmark. What it does is simple – it searches for best quality products among the cheapest ones.

The site features budget product reviews in various categories like home & garden, kitchen utilities, computers, electronics, sports, travel and many more.

Have fun with this.

Thanks to MakeUseOf.com.

2009-11-30T06:37:00.000-08:00

stereopsis.com

Topics: Adjusting Lcd Monitor For Bett

11/22/2009

Point Your Browser HERE: http://stereopsis.com/flux/
_You must be familiar with modern LCD screens, right? If you look carefully, most of them have a button to automatically change the attributes of the screen to adjust for the types of media which is being viewed: one specially tweaked for movies, another for photos, a separate one for text and there’s one we’re particularly interested about — night.

_You see, working in front of a computer screen at night raises a particular concern. The fact that you’re staring at a bright screen late at night when your body is supposed to be turning in, disrupts your circadian rhythm.

_A bit of medical jargon coming your way — during nighttime, darkness permits the production of melatonin by the pineal gland. Melatonin causes drowsiness and in tandem with the central nervous system, controls the circadian rhythm. In layman’s term, all this means is the bright light from the LCD screen screws up your sleep-wake cycle.

_That’s why there’s a customized “Night” setting on your LCD. Furthermore, there are several apps that will reduce the brightness of your screen while working at night; Shades is one example of a Mac app that will do just that. I don’t know if you’ve noticed the LCD’s reflection off a person’s face at night — it’s mostly bluish white. Technically, the specific colour temperature is 6500K; also known as daylight. That’s right. If you find it hard to fall asleep after using your computer, this is why.

_F.lux addresses this issue but it does it slightly differently. Instead of reducing brightness per se, it actually warms the colours you see on your screen and imitates the lighting in the room during nighttime. It’s quite hard to wrap your head around until you actually use it but I’ll do my best to try and explain it:

THE LOW-DOWN: After downloading and launching the app, it will ask you for your location and the type of lighting that’s in the room — tungsten, halogen, fluorescent or daylight. Based on the information, it calculates exactly when the sun sets in your area and adjusts the colour temperature of your screen to mimic the lighting in the room. Note that the Mac version’s interface isn’t as refined as its Windows counterpart — but it doesn’t matter very much because all of the time, the app is absolutely unobtrusive. There are no pop-ups and you won’t notice it running.

I have found the "night mode" so much more relaxing on my eyes, and I "think" a calming effect on my body.

Try IT!

(Thanks to MakeUseOf.com)

Edit Your Videos Online

2009-11-30T06:32:00.000-08:00

jaycut.com

Topics: Edit Your Videos Online

11/24/2009

Jaycut is not just an ordinary flash-based “upload-edit-share” tool since it has the core features that you will find in simple video editing software like Windows Movie Maker. You can upload clips from your camera, mobile phone or webcam then compile them into a nice video by adding captions and music.

_Jaycut has a two-track time-line interface called “Mix It” where users can drag and rearrange their uploaded clips and time the transition between clips. Jaycut’s editing interface is fairly powerful for casual users who want to stitch-up clips while experimenting with its growing library of transition effects.

When you are done with the mix, you can embed the videos or you can download them to your PC/PMP.

Very handy.

Great Deals & Bargains Online!

2009-11-30T06:26:00.000-08:00

fatwallet.com

Topics: Deals, Shopping, 13 Bargain Websites Cheaper Th

11/24/2009

Please Browse to: "http://tinyurl.com/2l5r2o".

Looking for a place to find some good deals or bargain discounts while shopping online for electronics, clothing, accessories, etc? Well, there are a good number of sites out there other than Fatwallet, which (possibly?) everyone in the world knows about. I’m going to list a number of "good deal-finding" shopping sites. Check them out and see what you think!
dealighted.com A very cool site that’s a mashup of deals from other sites like Slickdeals.com, Fatwallet.com, Gottadeal.com and lots more. Mostly tech-related stuff, but there are other things as well.
passwird.com is a web site created by a University of California student that lists bunch of excellent deals on everything from tech to shoes daily. This site is very simple and is addictive.
bensbargains.net. The nice thing about this site (and others) is that you can subscribe to the RSS feed to quickly find deals. Also, pictures of the items are included in the feed. This site also gives you info on rebates and coupons in addition to just deals.
dealdump.com. DealDump is an aggregate of multiple deal sites, covering everything from Woot.com to DealOverFlow. There are a lot of sites on here I had never even heard of before, so you might find something great.
dealnews.com. Find the hottest deals on gadgets, computers, electronics, cameras, and lots more. The cool thing about this site is that you can subscribe to an RSS feed for the specific item you’re looking for.
dealsplus.com. Takes the same concept of Digg.com and does it for deals. Users vote for the best deals and the ones with the most votes get on to the front page. Also once you join you can enter to win free stuff, etc.
techdeals.net. As you can probably tell from the name of the site, Techdeals.net is all about tech stuff likes games, MP3 players, digital cameras, computers and more. It’s updated daily and has a good number of items.
cybuys.com. An online service that helps shoppers find coupons and hot deals for tons of online stores. It has a very clean interface and is one of the best sites for just finding coupons! Definitely check it out.
jellyfish.com. Not your normal deal-finding site! This site is basically a social shopping deals site, complete with a game show host and a good number of great products. You’ll have to check it out yourself to find out.
dealitem.com. DealItem is another deal site for mostly tech stuff. It works best when you’re searching for something by model # or by make and features. If you know what you’re looking for, check out DealItem.
dealigg.com. A social bargain hunting site that changes frequently during the day, so you’re looking at new stuff all the time. Again, its based on a peer voting system that brings the best deals to the front page.
slickdeals.net. SlickDeals is one of the better known deal sites and includes everything from tech gadgets to men’s shirts. They also have over 800 coupons that you can use at your favorite stores. Very clean interface and easy to use web site.
gottadeal.com. Finally, GottaDeal.com is very popular site for finding deals and coupons online. Has a bunch of categories and brings in deals from many of the major retailers such as Apple, AT&T, and CompUSA.
So that’s about 13 deal sites that I've run across that seem to be gaining in popularity. I hope shopping any of these sites brings some measure of savings and a good deal to boot.
Thanks to Aseem Kishore

2009-11-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

wwwconsumeraffairs.com

Topics: Consumer Protection

11/27/2009

I have followed ConsumerAffairs for several years. They have excellent writers, do intensive research, and in every newsletter I receive, there's some information I have to pass-along to family & friends.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for "serious consumers".

"Who We Are: ConsumerAffairs.com is a private, non-governmental entity that empowers consumers by providing a forum for their complaints and a means for them to be contacted by lawyers if their complaints have legal merit. Your complaints and comments may be published, shared with the news media and reviewed by attorneys at no cost to you. See the FAQ for more information.

HAD A BAD TIME, OR A GOOD ONE?
Report Your Experience!
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.
Share For Example:
* consumer
* shopping
* reviews
* reference
* consumer_affairs
* news
* business
* complaints
* activism
* information
* recalls

Here's an idea of the basics you'll find in the CA's newsletter:
* Does It Really Pay To Go Shopping On Black Friday?
* New Home Sales Rise As Mortgage Rates Fall
* Toyota Announces Recall to Fix Runaway Acceleration
* Consumers May Soon See Fewer Scam Ads
* Recall of Drop-Side Cribs Continues 2009 Pattern
* Microsoft May Face Class Action Over Xbox Live Ban
* FDA Seeks Permanent Injunction Against Sharkco Seafood
* Nearly One In Four Homeowners Under Water
* Deadline For Chinese Drywall Claims Looms
* More News ...

SAFETY RECALLS LIKE:
* Toyota, Lexus Models Recalled to Fix Runaway Acceleration
* Toyota Recalling 110,000 Tundra Pickups
* Electrolux ICON, Kenmore 30 PRO Gas Ranges
* Stork Craft, Fisher-Price Cribs Recalled
* 2010 Volvo XC60
* Evenflo First Choice Car Seats
* Cost Plus World Stainless Steel Cookware
* Bobby Chupete Pacifiers
* Perfect Flame Gas Grills
* Century 21 Hooded Sweats
* Gorilla EXO-Tech Safety Harness
* Three Sisters Baby Hammocks
And so very much more!

A+ Audio/Video Freeware Cutting, Conversion +.

2009-11-30T06:12:00.000-08:00

mediacope.com

Topics: Great Audio-Video Editing and conversion - Freeware

11/29/2009

It is an all in one media player solution and lets you play audio & video files, cut them according to your needs or transcode them to other formats. In addition you get a photo cutter, resizer and much more. In short, it’s as complete a media package as you’re likely to get. It is called Media Cope.
I've reviewed plenty of audio/video tools in the past, from mp3 joiner to video trans-coding tools. If you are an avid user of such tools, you will have a nice, albeit a little lengthy, collection in your start menu. Well here is one tool that can make that list a little shorter.
The tag line doesn’t overstate Media Cope’s capabilities, when it says: “It is all you need“. Media Cope combines the best open source software in the business to give you a killer application. It has mplayer for playing media files and uses ffmpeg for all the transcoding heavy lifting.
Let us take a deeper look on what Media Cope offers.

_Media Cope supports all the major media file formats. It lets you play file formats mp3, avi, divx, mov, mkv, flac, rmvb, flv, vob, wma and mp4 to mention a few. In addition it also offers other mplayer functionality like speed change, ratio change, audio delay , framestep and screenshots etc.
_An Audio/Video Cutter

Hop over to the next tab and you can now trim audio & video files to your liking. All the formats listed above and many more are supported. Open the file, you can use the slider to go the exact location you want to start the video clip from, click “Select Start” and the starting point will be set to the current slider position. You can choose the end point in similar fashion. Now choose the output file format and you are ready to save the trimmed file as an audio/video clip.
_An Audio/Video Converter

The next two tabs let you trans-code your media files into a format of your choice. Queuing, output quality and trans-coding to and from all major formats are supported. I missed default presets or the ability to create and save your presets. Such an option is extremely useful if you trans-code files for playback on an iPod or any other device.
_Photo Cutter/Resizer/Converter

Media Cope lets you do common photo tasks like resizing and converting to different dimensions and formats. The photo tools do a fairly good job and are great for batch processing. That said, I would stick with image editors for such needs mainly because of the interface and greater control and visual feedback they offer.
_Slide Show

Media Cope also lets view your photos as a slide show. You can specify a background music and basic slide show configuration options. There is no option to export your slide show as a video file which makes it seem as misfit as a mere photo-browser amongst other tools.
_Internet Tools

You can also use Media Cope when browsing the Internet. Media Cope offers text to speech functionality in Internet Explorer and Firefox web browsers. You have to explicitly enable Internet tools from Media Cope’s settings.
Media Cope offers a number of tools to meet all your media needs. There are some glitches and the user interface could use some touch up. Even then the media player, cutter and trans-coders are straightforward and easy to use. MPlayer and FFMPEG form a deadly combo and it would be interesting to see Media Cope develop further and iron out some of the shortcomings.
Enjoy it, I do!
Thanks to MUO.com

#1 Freeware & How-To Resource On The Net.

2009-11-13T11:52:00.000-08:00

lifehacker.com

Topics: Software

9/9/2009

The net has become such an overwhelming experience when looking for software. Lifehacker is dedicated to providing an impressive array of A-Z freeware needs and Excellent How-To articles. It's all about open-source options, tested over time and updates, providing the most sophisticated, reliable resource for freeware and help on the Internet.

I highly recommend you bookmark this site and turn to it often when heavy with questions. I believe you'll find Lifehacker a life-saver and necessary browsing tool.

BEST access 2 Freeware, Articles, How-To, MORE.

2009-11-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

howtogeek.com

Topics: Software

9/9/2009

When you're stuck and exhausted from Googling ideas, you'll more than likely find at best what you've sought (worst an excellent idea) with The Geek. Explanations are thorough and complete walk-through on set-up and use of hundreds (thousands?) of FREE software solutions.

Site does not dumb-down it's commentaries, neither is it level 5 tech stuff. It's friendly and communications fall comfortably where most can be amazed at what they'll find.

Do yourself a favor and check it out - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Search 4 Academic Papers, Photos, Legal Docs.

2009-11-13T11:45:00.000-08:00

docstoc.com

Topics: Academic Papers, Articles Some Free

9/9/2009

Docstoc is an out-of-the-way online closet where one would search for Documents, Academic papers, Templates, photographs for websites, and generally all sorts of written material that could just fill a need you have.

Certainly worth a browse one day.

White Noise - Free Online

2009-11-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

simplynoise.com

Topics: White Noise Online

9/9/2009

This is very much down to taste. When lost in concentration, a soft whispering of 'white noise' cuts static from my mind, and helps me focus. Also great for creating just enough "noise" to make it difficult for strollers to attempt a conversation with you.

I enjoy this gadget/tool and keep the site minimized and whispering when I need to really be focused. Very Zen...smile.

Organizer Of The Fourth Kind. Must Check.

2009-11-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

reqall.com

Topics: Gmail Etc, Organizer Of The 3rd Kind

9/9/2009

Call reQall on your mobile and be asked, "Add, Share, or Recall?"

This is the coolest gadget/personal organizer I've found lately.

Savvy hi-tech method of controlling your days & weeks by calling your mobile and leaving verbal messages, WITH TIMES AND DATES, only to have these notes TEXTED back to you - and get a copy in your Gmail to boot.

Send one message and "add" names you've listed, and have that text sent to everyone you named. So much more I can't recall. CHECK THIS OUT!

E-mail Up To 2 GB FREE.

2009-11-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

filemail.com

Topics: E Mail Attachments Up To 2 Gb, Free

9/9/2009

E-mail attachments up to 2 GB, FREE. If you find yourself needing to send large files, beyond what your e-mail provider allows, by all means check this tool out!

"Best" In Computer Freeware & Reviews

2009-11-13T11:33:00.000-08:00

makeuseof.com

Topics: All Free Site

9/24/2009

MakeUseOf.com (MUO) is an all-freeware site that investigates/reviews only freeware (or ones with a decent free account option). They have published over 7,000 articles on the widest selection of internet-interest available.
From the best free anti virus programs, audio, video, image management/conversion, downloads and web-based tools, Firefox & all the browser extensions-add-ons/fixes, and "How-To" articles that you could want. Strange file extension you've never seen before? Search MUO for an answer.
Okay, I feel I'm overdoing this, and you get the idea. No advertising, no malware, no concern for browsing safely. No, my cousin is not the webmaster...smile. I realize the scope of this endorsement, but MUO has been providing me with options and alternatives for a year now (stuff I'd have never thought to search for), and I think you'll be a MUO regular as well.
Enjoy.

"THE" Place To Report Bad Business.

2009-11-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

ripoffreport.com

Topics: Complaints, Consumer, Powerful Consumer Activism

9/27/2009

This is a very serious consumer advocacy web site: "Helping you, the consumer...

Search the Ripoff Report before you do business with retail stores with bad return policies, checking & credit theft, rebate fraud or other unscrupulous business policies such as phony auto repairs, auto dealer bait-and-switch tactics, restaurants with bad service or food, corrupt government employees & politicians, police corruption, home builders, contractors, unethical doctors & lawyers, online stores that sell non-existent products, dead beat dads & moms, landlords & tenants, fraudulent employment & business opportunities, and individual con artists who scam consumers".

The site makes clear that filed reports CANNOT be removed, even by an attorney's appeal, which means your claim is forever.

If you've been burned and need to voice your ire, this is unquestionably the place to do it. Highly recommended as SAFE & EFFECTIVE. Free web site.

Take A Snapshot Of Your Hard Drive.

2009-11-13T11:25:00.000-08:00

clonezilla.org

Topics: Back It Up, Clone A Drive, Restore That Image As Needed

9/27/2009

Imaging hard drives is the process of copying it, bit by bit, to create an exact replica, in a way an “image” or 'snapshot'. The cloning part is the process of taking that “image” of a hard drive and placing copies of it on one or more other hard drives.

Clonezilla is free - a good tool for taking a snapshot of a system and reverting back to it later as a backup or to get things the way you once liked them.
Highly Recommended!

Compare two foods - Side-By-Side.

2009-11-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

twofoods.com

Topics: Side By Side Nutrition Compari

10/5/2009

twofoods.com allows you to compare the nutritional data of two food items, side-by-side, contrasting calories, fats, and other helpful data in choosing meals. A quick analysis of which food suits your healthy eating goal.

Clever idea, simply executed, with a nice variety of selections in data base.

Police Sketch Artist - Online. Fun.

2009-11-13T11:19:00.000-08:00

pimptheface.com

Topics: Police Sketch Artist Online Fu

10/5/2009

Free, Full, Documentaries Online

2009-11-13T11:15:00.000-08:00

documentaryheaven.com

Topics: Documentary Food For Head

10/5/2009 Documentary Heaven was set up early July 2009 to provide the public with a vast collection of documentaries spanning across every genre out there. They intend to continuously update the site, on a daily basis, to bring you nothing but the very best views into, music, history, animation, computers, wars, and whatever else might spark your interest.

This is far more fascinating than you might first consider. There is no hidden agenda here, no politics, just free entertainment and learning something along the way. – 10/5/2009

Grab And Save Images, TXT, VID. Web Pages

2009-11-13T11:12:00.000-08:00

snipd.com

Topics: And Text, Cloud Computing, Grab And Save Images

10/5/2009
You have to see this one for yourselves. We-based, truly unique manner of capturing text, images, even video from any web-page.Using it is so easy. The concept is quickly grasped given a visually creative design.

Do check this out!

Make Any Size Posters w/ 8.5x11 Paper

2009-11-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

homokaasu.org

Topics: Create Any Size Poster With 8

10/6/2009

www.homokaasu.org/rasterbator/wizard.gas?Phase=1.

_Rasterbator allows you to upload any image (jpg, png, bmp, etc.), and turn it into a poster of any size. This web-based tool offers "poster" sizes (from 2'x4' - to quite literally wall-sized - if you've enough ink & paper), and Rasterbator will to the rest.

Your image will be printed, sheet, by sheet, into the poster size you selected. The sheets are printed in ORDER, so that when arranged one after another, left to right, you''ll have a mosaic of your image.

I've tried it small scale (4'x6') and it looks great. Lot's of ink used, lot's of paper as well. All depends on how motivated and creative you are.

Find Your Mobile's SARS Level

2009-11-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

ewg.org

Topics: Find Your Cell Phones Sars
10/6/2009
www.ewg.org/cellphone-radiation

This web site reviews mobile phones by manufacturer and carrier, to provide you with YOUR phones "SARS" ratings (levels of radiation you are exposed to when phone is against your ear).

I'm certain you'll get a variety of responses when discussing things like dangers of mobile phone radiation and it's effects. But there seems to be enough involved to keep the manufacturers busy trying to LOWER their phone's SARS ratings.

WHEN YOU get to the EWG web site, front page, to your right, you'll see a box saying, "TAKE ACTION". Immediately below is a blue LINK reading "Cell Phone Radiation". Clicking that will take you to a page where the WORST and BEST rated phones are detailed. You can enter YOUR phone's info, carrier, and get a diagrammed rating showing how your device compares to others, and where it falls between least harmful and most.

College Humor Online. Fun.

2009-11-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

collegehumor.com

Topics: Entertainment, Funny, Funny Videos

10/6/2009

Videos, pic, weird and funny stories. Some material here can be rated "R", bear that in mind.

Videos, pic, weird and funny stories. Some material here can be rated "R", bear that in mind.

There are a host of other web sites you can spin-off to. Many are rather sexually explicit with
predominantly male oriented humor. Other sites are humorously appalling to both sexes.

Purely a diversion - time killer.

Save FilesIn Cloud - Access from ANYWHERE!

2009-11-13T10:57:00.000-08:00

getdropbox.com

Topics: Cloud Your Data Access

Dropbox is an useful app for moving files between computers, or keeping a copy of your most important files in the cloud. However, that isn’t all Dropbox is great for; it is also great for helping students keep their files as mobile as they are. There are a myriad of reasons why every student should have Dropbox in their arsenal of study tools.

_Switch Between Computers With Ease

Portability is one of the reasons students need a laptop at school. With Dropbox, he/she can be stuck at ANY computer, still able to access work from anywhere.

This holds true for those in business and could ease some of the schlepp knowing you can access your files from the "cloud" from your system at home.

I love clouding tools. The program on your system is far lighter (much of it is resting on servers 'somewhere in the world'), and the data is again 'off' your system.

Should your system implode, back-ups and all, one can simply access the data from another system and RESTORE or utilize as need dictates.

Find Something GREAT To Do...NOW

2009-11-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

goby.com

Topics: Find Something To Do Now
This isn't going to find you a dating service or the best singles bar. What Goby will do is hunt down anything from the best bed & breakfast, best assortment of family fun, pubs and bars, restaurants, and you name it from there - all in your zip code.

You input three pieces of information on a very simple attractive interface:
1. WHAT you want to do,
2. WHERE (name a city & state or a zip code), and
3. WHEN you'd like to get going.
Each category has a drop-down box to offer most obvious recommendations, but you can certainly type-in your particular interest.

Once you hit 'search', a text frame flashes by as Goby considers your interest and request. It then displays results with name, address, phone, and a thumbnail of each item.
I think you'll be surprised at how well this web site hunts down your interest, and the scope of it's offerings. Check Goby out and see if you don't find it a keeper for finding stuff to do!

Hard-To-Find-Business Numbers

2009-11-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

gethuman.comIn short, GetHuman.com is a web site compiling phone numbers (so that you can actually Speak to a PERSON regarding your concern) that are typically hard to find.

It does become an extremely handy repository of numbers you might need to use or might want to at some point (eBay, AT&T, Verizon, Facebook, Apple, Ticketmaster, etc.).

If YOU have a "hard-to-find" phone contact, submit it to the data base so someone else can benefit from your nightmarish search.

UPDATE: Sorry I left a period out of URL in Title. SHOULD BE:
www.gethuman.com.

Open Blocked Sites At Work

2009-11-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

mailmyweb.com

Topics: Circumvent E Mail Blocks At Wo

10/12/2009

Check Complaints At A Phone#

2009-11-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

whocallsme.com

10/14/2009

Great Place For Consumer Gripes

2009-11-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

pissedconsumer.com
"Welcome to Pissed Consumer! Bookmark and Share. The best consumer product reviews and complaints site. Write Review and share opinions about products or services."

It's that simple. A large and very popular (probably second to RipOffReport.com), CONSUMER REPORTING SITE. Register free, write your report detailing your bad-business experience, add photos to support your claim and POST.

Posts appear within an hour (generally less). Another great way to let businesses that practice BAD business you're letting the Internet know!

Crime Reports In YOUR Neighborhood!

2009-11-13T10:24:00.000-08:00

Here's how the site describes itself:

crimereports.com

Topics: Find Crime In Your Area
_"How do community members receive information about criminal activity in their neighborhoods? Community members can visit www.CrimeReports.com any time to view crime incident reports for any participating jurisdiction. Based on the type of data the agency chooses to make available, community members can also sign up to receive daily, weekly or monthly email alerts regarding criminal activity and police dispatch calls for service in their neighborhoods. The majority of crime and call incident records are available indefinitely on CrimeReports.com".

_This very handy. I often wonder how my neighborhood 's safety compares to others, especially after a shot of the evening news. Simply sign-up, select the particular 'crimes' you're interested in being alerted to (i.e. theft, assault, quality-of-life threats, etc.), enter your zip code, the activity within a particular radius, and your done.

_You can select a weekly, or daily update so this will not become overwhelming. You can also opt to become part of an active community of those who keep an eye on their neighborhoods if you wish.

The service is FREE to citizens.

Chat Online With 120 People.

2009-11-13T08:24:00.000-08:00

vzochat.com

Topics: Free Video Conferencing Tool

10/25/2009

Online Flash Gaming At Its Best!

2009-11-13T08:21:00.000-08:00

kongregate.com

Topics: Games In Particular Submarine

I'm not one for online gaming. Most simply don't hold my attention. Submarine 6:the edge" is different. It's a strategy game that tests memory, eye for details, and in my case became addictive.

There are many games you'll find available. I just wanted to point out Sub6 and the web site for FLASH gaming online.

Have FUN!

See What Colors Look best - Before You Paint

2009-11-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

colorjive.com

Topics: See What Colors Look best - Before You Paint

10/30/2009

ColorJive's own INTRO:
"Paint your home without paint!

You don’t even have to pick up a brush. Paint virtually with Colorjive. We’ve got thousands of colors to choose from.

If you’re wondering whether it’s a good idea to paint your kitchen red, you can test it with Colorjive. It just takes a few clicks. Click here to try it.

You can test-drive Colorjive right away without an account, no questions asked. If you want to save a picture, you’ll need a free account. Signing up only takes a minute."

_This site was actually intended to be an 'add-on' to my report on www.easy2diy.com, where dimensions will AUTOMATICALLY calculate the amount of paint needed. ColorJive is the application that allows you to actually see your living space in any colors you select.Hope this helps!

Ron.

PC "Utility Bundles"(potentially dangerous) Programs"

2009-11-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

glaryutilities.com

Topics: One Click Computer Fix
11/7/2009
This is a long one, sorry, but one I've been meaning to vent about this for some time. Unless you're really into computer maintenance and Fix-It programs, you might want to sit this review out.

_Let me start by framing the point that my "opinions" are based on my experiences, thoughts/ideas shared by friends, and a good deal of research. This review focuses on Glary Utilities, but is, in fact, my opinion of all "Fix-It-All" programs available. So no personal attack Glary?

_Glary Utilities is a software 'utility', bundling perhaps ten, or more, individual 'fix-it's' to improve your computer's performance - make it run like new! It will "Optimize And Improve", fix your "Privacy And Security", attend to your "Files And Folders", get your "System Tools" in order, and finally "Clean Up And Repair". Each of these "fixes" has several more sub-options and "fixes". There is a "Lite" or free version (which is perhaps missing some key attractions), and of course for a charge the "Pro" or full version.

_The problem I have with Glary, and most all others of its kind, is (A.) the efficacy of all these "fixers", and (B.) putting tools, so very invasive, in the hands of those who really don't have much experience. Many savvy techs will advise you to leave your computer's registry, ALONE. The registry is rather like your computer's 'central filing cabinet’ or 'brain' if you will. It controls the main settings for what your computer is instructed to do, and how. If you jiggle the registry the wrong way, and change, or remove, key registry commands, you could truly cripple your system, or lose it. The only fix then is a reinstall of your OS.

_So riddle me this: how safe/smart is it to give a trusting, but unfamiliar user, a terribly invasive program designed to DELETE "unnecessary" registry entries? The stories I could tell (including my own DISASTER tales of registry fixers).

_OK, so much for the registry. But the same dynamic of RISK applies to all the other 'jobs' the utility is ready to do for you. What WILL it do to your security, and along with optimization, what will it "Improve? Files And Folders, "corrects the errors in your start menu and desktop shortcuts". Do you know which shortcuts you want to keep, and which, if any, are OK to delete? So how does Glary?

_So what is safe? Ask lot of good questions of smart computer people. Trouble is they're not always handy and generally cost a good deal to hire.

_I turn to the web sites I can trust for feedback. Trust - takes time to build trust. Here's a starter for you. Lifehackers.com is a well known resource with techs and smart computer people. They have a long history of good advice and fixes that have been around a while, work, and don't break anything. You'll learn a good deal there and also find resources for freeware fixes and options you can trust.

_There are more web sites you can turn to but the process is not a quick one. Before a wizened user does a thing, they'll drop into forums and ask the "elders", "any thoughts"? Mostly the feedback will be usable and safe. Unfortunately PATIENCE is the best "fix" you can use.

_Almost done. Here's a freeware program you can start with and get to know well. Ccleaner.com (originally known as Crap Cleaner) is one of the handiest tools around. It will clear out all your temp, garbage files (but you STILL have to know WHICH areas to tell it to clean), disable unnecessary items from start-up, even uninstall stubborn unwanted programs. It's also one of the few intelligent registry fixers - period. You can scan your registry without changes, backup existing registry before any cleaning (if you screw-up - UNDO the clean), and for some reasons I'm unaware of, makes better decisions about your registry than most other progs.

There. I've had my say. Be careful of promises that seem, "to good to be true", they generally are. Research and patience will keep your computer running longer, better, with a lot less grief.

Research Medical Symptoms Thoughtfully.

2009-11-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

mayoclinic.com

Topics: Research Medical Symptoms

11/12/2009

Point your browser here: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/symptom-checker/DS00671 - for "Symptom Checker" page.

The Mayo Clinic has for a long time established itself as one of the most trusted names, and facilities, for medial care.

This Mayo Clinic web site, allows one to single-out parts of the body and begin to answer questions that help pinpoint POTENTIAL problems.

This kind of "diagnostic" medical tool can be handy in providing insight into areas for further research, and Q&A with your doctor.

CAUTION: I do hope NO ONE will use this diagnostic research tool to SELF DIAGNOSE, and become panicked assured they are dying.

Hope you find this interesting, and provides avenues for further study.

Good health to you.

Best Search For "Deals" & "Jobs"

2009-11-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

tinkomatic.com

Topics: Deal&Job Hunt

11/12/2009

Deal and job hunting - out of the box. Best "DEAL" and "JOB hunt" search in a long time.

Tink-O-Matic utilizes Craigslist, eBay, and several other search engines to help you find the classified ad that's been eluding you. Whatever you might imagine you'd care to search for, Tink-O-Matic will give you our best shot.

You can select which search engines you want to use, and with time will learn which combinations
provide best results for what you seek.

Simple and intuitive, you'll be amazed, as was/am I how well this site will work for you.

Hate Web Sites: "JewWatch.com".

2009-11-13T07:57:00.000-08:00

jewwatch.com
Topics: Hate Web Sites
One thing I’ve noticed about most “hate” websites is they try hard to present a scholarly 'feel', educated, professional and savvy. It’s rather that they believe sounded erudite about hate will make you buy-in and join-up.

I think most, regardless of religion or ethnicity, are offended by sites like this one.

It's not just any particular group either. Some people just love to hate. Take
"www.hatebook.org". These folks simply have a good deal of fun hating. In a world as tossed with paranoia, fear, and misunderstanding as we have, the last thing we need to do is preach hate.

There is something YOU CAN DO! One excellent place to report HATE SITES would be to: "www.ic3.gov/default.aspx". This connects to a JOINT INITIATIVE between the FBI, and The Bureau Of Justice Assistance (BJA).

At the bottom of the above sight, there is in bright, red letters a banner saying, "FILE A COMPLAINT". You can do so and it does not take long. The point the FBI makes, quite simply the more a particular site gets reported, the more likely they are to "investigate", likely close them up. The squeaky wheel get's greased.

So there IS something we can all do. The next time you spot a site like:
www.88tube.net, a notorious white supremacy gang, if you are revolted, you now have a place to report your ire. The more we do, the less we potentially will see of them.

Thanks to "Ryan Dube" at "MakeUseOf.com" for use of his thoughts.

Hide your Files In Plain Sight.

2009-11-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

krilome.com

Topics: Freeware Calculator Safe

11/12/2009

Find Quality Products at lowest prices

2009-11-13T07:49:00.000-08:00

cheapism.com

Topics: Find Quality At Lowest Price

11/13/2009

Write Or Die!

2009-09-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

Write or Die [Dr. Wicked via MakeUseOf.com]

Write Or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box. As long as you keep typing, you're fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences.

Many people find themselves unable to write consistently. I believe that this is because their reason to write is intangible. For instance, I want to write and finish a book because I want to be published and make a living as a writer. That goal is a long way away so I might find it difficult to sit down to the task of writing now.

I think this is a smart tool, and the motivated will have fun with it too.

Online Video, TV, Video

2009-09-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

ovguide.com

Topics: Online Video, Tv, Video

9/22/2009

"FREE DOWNLOADS". Cool, huh?

2009-09-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

Don't know about you, but I've had it with software companies that offer their products with "FREE download" (c'mon - yes download is free but our product will $cost$ you big time and we're afraid to show the price upfront), and even worse (maybe...) show screen shots of products, lengthy product descriptions, but NO PRICE - just "DOWNLOAD NOW"or "Buy Now".

So - download our Widget, let us invade your fragile registry, open the Widget, try the small portion it will allow 'unregistered', then click the link taking you to our website where we finally reveal the price - ::cough:: - after it's installed. PLEASE, please, pretty-please - KEEP IT??? WHAT??? You have got-to-be-joking! This is cheap at HALF the price! Add-Remove, and swear you'll never do that again.

Here's what I've done: When a website practices negative e-commerce or has a 'bad' product, I note the sponsors on the site. Usually with a (Snagit) screen capture attached, I write the offending company making clear my ire. I also copy the sponsors I found, making note that these fine companies would not be interested in being associated with...etc. In the end all big boys & girls do what they choose to do but I swear it makes me feel better.

Find 'ex' sex offenders in your neighborhood.

2009-09-19T12:09:00.000-07:00

.familywatchdog.us
Perhaps "cool" isn't the word to describe this site. How about 'informative' or 'Family Safety'? Just provide a bit of information including zip and Family Watch Dog will show you a map of your home town with red dots for pedophiles in your area, and green dots for those convicted/released guilty of other crimes sexual in nature (rape).

The information for each offender is very detailed. You see a photo (mugshot generally), run-down physical attributes, exact address, and an explanation of offense. All of this and his/her proximity to your home. My kids are in high school - but I still like the idea of knowing. Whatever your politics, you'll likely want to check your neighborhood.

CAVEAT: The site this search at NO COST. It does offer services ('People Finder', Reverse phone and E-mail searches, they DO CHARGE FOR). FOCUS!

License Crawler. Very Handy!

2009-09-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

License Crawler

If you lost license numbers for your software, here is a program that can retrieve these from the registry. License Crawler will extract the registration keys for the software you have installed on your computer. The program has only 74KB and is very efficient. Is this a grief save - or what?

2009-09-14T15:20:00.000-07:00

PROXIFY.com

Surf anonymously with "Proxify".

Proxify is a web-based anonymous proxy service which allows anyone to surf the Web privately and securely. Unlike other proxies, there is no software to install or complicated instructions to follow. Just enter a URL (website address) in the form below. Through Proxify, you can use websites but they cannot uniquely identify or track you. Proxify hides your IP address and our encrypted connection prevents monitoring of your network traffic. Once using Proxify, you can surf normally and forget that it is there, protecting you.

I really like this program. This can solve your issues with anonymity.

Snip 'N Save

2009-09-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

snipd.com
Hmmm. You activate the program (no install!) and it places a button on your 'favorites' bar. On ANY web page you can then highlight TEXT and VIDEO, click on a pair of scissors that appear, and 'snip' the items to your "Snipd" home-page for reference and sharing.

I hope that made sense, but it's really that easy and a great tool to browse with. This is another have-to-go-see-the-site and decide if it's 'something'...or nothing for you. I love it.

2009-09-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

AnonymousSpeech.com
No B.S. Simply truly anonymous mailings that cannot be traced to your IP or Service provider.
Not cheap either. One month is about $25. USD. A year about $70. Straight-ahead company plays no games, is clean and gets back to your questions with answers. You can create a faux sender & sending e-mail address AND attachments/receipts!

If you have need of this sort of service, these folks are for real.

2009-09-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

YouSendIt.com

Topics: E Mail Attachments Up To 2 Gb, Free

9/9/2009

E-mail attachments up to 100 MB, FREE. If you find yourself needing to send large files, beyond what your e-mail provider allows, by all means check this tool out! Additional services for additional prices. Stick below 100 MB and it's gratis!

2009-09-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

simplynoise.com

Topics: White Noise Online

9/9/2009

2009-09-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

docstoc.com

Topics: Academic Papaers, Articles Some Free, Photo

9/9/2009