1. Logon Screen Changer

Sure, you can change your logon screen manually, but what if you’re not a computer whiz and you’re afraid to edit your registry? There are tons of problems that could occur because of this, and the Tweaks.com team knows that you’re not always in the mood to look through your computer’s guts to change something on it. All you have to do is download the application here, run it, and click the “Change Logon Screen” button. You don’t even have to break a sweat!

2. CSMenu – Go “Retro” With Your Start Menu

Windows 7 includes a very versatile Start menu, but not everyone has a taste for the shiny and flashy Aero design on it. That’s why CSMenu’s developers came up with this nifty little application that reverts the W7 Start menu back to something you used to see in Windows 2000. The newer version of the application doesn’t need any dependencies and even allows you to make the Start menu translucent. You can download the application here.

3. GMail Notifications on Your Desktop

You can literally count the amount of Gmail notification applications for Windows on two hands, so why’s this one special? Well, it includes an interface that integrates taskbar features unique to Windows 7. When you right-click the application icon, it shows you the subject line of every unread message you have, a unique feature that helps you save time and wade through what’s not important when you’re busy. You can download Gmail Notifier Plus here.

4. NeoSmart Windows 7 Repair Disc Creator

Just bought a new computer and noticed it doesn’t have a recovery disc? Tons of PC retailers, aside from loading their PCs with really crappy cheap hardware (and software), are now making the Windows recovery disks a proprietary feature you have to buy. Instead of dishing out the cash, just create your own W7 recovery disk with NeoSmart. The company’s software lets you repair damaged files, use System Restore, and back up your system completely. Don’t let the fat cats in fancy suits take your money. Download the application here.

5. Winfox – Adding Taskbar Features to Firefox

When you right-click an icon on a task bar, you often get a list of things you can do with the application the icon belongs to. This is called a jump list. Mozilla seems to have forgotten to include such features in Firefox in recent versions, so Winfox comes to the rescue with a small program that modifies Firefox to do this. If you have Firefox 4 or above, you have nothing to worry about, but for those of you that chose to stick with older versions, you can download the application here.

6. Hulu Desktop Integration

For those of you that use Microsoft’s Windows Media Center and Hulu, someone had you in their mind. Hulu Desktop Integration allows you to switch between W7 Media Center and Hulu quickly, without having to go to your desktop. The application gives you a Hulu button in Media Center. Once you click it, Media Center closes, and Hulu comes up in full screen. Download the application here.

7. Stack Up Your Important Programs With StandaloneStack

Windows 7 has some very interesting features integrated in its taskbar, but it doesn’t integrate a stack of important applications like Windows XP did. StandaloneStack is your alternative to solve this issue. It integrates something like the quick start menu and lets you see all the icons in it with one single click. Download the application here.

8. Find Hidden Settings Easily With XdN Tweaker

Tired of looking through an overly complicated W7 control panel? XdN Tweaker solves this problem by including all those settings that are difficult to find in one simple package. Click here to download XdN Tweaker.

9. Make Alt+Tab Interesting

Are you tired of the oversimplified “Alt+Tab” window switching screen that has no new features? Developers at Ntwind Software came up with a free application that lets you get an elegant and complex interface for window switching, even showing you a preview of the widow you’re switching to. Once you install VistaSwitcher, you’ll feel like your OS has wings. And yes, as the name implies, it works both for Windows Vista and 7. Click here to download.

10. Get All Your Favorite Apps in One Interface

Are you planning on reinstalling Windows, or did you just get a new computer without any applications? Skip all the boring app installations you do whenever you’re breaking in a new OS and install all those applications using a custom installer by Ninite. The program works with almost every version of Windows up to W7. Click here to give it a shot!

The Run-Down

When I first heard about some of these programs, I’ve been wondering where they’ve been all my life. Every one of these tools does something wonderful to your computer and turns it into something that interacts with you in a way you probably didn’t think possible. All of them are free, meaning that brave developers took the plunge and dedicated their time to something they’ll never profit from.

If a project has a “Donate” button, and you feel like you’ve got the pockets for it, go ahead and give the project the recognition it deserves. Our contributions inspire new ideas and innovation in open application development that allow people like these to begin projects which benefit more people.

I certainly hope you enjoy these applications and benefit from at least one of them. Make sure that you leave a comment below. We’d love to hear what you have to say about the programs and your experience trying them.

Standard Notifications

By default KDE’s notifications pop up from the “Notifications” widget, which is found in the panel next to the system tray. Whenever a system or application event occurs, the notification will briefly appear in a Plasma popup over this area. Once the popup disappears, you can click the icon at any time to see past notifications.

Notification Widget Settings

The notification widget has a few settings that can change the way it displays notifications for you. To reach the settings, right click on the widget icon and click “Notification Settings”. The first section labeled “Pop Up Notices” allows you to select some basic notification categories: “Application notifications” and “File transfers and other jobs”. The last setting labeled “Automatically hide” determines if notifications disappear after a short time.

Notification Configuration

More extensive KDE notifications are available in System Settings in the “Application and System Notifications” section. The first pane called “Manage Notifications” allows you to configure system and application notifications.

“Event source” refers to the system or application that will send the notification. The “State” column tells you which types of notifications are enabled for a particular event. KDE gives you five options for this:

1. Play a sound – Choose any supported audio file you want.
2. Show a message in a popup – the standard method
3. Log to a file – useful if you want to keep track of how often an event occurs
4. Mark taskbar entry – The taskbar will change colors to alert you of the event
5. Run command – With this you can enable more advanced responses to notifications. When a certain event finishes, it can spawn a program that starts another.

As an example, suppose you want to change the way KTorrent notifies you when a torrent has finished downloading to automatically start your video player. By default, it will only show a popup and possibly play a sound if the KDE sound system is enabled. To change this, do the following:

1. Click the dropdown menu next to “event source” and choose KTorrent
2. Choose the last event in the list “Torrent has finished downloading”
3. Check the “Run command” box
4. Type in the command /usr/bin/dragon (or whichever video player you use).

To change the way KDE plays system sounds, click the next tab labeled “Player Settings”. This allows you to adjust the volume, use an external player (such as “play” or “mplayer”), or disable audio output completely.

Other Notifications

One of the more annoying features that I have always disabled in KDE is the bouncing “busy cursor”. If you share my disdain for it, you can disable it by clicking the “Launch Feedback” button and choosing “No Busy Cursor” from the dropdown menu. In order to still get some type of notification when a program is launched or demands attention, leave “enable taskbar notification” enabled. The “startup indication timeout” option determines how long the notification stays in the taskbar even after a program fails to start.

KDE’s notification system can make use of the accessibility system bell to provide better notification for people who are not easily alerted by the standard notifications. Click the “System Bell” button and check “use system bell instead of system notification” to enable this feature.

Ultimate Flexibility

KDE now has the ability to interpret GTK notifications, resulting in better integration of KDE and non-KDE apps. The KDE nofitication system can be as active or as passive as you want. You can even detach a notification popup and move it to a different location. It provides the ultimate flexibility for all types of users.

Note: The following portable applications are meant for the Windows OS.

1. Portablefreeware.com

Portablefreeware.com is my most favorite site for searching any kind of portable apps. It has a large collection of portable freeware programs. The programs are well categorized and I can find almost every kind of software that I want to have in my USB Flash drive. The good thing about this site is that it is very frequently updated with new and updated portable apps. The reviews of the apps are to the point and important information is clearly written like where does the program store its settings, system requirements etc.

2. Portableapps.com

Portableapps.com is yet another site to look for portable version of latest and popular applications. I like it because their release cycle of new applications is very quick. I get the new portable version of lately released application within a day or two. Portableapps.com is also known for its portable apps suite. They have a fantastic set of applications combined as a suite along with the application launcher. So if you install the suite on a USB Flash drive, you can get a Windows start menu like application launcher which can be used to launch programs installed on the USB Flash drive. The best feature of this suite is that it also contains a software updater. The installed portable apps will automatically be updated without losing any settings or data.

3. Liberkey.com

Liberkey.com has a suite of portable apps. Currently there are 293 applications which can be downloaded with a single click. The applications are from different categories including audio, video, graphics, Internet, games, security, education, system, etc. This pretty much sums up everything a normal person would need for his daily needs. Liberkey suite also features automatic online updates. So all the programs in the suite get updated automatically without losing any type of setting or data. If you don’t want the whole suite, applications can also be downloaded individually.

4. WinPenPack

WinPenPack is another suite of portable apps. It also contains the most popular applications for your pen drive. It differentiates itself from other portable app suites in that it has two types of suites available for download. WinPenPack Essentials contains only the most frequently used applications. This is especially handy for people who have space constraints. WinPenPack Full contains all the apps offered in the suite. Another good feature of WinPenPack is that you can build your own suite of portable apps with WinPenPack Personal. This can be handy for people who want to customize the suite to pinpoint their needs only.

These are the suites that I use frequently for my office needs. There are other suites that can also be used but I have not tried them yet. I am listing them here for your reference.

Pendriveapps.com

Lupo PenSuite

Both these are not as popular as the above mentioned suites but are certainly worth a try. I hope this has been post has been informative for our readers. You may also like to see how to make Windows applications portable.

Image credit: BigStockPhoto

Cog is a lightweight music player,  which supports many audio file-types including MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, AAC, Apple Lossless, Musepack, Monkeys Audio, Shorten, Wavpack, Wave/AIFF and much more. It also offers HTTP streaming, as well as some neat features like gapless playback, support for Apple remotes, Last.fm integration and Growl notifications. Additionally, it lets you specify which audio output device to use, should you happen to have more than one.

Layout

The layout is as straightforward as they come. It has a window which serves as the playlist, into which you can drag and drop music from Finder or the “file drawer”. You are able to save and load playlists, and both m3u and pls formats are supported. There are also options to turn on shuffle and repeat as one would expect from any music player, and you are able to search the playlist to jump quickly to a specific file.

Music Library

Some people find iTunes’ management of our music folders less than ideal, in the way that it reorganises and renames files and folders. As mentioned earlier, my music collection suffered a catastrophic setback a few years ago when iTunes decided to delete the entire collection of files. I was able to recover most of it, but needless to say I’ll never trust iTunes again. Thankfully, Cog takes a very hands-off approach to managing your music.

Cog has what it calls the “file drawer”, which is basically an integrated finder window attached to the main playlist window. The first thing you’ll need to do is specify which folder to use as the base for the file drawer in the application preferences, as per the image below.

Once you’ve done that and saved the preferences, just click the little folder icon on the top left and the file drawer will expand out. Adding music is then as simple as dragging and dropping folders or files from the drawer.

Shortcut Keys

Cog supports the Apple remote and also lets you specify shortcut keys in the preferences, under the “Hot Keys” tab.  It also offers full support for media keys, should your Mac keyboard have them. One issue you might run into, however, is that iTunes might also start when you use one of these keys. Thankfully, there is a solution. Simply download and install this little utility, and iTunes will no longer run when you hit one of the media keys –

Conclusion

All in all, if you’re looking for a music player that won’t chew up a lot of RAM and is fast and functional, Cog’s the app you’ve been waiting for.

You can find and download the latest release of Cog here.

For those who came from the Windows XP background and love the cleanliness and efficiency of its Start menu, StartMenuXP is an application for Windows 7 that can replace the W7 Start menu with a dropdown menu in the Windows XP style. It added the much needed organization and efficiency to your existing Start menu, making it a pleasure to use.

One of the feature of StartMenuXP is the ability to group your applications into different groups. During the installation, it will prompt you if you want to enable the “group” feature. I would advise you to do so since it really aids in the organization of your applications.

After the installation, StartMenuXP will replace your existing Start menu. This is what you will see. All your applications are now organized into their respective groups and arranged in alphabetical order.

Clicking on any group will expand the group and show all the applications within the group.

If you have installed a lot of third-party application, you will find that they are not located in the correct group in StartMenuXP. To rearrange your items, you just have to copy the entry from one group and paste to another. For example, The application GIMP was located at the “Other” group instead of the “Graphics” group. What I did is to right-click the GIMP entry in the “Other” group and select Copy, followed by right-click at the “Graphics” group and select Paste. The GIMP entry is automatically moved from the Other group to the Graphics group.

An even easier way is to use the Group Manager app bundled with the software. With the Group Manager, you just have to select (place a check beside the application) the application to appear in each group. One thing to note, the free version does not allow you to add add/remove/edit group. You can only play around with the 5 default groups.

Improvements

After using StartMenuXP for a while, I started to appreciate the clean interface and great organization of the app. However there are two features that I hope it can implement:

1. Key-board shortcut to launch the menu

At the moment, StartMenuXP allows you to view the menu without clicking the Start menu. It will be great if it can come with a keyboard shortcut so users can quickly bring up the Application menu.

2. Drag and drop to rearrange apps

StartMenuXP requires you to either copy/paste or use the Group Manager to arrange your applications. A Drag and Drop interface would be even better.

If you are looking to reduce the clutter, better organize your applications and able to launch application faster, StartMenuXp is the one for you.

StartMenuXP

The problem is that many of these applications are asking you to pay to download them; many of the more enticing ones aren’t just a dollar or two like the many of the apps in the App Store for the iPhone and iPad. Some are, but many are asking you to pay $19.99, $29.99, $49.99, and even more. There is no guarantee you’ll like the application once you download it, and while paying a dollar or two could be worth it, spending $20 – $40 and more isn’t.

However, there’s actually a trick to downloading many of these apps for free. Some of them already come in paid and free versions. Doing a search for email apps produces the list found above. Email Converter is already in a regular paid version, a Pro version, and a Lite version, for $1.99, $2.99, and free, respectively. Of course the free version is more limited, but it at least gives you an idea of the the app’s usefulness to you personally.

Most applications don’t have a free version attached, or at least it’s not listed in the Mac’s App Store. Looking at the app for Postbox, it’s the most expensive one listed at $29.99. But who wants to spend $29.99 only to find out this mail app doesn’t suit their needs? Listed on the right is a link that says Postbox, Inc. Web Site.

Once you click on the link and go to the site, you see that it has two options on the site, Download and Buy. Underneath the two options in small print it says, “30-day FREE trial for Mac OS X.” If you click Buy, you’re spending that money outright to download the app. Yet if you click Download, you’re getting thirty days to try Postbox before you have to pay for it. Once the thirty days are up, the app will ask you if you want to buy it or not. If you decide the app is worth the money, you can download it at the point, but if not, you’re not out anything other than your time to download and try it.

Most of the websites for the apps listed in the Mac App Store have this option. Some will only link you back to the App Store to buy it, meaning that’s the only choice. It’s more common to provide the free trial download, though, so it’s always worth the check to see if there’s a free trial.

It should be noted, however, that the one thing you miss out on using this method is the organization benefits of the App Store. It doesn’t know you downloaded the app elsewhere, so it won’t be able to let you know if it has an update. Most apps have their own system for doing this though, so it doesn’t present too much of a problem.

What is the solution? Find a powerful uninstaller tool to completely remove the remains.

Revo Uninstaller is one such software that can completely eradicate a software from your system. It can uninstall an application and remove all traces of its presence (be it files/folders or registry keys).

After you have installed and run the software, Revo Uninstaller will scan your system for all installed apps and list down the apps in the window. You can then right click on any app to uninstall it.

After confirming your decision to uninstall the app, a popup window will appear to offer you 4 uninstall methods. Each of them runs the default uninstallation utility. The difference is hidden in the efficiency of the system scan performed by Revo Uninstaller.

Built-in: Nothing extra, it is the same as the uninstallation process launched from the Windows Control Panel.

Safe: After completing the default uninstallation process, this method scans the registry and the file system for the leftover information, that you can remove safely. This is the least comprehensive but the fastest method.

Moderate: This method extends the capabilities of the Safe method with a more comprehensive registry and file system scans. This method is set as default.

Advanced: This is the slowest but the most powerful method. The capabilities of the Safe and Moderate methods are included and extended with a deep scan to detect all the leftover items of the application being uninstalled.

Note: be very careful when you choose the Advanced method, especially when you have installed different versions of an application (e.g. Firefox 3 and Firefox 4 Beta). The remained items for both versions may be listed and you may find a bit difficult to distinguish the items belonging to the version you want to remove.

Uninstallation and Complete Eradication

Before Revo Uninstaller proceeds to uninstall the application, it will first create a system restore point so that you can restore back to the original settings if your computer malfunctions after the uninstallation.

Once it has completed creating the system restore point and analyzing your application, it will launch the default uninstaller utility of the program.

After the installation is done, it will proceed to detect the obsolete and remained registry keys.

The bold items indicate that they were left by the default uninstall utility of your removed application. When you press the Select All button, all the items will be selected, but the ones in bold style will be deleted. To complete the removal, press the Delete button.

For some uninstallation that require a system reboot, select “Reboot later” and continue with Revo Uninstaller. Revo will detect the files in use and leave them intact until the next reboot. After restarting your computer, these files will no longer be around.

Hunt The Unwanted

The Hunter mode is one feature of Revo Uninstaller that allows you to quickly uninstall an app. When you click the Hunter Mode button, the main window minimizes to the notification area and a hunter sight takes over its place. When you aim it at a shortcut on the desktop, on the Quick Launch Bar or at the icons near the clock, it can capture the application in place and bring it to the uninstallation corner.

Alternatively, you can also drag and drop an app shortcut icon to the Hunter Sight to uninstall it (Right click the sight and select ‘Drag and Drop mode’).

Relevant Extras

When you click the Tools button on the toolbar, a sidebar with two sliders will come in sight, providing CCleaner like functionality to optimize your system and cover up your traces.

If you have not used Revo Uninstaller, I urge you to give it a try now. It is a great way to uninstall an app and remove all instances of its presence. Most important of all, it gives you a piece of mind, knowing that your computer is not bloated with unnecessary files.

Revo Uninstaller

If you want to fix that, you are going to have to change your default programs. Don’t worry. That may sound really complicated at first, but with Leopard, or Snow Leopard, it is really quite simple. Just follow these steps and you will be up and changing your file associations in no time.

Let’s continue on with your example from above, and figure out how to make your images open in Photoshop instead of in Preview. This process will work for a variety of different programs and file types.

Step One: Find the File (or Files) You Wish to Change

Open the spotlight window by clicking on the magnifying glass icon on the top right hand side of your Mac desktop. Type in the name of the file that you want to find. If you are not sure of the exact name, type in only a few characters of the title. When spotlight displays your results, select the file from the list. This will automatically open the folder or file in Finder where your target item is. If you wish to change a single image, you may have to back out to the folder it is stored in. Alternatively, if you know where the file is stored, simply navigate to that location.

Step Two: Getting The File Info and Making The Change

Once you have located the file, you can single click on it to highlight it. Once the image is highlighted, go to the menu bar at the top and choose “File -> Get Info”. This will bring up the information bar for this file. Here, you will see a variety of options for your image. Click on the arrow next to the worlds “Open With.”

This will expand your file associations options for this file, but it will also give you access to change the extensions for all files of this type. Here, you will see a drop down box. It will show the name and icon of the current program that you use by default. In most cases for an image, you will see the word “Preview” written there. If you want to use Photoshop, and you have it installed, all you have to do is choose that from the drop down menu.

Changing All The Files

Lets say you want to change all of the file associations. Well, all that you have to do is follow all of the same steps as above, but after you change the drop down box, click on the button that says “Change all”. This will change the association for every file of this type.

That’s it.

Previously on Make Tech Easier,  we showed you how to put a reminder note in your Android notification bar. If you are looking for more uses for your Android notification bar, Bartender lite will let you create application shortcuts in your notification bar.

Download

Start by scanning this QR code or by visiting this link from your Android phone to download Bartender Lite.

How to add an application shortcut

Once the application is installed, you will need to open it from your application drawer. When the application opens, you will see a screen with only a few choices. Adding an application or shortcut is pretty straightforward.You will need to press the + Item button.

A screen will pop up asking what kind of item you want to add. This screen is very similar to the one you see when you are adding a shortcut to one of your home screens.

For this example, I will add an application shortcut. So when Application is selected, you will see a list of all the installed applications on your device. I chose Google Maps.

If you want to add more applications to your notification bar, repeat these steps. Here is what it looks like with a few shortcuts added in the Android notification bar.

Rearranging the shortcuts

When you have everything added to your android notification bar, you may find that you use one application more than another. If you want to move the application up in the order, you can do so from the Bartender Lite screen.

Next to each of the shortcuts, there is an X along with an DOWN and UP button. If you would like to delete a notification bar shortcut, you can press the X. To move the application up on the list, press UP. To move an application down on the list, press DOWN.

Possible uses

Because you are accessing preinstalled shortcuts, you can easily personalize the shortcuts according to your needs.You could set it up for:

• Most called or messaged people
• Maps and directions for a trip
• Apps you need to toggle on and off frequently
• Media players
• Dropbox folders you access a lot
• Browser bookmarks
• Quick access to multiple Gmail labels
• Various settings for your phone functions

Conclusion

While many people may be asking why take up space with an application that isn’t much different than adding more icons to a home page, I think it is more about how you’re using your phone. I tend to use the same applications repeatedly.

I have several applications and shortcuts in my Go Launcher Ex dock. I don’t like to have too many home screens to scroll through (I use 3 home screens), so having quick access to a couple shortcuts in my notification bar is extremely useful. I do not need to add a whole page or rearrange my screens to accommodate a couple new shortcuts.

How do you keep your home screens organized?

image credit: Lee Coursey

1. Faster User Switch

If you happen to share a computer with one or more individuals, switching users is very important. This little plasma widget makes it easy to select a currently logged-in user and switch to that account. It can display user avatars, their names, or both. It is a nice widget to add to a panel for easy access. It also provides a quick interface for starting new user sessions.

2. Kbackup

Kbackup has been around for a long time, but it just received an update. With it you can quickly and easily backup any directory on your computer, specify where you want the backups to go, and have them archived in the folder or device of your choice. This app is lightweight, simple, and does exactly what it says.

Packages for Kbackup are available in Ubuntu repositories and other Linux distributions.

3. Converseen

This nifty little application is a must for anyone who works with a great deal of images. It is a pure Qt app, rather than a KDE one, but that means it still integrates perfectly with KDE. With Converseen you can convert batches of images to any format, any size, any resolution, and to any naming scheme you want. It allows you to make multiple changes on the fly and then save the new images wherever you want. Best of all, Converseen supports just about every image format you can imagine.

4. Muon Package Management Suite

The graphical package manager frontends for KDE have always felt a bit like second-class citizens to Synaptic for GTK. Muon comes very close to evening the playing field. With it you can search, update, install, and receive update notifications for packages with ease. Muon Software Center provides a more visual approach to installation, similar to Ubuntu Software Center. Based on QApt, the entire application suite is lightweight and fast, without some of the hiccups of other frontends.

Muon is available in many Linux distribution repositories.

5. Clementine

Not everyone was in love with the new interface and features of Amarok 2 that came with KDE 4. For those who still love the old Amarok 1.4 look and feel, Clementine is a Qt music app, inspired by that code tree with quite a bit of its own unique features. Features include lyrics, artist bios, tabbed playlists, Wii remote support, visualizations, iPod, iPhone, and mass storage USB support, album cover art, Internet music (Last.fm, SomaFM, Magnatune, Jamendo, and Icecast), and music format conversion.

You can download Clementine for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, or the source code for other operating systems.

There are plenty of other great apps hiding on KDE-Apps.org. Many are updated regularly and well maintained. If you have a favorite third-party KDE app, feel free to share it in the comments section. Also, if you would like to read a review of any app, make sure to suggest it to MakeTechEasier.

Recommended reading:
5 Intriguing KDE Apps

I’m not going to go in depth into Appbrain here. Here is a post to reference if you want a more detailed explanation of how Appbrain works. I will talk about the key differences between the 2 though.

Android Market key features

The Android Market is the newest of the 2, so there is room for improvement. There ARE a couple features that reign superior over Appbrain. The first and most notable is the on click installation for apps.

One click installations

The one click feature works like magic. When you are logged into your Google account on your computer, all you need to do to install an application is click INSTALL. Within seconds you will see the little download arrow appear on your Android phone or tablet.

Same layout

Both the mobile application and the web version of the Android Market have the same layout. This is very comforting to may people who like familiarity. If you are use to using the Market on your device, using the web version of the Market will be a very simple transition.

Tabs

When you are looking at a specific application, there are tabs across the top letting you easily jump to: permissions, reviews, whats new (changlog) or the overview.

Appbrain key features

Appbrain has had a little more time to hone in on some really useful features. Many people, myself included, like to install apps just to see what they do. Appbrain gives you a lot of sharing options the Android Market does not.

Sharing apps

Aside from the basic ways to share links to an application (email, Facebook, Twitter Buzz), Appbrain gives you a few other ways to let people know about an app you find.

• Being able to scan the QR code and easily download the app is great. Each application has a QR code to the Appbrain page.
• Appbrain provides a link to email and another for foums that use BBCodes.
• The third style link is HTML code. This code is for displaying a widget for the application on your webpage. I have used these before and they look and work great in an article talking about a specific application.

Syncing

Appnrain offers an application in the Android Market. Once you sign in on both Appbrain and the mobile app, you are ready to sync. It may take a minute for the first sync. After, you will be able to see, from the website, all of the applications installed on your device(s). If you need to master clear your Android device, you can re-install apps easily.

Installing from the web

While it is a couple more steps than using the Market, applications can be installed right from Appbrain’s webpage. You simply pick which application(s) you want to install and add them to the list of apps on your device. Then, on next sync, you can install the apps on your device.

While this seems like a lot more work, this method is a good way to batch install several apps at a time.

Sorting

Sort apps is a little different with Appbrain. You have filters for:

• Specific countries
• Male or female users
• Certain age ranges
• Recommended for you

Being able to search differently than the Android Market allows, helps you discover more applications to better suite you.

Conclusion

While the Android Market is shiny and new, my preference is still Appbrain. I do not doubt the web version of the Market will improve over time. Currently, features like the QR codes, syncing and the more advanced search will keep me using Appbrain.

Which one of these two ways of searching for and installing Android applications do you like better and why?

Despite the controversy, Mac App is also a huge hit. If you are a Mac user but haven’t tried this app, let’s see how App Store can help you in finding great Mac apps and keeping them updated. We’ll also see on some of the alternatives.

The App Store

After updating your Mac OS X to 10.6.6, you will see a new application popping up on your dock – the App Store. Aside from the icon, you’ll also see a little red number attached to it. This number represents how many updates are available for your downloaded apps.

Unfortunately, there’s been an inconsistency on how App Store manages the updates. I found that App Store will only check and display updates for applications downloaded using App Store. Other installed applications should rely on manual method.

The interface of Mac App Store itself is similar to iOS App Store. So if you used App Store from your iTunes before, you should have no difficulties using this one. By default, “Featured” will be open every time you launch App Store.

Next to it is the “Top Chart” both for paid and free apps.

If you prefer to browse by “Categories“, go to the next menu.

And if you want to see the list of all your downloaded apps, they reside under “Purchases“. You can quickly see which apps have updates by looking at the different color in status on the right.

For those who prefer to see only the available updates, go straight to the last menu on the right. Just like in iOS App Store, you can update the apps one by one or all of them at once using “Update All” button.

Downloading individual apps is also a snap. Just click the download button (the one with the word “Free” – or the price – written on it).

You need to provide App Store with your Apple ID and password before you can download the apps.

The downloaded app(s) will appear on the dock along with the progress bar to indicate the remaining download time.

The Alternatives

The concept of providing one stop place for downloading and updating applications is not new. Even though App Store is currently the one with the most number of applications in its collection, there several applications with similar function long before App Store.

One of them is Bodega. This app is decorated similar to newspaper stand, but instead of newspapers and magazines, you’ll see a list of apps. You can browse by categories like “New Releases” and “Top Free Apps“.

Other than providing you with app downloads, Bodega also scans your hard drive for installed apps and compare their version with the latest version available. Then Bodega will list all the installed apps plus the “get” button next to the ones with available updates.

The updating process is as simple as clicking the “Get” button, waiting for the download to finish, and clicking the “Install” button.

Another alternative that you can try is AllMyMacApps. This is more like Web app instead of desktop app. The desktop app that they provide is actually a site-specific browser created by Fluid.

AllMyMacApps lets you search for applications and filter them by categories and by license (Free, Paid, or both).

So far I’m unable to find the update feature in AllMyMacApps, if there’s any. But if your need is only to update your installed apps (and more), you can try AppFresh. This is an all in one update center for everything inside your hard drive: Applications, Plugins, Widgets, Preference Panes, and even System Updates.

And then the question is: which one should you use? Given the vast collection of apps, Mac App Store should be the number one choice. But with all the limitations in App Stores update department, I guess there’s nothing wrong about using all of them simultaneously.

So, which one(s) that you prefer – and why? Share your thoughts using the comment below.

The advantages of using a PPA is that you can add new application package to your existing repository and install it the way you normally do (by terminal or Ubuntu Software Center). Additionally, when there is new update in the application, you will be automatically upgraded.

With all that said, the only problem with PPA is that not all applications come with a PPA. And for those that have one, it can be difficult to find. For new users, adding the PPA involves the command line, which many people will shun as much as possible. Y PPA Manager aims to make the above process much easier.

Y PPA Manager is a simple tool that allows you to search for PPAs and install them without hitting the terminal. It also allows you to manage (add/remove/purge) your existing PPAs with a few clicks.

Usage

Open a terminal (hopefully this will be the last time you install PPA via the terminal) and type:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/y-ppa-manager
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install y-ppa-manager

Once installed, go to “Applications -> System Tools -> Y PPA Manager“.

There are few options for you to manage your PPAs

Add PPA

If you know the PPA, you can add it to your repository using the “Add PPA” option.

After Y PPA Manager has added the PPA, it will also run a update on your system to retrieve the package files. When it is done (it will notify you via the NotifyOSD), you can go to Ubuntu Software Center to install the application.

Remove PPA

When you select the “Remove a PPA” option, it will show you all the existing PPAs you have installed in your system. You can then select the one you want to remove.

Search for PPA

The best part about the Y PAA Manager is that you can search for PPAs right within the app. Double click the “Search All LaunchPad PPAs” option and perform your search. If there are matching results, it will display in a new window and you can then select the PPA and install it in your system.

Purge PPA

Removing a PPA only prevents the application from being updated. Your installed application will still be the same. On the other hand, purging a PPA will downgrade the packages to the version in the official Ubuntu repositories and disables that PPA. In Y PPA Manager, you can also purge a PPA with the “Purge a PPA” option. Similarly it will display the list of installed PPA and you just select the one you want to purge.

Wrapping up

Most of the functionality in Y PPA Manager are just wrapper for the commonly used commands. Seasoned users might prefer the command line more than using this application, but I am sure that new (or novice) users will appreciate the simplicity and usefulness of this app, and also save you from the terror of the terminal.

One thing that I hope to see is the ability to install applications right after I have added a PPA. People don’t add PPA for fun. They will add PPA so that they can install certain applications not found in the repository. If Y PPA Manager can show the respective applications after adding the PPA and provide an option for the user to install the app, it will be perfect.

What do you think?

As the development of appindicator getting more mature, more and more apps started to show up with support for the indicator-applets. Since most of these apps are not found in the Ubuntu repository, we have compiled a list of useful appindicators that you can install and use. Most of them are really useful, but you are not obliged to install all of them, just grab the one you need will do.

1. Indicator-DesktopNova

DesktopNova is a Gnome and XFCE based wallpaper changer. Indicator-desktopnova is an apppindicator developed by another developer, Michael Otto to allow you to change wallpaper directly from the system tray. If you are looking for a simple wallpaper changer, this will be useful.

To install:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:michael-astrapi/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install desktopnova indicator-desktopnova

2. Indicator-VirtualBox

Developed by the same developer – Michael Otto, indicator-virtualbox allows you to start your VM without having to open the VirtualBox VM Manager.

To install:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:michael-astrapi/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indicator-virtualbox

3. Indicator-Dropbox

If you have upgraded your Dropbox to version 1.0, you should see a nice Dropbox appindicator running in the system tray.

4. Indicator-cpufreq

Indicator-cpufreq allows you to change your CPU frequency easily. This is useful if you are using a netbook and need to preserve battery life, you can quickly set your CPU to powersave mode.

To install (for Ubuntu 10.10 onward):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:artfwo/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indicator-cpufreq

5. Pastie

Pastie is a simple clipboard manager for Linux that comes with its own appindicator support.

To install Pastie:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:hel-sheep/pastie
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pastie

6. Indicator-workspace

As its name implies, indicator-workspace allows you to easily switch to another workspace from the system tray. This is useful if you are an active workspace user.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:geod/ppa-geod
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indicator-workspaces

7. Indicator-keylock

Ever wonder where is the NUM lock, Screen lock and CAPS lock button in your keyboard? Most keyboards found in laptop and netbook do not come with dedicated NUM and Screen lock buttons. With this appindicator, you can turn on the required keylock without going to the keyboard.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tsbarnes/indicator-keylock
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install indicator-keylock

8. UbuntuOne Indicator

The UbuntuOne indicator-applet allows you to monitor your UbuntuOne sync status as well as access to the recently published files.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rye/ubuntuone-extras
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntuone-indicator

9. Lookit

Lookit is a quickgrab screen capture tool that can be used to capture an area or the whole screen. After the screen capture, you can get it to upload to a FTP, SSH server or Imgur.

To install:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lookit/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install lookit

After installation, press “Alt + F2″ and type lookit to activate the appindicator.

10. Compiz-indicator

There is no doubt about the functionality, versatility and usefulness of Compiz window manager. The Compiz-indicator provides you with quick Compiz configuration options and allows you to control the seperate elements of your Window manager and Decorators, all from your Indicator tray in ubuntu.

There is no PPA for this appindicator. To install, first download the compiz-indicator tar file from here. Extract the tar file to your Home folder. You should see a “compiz-indicator” folder.

Open a terminal and type:

cd compiz-indicator
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

After the installation, press Alt + F2″ and type compiz-indicator-start to activate it.

11. USB Safe Removal application indicator

If you always have a USB drive or an external drive plugged in your system, whenever you want to unmount them, you will have to either use the command line or go to Nautilus file manager. The USB Safe Removal appindicator allows you to unmount your USB drive directly from the system tray.

To install, just download (and install) the deb file from here.

12. Touchpad Indicator

Ever feel frustrated that the touchpad is always hindering you while you are typing? Well, you can now temporarily deactivate it with the touchpad indicator.

TouchPad indicator is currently supported in Ubuntu Maverick only. To install:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install touchpad-indicator

13. My Weather Indicator

Developed by the same developer as touchpad indicator, my weather indicator allows you to view your weather condition quickly and even notify you when there is a weather condition change.

My Weather Indicator is currently supported in Ubuntu Maverick only. To install:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install my-weather-indicator

14. Google Reader Indicator

Yet another appindicator by @atareao, Google Reader Indicator shows a notification when there are new items in your Google Reader and it displays the article title with a link to the source.

Google Reader Indicator is currently supported in Ubuntu Maverick only. To install:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install google-reader-indicator

15. Various music players appindicators

The default installation of Ubuntu Maverick comes with support for Rhythmbox integration into the sound indicator. Some other media players also comes with their own appindicators.

Banshee: Install the banshee-community-extensions and activate the Banshee appindicator from the plugins list.

Exaile: Download the exaile’s sound appindicator plugin file from here. Extract it and place it in the directory “/HOME/.local/share/exaile/plugins”. Open your Exaile. Go to “Edit -> Preferences -> Plugins”. Activate the Sound Menu Indicator plugin.

Clementine: If you are running the latest version, it will automatically integrate itself to the sound indicator.

XNoise: Install xnoise-plugins-core and activate the sound menu plugin from the Plugins list.

The above list is not conclusive and there are many more appindicators out there that we didn’t discover. If you know of any appindicator not in the above list, feel free to let us know.

Android and Google – the unbreakable link

First of all, you need to know that Android was developed by Google. It is therefore closely linked to your Google account. When you first power on your Android phone, it will prompt you to setup your Google account, after which it will link your Google Contacts, Gmail and Google calendar to your phone.

The main screen

The main screen is akin to your desktop in your computer. This is the place where you are going to spend countless of hours staring at. A typical Android phone can come with 3 – 7 screens. You can slide your finger on the screen to move to the left or right screens. The icons you see at the main screen are the application launcher. In another word, they are shortcut to your applications, like Gmail, Calculator etc. We will discus more on applications later.

Other than the icons, there is also this thing call widget. Widgets are interactive apps that can update itself on the background and show information on the main screen. Example are the clock widget, weather widget, Facebook widget etc.

Adding Applications/widgets to the main screen

To add application to the main screen, press and hold your finger on an empty space on the screen. A window will popup, asking you what you want to add. Select Shortcut follow by Application. You can then select from the list of applications the app you want to place on the main screen. Using a similar method, you can also place widget on the main screen.

The application drawer

At the bottom center of the main screen, you will see an icon. When click, it will display the full list of the applications installed in your Android phone. This is akin to the Start menu in Windows, where you can view and launch apps. Every single application that you have installed can be found here.

The notification bar

The notification bar is the top most bar (that contain the time, battery status and signal strength). This is where all the notification are shown. Now, press your finger on the top most bar and drag it down. You will see that the notification bar start to open up. You can then view all notification in the list. To exit, either press the Back button or Home button.

The Buttons

Most, if not all, Android phone comes with four buttons: Back, Menu, Home, Search. The Back button is similar to the Back button in your browser. At any point of time, you can press the Back button to return to the previous page/settings/application etc. If you are typing with the onscreen keyboard, pressing the Back button will hide the keyboard.

The Home button is similar to the “Show Desktop” button in Windows. When you press the Home button, it will hide your existing app and bring you back to your main screen. You can press and hold the Home button to access your recently used apps.

The functionality of the Menu button is dynamic and will change depend on where you are. If you are at the main screen, pressing the Menu button allows you to change wallpaper, change system setting, show notification bar etc. Within an app, pressing the Menu button will show the options for the app. At any point of time, press and hold the Menu button will bring up the onscreen keyboard.

Lastly, the Search button allows you to perform a search. On the main screen, pressing the Search button allows you search anything in the phone (files, Web search, apps etc). When used within an app, the search button will search only within the app (and provided the app supports the search feature).

Configuring the phone settings

On the main screen, press the Menu button and tap on Setting. This will bring you to the settings page of the Android system. To turn on your wireless, go to “Wireless and Network” and tap Turn On.

There are plenty of settings over here, ranging from Wireless networks, Applications, Sound, Security, Display etc. Do take your time to go through each and everyone of the settings.

Installing apps from the market

Most, if not all, Android phones come with a Market application that you can use to install third-party apps. Open the Market app (you must be connected to the Internet). From here, you can browse the apps sorted in various categories such as Productivity, Games, Communication etc. Once you found the app you like, tap the Install button to install the app. It will then show you the access permissions requested by the app. Be sure to check the permissions thoroughly before tapping OK.

The app will proceed to install in your phone and notify you when it is done.

Apps come in two form: paid and free. Paid apps are only available in certain countries, so if you didn’t see any paid apps in your Market, don’t be panic. To pay for paid apps, you need to setup your Google Checkout account (it will probably support Paypal as well in the future).

Uninstalling apps

To uninstall apps, go to “Settings -> Applications -> Manage Application“. You will find a list of installed application here. Scroll to the application that you want to delete and tap on it. You will then be presented with a Uninstall button.

More resources for you:

• How to Create Shortcuts To Any Applications In Your Android Home Screen
• Launcher Pro + QuickDesk: Probably The Best Android Home Replacement Combination
• Protect And Secure Your Android Phone With Lookout Mobile Security
• 6 Beautiful Android Live Wallpapers to Make Your Phone Stand Out
• 18 Essential Apps For Your Android Phone

That’s it for now. We will be covering in more detail about Android. Do check back this site frequently for more update, or better still, subscribe to our RSS feed, newsletter or follow us at Facebook or Twitter.

• Restrict apps to inexperience users: How many times have you lost an entire day because your children have clicked on the wrong button?
• Limit your own usage of an application: Sometimes you need to stay focus and do your work, so why not block out the unnecessary noises?
• In a corporate environment this can be your best friend to control the usage of programs.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to block the usage of Microsoft Excel 2010 by an user. You can use the same trick for any other apps. Applocker can accomplish more complicated tasks, but we are not going into every single details.

Note: Applocker will only work in Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise.

First you need to find this feature. Open the Start menu and type gpedit.msc in the search field.

Go to Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Application Control Policies an select Executable Rules:

On the right pane, right click and select Create Default Rules:

You will see three fields all with the “Allowed” permission. This will allow every user to run every program.

Right click your mouse and select Create New Rule:

A wizard will appear. Select Skip this page by default. Press Next.

In this case we want to deny the access to an application for an user, so select “Deny”.

Type the user you want to restrict, you can also select everyone. In this case I restrict a user named “user“.

After that press Next:

Now we are only going to block an executable. As you can see there are several possibilities. Select “File hash” in this case.

Now you browse for Microsoft Excel:

Go to c:\program files\microsoft office\office14:

Press Next:

Select Create:

It might take some time for Applocker to work. The best way is to reboot your system.

Now, everytime you try to launch Excel, you will see the following image:

What other ways do you use to block your apps from external access?

KDE 4 offers an alternative to the traditional icons scattered all over the desktop with a Plasma widget called Shelf. Just like a shelf in a library, the shelf widget keeps files, folders, devices, and applications in order and easily accessible.

Creating a Shelf

There are several ways to create a shelf in KDE 4, providing maximum convenience and fluidity (Before beginning, make sure your widgets are unlocked – right click on the desktop and click “Unlock Widgets).

Add Widgets Dialog – The most basic way to add a shelf is to right click on the desktop and click “Add Widgets”. Next, type “shelf” in the search box. Finally, drag it to the desktop.

Using this method, the shelf will be empty by default, so click “Configure…” and then click “Add…” A menu will show you a list of various types of shelves available:

• favorites
• applications category
• places
• folder
• removable devices
• fixed devices
• system tools
• new documents
• open documents
• recent documents
• online contacts
• unread messages

After you select one and click “OK”, you are finished. The shelf will be populated with the icons you chose.

Add to Panel

To add a shelf to the panel, you can drag a desktop shelf to it, which creates an icon and accompanying menu. Alternatively, you can create a shelf directly by right clicking anywhere on the panel, navigating to “Panel Options”, and clicking “Add Widgets”.

Drag and Drog

Yet another easy way to create a shelf is to drag any folder to the desktop or panel. A menu will appear giving you three options: Folder View, Shelf, and Icon. Choose “Shelf”, and a shelf showing the contents of the folder will instantly appear, with no further configuration necessary.

Lancelot Menu

If you use the Lancelot menu widget, you can drag any one of its sections directly onto the desktop or panel to create a shelf.

Shelf inside a Shelf

Any shelf can also hold other shelves. For example, if you wanted to have your “Places” shelf and your “Removable Devices” shelf in the same widget, simply drag one onto the other. You can also drag a new shelf onto any existing one, or add multiple shelves within “Shelf Settings”. The new shelf will be appended to the current one, allowing you to navigate through them.

To remove a shelf from a widget containing more than one, right click on the title and click “Remove This”.

Additional Options

By default, the shelf widget has a “no click” feature, which is displayed in the form of a tiny “extender” icon on the right hand side of each shelf item. Move your mouse over the icon, and the shelf item will open without clicking. If you prefer good old-fashioned clicking:

1. Click the settings wrench icon
2. Click the “Advanced” side tab
3. Choose “Click to activate items”

KDE Plasma widgets also have shortcuts. For example, if you have a documents shelf icon on your panel, you can activate the menu using a shortcut. To use a shortcut, open the shelf settings and do the following:

1. Click the “Keyboard Shortcut” side tab
2. Click the button with the wrench icon that says “None”
3. Enter a key combination (such as Meta+D)

Now, anytime you press that keyboard shortcut, the shelf menu will open.

Another useful feature is the “search box”, which essentially gives you the functionality of your application menu search feature inside of your shelf. In Shelf Settings, check “Show the search box”.

The KDE Plasma Shelf widget is a versatile tool that will hopefully bring some order to your chaotic life. At the very least, it will give your desktop the appearance of organization, and that will put you step ahead of most others.

This is how it can be done to selectively disable UAC prompt for certain applications.

Click on the “Start” menu. Right click on the “Computer” entry and select “Manage”.

You will see the Computer Management window. On the left pane, select the “Task Scheduler”. On the right pane, select “Create Task”.

Enter a name for the new task. At the bottom, check the box “Run with highest privilege”.

Next, click on the “Actions” tab. Click the “New” button.

In the Program/Script field, browse and select the application that you want to bypass the UAC prompt (in this case – CCleaner). Once done, click OK.

Close your Computer Management window.

On your desktop, click “New -> Shortcut”.

In the new window that pop up, type the following:

schtasks.exe /run /tn "TaskName"

Replace the “TaskName” with the new task that you have just created. For example, in my case, I will type schtasks.exe /run /tn “CCleaner” into the field.

Give your shortcut a new name and click Finish.

That it. Whenever you click the shortcut to launch your application, the UAC will not prompt again.

To access the preferences panel, and more, just click the newly added icon in your menu bar, here:

The preferences panel will look like this:

The default settings are recommended by the developers, at least to start out with, and I’ve found no reason to change them. They provide you with simple pop up boxes that will pop up as soon as you mouse over a dock icon. Once you do that, you can move on to the next app in your dock, or simply click a window to maximize it, or bring it to the front if it was already up. This is super handy for applications like photoshop or web browsers, where you tend to get a bunch of different windows open pretty easily. The pop up are elegant and non-intrusive. By default they appear like the example below, but can be tweaked pretty extensively as far as size and appearance.

DockView is free to try with rare pop-ups asking you to register, but a license is a great deal at $7.99. While you’re over at Kapeli’s site, they’ve got a few other inexpensive apps for Snow Leopard that are worth checking out as well.

Is this a feature that you like in Windows 7, and are glad to have on your Mac? Should it be included anyway? Know of any other cool programs to bring extra features to OS X? Tell us in the comments!

Download DockView here! (DockView requires OS X Snow Leopard, the most recent version of Mac OS)

Windows users will be familiar with the popular Ninite web app that packages up your favorite apps into one installer. You just need to run the installer to install all your applications in one go. The good news is, a Linux version is now available.

Similar to the WIndows version, Ninite for Linux allows you to choose from a series of applications and it will package the applications into a deb file. Linux users (or more exactly, Debian users) can double click the deb file to install all your applications.

1. Head to Ninite for Linux.

2. Check the applications that you want (the list is rather limited now)

3. Scroll down to the end and click the “Get Installer” button. Ninite will then proceed to package the applications.

4. It will then prompt you to download the deb file. After the download, double click the deb file to run the installer.

That’s it. As easy as that.

Note: deb file can only be used on debian based distro. Distros using rpm might have to use the “alien” script to convert the deb file to rpm format.

The only caveat at this moment is that the list of applications available for selection are just too little. You can do your part by suggesting the app (on the Ninite for Linux page) that you want them to include.

Have you tried Ninite for Linux?