Favorite Files

1. ATI Catalyst Drivers for Windows Vista
2. ATI Catalyst Drivers for Windows XP
3. avast! Home
4. CDBurnerXP
5. DivX for Windows
6. FileZilla v3 for Windows
7. foobar2000
8. Foxit Reader
9. GoldWave
10. Google Desktop for Windows
11. GrabIt
12. HTTrack Website Copier for Windows
13. ImgBurn
14. Koepi's XviD Codec
15. mp3DirectCut
16. Mp3tag
17. OpenOffice.org for Windows
18. Paint.NET
19. Pidgin for Windows
20. PSPad editor
21. Ultimate Windows Tweaker
22. UltraISO
23. VirtualDub
24. VirtuaWin
25. WavPack
26. XMPlay
27. XnView for Windows

Recent Posts

1. 
   Review - Mozilla Firefox (v3.5) for Windows

   3.5.5 (Nov 5, 2009)

   Crashes sporadically when closing with multiple tabs open, Dumbazz error - typical "memory at xxx cannot be read" even after clearing all cookies.
   
   Can you say "3.5.6"? Yes, boyz and girlz, I knew you could.
   
   ONE star for poor QA.

2. 
   Review - Google Desktop for Windows

   5.9.909.30391 (Oct 16, 2009)

   Lived with this for a few days now.
   
   It's still got a bug where gadgets will suddenly disappear from the sidebar. The outline of the gadget and the space it occupies remains but the gadget itself is gone. This is noticeably prevalent with the LauncherMod app launcher (indispensable to me).
   
   Also, the bug persists where it is too easy to accidentally undock a gadget form the sidebar. A lock function MUST be added.
   
   Windows Vista DOES offer the sidebar functionality but Windows 7 DOES NOT. The "renovations" to the sidebar now lose the "bar always on top" function that would push applications aside from the space it occupied, leaving anything on the sidebar always instantly accessible (good design, Micro$haft - you stole it form every other sidebar that has been there since Windows 3.1). One must now click an icon to display gadgets (stupid move, Micro$haft!) or leave them in "always on top" mode which means they appear on top of other applications (even more stupid move, Micro$haft!).
   
   That being said, Google needs to get past its shoddy application image which means that (heaven help us!) they should actually practice QA and proper testing on their apps.
   
   The current bugs are inexcusable.
   
   THREE stars.
   
   Note to DeKoquonut:
   
   Ain't nuthin' but an echo in yours, mon.

3. 
   Review - AVG Anti-Virus Free

   9.0.686a1719 (Oct 15, 2009)

   It's arguably a good product and I used it for years but I'ev switched permanently to MS Security Essentials.
   
   Why?
   
   It's lighter, faster and better integrated into the OS, a situation that can only improve over time. (200Mb less RAM used and less intrusion into file operations while providing the same basic essential protection)
   
   It doesn't nag me for a month once a year.
   
   As time has passed, this product has gotten bulkier and more unweildy. In its present state I'm going to give it a 3.5 rounded 8p to a 4.

4. 
   Review - Google Desktop for Windows

   5.9.909.8267 (Sep 24, 2009)

   I have significantly flayed this software in the past because it didn't offer what other products did, did not support 64bit Windows and worse yet, was rife with bugs.
   
   I'm not going to comment on the security implications at this point.
   
   The software has matured, now supports 64bit Windows and Google has gone on a comprehensive bug squashing mission that has been largely successful.
   
   The software is now usable.
   
   Whether or not I trust Google to stay out of my hard drive remains to be analyzed by, at the very least, observing what packets emanate from a PC running this software and analyzing the implications thereof but at present I haven't done this.
   
   I am prepared to, ignoring any possible security implications, award the software a guarded FOUR stars based on its usability.
   
   That being said, I don't trust corporate ethics, viewing that term an oxymoron.
   
   Users should take all claims of Google's (or any other corporation's) "integrity" with a HUGE grain of rock salt in today's world.
   
   FOUR stars.

5. 
   Review - MP3 Quality Modifier

   1.13 (Sep 21, 2009)

   OK, this is simply garbage.
   
   Anyone who knows the first thing about lossy encoding is aware that re-encoding mp3s (or any lossy format for that matter) WILL result is additional quality loss that goes beyond what would be lost if you had encoded to the new bitrate natively in the first place.
   
   Hard drive space is dirt cheap. mp3 players with Gb capacity are dirt cheap. So why would you be stupid enough to use this dreck? And why would you create it in the first place?
   
   ONE star.

6. Comment - Google Chrome in a runaway lead for browser performance supremacy

   1.13 (Nov 2, 2009 - 4:38 PM)

   "Google Chrome in a runaway lead for browser performance supremacy"
   
   ...with no customization add-ons worth discussion and from a company whose track record in software dev is at best questionable (Google desktop anyone?).
   
   **YAWN**

7. Comment - Bad Vista-to-Windows 7 upgrade experiences #1: 'Hosed' Intel SSDs

   1.13 (Oct 28, 2009 - 3:51 PM)

   Honestly, I can't figure out what the hoopla is about a broken technology. We're talking after all about a technology that only allows a rather limited number of whites before it, oh I don't know, DIES. Extend the life of the medium to about ten years of heavy I/O (with full-duplexed reads and writes) and then I'll think about paying ridiculous prices for 1Tb drives, never mind someone's buggy firmware.
   
   Until then, it's a really good example of the "more money than brains" category.

8. Comment - Microsoft's 'Have it Your Way' confronts Apple's 'Have it Our Way'

   1.13 (Oct 23, 2009 - 1:46 PM)

   Bottom line:
   
   XP was all about getting to whatever part of the OS you wanted via many different paths.
   
   The Vista UI was the typical Mac drone mindset of "do it my way or the highway - I am The One True Path To The Shining Light".
   
   We all know how THAT went.
   
   It looks like MS learned its lesson.

9. Comment - Apple declares war on the entire PC industry

   1.13 (Oct 21, 2009 - 7:28 AM)

   Yes.
   
   They do.
   
   They are the biggest con job in the industry.

10. Comment - The new iPod nano: A flop?

    1.13 (Oct 20, 2009 - 10:20 AM)

    You want audio quality: guy Cowon (any model)
    
    You want cheap audio quality: buy Sansa (Clip / Fuze)
    
    You want real feature sets / format support: buy anything but Apple
    
    You want over-pruiced junk that doesn't have decent audio quality and is essentially an advertisement for a proprietary music service that suckers you into paying lossless prices for lossy music that the company dictates what you can do with thanks to its heinous DRM posture: buy Apple
    
    Apple DAPs == sucker products
    
    Nano: latest in a LONG line of Apple con jobs