The Exception to Every Rule

Wamp server makes setting up your own server easy!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:12:00 +0000

Have you ever been asked to install SQL on a server? how about PHP? Or apache?

All of these are amazing technologies, all available free to everyone as the building blocks that turn any PC with Internet access into a fully-fledged web server.

Once you've got them on your computer, and arranged with your ISP a static IP address, you can do lots of things without even the basic knowledge of the technologies behind them!

http://www.wampserver.com/en/

PS. Concerted effort to keep this blog more up-to-date. Kinda forgot about it!

Ubuntu

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:57:00 +0000

So I had an old laptop kicking around and I thought I'd have a look and see what Linux is doing these days and I've been very suprised...

The 9.10 distribution of Ubuntu has not only removed all of the things that made it horrible to have a linux PC but it has also put it into a neat and stylish, easy to install package.

I was astonished when I had to do the minimum of setting up on my old (well ok, not that old, but getting on a bit) Samsung Q35, everything from my correct screen resolution to my wireless card drivers was set up for me, and the ability to add more packages has never been easier, with far more commercial companies offering linux software than before (I'm posting this in google chrome)

PS. how time flies! sorry it's been so long!

I might not recommend it as a mainstream desktop OS yet, but if you want to resurrect an old laptop to use for the internet or blogging, I can firmly recommend Ubuntu, even if you're not particularly tech-wise!

Play it again, PDFSAM

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Admittedly, this application has a very specific use: Splitting And Merging (SAM) adobe PDF files. This is useful however when you'd like to remove a page from a document, or split a document up into smaller files for emailling. It's also useful for stitching them back together on the other end!

PDFSAM

ImgBurn Burns your discs

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:03:00 +0000

There is no finer program for copying and building cds and dvds than imgburn. I've used a few over the years, including clonecd (The company resposible for which has created my preferred image mounting software), and Nero (which, while great also costs money) and Imgburn presents the best and most flexible solution.

Typingweb makes you a better typist

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:57:00 +0000

Despite being a trained professional, my typing speed is woefully low. It's normally ok as I'm not doing it in front of anyone but it can be rather embarrasing to have to type in front of a superior typist. Thankfully http://www.typingweb.com is a full zero-hero typing course, it's online and it's free! aewsoem!

Dirsynch pro

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:06:00 +0000

Ever been frustrated by windows aborting in the middle of transferring loads of files?

Dirsynch pro is an excellent utility for copying files. You can also use it for backup and it doesn't flake out at what windows regards as a fatal copy error.

Multiple files you want to extract quickly?

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:46:00 +0000

Before I found this program, I had winzip and winrarinstalled, both with their little quirks and annoyances, and full of features I didn't want or need. Extractnow is a really good lightweight and simple unzipper that gets the job done well and quickly. just click and drag the files you want unzipped into the window and off you go. Works with .zip and .rar, and a whole bunch of others. It is, of course, free as the wind.

Displaychanger Changes your display resolution

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:21:00 +0000

If you have old programs from the windows 95-98 era, a lot of them were hard-coded for super high resolutions of 640*480 or even a mighty 800*600. We've moved along since then, and this causes problems as below:

The answer to this is just to change resolution before you run the program. But isn't that just incredibly annoying? Wouldn't it be easier if the shortcut changes the resolution for you, runs the program, and changes it back again once you quit it?

Using display changer, you can do this. It's a free software that does exactly this. All you need to do is specify the resolution and the file to run, then make a shortcut that does it all for you!

Super is... Super!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Super is a free program that makes it very very easy to transcode video and audio files. You don't even need the codecs installed- Super will handle it for you!

Great for transcoding videos to .flv for upload to the web, or converting .wav files to .mp3

scroll to the bottom of the page to get the download link

How to move your steam apps without having to redownload anything

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:27:00 +0000

My motherboard went and died on me so I had to replace it. Unfortunately due to the nature of computers, this meant a full re-install of the operating system. When it was all finished I was presented with a silky smooth clean install of Vista. Now came to loading my favourite apps back on.

On went firefox and Office and all the other gubbins, but when it came to Steam, I realised that I had 60GB of games, there's no way I'm downloading all that again!You would have thought this was an easy thing, to just copy the games over and all would be fine and well. Not so. If you login before you've done the tranfer, steam hates you and will present you with a load of problems like games installed but not working, half the downloads permanently on 99% etc.

Some forums recommend using Steam's built-in "backup" feature. Even if I had had the chance to use this, I'd have about 12 DVDs worth of Steam software lying around. Not ideal.

Actually the answer is simple: Install steam, but BEFORE you login close it down and transfer the steamapps folder from your old installation to your new one. Voila, it's like they never left.

The Future of Radio

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:34:00 +0000

Spotify is an online jukebox that streams it's music to you from the internet. Unlike others, last.fm and the late pandora included, it allows you to pick exactly the music you want to listen to.

It performs very well, even on a slow connection, and as usual, it is the best price: free!

A website is down! what do I do?

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:49:00 +0000

Sometimes it is desirable to find out if being unable to access a website is something that is only happening to you, or if the site is down for everyone trying to access it. This can normally be found out by asking colleagues/ friends/ family/ pets whether or not they are having the same problem. Thankfully, social interaction in such times is no longer a necessity, as Isitdownforeveryoneorjustme can check it for you!

Add a bit of mac to your desktop

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:16:00 +0000

Although I'm not Apple's greatest fan, one of my favourite things about OSX is the shortcut bar along the bottom. It's a great place to launch frequently used shortcuts from without having to drill down into launch menus.

Thankfully, it's available for the PC, too!

There are many iterations available, for free or paid for, but my favourite by far is Rocketdock by punklabs. It's lightweight, easy, and discreet. Give it a go!

Browse picture collections like it's the 21st century!

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:44:00 +0000

The web has been around in the mainstream for a good decade now, yet nobody has bothered to think of a way of viewing pictures online. Or have they?

Cooliris is a plugin for all sorts of browsers, which transforms your facebook albums or google image search results into a sumptuous, easy and very attractive picture wall. A great new way to view online photos.

"Secret" Windows 7 features

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:42:00 +0000

Tim Sneath has written a pretty good rundown of features that windows 7 has, but you probably didn't know about.
(via Paul Thurrott)

What is this?

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:41:00 +0000

This is a list of cool programs and articles that I've found on the internet and want to share.