SumatraPDF Reader

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Jesse Zylstra

Until recently, I would have declared FoxIt reader the best PDF reader for speed, usability, and visual appeal. Unfortuantely, like AdobeReader, Foxit is beginning to become bogged down and is getting much slower to use. Although I still think FoxIt is a fantastic program, I decided I needed to find something more lightweight that did what I needed it to do and not much more. I also wanted to find something that was Open Source and not commercial freeware.

Introducing SumatraPDF: An Open Source, light weight, easy-to-use PDF reader.

What’s so great about Sumatra?
It does what it needs to do. It is a very simple PDF interface, you open your document and it is there. No more waiting for programs to load, no more fancy interfaces, this is just a basic, down-to-earth, PDF reader.

The load time is fantastic! I do not believe in having to pre-load applications such as you often see with programs like Adobe Reader. Sumatra, from clicking a document to opening, takes about 1 second on my i7 8GBRAM 7,200RPM HDD laptop.

I don’t feel that I can say much else about Sumatra. It is FANTASTIC at what it does and is simply simple.

What it lacks: It is a PDF Reader, not a writer in any way. It can’t fill out forms like FoxIt or Adobe Reader, nor can it add comments to documents or do digital signing. If you often need these types of features, I recommend keeping FoxIt on your computer as a backup program and using Sumatra as your primary PDF reader.

Visit their code website on Google Code: https://code.google.com/p/sumatrapdf/
Download Sumatra PDF from FileHippo: http://filehippo.com/download_sumatrapdf/

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Review: K-Lite Codecs Pack

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Jesse Zylstra

Video encoding offers a great variety in compression and quality abilities, but can be cumbersome when it comes to playing video and audio on a computer.

The K-Lite Codecs Pack offers multiple “packages” of codecs for any level of media nerd. K-Lite is of course completely free and will not nag you to upgrade or pay. The basic pack includes codecs to play VI, MKV, MP4, FLV, MPEG, MOV, TS, M2TS, RMVB, OGM, WMV, 3GP, WEBM, FLAC, and Wavpack files. The “Standard”, “Full”, and “Mega” include more support and more software to help you play.

The “Basic” pack is 9.3MB, and the “Standard” back is about 13.7MB. Any software required to play media files will run automatically when needed and won’t waste your computer’s memory. K-Lite is also working on a 64-bit version, but that is still in the experimental phase.

To download K-Lite, just visit their download page: http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

If you are still having problems playing media, try out VLC as a media player. It seldom has issues playing video files and can also play sound.

Want QuickTime or RealPlayer WITHOUT having to install the “official” players?
QuickTime Alternative: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/QuickTime_Alternative.htm
RealPlayer Alternative: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm

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September/October Site Updates

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Jesse Zylstra

These past few months have had a steady output of articles, at least one every week since July.

Site usage went down during summer, and is now climbing back up to regular monthly stats. The most accessed pages have shifted slightly, a disporportinate amount of visitors are going to the economics site, but the main site still maintains the highest percentage overall usage. See “Most Popular Pages by Percentage”

Average time spent on site is going up.

Uptime these last two months have been the best possible under the circumstances. A number of electrical storms have caused power outages and problems with internet in the area, not to mention dozens of quite terrible fires all over Eastern Washington. The site is now 100% remotely maintained though still on personal servers (in other words, the propinquity from the site admin to the servers is a great distance..)
That being said, the month of August had 98.42% uptime  with a total of 15 outages lasting 10 minutes or longer.
September outages have not yet been reported.

Top Refers in Order:
1. Google  2. Direct Traffic  3. winfix.zylblog.com

Top searches:
sitewide: Connect Economics Answers, mcgraw hill connect economics answers
articles: accordion bass chart,  the sims 3 online play,  ubuntu ts3.exe and tslhost.dll,  accordion notes chart,  sims 3 online play

Top Posts

Accordion Fingering Chart (bass)
Run The Sims 3 under Linux
The Sims 3 Online Play
GTA: San Andreas on Linux
Windows 7 Starter Edition
SPAM Testing
Best Archive Manager for Windows

Most Popular Pages by Percentage 

Page

Pageviews

1.

/economics/

16.72%

2.

/2009/10/accordion-fingering-chart-bass/

10.56%

3.

/economics/CH3Multiplechoice.htm

7.75%

4.

/economics/CH1Problems.htm

6.16%

5.

/2011/07/the-sims-3-online-play/

5.80%

6.

/2009/10/run-the-sims-3-under-linux/

3.59%

7.

/index.php/2012/03/30/connect-economics-by-mcgraw-hill/

3.14%

8.

/economics/CH2Problmes.htm

2.93%

9.

/economics/CH2Multiplechoice.htm

2.78%

10.

/economics/CH3Problems.htm

2.51%
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This weeks article: Something for fun

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Jesse Zylstra

I felt very clever about this.

(Image hosting courtesy of Imageshack.us)

Image from “Joshe’s Blog” http://www.joshwoodtx.com/taxonomy/term/255

Photo caption by me.

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Hate Youtube Comments?

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Jesse Zylstra

Do you hate Youtube comments?
Can’t stand to read what others say?

Feel alone in your intelligent opinion?
How would you like to see Youtube comments as they really are?

Replace Youtube comments with Herp-Derps!

Here is a plugin available for Chrome, FireFox, Opera, and Safari:

Herp Derp for YouTube™

http://www.tannr.com/herp-derp-youtube-comments/

Direct link to Chrome plugin
Direct link to FireFox plugin 

Here is an example of corrected comments on Youtube for a video about Justin Beaver:

(Image hosting courtesy of Imageshack.us)

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Boost Mobile: Your Answer to Contract-Free Cell Service

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Jesse Zylstra

This post brought to you by Boost Mobile. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

Are you tired of being locked into contracts with your current cellular provider, but don’t want to change because you are afraid you won’t be able to find the same features in a non-contract provider? Never fear, Boost Mobile is here!

Boost Mobile offers the same features of any other carrier plus more with no contact and less cost, leaving you with less hassle. Worried about getting a cheap phone? Boost has Blackberry and Android options available to suit your data-consuming needs. Or, go all-out with the new HTC Evo Design 4G.

You can get talk and text, talk text and web, unlimited monthly, as well as specialized plans for Android and Blackberry. Boost offers a loyalty program to lower your monthly bill after only 6 months of on-time payment. You could be getting a 4G plan for as low as $40 a month.

You can have a full-featured phone with talk, text, and data with no credit checks, no contract, and shrinking payments. No other company offers so much with such great quality for the same price.

What are shrinking payments?

Shrinking payments are offered in Boost’s pre-paid wireless plans. After 6 months of on-time payments, your monthly bill will decrease by $5 every month for a total of $15 off your plan.

What kind of network does Boost use?

Boost gives you full access to the Spring 4G (WiMAX) network for the fastest data speeds available. Think about running a brand new HTC Evo Design 4G with Boost — access to the world at your fingertips.

With Boost Mobile as your smart-phone service provider, you can do everything you want: browse the web, stream the top videos, receive up-to-date news, and check the latest highlights on your favorite social network sites.
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Question: Does Google Love Me?

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Jesse Zylstra

Yes, Google loves you very much.

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Computers and Music

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Jesse Zylstra

Do you know what the first two digital consumer products available were?
The year was 1971.
A Sharp brand Calculator, and an Allen Digital Computer Organ.

The Allen Digital Computer Organ was often called MOS1, MOS meaning Metal Oxide Semiconductor. Allen is now one of the most prominent digital organ manufacturers in the world, and still makes all of their components in the United States, even the computer chips. They also manufacturer chips for other companies. Their products are known for lasting long (and they have been around a very long time) and for their exceptional quality.

The church where I am the organist in Waterville, WA obtained a 1979 Allen Organ to replace a Hammond A-105 in November. Our organ is an MOS system 1, model 123-C, and features the standard features included with this organ series: a card reader (we got many extra cards), vibrato (AM and FM modulation), dual-channel audio with two amplifiers, two-level combination action, and overall niceness. I absolutely love the instrument, and I love that our church now owns an important piece of electronic history.

Many people like looking at these early technologies, there is something very novel about seeing these early dark-green boards and early IC units. Just for them, I have created a slideshow showing the components of the organ.

View it here: http://img641.imageshack.us/slideshow/player.php?id=img641/8900/1340747657ve2.smil

You can view the individual pictures here: http://imageshack.us/g/641/dscn1408c.jpg/

 

 

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MagicDisc ISO: Virtual CD-ROM Manager

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Jesse Zylstra

The smallest of computers no longer come installed with CD or DVD drives. New technology has taken a swing away from this older way of storing data. This is great when it comes to making computers lightweight and small, but CD and DVD’s have not yet become obsolete. The only remaining option is to either get an external CD/DVD drive enclosure, or get a hold of the ISO image of the CD you need. But what programs are there to mount an ISO?

The answer: MacicDisc ISO (full name: MagicISO Virtual CD/DVD-ROM). http://www.magiciso.com/tutorials/miso-magicdisc-overview.htm?=mdisc_hlp106

MagicDisc from MagicISOsounds a little hokey, but it is definitely one of the best ISO

Screenshot of Magic Disc

Screenshot of Magic Disc. (Thanks to Imageshack.us for image hosting)

mounting programs available that works with Windows 7. In fact, it supports Windows 98 all the way to Windows 7 and has 64 and 32 bit versions. It is fast, easy to use, lightweight and great. MagicDisc runs in the system tray and is ready when you need it, and stays out of the way.

To download, just visit their website. Please note, if you go to the homepage you may have difficulty finding out where the free MagicDisc mounting software is, they don’t advertise it well. The program for mounting discs is free, but the program for creating ISOs and doing other things is not. MagicDisc is free, with no nags or reminders asking to pay.

What about PowerToys ISO mounting? When Microsoft was still fully supporting the original PowerToys tools, it was great to use their ISO mounting program. Unfortunately, it was only compatible with XP and lack of support from Microsoft has nearly driven it off the Internet. MagicDisc works better and is less buggy than the powertoys tool, and easier to use.

Features:

  • 1.28MB download size (32 bit), uses about 8.8MB RAM while running
  • Capable of making images out of CD’s
  • You can specify as many as 15 virtual drives, or as little as 1
  • Able to compress ISO files, and decompress UIF images

Supported formats (from their website):

  • BIN              (CDRWin)
  • IMA/IMG          (Generic disk images)
  • CIF              (Easy CD Creator)
  • NRG              (Nero – Burning ROM)
  • IMG/CCD          (CloneCD)
  • MDF/MDS          (Fantom CD)
  • VCD              (Farstone Virtual Drive)
  • VaporCD          (Noum Vapor CDROM)
  • P01/MD1/XA       (Gear)
  • VC4/000          (Virtual CD)
  • VDI              (Virtuo CD Manager)
  • C2D              (WinOnCD)
  • BWI/BWT          (BlinkWrite)
  • CDI              (DiscJuggler)
  • TAO/DAO          (Duplicator)
  • PDI              (Instant Copy)

 

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Alarm Clock Programs for Windows

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Jesse Zylstra

I have always found waking up difficult. I have four alarm clocks: One mechanical wind up, two radio alarms, and my computer alarm.

Computer alarm? Yup. Computer alarm.

English: The face of a black windup alarm clock

The face of a black windup alarm clock (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Why use a computer alarm? Occasionally, I need to change the time I get up to earlier or later depending on the next days events. It is frustrating to configure my radio alarms, they are difficult to use.  A computer alarm is just a few clicks from the time being changed.

Also, I can specify what I want the alarm to sound like. On the weekends, I currently have the song “Freeze Frame” played, and week days I wake up to a remix of Vampire Weekend’s “Kids Don’t Stand a Chance”. Choosing songs that cause a feeling of happiness because you like them so much just about makes you want to dance every morning.

The program I use is “Free Alarm Clock“. When I first found it, it sounded suspiciously

Free Alarm Clock Screenshot

like adware or a fake program. But, indeed, it was real — and very useful too.

Free Alarm Clock features the ability to easily change time, specify what days of the week the alarm sounds, and allows you to set multiple alarms, multiple times, and multiple days. In my configuration, I have two alarms: One for week days, and one for weekends.

Each alarm has a few options besides just the time and day. You can specify a message to display, enable “snooze” (you can change the snooze time), specify the audio file to play (or use a included file), the audio volume, and you can also choose whether to loop the file continuously until you hit the button to shut it off. The program runs in the system tray when not in use and keeps out of the way for everyday computing. It is completely free, there are no nag screens or reminders asking to donate.

I have found this program to be very useful. It is available as an installed program or as a portable application. You can read more about Free Alarm Clock on their website:
http://freealarmclocksoftware.com/

The total download size is 1.6MB, the program takes about 5.2MB of memory to run.

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