All Narfed Up photography and words by Bryan Villarin

I mentioned Synergy in September 2004. However, I should mention it again because of another program brought to my attention in the forums. (more…)

I have a Jabber account now. It took awhile to figure it out, but with a little help from Dan, we’re good to go. For Gaim, you need to pick an open Jabber server, jot it down, then enter it in the Server field when registering/adding an account. (more…)

Update: Basically the same thing has been said from Slashdot. However, in the update at the end of the Houston Chronicle, that still makes me wonder about the wording of the TOS. Does AOL cancel itself out? End update. (more…)

OpenOffice.org 1.1.4 for Windows just came out. It’s the open source alternative to Microsoft Office, where open source usually means free.

If getting Acrobat Reader 7.0 wasn’t enough, PDF SpeedUp decreases loading time even more. (Going just by feel, though.) The interface isn’t pretty, but it’s a run once, optimize, close and forget it. Plus, they try to plug AcroPDF before the program closes. Just click “No Thanks”. (Do you remember when I posted about PDFCreator? That one is open source, rather than $69.) I’m blown away.

I read the CNET News.com article “Worst spyware queues up” this morning. It’s good to see what names pop up, in case a friend or client needs help on their computer. The part that caught my eye really ticked me off:

Webroot recommends that people install Microsoft security patches, avoid using freeware and disable downloads via ActiveX in Internet Explorer.

Avoid using freeware? That’s the one thing that keeps us going! Basically all of the programs listed here is freeware! What about Firefox? OpenOffice? AVG Anti Virus Free Edition? 7-Zip? Filezilla?

Ridiculous. You simply do not have to fork out cash for everything. You can donate to keep the developers going, but they’re not looking for money…they’re just trying to help out everyone where others have failed.

Back in September, I posted about CutePDF. However, I think between then and now, on numerous occassions, it would kick print spooler into utilizing all my CPU power until I ended the process. I finally got around to uninstalling it, putting PDFCreator in its place. (It’s also on TheOpenCD, too, but I found out about it before.)

Daniel pointed out TheOpenCD in my forums yesterday. I’ve never heard of it before, and frankly, I wish I would’ve seen it before. The people at TheOpenCD compile the best and most stable OSS (Open Source Software) on a single ISO image, which you can freely burn onto CD and install from a few simple menus. I’ve been using Firefox, Filezilla, 7-Zip, Gimp, and Gaim. It’s there to show people new to this that although the software is Open Source, they’re created with the same care as the more popular programs that cost money.

I’ve been using Firefox since it was Phoenix 0.5, and we know how it’s doing now - it’s awesome. Filezilla has been doing its job fantastically as a simple FTP client (it can be a server, too). 7-Zip lets me compress & decompress ZIP and RAR archives with ease, without having to fork money for WinZip or WinRAR. Gimp is interesting, but I’m starting to like it. At least I don’t have to buy Photoshop if I get used to it. And I’ve been using Gaim for a couple years on and off, and I’ve just decided to use it as my primary IM client, dumping AIM and the others.

I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to be able to edit the Kubrick template using Gimp. I haven’t accomplished that. However, I can say I have the knowledge to take a photo, convert it to black and white, then restore color to selective areas.

A few days ago, I walked out of my apartment to head somewhere, and I noticed the rose garden had a single rose that looked pretty good - while all the others were withered away from the cold. I just started carrying my camera around again, so I felt compelled to take a shot. I took a few far away, and a few closeup. I didn’t think too much of it, and filed the picture away on my computer.

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Chris Pirillo writes about a bunch of Outlook apps you might like. All but two that are listed are free or open-source.