Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Network based DVR closer to reality


Today's non-ruling by the US Supreme Court clears the way for Cablevision to offer its Systems' Remote Storage-DVR service, or Network-based Personal Video Recorder (nPVR). By denying the request by several content companies to review the long-contested case challenging the service's use storage of copyrighted content, the U.S. Supreme Court in effect allwed Cablevision to go forward with it's plans.

According to FierceIPTV, "The legal victory not only frees Cablevision to launch its RS-DVR service, which a Sanford Bernstein report speculated could happen this summer, but also opens the door for other service providers, including telcos, who had been waiting for a legal resolution before considering their own network-based DVR services."

Telcoedge: Network Based DVR May Be a GO

FierceIPTV: Bid for RS-DVR Supreme Court Review Fails

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Verizon will pay State of Florida $1.5M


Following a settlement with the Attorney General of the State of Florida, Verizon Wireless will pay $1.5 million for third-party charges that appeared on consumers' bills. The customers were charged for ringtones, wallpapers and other mobile content that they were told would be free.

Rather than "free" as their marketing suggested, the content wound up costing customers up to $19.99 per month. The charges appeared on the subscriber's wireless bill as company's names, including OpenMarket, M-Qube and M-Blox.

"Consumers deserve to get their money back when a company misrepresents something as free that isn't," Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said in a statement. "I commend Verizon Wireless for providing full restitution to their Florida customers and changing the business model to better protect consumers nationwide."


According to Fierce Wireless, late February saw AT&T Mobility agreeing to refund thousands of Florida consumers for the same problem. AT&T agreed to pay Florida $2.5 million and contribute $500,000 toward consumer education on safe Internet use. The carrier also agreed to the same kind of safeguards that Verizon will adopt. via FierceWireless

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Q in Northern Virginia




Northern VA is not know for it's barbecue. Some people don't even think of this area as "The South" though they would be wrong. While many Northerners have infiltrated this place (myself included), they don't realize that Northern VA was a hotbed of civil war activity. When Grant fought Lee, he was fighting the Army of Northern Virginia, but I digress.

While there is some decent BBQ, much of it is provided by chains and the like. There are some darn good places, if you know where to look - which is why I was so pleased to find this place. Papa Dukes is really nothing more than a stand with some outdoor tables on the corner of two streets in Sterling. Yet, there is definitely something special about it - real Q for people who appreciate it. I say this because most would drive right by - Real barbecue lovers know that there is usually a direct inverse relationship between the way a BBQ joint looks and the quality of it's food. For Papa Dukes, the rule holds. If you don't believe me, look at the happy (sic) faces of my family enjoying having their photo taken.
Papa Dukes Barbecue, corner of Cascades Parkway and Woodland Road, Sterling, VA (no web or phone)

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

DTV transition: The final days


Well, here we are, finally approaching June 12. What will be the outcome? Pandemonium? Mass protests? More likely, huge sales for cable and satellite companies. According to Multichannel News, Leichtman Research Group said that pay TV providers collectively may pick up as many as 200,000 to 400,000 net subscribers during the second quarter in buying actions related to the transition.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Software Essentials for the Modern Educator

As a trainer, I am always on the hunt for tools that will improve my output, make me more efficient, etc. To that end, I was recently sent the following list of "Software Essentials for the Modern Educator", a fairly comprehensive list of shareware and freeware that looks useful. Sadly, I do not know it's author or I would gladly site that person. And because I do not know the source, please use this list at your own risk. And now the list:

Software Essentials for the Modern Educator

The majority of these programs are free for educational or personal use only.
Check the licenses for Business or Commercial use.

License

Vers

Name

Notes

Shareware

7.10b

12Ghosts

12 Separate (sometimes technical) utility programs

Free

1.1.2.381

1-Click Answers

Another IE Toolbar or Desktop Bar Reference tool

Free

2.0

1Click Clocksync

'One click' approach to synchronize your clock to Internet time servers

Free

12.1.2

2 Pic

Image program to convert, thumbnails etc.

Free

2.0

AAscripter

Contains many Javascripts ready to use

Web Site

-

ABC News

FULL VIDEO MENU

Free home use

2.1

Ace Macro

Windows macro creator

Free

4.2

AcronymGenie

Look up program for popular acronyms

Free pesonal ed

1.06

Adaware SE Personal

Remove spyware, registry and cookies

Free

2.08

Add Remove Pro

Windows Uninstaller, remove entries from add/remove menu

Free

7

Adobe Reader

Needed to read .pdf files

Shareware $US29.95

2.6

Advanced File Organizer

Ignore 2.4, doesn't track moved files, results in errors (2.6 is Fab)

Free

3.93

Aida

AIDA32 - Personal System Information 3.93

Free

3.4.2

Allway Sync

Syncronize files between drives and networks

Free

1.0

Always on Top Maker

Force a window to be "Always on Top". Great for security cams.

Free

1.04

Amazing Portal Generator

A quick canned portal generator

Free

2.01

AMP Tile Viewer

Viewer for image files

Free

0.93.1

Amphetadesk

RSS Feed Reader

Free

5.2

Arachniphilia

HTML Editor colour coding etc, java version

Free

4.0

Arachniphilia

HTML Editor colour coding etc, Windows version easy!

Free

5.01

Arthaus Photoalbum Wizard

Create photoalbums from your images

Free

1.2.3

Audacity

Excellent Free Audio edtior , requires lame_enc.dll for mp3's

Free

8.5

Autoruns

Alter your autostart Windows programs

Free

1.61

Avid Free DV

Video editing software by Avid, smaller, but free

Free


AVS DVD Player

Also available at this site: AVS TV Box Beta

Free personal use

7.1h

Belarc Advisor

Learn everything there is about your hardware and software

Free

Lite 1.61

BIMP

Batch Image Processor, I wish I had this earlier ;)

Free

4.1

Batch Run

Create complex batch files with a nice interface

Free

1.4

Bonfire Studio

HTML, CSS, XML editor suite

Free

2.0

Browster

Free add-on for IE and Firefox that adds an instant preview (& launch) of any link

Free

1.14 beta2

Burrn

Burrrn is a little tool for creating audio CDs with CD-Text from various audio files.

Free

2.9.0

Burn to the Brim

Calculates files to completely fill CD's without wasting space

Free

2.0

CamStudio

Record screen, audio to .avi and Flash, more powerful than Wink, leap tall buildings et'al

Free

1.0

Caption-it!

Recover the password under the ********** in your pw box

Free

1.51

Cdex

Make MP3 files from CD's

Free

2.5

CD Cover Creator

Create CD covers, inserts etc.

Free

1.33.382

CCleaner

Clean Internet Explorer Cache and other temp files, great for exam and test centres

Free

1.5 beta 2

Clocx

Neat desktop clock, alarms that show a message, launch programs, 30+ skins

Free

1.0

Coffee Cup DHTML Menu - 2

Build fancy drop down menu's for your web site

Free

8.0

Coffee Cup HTML Editor

A very good tabbed code, like Dreamweaver lite

Free

1.01

Color Detector

An eyedropper for the desktop to determine coler from anywhere

Free

2.2

CourseLab by WebSoft , Plugins

e-learning authoring tool, programming-free, Internet, (LMS), CD-ROMS and other devices

Free

0.24E (bld 668)

CPad

A good PHP, Python, Perl, Javascript etc editor

Free

3.70

Crimson Editor

Programmers HTML, C++ etc editor

Shareware $US29.95

2.8

Crystal Button

Make neat 3D buttons for your website

Free

1.00

CSE HTML Val Light

Full version is part of commercial Homesite

Web Site

-

CSS 101

Cascading Style Sheet Beginner's Course

Web Site

-

CSS Tutorial

More good info on CSS , and try Google Search

Web Site

-

css Zen Garden

The Beauty in CSS Design

Shareware $US19.99

2.3

CuteHTML

Reasonable HTML editor, but not free!

Shareware $US39.99

7.0

CUTFTP

Good FTP program, better permission control on UNIX

Free

1.8

Deepburner

Create bootable, autorun CD's/DVD's, but not video DVD's (Caution: somewhat technical )

Free

4.3.5

DeKnopp Button Manager

Easily create navigation buttons

Free


DiffDaff

Compare Text and Folders Line by Line for differences

Shareware $US30

4.31

Disk Duplicator by COPYSTAR

Cool program, DOD for making quick disk copies

Free

0.8.1

DupKiller

Powerful tool for searching and removing duplicate or similar files on your computer

Free

7.1

Desksav in German, In English

Save the position of your desktop icons, save multi configurations@ multi resolutions

Free

4.71

Dirhtml

Turn entire directories into launchable html index files

Free

1.0

DLLArchive, Similiar Free Tools

Clean up your system by getting rid of unused DLL's. BE CAREFULL!

Free

5.0.211

doPDF

This utility adds a virtual printer to your computer that lets you print any document to a PDF

Free

2.0.6.280

EasyCleaner

Technical optimization for Windows, potentially dangerous for novices

Free

2.8

Easy Thumbs

Great for creating thumbnails, lotsa options

Websites

-

eLibrary.net and Web-books.com

Find ebooks online, some for free

Free, others shareware

1.0

EMCO Photo Resizer, more products

Resize your phots

Free

1.31

FAQGenie

Quickly create your own FAQ's for your web site

Free

2.1.20

Fav2html

Turn your favourites into an html file, like netscape bookmarks

Free

2.90

Feedreader

RSS Feed Reader, looks like Outlook , unstable on our network

Free

1.0

Filegrab

Capture filenames from explorer to text file

Free

1.0b2

FireAnt

Video Blog Aggregator

Free

1.5

Fire Fox

The main competition for Internet Explorer

Free

1.4.0

File Splitter

Split Files for Email or Floppy Disks

Shareware $US29.95

5.0

Filevan (Laplink alternative)

Untried, but here is a comparison of features. Looks promising.

Free

7.0

Flash Player

Play flash animations

Donations Accepted

1.3.2

Foliomaker Lite

Make your Web portfolio

Free

1.03

Free Hex Edit , others

Hex Editor, again if you have to ask, you don't need it

Free

0.8.0

Freemind

Mindmapping, Decision Trees -parent, child, sibling nodes, export to .jpg, .html page

Free

7.32

FreshDiagnose

Diagnostic program to check why Windows doesn't work. ????

Free

0.92

Gallery Creator

Create galleries of web images

Free

2.0

Google Desktop

Web desktop search integration, watch out Microsoft!

Free

3.0.0693 (beta)

Google Earth

Great 3D Satellite imagery

Free

1.0 Beta (Build 368)

Great News RSS Reader

More stable on our network than FeedReader

Free (Lite Version)

3.2

Gridinsoft Notepad Lite

Great programmers text editor, can replace MS Notepad , can open multiple text docs

Donations Accepted

3.0

Halp TV and Radio Stations

Free Radio Stations (Includes Canadian and US broadcast stations)

Free

1.0055

HateML

Powerful editor for PHP, XHTML, CSS, XML, JavaScript, VBScript and SQL

Commercial $US99

5.5

HomeSite +

The Macromedia acquired, BEST Code editor on the market

Free/Edu

6.0.4.17

Hot Potatoes

HTML Quiz Generator

Free

12.2.1B

HTML Gate

Edit HTML, CSS, PHP, VB and Javascript, as well as Perl

Website, Free


Free HTML / CSS / Link Validators

Checks for HTML / CSS errors, browser compatibility, broken links, standards compliance

Free

1.5

HTML Splitter

Split large HTML files using Headings

Free

1.19

HTML Notes

HTML editor, Can load .rtf's, although I could not get it to work

Shareware $US29.85

2006

HTML Pad

A good HTML editor, but not free!

Free

1.5

HTMLSplitter

Split your files into multiple pages based on heading level

Web Search (Live Link)

-

http File Grabbers

A search for http file grabbers and website scoopers

Free

2.0.0

Icon Edit

Edit icons

Free

2.5

Index Generator

Make an index of web pages in a folder, use themes for pages

Free

1.50

Index Maker

Make an index of web pages in a folder

Free

2.0

iPodder

Podcasting Software

Free non-com

3.95

Irfan View

Image viewer/slideshow viewer

Free

6.0.1

iTunes

The newest, some people don't like the rating/tracking system

Free

6.0

JAlbum

Create image galleries with comments and audio annotations

Free

1.1

Kwizmaker

Make online quizes with this application

Free

6.04XM

Link Ripper

Capture links from web pages for review

Free

1.1

List Installs

Save or print a list of all of the programs you have installed on your computer

Free

Online

Lorem Ipsum

Generate content for your pages to check the design

Free

-

LPJ-Slideshow

Create an autorun CD photoalbum/slideshow

Free

1.1

Meta Tag Generator

View meta tags of the top 100 results for a query & generatec your own META tags

Free

0.9

Mihov Image Resizer

Resize your images with this great free program

Website


Monitor This RSS

Subscribe to 22 different search engine feeds at the same time

Free

0.4.01

MP3VCR

Record Shoutcast and Live 365 streams, use older version for ME

Free

2.0

MPTrim

mpTrim is a simple and easy to use MP3 editor. Also see MpJoin.

Free

1.7.516

MRename

Rename your files with lots of features

Shareware $US19.99

10

(Yahoo) Music Match Jukebox

Great mp3 organizer, burner, ripper, supertagging, not all features avail in Canada

Free

7.2

Netscape (with Composer)

WYSIWYG Web Editor & Weather radio for the desktop

Free

8.1

Netscape Browser

Newer, without Composer

Free

4.95

Note Tab Light

Very powerful text/rogrammers Editor, Comparison Chart HERE

Shareware

4.95

NoteTab Pro

Even more powerful text/rogrammers Editor

Free

1.0

Nvu Web Editor, Kompozer

XML/HTML/CSS editor, very similiar to Dreamweaver. Kompozer is the unofficial update.

Free

2.0

Onestyle

CSS editor, Great Stylesheet Tutorial HERE

Free for home use only!

1.40

OpenExpert

Specify any number of suitable applications for each file type.

WebSite


Open Thinking

Open Thinking: Adopting Free & Open Source Software for Learning

Free

8.5

Opera

Another alternative to Internet Explorer

Free

2.12

Optool

View web pages in multiple browsers to ensure compatibility

Donations Accepted

2.61

Paint.net

A very sophicticated graphics program

Shareware $US99

10

Paint Shop Pro

Newest, lots of features, lots to learn

Free

4.12

Paint Shop Pro

Old version, no .png support, does .gif and .jpg

Web Site

Online

Password Generator

Generate good passwords for those secure exams

Free

3.0.6

PHP Designer

From the makers of HTML Gate, for PHP specifically

Free

1.0

PictureTray Resizer

Click and drag graphics editor, with good features

Web Site

-

Podcast.net

Find the Podcasts you need for that iPod

Web Site

1.01

Portable Apps.com

Includes the Portable Apps Suite , and the portable apps menu feature

Web Site


Portable Software

List of portable software From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Free

1.1.1 Build 462

Posteriza

Design your own big posters and signs from any digital photo with your home printer!

Free

1.1a

Printfolder

Print file and folder contents

Free

4.5.0

PSPad

Another XML/HTML editor

Web Site

Restricted Access

Question Mark - Enterprise Manager

Administrator only access to Question Mark

Web Site

Restricted Access

Question Mark -Participant Login

For those scheduled for online exams in Question Mark

Free

6.5

QuickTime Player

Uninstall, Rebootx3, Reinstall, Do not remove launcher

Free

2.10

Quiz Faber Quiz Maker

Make online tests with M/C etc questions

Free

0.22.1

Rainlendar

A calendar program for your desktop

Shareware $US19.85

2006

Rapid CSS

CSS editor

Free

10.0

Real Player

Play many media types, required for Super Internet TV

Free

2.4.6

RenameMaster

Rename your files and folders

Free

2.0

Restore Desktop

Context menu that saves and restores icons' positions on the Windows desktop

Free

0.4 beta

RKLauncher

Mac toolbar for Windows, kinda cool

Free

3.11c

Rname-It

Lots of features, easy yet powerful

Website

-

SAC FTP Search, and Index

Shareware & Freeware

Donations accepted

v0.3.8

Screamer Radio

The easiest, very stable recorder, station list is updated regularly through the program

Free

3.5

Search Sites

Time-saving tool for searching multiple software sites! Similiar to Telescope.

Website

-

Shelley Cashman Resource Site

Microsoft Office Specialist Center including practice tests, et'al

Website

-

Shoutcast

Free Internet Radio

Free

3.3

Sizer

Simple program to change browser window to 640x480, 800x600 or 1024x768

Free

1.53

SmartStartMenu

Quicky find any program, or shortcut, or folder contents from the taskbar

Free

1.1.2584

Snapshooter 2007

Great software to quickly capture screen shots for training, as you preview the steps.

Free

1.1

SoftPerfect File Recovery

Restore deleted files from NTFS and FAT drives , floppies, USB flash drives, CF and SD cards

Free

2.0 beta

Sonique

A close second to winamp, the default skin is dreadful

Free

Website

Squidfingers Web Patterns

Feel free to use any of these patterns on your own site.

Free

5.6.2.0

Starter Inspector by CodeStuff

Find out what starts with Windows, AND STOP IT!

Donations accepted

2.2

Startup Inspector for Windows

Find out what starts with Windows See Database of programs

Free, $US19.99

2.33

Station Ripper

Shoutcast et al recorder, can record 2 streams, purchase to record 600 streams at once.

Shareware $US19 /year

6.5

Super Internet TV

Watch TV on your PC, needs Real Player & Windows Media Player

Donations accepted

1.0

Swifty HTML CSS PHP Editor

CSS/PHP editor

Free

1.87

SyncExp

The download link is at the top of the page

Free

1.0

Tagsnag

Capture tags from web pages for review

Free

7.6.2

Telescope

Great Metasearch software, small, fast, free. 37 search engines polled!

Web Site

-

The Weather Network

How are those roads today?

Free

3.0

Topstyle Light

CSS Editor

Free

V1R10

TPlayer

Disk Jockeys can play, mix and cue songs easily (mp3, wma, ogg, and wav audio files)

Free

1.62

Treesize

V 1.75 does not do network drives, Pro identifies file owners

Free

2.2

Turbo Favourites

Confirm your favourites still work, like Netscape used to do

Free

1.0.0.13

Uninstall Cleaner

Great for cleaning up those partly removed programs, be careful!

Web Site

Restricted Access

VUE Test Center

Online VUE site

Free

1.1

WebCD

Create an autorun CD copy of your website

Web Site

Restricted Access

WebCT Administrator

Private access for the WebCT administrator

Web Site

Restricted Access

WebCT Login Page

Student access to WebCT

Web Site


Web Presentation Tools

Web Presentation Tools And Technologies: A Mini-Guide

Free

1.0 beta 7

WebSwoon

The web photograher , first program that captures below what is viewed on the screen

Free

3.1.2 Build 100

(Yahoo) Widget Engine, Widget Gallery

Free Widgets (small programs: weather, clock, radio) for your desktop

Free

5.3.3

Winamp

My first and still the best audio player, weird fixation with llamas

Free

2.04

WinAudit

Check what is running on Windows

Web Site

-

Windows DLL Library

Find out what all those .dll files are about

Web Site

-

Windows Live

The new feature from Microsoft , a personal portal, like My Netscape etc.

Free

9.0

Windows Media Encoder

Record audio and video from your windows applications into a movie file

Free

10.0

Windows Media Player

Windows mp3, wav player etc.

Web Site

-

Windows Tasks Process Library

Identify what is running behind the scenes in Windows

Free

1.5 build 1051

Wink

Create Flash Demos using screen captures

Free

1.01

Win Syntax

PHP Editor , main site is in Russian

Free, all 1.xx versions

1.55

Winuscon

Find out absolutely EVERYTHING about your computer.

Shareware $US29.95

10.0

Winzip

A must for the Internet

Free

Online

World Time Server

Find out what time it is anywhere, anytime

Commercial $US69

1.0.6

Wordcleaner

Great program combines "clean Word HTML" & search and replace

Free/Edu

4.60

WS-FTP

Great FTP program

Free

1.2g

Xenu

Check all the links and orphans in your website

Free

7.0

XPSysPad

Edit Windows, programs, system folders and more, without Control Panel

Free

2.1

XRay XML Editor

XML editor

Free

1.0.0.21

XSTYLE

CSS stylesheet editor

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