Listen to the Podcast
20 Jan 2019 - Podcast #626 - (20:42)
It's Like NPR on the Web
If you find the information TechByter Worldwide provides useful or interesting, please consider a contribution.
If you find the information TechByter Worldwide provides useful or interesting, please consider a contribution.
If you want the best software, sometimes you have to be willing to pay nothing for it. Some free-ware applications aren't worth even nothing, but others are as good as applications you'd have to pay for. Let's take a look at some of the good ones this week.
Two weeks ago, I mentioned UltraEdit and UEStudio, a text editor that I've used for more than 20 years, but I also keep a copy of Notepad++ on the computer. Both applications are robust and offer a lot of features. UEStudio's features are all built in, but features can be added to the more basic Notepad++ by selecting plug-ins. Installing only needed components keeps the program size small, so it loads faster. After nearly 25 years, I'm completely familiar with UEStudio's operations and it remains my primary text editor. Still, Notepad++ is handy when I need a to view a text file.
You can download Notepad++ direct, but see Obtaining Free Applications in Short Circuits first.
Filezilla is a free file transfer protocol (FTP) application and I have never found a more comprehensive FTP client, either free or paid. FTP clients, as the name implies, are used to transfer files. It's the application I use to upload the website, podcast, and RSS files each week. Not everybody needs an FTP client, but it's essential for website developers and might be helpful if you need to download files from a company that places them on an FTP server. Most browsers can handle FTP connections for downloading files, but a true FTP client is a better choice if you need to download files frequently, if you ever have to upload files, and if you want to transfer files using a secure, encrypted protocol (SFTP or FTPS).
You can download Filezilla direct, but see Obtaining Free Applications in Short Circuits first.
There's a lot of stuff (for want of a better term) inside your computer and an application called Speccy help you see what's going on under the cover. This used the be an application from Pirform, but it's been acquired by the CCleaner folks. There's still a free version, but there's also now a paid version that claims to show more information, automatically update itself, and come with support. The free version displays information about the computer's processor brand and model, hard disk drive sizes and speeds, how much memory is in the computer, what operating system is running, and the capabilities of the graphics card.
You can download Speccy direct, but see Obtaining Free Applications in Short Circuits first.
What do you do when you try to delete a file only to be told that you can't because some application is using it? You could choose not to delete the file. In some cases, you'll be told which application is using the file, but sometimes you'll need to review all running applications to see which ones might be using the file and close them one at a time until you find the right one. Or you could put a sticky note on the monitor to delete the file the next time you start the computer. Lock Hunter will tell you which application has control of the file and offers several options for deleting the file.
Although I recommend the paid version of Malwarebytes in addition to whichever antivirus program you're using, there is a free version that offers most of the paid version's capabilities, but without any of the paid version's automation. The illustration you'll see is from the premium version. Malwarebytes has been designed to work with all antivirus applications. Installing two or more antivirus applications is a bad idea because they will get in each other's way. Malwarebytes, on the other hand, plays well with other protective services.
You can download Malwarebytes direct, but see Obtaining Free Applications in Short Circuits first.
Virtually all antivirus applications have free and paid versions and the free versions provide all the protections of the paid versions and omit some of the extraneous functions that often do little to improve security while noticeably reducing the computer's performance. In fact, I recommend using Microsoft's Windows Defender on Windows 10 computers. I've long maintained that the best team to build protective software for an operating system is the team that built the operating system. As a built-in component, Windows Defender is well positioned to deal with viruses and other threats and with ransomware.
Previously I've recommended Cybereason's RansomFree application to protect against ransomware. I can no longer recommend it because Cybereason has withdrawn the application. The company has decided "to discontinue availability and support for Cybereason RansomFree." If you currently have RansomFree installed, it will continue to work, but the application can no longer be downloaded and "Cybereason will not maintain or provide corrections, updates or new versions of the software and will not provide any support to customers who continue to use it."
There's an old saying about closets: Stuff expands to fill all available space. This is true for disk drives, too. Your computer has at least one disk drive and may have more. Mine has a boot drive, 4 physical data drives that present as 6 logical drives, and a network drive. Clearly I'm not smart enough to delete things that I no longer need, but the problem is that I suddenly need any file that I've recently deleted. So disk space is relatively inexpensive and I generally don't delete files unless they're ones that I created for temporary use and stored in a "temp" directory.
The problem with this approach is that sometimes it's difficult to find the file I need. That's where Agent Ransack arrives to save the day. This application can examine any drive (or drives) to search for files with a word (or words) in its name or within the file.
You can download Agent Ransack direct, but see Obtaining Free Applications in Short Circuits first.
Windows Explorer has a single pane, so copying files from one location to another is easier if you open a second instance of Explorer. Or you could use Q-Dir (Quad-Directory because it can display 4 directories at a time). Although Q-Dir is free, the first time you start the application you will be presented with a license screen. This happens only the first time you open Q-Dir on each computer. Color coding files is a plus and the ability to display 2, 3, or 4 directories is something you won't want to give up.
If you've ever deleted a file accidentally from a Windows computer, you know that you can get in back. Well, you can get it back sometimes. Some files are too large for the Recycle Bin and files deleted from USB thumb drives, network drives, or memory cards don't go to the Recycle Bin. Recuva (pronounced the way a Bostonian might say "recover") can help with memory cards and thumb drives. The trick with any recovery operation is that you need to do it quickly because space occupied by deleted files will be overwritten when you save new files. If you've formatted the disk drive, the chances of recovery are smaller, but when I ran Recuva on a formatted USB drive, it found not only the 200+ files that I'd deleted most recently, but even some files that had been deleted several months before.
You can download Recuva direct, but see Obtaining Free Applications in Short Circuits first.
Libre Office is a fork of the Open Office project. Just about everybody needs a word processor and a spreadsheet application. You might also need to create on-screen presentations and graphics or work with databases. Microsoft Office does all of these tasks, but so does Libre Office and it's free. If you need to exchange documents with an individual or an organization that uses Microsoft applications exclusively, Libre Office or Open Office might not work for you despite the application's ability to read and write Microsoft formatted files. Otherwise, the applications have more than adequate capabilities for home and office users.
You can download Libre Office direct, but see Obtaining Free Applications in Short Circuits first.
There's no shortage of inexpensive or free applications available that are sometimes as good as or even better than commercial software. Your primary cost for free applications is the time it takes to analyze and become familiar with the software.
Free applications are sometimes available from the developer's website and from repositories such as SourceForge, CNet, and FileHippo. Maybe you've heard that free programs sometimes come with unwanted extras. That's true, but you can avoid the issue.
Developers may include additional applications, but they're usually clear about what they've added. The repositories often are not. You'll find phony download buttons that are attempts to trick users into installing an application they don't want and the download link for the application might be all but hidden. Fortunately, this practice is much less common than it used to be, but the installer may include applications you didn't ask for and don't want. Using the "advanced" or "custom" install option usually lists unwanted extras and allows the user to omit them, but there's a better way.
Ninite is free for home use and it knows about 87 of the most popular free applications for Windows. There is a paid commercial version intended for enterprise use. It recognizes 115 apps and costs $50 per month for up to 50 computers. Clearly that's a non-starter for home use, but there's a $10 option that makes the process better.
To use Ninite, visit the website and build an installer with the apps you want to install or keep updated. Run the app occasionally and Ninite will install any applications that aren't present and update any that have new versions. The problem with that is that you have to remember to run it. The Ninite Updater ($10/year) automates the process by checking frequently and letting you know when updates are available. For families and small businesses, Ninite offers a 1-year subscription for 5 machines ($30), 10 machines ($50), and 25 machines ($100).
As of mid February, Ninite will no longer support Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003, or Server 2008. Windows Server 2008 R2 will continue to be supported. Microsoft ended support for XP in 2014 and for Vista in 2017. Many of the applicaions on Ninite no longer support XP and Vista. Eliminating support for the older operating systems will allow developers to use newer technologies that will allow new features to be added, improve performance, and increase security.
As much as I like Ninite, it doesn't know about thousands of free applications. The Older Geeks website doesn't offer any automation, but it does offer downloads with, as the site puts it, "no ads, no crapware, no BS." There's an option to donate and, if you use the site, please do.
In addition to the website, Randy and Deanna McElveen have a presence on Facebook and post updates and tips every day.
The Windows Task Bar is powerful, probably more powerful than many people give it credit for. Besides customizing the Task Bar, you can customize the applications that live on the Task Bar and create customized "jump lists" that can make using applications faster and easier.
Let's start with the basics. I place a lot of icons on the Task Bar because I prefer a crowded Task Bar to a crowded Desktop. Besides that, I have to minimize or move applications to get to the Desktop and the Task Bar is there all the time. The Windows key, of course, opens the Start Menu, so there are many ways to start applications. Because I place a lot of icons on the Task Bar, I set it to use small icons and to allow two layers of icons. Then I lock the Task Bar so that I don't accidentally resize it.
Right-click in a blank area of the Task Bar (not on an icon, in other words) and you'll see a pop-up menu. The first item in the menu is Toolbars, and I'll come back to that it a bit. In the next section, you can decide whether to show or hide Cortana's icon, the Task View button, People, Windows Ink, and the touch keyboard button.
The third section changes how any open windows appear on the Desktop: Cascaded, stacked, side-by-side, or hidden (show the desktop). I don't like any of these options because I size windows and place them where I want them.
The fourth section has just a single option: Open the Task Manager.
In the fifth section, you can lock the Taskbar and open Taskbar Settings. So the most powerful functions are at the top (Toolbars) and the bottom (Taskbar settings). Toolbars by default will include Address and Links. I don't display either of these because they don't offer enough benefit to take up valuable real estate on the Task Bar. You may also find options for installed applications and possibly one for the computer manufacturer's utility program.
Choosing Taskbar settings at the bottom of the menu opens Settings (formerly Control Panel) where you can set a lot of options.
You'll see options for the Notification Area (formerly the Tray) and for system icons that can be enabled or disabled.
If you have multiple displays, you can choose to show the Taskbar only on the main display or on all displays. If the Taskbar is on all displays, you can choose to display all icons on all monitors, all icons on the main monitor and only those that represent open applications on the monitor with the open application, or only on the monitor with the open application.
There's more, though.
Make the Taskbar your friend!
Facebook has been encouraging everyone to post their first profile picture and their current profile picture. Is this just the harmless bit of fun that it purports to be or is there some ulterior motive. If you've concluded that there must be some ulterior motive because it's Facebook (or Instagram or Twitter), you're already a step ahead of the game.
Kate O'Neill, writing in Wired magazine's Security section says she's suspicious and that's wise. Although she doesn't claim there's anything untoward going on here, she wondered if the images might not be fodder for facial recognition software that would have advanced features to predict aging. Facebook, of course, already has the pictures, but "Imagine that you wanted to train a facial recognition algorithm on age-related characteristics and, more specifically, on age progression (e.g., how people are likely to look as they get older). Ideally, you'd want a broad and rigorous dataset with lots of people's pictures. It would help if you knew they were taken a fixed number of years apart—say, 10 years."
Are these the thoughts of a paranoid nut or somebody who's thinking about the process? The latter, I think. Yes, Facebook already has the images and they could examine all images, extract metadata, and then try to match images of one person over a 10 year period, but wouldn't it be nice if you could have the user specify two images for you and post them side by side? The answer is obvious.
O'Neill adds, "For its part, Facebook denies having any hand in the #10YearChallenge. 'This is a user-generated meme that went viral on its own,' a Facebook spokesperson responded. 'Facebook did not start this trend, and the meme uses photos that already exist on Facebook. Facebook gains nothing from this meme (besides reminding us of the questionable fashion trends of 2009). As a reminder, Facebook users can choose to turn facial recognition on or off at any time.'"
So, it could be harmless, or maybe not. Either way, the article (see the link near the top of this item) is a worthwhile read and Wired allows non-subscribers to read a few articles every month for free.
One of the largest grocery chains and Microsoft plan to create a "connected store" system that they say will "redefine the customer experience." They don't say whether customer experience will be redefined for better or for worse.
They'll use Microsoft Azure to provide "retail as a service". Kroger chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen says the company is building "a seamless ecosystem driven by data and technology to provide our customers with personalized food inspiration." Chances are, McMullen never said that, but someone in the Kroger PR department wrote it. Supposedly, he continued by saying "We are identifying partners through Restock Kroger who will help us reinvent the customer experience and create new profit streams that will also accelerate our core business growth. We are excited to collaborate with Microsoft to redefine grocery retail."
Microsoft's PR department responded by having CEO Satya Nadella say "Our partnership brings together Kroger's world-class expertise in the grocery industry with the power of Azure and Azure AI. Together, we will redefine the shopping experience for millions of customers at both Kroger and other retailers around the world, setting a new standard for innovation in the industry."
You might be wondering what this means in plain English. It appears that you'll be able to use your smart phone to scan prices and, when the store moves everything around so that you can no longer find it, your phone will be able to direct you to the proper aisle.
The system will use Internet of Things sensors and other technologies in two Kroger stores, one in Monroe, Ohio (about 30 miles north of Cincinnati, where Kroger is headquartered) and another in Redmond, Washington (where Microsoft is headquartered). The system will be piloted at the two stores to see if the technology provides the anticipated benefits.
The stores will have what are called "smart shelves" that display prices and other information that would normally be on paper tags. The shelves will what Kroger calls their "Scan, Bag, Go" system. Does this sound a lot like what Amazon is experimenting with?
The technology will also guide store employees as they pick orders for customers who have ordered on-line. But perhaps here is the real key: "In addition to transforming the customer experience and enhancing productivity for store associates, the EDGE (Enhanced Display for Grocery Environment) Shelf will enable Kroger to generate new revenue by selling digital advertising space to consumer packaged goods (CPGs) brands. Using video analytics, personalized offers and advertisements can be presented based on customer demographics." In other words, Kroger and Microsoft will be watching over your shoulder while you shop. With all that new revenue from selling digital ad space, Kroger will drop its prices, but we probably should not hold our breath.