Online privacy is one of the hottest topics in computing today.  Keeping your surfing habits and personal information to yourself is of huge importance to many who don’t want their identities stolen, their computers infested with adware or filled with other malware. This is one of the reasons why I like applications like Platinum Hide IP. It’s an internet privacy tool for Windows.

Platinum Hide IP can help you keep your real IP address hidden. With it, you can surf anonymously, secure all the communication protocols on your PC and provide full encryption of your online activity. With your true IP masked, your online activity can’t be tracked by others.

Platinum Hide IP helps you protect your identity.  Anonymous web surfing enables you to prevent identity thieves from stealing your identity or other personal information. It keeps your computer safe from hacker attacks or other risks. Proxy lists of many countries are enabled and you decide which country should be used in the Choose IP Country window. You can check the current IP address directly.

Platinum Hide IP helps you send anonymous emails through any web based mail system such as Gmail, Hotmail, etc.  You can also use it to get unbanned from any forums or other blocked websites that have ever banned you.

Platinum Hide IP does a decent job of masking your current IP address so you can’t be tracked online. The app is simple and easy to use, and is relatively cheap.  However, you may find its focus limited for the price you do pay.

download Platinum Hide IP

Related Posts:

• Secure your home or businesses internet connection with Wifi Protector
• Keep your private files away from inquiring minds with MyWinLocker
• Keep inquiring minds away from your sensitive files with SafeHouse File Encryption
• Protect your privacy and identity with this awesome Internet tool
• Don’t get Scroogled by Google, use Outlook – Says Microsoft

Online video streaming is one of the more popular ways to get content to the mobile device of your choice.  However, it’s not all sunshine and daisies.  DRM issues aside, sometimes, you’re not allowed to view certain content due to your geographical region.  When you bump into this type of problem, you should take a look at Hola Unblocker. It’s a web extension for use on Windows machines.

Hola Unblocker has been available as a Chrome and Firefox extension since December 2012. It has recently been expanded to include websites like CBC, Fox and BBC’s iPlayer TV. All you have to do is installing the extension, and then go to the website with the region-blocked content you want to access. You don’t have to restart your computer.  You don’t even have to restart your browser. The main difference between Hola Unblocker and other VPN/proxy services that we’ve found so far is its ability to unblock content without slowing everything down.

There have been some reports of the extension suddenly not working on a particular site, as well as a few glitches here and there. The developer indicates that BBC iPlayer TV worked in Chrome, but not in Firefox. Hulu also worked as advertised. The software is still technically in beta as of this writing, everything seems to be working as designed.

download Hola Unblocker

Related Posts:

• HMA! Pro VPN will hide your Internet activity for real
• Run a guest OS on your PC with VMware Workstation
• Keep your web surfing habits private with Ultrasurf
• Create and manage virtual machines with Paragon’s Virtualization Manager 12 Professional
• Make Internet apps run even through your office network

Most everything that computes today is wireless.  There’s more wireless networks broadcasting signals near where you are right now than you might think. The problem is, connecting to a network you’re authorized to connect to isn’t always easy. Its for this reason that apps like insider are an important part of any Windows utility toolbox.

inSSIDer for Home helps you measure the signal strength of available Wi-Fi signals and networks and attempts to estimate their performance. The app can show you how walls, stairways, and doors affect your wireless network coverage, and can most likely help you choose the best place to put your wireless router, access point or signal repeater.

All Wi-Fi must share channels with other electronic devices, including other wireless networks and signals.  If there are too many networks sharing or overlapping a channel, your network speed and performance can suffer. inSSIDer helps you find the best channel for your Wi-Fi network.

Many local governments and municipalities may require your Wi-Fi signal to be secured.  Running your wireless network wide open so that anyone can use it isn’t really a good idea.  If you have a bandwidth cap, it can easily be exceeded.  There have also been reports of people hacking corporate networks with unsecured Wi-Fi signals.  Securing your network is important, and inSSIDer can help you set and determine which security settings your Wi-Fi is using, reducing the risk of unauthorized access into your home network.

iSSIDer is an interesting app. I wish I had something like this on the Mac side of the world. Its displays are cool, and provide you with the information it needs to get your network running well. I had a great deal of trouble installing the software however, especially on my Windows 8 machines (I have two…) It failed to install on both of them. The app requires .NET Framework to run, but does not include the components as part of the installation file, and it needs to.

download inSSIDer

Related Posts:

• Secure your home or businesses internet connection with Wifi Protector
• Meet new friends and find hot flirts with Qeep
• The New Face of [Windows] Networking
• Monitor network devices and services with NetGong
• Kindle Fire Lacks (even BASIC) Purchase Controls

PC security is probably the most important issue you’ll bump into today. One of the most important things you need to do to keep your computer safe is to track and secure all of your passwords.  This is probably the biggest reason why I like applications like KeePass. It’s a password manager for Windows.

Today, nearly everything you do on your computer has a password that you need to remember for it. Windows has a network logon, your e-mail account, your website’s FTP password, and then there are countless online passwords for websites, like your bank, Facebook, and Twitter. The list is endless. You should also use different passwords for each account. Because if you use only one password everywhere and someone gets it, you have a serious problem.

KeePass is a free, secure password manager that helps you to manage your passwords. You can put all your passwords in one database and lock them with one master key or a key file. With KeePass, you only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole AES and Twofish encrypted database.

KeePass is a pretty cool app. While there are a lot of password safes out there, KeePass is free, and very easy to use. It you don’t have an app of this type, then its probably a good idea to give this one some very serious consideration. Having your accounts hacked is not cool; and forgetting your password to an infrequently used, but important, asset is problematic. KeePass keeps track of them all, and does it for the right price.

download KeePass

Related Posts:

• Keep track of your passwords with Portable Password Manager Pro
• Keep your PC safe with one of the best security app – AVG Internet Security
• Get a handle on your passwords and keep your private information private with Trend Micro’s DirectPass
• Keep your private files away from inquiring minds with MyWinLocker
• Indispensable tool for the active Internet user: Kaspersky Password Manager

Windows systems are notoriously hard to keep optimized. Installs and registry modifications are done and often leave a lot of orphan data on your hard drive.  This often leads to issues not only with hard drive space, but with performance as well. This is the major reason why you need to have an application like Wise Care 356. It’s a Swiss army knife application for Windows, and it’s very good at what it does.

I’ve been looking at Windows utilities for years. There are many of them out there, but there are few that provide the breadth of scope and ease of use of Wise Care 365.  With Wise Care 365 you get a dead easy to use, lazing fast, and an overall healthy PC shortly after install.  As a tune-up utility, Wise Care 365 is comprehensive and full-featured, practical and economical. It will keep your PC in tiptop shape and at peak performance.

The app consists of five parts – PC Checkup, System Tune-up, Privacy Protector and Wise Utilities. PC Checkup is new and checks the whole running condition of your PC.  It rates its health on a scale of 1-10, with 10 high score, and then shows you quick-fix solutions. Wise Care 365 includes both Wise Disk Cleaner and Wise Registry Cleaner.  It takes just one click to use, and your old, tired PC will transform into a brand new and blazing fast one after Wise Care 365′s work is done

Wise Care 365 is an awesome utility. It’s something that most Windows users should have and the free version can do a lot without having to worry about registering the app to get a functioning utility. If you don’t have this app, then you need to do yourself a favor and check it out. It’s not only worth your time and effort, but it’s well worth the expense.

Related Posts:

• Keep your computer clean with Comodo System Cleaner
• Clean, protect and maintain your PC with Ashampoo WinOptimizer 10
• Use TuneUp Utilities 2012 to get your PC running like it did the day you bought it
• Keep your Windows PC running at peak performance with Advanced System Optimizer

Play all of your media files with this single, must have Windows player.

I like watching movies on the go. I take them with me wherever I go. When I do have them, I really like to use VSO Media Player to view them. It’s a multimedia player for Windows.

VSO Media Player will play videos, Blu-ray discs, DVD’s and audio files without having to install any additional, external codecs. The fact that most everything that you need is included is nice, and somewhat expected in today’s modern, multimedia age.  However, it is nice to know that it will support just about any media you throw at it, including DVD and AVCHD .ISO files.

VSO Media Player not only supports Blu-ray and DVD ISO files, but its support extends beyond that. It also allows you to plug in additional decryption support, from AnyDVD, for instance.  Its also a decent media management tool.  VSO Media Player can manage  your media collection.  It can create and edit playlists as well as Edit the settings of Text subtitles: font, color, size, etc.

VSO Media Player is extra light and easy to use. It has a lot more support for hardware and software acceleration than I thought it would, given its pay model.  While there’s a great deal to like about this player, including its Blu-ray support, its really a simple player and organizer. If you’re looking for something to get you buy, this is an excellent choice. If you’re looking for something more advanced, you might want to look at the paid version or at something else, though it does have support for multi-cored processors, an audio booster and the ability to switch between GDI and Direct3D.

Related Posts:

• View DVD’s on your computer with this must have Windows-based DVD player
• Media Player Classic – the best media player for performance
• Corel VideoStudio Pro
• CyberLink Media Suite – All You Need to Enrich Your Digital Life
• Read and backup data from scratched CD/DVD/Blu-ray discs with AnyReader

Keeping your movie collection together can be a challenge at times. You want to play them where you want them, and sometimes, that’s difficult. This is one of the reasons why having an application like Full DVD Ripper is really cool. It’s a multimedia tool for Windows and best of all, its free.

Full DVD Ripper rips DVD’s to just about any format you could want or need including AVI, MPEG, WMV, DivX, MP4, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, RM, MOV, XviD, and 3GP. It also rips DVD audio into MP3, WMA, WAV, RA, M4A, AAC, AC3, or OGG files, making them fit iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, or your mobile phone or other digital device. This software also lets you edit and clip video size, change image effects, and add watermarks/ subtitles/ soundtracks.

Full DVD Ripper’s editing options are cool – you can cut clips, merge clips with transitional effects, crop selected scenes, add subtitles and soundtracks and attach watermarks. You can also set the target file size before conversion and even run Full DVD Ripper in the background to save resources.  It can even shutdown, exit, standby or hibernate your PC when it’s done with its specific set of tasks.

The best thing about Full DVD Ripper is that you can now enjoy your DVD collection on the multimedia player of your choice.  The app supports formats for your iDevice, PSP, PS3, BlackBerry, iRiver PMP, Windows Mobile phone, or Xbox.

download Full DVD Ripper

Related Posts:

• Xion Audio Player
• Audials Tunebite Platinum
• Burn, edit, backup, rip, convert and play your media with Nero 12
• APP is the world’s first motion picture to feature your mobile as a second screen
• Convert several video files at the same time with GOM Video Converter

One of the things that most new Windows 8 users won’t like is the lack of interface customization options it has. The OS is almost completely new, and most users don’t know which end is up as far as putting a personal spin on it is concerned. This is why Decor8 is so important. It’s a Windows 8 customization tool.

Microsoft Windows 8 currently limits your start screen customization options to only a few provided background images and a few pre-defined color schemes. While this isn’t earth shatteringly disappointing, Windows 8 doesn’t really provide a lot of customization options, either.  This is where Decor8 comes in. It removes these limitations and provides the freedom to personalize your start screen with your own images and colors.

With Decor8, you can choose from more background images to personalize your start screen.  You can add your own photos and images, select multiple images to create a custom slideshow, randomize background images in timed intervals, and apply effects to scroll, fade, blur, recolor and add contrast to your background images.  You can also choose an image for your lock screen background.

Decor8 will automatically create a color scheme to match each of your background images. You can also customize the color scheme, if you prefer. Custom color schemes can also be applied to your charms bar. You can also control how many rows of tiles are available on your start screen.

Decor8 is a decent app; and it’s one of the very few customization apps out there right now for Windows 8. The app follows the same look and feel as Start8, also from Stardock.  The one thing that I would do at the time of this writing is to hold off on any purchase of Decor8 until after the release of Windows Blue. The update is supposed to add to Windows 8′s customization options, and that will likely cause a rev in Decor8 as well.

Related Posts:

• If Microsoft is Going to Listen, then it Needs to Listen
• Bring back the “Start” menu in Windows 8 with Start8
• More Noise about WinRT – Microsoft Getting in its Own Way
• Will Microsoft do a Redo with Windows Blue?
• A 7″ Microsoft Tablet?