Wednesday, April 23, 2008

A couple of new links...save ink, make podcasts, etc.

Do complete uninstalls of programs, and clean out your system. Revo Uninstaller solves an all-too-common problem: Programs whose uninstallation routines are sloppy. Not uncommonly, when you uninstall programs in Windows, they leave bits and pieces of themselves behind, such as Registry entries. This program promises to find all those bits and pieces and zap them so that when you uninstall software, your computer gets truly clean.

The program does more than just uninstall software. Revo Uninstaller also includes other cleaning tools, including an Autorun manager, that will show you all the programs that start on system startup--and lets you kill or remove any that you don't want run. And there's a very useful "Tracks Cleaner" that will remove traces of your browsing history, as well as traces left behind by Microsoft Office applications. http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,66703/download.html


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Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
File Size: 23602KB
Downloads Count: 2089
Author: GreenPrint Technologies
Streamline your printouts and save money with this free utility.

The GreenPrint Technologies CEO says the company's goal is "ending wasteful printing worldwide." To that end, it recently released this free version of the $35 GreenPrint Home.

GreenPrint World has many of the same features: It scans print jobs and removes pages that it determines are waste, like Web pages with just one line of text. It also removes most ads from Web pages automatically; lets you preview print jobs and remove images, text, or full pages; creates PDFs; and tracks the paper, money, and greenhouse gases you're saving. The free version is ad supported, with pitches for eco-conscious companies that appear in the Preview window. It lacks tech support, automatic version updates, and a few other features that the paid versions support.

In my tests GreenPrint World worked well. It installs as a separate printer that you select when printing from any application. You can set the default device that GreenPrint uses when you install the software, and you can change devices once you're in the program's Preview screen. You can also customize GreenPrint's parameters, choosing to strip out all graphics, for example. The program removes most advertisements, but not all, so you may need to do some fine tuning--but that's easily accomplished.

GreenPrint World is a great tool for home users who hate to waste printer ink and paper. Businesses are invited to evaluate the free version, but asked to upgrade to the $70 GreenPrint Enterprise edition. http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,69661/download.html
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License Type: Free
Price: Free
Date Added: Feb 2008
Operating Systems: Windows XP
Requirements: Microphone, Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
File Size: 25931KB
Downloads Count: 4001
Author: Equicast Media LLC
Podcast like a pro with this easy-to-use recording, mixing, show-building software. You don't need a professional recording studio to immortalize your brilliant thoughts and dulcet tones. All you need is a free program called WildVoice Studio.

WildVoice Studio's compact main window is broken into four components: Sound FX, Background Tracks, Mixer, and Show Builder. WVS includes a number of common sound effects--car horns, kisses, thunder, and so forth--and lets you add your own as well. Background Tracks can search your folders for files in the supported formats (AIFF, MP1, MP2, MP3, OGG, WAV,) and fade them in and out of your show. In Mixer, you move the sliders to get the volume mix right. Show Builder shows you a recording preview so you can see the volume levels, and you can create several clips to paste together into one show. None of this takes any special knowledge or equipment, although of course better recording equipment will produce better results.

I tested WildVoice Studio by reading bits of a Dickens novel aloud, doing each paragraph as one take. WildVoice lets you add sound effects and your own background tracks as you go, instead of creating separate tracks to mix. I slapped in a few of WildVoice's provided sound effects for good measure. One nifty feature: You can freeze all the tracks in place if you have to stop for a moment, then unfreeze when you're ready to record again.

Building the show was a snap. I just lined up my clips, saved the show as a WildVoice file, then selected "Save Show to MP3 and Publish" (skipping the "publish" part) to save as MP3.

That said, if you register with WildVoice, you can upload your podcasts to WildVoice.com, where your adoring fans can listen, comment, and Digg your work. It's a simple way to broadcast your shows without eating up your own bandwidth.

Note: WildVoice Studio Setup will install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, if it's not already installed on your PC. http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,69518/download.html

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Oh, and if you do decide to get a new router, here's a tool that'll help if you ever lose your router's wireless network keys--the WEP or WPA codes. (We've all been there, right?) NirSoft's free WirelessKeyView lets you recover them all, saving everything to a file or right onto your clipboard. http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wirelesskeyview.zip
Nirsoft has a lot of utilities on their site. Check it out.

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