Identify mystery file types with TrID-Net
Identifying a file type is often very easy. A glance at the icon gives you a general idea -- VLC Media Player tells you it’s a media file, for instance -- and the extension tells you everything else.
Life isn’t always that simple, though. File extensions might be lost, changed, or maybe you’ve just found a mystery file in a folder somewhere and would like to know what it is.
B.S. Detector highlights 'fake' news links and sites
A busy Facebook feed could be crammed with all kinds of articles and news headlines, but are they genuine, or propaganda, or hoaxes, or something else entirely?
B.S. Detector is a free extension for Chrome, Opera, Firefox, Safari and Edge which claims it can help.
TED Notepad gets first update in 5 years
Classic freeware Notepad replacement TED Notepad has just been updated to version 6.1.1, its first release since 2011. The new build brings you drag and drop editing with either mouse button. Select text, drag and drop with the left and it’s moved; drag and drop with the right and you’ve the option to copy or move it.
An extended Backup feature enables copying the previous version of the current document whenever it’s saved. The program can save multiple backups and rotate between them.
DevDocs is an offline developer’s documentation browser for Chrome
You're working in your browser, testing some new web development project, but there's a problem. And you've no idea why. So you open some documentation in a separate browser tab, more in your development environment, maybe a separate PDF or two until you find whatever you need.
Alternatively, you could just install DevDocs, a free Chrome app which gives you speedy access to documentation for 190 technologies from one interface.
SpeedCrunch is a simple but powerful scientific calculator
SpeedCrunch is a keyboard-based scientific calculator which is easy to use, yet still has the power that advanced users need.
The program is both open-source and portable, which means no real setup hassles. Just unzip the download and run speedcrunch.exe to begin.
Dimensions 2 Folders organizes images by height, width, more
If you’re working on a document or design template then you’ll often need images of a specific resolution or aspect ratio, but finding matching pictures on your own system might take a little work.
One option is to add a few extra columns to Explorer. Go to the Pictures folder, right-click a column header, select More and add items like "Dimensions" (1920×1080) or Horizontal/ Vertical Resolution (xxx dpi). Click the Dimensions column header to group the images by width, and that should help you find whatever you need.
Get regular 'take a break' reminders with stretchly
Stretchly is an open-source tool which displays regular "take a break" reminders when you’re working on your PC, Linux system or Mac. There are plenty of similar tools around, but stretchly has some unusual touches which help it stand out from the crowd.
Application size isn’t a strong point: 134MB, really?! But that’s what you get with Electron apps, and at least there’s no need to install anything: just unzip and go.
Automatically map the network drives you need with Network Drive Control
Set up your own home network and you can have Explorer automatically map any remote drives you like, whenever you log on. Connect to another network, though, and Explorer will still try to connect to the drives that aren’t there, along with drives for work, school, or whatever else you might have set up.
Network Drive Control can help by checking a network as you log on, and only mapping the drives you need for that environment.
TeamViewer 12 brings up to 20x file transfer speeds
TeamViewer has just released TeamViewer 12, the latest edition of its popular remote control package. Major performance improvements include up to 20x faster file transfers, and frame rates of up to 60 fps.
Connection settings can automatically adapt to network connections, giving you the best possible quality at all times.
Dropbox Lepton compresses JPEGs by 20 percent or more
Earlier this year, Dropbox open-sourced Lepton, a lossless image compression algorithm which can reduce the size of JPEG images by an average of 22 percent. The technology converts your target JPEGs into the compacted LEP format, and restores the original version on demand.
Dropbox is using Lepton right now to save bandwidth and storage space, and if you grab a copy of the Windows build then you can try it, too.
VLC Media Player previews 360-degree video support
VideoLAN has released a technical preview of VLC Media Player 3.0 with 360-degree video support. The new build handles videos following the Spatial Video format, and photos and panoramas following the Spherical spec (the official test page has sample files).
The files play back just like any other video, but you can now left-click and drag within the screen or use the numeric keypad arrows to look around.
Sure, it's easy to criticize software -- but can I write it?
It’s easy for me to poke holes in other people’s software, at least some of the time: oddball interfaces, missing functions, horrible performance, whatever it might be. But does that mean I have enough understanding of software to do any better myself?
That was an interesting question, I realized, and there was only one way to find out: I had to develop something of my own.
VirusTotal adds WhiteArmor to its lineup
VirusTotal has announced the addition of WhiteArmor’s engine to its antivirus lineup. The Chinese developer explains:
WhiteArmor is [a] mobile antivirus engine armed with artificial intelligence and machine learning. WhiteArmor offers enterprise Mobile Threat Defense (MTD) solutions as complementary to EMM [Enterprise Mobility Management] for securing enterprise mobility.
Process Lasso spin-off CPUBalance gets a beta release
Bitsum Technologies has released a beta of CPUBalance, its intelligent tool for optimizing PC responsiveness. The program uses the same ProBalance technology as Process Lasso to monitor running processes, detect CPU hogs, and instantly adjust priorities to keep your system running smoothly.
CPUBalance runs stand-alone, and you don’t need Process Lasso to try it out. Just install and launch the program and it works immediately.
NirSoft releases GUIPropView
NirSoft has released GUIPropView, a developer-oriented tool which displays extensive details on your system’s open windows.
The program lists all top-level windows, along with their handle, title, state (normal/ maximized/ minimized), visibility, position, size, class name, style, process ID, thread ID, parent handle, process name, instance name, class module filename, and more.
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