Revitalize your desktop with My Daily Wallpaper
Tired of the same old Windows wallpaper? You’re not alone, which is why there are a host of tools around that promise they’re the perfect choice to revitalize your desktop. My Daily Wallpaper is the latest: does it have what it takes to stand out from the crowd? We took a look.
Setup is extremely straightforward. The program is a tiny 186KB download, and portable, so there are no installation hassles, no browser toolbars or other unwanted extras. You just unzip the file and go.
Use Blat to set Windows event emails from the command line
When you’re not around to monitor a PC then it’s often useful to get notifications of its key events. And so you might like to know when a particular program starts or ends, perhaps, or when the system closes down or restarts.
Some applications understand this already. Many backup programs are able to send email to let you know when a particular job has completed, for instance: very convenient. And Windows Task Scheduler can also send emails for a host of different events. But if that’s not enough then you can always manually extend your system with Blat, a simple command line tool which allows you to send emails as appropriate from your own scripts and batch files.
Need rich photo editing without the bloat? Try Pixelitor
If, like us, you’ve tried more than your share of image editors, then you’ll know many of them are depressingly similar. Especially when it comes to filters. All too many developers seem to think they can get by with a simple sharpen, blur, emboss and so on, when most users now expect far, far more.
Fortunately there are also plenty of image editors that manage to deliver plenty of filtering power, though -- and the Java-based Pixelitor is a particularly interesting example. Its compact size (the entire program is contained within a single 1.04MB JAR file) suggested we shouldn’t expect too much, but the reality proved very different, it’s packed with essential filtering functionality.
Do you need to capture a webpage bigger than your screen? Try wpic
Capturing an image of a small webpage is easy. Open it in a browser, press Alt+PrtSc, paste the results into your graphics tool of choice, edit and save the results: it’s all over in a moment. Of course, if the page is too large to view on your display then all that scrolling means capturing it all becomes a little more challenging. But wpic, a new tool from woanware, may be able to help.
We say “may” because wpic is a console tool, with no concessions whatsoever to interactivity. If you launch the program then it won’t ask you for a URL or output file; instead you must specify them on the command line, very precisely (make the slightest error and it’ll complain with an unhelpful message), something like this.
Bitdefender Total Security 2013 beta brings flashy, new interface
Bitdefender has released the first public beta of its Total Security 2013 suite. And while the “New Features” list this time doesn’t exactly reveal much in the way of innovation (you’ll probably have some across many similar ideas before), there are still some welcome additions to what’s becoming a very powerful security suite.
Safepay, for instance, is an isolated browser that runs in a secure desktop, with a virtual keyboard. It automatically launches when it detects you’re visiting banking, payment or other sensitive sites to help ensure your transaction details stay safe.
Adobe releases Creative Suite 6
Adobe today released Creative Suite 6, a powerful and professional bundle of some of the best creative applications around: Photoshop,Dreamweaver, Flash Professional, Illustrator, InDesign, Fireworks, Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects and more. While some of the new features lists are a little on the short side (step forward, Fireworks), there are still plenty of interesting additions and enhancements in the new package.
It’s now considerably easier to create designs that will display properly across many different devices, for instance: Dreamweaver’s “Fluid Grid Layouts” and InDesign’s “liquid page rules” can both automatically reorganise your content to suit a new layout size or orientation.
Norton 2013 beta supports Windows 8 Metro
Symantec has released the first 2013 public betas of Norton Antivirus,Norton Internet Security and Norton 360.
While there are few significant changes in the new builds, the interface has seen plenty of activity: security is provided by new Metro apps when installed on Windows 8 Consumer Preview; the interfaces generally have been optimized for use on touch systems; and new support for hardware acceleration should see the products become a little more responsive.
Check Point releases ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall
Check Point Software Technologies has released ZoneAlarm Free AntiVirus + Firewall, the company’s first attempt to make major inroads into the free security suite market.
The core package is exactly what its name suggests: ZoneAlarm’s free firewall, plus a basic antivirus engine licensed from Kaspersky. But there’s also a strong antiphishing module, basic identity theft protection, and 5GB of online backup space available if you need it.
When Windows goes wrong, try Kernel Mode Drivers Manager
Whether your PC is slow, unstable, or perhaps infected by malware, checking your system’s kernel mode drivers is often a good place to begin diagnosing your problems. And you don’t have to install any third-party software to get started: just running MSINFO32 and browsing to Software Environment > System Drivers will give you a basic view of what’s currently installed.
If that’s a little too basic for your liking, though, you could try Kernel Mode Drivers Manager. It’s still very straightforward to use (you don’t have to be a geek to figure out what’s going on), but the program also provides a number of useful extras to help you get a better understanding of what’s happening on your system.
Linux Live USB Creator isn't another 'me-too' utility
At first glance Linux Live USB Creator looks much like UNetbootin, theUniversal USB Installer, and every other tool that aims to help you download and create a bootable Linux environment for your PC. And as those existing tools are generally very good it’s not immediately obvious why we might need another.
Take a closer look at the Linux Live USB Creator and you’ll see it’s not just another “me too” utility, though -- the program really does have enough features and functionality to stand up against the best of the rest.
CyberLink Media Suite 10 Ultra review
CyberLink makes some great media software -- PowerDirector is probably the best consumer video editor available today -- but, unsurprisingly, for the most part it isn’t a cheap date. Equipping yourself with the company’s media player, media manager and video editor alone will cost you almost $170, for instance, and that’s before you’ve even thought about disc authoring, file format conversion and other desirable functions.
Fortunately CyberLink does offer a more cost-effective alternative in the shape of Media Suite 10. This bundles 11 CyberLink packages together, which makes them vastly cheaper: Media Suite 10 Ultra is $129.95 for the complete set, and if you opt for the Pro build instead (more on that later) then it can be yours for only $99.95.
DensityScout sniffs out malware in compressed files
You think your PC is infected by something dangerous, but your regular antivirus package hasn’t raised any alerts. So what now?
This is a question we cover fairly often here. Only last week we reported on the latest version of Mandiant Redline, which will scan your system’s executables and highlight those most likely to be malware. Now, CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) Austria has come up with another small contribution in DensityScout; it’s not for PC novices, but if you’re an expert computer user then you could find the program very helpful indeed.
Want more from Firefox 12? Try Pale Moon or Waterfox
If you were unimpressed by the fairly unexciting appearance of Firefox 12 last week, then today does at least bring some browsing alternatives by way of the performance-optimized spinoff projects, Pale Moon 12 and Waterfox 12. And although the lack of additions to the broader code base means they’re both essentially maintenance releases, there is still some interesting news here.
Pale Moon 12 notably has not moved to a silent install method, for instance, which means it won’t provide the maintenance service. The developer tells us there are several reasons for this, not least “the fact that Pale Moon has always been in favor of giving users the choice when and where to download and install an update to what is for most people the heart of their on-line experience”.
When your AVI is corrupt, try DivXRepair
It only takes a little damage to corrupt an AVI movie. Some tweaked bits here, maybe a few missing bytes there, and suddenly you may find the picture breaks up at one point, or maybe the video will no longer play at all.
DivXRepair could offer a simple solution, though. Just launch this compact portable tool, add your broken video, click the Repair button, and in theory at least that’s it. There’s no need to worry about keyframes or other technicalities -- the program will scan your video, skip any bad frames, and try to save everything else in a “fixed” version of the movie (the original will remain untouched).
CyberLink debuts Media Suite 10
Today, CyberLink released Media Suite 10, which combines eleven of the company’s most powerful applications into a hugely comprehensive multimedia bundle.
PowerDVD 12 is a very capable media player, for instance. Power2Go 8 caters for all your disc burning needs. MediaShow 6 is an excellent media management tool, and PowerDirector 10 is arguably the best consumer video editor available today.