This is a list of free programs that I use frequently and think you should all be aware of.
Windows:
Anti-virus - AVG
Firewall - ZoneAlarm
Anti-spyware - Spybot
Computer Maintenance and Registry Cleaner - Easy Cleaner - CCleaner
Hard Disk Space Viewer - Windows Directory Statistics
Web Browser - Firefox
VNC Server - UltraVNC
Codec Pack - Vista Codec Package
Video Conversion - Any Video Converter Free
Screen Capture - Screen Hunter
Screen Recorder - Auto Screen Reorder
Mac:
Instant Messenger - Adium
Hard Disk Space Viewer - Disk Inventory X
Web Browser - Firefox
PDF File Merger - PDFMergeX
Remote Desktop Viewer - RealVNC
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Tuner Free MCE - On Demand TV in Media Center
I wanted to share this cool add-on for Windows Media Centre that lets you watch all the UK TV On-Demand services through media centre. This means you can navigate through the programs with your remote, with the media centre interface, from your sofa.
The application is written by a guy called Martin Millmore and is very useful. The program still has its small bugs but on the whole works very well. You can browse by channel and also group episodes of the same series together. The flashy falling of the thumbnails gets annoying but is worth the wait.
The download is small at under 700Kb and installs very quickly. Once installed it will display as an icon in media centre to the left of 'Recorded TV'. It will take a while to download the listings initially but just let it run its course. If the programs aren't displayed when you open the application (after the initial download of the listings) just go back out and then into the program again and they should load. Also note the different navigation controls of the video due to the different technologies involved such as Flash, Silverlight and Windows Media.
TunerFree MCE
NB. x64 users - make sure that you copy the application folder into the 'C:\Program Files' directory due to a hard coded link.
The application is written by a guy called Martin Millmore and is very useful. The program still has its small bugs but on the whole works very well. You can browse by channel and also group episodes of the same series together. The flashy falling of the thumbnails gets annoying but is worth the wait.
The download is small at under 700Kb and installs very quickly. Once installed it will display as an icon in media centre to the left of 'Recorded TV'. It will take a while to download the listings initially but just let it run its course. If the programs aren't displayed when you open the application (after the initial download of the listings) just go back out and then into the program again and they should load. Also note the different navigation controls of the video due to the different technologies involved such as Flash, Silverlight and Windows Media.
TunerFree MCE
NB. x64 users - make sure that you copy the application folder into the 'C:\Program Files' directory due to a hard coded link.
Missing Guide Listings - Windows Media Centre
I have had the problem for a while that some channel's guide listings in my Vista Media Centre application where not showing up. In their space was just a message saying "No data available." I have found two possible reasons for this and the solutions are the same.
Firstly the lack of listings may be due to regional differences in the channels schedule. Sometimes media centre will pick these up automatically, like mine did with BBC1, and sometimes it will not, like my ITV1. The other reason may simply be that media centre has lost the listings association with the relevant channel.
To solve the problem, in Media Centre go to: Home > Tasks > Settings > TV > Guide > Add Listings to Channel
Now select the channel you are missing listings for and look through the list that is displayed. You may find a regional variation of the channel eg. 'ITV1 West of England' and if you do, this is probably the culprit. If you can't find a regional listing just select the normal channel name. This should re-establish the association between the channel and the listing.
I have had missing listings for both of these reasons and using the method above now have a full guide, no more manual scheduling of recordings for me!
If this doesn't solve your problem make sure you selected the correct transmitter when setting up the guide. You can do this again by selecting 'Set Up Guide Listings' from the guide menu as before.
Hope this helps.
Firstly the lack of listings may be due to regional differences in the channels schedule. Sometimes media centre will pick these up automatically, like mine did with BBC1, and sometimes it will not, like my ITV1. The other reason may simply be that media centre has lost the listings association with the relevant channel.
To solve the problem, in Media Centre go to: Home > Tasks > Settings > TV > Guide > Add Listings to Channel
Now select the channel you are missing listings for and look through the list that is displayed. You may find a regional variation of the channel eg. 'ITV1 West of England' and if you do, this is probably the culprit. If you can't find a regional listing just select the normal channel name. This should re-establish the association between the channel and the listing.
I have had missing listings for both of these reasons and using the method above now have a full guide, no more manual scheduling of recordings for me!
If this doesn't solve your problem make sure you selected the correct transmitter when setting up the guide. You can do this again by selecting 'Set Up Guide Listings' from the guide menu as before.
Hope this helps.
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Cross Platform Remote Desktop Connection
Like many people I have more than one computer, one a Windows Vista Premium desktop, the other an Apple MacBook. I recently wanted to be able to control my Windows desktop from my Mac over my home network. While this is possible with Windows Remote Desktop connection, the ability to run a server (ie. the computer being connected to) is only enabled in the Business and Ultimate editions of Vista. While there are quite a few other solutions out there, the best free one I have found is UltraVNC.
The download is fairly small at only a few megabytes and installation is fairly quick and straightforward. In most cases the default settings will be fine but there is a great guide for both installation and configuration on the site.
Once your server is running the only thing left to do is download a viewer to access your computer. I am currently trying out two but am leaning towards RealVNC for its speed and range of settings. Set-up is simple; download the file, run the application, type in the network address of your server (this can be found by hovering over the UltraVNC system tray icon) and then enter your password if you have set one. You may want to manually set the quality setting as the default tends to be a little high. There is a trade off between colour depth and refresh rate of the display but this will depend on your network speed.
Now you can shecdule recordings, open applications, access files that aren't shared on your network and anything else you may want to do remotely.
UltraVNC - Windows VNC Server
RealVNC Viewer - Cross-Platform Viewer
Chicken of the VNC - Lightweight OSX Viewer
While this currently only works over a local network (ie. both computers are connected to the same router) it is possible to remotely access your computer over the internet with the use of a VPN (Virtual Private Network). While I have not extensively looked into this I have heard good things about Hamachi which is free for personal use and may well be useful to you. More on this soon.
The download is fairly small at only a few megabytes and installation is fairly quick and straightforward. In most cases the default settings will be fine but there is a great guide for both installation and configuration on the site.
Once your server is running the only thing left to do is download a viewer to access your computer. I am currently trying out two but am leaning towards RealVNC for its speed and range of settings. Set-up is simple; download the file, run the application, type in the network address of your server (this can be found by hovering over the UltraVNC system tray icon) and then enter your password if you have set one. You may want to manually set the quality setting as the default tends to be a little high. There is a trade off between colour depth and refresh rate of the display but this will depend on your network speed.
Now you can shecdule recordings, open applications, access files that aren't shared on your network and anything else you may want to do remotely.
UltraVNC - Windows VNC Server
RealVNC Viewer - Cross-Platform Viewer
Chicken of the VNC - Lightweight OSX Viewer
While this currently only works over a local network (ie. both computers are connected to the same router) it is possible to remotely access your computer over the internet with the use of a VPN (Virtual Private Network). While I have not extensively looked into this I have heard good things about Hamachi which is free for personal use and may well be useful to you. More on this soon.
MCEBuddy - Automated DVR-MS Converter
MCEBuddy is a very good application I found for all versions of Windows that automatically converts your recorded television programs into a variety of more assessable formats. Not only can this save some much needed hard disk space but it allows you to transfer your programs to an MP4 player such as an iPod or Sony PSP.
While this is very useful in itself the real reason for sharing this with you is the automatic removal of adverts feature. Using a bundled program called Comskip, MCEBuddy will scan your TV programs and identify the adverts it contains. It then creates a text file listing the time location of the adverts within the program which MCEBuddy will omit when converting the video.
This feature is obviously very useful and stops you reaching for your remote every 10 minutes.
The program runs silently in the background with a taskbar icon notifying you of activity and while idle uses very little system resources. There is a wide variety of formats to convert to and you can choose a different output folder to preserve your original recordings if you desire. You can also choose a second video format to convert to if you wish so you have versions for viewing both on your computer and your MP4 player.
The only drawback I can find with converting from the DVR-MS format is the lack of information contained in the new video files. This means things such as program descriptions, series information and showing times are no longer viewable from Media Centre or any other media player.
The program is only a small download and takes literally a few minutes to install and configure.
MCEBuddy
While this is very useful in itself the real reason for sharing this with you is the automatic removal of adverts feature. Using a bundled program called Comskip, MCEBuddy will scan your TV programs and identify the adverts it contains. It then creates a text file listing the time location of the adverts within the program which MCEBuddy will omit when converting the video.
This feature is obviously very useful and stops you reaching for your remote every 10 minutes.
The program runs silently in the background with a taskbar icon notifying you of activity and while idle uses very little system resources. There is a wide variety of formats to convert to and you can choose a different output folder to preserve your original recordings if you desire. You can also choose a second video format to convert to if you wish so you have versions for viewing both on your computer and your MP4 player.
The only drawback I can find with converting from the DVR-MS format is the lack of information contained in the new video files. This means things such as program descriptions, series information and showing times are no longer viewable from Media Centre or any other media player.
The program is only a small download and takes literally a few minutes to install and configure.
MCEBuddy
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