Stream your files anywhere anytime for FREE

www.orb.com is a FREE piece of software that allows you to stream your desktop computers content to various web enabled devices such as cell phones, laptops, pdas and even other desktop computers remotely. I especially like the feature which allows you to stream video to your smartphone. While buffering can become excessive at times, the stream makes up for it in quality and the ability to encode virtually any media file you through at it avi, mpeg, mpeg4, mov, wmv etc. Orb is a must have for an on-the-go lifestyle. Get it FREE here

Get creative with Linux via Ubuntu Studio

Ubuntu Studio looks like a promising application to fill the gap in Linux that is creativity software. We all know Linux has sported The GIMP for sometime now which is OK for small stuff and definitely better than MS Paint by far. I can just imagine what this new software package will bring to the creative table for Linux. I am going to have to give this a run on Ubuntu. Check it out and let me know how it is in the comments.

Link: http://ubuntustudio.com/

Make Windows XP do the Aero Flip 3d effect (Windows)

I love the Windows Vista Aero Flip3D feature, but unfortunately I have to stick with Windows XP for software reasons. TopDesk is a great little tool that will give you the features of Aero Flip3D on Windows XP and more. TopDesk features several different rotate modes, flip styles, color customization, window labels, and more. There is also a feature to quickly show the desktop by placing all your windows at the bottom edge of the screen (F11). You can ALT+Tab to view a vertical view of all open windows.

Keyboard Shorcut tips

• ALT+TAB = Flip, Grid, Spatial (Depending on settings)
• F11 = Minimize your Windows (toggle) works great.
• Tip : Use the mouse wheel to scroll through windows when in tile mode.

Got a favorite piece of software you think would go great with TopDesk? Send me a Tip to tips@timmatheson.com

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Access your webserver with PuTTY

PuTTY is a free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Win32 and Unix platforms, along with an xterm terminal emulator. It is written and maintained primarily by Simon Tatham.

I use putty alot and really find it usefull. Download PuTTY here

–Tim Matheson

Automate Windows and Dos tasks using AutoIt

Download AutoIt

Have you ever wanted to automate some of your more repetitive Windows or DOS tasks?
Well now you can using a freeware tool called AutoIt. AutoIt is an easy to use automation program that allows you to convert EXE files to AutoIt scripts then launch the newly converted script. The power in this application lies within it’s ability to pass parameters to the script at run time. This software could be used in conjunction with my previous How to remote shutdown windows using a text message and outlook express .

AutoIt is a simple tool that can simulate key presses, mouse movements and window commands (maximize, minimize, wait for, etc.) in order to automate any windows based task (or even windowed DOS tasks).

When AutoIt is executed, it reads a specified script file. This script file allows AutoIt to perform a number of functions, these include:
• Executing programs (Windows applications, DOS commands, etc.)
• Sending keystrokes and mouse clicks (all characters, keyboard layout independent).
• Window functions (e.g. minimizing, hiding, restoring, waiting for, activating).
• Simple text clipboard functions.
• Simple registry functions.
• Simple string and variable functions.

[TAGS] Automation, Automation Software, Macros, Windows Automation, Productivity[/TAGS]

Forecastfox Enhanced

Forecastfox Enhanced is an excellent addition to the Firefox browser. This little extension will display your local weather forecast continuously in your browser’s status bar.

Top Download - KeePass Password Safe

KeePass Password Safe is a free, open-source, light-weight and easy-to-use password manager for Windows. You can store your passwords in a highly-encrypted database, which is locked with one master key or key-disk.

[TAGS]Security Tools, Password Storage, Password Manager, Top Downloads, KeepPass Pasword Safe[/TAGS]

Lost? Get maps from Google Mobile Maps on your cellphone

Now you can get gps directions anywhere from your cellphone. Google Mobile Maps is the latest tool from Google featuring the familiar Google Maps interface in the palm of your hand. To use Google Mobile Maps point your mobile phones web browser to http://www.google.com/gmm and download the free software. Then you only pay for the data transfer fee from your provider. You can usually get a plan to lower the cost of data transmission. For full instructions and an online tour visit http://www.google.com/gmm

[TAGS]Google, Google Mobile Maps, Google Mobile Phone, Google Cellphone, Google Maps, Travel Tips[/TAGS]

How to remote shutdown your Windows XP machine with a text message and Outlook

OK, I did this a while back to have more control over my computer when I am not at home. Keep in mind this method will turn off a computer with an “constant” internet connection i.e.(cable,DSL).

Basically you setup a rule in outlook to look for say a keyword in the subject line of an email. Then you select run application as the action for when that keyword is found. Then all you have to do is write a simple dos batch file and use the shutdown command with the -fs parameter to ensure the shutdown is not aborted by any running applications. After that the rest is simple you simply send a sms text message from your cell phone or other source to your email address. You must have automatic send and receive tunned on for this to work.

Ok so let’s get started.

Create a file called shutdown.bat in notepad with the following code in it.


shutdown -s


Save it to your C:\ drive so the path to the shutdown batch file is something like C:\scripts\shutdown.bat (Important this is a must the path must be exact) or you can modify the rule once you import it to point to the new destination it’s your call.
Now open outlook and adjust your settings to send and receive email every minute on the minute (1 minute for testing time can be increased if a delayed shutdown is desired.) now in Outlook in the file menu click Tools and select Rules and Alerts with the Rules and Alerts dialog open click the options button on the far upper right portion of the dialog window. Choose import rules from the options dialog and browse to the file C:\sms_functions\rules\shutdown.rwz
(the file was included in the downloaded project files) and your done. Now send a text message from your cell phone to your email address and in the subject use the key phrase smsshutdown%% (or make your own! :) and send it. When the email is received and found with the smsshutdown%% in the subject Outlook runs the dos batch file containing the shutdown -f command and shuts down your computer. You could also accomplish other task’s using this method using more dos commands, php scripts, perl what ever. This will work on Linux using pine also.

I hope this will be as useful to someone else as it has been to me.

Bonus Tip
I have found that this article explaining the MS-DOS SHUTDOWN Command Syntax can answer most of your questions about the command.

Update: I recently updated the file so it works the way it should thanks to everyone who helped in the comments. If you re download the files it should work for those of you whom it did not.

More Windows Automation Tips, Tricks and Software Also see my automation category for more Windows automation tips, tricks and software.