There are alternatives available for free, one of them is Google Chrome. I believe it’s time to give this alternative a try & the add-on is one of the factor to consider. I have selected some of them which I believe is useful (not in any ranking order). Download Google Chrome & its extensions (add-ons), give it a try. If you are Firefox fan like me, perhaps to consider use Chrome as your alternative browser.

1 SmoothScroll

Scrolls the websites smoothly when scrolling with the mouse wheel or the keyboard. The option page is clean, simple & yet give you lots of adjustment. Although this is a simple extension, it perfectly enhanced your browsing experience.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/cccpiddacjljmfbbgeimpelpndgpoknn ]

2 Tab Menu

Sometime, if we open up too many tabs it may overflowing the bar. The Tab Menu provides a vertical browser action menu in which you can select, close, and even rearrange your tabs. You can also search for a tab by typing in the text box.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/galfofdpepkcahkfobimileafiobdplb ]

3 Mouse Stroke

You can use this extension to accelerate the mouse strokes operations. Support super drag & go, rocker gestures and wheel gestures in one extension. You can go back to the previous page by move you mouse left & come back by move you mouse right. Great extension for those who prefer to use mouse rather that the keyboard shotcuts.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/aeaoofnhgocdbnbeljkmbjdmhbcokfdb ]

4 Downloads

The Downloads extension allows user to access the Downloads window directly from the toolbar. If you make a lot of downloads, then you may be interested to give this extension a try.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/jfchnphgogjhineanplmfkofljiagjfb ]

5 *Split Screen*

Watch a video, while you surfing other webpage. Opens a new tab & enetr two URLs, two website will be displayeds on one page. Worth to give this extension a try, take the advantages of having dual view in your browser.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ilpdiniechkbmflcmlffclappfmhdndn ]

6 Google Mail Checker

This extension displays the number of unread messages in your Google Mail inbox. You can also click the button to open your inbox. Use this extension if you are too busy to login to your gmail account to check your mail.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mihcahmgecmbnbcchbopgniflfhgnkff ]

7 Remember The Milk for Gmail

Remember The Milk for Gmail extension is a task management goodness. It allows you to manage your tasks in Gmail, such as complete, postpone & task editing.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/hphjpfmagbhbdfhdndglcccmhdjhjjce ]

8 Webpage Screenshot

With this extension you can captures the whole webpage & save it. To adjust the position of the page, Simply resize the window before capturing.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ckibcdccnfeookdmbahgiakhnjcddpki ]

9 Aviary Screen Capture

If you own a blog then you definatly need a screen capture tool to generate screenshots of a webpage. Use Aviary Screen Capture to take a screenshot of any webpage & edit it directly in your browser with Aviary.com applications. It allows user to capture the screen instantly, capture of the visible portion of all web pages and images, crop & resize the capture, save it to desktop, host online, edit in other applications, etc.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ncgcgghbabbopfcpgcjpfffdgnbadegf ]

10 Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer (by Google)

Automatically previews pdfs, powerpoint presentations, and other documents in Google Docs Viewer.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/nnbmlagghjjcbdhgmkedmbmedengocbn ]

11 PageRank

This extension display PageRank right beside the address bar & I quite like it. It it simply & straight forward. If you just want to know the PageRank info of a website & don’t prefer Google Toolbar to be installed in the browser, then this extension is definitely the right choice. Btw, as illustrated in the image, it is good to know that Google has a PageRank of 10 (wow) & techmilieu.com only has a PageRank of 3 :(

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/pneoplpmnpjoioldpodoljacigkahohc ]

12 Dictionary Lookup

Look up any word from Wiktionary with a simple click and without leaving the page. This extension that allows you to quickly look up definitions of words and phrases in a clean inline box.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ipdjaafajlfiopcppipdinmcjbcpofhd ]

13 Google Translate

Click the translate button whenever you want to translate the page you’re visiting. Ok, you can achieve the same result by visiting to Google, click translate & paste the url to the translation textbox. With this extension you can produce the result with one click.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/aapbdbdomjkkjkaonfhkkikfgjllcleb ]

14 Google Dictionary

View definitions easily as you browse the web. Simply double-click any word in the contents to view its definition in a small pop-up bubble. You may also view the complete definition of any word or phrase using the address bar dictionary.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mgijmajocgfcbeboacabfgobmjgjcoja# ]

15 RSS Subscription Extension (by Google)

Similar to Firefox Live Bookmarks, this extension detects RSS feeds on current page & displays an RSS icon right beside the address bar. It allows you to click on it to preview the feed content and subscribe. The extension comes has 4 feed readers by default, that’s Google Reader, iGoogle, Bloglines & My Yahoo. You can of course add any web-based feed reader to the list.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/nlbjncdgjeocebhnmkbbbdekmmmcbfjd ]

16 Feedly

A magazine-like startpage. A fast and stylish way to read and share the content of your favorite sites and services. Provides seamless integration with Google Reader, Twitter, Delicious, YouTube and Amazon.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ndhinffkekpekljifjkkkkkhopnjodja ]

17 Forecastfox Weather

With Forecastfox Weather you can View current conditions, 7-day forecast, maps and severe weather alerts in an easily readable format. It delivers international weather from AccuWeather.com. Features include, severe weather alerts, radar, current conditions, 7-day forecast, details for each day, recent locations quick switch, links to hourly forecasts & more.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/ihffmkcfkejomlfnilnmkokcpgclhfeg ]

18 Page Monitor

Stays in the background and monitors web pages for changes without visiting the page itself. This extension displays a notification when the page has changes. You can monito any number of pages, change the check interval, etc.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/pemhgklkefakciniebenbfclihhmmfcd ]

19 NPR: News, Music and Books

Listen to NPR stories as you browse the web, check the latest headlines and set up custom feeds based on a keyword.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/hcamfjcklnmlbokoackecfjidfjafgog ]

20 FastestChrome

Browse faster! FastestChrome auto-load next pages, search faster, and more. FastestFox is a popular Firefox extensions, now it is available for Chrome.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mmffncokckfccddfenhkhnllmlobdahm ]

21 Xmarks SearchTabs

SearchTabs enhances your Google search with tabs containing the top web sites related to your search, grouped by topic. It adds useful information related to the links returned by Google, showing what a site is about and how it ranks across on Xmarks.com.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/bcopailfldjiaclacokieaaalokmobdd ]

22 Search Preview

SearchPreview let you see a preview image of every search result before you click it. The extension adds preview images (thumbnails) to your Google search results.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/hcjdanpjacpeeppdjkppebobilhaglfo ]

23 Mini Google Maps

If you love handy tools, then you may want to try up Mini Google Maps. It comes in handy when you’re looking for browsing on a map but want to find it quickly and get the job done. By clicking on the extension single toolbar button, the map will be opened instantly on top of a popup box.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/oeahddlmhbcabnnojadgimmiaaplfpfo ]

24 Proxy Switchy!

For those who are using proxy, why not give Proxy Switchy a try. Proxy Switchy! is an advanced proxy manager for Google Chrome, it allows users to manage and switch between multiple proxy profiles quickly and easily.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/caehdcpeofiiigpdhbabniblemipncjj ]

25 WOT

WOT, Web of Trust, warns you about risky websites that try to scam visitors, deliver malware or send spam. You can use this plugin as as your front-line layer of protection when browsing or searching in unfamiliar website. It uses the information from collected from multiple trusted sources, like phishing and spam blacklists, and the up-to-date ratings provided by WOT users.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/bhmmomiinigofkjcapegjjndpbikblnp ]

26 Digg for Chrome

Digg for Chrome is the official Digg extension, See what is being discovered and shared on Digg. It display Digg count for any URL to the right of the browser’s address bar. You can also share any URL, including Twitter, Facebook, and email. The is an additional info which I believe you can’t find in digg website itself, that’s the number of page view of a page.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/nphjpicjdnignjenbhkimpjjkpbidohb ]

27 Facebook for Google Chrome

Although this is an unofficial Facebook extension, it lets you check your Facebook news feed, wall, inbox and notifications. The extension now supports English, Spanish and French.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/lkdedmbpkaiahjjibfdmpoefffnbdkli ]

28 Chromed Bird

Chromed Bird is a Twitter extension that allows you to follow your timelines and interact with your Twitter account.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/encaiiljifbdbjlphpgpiimidegddhic ]

29 Cooliris

Cooliris is cool! The 3D Wall that speeds up search on Google Images, YouTube, Flickr, and more. Enjoy the richest way to view photos from Facebook, Picasa, and even your own computer. On the infinite 3D Wall, you can effortlessly scroll though thousands of images and videos in seconds without having to click from page to page.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/noocneohefmdhonidldnlhaainpiomkp ]

30 Flickr Puzzle

Jigsaw Puzzle ! Yes it is! The selected images are loaded from Flickr & the image set will be updated as you refresh or scroll through the images. Understand that it is the amazing new HTML5 canvas element that make this extension possible.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/eofclhgoplclkhhfhhheoknoodjlpjhb ]

31 Chrome TV

Chrome TV, watch online TV direct from your browser. I’m not sure how useful it is, with more than 3,000 TV channels from all over the world. Give it a try.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/lambangeielkjcnmioccboaphdfcffib ]

32 Chrome Sounds

Enjoy a more magical and immersive experience when browsing the web using the power of sound.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/kkfibincabhfblmkmhcabnlghmncdcaf ]

33 RemindMe

Setup reminders while browsing and sync them between computers. Remind yourself of online stuff that you want to do later, tasks that need to be done at a specific time.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/dkbeopafgiefnlffkhmkhldcojehlgam ]

34 Favorite Doodle

With this extension you can replace the logo on the Google homepage and search results page with your personal favorite Google Doodle. You would’t miss the special occasions doodles as it will still show the new doodles on special occasions.

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/nedjejdfkkjgebciefdfofjhmeogiaga ]

35 1-ClickWeather for Chrome

1-ClickWeather allows users to quickly view the current weather conditions, maps, and the weather outlook for the next 24 hours directly in the Chrome browser with a single click. Available in one of 5 languages (English, Spanish, French, German, or Portuguese).

[ Link: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/fgmbighdoomjmebfbgplfmhcdbomjkoa ]

Pingtest.net gives each test result a grade to help you interpret the overall quality. It measures specifically on your connection’s Packet Loss, Ping & Jitter quality. It sounds technical at first; nevertheless Pingtest.net makes the test process easy for you. All you need to do is to click a button & the test result is shown in minutes.

Screen shot from pingtest.net

So, what do the technical terms mean?

Packet Loss is a measurement the loss of data during the transmitting & receiving of “packets” data. It can mean download & upload speeds or quality of data streaming. 0% means your connection is perfect, if anything greater than that should cause concern.

Ping on the other hand measures how long it takes for a “packet” of data to transmit from your computer to a server on the Internet and goes back. Similar to Packet Loss, the lower is better; result below 100 ms should be expected from a broadband connection.

Jitter measures the variance for successive ping tests. 0 Jitter means the results were exactly the same every time, anything above 0 is the variance. Lower Jitter value is better, nevertheless some Jitter should be expected over the Internet & having it be small is in good health.

Go ahead, test out your Internet Connection Quality, give pingtest.net a try.

Another scenario is where you want to move your existing Windows from one hard drive to another. This cannot be done with “copy & paste” in Windows Explorer, some files can only be created in the installation process.

The solution here is to use a Disk Cloning Utilities to backup the existing system. This is useful when you want to restored your system back to the original state with all the drives, software & configuration intact. If anything goes wrong to your system, you can easily reinstall or move your Windows to any hard drive at anytime.

Using DriveImage XML for Disk Cloning

There are plenty of free Disk Cloning Utilities around the net, but I have only tried DriveImage XML. DriveImage XML is an easy to use utility for system & data backup. It can backup the whole hard drive & create bit-by-bit compressed mirror image of data in the drive. The image being created is smaller than the original, my 15GB system in a 60GB partition has been compressed into 8GB multiple files image.

DriveImage XML runs under Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Vista and Windows 7 only. The program will backup, image and restore drives formatted with FAT 12, 16, 32 and NTFS. The image can be restored back to the system without having to reboot.

If you do not have a image copy of your Window system, go ahead & give DriveImage XML a try. Backup your system & keep the backup image files in separate drive location.

(Note: DriveImage XML has successfully backup my Windows XP laptop system. Nevertheless, DriveImage XML is unable to detect my Window 7 notebook system hard drive. Alternatively, you can use the backup utility that comes with Windows 7, however I still prefer the whole hard drive to be cloned. Perhaps, the workaround is to boot DriveImage from a CD-ROM, I’m going to try WinPE later for the solution.)

Website: http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm

In this post I have selected some free Slideshow Creators available in the internet. These tools allow everyone with minimum technical knowledge to create their own slideshows.

Animoto

Animoto is an online slideshow creators, it automatically produces beautifully unique video from your photos, video clips and music. It turn your photos & videos into purely amazing slideshow.
Link: http://animoto.com/

Slide

Mainly for social networks such as Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, hi5, etc. It offer people the ability to communicate, engage and have fun with one another. Slide was founded in 2005 by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin and is backed by Mayfield Fund, Blue Run Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund.
Link: http://www.slide.com/

Kizoa

With Kizoa you can simply Create beautiful slideshows with music and many effects, insert them into your blog or website, burn slideshows to DVD. You can also edit your pictures easily & store or organize all your photos online, share your creations with your loved ones.
Link: http://www.kizoa.com/

Imageloop

Imageloop offers preset theme for your slideshow. Imageloop is easy to use, it offer free image hosting, unlimited uploads of your image to their server. With Imageloop, you can create an online version of any pdf and ppt presentation.
Link: http://www.imageloop.com/

Moblyng

Moblyng Games is an innovative social gaming company. It slideshow creators is similar to Imageloop. You can simply make you slide show mobile, create an online version of your unique slideshow.
Link: http://www.moblyng.com/make-slideshow/

There are numbers of great encryption software around the net, many of them are free. I have personally tried TrueCrypt & found that this files encryption software comes with powerful features. Those who are concerned about protecting their data should definitely give it a try.

TrueCrypt is a free real-time on-the-fly files encryption software. This means that data is automatically encrypted or decrypted right from the disk or any portable storage device. Unlike the other encryption software which encrypts only on individual files, TrueCrypt can store many files in an encrypted file or even in entire storage device. This is useful when you want to prevent others from exploring your files.

Files are encrypted in a TrueCrypt volume, you can choose whether the volume to be resided in a volume file which acts just like any normal file or in a whole partition or drive. Files can be copied to and from a mounted TrueCrypt volume just like they are copied to or from any normal disk, permitting you to open, copy, modify or delete them easily. TrueCrypt does not store any decrypted file back on to the disk during the decryption process; files are actually decrypted in memory while they are being read. When you turn off your computer, the volume will be dismounted and files stored in memory will be inaccessible.

If you are concern about the speed of reading the encrypted files on-the-fly, TrueCrypt uses so-called pipelining technology to work this out. Playing an encrypted mpeg2 file on my Pentium 2GHz, 2GB RAM computer has produced excellence result & has no problem at all.

The installation package comes with extensive help manual and the encryption & decryption wizard helps user to understand the process. TrueCrypt is not for careless users, be sure read the manual & understand what you’re doing. My advice is to test this software out on a few sample files before do anything risky to your important data.

Website: http://www.truecrypt.org

For those who are using PC for their day to day business, these are applications that may help to save money. Setup your PC with only the basic Windows & power it with the free applications available for download from the internet.

Gathered here are over 45 free applications for your PC. System utilities, office, audio, video, images and more … download & give it a try.

File System Utilities

1 CCleaner

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system make Windows run faster. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. As a today, CCleaner has over 350 million remarkable downloads!
Link: http://www.ccleaner.com/

2 Ultradefrag

Use ultradefrag to defrag your entire hard drive. It is a powerful Open Source Defragmentation tool for Windows Platform. Features include: boot time defragmentation when windows is fully running, computer shut down after defragmentation has completed, file and folder defragmentation, defragment scheduler, etc.
Link: http://ultradefrag.sourceforge.net/

3 7-zip

7-Zip works in Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2008, 2003, 2000, NT, ME & 98. 7-Zip is open source file archiver software. It was the winner of the SourceForge.net 2007 community choice awards. 7-Zip supports for zip encryption, and be able to create self-extracting archives (*.exe files).
Link: http://www.7-zip.org/

4 Kruptos 2 (Kruptos is no longer free, see next item)

File security is important. Kruptos 2 is a powerfull 256 bit file encryption utility that allows you to secure any sensitive files stored on your PC or portable storage device. Kruptos can also produce self-extracting (*.exe file) encrypted files that contain encrypted files & the software necessary to decompress the contents.
Link: http://www.kruptos2.co.uk/

4 TrueCrypt

TrueCrypt is a free real-time on-the-fly files encryption software. This means that data is automatically encrypted or decrypted right from the disk or any portable storage device. Unlike the other encryption software which encrypts only on individual files, TrueCrypt can store many files in an encrypted file or even in entire storage device. This is useful when you want to prevent others from exploring your files. Read more. (updated: 27 Jan 2010)
Link: http://www.truecrypt.org/

5 DirSyncPro

DirSync Pro (Directory Synchronize Pro) is a small, but powerful utility for file and folder synchronization. DirSync Pro can be used to synchronize the content of one or many folders recursively. It has many options, including the deletion of destination files if the file has been removed from source. DirSync Pro is programmed completely in platform independent Java, so you need to have Java Runtime installed.
Link: http://directorysync.sourceforge.net/

6 TeraCopy

TeraCopy is a compact program designed to copy and move files at the maximum possible speed. Copy files faster, it uses dynamically adjusted buffers to reduce seek times. Asynchronous copy speeds up file transfer between two physical hard drives.
Link: http://www.codesector.com/teracopy.php

7 PC INSPECTOR File Recovery 4

PC INSPECTOR File Recovery 4 is a data recovery program that supports the FAT 12/16/32 and NTFS file systems. Use File Recovery 4 to undelete, recover deleted files or recover a lost file. Get your files back with no charges.
Link: http://www.pcinspector.de/default.htm?Language=1

8 Drive manager

If you have lots of drive letters of different types of drives, such as mapped network drives, USB thumb drive, CD-ROM and DVD then this utility is perfect to help you manage them.
Link: http://www.alexnolan.net/software/driveman.htm

9 Auslogics Duplicate File Finder

Day to day computer usage are sometime leads to accumulating of duplicate files on your hard disk. Auslogics Duplicate File Finder will find the and duplicate files for you, and it is totally up to you to delete the duplicated files.
Link: http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/duplicate-file-finder

System & Other Utilities

10 Startuplite

Many computers have the problem of slow startup. StartUpLite is a lightweight and simple to use application that allows you to speed up your system startup. Accordingly to the author it is safe and efficient. The program allows you to disable or remove unnecessary startup entries from your computer. You can then shorten your computer startup time.
Link: http://www.malwarebytes.org/startuplite.php

11 Process Explorer

Now you can find out which program has a particular file or directory open. Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded.
Link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

12 InfraRecorder

InfraRecorder is a free CD/DVD burning solution for Microsoft Windows. Support for burning disc images, discs copying, audio, CDs, DVDs, and more. It offers a wide range of powerful features; all through an easy to use application interface and Windows Explorer integration. InfraRecorder is your lightweight burning tools.
Link: http://infrarecorder.org/

13 CamStudio

CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files and turn those AVIs into Streaming Flash videos (SWFs). Use CamStudio to create a demonstration video for any software program.
Link: http://camstudio.org/

14 Greenshot

Greenshot is a revolutionary screenshot tool optimized for productivity. Save a screenshot or a part of the screen to a file within a second. Greenshot is open source software.
Link: http://greenshot.sourceforge.net/

15 Rainlendar

Rainlendar is a feature rich customizable desktop calendar application that is easy to use and doesn’t take much space on your desktop. The appearance can be customized with skins. Rainlendar uses the standard iCalendar format to store its events and tasks so you can easily transfer them between applications.
Link: http://www.rainlendar.net/cms/index.php

16 RocketDock

RocketDock is an application launcher for Windows. It provides a dock similar to Mac OS X Aqua GUI. It is freely available under a Creative Commons license. It is a smoothly animated, alpha blended application launcher. With each item completely customizable there is no end to what you can add and launch from the dock. It is available for Windows 2000, XP, Vista & Windows 7.
Link: http://rocketdock.com/

17 360Desktop

360desktop is free software that extends Windows as a 360° workspace, plus an online environment for creating interative 360° wallpaper, with a gallery and a widget platform, for sharing your favorite 360′s with everybody. Currently, 360desktop operates on Windows XP and Vista, both 32bit and 64bit Windows versions.
Link: http://www.360desktop.com/

PC Security

18 Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. The PC must run genuine Windows to install Microsoft Security Essentials.
Link: http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

19 AVG Anti-Virus

AVG are still offering basic antivirus and antispyware protection for Windows for free. Limited features, no support, for private and non-commercial use only.
Link: http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

20 PC Tools Firewall

PC Tools Firewall Plus is a powerful free personal firewall for Windows® that protects your computer by preventing unauthorized users from gaining access to your computer through the Internet or a network.
Link: http://www.pctools.com/firewall/

21 Comodo Firewall and AntiVirus

If you prefer a more complicated firewall, then Comodo firewall might be your choice. Comodo firewall is a free Award-Winning firewall & antiVirus application. Comodo firewall uses sophisticated tests to ensure your computer is saved from the attacks.
Link: http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/

Office Applications

22 Open Office

OpenOffice is a open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.
Link: http://www.openoffice.org/

23 Excel Viewer

You can use Excel Viewer to open, view, and print Excel workbooks. Although if you have your Open Office installed, you may not be able to view some of the Excel files. Use this to copy data from Excel Viewer to another program. However, you cannot edit data, save a workbook, or create a new workbook. Similarly, Word Viewer & PowerPoint Viewer is also available.
Link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1CD6ACF9-CE06-4E1C-8DCF-F33F669DBC3A&displaylang=en

24 Notepad++

Notepad++ is a free source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Running in the MS Windows environment, its use is governed by GPL License. Unlike the Window Notepad, this powerful text editing tools can open up very large text file within seconds.
Link: http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/

25 tinySpell

When you need to check spelling in an application that does not include a spelling checker, then tinySpell is the right choice for you. tinySpell is a small utility that allows you to easily and quickly check and correct the spelling in any Windows application, especially the notepad.
Link: http://tinyspell.m6.net/

26 Adobe Reader (Acrobat Reader)

Acrobat Reader are now namedx Adobe Reader, it is available as free from Adobe’s web site. It allows the viewing and printing of PDF files. The Reader are widely used as a way to present information similar to a document printed on a paper.
Link: http://get.adobe.com/reader/

27 PDFCreator

With the PDFCreator installed on your computer, creating a PDF file is as easy as printing a document. It helps users convert any printable documents into PDF files. It is FREE for use & even commercial purpose.
Link: http://en.pdfforge.org/

Internet & Email

28 Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox is a free & popular web browser. I believe you are already using it right now.
Link: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

29 Free Download Manager

Free Download Manager is a powerful, easy-to-use and absolutely free download accelerator and manager. This download tool can accelerates downloads by splitting files into sections and then downloading them simultaneously. Beware of a fake versions of Free Download Manager.
Link: http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/

30 µTorrent

µTorrent is the world’s most popular BitTorrent client. Most of the features present in other BitTorrent clients are present in µTorrent, including bandwidth prioritization, scheduling, RSS auto-downloading and Mainline DHT (compatible with BitComet).
Link: http://www.utorrent.com/

31 Google Earth

I just can’t leave out Google Earth to be installed in my PC. Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean.
Link: http://earth.google.com/

32 Mozilla Thunderbird

Mozilla’s Thunderbird in now on version 2. It is an powerful email application. Thunderbird 2 includes many new features to help you manage your inbox. You can now tag your email and find content within your email faster.
Link: http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/

33 Affixa

Affixa makes your webmail account as Windows application. Today, people use more than one mail system in their day-to-day life. Someone may use Microsoft Outlook for business matters and Gmail for personal stuff. You can use Affixa to handle that multiple email functionality for you.
Link: http://www.affixa.com/

Social Tools

34 Skype

Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Free calls, video calls and instant messaging over the internet. Plus great value calls to phones anywhere in the world.
Link: http://www.skype.com/

35 digsby

digsby is a multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list. It is a chat client with many stuff to offer. It is a social networking tool that be able to alert you when new messages arrive.
Link: http://www.digsby.com/

36 TweetDeck

TweetDeck brings your Twitter, Facebook and MySpace into your desktop. It is a personal browser for your contacts across Twitter, Facebook and more. It is a popular Twitter application. It is compatible with several operating systems like Windows, Mac, Linux & iPhone.
Link: http://www.tweetdeck.com/

Image Manipulation

37 GIMP

GIMP is an free & popular image manipulation application. It can be used as a simple paint program or an expert quality photo retouching program. I use it for images I have created for my blogs.
Link: http://www.gimp.org/

38 Paint.NET

Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.
Link: http://www.getpaint.net/

39 PhotoPerfect Express

PhotoPerfect Express maximize the potential of your photos without spending hours in front of a computer. PhotoPerfect Express create image enhancement with just 3 simple steps. It create stunning results without any technical knowledge.
Link: http://www.arcadiasoftware.com/photoperfect-express.html

Video & Audio

40 VLC media player

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs.
Link: http://www.videolan.org/

41 DVD Flick

DVD Flick aims to be a simple but at the same time powerful DVD Authoring tool. It can take a number of video files stored on your computer and turn them into a DVD that will play back on your DVD player, Media Center or Home Cinema Set.
Link: http://www.dvdflick.net/

42 Winamp

Besides MP3, Winamp supports variety of music file formats, including MIDI, MOD, MPEG-1 audio, etc. The Winamp allows software developers to extend Winamp’s functionality through the use of plug-ins, those are stunning.
Link: http://www.winamp.com/

43 Songbird

Songbird is an open-source customizable music player that’s under active development. Songbird promises to be the Firefox of media players.
Link: http://www.getsongbird.com/

44 Foobar2000

foobar2000 is an advanced freeware audio player for the Windows platform. Some of the basic features include full unicode support, ReplayGain support and native support for several popular audio formats.
Link: http://www.foobar2000.org/

45 Audacity

Audacity is a free, easy-to-use and multilingual audio editor and recorder. You can use Audacity to Record live audio, Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files, Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together, Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
Link: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Nevertheless, outdated plugins may give you trouble, increasing your risk for attack by malware, viruses, and other security threats, which may interrupt your browsing experience and waste your time. It is always an important task to keep your plugins updated to the most current version.

Firefox is currently offering a web page to check whether your browser’s plugins are up to date. The page will scan all plugins installed on your browser. It provides you with a list of installed plugins with the “update” button right beside the plugin names. In the future, Firefox will update plugins for you. Until then, you should regularly check this page: http://www.mozilla.com/plugincheck/ and update your Plugins to stay safe.

PDF is one of the most common & widely used formats available in the internet. The format was officially released as an open standard in 2008. Many developers have come out with variety of programs to help users create their PDF files. One of them, which I’m currently using, is the PDFCreator.

With the PDFCreator installed on your computer, creating a PDF file is as easy as printing a document. It helps users convert any printable documents into PDF files. It is FREE for use & even commercial purpose.

Some features about PDFCreator which is worth mentioning.

• As long as you can print the document, you will be able to create the PDFs.
• It is more than just PDF, documents can be printed to PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP, PCX, PS, or EPS
• Encrypt or Digitally sign your PDFs to protect them from being opened, modified, printed, etc.
• Merge multiple files into one PDF
• It also runs on Terminal Servers.
• Installation is easy & strightforward
• Open Source & FREE for commercial use.

The Printing Process

• Download PDFCreator, double click the downloaded file to install. By default the installer will install a PDFCreator Browser Addon to your browser. If you don’t want this to be installed, simply unchecked this installation option.
  
• Print your document, select your printer as PDFCreator, and click OK.
  
• Click “Save” to save your PDF document. That’s it, now you can open your PDF file & see the result.
  
]]> http://techmilieu.com/print-your-documents-to-pdf/feed 0 http://techmilieu.com/24-firefox-addons-that-make-your-browsing-live-easier http://techmilieu.com/24-firefox-addons-that-make-your-browsing-live-easier#comments Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:00:23 +0000 Philip Ze http://techmilieu.com/?p=35 If you are passionate to Firefox, you would have probably known that there are ton of Firefox add-ons available on the net. Firefox is the popular web browser, installing the add-ons will definitely enhance the functionality. However many of us are seem to be overwhelmed with these accessible overloading extensions. I have selected some of them which I believe is useful.

Installing many add-ons into a single browser will quickly overkill your Firefox. So, set up multiple Firefox profiles & install them separately as you may wish.

Browser Enhancement

1 FoxTab



FoxTab brings innovative 3D functionality to your Firefox. FoxTab is a 3D tabbed browsing extension. As with the 6 attractive layouts to choose from, flipping between opened tabs becomes more easy and fun.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8879

2 Firefox Showcase



This plugin bring your Firefox tabs into thumbnails. I always have the problem of managing the tabs when I have many tabs opened, especially when I want to catch up the StumbleUpon shares from friend. Firefox Showcase manage your Firefox tabs and windows in a simply way. You can also filter the thumbnails, and use it as the way you use your files in your system.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1810

3 Download Statusbar



The Firefox download window has a lot of functionality. However, this is annoying when you need to click the download for many times & the window keep on popping. Download Statusbar allows you to view and manage downloads from a tidy statusbar without the download window getting in the way of your web browsing. Its interface is customizable, auto-hides when not in use; you will have the full control without any interruption.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/26

4 Hide Menubar



This little addon hide your Toolbar automatically giving bigger browser window. You can press the ALT key to show it temporarily. It is really useful when you use your little netbook to browse the internet.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4762

5 Glasser



Glasser adds the Windows Vista glass frame to Firefox toolbars. However this extension requires Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows 7, or their server counterparts with Areo Glass as the active Visual Style.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7336

Better Search Experience

6 GooglePreview



GooglePreview inserts preview thumbnails and popularity ranks of web sites into the Google and Yahoo search results pages. The thumbnails are generated from various dedicated servers. Give your search result a preview before clicking onto it. Although currently GooglePreview insert sponsored links into the some of the search results, it is kind enough to give you option to disable it.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/189

7 Google Assistant – Surf Canyon



Google Assistant automatically digs out the relevant information & link from your search results result. It improves the search result relevancy by up to 40% on Google, Yahoo!, Bing and other search engine. Simply enter your query at the search textbox, hit enter, and the addon will automatically re-ranks the result set in order to bring forward what you need while suppressing what you don’t want. These recommended results go as deep as page 100, enable you to trace relevant links that might otherwise have been impossible to find.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6549

8 CyberSearch



CyberSearch adds advance Google Search capabilities to your browser and get the instant search results that appear as you type. See your search results right from the Firefox address bar. The search includes Google Web, Local, Videos, Blogs, News, Books, Images, and Patents.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7931

9 WebMynd – A better way to search



Search all your favourite sources from a single place, remember what you find so you can get back to it later and easily share what you find with friends. The personalizes Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter results will be shown on the right side of your search result.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6416

10 Glue – Recommendations for Books/Movies/Music



As you browse popular sites Glue learns what you like. Glue uses this information to suggest books, movies and music that you may enjoy. The more you use Glue, the better the suggestions are. It helps you discover great movies, books and music.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3481

Mail Management

11 Gmail Manager



Gmail Manager enable you to utilize multiple Gmail accounts in a single browser window. Receive Gmail notifier for multiple accounts, along with viewing account details including unread messages, saved drafts, spam messages, labels with new mail, space used, and new mail snippets.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1320

12 WebMail Notifier



WebMail Notifier supports Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Daum, Naver, Empas, Nate and more web mail services. It simply checks your webmail accounts and notifies the number of unread emails.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4490

13 WiseStamp – Email signature



Empower your webmail signatures in Gmail, Google Apps, Yahoo, Hotmail, and AOL. WiseStamp is a signature creator not limited to mail, but including IM & social profiles such as Twitter, Facebook, Digg & Linkedin.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8206

Contents Reading

14 Read It Later



I have too many bookmarks in my browser; some of them perhaps are just for one-time interest. Read It Later allows you to save pages of interest to read later. It eliminates cluttering of bookmarks with sites that are merely of a one-time interest. Save pages to a reading list to read when you have time. You can also read the page offline, alternative you can save your list at readitlaterlist.com & access it from anywhere you like.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7661

15 RSS Ticker



Use RSS Ticker to load your Live Bookmarks, scrolls the entries across the browser screen. The ticker can be placed at the top or bottom of the screen. If you prefer not to browse the entries RSS but want to stay informed, then why don’t just give this addon a try.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2325

16 Brief



Brief is a powerful and simple RSS feed reader. It makes your RSS reading easier. Feeds are presented on a seamless, interactive page which let’s you bookmark and tag items with a single click.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4578

Webpage Capture

17 Screengrab



Capture what you can see in the window, the entire page, just a selection, or a particular frame. Basically Screengrab saves webpages as images either to a file, or to the clipboard.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1146

18 FireShot



FireShot is a Firefox extension that creates screenshots of web pages entirely or just the visible part. This plugin provides a set of editing and annotation tools, which let users quickly modify web captures and insert text annotations and graphical annotations.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5648

Photos, Video & Music Entertaining

19 Cooliris



Browser your photos from Facebook, Google Images, YouTube, Flickr, and more in a faster & interesting way. With Cooliris 3D Wall, you can effortlessly scroll though thousands of images and videos in seconds without having to click from page to page. Also, the Channels feature even lets you surf the latest news, TV episodes, and more.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5579

20 DownloadHelper



DownloadHelper is a tool for web content extraction. Its purpose is to capture video and image files from many sites for you. For instance, if you go to a YouTube page, you’ll be able to download the video directly on your file system to watch later. It also works with MySpace, Google videos, DailyMotion, Porkolt, iFilm, DreamHost and others.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006

21 Fire.fm



Fire.fm gives you access to the extensive music library on Last.fm. Last.fm gives free radio to the US, UK, and Germany, plus subscriber-based service to the rest of the world. Listen to your favorite music and discover new artists in the process.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7684

Performance & Security

22 FastestFox – Browse Faster



FastestFox will speed up common tasks & perform parallelized downloads, convenient shortcuts and more.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9825

23 FoxyProxy



FoxyProxy is a Firefox addon which automatically switches an internet connection across one or more proxy servers based on URL patterns. It is an advanced proxy management tool. It automates the manual process of editing Firefox’s Connection Settings dialog. For those who are using proxy, why not give this addon try.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2464

24 WOT



WOT, Web of Trust, warns you about risky websites that try to scam visitors, deliver malware or send spam. You can use this plugin as as your front-line layer of protection when browsing or searching in unfamiliar website. It uses the information from collected from multiple trusted sources, like phishing and spam blacklists, and the up-to-date ratings provided by WOT users.
Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3456

]]> http://techmilieu.com/24-firefox-addons-that-make-your-browsing-live-easier/feed 6 http://techmilieu.com/check-out-your-internet-connection-speed http://techmilieu.com/check-out-your-internet-connection-speed#comments Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:06:40 +0000 Philip Ze http://techmilieu.com/?p=12 Sometime, we are wondering how fast or how slow our Internet connection is with our Internet Service Provider (ISP). As time goes by, technology become more & more advance, your connection may be slow as compare to the standard connection. Today, wireless connection is available in most of the country. Check out the ISP connection speeds available in your country if you plan to upgrade your connection.

Appreciate if you can share your connection speed info through the comment of this post.


Screen shot from Speedtest.net

Speedtest.net is a website you can use to find out the download and upload speed of your internet connection. Owned and operated by Ookla, Speedtest.net offers you quality connection speed test experience. Anyone can use their World Results section to browse top bandwidth speed by country, or narrow down statistics to very specific locations. It performs three key measurements used to determine the overall quality and performance of your Internet connection.

Internet Connection Speed

Internet connection speed is the data transfer rate measured in megabits per second (Mbps) or kilobits per second (Kbps). It is basically the amount of time it takes for your computer to download an amount of data.

Usually, amount of data is measured in Bytes (KB, MB), whereas connection speed is measured in bits (Kb Mb). Do not confuse with these two measurements. Check out speedguide.net if you want to know more about the conversion.

The connection speed calculation is based on the this formula :

(Amount of Data (MB) * 8.192 bits )
----------------------------------- = Your Connection Speed (Mbps)
 Time to Download (seconds)

1 bytes = 8.192 bits
1 Mega = 1,000 Kilo

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