BARRY'S BEST COMPUTER TIPS

Make Business Cards - Do it yourself cards for free

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:07:17 PST

Except for the paper, printer ink, Internet connection, etc. In this economy we have to save money, blah blah blah. Words from the developer: "Make your own business cards online. Type in your contact information, point to your logo and get a printable PDF that you can take to virtually any printer (Kinko's)."

Visit Make Business Cards

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The Form Letter Machine - Helps you generate form letters by component

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:05:42 PST

If you have the need to design and generate form letters using pieces of pre-written text then this free app is for you. Developer's description:

"The Form Letter Machine is a program that will help you to write letters and emails by mixing and matching from pre-written paragraphs.

It's useful for people who regularly need to send out emails which include different components in different circumstances. For example if you field technical support requests, or if you need to reply to various inquiries, etc.

It enables you to assemble text from multiple paragraphs, each one customized for a specific type of inquiry or response. You can build your own configurations using checkboxes and radioboxes and nested groups, and then easily write new letters or respond to inquiries by checking off the components you want to include. A real-time preview allows you to view the message as it is composed. The program also supports user defined variables, which allows you to quickly personalize the template with a name or other data that is specific to the task. The text is then copied to the clipboard and can be used in your e-mail program or word processor.

Get The Form Letter Machine

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Google Translate Desktop Client - A sweet translation tool

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:11:35 PST

Developer's description: "Just select text in your web-browser or other application and get instant translation by Google Translate Service. Google Translate is the most widely used free translation service. But translating a webpage or a piece of text can still be a tiresome process: you need to visit Google Translator website, copy/paste the text, choosing the language... Too long! Client for Google Translate is a free translator which translate text in every Windows application such as Outlook, MS Word, Internet Explorer, Firefox and so on."

Get Google Translate

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Lingoes - A Windows translation and dictionary app for language lovers

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:51:50 PST

You know who you are. You can't hear an unfamiliar word without rushing to a dictionary. Languages give you thrills better reserved for being with someone special. For you there is Lingoes. Developer's description:

"Lingoes is an easy and intuitive dictionary and text translation (application). It offers look-up dictionaries, full text translation, capture(s) word(s) on screen, translate(s) selected text and (offers) pronunciation of words in over 80 languages. These language are English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Greek, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Arabic, Hebrew, Vietnamese, Thai and more..."

Get Lingoes

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Google Sidewiki - read/write your comments on any web page

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:12:04 PDT

Knowledge is precious and information is power, so they say. They're right. But knowledge and information are often lost or wasted simply because they aren't shared effectively, not stored in a way that's easily retrievable. Google's Sidewiki is one of those wonderful apps that is changing things for the better. Watch the video to learn more.

Get Google Sidewiki

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JumpTo - A context-menu-based launcher

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:21:13 PDT

I'm always on the lookout for launchers that make the steps to opening apps or web pages easier and faster. Check out this one. From the developer:

"JumpTo is a menu based launcher that holds static links to files, folders, programs, websites, and even command line commands. The links can be held inside of 4 customizable sub-menus or alternately launched through a text command. JumpTo also offers quick note taking, window management (hide and show windows), a runbox replacement with added functionality, along with other smaller less used functions like, importing the date & time to the clipboard for easy pasting and formatting the contents of the clipboard to plain text or converting a copied file or folder to its full path."

JumpTo Tutorial from John-Paul LaBorde on Vimeo.

Get JumpTo

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Acer GridVista - Divide and conquer your screen area

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:27:21 PDT

Unless you're Al Gore and have 3 30-inch monitors (OK, that pic is old, he may have 4 or 5 by now), you need to carefully allocate your screen area to the various app windows you want to see at the same time. That's where GridVista steps in. From the developer's website:

"Work smart with the new and improved Acer GridVista! Now supporting multi-window viewing on dual displays, this handy tool accommodates up to eight windows at once, for superb multi-tasking efficiency. Tailor-made for Acer widescreen notebooks and featuring an intuitive interface with streamlined 1-2-3 setup process, being productive has never been this easy!"

Get Acer GridVista

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Signo - a monster of a hot-key manager

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:11:21 PDT

What would you like a hot-key combination to do? Insert text? Open a website or application? Shine your shoes? Manage your open windows? From the website:

"Signo runs silently in your tray bar and allows you managing multiple hotkeys and textkeys and their association with various actions. Signo intends to support everything you'd want to use hotkeys for and therefore is the most feature full hotkey manager you can find, including a very large range of feature such as action hotkeys, auto-replace textkeys, screen and windows management, screen are capture tool, etc."

Get Signo

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AllMyNotes Organizer - Smooth notetaking organizer for Windows

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:51:53 PDT

If you want a great system for keeping all your notes in one, easy-to-search file, it's hard to beat this free app. From the developer:

"AllMyNotes Organizer is a multi-functional hierarchical information manager for Windows. Store all your Notes in virtual folders in one file! Everyone is unique so AllMyNotes Organizer offers freedom of individualizing your notes in totally customizable tree structure. All Notes stored in a single AllMyNotes Organizer file and can be grouped into flexible virtual folders enabling easy, intuitive access, and instant search at all times."

Get AllMyNotes Organizer

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VistaSwitcher - A slick task-switcher for Windows

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:55:52 PDT

When it comes to the Alt-Tab task switching combo, I like fast, reliable and slick. This one has all three. Developer's website says:

"VistaSwitcher is an elegant and powerful task management utility for Windows OS. Once installed, it replaces the default Windows Alt-Tab dialog with a nice box that shows a list of all running tasks with their names and preview snapshots and enables the user to take actions on them using the mouse and keyboard shortcuts. With just one click, you can switch to a task, minimize, maximize, restore the main window or close the process."

Get VistaSwitcher

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BudgetSketch - See where your money WILL go

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:46:28 PDT

Everybody wants to know where their money has gone. It was in my bank account, now it's not; what happened? Like that. This budgeting tool does one better. From the website:

"BudgetSketch™ is an innovative, intuitive tool consumers are using to gain a handle on where their money will go, not where it has gone. Using a first in class proprietary system, BudgetSketch maps out where your money will go as it comes in, instead of simply showing you where it’s been spent. Isn’t it time to get intentional with your money?"

Watch the video to learn more:

Go to BudgetSketch

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AVG 9 Free Edition - Excellent free upgrade now available

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:06:34 PDT

AVG recently upgraded their commercial version to 9, but the upgrade has only just been applied to the free version. So knock yourselves out!

Get AVG 9 Free

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TrendProtect - Stay safe from malicious websites

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:14:33 PDT

The real danger of having your computer drafted into a botnet army comes from visiting malicious websites. You don't have to click on an attachment or link or do anything. So it helps to have a plug-in that'll warn you before you go to the wrong place. From the website:

"TrendProtect is a FREE browser plug-in that helps you avoid Web pages with unwanted content and hidden threats. TrendProtect rates the current page and pages listed in Google, MSN, and Yahoo search results. You can use the rating to decide if you want to visit or avoid a given Web page. To rate Web pages, TrendProtect refers to an extensive database that covers the following information for billions of Web pages:

* Content category
* Phishing scam detection
* Site reputation
* Page reputation"

Get TrendProtect

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PhotoJoy - Transform your photos into screensavers, wallpapers, etc.

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:02:15 PDT

When you love photos you want to use them in everything. Here are some very neat ways you can spread the joy. From the website:

With PhotoJoy You Get:

Wallpaper Collages – The perfect way to relive your favorite moments
3D Screensavers – Make your photos look spectacular
PhotoToy Widgets – Display your photos in fun ways
Professional photos – 1000’s of them
So much fun and so easy to use

Get PhotoJoy

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Rizone's Power Tools - An impressive array of optimization tools for Windows

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:45:56 PDT

I love freeware! This executable app has a nice feature set and an attractive, easy to follow interface. From the website:

"The Internet is swamped with misc. tools for optimizing, fixing, testing and tweaking Windows. Most tools will only perform specific tasks and you need to download many different tools to perform all the tasks you want to do. I spend about 2 days downloading all the tools I wanted to use to fix a computer once. That gave me the idea. How about a suite of tools that can perform all the tasks in one. I’m not speaking about a typical utility suite. Rizone’s Power Tools will be able to do almost everything except make you coffee in the morning."

Get Rizone's Power Tools

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CeeVee - Build a nice-looking résumé for posting or printing

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:58:37 PDT

In simple steps CeeVee helps you build your résumé and post it to Twitter or Facebook, or save as a PDF. Billing itself as "quick and painless résumé management," the site does a creditable job of accomplishing just that.

Go to CeeVee

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Dropico - Drag and drop your media across social networks

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:48:36 PDT

If you are one of those who uploads photos to more than one social networking sites, this drag and drop utility can save you lots of time and suffering. Check out the video to see how it works.

Get Dropico

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Microsoft Theme Builder - Creates document themes for Office 2007

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:54:19 PDT

It's sometimes necessary to prepare MS Office documents with common themes for the boss or whatnot. This application lets you choose themes that will cut across lines. From the website:

"The Theme Builder tool enables the creation of document themes for Microsoft Office 2007. Document themes provide a quick and easy way to apply a consistent look across all your Microsoft Office documents. You can apply the same theme to PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and even Outlook emails."

Get Theme Builder

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MouseExtender - A fabulous middle-mouse button app launcher

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:28:59 PDT

App launchers are a dime a dozen these days, but this one is a gem. From the web site:

MouseExtender is a cosy utility with shortcuts to programs, folder and system functions (Control panel, Restart and Shutdown).
Just click middle mouse button!
ME provides following features:

   1. Instant access your programs and folders in a second!
   2. Access to Control panel and restart/shutdown buttons!
   3. Nice Windows 7™ like effect!
   4. Disable ME in specific programs
   5. Run ME when Windows® starts
   6. Access to the source-code

Get MouseExtender

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FileSeek - Powerful, fast, small footprint

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:02:03 PDT

Used to be keeping your computer files organized well was the key to finding what you needed without tearing out the little hair you had left. Today the key is powerful searching. Finding a needle in a haystack is easy if you have a powerful needle finder. This is one powerful needle finder that doesn't suck up your computer's resources like a pig just coming off a starvation diet.

Get FileSeek

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Device Remover - A device manager that does everything you need it to do

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:42:38 PDT

Another 3rd-party application that takes Windows' built-in utility and takes it to undreamed-of new heights. From the developer's website:

# In-Depth view of all installed Devices, Device Classes, Drivers and Services on a
Windows System (Hidden, Detached, Current installed, Problematic Devices,etc,...)
# Easy On-The-Fly bulk removal of Devices from your System
# Modification/Manipulation of Devices, Drivers and Services on the System
# Live detailed View of Device Detections on the System
# Huge Device Problem solving Features and Functions
# Easy On-The-Fly Drivers, Registry Entries and Files Backup
# And many more use- and powerful Features,...

Get Device Remover

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Vista Services Optimizer - Sweetens the ride on Vista and 7

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:07:57 PDT

There are probably millions of things that can be tweaked to optimize how Vista and Windows 7, but who has time to mess with most of them? This open-source app will help you make the most of either OS in minutes. From the website:

"Its an open source windows tweaking utility that supports Microsoft Windows Vista and 7, enabling Windows users to optimize and take control of most Windows services in an easy and safe way. This will make your PC run at maximum performance and security."

Get Vista Services Optimizer

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BillShrink - Website helps, yes, shrink your expenses

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:59:09 PDT

You'd almost think the name means they'll reduce the physical dimensions of your cash, but no, it's the expenses it'll cut down. Everyone these days is trying to save money, blah blah blah. So find savings on almost everything in one place. From the website:

"It's as simple as asking yourself, why overspend? Given the vast number of complex offers and plans, such as those from the major mobile carriers and credit card issuers, chances are pretty good you're paying more than you need to.

We make it simple to compare what you've got to what they're offering. And if you're like most people, that means significant savings. Isn't that just how things on the Web should be? Incredibly useful, simple and free."

Go to BillShrink

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ReturnMyPants - For those who believe in lending their stuff

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:00:23 PDT

My religion includes the very important commandment: Don't lend anybody anything. But even I break it once in a while, so there's this website that helps you keep track of who has what.

"Return My Pants is a free service that tracks stuff you lend out to other people. You can also track things that you borrow."

Go to ReturnMyPants

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Livebrush - Indulge your artistic fantasies

bmahfood@gmail.com (Barry Mahfood) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:55:37 PDT

Want to paint? Don't know how? Have no money for painting supplies? You've come the right place. From the website:

"Livebrush is a drawing application. It employs an easy-to-use brush tool that reacts to your gesture. By combining simple motion controls with brush styles, Livebrush offers a fun and unique way to create graphics."

Get Livebrush

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