15+ free Windows apps to help you tackle Thanksgiving tech support

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The holiday season has always been a time for gathering -- but in recent years, it's also been a time when family and friends come bearing gifts of computer troubles. Their computer friends -- people like the Download Squad team and you, our readers -- get asked to do everything from installing RAM upgrades to the annual computer tune-up. We're happy to oblige, of course, because there's a decent chance someone will pay us in beer or baked goods. Cash is welcome too, but never seems to be offered quite as readily.

To make your holiday tech duties a bit easier, I've put together a list of some of my favorite troubleshooting apps for Windows.
Where download links for the files aren't on the application's main page, I've included a link to the appropriate download page. I've provided a handful of FileHippo links as well -- they're an excellent mirror site and they don't surround download links in advertisements or "recommendations."

Continue reading 15+ free Windows apps to help you tackle Thanksgiving tech support

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Lists

15+ free Windows apps to help you tackle Thanksgiving tech support originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 21 Nov 2010 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/21/15-free-windows-apps-to-help-you-tackle-thanksgiving-tech-support/

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Find Big Mail lets you quickly free space on your Gmail account

My free Google Apps Gmail account has about 7.5GB of storage space, total. That's extremely generous on Google's part, but that amount of space does eventually fill up - especially if you have people sending you huge PowerPoint presentations, videos of their baby's first steps, or hilarious kitten photos in full resolution (because they have no idea what "resolution" means, much less how to reduce it).

What I find perplexing is that Google never included an option to sort or filter messages by size. I have no doubt that this is a business decision, because implementing such a feature would be trivial for the Gmail team. To speak bluntly, I think Google wouldn't mind it so much if I ran out of free space on my Google Apps account; then I'd have to get some more space, and this time it would cost money.

If I actually needed more space, or even if Google was simply upfront about its reluctance to provide such an option, I'd be fine with this. As things stand now, I feel that Google is being uncharacteristically stingy.

This is where Find Big Mail comes into play. While Google does not provide a way to filter by size, it does provide IMAP access. Find Big Mail accesses your Gmail account via IMAP, and it catalogs all of your messages by size. It creates three labels - one for messages larger than 2MB, one for messages larger than 500KB, and the last is for messages larger than 100KB.

Once it completed scanning my account, I simply clicked the label that said FindBigMail > 2mb, selected all messages, and clicked Delete. I then went to the trash folder and emptied that. Voilà - I dropped from 64 percent occupied space to 36 percent. How awesome is that?

Find Big Mail's free option scans only a third of your total mailbox, but it was enough for me. For $5 it will scan your whole Gmail account. You don't have to provide it with your password - only authorize it via Google's own access control. Once it's done, you can revoke its access from your Google account page. I highly recommend it!

Filed under: E-mail, Google

Find Big Mail lets you quickly free space on your Gmail account originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/17/find-big-mail-lets-you-quickly-free-space-on-your-gmail-account/

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Content ratings now live in the Android Market developers' console

The Android Market's new content rating system is now live in the developer's console. From here on out, any new or updated applications will be required to choose from Mature, Teen, Pre-Teen and All. While ratings ultimately are the responsibility of the developers, Google has given a set of guidelines that must be followed.

Apps that include references to Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs, as well as violence (cartoon, fantasy or otherwise) shall be labeled "Mature." Same goes for sexual or suggestive content. Porn still isn't allowed.

A app that includes inflammatory content, profanity and crude humor,  that may offend users should be rated "Teen" or "Mature."

Here's where it gets a little interesting: Apps that ask users for their location at any point must not be rated "All." Apps that "ask to access course or fine location data" are "Pre-Teen." Any app that can publish your location should be rated "Teen" or "Mature."

Users will be able to flag apps that they believe are incorrectly rated, and Google will take a look. Repeat offenders can be "subject to further action," says Google, up to and including killing the dev account.

We're not seeing ratings on apps in the Market just yet, but you know they're coming.

Content ratings now live in the Android Market developers' console posted originally by Android Central

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/dgvHaAch_ds/content-ratings-now-live-android-market-developers-console

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2011: The Year of the Tablet Wars

This has been an interesting month when it comes to tablets. Apple has pretty much owned the segment, but Samsung reports it shipped 600,000 of its Galaxy Tablets in the first month, which may mean it's a player. HP almost had a surprise winner in its Windows 7 Tablet, but it under-forecast demand. Acer ended the month announcing several tablets, and Notion Ink's second-generation tablet is coming soon.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/71317.html

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Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Gaming

Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season.

Sit back, relax, grab a controller, and enjoy some obsessive-compulsive button mashing while you work in that body-sized groove into the couch... that's not the M.O. for the console makers this year. You don't have to embrace the jumping, hand-waving, and other methods of physical exertion, but it's definitely the "it" gaming hardware of this holiday season. Be sure to triple-check just what box your loved ones play on, and click on through for our gaming gift suggestions.

Continue reading Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Gaming

Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 13:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/D7BP1PuTQeM/

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Apple Shuts Down PhotoFast's MacBook Air 256GB SSD Upgrade Kit Production [Apple]

As if the new MacBook Air wasn't sweet enough, you could also—until now—trick it out with a speedy SSD upgrade from PhotoFast. But Apple's put an end to that. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/qtpcF2EBpi0/apple-shuts-down-photofasts-macbook-air-256gb-ssd-upgrade-kit-production

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Copy Fixer for Firefox and Chrome lets you easily copy the URL and page title

Here's an operation I need to do quite often: copy both the page title and its URL. For some reason, neither Firefox nor Chrome provides a way to do this in one fell swoop. I need to activate the address bar in order to copy the URL, and I'm not even sure there's a way to copy the page title (I usually just type it out manually).

Copy Fixer is an add-on for Firefox and Chrome that provides a simple and elegant solution. With Copy Fixer, if you hit Ctrl+C when nothing is selected, your clipboard is populated with something like this:

Download Squad
http://downloadsquad.switched.com/

That's it. It's just the page title and the URL and nothing more. I tried out the Chrome version, and it worked perfectly. It did require a restart to begin working, though, but maybe that's due to the Canary build I'm using.

The add-on is very minimalistic. There's no UI to speak of, and there are no preferences. One option that I wish the developer would add is a way to wrap the title and the URL with arbitrary strings and lose the line break. This way, the add-on could be used to produce Markdown-friendly links - page title surrounded by brackets, followed by the URL surrounded by parentheses. Maybe that will come in the future!

Filed under: Google, Mozilla, Browsers

Copy Fixer for Firefox and Chrome lets you easily copy the URL and page title originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/16/copy-fixer-for-firefox-and-chrome-lets-you-easily-copy-the-url-a/

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PeerBlock 1.1 arrives with some important updates

PeerBlock is a great way to keep unwanted P2P connections (as well as advertising and spyware) from getting through to your Windows computer, and it's just gotten better with the release of PeerBlock 1.1.

Among the key additions are a completely revamped installer (complete with a signed driver), an updated list manager for easier settings tweaks, and a list verification feature to prevent file corruption. The signed driver is an important addition, since it makes the installation process much easier for users of 64-bit Windows. PeerBlock has also switched from the PeerGuardian blocklists to iBlocklist.com, which the developers say are much faster and more reliable. There's also an option to display allowed connections -- though you should expect an additional hit on your CPU if you switch it on.

Download PeerBlock 1.1

PeerBlock 1.1 arrives with some important updates originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/24/peerblock-1-1-arrives-with-some-important-updates/

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Foursquare Testing Version 2 Of Their API. ?It?s 1000x Faster?

The geolocation wars are well underway. If you need any proof of that, simply look at this thread in Quora. A startup posted a question wondering which place database they should use for their new check-in app. The responses? Foursquare: Us. Gowalla: Us. SimpleGeo: Us. Factual: Us. Locationary: Us. Each of these companies, along with a few other big ones not practicing the art of self-promotion on Quora (Google, Facebook, Skyhook) are all in the midst of what is sure to be a drawn-out battle to become the underlying location layer that lets a thousand other startups bloom on top of it.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/wvB785xCAPw/

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What Are Anticrepuscular Rays? [Science]

Perhaps you have seen something similar to this one day, probably when you thought you were hearing a choir of angels and the Apocalypse was about to break loose. They are anticrespuscular rays, and they happen opposite to the Sun. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/fD_x4k-Fq24/what-are-anticrepuscular-rays

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Momiga is an extremely minimalistic, fun Time Waster

Yes, that's an actual screenshot up there, not an error. That's what Momiga looks like!

One dot, one button (the left mouse button, or SPACE on the keyboard), and one cute "beep" sound. That's all you get. This is probably the most bare-bones time-waster we've ever published, but it's awesome just for that.

You have to get the dot from one end of the screen to the other. The dot's starting position signifies your progress through the levels of the game. As you can see in the screenshot, the dot is quite high, so I'm fairly well advanced in the game.

On every level, your input affects the dot in a slightly different way. Sometimes your click launches the dot very forcefully, so you have to be careful. On other levels, the click causes the dot to levitate, so you have to keep clicking so that the dot doesn't crash at the bottom of the level (but don't click too fast, or it would go out the top).

It's a short time waster, but it's a fascinating one. The level on the screenshot is very frustrating, but all of the other ones were fun, and fairly easy to pass.

Filed under: Fun, Games, Time-Wasters

Momiga is an extremely minimalistic, fun Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/11/24/momiga-is-an-extremely-minimalistic-fun-time-waster/

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Sprint and Clearwire deliver WiMAX to Los Angeles, Ohio, Miami and Washington DC, promise SF on December 28th

Seems like Sprint wants to get every last lick of 4G coverage in before Verizon flips the switch on LTE -- today, its joint venture with Clearwire is launching WiMAX in the City of Angels a day ahead of schedule. Lest you think Los Angeles is getting special treatment, five other cellular markets can now also get a taste of 5Mbps to 7Mbps download speeds, including Miami, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and our nation's capitol, Washington D.C. That brings the total number of regions where you'll get some mileage out of that $10 surcharge up to 68, in case you're keeping track. What's next? If the press release after the break is correct, San Francisco will finally satisfy its need for speed on December 28th. Not that any of these locales haven't been secretly enjoying 4G already, of course.

Continue reading Sprint and Clearwire deliver WiMAX to Los Angeles, Ohio, Miami and Washington DC, promise SF on December 28th

Sprint and Clearwire deliver WiMAX to Los Angeles, Ohio, Miami and Washington DC, promise SF on December 28th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 01:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/29/sprint-and-clearwire-deliver-wimax-to-los-angeles-ohio-miami-a/

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Steve Ballmer looking into removal of Drive Extender from Windows Home Server

Windows Home Server hasn't exactly taken the consumer market by storm, showing yet again that people are more interested in shiny new toys than protecting their precious data. Still, there's been a huge amount of negative backlash from Microsoft's recent decision to drop Drive Extender from the next release of WHS, currently codenamed Vail. Drive Extender is the tech that enables multiple physical disks to act as a single logical volume, making it easy for even non-techy folks to add more and enable data replication. Terry Walsh over at We Got Served was similarly taken aback by the decision and took the opportunity to drop a note to Big Poppa Steve Ballmer. He got a response:

From: Steve Ballmer
Sent: 26 November 2010 05:30
To: Terry Walsh
Subject: RE: MVP Feedback - Windows Home Server "Vail" Crisis
Let's look into it

Yes, it's a short response, and it course could mean anything or, indeed, nothing, but it is at least a response and a positive sign that the huge outcry among fans of Windows Home Server can indeed make its way to the top of the executive chain. Now we just wait to see what comes rolling back down...

Steve Ballmer looking into removal of Drive Extender from Windows Home Server originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/29/steve-ballmer-looking-into-removal-of-drive-extender-from-window/

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Crumple City: Maps Meant to Be Screwed Up and Stuffed into Pockets

You know the drill: You’re on vacation, wandering a strange but beautiful city, and you need to take a look at the map. You pull it out, signifying your tourist status with the huge paper flag, while at the same time you struggle to find your spot as the wind snaps an edge from your [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/11/crumple-city-maps-meant-to-be-screwed-up-and-stuffed-into-pockets/

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KDDI develops a zoom-enhance system for HD movie streaming on smartphones (video)

Because not every smartphone has a full 1080p resolution (yet), KDDI's R&D Labs have come up with a new method for massaging the most out of HD movie streams while on the move. You'll still be able to pummel your poor mobile device and connection with the full-res stream, should you wish it, but KDDI's innovation is in developing a system whereby you can zoom in on particular parts of the feed, have the stream cropped to your requirements on far-off servers somewhere, and then receive only the stuff you want to see onto your device. And because of your phone's aforementioned pixel deficiency, the employment of this technique will most often result in negligible picture fidelity loss, if any. The biggest benefit, however, might be to carriers like KDDI who end up having to carry less data back and forth, even if it does come at a slight server-side cost. Video after the break.

Continue reading KDDI develops a zoom-enhance system for HD movie streaming on smartphones (video)

KDDI develops a zoom-enhance system for HD movie streaming on smartphones (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 03:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/5N1xF0nBvYU/

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