Freeware on Blogarious

Managing contacts and calendar

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

I am always looking for a good solution (not a software, but a solution) to manage all my contacts and calendar. Actually I separate both of them, even they are under PIM (personal information management).

I was using an excel file to manage all my contacts. But we know, a file is different from an application, the interface is not usable, and I had the difficulty to find the contacts that I want.

My favourite Thunderbird add-ons

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Since I tried on Evolution of Ubuntu, an email client just like Microsoft Outlook, with PIM (Personal Information Manager) features, allows using IMAP, and allows synchronization. I really like it. So I tried to install Evolution for Windows. However, Evolution for Windows cannot work properly on Windows 7. Then, I need to switch back to Thunderbird. Since I like the feature of PIM and the synchronization with GMail and Google Calendar, I have installed following add-ons:

Now I think ChromePlus is better

Tue, 18 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Previously, I compared ChromePlus and SRWare Iron. Today, I think ChromePlus is better. Google Chrome 6.x beta already released. But SRWare Iron still using Chromium 4.x. That is why, I tried out ChromePlus, which uses Chromium 5.x. And there is no problem to play the WMA files. So, I choose ChromePlus now.

Besides that, there is also Linux version for ChromePlus.

Prayer Clock 0.0.6

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Just to announce that the Prayer Clock 0.0.6 is released.

I have redesigned the algorithm and the data structure. Besides that, some features are added such as “Prayers” item that allows the user to show different prayers. The followings are some screenshots:

GTK+ in Windows.

GTK+ in Ubuntu Linux. Very nice, right?

Since Easter is coming, hopefully I have time to add in Divine Mercy Novena.

From MS Office to OpenOffice

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I already switched from MS Office to OpenOffice for some time. But most of my friends and colleagues still use MS Office. At my workplace, most of the people are using MS Office. Some of them use MS Office 2007. I introduced OpenOffice to friends, but switching from one environment to another needs some time for adaption. So, normally they reject.

Why I want to use OpenOffice? Firstly, it is free. You can get it without paying any money, and do not have any license issue Secondly, it is open source. If you are developer, you can study and contribute. Thirdly, it is cross-platform. If you are not working with Windows, but Linux or FreeBSD, then how do you use MS Office? May be you will say that, “Why Linux? Why FreeBSD? We have Windows already.” Very good, you are very loyal, then go ahead. For me, learning more than one skill is always better. Fourthly, OpenOffice can satisfy my works: documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

Prayer Clock

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Written by using C and C++, depends on GTK+ and Expat. I spent about 3 days to study GTK+ and Expat since never used them before. I wrote this application because sometimes, I want to say a prayer, especially Angelus. But I need the prayer to read and also a reminder. So, I decided to wrote this program, at the same time I can also learn about GTK+ and Expat. And I decided to open source it as a contribution to Catholics.

Image editors reviews

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I like GIMP (Portable). But it is an advanced image editor, and need some times to load the application. Thus, it is not a good idea to run the GIMP for doing tiny works. So, I am looking some other image editor, free and cross-platform (better if open source).

One of the popular image editors is Paint.NET. I tried it, it is nice and lighter than GIMP. But it depends on .NET Framework. I don’t like .NET Framework because it is “heavy” (required a lot of disk space). Thus, I want to find alternative.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix HP Mini 1109TU Wireless network driver

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The problem I faced on UNR on HP Mini 1109TU is the Wireless Network driver. The Wireless device of HP Mini 1109TU is Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g.

After the installation of UNR Karmic (9.10), there is no Wireless Network support. I cannot access internet with WiFi. So, the network cable is needed for internet connection.

I have tried several ways to enable the Wireless Network driver. First, run the System > Administration > Update Manager to update everything (remember to find the fastest repositories). After everything is updated, reboot Ubuntu.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix part 2

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

After a long time, I successfully setup the Ubuntu Netbook Remix to access the Wireless Network Connection (WiFi). Next post I will share about what I have experienced. The following is the screenshot of UNR:

I haven’t tried Windows 7. But I am satisfied with Windows XP. And now I got Ubuntu, and experience a new different OS. Good feeling! Feeling good!

Trying Ubuntu Netbook Remix

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

HP Mini 1109TU, Small and light. But netbook is not laptop, the screen resolution is smaller. Thus, cannot play some of the games. That is why there is HD (High Definition) HP Mini.

Since my netbook have most of the software similar to my laptop, yet it cannot play the games like my laptop. The function of the netbook just become a redundancy yet deficiency. Since my works are primary done using my laptop, so I want to make something special to my netbook.

Reviews of SRWare Iron and ChromePlus

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I have tried both SRWare Iron and ChromePlus, though not using as primary web browser.

I compare the both software based on my personal preference:

ChromePlus	SRWare Iron
Chromium Beta (4.0)	Chromium 3.0
Bookmark syncing	No bookmark syncing
Install extension	Cannot install extension
Mouse gesture	No mouse gesture
Cannot play WMA	Can play WMA with Windows Media Player
Clear history and etc on exit	Cannot clear history on exit
But difficult to empty cache, needs to go to option	Easier to clear cache from the “Wrench” iron
AdBlock Plus	No AdBlock
Able to disable/enable Javascript and Java	Cannot disable Javascript and Java

Because of the WMA problem, I prefer SRWare Iron. But I think these features can all be integrated in future, because Chromium 4.0 is still in beta version.

Everything Internet - Cloud computing

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Now, technology aims to cloud computing because of the importance of social networks. Especially the services like Facebook and Twitter. Besides, Google produces Chrome OS so that everything can be done through Internet. No installation of office suite, one can create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc.

Next, synchronization of the documents, bookmarks, personal profile or profile setting becomes important also. Google Chrome 4.0 provides built-in bookmark syncing.

Not only Google Chrome, but Opera 10.10 also provides similar feature: Opera Link and Opera Unite. Opera Unite allows file sharing; Opera Link allows syncing bookmark and other settings.

Google Chrome again

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Previously on Allen’s Blog (I like this phrase), I talked about Google Chrome alternative.

There are more, Portable Chrome from PortableApps and ChromePlus. Now I am trying on ChromePlus, it uses Chromium 4.0. That means it can install with the extensions like Firefox. Maybe the extension developers will port the Firefox extensions to Chrome, then Chrome can act like Firefox.

The growth of PortableApps.com

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

If you like portable applications, surely you know about PortableApps.com. I think the most prominent projects of the website are OppenOffice Portable, Firefox Portable, and GIMP Portable. But recently, since I subscribed the RSS, there are more and more new applications in PortableApps.com, such as the game like “Frets on Fire”, the online game “The Mana World”, etc.

This is very interesting. Portability is a very convenient feature because this allows us to bring our applications by using a USB pendrive. And sometimes, we need administrative privilege to install the applications. But portable applications just let us extract it, then we can run the applications anywhere.

Firefox "reformat"

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Previously I said that Firefox is just like an OS (Operating System), with the add-ons like the applications. If this is the metaphor, then all the bookmarks will be the important files that we own.

Sometimes I will reformat the harddisk and reinstall Windows due to some error, registry corruption, virus infection, some unexpected performance, etc.

And recently, I found that my Firefox have some problems. When the Firefox opened for a long time, 2 or 3 hours, there will be a high CPU usage. Which hinders me to work properly. I don’t know what happened, may be add-ons. I tried to uninstall some of the add-ons, but the problem still there. So, the final solution is “reformat” it.

Google Chrome alternatives

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I have tried Google Chrome. Sure it is nice, because it is clean and simple. But, I still prefer Firefox as the default web browser. So, if you are interested in Google Chrome, and still using other default web browser, you can try the followings:

Portable Chrome (Chromium)
SRWare Iron

I am now using Iron portable version. Very nice.

Music related software

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

These days, I learnt to read the Gregorian chant music score. Then I tried to figure out how to play the music score through the PC (virtual piano). I used MidiPiano Suite before. It is quite nice. It can save and open the MIDI files.

Then, since open source cross-platform software development is very active currently, I tried to search some cross-platform music related software from the Internet. The followings are the software I found (including close source freeware), but I haven’t tried every software:

One-click hosting downloaders

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

If you want to download the file from Rapidshare or Megaupload frequently, a suitable download manager is needed. This type of websites for file hosting is called one-click hosting. So, I have tried several downloaders, not only support Rapidshare and Megaupload, but also other sites like hotfile.com, badongo.com, sendspace.com, etc.

Universal Share Downloader - Russian freeware. First file hosting downloader I used. Good.
RapGet - I always failed to download the file using it.
RDesc - Spanish freeware. Not bad. Just as good as Universal Share Downloader.
JDownloader - Just found it recently. Very good. Requires JRE.

Windows managment tools for XP

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

When we are busy using our computer, normally we will open a lot of windows, web browser, word processor, file explorer, audio player, video player, PDF reader, etc. Especially, we need to open a lot of word processors and refer to one another.

There are 3 tools I used in Windows XP to help me for the window management.

allSnap - All the windows has the snap feature when we resize them. So, you can adjust them with better arrangement.
Taskbar Shuffle - When we open a lot application, our taskbar will be full of items. If we switch off the “group similar window” feature, then there will be a lot of items in taskbar. This tool allow us to drag and drop our own taskbar item manually, so we can put two word processors side by side.
TaskSwitchXP - Alt-tab replacement. Too many applications, alt-tab might be useless, because we need to tab tab tab to the application. But still don’t get what we want, because we can only see the icons. This tool allows you to preview the application and integrate with the mouse.
Visual Tooltip - Mouse over to the taskbar item, a thumbnail will be shown. Just like Vista.

Firefox 3.5 with some new addons

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Just upgrade my web browser Firefox to version 3.5. Because it is 3.5, some extensions (addons) cannot be used. The Google Notebook extension cannot be used. This is a bad news for me. Because the development of Google Notebook is stopped. Thus, no more Google Notebook extension for Firefox 3.5.

Google Notebook is very nice for note-taking. Because, we do not need to bookmark everything because of part of the page we like. Sometimes when we are surfing net, we might like some quotes. Using Google Notebook, we can highlight the quotes, and save it.