With Plaxo’s inability to really be reliable these days for calendar syncing I have decided to start using Google’s Calendar Sync. You can set the intervals to sync your mail and runs without any issues. Then I also have Plaxo pick up my iCal settings from Gmail and sync again. It is just nice to have my calendar in multiple places in case I need access to it from different locations.
Category: Software
So this is a nice little defrag program that is a little better than the default one that comes with Windows. I have looked at this software before and it was a little too complex for me. Looks like the simplified the interface and made it so you can just run the defaults or you can change all the options. When I just run the default file it loads immediately and starts running. I have noticed a big difference after using this application to speed up my computer.
Download jkdefrag-336
Revolution used to be a premium only theme. Looks like they have decided to release their themes as open source for everyone to use. These themes however do not work out of the box and they will gladly help you get them to work for a small fee. How convenient. Actually I haven’t had a chance to look at the themes in detail so I do not know how hard they are to modify but I would imagine it is not very difficult.
The other funny thing to download the themes you have to look at the very bottom of their webpage and there is a small link in the footer to download the theme without support. Way to hide it!
Revolution 2.0 Themes
One of the great things about buying a new computer is spending the first day or so just stripping down your computer and building it back up. This software allows you to easily strip down your computer from all the crap that they like to preload on laptops/desktops.
Picasa3 has made its way out with some very nice UI improvements. Probably one of the most notable is the new default image viewer when you open an image file. It is really clean and looks great and grays out the rest of your screen and only shows the image. There have also been a few application changes but for the most part the application is still the same. I use this everyday as my screen saver as its a super easy way to setup rotating pictures on your computer.
Picasa is still king when it comes to managing a crapload of pictures. Download the new version here
Globex has been the mastermind behind Gmail and Gcalendar redesigned. They just recently came out with a plug-in for FireFox so you do not have to worry about updating stylish or manually doing the CSS sheet. This plug-in checks for new updates automatically and applies them. The good news is you can actually get rid of stylish all together.
Rumor has it they are working on a Google Reader template as well so I am looking forward to seeing that. With this redesign though I actually love Gmail even more and all my chat stuff works from the office.
PlayOn TV is an application that you download for your PC and basically it allows your computer to stream from Hulu and Netflix watch it now. It then takes that video and passes it on to your PS3 so you can watch everything on your TV.
Verdict: IT WORKS!! REALLY WELL!! after watching new episodes of Family Guy and the Office, I was very impressed with the Hulu functionality. Then I decided to try and stream Netflix. I added some videos to my watch now queue and then looked it up through PlayOn. It works, no codec’s no error messages it just works! The only thing with the Netflix streaming I noticed is the buffer rate has not been perfected so you can catch up to your download while watching, this means that the video becomes a little jerky. that is something to expect from Beta version software. I found out when this happens just pause it for about 5 mins and then start again and it should be fine.
I actually think that this software would be worth buying because finally they bridged the gap between my computer and my TV. Although it is not hard to plug in my laptop to the VGA port on my TV this makes things a whole lot easier.
This is a nice little program. The other day I was getting tired of looking at the same car picture in the background of my desktop. With this handy little application you can set it to look at folders, Flickr, Picasa, FaceBook, Yahoo and a few other applications for images. Then you can set your image rotation time to hours or days or just every time you log on.
It also allows you to set a different background for each monitor and you can also have it create collages on the fly. This is a lightweight application and the price is just right (Free)!
Check out their site for the latest version and as always I have attached a version to this post as well.
Download Background Switcher 3.5
Process Explorer is basically Task Manager on steroids. It actually makes managing process more intuitive and easier to manage. It allows you to see the process trees and see how much each process is taking up graphically.
Below is the most current file and of course the link to the software site. I think one of the reasons this software is so good is Microsoft didn’t write it but they did end up buying the company that did originally product the software.
Download ProcessExplorer
For the 100th time I was looking around the internet for an application that would let me sync my Outlook calendar from work with my calendar on my cell phone. This time I actually found something that will do that and much more.
BitPim is a free open source application that allows you to manage every aspect of your phone and then upload back to your phone. You can edit/save your contacts, calendar, pictures, ring tones, T9 settings, SMS just about everything your phone does. This is great because I do not have to pay Verizon for the service. You just plug in your phone via USB and sync it is very helpful.
I have attached the file to this post but you should probably get the latest version from the website: BitPim I just attached the file in case the application disappears as sometimes they tend to do. And since this is working currently with my LG Dare I might as well post the working version.
Download BitPim 1.0.6
