Geek Thread

well of course that was a play on my words.. but it's still kind of true.. I like windows only for the light they let in.. not for opening and cooling the house thereby.. that's why they invented A/C

It also gets much hotter in your part of the country. Are you summers rather humid?

As Alldat said, quit paying 60 bucks a year for anti-virus programs that are sub-par at best. I dropped Mcafee over 4 years ago for the following Avast! and ACS programs.
4 years with NO virus/malware problems whatsoever ! Be sure to keep these 2 programs updated at all times. They're fantastic !




Advanced SystemCare Free (29.05MB)

Advanced SystemCare Free is a comprehensive PC care utility that takes a one-click approach to help protect, repair and optimize your computer. Scanning and finding what other utilities miss, it can keep your PC error-free and smooth as ever.
• Price: Free
• Operating system: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7
Download from cnet: http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-SystemCare-Free/3000-2086_4-10407614.html?tag=mncol;1

AND

Avast! Antivirus (54.29MB)

Avast Free Antivirus is a full-featured product, with the same antivirus and anti-spyware scanning engine used in our premium products. Leaner and meaner version 6.0 provides even faster protection than its predecessor and offers a web-reputation browser extension as well as virtualization technology. Accurate threat updates via avast! CommunityIQ technology ensure worry-free downloading, surfing, social networking, and gaming

• Price: Free
• Operating system: Windows XP/Vista/7
Download from cnet: http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10019223.html?tag=mncol;1

I just got and tried the Advanced SystemCare and my machine is running a lot faster now. Thanks!

I've been using Linux in several different flavors for about 10 years. Currently using Ubuntu.

Quote :

I just got and tried the Advanced SystemCare and my machine is running a lot faster now. Thanks!

I am putting this on my laptop, too.

I just remembered you mentioned smartphones, Chris. Here's some I frequently use that may or may not be available on Android. (I'm not really recommending specific apps, but rather functions.)

Facebook
Bible (YouVersion)
Ebook reader (iBooks or Amazon)
Offline dictionary
Yellow Pages
Flashlight
Unit converter
Metronome
QR scanner
Dropbox.com
Words With Friends

I have others, but those are the main ones that could be of service to many.

My Droid came with an e-reader that I probably won't use. It had the Facebook app already loaded. I have added the AccuWeather app, c:geo for geocaching when I don't have my GPS with me, Google Translate, QR scanner (even though that's pretty boring, really), and that's about it. I want tools I can use with it--not games, though.

a simple internet search can come up with a lot of things.. though you have to decide what you would actually use.. otherwise you could fill up your phone with a bunch of stuff that just wastes space.

True, but you can also add larger memory cards to hold all your cool stuff.

it isn't a matter of running out of space.. it's just a matter of having to wade through all the stuff you don't use to get to what you actually use.. and if you're gonna go through the trouble of adding shortcuts or putting them at the top why not just get rid of (or never download to begin with) the stuff you don't? ...

This one's great if you want to stay on a website that eventually kicks you off.. or a website that requires a refresh to keep you updated (ie CHM). Unfortunately I've only found one that works for IE (bummer cuz all I use is Chrome). Regardless , it works great.

AutoRefresher for IE (309.12K)

Price: Free
Operating system: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/NT/Vista/7


This Internet Explorer addon automatically refreshes websites for you. You can set it to refresh your pages at custom intervals or any predefined ones. Each browser window has its own refresh control. Istaller/uninstaller are included with this package. Great for surfing Web pages that are updated often.

I use it for work sites that log me out because of inactivity.

Download from Cnet: http://download.cnet.com/AutoRefresher-for-IE/3000-12512_4-10062693.html?tag=mncol;5

if you use firefox .. get greasemonkey and search greasemonkey scripts .. if you want an auto refresh... I used it when I played the KoC game .. lol ..

Just got my Acer Iconia W500 Tablet to replace my current "Bible" (which was a netbook - too bulky with the keyboard). This thing is dope ! Used it for my first time at church yesterday. It's so user friendly and fast ! I can whip through Bible passages faster than anyone can turn pages - and I love the touch screen, so nice ! The battery lasted 9 hours yesterday, and that was with almost continuous use.
All in all, very happy with my new toy.

This is one of my most used programs. Ever want to resize your digital photos (which are usually like 2,500X1300 at about 2mb apiece) down to an easier-to-upload size (like 800X600 at about 300kb). I used to do this resizing with a paintshop program but it took too long to do each photo one at a time. This program is lightening fast and can resize hundreds of photos in no time.


Fast Image Resizer (443 kb)

-Multicore processor compatible
-Resize images to any size quickly and in high quality
-Create thumbnails for your website images
-Resize Algorithm quality and JPEG quality configurable
-Create resized files in new folder, or in the same folder as the source
-Use EXIF information to rotate your pictures to the correct orientation
-Copy EXIF info from source image
-Easy resizing by using windows explorer Send To menu
-Automatic cropping option
-Can read JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIFF and HD Photo (.wdp, .hdp) files
-Writes JPG, BMP or PNG files
-Compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6
-Freeware

Download from source: http://adionsoft.net/fastimageresize/

Not sure how many of you have iPhones or Androids, but here are some of the coolest programs I use on my phone. Of course they're all free.

Trapster 5.0 - This is a GPS style program that displays the speed limit for the area you're driving in as well as the speed you're currently driving. Your speed turns RED if you exceed the limit by 5 mph. This baby's gonna keep me from accidentally speeding (which I do all the time). It also lets you know where speed traps are with a police car icon. Very cool.

Camera+ - Get tired of the default camera on your phone cuz it can't zoom, or edit, or do anything but point and shoot ? Try Camera+ and you can have digital zoom and other editing tools and fun things to play with.

Others that I use constantly are Spotify and Pandora. Spotify is the best cuz you can listen to full albums anytime you want without having to load the albums on your phone and take up valuable space.
Speaking of valuable space, most phones come with only a few Gigs of storage. Sign up with Dropbox and Skydrive, then load those programs onto your PC, upload up to 25GB of stuff onto Skydrive and 5GB of junk onto Dropbox for free. You can then access them quickly on your smartphone anytime and anywhere you have bars... stream your own music or pictures, videos, files etc.

I used to use Camera+. I thought it wasn't free, but that may have changed recently. I do my editing with my computer's app for it (iPhoto) and simply take pictures with my phone.

Are there any christian or family friendly browsers or search engines?

You can get plugins with Firefox that make your browser more family friendly. I have one called AntiPorn. It can be set up to block porn, violent sites, etc. You can set it up on a password so that no one in your house can view these kinds of sites.

I used to have an anti-profanity filter, but got rid of it because it was overzealous: for example, the word "Pakistan" would appear as "****stan" because of certain negative connotations. And there's worse things.

So yeah… I use a few plugins for Safari that include AdBlock, the ultimate ad blocker in my opinion.

Firefox also allows for Adblock. I don't see ads here, on Facebook, or much of anywhere else.

What kind of laptop cooling pad does everyone recommend.

I don't use one. I have one, but it doesn't really change anything unless you are using the laptop on a table. If you are holding it on your lap, it can breathe just fine and stay cool.

I hear that using one's laptop in one's lap is not very good for certain parts it's close to… so a cooling pad would be somewhat important.