2011-1
19

Windows: Pin that Window with DeskPins

Category: Tips, Windows / WHS | No Comments

(Windows)  One of the things that I like about Linux (Gnome desktop)  is the ability to right click on any window and then select “Always On Top” to keep that window on top of all the others.  This comes in handy when say you playing music in VLC and you want to keep it on top no matter what other app you are in.

Now when it comes to Windows, sadly that same functionality is not built in at the OS level.  This is where a FREE app called DeskPins by Elias Fotiniss comes in handy.

To quote the website:

Features

  • Unlimited number of pins available.
  • Intelligent handling of various application types.
  • Powerful wildcard-based automatic pin support.
  • Global hotkeys.
  • Negligible system resources usage.

System Requirements

DeskPins is not a demanding program and will run on practically any system with Windows installed.

  • Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, 2003.
  • 386/10MHz class CPU or higher
  • 4 MB RAM
  • less than 100 KB of free disk space
  • 4 bpp (16 colors) minimum – 8 bpp (256 colors) or more recommended

Here is a screen shot from his website showing the app in action.  You see that little RED drawing pin next to the minimize button?  That is the DeskPin keeping Calculator on top of all the other windows.

Head on over to :   http://users.forthnet.gr/pat/efotinis/programs/deskpins.html and get this 96kb file to be able to pin those Windows on top of others.  Highly recommended.

2011-1
18

LighterSide: 9 Ways Guys Pee…

Category: LighterSide | No Comments

Found this post from the website “icanhasinternets.com” posted by Scotty Trigg.

See if you recognise yourself as one of them 🙂

I introduce to you:

2011-1
17

OldSchool: Classic Sierra Games Now in a Browser Near You!

Category: Gaming, Sierra | No Comments

Anyone that knows me very well will know that I am a HUGE Sierra games fan.

I have boxes of the games made by them. Some are on floppy  and stiffy disks and then also the more modern ones that are on CD or DVD.  Sadly I have not had chance to play a game for about 2 years now.

For those of you wondering what types of games Sierra made, you must surely have heard of the “Quest” games.  Kings Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Heroes Quest.  Not ringing a bell?  OK how about “Leisure Suit Larry”?  OK…now you MUST know who I am talking about…

Imagine my surprise when I saw link to a website called Sarien.net that allows you to play some of the Sierra games online.

Yup, no need to worry if you have Windows or Linux or now even an iPad, yes just fire up your browser and start playing, no mess and no fuss!  They have even gone so far as to add multiplayer support. Now you can play with others on screen – I must admit seeing 4 Larry’s on the screen too getting used to 🙂

They have “Gold Rush!”, “Kings Quest 1, 2 and 3”, “Leisure Suit Larry 1”, “Police Quest 1”, “Space Quest 1 and 2”, “The Black Cauldron”

If you have an iPad you must check out http://ipad.sarien.net , seriously how cool is this bookshelf with the boxart linking to the online game…

So go on, enjoy some OldSchool games and visit http://sarien.net or on iPad  http://ipad.sarien.net , you won’t be disappointed.

2011-1
16

All Your Base Are Belong To Us

Category: LighterSide | No Comments

A few Facebook posts back, a good friend of mine, Murray Purdon, posted a message “All Your Base Are Belong To Us”. This took me back to an Internet craze that went around in the early 2000’s…

The phrase “All Your Base Are Belong To Us” comes from the opening scene from the Japanese game, which was very crudely translated into English. The game was called Zero Wing and was on the European Sega MegaDrive console system.

To quote Wikipedia, below is the original script, what was put in the game and what SHOULD have been put in the game…

Needless to say, people thought that it was very funny. In late 2000, Kansas City computer programmer and part-time DJ Jeffrey Ray Roberts of the Gabber band “The Laziest Men on Mars” made a techno dance track, “Invasion of the Gabber Robots”, which remixed some of the Zero Wing video game music by Tatsuya Uemura with a voiceover phrase “All your base are belong to us.”.  There were many spinoffs from this and here is just one YouTube clip of “All Your Base Are Belong To Us”.

Many pranks have been played using the phase. One such prank was on June 1, 2006, YouTube was taken down temporarily for maintenance. The phrase “ALL YOUR VIDEO ARE BELONG TO US” appeared below the YouTube logo while the site was down. Some  believed the site had been hacked, which lead them to add the message “No, we haven’t been hacked. Get a sense of humor.”

Remember… All Your Base Are Belong To Us!

2011-1
15

Android: OnTrack – Helping Diabetics Keep Track

Category: Android | No Comments

I am a Diabetic.

And as all Diabetics will know, you have to keep track of your blood sugar levels to ensure that you will be around for some time still.

You can either rely on the memory function of your Glucose Meter, or keep track by writing the information in a log book, or you can step into the modern world and use your smartphone. The great thing is that you will always have your phone with you, so looking for that log book becomes a thing of the past.

I looked at a few free apps that were available on the Android Market, however one really stood out for me – OnTrack by GExperts.

This is the main screen of the app.   There you can add an entry, like your Glucose level, Medication Taken, Pulse, Food, Exercise etc. Of if you forgot to add an entry, select Edit and insert the entry at the time it occurred.  You can select report and see graphs, and at the bottom of the screen you can see your averages for the day, week and month.

As you can see the interface is clean and simple, the graph is only one of the many available and the reports are also great, and it gives you the ability to export it to HTML or XML so that you can print it out and give to your doctor.

If you are a diabetic I seriously recommend you check out the website and the app. OnTrack is available on the Android market, you can download it from there or scan the QR code below with your phone:

(images from GExperts website)

2011-1
14

Keep Confidential Files – Confidential…

Category: Tips | No Comments

We all have some of other type of information on our PC’s that we would rather keep private.   It might be those electronic payslips that you saving. It may be those excel spreadsheets with your budget information. It may even be those *cough* *cough* pictures.  Long story short we all have information that we would rather keep private.

About 4 years ago I was introduced to a program called TrueCrypt by  a staff member in our Forensics department.  He said by using TrueCrypt he was able to keep all his information secure from prying eyes, and it also made backing up an easy exercise.

I did a Google search and found the website – http://www.truecrypt.org.  To quote the website, TrueCrypt’s features are:

– Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux

– Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.

– Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.

– Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).

– Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.

– Parallelization and pipelining allow data to be read and written as fast as if the drive was not encrypted.

– Encryption can be hardware-accelerated on modern processors.

– Provides plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:

– Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system.

The quick and easy explanation on how it works is that you create a file on your hard drive, using TrueCrypt, that you can mount then as a drive letter on your PC.  This drive acts like any other drive, but it is encrypted and once you reboot or dismount the drive, unless someone knows what the filename is and what the password is then your data is secure.   As this is one file you need only copy one file to another location to make a backup all your secure data.

The interface, by being plain, makes it a breeze to use the app:

Here are the options for creating the encrypted file.  You can call the file ANYTHING. Hide it by calling it pagefile.sys in a folder (not the root) if you like. Call it file without an extension. You have options to encrypt a whole drive also if you like.

Here are your different encryption options for the volume:

Have a look at the website and download it.  You will be surprised just to find how easy it is to secure your files.

(screenshots from the TrueCrypt website)