Free Download Manager

I found this while scrounging around the net for a decent downloader, and I think i found a gem.

FDM allows you to restart most downloads, it comes with software to try and defend you against malicious software downloads, and my favorite, it allows you to seed your download with other download mirrors.

So for instance, you want to download program.exe. you download it from the sight you find it, the if you google the same program (the download, in other words google program.exe, for example) and find a mirror for it, you can then add it to the download in FDM and it will then get that program from the mirrors you give it. Very useful for speedier downloads, and for those of us who have a net connection that seems to go up and down in transfer speed like a yo yo.

You can download FDM here:
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/

-Denny

7 Zip a totally free multi format archiver

Today there are so many programs out on the net for free, some of which are compressed to speed up the transfer between computers. To uncompress them you need a program.

7Zip does an excellent job, is free, and has no ad-ware in it.

It's my personal favorite for my windows machine, and it's a solid part of my linux machine as well.

If you are interested in this awesome program, go here:

http://www.7-zip.org/



P.S. if you are a linux person using debian or some other program for getting your updates, getting 7zip is as easy as typing '7zip' (no quotes) in synaptic or other package fetcher)...

-Denny

VLC Media Player

I wanted to talk about VLC Media Player today, have you ever been looking for that program that plays all your media? something that will play your music files (like mp3, m4a, wma, etc.) your dvd's, your music videos, your home video, whatever it is VLC will do it.

I found VLC looking for a good free dvd player, and was coming up short utill i found VLC.

If you have a media collection you might want to give this a try!

http://www.filehippo.com/download_vlc/



-Denny

No Script is good Script

I have been wanting to talk about this for a while.

For those of you who are big into security, say hello to noscript!

NoScript is a plugin that installs into firefox. (FireFox is a web browser)

NoScript Blocks all script unless you ok it. (A few sites already added, such as google.)

This make firefox with noscript very secure, no website will be able to activate any script from active x to javascript and all ways inbeetween unless you give the go ahead.

I use it to allow the webpage i want to run their scripts, but not the advertisement sites that accompany some of them.

Besides a defensive tool, it kind of teaches you, you'll be amazed at just how many places you are actually connecting to whe you go to a webpage.

You can download FireFox here:
http://www.filehippo.com/download_firefox/

And then download Noscript here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

One last thing, if you notice parts of a webpage arent loading properly it's probably because that website is blocked. After noscript is intalled, on the bottom right of firefox's windows will be a S with or without a slash through it, click on it, and "allow" that website.

-Denny

Droid using Android

One of my friends is a staunch supporter of Microsoft products.

He was really impressed with a friends new phone, a Droid running the Android OS.

I informed him that the OS (Operating System) he was impressed with "Android" is a version of Linux.

I am seeing more and more people interested in linux, besides the price for linux distrobutions usually being free, there is also the ability to do almost everything windows does, with the exception of a few 3D video games and a few windows programs.

I think your going to see big things come from the Ubuntu and PCLinuxOS versions of Linux.
I believe we will soon see a Linux OS that can run 100% of all windows apps.

What that would mean to someone that chooses linux is that they would be able to run all windows apps, all linux apps, and a lot of, if not all of Mac's apps.

(An app, short for application, is a program. anything you run, from notepad or word, to a video game is known as an app.)

-Denny

Wolvix

I am writing today about my favorite mini linux os, Wolvix.

I have been looking for quite some time now for a debian linux os that is compact like Damn Small Linux, but has all the functionality of a full os.

This is a hard thing to pull off, since there are so many applications to consider.

Damn Small Linux is a nice tool for fixing linux and a few other applications, but is terrible as a main everyday os.

An os like Ubuntu is huge and has a lot of aplications ill never use, but is fully functional for an average day of duties.

I am looking for an operating system in the middle.

One that is as compact as possible, but can still do everything Ubuntu can if and when needed, and in an easy to use setting.

Wolvix almost does this. I love Wolvix, except for the fact that it doesn't use the regular debian packages, which means it's always a league behind the debian releases.

Still, if you're hunting for a similar os, consider Wolvix.

http://wolvix.org

-Denny

Intel's new 48 CORE chip

In a news release by Intel, they mentioned having a experimental chip already running at 20 times today's current pc speeds.

It's rather impressive.

The current computer being sold right now at the big blue box is beetween 2 core's and 4.

The power generated by these multi core machines is roughly around 4 and 9 ghz (gigahertz).

The gigahert is the speed of the CPU (Central Processing Unit). Basically the cpu is the computer's brain. The section of your computer that actually computes, or "thinks" mostly mathematical equations.

To put it in context, when computers first started becoming a home appliance is the 486 to pentium 1 era, where speeds where from 8 to 300 mhz, (mhz stands for megahertz, or 1000 hertz) or more.

A gigahert is 1000 megahertz. My machine is 4.8 ghz, or 4800 megahertz.

But my machine is 3 years old. it's common place to see 9.9 ghz in a 4 core system, meaning 9900 megahertz.

This new chip is up to 20 times faster, so possibly 180 ghz or faster. (180,000 megahertz.)

What's impressive to us old timers in computer repair is that in a matter of 20 years we have quite possibly gained 22,500 times the speed of those first 286's, 386's, 486's and pentium 1's of the early and middle 90's.

Quite impressed,
-Denny