Mike Williams

Extend PowerShell’s command line with PSReadLine

Let’s be frank: Microsoft’s command line environments are terrible. When we’re having to wait until Windows 10 to get proper Ctrl+C/ Ctrl+V copy/ paste support -- something which the GUI has had for as long as many PC users have been alive -- you know there’s a problem.

Moving to PowerShell doesn’t in itself improve the situation, but at least you get access to PSReadLine, an excellent PowerShell module which does a lot to improve the command line editor.

Continue reading

Share files on 50+ hosting services with Image Uploader

Image Uploader is a free Windows application which uploads your chosen selected files (not just images, despite the name) to any of 50+ image or file hosting sites: Flickr, Imageshack, Imgur, Picasa, Twitpic, Dropbox, Google Drive, SendSpace and generic FTP servers, amongst many others.

Getting started is easy. Once you’ve set up a default service, you can upload files or folders by dragging and dropping them onto the program window, or right-clicking them in Explorer and selecting Image Uploader > Upload…

Continue reading

Arq cloud backup app debuts on Windows

Popular Mac cloud backup app Arq ($39.99) is now available on Windows 7 and later.

The program makes it easy to back up your chosen folders to Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive/ Nearline, Amazon S3 and Glacier.

Continue reading

NirSoft announces SimpleWMIView

NirSoft has announced the release of SimpleWMIView 1.0, a compact portable tool which uses Windows Management Instrumentation to uncover a vast amount of information about your PC.

If you’re familiar with WMI query generators then you’ll have no problems here. Choose your target computer, namespace, query and query type (synchronous/ asynchronous) and the results are displayed in the usual NirSoft table.

Continue reading

SSH client SmarTTY 2.0 adds in-place file editing

Sysprog’s free SSH client SmarTTY has been updated to version 2.0 with in-place file editing for your remote files. There’s no need to try to find your way around a Linux tool, just hit File > Open and work on your files in a Windows-style editor.

The program now supports accessing multiple sessions from the same window, each with its own set of tabs and file transfers.

Continue reading

Who needs the cloud when you've got Sunshine?

Sunshine is a free app for sharing files directly between any Android, iOS, Windows or OS X device. No upload/ download hassles, no concerns about who else can access your files, just quickly transfer whatever you need from one system to another.

The process starts by creating a Sunshine account. Oddly, you can only do this from iOS or Android apps, but it’s simple enough -- just the usual "email, password" dialog -- and you’re ready to go.

Continue reading

Generate amazing fractal art with Mandelbulb 3D

Talk to mathematicians and they’ll do their best to explain how beautiful their chosen field can be, but it probably won’t make any difference: if you’re not quite so expert, you won’t have the faintest idea what they’re talking about.

3D Fractals have the power to change all that. Some will appreciate the way they shift the geometrical properties of the complex plane and shift them into 3D space. But the rest of us can enjoy spectacular fractal art which is a mix of H R Giger’s sketchpad, old sci-fi novel cover art, and the weirdest dreams Terry Gilliam has ever had.

Continue reading

Wappalyzer uncovers the technologies powering a website

If you’re a web developer, interested in security, or just trying to troubleshoot a server problem, then it can sometimes be useful to see exactly what’s powering a website.

Wappalyzer is a free browser extension for Chrome and Firefox which identifies servers, content management systems, eCommerce platforms, analytics tools, advertising frameworks and more.

Continue reading

Create and share concept maps online with CmapTools

CmapTools is a free cross-platform application (Windows, OS X, iPad) for creating and sharing concept maps, structured diagrams which represent various concepts and show how they’re linked.

Essentially they’re a simple type of mind map which can help you with anything from brainstorming new ideas to teaching knowledge models to others. And if that still doesn’t help -- or you’d just like to see one yourself -- then CmapTools has a concept map about itself which you can view here.

Continue reading

Microsoft Office 2016 Public Preview now available

Microsoft has announced the release of Microsoft Office 2016 Public Preview for Windows 7 and later.

The build is free for everyone to try out, no Office 365 subscription required. Although beware, there is one potential complication: the preview won’t run alongside Office 2013, so you’ll need to uninstall the older version first.

Continue reading

Noizio brings the soothing sounds of nature to your Mac

When you’re working on a computer, trying to concentrate on the task in hand, background noise can be a real distraction. Whether it’s a busy office, TV, music, or just other people moving around your home, it’s all too easy for your mood to be broken. Again, and again, and again.

Noizio is a free Mac app which can drown out the regular background sounds with something more soothing, ambient soundscapes which help you ignore any irritations and focus on what you really want to do.

Continue reading

Collect, organize and share your text notes with NoteCase Pro Lite

Notepad is a great tool for creating occasional ad-hoc text notes, but if your desktop is cluttered with TXT files, and you can’t remember what’s in any of them, it may be time to look for an alternative.

NoteCase Pro Lite is a free cross-platform (Win, OS X, Android, Linux) application which helps you get a little more organized. It allows you to enter text, apply simple formatting, insert images, and structure notes into lists or trees to build simple outlines.

Continue reading

Resource Hacker 4.0 adds *.RES file creation

It's been more than three years since the last update, but Angus Johnson has just announced the latest release of his classic freeware tool Resource Hacker 4.0.

The program is designed to view, modify, or save resources from Windows executables (*.exe, *.dll, *.cpl, *.ocx etc) and Windows resource files (*.res).

Continue reading

Set your wallpaper to a single shade with LoneColor

Family photos, landscapes, animals, celebs, even live video: there’s no shortage of wallpaper options, or programs to help you change from one image to another.

While this seems like a good idea at first, there are potential problems. Really detailed images can be a distraction -- especially when they’re changing all the time -- and can make it harder to read icon captions.

Continue reading

Microsoft reveals Code editor for Windows, Mac, Linux

Microsoft has announced the first public preview of Visual Studio Code, a free cross-platform developer’s editor for Windows, Mac and Linux.

As you’d expect with this kind of tool, there’s syntax highlighting, autocompletion, bracket matching and similar support for a lot of languages: C++, jade, PHP, Python, XML, Batch, F#, DockerFile, Coffee Script, Java, HandleBars, R, Objective-C, PowerShell, Luna, Visual Basic, Markdown, JavaScript, JSON, HTML, CSS, LESS, SASS, C# and TypeScript, with more to come,

Continue reading

© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.