New software in Google Pack.

Google equips its Google Pack with additional software. Norton Security Scan and Spyware Doctor Starter Edition are included in the Pack. Good news is that those two software can be used without subscription fees. Other useful software are also included.

Yahoo offered unlimited email storage.

As people share more larger files via email than before, Yahoo now provided mail users with unlimited storage. I think runner-up is Gmail which offers more than 2 gigabytes of free storage. But according to the news, China and Japan are excluded.

The most miserable antivirus program.

The following are findings (conducted by researcher Andreas Cleenti) on Microsoft’s Windows Live OneCare product after comparing with antivirus programs from other vendors:

When it comes to Trojans and malware detection, Windows OneCare got the last position out of 13 vendors. Detection time is 79.6%

Windows OneCare also ranked last out of 15 vendors in detecting virus, worms and other OS threats. Detection time is 91%

The reason why I dubbed Windows OneCare the most miserable one is that a recent update to OneCare got the Outlook.PST file quarantined, preventing users from accessing emails from Outlook which is one of Microsoft’s products.

Quickest way to open files, folder and shortcuts.

Normally we place shortcuts on desktop to access and open frequently-used programs, files or folders. If we want to open a program, at least we have to double-click the shortcut. One thing I like about LaunchOnFly program is that it is juz one click away to open any program. Once installed, what you need to do is to hover you mouse over top left corner of desktop and choose a program you want to open by clicking it in the top down menu list. The feature I like most is that it is easy to add any program, folder, file or whatever by right-clicking and selecting ‘Send To’. That’s all! Furthermore, you can manage your frequently-used programs or files by grouping them according to your needs. E.g. you may put Photoshop, Paint Program, Corel Draw, etc. into one folder called ‘Design Tools’ letting you easily access related programs or files.

Live funeral service on the net.

Maybe you found the title somewhat peculiar. According to the news, the undertakers from Northern Ireland have started broadcasting live their funeral services on the net. The service is intended for those who couldn’t come in person to the funeral service of their loved ones. Online mourners can log in the password-protected site in order to bid last farewell. I juz want to conclude that the world is even more getting ‘flatter’ as times go by.

Break big file up.

When you send a file as large as 5 or 10MB via email, it is time-consuming to wait to get the file sent. You might wonder if you can split the file into small pieces and get them sent. Slice-n-Save is a good file-splitter program which can fulfill your needs. It can break up any file as large as up to 4GB into as many small files as you want. Furthermore, you can specify the sizes or the numbers of those small files without limitation. After slicing, you can regain the original file by running special batch file which is generated when slicing. So if you want to send the slices, be sure to send also that batch file. Enjoy slicing!

Searching and privacy.

According to the article, the greatest treat to our privacy may come from search engine not from cookies or spyware. In fact I found the article too anxious about privacy. But I think it is worth reading coz it has some useful tips such as how to search anonymously, how to block Google from placing cookies and so on.

Create a secure vault in PC.

Criptainer is a kind of encryption software not only to create a virtual vault in your PC but also to encrypt or decrypt any file. Once you have installed, it creates encrypted virtual drive which is only accessible by only you. So it is like a vault where you can keep your privacy securely. In fact, you can also create such a vault in your removable drive or USB flash drive. The best feature I like best is Encryption. You can encrypt any file and decrypt it using password. You can also send the encrypted file via email securely but the recipient needs to know the password. Enjoy encryption!

Extract driver files for your PC.

Isn’t it great if you can extract all required driver files and get them burnt on 1 CD? Download the batch file and run it. It will collect all those required driver files in a folder and you can then transfer the files to CD using your favorite burning tool.

More than a USB drive.

We use portable USB drives mainly for storing data. We carry those drives, insert them into other PCs and manipulate data. What I want to pinpoint is that the application programs like email client, IM, games, music player, photo editor and web browser you often use at home can’t be carried along with such drives. Verbatim’s USB HD drive allows us to carry applications with us, enabling us to carry not only data but also applications. Find out!
See also related post in the blog.

When you plan to buy new PC today.

As time goes, computer processing powers are improving to cater for today’s need. When you plan to buy new PC today, you need to make a wise choice. At least your PC should be Vista-ready. Regardless of your budget limitation, here are basic requirements for today’s PC. Use Duo Core CPU instead of single or solo core CPU coz Duo Core is more flexible and price difference is very small. Though Microsoft recommends minimum requirement for RAM to run Windows Vista is 512 MB, you should consider to get at least 1GB of RAM or even 2GB if you multi-task ‘heavy’ applications. Because of multi-tasking, we should buy wider LCD. Recommend sizes are 15 or 17 inches. LCD has many advantages over CRT. Wider screen is needed to run and monitor various applications at the same time. Memory of graphic card should be at least 128MB to experience Vista’s Aero interface. Storage capacity of hard drive should be at least 120GB but if you plan to archive multimedia files, the larger the better. All in all, the overall system of today’s PC should at least meet Windows Vista requirements.

See also: Intel's processors comparison table.

Website for sale.

I couldn’t believe my eyes to see the price tag of halflife.com. I also wonder who will buy that site and no idea about how popular or hot the word ‘halflife’ is. I don’t think the domain name is related with legendary game of Valve Company. Go see the value of price tag!

Online virus scan.

Some viruses are so destructive that they can shut down antivirus program preventing you from scanning your PC. Even if you try to re-install the antivirus program, you are restricted to do so. When you encounter such kind of situation, there are in fact a couple of ways to scan for virus. You can detach your hard-drive, get it mounted on another virus-free PC with antivirus program installed and scan your drive. Or maybe it will be helpful if you repair your Windows and re-install antivirus program. But I suggest you try to scan for virus online if you can connect to internet. Maybe that option is your last resort. Here are good sites for online virus scan:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
http://www.bitdefender.fr

Statistics of browsers’ usage.

The following are excerpts from the statistic data collected by Net Applications and OnesStat online traffic analyzer companies:

US market share of Firefox was 9.5% last year; it rose to 13.67% for this year. According to company analysts Safari strengthened positions with 50% and consisted 4.7% of the market in whole. During the period of collecting data (from January 2006 to January 2007) the number of Internet Explorer users has been significantly shortened (from 85.31% to 79.75%). Read more in the news!

Give your PC some zip.

We are frustrated when Windows takes times to upload or when applications open slowly or when you feel everything is so slow that your want to tear it apart (please don’t do that). Here are 4 tips to speed up your PC performance a bit faster.