NaughtySpawn

Posts Tagged ‘Software’

To put it simply, I can’t work without Roboform. There is no better way of dealing with web site passwords. Now that I’m in the midst of my Ubuntu musings I find I don’t have Roboform at my disposal as I once did. However, until there is a native version of Roboform for Ubuntu there is a pretty easy workaround to make your passwords available in a different OS.

First thing you need to do is go here and create an online account so you can sync your passwords. This is the same account you would make if you want to sync your passwords to your iPhone/iPod Touch (which I have also done).

With the account created sync your passwords.

Back on that same Roboform page, drag the Roboform link on the right to your toolbar.

Now, whenever you need to log in, click the Roboform button on your toolbar and your list of synced passwords will appear.

Pretty easy and very handy.

But wait! There’s more!

Roboform is having a Valentine’s Day sale. You cam get Roboform for 20% off which makes the price $23.95. Not a bad savings for this incredibly handy app! Plus you can get it working cross-platform no problem.

Get the full instructions on the Roboform Bookmarklet page

Stem a zombie attack on your iPhone!
Get ready to soil your plants in this brand-new version of the hit PopCap game! A mob of fun-loving zombies is about to invade your home, and your only defense is an arsenal of 49 zombie-zapping plants. Use peashooters, wall-nuts, cherry bombs and more to slow down, confuse, weaken and mulchify 26 types of zombies before they can reach your front door.
Each zombie has its own special skills, so you’ll need to think fast and plant faster to combat them all. But be careful how you use your limited supply of greens and seeds… as you battle the fun-dead, obstacles like a setting sun, creeping fog and a swimming pool add to the challenging fun. Get ready to soil your plants!
- Conquer all 50 levels of Adventure mode — through day, night and fog, in a swimming pool and on the rooftop
- Battle 26 types of zombies including pole-vaulters, snorkelers and “Zomboni” drivers
- Earn 49 powerful perennials and collect coins to buy upgrades, power-ups and more
- Open the Almanac to see all the plants and zombies, plus amusing “facts” and quotes
- Collect 13 iPhone-exclusive PvZ achievements
- Replay levels in the all-new Quick Play arena
- All the fun of the hit PC/Mac game — adapted for fun-dead fun on your iPhone
- Hilarious graphics, great soundtrack and a bonus music video

Plants vs. Zombies – $2.99

If you like your Diablo-styled action/RPGs, but always wished they had a more classical feel, Steam has a deal for you. From now through Thursday, February 4, you can pick up Titan Quest Gold for 75% off the regular price. That includes the original Titan Quest, chock-full of mythological Greek beasts to eviscerate, plus the Immortal Throne expansion that adds more of everything.

Titan Quest Gold – $19.99 — $4.99

I’ve been upgrading and installing software on my new machine this weekend and with that I moved from the now defunct Microsoft Money to Quicken 2010. Personally I think the interface and other features of Quicken are actually quite quirky, but that’s neither here nor there. One’s supported and the other isn’t. Anyway, after importing everything and setting up new accounts Quicken throws up this incredibly annoying screen that says I need to register to actually use their program to download my bank info. Excuse me? WTF? I have to make an account with you to use this program? That doesn’t fly. I have all my bank details and credit card info in here and now you want me to basically send that to you? I think not.

Just I was about to remove it and write a pissed off email I can across the answer: Disable Quicken Registration Prompt

Simply put, hold down the left CTRL + Shift and click the Update button. You’ll immediately get a confirmation that you won’t get prompted to register anymore, but you can still get bank updates like you would expect. Hopefully this little trick will keep working (I just did it in the 2010 version). Registering so I can actually use a program I bought is just plain stupid.

Let me know about your successes.

Since everyone else is listing their favorite apps for 2009, I thought I would go ahead and throw in my .02 cents worth. There’s tons of good software out there, but this is the list of stuff I pretty much use everyday. I use these at home and at work.

Writing/Publishing
Microsoft OneNote 2007
Microsoft LiveWriter
Notepad++
Wordpress

I obviously use Wordpress on a daily basis for my blogs and Live Writer is one of the best tools for publishing articles. It might be a couple years old now but OneNote is one of the handiest apps I’ve used in a long time. Grabbing notes from the web and compiling research is a breeze with it. And Notepad++ is the best plain text editor out there.

Graphics
Corel Paint Shop Pro X2
Adobe Lightroom 2
Irfanview
FastStone Image Viewer

These are the graphics apps I use pretty much every day. Irfanview is my primary viewer and FastStone is a great folder viewer. For simple editing PSP is so easy to work with and Lightroom is amazing when it comes to working with photos.

Internet
Firefox 3
Digsby
Roboform
Internet Privacy Pro
Firebug
Web Developer Toolbar

Firefox is my choice in browser since it gets updated every few weeks versus the years it takes Microsoft to update IE. Digsby has become my choice for IM client since it connects to multiple services at one time and has tons of features. I really can’t live without Roboform these days. I now have hundreds of logins stored in it (and I have it on the iPod too!). Internet Privacy Pro cleans up all the cookies and left over temp files while Firebug and the Web Developer Toolbar let me debug web pages with ease. Everybody working on the web is using Firebug aren’t they?

Media
AnyDVD
CloneDVD
CloneDVDMobile
Handbrake

AnyDVD is the only way to get your DVDs on to your media center. CloneDVD just makes it all the easier. CloneDVDMobile gets DVDs onto my iPod with just a couple of clicks and Handbrake makes it easy to convert my AVIs to MP4s so I can play them on the iPod. Handbrake can convert from DVD to MP4, but my machine hasn’t had much luck with it.

Utilities
Windowblinds
ObjectDesktop
7-Zip
O&O DiskImage
O&O MediaRecovery

Windowblinds and ObjectDesktop offer tons of tools and enhancements to Windows. Make it look better, make apps easier to launch, tweak the settings and clean up the desktop. Some of it’s just for fun, but there is still a lot of power in the tools they make.

7-Zip is a great open source way to handle Zip and Rar files. For backups and file recovery, O&O makes some of the best tools out there. They’re small and fast and do a great job of imaging drives and finding lost/damaged files.

New Graphics Apps
DxO 6
Artisteer

These are some new apps I’m trying out this year. I got DxO at version 4 and thought it was pretty good, but seriously lacked some camera support. Version 6 seems to pick up the slack and offer lots of new cameras and bodies, as well as new features for adjusting pictures. I got it for a great price so I’m willing to give this new version another chance.

Artisteer is a new app I bought for making Wordpress themes. For the most part I have been very impressed with it. I made a bunch of themes for Halloween and even a couple for Christmas. Making themes is incredibly easy, but it does have a cookie cutter sort of feel to it. It’s a little on the expensive side, but it let’s me swap out themes whenever I want without having to spend hours searching the web. Plus, the code is easily modified so I can make adjustments where I see fit.

Like I said, this isn’t every software program I use, that list would be unruly, but these represent the apps I use all the time. When I build a new machine these are the first apps to go on. I’m sure some of you are using a few of them yourselves. If you’ve got a favorite app, let me know, I’m always on the lookout for useful utilities.