Add Application & URL Shortcuts In Windows Context Menu - 7CMenuEditor.INC Little features of Microsoft Windows, such as the right-click context menu, increase productivity without the user ever even noticing. Imagine the time it would take for you to access all the features included in the context menu by navigating to different dialog boxes and windows. The context menu allows you to use different features of the operating system by providing you with item-related options. For instance, if you right-click your desktop, you will have a different set of options than what you will get when you right-click, say, an image file. This way, the context menu doesn’t get cluttered with all unrelated options. We have covered several context menu tools that let you increase the utility of desktop and Windows Explorer context menus. When entries are created, the icons will appear in the selected position in the context menu. Right-click any previously created shortcut to access options, such as Delete Context Menu, Edit Properties, Refresh etc. Download 7CMenuEditor.INC
DesktopNow: Remotely Access Files On Your PC via LAN, Web & Cloud Developed by NCH Software, DesktopNow is an application for Windows that enables you to remotely access files and folders on a PC over LAN or the internet (WAN) via a web browser. Almost all the major web browsers are supported including Firefox, Chrome, IE and Safari etc., lets you share as many files and folders as you want and access them from any computer or mobile device. The application offers an easy-to-use interface and supports SSL connection to provide secure access to your data over HTTPS. Unlike most file sharing and remote desktop applications, which automatically open ports and set other configurations for you, it requires you to manually open the required port through your router’s configuration interface. Though, apart from sharing files over HTTP (LAN and the web), it also provides a Cloud Access feature, which lets you access shared folders and files via NCH Software cloud. Next up you can enable the Cloud Access feature before hitting the Finish button.
Ringtone Maker: Create Ringtones For iPhone, Android & Others Catchy ringtones are a great way of showing off your phone, besides, who likes a boring, old-fashioned ringtone anyway? The beauty of internet is that you can download free ringtones from the lot, whether you want Adele’s Rolling in the Deep or the classic Super Mario tone. But If you were looking for a software that lets you easily create some of your own cool ringtones, then look no further than Fried Cookie’s Ringtone Maker. The application offers an elegant interface, simple design and intuitive ringtone creation process, and lets you cook your own favorite ringtones for your smartphone, within a few clicks. It does the job in five simple steps, and can be set to convert the output to formats compatible with iOS (iPhone, iPad & iPod touch), Android, Blackberry, Symbian and other smartphone platforms. So how does it work? The application has a minimalistic, yet an aesthetically pleasing UI design. It will ask you to select the type of your mobile phone. Download Ringtone Maker
Batch-Rename By Criteria, Replace Defined String In Multiple Filenames - Handy File Tool We have covered a lot of useful applications that let you search for and rename files in bulk, replace a single text string in multiple files at a time, and rename files according to a specified criteria. However, using a different software for each function means that you’ll have to keep your system stuffed with lots of programs to perform all aforementioned tasks. Wouldn’t it be convenient if you could perform all these file management-related operations from a single, unified interface? Today, we came across an application called Handy File Tool, which helps you perform numerous file-related tasks at a time, under one hood. The application features a file browser, file Finder (search utility), Replacer (to replace text string in multiple filenames) and Renamer (to rename multiple files at once according to set criteria). More on Handy File Tool after the jump. The Basket feature allows you to select multiple files from different drives and folders. Download Handy File Tool
Win 1GB Of Free Dropbox Space On This Year’s Dropquest, Live On May 12 [Updates] If you use Dropbox, and love free extra space (and who doesn’t), get ready for the 2012 round of Dropquest! In case you missed it last year, Dropquest is a game in which you have to complete a series of riddles, tasks and puzzles, and if you manage to do so, you win a staggering 1GB addition to your Dropbox storage space for life. This year, Dropquest will launch on May 12, at 10AM PST (17:00 GMT), at which time the official Dropquest 2012 page will become available (if you click it now, you’ll get a 404). According to Dropbox, this year’s quest will be even harder than last year, but there are glorious prizes waiting for those who can complete it first. Aside from the 1GB of storage awarded to anyone who finishes the quest, Dropbox will also give away a Dropbox employee hoodie, a limited edition Dropbox Hack Week t-shirt, a Dropbox drawing signed by the entire Dropbox team, an invitation to help write the next Dropquest, 100GB/20GB/5GB/2GB extra storage for life, and other goodies.
How to Make Observations like a Scientist Many of science’s most important breakthroughs, from the discovery of microorganisms to the theory of evolution, have come about through observation. The scientist’s gaze is clearly a powerful tool for making sense of how the world works. But it is not the same as “everyday observation,” as Catherine Eberbach and Kevin Crowley call the kind of casual looking done by those of us who don’t wear lab coats. “Seeing is not observing,” the University of Pittsburgh researchers point out. (MORE: Brilliant: Why Floundering is Good) First, scientists train their attention, learning to focus on relevant features and disregard those that are less salient. (MORE: Brilliant: Learning Can Be Passive) While casual observers simply sit back and watch what unfolds, scientific observers come up with hypotheses that they can test. MORE: 10 Ideas That Are Changing Your Life
thinkery: Take Notes, Save Webpages & URLs For Later While Browsing With the massive amount of information online, sometimes we just can’t keep track of all important and interesting content that we come across. This is where thinkery can help you out. This handy web application makes life easier by letting you focus on the important content, and access it instantly at any later time. Basically, thinkery is a bookmarklet available for all browsers (and an extension for Chrome) that allows you to quickly capture anything that comes to your mind, and save content that you come across on the web for future reference. With it, you can quickly save all important URLs to your thinkery account. The Chrome extension for the service adds a button to the toolbar, which, when clicked, saves the page, complete with the option to add tags, edit the URL or add notes. You will find a menu, URLs, titles and the actual content in thinkery’s slick interface. Install thinkery For Google Chrome Advertisement
MobiText Is A Basic, Themeable Document Editor With Ribbon UI Windows comes with the WordPad utility that provides sufficient options for most basic word processing needs. However, if you seek an application that goes beyond what WordPad has up its sleves – providing more features and options then a third-party software is the way to go. Just recently, we came across Document.Editor (reviewed here), a feature-rich application that we found to be a great alternative to WordPad. Developed by DyNiForm, MobiText is yet another similar utility that includes a handful of features to help you quickly create different types of documents such as reports, drafts, letters, resumes, memos etc. It packs all the tools and settings are present under different tabs on the ribbon including Main Items, Text Tools, Zoom, Speech, and Insert. Text Tools tab houses options for manipulating the text in your documents. You will find text-to-speech feature in Speech tab. It also allows you to insert photos into documents. Download Mobitext Advertisement
Download torrents privately without a torrent client (or when torrent traffic is blocked) – with BitLet There are times when downloading torrents using a torrent client is simply not possible, such as when using a PC where you cannot or do not want to install a local torrent client, or if downloading from networks where torrent traffic is blocked (say by your ISP or network admin), just to name a few scenarios. Instead, it is possible to use a free Java online applet called BitLet, which lets you download torrents in your browser just as you would any normal file. It promises a high degree of privacy (see below), and runs on any browser that supports Java. First things first: Will this method bypass blocked torrent traffic? It should, but I have read reports on the net that sometimes it will and sometimes it won’t. My advice: test it, but give it time to start working, as in my experience many downloads with BitLet simply take a long time to kick into gear. Step by step: (1) Find and download the torrent metafile. Technically, all you need is the link to the .torrent metafile.
Desktop Fun: Wilderness Pathways Wallpaper Collection Travelling on wilderness pathways throughout the year can be very relaxing and give you time to sort out your thoughts when you need some peace and quiet. Bring the beauty and calming influence of these outdoor havens to your desktop with the first in our series or Wilderness Pathways Wallpaper collections. Wilderness Pathways Series 1 Note: Click on the picture to see the full-size image—these wallpapers vary in size so you may need to crop, stretch, or place them on a colored background in order to best match them to your screen’s resolution. More Wilderness Pathways Goodness for Your Desktop Desktop Fun: Wilderness Pathways Wallpaper Collection Series 2 For more great wallpapers make sure to look through our terrific collections in the Desktop Fun section.
How to Automate Repetitive Web Browser Tasks With iMacros Computers are supposed to automate repetitive tasks – if you find yourself submitting forms over and over or repeatedly navigating a website by hand, try iMacros. It’s easy-to-use – all you have to do is perform an action once. iMacros is ideal for anyone that does repetitive tasks in their web browser, whether you’re an average user repeatedly submitting tedious forms or a web developer performing regression testing across a complex website. Getting Started The iMacros extension is available for Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer. After installing it, you’ll find an iMacros icon on your browser toolbar. Recording a Macro The Record button allows you to record browser actions. iMacros keeps track of them and can play them back later. We’ll create a really basic macro to show you how it works. iMacros starts recording. Next, we’ll use the search box on the How-To Geek website to perform a search. iMacros saves our macro after we click Stop. Macro Bookmarks A Few Tricks Demos