Instant FundasInstant FundasTutorials, tips and guides to computers, technology, internet and blogging. Instant Fundas brings you unusual softwares, links to interesting and cool websites and various other resources on the Internet. Articles
Product Review: Logo Creator 5.0
2008-04-15 16:30:00 Logo Creator is a logo design software that does exactly what it's name says, create logos. The logo making procedure works this way: you begin by choosing from dozens of different templates, which are some pre-made logos, and then modify and manipulate each of the different elements that make up the logo. If you don't want to start from an existing template, you can begin afresh and load various shapes and elements into the canvas and manipulate and arrange them as you like. The logo elements... ... More About: Software , Graphics , Product Review , Review , Product
KompoZer - The best open source alternative to Frontpage and DreamWeaver
2008-04-14 17:36:00 Although there are many open source and freeware web authoring tools, KompoZer deserves a special mention. KompoZer is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) HTML Editor based on the now discontinued Nvu, which was another great open source HTML editor. KompoZer is a complete web authoring application that combines web file management and WYSIWYG web page editor similar to those found in Microsoft FrontPage, Adobe DreamWeaver and other expensive programs. KompoZer is based on the Gecko... ... More About: Software , Open Source , Alternative , Blogging , Open
GPS Tracking Key - The coolest portable GPS tracker
2008-04-14 08:25:00 The Global Positioning System or GPS is a constellation of 24 medium earth orbit satellites that transmit a constant and precise microwave signal which enables a GPS tracking unit to determine the precise location, speed and direction of a vehicle or a person the GPS tracker is attached to. GPS tracking systems are used in a wide variety of applications, ranging from guiding missiles and rockets to studying plate tectonics. A more common and simpler application is vehicle tracking. LandAirSea... ... More About: Portable , Random , Tracking , Tracker
Open PDF files faster with Adobe Reader Lite
2008-04-13 16:35:00 When it comes to bloatware, one of the strongest contender is the Adobe Reader . I never recommend anybody to use Adobe Reader to read PDF files. It is slow, occupies more hard disk space and consumes more memory. Though Foxit Reader is my preferred PDF reader, one software that grabbed my attention is the Adobe Reader Lite . Adobe Reader Lite is based on Adobe Reader 8 minus several plugins and unnecessary features that bogs down Adobe Reader. The result is a much lighter and faster Adobe... ... More About: Software , Open
Forget Skype. Use Gizmo5
2008-04-12 17:38:00 Gizmo5, formerly known as the Gizmo Project, is a VoIP application which is built using an open standard called SIP. The current version of Gizmo5 (4.0.0.338) is officially the first release of the application. All versions prior to the current were released as beta. Internet Telephony is nothing new and there are millions of people who are already using Skype , the largest VoIP provider in the world. As a matter of fact, even the Gizmo Project is around 3 years old. So what new does Gizmo has... ... More About: Software
FeedDemon is the best feed reader I have used
2008-04-11 15:13:00 Three months ago when NewsGator made Feed Demon free, I was using Opera's built in feed reader. I didn't make a switch because I liked the way it was, everything in one application - browser, mails and feeds. But then, having everything in one application isn't such a great idea. Opera started to become bloated and it would freeze for a few seconds every time it updated the feeds. I decided that I needed a separate feed reader. I had previously tried a number of free feed readers but liked... ... More About: Software , Reader
Weekend Fun: Create fiery drawings on your desktop
2008-04-11 07:02:00 A software called Napalm lets you draw over the desktop in a fiery animated ink. The artwork stays on the desktop and spews fire like an animated wallpaper. The author says that his software is useless and thus absolutely necessary. I like this argument. When you install the application and launch it you will see the Settings window. Click "Start Over" to remove the NAPALM logo. Then press Ctrl+F6 to hide the settings window. The whole screen should be covered with a transparent blue layer and... ... More About: Software , Desktop , Drawings , Weekend , Create
How to use different wallpapers in dual monitors
2008-04-10 08:38:00 DisplayFusion is a fantastic application that can make your dual monitor (or triple monitor or more) life much, much easier! From allowing you to use a different wallpaper on each monitor, to integrating with Flickr for image searching, to providing hotkeys for managing your application windows. What DisplayFusion can do? Set a different desktop wallpaper on each monitor (either a picture or solid colour) Set a desktop wallpaper that spans all monitors (either a picture or colour) Change your... ... More About: Software , Wallpapers , Monitors , Dual
Share files and desktop with your Skype buddies with Gogrok
2008-04-10 07:55:00 Gogrok is a plug-in for Skype that provides a platform for sharing files, applications and even remote access your friends's computer over Skype. Gogrok is more than a plug-in that requires it's own login and has it's own window. It features a connection status indicator, docking buttons, Skype contacts importing--which is fast but must be done at every login--and three headshots indicating your status and the status of contacts you're connected to. Double-click on a contact to initiate the... ... More About: Software , Desktop , Share , Files
Use your camera phone as a webcam
2008-04-09 09:08:00 The images produced by webcams are of very poor quality because of the cheap lenses they use and the low resolution. If you want a better quality webcam then well, just use your camera phone over Bluetooth. Now that's cool. No tangling wires and a webcam that you can carry it along with you, and of course that's your phone too. WWIGO, pronounced as "we go", which is an abbreviation of "Webcam Wherever I Go" converts your camera equipped cell phone into a wireless webcam. The transmission takes... ... More About: Software , Phone , Camera , Camera Phone
Lockup your secrets with LockNote
2008-04-08 13:36:00 LockNote is a clever little portable application that password protects a single text file. It is a great way to protect you valuable information like credit card number, passwords, serial numbers etc. Launch LockNote and type your text. When you click on the close button it will prompt for a password. Type a password and your text gets locked with AES 256bit encryption no body can break. It is a hassle free way of safely keeping your private information. No hidden folders or any folder locking... ... More About: Software , Security , Secrets
Firefox extension - Gmail Skins for a better Gmail experience
2008-04-08 06:32:00 Want to super charge your Gmail inbox? Then use Gmail Skins. Gmail Skins is a Firefox extension that skins Gmail and also adds a lot of extra features to Gmail. What Gmail Skins does? ? Change the colour of your inbox. All sorts of colours available. ? View weather, Google calendar and news headlines along side your emails - Any Google IG module can be added. ? Insert images from your Picasa web album in to your emails - Google lets you send emails from Picasa, but not send photos from... ... More About: Internet , Websites , Experience
7 cool softwares from Microsoft you probably never heard of
2008-04-07 08:30:00 Microsoft is known for its big products - Windows, Office, Visual Studio and the like, while it's smaller products receive little attention. There are hundreds of tools on Microsoft's website, but that is probably the last place on earth you would go looking for softwares. But I did a few days ago and discovered several useful utilities. Some of these softwares are well known so I won't be mentioning those. It's only the lesser known ones that I bring here today. 1. Virtual Earth 3D (Beta)... ... More About: Software , Microsoft , Cool , Softwares
Download complete websites for offline browsing with HTTrack
2008-04-06 07:14:00 HTTrack is a free open source website ripper that allows you to download a World Wide Web site from the Internet to a local directory, building recursively all directories, getting HTML, images, and other files from the server to your computer. HTTrack arranges the original site's relative link-structure. Simply open a page of the "mirrored" website in your browser, and you can browse the site from link to link, as if you were viewing it online. HTTrack can also update an existing mirrored... ... More About: Software , Offline , Download , Websites
6 services to send and receive snail mail through the web
2008-04-05 08:50:00 For most people postal mail is a thing of the past. We communicate through emails and instant messengers, pay through credit cards and receive money through electronic bank transfers. But every now and then, when we have to mail to some "lesser mortals" we have to use the traditional way which we lovingly refer to as snail mail. Keeping in view of our disgust of licking postage stamps, some services have sprung up that promises to make snail-mailing a lot easier on die hard emailers. Primarily... ... More About: Internet , Mail , Services , Websites , Send
Weekend Fun: Great looking Vista skin for Windows Live Messenger
2008-04-04 13:37:00 Pretty cool, isn't it? Download (Installation instructions included) - 1.6 MB ... More About: Windows , Skin , Windows Live , Windows Live Messenger , Vista
Speed up your browsing by setting up a local DNS cache
2008-04-03 09:30:00 I'm fed up with my ISP's (BSNL) slow DNS servers. It takes 4-5 seconds just to look up a site, which is annoying because it happens every time I click on a link. So I decided to set-up a local cache of DNS look-ups to skip the process and save time. A little bit of searching and I discovered what I was looking for - TreeWalk. Those who are still not able to get what I'm about to do, here is brief description. When you type the URL of a website in your browser, the browser first needs to... ... More About: Software , Internet , Websites , Local , Browsing
Firefox extension Googlepedia - Wikipedia reference with Google search
2008-04-02 09:17:00 Googlepedia is an extension for Firefox that combines both Google and Wikipedia into one. It integrates Wikipedia results directly into Google so when you search on Google, apart from displaying the Google's search results it displays the entire Wikipedia page on the searched term right on your screen to the right of the Google search results. So basically what you are doing is searching both on Google and Wikipedia at the same time which is very useful considering how resourceful both of them... ... More About: Software , Google , Internet , Search
Dark Room - The minimalist word processor for Windows
2008-04-02 08:37:00 Dark Room is a full-screen, distraction-free, writing environment. Unlike standard word processors that focus on features, Dark Room is just about you and your text. Dark Room is devoid of any toolbars and all the usual features that is supposed to make typing easier. Instead, it has the most plain-jane look you will ever find on any word processor. It's black background and green text with a blinking cursor reminds me of the old unix type command line. Dark Room allows you to do hardly... ... More About: Software , Windows , Word , Processor , Dark
Automatically backup multiple versions of your files with DocShield
2008-04-01 08:59:00 How many of you periodically backup your important files? Not many. Again, how many times did it happen to you that you changed the contents of your document and then wished you hadn't, but then there is usually no way of recovering the earlier version of the file? Very frustrating. I had previously wrote how you can avoid this by saving several versions of the same MS Word file in Word 2002. Now by using this program that I have stumbled across, you can extend this functionality to any files... ... More About: Software , Security , Backup , Files
How to turn off Google's lights forever
2008-03-30 12:17:00 Yesterday Google "turned off" the lights on Google's homepage across various domains as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour. The Earth Hour event first took place on March 31, 2007 in Sydney, when over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2,100 businesses switched off their lights leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city. The Earth Hour 2008 took place yesterday (March 29) and was reportedly participated by 24 cities across the... ... More About: Internet , Websites , Forever , Lights , Turn
How to setup your own web server at home
2008-03-29 07:00:00 Why would you want to set up a server at your home when there are so many free web hosting services available? Simple, because it's fun! Besides, there is no better way to learn than to set up your own server. Setting up a web server is very easy, thanks to software packages like EasyPhp, Abyss Webserver, XAMPP etc. You don't need to have any knowledge about Apache, PHP or ASP to use them. Each software allows it be configured according to your needs but you can safely leave it to its default... ... More About: Internet , Web Server , Home , Websites , Setup
Regulate your browsing bandwidth on Firefox and Internet Explorer
2008-03-28 07:16:00 Why is it necessary to monitor your internet connection bandwidth? Because you might be on a limited bandwidth plan and if you don't keep track of your downloads you might cross the allotted bandwidth and then you will have to pay a fat bill. Also you might have some download in progress through another application like BitTorrent or a download manager and also browsing at the same time. So it might be necessary to throttle your browsing bandwidth so that the download speeds are not affected.... ... More About: Software , Internet , Firefox , Internet Explorer , Explorer
Avoid repetitive typing with PhaseExpress's universal autocomplete
2008-03-27 07:13:00 PhaseExpress is a keyboard macro utility that sits on the system tray and organizes your frequently used text snippets and allows pasting them into any application. Using user defined text strings, key combinations are a hotkey, a user can insert any pre defined text into any typing application like Word, Notepad, email etc. PhraseExpress saves you countless keystrokes and expands custom abbreviations into frequently used text snippets; for example, typing 'btw' expands into 'by the way'. It... ... More About: Software , Typing , Universal , Avoid
Create photorealistic landscapes with Terragen
2008-03-25 14:55:00 Terragen is one of those unfortunate tools that get very little exposure in spite of the results it can achieve. Wikipedia describes it as being popular among "amateur artists" which is so inaccurate. Terragen is a 3D landscape generator and if used with skill can create some truly breathtaking scenes. The truth is: you need little skill to work with this program. Take for instance the following scene, which I created in 3 minutes flat. I know it isn't that great, but considering that I used... ... More About: Software , Graphics , Landscapes , Create
Creative Docs.NET - The freeware alternative to Adobe Illustrator
2008-03-25 06:36:00 Creative Docs .NET is a multifaceted application similar to Adobe Illustrator. It is a vector-based graphic design tool with support for rich text, ideal to quickly write short documents, manuals, posters, illustrations, schemas, plans, flow charts, and much more. Creative Docs. NET runs on top of the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 so you will require it in order to run this application. It can create single-page bulletin with three columns, make illustration using extensively transparency,... ... More About: Software , Graphics , Creative , Alternative
Read your Gmail mails in a feed reader
2008-03-24 06:23:00 Gmail never ceases to surprise me. Another cool feature found in only Gmail is the ability to subscribe to your Gmail inbox in a feed reader. Just like you read your favorite websites in a feed reader, it's possible to read your mails in a feed reader too. The feed URL of the Gmail inbox is http://mail.google.com/mail/feed/atom/ which shows the most recent items from your inbox. Gmail also supports feeds for individual labels http://mail.google.com/mail/feed/atom/lab elname/. Since the feeds... ... More About: Internet , Gmail , Reader , Websites , Read
Make Linux look like Windows XP
2008-03-23 06:04:00 This is a theme for migrating Linux users who feel they are more comfortable with the Windows interface. LXP is a project that provides Linux/Unix users with a desktop that has a Microsoft Windows XP "look & feel" that is nearly identical to the real thing. The LXP project has achieved this by collecting and modifying different pieces of the Open Source GNU software such as icewm, idesk, xfe, and others. The LXP theme has been tested on the following distributions: Fedora Core 3, 4, 5 and... ... More About: Make , Windows Xp
Download Full Version of Ashampoo Photo Commander 5 for Free
2008-03-22 07:04:00 Ashampoo Photo Commander 5 makes managing and organizing even the largest collections of digital photos easy. Its powerful integrated photo editing tools make it a one-stop solution. Instead of switching to a graphics application you can do all your adjustments and enhancements directly in the organizer. Remove the red-eye effect, adjust colors, contrast, hue and many other parameters, resize, crop, rotate, add a wide range of special effects and more. All without leaving the program. But... ... More About: Software , Free Stuff , Download , Free
11 places to get University courses for free
More articles from this author:2008-03-21 17:27:00 Not everybody can go to the MIT or the Oxford or the Yale university, but you can get courses from these universities for free. Such courses are popularly know as Open Courses and are perfect for people with jobs, children, disabilities, or commitments that make it hard to go to a fixed place. And for most courses you don't need any previous qualifications. So here is a list of 11 places where you can get access to thousands of courses and lecture notes from some of the top universities of the... ... More About: Internet , University , Free , Websites , Places 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
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