LogMeIn is fast, easy-to-use remote access software that allows you to control your desktop from anywhere. Its in-browser provides a minimal latency portal to your PC desktop, which you can access from any Mac, PC or hand-held device, including iPads, iPhones and Android Smartphones. You can remotely start up a sleeping computer and with a password protected, 256-bit SSL encrypted connection, you can rest easy knowing your access is secure and safe. Best of all, this is freeware and once you’ve created a LogMeIn account you can instantly start accessing your PC remotely, 100% free.

With a quick and easy in-browser interface, LogMeIn is a truly impressive way to access your PC remotely. Signing up for a new account is a fairly easy process, though the installation itself might take a little longer than you might expect. Once LogMeIn is up and running though, you’re going to be very pleased with the results. You can wake up your computer remotely and even in-browser it’s a similar experience to having your desktop right there in front of you. And while some features are reserved for the company’s paid offering, the price isn’t too steep ($70 per year) if you want access to HD streaming, file syncing, audio-streaming or printer access.

For the basic level with a free-price tag, this is the best offering you’re going to find without paying for your remote access. Highly recommended.

Downloag LogMeIn for Windows | Downloag LogMeIn for Mac

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The one thing that I really like about my Mac is the ability to easily create and mount disc images. I think it’s one feature that is really missing from MS Windows. That’s why I really like WinISO. It’s an image and disc mounting and creation utility.

WinISO is a professional CD/DVD/Blu-ray image file utility.  With it, you can make disc image files from CD/DVD/Blu-ray discs.  You can also convert files between ISO / BIN and other formats, including NRG, CCD and MDS.

WinISO will extract, edit, rename ISO files directly, and make bootable images as well as mount ISO image files on your PC. You can then read and run executables directly from the image as though the image were a physical disc in your CD or DVD drive. I think this is probably the biggest feature in the entire app.

WinISO also lets you easily add, delete, rename, and extract files from within a mounted image. It also supports burning image files on-the-fly.

Simply put, WinISO is a must have program for your PC. Its small, easy to use and quickly and easily mounts, burns and converts all kinds of Windows compatible disc image files. It plugs a huge hole in the OS; at only $30US is reasonably priced.

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Well, except for the logo, this pack is awesome! I’m not saying that is an ugly logo, but I don’t like a look-a-like communist sign. Anyway, you should not care that much about the logo, if you really want a simple and efficient codec pack to play almost every movie you want.
It was the year 2009 when, I discovered CCCP for the first time. And I wouldn’t have used it, if I didn’t had to playback an mkv file (HD movie files.). After several hours spent on Google, searching about how to open those files, and trying many many codecs, none of them gave me the desired results. And as a last solution, I tried CCCP (I avoided to use it in the first place, BECAUSE OF THE LOGO!<thinking that a software with such a logo, can contain some unwanted viruses and other bad software, and their website was a bit suspicious because it’s very simple and doesn’t have too much info on the main page.>)… Well, I decided to take the risk, after I was sure that the pack was clean and installed it.

I have to say I was surprised! For the first time, I was able to play the mkv file, without any lag, compared with other codecs that I’ve tried. While with others the sound an image were out of sync, with CCCP pack everything worked perfectly, even for 10Gb+ files. I even realized that I could watch the movies with any other video player, without being forced to use the embedded one in the package.

The pack’s main components are LAV filters, Haali Media Splitter, xy-VSFilter, and the player, the easy but powerful Media Player Classic Home Cinema. These combined, gives the best movie experience. If you have a surround sound system and you really enjoy watching full HD movies at their maximum potential, this is the right tool to use. Of course, you must set the LAV Audio mixer to 5.1 or 7.1 for your speakers setup, but that is quite easy to do. Another great feature that I really used, is the “After playback feature” , that, if selected, will give the computer a command to perform whatever you want after the playback. I use this feature to shut down the computer after the movie is finished. (you can select even to play the next file in the folder, and then to shut down the computer)

Word from the producer: “CCCP (Combined Community Codec Pack) is a filter pack specifically built for playing anime. It has been assembled by some of the most knowledgeable people in the anime world, and one of the primary design goals is to play as much possible with as little as possible. It attempts to be as unintrusive on your system as possible.” I never played anime with it but it’s definitely great for every movie.

CCCP is a powerful codec pack, a complete solution for Full HD movies, and if you have a surround sound system (after you set up the LAV codec for your sound scheme), you will feel the true high definition term. It’s the easiest pack for a basic user.

download CCCP (Combined Community Codec Pack)

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Get push to talk styled communications capabilities with mobile device and PC users in this cool Windows app.

Communication is  the key to productivity. I’ve heard it said millions of times.  In many cases, instant communication can be a God-send.  This is the biggest reason why push-to-talk (PTT) is such a critical and effective communications tool; and the biggest reason why I like Zello. It’s a PTT app for your Windows PC.

Zello is a free push-to-talk application for smartphones and PCs. It’s lightweight, easy to use and extremely fast. It’s also free for personal use; and can be used on any combination of Android, Blackberry, iOS and PC’s.

One of the best things about Zello conversations is that they’re are almost as fast as face-to-face conversations.  They are also faster than online communications.  All you have to do is click to talk. There really isn’t any need for any kind of real configuration.

Zello supports channels where you can talk to up to 100 people from anywhere in the world at the same time.  You can record your conversations and re-play them whenever you want.

Zello is lightweight. The program uses very little system resources and memory.  Zello doesn’t require you to use a headset. You can use your phone’s speakerphone, a plugged in or built-in microphone or connected speakers, for example.  Zello works great over Wi-Fi and 3G.  It will also work over GPRS and EDGE, but its performance isn’t as robust at those slower speeds.

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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

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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

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I love digital photography. Unfortunately, I was bitten by the camera bug quite a while back, and I am constantly on the lookout for a new lens, new picture tweaking or developing software and new information to help my pictures become more professional looking. Tools like Scarab Darkroom really fit the bill, too. This Windows based app is something that most every owner of a supported camera should have.

Scarab Darkroom is a digital camera file converter with support for over 100 different camera models. Many digital cameras can take pictures and save them directly as a JPG or other compressed file format, but doing so really limits your ability with what you can do to the file, post production. Many cameras have their own native formats, often called RAW. Most image editing apps don’t support them out of the box. Scarab Darkroom does.

The compression algorithm in JPG’s is popular as a storage format – files are usually small and easily transported from one computing system to another. JPG’s are also very popular with web sites like Facebook , Flickr, and Shutterbug. However, when you try to tweak a JPG, you lose a lot of information and detail.

Scarab Darkroom provides support and tools for editing RAW files directly. It allows you to edit fill light, brightness, contrast and black levels and provides a way to edit simple tone curve adjustments. You can also tweak color temperatures and gives you the ability to pick white balance from a gray area in the picture, among other editing options. When you’re done, it provides a lightning fast conversion with excellent detail rendition using a proprietary demosaic algorithm. Basic editing options – crop, resize, etc. are also supported.

Scarab Darkroom is a decent application. Its support for many RAW file formats from Nikon, Sony, Canon, Olympus, Panasonic and others is something that can provide value to a great many enthusiasts. The anticipated Pro version is said to have all of the freemium features as well as others including more color controls, a grayscale mixer and noise reduction, among others. A Mac version is also anticipated next year.

Download Scarab Darkroom

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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

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