We met at RE/MAX this month. Rawls was able to stay just long enough to
connect the club computer to the RE/MAX network—thanks Rawls! We
got right down to business starting with a couple of housekeeping
programs. This was a lively meeting, it even included singing… more
about that later. Thanks to everyone for attending, and thank you for
your participation. I hope you all had as much fun as I did. -Steve
Spring Cleaning
We kicked off the day by performing a couple of cleanup chores on the club's computer.
CleanUp!
is a useful little freeware utility for anyone who needs to remove evidence of their Internet surfing. CleanUp! is designed to erase system
files that regularly log Internet activities. It purges your Web page cache, URL history log, and any cookie files that Internet Explorer
collects during browsing. This easy-to-use, well-documented gem also lets you automatically wipe the Favorites folder contents, temp
directory files, telltale Registry entries, and newsgroup subscription queue. It's even handy for recovering disk space lost to cookies and
cached Web pages. A modest, yet friendly interface offers fully selectable cleanup levels and checkboxes for configuring individual
operations. So if you want to surf without leaving a wake,
download Cleanup here!
Ad-aware
- Free Spyware Removal for Win 9x / ME / NT4 / 2000
AdAware removes the files that are used by advertising supported softeware to call home
and exchange statistical data. It works with Aureate/Radiate and Conducent's Time Sink enabled
products. The program will list all detected files, removal is optional and may cause some
adware programs to quit working. We installed and ran Ad-aware v4.55 on the club computer. It found and removed two-dozen
spyware references!
The Ad-aware Web site has been unreachable since the day
of the SIG. I'll post any new information in the
PCUGR YGroup.
April Fools!
We played with some joke/prank programs in honor of the upcoming April Fool's Day.
Alien Detector Pro
In 1996 KABS released an ET detection system called AlienDetector. The
response to this software was overwhelming. KABS knew that they were on
to something and in early 1997 contacted Dr. Wendal Tittlebaum regarding
an enhanced version of this ET detection software. KABS and the
Wisconsin Institute for Extraterrestrial Studies spent an untold amount
of resources and tax payers dollars to bring together the finest team of
programmers, analysists and engineers. Under the guidance of Dr.
Tittlebaum the months of painstaking work have culminated in
AlienDetector Pro... The most advanced system for the detection of ET's
and repressed abductee experiences.
Freeware from the Wisconsin Institute for Extraterrestrial Studies.
Avoid
makes the start button avoid the mouse! With this fun joke you can make the Windows Start button run away from mouse clicks.
Launch Avoid and watch as the Start button jumps away from the mouse when anyone tries to click it.
This program will bring hours of amusement to any office joker.
Freeware from RJL Software.
Fatal Error simulates three deadly (but actually harmless)
errors on the user's computer. Pressing a button reveal one the following options: Erase all data on C:\ | Delete the OS | Format C:\.
Freeware for Windows 95, 98, NT & 2000, and NT by Shareware Solutions.
Screen Savers
LavaSaver Screen Saver
LavaSaver is an endlessly
fascinating screen saver
modeled after the famous
lava lamp. The life-size
representation is hard
to distinguish from the
original. The free demo
comes in blue only.
Registration ($15) adds
more colors and features.
vanBasco's 3D Screen Saver
Everyone enjoyed watching
the animated objects fly
against the stars. Available
totally free of charge for
Windows 9x/ME/NT4/2000.
"… proving that pure math-
ematics can be fun too!"
E-Mail Programs
We viewed a demo of IncrediMail and discussed e-mail notifiers, especially ePrompter.
(We did not try either program, since we did not have access to a mail server.)
IncrediMail - "Email like in the movies"
IncrediMail is a graphical, feature-rich email program that offers you an unprecedented
interactive experience. With IncrediMail you can personalize your emails according to your mood
and personality. IncrediMail's Web Gallery offers a constantly updated collection of email
Backgrounds, Animations, Sounds and E-cards, that are integrated into the email message
itself—not as attachment. Experience 3D effects while sending, receiving or deleting your
mail. IncrediMail offers a collection of flash Notifiers that will announce the arrival of new
mail and adds life to your desktop. You can even add your own personalized hand written
signature. Impress your friends while expressing yourself. "IncrediMail—Email Has
Finally Evolved!"
We visited the IncrediMail Web site for an impressive demonstration of this outstanding freeware
program. Jerry P. recently installed, and is using IncrediMail. Although he has not been using
it for a long time, he is generally pleased. He imported his messages and addresses from Outlook
Express. With the exception of mail in additional mailboxes that he had created, everything
was imported successfuly. Late last year I tried an earlier (beta) version of this software. It
was a bit resource hungry on my 166MHz, 128K RAM system. Jerry has a 900 MHz system with 128 MB
RAM.
Jump to www.incredimail.com
for the demo or freeware download!
ePrompter
ePrompter is a free email retrieval and notification utility that automatically checks up to eight password protected email accounts for AOL , AltaVista, Earthlink, Email.com, Hotmail, Juno, Lycos, Mail.com, Mindspring, Netscape, POP3, Rediffmail, Switchboard, USA, Yahoo, ZDNetOneBox and hundreds of other email domains - all at the same time.
ePrompter features a unique rotating tray icon, and a choice of five unique screensavers that let you know at a glance the number of new messages in each account, which you can easily read and/or delete online or offline. It's extremely easy to set up and use.
Find out more and get this free software by going to ePrompter at www.eprompter.com.
A Musical Interlude
Time for a bit of fun! We installed vanBasco's Karaoke Player and sang
along with the Karaoke tunes. (You don't ever want to hear Cerruti sing "Puff
The Magic Dragon!")
vanBasco's Karaoke Player plays Karaoke (.kar)
and standard MIDI (.mid, .midi, .rmi) files. Features include: Fully customizable Karaoke window: change font, colors, number of lines (up to
four), background image; Lyrics can be displayed in a resizable window or full-screen Comes with the ability to change tempo, volume, key of
song; changes can be saved to playlist so that they are remembered in the future It can mute, or play solo individual
selections of instruments. Real-time MIDI output: shows notes, volumes, and instruments. Piano view: displays notes on a big piano keyboard.
Integrates with Netscape and Microsoft Web-browsers through a plug-in. Fun! Freeware!
We've added a collection of 288 Karaoke (.KAR) files to the club library. Download them here or pick up the collection at any Shareware SIG
(bring a 100 MB ZipDisk). The songs are listed in the "ReadMe" file.
Karaoke Song Collection: ReadMe File |
Download [3.17 MB]
Software Design - Windows Software
Shareware and Freeware by Gregory Braun for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000.
We looked at two freeware titles. One member was especially interested in MS Windows Error
Messages. We installed WebTime 2000 on the club computer. It is a small, but effective utility
that synchronizes your computer’s internal real time clock with any one of several atomic clocks
maintained by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology.
MS Windows Error Messages v2.2
• Look Up Windows Error Codes
WebTime 2000 v3.0
• Internet Clock Synchronization Utility
Preview
There were more programs than we had time to look at this month.
If you don't want to wait for the next SIG, check them out now.
- Gyula's Navigator -
Freeware Norton Commander Clone with Modern Windows Interface
- JExplorer -
Dual-pane, Web-enabled Freeware File Manager for Windows
- rjhExtensions -
Add Useful Functions to Windows Explorer Context Menu - Free
- YankeeClipper -
Super Powerful Freeware Windows Clipboard Extender
Updates
We've updated versions of several popular programs in the club library. They are:
Questions
Members asked some really good questions. In fact we ran out of time before we
could answer them all. The questions, and the answers were posted in the
PCUGR YGroup.
If you are subscribed, you've already received the information, and you can read it now using the links below.
