Learn to program in Python
Submitted on March 1st, 2006 by admin
Filed under Resources and The Mac Side and Software and Windows and Linux
No. of comments (2)
If you’ve wanted to start programming, Python is a rather popular and easy language to learn and use. hose of you who remember when BASIC was king, Python is similar to an updated and more powerful version of BASIC, and there’s many similiarities between the two. (It also happens to be named after British comedians!) For the most part, Python is an interpreted language, meaning that you have to have the Python interpreter to run any Python programs. As a rule of thumb, if a computer can run the Python interpreter, it can run most Python programs. There’s Windows, DOS, Windows CE, Mac, Linux (Check your distribution’s package manager), Java, and many other interesting versions officially avaliable.
There’s also many good Python tutorials avaliable, such as Dive Into Python (for people with prior programming experience), and, for those new to programming or with less experience, The Non-Programmer’s Guide to Python. Happy coding, everyone!
Yahoo Widgets
Submitted on February 13th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Reviews and Productivity and Software and Windows
No. of comments (4)
Well I know Konfabulators been out forever but I never really looked into until yesterday night. As I was a Mac user for a short while, I really loved the “widgets” the OSX offered. When I sold my precious Powerbook away, I really missed that feature!!! So I took, yahoo owned now, konfabulator for a spin. I actually like!!! It does exactly what the widgets feature did on OSX but for PC. There are TONS of widgets out there if you check yahoo/widgets page. The program is very simple to install and get it running. It took me awhile to figure out how to have the widgets appear and disappear with just a push of a button.
1. Right click a widget and click Widget Properties.
2. Click Window tab and in the drop down selection “Level of Window”, select “Show Only In Heads Up Display”. You have to do this to ALL the widgets in order for it to hide and appear when you press the hot key. Next time you press “F8″ or any other hotkey you assign, the widgets will show up and hide.
IE 7 Beta 2
Submitted on February 8th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Browsers and Software and Windows
No. of comments (3)
My very first article for TipMonkies!!! I hope to bring you guys good and informative content through out the week. My first article is on the new release of Microsofts Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2. They’ve recently anounced a public release and can be found here. Microsoft site to download it and take it for a spin. You must have a validated copy of Windows in order to install. and run. They’ve obvisouly cleaned up their interface. Looks alittle more “bubbly”. They’ve finally got the idea that tabbed browsing is a must! and added that feature. They’ve also included a search bar on the top right corner just like Firefox. Seems like MS is finally cleaning up their act.
Google Safe Browsing for Firefox
Submitted on February 2nd, 2006 by admin
Filed under Browsers and Software and Security
No. of comments (2)
As much as I follow Google’s new offerings, I can’t believe I let this one slide under my radar. The service is called Google Safe Browsing and it’s a small extension for Firefox which informs the user of phishing attempts by a website. If the site is trusted, you’ll see a green icon in the Firefox address bar, while if the site is malicious, you will see a red icon appear in its place. Why this hasn’t been implemented before is beyond me, but it looks to be a useful tool (by the way, Internet Explorer 7 also has this feature built in). Like everything Google, the extension is 100% free.
[tags]google, safe, browsers, firefox, security[/tags]
Tax software roundup
Submitted on February 2nd, 2006 by admin
Filed under Productivity and Resources and Software and Windows
No. of comments (3)
Tax season is in full swing here in the United States, and many of you might be unwilling to pay an accountant to do your taxes for you. Tax preparation software has gotten progressively better and easier to use over the years so why not give it a shot? PC Magazine has a good roundup of tax preparation software available on their site. My recommendation? TaxCut, hands down (been using it for a couple years now).
[tags]tax, software, tax preparation, roundup, review[/tags]
Make your own ringtones…free
Submitted on February 2nd, 2006 by admin
Filed under Audio and Portables and Software and Windows
No. of comments (3)
Mobile phone carriers make billions (yes, that’s a B) of dollars every year from people who think it’s worth it to buy 30 second clips of songs for $3 USD a pop (my carrier only lets you keep them for 90 days…what a load of $h!+). If you’d like to get some custom ringtones on your phone but are unwilling to shell out money, check out HyperScore, a free application for Windows that lets you do just that. HyperScore was developed by MIT’s Media Lab, so you know it’s bound to have some cool features in it, and for the price, you really can’t go wrong.
[Via Make]
[tags]cellphone, ringtone, composition, music, freeware[/tags]
Get Windows Live Messenger without an invite
Submitted on February 1st, 2006 by admin
Filed under Software and Windows
No. of comments (10)
As many of you will know, Microsoft is slowly revamping all of their applications with a brand new look and interface, probably to coincide with the released of Windows Vista (supposedly) sometime this year. One such application that is getting big makeover is MSN Messenger, which is being renamed to Windows Live Messenger. A beta version of the application is currently available but only to a select few lucky people who received an invitation from Microsoft (I am fortunate enough to be testing Windows Live Messenger, Office Live, and Windows OneCare). If you’d like to test Windows Live Messenger yourself, check out this complete guide over at LiewCF.com (because I can’t give you all my links!) with directions on patching the executable file. The new application supports PC-to-PC calls, the ability to send offline messages, and more.
[Thanks, Liew!]
[tags]msn, windows, live, messenger, microsoft, beta, im[/tags]
Podcast FM, quick and easy podcast hosting
Submitted on February 1st, 2006 by admin
Filed under Podcasting and Software
No. of comments Comments Off
Podcast FM is a relatively new podcast hosting service which aims to make the whole process of uploading and hosting a podcast as easy as possible. The U.K.-based company offers different hosting plans for podcasters ranging from 5 to 40 pounds per month (so about 7 to 50 US dollars) offering different levels of storage and different number of channels, though bandwidth seems to be unlimited. Best of all, you can try the service free for one month to see how you like it.
[tags]podcasting, hosting, services[/tags]
Keep track of time spent w/ TaskBlaze
Submitted on February 1st, 2006 by admin
Filed under Productivity and Software and Windows
No. of comments (2)
As regular readers to this site know, I’ve become exponentially busier over the past month or so due to real world responsabilities, and as a result, I’ve become more and more dependent on web calendars, and time management software. One pretty cool tool I’ve been testing for the past couple of days is called TaskBlaze, a free Windows application which makes tracking time spent on a project pretty easy. Simply fire up the application and start the timer. When you’re done, stop the timer, and the time spent gets exported to your Outlook schedule so you can use that information to bill clients, track expenses, or simply to make yourself more productive. The software works really well and is super easy to use. Now if only it supported other clients aside from Outlook (hear that, Brad?)… 
[tags]productivity, outlook, software, freeware, schedule, timer[/tags]
Organize everything w/ Yojimbo
Submitted on January 26th, 2006 by admin
Filed under Productivity and The Mac Side and Software
No. of comments Comments Off
We’ve written about software that helps you organize information before, whether on the desktop or online, but most only work for certain types of information, such as events, media, etc. If you’re looking for an application which will help you organize nearly any type of media and non-media, then you might want to take a look at Yojimbo, at least if you’re using a Mac. Yojimbo is super simple to use and you can organize anything from PDF files, documents, bookmarks, and notes to reference materials, jokes, serial numbers and passwords. The applications isn’t free ($39 USD), but if you need one a one stop place to organize all your information, Yojimbo is one of the best solutions available today.
[Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog]
[tags]apple, mac, software, organization, productivity[/tags]
