I Love Free Software

Popular Video Streaming Sites Vimeo, DailyMotion Blocked in India
Android Photo Editor App: Color Splash FX
Speed Up Windows Startup with Free Ashampoo Startup Tuner
How to See Passwords Stored in Firefox
Superb Online File Sharing Portal: BayFiles
Listen to Tweets with Tweet Chimes
Free Duplicate File Finder: Search My Files
Private Local Area Network Messaging with IntraMessenger
M8 Free Multi Clipboard Software for Windows
Ad-Aware Free Antivirus: Small but Powerful

Posted: 16 May 2012 09:25 PM PDT

Today I was trying to access DailyMotion for my daily dose of streaming videos, and got a nice message "Access to this site has been blocked as per Court Orders". I was trying to access it using Airtel ISP. Then I researched on the web, and found that many ISPs have started blocking this popular video streaming site. Not only that, another popular site "Vimeo" has also been blocked.

I understand that there is some content on these sites that is for mature audiences only, but that is on almost all such sites, include YouTube. So, what's next: Will ISPs block YouTube also in India?

DailyMotion is a particularly interesting case. It has tied up with many popular Indian content providers, like, Rajshri, and has some really nice content. Even the home page comes India specific when accessed from India. So, not sure why this sudden block of DailyMotion.

However, the blocking of websites is not related to just video streaming websites. There have been some bizarre cases as well. For example, XMarks.com, a popular bookmarking syncing website has been blocked as well. I have no clue why anyone would block that.

Nevertheless, we seem to be losing the internet freedom that we used to have in India. I can understand the block of websites like Pirate Bay, but DailyMotion and Vimeo should have been spared. If there is some objectionable content or practices of these websites, then they should be given a sufficient notice to fix those. But just shutting them down is not a smart move.

What do you think of this move of India government /Indian ISPs to curtail internet freedom in India? Let me know in comments.

Android Photo Editor App: Color Splash FX

Posted: 16 May 2012 06:30 PM PDT

Color Splash FX is a free Android app to edit photos on Android. The app comes up with two photo effects which is color effect and black & white effect. You can make any color image look black & white on Android phone.

The most important part of this Android photo editor app is its shading part. The app allows you to shade black & white or color effect to the parts of the photo where you want. You can then save the image from the app and share it with your friends and others. The app works same as color touch effects app for Android.

Some Key Features Of Color Splash Android Photo Editor App:

You can edit photos on Android.
The app comes up with two photo effects that is color and black & white.
Save the photos to SD card.
Adjust the brush size according to your requirements.
Undo the changes made.
Pan or Zoom the image.
Share the image via email, Facebook, Twitter , Dropbox and any other app installed on your Android phone.
Free in Google Play Store.

How To Use:

Download and install the app on your Android phone.
Launch the app.
Now import a photo or click a new image from your Android phone's camera.
Start giving the effects to the photo.
Tap on share option from the navigation bar to save and share the image on Android.

Install Color Splash FX App:

Login to Google Play Store and then search for "Color Splash FX" app in Google Play Store. You can even scan the QR Code below, if you have the Barcode Scanner app installed on your Android phone. Tap on install button.

I truly liked this Android Color Splash FX app when I installed it on my Android phone. I changed my Facebook profile picture by adding double shaded image. You can also, try FX photo editor app for Android to edit photos.

Android Photo Editor App: Color Splash FX was originally published at I Love Free Software

Speed Up Windows Startup with Free Ashampoo Startup Tuner

Posted: 16 May 2012 05:00 PM PDT

Ashampoo Startup Tuner is a free software to speed up your Windows startup process. The number of applications available for the Windows operating system has certainly swelled in numbers in the last decade or so. Along with the huge number of applications being available comes the need to reduce the start time of the Windows operating system. Most of these applications are attached to the start-up process of the operating system, thus increasing the time taken to login to your account. Removing some of these unnecessary processes will improve the loading time of the OS dramatically. Even though such functionality is present within the operating system itself, there are many dedicated start-up tuners available today. One among them is the Ashampoo Startup Tuner.

Download and Installation of this startup tuner

The Ashampoo Startup Tuner is available for three different versions of Windows – Windows 7, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. Hence, it is not surprising to know that this free start-up tuner appeals to a wide range of audience. Downloading the software from the homepage is one of the easiest tasks. This is because the Ashampoo Startup Tuner is among the lightweight in the category of start-up tuners. The installation file does not take more than 1.5 MB, while the installed file is only slightly bigger than this figure.

Key Features of this startup tuner:

Provides the option to add or remove programs from the start-up list
Provides the ability to turn off and turn on some of the Windows features itself
Ability to restore and backup the settings within the program
Ability to edit the details of the start-up programs
Comprehensive management of the start-up programs

Also check out free software to speed up your computer.

Even though the Windows operating system itself provides the ability to take care of the start-up items, it is easy to see why it has not caught on amongst the public. The functionality that is present in built within the operating system is one of the most complex you can find today. The start-up tuners, especially the Ashampoo Startup Tuner, on the other hand, makes it extremely easy for you to understand the way to make your computer significantly faster.

Further, there is the possibility of backing-up your settings so that it can be used at a later stage. This cannot be done in the default functionality provided by the Windows operating system, while it is the same case with the other start-up tuners. One of the best aspects of the Ashampoo Startup Tuner is a fact that it requires very minimum processing power and space from your computer.

It would be sufficient to have just 512 MB of RAM to run the Ashampoo Startup Tuner, while the application will not take more than 5 MB of space on the hard disk.

You can also check out free startup managers reviewed by us.

Of course, it is quite easy that novice users will make many mistakes when it comes to changing the start-up of the operating system. In order to make sure that you can return to the original state if you do not like the changes, the Ashampoo Startup Tuner makes regular backups. Yet again, this functionality is absent in the default option present in the Windows operating system.

In terms of security, the Ashampoo Startup Tuner allows you to deactivate the Windows notification service, which has been an entry point for many spammers in the past. Download the Ashampoo Startup Tuner now.

No related posts.

Speed Up Windows Startup with Free Ashampoo Startup Tuner was originally published at I Love Free Software

How to See Passwords Stored in Firefox

Posted: 16 May 2012 03:30 PM PDT

Here is a short tutorial on how to See Passwords Stored in Firefox. Firefox is one of the most secure web-browsers. It also works like a password manager, thereby letting you store usernames and passwords. One of the most common online service offered by Firefox that you use, is its secure password manager. The basic work of this password manager is to automatically fill out the username and password boxes for websites you visit regularly and have saved passwords for them. This makes your work easier as you don’t have to log in again and again on the websites you visit everyday.

In case you missed out or forgot any of the password for a particular website, you can very easily check log in information like username and stored passwords through Firefox.

To view all the saved password information in Firefox, Here are the following steps:

How to See Passwords Stored in Firefox

First of all access your Firefox web browser.
Now, click on the main Firefox menu.

You will see a menu, just click on "Options" or explore option as shown in picture above.
On clicking Options a window will open up, just click on the "Security" button listed with a lock icon on top of the window.

You see a option for "Saved Passwords"
The saved password displays each website for which you have already saved the password and username.

To view your saved password, you need to click on "Show Passwords".
As you click on "Show Passwords" button, a confirmation pop-up window comes up asking you to confirm that you want to see your passwords.

Click on "Yes" to proceed further.
You will get to see a password column displayed on your screen, which allows you to see all your stored password.

The passwords are shown to you in plain text format, so make sure they are not visible to people around you.

Some of the websites don't allow you to store the username or password, therefore the password manager won’t be able to work on those websites. This is an independent platform to store all of your usernames and passwords with this Firefox password manager.

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How to See Passwords Stored in Firefox was originally published at I Love Free Software

Superb Online File Sharing Portal: BayFiles

Posted: 16 May 2012 02:00 PM PDT

BayFiles is a legal online file sharing portal developed specifically for uploading and downloading files. It has emerged as a really competitive option to the other file sharing portals such as MegaShare, RapidShare and FilesTube.

The website is a sort of online software for file sharing. The difference between BayFiles and other free online file sharing service is that it has been legalised by the owners. Any illegal and copyright infringing content cannot be uploaded on the website. The makers undertake severe actions against anyone uploading copyright infringing material. It's a venture by the PirateBay developers which was an illegal portal. They seem to have mended their ways with BayFiles.

Features Of This Online File Sharing Portal:

The interface is very simple, clean and convenient for the user to go through.
Uploading is very easy; the website has a direct uploading feature.
For free users uploads up to 250MB can be made. For Regular users who have made an account can upload up to 500 MB. Premium users can virtually use up to 5GB space.
Fast server speeds for unprecedented download and upload rates.
Control the user access to your upload.
For Premium users there are more benefits available. A Premium user does not have to wait for a fixed time duration to download the link. No time, download speed or download resuming restrictions are placed.

Interface And Working Of This Online File Sharing Portal:

After opening the website; the only option is to upload a file by browsing through your PC files. After selecting a file; you get to know the time elapsed, time remaining for the upload and Speed. The URL for your upload link is presented after getting done with the uploading process.

The access to your link can be controlled manually unlike other file sharing portals. You can send your links to the specific Email addresses that you may like to share your link with. There is no need for becoming even a registered user for uploads up to 250 MB. Registration though is swift. You just have to provide your Username, Password and Email ID. The process hardly takes 10 seconds to get completed.

Premium users enjoy more benefits though! For an average user like me 500MB space is more than decent though.

Also, check out DropDo reviewed by us.

Final Verdict:

This online file sharing portal is extremely easy to use and is free of additional chores as compared to the other online file sharing portals. For smaller uploads whose visibility must be controlled this website is the perfect option. Try BayFiles here.

Superb Online File Sharing Portal: BayFiles was originally published at I Love Free Software

Listen to Tweets with Tweet Chimes

Posted: 16 May 2012 12:30 PM PDT

Tweet Chimes is a free software that lets you literally listen to tweets. Tweet Chimes plays a sound of your choice each time it comes across a pre-set phrase, word, letter or smiley. Tweet Chimes is developed in Java and thus is multi platform. The program requires that you have Java running on your machine and some speakers.

The program does not require any installation and runs on Java Web Start. All you have to do is download a copy of the program from the publishers website, run it and off you go. Tweet Chimes supports Windows 7,Vista but Windows XP users have to download Java Sound API-installation instructions which are included.

Features of this app to listen to tweets

Simple and very easy to use.
Multi platform. Runs on all platform with the only requirement being a Java installation.

How to listen to tweets?

The interface is very simple with only two labels, two textboxes for entering a username and password and two buttons. The user interface does not present much of a challenge and is pretty straightforward.

To use Tweet Chimes you have to logon to your Twitter account. To start listening to tweets, enter a valid username and password in their respective text fields. Click on the Add New Watch Record button. The button creates a series of objects just below itself. Enter the word or letter or phrase you want searched in the first text field. You can control the pitch of the sound using the slider. Proceed to enter a duration for which the sound plays. Choose your desired sound from the dropdown menu and click the Listen to Twitter button. The new watch word can be deleted via the Delete button. Deleting a watch word removes all the objects the program had created. You can add more than one watch word.

Here is a sample video that might be of help:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Opinion

The idea behind the program is very creative. The interface is very simple which in turn makes the program very easy to use. However, the program has a few shortcomings. For one, there is no progress bar or status bar or any notification for that matter to inform you whether you are successfully logged in or whether the watch word was successfully added- you add a watch word and just cross your fingers waiting to hear the program play a sound. Adding more watch words than can fit in the interface causes it to react unexpectedly. The idea of playing tones is great and there is quite a selection to choose from but I think it would have made much more sense if users were able to add custom tones.

Verdict

Tweet Chimes is a fun tool to listen to tweets, which can be perfected with a little more work.

Listen to Tweets with Tweet Chimes was originally published at I Love Free Software

Free Duplicate File Finder: Search My Files

Posted: 16 May 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Search My Files is a free and powerful duplicate file finder tool which can be used to track or find duplicate files gathered on your system. Not only does it search for the files but it can also edit, copy, move and even erase the selected files. As searching is the focal point of this duplicate file finder, it uses detailed filtering options in its searching process.

Searching for duplicate files based on the normally available Search option can prove quite taxing! It’s options are limited and it is not comprehensive enough. Neither can it be used for other purposes apart from searching. Search My Files provides a detailed list of attributes related to a particular file making it easy for the user.

Features Of This Duplicate File Finder:

It’s an extensive file searching software.
Apart from the normal file searching capabilities, other options also exist. You can copy, move, delete and even preview duplicate files.
File attributes pertaining to a particular file can be set.
File information to collect, can be categorized into 30 different types.
Filtering by the finest attributes is made available.
For audio or video files, search can be made with respect to length, artist or even the bit rate!
Images can be searched based on their file size or dimension.

Interface And Working Of This Duplicate File Finder:

The free duplicate file finder is very detailed in its approach and I expected a complex interface design. The view is made in explorer style and that helps you to get familiarized with the working of this duplicate file finder. There are multiple tabs and wide variety of options available at your disposal.

The main working interface contains the drive information on the left hand side panel. The entire Search system is on the right side. You can type in the search keyword and then set the various parameters available at your disposal. There are two options present: File Information to Collect and Pre-Filter Files to Search. Both have an extensive search filter options array associated with themselves.

After clicking the search tab with the existing parameters a Search report is generated. It's based on the File Information to Collect and is displayed in a tabular form. For the displayed results you can select the operation that you may prefer. You can copy, delete or search for duplicate content. Even file attributes can be set.

Downloading And Installation Of This Duplicate File Finder:

The duplicate file finder is available for downloading as a Zip file. After extracting and opening it; there is an application icon present. Double clicking the icon launches the software. No special setup file or space required.

Final Verdict

Search My Files is extremely versatile and is a great improvement on the Windows Search option. For those who prefer to filter their search results minutely and wish to perform various operations on the same Search My Files may just be perfect for them.

Free Duplicate File Finder: Search My Files was originally published at I Love Free Software

Private Local Area Network Messaging with IntraMessenger

Posted: 16 May 2012 09:30 AM PDT

When logging into your MSN Messenger, Skype or Google Talk have you ever wondered would it be possible for you to create your own instant messaging network? If you have, then your wondering days are over, because with IntraMessenger you can do exactly that. IntraMessenger is an application with which you can connect to privately created and owned instant messaging servers, whether they be located locally or on the web. It’s sort of like having your own IRC channel, only here we use a tool similar to Windows Messenger in order to send and receive messages.

How does IntraMessenger work exactly?

After installation and after you run this instant messaging software for the first time you will be presented with a window where you have to enter the address of the messaging server, through which the messages will be sent and received:

Server that you see in the URL field above is the test server of THEDUS, company that created IntraMessenger. Since this is a test server and it’s URL location is publicly known, it’s not technically the true display of what IntraMessenger is all about, privacy. Upon signing in, you are asked to add contacts to your contact list, same way that you would add contact to Skype free instant messaging application.

Contacts that you add first have to accept you as their contact, only then will you be able to communicate with them. Once the contacts are added IntraMessenger window that you can see on the first image above shouldn’t be empty and you will be able to start up a conversation, just like you would with any other instant messaging software.

How to start your own private server for instant messaging

To install a server you have to visit the IntraMessenger download page and from there download the necessary server setup files. Next to the server setup files you’re also gonna have to have a web server suit (PHP and MySQL) installed on your PC, or any PC that you plan on using for communication. If you were to install the necessary components of a web server on your own, it would be difficult, especially if you’re not familiar with at least some steps of the installation and the setup process. Luckily there are web developer suits like XAMMP or WAMP which you can use in order to easily install everything that you need to run IntraMessenger server on your very own home PC, or any other machine that’s connected to the web or to a local area network.

LAN or Local Area Network messaging with IntraMessanger

The ability to communicate with people inside a Local Area Network is the reason for the word Intra in IntraMessanger’s name. If you have a certain number of computers connected to local network, you can setup IntraMessenger server on one of them, install the client application on the rest and connect all the computers so that they can communicate with each other within this local network. IntraMessenger is mainly aimed at companies which have a lot of computers connected in a local network, but larger home networks can also communicate this way, try it, it’s completely free, you lose nothing, but you can gain quite a lot. For more info on server setup, visit the software homepage.

Private Local Area Network Messaging with IntraMessenger was originally published at I Love Free Software

M8 Free Multi Clipboard Software for Windows

Posted: 16 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT

M8 Free Multi Clipboard is one of the simplest programs, which captures everything the user cuts or copies during his work. The software continues to run when it is minimized and has the capacity to store 500 clips.

Using M8 Free Multi Clipboard

When you decide to use one of the copied materials then you just need to go to M8 and restore it by clicking on the required clip. People who like to work with the help of keyboard can do so by using the function key. All they need to do is restore the M8 program with the help of function key and paste the required clip by typing the next letter to it. When the mouse is brought over any clip you will be able to see the clip in a viewer. Incase the clip contains any image then you will see a thumbnail and incase of text you will see many lines.

The latest version of M8 Free Multi Clipboard has an option to extend the context menu, make text manipulations, and search a text and replace it. Previously this was there for the entire clip instead of a selected text. This software is compatible with outlook and one can paste any text or screen into the outlook express or the Windows Mail directly. In most of the other software one has to save the graphics in a JPEG format and then they could attach them. There are onboard clip editors for the text and the graphic clips. The software also has a text editor which helps in cleaning the utilities so that one can remove the HTML formatting and hard returns.

The software can keep more than 500 clips and you can use the desired clip when you require them. If you want to capture the entire screen then press PrtScr and if you just want to capture the active window then just press Alt+PrtScr. If you want to capture any individual graphic from AOL or the internet explorer then you need to point towards the graphic, and right click on it following it up with selection of the copy from drop down list.

Download M8 Free Multi Clipboard free.

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M8 Free Multi Clipboard Software for Windows was originally published at I Love Free Software

Ad-Aware Free Antivirus: Small but Powerful

Posted: 16 May 2012 06:30 AM PDT

Lavasoft has been at first known as being the creators of the famous free anti-spyware software Ad-Aware. Since it was free, like Ad-Aware Free Antivirus is now, a lot of people from all over the world were using it. Now the free anti-spyware program has evolved into full-fledged Internet security suit, but it has also lost on its popularity which is no surprise considering how many different competitors there are who have cemented their positions when it comes to popularity and Ad-Aware might have problems with gaining a larger user base.

Download and installation

Ad-Aware Free Antivirus has a surprisingly small download size of only 10MB, which is great for all those who might not have access to broadband connections. Installation went fine, of course there was the usual promo step where we were offered to place Ad-Aware as our homepage and install toolbars, you know how it is, uncheck these options if you are not interested in them.

Program was installed relatively fast, but then again this depends on the computer speed, not on the program itself. After installation you’re gonna have to restart you PC in order for the system to become fully protected and all the service of Ad-Aware start running.

Capabilities, first run and first impressions

According to the Lavasoft website Ad-Aware Free Antivirus offers some very impressive protection. It has features similar to that of Avast AV but it comes in a smaller package, so to say (Avast installation file between 50-80MB) not that size matters, just saying:). Some of the things that are offered in Ad-Aware Free would be:

anti-spyware protection
Antivirus protection
Real time file scans
Prevention of virus downloads
Suspicious files are sandboxed
Gaming mode

Looking at the image of the default window above you’ve probably noticed that what we get after installing the free version of the program is a 30 day trial of the Pro version. There are 2 different paid version of Ad-Aware Antivirus, Personal and Pro. They are paid monthly 1$ and 3$, respectively, and they get the following advanced options:

Additional firewall protection
Shopping and banking protection
Increased security on social networks
Real time email scanning
Online scam protection

and more. The basic protection that you get with the Free version is more than enough, and those things that you don’t get in the free version can be easily replaced with other free security software.

Overall the program works fine, updates have smaller size which is great if you do not have high-speed Internet or a lot of bandwidth from your Internet service provider. Memory footprint of Ad-Aware is more than satisfying, while idling, when only the resident protection is running program takes up less than 5MB of RAM, if you don’t believe us look at this screenshot:

Amazing stuff, perhaps people with older machines should consider using Ad-Aware Antivirus, because it’s very light and it shouldn’t impose on your computer experience like other antivirus software probably would.

What about Ad-Aware Antivirus detection rate, is it good?

Tests that we’ve conducted with files which are detected as infections by all the other major antivirus software like AVG, AVira and Avast showed that Ad-Aware detection rate isn’t at all lacking behind the big shots.

Infected files were detected even without us setting the program up for a file scan, which means that the resident protection of Ad-Aware is working fine and it will offer you proactive protection by blocking infected files even before they are executed or downloaded.

Additional protection features of Ad-Aware Free Antivirus

Next to being good antivirus software, Ad-Aware also provides you with protection against spyware. Spyware protection was the original purpose of Ad-Aware, like I already said. Developers have built up on anti-spyware and created a wide-set of other security features, which are now making Ad-Aware a great antivirus alternative.

Scan with Ad-Aware option has been added to the context menu, which makes individual file scanning a lot more easier.

If you are puzzled why there isn’t the Run in sandbox option there, even though it was said that Ad-Aware supports it, the way that Ad-Aware sandbox works doesn’t require user interaction and input. Ad-Aware automatically decides which programs might be harmful and then creates a virtual environment where this potentially malicious executable is run. Having such sandbox behavior is a great move by Lavasoft, because sandboxes can be confusing to users. Avast has its own sandbox and while it does work, it’s constantly bothering the user with input, with questions like is this program safe and how to run it. Ad-Aware does all this for us, and we don’t have to worry if a particular file could be a virus, because essentially we don’t know, that’s why we have antivirus software installed.

Gaming mode is present which works the same like with any other AV, resources consumption is lowered while the user is in a game. Considering how low the resource consumption of Ad-Aware is in the first place, you’re probably not gonna need the gaming mode, not unless you have a very old PC.

Conclusion

Ad-Aware is surprisingly good antivirus software which comes packed with a lot of advanced options, the same if not better options which programs like Avast, AVG and Avira have to offer. You can get even more if you decide to go for the paid versions, whose price isn’t very high, you could say that it’s symbolic, only 3$ monthly for Ad-Aware Pro Security which offers everything even a firewall. If you are looking for a new antivirus protection then you might want to consider Ad-Aware, start with the free version and if you like what you see, move your ways up to the Pro versions.

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Ad-Aware Free Antivirus: Small but Powerful was originally published at I Love Free Software

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