Raymond.CC Blog

Category: Computer

  • AutoSensitivity sets Different Mouse Sensitivity for Touchpad and External Mouse

    If you haven’t noticed, we can only set a global pointer speed at Control Panel which takes effect on all devices that controls the pointer. I’ve just stumbled upon an interesting software called AutoSensitivity where it allows you to have different mouse sensitivity for touchpad and external mouse. Normally we have much better control over the pointer when using a mouse so we can set the sensitivity a little higher but when it comes to the touchpad, we will need to decrease the sensitivity or else you will find that it is hard to control the pointer.

    AutoSensitivity is an open source program that works on Windows XP, Vista and 7 but requires Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 or 4.0 to run. This program uses ClickOnce technology for installation which is why you may notice that the installation procedure is a bit different when compared to normal setup.


    First you download the 2KB AutoSensitivity.application file and upon running, it will download the remaining files and save them in AppData folder (not program files). Then it creates a shortcut at desktop named AutoSensitivity.appref-ms and do take note that the file extension will not show. Checking the shortcut property will not reveal where AutoSensitivity is installed. The solution to locate where AutoSensitivity is installed is pretty easy with Windows Task Manager. Run AutoSensitivity shortcut from desktop and then press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to launch Task Manager. Go to the Processes tab, right click on AutoSensitivity.exe and select Open File Location.

    AutoSensitivity Portable

    AutoSensitivity is installed deep into my hard drive which is at the following location:

    C:\Users\Raymond\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\0OVCY1HA.9VW\Q7V7M6ZX.RB1\auto..tion_0000000000000000_0001.0004_01f6395047dd6f8b

    If you want to run it on other computer without going through the installation, then simply copy the folder to the other computer and run AutoSensitivity.exe. Now let’s see how the program works.

    Set different pointer speed for touchpad

    Although AutoSensitivity’s user interface looks like a no-brainer, but it can get quite confusing and it is better to first understand how it works before using it. Basically AutoSensitivity monitors for any touchpad and mouse connected on your computer. The bottom left of the program will update automatically when it detects if you’ve plugged or unplugged a mouse. When a mouse is connected, AutoSensitivity will automatically set the pointer speed according to the Mouse speed that is set on the program. The touchpad speed will also follow the pointer speed of the mouse because Windows can only support one pointer speed setting. That is why when you click the Get Current button on both Touchpad and Mouse, it shows the same level of sensitivity. When you unplug the mouse, AutoSensitivity will detect that the mouse is not present and then automatically sets the pointer speed according to the Touchpad sensitivity level.

    While testing AutoSensitivity, there are a couple of times that it didn’t work and the sensitivity speed remained the same. I tried running AutoSensitivity as administrator thinking that it may require higher privileges since it writes to registry but that didn’t help. In fact there were a few people reporting the same problem in AutoSensitivity discussion forum so I guess it is still not really that stable. AutoSensitivity is a unique application that is worth keeping track of.

    Download AutoSensitivity

    Related posts:

  • How To Navigate and Use Computer Without Mouse or Touchpad
  • Touchpad Blocker Auto Disable Mouse Clicks During Typing
  • TouchFreeze Disables Laptop Touchpad When Typing
  • Only Open Submenus on Mouse Click in Firefox and Windows 7
  • Mouse without Borders by Microsoft

  • 10,000 IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO 5.1 License Code Exclusive to Raymond.cc Readers

    The first time IObit generously donated a huge amount of licenses of Advanced SystemCare PRO v3 to raymond.cc readers was 3 years ago. Today I am glad to announce that they are now again giving a total of 10,000 licenses to the latest Advanced SystemCare PRO v5.1 exclusively to raymond.cc readers. If you’ve missed the 24 hours giveaway by IObit on Valentine’s day, here is your second chance! Advanced SystemCare is a software that automatically helps to maintain and take care of your computer. We need to use such utility due to the well known fact that problems start to arise together with the performance of the computer degrades over time and not everyone has the time or knowledge to perform maintenance on Windows operating system or even to fix the problems.

    In CNET’s Download.com, Advanced SystemCare 5 is currently ranked #1 in Diagnostic Software category with a total of a whopping 76 million downloads to date. With the incredible amount of downloads plus their 100% money back guarantee that you WILL see a significant improvement in your PC’s performance WITHIN 30 DAYS, or they’ll send you a full refund no questions asked, rest assured that you’re using one of the best, if not the best Windows maintenance software.


    Advanced SystemCare PRO v5 is capable of doing a lot of good things on your computer, mainly they are optimization, securing, fixing problems and boosting Windows. It has fully automated care function or if you prefer to do it yourself, there are more than 20 dedicated smart tools for everyday PC maintenance. The graphical user interface is being maintained to look very similar to version 4 with description added to the 4 main buttons to explain what it does.

    Advanced SystemCare PRO 5 License Code

    The latest version of IObit Advanced SystemCare 5.1 comes with a new feature called ActiveBoost which provides real-time optimization. There are no technical information on how this function actually works but the official website explains that this technology actively runs in the background intelligently managing system resources in real-time, constantly detecting inactive resources and optimizing CPU and RAM usage.

    You can only see what process that has been boosted by ActiveBoost from Settings > ActiveBoost. So far on my test computer it shows “PopCapY.exe was boosted” because I just played Plants vs. Zombies for 20 minutes. There is a ActiveBoost.db file located at the Advanced SystemCare 5 program folder that list a total of 163 executable files. I noticed that most of the .exe files listed under the activeboost database files are related to security software such as antivirus and firewall. After testing, I can confirm that the ActiveBoost.db file is actually an exclusion list to prevent ActiveBoost from boosting processes that can cause instability to your Windows system. The file cannot be modified unless you do in to Safe Mode or use some third party software.

    Another new feature is the cloud technology to ensure that the Advanced SystemCare database on your computer is updated as soon as the database becomes available by pushing it to you rather than waiting for the scheduled time.

    Turbo Boost has been improved by allowing you to select either work or game mode. This would cause less problems when disabling unnecessary services depending on the mode. For example on a work computer where you normally require to print, the Turbo Boost will not disable the printer support. When you are gaming, logically you wouldn’t be printing so disabling print services would help to speed up your computer.

    Turbo Boost Mode

    IObit has very generously given a license code that can be activated 10,000 times by first come first served basis to raymond.cc readers. To install and activate the IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO 5.1, download the setup installer (asc-setup.exe), install it, click on the Upgrade button and use the following license code shown below to activate the PRO version.

    Advanced SystemCare PRO v5.1 License Code: 9C98A-D3624-7CC7E-137D4

    This giveaway and license code is exclusively for raymond.cc readers only. Please link to this article rather than just posting the license code to your/other websites.

    Advanced SystemCare PRO v5 supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 and 8 (32-bit and 64-bit). You can visit the official IObit’s website for further information on Advanced SystemCare PRO v5.

    Related posts:

  • FREE IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO v3 License Key Codes Exclusive for Raymond.CC Readers
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  • FREE 1 Year IObit Security 360 PRO License Code Valid for EVERYONE
  • Speed Up Computer with IObit Advanced WindowsCare Professional 2

  • Raymond.CC Year 2007 in Review – Site Statistics and RSS Subscribers

    Happy New Year 2008
    Since today is the last day for the year 2007, let’s take a look at how Raymond.CC did this year. I never really keep track of statistics because the main reason of this blog’s existence is for me to record down WHAT I LEARN so that I can easily refer to it whenever I need it. Before I started this website, I use to keep a lot of bookmarks. When time passes, many links either outdated or the website no longer exist. When I try to look for the article or software again, I can no longer find it… It’s really frustrating because I know there’s a way or software that can do it but I can’t find it.

    Just wanted everyone to know that I don’t do this full time as I still have my full time computer engineering job which I enjoy working. I know the meaning of “blog” comes from “Web log” and it means an online diary published on a Web page. Yeah, my diary is all about computers and I am happy that many of you learn together with me everyday. Thanks for all your kind emails and comments. There are also haters but it is only 1 or 2 people which I ignore.

    For those who wonder is curious about Raymond.CC’s web statistics, here are the numbers for year 2007.


    Raymond.CC 2007 Usage Summary
    Visits: 8 million+
    Pages: 19 million+
    Hits: 375 million+
    Alexa: 16000+
    Google PR: 4
    RSS Subscribers: 12000+

    December is the best month for me as I am getting 36000+ unique visitors daily. The numbers for my web statistics is increasing steadily every month but I don’t know why my Google PR is still at 4. It has been 4 since last year. To tell you the truth, I never really do much search engine optimization (SEO). Just basic stuff that I so happen to read at Sabahan. Great stuff there and I visit that site every day.

    Before I end my last article for year 2007, I’d like to inform you that team ETH0 has released an updated Windows Genuine Advantage Validation crack for version 1.7.59.1. Team ETH0 updated their release because Microsoft has started to push out updated WgaTray.exe and WgaLogon.dll files, but they are still using the same LegitCheckControl.dll. This release also includes a new version of their batch installer. They’ve added an uninstall function. This will make it easy for people that want to restore the files like they was before applying the crack. There are 2 switches to use with this installer:

    installer.bat /u – uninstall the crack
    installer.bat /c – cleanup old cracked files

    If you don’t want to use any of the switches above, you can run the batch installer like normal. Running the installer as usual will remove old backup files, create new backup files and install new cracked files. You can get more information from 9Down.

    Last but not least, I’d like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and may year 2008 be a better year for everyone! Enjoy partying with your friends but remember, don’t drink and drive 😉

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  • Easily Edit Multiple WordPress Posts with Search Regex

    This website has been running on WordPress since the beginning and back then it was very new to me. I didn’t have a lot of knowledge in creating dynamic websites, PHP, hosting and etc because I was more involved with fixing computers, managing networks and servers. WordPress has tons of free themes and plugins whereby if you are not careful, you will end up installing a lot of unnecessary plugins which can cause conflicts and slow downs that can lead to crashing Apache.

    There is a plugin that tags Technorati which I have been using for a very long time and I find it unnecessary now. Actually I don’t even know what it does because I simply followed the crowd since a few popular blogs used it. Deactivating and uninstalling the plugin is real easy but there are hundreds of posts which contains the tag [tags]tag1, tag2, tag3, tag4[/tags] at the bottom which I have to remove. Editing the posts one by one to remove the tags is a very time consuming and tedious task. Fortunately there is an easier way to search and replace in all post content using a plugin called Search Regex.


    There are two methods to search using the Search Regex plugin. The first one is an exact search which is useful in changing characters or words that are static. For example I want to point all images URL from my website to CDN which is from www.raymond.cc/images/ to cdn.raymond.cc/images/. All I need to do is specify www.raymond.cc/images/ as the search pattern and cdn.raymond.cc/images/ as the replace pattern. Clicking the Replace & Save button will automatically make the changes on all post content.

    To be on the safe side, it is better to click on the Search button first to verify if you have specified the correct search pattern. The Search button will only search but won’t replace or change anything.

    Deleting the tags from the posts will require the use Regular Expressions since the tags are all different words are not static. As far as I know, the tags starts with [tags] and ends with [/tags]. After a little trial and error with Expresso, I managed to find the correct Regex which will highlight all the tags.

    Select the source as Post Content, specify the Search Pattern as ^\[tags\].*\]^ and leave the Replace Pattern as blank. Click the Replace & Save button, the tags are automatically removed from hundreds of posts.

    Search Regex

    This plugin makes changes directly to the database so if you’re not sure what you’re doing, always use the Search button to verify if you’re searching the correct pattern. It is also good to backup the database so that you can restore it if sometimes goes terribly wrong. After finished using Search Regex, you can go ahead to deactivate and uninstall the plugin as there is no reason to keep it active all the time.

    [ Search Regex WordPress Plugin ]

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  • Impressive ZEMANA AntiLogger Proactive Protection + Free 1 Year License

    Perhaps you’ve already heard of this security software because some tech blog sites has already published methods on how to obtain a 1 year free license without paying the normal price $39.50. Honestly I have not heard of ZEMANA AntiLogger so I didn’t have the interest to test it out. Moreover last year I’ve spent many hours on testing 8 anti keylogger and anti screen capture software to search for the best. Recently hellnoire, a forum member reminded me about it and I decided to check it out since my ISP is having some problems.

    Zemana developed AntiLogger software specifically to detect harmful applications, spybots, and malware that existing anti-virus software might not recognize due to out-of-date, signature-based algorithms. Rather than relying on signature updates to recognize known malware, the program uses proactive analysis to detect potential threats based on their behavior. How effective is Zemana AntiLogger? Let’s check it out…


    Zemana AntiLogger contains many different modules designed to protect malicious softwares and provides you a complete protection. These modules keep your information security under control and made up of anti-action methods. AntiLogger protection consists of 6 modules that perform different fuctions:

    Free Best Anti Keylogger

    Anti-SSL Logger: First in the world developed by zemana technologies. A unique module particularly designed to prevent your personal information to be stolen while performing online banking transaction or e-commerce encrypted with 128-bit SSL (Secure Socket Layer).
    Anti-WebCam Logger: Unique security module that protects your system against WebCam Loggers.
    Anti-Key Logger: Unique security module that protects your system against KeyLoggers.
    Anti-Screen Logger: Unique security module that protects your system against Anti-ScreenLoggers.
    Anti-Clipboard Logger: Unique security module that protects your system against Anti-Clipboard Loggers.
    System Defense: Unique security module that protects sensitive areas of your system against malicious applications and also prevent any malicious applications from injecting malicious codes or DLL injection ito trusted system components.

    In short, Zemana AntiLogger protects your computer against any form of internet threats that could steal your data or intrude your privacy. The last time I put 8 anti keylogging software into test, only PrivacyKeyboard, a shareware that cost a whopping US$ 119.95 manage to block all except Bifrost keylogging method.

    As for Zemana AntiLogger, believe it or not, it is able to detect ALL keylogging, webcam capture and screenshot capture methods from different trojans (Bifrost, Poison Ivy, The sHark, SpyNet, Bandook, Nuclear RAT). No matter what I tried to do on the infected computer, Zemana AntiLogger just kept on intercepting it! See the screenshot below.

    Zemana AntiLogger Security Alert

    Other than that, a lot of advanced trojan is able to inject itself to trusted application like your default web browser and Zemana AntiLogger is able to detect that as well. EVEN IF you accidentally allowed the injection, Zemana AntiLogger will let you know IMMEDIATELY when the intruder tries to enable keylogging on your system, webcam capture and screenshot capture. Unlike SafeSpace, GeSWall and DefenseWall where once you allow it through, it will treat the application as safe and won’t even give a damn about what it does to your system.

    I guess you don’t need to worry much about compatibility problems because it Zemana AntiLogger has been tested and certified to run side by side with either one of the following antivirus listed here: Avira, Avast, AVG, BitDefender, CA, F-Secure, Kaspersky, Ad-Aware, McAfee, Microsoft Defender, Norman, NOD32, Norton, Outpost Firewall, Panda, Sophos, Sunbelt, Trend Micro and Zone Alarm. The few security programs that are NOT compatible with Zemana AntiLogger are Quick Heal, Ikarus and eSafe.

    Another important factor is the memory usage. When you open it from system tray (notification area), Zemana AntiLogger would take up less than 15MB. Once you minimize it back to the tray, the memory usage automatically lowered down to 2MB.

    Powerful detection, doesn’t slow down computer and it’s FREE (if the offer is still valid). If you’re convinced that Zemana AntiLogger is truly impressive, here’s how to get the free key valid for 1 year. Go to this page and complete the form to join the beta test. Check your email and will get the license number. Download the latest version of Zemana AntiLogger from here, install, and you can enter the license number at Services > License.

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  • Web Based Help Desk Software

    I was looking around the internet for Web Based Help Desk software or script and I found Trouble Ticket eXpress.
    web based help desk software

    This web based help desk software is free and very easy to install.
    The requirements to install this Trouble Ticket eXpress web based help desk software is:

  • Hosting account with CGI scripting enabled. Both Unix and Windows NT servers are fully supported.
  • Access to sendmail or smtp relay.

    • That’s all!

    Installing the Trouble Ticket eXpress web based help desk software takes less than 5 minutes.
    1. Unzip ttx.zip on your local drive.
    2. Edit *.cgi files if needed: the very first line contains full pathname to Perl. Default settings work on most systems, but you should check with your administrator if not sure.
    3. Create Scripts Directory (if does not exist) on your web server. Make sure web server can execute scripts from this directory. Set access rights (Unix servers only) to 755.
    4. Upload all *.cgi and *.pm files to the Scripts Directory on your web server in ASCII mode. Please note, you must use ASCII mode when uploading scripts to your web server.
    5. (Unix only) Set 755 mode for all *.cgi files you have uploaded to your server.
    6. Upload all *.gif files to the Scripts Directory directory in BINARY mode.
    7. Enter URL of setup.cgi script into your browser address string and hit Enter key. You should see System Setup Wizard screen.
    8. Complete setup using Setup Wizard and enjoy using the FREE web based help desk software!

    [Download Trouble Ticket eXpress]

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  • How To Clear Your Google Search History from Browser and Toolbar

    One of the main reason why some people would like to clear their Google search history from web browser and Google Toolbar is to maintain their privacy. If you own your own desktop or laptop which is used only by you, then it’s fine. But if your computer is shared with a few people, sometimes it’s just not nice to let them “accidentally” find out what you were looking for. An example below would be embarrassing.
    Clear Google Search History

    Here’s how you can clear Google’s search history from Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Toolbar for Firefox and Internet Explorer.


    The below instruction A and B is for deleting search history from the Google home page search box. This is if you use either Firefox or Internet Explorer and manually type in Google.com address to perform the search.

    A. Internet Explorer 7
    1. Go to Tools menu
    2. Select Options
    3. On General tab, click on the “Delete…” button from the Browsing History area.
    4. Click “Delete forms…” button from the Form data area.
    Remove search history
    5. Click Yes to confirm.

    B. In Mozilla Firefox
    1. Go to Tools menu
    2. Select Options
    3. Select the “Privacy” tab
    4. On the Private Data area, click on the “Clear Now…” button.
    5. Make sure the “Saved Form and Search History” is checked and click on the Clear Private Data Now.
    Clear Visited Link

    The below instruction C and D is if you have Google Toolbar installed on your Firefox or Internet Explorer browser.

    C. Internet Explorer with Google Toolbar
    1. Click on the Google logo on the Toolbar to access the drop-down menu.
    2. Select the “Clear History” option.
    Clear Internet Explorer Google Toolbar Search History

    C. Firefox with Google Toolbar
    1. Click on the Google logo on the Toolbar.
    2. Select “Clear Search History” option.
    Clear Firefox Google Toolbar Search History

    As you can see, clearing search history from Google Toolbar on Internet Explorer and Firefox is slightly a bit different. Not sure why they made it that way… Although it seems easy to clear Google search history, I did not immediately knew where to clear Google search history in Firefox Google Toolbar. I was searching through the options and the drop-down but I missed clicking the Google logo where the “Clear Search History” option is.

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  • 4 Image Viewers for Better Photo Viewing and Protection Against JPG Exploit

    All newer version of Windows comes with a built-in image viewer. For example Windows XP came with Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, Windows Vista with Windows Photo Gallery and finally Windows 7 with Windows Photo Viewer. They are very useful because it has very basic features such as zooming, rotate and even playing slide show which are probably enough for basic computer user. All default image viewers in Windows can also open most common image formats such as JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and PNG making most users don’t really need to install a third party image viewers.

    One of my personal philosophy for computers are “less is better”. If you don’t need it, don’t install it. If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. However after many years in fixing computer problems, I noticed many times that when I try to improve something that is working fine without problems, I will end up discovering a bigger problem and it would be even harder to fix. Today my recommendation to every Windows user is to use a third party image viewer and STOP USING the default image viewer provided by Microsoft. Reason is I recently found out that there is a private JPG exploit (selling as much as $4000) that when you double click on the JPG file and you can instantly get infected by malware turning your computer into a bot. This is either done by binding the malware into the JPG file or the JPG file is able to secretly download and run the malware. This updated JPG exploit is similar to MS04-028 but still unknown by Microsoft.


    So now you know the danger of using the default image viewer provided by Microsoft. Using a third party image viewer and associating at least JPG extension lets you avoid being infected through this exploit. Another good thing about using a good third party image viewer is you get to do lossless rotation on JPEG photos. Here are a few reliable and popular image viewer that I recommend.

    1. XnView (2.97MB)
    XnView
    What I like most about XnView is the tab and the shortcut key to close and switch between tab is the same as Firefox. Double clicking on the image from the XnView browser tab opens the image in a new tab and doesn’t fill up the screen in full. However, I noticed that XnView takes up a lot of memory usage, as much as 65MB to open up 8 JPG images in different tabs. Support about 400 graphic file formats and has the ability to adjust brightness and contrast, apply filters and effects but lack of editing features. Freeware for private non-commercial, educational use and non-profit organization.

    2. IrfanView (1.32MB)
    IrfanView
    No tab support. Opened up 8 images at different window and took up a total of 55MB. The image viewer and the image browser (IrfanView Thumbnails) are 2 separate program. Can do JPG lossless rotation and support panorama creation. Has a paint dialog for basic image editing function. Has tons of features because of the plugin support. It’s fast, light, comes with a lot of features but I would personally prefer that the browser and viewer to be together with tab support. Free for non commercial usage.

    3. FastStone Image Viewer (4.54MB)
    FastStone
    No tab support and allows only one instances. Opening one image takes up 25MB. If you have dual monitor, you can display thumbnail browser on one and full screen preview on another monitor simultaneously. Comes with effects and filters, red eye removal, JPEG losless rotate, compare images and batch convert/rename. Free for home users.

    4. Photoscape (16.5MB)
    PhotoScape
    Doesn’t support tab. Each image is open at a new window. Felt a slow delay when opening an image. Opening 8 images on new editor window takes up 115MB. By default opening thumbnails in viewer tab shows full screen view but that can be disabled in options. Has basic image editing capabilities, batch editor, combine images, create animated GIF, image splitter and a very useful color picker.

    My personal favorite for image viewer would be XnView (although IrfanView claims that XnView has been stealing/cloning features from them) mainly because of the tab support, the shortcut key that is the same as Firefox and also opens fast. By using third party image viewers, you get more control over viewing images and also avoid being a target of the JPEG exploit. I am sure there are a lot more third party image editor and if you’re using one that is not mentioned above, do share with us.

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  • InstallPad Automatically Downloads and Installs Your Favorite Latest Software

    No, I am not talking about software such as Updatestar, FileHippo Update Checker, AppSnap, AppFresh, Appget, Update Notifier, Secunia PSI or RadarSync where it scans your computer for installed software, check the versions, then send this information to their server to see if there are any newer releases and download links are displayed in your browser for you to download.

    Downloading the latest versions of your favorite programs is a tiring task, especially on a fresh installation of Windows. Navigating through the mess of websites and download links is frustrating, waiting for the installers to download is boring, and running each one separately is annoying. A very popular unattended software installation program called MultiSet is able to do this too but has evolved into a more powerful unattended installation software that includes installing Windows. MultiSet is also a shareware that normally cost a whopping $99.95 per license. Here is an alternative for MultiSet called InstallPad which is FREE and can automatically download and install your favorite latest software so you can go and take care of your other more important things in life.


    InstallPad takes a list of your favorite programs and will download and install the ones you pick. It doesn’t need to ask any questions, so you can go do more important things. InstallPad can resume downloads you’ve canceled, and can even try and find the latest version of your program online.

    unattended software installation IntallPad

    If you administrate or develop for Windows, InstallPad can help you get a machine set up with service packs, applications or development tools without the need for CDs or running lots of scripts. With it you can quickly install a host of programs silently, pass arguments to the installers, and run post-installation scripts.

    InstallPad supports silent install which installs the program bypassing all those confirmation message boxes. By default, InstallPad uses the arguments “/S -s”, which work for the majority of installers (InstallShield and the Nullsoft Installer System). Some applications are special cased, like Firefox, which requires -ms for a silent install. If your application requires different arguments to install silently, the built-in Silent Install will not work out of the box. Instead, you should find out what arguments are required to make the install run silent, and provide them via Installer Arguments. Lucky you, I’ve already done the homework months ago on how to find hidden command line silent switches for setup files.

    Add unattended software installation

    Other than that, InstallPad also supports automatically downloading the latest version of the program that you specified. InstallPad parses the download URL, tries to infer what the program’s version is from the url, and then increments the version (both major and minor numbers), until the server returns file not found. This can only work with URLs that have some version information in them. InstallPad does not maintain a central online database, nor is it omniscient, and cannot therefore find the latest version of a program any other way. This method is not really perfect because there are some software developers may at times jump from version 5.0 to 5.5 to indicate that significant features have been added.

    If you’ve already downloaded all the setup files and don’t want InstallPad to redownload again, you can use the file:// command. InstallPad supports HTTP, FTP, and file:// URLs. Here are some examples:

  • To download from HTTP: http://winscp.net/download/winscp381setup.exe
  • To download from FTP: ftp://ftp.icq.com/pub/ICQ_5/icq5_1_setup.exe
  • To install from local setup file: file:///c:/myFolder/myFile.exe
  • To install from network setup file: file://///networkMachine/sharedFolder/file.exe

    • InstallPad requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 to run. It didn’t make a lot of sense for InstallPad to run with .NET Framework 2.0 installed because a fresh Windows XP SP2 doesn’t have .NET Framework 2.0 installed by default. So you’ll still need to manually install the .NET Framework 2.0 first before running InstallPad to run an unattended software installation. As for Vista, you don’t have to worry too much because it comes with .NET Framework 3.0. Let’s hope the developer of AkelPad will make it run without any dependencies.

    [ Download InstallPad 0.4 ]

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  • FotoForensics Analyzes if Photo has been Modified or Photoshopped

    When you see a photo of a girl on the Internet that is perfectly beautiful with large round eyes, sharp oval face, pointed chin, sexy body and thin long slender legs, you may wonder if the photo is even real or actually modified with photoshop? While some trolls may just accuse or slander that the photo is fake because of manipulation without any proof, it would be even better to analyze the photos yourself to see if it is indeed modified or not.

    While it seems impossible for anyone to analyze photo manipulation, FotoForensics website offers a free service that uses Error Level Analysis (ELA) algorithm to determine if a picture is real or computer graphics, if it was modified, and even how it was modified.


    All you need to do is either upload the picture from your computer or provide a direct link to the image for FotoForensics to evaluate the error level potential. Once the picture has been analyzed, the result page shows both the original image and the ELA. You can even move the mouse cursor over to the original image which will turn into the ELA image for easier reference.

    FotoForensics
    The resaved image was digitally modified: books were copied and a toy dinosaur was added

    Unfortunately analyzing the ELA requires training and practice, where ELA users can also learn to identify image scaling, quality, cropping, and resave transformations. You can visit the tutorial page created by FotoForensics to learn the basics on ELA analysis.

    To get a more accurate result, it is best to use the “original” picture instead of the ones that has been resaved. For example, in SmugMug, you get to select the view size (Small, Medium, Large, XLarge, X2Large, X3Large, Original) and you should use the one that is the largest if Original is not available. The same goes to Flickr where you should select Original at the All Sizes page. FotoForensics can only analyze JPEG and PNG image format. If the image size is too large, then it won’t be accepted as well. I’m not sure what is the actual limit but a 6MB picture was rejected.

    Visit FotoForensics

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  • The power of Google for all your TORRENT needs

    Who wouldn’t know what Google is? I bet EVERYONE knows! Google is the, in my opinion, the best and most powerful search engine. Google is so powerful in searching that you can search for backdoor passwords, live webcam and etc through Google Hacking. I’ve even posted a tip on how to search and download MP3 using Google.

    Believe it or not, there’s a website Toorgle, the web interface looks quite similar to Google, is able to search up to 200+ torrent websites and it now has over 5,000,000 torrents indexed. If you don’t want to use software to do searches such as Torrent Harvester, you can try Toorgle.


    Search torrents through Google
    Looks familiar eh?

    You can even add Toorgle to Firefox search bar. Meaning you can directly search for torrents by typing the keywords on the searchbar. Don’t need to type the whole URL and wait for the website finish loading in order to make a search.
    Toorgle Firefox searchbar

    [ Visit Toorgle ]

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  • Helpful Sites to Help You Run That One App You Need For Linux

    Under Windows, we’ve grown used to the same-stuff-different-day mantra, that to work with the computer, we have to use our favourite browser for browsing, that we’ll use Windows Media Player (for the most part, the most popular) for media playback, and Windows as the backbone of the shell. But for those use us that use Linux, it’s not like we’re all dropping into the same shell. (At least, I’m hoping for our own sakes as geeks and learners that we aren’t…)

    Yes we all have the same basic needs as a Windows user, but we certainly can tackle those needs a multitude of different ways. In terms of office programs, most of us run OpenOffice.org or KOffice. Some of us run IBM Symphony, while others cobble together with Abiword, Gnumeric, and an online Powerpoint replacement. But you see, there’s far more then that out there, and not I and not Raymond, and I’m pretty sure even if you (perish the thought) asked Richard Stallman, he wouldn’t be able to list them all off to you. And he’s considered one of the (god)fathers of modern Linux. I’ve been asked recently by a lot of people to help out in the finding of program to work in Linux, from iTunes to AutoCAD and MS Office. So I’ll share today what I have used in the past to help others. Keep in mind these sites will also recommend apps for Windows too, so this works for Windows users too!

    OSAlt.com

    OSAlt, shorthand for Operating Systems Alternatives, is one of the best sites in a long time and I highly recommend it as a first stop for your needs. They have a very complete list the last I checked, but I presently can’t say that now. They at present don’t include some of the newer projects on the market for Linux that I’ve seen on Lifehacker or on other sites that cover Linux. I’d still recommend it highly for the clean interface, and when you can just simply look up examples of apps on a whim on the side, it’s just one of those that stays in your mind for a while.

    Alternativesto.net

    Other then wishing for the fact they had bought the perfect domain name of Alternatives.to, there is nothing wrong with this site either. It covers the three major operating systems as well as offering website alternatives as well. So if you’re sick of looking at Google.com, for example, it can offer Bing and Yahoo as solutions as well. But it’s true strength lies in the voting system that they have on their site. As someone who loves looking up reviews before trying something out, it’s better then OSAlt in that I won’t need to go far to see what’s recommended by people. If you’re like me and need a review on everything before you try it, I suppose Alternativesto.net will be your favourite. Considering it’s got a flashy interface that surpasses the other two, you might just want to stick this one in your favourites for keeping.

    Linux App Finder

    While Linux App Finder is nowhere near as nice looking as OSAlt or Alternativesto.net, I was captivated right away by the use of Tux (the penguin, official logo of Linux) as a pirate. Now I know that seems odd to be captivated by something so trivial, but when you scroll down the side and look at the categories, you realize it’s suiting as you feel like you’re at a tad classier site then OSAlt. While it doesn’t list the comparative Windows application next to it when you’re looking though, it does give you a single sentence summery for a quick look, that can be expanded to a full review if you open up the next page.

    So there you have it. Hopefully there will be no questions on “what should I use to replace XYZ program?” anymore, but if you’d like a one-on-one answer, I’ll be more then willing to provide you with one as well. And if you just need one app working in your operating system that has no alternative, you could always run Wine and VirtualBox, but I’ll talk more about them later in a different article.

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  • Weekend Gaming – Week 9 – Addictive Flash Games

    And it’s another Sunday at Raymond.cc, which means that it’s time once more for games to be played. While I’m still offering games on Sundays, I now am expanding it to free games, not just open source. Since Flash is closed source but free of charge for every operating system, I figured this would be a good time to offer some Flash games I’ve played and become addicted to. I’m rather surprised recently on the increase of pretty good games that have been catching my eye and are using Flash. To reflect the change from only Open Source games to other license games, it’s officially being changed to ‘Weekend Gaming’ which better reflects the tone of the posts. A small touch I know, but one figure would be a nice addiction now that we’re moving into other games.

    But enough of this rambling, this dilly-dally, onto the games!

    Super Mario CrossOver

    Hey! Listen! You do not mess with the magical formula of Mario – he’s a simple plumber off to save his princess from the evil Bowser! And no one, and I mean no one can help him. Or that’s what I thought when I first saw this game. But it’s rather funny to be playing as Bill from Contra or Samus from Metroid and just demolish anyone who stands before you. Every level, you can change who you play as, their powerups only working for the individual characters, but this makes it all the more challenging. It has all the same levels and the same general level design from what I’ve noticed. Perhaps this will be the one time that a crossover actually beats the original in how it works…. NAH! But it certainly comes close to being one of the best fan games I’ve played in a long time, that’s for sure.

    Evacuation

    Evacuation is a highly simplistic game: your space ship has been infected with aliens, and your men have no weapons. On top of that, you can open certain doors to vent atmosphere and make the aliens fly out. But if you aren’t careful, you’ll send your men flying out of the ship too, at which point, they’re lost to you. The other thing you have to keep in mind are the high ranking officers, such as the captain, which are always dressed in brown. You can’t let them die by any means. Did I mention these are evil aliens that want to eat you for lunch? Sure the game sounds hard, but when you play it, you’ll see it’s very easy… as well as very easy to make mistakes. I used to play this game all day when I had more time on my hands, now that I’ve ‘rediscovered’ it, I’m kinda hooked again. Believe me when I say that as simple as this game is… it certainly is addictive!

    Exit Path

    ArmorGames.com’s John is an amazing game designer and if you play any of his games, you’re instantly hooked. The most powerful and moving to date, if you ask me, is Exit Path, the most recent one I’ve played by him. The music is great, the simple controls make it an easy game to remember… and the story is engaging in a way that I’ve only seen Portal match. I’d also like to add that it’s extremely challenging, especially when you decide to get the signs so you can unlock added features. For a game so unique in execution, it will have you hooked for hours.

    That’s it for this week, ladies and gents, so it’s now time for me to kick back and watch some Doctor Who… until tomorrow that is! Have a good weekend, or what’s left of it!

    Links to older Weekend Gaming articles
    Week One – First Person Shooters
    Week Two – Simulation
    Week Three – Remakes of Classics
    Week Four – Strategy Games
    Week Five – Emulation
    Week Six – Racing Games
    Week Seven – Puzzle Games
    Week Eight – Odds and Ends

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  • Open Source Gaming – Week Two – Simulation Games
  • Open Source Gaming – Week Four – Strategy Games
  • Open Source Gaming – Week Seven – Puzzle Games
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  • Open Source Gaming – Week Eight – Odds And Ends

  • Giving Away Commercial Game and Licensed Software EVERYDAY for FREE

    Shocked to read the title of this article? It’s something very new to me and I think this is a very good concept where both visitors and author of game/software will benefit. We, the visitors will get commercial game and licensed software everyday for free and the author of the game/software will gain more exposures.

    Basically, one software title will be nominated everyday. The software will be available for download for 24 hours (or more, if agreed by software publisher) and that software will be absolutely free. That means – not a trial, not a limited version – but a registered and legal version of the software will be free for the visitors. The software product will be presented in its full functionality, without any limitations save for those mentioned in Terms and Conditions.


    Giveaway of the day
    Giveaway of the Day will provide the download link on their web-site for the agreed period of time, together with the review of the software product and the information about other products from the software publisher presenting the giveaway title. Once the software or game has passed the 24 hours giveaway time, you won’t be able to active it for free anymore. This method really makes people to visit the Giveaway website everyday.

    To license the game or software, you have to download from the Giveaway website. Inside the archive file, there should be a file Activate.exe. You need to run activate.exe first and only install the software or game.
    Activate Shareware and Commercial Game
    I noticed that each activate.exe that comes together with the software or game is different because of the file size.

    One very good feature that’s included in the Giveaway website is the “Rating” system. It helps new visitors to have an idea if the game or software is worth downloading or not. The more thumbs up, the better the software/game is.
    Rate Software and Game

    Please note that the software you download and install during the Giveaway period comes with the following important limitations. You won’t be getting any free technical support from the author of the software, no free upgrades to future versions and you can’t use it for commercial purposes.

    Thanks to Matthew Votsikas for suggesting this website to me.

    [ Software Giveaway | Game Giveaway ]

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  • Fix for Updating Torrent Harvester Engines

    As you’ll know that the original Torrent Harvester website (http://TorrentHarvester.awardspace.com) is no longer accessible for many months already. Torrent Harvester engine updates wouldn’t work because the link is pointed to the dead link. When you click on the check for updates, you’ll only get an error message saying “The underlying connection was closed: Unable to connect to remote server.”
    Fix Torrent Harvester Engine Update
    Does that mean that in time to come, Torrent Harvester wouldn’t be useful anymore? No, I don’t think so. FidoFuz, the author of Torrent Harvester has contacted me and informed me about the new link.

    So here’s how to fix your Torrent Harvester to allow engine updates.


    1. Run Torrent Harvester.

    2. Go to Help -> Check for Updates from the menu bar. You will see a dialog box like the image below.
    Torrent Harvester Engine Update

    3. Change the “Update from website” link from http://TorrentHarvester.awardspace.com to http://www.torrent-harvester.com

    4. Click the Check button and it should be able to check for Torrent Harvester engine updates.

    If you didn’t know about Torrent Harvester, it is a program where you can automatically search for torrents on hundreds of bittorrent tracker website. You can download Torrent Harvester from the link below.

    [ Download Torrent Harvester v0.7b ]

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