Category: Software

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Synchronize your browser bookmarks

One of the most useful pieces of software for anyone with more than one computer is Foxmarks. Foxmarks is a free plug-in for the Firefox browser that seamlessly synchronizes your Firefox bookmarks and bookmark folders on any computer and any operating system that you are running it on.

This makes your bookmarks all the more valuable. You can find a new site from your home computer, bookmark it, and then see it in your work computer’s bookmarks. Foxmarks will encourage you to organize and better use your bookmarks.

With more and more software moving to the web, bookmark organization is important. Foxmarks makes that easy for all your computers.

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Best Instant Messengers

There are many instant messaging options for communicating with your friends and colleagues. In order for instant messengers to work together, they need to use the same protocol. To avoid interoperability issues, consider one of the messengers listed here that supports multiple systems.

Windows and Linux

Pidgin works with all the major IM systems: AIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MySpaceIM, and Zephyr.

It is also highly customizable with lots of plugins. Lifehacker.com lists their ten favorite plug-ins.

Mac OS X

By default, the Mac comes with iChat which is the best videoconferencing solution for Mac. Unfortunately, iChat only works with Macs.  It uses a Jabber transport and connects with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), .Mac, ICQ and XMPP.

For instant messaging and more interoperability on the Mac, Adium is similar to Pidgin and works with all the major IM protocols.

IM + Video + Calling Land Lines

If you also want videoconferencing, Skype is the most popular solution. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and even some mobile devices like Windows Mobile PDAs and the Sony PSP (pictured). It also has the paid options of Skype Out (calling a phone) or Skype In (getting a phone number that rings your Skype account). On the downside, Skype is a proprietary protocol that only works with Skype.

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PDF software.. not just from Adobe

PDF, standing for Portable Document Format, is a common format used for sending read-only files. While it was invented by Adobe in 1993, it is now an open standard. So Adobe and others now make some useful PDF tools.

PDF Readers

Of course, you can get the free Acrobat Reader from Adobe.

If you want a smaller and faster reader, try the Sumatra PDF (Windows only).

PDF Writers

A great addition to any computer is a PDF writer, which allows you to create PDF files from other documents. Macs can do this by default as a print option. Windows users can download PDFCreator. It adds PDFCreator as a printer which is handy if you want to make PDFs or just for when you don’t have a real printer around.

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Dell Reinstallation Disk Doesn’t Always Work

I recently performed a system reinstall for an Arlington, VA customer. His Dell Inspiron 1720 came with a Reinstallation DVD for Windows Vista Business 32Bit. This is not the same as an installation disk from Microsoft because it can only be installed on a particular computer.

But after Vista was reinstalled using the Reinstallation DVD, the computer would not fully boot. It just showed a mouse and a blank screen. Booting into Safe Mode showed that it was stuck on the crcdisk.sys file.

After researching, I determined that the problem was a common one. Apparently Dell does not include all the necessary SATA drivers in the Reinstallation DVD to allow a working reinstall. I had to go into the BIOS and change the SATA hard drive to use ATA instead of AHCI. This isn’t the default setting.

So if your reinstall doesn’t work, you could need to add additional drivers or change BIOS settings.

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iPhone App Follows the Presidential Election Polls

Living in the Washington D.C. area, I meet a lot of political junkies. A great application for them is Election ’08 for iPhone & iPod Touch by Aaron Brethorst. It costs $0.99. While the information it provides is freely available from electoral-vote.com, Election ’08 displays the information well and is easy to browse. It gives you the polls and trends by state, as well as historical data for past elections.

I’ll be watching my state of Virginia because it is a close swing state. Election ’08 shows that Washington D.C. is the most skewed state with 90 to 9 currently for Obama.

If you are interested in the election poll results as they come in and you have an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, Election ’08 is worth the $0.99.