If you’re like me and prefer to keep files and folders on your hard drive in an organized mess (i.e. a strict hierarchical structure) it may become a severe pain to access deeply buried locations. The golden rule in organization advises not to let folders become nested beyond eight levels, which may seem like a lot at first, but readily becomes trivial as hard-drives and data continue to grow beyond proportion.

Double-click & Go-To

To remedy this, Code Sector has developed a small and free app called ‘Direct Folders’. After installation, you can double-click on an empty space in any Explorer-window (that includes the Desktop) and a list with saved folder locations will appear. This list looks like a regular right-click context-menu and is configurable in any way you prefer. Direct Folders will keep a list of your recently explored locations, which are accessible from the ‘Recent’ window.

Looking up locations in the ‘Open File’-dialog gets easier too, since you can take advantage of Direct Folder there as well.

Read the rest of this entry »

PDF (Portable Document Format) is the omni-present file format for all important documents that need to travel from one place to an other. They work on every platform, so long as a reader is installed, and they aren’t editable. The key is that every PDF document comes across exactly the way the author intended it, save the infamous inconsistencies proprietary software like Microsoft Word often impose. PDF, in itself, is also proprietary, though. It’s not open. It’s just been around long enough to seem that way.

Adobe Reader (formerly known as Acrobat Reader) is the official reader software that accompanies PDF. Throughout the years, Adobe Reader has put on weight and has become increasingly bulky, and.. slow. Panning through a document containing more than a few dozen pages usually bogs down your system, peaking CPU performance along with it.

You aren’t necessarily tied to Adobe’s own reader, though. There are dozens of other, faster applications that handle PDF fine and even provide a [roughly] comparable set of features.  I’m talking about Foxit Reader 2.3, in particular: A free application that incorporates nearly all of Adobe Reader’s features with gracious speed.

Foxit supports all the usual: bookmarking, commenting, magnifying, tabbed browsing, etc. And, best of all, no more panning through documents in slow motion.

Foxit Reader is available for free on Windows and Linux.

• Download for Windows
• Download for Linux

Rating:

Active@ ISO Burner is a freeware application that does exactly one thing: burn ISO-images to disc. This app is great for people who don’t often use their burner and don’t feel like purchasing a whole Nero-suite or something similar. It will burn images to CDs and DVDs alike.

Additionally, command line is supported in order to enable automation.

If you insert a used re-writeable disc, it will automatically be erased (Quick Erase). Secure erasing is also possible using the free Active@ CD/DVD Eraser. ‘Secure’ in the sense that every sector on the surface will be overwritten with a neutral pattern, whereas ‘Quick Erase’ only modifies to file table to make whole disc seem empty (the actual data remains).

Rating:

Get both freeware applications at NTFS.com.

7Zip is an open-source compression/decompression utility that supports most of the popular compression formats. In addition, it also introduces its own high-performing format called LZMA. According to the 7Zip, LZMA supports:

• a high compression ratio
• compression speed of 1MB/s and higher (based on a 2GHz CPU)
• decompression speed of 10 to 20 MB/s (ditto)
• low system requirements
• multi-threading and hyper-threading

Not only does it support regular ZIP, its compression ratio for ZIP is 2 to 10% higher than the its commercial counterpart, WinZip. In true open-source fashion, 7Zip is available in more than 60 languages and can be used on older computers without too much trouble. Furthermore, it comes with a custom file manager that allows advanced functionality like:

• splitting files
• combining files
• calculating checksums of files

If you’re not (or can’t be) tied to a single computer and you prefer to carry your applications around on a USB-stick, there’s a portable version available at PortableApps.com, too. Sure, it doesn’t support every single possible format like WinRAR does, but it does a heck of a good job. And hey, it’s free!

7-Zip is available for Windows, Linux, Mac and most other Operating Systems out there on their official download page.

Get the portable version of 7-Zip here (Windows Only).

Supported Formats

Compression and decompression:

• 7z
• ZIP
• GZIP
• BZIP2
• TAR

Decompression only:

• RAR
• CAB
• ARJ
• Z
• RPM, DEB
• ISO
• And others…

UPDATE: UIF (Universal Image Format) is another one of MagicISO’s proprietary image formats that no other software recognizes. You can easily convert these to standard ISO with Luigi Auriemma’s ‘UIF to ISO converter’!

.DAA is a proprietary image file format developed by PowerISO. It’s not free and is often used within filesharing communities to compress CD/DVD images. While it’s great for reducing file sizes, its exclusivity to PowerISO makes it horribly inaccessible. Wouldn’t it be handier to have it in the ubiquitous ISO-format instead? PowerISO provides a free converter for the Linux and Mac terminal, but it requires Windows users to buy the full version. Conversion of files works in the trial-version, though is limited to a maximm filesize of 300MB — a pathetic limitation, since CD images are generally larger than 600 Megs.

Luigi Auriemma has created a handy command line tool that converts .DAA to .ISO, which can be burned with any burner and mounted with free software like Daemon Tools. The latest version also includes easy-to-use dialog boxes for selecting source and destination paths.

Download (23.2 KB) from Luigi Auriemma’s webpage.
Linux and Mac versions here.

The ultimate tool for control freaks: ‘Taskbar Shuffle’! Aside from being able to categorize your windows in virtual desktops with Vista/XP Virtual Desktops, you can also organize the buttons on the taskbar. Why would you want that? Don’t think there’s a real reason, other than being strongly clung to daily habits. Although, you could make a good case of improved productivity, too.

• Download Taskbar Shuffle
  For Windows Vista/XP/2000/NT/98/95

After this gizmo’s installed, all you need to do to order the buttons differently is click and drag. It’s as simple as that. System tray icons can also be dragged around, if you hold the CTRL-button whilst doing so.

A great little tool for the frenzied computer user.

Synchronize multiple (primary and secondary) Google Calendars to Outlook and your iPhone/iPod Touch for free with OggSync.

• Download OggSync 3.22 for Outlook (direct link)
• www.oggsync.com

The iPhone and iPod Touch don’t support calendaring very well out of the box. Apple provides some rudimentary implementation for Microsoft Outlook on the Windows side (the majority of the user base is Windows-users – after all). And that’s pretty much where it stops. Most likely, when the iPhone SDK makes its debut the tables will turn once the third-party developers get their foot behind the door, but for now we’re stuck with Outlook.

The only way to get your Google Calendar(s) onto the iPhone* (i.e. without hacking) is to go through Microsoft Outlook. This means you’ll have to subsequently synchronize your calendars with Outlook and then with the iPhone. Furthermore, the latest version of the ‘Home & Student’ edition of Office [2007] doesn’t come equipped with Outlook anymore, like previous iterations used to. If you’re a Windows user and want calendaring on the iPhone, you’ll have to acquire Outlook first.

Lame, I know.

The secondary calendars dilemma

The problem with Google’s own syncing app for Outlook is that it only supports 1 calendar, the primary calendar. If you like a certain structure in your events, like I do, this will rapidly become a problem. If you want, it is possible to merge all your calendars into one. In that case, you can go ahead and sync to Outlook with Google’s own app.

In order to accomplish a merged primary calendar, you can:

• Move the events to your primary calendar, or
• Export your entire secondary calendar and import them into your primary calendar

(Google promises to make the multi-calendar feature available in the future, but doesn’t specify a date)

OggSync (Google-Outlook Sync) to the rescue

For those who refuse to make such a sacrifice (hell, I do) there’s a free app out there called OggSync. It’s an Outlook Add-In that supports primary and secondary calendars seamlessly and best of all, it’s free. It docks right into the standard Calendar view as a toolbar and provides you with a few options. Once you’re set, all you need to do is hit the ‘Sync’-button. Magically, GCal events will start to trickle into your Outlook Calendar…

After that, plug in your iPhone and sync away.

Pros:

• Full support for all your calendars
• Support for both Outlook 2003 AND 2007
• Pro version available, but optional
• Free!

Cons:

• A bit of a hassle, but heck, it’s better than nothing, no?
• No calendar coloring support [yet] in Outlook 2007
• An occasional freeze, but they don’t usually linger for long

Download OggSync 3.22 for Outlook (direct link)

Notes

*: You can also access your Google Calendars via the Safari browser on the iPhone. However, this is a static view and means you cannot add or edit events. Furthermore, you will need WiFi availability in order for this work. Experience has shown you don’t usually have wireless around when you need that desperate peek at your calendar.