I Love Free Software

Amazon Price Monitor shows Automatic Alerts when Prices Fall on Amazon
Free Encryption Software to Encrypt Files and Decrypt Files: DataLocker
Create Multiboot USB with Multiple OS on Single Flash Drive: Yumi
Social Network from Microsoft to Collaborate on Research with Friends: So.cl

Amazon Price Monitor shows Automatic Alerts when Prices Fall on Amazon

Posted: 27 May 2012 02:00 PM PDT

Prices Drop Monitor for Amazon is a free software that automatically monitors prices of items on Amazon and alerts you if their prices come down. To use Prices Drop Monitor for Amazon, no registration is required and you get alerts by simply adding URLs by drag and drop. The program runs on all Windows based operating systems release after Windows XP SP3, including the most recent Windows 8.

Product prices on Amazon and other e-commerce websites change from time to time. Having to track all theses changes manually can be a daunting task. Luckily, Prices Drop Monitor for Amazon automates the whole process of monitoring prices and informs you when the price of a particular item goes down.

Features

Supports drag and drop. Add item URLs easily by dragging it from your browser to the application
Simple and easy to use. Monitor item prices just be adding their URLs into the interface
Scheduler to set a particular time to check for updates

If you are already using price monitoring software like Cuivo and Prispy, you gotta try out this Prices Drop Monitor software as well.

How to Monitor Prices on Amazon Automatically Using Prices Drop Monitor

Installation went on with no hitches whatsoever. The interface is simple and intuitive.

The program starts on Windows start-up and resides in the system tray until it is launched. The program lists items in 5 separate categories: Recommended, Dropped, Increased, New, and Unavailable.

Dropped and Increased categories lists items whose prices have dropped and risen respectively.

To start monitoring changes in item prices, drag and drop a URL from the browser onto the program interface. All monitored items are listed in the first category. Below the list is a panel that shows summarized details regarding a selected item.You can view an individual item on Amazon by selecting it on the list and clicking the Show on Amazon button.

Application history is deleted by clicking on the blue tiny rectangular box just above the interface.You need to confirm whether you wan to delete all your history before it is actually deleted. By default, the program is set to start with Windows and check for price changes in Amazon every 4 hours. This can be changed in program settings accessible by clicking on the settings icon. The status bar indicates the last attempted update.

Pros

Drag and drop support
Schedule update checking
Simple and easy to use

Cons

None that I could find.

Conclusion

Prices Drop Monitor for Amazon is a simple program that works perfectly and may come in handy if you need to save few bucks.

Amazon Price Monitor shows Automatic Alerts when Prices Fall on Amazon was originally published at I Love Free Software

Free Encryption Software to Encrypt Files and Decrypt Files: DataLocker

Posted: 27 May 2012 11:00 AM PDT

DataLocker is file encryption software which operates differently from a lot of other similar programs that are out there. DataLocker does not create virtual partitions and puts encryption on them, nor do you load a folder which you wish to encrypt into it and encrypt it that way. With DataLocker files are encrypted with a simple drag and drop function, with which you load the files into the list and then encrypt them individually.

This is the main window that waits for you when you first run DataLocker. As you can see files that have to be encrypted are placed in the list. There’s no advanced options, which makes DataLocker a lot friendly to users who do not have experience with file encryption and protection.

How to encrypt files with DataLocker

Well like it was said in the introduction, encrypting files is not very complicated, there are only a few things that you need to know.

First thing that you do is drag and drop the files that you want encrypted into the program list. You can drag and drop the files individually or you can add entire folders, that way it’ll be quicker. Once you’re finished adding all the files, click on the magnifying glass next to the Select destination text input field and select where you want to save the encrypted files, so that you can find them more easily later on. Last thing that you have to do is write down the password, make sure that you remember it, and that there are no mistakes while typing. DataLocker warns you here that you cannot recover the password and if you for some reason forget it, you will not be able to reach your files. Clicking on Encrypt will produce the encrypted files in the destination folder:

Files on the right are encrypted files, and they will not be possible to open without knowing the password. Their icons are different because the program has changed the file extension to .ALK which is the DataLocker file extension. When you double click on a file DataLocker is opened where you can enter the password to release the actual file. But we’re gonna decrypt the files differently.

Decrypting files with DataLocker

To decrypt files with DataLocker, we’re gonna open up the Decrypt tab on top of the application window. Just like with encryption, we’re gonna drag and drop the encrypted file to the list, specify where we want them decrypted and of course type in the password:

After clicking on decrypt regular files should appear in the destination folder. By regular files I mean files without the .ALK extension and of course files which are not encrypted.

Conclusion

DataLocker is small, lightweight and very simple to use. Encryption which it offers is very good and all those who are looking for a program to protect their files should look into DataLocker. Program is available for both Windows and Mac, not only that, but there is also iOS application so you can manage encrypted files even on your smartphone, what more could you ask.

Free Encryption Software to Encrypt Files and Decrypt Files: DataLocker was originally published at I Love Free Software

Create Multiboot USB with Multiple OS on Single Flash Drive: Yumi

Posted: 27 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT

Yumi is the abbreviation for "Your Universal Multiboot Installer". It is a free software that enables the user to create multiboot USBs. That means it lets you install multiple operating system on a Flash drive, and then you can boot using any of them. Apart from OS, you can also install system utilities, like virus removers, etc. You just need to get all the different distributions of OS / utilities that you want to install on Flash Drive, a big enough Flash drive that will fit them all, and YUMI will take care of creating a multi-boot Flash Drive.

It can be used to install multiple Operating Systems, disc cloning utilities, and antivirus utilities in the same USB flash drive. This program also adds a menu so that you can choose which OS you want to run on your computer. All the distribution and recovery files are stored in a single folder and the user can use the USB for other storage purposes as well.

Features Of This Free Software to create Multi-Boot USB:

This is a freeware which implies that you do not have to spend your hard earned money on this software.
This software creates Multiboot USBs each of which consists bootable linux, antivirus utilities and recovery tools at the same time.
The user can also use Yumi to uninstall or remove the distributions which were already stored.
This free software is compatible with the Windows Operating Systems which are either 32 bit or 64 bit. It requires Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP.
Basic requirements to create a multiboot usb are: USB flash drive or hard drive which is formatted in the NTFS or Fat32 formats, computer that is able to boot from the USB drive, the .exe Yumi file that you’ll need to download and the selection of ISO files that you want to add to your multi-boot USB.
The free software can create bootable distributions of the following: Pear Linux, Netrunner, Archlinux, Bodhi, SalineOS, Panda Antivirus, Kaspersky Rescue Disk, Ubuntu, FreeDOS , Avira Antivir Rescue CD (Antivirus Scanner), Windows Vista, 7 , Damn Small Linux, and numerous other operating systems.

If you want to burn just a single OS or ISO file to Flash drive, you can use UNetbootin, or Image Writer.

Interface And Working Of This Freeware

The Yumi setup screen consists of a single window which allows the user to select their flash drive or hard drive, OS, and its ISO file (you can download most of the free OS from PenDriveLinux.com). A small box shows the distribution files available and which can be stored in the usb. A smaller box allows the user to choose the ISO from a given list. The distribution list has numerous operating systems, system tools, antivirus scanners, troubleshooting tools and other tools. Only one distribution can be added to USB in one go, and you can repeat the process to add more.

You need to run the .exe file that has been already downloaded by following the instructions which appear on your screen. You need to run the file every time you need to add a new distribution or an ISO to the USB. Next you have to change the booting priorities of your computer so that it boots from the USB and then restart it. Then you just need to select a distribution or ISO to boot from the onscreen menu and the rest will be done automatically.

Downloading And Installing YUMI

The Yumi .exe file can be downloaded from the official website. The .exe file can also be directly downloaded from dozens of other websites across the internet. The .exe file is 932 KB only. The rest of the installation can be done by simply following the instructions which appear on your screen.

Final Verdict

If you want to store the boot files of several operating systems on your USB along with various system utilities then definitely go for Yumi.

Create Multiboot USB with Multiple OS on Single Flash Drive: Yumi was originally published at I Love Free Software

Social Network from Microsoft to Collaborate on Research with Friends: So.cl

Posted: 27 May 2012 05:00 AM PDT

So.cl is a new social network which became available to the general public just a few days ago. It was created by Microsoft and it’s main purpose is to allow users to share their interesting search results with each other. The website was invite only up until now, and now everyone is allowed to become a member of this new social network. There are two options of registering with your Windows Live account or with your Facebook account, when you do register you should see something like this:

We’ve connected with So.cl using our Windows Live ID and the procedure is quick and painless. The usual questions are asked, do you want to share your information with So.cl and do you agree to the TOS. An important step that you are offered during account setup would be this:

Some basic groups and usernames which were pre-selected on the count of the information from your account are offered for addition to your So.cl account. That way you can receive updates in your account right away.

How does sharing search results with So.cl work?

So.cl is kind of a mix between Twitter, Facebook and search engines. You might have noticed on the left side of the screen on the image above that you have Feed and Followers listed. Feed is present in Facebook and it’s where what your friends share is listed, and Followers are what Twitter is all about. Here those two things have been joined and together with Microsoft’s Bing they are what makes So.cl special.

How to create a post in So.cl

Creating a post, which will go into Feed for all your friends, or should I say followers to see is initiated by typing in what you are interested in at the top of the So.cl page.

You create your post when you receive results, and then you start adding images, links whatever it is that the search results have found to create your very own post. For starters we added a picture, a link and wrote a message from us, something similar to a tweet which will be shown next to our post. After clicking on the Done button, the post is created and it can be seen by your friends who are following you and reading your Feeds.

Content filtering in So.cl

Something that we noticed during the time that we used So.cl is that there is not content filtering when it comes to content which is not suitable for children. Some of the followers that we’ve been assinged to by the site decided to share searches which were mature, they appeared in Feed without warning, adult content. I guess it’s impossible to control what’s posted on sites like these, and other social networks suffer from similar problems, users submitting lewd content. Be careful who you are following and you’ll be fine.

Officially So.cl is not some big time project with which Microsoft is planning to takeover the competition. It is aimed at students who would like to share what they enjoy with other fellow students and eventually connect with people who have similar interests. Sharing search results is definitely one way of doing that, So.cl might just be the next Facebook, time will tell.

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Social Network from Microsoft to Collaborate on Research with Friends: So.cl was originally published at I Love Free Software

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Monday, May 28, 2012