Software is constantly pushing hardware to its limits.  Well, unless you are like most office users who utilize a quad core to do word processing and email.  But I digress.  Anyway, ProcessTamer is a great little program that keeps programs in check by lowering their priority if they start hogging all your resources.

It’s a tiny program that runs in the background and monitors, as this video shows:

KVMs are great.  If you don’t know, KVM is a keyboard video mouse switch.  They are boxes that you attach that allow you to switch between computers.  This way, you can use only one mouse, keyboard, and monitor for multiple computers.  Well, Synergy Plus does this as well, but does it through ethernet instead of specialized hardware.  Oh, and it’s free – unlike those expensive KVMs.

Not only is Synergy Plus free, it has other features and conveniences that are really nice.  First, destkops are seamless.  That means that you can simply drag your cursor across the screen and move to the next one.  You can also copy and paste between those desktops.  Synergy Plus is being actively developed for Mac, Linux, and Windows.

All you have to do is set up the Synergy Plus server on one of your computers.  Then you can add the Synergy Plus client to the other computers.  Here are 2 videos.  The first one simply shows you Synergy Plus in action.  The second one shows you how to set it up:

It’s a crazy world out there.  Smartphones are powerful computers.  I think some people fail to grasp that.  That means your child could be walking around with something that allows them unlimited connectivity to almost anything and anyone.  Ambit allows you to bring some level of control to that whole experience.

Now, as I have said in the past, I am not a proponent of spying on your kids without their knowledge.  I am also for the responsible use of technology.  And these days, you have to teach your kids those lessons just as much as any others.  Unfortunately, technology has advanced at such a rapid pace, it is leaving parents in the dust – and their kids out in the wilderness.  Ambit is trying to give you a metered level of control back.  It is an app for the Droid phones.  So, what the heck does it do?

Ambit is an app that acts as a “wrapper.”  It wraps all the other smartphone functions and controls them.  This means that they can’t just download any app they want.  They also can’t chat with just anyone.  Ambit also gives you real time location information courtesy of GPS.  So, you can manage who they can talk with, where they go, and what they are or aren’t allowed to view.  That would help all parents feel more comfortable about giving their child a smartphone.  Right now you have to manage this information from your smartphone.  In the future, they will also have a web control panel.  I think in this day and age that it’s not necessary really.

Here are some screenshots:

I love simple ideas that work.  They are usually the ones that last anyway.  Forget all the flash and pyrotechnics.  Give me an unadulterated addon thingy that just works.  Well, while CES went bongo over 3D televisions, I sighted me this neat app called Inklet.  So cute.  So very cute – and deadly.  Okay, not deadly…handy.

So, let’s get the exorbitant cost out of the way.  If you want to use your trackpad like a tablet on your Macbook like a rock star – fork out $24.95.  Hey, wait a minute.  That’s not horrid, that’s splendid.  So, for $24.95, now you can unleash a torrent of artistic ability.   Just watch the vid:

Oh, and grab the Pogo Sketch while you’re at it.  That will cost you $195.  Just kidding, keep your hat on.  It’s $15.

Not that long ago, I posted about a really cool free web conference software called openmeetings.  It was a little harsh in terms of install, setup, and configuration.  The hardest part was scaling the product in terms of networking and QOS.  I planned on coming back to that product for more testing when someone tipped me off to DimDim.  DimDim is simply a killer free web conference software package.  Also, it’s hosted (if you choose that route), up to 20 attendants – and, did I mention free – forever!  Yes, you can download the open source software and host it yourself, but DimDim blows open the limitations of openmeetings.

DimDim has different hosted solutions that are very cost effective.  20 attendees and under is free.  20-50 attendees is the Pro version and is $19/month.  The enterprise version is up to 1000 attendees and they claim 1/3 the cost of competitors.  As I said before, you can download the open source version and host it yourself.  Did I mention that it includes a VMWare appliance for super easy installation!

Rather than go through the feature set, I’ll let Steve Chazin (formerly of that little know company called Apple ;^)  explain it:

I love this software.  If you have any interest in doing meetings – you really need to take a look at DimDim.

Asus AI Booster may work some magic for the unitiated.  Some people use their computers in stock mode and that’s it.  Then there are people who want to squeeze every ounce of performance out of their machine.  I don’t blame them.  But then there are some who want to have a little hand holding when it comes to overclocking and the like.  That’s where the Asus AI Booster finds a niche.

First things first.  Choose which one you are going to use: BIOS tinkering or the Asus AI Booster.  Do not use both. That can result is some really disasterous performance, or system damage.  I’ve read folks whose motherboards and cpu’s have been fried from doing that.  Also, make sure that you increase your computer cooling before doing this process.  You will be putting your computer outside of the stock limits.  That means you need to cool the mobo and CPU more.

The Asus AI Booster is a lot like a car dashboard.  From the dasboard you can monitor various computer settings and readouts.  CPU fan speed, temperature, and voltage are prominently displayed.  There are a host of other things you can see in the above picture.

The CPU Tuning panel allows you to mess around with various CPU settings to increase performance.  Now, you have to save your settings after doing this, or they will be lost on reboot.  Also, if your computer crashes after tweaking, you can just restore to defaults.

Now, if you have an Asus motherboard that supports the Asus AI booster software, you should be able to download it from Asus support.

One of the big challenges in our culture is helping our children stay safe online.  Computers are such a big part of our lives.  How do you safeguard your children while utilizing the amazing amount of good stuff online?  Kidzui, that’s how.

You can launch Kidzui in locked down mode.  This keeps Kidzui in the foreground, and all other apps in the background.  This keeps you in charge of your child’s computing experience.  It also includes parent monitoring.  Seeing what your child enjoys learning about is the reason for it.  All websites are completely safe and have been hand selected.  It includes games, youtube videos (obviously appropriate ones), pictures, etc.

Very cool idea.  Pricing is like $10/month.

If there is one thing that I harp on about, it’s backing up data.  Backups should be automated and it should be an offisite backup.  Most people do backups locally to things like external drives.  That’s not a bad step, but it’s not enough.  What if your home or office is destroyed by fire or flood?  Yep, that data is probably toast as well.  Crashplan makes backing up off site easy.

Now Crashplan can be done a few different ways.  You can utilize their online space and pay for it (.10 per gigabyte per month, with $5 month minimum).  One of the great things about CrashPlan is that it is cross platform.  It works with Mac, Windows, Solaris, linux,  and VMWare.  There are home and business versions.  In the home version, it is a stand alone product that allows you to hook up with a friend to swap backup space.   In my mind, this is an ideal solution because, well for starters, it’s free.  Also, most people have unused space laying around.  Next, it is really easy to backup and fast to restore data in case of data loss.  And, it is an offsite backup!  All the files are encrypted while moving over the internet and on the friend’s computer.  Ie, they can’t see your data and you can’t see theirs.  Now, if your friend has a Mac and you have a PC, it still will work.  Same goes for the other kinds of OS’s.

The Pro line comes with a centralized backup server.  You can use this to backup all computers in an office.  Or you can simply offload those to CrashPlan’s data center.  Here are the Pro Server features:

If you do any sort of computer diagnosis and repair, then you should add the Technibble computer repair USB kit to your toolkit.  The program runs off your USB drive and gives you access to an amazing amount of programs.

Here is the list.  It’s impressive:

File Management

• CCleaner – Cleans up Windows systems. Clears temporary internet files, cookies, history etc..
• JkDefragGUI – An advanced defragging tool far superior to the built in Windows one
• DriveimageXML – Hard drive imaging tool. Allows you to get a single file out of a whole image too
• Explore2fs – Allows you to explore hard drives with Linux file systems
• Double Killer – Finds duplicate files and deletes them
• Deep Burner – CD/DVD Burning software
• 7-Zip Portable – Archive creating and extraction tool. Can handle most compression formats
• PC-Decrapifier – Cleans out the crap that comes installed on new brand name computers (Norton trials, toolbars etc.)

Information

• Process Explorer – Allows you to view system processes
• System Information – View lots of information about a system (specs, passwords, temperatures etc.)
• ProduKey – View software cdkeys and serials
• Autoruns – Autostart program viewer
• HWMonitor – View hardware information
• GPU-Z – Show video card information (chipset, bios version, shaders, memory size etc.)
• Wireless Key View – Shows saved wireless network keys
• TreeSize Free – Show how much space each folder on a system uses
• Game Key Revealer – View CDKeys and Serials for popular games
• USBDView – Allows you to list and manage USB devices (including devices that arent currently plugged in)
• TrID – Identifies file types for extension-less files
• Codec Installer – Finds and analyzes video codecs
• Unknown Devices – Tells you what a “Unknown Device” in system properties actually is
• GSpot – Video analyizer

Repair Tools

• Norton Removal Tool – Removes Symantec products
• McAfee Removal Tool – Removes McAfee products
• LSPFix – Fixes broken Winsock entries
• Dial-a-Fix – Repair Windows files and registries

Recovery

• Recuva – Recovers deleted files
• Restoration – Recovers deleted files
• Photorec – Recover deleted/damaged files from Flash memory (like digital cameras)
• DBXTract – Recover emails from damaged DBX files (like Outlook Express)

Network Tools

• Wireshark – View network packets
• Network Scanner – Scans the network for devices
• Putty – SSH/Telnet/RLogin client
• Network Stumbler – Wireless Network Scanner

Virus and Malware Removal Tools

• Clamwin Antivirus – Virus scanner/remover
• Rootkit Revealer – Detects rootkits on a system
• Combofix – Malware finder and remover
• SmitFraudFix – Malware finder and remover
• RogueFix – Malware finder and remover
• Hijack This! – Malware remover
• SUPERAntiSpyware – Malware scanner and remover
• Malwarebytes – Malware scanner and remover

Misc

• Mozilla Firefox – Web browser
• JavaRa – Find and remove old Java versions
• Monitor Tester – Test monitors from problems
• Dead Pixel Tester – Finds and fixes dead pixels on LCDs
• ChkFlsh – Check flash drives for errors or test their real size (as fake ones appear on eBay)
• Double Driver – Driver backup tool
• SumatraPDF – Lightweight PDF viewer
• Revo Uninstaller – Advanced application uninstaller

Tweaks

• TweakUI – Windows XP tweaking tool
• VistaTweaker – Vista tweaking tool

Scripts

• Quickly Make a System Restore Point – Makes restore point
• Reset Network – Releases/Renews IP and flushes DNS
• Clear Printer Spooler – Clears stuck print jobs from spooler
• Stop Automatic Updates – Stops “Windows has installed updates, restart now” dialog temporarily
• Start Automatic Updates – Switches it back on

Here is the feature list:

• Control your own computer remotely from any other computer.
• Access your files securely from work or while travelling.
• Share files, photos & media with friends & family on your network.
• Secure all your messages and file transfers against hackers.
• Create a virtual private network (VPN) instantly and securely.
• Play LAN games over the Internet as if you were all in the same place.
• Connect to any computer in your list securely to access files and data.
• Run virtually any 3rd party application on top of Remobo.

The file sharing can be done utilizing the native Windows file sharing, if some pre requisites exist.  Or it can be done using Remobo’s file sharing using torrents.  The remote desktop sharing needs improvement, which I’m sure it will.  Finally, you can breathe easier knowing Remobo encrypts all sessions with 256-bit AES algorithm.