Dock Envy

ObjectDock from StarDock

I know the MAC lovers have a cool dock but the Windows’ task bar just isn’t a good comparison. I ran across this program the other day and I think I have fallen in love. As stated on the website http://www.stardock.com/products/objectdock/index.asp “ObjectDock™ is a program that enables users to organize their shortcuts, programs and running tasks into an attractive and fun animated Dock.”

 

The dock runs on Vista, so I downloaded and installed it. Immediately I had a dock with animated icons that zoomed to life as I moused over them. This program gives Vista some panache that it should had out the box. It is easy to use and configure, within minutes after installing it I had already added icons to my dock for Twhirl and Skype. The program is free but they also have a Plus version that is $19.95 and obviously has more features. After running the free version for a while I will probably give the Plus version a look.

 

My super clean desktop with my newly installed object dock

 

I little closer look at my dock with my recently added Skype icon.

 

Cheers!

-Chris

Hey! Unlocker the Blocker Please

Have you ever tried to delete a file or a folder and been told by Windows “Cannot delete Folder: It is being used by another person or program” or “Cannot delete file: Access is denied“? Well, normally this means that the file or folder is in use by the system or another program but how do you know which program? Good question! I introduce to you UNLOCKER http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/ . This handy little freeware program will allow you to see what programs are keeping you from removing or deleting the file, heck it will even let you unlock it from the grips of that naughty program so you can delete it. Sometimes you might not want to delete the file but just want to move it. Unlocker would do the trick here as well.

The creator of this app seems very forth coming with information and with the acknowledgement that his program is not the only one around. It looks like it could be very helpful and possibly versatile then some of the other programs that do similar things. Give the site a visit and read through the very simple explanation of the application and some of the FAQ’s.

Good luck and Good Geeking!!!

-Chris

 

Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V RTMs! VMware is dead.

Well, I have been using Hyper-V RC1 for about two weeks now, along with SCVMM (System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Beta), and I am very impressed. It looks like the final bits will be available today at 12:00 PM PT.  Go here to get the bits:

http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/default.htm

 

If you have no desire to get the bits, or have some interest in how this impacts VMware or the virtualization market, check out this story:

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/147569/kiss_vmwares_rump_goodbye.html

 Update – better link for the bits:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/virtualization-consolidation.aspx

-Keith

 

Podcast: Deliciously Geeky – Episode 73 – Drive By Podcast

This week Keith mentions Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V, and then rambles his was through a review of  “On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One”, and on to a discussion of random geek stuff like Geek Monthly, Hard Drive Cloning, and so on…

Links:

USB over Network – USB over IP – Shared USB

Reading: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One

Geek Monthly

New D-Link coax cable home networking tech to hit 175Mbps

HDCLONE – HDClient 3.5 – Free Edition

http://www.webon.com/

Netflix: Rental-by-Mail Has Five Years Left (Subtext: Discs Have Five Years Left) [NetFlix]

 

Lord of the Synergy

I was introduced to a software application today that is just too. It may not be for everyone but in my work environment it fits perfectly. All the people in my group at work have a desktop workstation with dual monitors and since we attend so many meetings we also have a laptop which is docked on our desk when we are not in meetings. When at my desk, I normally have my laptop’s lid closed since I usually don’t bounce back and forth between mouse and keyboards. This leads me to the application SYNERGY. Synergy allows me to use one mouse and keyboard on both computers. When the application is configured and running on both computers it allows me to slide my mouse from my far right monitor all the way to my laptop monitor (seamlessly). When the pointer is on my laptop then the keyboard is active for the laptop. From a visual perspective it looks as if I have three monitors on my desk. You can even cut and paste between the different computers also! The program is not limited to two computers. It appears that you can configure the program for at least four computers. Below I have included a picture I created that will hopefully give you an idea of what my desktop at work looks like. The application also works with different operating systems and did I forget to mention the app is free. You can make a donation if you like but there is no charge for the software.

Thanks to Synergy, I will now have more monitor real estate and processing power now that I will be using my laptop more.

BIG thanks to Steve & Mike for sharing this cool app with me. I think I will be using it daily. Please give it a try if it seems applicable in your environment.

 

http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

 

 

-Chris

Sleipnir – Domo arigato

I ran across a new web browser this weekend. I know, I know!!! Another web browser…Yes

Why not, at work I use IE6 & Fire Fox Beta 3 and at home I use IE 7 and Safari.

To be a geek means keeping your eyes open for the next big thing or even the next “better” thing.

If you’re feeling wild and spunky then give this Japanese web browser a try. One of the things that caught my eye was that this web browser can use both the Trident (Internet Explorer) and Gecko (Firefox) engines. This means that Sleipnir can act as an emulator for both browsers. Just that alone makes me want to try it.

I’ve just down loaded it and I’m going to give it a run around the internet block. Please do the same and send us some feedback on how it did or did not work for you.

 

Here’s a screen shot from Sleipnir running on my (32-Bit) Vista Machine

Here is an excerpt from the Sleipnir web site (http://www.fenrir-inc.com/us/sleipnir/)

Sleipnir is designed to be a highly customizable browser that you can configure to suit your individual needs. With Sleipnir, you can create your ideal browser by changing the design, skin, and visual appearance. You can also add custom functionality to Sleipnir with a wide range of plugins and user scripts. Users love Seipnir for its unique blend of high-performance and customizability!

 

Remember….Keep your eyes open!!!

-Chris

Vista Ultimate Extras is a lemon, Microsoft should make lemonade

Its had been bothering me for sometime that while Vista Ultimate should be a good deal and should offer some exciting things for us end users with its Ultimate Extras, the last twelve months has not been a rich an exciting time for Vista Ultimate users.

But how to solve this problem?  Lets face it, Ultimate Extras are largely a no win deal for Microsoft right now. From their perspective, they have to assign a task to some programmers, (having come up with a idea or task in the first place – creative has a price), then have them write the code, then pass it along to a QA groups, who test it, probably beta the darn thing, and then put it into the distribution system that is Ultimate Extras.  Did anyone at Microsoft think about this before they promised the world Vista Ultimate Extras?  There is no obvious long term business model that supports this kind of investment from Microsoft, (Please, please let me know if I am wrong about this).  Or is there?

I think there is, I just got done playing with Muvee Reveal and I was stunned at how cool a video editing / photo montage thing this little program is. I also noticed that you can add additional “styles” to the base package for a small fee per “style”.  Well gosh darn, this Muvee things UI looks very Vista like, and wait a minute there is an extended on going business model here for purchasing add-on’s and perhaps upgrades to the base package.

Bingo blamo – why does Microsoft not purchase some of these smaller companies with stunning little apps and give them away, yes give them away as Vista Ultimate Extras. Microsoft could then extend Windows Marketplace to sell add-on’s to the base package. 

Need another another argument for doing this?  Vista Ultimate or any version of Vista for that matter does not appear to be as neat and feature complete as the cool kid on the block OS X Leopard.  Windows users are always hearing about how cool it is to edit music in GarageBand, or make cool videos in whatever Mac people make cool videos in, but the point here is that Microsoft could make Vista Ultimate in a potential consumer cost justifiable version by adding some real functionality that have production / acquisition cost off-set by the on-going purchase of additional “styles”, “Loops”, etc…

And yes, I do have a pick for the GarageBand competitor for Windows Vista Ultimate Extras, for that one I would go with Mixcraft 4 from Acoustica.

Thoughts?

-Keith

I can not watch a DVD on Windows XP or Vista

Grrrrrr, ever built a brand new PC, or received a hand me down PC and put a DVD in the DVD drive only to discover that the DVD will not play?  Well, while this could be caused by a hardware issue, in many cases there is simply no DVD playback software installed and no DVD capable codec installed to decode the DVD content.  

Many people solve this by running out and buying a DVD playback program for around $50.00, or they install an illicit codec pack.  However, a good legal way to solve this problem for way less money is to surf over to Cyberlink and purchase PowerDVD SE for either XP or Vista:

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/cyberstore/order_10_ENU.html

It will cost $14.95 American and you get support.

 

Another good solution that is completely free and legal:  AVS Media – DVD Player:

http://www.avsmedia.com/DVDPlayer/index.aspx

 

Let us know if you have other good solutions.

 

-Keith

Belkin USB FTW

I love music and I have had both a Zune 30 GB Player and an Apple iPod Touch. I love the iPod Touch, it is such a great device (the Zune is pretty awesome too). Ever since I went to Vista though on a new computer, I have had inconsistent results with video playback on my iPod Touch. Occasionally the video would lose audio or possible the video would freeze and eventually it would end the video prematurely taking me back to the menu. I thought Vista’s SP1 was going to save the day. Immediately after loading SP1 the video issue seemed to get better but after a couple of days it came back with even worse results. The problem started even to plague audio files (songs and audio podcast). I started searching the internet for answers and I found a blog posting saying that this problem only plagued Window’s users and that it was a driver issue. Apparently Apple uses their own USB driver to transfer the files instead of the Window’s USB driver. One user said that he installed a Belkin USB 2.0 card into his PC and that the issue went away and never returned. Even though I have 4 USB ports built-in on my new PC, I was game to try. So I ran to Office Max to buy a Belkin USB 2.0 5 Port PCI card because Walmart, Best Buy and Target didn’t carried such cards. I installed the new Belkin USB card last Friday, erased all my media off my iPod Touch and resync’d my audio and video podcasts and copied over a handful of ripped CD’s and BAM! No video or audio problem. I have now used the iPod Touch for 4 days and no burps, chirps or video disruption. So even though the problem seems silly, the $32.00 Belkin USB card was worth every penny. Thanks Belkin and Office Max!!!

-Chris

Too Cool: Movie – Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Animated)

Ok – maybe hundreds of thousands of blogs are reporting this, but gosh darn this is cool.  Lucas Films is releasing Star Wars: The Clone Wars as an animated feature in August of 2008.

Check out the promo video at:

http://www.starwars.com/index2.html

 

I will be there!

-Keith

Yikes – Skype Security issue – double check your version

I love Skype, but it turns out my version of Skype has this security issue. It can allow remote execution of code, so its worth checking your Skype version. The problem is fixed in the current version.

Get the full details from iDefense.

 

-Keith

Technorati Tags: Security,Software,Skype,iDefense

Microsoft was pushing the Eee idea way ahead of the curve

 

I just caught a glimpse of the HP Jornada Handheld PC today and realized that many many years ago this was the first form factor that Microsoft was pushing as an ultra mobile PC / PDA solution.  They never seemed to really take off. In retrospect, with the success of the Asus Eee PC, its seems like the idea was right, but that the form factor and perhaps some of the marketing was wrong.  I openly admit I hated the look of the Handheld PC back then.

Quick review of similar features:

- Small form factor

- Light weight

- Does not run Desktop version of Windows

- Includes some productivity applications

- Small RAM/ Storage footprint

- Ultra portable

- Supports Internet connectivity

Food for thought,

 

-Keith

Love Palm, Hate Windows Mobile, Love iPhone, Hate Palm

So its been said, and it seems to be case that many people love the Palm OS for the application platform.  But they hate the hardware and some of its limitations with WiFi, and connectivity. 

Well StyleTap to the rescue, they have committed to releasing a Palm OS emulator for the iPhone.

Get the full details from Brighthand.

 

-Keith

Top 10 last minute Geek Father’s Day Gifts

10. Kingston 2GB MicroSD Flash Card with miniSD, full-size SD, and USB Adapter

9. Jungle Disk – Backup software and Online storage at the Amazon S3 service.

8. Quickcam Pro 9000 – Dad travel?  Give the gift of Dad to the whole family, and put a smile on Dad’s face.

7. SpinRite – Fix that HD, oh and carefully suggest that Dad start backing up his data for free with Cobain backup.

6. Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus – Video editing software to replace the stuff that came free with the other video cam.

5. Toshiba 320GB Portable 2.5″ Hard Drive – Small and Portable. Great for the traveling geek!

4. Aiptek Action HD – Pocket sized HD Video recorder (Wow – 60 FPS – no worries the geek dad will know)

3. Western Digital 1TB External Hard Drive – Dad needs some place to save the family data, right?

2. Asus Eee PC – Ultra Portable Notebook Computer

1. Amazon Kindle – Ebook reader and oh so much more

 

Order now so it will arrive before Dad’s day! 

 

-Keith