1/23/07 10:02 pm - Trillian Messenger SoftwareWell, This is my first entry. I plan to use this journal to review software and fan-fiction. So here's my first Review: I would give this a 5 out of 5. It's a standalone service that lets you use ICQ, MSN IM, Yahoo! IM, AIM, etc. all at once. so, you can remove all those IM services from your computer and still chat with all your friends. It has an easy user interface and runs smoothly. I use it with Windows XP and it has caused no problems and has no noticeable effect on running speed. I love it! And best of all, it's FREE! Check it out. |
Bookworm's Musings
Adult Themes are discussed and linked to in the Journal - Read Responsibly!
1/23/07 10:01 pm - Microsoft Reader & Plugins reviewFor all us fan-fiction fans, Microsoft Reader & the Read in Reader plugin for Word 2002 is a godsend. I use them all the time to turn stories into ebooks that I can read offline in the comfortable reader atmosphere. It's great for long stories, or stories that have been posted in difficult to read fonts, colors, or formats. Just copy & Paste into Word, change color and font to suit, and hit the read in reader button. That's all there is to it. The plugin does the rest. You can even add images to the ebook. This gets a 5 out of 5! I use the plugin all the time and have found it to be simple and user friendly. I wouldn't want to be without it. And best of all: Both the Plugin and the Reader are FREE! You can get the Reader here & the plugin here. Note: Unfortunately, the Convert to LIT format plug-in does not work in Word 2007. |
1/23/07 10:01 pm - Rainlendar Desktop CalenderRainlendar is a neat little calendar program suitable for casual users. If you want to keep track of things like trips, appointments, deadlines, etc, this is the calendar for you. It runs right on your desktop over your wallpaper and can notify you of upcoming events. Place your cursor over the date and a tool-tip balloon appears with all events for that day. Once it loads, it doesn't appear to effect computer speed, and it is sleek, attractive, and easy to use. It's also skin-able, although I like the default skin just fine. And, of course, it's FREE! Get it here. Update: There is a simple and beautiful new skin available that I really love. It's called Tinted Rainy and it will match any wallpaper or theme. It also has a small calender mode which shows the current date and the clock. Get this skin here. As you can see in the screen-shots below, this skin works beautifully no matter what background you use. ( See Screen-shots ) |
1/23/07 09:57 pm - Google ToolbarToday's software is the Google Toolbar. I love this Toolbar. I use Google more than any other search engine, so it's nice to be able to search from any point in my browsing. The features I like best however are the pop-up blocker, form filler, search highlighter, and spellchecker. ( In-depth Review ) |
1/23/07 09:56 pm - Picasa 2Picasa 2 is a free image indexing and editing program offered by Google. |
1/23/07 09:54 pm - AZZ CardfileI was looking for some free software to make a cookbook. I didn't want all the fancy bells and whistles, just a simple database that supported images and RTF. And I didn't want to pay for it. I found AZZ Cardfile. AZZ Cardfile is a simple database designed as a replacement for the MS cardfile.exe that came with Windows 3.1 and 98. It is simple and user friendly, and totally self-contained. All the files you need to use the program are included with the download. The databases you create are searchable, and there is no limit on how large a single card may be. You can use AZZ cardfile to organize all sorts of information. Recipes, Contacts, Notes, Links, etc. The AZZ cardfile website offers a large selection of free databases put together by users on a wide range of subjects. For the user that wants a simple, all purpose database program, AZZ Cardfile is the perfect choice. AZZ Cardfile is Nagware. It pops up a nag screen every so often encouraging you to purchase and register the software. But, the program is fully functional unregistered and there is no limit to the "trial" period. The creators offer users the opportunity to gain a free registration license by either recommending AZZ cardfile on a high-traffic area of your website or by creating and submitting a database to their free database selection. I encourage you to visit the AZZ Cardfile website and learn more about this program. |
1/23/07 09:54 pm - HTTrack Website Copier 3.32-2The fact that Ainzfern is shutting down her site in April (2005) got me thinking. Why should I tediously save her stories by hand when I could just rip the whole site? So, I searched for a good offline browser and this is what I found: HTTrack Website Copier 3.32-2.
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Bookworm1/23/07 09:52 pm - Internet WayBack MachineToday's software isn't exactly software. The Internet WayBack Machine is, in my humble opinion, the best thing since sliced bread. I hate following a link just to find that the site is gone. The IWBM allows you to retrieve an archived version of the page by entering the desired URL into the search box. It will take you to the last known version of the page, or you can go to earlier versions. The archive doesn't have every page, but it does have a significant amount. Perfect for finding stories or authors that have disappeared without a trace. You must have a URL, however. The Archive doesn't offer text searches. This is a great tool for us all. And, it's FREE! Check it out.
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1/23/07 09:51 pm - FirefoxI've recently upgraded to a new browser and I just have to share! I'm now using Firefox 1.5, and I love it! It's fast, simple, intuitive, and highly customizable! In fact, it's so customizable that it makes IE look stiff and restrictive. I can rearrange and remove individual buttons on the toolbar, dock several toolbars in the same row, etc. Plus, there are hundreds of user-created extensions to add even more features to Firefox. Also, Firefox is extremely secure. Popups have become a thing of the past with Firefox's built-in popup blocking, and there is an excellent extension that offers in-page ad-blocking, so those bandwidth-consuming ads are also a thing of the past. Firefox also offers several convenient features such as tabbed browsing, integrated search bar for many search engines, and customizable skins or "themes" for the shell. Click on the button below to download the most recent version and try it for yourself.  If you need help with Firefox you can find it at Firefox Tutor. Also, check out the online Wikibook called Using Firefox for a complete, comprehensive introduction to all of Firefox's features and step-by-step instructions for downloading and using Firefox. And, if you're feeling brave, the ultimate tweaking guide can be found here. After you've downloaded the browser, you'll want to download some extensions to customize your experience even further. You can find official themes, plug-ins, and extensions here. ( See My Favorite Extensions ) Want to see what extensions I'm using right now? Click here. |
1/23/07 09:49 pm - Popuptest.comPopupTest - test your popup blocker software and download software: This is a really good site for testing your pop-up blocker. Firefox performs really well on this. With the extensions "NoScript" & "AdBlockPlus" installed and active, none of the pop-ups got through. When I allowed javaScript, only two got through: the Drop-down & The Sticky. And on the "good" popup page (tests whether your blocker can identify desirable popups), all of the desirable popups appeared as they should. I am most pleased. I then tested IE6.0+ with the Google Toolbar Popup blocker active. It missed 4: The floating popup, The drop-down popup, the sticky popup, & the floating banner/animated airplane popup. How will your browser measure up? Try it for yourself & then post the results & what browser you are using in the comments. |
1/23/07 09:44 pm - TaskSwitchXPTaskSwitchXP: I recently learned a neat trick for WinXp, and then I found something that makes it even better. The trick is the Alt+Tab hot key for quickly switching between windows on your taskbar. Press Alt+Tab and continue to hold the Alt key down. A little panel will come up showing all instances of all programs showing on your taskbar. Continue holding the Alt key down while using the tab key to navigate through the windows. When you release the Alt key, the window that was selected will be displayed at the top of all other windows. Try it. In order to test it, you will need to have at least two windows open, otherwise, nothing happens. Now, the old, outdated default switcher is pretty neat, but what really makes the Alt+Tab hot key rock is this really cool replacement called TaskSwitchXP. This is Free, open source software that enhances the Alt+Tab functionality. It is only available for WinXp, and includes some really neat features. For example, you can see a thumbnail preview of all windows, activate a "sticky key" option that eliminates the need for you to continue to hold down the Alt button, you can navigate the panel with your mouse or arrow keys as well as the tab button, and it is skinned to match the WinXp themes. The creators have put together a really comprehensive website about TaskSwitchXP, so head on over to check it out and download it. I've been using it for a couple of days and I already love it. It works even when some of your windows are "not responding" and is especially nice for switching between instances of Microsoft Office. Quick, lite, easy, and packed with features. I highly recommend it. Frankly, it's the kind of feature you would expect to be default in a product like Windows XP. And it's FREE! Note: This feature is built into Windows Vista. |
1/23/07 09:43 pm - Tweak UIToday's software is Tweak UI XP from Microsoft. While I'll be talking about the version for Windows XP in this post, Microsoft also has a version for 95/98/2k. Just search for "Tweak UI" on the Microsoft website. What is Tweak UI? It's a little program that allows you to take advantage of many hidden settings in Windows. It allows you to do things like Safely remove all or some of the Icons from the Desktop (and get them back later), Prevent some programs from showing up in the "Recently Used Programs" panel on the Start Menu, etc. But the two features I like best are the Control Panel Tweaks & the Command Keys Tweaks. The Control Panel tweaks allow you to safely hide some options on the control panel. This is especially nice if you have your control panel set to expand on the Start Menu like a Folder. You can hide the options you never access, so that it's easy to find the ones you do use. And if you need to use one of the options you've hidden, just reopen Tweak UI and unhide it. It's made the Control Panel a much more pleasant experience for me. ( See Tweak UI Screenshot ) The Command Key Tweaks are by far my favorites. This allows you to reset some of those useless hotkeys on your keyboard to do useful things. You will probably get the most functionality out of this feature if you have a keyboard with One-Touch Launch buttons, designed to launch certain programs with the touch of a button. I have the buttons, but the driver provided with my keyboard doesn't allow me to change the default functions, so I use Tweak UI XP to do it instead. Right now, I have the Taskmanager, Notepad, Screensaver, and Calculator set up to use launch buttons. So handy. Getting to the Taskmanager when I need it takes less then a minute now, compared to the 3-10 min. it took before. Tweak UI is pretty "idiot proof". You can easily undo any changes you make, and no truly dangerous changes are offered. There are so many tweaks available to make your Computer experience more comfortable for you, so download it now. It's FREE (yes, it really is). Tweak UI XP. (Partway down the page of PowerToys.) |
1/23/07 09:40 pm - Skin Windows XP for Free!Updated on May 7, 2006 Today I'm going to talk about how to completely skin/theme your Windows XP without spending a dime. There are many programs out there to skin Windows. WindowBlinds, Iconpackager, StyleXP, etc. The main problem with all of these options, however, is that they cost money. Why spend $50.00 or more on a complete skinning solution just to give your computer a new look? You could spend that money on more important things: like coffee, or clothes, or books! With a little effort, you can get the same results as those who foolishly pay, at no cost to yourself. But first, the necessary disclaimer: bookworm_2005 is not responsible for any problems the following instructions may cause for you or your system. Proceed at your own risk. Thank you. Step One: The first step is to enable your Windows XP to read *.msstyle files. While there are many programs and cracks out there that claim to do this, I have only found one that actually works. You will need to download two things: UXTheme Patch For Windows XP SP2 Final (ignore any directions on the download page, just download the file) & Replacer. Unzip both files and then run the Replacer file and follow the on screen instructions. Note: you want to replace the uxtheme.dll found in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ folder with the uxtheme.dll you downloaded and unzipped from the UXTheme Patch. If Replacer opens in fullscreen mode (makes your computer screen black), just hit Alt+Enter to return to Window mode so you can drag-and-drop things as instructed. Follow the on screen instructions and then restart your computer. Your computer should now recognize .msstyle files. For more info on how to use .msstyle files to theme Windows and where to find themes based on .msstyle, go here for a really good tutorial. P.S. Do I need to mention that you should always backup important information and system files before doing things like this? Step Two: After you've patched the uxtheme.dll and downloaded some Visual Styles to try, the next step is to skin your Icons. Many Icons can be replaced by hand, but others, such as system icons, can't. To re-skin almost all of your icons quickly, you will need to download IconTweaker, a free icon-skinning utility. Download the program here, and all of the plugins here. IconTweaker comes with several Icon themes already installed, but if you don't like them, you can make your own using Icons you make or find online. You can create your own Icon archives which you can share with others or use on more than one computer. ( See Screenshots of IconTweaker ) Step Three: So far, you've skinned the Windows Shell and Changed the System Icons. The Last step is to skin the Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer toolbar. You can do this with a little utility called Y'z Toolbar. Download it here, Install it, Run it, and then right click somewhere in the navigation bar of WE or IE and choose the "Y'z Toolbar" option. From there you can choose your theme. Y'z will skin both the Windows Explorer and the Internet Explorer toolbars with the appropriate icons. Several themes are included with the install and more can be found online. The one I use is iCandy Junior from iconaholic.com. Don't forget to place a shortcut to "YzToolBar.exe" in your startup folder so that you will still see your skinned toolbars after a restart. ( See Before & After Shots of Y'z Toolbar ) Extra Tidbits: Add a background image to your folders in Windows Explorer with Windowpaper XP, a small freeware utility that helps you make use of one of Windows XP's built-in features. Y'z Toolbar is the only one of these Patches and Programs that shows up in the Process Monitor (Taskmanager) and it only uses about 56k of memory on my system. Tada! I've just themed my whole system without spending any money. It looks great, works beautifully, and was fun and easy to do. I would love to hear how you did it. Leave a note in the comment section. |
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