thinkfree

PeaZip - A good tool for taking backups.

2009-11-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

I was in search of a good tool for daily archiving my files which could

1. Compress and archive in .7z format
2. Add datestamp
3. Do these tasks daily .

Initially,I tried Areca-backup .It is good but currently it doesn't support archiving & compressing in LZMA (7z) format.
Now I am using PeaZip to Compress my files in .7z and add timestamp. The best part is we can save a job's definition and import it whenever we need to do archiving.
Here is Peazip's short introduction:
The program features an archive browser interface with search and history features for intuitive navigation in archive's content, and allows to apply fine-grained multiple exclusion and inclusion filter rules to the archive; a flat browsing mode is possible as alternative archive browsing method.

PeaZip allows users to run extracting and archiving operations automatically using command-line generated exporting the job defined in the GUI front-end. It can also create, edit and restore an archive's layout for speeding up archiving or backup operation's definition (this is what I am using).

Dia - A diagram creation program

2009-10-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Dia is a GTK+ based diagram creation program for GNU/Linux, Unix and Windows released under the GPL license.

Dia is roughly inspired by the commercial Windows program 'Visio', though more geared towards informal diagrams for casual use. It can be used to draw many different kinds of diagrams. It currently has special objects to help draw entity relationship diagrams, UML diagrams, flowcharts, network diagrams, and many other diagrams. It is also possible to add support for new shapes by writing simple XML files, using a subset of SVG to draw the shape.

It can load and save diagrams to a custom XML format (gzipped by default, to save space), can export diagrams to a number of formats, including EPS, SVG, XFIG, WMF, VDX (Visio XML Format) and PNG, and can print diagrams (including ones that span multiple pages).

Dia contains a plug-in that allows scripting in Python.

I am happily using Dia for designing software at work and at home.

You can get Dia from http://live.gnome.org/Dia/Download

Flock web browser

2009-10-17T07:59:00.001-07:00

Flock is a web browser built on Mozilla’s Firefox codebase that specializes in providing social networking and Web 2.0 facilities built into its user interface.

Flock 2.5 integrates social networking and media services including MySpace,Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, Blogger, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, etc.Notably, when logging into any of the supported social services, Flock can track updates from friends: profiles, uploaded photos, and more. Flock's latest 2.5 version added Twitter Search functionality, multi-casting of status updates to multiple services, and the introduction of instant messaging via Facebook Chat in the browser.

Flock is specially very useful for blogging. (Even this post is made via Flock's blogging feature.)
Other features include:

native sharing of text, links, photos and videos;
a "Media Bar" showing preview of online videos and photos as well as subscription to photo and video feeds;
a feed reader supporting Atom, RSS and Media RSS feeds;
a blog editor and reader, allowing direct posting into any designated blog;
a Webkit-mail component allowing users to check supported web-based email off site, compose new messages, and drag-and-drop pictures and videos from the "Media Bar" or webclipboard into a new email message;
support for third-party add-ons, including a number of Firefox extensions;
Web Clipboard (Must see).
The Bottomline : Try using it . You won't regret.
The Flock browser is available as a free download from , and supports Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux platforms.

wxPython

2009-02-17T06:55:00.000-08:00

If you are new to wxPython, you must take a look at these facts.

wxPython may be better than Java but these are some drawbacks which I came across:

1. Format of date in DatePicker control (dd-m-yyyy , etc.) cannot be changed. It takes the system default format.The best solution I discovered is ... change the system date format! [Windows XP -control panel > Regional and language settings]

2.wxGlade is probably the best GUI designer for wxPython [Python Card is also worth considering]

Finally, wxPython is on of the best toolkit for python

OpenOfice.org

2008-10-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

OpenOffice.org (OO.o or OOo) is a free cross-platform office application suite available for a number of different computer operating systems. It supports the ISO standard OpenDocument Format (ODF) for data interchange as its default file format, as well as Microsoft Office 97-2003 formats, Microsoft Office 2007 format (ability to "open" documents in version 3), among others.

OpenOffice.org was originally derived from StarOffice, an office suite developed by StarDivision and acquired by Sun Microsystems in August 1999. The source code of the suite was released in July 2000 with the aim of reducing the dominant market share of Microsoft Office by providing a free, open and high-quality alternative; later versions of StarOffice are based upon OpenOffice.org with additional proprietary components.

The project and software are informally referred to as OpenOffice, but this term is a trademark held by another party, requiring the project to adopt OpenOffice.org as its formal name.

You can get more info from OpenOffice.org

UNetbootin - Universal Netboot Installer

2008-10-12T08:35:00.000-07:00

UNetbootin allows for the installation of various Linux/BSD distributions to a partition or USB drive, so it's no different from a standard install, only it doesn't need a CD. It can create a dual-boot install, or replace the existing OS entirely.

Requirements

Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista, or Linux, or a USB Drive. If you are having trouble with the Linux version, try the Windows version, it usually works better.
A broadband internet connection to download the distribution packages (unless installing from pre-downloaded media, see below)
Spare hard drive space to install the OS in (varies depending on distribution)

You can get more info from their official website http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Openofice.org

2008-10-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

OpenOffice.org 2 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.

SQliteJDBC

2008-10-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

SQLiteJDBC is a Java JDBC driver for SQLite. It runs using either a native code library 100% Pure Java driver based on NestedVM emulation.

Both the pure driver and the native binaries for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux x86 have been combined into a single jar file.
More info on

http://www.zentus.com/sqlitejdbc/

SQLite - Small. Fast. Reliable.

2008-10-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

SQLite is a in-process library that implements a self-contained, serverless, zero-configuration, transactional SQL database engine. The code for SQLite is in the public domain and is thus free for use for any purpose, commercial or private. SQLite is currently found in more applications than we can count, including several high-profile projects.

SQLite is an embedded SQL database engine. Unlike most other SQL databases, SQLite does not have a separate server process. SQLite reads and writes directly to ordinary disk files. A complete SQL database with multiple tables, indices, triggers, and views, is contained in a single disk file. The database file format is cross-platform - you can freely copy a database between 32-bit and 64-bit systems or between big-endian and little-endian architectures. These features make SQLite a popular choice as an Application File Format. Think of SQLite not as a replacement for Oracle but as a replacement for fopen()

You can get more info about SQLite on their official website sqlite.org .

There is also a jdbc driver available called SQLiteJDBC.

Multi seat linux

2008-08-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

mulA multiseat, multi-station or multiterminal configuration is a single computer which supports multiple users at the same time. The configuration typically consist of one monitor, keyboard and mouse for each user and may include headphones for some users.
There are different approaches for achieving this. This feature is in brainstorm section of ubuntu.
Multiterminals are also more cost-effective: it is not necessary to buy separate motherboards, microprocessors, RAM, hard disks and other components for each user.
Multiseat has following advantages :
- saves electricity
- save cost of hardware
- reduces maintenance work

Gnucash financial-accounting software

2008-08-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL and available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

Designed to be easy to use, yet powerful and flexible, GnuCash allows you to track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. As quick and intuitive to use as a checkbook register, it is based on professional accounting principles to ensure balanced books and accurate reports.
Feature Highlights

* QIF/OFX/HBCI Import, Transaction Matching
* Reports, Graphs
* Scheduled Transactions
* Financial Calculations

* Double-Entry Accounting
* Stock/Bond/Mutual Fund Accounts
* Small-Business Accounting
* Customers, Vendors, Jobs,
Invoices, A/P, A/R

Official website of this project is http://www.gnucash.org

Open userful

2008-08-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

OpenUserful is an umbrella project of all of Userful's open source public computing software.
Multiseat Linux provides multiple sets of user interface hardware (monitor/keyboard/mouse/sound etc.) so that multiple people can use one computer box simultaneously and independently. Multi-Station is ideal for libraries, Internet cafes, family home use, classrooms, call centers, and other high density, cost-sensitive environments. Putting two to ten users on one standard PC (instead of individual PCs) quickly creates significant hardware, system administration, and power savings.
Openuserful is hosted on http://sourceforge.net/projects/openuserful/?abmode=1

jython

2008-07-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

Jython is an implementation of the high-level, dynamic, object-oriented language Python written in 100% Pure Java, and seamlessly integrated with the Java platform. It thus allows you to run Python on any Java platform.

This project is hosted on sourceforge.net and you can find more info from their official website http://www.jython.org

Synfig 2D

2008-07-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

Synfig is a powerful, industrial-strength vector-based 2D animation software package, designed from the ground-up for producing feature-film quality animation with fewer people and resources.
You can check more stuff from their OFFICIAL website
http://synfig.org/Main_Page

WindowsXP theme

2008-07-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

I found this official theme on net [ http://www.istartedsomething.com/20061029/royale-noir/] and its lot better then normal XP themes (and similar to Vista's).

Download Royale Noir (.ZIP) [403K]

Download Royale Noir (.RAR) [232K]

Instructions to use:

Extract files to “C:\windows\resources\themes\royale noir”
Double click on “luna.msstyles”
Select “Noir” from “Color Scheme”

Because this theme has been code-signed by Microsoft, no UXTheme.dll hack required.

Buy or download LINUX CDs

2008-03-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

You can purchase / download almost all versions of LINUX from
www.linuxcd.org starting from $1.59 per CD!!

UBUNTU - LINUX FOR HUMAN BEINGS

2008-02-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

ENGLISH:
UBUNTU means HUMANITY TO OTHERS.
UBUNTU is an operating system, like Windows and Mac. But since it is a LINUX OS, it is stable, secure and more better than other operating systems. You can order UBUNTU CDs delivered at your doorstep free of cost!!
You can get more info from their official website http://www.ubuntu.com .

MARATHI:
उबुन्टू (ubuntu) म्हणजे दुस्र्यांप्रती माणुस्की (HUMANITY TO OTHERS).
ubuntu ही एक operating system आहे, WINDOWS प्रमाने .मात्र ही इतरांपेक्षा जास्त stable अणि चांगली आहे. तुम्ही ubuntuच्या cds घरी मागवू शकता ते सुद्धा विनामूल्य !!!
http://www.ubuntu.com हया website वरून तुम्हाला अजून माहिती घेता येइल.

MOZILLA FREEWARES

2008-02-20T07:46:00.000-08:00

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE STILL FREE!

Here is a list of free stuff from mozilla.org that you must try

SONGBIRD - music player

THUNDERBIRD - e-mail client

FIREFOX - The most popular , fast and secure web browser .

These are some good and useful plug-ins and add-ons for firefox-

>> PREVIEWS-
Cooliris Previews is a free browser add-on that lets you preview links and rich-media without clicking or leaving your current page, so you can browse faster than ever. Available for Firefox (Windows, Mac. Linux), Internet Explorer, and Safari.
[http://www.cooliris.com/]

>>PICLENS
PicLens instantly transforms your browser into a full-screen slideshow experience. With just one click, PicLens makes photos come to life via a cinematic presentation that goes beyond the confines of the traditional browser window. Available for Firefox (Windows and Mac), Internet Explorer, and Safari.
[http://www.cooliris.com/]

>>VIdeo Download 2.0

Download videos from Youtube, Google Video and many other sites with simply one click.
The main page of the project: www.viloader.net

>>DownThemAll
The first and only download manager/accelerator built inside Firefox!

Here are some FIREFOX themes which I like very much

- NASA NIGHT LAUNCH

-Metal Lion - 300